Oil Futures Rise as Russia Mulls Extension to Current Cut Levels

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira depreciated in the opening session of the week in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, November 27 against the Dollar by N19.71 or 2.5 per cent as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Olayemi Cardoso, said the lender was committed to clearing a backlog of foreign exchange (forex). “We have initiated the payment of unsettled forward foreign exchange obligations, and these payments will continue until all obligations are cleared,” he told bankers last Friday during a dinner speech in Lagos. However, his assurance could not ease the pressure

By Dipo Olowookere Shares of MeCure Industries appreciated by 60.73 per cent last week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited as investors began to see value in the company. Business Post reports that in the week, the price of the stock closed at N9.21 per unit compared with the preceding week’s N5.73 per unit, leading the gainers’ chart of 59 members, higher than 54 of the preceding week. On its part, Multiverse rose by 60.06 per cent to N5.81, Unity Bank improved by 57.26 per cent to N1.84, Secure Electronic Technology jumped by 52.78 per cent to

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, November 27 as expectations of renewed confidence that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would offer stability to the market. Before the market closed, there were indications that the CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, would share his plans for the Nigerian economy at a dinner for bankers in Lagos and this boosted a fresh hope, considering he had not offered a direction prior then. In the official market, the domestic currency gained N161.44 or 16.9 per cent against the Dollar

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has set plans in motion to raise $200 million from philanthropic individuals and organisations as part of efforts to create jobs and support Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria. Nigeria is home to over 36.9 million MSMEs, comprising 96.7 per cent of all businesses in Nigeria. According to data, 67 per cent of these businesses are youth-owned. MSMEs contribute over 45 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), with 98.8 per cent of them in the micro cadre. They account for nearly 90 per cent of the jobs in the

By Kester Kenn Klomegah Russian business lobbying groups together with about 40 business and industry heads have shown interest in exporting Russian products to African markets but said they were faced with difficulties in accessing market facilitation procedures with a number of African countries. Under the auspices of Delovaya Rossia (Business Russia), the group, in an effort to understand some of the processes and procedures, held a special seminar moderated by Delovaya Rossia Vice President, Nonna Kagramanya. In her opening remarks, she noted the important role of “Business Russia” as a single platform where representatives of government, development institutions and

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil went south on Tuesday as the United States indicated that it will begin to ease some energy sanctions on Venezuela, causing the Brent crude to fall by 1.57 per cent or $1.79 to $112.50 per barrel with the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropping 0.7 per cent or 80 cents to $113.40 per barrel. US President, Mr Joe Biden, will authorize American oil company, Chevron Corp, to negotiate with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government, temporarily lifting a ban on such discussions. The first step will allow Chevron, the last major US oil company still operating

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has appealed to Nigerians, especially motorists, to stop panic buying of premium motor spirit (PMS), better known as petrol. The NNPC made this plea in a statement issued on Tuesday, assuring that it has enough fuel to address the supply shortage being experienced in the country at the moment, saying there are one billion litres of the product in stock. The NNPC Group Executive Director (Downstream), Mr Adetunji Adeyemi, was quoted in the statement as saying that, “NNPC has over one billion litres of certified PMS stock that is safe

By Dipo Olowookere One of the leading healthcare equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Fidson Healthcare, emerged as the best performing stock last week. Shares of the company appreciated by 18.11 per cent or 48 kobo in the 5-day trading session to settle at N3.13 per unit. It was followed by Unity Bank, which grew by 15.56 per cent to close at 52 kobo per share, and Royal Exchange, which gained 14.81 per cent to end at 31 kobo per unit. Furthermore, Custodian Investment improved by 14.58 per cent to N5.50 per share, while Julius Berger gained 10.00 per

China has recently imposed restrictions on Japanese tourists. The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo announced the move on January 10th, shortly after threatening to retaliate against countries that further restricted Chinese entry. The Chinese Embassy in Seoul made the same announcement at the same time, subjecting visitors from South Korea to the same outcome. The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo announced the change on its website, stating that standard visas for Japanese citizens have been suspended. It went on to state that no date has been set for when visa issuance will resume, and that more information would be provided later. The

By Adedapo Adesanya The Kaduna State Government has presented the 2022 draft budget of N233 billion to its House of Assembly, with a capital expenditure of N146 billion and recurrent spending of N87.6 billion. This was done by the state governor, Mr Nasir El-Rufai, on Tuesday. In the further breakdown of the budget estimate, it was stated that the capital to recurrent ratio stands at 63 per cent to 37 per cent. Mr El Rufai noted that the 2022 estimates are slightly smaller than the 2021 budget of N237.52 billion, which had N157.56 billion as capital and N79.96 billion recurrent

By Investors Hub The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index has dipped by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index is just above the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.3 percent. Antofagasta has rallied after the mining giant nearly doubled its 2017 dividend after reporting a sharp rise in earnings. E.ON has also moved sharply higher after the German utility announced a special dividend to shareholders after posting turnaround results for 2017. Meanwhile, French telecom firm Iliad has slumped after its net profit stayed essentially

By Modupe Gbadeyanka World Council of Churches (WCC) says it is starting the process of developing a Global Ecumenical Health Strategy, following the legacy of churches’ high profile in health care and mission historically. According to Dr Mwai Makoka, WCC programme executive for Health and Healing, “Standing at the threshold of the Sustainable Development Goals, (we) believe it is time for the church to reaffirm the role it has played over centuries as leader in global health, and to consolidate efforts towards health and healing for all.” Mr Makoka said further that “The church has been engaged in health services