Economy
Senate Pass Bill to Establish National Rice Development Council
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill seeking to establish the National Rice Development Council as part of the federal government’s effort to cut down on rice importation and improve the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
The passage of the bill followed the consideration of a report by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.
Speaking at the presentation, the Chairman of the Committee, Mr Abdullahi Adamu, said the council will support the comprehensive development of the rice sector and the organisation of rice stakeholders to enhance local production of rice in Nigeria.
He explained that the organisation will transform the activities of rice farmers, rice processors, millers, researchers, marketers and other important stakeholders across the entire rice value chain, particularly the clusters of smallholder rice farmers and small scale millers spread all over the country.
“Mr President and distinguished colleagues, with our natural comparative advantage in the area of rice production as a country, Nigeria should consider the need to put in place a National Rice Development Council and a fail-safe comprehensive national rice development roadmap that will guide us not only into a regime of self-sufficiency in production but also for export purposes, employment generation for our teaming youth and growth of our economy.
“The Nigerian rice industry exists in the abstract as there appears to be no form of coordination in the absence of a properly structured rallying point.
“Today, we have Paddy Rice Dealers Association of Nigeria (PRIDAN), Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN), Rice Millers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) and many more.
“This Bill seeks to establish that rallying point and a comprehensive national operational and governance structure for a complete rice value chain process.
“Mr President and distinguished colleagues, this Bill on its own merit will improve government efforts for efficient policy and regulatory framework for the Nigerian rice industry; promote enabling business and investment environments for rice stakeholders; support the growth of the rice industry in Nigeria and in the sub-region as well as promote the sustainability of foreign exchange earnings put at about $2 billion annually for Rice related importation to the country.
“The framework created by thịs Bill will pull investment into rice production, provide the missing link between rice production and industrialization, provide employment, reduce migration from rural to urban cities and enhance socio-economic activities all over the country.
“Few countries having Rice Council include Rice Council of Tanzania, USA Rice Council, Directorate of Rice Development (India), Rice Association of Thailand, among others,” he said.
By Dipo Olowookere
A day after crossing the 124,000-point threshold, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited hit another milestone on Friday after it closed higher by 1.37 per cent.
Business Post reports that the benchmark index of Customs Street finished at 126,149.59 points after adding 1,702.79 points to the 124,446.80 points it ended a day earlier.
Equally, the market capitalisation of the Nigerian bourse, which measures the total value of stocks on the platform, went up by N1.077 trillion to N79.803 trillion from N78.726 trillion.
At the trading session, 65 equities ended on the gainers’ chart and 25 equities finished on the losers’ table, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Guinness Nigeria, Cadbury Nigeria, Consolidated Hallmark, and NEM Insurance all gained 10.00 per cent each to close at N96.80, N60.50, N3.63, and N22.00 apiece, and Red Star Express improved by 9.98 per cent to N13.44.
Conversely, Learn Africa depreciated by 8.66 per cent to N6.01, Tantalizers shed 6.25 per cent to settle at N3.00, Prestige Assurance slumped by 6.02 per cent to N1.25, Regency Alliance crashed by 5.62 per cent to 84 Kobo, and Oando lost 4.61 per cent to close at N51.70.
The NGX recorded a turnover of 1.4 billion shares traded for N30.6 billion in 33,399 deals on Friday compared with the 1.3 billion shares worth N27.7 billion traded in 27,875 deals on Thursday, implying an increase in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 7.69 per cent, 10.47 per cent, and 19.82 per cent, respectively.
Access Holdings led the activity chart with 172.9 million units sold for N4.2 billion, Ellah Lakes traded 144.9 million units valued at N1.8 billion, Japaul exchanged 138.7 million units worth N498.8 million, UBA transacted 73.0 million units worth N3.2 billion, and AIICO Insurance traded 60.7 million units worth N135.7 million.
A look at the sectorial performance indicated that the banking index grew by 5.61 per cent, the insurance counter rose by 3.78 per cent, and the industrial goods sector expanded by 1.69 per cent.
