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.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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