SON Allots Code To 15 Agricultural Products

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira started the first trading session in the last month of 2023 on a negative note after it depreciated against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), which is the official FX window, by 11.4 per cent or N94.87 on Friday, December 1, closing at N927.19/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N832.32/$1. The December rush for forex contributed to the weakening of the domestic currency in the spot market yesterday, as the supply of foreign currency could not meet what customers needed. Data showed that the value of FX transactions recorded

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has projected that its Industry Sustainability Initiative (NISI) will create over $575 billion in capital investment opportunities for Nigeria through the decarbonisation of operations. According to a statement, NMDPRA, while hosting a session on Nigeria’s Pathway to Energy Sustainability and NMDPRA’s Role at the UN Climate Change Conference 2023 (COP28) in Dubai, UAE, x-rayed Nigeria’s journey towards reducing carbon emission and achieving Net Zero by 2060. Speaking at the event, Mr Mustapha Lamorde, the authority’s Executive Director on Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC), said the investment would be

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it would ensure that the next national minimum wage to be negotiated in 2024 reflects the prevailing cost of living. The union also lamented that following the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government, life has become extremely unbearable for workers. Addressing participants at the opening of the 19th edition of the NLC’s Harmattan School in Abuja, President of the NLC, Mr Joe Ajaero, said it had become necessary for governments at all levels to recognise that life and living conditions were exceedingly difficult, especially for working people in

By Dipo Olowookere In one week, investors bought and sold 2.543 billion shares worth N38.644 billion in 36,138 deals on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. In the preceding trading week, a total of 2.425 billion shares valued at N22.665 billion were transacted by investors in 33,230 deals. It was observed that financial stocks led the activity chart as usual with 1.721 billion units worth N18.281 billion in 17,151 deals, contributing 67.68 per cent and 47.30 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively. Conglomerates equities trailed with 200.584 million units valued at N1.546 billion in

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was on the triumphant side of the verdict delivered by the United States Southern District Court of New York in a judgement between the corporation and ESSO Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited and Shell Nigerian Exploration and Production Company Limited (collectively ESSO). This was disclosed in a statement issued by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, the spokesman for the corporation on Sunday in Abuja. It will be recalled that a court hearing was held on February 1, in the protracted litigation arising from the dispute between NNPC and ESSO regarding the implementation of

By Ahmed Rahma After waiting for months, the 774,000 artisans from the 774 local government areas of the federation will resume work on Wednesday, December 6, 2021. The young Nigerians were employed by the federal government under the Special Public Works (SPW) job programme to assist them to cushion the effect of the lockdown caused by COVID-19 last year. The initiative has generated controversies and has pitched the parliament against the executive. It has also caused the Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Mr Nasiru Argungu, to lose his job. Recently, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr

Nigerian interbank lending rates rose sharply by around 100 percentage points on Thursday, as commercial lenders scrambled for cash to pay for bond purchases and cover their positions, traders said. Overnight lending rates rose to around 300 percent from 200 percent at the end of Wednesday, as Naira liquidity dried up in the banking system and some banks were forced to borrow from the central bank. Nigeria raised N105.32 billion ($345 million) from bond sales this week, and payment for the debt sale was due on Thursday, draining liquidity in the market and pushing further up the cost of money

By Ebireri Henry Ovie Pulling Imo people out of the clutches of poverty and propelling the economy of the state to prosperity were given at the weekend by Senator Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu as reasons for joining the governorship race. “If our natural and human resources have been properly harnessed and judiciously managed, Imo would have been one of the richest states, if not the richest in Nigeria. “My goal is to serve as a bridge between the leadership and the people to ensure that the state is pulled out from the clutches of poverty, while ensuring timely payment of pensions

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Aiteo Group has reacted to online reports that its Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Mr Benedict Peters, acted as a frontman for the immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, to purchase posh property in England and luxury furnishings in return for contracts from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). In a statement issued by the oil firm this week, it said, “The publication contains several untrue and malicious allegations against our EVC and the Aiteo Group.” “It is obviously directed against the image, reputation and integrity of our EVC and the company in what we

By Adedapo Adesanya New data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has shown that cashless transactions in Nigeria rose by 41.8 per cent to N318.66 trillion in the first 11 months of 2022. The N318.66tn amounted to the total amount processed on the Nigeria Instant Payment (NIP) System and Point of Sales (PoS) terminals, which is how cashless transactions are monitored on the NIBSS. In the corresponding period of 2021, the figure was N224.79 trillion. Giving a breakdown, the total NIP transactions for the period was N311.81 trillion, and PoS transactions amounted to N6.85 trillion. This indicated a strong

By Modupe Gbadeyanka This week, the Financial Services Industry, measured by volume, led the activity chart with 1.784 billion shares valued at N20.4 billion traded in 16,823 deals, contributing 76.60 percent and 70.47 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. This was followed by the Consumer Goods Industry with 171.1 million shares worth N5.4 billion in 4,055 deals, and the Oil and Gas Industry with a turnover of 124.1 million shares worth N296.7 million in 1,607 deals. Trading in the top three equities; Zenith Bank, Access Bank and Fidelity Bank, measured by volume, accounted for 664.4 million

By Dipo Olowookere As the world marked the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Mr Ronald Kayanja has underscored the need to encourage girls to study science subjects and explore careers in the Sciences to break the socio-cultural barriers that discourage girls and women from making career choices in science and technology. More girls and young women should be encouraged to go into the Sciences as “there are no subjects for boys and another for girls, what boys can do, you (girls) can do even better.” Mr Kayanja said