TEF, DEG to Empower 200 Additional African Entrepreneurs

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira started the first trading session in the last month of 2023 on a negative note after it depreciated against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), which is the official FX window, by 11.4 per cent or N94.87 on Friday, December 1, closing at N927.19/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N832.32/$1. The December rush for forex contributed to the weakening of the domestic currency in the spot market yesterday, as the supply of foreign currency could not meet what customers needed. Data showed that the value of FX transactions recorded

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

By Dipo Olowookere The House of Representatives on Thursday postponed till January 2018, the public hearing on the conflict between the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, and the suspended Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Mounir Gwarzo. On November 29, 2017, the Minister of Finance suspended the capital market regulatory chief over allegations on abuse of office. Later, it was alleged that Mrs Adeosun punished the SEC boss for failing to stop the forensic audit of a company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Oando Plc, headed by Mr Adewale Tinubu, a relative of Mr

By Dipo Olowookere The Naira on Thursday depreciated further at the parallel market, ebbing close to the projection of speculators, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. NAN reports that at the twilight of 2016, speculators forecasted that the Naira would exchange at N500 to a dollar. The Nigerian currency lost N3 to trade at N495 to the dollar at the parallel market, from N492 posted on Wednesday, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N597 and N515 respectively. At the official interbank window, the Naira closed at N305 to a dollar. Trading at Bureau De Change (BDC)

By Ahmed Rahma As more youth embrace entrepreneurship to resolve the country’s unemployment challenge, a non-profitable organisation, Fate Foundation, is launching a handbook series to provide business owners with practical resources to compete in the business climate. The book titled The Nigerian Entrepreneurs’ Handbook, published by A’Lime Media Limited, is part of several programmes to commemorate two decades of FATE. FATE Foundation was established by Mr Fola Adeola in 2000 with the mission to foster wealth creation by promoting business and entrepreneurial development among Nigerians through the key focus areas of enterprise training and business incubation; growth and advisory enterprise

By Investors Hub Asian stocks ended a range-bound session mostly higher on Tuesday after the major U.S. averages hit fresh record highs overnight, buoyed by rising oil prices and optimism about the economic outlook and the possibility of major tax reform. The dollar edged up after Fed Chair Janet Yellen reiterated that additional gradual interest rate hikes are likely to be appropriate over the next few years. Oil prices remained elevated due to supply worries after Iraqi forces seized the oil-rich city of Kirkuk from Kurdish fighters. Japanese shares extended gains for an 11th straight day as the dollar held

By Dipo Olowookere It has been predicted that the value of the Naira to the United States Dollar will depreciate this week as a result of further decline in the foreign reserves of the country. Business Post reports that as at Thursday, August 29, 2019, the amount left the external reserves of Nigeria was $43.673 billion, lower than the $43.008 billion it was opened with on Monday, August 26, 2019, before depreciating to $43843 billion on that day. Giving its insight on what to expect in the week, Cowry Asset, a Lagos-based investment company, stated that, “We expect depreciation of

By Adedapo Adesanya The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) daily basket price stood at $43.80 per barrel on Thursday, according to the latest OPEC Secretariat calculations released on Friday. The contraction showed a 0.73 per cent drop compared with $44.12 per barrel on Wednesday. This happened as tapered cuts announced by the cartel and its allies proved combined with demand worry brought about by fear of a second wave of global lockdowns, held back rallying. Also known as the OPEC reference basket of crude oil, the OPEC basket, a weighted average of oil prices from different OPEC members

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Health experts, policymakers, leading diagnostics equipment manufacturer – Roche Diagnostics and other stakeholders in the health sector recently came together to deliberate on achieving Universal Health Coverage, improving access to healthcare for people and the importance of quality systems. At the Pandemic Response Conference organized by Africa Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) in Abuja, Roche Diagnostics hosted an interactive session on Health Systems Strengthening in collaboration with the World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and Kenya Medical Research Institute. Roche Diagnostics Country Head for Nigeria, Taofik Oloruko-Oba,

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Navy has attributed the improved oil production in Nigeria to its onslaught against crude oil thieves and economic saboteurs. The outgoing Commander of NNS Pathfinder, Commodore Ibrahim Suleiman, said this during a farewell parade in his honour in Port Harcourt. He added that the feat was achieved through collaborations with the oil companies. Mr Suleiman further said the NNS Pathfinder has been instrumental in the increase in onshore crude oil production, adding that since he came on board in March 2022, the issue of illegal oil bunkering and pipeline vandalism has reduced. He said, “The