Oil Prices Record Largest Week Drop Since May

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is planning to grow its revenue to N4.5 trillion as it plans to end the importation of premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, by December 2024. The chief executive of the company, Mr Mele Kyari, while speaking on Thursday, said the nation would not need to rely on fuel from outside the country because its refineries would have been fully operational. Nigeria is currently revamping its four refineries to make the product available to residents of the country as it officially stopped the payment of subsidy on petrol

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 Adedapo Adesanya  President Bola Tinubu has written to the House of Representatives seeking the approval for an $8.6 billion and €100 million external borrowing plan for critical infrastructure in areas such as power, roads, water, railway, and health. The President also forwarded the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Supplementary Budget to the lower chamber for consideration. Meanwhile, the President will present the 2024 budget to the National Assembly on Wednesday. This was after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion. The approval followed the review of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) earlier passed by the

By Adedapo Adesanya  The federal government, through the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has announced plans to invest $1.1 billion to fully rehabilitate decaying port infrastructure at TinCan, Apapa, Rivers, Delta, Calabar, and Onne ports as part of efforts to improve the efficiency of the nation’s existing ports. Out of the estimated 47,000 kilometres of coastline in Africa, Nigeria makes up about 853 kilometres, creating the perfect opportunity to get access to its much-needed revenue. This coastline and a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone make up Nigeria’s coastline in the Gulf of Guinea. The coastline equals a maritime area of

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) has been partially excluded from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to allow it to exercise its responsibility of achieving strong returns on investments while also contributing to the broader economic development of the country. The exclusion was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja at the first governing council meeting of MOFI. MOFI was inaugurated on February 1, 2023, and was given the mandate to change its status from a registry of investment records to a world-class asset and investment management company. The team is headed by the Minister

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed 0.01 per cent higher on Wednesday, April 19, on the back of the positive performance of Afriland Properties Plc. The real estate company excited its shareholders recently with the payment of a 10 Kobo per share dividend for the 2022 financial year, and this has continued to attract more investors to the firm, resulting in an uptick in the share price. At the midweek session, the stock gained 6 Kobo to settle at N2.26 per unit compared with the previous day’s closing price of N2.20 per unit. As a result,

By Dipo Olowookere The Lagos State government has announced its intention to refund the sum of N141,000 to each of pilgrims going for the Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia from the state. A statement issued by the state government yesterday disclosed that the refund was in line with the recommendation of the National Hajj Commission (NAHCOM), the agency in charge of pilgrimage to Mecca in Nigeria. It was stated that the development followed the review of the cost of the pilgrimage by the commission, which led to the reduction of the fare already paid by the pilgrims across the nation.

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel Young Nigerians across the country between the ages of 18 and 34 make up 65 per cent of new registrants for the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, and 72 per cent of completed registrations so far. This was recently disclosed by the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr Mahmood Yakubu, while speaking at the third quarterly meeting with political parties held at the commission conference room in Abuja. It would be recalled that the last meeting of its kind, which was held in June, saw the presentation of technology-driven innovations to facilitate the CVR exercise

By Dipo Olowookere Transactions at the NASD OTC Market ended on a positive note unlike the trading platform for the listed companies. Business Post reports that at the close of business yesterday, the unlisted securities market recorded a growth of 2.31 percent. This was buoyed mainly by buying interests in Ensure Insurance Plc and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc by investors. While the Unlisted Securities Index (USI) grew by 2.31 percent to finish at 703.50 points, the market capitalisation also increased by 2.31 percent to settle at N476.08 billion. Above is a snapshot of the market summary.

By Dipo Olowookere A total of 4.5 million shares of GTBank and Zenith Bank have been loaned out to interested investors under securities lending. Securities lending involves investors offering to loan out their idle stocks to other investors willing to borrow them for a period of time for an agreed fee. If an investor feels the share price of a particular company is likely to sell below the current value in the future and he does not have the cash to buy them now, he can opt to borrow the stocks for a fee to sell now and then repurchase

By Modupe Gbadeyanka This will definitely come as good news to shareholders of Neimeth International Pharmaceutical Plc, a leading firm in the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria. This is because the company is planning to reward its shareholders bonuses. Neimeth International Pharmaceutical Plc is proposing giving out bonus of one for 10 to its shareholders. The company made this known in a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday. In the letter signed by its Company Secretary, Mrs Onyenekwe, Neimeth Plc said this development was an addition to the financial statement disclosure for the year ended September 30, 2016.

By Dipo Olowookere The list of top 10 biggest beer drinking countries in Africa has been released by a market research group called Global Data, formerly known as Canadean and the lead spot was occupied by Nigeria, the most populous nation in the continent. As a result of its population, Nigeria led the chart with 12.28 litres of beer consumed per year. Beer makes up just 16 percent of alcohol consumption in Nigeria, while other drinks make up 84 percent due to the high popularity of home-brewed beverages. Africa is by far the fastest growing region for beer consumption and