Economy
US, NACC Charge Local Businesses to Capitalize on Trade Initiatives
By Adedapo Adesanya
The United States Consulate and the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC) have urged local businesses to take advantage of the US mission’s trade initiatives for a greener economy.
This call was made during the NACC May Breakfast Meeting with themed US Mission’s Current Commercial-Focused Activities in Nigeria held in Lagos.
Mr David Russell, Head of Commercial Section, Lagos U.S. Consulate, said that the US mission has several initiatives aimed at engaging and providing Nigerian businesses and members of NACC with leverage and opportunities in the US market.
According to him, some of the initiatives include Prosper Africa, African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), West Africa Trade and Investment Hub, Networking with USA (NUSA) and initiatives targeted at women-led businesses.
Mr Russell said the Biden administration was focused on two-way trade between Africa and the US, adding that he was committed to revitalising partnerships based on dialogue, respect and mutually shared values.
“This means working together with African partners to advance our shared vision of a better and greener future and creating jobs in our economy through two-way trade and investment,” he said.
Speaking on the benefits of Prosper Africa, one of the initiatives, Mr Russell said it was one of the most powerful initiatives that Nigerian businesses could access to reach the US market.
“Prosper Africa is an inter-agency initiative within the US Embassy that looks to build and develop the economies within Africa.
“Through Prosper Africa and other broader economic initiatives, the U.S. government is dedicated to increasing two-way trade and mobilising investment inside Africa’s fast-growing markets.
“We are delivering on the Biden administration’s agenda of strengthening the availability of capital, infrastructure and global partnerships,” he said.
Mr Russell added that since relaunching the initiative, the US government had supported over 800 deals and investment deals worth over $50 billion for both economies.
“We are focused on driving transformative investment in key sectors that will bring us closer to the greener, healthier future.
“The sectors include digital economy, climate-smart infrastructure, financial services and healthcare,” Mr Russell noted.
He said that the mission would also promote investment and capacity building among women-led businesses, especially since they were adversely affected by the COVID -19 pandemic.
Mr Russell added that the West Africa Trade and Investment Hub provided guidance, capacity-building resources, mentorships and opportunities for businesses seeking to enjoy the benefits of AGOA.
He advised Nigerian business owners and members of the NACC across various commercial sectors to engage with the commercial department of the U.S. trade mission by visiting its International Trade Administration (ITA) website (www.trade.gov)
Mr Russell added that investment and support would go beyond trade to include the entertainment sector, especially since the Afrobeats music genre and Nollywood were becoming globally recognized.
On her part, Mrs Adebola-Williams, the president of NACC, reiterated the chamber’s commitment to boosting the volume of Nigeria-US trade.
She added that the chamber would continue to engage the U.S. mission in Nigeria on all trade and development activities for the benefit of members.
“We, therefore, provide regular opportunities for our members to update themselves with key initiatives undertaken by the US mission in Nigeria,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The total issued and fully paid-up shares of Eterna Plc are almost 2.2 billion after the listing of additional shares of the company on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited this week.
Precisely on Wednesday, an additional 882,064,158 ordinary shares of the organisation were listed on Customs Street, a regulatory notice confirmed.
These extra stocks were from the rights issue of the firm, issued to shareholders at N22.00 per unit on the basis of three new ordinary stocks for every existing four ordinary stocks held as at the close of business on Thursday, November 27, 2025.
Eterna wanted to sell a total of 978,108,485 units, but investors only picked 882,064,158, indicating a subscription rate of 90.18 per cent.
At midweek, the new equities were brought to the stock exchange for listing, increasing the total issued and fully paid-up shares of the company from 1,304,144,647 units to 2,186,208,805 units.
“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 882,064,158 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Eterna Plc were on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, listed on the daily official list of NGX.
“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 978,108,485 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N22.00 per share on the basis of three new ordinary shares for every existing four ordinary shares held as at the close of business on Thursday, November 27, 2025.
“With the listing of the additional 882,064,158 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Eterna Plc have now increased from 1,304,144,647 to 2,186,208,805 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the notice signed by the Head of Issuer Regulation Department at NGX RegCo Limited, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Five securities ended on the gainers’ table of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Thursday, May 21, lifting the platform by 1.71 per cent at the close of business.
The gains recorded by the quintet increased the market capitalisation of the NASD exchange by N42.64 billion to N2.538 trillion from N2.495 trillion, and raised the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 71.28 points to 4,242.47 points from the 4,171.19 points reported on Wednesday.
The gainers were led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc, which chalked up N13.11 to sell N164.06 per unit versus N150.95 per unit, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc added N2.39 to trade at N74.20 per share versus N71.81 per share, 11 Plc improved by N22.11 to N244.53 per unit from N243.21 per unit, Food Concepts Plc rose by 23 Kobo to N2.58 per share from N2.35 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc grew by 6 Kobo to N3.00 per unit from N2.94 per unit.
There were three price losers yesterday, led by Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc, which gave away N1.56 to sell at N25.44 per share compared with the previous day’s N27.00 per share, Afriland Properties Plc lost 95 Kobo to close at N15.95 per unit versus N16.90 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc depreciated by 1 Kobo to 60 Kobo per share from 61 Kobo per share.
The volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 40.5 per cent during the session to 3.2 million units from 2.3 million units, and the number of deals soared by 23.5 per cent to 42 deals from 34 deals, while the value of securities fell by 71.6 per cent to N94.8 million from N334.2 million.
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 61.1 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion.
GNI Plc also finished as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar ended at N1,372.31/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, May 21, indicating an appreciation of N1.03 or 0.07 per cent against the United States Dollar. In the preceding session, the rate closed at N1,373.34/$1, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The Nigerian currency further improved its value against the Euro in the same market segment yesterday by N1.75 to settle at N1,590.78/€1 compared with midweek’s value of N1,592.53/€1, but depreciated against the Pound Sterling by 26 Kobo, closing at N1,840.26/£1, in contrast to Wednesday’s rate of N1,840.00/£1.
In the black market and at the GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the US Dollar at N1,390/$1 and N1,379/$1, respectively.
It was gathered that interbank FX liquidity turnover for the session was $116.043 million across 105 deals, higher than the $68.020 million achieved a day earlier.
The central bank will continue with its current policy direction to sustain the fight against inflation and stabilise the exchange rate, with Governor Yemi Cardoso noting earlier this week that exchange rate stability remained the centrepiece of the apex bank’s policy toolkit.
The central banker said the structure of Nigeria’s foreign exchange market has changed significantly under the ongoing reforms introduced by the apex bank, adding that increased market liquidity has reduced the need for heavy intervention by the CBN.
According to him, daily foreign exchange market turnover has risen sharply from about $100 million when the current administration took office to roughly $550 million presently, with transactions occasionally climbing to as high as $1 billion in a single day.
He said the apex bank expects turnover to consistently hit the $1 billion mark in the future as more reforms take effect.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was mixed during the session, as liquidations were split between longs and shorts and did not reflect a one-sided capitulation. Market analysts noted that rising long-term US Treasury yields and geopolitical tensions, particularly around US-Iran relations and oil prices, are seen as the main headwinds.
TRON (TRX) rose by 1.3 per cent to $0.3647, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 0.7 per cent to $655.16, Cardano (ADA) added 0.7 per cent to trade at $0.2495, and Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to $86.55.
However, Ripple (XRP) declined by 0.9 per cent to $1.35, Bitcoin (BTC) slid by 0.5 per cent to $77,227.47, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.3 per cent to $2,121.80, and Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 0.1 per cent to $0.1049, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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