Economy
Sekibo Frowns at Nigeria’s High Wheat Import Bill
By Dipo Olowookere
The Managing Director/CEO of Heritage Bank, Mr Ifie Sekibo, has expressed concerns over the high wheat import bill of Nigeria, noting that it was for this reason the bank was collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to adopt a novel approach to boost local production capacity.
Speaking at the launch of the Wheat Seed Multiplication Project tagged the Brown Revolution Initiative in Jos, Plateau State, the renowned banker said the partnership with the central bank is expected to add about 750,000MTs via rain-fed cultivation and reduce annual import by 60 per cent.
He further said the strategic partnership would help reverse the huge amount of foreign exchange (FX) used to bring the wheat into Nigeria and upscale its domestic production to close the wide supply gap in the agricultural space.
As part of the bank’s efforts to support the high yield seed variety to national wheat seed stock, Mr Sekibo, represented by the Head Agricbusiness and Export, Ugonwa Ikegwuonu, explained that the lender sets out to cultivate a total of 1,000 hectares of farmland at the end of the year with at least producing about 5 tonnes of wheat seeds per hectare in terms of yield.
“We set out to cultivate a total of 1,000 hectares of farmland but at the end of the day because of time constraints & other challenges, we have been able to cultivate 357 hectares.
“The crops according to the project manager are doing very well and in a few weeks they will be ripe for harvest, in fact, part of the farm is already ripe for harvest. So, we set out with this partnership with two anchors which we call service providers,” he further explained.
Also commenting, the Deputy Governor, CBN, Mr Edward Adamu, stated that the short-term benefit is the addition of about 2,000 metric tonnes (MT) of high yield seed variety to the national wheat seed stock which is 20,000MT currently.
According to him, this effort has the potential to add about 750,000MT of wheat annually through rain-fed cultivation.
He noted that estimated that only one per cent or 63,000MT of wheat, out of the five to six million metric tons of wheat consumed annually was produced locally.
The Governor of Plateau State, Mr Simon Lalong, while also speaking at the event, affirmed that Nigeria was on the path of agricultural food sufficiency with the ‘Brown Revolution’ the rain-fed wheat would help curtail the $2 billion spent on importation of wheat.
He further noted that the target of his administration was to attain zero importation of wheat, attain wheat sufficiency in the economy and commence exportation to raise foreign reserve.
President of Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria, Mr Salim Muhammad, stated that they have a good understanding with Heritage Bank for its proactive approach to the objective of the rain-fed wheat production in the agriculture value chain.
“I assure you that at the end of this programme, by next season, it will be a different scenario/story because we are now doing it on a very small scale but I’m sure by next season, the real revolution will start off and it will be seen all over Nigeria. Because currently, we are producing wheat in 16 wheat-producing states.
“By the coming of this wheat dry season, seeds available and practicable; we are going to expand our scope to cover other areas that can produce wheat during the dry season.
“I’m not saying that we are going to cover the whole 36 states of the country, but I assure you, by next season we will be thinking of about 20 to 27 states that we have,” he stated.
Business Post reports that the scheme was put in place to meet high demand amid the poor production capacity of wheat in the country.
The novel initiative that will boost wheat production annually is being processed via rain-fed cultivation, as this approach is actually the first-ever wheat programme that it would be planted in the wet season and as part of the pilot phase of the initiative, Heritage Bank financed the first-ever large-scale rain-fed wheat production in Nigeria.
By Dipo Olowookere
About 0.04 per cent was recovered on Friday from the loss recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) the previous due to profit-taking.
Yesterday, investors were in the market with renewed vigour, mopping up stocks trading at relatively cheaper prices.
According to data, the insurance counter gained 0.41 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 0.38 per cent, and the consumer goods index grew by 0.14 per cent.
The gains achieved by these three sectors were enough to lift Customs Street at the close of business despite the 0.26 per cent decline printed by the industrial goods segment and the 0.14 per cent loss suffered by the energy industry. The commodity counter was flat during the session.
A total of 43 equities gained weight on the last trading day of this week, while 26 equities shed weight, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Red Star Express increased its share price by 10.00 per cent to N13.20, NCR Nigeria grew by 9.97 per cent to N128.55, SCOA Nigeria inflated by 9.96 per cent to N14.90, Omatek appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, and Deap Capital expanded by 9.85 per cent to N4.46.
