UAC Nigeria Considers N50bn Bond Sale

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira put up a weak performance against the United States Dollar across the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday. November 30, 2023, the last trading session of the month. In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window, which is the official market, the Nigerian currency lost 0.1 per cent or 85 Kobo against the greenback during the session to settle at N832.32/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N831.47/$1. A slight strain in the supply of forex into the spot market was partly responsible for the weakening of the local

By Adedapo Adesanya The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) on Thursday asked Nigeria to produce about 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2024, lower than the 1.78 million barrels per day benchmark it proposed in the 2024 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly on Wednesday for passage. The output ceiling was around 1.8 million barrels per day before it was cut down to 1.5 million barrels yesterday at the group’s virtual meeting, a huge blow to Nigeria’s revenue target for the fiscal year. OPEC had tasked three consultancies – IHS, Rystad

By Adedapo Adesanya The boards of insurance companies operating in the country have been charged by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to embrace the measures put in place to tackle the challenges of unpaid claims. The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, expressed worry over the number of outstanding claims in the sector despite efforts by the regulator to address the issue. Mr Thomas, who is also the chief executive of NAICOM, said the organisation, in collaboration with members of the Insurers’ Committee, has taken decisions and incepted measures designed to tame the menace of unpaid claims. Speaking at the

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 * Cost of other alternatives transport soar in Review Month ** Ripples of fuel subsidy spur rise in food, rent, others *** President Tinubu launches palliative measures to cushion effect The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per increased by 97.9 per cent from N649.59 in May 2023 to N1,285.41 in June 2023 as Nigerians grapple with a rise in prices after President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy. This was contained in the Transport Fare Watch June 2023 released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) over the weekend,

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has said that it is not planning to increase fuel pump prices at its retail stations. The company made this announcement in a post seen by Business Post via its official X (formerly Twitter) account late Monday night. “Dear esteemed customers, we at NNPC Retail value your patronage, and we do not have the intention to increase our PMS pump prices as widely speculated. Please buy the best quality products at the most affordable prices at our NNPC Retail Stations nationwide,” the statement read. Speculations had risen in the last

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been described as a critical component of the Nigerian economy because they serve as a principal vehicle for the creation of employment and revenue. The chief executive of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Mr Temi Popoola, while speaking at an event for small businesses in Lagos recently, stated that efforts must be made to support the sector to keep the economy going. One of the ways he said SMEs can be supported includes access to funds to help them expand their operations, which will, in turn, stimulate economic activities. Mr Popoola

By Dipo Olowookere The additional shares sold to investors from the rights issue of eTranzact Plc have been listed on the trading floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited. The fresh equities were admitted into the exchange on Monday, April 12, 2021, and they were 2,434,566,483 in total. This development has now increased the total issued and fully paid-up shares of eTranzact to 6,634,566,483 from 4,200,000,000. Business Post recalls that eTranzact, which operates in the highly competitive financial technology (fintech) industry, had intended to sell a total of 4,666,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N1.50 per unit on the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) and the unregulated Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and the parallel market segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, November 29 as President Bola Tinubu reiterated his administration’s promise to meet its obligations. Speaking during the presentation of his administration’s N27.50 trillion 2024 budget proposal to the joint session of the 10th National Assembly on Wednesday, Mr Tinubu said, “Despite the challenges, we continue to meet our obligations.” In the official NAFEM segment of the market, the value of the local currency went

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Women in Nigeria have been urged to see themselves as positive agents of change in the country and not push overs. This charge was given at an empowerment programme organised in Lagos recently by ExxonMobil in partnership with WEConnect International in commemoration of the International Women’s Day (IWD) held on March 8, 2017. At the event themed ‘Bold Steps for Big Change,’ women were advised to be more involved in the growth of the economy because they have the huge potential to achieve this. Keynote speaker of the seminar, Mrs Folorunsho Alakija, a business mogul, lamented that

By Adedapo Adesanya The oil market settled lower on Monday following signs of progress in nuclear talks between the United States and Iran, which could lead to the removal of US sanctions on Iranian oil sales. At the session, the price of the Brent crude went down by 16 cents or 0.17 per cent to $91.53 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell by 4 cents or 0.4 per cent to $91.28 per barrel. Crude prices last week rallied for the seventh week on ongoing worries about supply disruptions fueled by extreme cold US weather and

By Dipo Olowookere Mr Lamin Manjang has resumed office as the new Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria. This followed the confirmation of his appointment by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently. He is taking over from Bola Adesola who was appointed Senior Vice-Chairman, Africa for the Bank in December 2018. In this new capacity, as CEO of one of Standard Chartered’s most promising markets, Mr Manjang will be responsible for driving leadership for the group in Nigeria and the execution of the group and country business strategies. His deep knowledge of the African market, strong client