See Major Stocks to Monitor and Possibly Buy This Week

By Adedapo Adesanya  Oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel on Wednesday as investors focused their attention on an upcoming OPEC+ output policy meeting and looked past a jump in crude stockpiles in the United States. Brent crude futures were up by $1.01 or 1.2 per cent to $82.69 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.16 or 1.5 per cent to close at $77.57 a barrel. Prices were lifted by a media report that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, known collectively as OPEC+, was considering

By Adedapo Adesanya  Angola, one of Africa’s top crude oil producers and a key member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has officially rejected the proposed production quota for the year 2024 and may even exit the group. This was signalled by Mr Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Angola’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, confirming the nation’s decision and indicating a divergence from OPEC’s suggested allocations for both member and non-member countries. The announcement was made during the 26th OPEC+ Meeting on Thursday, where the organisation proposed 1.11 million barrels of crude oil per day production quota for

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) and the unregulated Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and the parallel market segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, November 29 as President Bola Tinubu reiterated his administration’s promise to meet its obligations. Speaking during the presentation of his administration’s N27.50 trillion 2024 budget proposal to the joint session of the 10th National Assembly on Wednesday, Mr Tinubu said, “Despite the challenges, we continue to meet our obligations.” In the official NAFEM segment of the market, the value of the local currency went

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives has pledged to stop international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta from divestment of their offshore assets without being accountable to the environment. The Chairman of the House of Reps Committee on Host Communities, Mr Dumnamene Dekor, said this during a technical session on the implementation of the Host Communities Development Trusts (HCDT), organised by Spaces for Change (S4C) with support from Ford Foundation. Mr Dekor raised the alarm that since the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021, host communities have not experienced any positive change, rather have remained

By Kester Kenn Klomegah United States investors are looking to explore the several opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a policy signed by African countries to make the continent a single market. Speaking at the 13th US-Africa Business Summit organised by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), a leading reputable American business association, the investors said there are ways the continent can benefit from them, including in sectors like pharmaceuticals, automobiles, agro-processing and financial technology. The US government and private sector leaders, together with African political and corporate business leaders, have been working consistently over these years

By Adeniyi Ogunfowoke Many people now perform transactions with their mobile phones because it is convenient. But it does come with certain risks. Hence, you have to know that you will be vulnerable at some point if you are careless when doing the mobile transactions. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares some tips to make mobile transactions safer to prevent you from losing your hard earned money. Monitor your accounts regularly It is now very easy to monitor your account. Except in some certain situations, you do not physically need to go to the bank. With online banking, you have

By Adedapo Adesanya The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has begun the official distribution of 10,000 prepaid meters to households across Osun State. The free meters distribution, which was launched under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), kicked off from Aratumi Community, Ilesa Garage Area of Osogbo. At the launch, Mr Adewale Obajemu, IBEDC Head Metering, said the exercise was in tandem with the 2020 free meter distribution (metering programme) of the federal government to non-metered households across the country. Mr Obajemu said the distribution/metering was totally free and at no cost to their customers, adding that customers were not

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Naira showed no sign of improvement on Wednesday as the incessant shortage of the United States Dollar at the foreign exchange (forex) market continues to crack its value at the parallel market. The demand for FX by customers, especially those intending to bring in products under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) FX ban, has already outweighed the supply, especially as the festive season fast approaches, causing traders to ration what they have. This has caused the exchange rate to go in favour of the American currency and is making the value of the local currency

By Adedapo Adesanya The National Universities Commission (NUC) disclosed that it has “unbundled” the course of study, Mass Communication, into seven separate degree programmes to meet growing demands. The commission’s Executive Secretary, Mr Abubakar Rasheed, who disclosed this in Abuja, said Mass Communication has been structured into Media Studies, Public Relation Studies, Cinematography, among others. The seven new Programmes/Departments, will still be under the Faculty of Mass Communication and are: Journalism & Media Studies; Public Relations; Advertising; Broadcasting; Film & Multi-Media Studies; Development Communication Studies; and Information & Media Studies. The commission also said that degree programmes in Agriculture, Architecture

By Dipo Olowookere Popular pay TV service provider, DStv, has promised to give its subscribers in Africa the opportunity to watch the 2017 BET Awards, which holds on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at 7pm and airs on BET (DStv channel 129). During the star-studded awards ceremony, there would be performances from Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled, Big Sean as well as Trevor Noah and others. The iconic annual show will also have performances from previously announced hit makers including Bruno Mars, Future, Migos, Trey Songz and Tamar Braxton. The 2017 BET Awards has set the standard for one of

By Ahmed Rahma Business owners can leverage on e-commerce to increase their source of revenue in this festive season, a leading payments firm, Visa, has said. The restriction of movements in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has made most customers switch to online shopping, which allows for easy payment. According to Visa, small business owners can use the online platform to cut their cost and earn more as a report by the company showed that 81 per cent of customers are willing to pay more for a good customer experience. In the Visa Consulting & Analytics (VCA)