Economy
SEC Urges Investors to Explore Opportunities in Capital Market
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Mary Uduk, has advised investors to look into the capital market as an avenue to create wealth.
She said in Abuja on Tuesday that the space has the potential to minimise the drastic effects of the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world and businesses at the moment.
“We must continue to make the best we can of the situation. As a regulator, we have put measures in place to ensure our market does not shut down, trade is presently going on at the various exchanges that make up our market.
“The Nigerian Stock Exchange is continuing with trading, the FMDQ and all the exchanges are actually continuing and everything is going well,” she said.
According to her, SEC ensured that the capital market remained active despite the lockdown because it wanted residents to continue to make money to sustain them in this period.
However, she noted that the pandemic, which led to a lockdown of three parts of the country for five weeks, has had a tremendous negative impact on Nigeria’s economy and lives of citizens.
But she urged Nigerians to remain resolute and explore opportunities available in the capital market, noting that, “We are leveraging technology to continue our activities. Initially, people were afraid that technology would have bad effects like loss of jobs, but right now it has become a saving grace.”
“So, most of us have put our Business Continuity Plans (BCP) in process. Staff are working, we are interacting with market operators who are also working, and our market is open.
“We released three circulars concerning actions against COVID-19. One of them was to request Capital Market Operators and organisations we regulate to send us reports on their Business Continuity Plans and processes (BCP) and as you can see the market has been trading as everyone activated their BCPs.
“We have also requested public companies to continue to send out information to ensure investors are informed. They are to give out information on how COVID–19 would affect them, and if possible, make forecasts and outlooks to let investors know how they expect the pandemic to affect their operations and profitability,” she added.
Ms Uduk stated that before the partial easing of the lockdown, both the SEC and stakeholders in the market were all working remotely adding that these were done in a bid to ensure there is no shut down.
She expressed satisfaction with the way the market is going during these challenging times and urged investors to continue to invest as the market is safe.
On investor confidence in this period of COVID-19, Ms Uduk said the commission has many measures in place to improve market confidence.
She described investor protection as one of the major mandates of the SEC which is viewed seriously knowing that investors will not come to the market in the absence of adequate protections for them.
“One of the ways we protect investors is the e-dividend system we have put in to ensure investors get their dividends directly.
“Dividends do not have to be routed through stockbrokers any longer. We also have the Direct Cash Settlement, Complaints Management Framework, Transmission of shares among others initiatives to protect investors.
“We also have continued to educate investors on how to approach the market, we have continued to ensure improvement of market conduct, and we are working to deepen the market to ensure there is improved confidence. We are optimistic that confidence in the market will continue to improve,” she said.
The SEC boss added that another form of investor protection the Commission continues to offer is to ensure that market conduct is at its best, as the SEC ensures that registered capital market operators treat investors fairly and obey the rules of the market.
Economy
Petrol Supply up 55.4% as Daily Consumption Reaches 52.1 million Litres
By Adedapo Adesanya
The supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, increased by 55.4 per cent on a month-on-month basis to 71.5 million litres per day in November 2025 from 46 million litres per day in October.
This was contained in the November 2025 fact sheet of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) on Monday.
The data showed that the nation’s consumption also increased by 44.5 per cent or 37.4 million litres to 52.1 million litres per day in November 2025, against 28.9 million litres in October.
The significant increase in petrol supply last month was on account of the imports by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited into the Nigerian market from both the domestic and the international market.
Domestic refineries supplied in the period stood at 17.1 million litres per day, while the average daily consumption of PMS for the month was 52.9 million litres per day.
The NMDPRA noted that no production activities were recorded in all the state-owned refineries, which included Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, in the period, as the refineries remained shut down.
According to the report, the imports were aimed at building inventory and further guaranteeing supply during the peak demand period.
Other reasons for the increase, according to the NMDPRA, were due to “low supply recorded in September and October 2025, below the national demand threshold; the need for boosting national stock level to meet the peak demand period of end of year festivities, and twelve vessels programmed to discharge into October, which spilled into November.”
On gas, the average daily gas supply climbed to 4.684 billion standard cubic feet per day in November 2025, from the 3.94 bscf/d average processing level recorded in October.
The Nigeria LNG Trains 1-6 also maintained a stable processing output of 3.5 bscf/d in November 2025, but utilisation improved slightly to 73.7 per cent compared with 71.68 per cent in October.
