Economy
SEC Okays NSE’s Sustainability Disclosure Guidelines, Take Effect 2019
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the Sustainability Disclosure Guidelines of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The sustainability guidelines are in fulfilment of the local exchange’s desire to champion sustainable capital market practices in Africa.
The Nigerian bourse said it recognises that the promotion of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles can facilitate more meaningful engagement between investors and listed companies on ESG risks and opportunities. This, in turn, is expected to further deepen the role played by market operators and regulators in leading sustainability policies and regulations.
The guidelines primarily provide the value proposition for sustainability in the Nigerian context and also articulate a step by step approach to integrating sustainability into organisations, indicators that should be considered when providing annual disclosure to the NSE and timelines for such disclosures.
Whilst developing the guidelines, the NSE noted that issuers may be at varying levels of understanding sustainability disclosure requirements and capacity to comply with the requirements, encouraging all issuers to adopt the practice of sustainability reporting.
The NSE said the guidelines are available in electronic form on its website, www.nse.com.ng and will be distributed to issuers listed on all its boards, adding that the guidelines will become effective on January 1, 2019.
They will be mandatory for companies listed on the Premium Board of the exchange, noting that companies having their year ending December 31, 2019 will have on or before March 30, 2020 to file their accounts.
Also, companies having their year ending February 28, 2020 will have on or before May 30, 2020 to file their accounts, while companies having their year ending May 31, 2020 will have on or before August 29, 2020 to file their accounts, and those ending their year on June 20, 2020, will have till on or before September 28, 2020 to file their accounts.
Whilst describing the objectives of the Sustainability Disclosure Guidelines, Chief Executive Officer of NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, explained that, “We are supporting the global agenda of green and sustainable finance, which is so critical for Africa.
“As the first exchange to list a sovereign green bond in Africa, our issuance of these guidelines is to further enable investors to ascertain their exposure to ESG risks whilst providing our issuers with a platform to disclose them along common themes for comparability. We encourage peer exchanges on the continent to continue to enhance information disclosure in their markets as this will help build trust.”
On his part, Head of Corporate Communications at the NSE, Mr Olumide Orojimi, was of the view that, “With continued global participation in our market, a shared framework of ESG principles with multi-stakeholder approach and metrics is imperative.
“The guidelines set out recommendations for good practice in thirteen thematic areas under four core principles in ESG reporting. With the launch of these guidelines, investors can look forward to a consistent approach to ESG reporting from issuers listed on the NSE.”
As a member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative, and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), NSE said it was committed to providing its listed companies with guidance on sustainability reporting and has taken steps to demonstrate its commitment through a number of pre-implementation activities.
The first major step was the hosting of the inaugural Nigerian Capital Market Sustainability Conference (NCMSC) in November 2015, which served as a stakeholder engagement session to discuss the business value of sustainable investment, enhancing corporate transparency and ultimately performance on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues.
Outcomes from the conference and results from relevant assessments aided in the production of the draft Sustainability Disclosure Guidelines (SDG), the stock exchange said.
Also, the NSE held a Sustainability Reporting Seminar on June 8, 2016, to intimate stakeholders with the guidelines, the reporting format and template, and the real value proposition of reporting. The draft guidelines were subsequently taken through The Exchange’s rule-making process, exposed for stakeholders’ comments, and submitted to SEC for approval.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The United Arab Emirates has announced its decision to quit the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to focus on national interests.
This dealt a heavy blow to the oil-exporting group at a time when the US-Israel war on Iran had caused a historic energy shock and rattled the global economy.
The move, which will take effect on May 1, 2026, reflects “the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile”, a statement carried by state media said on Tuesday.
“During our time in the organisation, we made significant contributions and even greater sacrifices for the benefit of all,” it added. “However, the time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates.”
The loss of the UAE, a longstanding OPEC member, could create disarray and weaken the oil cartel, which has usually sought to show a united front despite internal disagreements over a range of issues from geopolitics to production quotas.
UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei said the decision was taken after a careful look at the regional power’s energy strategies.
“This is a policy decision. It has been done after a careful look at current and future policies related to the level of production,” the minister said.
OPEC’s Gulf producers have already been struggling to ship exports through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow chokepoint between Iran and Oman through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass, because of threats and attacks against vessels during the war.
The UAE had been a member of OPEC first through its emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1967 and later when it became its own country in 1971.
The oil cartel, based in Vienna, has seen some of its market power wane as the US has increased its production of crude oil in recent years.
Additionally, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have increasingly competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area.
The two countries had joined a coalition to fight against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis in 2015. However, that coalition broke down into recriminations in late December when Saudi Arabia bombed what it described as a weapons shipment bound for Yemeni separatists backed by the UAE.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc bested four price decliners on the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Monday, April 27. The alternative stock market opened the week bullish during the session with a 0.03 per cent uptick.
According to data, the security depository company added N2.61 to its share price to close at N76.26 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N78.87 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation of the platform increased by N820 million to N2.425 trillion from N2.424 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 1.38 points to finish at 4,053.97 points compared with the 4,052.58 points it ended last Friday.
The four price losers were led by NASD Plc, which slumped by N3.80 to sell at N34.70 per share versus N38.50 per share. FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc fell by N1.45 to N98.10 per unit from N99.55 per unit, Food Concepts Plc slid by 27 Kobo to N2.43 per share from N2.70 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc dipped by 9 Kobo to N2.91 per unit from N3.00 per unit.
The value of securities transacted by market participants went down by 82.0 per cent to N7.4 million from N41.3 million units, the volume of securities declined by 28.5 per cent to 319,831 units from 447,403 units, and the number of deals dropped by 34.1 per cent to 29 deals from 44 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units sold for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Also, GNI Plc was the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with a turnover of 400 million units worth N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The first trading day of the week in the currency market was bearish for the Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, April 27.
Yesterday, it lost N5.80 or 0.43 per cent against the United States Dollar to trade at N1,364.24/$1, in contrast to the N1,358.44/$1 it was traded last Friday.
In the same vein, the Nigerian currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N13.70 to close at N1,847.72/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,834.02/£1, and slumped against the Euro by N11.56 to sell at N1,602.29/€1 versus N1,590.73/€1.
Also, the Nigerian Naira tumbled against the greenback during the trading day by N5 to quote at N1,385/$1 compared with the previous rate of N1,380/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it traded flat at N1,370/$1.
The poor performance of the domestic currency could be attributed to liquidity shortage at the official currency market on Monday, which came amid surging demand for international payments. At $76.50 million, interbank liquidity printed higher across 79 deals, up from the $43.572 million reported on Friday.
Nigeria’s gross external reserves declined to $48.45 billion amid a month-long decline in inflows, amid uncertainties in the global commodity market. The depletion of foreign reserves could be partly attributed to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s intervention in the FX market.
The market remains perturbed by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market, while boosters, including oil prices, continue to look rocky due to stalled discussions and unclear ceasefire negotiations between the US and Iran.
A look at the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) has been rejected near $79,000 three times in eight sessions, leaving the level as the de facto ceiling of its current trading range even as major cryptocurrencies trade lower over the past day. It lost 0.9 per cent to sell at $77,003.61.
Analysts say that upcoming US Federal Reserve policy decisions and top tech firms’ earnings this week could provide the catalyst to push bitcoin decisively above $80,000.
The market also continued to weigh Iran’s interim deal proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which failed to advance over the weekend. The White House said US officials were discussing the latest Iranian proposal but maintained “red lines” on any deal to end the eight-week war.
Solana (SOL) dropped 1.8 per cent to $84.25, Ripple (XRP) went down by 1.6 per cent to $1.39, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $2,290.00, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 0.5 per cent to $625.18, and Cardano (ADA) fell by 0.2 per cent to $0.2480.
However, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 2.0 per cent to $0.1002, and TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to $0.3242, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
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