Stock Recommendation for this Week (April 16)

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira closed mixed at the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, depreciating against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segments and appreciating in the parallel market amid a new leadership at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). On Friday, the CBN announced the resumption of Mr Olayemi Cardoso as the next head of the apex bank, in an acting capacity pending his confirmation by the Nigerian Senate. He is taking over the role amid a worrying FX market, high inflation, and increased call to halt interest rate hikes which currently

By Dipo Olowookere The regulator of the stock market in Nigeria, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Regulation Limited (RegCo), has announced its intention to change rules guiding free-float for companies listed on the NGX Limited. In a notice obtained by Business Post, the organisation further said it wants to amend the cross-border listing rules and develop guidelines for migrating listed securities from one board of the bourse to another. At the moment, the exchange does not have rules regulating the migration of listed securities from one board to another, prompting the regulator to “address this lacuna and to foster NGX’s commitment

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed the resignation of Mr Godwin Emefiele as its governor and the resumption of Mr Olayemi Cardoso as the next head of the apex bank, albeit in an acting capacity. The apex bank’s Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Isa AbdulMumin, said Mr Cardoso will act as governor pending his confirmation by the Nigerian Senate, which is away on recess until Tuesday, September 26. This also confirms the exit of Mr Folashodun Shonubi, who was acting in that position following the ousting of Mr Emefile three months ago. “Dr Olayemi Michael

By Ebitonye Akpodigha The Federal Government has been urged to facilitate an environment conducive for investors in the housing sector in Nigeria. This was the observation of the Lead Financial Sector Specialist, Finance and Markets of World Bank Group, Mr Simon Wally. Speaking at the 32nd Annual Conference and General Meeting of the African Union for Housing Financing (AUHF) in partnership with Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) in Abuja on Wednesday, Mr Wally noted that Nigeria needed to boost housing development. “You do not need capital from outside of Nigeria, looking at the level of investment required; Nigerian has got

**As Investors Gain N335b By Modupe Gbadeyanka The performance of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) further received a huge boost on Tuesday courtesy the stocks in the banking sector. At the trading activities today, the sector traded a total of 340.14 million shares valued at N4.58 billion executed in 2,833 deals. Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI), which closed at 43,119.00 points on Monday, increased by 935.72 points today to settle at 44,054.72, crossing the 44,000 mark for the first time since late 2008. Furthermore, the market capitalisation grew by N335.2 billion to finish at N15.783 trillion, with

By Sodeinde Temidayo David A consortium of 10 companies, which are part of the Feed-the-Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity, has disbursed an agricultural grant worth $6 million for the improvement of agricultural food supply in the North East of Nigeria. This was revealed during the kick-off meeting held on Wednesday, where the organisation informed 10 private sector firms on intervention areas and expectations from the partnerships. The companies include Meadow Foods, CropIT, Jamil Al Hakim Foundation, Motherhen Development Foundation, E-Purse, Rural Farmers Hub, Centre for Microenterprise Development, Golden Agri Inputs Ltd, Deva Access and HelloTractor. The project that started with

By Investors Hub European stocks have moved mostly lower on Friday as investors digest President Donald Trump’s comments on the Federal Reserve and watch movements in the Chinese yuan. Trump said that he is “not thrilled” with interest rate hikes by the Fed but claimed he respects the independence of the central bank. China’s central bank lowered its yuan midpoint for the seventh straight trading day, stoking concerns that Beijing could turn a trade war into a currency war. While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index has edged down by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) finished on Friday for the week on a positive note, owing to investors’ sustained buying interest in blue-chip equities. At the close of trading activities today, the Nigerian equity market benchmark index pointed north, with the All-Share Index (ASI) growing by 0.04 percent or 12.72 points to close at 33,810.56, while the market capitalisation added N4.4 billion to settle at N11.7 trillion. However, Business Post reports that despite the slight gain by the market on Friday, investors’ sentiment stayed negative as market closed with 25 advancers in

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Maikanti Kacalla Baru, has directed the Chief Operating Officers (COOs) of the agency to start immediate implementation of the policy framework, the 12 Business Focus Areas (BUFA), aimed at institutionalizing efficiency, profitability and growth in the corporation. Mr Baru gave this order on Tuesday while receiving reports of the eight committees mandated with the task of developing appropriate strategies to drive the implementation of the 12 BUFA in the corporation. Components of 12 BUFA, initiated by the NNPC boss include: Ensuring security of NNPC assets; Developing

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has partnered with Roche Pharmaceutical Company to seek the Enugu State Government’s approval to revitalise moribund state-owned agricultural factories. Mr Tony Ifechukwu, Special Adviser to the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, said this when he led a team from the two organisations on a courtesy visit to the Enugu State Government. Mr Ifechukwu said the CBN governor was interested in ensuring that states become economically viable, stating that the team and the state Technical Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation had visited the state agricultural factory sites. He said: “We have visited

By Dipo Olowookere Residents of three communities in the Oluyole Federal Constituency of Oyo State have commended the lawmaker representing them at the lower chamber of the National Assembly, Mrs Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, for brightening their lives. The member of the House of Representatives had facilitated the installation of transformers to the communities, giving the inhabitants of the areas to enjoy power supply. This is part of the commitment of the lawmaker on electrification and in fulfilment of her vow that Oluyole constituency would witness more developments from the federal government. “In fulfilment of my commitment to my constituency, the good