The increase, according to the report, was driven by higher plant utilisation across processing hubs and steady export volumes from the Nigeria LNG plant in Bonny.
“As of November 2025, Nigeria’s major gas processing facilities recorded improved output and utilisation levels, with the Nigeria LNG Trains 1-6 processing 3.50 billion standard cubic feet per day at a utilisation rate of 73.70 per cent.
“Gbaran Ubie Gas Plant processed 1.250 bscf per day, operating at 71.21 per cent utilisation, while the MPNU Bonny River Terminal recorded a throughput of 0.690 bscf per day during the period. Processing activities at the Escravos Gas Plant stood at 0.680 bscf per day, representing a 62 per cent utilisation rate, whereas the Soku Gas Plant emerged as the top performer, processing 0.600 bscf per day at 96.84 per cent utilisation,” it stated.
Economy
Secure Electronic Technology Suspends Share Reconstruction as Investors Pull Out
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The proposed share reconstruction of a local gaming firm, Secure Electronic Technology (SET), has been suspended.
The Lagos-based company decided to shelve the exercise after negotiations with potential investors crumbled like a house of cards.
Secure Electronic Technology was earlier in talks with some foreign investors interested in the organisation.
Plans were underway to restructure the shares of the company, which are listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
However, things did not go as planned as the potential investors pulled out, leaving the board to consider others ways to move the firm forward.
Confirming this development, the company secretary, Ms Irene Attoe, in a statement, said the board would explore other means to keep the company running to deliver value to shareholders.
“This is to notify the NGX and the investing public that a meeting of the board of SET held on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, as scheduled, to consider the status of the proposed share reconstruction and recapitalisation as approved by the members at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on April 16, 2025.
“After due deliberations, the board wishes to announce that the proposed share reconstruction will not take place as anticipated due to the inability of the parties to reach a convergence on the best and mutually viable terms.
“Thus, following an impasse in the negotiations, and the investors’ withdrawal from the transaction, the board has, in the interest of all members, decided to accept these outcomes and move ahead in the overall interest of the business.
“The board is committed to driving the strategic objectives of SEC and to seeking viable opportunities for sustainable growth of the company,” the disclosure stated.
Business Post reports that the share price of SET crashed by 3.85 per cent on Tuesday on Customs Street on Tuesday to 75 Kobo. Its 52-week high remains N1.33 and its one-year low is 45 Kobo. Today, investors transacted 39,331,958 units.
Economy
Clea to Streamline Cross-Border Payments for African Importers
By Adedapo Adesanya
Clea, a blockchain-powered platform that allows African importers to pay international suppliers in USD while settling locally, has officially launched.
During its pilot phase, Clea processed more than $4 million in cross-border transactions, demonstrating strong early demand from businesses navigating the complexities of global trade.
Clea addresses persistent challenges that African importers have long struggled with, including limited FX access, unpredictable exchange rates, high bank charges, fraudulent intermediaries, and payment delays that slow or halt shipments. The continent also faces a trade-finance gap estimated at over $120 billion annually, limiting importers’ ability to access the FX and financial infrastructure needed for timely international payments by offering fast, transparent, and direct USD settlements, completed without intermediaries or banking bottlenecks.
Founded by Mr Sheriff Adedokun, Mr Iyiola Osuagwu, and Mr Sidney Egwuatu, Clea was created from the team’s own experiences dealing with unreliable international payments. The platform currently serves Nigerian importers trading with suppliers in the United States, China, and the UAE, with plans to expand into additional trade corridors.
The platform will allow local payments in Naira with instant access to Dollars as well as instant, same-day, or next-day settlement options and transparent, traceable transactions that reduce fraud risk.
Speaking on the launch, Mr Adedokun said, “Importers face unnecessary stress when payments are delayed or rejected. Clea eliminates that uncertainty by offering reliable, secure, and traceable payments completed in the importer’s own name, strengthening supplier confidence from day one.”
Mr Osuagwu, co-founder & CTO, added, “Our goal is to make global trade feel as seamless as a local transfer. By connecting local currencies to global transactions through blockchain technology, we are removing long-standing barriers that have limited African importers for years.”
According to a statement shared with Business Post, Clea is already working with shipping operators who refer merchants to the platform and is also engaging trade associations and logistics networks in key import hubs. The company remains fully bootstrapped but is open to strategic investors aligned with its mission to build a trusted global payment network for African businesses.
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