However, the energy space depreciated by 0.49 per cent, the consumer goods industry went down by 0.23 per cent, and the commodity sector slipped by 0.02 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended the last trading session of this week with a 0.26 per cent gain on Friday, July 11, helped by renewed buying interest by investors.
This increased their portfolios by N5.27 billion during the session, with the market capitalisation of the bourse closing at N2.01 trillion compared with the N2.005 trillion it ended at the preceding session.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) expanded yesterday by 9.01 points to settle at 3,433.20 points, in contrast to the 3,424.19 points it finished a day earlier.
It was observed that the volume of securities traded by the market participants went down by 12.6 per cent to 2.7 million units from the 3.08 million units transacted on Thursday.
However, the value of securities transacted by investors appreciated by 55.6 per cent to N38.9 million from N25.1 million, and the number of deals executed jumped by 9.7 per cent to 34 deals from the 31 deals deals completed on Thursday.
Okitipupa Plc finished the day as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 153.8 million units worth N4.9 billion, Air Liquide Plc occupied the second spot with 507.2 million units sold for N4.2 billion, and the third place was taken by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 42.2 million units valued at N1.8 billion.
Impresit Bakolori Plc also closed as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 536.9 million units traded for N524.8 million, followed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units sold for N4.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 270.6 million units worth N486.0 million.
The single price loser for the session was Geo-Fluids Plc as its price depleted by 20 Kobo to N4.59 per share from N4.79 per share.
But, Air Liquide Plc gained 98 Kobo to close at N10.92 per unit versus N9.94 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc grew by 56 Kobo to N33.00 per share from N32.44 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by 47 Kobo to N64.36 per unit from N63.89 per unit, Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) Plc rose by 30 Kobo to N3.38 per share from N3.08 per share, and UBN Property Plc soared by 19 Kobo to N2.10 per unit from N1.91 per unit.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was another bad day for the Nigerian Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday as its value further weakened against the US Dollar.
Data harvested by Business Post showed that it lost N4.50 or 0.29 per cent against the greenback during the trading session to finish at N1,531.10/$1 compared with the N1,526.60/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
However, the Nigerian currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same official market yesterday by N31.10 to close at N2,066.31/£1 compared with the previous day’s N2,070.29/£1 and gained N5.95 on the Euro to sell for N1,783.57/€1, in contrast to the N1,787.66/€1 it was traded a day earlier.
In the black market, the Naira weakened against the United States currency on Friday by N5 to quote at N1,535/$1 versus the N1,530/$1 it was transacted in the preceding trading day.
After initial volatility in the first half of the year, the Naira has showed stability even as global oil prices declined, a sharp contrast to its previous fundamentals and this is expected to continue amid rising FX reserves.
Recent data from early July indicates a slight improvement in the country’s FX reserves, primarily attributed to enhanced foreign portfolio investment (FPI) inflows; however, the trajectory of reserves remains susceptible to external headwinds.
The reduced FX demand pressures, particularly due to a slowdown in import trade-related outflows are also expected to provide support.
Also, there are early signs that import-related FX demand is beginning to recover in the past few days.
Also, the Naira appreciated by 3.5 per cent in June 2025, to close at N1,532.0 per Dollar at the official window driven by improved market sentiment.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market firmed up yesterday, with Ripple (XRP) chalking up 6.9 per cent to sell at $2.76, as traders look for regulatory clarity and practical adoption. This week, Ripple Labs’ CEO, Mr Brad Garlinghouse, argued for clearer crypto regulations at the US Senate Banking Committee.
Regulation could be beneficial for the token which has positioned itself an institutional-grade cryptocurrency rather than other speculative assets.
Further, Cardano (ADA) added 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.7132, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.5 per cent to $0.2009, and Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 0.9 per cent settle at $692.79.
On the flip side, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 2.2 per cent to $93.04, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.9 per cent to $2,963.58, Solana (SOL) slipped by 0.7 per cent to $162.95, and Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 2.4 per cent to close at $111,412.99, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
-
Feature/OPED5 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism9 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking7 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy2 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking2 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports2 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
-
Technology5 years agoHow To Link Your MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Lines to NIN