T-Bills Market Turns Bearish as CBN Sells N749b OMO Bills

By Adedapo Adesanya Equinor and Chappal Energies have entered into an agreement for the sale of Equinor Nigeria Energy Company (ENEC), which holds a 53.85 per cent ownership in oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitized 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron. Speaking on the deal, Equinor’s senior vice president for Africa Operations, Ms Nina Koch, said Nigeria has been an important part of Equinor’s international portfolio over the past 30 years, noting that, “This transaction realizes value and is in line with Equinor’s strategy to optimize its international oil and gas

In furtherance of my sacred duties and obligations as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is my honour to be here today to present my administration’s 2024 Budget Proposal to this Joint Session of the 10th National Assembly. This moment is especially profound and significant to me because it is my first annual budgetary presentation to the National Assembly. Distinguished Senators and Honourable Members of the National Assembly, I commend your swift consideration and passage of the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bills and the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper. Your prompt action underscores your devotion

By Adedapo Adesanya A hybrid solar power solutions provider, Daystar Power, has signed an agreement with Nigerian Breweries to install and operate a 4.2MWp solar plant and 2MWh battery storage system that will help the firm reduce its high energy costs. The installation will be one of the largest solar and battery storage projects for an industrial manufacturer in Nigeria. The hybrid solar solution will generate 5,249 MWh of electricity – 42 per cent of its daytime power consumption – every year at Nigerian Breweries’ Lagos brewery. According to a statement, the integration of solar into the factory’s energy mix

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Zacch Adedeji, has asked his counterpart in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, to support his agency to achieve the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, who appointed both of them. Speaking during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the anti-money laundering firm, Mr Adedeji said the EFCC has a role in ensuring that taxpayers’ funds are “judiciously utilised in line with the social contract with the people.” He assured that the FIRS would continue to strive to raise the revenue

Keystone Bank Limited has re-emphasised its commitment to the growth and development of the Africa’s creative industry as the lender recently partnered with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and other multilateral agencies to host the maiden edition of the Creative Africa Exchange Weekend (CAX WKND) in Kigali, Rwanda. According to the organizers, the Creative Africa Exchange Weekend is Africa’s first continental event dedicated to promoting exchange within the creative and cultural industry. “CAX is a consolidated marketplace for the creative and cultural industry. It was developed as the catalyst that brings together the identified assets and resources within the creative

By Dipo Olowookere The local equity market extended its rally on Tuesday with a 2.88 percent appreciation to further reduce the year-to-date loss to 3.86 percent. Gains recorded by MTN Nigeria and Dangote Cement influenced the positive performance reported by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). It was observed that some investors, as expected, are buying up some fundamentally sound stocks presently trading at their 52-weeks lows as a result of the frenzy around MTN Nigeria, which further rose by 9.98 percent yesterday. At the close of transactions on Tuesday, the gains posted by MTN Nigeria, Dangote Cement and 14 other

By Dipo Olowookere Some days ago, the Debt Management Office (DMO) released the public debt profile of the country and from their report, Nigeria’s debt stood at N24.4 trillion as at December 31, 2018. The release of the report stirred another debate in the country, with different stakeholders appealing to federal government to reduce its borrowings. But analysts at FSDH Research have said Nigeria still has room to borrow an additional N7.89 trillion before reaching a threshold of about N32 trillion. In its report released this week, which was obtained by Business Post, the Lagos-based investment company said based on

By Adedapo Adesanya The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has announced that it will unveil the Risk-Based Capital (RBC) roadmap that will steer the insurance industry’s new capital regime by the end of April. RBC requirement is a statutory minimum level of capital that is based on two factors, either by an insurance company’s size; or the inherent riskiness of its financial assets and operations. The risk-based capital roadmap is intended to be a regulatory standard and not necessarily the full amount of capital that an insurer would need to hold to meet its objectives. It helps to identify weakly capitalized

By Adedapo Adesanya The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) has arraigned three persons before Justice J.K. Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on two count charges bordering on conspiracy and illegal dealing in petroleum products without an appropriate licence. The suspects, Enemo Okoria, Ebhofage Brown and Francis Dapagamo, were arraigned along with a tugboat DP28 and a firm, Diesel Power Nigeria Limited. According to EFCC, the accused persons were arrested along the Onne waterways on April 20, 2018, by operatives of the Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS Pathfinder while transshipping 261,000 litres of suspected illegally refined automotive

By Investors Hub European stocks have started the New Year in the red despite a mostly positive session in Asia. The dollar has weakened against most major currencies, including the euro and pound, weighing on sentiment. European bond yields rose after ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure reportedly said there is “a reasonable chance” the ECB’s 2.55 trillion euros stimulus program will not be extended again when it expires in September. While the German DAX Index has fallen by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index are both down by 0.6 percent. On the

By Dipo Olowookere Four banks have been appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as settlement banks for the $2.5 billion currency swap deal signed between Nigeria and China last Friday in Beijing. According to a report by ThisDay, the four financial institutions appointed by the apex bank are First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Stanbic IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and Zenith Bank Plc. Last Friday, the CBN, on behalf of Nigeria, sealed the much-awaited $2.5 billion bilateral currency swap agreement with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC). The settlement banks are expected to handle the trade obligations that

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Reports reaching us indicate that Guinness Nigeria Plc has now received clearance of the issue documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and approvals from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to list the new Guinness Nigeria shares on the NSE. This followed approval received in January from shareholders of the firm on the exercise. A statement issued by Guinness Nigeria today disclosed that the funds raised will support the brewery company in executing its strategy in the context of ongoing external economic challenges. Guinness Nigeria plans to raise a total of N39.7 billion by way of