Economy
Small Business Owners Can Explore Opportunities in Capital Market—SEC
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Small business owners have been advised to explore the many opportunities in the capital market to expand their business operations.
The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Lamido Yuguda, stated that entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could get cheaper funds from the market in different ways.
“The capital market is available to provide funding to businesses. With crowdfunding, a small business can raise money based on certain principles as the SEC has approved this to happen for a certain number of investors and a certain amount at a time,” the DG said at the Gombe State Investment Summit with the theme Industrialisation: The Pathway to Innovation, Transformation, and Development of Gombe.
At the event held last Wednesday, he further said the capital market could play an enormous role in the growth of businesses as they could approach the market for primary offers as well as the secondary market, which smaller companies can access due to the less stringent disclosure requirements.
“There are also huge opportunities available for businesses, especially agro-allied businesses. They can use the commodities market to access high-calibre customers requiring large quantities of agricultural produce. We have licensed six commodities exchanges in Nigeria, and they are very active,” Mr Yuguda added.
He expressed delight that the private sector has ventured into areas like railways, power, and communication, among others that the government hitherto dominated.
“Before now, the government mainly provided a lot of these infrastructures and services, but today we can see the private sector taking over while the government provides the necessary regulatory oversight,” he stated.
Mr Yuguda commended the state government on the resuscitation of the state-owned Gombe State Investment and Property Development Company Limited to serve as a one-stop shop for all investment-related issues to facilitate ease of doing business, adding that small firms can be prepared to access the capital market by such outfits.
He, therefore, expressed the commission’s commitment to working with the state government and other stakeholders to create the necessary awareness.
In his opening remarks, the Governor of Gombe State, Mr Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, said that the state has been committed to human capital development and is working to leverage digital skills to develop the state.
Mr Yahaya disclosed that his administration was also working to provide a solid infrastructure to serve as a catalyst for industrialisation and growth.
“We realized that in order to put our state on the path of sustainable progress and long-term prosperity, we must strategically invest in both human capital and infrastructural development.
“On one hand, human capital development will enable us to equip our teeming youth with the requisite skills, knowledge and expertise to succeed in our rapidly changing digital world.
“To this end, we are working to leverage digital skills and opportunities to develop Gombe into a regional ICT hub in order to harness the creative energies of our youth.
“On the other hand, solid and resilient infrastructure is being put in place to serve as a catalyst for industrialization and growth, unlock opportunities and deliver sustainable prosperity to the people.
“For businesses to thrive, we need collaboration with relevant stakeholders, innovation, risk reduction, as well as sound regulatory framework and sustainable wealth creation.
“We are harmonising taxation, improving efficiency, stamping out corruption, ensuring the security of lives and property and empowering the judiciary to work better,” he said.
The Governor expressed satisfaction with the responses from investors and the business community, as hundreds of investors have expressed interest in operating from the Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park, and many more are willing.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
More petroleum marketers are looking to take advantage being offered by the Dangote Refinery in Lagos through its bulk-purchase incentives, allowing petrol stations to sell premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, cheaper to motorists.
Recall that recently, Dangote Refinery entered into a deal with MRS Oil Nigeria, Ardova Plc, Heyden for the purchase of petrol at least two million litres at N909 per litre.
With this agreement, MRS Oil has been able to dispense to customers at a pump price of N935 per litre across its stations in Nigeria.
For those not under this arrangement, they have been battling with price instability, especially after depot owners recently increased their price to N950 per litre from N909 per litre because of the rise in crude oil prices in the international market.
Worried by this and attracted by the bulk-purchase agreement incentives of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) is already having talks to buy directly from the Lagos-based oil facility.
The national president of the group, Mr Abubakar Maigandi Garima, said members are eager to sign on with Dangote Refinery for the bulk-purchase agreement.
He argued that members could not continue to depend on depot owners for products when they can buy directly from the refinery bearing in mind that the minimum quantity to buy from Dangote Refinery is two million litres at N909 per litre.
The desire to be part of the bulk-purchase agreement, it was also gathered, was also apparently being fuelled by the testimonies from motorists who have been praising the impressive burn rate of fuel sourced from Dangote Refinery and sold in MRS filing stations which they said lasts longer compared to other products imported into the country and sold by others.
The management of the Dangote Refinery, citing economic relief provided by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s crude-for-naira swap initiative, had announced a bulk-purchase offer incentives to the three leading downstream sector operators, so that Nigerians could heave a sigh of relief on the reduced pump price.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The World Bank has projected a 3.6 per cent economic growth for Nigerian in 2025 and 2026 on the back of ongoing reforms by the federal government.
The Bretton Wood institution in its report titled Global Economic Prospects, January 2025 published on Thursday, said recent reforms, including subsidy removal, Naira liberalisation and the introduction of tax reform bills would help to boost business confidence.
“In Nigeria, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth increased to an estimated 3.3 per cent in 2024, mainly driven by services sector activity, particularly in financial and telecommunication services.
“Macroeconomic and fiscal reforms helped improve business confidence. In response to rising inflation and a weak naira, the central bank tightened monetary policy.
“Meanwhile, the fiscal deficit narrowed due to a surge in revenues driven by the elimination of the implicit foreign exchange subsidy, following the unification of the exchange rate and improved revenue administration,” a part of the report stated.
The World Bank noted that the wider Sub-Saharan Africa, to which Nigeria belongs would see a 4.1 per cent growth in the current year, before seeing a 4.3 per cent rise in 2026.
“Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, SSA is expected to firm to 4.1 per cent in 2025 and 4.3 per cent in 2026, as financial conditions ease alongside further declines in inflation. Following weaker-than-expected regional growth last year, growth projections for 2025 have been revised upward by 0.2 percentage points, and for 2026 by 0.3 percentage points, with improvements seen across various subgroups. At the country level, projected growth has been upgraded for nearly half of SSA economies in both 2025 and 2026.
“Growth in Nigeria is forecast to strengthen to an average of 3.6 per cent a year in 2025-26. Following monetary policy tightening in 2024, inflation is projected to gradually decline, boosting consumption and supporting growth in the services sector, which continues to be the main driver of growth,” it added.
The global lender disclosed that oil production is expected to increase over the forecast period but remain below the 1.5 million barrels per day quota of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
By Adedapo Adesanya
Four price gainers helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange close higher by 0.35 per cent on Thursday, January 16.
The value of the trading platform jumped by N3.69 billion during the session to N1.072 trillion from the N1.068 trillion it closed in the preceding session, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) made an addition of 10.67 points to wrap the session at 3,103.83 points compared with 3,093.16 points recorded at the previous session.
Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc added 3 Kobo to its price yesterday to trade at 33 Kobo per unit compared with Wednesday’s closing price of 30 Kobo per unit, Newrest Asl Plc appreciated by N2.85 to N31.18 per share from N28.53 per share, 11 Plc gained N2.90 to close at N256.00 per unit versus the N253.10 per unit it finished a day earlier, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 21 Kobo to N39.16 per share, in contrast to midweek’s N38.95 per share.
On Thursday. there was an 85.3 per cent increase in the volume of securities traded by investors to 1.2 million units from the 666,494 units recorded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded surged by 8.9 per cent to N18.0 million from N16.5 million, and the number of deals leapt by 65 per cent to 33 deals from 20 deals.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 million units worth N134.9 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 8.9 million units sold for N43.0 million, and Afriland Properties Plc valued at 690,825 sold for N11.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 23.5 million units sold for N5.3 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 8.9 million units valued at N43.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc followed with 3.4 million units worth N134.9 million.
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