Economy
TraderMoni, MarketMoni Beneficiaries Repaying Loans–Osinbajo
By Adedapo Adesanya
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the TraderMoni and MarketMoni schemes are getting positive feedback and that beneficiaries are doing very well and are paying back their loans.
This was disclosed by Mr Laolu Akande, the VP’s spokesman, in a statement released recently in the nation’s capital, Abuja.
He said that the vice president had an interaction with newsmen after his assessment visit to markets in Keffi and Masaka towns of Nasarawa State where the TraderMoni and MarketMoni schemes are being disbursed to traders.
The vice president urged beneficiaries of the loan schemes to continue to repay their loans so they could get more money and become very successful in businesses.
“It is going very well; and I am excited to hear the testimonies of the traders who have done so well after getting their first loan.
“It is also exciting to see that they have repaid their loans very quickly, because as you pay back, you are able to get more; when you get N10, 000, and you pay back, you get N15, 000 and it gets to N20, 000, when you repay, all the way to N100, 000, and it is so exciting to see that these traders are doing so well.
“Everybody is keying in already, what we want to do is to expand it so that more traders can get this facility, so we need to do more because at the moment, we have done close to two million but we need to increase the number,” he stated.
Mr Osinbajo said the target of the Federal Government in the Next Level was to expand the scheme to cover more traders and also increase the amount received to enable beneficiaries expand their businesses.
According to him, the TraderMoni and MarketMoni schemes will be expanded to include more people in every state and added that more of the traders would get the TraderMoni and the MarketMoni loans.
“So long as you continue to pay back you will continue to get more money.
“We want to make sure that every petty trader in the market have enough so that they themselves can even employ more people and pay their children’s school fees and also build their own houses.
“As I told you, we are going to expand the scheme so that more people can benefit,” he added.
During his complementary visit to the Emir of Keffi, Alhaji Shehu Yamusa, Vice President Osinbajo said his visit to the State was to assess the disbursement of the TraderMoni and MarketMoni loans to traders in markets across the States.
He said that TraderMoni was the President Muhammadu Buhari’s own way of empowering women and men who were traders.
The Vice President then added the inventories of many of the traders were very small as they could be people hawking groundnuts, selling bread and other basic things.
“Most of them don’t have enough capital to improve their businesses. So, what we do is to empower them through the Bank of Industry.
“So, we want to ensure that people who are trading have an opportunity and that opportunity is provided when we are able to give them capital as part of this TraderMoni scheme. So, that is why we are here.”
On the Emir’s appeal about improving educational standards, the vice president said President Buhari was determined to improve both access and quality of education to all Nigerians regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds.
He noted that one of the other things that would the traditional might be happy to hear was the President’s determination to the question of education.
“On June 20, while speaking to governors when he inaugurated the National Economic Council, he made the point that the Federal Government will enforce, along with the State governments, the law on free and compulsory education of the first nine years of the child’s school life.
“It is a very important thing because we all know that education is the key to the economic success, the key to self-realisation and the key that enables any person live a dignified life.
“So, we are extremely concerned on how to improve education; Technical education in particular, I think that it is very important.
“As a matter of fact, under our N-Power scheme we already have a number of technical education schemes going on. We have what we call N-Build which is technical education for persons involved in the building industry (tillers, brick layers etc). We also have training for extension workers, persons who will provide extension service.
“There is the one for persons involved in technical training like carpenter, electricians and many others,” he said.
He added that the Federal and state governments were committed to doing more in terms of technical education.
Mr Osinbajo said there was also collaboration in supporting the states especially in making primary education and first three years of secondary education free and compulsory as well as in the education of young women.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Brent jumped to $83 per barrel on Monday after the United States announced a fresh blockade that reignited concerns over energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
The international crude benchmark soared by $7.29 or 9.59 per cent to $83.30 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained $6.73 or 9.42 per cent to trade at $78.14 a barrel.
US President Donald Trump announced that he would reinstate a blockade on Iran, forcing traders to once again price in the risk of prolonged disruption to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz. The blockade, due to begin on Tuesday, will cover Iran’s entire coastline, ports and oil terminals, as well as all vessels regardless of flag.
The US President also said vessels receiving protection while transiting Hormuz would reimburse the country through a 20 per cent charge on cargoes, Reuters reported.
President Trump’s idea would mean that a 20 per cent fee on a supertanker that carries about 2 million barrels of crude at $80 per barrel would be equivalent to around $32 million, or an additional cost of $16 per barrel.
“This is significantly higher than the $1/bbl toll for which Iran has been pushing,” ING’s strategists said.
The proposal was also criticised by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) because international law does not provide for mandatory transit fees through straits used for international navigation. Energy companies have also rejected similar proposals previously advanced by Tehran, arguing that freedom of navigation remains a cornerstone of global maritime trade.
