VAIDS: SEC Threatens to Sanction CMOs, Firms

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has vowed to down tools and shut down all oil field locations if demands following the acquisition of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) are not met. Business Post had reported in September that Oando Plc had acquired a 100 per cent stake in the Nigerian subsidiary of Italian giant, Eni. However, the deal allegedly happened without management addressing the welfare and benefits of the workers and without due process. The development has led to several protests by members of PENGASSAN since the beginning of September 2023.

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E), the Peer-to-Peer (P2P), and the black market arms of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Friday, September 29, as a turbulent third quarter ended. In the official segment, the local currency improved its value against the greenback by 2.6 per cent or N20.04 to close at N755.27/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N775.31/$1 amid a drop in the supply of FX into the system by 11.6 per cent or $16.73 million to $127.82 million from the $144.55 million published on Thursday. In the

By Adedapo Adesanya The prices of Brent futures and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures went down by about 1 per cent on Friday, due to macroeconomic concerns and sustained profit-taking. Data showed that Brent fell by 7 cents to $95.31 per barrel and WTI depreciated by 92 cents to $90.97. Prices rose about 30 per cent in the third quarter of the year helped by the production cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+). This action squeezed global crude supply. Brent was about 2.2 per cent in the week and 27 per cent

By Nneka Okumazie What era is Africa in? What are the obvious commonalities across Africa that signify what Africa currently faces? What are problems unique to the countries, the people and continent? How remote is Africa, from where it should be? Though statistics say the percentage of extreme poor around the world has dropped, yet, quality and standard of living for many in Africa looks like unvarnished poverty, even if income seem above what it used to be decades ago. There is so much corruption, unfairness, rigidity, repetition of what has failed, blaming of the government while ignoring the change

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria is considering a unified exchange rate regime to generate more local currency from its dollar inflows and manage the rate in a sustainable manner. A document from the Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning on Abuja, signed by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, was cited by Reuters as the source of this on Wednesday. It was also disclosed that the Minister explained that the government would direct oil firms to sell dollars to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as opposed to the state-owned corporation Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). She also added

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices soared on Thursday as fears of a Russia-Ukraine conflict that could disrupt energy supply to Europe, resulting in the Brent crude rising by 38 cents or 0.43 per cent to $89.70 per barrel. Also, the price of the United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude appreciated during the session by 46 cents or 0.50 per cent to sell at $87.04 per barrel. The tension between Russia and the West over Ukraine lent the heaviest support as the standoff continues to fester, maintaining a fear premium in the oil complex over a potential disruption of Russian

By Adedapo Adesanya The central American nation of El Salvador on Tuesday set a world-first record as it became the first country to adopt the popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, to pay for goods and services – even taxes. However, profit-takers ran to cash out from earlier gains from expectations with Bitcoin (BTC) as at 4:45 p.m. (Nigerian time) falling more than 7 per cent to N24,999,985.86. Ethereum (ETH) was not spared from this as it dropped 4.4 per cent to N1,949,999.00 while Ripple (XRP) took a 13.9 per cent hammering to sell at N613.07. Dash (DASH) crashed heavily as it lost

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude prices continued to swim in the bearish territory on Friday, hitting a 5-month low as COVID-19 cases climb while more countries in Europe are imposing new lockdowns. Renewed national lockdowns in France and Germany have shaken financial markets while the United States’ case count for COVID-19 remained at record levels and may continue to rise. Business Post had reported that futures had reacted to the government response to the second wave of the pandemic as oil market participants remain concerned that the return of lockdowns in Europe will significantly weigh on economic recovery and fuel demand.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A forum organised by a global law firm, Hogan Lovells, is set to shake the industry by storm this year with the calibre persons slated for the yearly event. The Annual Africa Forum London event fixed for the Merchant Taylors’ Hall in the heart of City, is coming against the backdrop of a rapidly-improving investment outlook across the continent. A statement issued by Hogan Lovells explained that the theme for this year’s programme, in its fifth edition, is ‘Africa Fit for the Future.’ The firm explained further that the forum aims to explore, debate, and find solutions

By Dipo Olowookere Some concerned members of staff of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) are reportedly angry with their Director-General, Mr Dakuku Peterside. According to reports, the aggrieved workers, who chose to remain anonymous for now, flayed Mr Peterside for reverting to the loathsome impunity and autocracy that pervaded the agency during the tenure of the now embattled Mr Patrick Akpobolokemi, having earlier appeared interested in correcting the ills of the past management. This comes at a time the two immediate past heads of the are facing charges for alleged involvement in financial scandals during their tenure.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, has approved the deployment of 40 short-term observers to the Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Ghana scheduled for December 7, 2016. The short-term observers will complement the work of 4 core team of election analysts and 10 long-term observers who have been deployed in the country since late October 2016, and have been following and reporting on the pre-election preparations and overall political environment. The deployment of the AU Mission to the Ghana is in line with paragraph VI (d) of OAU/AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic