Oil Market Remains Bullish on Continued US Optimism

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Business owners in Lagos have been assured of more incentives by the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who added that this is part of his administration’s commitment to reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business and enhancing investment opportunities. Speaking at the commissioning of the newly-built wet hair production factory of Godrej Nigeria Limited, the Governor said his government would continue to pursue actions that would eliminate red tapes and regulatory impediments hindering the growth of businesses in the state, thereby demonstrating his willingness for continued collaboration with the private sector to improve the livelihood

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil slumped by more than 2 per cent on Friday as traders showed scepticism about the depth of supply cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) as well as concerns about sluggish global manufacturing activity. Brent crude went down by $1.98 or 2.45 per cent to close at $78.88 a barrel as the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.89 or 2.49 per cent to sell for $74.07 a barrel. For the week, Brent posted a decline of about 2.1 per cent, while WTI lost more than 1.9 per cent.

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited commenced the first trading session in December 2023 on a bullish note, with a marginal growth of 0.08 per cent. Sustained buying pressure kept Nigerian stocks in the positive territory, extending the dominance of the bulls on Customs Street, though the turnover waned. Business Post observed that investors cherry-picked equities in the banking and the energy sectors during the session, leaving them rising by 1.14 per cent and 0.05 per cent, respectively. However, the insurance counter lost 1.10 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.08 per cent, and the industrial

By Aduragbemi Omiyale President Bola Tinubu has said the 2024 budget presented to the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday was designed to achieve macroeconomic stability, a better investment environment, greater access to social security, poverty reduction and enhanced human capital development. According to him, if these goals are achieved, the standard of living of Nigerians will improve and the citizens will enjoy the dividends of democracy. While presenting the 2024 Appropriation Bills to the parliament yesterday, the President said this was why he christened the budget proposal as the Budget of Renewed Hope. Mr Tinubu told the

By Dipo Olowookere Residents of Oyo State are presently happy as the state government commences another series of free medical services put in place by Governor Abiola Ajimobi. The programme, tagged Free Health Mission, is starting today, on Monday, May 15, 2017 at the Adeoyo Maternity Teaching hospital, Yemetu Ibadan as part of the events commemorating the sixth anniversary of the Governor’s administration in Oyo State. According to the government, the Free Health Mission involves free surgical services, screening and treatment of high blood pressure, diabetics, malaria, family planning, HIV screening, immunization and vitamin A for children under one year

By Adedapo Adesanya The United States government has announced it will provide a $5 million grant to the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support efforts to abate methane gas emissions, across Africa. Methane accounts for about half of the net rise in global average temperature since the pre-industrial era. The grant, subject to the completion of US domestic procedures and approvals, will go to the multi-donor Africa Climate Change Fund, which is managed by the African Development Bank. The Fund supports a broad range of activities covering climate resilience and low-carbon growth. US special presidential envoy for climate, Mr John

By Dipo Olowookere The interbank lending rate in Nigeria slumped sharply to 5 percent on Friday from 15 percent last week, Reuters is reporting. This followed the distribution of budget allocations to the different government agencies. It was gathered that the overnight placement had closed around 11.6 percent at the interbank on Thursday. Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, distributes revenue from its crude oil exports among its three tiers of government – federal, state and local. A total of 652.2 billion naira ($2.14 billion) in budget allocations was handed out by the state to its three tiers of government — federal,

By Dipo Olowookere The management of eTranzact International Plc has announced the appointment of Mr Niyi Toluwalope as the acting Managing Director of the Africa’s premier e-payments solution provider. This followed the resignation of Mr Valentine Obi from the position. On Monday, May 21, 2018, eTranzact had announced that it would be making significant changes to its management team. Until his appointment, Mr Toluwalope was the Chief Financial Officer of the firm, a position he has held since 2011. Other executive positions affected by the management changes are: Executive Directors, Mr Sullivan Akala and Mr Ike Eze; Chief Technology Officer,

By Dipo Olowookere In order to return the company to profitability and make shareholders smile, the management of Notore Chemical Industries has shut down its fertilizer plant. Notore is one of the leading fertiliser and agro-allied companies in Africa, with principal activities including the supply of premium fertilisers, appropriate education on best practices for farming and proper deployment of these practices for optimum results. The firm operates the premier fertiliser plant in Sub-Saharan Africa and produces Ammonia with the capability to produce NPK fertiliser. Its plant is strategically located at the Onne seaport in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria,

By Adedapo Adesanya The Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN) has called on African leaders to use the 24,164.60 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDR), which is equivalent to $34.4 billion, given to them by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support economic recovery, coronavirus vaccines equitable access, and health security in their various countries. The call was made by the AHBN Coordinator, Mr Aminu Magashi Garba, in a statement over the weekend. The organisation also called on the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the media in the African region to engage government agencies, including Ministries of Finance and central banks, to

By Adedapo Adesanya Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms Patience Oniha, has disclosed that there could be an influx of corporate organisations in the local bond market next year. She said this could be spurred by the gradual decline in stop rates of treasury bills at both the secondary and primary markets as witnessed at the last sale of the debt instrument two weeks ago. On Wednesday, October 30, 2019, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on behalf of the debt office and the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), auctioned T-bills to traders at the primary market. During

By Jerome-Mario Utomi It is reasonable to argue that ‘history is an unending dialogue between the present and the past through a continuous process of interaction between the historian and his facts’. Likewise, the year 2020, a year ‘garnished’ with controversies and other forms of ups and downs, may have come and gone. Yet, the lessons/controversies it left behind will linger for a very long time. For reasons, the global community and Nigerians, in particular, must not allow these ingrained lessons and controversies go with the political winds. Aside from the age-long believe that any society or group that ignore