Economy
UBA, MTN Nigeria Take Charge as NGX Index Rises 1.45%
By Dipo Olowookere
The bullish momentum at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited continued on Tuesday with a further 1.45 per cent growth at the close of transactions by 2:30 pm.
This was influenced by sustained bargain-hunting activities by investors, implying an expression of confidence in local equities, which underwent selling pressure a few sessions ago after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the interest rate by 4.00 per cent to 22.75 per cent.
Traders showed strong interest in banking stocks, resulting in the index rising by 4.54 per cent when trading activities closed for the session.
The insurance sector grew by 0.98 per cent, the industrial goods counter appreciated by 0.18 per cent, and the energy space increased by 0.10 per cent, while the consumer goods sector witnessed profit-taking, resulting in a 0.37 per cent loss.
But this did not affect the outcome of the market, as the All-Share Index (ASI) soared by 1,479.60 points to 103,524.44 points from 102,044.84 points, and the cumulative value of bourse stretched by N837 billion to N58.534 trillion from N57.697 trillion.
Today, traders traded 565.8 million shares worth N14.2 billion in 11,519 deals compared with the 436.9 million shares valued at N17.1 billion transacted in 11,344 deals yesterday, representing a decline in the value of transactions by 17.00 per cent, and a jump in the volume of trades and the number of deals by 29.50 per cent and 1.54 per cent, respectively.
Unlike the preceding day, Transcorp was investors’ toast at the exchange on Tuesday after it traded 170.7 million equities valued at N3.1 billion, Access Holdings transacted 48.6 million shares worth N1.1 billion, GTCO exchanged 39.0 million stocks for N1.7 billion, Jaiz Bank sold 36.8 million shares for N72.5 million, and UBA traded 32.0 million equities valued at N796.2 million.
Business Post reports that investor sentiment remained strong during the session, with a positive market breadth index after 35 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 14 stocks closed on the losers’ chart.
UBA gained 10.00 per cent to sell for N25.30, MTN Nigeria appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N243.50, Julius Berger advanced by 9.71 per cent to N61.00, Access Holdings surged by 9.51 per cent to N22.45, and Veritas Kapital moved up by 9.38 per cent to 70 Kobo.
On the other side of the coin, Tantalizers declined by 7.89 per cent to trade at 35 Kobo, NASCON slumped by 6.77 per cent to N53.70, Morison Industries deflated by 6.62 per cent to N1.41, C&I Leasing receded by 6.45 per cent to N3.48, and Cutix crashed by 6.30 per cent to N2.53.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
