Economy
Reps to Investigate Total Remittances Flows to Nigeria
By Dipo Olowookere
The House of Representatives has mandated its committees on Diaspora, Banking and Currency, National Planning and Economic Development to investigate the actual amount of remittances made into the country in the last three years by Nigerians living abroad.
At the plenary on Tuesday presided over by Speaker of the House, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, the lower chamber of the National Assembly also directed the committees to collaborate with Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Money Transfer Operators and other stakeholders for a comprehensive report, which should be submitted within four weeks for further legislative action.
This directive followed a point raised by a lawmaker, Ms Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, who called attention of the green part of the parliament on the need to ascertain remittances made by Nigerians in diaspora and the impact on the nation’s economy.
Members of the parliament emphasised that remittances by Nigerians represent household incomes and investments from foreign economies arising mainly from the temporary or permanent movement of people to those economies and includes cash and non-cash items that flow through formal channels such as electronic wire, or through informal channels, such as money or goods carried across borders.
During the debate, it was noted that remittances inflows into the country could rise to $25.5 billion, $29.8 billion and $34.9 billion in 2019, 2021 and 2023 respectively.
It was further argued that over a 15-year period, total remittances flow to Nigeria would grow by almost double in size from $18.4 billion in 2009 to $34.9 billion in 2023.
The lawmakers, concerned that since many transactions are unrecorded or take place through informal channels, stressed that the actual amount of remittance flows into the country was arguably higher; as in 2018, diaspora remittances to Nigeria was equal to $25 billion, representing 6.1 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which also represented 14 percent year-on-year growth from the $22 billion receipts in 2017.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in report, said that remittances from Nigerians in the diaspora rose from $3.24 billion in 2013 to approximately $25.08 billion in 2018, a rise of 126 percent in 6 years amounting to an estimated $96.5 billion sent to the country.
The World Bank estimated that global remittances grew by 10 percent from $633 billion in 2017 to $689 billion in 2018, with developing countries receiving 77 percent or $528 billion of the total inflows.
In 2018, Egypt and Nigeria accounted for the largest inflows of remittances into Africa, with the latter leading in the continent in terms of remittance receipts in 2017.
According to the United Nations official records, there are 1.24 million migrants from Nigerians in the diaspora and the World Bank Report also showed that the Indian diaspora sent a whopping $79 billion back home in 2018, making the country the world’s top recipient of remittances and at the growth rate of 14 percent in inward remittances.
India has registered significant growth in the flow of remittances over the last 3 years, from $62.7 billion in 2016 to $65.3 billion in 2017, remittances reached the $79 billion mark by 2018.
Nigeria accounts for over a third of migrant remittances flows to Sub-Saharan Africa estimated to have amounted to $23.63 billion in 2018, representing 6.1 percent of the country’s GDP, which translated to 83 percent of the federal government’s budget in 2018 and 11 times the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows in the country within the period and was 7 times larger than the $3.4 billion received in 2017 as foreign aid.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a mixed outcome on Wednesday, January 15 after it welcome a new entrant.
Paintcom Investment Nigeria Plc joined the OTC securities exchange yesterday with shares admitted at a unit price of N10.72 and a market capitalisation of N8.5 billion.
However, when trading activities closed for the session, the alternative stock exchange went down by 0.10 per cent, with the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) depreciating by 3.03 points to 3,093.16 points from the 3,096.19 points recorded in the previous session.
But the value of the trading platform increased by 0.7 per cent or N7.54 billion to settle at N1.068 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.061 trillion.
The volume of securities traded in the session went down by 83.2 per cent to 666,494 units from the 3.97 million units recorded in the preceding session, while the value of shares traded during the session jumped by 98.2 per cent to N16.5 million from N8.3 million, with the number of deals going down by 20 per cent to 20 deals from 25 deals.
Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc gained 3 Kobo to close at 30 Kobo per share versus 27 Kobo per share, Mixta Real Estate Plc increased by 23 Kobo to N2.58 per unit from N2.35 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc added N1.15 to settle at N23.20 per share, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N22.15 per share.
