Economy
S/Sudan President To Speak At Africa Oil & Power 2017
president salva kiir
By Dipo Olowookere
South Sudan President, Mr Salva Kiir Mayardit, will present opening speech on June 5, 2017 in Cape Town, organisers of the event have said.
This followed decision of the crisis-ridden country and Africa Oil & Power to work in partnership on a slew of initiatives to promote foreign direct investment in the East African country.
Mr Mayardit is expected to present a keynote address at the conference, which will also host a special Market Spotlight session on South Sudan to feature Minister of Petroleum, Mr Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth alongside key industry leadership to discuss developments in the industry.
South Sudan has adopted a strongly pro-business attitude with the hope that expansions in the petroleum sector and heightened exploration activity will stimulate its economy.
Once one of sub-Saharan Africa’s mightiest hydrocarbon economies, South Sudan has seen oil production decline since the country has grappled with civil conflicts with a rebel faction.
South Sudan currently produces 130,000 barrels per day but is capable of daily output of 500,000 barrels.
The Ministry of Petroleum has been undergoing some important negotiations with oil companies to enter the market and has previously considered launching its first licensing round.
The Market Spotlight session on South Sudan will gather the industry’s key participants to discuss developments in the sector, including exploration activity, production outlooks, energy security, corporate finance, downstream and export infrastructure. Africa Oil & Power will produce a range of resources for the South Sudanese government to promote its activities.
“We are truly honored that the Government of South Sudan has agreed to participate in Africa Oil & Power,” said Guillaume Doane, CEO of Africa Oil & Power. “South Sudan has a proud legacy in the petroleum sector and has shown a huge willingness to attract companies to the country and develop its abundance of hydrocarbons. The country recognizes that unlocking those natural resources is vital to fostering economic growth, restoring peace and stability and we hope to be useful in those efforts.”
“South Sudan is truly honored to participate in Africa’s premier energy industry event,” said Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, Minister of Petroleum for South Sudan. “Our country strives to restore its rightful place in Africa’s hydrocarbons sector and we see this an opportunity for our head of state H.E. General Salva Kiir Mayardit to outline our vision for the industry and attract investors to South Sudan.”
The participation of the South Sudan government follows the commitment of several high-level government to Africa Oil & Power 2017, including: Patrice Trovoada, Prime Minister of São Tomé and Principe; and Francisco Pascual Obama Asue, Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea; Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea; and Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Minister of Energy for South Africa.
By Dipo Olowookere
The All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited depreciated on Friday by 0.33 per cent or 180.87 points to 54,232.34 points from 54,413.21 points.
This loss was mainly triggered by the 3.59 per cent decline recorded by the industrial goods sectors as Dangote Cement saw a markdown for dividends during the session, having such a negative impact on the outcome of the market.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation went down by N98 billion to settle at N29.544 trillion compared with the previous day’s N29.642 trillion.
However, the investor sentiment remained strong as the market breadth was positive with 20 price gainers and 14 price losers led by CWG, which depreciated by 9.38 per cent to 87 Kobo. Caverton declined by 9.35 per cent to 97 Kobo, Transcorp went down by 7.33 per cent to N1.39, United Capital shrank by 3.45 per cent to N11.20, and Cutix shed 2.61 per cent to N2.24.
Conversely, Lasaco Assurance topped the gainers’ table after its value grew by 10.00 per cent to N1.10, Ikeja Hotel went up by 9.91 per cent to N1.22, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance appreciated by 9.68 per cent to 68 Kobo, UAC Nigeria expanded by 9.14 per cent to N9.55, and Northern Nigerian Flour Mills rose by 8.64 per cent to N11.95.
During the session, Transcorp recorded the highest traded stock as it sold 287.7 million units, followed by Fidelity Bank, which traded 86.4 million units. UBA transacted 39.0 million units, NGX Group exchanged 25.4 million units, and Oando sold 21.8 million units.
