NSE Market Indices Marginally Drop 0.04%

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu has been charged by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to investigate the allegations that over $15 billion of oil revenues and N200 billion budgeted to repair the refineries are missing and unaccounted for between 2020 and 2021, as documented by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). In the letter dated September 23 and signed by SERAP deputy director, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation urged him to “name and shame anyone suspected to be responsible for the missing and unaccounted for public funds and to ensure their effective prosecution as well as

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, has said the country is unable to clear up to $6.8 billion of overdue forward payments in the foreign exchange market, noting that this is preventing the Naira from gaining stability. Speaking in an interview on Thursday, Mr Edun lamented that the country’s FX market is facing a serious liquidity crisis due to low flows. “The issue we have now is that the market is not liquid enough,” he said in an interview in New York, per Bloomberg. The Minister said that resolving the overdue contracts would allow the Naira

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices settled lower on Thursday even after Russia announced a ban on fuel exports, with Brent crude down by 23 cents to $93.30 a barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) lost 3 cents to sell at $89.63 per barrel. Russia temporarily banned gasoline and diesel exports to all countries outside a circle of four ex-Soviet states with immediate effect to stabilize the domestic fuel market, the government said on Thursday. It said the ban did not apply to fuel supplied under inter-governmental agreements to Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union members, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia

By Adedapo Adesanya The Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), saw a 92 per cent increase in the sales of white products in the month of October 2020 to the tune of N158.0 billion compared to N80.2 billion sales in September 2020. This was disclosed in a statement from the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the corporation, Mr Kennie Obateru, on Thursday. According to the NNPC, the figure was contained in the October 2020 edition of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Reports (MFOR). The report indicated that total

By Dipo Olowookere Nigerian stocks were further depressed on Tuesday, no thanks to selloffs embarked upon by investors, leading to a 0.14 percent at the close of transactions. The year-to-date loss expanded to 20.65 points. During the last trading session of the month, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 30.32 points to 21,300.47 points from 21,330.79 points, while the market capitalisation reduced by N16 billion N11.101 trillion from N11.117 trillion. Selling pressure persisted in the banking and industrial goods sectors, losing 1.12 percent and 0.09 percent respectively. The insurance index appreciated by 1.63 percent, while the consumer goods counter gained

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Farmers who are beneficiaries of the Anchor Borrowers programmes for the 2020 wet season and members of the Maize Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (MAGPAMAN) have been assured of a smooth account opening and loan processing by Ecobank Nigeria. A statement from the lender said the farmers do not need to panic as it was committed and will make sure all beneficiaries get the loans. According to Ecobank, farmers’ accounts have been opened across the 36 states based on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) prequalification for account opening for farmers. It noted that KYC

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Chris Ngige, has reiterated the commitment of the present administration to job creation and provision of decent employment opportunities for Nigerians within the productive age. He stressed that the current high unemployment rate is unacceptable, as no nation can develop by leaving out a vast percentage of its productive human capacity. The Minister made these remarks while delivering a keynote address during the validation workshop of the reviewed National Employment Policy (NEP), organised by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment with support from the International Labour Organization (ILO), other social

The major US index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Monday following the mixed performance last week. Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to strength in the overseas markets, which benefited from political news out of Europe. Stocks turned in a mixed performance last Friday amid another round of downbeat economic data and news that online giant Amazon (AMZN) snapped up Whole Foods (WFM). While the Nasdaq dipped 13.74 points or 0.2 percent to 6,151.76, the Dow edged up 24.38 points or 0.1 percent to 21,384.28 and the S&P 500 crept up 0.69 points or less

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil fell on Thursday as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) left the market wondering about the future output, causing the Brent crude to trade lower by $3.42 or 3 per cent to $114.81 per barrel and weakening the United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) by $4.02 or $3.7 per cent to $105.76 per barrel. The OPEC+ alliance confirmed it would only increase output in August as much as previously announced despite tight global supplies, but left the market wondering about future output in coming months. The monthly meeting ended in a quick

By Adedapo Adesanya mPharma has launched the Hypertension Test and Treat programme (HTT) to support the prevention and control of hypertension in Africa. Heart disease is one of the greatest causes of premature death in Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the prevalence of hypertension is highest in the African region, with about 46 per cent of adults aged 25 years and older being hypertensive compared to 35 per cent in the Americas and other HIC and 40 per cent elsewhere in the world. The HTT programme will be delivered through the company’s network of mutti pharmacies in

By Dipo Olowookere Chairman of Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, Mr Oladimeji Alo, has resigned his appointment to pursue other endeavours. The firm, in a statement issued yesterday, disclosed that the resignation was effective from Thursday, June 7, 2018. Mr Alo joined the board of Berger Paints as an Independent Director on December 11, 2012 and was appointed as Chairman on July 17, 2014. Under his leadership, the board implemented a number of initiatives aimed at strengthening the company for the challenges of competing in the 21st century. Mr Alo is the Managing Director of Excel Professional Services, an Independent Director