By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira was relatively flat against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, May 9, though it marginally shed 0.2 per cent or 7 Kobo to settle at N1,609.64/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,609.57/$1.

Also, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the official market during the session, remaining unchanged at N2,145.48/£1 and N1,818.42/€1, respectively.

In the same vein, the value of the domestic currency to the Dollar remained unchanged in the parallel market yesterday at N1,625/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it remained positive as President Donald Trump announced a comprehensive trade deal with the UK and the cumulative inflows into the spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hit a record high above $40 billion.

According to market analysts, this has led to substantial liquidations of bearish short positions, or leveraged plays aimed at profiting from price losses. A position is liquidated or forced closed when the trader’s account balance falls below the required margin level, often due to adverse price movements. This leads the exchange to close the position to prevent further losses automatically.

Meanwhile, the US and China are said to be working on a trade deal but many are skeptical of a deal being reached this month.

Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 7.6 per cent to sell at $0.2229, Litecoin (LTC) improved its value by 5.5 per cent to quote at $103.51, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 4.6 per cent to $663.22, and Solana (SOL) recorded a 3.6 per cent growth to sell at $171.52.

Further, the price of Ripple (XRP) went up by 1.4 per cent $2.37, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 0.8 per cent to sell for $2,366.49, and Cardano (ADA) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at $0.7952, while Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 0.3 per cent to $103,670.89, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) trading flat at $1.00 each.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices closed almost 2 per cent higher on Friday as a US trade deal with the United Kingdom turned investors optimistic ahead of talks between top officials from the US and China.

Brent crude futures rose by $1.07 or 1.7 per cent to settle at $63.91 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures advanced by $1.11 or about 1.9 per cent to finish at $61.02 per barrel.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer will meet Chinese economic negotiator, Mr He Lifeng, in Switzerland to discuss containing the damaging trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.

US President Donald Trump on Friday said he expected there to be substantive talks this weekend and predicted US tariffs were likely to come down.

He said China should open its market to the US, and that an 80 per cent tariff on Chinese goods “seems right”

This comes a day after he announced a deal lowering tariffs on British car and steel exports, among other agreements with the United Kingdom.

China’s foreign ministry has decried what it calls abusive and bullying economic tactics and said China remains firmly opposed to what it calls an unsustainable approach to trade by the US.

Since taking office in January, President Trump has hiked the tariffs paid by US importers for goods from China to 145 per cent, in addition to those he imposed on many Chinese goods during his first term and the duties levied by the Biden administration.

China hit back by imposing export curbs on some rare earth elements, vital for US manufacturers of weapons and electronic consumer goods, and raising tariffs on U.S. goods to 125 per cent. It also imposed extra levies on some products including soybeans and liquefied natural gas.

Analysts estimates that lowering tariffs on China to 80 per cent would bring the overall effective import tax rate from all the tariffs imposed by President Trump so far to 18 per cent from around 22 per cent now.

Meanwhile,  Chinese exports rose faster than expected in April while imports narrowed their decline, customs data showed on Friday, giving the world’s largest oil importer some relief ahead of the talks.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) oil output edged lower in April as production declines in Libya, Venezuela and Iraq outweighed a scheduled increase in output.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Top telecommunication service provider, Airtel Africa Plc, saw its revenue fall by 30.4 per cent to $4.955 billion, significantly impacted by derivative and foreign exchange losses, primarily in Nigeria.

According to a report released to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday, the Profit After Tax (PAT) closed at $328 million for its year ended March 31, 2025, marking a return from an $89 million loss in the preceding year.

Nigeria’s persistent currency depreciation led to declines across all segments. Airtel saw its voice verticals fall by 36.9 per cent year-on-year, data fell by 26.2 per cent, and other services dropped 17.4 per cent year-on-year.

However, in constant currency, revenue grew by 36.4 per cent growth year-on-year, reflecting growth in voice (24.3 per cent in the same period), data (44.5 per cent), and other (58.7 per cent) revenue segments.

The revenue growth was driven by a 4.7 per cent increase in the total subscriber base to 53.32 million (with 1.17 million net additions in the last quarter of the company’s 2025 calender) and strong demand for data services, with data usage per subscriber rising 33.4 per cent year-on-year to 8.4 GB per month.

Airtel’s $4.955 billion grew 21.1 per cent in constant currency but declined by 0.5 per cent in reported currency as currency devaluation impacted reported revenues.

“Strong execution and the tariff adjustments in Nigeria contributed to a further quarter of accelerating growth, with Q4’25 revenue growth of 23.2% in constant currency, and 17.8% in reported currency as currency headwinds eased,” Airtel Africa said.

Across the Group, mobile services revenue grew by 19.6 per cent in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 10.6 per cent and data revenue growth of 30.5 per cent and mobile money revenue grew by 29.9 per cent in constant currency.

EBITDA, which stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation, and is used to access a company’s operating performance, declined by 5.1 per cent in reported currency to $2.3 billion with underlying EBITDA margins of 46.5 per cent compared to 48.8 per cent in the prior year, impacted by increased fuel prices and the lower contribution of Nigeria to the Group.

However, following a more stable operating environment and benefits from its cost efficiency programme, underlying EBITDA margins have expanded from 45.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2025 to 47.3 per cent in the last quarter of 2025.

Airtel Africa’s customer base grew by 8.7 per cent to 166.1 million, with its focus on digital inclusion supporting a 4.3 per cent increase in smartphone penetration to 44.8 per cent.

Data customers increased by 14.1 per cent to 73.4million, with data usage per customer increasing by 30.4 per cent to 7.0 GB, supporting data Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) growth of 15.4 per cent  in constant currency.

Airtel Money agent network which offers enhanced digital offerings and expanded use cases contributed to a 17.3 per cent increase in mobile money subscribers to 44.6 million and a 11.4 per cent growth in constant currency ARPU.

Speaking on the performance, the chief executive of Airtel Africa, Mr Sunil Taldar, said, “We have reported another strong operating performance as our strategy continues to deliver against the significant opportunity that exists across our markets. The focus on our refreshed strategy has seen continued investment in the network while also driving improvements in our digital platforms and offerings to further enhance the customer experience.”

“An improving operating environment and focused execution contributed to strong momentum in our financial results with constant currency revenue growth peaking at 23.2% in Q4’25. Part of this acceleration in the last quarter has also been driven by the Nigerian tariff adjustments,” he added.

Looking ahead, he said – “We are making significant progress in our preparations for the Airtel Money IPO and remain committed to this objective.

“However, we are also mindful of evolving market conditions. Therefore, subject to these conditions, we anticipate a listing event in the first half of calendar year 2026.”

“The recent stability in the operating environment is encouraging, however we remain conscious of global developments that may impact our business. We will remain focused on delivering our strategy to transform the lives of our customers and support economic prosperity across our markets,” he added.