Economy

Tinubu Anchors Reforms on Strong Adherence to Accountability, Transparency

Published

1 year ago

01/09/2023

By Adedapo Adesanya

President Bola Tinubu has reaffirmed his support for a robust public-private sector partnership to grow the economy, saying his reforms will help collective growth.

He made this known while speaking with members of the board and management of the Nigeria Economic Support Group (NESG) on Thursday in Abuja.

The President reiterated his resolve to fully implement the eight priority reform areas under the Renewed Hope Agenda within the next three years, saying that his administration’s sustained, bold, and coordinated reforms are anchored on a “strong adherence to accountability and transparency.”

Mr Tinubu emphasized that Nigeria is blessed with rich human and natural resources, in addition to deficit opportunities, which can quickly be leveraged into new prosperity, calling for the urgent exploitation of Nigeria’s diversity for collective gain, with an eye on new think tanks in the agricultural sector and the establishment of a commodity exchange.

“We have gone through the past. I will not look back. The focus of my horse and my race remains forward-looking. We have an abundance of knowledge, untapped mineral resources, and an agricultural sector that is God-given, but we tend to shy away from taking those gigantic steps that will result in prosperity for our people.

“We are not exploiting our diversity for prosperity; we are at each other’s throats, arguing about unnecessary things, instead of thinking and doing for our people,” he said.

The President noted that he was elected on a “no excuses” platform for renewed hope and that he will not accept excuses from anyone in his government as they set out to deliver on his agenda.

“Looking backwards is retrogressive for any reformer. Looking forward can give you the leaps that will propel you in the right direction.

“We need think tanks in the agricultural sector. I don’t see why Nigeria will be so blessed with good soil and not have a commodity exchange. I don’t see why we have not been able to interrogate our real estate sector and propel it.

“I don’t see why we have not used consumer credit to build the purchasing power of our people and the capacity of our very own manufacturing sector,” the President assessed.

While commending the NESG for believing in the reforms of his administration, the President said the “bitter pill” must be administered to an ailing nation and economy to build a better future for the country.

“I am here, and I believe we can do it together. No single person succeeds alone. The world is dynamic.

“We are confronted with climate change and other challenges, but somewhere in the eye of the storm, there is a quiet and peaceful corner for those who can toil well. With patience and determination, we will succeed,” the President assured.

On his part, the Chairman of NESG, Mr Olaniyi Yusuf, welcomed the economic reforms announced by the Tinubu administration, specifically with respect to fuel subsidy removal, foreign exchange rate harmonization, food security and palliatives to sub-national governments.

The NESG Chairman pledged that the NESG would work with the newly inaugurated cabinet to achieve the administration’s eight-point agenda.

“Your track record in the effective implementation of bold economic reforms as the Governor of Lagos leaves those of us in the private sector without doubt that you will achieve much greater feats as our nation’s president,” the NESG Chairman confided.

He used the occasion of the courtesy visit to formally request the President to declare the NESG Summit open in October, as well as to direct Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to partner with them and participate fully at the Summit as part of efforts to ramp up local and foreign direct investment in Nigeria.

Economy

Geo-Fluids, Afriland Properties Lift NASD Bourse by 0.13%

Published

7 hours ago

11/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The duo of Geo-Fluids Plc and Afriland Properties Plc propelled the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange up 0.13 per cent on Friday, January 10.

Investors gained N1.4 billion during the trading session after the market capitalisation of the bourse ended at N1.053 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.052 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased at the close of business by 4.07 points to wrap the session at 3,073.93 points compared with 3,069.86 points recorded at the previous session.

Geo-Fluids added 25 Kobo to its value to close at N4.85 per unit compared with the previous session’s N4.60 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 24 Kobo to close at N16.25 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N16.01 per share.

There was a 35.4 per cent fall in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 4.3 million units compared to 6.6 million units traded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded yesterday went down by 37.4 per cent to N17.2 million from the N27.5 million recorded a day earlier, and the number of deals decreased by 47.2 per cent to 19 deals from the 36 deals recorded in the preceding day.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units worth N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.

IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,543/$1 at Official Market

Published

8 hours ago

11/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira witnessed a depreciation on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 10.

According to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the local currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by 0.12 per cent or N1.80 to sell for N1,543.03/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,541.23/$1.

The pressure on the domestic currency came as the access granted to the Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to purchase FX from the official market through the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform prepares to end next week, precisely on January 19.

The CBN had given a 42-day window to the operators to access the platform to help stabilise the Naira in December, and this expires next week.

On Friday, the Nigerian currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N30.78 to sell for N1,889.29/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,858.51/£1, but gained N5.48 against the Euro to finish at N1,583.81/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s rate of N1,589.29/€1.

As for the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira remained stable against the US Dollar during the trading session at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.

In the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as the US economy added 256,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, topping forecasts for 160,000 and up from 212,000 in November (revised from an originally reported 227,000).

However, the readings came after a number of recent economic reports triggered a broad-market pullback across asset classes such as crypto as investors quickly scaled back the idea of a continued series of Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.

Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to trade at $0.921, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $185.93, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.4 per cent to $3,233.27, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.3 per cent to finish at $103.62, Dogecoin (DOGE) shed 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.3315, Bitcoin (BTC), waned by 0.2 per cent to $94,154.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 0.1 per cent to $693.30.

On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.5 per cent to settle at $2.34, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

Customs Street Crumbles by 0.08% as Profit-Takers Take Charge

Published

8 hours ago

11/01/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Profit-takers took control of Customs Street on Friday, plunging it by 0.08 per cent at the close of trading activities.

The sell-offs were across all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on last trading session of the week.

The insurance space went down by 1.53 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.41 per cent, the consumer goods sector weakened by 0.16 per cent, and the energy counter slumped by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 79.68 points to 105,451.06 points from 105,530.74 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N48 billion to N64.303 trillion from N64.351 trillion.

Yesterday, investors traded 1.5 billion shares worth N19.4 billion in 12,877 deals compared with the 489.5 million shares worth N13.1 billion transacted in 13,010 deals in the preceding day, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 1.02 deals and a rise in the trading volume and value by 203.14 per cent and 48.09 per cent, respectively.

Wema Bank was the busiest stock with 976.2 million units valued at N9.8 billion, Tantalizers traded 53.0 million units worth 129.6 million, Universal Insurance sold 34.8 million units for N26.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 33.9 million units valued at N843.8 million, and Nigerian Breweries traded 27.3 million units worth N873.3 million.

The heaviest loss was suffered by Sunu Assurances with a decline of 9.99 per cent to trade at N7.30, Eunisell shed 9.96 per cent to N17.35, SAHCO crumbled by 9.87 per cent to N30.15, DAAR Communications plunged by 9.28 per cent to 88 Kobo, and Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 7.04 per cent to N1.32.

On the flip side, C&I Leasing gained 10.00 per cent to close at N4.51, Honeywell Flour appreciated by 9.99 per cent to N10.02, Trans Nationwide Express jumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.00, RT Briscoe rose by 9.83 per cent to N2.57, and Secure Electronic Technology grew by 9.46 per cent to 81 Kobo.

Business Post reports that the bourse ended with 33 price gainers and 25 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.