DMO to Auction N150bn FGN Bonds October 20

By Bliss Okperan, Adedapo Adesanya  The cost of cooking a pot of jollof rice, one of the most consumed foods daily in Nigeria, has surged by 37.4 per cent, according to research carried out by Business Post. Using market data and the most recent food price watch by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), major food items in making the delicacy, including rice, groundnut oil, tomatoes, and onions, among others have recorded a massive increase within the past year, making it hard for the average Nigerian to survive. According to NBS, 1 kilogram of Rice cost N757.06 in 2023 as

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded yet another positive week-on-week performance after stretching its gains by 1.44 per cent in Week 47. This expanded the portfolios of NASD investors by N17 billion in the week to N1.162 trillion from the N1.145 trillion recorded in Week 46, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 12.16 points to 857.29 points from 845.13 points in the previous week. The trading week was with three price gainers and three losers, with Aradel Holdings Plc on top of the advancers’ chart after it grew by 10 per cent to finish

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited posted a 0.25 per cent growth at the close of trading activities on Friday, influenced by persistent bargain-hunting. Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive yesterday after 33 stocks closed on the gainers’ chart and 21 equities ended on the losers’ table, indicating a strong investor. Secure Electronic Technology was the best-performing stock for the trading session as its value rose by 10.00 per cent to 55 Kobo, followed by MeCure, which gained 9.90 per cent to close at N9.21, Neimeth appreciated by 9.85 per cent to N2.23, Multiverse

By Adedapo Adesanya Appreciation in the prices of three stocks saw the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed with a 1.36 per cent rise on Friday, November 24 despite efforts by two equities to bring down the market. Aradel Holdings Plc recorded a N79.20 appreciation to sell at N871.20 per share compared to the previous day’s N792.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by N2.82 to close the day at N74.00 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N71.14 per unit, and UBN Property Plc jumped by 15 Kobo to finish at N1.65 per share, in contrast to the

By Dipo Olowookere Inflation rate in Nigeria got worse in November 2020, rising by 14.89 per cent year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In its report released on Tuesday morning, the agency revealed that there was a sharp rise in the food by 18.30 per cent in the month under consideration in contrast to the 17.38 per cent recorded in October 2020. It was explained that the significant increase in the food index was caused by a jump in the prices of food items like bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, meat, fish, fruits, vegetables

**Projects Extra 155,000 Jobs, $1.3b Annually for Continent By Modupe Gbadeyanka The launch of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) initiative by the African Union (AU) has been lauded by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In a statement on Monday, the IATA said the initiative will open up Africa’s skies and improve intra-African air connectivity. According to the association, enhanced connectivity will stimulate demand, improve the competitiveness of the African airline industry, and make air travel more accessible. In turn, this will enable higher volumes of trade, expanded tourism and growing commerce between African nations and with the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Mid-level lender, First Monument Bank Limited, is planning to raise fresh funds through the sale of commercial papers to investors. The parent company of the firm, FCMB Group Plc, informed the investing public through the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) of this latest development. A statement from the company’s scribe, Mrs Olufunmilayo Adedibu, stated that the commercial papers, which have a tenor of less than 12 months, would serve as an additional funding source for the bank. The financial institution disclosed that it intends to raise about N20 billion, adding that the exercise is under its N100 billion

By Adedapo Adesanya Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr Boris Johnson, will return to the office after the Conservative Party (Tories) won majority seats in parliament at the winter election held on Thursday. As at the time of this report, the party has won 364 seats, representing 43.6 percent, a majority out of 650 slots available at the parliament. The party needed 326 seats to win, but currently has 364. It was followed closely by its bitter rival, the Labour Party, with 203 seats, representing 32.2 percent. Other parties include: the Scottish National Party with 48 seats (3.9 percent);

By Adedapo Adesanya The United Kingdom has extended a helping hand to the federal government to collaborate on promoting and providing digital access to underprivileged communities in Nigeria. This was made known in the Digital Access Programme, where representatives and stakeholders were hosted including the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Thursday. Serving as the first Nigeria Technical Conference on the Right of Way (RoW), the event was held to further aggregate views from key stakeholders, towards the advancement of policy and regulatory reforms on ROW and issuance of planning permits for

By Modupe Gbadeyanka As part of its re-engineering effort and coming from a loss position in 2016, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has announced 15 percent increase in profit after tax to N18.7 billion for the first quarter (Q1) ended March 31, 2017. The financial institution in the first quarter of 2016 posted N16.2 billion profit after tax. In the 2016 financial year, Ecobank had announced a loss before tax of $131 million in contrast to profit before tax of $205 million recorded in 2015, attributable to higher loan impairment charges taken in fourth quarter of 2016. But in its unaudited

By Aduragbemi Omiyale For the fourth year in a row, Zedcap Partners Limited (ZPL), a member of Zedcrest Group, has won the Best Brokerage Service award at the 2022 FMDQ Gold Award. Zedcap Partners bagged the same award category in 2019, 2020, and 2021. The company, while reacting to this recognition, which cements its position as the leading and largest inter-dealer brokerage (IDB) firm in Nigeria, dedicated the award to its clients. The firm said its clients have shown unflinching support, trust and loyalty to the organisation through its five-year journey of providing outstanding brokerage service in the fixed income,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A future-ready payments platform designed to meet the end-to-end future banking needs has been introduced by Financial Software and Systems Limited. The initiative known as BLAZE will help banks in India, Africa and the Middle East to meet their growing need for scalability and security, as it would enable them to deliver higher transactions per second (TPS) to align with the growing digital commerce adoption in the country. A statement from FSS explained that the advanced payments technology platform will offer significant efficiency gains in terms of speed and scalability, ensure high durability during peak workloads, improved