US Shares Surge on Easing Geopolitical Concerns

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it would ensure that the next national minimum wage to be negotiated in 2024 reflects the prevailing cost of living. The union also lamented that following the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government, life has become extremely unbearable for workers. Addressing participants at the opening of the 19th edition of the NLC’s Harmattan School in Abuja, President of the NLC, Mr Joe Ajaero, said it had become necessary for governments at all levels to recognise that life and living conditions were exceedingly difficult, especially for working people in

By Aduragbemi Omiyale An application and proprietary solution for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, known as Aleph Express, has been launched by Aleph Group. A statement from the firm explained that Aleph Express provides a platform for MSMEs to create and maintain a free e-commerce website, create a product catalogue, set local delivery options, manage, record and process orders while gaining meaningful insights to drive growth. The platform also provides one unified inbox that integrates WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, to enable businesses to efficiently engage and sell – all in one place. In addition, Aleph Express provides

By Adedapo Adesanya The trio of Newrest Asl Plc, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, and Acorn Petroleum Plc made the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange appreciate by 0.14 per cent on Friday, December 1. The three gainers pressed down the 8 Kobo loss reported by UBN Property Plc, which closed the trading session at N1.52 per unit compared with the preceding day’s value of N1.60 per unit. During the trading day, Newrest Plc gained N1.46 to close at N16.10 per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of N14.64 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc moved up by 60 Kobo to end the

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil slumped by more than 2 per cent on Friday as traders showed scepticism about the depth of supply cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) as well as concerns about sluggish global manufacturing activity. Brent crude went down by $1.98 or 2.45 per cent to close at $78.88 a barrel as the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.89 or 2.49 per cent to sell for $74.07 a barrel. For the week, Brent posted a decline of about 2.1 per cent, while WTI lost more than 1.9 per cent.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The government of Somalia on Wednesday launched an oral cholera vaccination (OCV) campaign with the support of WHO, targeting over 450 000 people in 7 high-risk areas around the country. It is the first OCV campaign to be conducted in the country, and comes at a critical time after Somalia announced the ongoing drought as a national disaster and faces the possibility of another famine. The campaign is being held in select communities in Mogadishu, Kismayo and Beledweyne through a combination of fixed and mobile sites for maximum accessibility by the communities. The vaccines, which will be

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has described the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State inconclusive as “a rape of basic democratic process and rule of law”. In a statement signed by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, the CNPP noted that “garnering a simple majority of valid votes cast is what was required to be declared the winner in the Osun State election. “The decision of the returning officer to declare the election inconclusive, which insiders have noted to be taken after receiving a

By Dipo Olowookere The earnings of CAP Plc in the first quarter of 2021 were not impressive and the company blamed this on the global shortage of raw materials. In the period under review, the revenue generated by the firm dropped by 9.5 per cent to N2.1 billion from N2.3 billion, while the gross profit reduced by 39.9 per cent to N701.0 million from N1.2 billion, with the other operating income down to N24.0 million from N28.0 million. The company, which majorly deals with chemicals and plans to merge with Portland Paints, said it was able to cut down its

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices pulled back a bit during the last trading session of last week as the market continues to go back and forth after the resurgence of the coronavirus cases in crucial markets around the world, spelling doom for demand. However, this week may prove difficult as the market is beginning to overlook the cuts of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) as conditions could worsen if a second-wave of COVID-19 causes more disruptions in demand. There have been expectations for a stable oil regime as traders gave producers the benefit of the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka World’s first mobile payments switch, TerraPay, has entered into a strategic partnership with Wari, a global platform offering digital financial services, to strengthen the remittances ecosystem in 35 key African markets. The partnership is aimed at interconnecting the global money transfer operators with mobile wallets and bank accounts in Africa. With this partnership Wari’s customers across Africa can send money to TerraPay’s network of mobile wallets in Africa and all bank accounts in India in real time. Also, TerraPay’s global partners with a presence in 160 countries would be able to send remittances instantly to Wari’s digital

By Dipo Olowookere The list of Nigerian cleric with private jets is increasing by the day and the latest to join the elite’s gang is Prophet Joshua Iginla, founder of Champions Royal Assembly, Abuja. The man of God announced the acquisition of the small plane to his congregation during a church service today, where his birthday was celebrated. The clergy, who runs the 80,000 seater auditorium widely known as City of Wonders in Abuja, said the latest acquisition is for the propagation of the gospel across the globe. During the service, the cleric gave the sum of N150,000 and a

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A notable On Air Personality in Nigeria, Tosyn Bucknor, has been reported dead. The former show presenter on Lagos-based Top Radio FM was found lifeless by her husband in the late hours of Monday. According to reports on Tuesday morning, the deceased’s husband returned from work on Monday evening to find his wife dead in the house. As at the time of filing this report, the actual cause of the death of Tosyn Bucknor, fondly called Area Mama on radio, was yet to be ascertained. However, it was reliably gathered that the late 37-year-old media personality was

By Dipo Olowookere Not less than $2 billion has been realised by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from renegotiated upstream contracts being executed by its various service providers in the last one. This information was disclosed on Tuesday by the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr Maikanti Baru, in a podcast message to the agency’s staff to mark his first year in office. Mr Baru explained that this feat was achieved in the quest to continually drive down the high cost of production in the industry. The state-owned oil firm boss said at the moment, NNPC had lowered