On the flip side, McNichols decreased by 8.81 per cent to N6.00, Legend Internet crumbled by 7.56 per cent to N5.50, Cornerstone Insurance crashed by 6.48 per cent to N6.35, C&I Leasing contracted by 6.29 per cent to N8.20, and Austin Laz slipped by 5.78 per cent to N3.75.
Yesterday, 539.9 million shares valued at N16.7 billion were transacted in 48,023 deals versus the 1.0 billion shares worth N31.6 billion executed in 51,227 deals in the preceding day, implying a shrink in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 46.01 per cent, 47.15 per cent, and 6.26 per cent apiece.
Zenith Bank was the most active for the day with 54.6 million stocks sold for N3.8 billion, Jaiz Bank traded 41.5 million units worth N359.4 million, Secure Electronic Technology transacted 37.7 million units valued at N39.2 million, Access Holdings exchanged 30.5 million units for N699.2 million, and Lasaco Assurance transacted 27.2 million units worth N68.3 million.
When the market closed for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 72.21 points to 166,129.50 points from 166,057.29 points and the market capitalisation gained N31 billion to N106.354 trillion from N106.323 trillion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was a positive ending for the Naira this week after it further appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, January 16 by N1.33 or 0.09 per cent to sell for N1,417.95/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,419.28/$1.
The domestic currency also gained N2.41 against the Euro in the official market to close at N1,647.51/€1 versus the preceding session’s closing price of N1,649.92/€1, however, it suffered a N7.97 loss against the Pound Sterling in the same market window to trade at N1,901.32/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,893.35/£1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira depleted against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to quote at N1,427/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,425/$1, but strengthened against the greenback at the black market yesterday by N5 to settle at N1,485/$1 versus the N1,490/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
Improved supply conditions helped keep the market within range as exporters’ and importers’ inflows in addition to non-bank corporate supply enhanced liquidity as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made no visible intervention.
Stronger external inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and improving current account dynamics, continue to align with structural support in the wider economy.
Nigeria has seen projections of a stronger economic or gross domestic product (GDP) growth and lower inflation in 2026, with these forecasts citing improved macroeconomic fundamentals and reform impacts.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was mixed following selloff in precious metals and lower US stocks appeared to be denting crypto sentiment.
Gold and silver, both of which also enjoyed big rallies earlier this week, tumbled 1.2 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively while key US stock indexes — the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average — all reversed from early gains to modest losses in Friday trade.
Dogecoin (DOGE) shrank by 2.2 per cent to $0.1370, Ripple (XRP) slipped by 0.8 per cent to $2.05, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.7 per cent to $3,228.56, and Bitcoin (BTC) slumped by 0.6 per cent to $95,086.80.
Conversely, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 3.2 per cent to $74.48, Solana (SOL) rose by 0.4 per cent to $143.70, Cardano (ADA) jumped by 0.2 per cent to $0.3942, and Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 0.1 per cent to $935.88, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled higher amid lingering worries about a possible US military strike against Iran, a decision that may still occur over the weekend.
Brent crude settled at $64.13 a barrel after going up by 37 cents or 0.58 per cent and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude finished at $59.44 a barrel after it gained 25 cents or 0.42 per cent.
The US Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was expected to arrive in the Persian Gulf next week after operating in the South China Sea.
Market analysts noted that it doesn’t seem likely anything will happen soon. However, the weekends have become the perfect time for actions so as not offset the markets.
The market had risen after protests flared up in Iran and US President Donald Trump signalled the potential for military strikes, but lost over 4 per cent on Thursday as the American president said Iran’s crackdown on the protesters was easing, allaying concerns of possible military action that could disrupt oil supplies.
Iran produces approximately 3.2 million barrels per day, accounting for roughly 4 per cent of global crude production, so it was not a coincidence that markets rallied sharply through Tuesday and Wednesday as President Trump canceled meetings with Iranian officials and posted that “help is on its way” to Iranian protesters, raising fears of potential US military strikes that sent prices surging toward multi-month highs.
Weighing against those fears are potential supply increases from Venezuela.
The Trump administration is exploring plans to swap heavy Venezuelan crude for US medium sour barrels that can actually go straight into Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) caverns, since not all all oil belongs in the reserve.
According to Reuters, the Department of Energy is considering moving Venezuelan heavy crude into commercial storage at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, while US producers deliver medium sour crude into the SPR in exchange.
Analysts expect higher supply this year, potentially creating a ceiling for the geopolitical risk premium on prices.
Some investors covered short positions ahead of the three-day Martin Luther King holiday weekend in the US.
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