Trading on NSE Closes Bearish for Fourth Consecutive Day

By Aduragbemi Omiyale President Bola Tinubu has said the 2024 budget presented to the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday was designed to achieve macroeconomic stability, a better investment environment, greater access to social security, poverty reduction and enhanced human capital development. According to him, if these goals are achieved, the standard of living of Nigerians will improve and the citizens will enjoy the dividends of democracy. While presenting the 2024 Appropriation Bills to the parliament yesterday, the President said this was why he christened the budget proposal as the Budget of Renewed Hope. Mr Tinubu told the

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives has pledged to stop international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta from divestment of their offshore assets without being accountable to the environment. The Chairman of the House of Reps Committee on Host Communities, Mr Dumnamene Dekor, said this during a technical session on the implementation of the Host Communities Development Trusts (HCDT), organised by Spaces for Change (S4C) with support from Ford Foundation. Mr Dekor raised the alarm that since the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021, host communities have not experienced any positive change, rather have remained

By Adedapo Adesanya  Oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel on Wednesday as investors focused their attention on an upcoming OPEC+ output policy meeting and looked past a jump in crude stockpiles in the United States. Brent crude futures were up by $1.01 or 1.2 per cent to $82.69 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.16 or 1.5 per cent to close at $77.57 a barrel. Prices were lifted by a media report that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, known collectively as OPEC+, was considering

By Adedapo Adesanya A milk-producing company, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria, helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange return to the green territory by 0.54 per cent on Wednesday, November 29. The firm improved its value by N3.50 in the midweek session to settle at N73.50 per share compared with the previous day’s closing price of N70.00 per share. It suppressed the 10 Kobo decline posted by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which ended lower at N17.00 per unit versus Tuesday’s value of N17.10 per unit. Consequently, the market capitalisation of the alternative stock exchange went up by N6.28 billion to

Modupe Gbadeyanka Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof Usman Yusuf, on Monday forced his way to his office in Abuja with some policemen accompanying him. Mr Yusuf was suspended indefinitely last Thursday by the governing council of the health agency to allow a panel set up to investigate allegations of abuse of office carry out its duties effectively. It was the second time the NHIS chief was being suspended. Before now, he was removed from office by the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, but was reinstated by President Muhammadu Buhari. This morning, Mr Yusuf, who

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, August 21, swore in 46 Ministers at the State House Conference Center, Abuja. Last week, President Tinubu released the portfolios for the appointees, including Mr Wale Edun (Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy), Mr Bosun Tijani (Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy), Dr Muhmmad Ali Pate (Health and Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare), former Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike in charge of the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and Mr Festus Keyamo (Aviation). On Sunday, he made some changes as he redeployed the ex-Governor of Osun State, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Some applicants of the Federal Government’s N-POWER programme stormed premises of the Lagos State House of Assembly in Ikeja on Wednesday in protest against non-commencement of the scheme in the state. The aggrieved demonstrated said they have been frustrated by the state government’s silence on the issue despite various calls to them to intervene in the matter. The applicants said they do not know their fate at the moment, pointing out that their other colleagues in other states have already started enjoying the programme. The FG had fixed December 1, 2016 for the kick-off of the programme

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange opened the week flat on Monday, August 10 as investors splashed N4.89 million on five different securities at the bourse. This amount was 100.2 per cent higher than the N2.44 million worth of stocks transacted at the bourse at the previous session. During Monday’s trading session, a total of 16 deals were executed on Monday compared to seven deals of the last session. These were made on shares of Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc with eight deals followed by FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc and First Trust Mortgage Bank, with

By Dipo Olowookere The board of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc has announced a profit before tax of N17.717 billion for the period ended September 30, 2018. This is contrast to the N9.042 billion achieved as at September 30, 2017. Transcorp, in its financial statements released on Tuesday and briefly checked by Business Post, declared a profit after tax of N15.962 billion compared with the N8.185 billion achieved in the same period of last year. In addition, the revenue generated by the firm grew to N79.861 billion from N56.757 billion, while the gross profit went up to N36.960 billion

By Adedapo Adesanya Private creditors have established the Africa Private Creditor Working Group (AfricaPCWG) to assist African countries and other debt providers to contain the economic impact of COVID-19 across the continent. African governments are fighting to manage the fallout from the coronavirus, which the World Health Organisation has warned could infect between 29 million and 44 million on the continent in the first year if not contained. African countries face a combined $44 billion debt-servicing bill this year alone. AfricaPCWG is an initiative to represent the views of international private creditors invested in Africa and to work with countries

By Adedapo Adesanya The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed plans to first evacuate about 2,600 Nigerians in the crisis-hit Sudan, a week since the unrest started. The agency’s Director, Special Duties, Mr Onimode Bandele, speaking on Channels TV on Monday, said the Nigerian government would move citizens trapped in the North African country to Egypt, one of Sudan’s neighbours. “The truth is nobody has been evacuated yet. I just spoke to the ambassador Olaniyan in Khartoum a few minutes ago,” he said during his appearance on Sunrise Daily this morning. “It is true that there are plans to