Oil Prices Remain Mixed as Market Faces Gloomy Times

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Naira opened the week stronger on the American Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, December 4 as pressure eased amid continued foreign exchange (FX) liquidity squeeze in the market. In the official market, the Naira appreciated against the greenback by 9.6 per cent or N89.42 to settle at N837.77/$1 compared with last Friday’s closing price of N927.19/$1. Also, the Naira gained N172.53 against the Pound Sterling in the NAFEM segment of the market during the session to close at N1,031.57/£1 versus last Friday’s rate of N1,204.10/£1 and against the Euro,

By Adedapo Adesanya Bitmama Incorporated, a crypto exchange company, has confirmed the acquisition of Payday, a virtual card service provider. According to reports, the chief executive of Bitmama, Mrs Ruth Iselema, has offered PayDay investors $1 million worth of equity in the crypto company at a $30 million valuation. The news comes barely nine months after Payday announced its $3 million seed round and three months after its exploration of sale options was confirmed. Facilitated through Bitmama’s cross-border payments product, Changera, the acquisition marks a pivotal shift from earlier speculations, including a potential acquisition by lead investor, Moniepoint. Changera is

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil fell on Monday as traders approached the market with caution over plans by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) to cut production in the first quarter of 2024. Brent crude futures lost 85 cents or 1.08 per cent to finish at $78.03 a barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures depreciated by $1.03 or 1.39 per cent to sell at $73.04 per barrel. OPEC+ announced voluntary production cuts at its meeting last week and this has raised doubts about whether or not producers would fully implement them. Investors

By Modupe Gbadeyanka New data has shown that 81 per cent of Nigerians use their smartphones to shop online, while 19 per cent access the online platform through desktops. This information was contained in the Jumia Africa e-Commerce Index 2021 released recently, showing the shopping trends in the country, illustrating the importance of shopping online in a pandemic context. It was revealed that Lagos recorded the most volume of orders on the Jumia logistics network in Nigeria, while Jumia Nigeria has more than 11,000 sellers, having achieved gender parity with 51 per cent of sellers on the platform as women.

By Timi Olubiyi, PhD Life is indeed transient, my father, Chief Sehindemi Hezekiah Awe Olubiyi, JP left this world in the year 2020 and it feels just like yesterday. So, with a keen desire, I write to reflect on social class particularly social mobility which is a concept I benefited from and learnt from him during his lifetime. Social mobility, in my opinion, can be regarded as the movement of individuals, families, or groups through a system of social hierarchy. This means, when people improve or diminish their economic status in a way that affects social class, they experience social

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Ogun River Bridge will soon be opened to traffic very soon as the work on the road is close to completion, the Commissioner for Public Works and Transports in Oyo State, Professor Dahud Kehinde Sangodoyin, assured during an inspection of the 34.8 Km Oyo-Fasola-Iseyin Road constructions which started in 2021. While commending Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State for his relentless effort to improve the state’s agriculture and economy through the construction of good roads, Professor Sangodoyin implored the citizens to protect whatever facility the government has provided so that there will not be any need

By Dipo Olowookere While Nigeria’s economy and external sector have long been dominated by oil and petroleum, the country is currently seeking to tap into the extensive reserves of solid minerals such as gold, tin, coal and others. But adopting and domesticating the African Mining Vision (AMV) will contribute to laying the institutional groundwork and cementing strong accountability mechanisms that are vital for Nigeria’s plans to expand mineral investment and production. In a presentation was made during the 6th Sustainability in the Extractive Industries (SITEI) conference, hosted by CSR-in-Action in Abuja, John Sloan of the African Minerals Development Center (AMDC)

The Corporate Internet Banking (CIB) platform of FBNQuest Merchant Bank, the investment banking and asset management business of FBN Holdings Plc, has been upgraded. The new platform makes transactions by users easier to perform. The relaunch of the platform is in line with FBNQuest’s objective to offer a range of digital and online solutions that deliver an excellent customer experience. According to the Head of Coverage and Corporate Banking for FBNQuest Merchant Bank, Mr Afolabi Olorode, “In these uncertain times, when we need to be more present and relevant in the lives of our customers, we are committed to ensuring

By Modupe Gbadeyanka In the first quarter of 2018, the Federal Government plans to borrow between N315 billion and N385 billion worth of bonds from the local market. This information was disclosed on Wednesday by the Debt Management Office (DMO) when it released its FGN bonds issuance calendar for the first quarter of this year. The debt office is approaching the Naira dominated market to raise the above amounts to support financing of the budget. Business Post gathered from the calendar that while some of the bonds are re-opening, others are new issues. On January 24, 2018, the DMO plans

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Globally, infrastructure contributes and facilitates the provision of essential services that support economic growth, enable productivity and underpin the smooth operation of a n economy. Over the years, there has been a growing need for governmental bodies and private sector to acquire, maintain, modernise, expand and develop infrastructure facilities essential to ensuring continued growth in economic activity. Commendably, Viathan Funding Plc has indubitably set the pace for the development of Nigeria’s infrastructure sectors via the Nigerian debt capital market (DCM), having successfully raised a N10 billion Series 1 10-year 16 percent Senior Guaranteed Fixed Rate Bond (the

By Dipo Olowookere The Oyo State Governor, Mr Abiola Ajimobi, says his administration will continue to reward excellence in academic activities, as it sets out to revamp the academic standard of the state for greatness with appropriate policies. He made this commitment at the recent inauguration of Oyo State Schools’ Governing Board; a new initiative to coordinate the administration of secondary schools in the state. The event also witnessed the recognition of the best overall student in the 2015 WAEC who is an indigene of Oyo state. The awardee, Mr David Babalola, a 200 level Medicine student of the University