Further, Afriland Properties Plc grew by 75 Kobo to N16.25 per unit from N15.50 per unit and Geo-Fluids Plc expanded by 13 Kobo to N4.79 per share from N4.66 per share.
On the flip side, 11 Plc fell by N27.74 to close at N253.10 per unit compared with the previous session’s N280.84 per unit and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost 55 Kobo to finish at N38.95 per share versus N39.50 per share.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 million units worth N134.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 8.9 million units valued at N43.0 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 690,825 sold for N11.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 23.5 million units sold for N5.3 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 8.9 million units valued at N43.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 3.4 million units worth N134.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated on the American currency in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, January 15 by 0.09 per cent or N1.45 to close at N1,551.10/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,549.65/$1.
It was the fourth straight session the local currency was losing value on the greenback in the official forex market as the deadline to end the access of Bureaux De Change (BDCs) to the official trading platform nears.
Also, Nigeria’s inflation neared a 29-year high as it rose for the fourth straight month to 34.80 per cent in December 2024 spurred by high festive activities.
On the British currency, which is the Pound Sterling, the domestic currency depreciated by N24.79 to wrap the session at N1,904.43/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,879.64/£1 and against the Euro, it weakened by N14.74 to sell for N1,600.79 per Euro versus N1,586.05/€1.
At the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the US Dollar yesterday at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.
In the cryptocurrency market, most of the tokens gained as the anticipation of Mr Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president is building bullish sentiment for the market, which was also encouraged by a highly anticipated CPI inflation data report in the US.
Litecoin (LTC) grew by 17.7 per cent to quote at $119.82, Ripple (XRP) expanded by 9.0 per cent to a six-year high of $3.10, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 7.2 per cent to trade at $202.81, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 5.3 per cent to finish at $0.3789, Ethereum (ETH) increased its value by 4.7 per cent to end at $3,376.28, and Cardano jumped by 3.3 per cent to settle at $1.06, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 2.8 per cent to close at $99,707.22, and Binance Coin (BNB) improved by 1.6 per cent to trade at $710.31, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The oil market rose more than 2 per cent on Wednesday, supported by a large draw in US crude stockpiles and potential supply disruptions caused by new US sanctions on Russia.
Brent crude futures appreciated by $2.11 or 2.64 per cent to $82.03 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude grew by $2.54 or 3.28 per cent to close at $80.04 a barrel.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an inventory dip of 2 million barrels for the second week of the year.
The change estimated by the EIA compared with a modest draw of around 1 million barrels for the previous week, which also saw sizable fuel inventories build that dragged oil prices lower.
For the week to January 10, the EIA estimated an inventory build of 5.9 million in gasoline, with production averaging 9.3 million barrels daily. This compared with a build of as much as 6.3 million barrels for the previous week when production averaged 8.9 million barrels daily. That build was the second sizable weekly one after 2024 ended with a build of 7.7 million barrels in gasoline inventories.
The latest round of US sanctions on Russian oil could disrupt Russian oil supply and distribution significantly, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly oil market report.
The Paris-based agency said that the sanctions on Iran and Russia cover entities that handled more than a third of Russian and Iranian crude exports in 2024, adding that the market will be in surplus this year as supply growth led by countries outside the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+ exceeds subdued expansion in world demand.
This aligns with an earlier projection by the EIA which assumes that OPEC+ would roll back its production cuts and that non-OPEC production would continue leaping forward.
Limiting the gains was fresh developments in the Middle East as Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
OPEC in its monthly oil report on Wednesday forecast stronger demand growth than the IEA of 1.45 million barrels per day this year and, in its first look at 2026, predicted a similar expansion of 1.43 million barrels per day next year.
OPEC expects global oil demand to rise by 1.43 million barrels per day in 2026, maintaining a similar growth rate to 2025.
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