At the close of business, the bourse reported a turnover of 557.9 million equities worth N3.7 billion in 3,943 deals compared with the 973.6 million equities worth N4.2 billion traded in 3,718 deals on Thursday, representing an increase in the number of deals by 6.05 per cent, a decline in the trading volume and value by 42.70 per cent and 11.91 per cent, respectively.
Business Post reports that the insurance appreciated by 1.92 per cent on Friday, the banking space rose by 0.61 per cent, and the consumer goods counter grew by 0.15 per cent, while the energy sector closed flat.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the United States Dollar across the main segments of the foreign exchange (forex) market, the Peer-2-Peer (P2P), the Investors and Exporters (I&E), and the black market windows, on Friday, March 31.
In the spot market, the Naira gained 12 Kobo or 0.03 per cent against the greenback during the session to sell at N461.38/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s value of N461.50/$1, amid the sale of FX valued at $188.98 million, according to data obtained from FMDQ Securities Exchange.
Also, in the P2P arm of the market, the Nigerian currency was exchanged with its American counterpart on Friday at N765/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s N766/$1, indicating an appreciation of N1.
Similarly, in the parallel market, the domestic currency closed stronger against the US Dollar yesterday by N2 to settle at N747/$1 compared with Thursday’s closing rate of N749/$1.
However, in the interbank window, the local currency lost N1.85 against the Pound Sterling to quote at N570.35/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N568.50/£, and against the Euro, it depreciated by 96 Kobo to finish at N501.17/€1 versus N500.21/€1.
Meanwhile, in the digital currency market, the bulls had a field day as they strengthened most of the tokens tracked by Business Post, with Bitcoin (BTC) rising by 1.3 per cent to $28,421.28, and Ethereum (ETH) expanding by 1.1 per cent to $1,816.98.
Further, Litecoin (LTC) increased its value by 3.5 per cent to quote at $92.52, Cardano (ADA) gained 3.4 per cent to sell for $0.391, Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 2.8 per cent to trade at $0.0766, and Solana (SOL) recorded a 2.6 per cent jump to finish at $20.91.
On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) suffered a 5.3 per cent to trade at $0.5175, Binance Coin (BNB) went down by 0.5 per cent to quote at $314.38, as the value of Binance USD (BUSD) and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) remained unchanged at the close of transactions at $1.00 apiece.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended the last trading session of the week on a bearish note with a 0.38 per cent loss on Friday.
The decline reported by unlisted stocks was influenced by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc.
FrieslandCampina shed 91 Kobo yesterday to close at N80.09 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N81.00 per unit, as CSCS Plc depreciated by 49 Kobo to sell at N14.86 per share, in contrast to the previous day’s N15.35 per share.
The duo overshadowed the gains posted CitiTrust Plc and Afriland Properties Plc, with the former rising by 25 Kobo to N13.50 per share from N13.25 per share, and the latter growing by 7 Kobo to N2.16 per unit from N2.09 per unit.
At the close of trades, the market capitalisation of the bourse decreased by N3.88 billion to N1.025 trillion from N1.029 billion, while the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) went down by 2.80 points to 741.97 points from 743.84 points.
There was a rise in the volume of securities traded at the bourse yesterday by 1,238.5 per cent to 318.5 million units from the 23.8 million units transacted a day earlier, as the value of shares traded at the session ballooned by 4,146.7 per cent to N1.3 billion from the N31.3 million posted on Thursday, with the number of deals increasing by 300 per cent to 36 deals from the nine deals carried out in the preceding session.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 801.1 million units valued at N1.2 billion, UBN Property Plc was in second place with 365.8 units valued at N309.5 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc was in third place with 91.2 million units worth N6.7 million.
VFD Group Plc ended the session as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 10.3 million units worth N2.3 billion, Geo-Fluids Plc was second with 801.1 million units worth N1.2 billion, and UBN Property Plc was in third place with 365.8 million units valued at N309.5 million.
