Economy
State Governments Borrow N900bn from Capital Market—SEC
By Ahmed Rahma
The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Lamido Yuguda, has disclosed that the state governments in Nigeria have borrowed not less than N900 billion from the capital market.
Mr Yuguda made this disclosure on Tuesday at a webinar organised by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on ways sub-nationals can raise funds through the sale of state-owned enterprises.
The SEC chief, who was represented by the Executive Commissioner in charge of Legal and Enforcement, Mr Reginald Karawusa, disclosed that this amount was raised from the market through debt issuances since 1978.
Speaking on Privatisation in Nigeria and the Outlook for Subnational Economic Development, the theme for the event organised in partnership with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), the DG said “a significant part of these funds were deployed to finance capital projects across the country.”
“However, the ability of states to continue to borrow in a sustainable manner has been severely impacted in recent times.
“With the huge infrastructure gap, decreased allocation from the federal purse owing to relatively low oil revenue and the depressed level of internally generated revenues, states are barely able to pay salaries after servicing their outstanding loan obligations,” he noted.
He added that, there is indeed no better time to discuss alternative funding sources at the sub-national level given adverse impacts brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The capital market’s primary role in any economy is to facilitate capital formation. By creating a system for allocation of capital, investors are able to price risk efficiently while issuers have the opportunity to raise funds to finance projects. In doing so, issuers may choose to raise equities or debts,” he mentioned.
The DG also stated that the federal and state governments have the capabilities to unlock enormous potentials through privatisation, which he said “is an avenue for governments to unlock economic potentials inherent in government-owned enterprises.”
“The focus on Nigeria’s journey on privatisation has largely been on the Federal Government. There have been several phases of privatisation exercises in the past with an emphasis on enterprises operating in different sectors of the economy including oil and gas, hospitality, mining etc,” Mr Yuguda added.
He also stated that, “Several enterprises are still owned and controlled by the government, both at the state and federal levels. A number of these entities have the capacities to generate cash flows and corporate profitability.
“However, owing to certain inefficiencies, these entities are underperforming and in some cases subtracting from value. Perhaps this is the time for state governments to revisit the privatisation value proposition. There are several benefits to privatisation.”
Mr Yuguda informed the participants that privatisation has numerous benefits as the proceeds from the sale of government interest in these enterprises would help augment budget shortfalls and can be applied towards funding critical infrastructure.
“Beyond the funds to be generated, governments will enjoy the cost of savings as there would be no further requirements to fund these entities post-privatisation.
“There are further benefits to be enjoyed through the taxes that would be paid in the future by those entities. As they undergo a strategic transformation and become positioned for profitability, these entities are able to create jobs and employ residents of their host states, facilitate infrastructure development and further positively impact the economy in other areas,” he concluded.
The CEO of the NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, in his address, said privatisation occupies a critical position in economic globalisation and provides an avenue for raising the bar towards economic development.
“Given COVID-19, there is no better time to re-visit privatisation and cascade this to the subnational levels,” he added.
Also speaking, the Chairman of NGF, Mr Kayode Fayemi, said the state governments have been constrained to increase spending in a bid to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
According to him, “containment is fairly in place but more needs to be done to ensure progress is not lost and that is where privatisation comes in.
“If the private sector takes over in critical sectors, state governments can focus on education and health among others”.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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