Economy
UBA Seeks Entries for 2019 National Essay Competition
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Entries for the 2019 edition of the annual National Essay Competition organised by the corporate social responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, UBA Foundation, have commenced.
At a media launch to herald the competition in its ninth series last week, the CEO of UBA Foundation, Mrs Bola Atta, explained that the educational contest will provide an opportunity for students in secondary schools across the country to put in their entries and to win prizes in the form of educational grants to study in any university of their choice on the African continent.
At the event held at the UBA headquarters in Lagos, the organisers said the essay competition was targeted at senior secondary school students in Nigeria and was part of UBA Foundation’s education initiative which is aimed at promoting the reading culture and encouraging healthy and intellectual competition amongst secondary school students in Nigeria and across Africa.
Beginning from last year, the prize money increased significantly as the UBA Foundation emphasises that education remains one of the foundation’s key initiatives.
The first prize for the UBA National Essay Competition is a N2 million educational grant, while the second and third prizes are N1.5 million and N1m educational grants respectively.
“To us at the Foundation, this is our drive to improve the quality of education across the continent. It is also our way of giving back to the society.
“The competition is a key aspect of our investment drive in human capital, as we seek to improve knowledge base, allow students to express themselves and write creatively.
“We will continue to sustain the initiative because education is very important to UBA and we are more than committed to providing the necessary support for students in Nigeria and across the African continent,” Mrs Attah noted.
She said further that, “We are driven by the mantra to do well and do good and we will not relent in our efforts to touch lives through our various projects, and initiatives.”
Explaining the modalities for the competition, she stated that entries received from students for the competition will be reviewed by a distinguished panel of judges made up of professors from reputable Nigerian Universities, who will then shortlist 12 best essays for further assessment.
Following this, a second round of the competition will involve the 12 finalists who will write a second supervised essay from which three best essays will be selected as the overall winners from the 12 finalists emerged from the first round of the competition.
Mrs Atta explained that the choice of essay for this year’s competition is one that helps promote creative and analytical thinking in students and helps them to be problem solvers. This year, the topic is What do you think the government should do to control fraud in Nigeria?
It is important to note that apart from Nigeria, the national essay competition has been taken to other African countries including Ghana and Senegal. More countries including Mozambique and Kenya will kick off the initiative this year. A unique component of this year’s edition is that, schools that turn in the highest number of entries will be recognised and rewarded a special prize by the Foundation.
Also speaking at the call to entries today, the Group Head, Direct Sales Agency, Ms Ogechi Altraide, who spoke on the benefits of reading and writing essays, motivated the students to research into the topics and give it their best shot, adding that there is the need for them to focus on adapting themselves to happenings in their generation, and to have a growth mindset. This she explained, will ensure that they can apply themselves and conquer whatever challenges they are faced with.
According to her, reading and writing go hand in hand, and so it is important for students to keep abreast of how the economy can develop through reading and writing.
An English teacher from Holy Child College, Ikoyi, Mrs Ezechukwu Ngozi, gave the students tips on how to write good essays, and advised them to keep to the proper tenets of essay writing to come out tops in the competition.
As the CSR platform for the UBA Group, UBA Foundation embodies the Group’s CSR objectives and seeks to impact positively on societies through a number of laudable projects and initiatives.
Each year, the bank donates thousands of books to students in Nigeria and across Africa, under the ‘Read Africa’ initiative to encourage and promote the reading culture in secondary schools.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 2.30 per cent, spurring the NASD Security Index (NSI) to close higher by 96.61 points to 4,296.34 points from 4,199.73 points, and raising the market capitalisation by N57.99 billion to N2.578 trillion from N2.521 trillion.
The market was up yesterday despite a lower activity level, as the volume of securities traded slumped by 94.7 per cent to 1.3 million units from the previous 23.9 million units. The value of securities slipped by 57.2 per cent to N29.2 million from the preceding session’s N68.2 million, while the number of deals executed by market participants increased by 6.7 per cent to 32 deals from the 30 deals carried out on Thursday.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion in trades, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 70.8 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
GNI Plc was also 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 exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
During the trading day, there were three price gainers and two price losers, led by Afriland Properties Plc, which shed N1.48 to sell at N15.17 per share compared with the previous session’s N16.65 per share, and Food Concepts Plc, which slid by 7 Kobo to close at N2.69 per unit versus N2.76 per unit.
