South Africa Enters Recession as Economy Shrinks 0.7%

By Adedapo Adesanya African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced that the third Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) held in Cairo from November 9-15 witnessed the conclusion of business deals and transactions valued at $43.8 billion. The lender said in the final tallies released in Cairo, the organisers of the continental event said that the amount represented the value of 426 deals concluded in 21 sectors covering 52 countries. At a press conference to announce the results, Mrs Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President (Intra-African Trade Bank) at Afreximbank, also announced that 130 countries participated in the trade fair, which attracted 1,939 exhibitors

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that the total value of the country’s merchandise trade experienced an increase of 1 per cent to $7.8 billion in August 2023 from the $7.72 billion that was quoted in July. This was disclosed by the apex bank in its latest monthly economic publication, where it disclosed that despite the rise month-on-month, Nigeria’s merchandise trade value in the period was almost 20 per cent lower compared to the value in August 2022 due to a significant decrease in import trade value. The total merchandise trade comprised an export trade

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Nigerian Naira weakened by 17.9 per cent or N144.49 against the American Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, December 6 as confidence waned in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) ability to boost the market with enough foreign exchange (FX). Yesterday, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar closed at N951.22/$1 in the official market compared with the preceding session’s rate of N806.73/$1. This happened as the forex turnover slightly went down by 4.9 per cent or $7.05 million to $135.58 million from the $142.63 million reported in the

By Adedapo Adesanya Some Nigerians have expressed anger over the upward review in the foreign exchange (FX) rate, a move that could see imported goods and by extension, domestic products record surge in prices at a time when the country is battling a high cost of living. The federal government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has hiked the duties payable on imported goods at Nigerian ports. Business Post gathered that the upward review of prices showed the US Dollar equivalent had been put at N951.941/$1 while for the Euro, the rate was pegged at N1,030.762/€1 and the Pound

By Adedapo Adesanya The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has announced CLEEN Foundation as winner of the 2019 Human Rights Award for its immense contributions in strengthening law enforcement agencies for the protection of human rights in Nigeria. In an award ceremony hosted on Sunday, December 8 at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja, the Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation, Dr Benson Olugbuo, while receiving the award, dedicated it to all victims and survivors of human rights abuses in Nigeria from 1960 to 2019. CLEEN Foundation is a non-governmental organization established in January 1998 that emerged in response to military dictatorship

A global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the lives of people worldwide, Sanofi, is calling on technology entrepreneurs and startups in Nigeria to participate in its 2020 AfricaTech Challenge. AfricaTech is a lab dedicated by Sanofi at VivaTech to encourage open innovation by African technology startups. The AfricaTech Challenge initiative is part of Sanofi’s strategy to promote entrepreneurship and development in the health sector in Africa. Viva Technology (VivaTech) is the biggest tech event in Europe. It gathers under one roof the brightest entrepreneurs, executives, investors, students and academics to collaborate, network, pitch, get inspired and showcase their innovations. In

By Dipo Olowookere Acting Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Mary Uduk, has stated that in order to make the Nigerian capital market more attractive to investors, her agency had to digitalize its operations. She said this was why some of the processes of the apex regulator in the nation’s capital market, which were previously manual and inefficient, are now being automated. Addressing students of Aduvie Pre University College, Modibbo Adama University, Yola and University of Abuja, who were on excursion to the commission on Wednesday, Ms Uduk said this action has made transactions at the market

By Dipo Olowookere Yield on the one-year treasury bills depreciated by 0.11 percent at the secondary market on Tuesday to settle at 12.13 percent, Business Post is reporting. It was observed at the market yesterday that the yields went down for most maturities tracked amid renewed bullish activity in the secondary market. Apart from the 12-month instrument, which suffered a reduction in its yields, other maturities which experienced the same fate were the 3-month and six-month. Only the one-month tenor recorded an increase on its yield, appreciating marginally by 0.04 percent to finish at 9.80 percent at the close of

By Dipo Olowookere Some additional shares of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc have been listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), a circular has confirmed. The stocks, 146,878,241 in number, were admitted on the trading platform of the exchange on Wednesday, September 30, 2020, the notice signed by the Head of Listings Regulation Department at the NSE, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, stated. This has now increased the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Dangote Sugar to 12,146,878,241 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each from 12,000,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each. The fresh equities of the sugar milling

By Modupe Gbadeyanka It was a sweet revenge for American sprinter, Justin Gatlin, on Saturday night, when he grabbed gold in 100 metres at the ongoing IAAF World Championships in London. He emerged winner of the race, displacing the favourite, Usain Bolt, who came third in the 100 metres final. It was the last individual race for the Jamaican, who retires after the championships in London and was tipped to clinch his 20th global gold. Thirty-five-year old Gatlin crossed the finish line in 9.92 seconds, while his 21-year old compatriot, Christian Coleman finished 9.94 seconds, and the 31-year old Bolt

By Nneka Okumazie Criticisms are sometimes confusing. Except in a few cases, criticisms are often hard to place. There are more criticisms in the world, inspired by assumption, hate, bitterness, envy, wickedness, ignorance, unknown intentions, etc. than pure clear useful criticisms. Criticisms are so associated with negativity. It is difficult to call them constructive. Maybe the word should be correction. Maybe it should be adjustment, improvement suggestion, update understanding or another thought, but using the word criticism is incinerating. Criticisms are inevitable, but the entire world has yet to grasp it. Everyone gives it, everyone gets it, but there are

By Adedapo Adesanya A proprietary investment company, UBN Property Plc, has proposed the payment of 3 kobo as a final dividend to its shareholders for the 2020 financial year. This was disclosed by the company in a notice to the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange, where it trades its securities. The payment will be subject to the approval of shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company scheduled for Tuesday, June 29. According to the property investment company, its AGM will hold at the Auditorium, Stallion Plaza (9th Floor) 36 Marina, Lagos by 11 a.m. If the dividend