Oil Market Plunges 4% on Fresh US Debt Pact Fears

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking persisted on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, as investors refused to tone down their profit-taking activities. It was observed that the market is gradually entering panic mode due to macroeconomic instability in the country, especially with the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar going above N1,000 in the parallel market. A stockbroker with one of the leading brokerage firms in the country, who asked not to be named, said the local bourse was witnessing panic selling due to investors liquidating their shares for Dollars. “This trend will continue for a while

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The management of BUA Cement Plc has announced a reduction in the prices of its cement from its factory without the transportation costs to N3,500 per bag (50kg). The cement maker confirmed this development in a statement issued on Sunday, noting that it was part of efforts to make sure customers get the products at cheaper prices. In the statement, BUA Cement disclosed that the slash in cement prices is from Monday, October 2, 2023, urging its distributors not to fleet the end users. The firm said, “All pending, undelivered orders which had been paid for at

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Peer-2-Peer (P2P) wing of the foreign exchange market on Monday, October 2, as the official market, the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window closed for the Independence Day holiday. In the P2P segment, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the American currency by N3 to sell at N998/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,001/$1. In the same vein, the local currency improved its value against the US Dollar on Tuesday by N1 to sell at N1001/$1 versus the previous session’s exchange rate of N1002/$1. During the Independence Day

By Dipo Olowookere Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc improved its pre-tax profit by 1.12 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022 to N54.3 billion from N53.7 billion. However, because of the higher tax expense in the period under review (N11.1 billion versus N8.1 billion in Q1 of 2021 mostly due to a deferred tax payment), the post-tax profit fell to N43.2 billion from N45.6 billion. Consequently, the earnings per share (EPS) in the first three months of this year depreciated to N1.51 from the N1.60 achieved in the first three months of last year when the market

By Jerome-Mario Utomi From available records, it was the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, responsible for proposing legislation, enforcing EU laws and directing the union’s administrative operations, that in 1995 defined Governance as the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, manage their common affairs. It is a continuing process through which conflicting or diverse interests may be accommodated and cooperative action may be taken. It includes formal institutions and regimes empowered to enforce compliance as well as informal arrangements that people and institutions either have agreed to or perceived to be

By Adedapo Adesanya Against all odds, the Naira came back stronger against the US Dollar at the parallel market on Wednesday, December 9, gaining N5 at the session to trade at N478/$1 compared with N483/$1 it was sold on Tuesday. But against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro, the local currency traded flat yesterday at the black market at N620/£1 and N570/€1 respectively. The volatility seen lately in the FX market could be blamed on hoarding amid speculation that the value of the Naira could further drop. But the ability of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to supply

By Dipo Olowookere President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his desire to put in place an efficient tax administration so as to improve tax revenue in the country and make payments attractive to taxpayers. Mr Buhari, while declaring open the second National Tax Dialogue Week in Abuja on Tuesday, tasked participants to come up with initiatives that will improve tax administration in Nigeria. He expressed worry over the multiplicity of taxes in the country, stressing that this was causing confusion among taxpayers, noting that this was why the government authorised the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to be the sola agency

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Nigeria has remained low in the latest ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking released by the World Bank on Tuesday. Out of the 190 countries surveyed by the World Bank Group, Nigeria retained its 169th position ahead of Sudan, Chad, Haiti, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Eritrea, Congo Democratic Republic, Yemen, Syrian Arab Republic, Myanmar, Djibouti, Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Bangladesh, Congo Republic, South Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia, which is 190th in the world. New Zealand, Singapore, Denmark, Hong Kong SAR, China, Korea Republic, Norway, United Kingdom, United States, Sweden and Macedonia are the top 10 countries in that

By Adedapo Adesanya The third trading day of the week, Wednesday, July 31, 2019, saw the Naira depreciate by 71 Kobo at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange (forex) market. The local currency closed at N361.68 against the Dollar from the previous day’s N362.39. This was as the daily market turnover at the segment surged by 55 percent to $123 million from the previous trading day’s $79 million. However at the Central Bank’s official window, the Naira/USD remained flat at N306.85/$ from the previous trading day of the week. Same was the outcome for the Naira

By Dipo Olowookere The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to protect civilians in Beni from attacks. Unidentified fighters have killed nearly 700 civilians in a series of massacres that began two years ago in Beni territory in eastern DRC, the HRW said on Friday. In one of the largest recent attacks, on August 13, 2016, fighters killed at least 40 people and set fire to several homes in the Rwangoma neighbourhood in the town of Beni, despite a large presence of Congolese army soldiers and United Nations peacekeepers. “The Congolese government and

By Ahmed Rahma Global health technology expert, the BroadReach Group, has partnered with a non-profit research institute, RTI International (RTI), to offer joint informatics solutions powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), synthesizing managerial, operational and other types of social and economic data. These state-of-the-art tools will help US healthcare payers and providers optimize health outcomes and organizational effectiveness at scale while allowing for customization. In the partnership, RTI brings health research and data science capabilities while BroadReach delivers best-in-class direct implementation experience and technology solutions through its Vantage Health Technologies unit. “Our mission of improving the human condition has been the driver