Conversely, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved its value by N9.50 to trade at N150.00 per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of N140.50 per share, CSCS Plc went up by N7.95 to N89.65 per unit from N81.70 per unit, and 11 Plc soared by N6.94 to N206.95 per share from N200.01 per share.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited lost its footing by 0.07 per cent on Friday as a result of renewed profit-taking by investors.
The fall happened after Thomas Wyatt and Guinness Nigeria led other price losers group comprising 27 stocks at the market yesterday due to selling pressure.
Thomas Wyatt Nigeria shed 10.00 per cent to quote at N2.70, Guinness Nigeria drowned by 9.99 per cent to close at N329.00, Ikeja Hotel slipped by 9.96 per cent to N42.50, Zichis shed 9.94 per cent to trade at N26.37, and McNichols depreciated by 9.91 per cent to N5.00.
On the flip side, International Breweries gained 9.92 per cent to finish at N13.30, NEM Insurance appreciated by 9.61 per cent to N27.95, Jaiz Bank grew by 6.36 per cent to N9.20, UPDC expanded by 6.33 per cent to N4.20, and Livestock Feeds increased by 6.32 per cent to N9.25.
Business Post reports that investor sentiment remained bullish despite the loss recorded during the session, as there were 27 price decliners and 30 price advancers, representing a positive market breadth index.
Yesterday, market participants transacted 441.3 million equities for N19.4 billion in 44,938 deals compared with the 1.7 billion equities worth N112.0 billion traded in 44,780 deals a day earlier. This showed that the trading volume contracted by 74.04 per cent, the trading value declined by 82.68 per cent, and an uptick in the number of deals by 0.35 per cent.
Access Holdings led the activity chart on Friday after selling 40.2 million shares valued at N1.0 billion, Sterling Holdco traded 30.3 million stocks worth N228.8 million, Fidelity Bank sold 26.3 million equities for N505.6 million, Zenith Bank transacted 22.3 million shares valued at N2.5 billion, and First Holdco exchanged 19.0 million stocks worth N1.3 billion.
During the last trading session of the week, the consumer goods sector rose by 0.49 per cent, the insurance counter increased by 0.06 per cent, and the industrial goods index closed flat, while the banking and energy indices lost 0.78 per cent and 0.52 per cent, respectively.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) shrank by 159.97 points to 243,798.76 points from 243,958.73 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by N103 billion to N156.445 trillion from N156.548 trillion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira performed poorly against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, July 10, losing N1.19 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,379.62/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,378.43/$1.
It also depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the trading session by N3.80 to trade at N1,850.62/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,846.82/£1, but gained 43 Kobo on the Euro to sell at N1,575.66/€1 versus the preceding day’s N1,576.09/€1.
At the GTBank FX desk, the Naira weakened against the Dollar yesterday by N1 to quote at N1,386/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,835/$1, and maintained stability in the black market at N1.400/$1.
Data showed that interbank FX turnover fell by about 10 per cent on Friday to $71.044 million from $78.708 million the previous day. Also, interbank forex market deals reduced to 87 from 106 trades executed at the window on Thursday.
The total forex inflows into the Nigerian foreign exchange market have been fluctuating, with about $1 billion in total inflows reported last week.
Total FX inflows settled at $0.99 billion last week, according to the research subsidiary of Coronation Merchant Bank, with Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) accounting for the largest share at 35.81 per cent, or $0.35 billion.
Exporters accounted for 28.72 per cent or $0.28 billion, while the CBN contributed 11.15 per cent or $0.11 billion. Non-Bank Corporations also made up a notable 10.92 per cent of total inflows, reflecting continued support from both market-driven and official sources.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin rose above $64,100, retesting the price level that rejected it on Monday, with a clean break above, opening the path toward the June 15 high of $67,250. It gained 0.3 per cent to sell at $64,114.16.
Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 1.6 per cent to $1,798.81, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.6 per cent to $0.0742, Binance Coin (BNB) added 0.6 per cent to sell for $576.47, Cardano (ADA) also grew by 0.6 per cent to $0.1674, and Ripple (XRP) jumped by 0.4 per cent to $1.10.
But Solana (SOL) lost 1.1 per cent to settle at $77.95, and TRON (TRX) declined by 0.2 per cent to $0.3296, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
