Oil Sheds Over 3% as OPEC, JTC Wade in to Stop Further Drop

By Adedapo Adesanya The boards of insurance companies operating in the country have been charged by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to embrace the measures put in place to tackle the challenges of unpaid claims. The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, expressed worry over the number of outstanding claims in the sector despite efforts by the regulator to address the issue. Mr Thomas, who is also the chief executive of NAICOM, said the organisation, in collaboration with members of the Insurers’ Committee, has taken decisions and incepted measures designed to tame the menace of unpaid claims. Speaking at the

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives has pledged to stop international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta from divestment of their offshore assets without being accountable to the environment. The Chairman of the House of Reps Committee on Host Communities, Mr Dumnamene Dekor, said this during a technical session on the implementation of the Host Communities Development Trusts (HCDT), organised by Spaces for Change (S4C) with support from Ford Foundation. Mr Dekor raised the alarm that since the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021, host communities have not experienced any positive change, rather have remained

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 Dipo Olowookere The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Abubakar Malami; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele; and the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu have been ordered to provide a detailed submission on amount of monies recovered so far by them since the inception of this administration on May 29, 2015. President Muhammadu Buhari, who gave this order, further said Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Mr Ekpo Nta; the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr Babagana Monguno; and the Director-General of the Department of

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Bank of Ghana has reduced the country’s benchmark rate to 23.5 percent from 25.5 percent as inflation eases and the West African nation’s currency, the Cedi, recovers. This is the second time in four months that Ghana’s central bank would be slashing the interest rate as the economy finds its bearing again. On Monday, the Governor of Bank of Ghana, Mr Abdul Nashiru Issahaku, explained to newsmen in Accra, the country’s capital city that the benchmark rate was cut because the underlying inflation pressures have eased considerably. He pointed out that inflation is projected to trend

By Modupe Gbadeyanka As part of its ongoing commitment to protecting customers from cyberthreats, regardless of their origin or purpose, Kaspersky Lab has announced the launch of its Global Transparency Initiative. With this Initiative, Kaspersky Lab will engage the broader information security community and other stakeholders in validating and verifying the trustworthiness of its products, internal processes, and business operations, as well as introducing additional accountability mechanisms by which the company can further demonstrate that it addresses any security issues promptly and thoroughly. Also as part of the Initiative, the company intends to provide the source code of its software

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The nation’s overnight lending rate moderated to 3.58 percent on Monday from 4.83 percent recorded at the close of transactions last Friday. This was as system liquidity remained significantly robust following inflows from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the previous session. Also at the close of business yesterday, the Open Buy Back (OBB) rate went down to 3.08 percent from 4.08 percent in the last trading day. According to analysts at Zedcrest Research, barring a significant liquidity mop up by the CBN, system liquidity which opened the week at N950 billion is expected to remain

By Ahmed Rahma The National Examinations Council (NECO) has postponed the commencement of the 2020 Senior Schools Certificate Examinations (SSCE) for external candidates. The nation’s examination body, which had earlier fixed the date for the start of the exercise for Monday, February 1, 2021, said the exam will no longer take place on that date but at another day. In a statement issued on Tuesday by its Head of Information and Public Relations Division, Mr Azeez Sani, it was disclosed that the new date for the exercise is Monday, February 8, 2021. NECO explained that the rationale behind the shift

By Modupe Gbadeyanka War and a collapsing economy have left some 100,000 people facing starvation in parts of South Sudan where famine was declared today, three UN agencies warned. A further 1 million people are classified as being on the brink of famine. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) also warned that urgent action is needed to prevent more people from dying of hunger. If sustained and adequate assistance is delivered urgently, the hunger situation can be improved in the coming months and further

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Nigeria’s retail lender, Unity Bank Plc, has collaborated with AltSchool Africa to sponsor female students towards the acquisition of specialist software skills. This partnership is in commemoration of International Women’s Day (IWD) 2022 and an empowerment initiative to boost the capacity of the female gender. AltSchool Africa is a school for individuals looking to gain technical skills and kick start a career in Software Engineering. The school currently prides itself on the large enrolment of female students. Unity Bank Plc is providing funds to encourage enrolment of young female students into AltSchool who will pursue a career

By Investors Hub The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a modestly higher opening on Tuesday, with stocks likely to attempt another rebound after turning lower over the course of the previous session. The upward momentum on Wall Street comes after the downturn seen on Monday dragged the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 down to six-month closing lows and the Dow fell to its lowest closing level in well over three months. Traders may once again look to pick up stocks at reduced levels after bargain hunting efforts in the previous session were thwarted by renewed concerns about the