Economy
Retirement Savings Account Holders Grow by 96,346 in Q2
The total number of persons with Retirement Savings Account (RSA) in Nigeria increased by 96,346 to 7,589,936 workers under the contributory pension scheme as at the second quarter of 2017, compared with 7,493,590 registered in the first quarter of the year.
They country’s total working population stood at 69,470,901 as at the fourth quarter of 2016.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated this in its Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Membership Distribution for the second quarter 2017 (Q2 2017), posted on its website.
The RSA membership distribution as at Q2 of 2017 represented 10.93 per cent of the total working population.
This, the NBS stated was not surprising given the largely informal structure of the Nigerian labour force with about 50 per cent of the current workforce engaged in subsistence agriculture and informal trading.
Micro businesses, for example, accounts for over 90 per cent of total micro, small and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria.
Further disaggregation of RSA membership revealed that of a total male working population of 36,363,042 only 5,391,887 or 14.83 per cent male workers registered under the pension scheme as at Q2 2017 compared to 5,328,035 or 14.65 per cent registered male workers in Q1 2017.
Similarly, only 2,198,049 or 6.64 per cent out of a total female working population of 33,107,859 were registered under the scheme as at Q2 2017 compared to 2,165,555 or 6.54 per cent registered female workers in Q1 2017.
Accordingly, out of the 7,589,936 RSA members, 71.04 per cent were men and 28.96 per cent were women compared to 71.10 per cent men and 28.90 per cent women in Q1 2017.
This was compared with the gender split of the working population which had 52.3 per cent men and 47.7 per cent women.
RSA membership was dominated by the Private sector. The federal level had 1,898,199 registered RSA members under the national pension scheme as at Q2 2017 of which 1,384,579 or 72.94 per cent were male and 513,620 or 27.06 per cent were female compared to 1,889,143 registered RSA members of which 1,378,382 or 72.96 per cent were male and 510,761 or 27.04 per cent were female in Q1 2017.
“This may indicate that there are a lot more male employees in the federal public service than female. At the state (including local government) level, 1,537,138 State public workers are registered under the national pension scheme with 863,605 or 56.18 per cent male and 673,533 or 43.82 per cent female as at Q2 2017 compared to 1,525,748 registered public workers of which 858,365 or 56.26 per cent were male and 667,383 or 43.74 per cent were female in Q1 2017.”
“This may indicate that the federal public service is larger than that of all 36 States combined and similar to the Federal service, men dominate with respect to number of employees,” it added.
According to the study, private firms had 4,154,599 registered RSA members under the pension scheme as at Q1 2017 of which 3,143,703 or 75.67 per cent were male and 1,010,896 or 24.33 per cent were female compared to 4,078,699 registered RSA members of which 3,091,288 or 75.79 per cent were male and 987,411 or 24.21 per cent were female in Q1 2017.
It showed that the highest number of registered working population came from the age bracket of 30-39yrs and closely followed by the working population within the age bracket of 40-49 years and 50-59years. This, it said was expected considering ages 2544 accounts for about 55 per cent of the total working population.
“However, the least number of registered working population came from above 65yrs and 60-65yrs age bracket.
“1,898,199 federal working population are registered under the national pension scheme as at Q2 2017 compared to 1,889,143 in Q1 2017.
“1,384,579 are male while 513,620 are female compared to 1,378,382 male and 510,761 female in Q1 2017.
“1,537,138 state working population are registered under the national pension scheme as at Q2 2017 compared to 1,525,748 in Q1 2017. 863,605 are male while 673,533 are female compared to 858,365 male and 667,383 female in Q1 2017,” it added.
According to the NBS report, 4,154,599 private firms’ working population were registered under the national pension scheme as at Q2 2017 compared to 4,078,699 in Q1 2017. Also, 3,143,703 were male while 1,010,896 were female compared to 3,091,288 male and 978,411 female in Q1 2017
In addition, 7,589,936 working population were registered under the national pension scheme as at Q2 2017 compared to 7,493,590 in Q1 2017. 5,391,887 are male while 2,198,049 are female compared to 5,328,035 male and 2,165,555 female in Q1 2017
Private firms’ working population dominated the membership distribution and closely followed by the federal and state working population.
By Adedapo Adesanya
NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange remained in the negative territory after it further depreciated by 0.64 per cent on Friday, July 24, despite recording four price gainers.
The NASD Security Index (NSI) dropped 27.4 points at the close of business to settle at 4,294.75 points versus the previous day’s 4,383.48 points, while the market capitalisation gave up N16.49 billion to end at N2.577 trillion, in contrast to the N2.594 trillion it ended a day earlier.
