Economy
Policy Reversal, Delayed Reforms May Impede Growth in 2022—Rewane
By Adedapo Adesanya
As the country continues to make recovery, one of Nigeria’s think tanks, Mr Bismarck Rewane, has warned that policy reversal and delayed reforms will hamper the much-projected growth in Nigeria’s economy in 2022.
Mr Rewane, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company, made the postulation at the Nigerian Economic Outlook 2022 webinar organised by First Bank of Nigeria Limited on Thursday in Lagos.
In the year, he explained that heightened social unrest spurred by high unemployment and poverty levels and financial sector crisis, among others are what policymakers should watch out for.
Mr Rewane hinged the predictions on increased partnership and collaborations by Fintechs in promoting financial inclusion, adding that there would be rationalisation and drift within the industry, stressing that Tier 1 banks would leverage their robust customer base and balance sheet size.
He said there would be aggressive digital innovation and lending solutions as well as possible mergers and acquisitions within and across tiers to boost capital structure.
Looking at sectorial growths, he said the financial services industry will grow by 8.32 per cent, the manufacturing sector would likely grow by 4.70 per cent, and the agriculture sector is looking at a 1.6 per cent rise in 2022.
He predicted that improved foreign exchange liquidity and increased product innovation would boost the sectors’ growth.
“Players would benefit from volume and value growth. Top players (Nestle Nigeria and Unilever) will report profit growth of 20 per cent in 2022.
“Agriculture sector is likely to grow by 1.6 per cent in 2022, an efficient rail system will ease logistics constraints and boost productivity,” he said.
Mr Rewane added that the information and communication technology (ICT) industry would likely grow by 9.72 per cent in 2022 with telephone penetration on the rise.
“There will be a surge in fintech and mobile payments, while an increased level of activities will be supported by 5G operations, the sector will consolidate within the year,” he said.
According to him, telecommunication infrastructure will expand with cable acquisition across board.
He then said the nation’s economic performance would be largely determined by the successful implementation of the 2022 budget and the newly approved five-year development plan.
He explained that the declining inflation would be positive for consumer purchasing power, adding that monetary tightening in advanced economies could trigger capital outflows.
He also said oil price would remain relatively stable, adding that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth would be sublime.
According to him, in 2022, competition between traditional banks and Fintechs will intensify, while banks with constant innovation and regional diversification will remain resilient.
He further noted that reform could be impeded by political considerations and labour union activities within the year, saying that insecurity could prove tricky to contain and would become a political campaign tool for the opposition.
Mr Rewane also said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would likely increase foreign exchange supply to manufacturers to ease currency pressures.
He stressed that pre-election spending would be positive for aggregate demand and would as well boost corporate performance.
On the exchange rate outlook, he said the CBN would likely step up efforts towards exchange rate convergence.
He also noted that political jitters would heighten foreign demand pressures in the fourth quarter of the year.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited again failed to get out the danger zone on Friday after it further shed 0.33 per cent at the close of transactions.
The woes of the domestic stock exchange was compounded by the sustained weak investor sentiment after finishing with 19 price gainers and 40 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
Berger Paints lost 10.00 per cent to close at N35.10, C&I Leasing declined by 9.86 per cent to N5.03, MeCure Industries slipped by 9.77 per cent to N27.70, Champion Breweries depleted by 9.72 per cent to N13.00, and The Initiates crashed by 9.66 per cent to N10.75.
Conversely, NCR Nigeria gained 9.94 per cent to finish at N19.35, McNichols grew by 9.82 per cent to N3.02, Eunisell rose by 9.24 per cent to N70.90, Deap Capital jumped by 8.81 per cent to N1.73, and Ellah Lakes surged by 8.29 per cent to N11.75.