Iran’s top joint military command had earlier said it would not allow the US to intervene in the management of the strait, and any attempt by the US to transit without its authorisation would be confronted.
Analysts now expect countries to work on ways to permanently bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Goldman Sachs estimated that expanding pipeline capacity in the Middle East could shield more than 60 per cent of pre-war Gulf oil exports from any future Hormuz disruptions by the end of 2028.
The bank’s base-case forecast assumes pipeline capacity bypassing Hormuz will rise by 3.8 million barrels per day by end-2027 and 7.3 million barrels per day cumulatively by end-2028, taking total effective bypass capacity to more than 14 million barrels per day by end-2028.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has trimmed its 2026 global oil demand growth forecast for the third straight month, even as crude production rebounds across the Gulf and tanker traffic slowly returns to the Strait of Hormuz.
In its monthly oil market report released Monday, OPEC lowered expected oil demand growth this year to 780,000 barrels per day, down another 190,000 barrels per day from last month’s forecast. The producer group still expects stronger consumption than many other forecasters, including the International Energy Agency, and even raised its demand growth estimate for 2027 by 210,000 barrels per day to 1.94 million barrels per day.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further depreciated by 0.84 per cent on Monday as a result of sell-offs in PZ Cussons, BUA Cement and others.
During the session, apart from the consumer goods index, which closed higher by 0.59 per cent, every other index closed lower, with the industrial goods sector the heaviest loser after shedding 3.28 per cent. The insurance space declined by 2.18 per cent, the banking sector depleted by 1.44 per cent, and the energy segment shrank by 0.09 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 2,049.65 points to 241,749.11 points from 243,798.76 points, and the market capitalisation contracted by 1.315 trillion to N155.130 trillion from N156.445 trillion.
The market was under selling pressure yesterday, as reflected in the market breadth index, which was negative after closing with 48 price losers and 22 price gainers, indicating weak investor sentiment.
PZ Cussons was the worst-performing stock after shedding 10.00 per cent to finish at N81.00, BUA Cement lost 9.99 per cent to settle at N306.20, Red Star Express declined by 9.98 per cent to N22.10, RT Briscoe depreciated by 9.70 per cent to N12.10, and C&I Leasing dropped 9.38 per cent to trade at N28.12.
The best-performing equity for the day was International Breweries, which chalked up 9.77 per cent to quote at N14.60, NAHCO improved by 8.36 per cent to N177.00, UAC Nigeria expanded by 8.11 per cent to N199.95, DAAR Communication grew by 6.67 per cent to N1.76, and Vitafoam Nigeria gained 5.87 per cent to close at N194.80.
During the session, investors bought and sold 523.5 million shares worth N22.3 billion in 59,945 deals compared with the 441.3 million shares valued at N19.4 billion traded in 44,938 deals last Friday, indicating an increase in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 18.63 per cent, 14.95 per cent, and 33.40 per cent, respectively.
FCMB closed the day as the most traded stock, with 102.2 million units valued at N1.0 billion. International Breweries sold 26.8 million units worth N387.2 million, Access Holdings exchanged 24.8 million units for N618.2 million, McNichols traded 20.3 million units worth N95.0 million, and Stanbic IBTC transacted 18.4 million units valued at N2.9 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria met its production quota set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as crude oil and condensate production soared to an average of 1,735,398 barrels per day in June 2026, representing positive growth for a fourth consecutive month.
This is according to a statement released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and signed by its Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Mr Eniola Akinkuotu, on Sunday.
The regulator noted that in June, crude oil production hit 1.56 million barrels per day while 0.18 million barrels per day of condensates were produced. The commission revealed that Nigeria met 104 per cent of the 1.5 million barrels per day crude oil production quota set by OPEC.
Business Post reports that OPEC quota doesn’t account for condensates in its count.
In strict crude oil terms (excluding condensates), the 1.56 million daily average production Nigeria witnessed in June is the highest that Africa’s biggest oil producer has recorded since April 2020, thus representing a 74-month high.
In June, NUPRC noted that the peak combined crude oil and condensate production was 1.89 million barrels per day, reflecting Nigeria’s potential to reach 2 million barrels per day in the near term. However, the lowest production was 1.57 million barrels per day for the period in review.
According to the upstream regulator, the improved performance was primarily driven by stable production operations across most producing assets and the absence of any major pipeline outages during the period under review.
This enhanced operational stability supported improved production uptime and crude evacuation efficiency.
Nigeria, which is Africa’s biggest oil producer, has not been able to top its record-high production of 2.5 million barrels per day recorded in 2025 due to challenges ranging from underinvestment to oil theft.
