Economy

NSE, JSE, Five Other African Exchanges to Form Alliance Q1 2021

Published

6 years ago

28/01/2020

Nigerian Stock Exchange NSE Oscar Onyema

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr Oscar Onyema, has reiterated that seven major African stock exchanges will be linked by next year to boost investment opportunities across the continent.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Onyema, who is also the president of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA), noted that the cross-border trading and settlement of securities which will link the seven top exchanges may be settled by the first quarter of 2021.

“What we are looking at to do is to link our markets and give investors in domestic economies the opportunities to access assets across border. So, a Nigerian investor can sit in Nigeria and buy shares across these seven countries.”

The NSE Chief said those coming together to form the alliance are the NSE; Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE); the Egyptian Exchange (EGX); Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE); Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE); Côte d’Ivoire’s Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières SA (BRVM)- which covers the French speaking West African countries; and Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM).

He added, “Between those seven markets, they cover over 85 to 90 percent of activities on the continent. It is basically a way to investors any opportunities to access African markets,” adding that this was not only restricted to Intra-African markets but available to foreign markets.

Speaking on how the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement will play a huge role in this, Mr Onyema noted, “I know a lot of people are focused on trade, but there is a service aspect and movement of securities, payment systems, among others will fall under this.”

Mr Onyema assured that the remaining 20 stock exchanges that make up the ASEA will follow once the linkage is established by the first quarter of 2021.

“These seven exchanges are the pilot exchanges, once we are up and running, the smaller exchanges will then have a roadmap with which they can join on and begin to participate.”

On the NSE’s demutualisation process, Mr Onyema noted that following the receiving of the No Objection letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate as a demutualised exchange, the next step was to call a court ordered meeting and an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) to get approval from the membership to finalise the demutualisation process.

Clarifying why there would be two meetings, he said the court ordered meeting was to look into the necessary restructuring of the company in terms of proper allocation of capital and resources ahead of a post demutualised bourse while the EGM was to get the approval of the membership.

He then said that the NSE would continue to work hard to improve the capital market environment in Nigeria using its 2018 -2021 strategies.

Economy

NASD Market Capitalisation Rises N10bn as Index Soars 0.39%

Published

2 hours ago

26/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended the first trading day of the week on a positive note, with a 0.39 per cent appreciation on Monday, May 25.

The positive vibe raised the market capitalisation of the trading platform by N10.11 billion to N2.571 trillion from last Friday’s N2.561 trillion, and lifted the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 16.89 points to 4,298.17 points from the previous 4,281.28 points.

Business Post reports that the bourse recorded three appreciating securities and one depreciating stock at the close of transactions, with the sole price decliner being 11 Plc, which lost N23.43 to sell at N221.10 per share compared with the preceding session’s N244.53 per share.

Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N3.78 yesterday to trade at N74.85 per unit versus the previous price of N71.07 per unit, NASD Plc improved its price by N2.86 to N37.36 per share from N34.50 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 33 Kobo to N180.00 per unit from N179.67 per unit.

The volume of trades jumped by 153.1 per cent during the session to 59.2 million units from the preceding session’s 590,339 units, but the value of transactions fell by 37.9 per cent to N59.3 million from the N95.3 million achieved last Friday, and the number of deals contracted by 10 per cent to 27 deals from 30 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 61.2 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion.

GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded equity by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.

Economy

Renewed Buying Interest Lifts Local Stock Exchange by 0.57%

Published

2 hours ago

26/05/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended in the green territory on Monday after it chalked up 0.57 per cent on the back of renewed buying interest in financial equities.

The local stock exchange witnessed the insurance and the banking counters closing higher by 0.54 per cent and 0.08 per cent, respectively, amid profit-taking in the others. The energy index shed 1.77 per cent and the consumer goods sector depreciated by 0.26 per cent, while the industrial goods industry was flat.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 1,412.65 points to 251,125.02 points from 249,712.37 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N906 billion to N160.983 trillion from N160.077 trillion.

Investor sentiment was bullish yesterday after Customs Street ended with 35 price gainers and 30 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index.

Airtel Africa surged 10.00 per cent to N3,655.70, International Energy Insurance advanced by 9.68 per cent to N3.74, Sovereign Trust Insurance went up by 9.65 per cent to N2.50, Caverton rose by 9.63 per cent to N7.40, and VFD Group gained 9.55 per cent to close at N10.90.

Conversely, McNichols lost 10.00 per cent to finish at N7.20, The Initiates dropped 9.91 per cent to trade at N30.45, Learn Africa slipped by 9.69 per cent to N11.65, Zichis crashed by 7.93 per cent to N30.98, and May and Baker declined by 6.60 per cent to N46.70.

During the trading day, market participants transacted 629.4 million shares worth N40.9 billion in 82,434 deals compared with the 711.9 million shares valued at 29.1 billion traded in 62,386 deals last Friday, implying a decline in the trading volume by 11.59 per cent, and a rise in the trading value and number of deals by 40.55 per cent and 32.14 per cent, respectively.

Access Holdings was the busiest equity for the session with a turnover of 61.3 million units valued at N1.5 billion. Zenith Bank traded 37.9 million units worth N5.0 billion, Fidelity Bank sold 35.8 million units for N851.2 million, Japaul exchanged 24.7 million units valued at N90.9 million, and Tantalizers transacted 22.8 million units worth N103.2 million.

Economy

Naira Opens Week Stronger at N1,374/1$ in Official Market

Published

3 hours ago

26/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by 54 Kobo or 0.04 per cent on Monday, May 25, to trade at N1,374.92/$1 compared to last Friday’s value of N1,375.46/$1.

However, it further depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N6.01 to sell for N1,855.73/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,849.72/£1 and lost N158.02 against the Euro to close at N1,755.06/€1, in contrast to the N1,590.04/€1 it was traded last Friday.

In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira weakened against the United States Dollar at the GTBank FX counter yesterday by N2 to quote at N1,383/$1 versus N1,381/$1, and gained N5 in the parallel market to settle at N1,385/$1 compared with the previous rate of N1,390/$1.

The performance of the domestic currency comes as the external reserves inched higher to $48.72 billion, indicating a complex mix of sustained FX demand pressures and modest reserve accretion.

The movement in the FX market underscores the continued tension between demand-side pressure and policy-driven attempts to stabilise the naira.

While recent monetary tightening measures by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have helped to moderate extreme volatility, market participants are struggling to navigate a landscape shaped by intermittent dollar inflows, import-related demand and shifting investor sentiment.

As for the cryptocurrency market, most tokens were up amid optimism of a near-term US-Iran peace deal, as Iranian negotiators arrived in Doha, Qatar, for talks.

The Strait of Hormuz has been largely blockaded since the US and Israel struck Iran on February 28, though traffic has partially resumed in recent days. The agenda would include the reopening as well as uranium control.

TRON (TRX) rose by 1.8 per cent to $0.3714, Cardano (ADA) added 1.2 per cent to trade at $0.2444, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 0.9 per cent to $77,283.62, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 0.8 per cent to $661.30, and Ripple (XRP) increased by 0.8 per cent to $1.35.

Further, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 0.7 per cent to $2,018.82, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $85.37, and Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 0.6 per cent to $0.1001, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.