Economy
Oil & Gas: NCDMB Vows to Exceed 28% Nigerian Content
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) says it is working to surpass the current 28 percent Nigerian Content in the oil and gas sector of the economy.
Mr Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary of the board, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday that they were working to increase the participation of Nigerians in the manufacture of more inputs for the oil industry.
“What we have achieved so far is 28 per cent value retention within the country; that shows the extent of provision of goods and services by Nigerians using components manufactured in the country.
“In the past, industry operators simply give out figures for contracts awarded to Nigerian firms that end up relying on imported goods, but we have devised a more realistic way to assess Nigerian content.
“The current 28 per cent shows the level of value retention within the country, but we are still behind our target; the important thing is that we are making steady progress.
“We are currently working with Nigerian entrepreneurs to leverage on procurement which accounts for over 50 per cent of the cost of projects in the sector, and manufacturing of components will increase the Nigerian content,” he said.
Mr Wabote expressed concern that indigenous companies in the industry had not accessed the $600 million Local Content Development fund.
He said that only three indigenous firms had accessed the fund so far and promised that bureaucratic bottle necks would be removed to enable more indigenous companies to access the fund.
Mr Wabote also said that the board had reduced the compliance approval cycle from two years to one year and would soon achieve its target of six months cycle.
He disclosed that two out of the three pipe mills supported by the board had commenced local production of pipes for the oil and gas sector.
The executive secretary added that six pipe coating mills were also on-stream, adding that the NCDMB had compelled oil firms to patronize the mills to reduce capital flight.
Mr Wabote said that dwindling oil prices had reduced investment in the sector and compelled the board to be more efficient in its operations.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The decline in the share price of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.02 per cent on Wednesday, August 12.
The securities depository company suffered a N10.88 loss to close at N106.00 per unit compared with the previous day’s N116.88 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation, for the third time this week, closed lower, losing N28.04 billion to finish at N2.720 trillion compared with the N2.748 trillion it ended a day earlier. The NASD Security Index (NSI) dropped 46.71 points to end at 4,532.03 points versus Tuesday’s 4,578.74 points.
Yesterday, there was a price gainer, which was FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc. Its price increased by N13.50 to N170.00 per share from N156.50 per share.
The level of activity for the session waned on Wednesday, with the volume of securities down by 89.8 per cent to 150,340 units from the previous session’s 1.5 million units. The value of securities slumped by 55.9 per cent to N18.7 million from N42.3 million, and the number of deals depreciated by 37.3 per cent to 32 deals from Tuesday’s 51 deals.
At the close of business, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 77.2 million units traded for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock 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 exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Foreign exchange (FX) pressure eased on the Naira on Wednesday. August 12, at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX). Its value appreciated against the United States Dollar by 0.17 per cent or N2.31 to close at N1,360.58/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,364.89/$1.
The Nigerian Naira also improved its value against the Pound Sterling at midweek at the official FX market by N1.62 to quote at N1,840.99, in contrast to Tuesday’s rate of N1,842.61/£1. It gained N3.49 against the Euro during the session to settle at N1,572.01/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,575.50/€1.
However, the Naira depreciated against the greenback yesterday at the GTBank forex counter by N3 to sell for N1,370/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,367/$1, and at the parallel market, it maintained stability at N1,395/$1.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that interbank FX turnover rose sharply by 481 per cent to $168.758 million from $29.060 million due to an increase in banks’ activities as intermediaries for their customers.
The apex bank data indicated that the number of deals at the interbank FX market surged to 190 from 47 the previous day.
As for the digital currency market, benchmarked tokens were more positive in line with the US inflation report that eased nerves but failed to spark a broad crypto rally.
Headline inflation rose 0.1 per cent on the month and 3.4 per cent on the year, with the core measure that strips out food and energy up 0.2 per cent and easing to 2.5 per cent.
July inflation matched forecasts, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve can wait on further rate moves and prompting modest gains in gold, equities and some digital assets.
TRON (TRX) grew by 0.7 per cent to $0.3374, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 0.4 per cent to $612.84, Ethereum (ETH) rose by 0.3 per cent to $1,892.73, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.3 per cent to $76.37, and Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.2 per cent to sell at $63,768.51.
On the flip side, DOGE slipped by 1.6 per cent to $0.0705, Cardano (ADA) lost 1.1 per cent to end at $0.1844, and Ripple (XRP) declined by 0.7 per cent to $1.01, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited tumbled by 1.12 per cent on Wednesday as a result of selling pressure in three of the five key sectors of the bourse.
Yesterday, the insurance space rose by 0.71 per cent and the energy counter appreciated by 0.02 per cent. But these gains were erased by the three other sectors, with the consumer goods index down by 4.93 per cent, the industrial goods sector down by 0.42 per cent, and the banking segment down by 0.30 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) receded by 2,756.48 points to 243,967.09 points from 246,723.57 points, and the market capitalisation dropped by N1.762 trillion to close at N157.494 trillion compared with Tuesday’s N159.256 trillion.
The worst-performing stock for the day was BUA Foods, which lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N760.60. Unilever Nigeria shed 9.97 per cent to close at N131.40, John Holt depreciated by 9.90 per cent to N9.10, AVA Capital declined by 9.50 per cent to N8.10, and Austin Laz crashed by 8.81 per cent to N2.90.
The best-performing stock for the session was International Energy Insurance, which chalked up 10.00 per cent to quote at N4.40. Ecobank gained 9.93 per cent to settle at N71.40, Trans-Nationwide Express expanded by 9.77 per cent to N2.36, CWG grew by 9.74 per cent to N21.40, and Cornerstone Insurance improved by 6.80 per cent to N5.50.
Yesterday, 1.5 billion shares were sold for N20.9 billion in 39,085 deals compared with the 3.9 billion shares worth N32.4 billion exchanged in 45,608 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 61.54 per cent, 35.49 per cent, and 14.30 per cent, respectively.
On top of the activity chart was Fortis Global Insurance, with a turnover of 853.2 million units sold for N2.6 billion. Universal Insurance exchanged 251.8 million units worth N214.1 million, Chams transacted 40.0 million units valued at N181.0 million, First Holdco traded 28.3 million units worth N3.9 billion, and Access Holdings sold 25.4 million units valued at N702.4 million.
