UAC Nigeria Posts Decline in Q1 Revenue on MDS Re-Classification

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited depreciated by 0.49 per cent on Thursday, driven by selling pressure on banking equities, especially those in the tier-1 category. The likes of GTCO, FBN Holdings, Access Holdings witnessed sell-offs during the trading session, contributing to the weak investor sentiment observed at the Nigerian stock market. According to data obtained by Business Post, the NGX ended with 29 price losers and 24 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index. FBN Holdings ended as the heaviest price decliner after it shed 9.86 per cent to settle at N26.50, Secure Electronic Technology fell

By Dipo Olowookere The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Nigeria’s revenue–to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of about 9 per cent was too low to trigger the economic growth projected by President Bola Tinubu in his Renewed Hope Agenda. Addressing journalists at its last press briefing for 2023 on Thursday, the global lender said the administration of Mr Tinubu must boost the government’s revenue to have funds to achieve his goals. On May 29, 2023, Mr Tinubu took over from Mr Muhammadu Buhari, promising to jump-start the economy and work tirelessly to address food security, end hunger, eradicate poverty, create

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira recovered from the previous day’s loss after closing stronger against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 7, by 11.4 per cent or N108.15 to trade at N843.07/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate of N951.22/$1. This occurred as the value of foreign exchange (FX) transactions slightly increased during the session by $1.67 million or 39.5 per cent to $137.25 million from the $135.58 million achieved in the preceding trading session. Similarly, in the official market, the Nigerian Naira strengthened against the British Pound Sterling on Thursday by

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Moody’s outlook on Nigeria has been upgraded from stable to positive after the federal government implemented a few economic reforms. In a statement on Friday, the rating agency said the decisions to remove the costly petrol subsidies, devaluation of the Naira and the unification of the foreign exchange (FX) market were good for the economy. When Mr Bola Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, he announced an end to the payment of subsidies on premium motor spirit (PMS). A month later, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the unification of the forex market, while the Naira

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Subscription for the February FGN savings bond, which started on Monday, February 7, 2022, will end on Friday, February 11, 2022. The monthly sale of the papers gives investors, especially the low-income earners, the opportunity to partake in the capital market and also contribute to nation-building. This is because they provide the government with the funds needed to finance some projects and help with the capital needed to fund the budget deficit. As it is in the previous exercises, the Debt Management Office (DMO) is offering the notes in two-year and three-year maturities. According to the circular

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has pledged to supply not less than 10 million gas cylinders of the Liquified Petroleum Gas to the market as part of efforts to increase access to the commodity. This was disclosed by the Managing Director of the Nigeria LPG (NLNG), Mr Musa Ibrahim, during a two-day sensitization workshop in Bauchi on Tuesday. The two-day sensitization awareness workshop was tagged Engaging Bauchi State Towards Sustainable Socio-economic Growth through LPG adoption and expansion. He said the cylinders would be distributed nationwide through registered marketers, saying the agency would establish micro sales and distribution centres for

By Dipo Olowookere The sum of $163.9 million has been approved by the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Mauritania. The amount was approved under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) with Mauritania to support the country’s economic and financial reform program. The ECF-supported program is expected to help Mauritania economy foster inclusive and diversified growth to improve the population’s living standards, maintain macroeconomic stability, strengthen debt sustainability, and reduce poverty. An amount of $23.4 million will be made available immediately to Mauritania, while the remaining amount will be phased in over the duration of the program, subject

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The need for poultry farmers to embrace livestock feeds made from cassava grits has been highlighted in Akure, the Ondo State capital. At a programme held recently in the city, it was disclosed that use of cassava grits would cut the cost of feed production, thereby increasing the profit margin of farmers. The programme, put together by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in conjunction with the Department for International Development’s programme; Market Development for Niger Delta (MADE) and HarvestPlus, was designed build capacity of processors to produce quality cassava grits which meet the requirement of

By Adedapo Adesanya Before now, the only way to carry out a financial transaction was to visit the banking hall, stay in the queue and pray that the cashier is in a good mood. But technology has changed the game. Someone does not have to leave his/her space to execute a financial transaction and in fact, some digital banks have sprung up in Nigeria in the last five years, offering not to only complement the traditional, brick and mortar banking structure but to disrupt its entire structure with its offerings. Business Post takes a look at some digital banks and

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed a €362,000 grant agreement with Hadejia Jama’are Komadugu Yobe Basin-Trust Fund to prepare additional studies under the second phase of developing a strategic plan for managing water resources in the Komadugu-Yobe Basin in northern Nigeria. Specifically, the grant will support the preparation of a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) for the Challawa Gorge Dam Watershed Management Project; a stakeholder engagement plan; a grievance redress mechanism, and stakeholder consultations involving riparian communities and the Lake Chad Basin Commission comprising Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, and Niger Republic. The project will be implemented over eight

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Stocks in the financial services sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) contributed 73.82 percent and 76.20 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively last week. Data obtained by Business Post from the stock exchange revealed the equities in the category dominated the activity chart with 1.0 billion shares valued at N11.8 billion executed in 8,275 deals. Following were shares in the healthcare industry with 170.9 million units worth N49.1 million in 281 deals, and stocks in the conglomerates sector with a turnover of 83.6 million units valued at N205.8 million in 736 deals.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A former director of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Ambassador Adekunle Olumide, has urged the financial institution to maintain its prudent loan policy. Mr Olumide gave this advice last Friday when UBA honoured its four retiring directors at a cocktail and dinner party held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, which was attended by top players in the private and public sectors. The four retired non-executive directors honoured at the ceremony were Mrs Rose Okwechime, Ambassador Kunle Olumide, Mr Jaafaru Paki and Mr Yahaya Zekeri Speaking on behalf of the ex-directors, Mr Olumide thanked the bank