Economy
Reps to Investigate Reason for Declining Value of Naira
By Dipo Olowookere
The recent decline in the value of Naira at the foreign exchange (FX) market, especially at the unregulated segment, is becoming worrisome to the lower chamber of the National Assembly.
On Tuesday, the matter was tabled before the green arm of the parliament by a member of the House representing Jere Federal Constituency, Borno State, Mr Satomi Ahmed, under a matter of urgent national importance.
In his motion, which was seconded by Mr Idem Unyimen, he argued that if nothing was done to bring the situation under control, the nation may suffer for it.
According to him, if the value of the local currency continues to depreciate against key foreign currencies like the United States Dollar, the British Pound Sterling and the Euro, the nation’s economy may slip into crisis.
He said there’s a need for an urgent intervention to save the Naira that seems to be going into obscurity despite interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to shore its value against other currencies.
The central bank, in an effort to save the Naira, does regular interventions by boosting FX liquidity in the market through the sale of forex to traders to meet the demands of customers. It also further introduced a promo called Naira 4 Dollar, which allows beneficiaries of diaspora remittances to receive N5 for every $1 sent to them.
The scheme, which was introduced on March 8, 2021, and was supposed to end on May 8, 2021, was later extended indefinitely.
But at the plenary today, after Mr Ahmed moved his motion, another lawmaker, Mr Toby Okechukwu, proposed an amendment to the motion, noting that the situation does not require a legislative summit over the issue as neither Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) are coming to Nigeria nor the insecurity challenges facing the country abating.
He emphasised that the state of the Naira was a matter of market forces and then suggested that the House should launch an investigation into the circumstances behind the unabating falling value of the Naira.
This amendment to the motion was seconded by Mr Wale Raji and was voted and adopted as amended.
In recent times, the Naira has slumped significantly against the US Dollar at the FX market, forcing the CBN to devalue the domestic currency.
The most recent one was the adjustment of the interbank exchange rate to N410/$1 from N379/$1 as the apex bank adopted the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Rate Fixing (NAFEX) rate as the official exchange rate.
The NAFEX rate is used by investors through the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window and at the close of business today, the Naira was traded at 411.75/$1 in contrast to N411.50/$1 it traded on Monday, indicating that it depreciated by 25 kobo or 0.06 per cent.
But at the black market, the Nigerian currency closed flat against the greenback at N505/$1 on Tuesday
At the moment, Nigeria operates these three exchange rate segments despite calls for a unified exchange rate regime from different quarters, including from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deadline for the recapitalisation of the Nigerian pension industry has been extended by six months to June 2027 from December 2026.
This extension was approved by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the agency, which regulates the sector in the country.
Addressing newsmen on Thursday in Lagos, the Director-General of PenCom, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, explained that the shift in deadline was to give operators more time to boost the capital base, dismissing speculations that the exercise had been suspended.
“The recapitalisation has not been suspended. We have communicated the requirements to the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), and we expect every operator to be compliant by June 2027. Anyone who is not compliant by then will lose their licence,” Ms Oloworaran told journalists.
She added that, “From a regulatory standpoint, our major challenge is ensuring compliance. We are working with ICPC, labour and the TUC to ensure employers remit pension contributions for their employees.”
The DG noted that engagements with industry operators indicated broad acceptance of the policy, with many PFAs already taking steps to raise additional capital or explore mergers and acquisitions.
“You may see some mergers and acquisitions in the industry, but what is clear is that the recapitalisation exercise is on track and the industry agrees with us,” she stated.
PenCom wants the PFAs to increase their capital base and has created three categories, with the first consists operators with Assets Under Management of N500 billion and above. They are expected to have a minimum capital of N20 billion and one per cent of AUM above N500 billion.
The second category has PFAs with AUM below N500 billion, which must have at least N20 billion as capital base.
The last segment comprises special-purpose PFAs such as NPF Pensions Limited, whose minimum capital was pegged at N30 billion, and the Nigerian University Pension Management Company Limited, whose minimum capital was fixed at N20 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Thursday, December 18.
According to data, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc led the losers’ group after it slipped by N2.87 to N36.78 per share from N39.65 per share, Golden Capital Plc depreciated by 77 Kobo to end at N6.98 per unit versus the previous day’s N7.77 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped 19 Kobo to sell at N60.00 per share versus Wednesday’s closing price of N60.19 per share.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation lost N16.81 billion to finish at N2.147 billion compared with the preceding session’s N2.164 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 24.76 points to 3,589.88 points from 3,614.64 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold increased by 49.3 per cent to 30.5 million units from 20.4 million units, the value of securities surged by 211.8 per cent to N225.1 million from N72.2 million, and the number of deals jumped by 33.3 per cent to 28 deals from 21 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc remained 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 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.
Similarly, InfraCredit Plc ended as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units exchanged for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has again crossed the 150,000-point threshold on Thursday as the demand of for local intensifies.
The market was up by 0.35 per cent during the session, with the NGX index inching higher by 520.23 points to 150,363.05 points from the previous day’s 149,842.82 points and the market capitalisation climbed by N332 billion to N95.857 trillion from N95.525 trillion.
During the session, the consumer goods index grew by 1.23 per cent, the banking counter expanded by 0.56 per cent, and the energy sector appreciated by 0.05 per cent.
However, the insurance industry went down by 0.23 per cent, while the commodity and the industrial goods sectors closed flat.
Nestle Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N1,958.00, Guinness Nigeria improved by 9.98 per cent to N289.70, Aluminium Extrusion Industries rose by 9.76 per cent to N11.25, DAAR Communications soared by 9.20 per cent to 95 Kobo, and Mecure Industries surged by 9.13 per cent to N55.00.
On the flip side, Stanbic IBTC lost 9.33 per cent to settle at N95.20, Lasaco Assurance went down by 9.09 per cent to N2.50, Africa Prudential slipped by 8.82 per cent, Austin Laz depreciated by 8.82 per cent to N12.40, and Sterling Holdings crashed by 6.12 per cent to N6.90.
There were 35 price gainers and 26 price losers yesterday, implying a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
During the session, a total of 839.8 million equities valued at N32.8 billion exchanged hands in 23,211 deals compared with the 5.9 billion equities worth N216.2 billion traded in 25,205 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 85.77 per cent, 84.83 per cent, and 7.91 per cent apiece.
The day’s busiest stock was First Holdco with a turnover of 385.6 million units sold for N15.6 billion, FCMB traded 76.0 million units worth N805.3 million, Lasaco Assurance exchanged 43.6 million units valued at N111.8 million, Access Holdings transacted 29.6 million units worth N616.8 million, and Chams sold 24.8 million units valued at N75.4 million.
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