The bourse was down during the session amid heavy sell-offs, with the volume of transactions skyrocketing by 693.9 per cent to 2.99 million units from Thursday’s 377,635 units.
Equally, the value of trades went up by 71.6 per cent to N69.4 million from N40.4 million, and the number of deals increased by 41.0 per cent to 55 deals from the preceding day’s 39 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 75.6 million units traded for N5.4 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
The market ended the session with four price gainers and two price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which lost N7.44 to trade at N136.19 per share compared with the previous day’s N143.63 per share, and CSCS Plc, which declined by N1.64 to N93.63 per unit from N95.27 per unit.
But MRS Oil gained N13.50 to sell at N148.50 per share versus N135.00 per share, Afriland Properties Plc advanced by 56 Kobo to N17.41 per unit from N16.85 per unit, UBN Property Plc surged by 18 Kobo to N1.93 per share from N1.75 per share, and Food Concepts Plc climbed by 1 Kobo to N2.50 per unit from N2.49 per unit.
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigeria’s stock exchange succumbed to profit-taking on Friday, losing 0.19 per cent when the closing gong was hit at 4 pm.
Shares in the banking and energy sectors influenced the decline suffered by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited during the session, as they respectively closed lower by 0.40 per cent and 0.04 per cent.
The industrial goods index was flat yesterday, while the insurance counter gained 0.68 per cent and the consumer goods space chalked up 0.25 per cent. The gains by these two segments could not keep Customs Street in the green territory at the close of business.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 474.00 points to 247,357.40 points from 247,831.40 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N306 billion to N159.588 trillion from N159.894 trillion.
Presco dropped 10.00 per cent during the trading day to close at N2,070.00, Thomas Wyatt crumbled by 9.93 per cent to N3.63, Trans-Nationwide Express plunged by 8.44 per cent to N2.82, Royal Exchange slipped by 7.86 per cent to N1.29, and LivingTrust Mortgage Bank shrank by 7.32 per cent to N3.80.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing improved by 9.48 per cent to N6.35, Cornerstone Insurance rose by 9.09 per cent to N6.00, RT Briscoe jumped by 8.61 per cent to N13.25, Honeywell Flour expanded by 7.38 per cent to N17.45, and Africa Prudential increased by 6.98 per cent to N13.80.
Despite the poor performance, the local bourse recorded a positive market breadth index after finishing with 35 price gainers and 25 price losers, representing strong investor sentiment.
It was a relatively quiet market on Friday, as the activity level dropped, with the trading volume down by 27.72 per cent to 565.5 million units from 782.4 million units, and the trading value contracted by 46.89 per cent to N29.9 billion from N56.3 billion, while the number of deals executed by investors soared by 16.03 per cent to 53,688 deals from 46,273 deals.
Access Holdings was the busiest stock for the session, with a turnover of 128.0 million units sold for N3.8 billion, First Holdco transacted 35.4 million units worth N4.3 billion, Chams exchanged 34.8 million units valued at N154.3 million, Zenith Bank traded 30.4 million units for N3.9 billion, and UBA sold 30.4 million units worth N1.5 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marked a whole week of appreciation against the United States Dollar on Friday, July 24, further gaining N5.67 or 0.41 per cent to close at N1,362.09/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) compared with N1,367.76/$1 it ended on Thursday.
Equally, the local currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N10.83 to trade at N1,813.62/£1 versus the preceding day’s N1,824.45/£1, and improved against the Euro by N7.68 to settle at N1,549.10/€1, in contrast to the N1,556.78/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
However, at the parallel market and GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian currency remained unchanged against the greenback during the session at N1,400/$1 and N1,379/$1, respectively.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) buffer has been strengthened with sustained foreign portfolio inflows and robust foreign reserves, which stand above $52 billion.
The apex bank’s policy signals that the Naira will be stronger in the near term, with Nigeria clearing hurdles with FX reforms and settlement of all backlogs.
However, some traders expect that pressure may come due to foreign-currency buying from fuel importers as they make Dollar purchases to build inventories.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC), in the digital currency landscape, trimmed recent gains as it fell by 2.3 per cent to $63,787.73.
The weak action in the AI momentum trade is feeding through to crypto as well.
Further, Cardano (ADA) dropped 3.7 per cent to close at $0.1615, Solana (SOL) dipped by 2.8 per cent to $73.71, Ripple (XRP) crashed by 2.3 per cent to $1.08, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 1.9 per cent to $1,851.58, Dogecoin (DOGE) retreated by 0.8 per cent to $0.0694, Binance Coin (BNB) contracted by 0.7 per cent to $564.18, and TRON (TRX) lost 0.5 per cent to trade at $0.3292, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
