Economy
Onions Can Attract Foreign Investors to Nigeria—Customs
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Onion Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria (OPMAN) have inaugurated documented onion exports through Illela land border in Sokoto State.
At the launch of the programme yesterday, the Area Controller of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr Abdulrahameed Ma’aji, in charge of Sokoto and Zamfara states, urged producers and marketers to utilize the opportunity for enhanced production and trading.
Mr Ma’aji commended President Muhammadu Buhari for reopening the land borders for legitimate businesses, and lauded the efforts of the Comptroller General of NCS, Mr Hameed Ali, for keeping in tune with international best practices in customs’ responsibilities.
He described onion as a commodity with vast potentials that could attract foreign investors and create employment opportunities along with enhancing value addition to consumption and industrial use.
He said the NCS worked with stipulated laws and guidelines, to enhance trade and encourage domestic entrepreneurs individuals and groups to key into exports, for national economic growth.
“Despite COVID-19 pandemic, NCS provided proactive solutions to the public that will aid continued reliable and quality service delivery for the sustenance of global trade,” Mr Ma’aji said.
Also speaking at the occasion, the National President of OPMAN, Mr Aliyu Maitasamu, said onion was an important vegetable, whose distinctive flavour and medicinal content was appreciated by people throughout the world.
Mr Maitasamu noted that there is no household that does not consume onion, as it is being used as bulbs, onion powder, and others which serve as a raw material in the production of seasoning, ketchup, noodles, onion oil, onion jam, flakes by various food industries.
He explained that onion is used in pharmaceutical products, targeting the management of obesity, heart disease and cancer, due to its high vitamins, mineral and antioxidants content.
The President said based on these benefits, the union resolved to join hands with all onion exporters across the nation and take advantage of the federal government initiative on the diversification of the nation’s economy.
According to him, no fewer than 2,000 marketers engaged in the business, thousands engaged in its farming and other associated businesses, had been mobilised by the association.
“In line with the Federal Government plan to diversify the economy and create jobs, the union in conjunction with sister bodies in West and Central Africa developed an onion recovery plan which will target an average steady growth of 20 per cent each year, from 2020 to 2026.
“Nigeria is among the 10 top onion exporting countries in the world, and with a competitive advantage of producing the largest onion producing country in sub-Saharan Africa, with annual 1.4 million metric tonnes in output.
“With the present arrangement, Nigeria will continuously export onions to Niger Republic, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Mali, Cote D’Ivoire, and others, with more expanding opportunities,” Mr Maitasamu said.
He added that with the commencement of documented export of onion and onion products, the commodity has the capacity to contribute greatly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), encourage repatriation of forex back to Nigeria and other value addition from the global map of onion exporting countries.
It was reported that the occasion was attended by Nigerian authorities, exporters and clearing agents, traditional rulers and representatives of law enforcement agencies.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities lifted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.38 per cent on Friday, July 3, with the NASD Security Index (NSI) up by 58.80 points to 4,307.26 points from 4,248.46 points, and the market capitalisation closing higher by N35.30 billion to N2.585 trillion from N2.549 trillion.
The price gainers were led by 11 Plc, which expanded by N20.05 to close at N220.55 per share compared with the previous day’s N200.50 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by N5.36 to N151.82 per unit from N146.46 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N3.52 to N90.74 per share from N87.22 per share.
Yesterday, the value of transactions surged by 1,431.2 per cent to N160.1 million from the preceding session’s N10.5 million, and the volume of trades rose by 303.7 per cent to 1.8 million units from 440,653 units, while the number of deals decreased by 34.4 per cent to 21 deals from 32 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 70.7 million units transacted for N4.9 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The losing streak on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was halted on Friday after the bourse closed higher by 2.19 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The gains reported by Nigerian stocks were buoyed by renewed bargain-hunting by investors, which resulted in all the key sectors of Customs Street ended in the green territory.
The banking space rose by 2.78 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 1.26 per cent, the energy segment expanded by 0.36 per cent, the consumer goods index chalked up 0.06 per cent, and the industrial goods sector grew by 0.05 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 4,918.37 points to 229,240.34 points from 224,321.97 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N3.156 trillion to N147.103 trillion from N143.947 trillion.
Investor sentiment was bullish after 34 stocks ended on the price gainers’ chart and 18 stocks finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index.
The quintet of The Initiates, Universal Insurance, DAAR Communications, Omatek, and Airtel Africa surged by 10.00 per cent to sell for N25.85, 88 Kobo, N1.65, N1.76, and N5,274.00, respectively.
On the flip side, International Energy Insurance lost 9.96 per cent to trade at N4.70, Meyer shed 9.95 per cent to close at N18.55, Veritas Kapital dropped 5.07 per cent to finish at N1.31, Fidelity Bank slipped by 2.17 per cent to N18.00, and Jaiz Bank crashed by 1.84 per cent to N28.12.
During the session, a total of 414.7 million equities worth N25.1 billion exchanged hands in 47,106 deals compared with the 855.4 million equities valued at N28.4 billion transacted in the preceding day in 51,609 deals, implying a contraction in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 51.52 per cent, 11.62 per cent, and 8.73 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira closed flat against the United States Dollar at N1,370.19/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, July 3.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N2.29 to settle at N1,829.88/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,832.17/£1, and marginally depreciated against the Euro by 4 Kobo to close at N1,568.32/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,568.28/€1.
At the parallel market, the Naira also traded flat against the US Dollar at N1,390/$1, and at the GTBank forex desk, it also maintained stability at N1,832/$1.
Market conditions improved shortly after the following minimal intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through modest Dollar sales, which boosted liquidity and supported stronger trading activity.
Easing pressure came after half-year profit-taking tapered down, while continued stronger policy signals from the central bank add to near-term support.
Deals executed at the official market on Friday came in at $70.430 million across 82 interbank deals, from $85.517 million the previous day.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market continued its recovery after June non-farm payrolls printed at 57,000, less than half the 113,000 consensus, sending the implied probability of a September Federal Reserve rate hike from 64 per cent to 54 per cent and dragging AI stocks sharply lower.
Weak labour data reduces inflationary pressure and, by extension, the Federal Reserve’s justification for holding rates elevated. That transmission mechanism is direct: lower rate-hike odds compress the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like crypto.
Bitcoin regained the $62,000 mark after it rose by 1.3 per cent to $62,475.29.
Cardano (ADA) gained 6.6 per cent to trade at $0.1759, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.14, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 2.4 per cent to $1,756.82, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 2.1 per cent to $0.0768, Solana (SOL) chalked up 1.8 per cent to $82.65, TRON (TRX) increased by 1.5 per cent to $0.3235, and Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 1.4 per cent to $569.12, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
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