UNDP Says Nigeria’s Human Development Index Adds 13.1%

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Strong inflationary pressures in November further negatively impacted companies in Nigeria, with new orders and output both falling as customers were either reluctant or unable to pay higher charges. Purchase prices rose at the fastest pace in almost two years amid exchange rate weakness and higher costs for fuel and materials. According to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) from Stanbic IBTC, business conditions remained under pressure, scoring 48.0 points last month compared with the 49.1 points it garnered in October 2023. Readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions, while readings below 50.0 show deterioration.

By Adedapo Adesanya  Angola, one of Africa’s top crude oil producers and a key member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has officially rejected the proposed production quota for the year 2024 and may even exit the group. This was signalled by Mr Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Angola’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, confirming the nation’s decision and indicating a divergence from OPEC’s suggested allocations for both member and non-member countries. The announcement was made during the 26th OPEC+ Meeting on Thursday, where the organisation proposed 1.11 million barrels of crude oil per day production quota for

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira started the first trading session in the last month of 2023 on a negative note after it depreciated against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), which is the official FX window, by 11.4 per cent or N94.87 on Friday, December 1, closing at N927.19/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N832.32/$1. The December rush for forex contributed to the weakening of the domestic currency in the spot market yesterday, as the supply of foreign currency could not meet what customers needed. Data showed that the value of FX transactions recorded

By Dipo Olowookere In one week, investors bought and sold 2.543 billion shares worth N38.644 billion in 36,138 deals on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. In the preceding trading week, a total of 2.425 billion shares valued at N22.665 billion were transacted by investors in 33,230 deals. It was observed that financial stocks led the activity chart as usual with 1.721 billion units worth N18.281 billion in 17,151 deals, contributing 67.68 per cent and 47.30 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively. Conglomerates equities trailed with 200.584 million units valued at N1.546 billion in

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has disclosed that Federal Government will continue to borrow from international organisation because it was cheaper than domestic borrowing. While addressing lawmakers last week, the Minister said it would be extremely difficult for the government to meet obligations in capital budget, pointing out that there was N2.3 trillion deficit in the 2017 capital budget. Mr Adeosun noted that the 2017 budget deficit was projected mainly on external and domestic borrowing. She hinged further capital releases on how fast the government could push the borrowing process, adding that domestic borrowing would not

By Adedapo Adesanya For the second trading day, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc recorded growth on the floor of the NASD Over-the-Counter OTC Securities Exchange. The performance of the milk maker contributed to the 0.54 per cent gained by the unlisted securities market at the close of business on Tuesday, October 27. Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 3.99 points when activities were wrapped up yesterday to 740.74 points from the 736.75 points quoted a day earlier. In the same vein, the milk-producing company boosted the market capitalisation of the bourse by N2.93 billion to finish at N544.12

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Notable online publishing start-up firm in Nigeria, Publiseer, has spread its tentacles to the neighbouring West African country, Ghana. Explaining why the company decided to tap into the Ghanaian industry, co-founder of Publiseer, Mr Chidi Nwaogu, stated that, “Ghana has an amazing music industry that spreads across Africa and even the world. The book publishing industry in Ghana is also huge, and Publiseer wants to tap into this huge resource.” He said further that, “Ghana is a country with really intelligent and creative people, and it will be an honour having these amazing people use our platform

By Adedapo Adesanya India on Wednesday became the first nation to land a spacecraft near the Moon’s south pole and the fourth country – after Russia, the United States, and China – to land on the moon. This has been regarded as a historic triumph for the world’s second most populous nation and its ambitious, cut-price space programme. The unmanned Chandrayaan-3, which means Mooncraft in Sanskrit, touched down at 6:04 pm India time (1:34 pm Nigerian time). Its landing comes days after a Russian probe crashed in the same region and four years since the previous Indian attempt failed at

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

By Adedapo Adesanya and Aduragbemi Omiyale The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday evening released the sum of $265 million to airlines operating in the country to settle outstanding ticket sales in an apparent move to check a brewing crisis that threatens the country’s aviation sector. Business Post understands that the $265 million was released into two windows. The sum of $230 million was given as a special FX intervention while another sum of $35 million was released through the Retail SMIS auction. It is believed that this will help clear outstanding ticket sales of international airlines. Emirates Airlines

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments, Mrs Maryam Uwais, has denied reports that the National Social Investment Programmes have been hampered by fraud in some states of the federation. In a statement personally signed by her, Mrs Uwais admitted that the scheme has a pocket of frauds in some states, but they were not enough to have marred the progress of the initiative. According to her, some of the challenges being recorded in a few States are being tackled effectively and transparently. She stressed that despite some limited process breaches recorded in some rural communities,