Travelex, FBN Begin Forex Sale in Abuja

By Dipo Olowookere The bears tightened their grip on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday, chopping off 0.34 per cent from the local bourse despite assurances from Mr Yemi Cardoso he would endeavour to ensure the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) restores its independence. Mr Cardoso was confirmed as the new CBN Governor by the Senate yesterday and he promised to formulate evidence-based monetary policies, a departure from his predecessor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who was accused of romancing the President and coming up with trial-and-error policies. Business Post reports that investors were more interested in trimming their exposure to

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) kicked off the first trading session in the last week of the third quarter of the year on a negative note, with the key performance indices going down by 0.66 per cent on Monday. This was partly caused by the reaction of investors to the 30 Kobo interim dividend declaration of the board of Access Holdings Plc. A few days ago, its peer, UBA Plc, raised its interim dividend payment by 150 per cent to 50 Kobo and it was expected that Access Holdings would follow the same path. However, the company disappointed

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices moderated in choppy trade on Monday as Russia relaxed its fuel ban amid a widening demand worry. Brent crude futures lost 2 cents during the session to trade at $93.29 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude depreciated by 35 cents to close at $89.68 per barrel. Last week, prices were down after a hawkish Federal Reserve rattled global financial markets and raised concerns that interest rates could stay higher for longer affecting oil demand. This snapped a three-week rally of more than 10 per cent after Saudi Arabia and Russia constrained

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil improved its value by more than $1 on Tuesday as the US Dollar weakened and investors debated the potential impact Hurricane Idalia, which is set to hit Florida this week, would have on energy supply and demand. The US Dollar index dropped on Tuesday after data showed that US job openings, a measure of labour demand, fell in July. As a result, Brent rose by $1.07 or 1.3 per cent to settle at $85.49 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) went up by $1.06 or 1.3 per cent to $81.86 per barrel. A

By Dipo Olowookere Airtel Africa Plc has informed its shareholders in Nigeria that it plans to sell 20 per cent of its stake in its subsidiary in Uganda, Airtel Uganda Limited, to local investors through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Wednesday, the telecommunications company stated that this would involve the sale of 8 billion ordinary shares of the domestic unit. “The offer is expected to result in meaningful local ownership of Airtel Uganda Limited, with preference to be given to Ugandan investors, and to contribute to the development of the

By Dipo Olowookere Managing Director of Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Mr Taiwo Adeniyi, has accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of not being transparent in its dealings with stakeholders in the industry. Mr Adeniyi was quoted by Daily Sun as saying that the apex bank sometimes shows partiality when carrying out its policies. He was reacting to the announcement made by the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, of the bank’s readiness to buy Commercial Paper (CP) from large companies in order to lend to them at single digit interest rate. According to Daily Sun, some companies were still waiting for

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has disclosed that the NGX Made of Africa Awards will spur the next phase of capital market innovation to attract more investors into the space. On Tuesday, December 6, 2022, the exchange held the award ceremony in Lagos to recognise innovativeness and compliance with best practices in the Nigerian capital market for the calendar year. The event spotlighted excellence, creativity and integrity as NGX sought to amplify the activities of its stakeholders to further reinforce the values that attract investors to the market and grow the African economy. Players in the capital

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has confirmed the receipt of a $750 million World Bank loan as an intervention towards helping Nigerians quickly recover from the effect of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This was disclosed by the Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mr Clem Agba, at the appraisal meeting of the proposed Nigeria Cares (N-CARES) programme organised by the Community and Social Development Project (CSDP), an initiative of the federal government. He urged states to leverage on both the N560 billion and N462 billion available for MSMEs and Agriculture sectors to mitigate the effect of coronavirus

By Dipo Olowookere The Financial Times of London has once again endorsed the award-winning Kwara Community Health Insurance Scheme for its transformational impact on the people of the state, particularly the rural dwellers. In an article titled, ‘The Innovators: devices and services to improve maternal and child health’ published on its website on Thursday, the Financial Times listed Kwara Community Health Insurance among few projects with the potential to ease the burden of maternal and child mortality around the world. The Financial Times noted that the scheme, which is operated in collaboration with Hygeia Community Health, the Netherlands government and

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Federal Government has announced Mr Joseph Nnanna as the new Chairman, Board of the Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM). Also appointed are members of the board; Dr Mudashiru Olaitan, Mrs Olubunmi Siyanbola, Mr Ochapa Ogenyi, Mr Adesina Adegbenro and Hajiya Ramatu Ahmed. They will join the executive management team of the bank headed by Mr Abba Bello as the Managing Director/Chief Executive, assisted by Bala Bello, Executive Director, Corporate services and Stella Okotete, Executive Director, Business Development. The new board chairman is a former Deputy Governor (Economic Policies) at Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). A statement issued

By Dipo Olowookere The bond market was dominated by selling pressure in the first trading day of the new month on Monday as the bearish sentiments continued. It was observed that initial selloffs from some offshores mostly on the 2027s and 2034s widened spreads significantly at the start of the trading session. At the market yields advanced across most instruments, except for the JAN-2022, JUN-2019 and OCT-2019 which recorded yield declines. Consequently, the average bond yield increased by 0.05 percent, to peg at 14.90 percent at the close of trades. There was also some moderation in yields later in the