Data showed that Wema Bank was the most active stock yesterday, selling 90.9 million units worth N1.7 billion, Consolidated Hallmark traded 78.3 million units valued at N317.3 million, AXA Mansard exchanged 32.4 million units for N430.6 million, Access Holdings sold 23.4 million units worth N511.8 million, and Zenith Bank transacted 22.5 million units valued at N1.4 billion.
At the close of trades, investors bought and sold 527.2 million shares worth N15.4 billion in 24,637 deals compared with 619.6 million shares valued at N16.5 billion in 24,865 deals recorded a day earlier.
This indicated that the trading volume, value, and the number of deals contracted by 14.91 per cent, 6.67 per cent and 0.92 per cent, respectively.
Business Post reports that the insurance space slipped by 2.15 per cent, the banking counter shrank by 0.88 per cent, the consumer goods index fell by 0.47 per cent, the energy industry slumped by 0.25 per cent, and the industrial goods sector depleted by 0.11 per cent, while the commodity segment closed flat.
On the last trading day of the week, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 501.74 points to 149,524.81 points from 150,026.55 points and the market capitalisation contracted by N319 billion to N94.998 trillion from N95.317 trillion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Afriland Properties Plc and Air Liquide Plc extended the positive run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by a 0.07 per cent on Friday, November 7.
Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.52 during the session to end at N20.73 per unit compared with the previous day’s N19.21 per unit, and Air Liquide Plc rose by 90 Kobo to close at N10.00 per share versus the preceding session’s N9.10 per share.
This raised the market capitalisation of the trading platform by N1.50 billion to N2.190 trillion from the N2.189 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 2.51 to 3,661.07 points from the 3,658.56 points it ended on Thursday.
The bourse recorded a price loser yesterday and it was Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which fell by 15 Kobo to close at N40.00 per unit, in contrast to the previous day’s N40.15 per unit.
During the trading session, the volume of securities traded by the market participants went down by 57.9 per cent to 197,833 units from the previous day’s 221,284 units, the value of securities decreased by 66.3 per cent to N4.0 million from N11.9 million, while the number of deals went up by 9.1 per cent to 24 deals from 22 deals.
When the market ended for the day, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value with a year-to-date sale of 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.3 million units transacted for N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.4 million units traded for N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units sold for N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units worth N419.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units transacted for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, November 7, by 16 Kobo or 0.12 per cent to close at N1,436.58/$1, in contrast to the N1,436.74/$1 it ended a day earlier.
Equally, the Nigerian Naira gained against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by 21 Kobo to finish at N1,882.35/£1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,882.56/£1 and improved against the Euro by 19 Kobo to trade at N1,657.52/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,657.71/€1.
Once again, the domestic currency retained its previous day’s value of N1,446/$1 at GTBank forex counter, and at the parallel market, it closed flat at N1,450/$1 during the trading day.
The Naira stability is hinged on continued FX interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and overall investor sentiment which continues to get backing from strong external reserves and expectations of sustained high crude oil prices.
Nigeria’s gross external reserves increased to $43.324 billion as of November 6, up from $43.197 billion at the end of October.
This week, the country saw a 477 per cent oversubscribed Eurobond raise which provided additional support for the local currency outlook as it signifies good foreign investment sentiments on the Nigerian economy.
In the crypto market, there were some gains as investors clawed back after recent losses as economic data suggests a December Federal Reserve rate cut could be very much back on the table.
Amid the government shutdown and lack of official statistics, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey released on Friday showed that suggest the central bank might have to re-consider plans not to cut rates again at its final meeting of the year in December.
Litecoin (LTC) added 10.7 per cent to sell at $99.97, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 8.2 per cent to $0.1795, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 6.6 per cent to $0.5791, Ripple (XRP) gained 4.2 per cent to close at $2.31, Binance Coin (BNB) oared by 2.8 per cent to $993.06, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 2.8 per cent to $3,445.19, Solana (SOL) increased by 2.3 per cent to $160.36, and Bitcoin (BTC) advanced by 0.5 per cent to $102,371.77, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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