Economy
Onitsha Shoprite Idles Away
It was set up to compete with other shopping malls in Awka and Nnewi. But the shopping mall in Onitsha, housing Shoprite is not being patronised. Reason? The people have so many markets that offer cheaper prices as Okegwo Kenechukwu in Onitsha, reports,
In fairness to the former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, there was no doubt that he had the desire to make Anambra State a megacity to reckon with in Nigeria and beyond.
To some people, he was the Messiah who turned the fortune of the state around but to some, Obi came on a business voyage with an overriding interest to explore and exploit all avenues of untapped mineral and material resources of the state.
Among the enterprise of the former governor that are visible are the Sab Milla Breweries, makers of Hero beer, the non-functioning Orient Petroleum Resources and the Shopping Mall complexes sited in the three business zones of Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi. Although, the Orient Petroleum Resources in Umuoba Anam in Anambra West and Ayamelum Area is yet to commence production, over 85 per cent of the people of South East hailed the venture because it launched the state into the membership of oil producing states in Nigeria but since the completion and commissioning of the shopping mall in Onitsha on April 14 , 2016, by the present Governor of the state, Chief Willie Obiano, the Shoprite, which people thought would dwarf others in the South East zone has remained deserted, contrary to the expectation of the people.
This, according to inhabitants of the commercial city was because it was a misplaced economic venture.
Investigation has also shown that while the ones in Awka and Nnewi are at different stages of activities, that of Onitsha has remained deserted and a ghost of itself Onitsha Shopping Mall, according to them was located at the former Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) Station office in Onitsha, inside the heart land of the commercial city to draw the expected customers that would patronize it to stand the test of time from within and around the city.
Investigation revealed that so many reasons have been adduced for the poor patronage of the business, while some believed that the location of the mall was ab initio, a subject of controversy between the people of Onitsha and Anambra State government on one side and the ABS on the other. Some alleged that the Onitsha people leased the land to the then Anambra State when one Chief Boniface Offorkaja was the General Manager of the Anambra Broadcasting Corporation in the early 1980s and as such, was a subject of controversy.
Meanwhile, a random opinion conducted by our correspondent showed that most people in the commercial city have little or no time to go to the mall for shopping which according to them was luxury for the wealthy people and not the lower income earners and business men. “Oga, that thing no go work for Onitsha oh.
Who get time to go there to buy tomatoes or yam when you can pick it in Ose Okwuodu market at a cheaper price? They are just wasting their time. For me, I will not even go there unless I am going for site seeing” “Well, I think the idea of citing a shopping mall in the city is a wise one and a step in right direction”, said another trader “but my fear was that it may not survive competition.
You see Onitsha is a commercial city and everywhere in and around the town, you find open one market or the other. There is nothing you can find in that place that you cannot find along the street of Onitsha, even at a cheaper rate,” said a trader in the city.
“Another one is the level of literacy in the commercial city” a commercial motorcyclist said. “Most of the people here are traders that deal with one good or the other. They have all varieties of the commodity around them.
“There are no universities or other higher institutions either from where the students can come to make shopping like that one in Enugu State and the level of government institutions in Onitsha is quite low. I doubt if it will survive.” However the general opinion about the Shoprite is that the apathy already shown by the people and the investment made by the owners of the Shoprite could have been channelled into other ventures.
Source: https://newtelegraphonline.com/onitsha-shoprite-idles-away/
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Geo-Fluids Plc and Afriland Properties Plc propelled the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange up 0.13 per cent on Friday, January 10.
Investors gained N1.4 billion during the trading session after the market capitalisation of the bourse ended at N1.053 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.052 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased at the close of business by 4.07 points to wrap the session at 3,073.93 points compared with 3,069.86 points recorded at the previous session.
Geo-Fluids added 25 Kobo to its value to close at N4.85 per unit compared with the previous session’s N4.60 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 24 Kobo to close at N16.25 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N16.01 per share.
There was a 35.4 per cent fall in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 4.3 million units compared to 6.6 million units traded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded yesterday went down by 37.4 per cent to N17.2 million from the N27.5 million recorded a day earlier, and the number of deals decreased by 47.2 per cent to 19 deals from the 36 deals recorded in the preceding day.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units worth N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira witnessed a depreciation on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 10.
According to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the local currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by 0.12 per cent or N1.80 to sell for N1,543.03/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,541.23/$1.
The pressure on the domestic currency came as the access granted to the Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to purchase FX from the official market through the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform prepares to end next week, precisely on January 19.
The CBN had given a 42-day window to the operators to access the platform to help stabilise the Naira in December, and this expires next week.
On Friday, the Nigerian currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N30.78 to sell for N1,889.29/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,858.51/£1, but gained N5.48 against the Euro to finish at N1,583.81/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s rate of N1,589.29/€1.
As for the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira remained stable against the US Dollar during the trading session at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.
In the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as the US economy added 256,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, topping forecasts for 160,000 and up from 212,000 in November (revised from an originally reported 227,000).
However, the readings came after a number of recent economic reports triggered a broad-market pullback across asset classes such as crypto as investors quickly scaled back the idea of a continued series of Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.
Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to trade at $0.921, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $185.93, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.4 per cent to $3,233.27, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.3 per cent to finish at $103.62, Dogecoin (DOGE) shed 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.3315, Bitcoin (BTC), waned by 0.2 per cent to $94,154.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 0.1 per cent to $693.30.
On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.5 per cent to settle at $2.34, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
Profit-takers took control of Customs Street on Friday, plunging it by 0.08 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The sell-offs were across all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on last trading session of the week.
The insurance space went down by 1.53 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.41 per cent, the consumer goods sector weakened by 0.16 per cent, and the energy counter slumped by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 79.68 points to 105,451.06 points from 105,530.74 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N48 billion to N64.303 trillion from N64.351 trillion.
Yesterday, investors traded 1.5 billion shares worth N19.4 billion in 12,877 deals compared with the 489.5 million shares worth N13.1 billion transacted in 13,010 deals in the preceding day, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 1.02 deals and a rise in the trading volume and value by 203.14 per cent and 48.09 per cent, respectively.
Wema Bank was the busiest stock with 976.2 million units valued at N9.8 billion, Tantalizers traded 53.0 million units worth 129.6 million, Universal Insurance sold 34.8 million units for N26.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 33.9 million units valued at N843.8 million, and Nigerian Breweries traded 27.3 million units worth N873.3 million.
The heaviest loss was suffered by Sunu Assurances with a decline of 9.99 per cent to trade at N7.30, Eunisell shed 9.96 per cent to N17.35, SAHCO crumbled by 9.87 per cent to N30.15, DAAR Communications plunged by 9.28 per cent to 88 Kobo, and Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 7.04 per cent to N1.32.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing gained 10.00 per cent to close at N4.51, Honeywell Flour appreciated by 9.99 per cent to N10.02, Trans Nationwide Express jumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.00, RT Briscoe rose by 9.83 per cent to N2.57, and Secure Electronic Technology grew by 9.46 per cent to 81 Kobo.
Business Post reports that the bourse ended with 33 price gainers and 25 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
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