Stakeholders Pledge Quality Market for Locally Produced Onion Species

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 Adedapo Adesanya The oil market retreated on Thursday, as traders took profits after prices soared recently while the space worried that high interest rates may weigh on demand. During the trading session, Brent futures fell by $1.17 or 1.2 per cent to settle at $95.38 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) declined by $1.97 or 2.1 per cent to close at $91.71 per barrel. The market had reached a 10-month high as some traders worried high oil prices would stoke inflation, encouraging the US Federal Reserve and other central banks to persist with rate hikes.

By Dipo Olowookere The domestic currency had a breather in the peer-to-peer (P2P) and the parallel market segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, with its value strengthening against the Dollar at the two windows. This was supported by the ease in the forex demand pressure during the trading session, which had the official market, the Investors and Exporters (I&E) arm of the market, non-operational yesterday due to the public holiday observed in the country for Eid el Maulud. Many customers who may have needed FX for their transactions stayed back to enjoy the work-free day, easing off

By Adedapo Adesanya The value of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange sharply declined by 3.86 per cent on Thursday, September 28, after the shares of VFD Group Plc were taken out of the platform. VFD Group, according to reports, is planning to trade its stocks on a larger platform, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX). The delisting of the company’s equities brought down the market capitalisation of the NASD OTC exchange by N44 billion to settle at N1.102 trillion compared with the N1.146 trillion it finished on Tuesday, the last trading session. The market was closed on Wednesday as a

By Dipo Olowookere Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has confirmed the retirement of a member of its board of directors, Ms Dolika Banda. Ms Banda served as a non-executive director on the board of the Lomé, Togo-based parent company of the Ecobank Group from October 2014. She retired from the board at the last Annual General Meeting (AGM) of ETI held on April 24, 2018 following the expiration of her mandate. In a statement issued yesterday, the board, management and staff of ETI expressed their gratitude to Ms Banda for her significant contributions to the Ecobank Group and her renewed commitment

By Adedapo Adesanya In what is the latest scandal in the cryptocurrency industry, Mr Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, has said that he is not on the run from South Korean authorities after the country’s prosecutors’ office said it had received an international arrest warrant on him. Mr Kwon’s company was behind the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD or UST and its sister token Luna which, combined, were worth around $60 billion and in May collapsed to near-to-nothing. The collapse of Terra cryptocurrency (Luna) and the so-called stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) wiped out investors’ money, prompting an uproar that caused the

By Dipo Olowookere The board of directors of Dangote Flour Mills Plc has indicated their intention to secure the approval of shareholders to effect the sale of the company to a foreign investor. Few days ago, the flour milling firm announced that Olam International Limited was offering to buy the company for the sum of N130 billion. Olam, according to the board of Dangote Flour, wants to acquire about 5 billion units of the company for N130 billion, representing about N26 per share, over 100 percent higher than the market value of the company’s stock on the Nigerian Stock Exchange

By Dipo Olowookere The launch of the governorship campaign of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, was marred by violence when some suspected thugs freely used various dangerous weapons during the event. Business Post reports that several persons at venue of the campaign, which took place at the Skypower Ground, GRA Ikeja, were wounded during the attack. It was learnt that some political thugs unleashed terror on those at the campaign launch while Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was addressing party faithful. The incident reportedly forced candidate of the party for the March 2, 2019

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A new loyalty programme aimed to reward about 28,000 cardholders in Nigeria has been launched by Visa. The new scheme will also offer customers of the payments firm 10 per cent cashback when they spend up to N25,000 using their Visa credentials online or via Point of Sale (POS) terminals. According to the company, the loyalty programme, which will last till September 30, 2020, is part of Visa’s effort to champion cashless transactions. It was stated that the offer is available to customers of all issuing banks of Visa cards. “We are delighted to bring tailored offers

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc has shown that in February 2021, there was another modest expansion in the Nigerian private sector. In a statement from the lender, it was disclosed that the growth was buoyed by a solid increase in new orders and output as companies continue to expand their purchasing activity and resumed hiring efforts during the month. The report indicated that signs of spare capacity were again evident, with a fresh record reduction in backlogs registered. However, unfavourable exchange rate movements, higher material costs and a rise in wages added

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Galaxy Backbone have collaborated with the sole aim of deepening rapid penetration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Nigeria. According to the Chief Executive Officers of NITDA, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and that that of Galaxy Backbone, Mr Yusuf Kazaure, lack of synergy, collaborations and unhealthy rivalry among ICT parastatals under the Ministry of Communications in the past affected the growth of the sector. Mr Pantami, when he received the Galaxy Backbone boss at his office recently, lamented that most MDAs have turned IT projects to conduit

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A former Minister in Nigeria, Mr Kenneth Gbagi, has accused commercial banks in the country of making the dollar become a scarce commodity in Nigeria. Mr Gbagi, who served as Minister of State for Education under former President Goodluck Jonathan, alleged that most of the banks endangered Nigeria’s economy through shady and malicious disbursement of foreign exchange to cronies, associates and foreigners. He dismissed the claim that Nigeria currently did not have enough foreign exchange, maintaining that the country had enough dollars to meet the demands of genuine end users in manufacturing and other services. Mr Gbagi,