Reps Furious Over Failure of Finance Minister, SGF to Honour Invitation

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited depreciated by 0.49 per cent on Thursday, driven by selling pressure on banking equities, especially those in the tier-1 category. The likes of GTCO, FBN Holdings, Access Holdings witnessed sell-offs during the trading session, contributing to the weak investor sentiment observed at the Nigerian stock market. According to data obtained by Business Post, the NGX ended with 29 price losers and 24 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index. FBN Holdings ended as the heaviest price decliner after it shed 9.86 per cent to settle at N26.50, Secure Electronic Technology fell

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Moody’s outlook on Nigeria has been upgraded from stable to positive after the federal government implemented a few economic reforms. In a statement on Friday, the rating agency said the decisions to remove the costly petrol subsidies, devaluation of the Naira and the unification of the foreign exchange (FX) market were good for the economy. When Mr Bola Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, he announced an end to the payment of subsidies on premium motor spirit (PMS). A month later, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the unification of the forex market, while the Naira

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has exempted imported Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and its equipment from the payment of customs duty and value-added tax (VAT), a move expected to result in a drop in the cost of cooking gas in the country and bring much-needed succour to Nigerians. This was disclosed by the Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, in a letter (dated November 28, 2023) to the Special Adviser to the President on Energy; the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS); and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Recall that in 2019, the federal

By Dipo Olowookere The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Nigeria’s revenue–to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of about 9 per cent was too low to trigger the economic growth projected by President Bola Tinubu in his Renewed Hope Agenda. Addressing journalists at its last press briefing for 2023 on Thursday, the global lender said the administration of Mr Tinubu must boost the government’s revenue to have funds to achieve his goals. On May 29, 2023, Mr Tinubu took over from Mr Muhammadu Buhari, promising to jump-start the economy and work tirelessly to address food security, end hunger, eradicate poverty, create

By Dipo Olowookere Ambassador of Spain to Nigeria, Mr Alfonso Barnuevo, has disclosed that his country was open to Nigeria for business investment especially area irrigated farming. Mr Barnuevo disclosed this on Friday when he paid a courtesy visit to the Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adams in his office. According to the Diplomat, Spain has been doing business in Nigeria for the past decades in oil and gas, and they are set to diversify into agriculture. He added that the country was in the process of building solar farming technology that would help boost their agricultural investment. He

By Dipo Olowookere The Orabank Group has announced the opening of a regional and international trading room in Lomé, Togo. The firm, which has presence in 12 countries and in four monetary zones in West and Central Africa, has ever since its formation, had the will and ambition to support its customers (both individuals and businesses), to actively contribute to the financing of the private sector, to optimize the mobilization of local savings and to stimulate growth in African financial markets. This new trading room provides a concrete answer to each of these four objectives. Indeed, it offers Oragroup a

By Investors Hub Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday after China announced retaliatory tariffs against the United States, raising concerns over the escalation of the trade war between the world’s top two economies. A slump in oil prices overnight and the U.S. announcement that it would soon impose new sanctions on Russia also kept investors nervous. Chinese stocks rallied after a government report showed consumer inflation in the country rose an annual 2.1 percent in July, exceeding expectations for 2.0 percent and up from 1.9 percent in June. The producer price index climbed 4.6 percent from last year – beating

By Adedapo Adesanya The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has revealed that consultations are ongoing to suspend foreign scholarships as a result of the current FX crisis in the country. The Naira has performed badly at the foreign exchange (forex) market lately, particularly after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) floated the local currency, allowing market forces to determine its value. Since this move last month, some students studying abroad have found it difficult to access FX because of its high rate. The Executive Secretary of the fund, Mr Sonny Echono, at a public hearing on alleged missing N2.3 trillion

By Dipo Olowookere Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, stormed the branches of Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and First Bank in Abuja on Monday to monitor their compliance with the new directive on the sale of foreign exchange to travellers. Over the weekend, spokesman of the apex bank, Mr Isaac Okorafor, said in a statement that banks have been directed to sell forex to genuine travellers. This came after some people claimed banks were not selling foreign currencies to them, leading to fresh pressure on the local currency, the Naira. To determine

By Dipo Olowookere Foremost pan-African digital payment and commerce company, Interswitch, has announced the opening of its platforms for the 2019 JAMB/UTME registrations. This followed its accreditation by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to provide ePINs and forms for candidates looking to register for the JAMB/UTME examinations. Prospective candidates seeking to register for the 2019 JAMB/UTME examinations can easily obtain their ePINs and forms from enabled Interswitch platforms such as Quickteller Mobile App/Web, Quickteller Paypoint (Agents), via payment with Interswitch WebPAY on JAMB’s website and through payment using Interswitch Paydirect at any bank branch nationwide. Group Head, Corporate

After guiding the Los Angeles Lakers to their first NBA title in 10 years, superstar forward, LeBron James, has signed a new two-year-deal with the NBA champions. The new contract will keep the 35-year-old in LA till the 2022- 2023 season. “LeBron James is a transcendent basketball player and human being,” said Lakers general manager, Rob Pelinka. “This contract extension paves the way for LeBron to further solidify his legacy as an all-time Lakers great.” James’ annual salary will steadily increase in the course of the next three years. The American great will be paid $39.2 million in the 2020-2021

Afro-pop songstress Abigail Chams (real name Abigail Chamungwana) continues to collect accolades. Following her nomination in 2022 for the Emerging Artist award at the Tanzania Music Award, she closes 2023 as the Spotify EQUAL Africa ambassador for the month of December. The prodigiously talented Abigail, or Abby, as she is often referred to, is a multilingual singer who performs in Swahili, French and English. She is also a multi-instrumentalist who plays five musical instruments, the violin, piano, guitar, flute and drums. The Nani hitmaker was born into a family with a musical heritage where her grandfather directed an orchestra and