OPEC Basket Crude Slides to $43.14 Per Barrel

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil prices fell on Thursday members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) agreed to voluntary output cuts for the first quarter of next year, falling short of market expectations. As a result, Brent crude futures lost 27 cents or 0.3 per cent to close at $82.83 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures went down by $1.90 or 2.4 per cent to $75.96 a barrel. On a monthly basis, Brent fell by 5.2 per cent while WTI was down by 6.2 per cent. Saudi Arabia, Russia

By Adedapo Adesanya The Supreme Court has ordered that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes should continue to co-exist with the new banknotes beyond the earlier December 31, 2023, deadline. The apex court ruled on Wednesday that both old and new notes should continue to remain legal tender until the federal government puts a process in place for its replacement or redesign after due consultation with relevant stakeholders. The seven-man panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro gave the ruling following an application by the central government asking the court to grant an extension of time for old naira notes

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 The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) on Thursday asked Nigeria to produce about 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2024, lower than the 1.78 million barrels per day benchmark it proposed in the 2024 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly on Wednesday for passage. The output ceiling was around 1.8 million barrels per day before it was cut down to 1.5 million barrels yesterday at the group’s virtual meeting, a huge blow to Nigeria’s revenue target for the fiscal year. OPEC had tasked three consultancies – IHS, Rystad

By Ahmed Rahma A Swedish financial group, SEB AB, has partnered with Alphabet’s Google Cloud to save costly future investments in technology upgrades. SEB is the latest European lender to link up with cloud service providers to help speed up new product development and analyse the vast troves of data that banking generates. Deutsche Bank AG and HSBC Holdings Plc signed deals with Google and Amazon Web Services last year, and the industry earlier this year formed a user coalition, Bloomberg revealed. Speaking on the agreement in an interview, the chief information officer of the bank, Nicolas Moch, said the

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Nigerians have been advised to purchase life insurance policies to help secure the financial future of their loved ones. This advice was given by the chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Insurance Limited, Mr Akinjide Orimolade, in a statement issued by the subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc. He said his company enables prompt payment of claims to beneficiaries, product flexibility, access to expert financial advisors and quality professional services. According to him, to deepen insurance penetration in Nigeria, the firm has introduced The Good Life insurance campaign to educate Nigerians on the needs and benefits of having

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government is looking to collapse the number of taxes paid by Nigerians and businesses to 10 from about 52. This was disclosed by President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Revenue, Mr Zacch Adedeji, during the virtual TOPAZ 88 lecture series titled Revenue Challenges and Opportunities in Nigeria Today. He revealed that this was among some of the plans being looked into by the new administration, which aims to prioritise tax collection from around 10 per cent to scale back on borrowing. Speaking during the lecture, Mr Adedeji said the problem of multiple taxation has reduced

By Dipo Olowookere Pan-African Financial Institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) has announced the commencement of its chat bank ‘Leo’ on the WhatsApp platform. With Leo on WhatsApp, customers who are users and lovers of the app can now can perform basic banking services including checking their balances on the go, transferring funds, paying bills, among other services. Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of UBA, Mr Kennedy Uzoka, who expressed excitement about the development, remarked that the bank is continuously working in line with customers’ demand to ensure that banking services are made convenient and without stress. “This only goes

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Efforts are being made underground to ensure that the trading of derivatives in Nigeria is seamless and at par with advanced climes. Already, the country’s premier central counterparty, NG Clearing Limited, has collaborated with a leading software development firm, Mantissa Infotech Private Limited, for the development, implementation and maintenance of bespoke clearing and settlement technology for its operations. Mantissa has a vast experience and end-to-end capability in providing a suite of bespoke technology solutions to leading exchanges and clearing houses in India. The firm has provided both the trading and the clearing and settlement software for 14

For a liveable climate, Africa is finding its voice regarding conversations around sustainable energy. Experts in the energy sector are leveraging different speaking opportunities to lend their voices and join the United Nations’ noble cause of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible by 2050. Nigeria is the giant of Africa, and one of its indigenous oil exploration and production companies, ND Western, is extending its frontiers of commitment to rally other energy sector players in the continent to join hands and chart a course for achieving the UNSDG #7 — affordable and clean energy. ND

By Modupe Gbadeyanka With the operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, HP’s Anti-Counterfeit and Fraud team recently stopped three major counterfeiting operations trading fake HP print cartridges in the Nigerian market. This was part of the tech giant’s efforts to ensure its customers get quality service, which the original print cartridges offer. Although counterfeit cartridges may look like genuine HP cartridges, they do not provide the high print quality, reliability, and yields that customers have come to expect from original HP products. Instead, using counterfeit cartridges can entail significant risks. These risks can include cartridges that fail prematurely or do

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A training programme to equip fashion creatives in Lagos with e-commerce and digital marketing skills needed to expand their reach will take place on Thursday, May 25, 2023. The workshop is being organised by Ananse Africa in partnership with Ecobank Nigeria. Participants would be taught how to succeed in today’s digital economy, with topics to be treated to include fundamentals of digital marketing and e-commerce, SEO, social media marketing campaigns, content strategies, online advertising, and more. It was gathered that the hybrid training would commence by 10 am at the Ecobank Pan Africa Centre (EPAC) on Victoria