Viable SMEs Will Cut Reliance on Foreign Goods—NACCIMA

By Dipo Olowookere Local equities rebounded by 0.34 per cent on Wednesday on the back of buying pressure on a few energy stocks and others at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. According to data from the bourse, the bullish stance was attained despite profit-taking activities in the banking space amid plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to recapitalise the industry, leaving the market breadth index negative. This was because the number of price losers was more than the price gainers at 39 and 19 apiece, indicating a weak investor sentiment. Business Post reports that the energy counter grew

By Dipo Olowookere The last trading day of November 2023 on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a bullish note by 0.11 per cent on Thursday. Mild bargain-hunting in industrial goods equities like Lafarge Africa, supported by Airtel Africa, GTCO and other financial stocks left the market in the green territory at the close of business. Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 81.91 points to settle at 71,365.25 points compared with the preceding day’s 71,283.34 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N44 billion to N39.052 trillion from N39.008 trillion. Business Post reports that the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) on Thursday asked Nigeria to produce about 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2024, lower than the 1.78 million barrels per day benchmark it proposed in the 2024 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly on Wednesday for passage. The output ceiling was around 1.8 million barrels per day before it was cut down to 1.5 million barrels yesterday at the group’s virtual meeting, a huge blow to Nigeria’s revenue target for the fiscal year. OPEC had tasked three consultancies – IHS, Rystad

By Adedapo Adesanya The boards of insurance companies operating in the country have been charged by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to embrace the measures put in place to tackle the challenges of unpaid claims. The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, expressed worry over the number of outstanding claims in the sector despite efforts by the regulator to address the issue. Mr Thomas, who is also the chief executive of NAICOM, said the organisation, in collaboration with members of the Insurers’ Committee, has taken decisions and incepted measures designed to tame the menace of unpaid claims. Speaking at the

One of Nigeria’s foremost strategic communications groups, CMC Connect (Perception Managers), has launched an initiative called ‘Plastic Responsibly Nigeria’. The scheme, created in commemoration of the 2020 World Environment Day, is aimed at causing a major rethink by educating Nigerians on the dangers of irresponsible use of plastic in communities. The initiative is also aimed at driving attitudinal change by causing plastic lifestyle modifications. The key actions for Plastic Responsibly Nigeria are Responsible Production, Responsible Use, Responsible Disposal and Responsible Recycling. A statement from CMC Connect disclosed that the inimical effects of plastic pollution are enough to cause significant worry

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The positive investor sentiment recorded last Friday was retained at the market on the first trading day of this week. The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) finished 0.30 percent higher as bargain hunting activities continued on Monday from last Friday, leaving the year-to-date returns closing at -4 percent from -4.29 percent recorded last Friday. Business Post reports that the stock market recorded 20 price gainers at the close of transactions today versus 18 price losers. Dangote Cement emerged the highest price today after adding N1.30k to its share value to close at N236 per share. It was followed

By Aduragbemi Omiyale More than 4 million accounts opened by investors with stockbrokers in Nigeria are with incomplete know-your-customer (KYC) data. This information was revealed by the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Lamido Yuguda. He, therefore, reminded capital market operators (CMOs) to ensure they ask their clients to update their accounts with the necessary information. Mr Yuguda reminded the operators that the directive on the KYC update was still in effect. “We have noted that the level of compliance has been low. Despite several engagements, we realised that as at April 8, 2021, there were still

By Adedapo Adesanya Global technology giant, IBM, has launched Watson Orchestrate, a new interactive Artificial Intelligence (AI) capability designed to increase the personal productivity of business professionals across sales, human resources, operations and more. This was announced by IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Arvind Krishna at the company’s Think 2021 conference. Requiring no Information Technology (IT) skills to use, Watson Orchestrate enables professionals to initiate work in a very human way, using collaboration tools such as Slack and email in natural language. It also connects to popular business applications like Salesforce, SAP and Workday®. Watson Orchestrate uses a

By Modupe Gbadeyanka An actor in the Nigerian film industry, Mr Leo Mezie, has died after a kidney transplant at a health facility in Abuja, Business Post reports. A colleague of the decease, Chioma Toplis, confirmed the demise of the prolific Nollywood star in a post on one of her social media handles on Monday. According to reports, Leo Mezie breadth passed on to the world beyond last Saturday after a recovery from a kidney transplant. He had been in and out of the hospital for a while trying to get back on his feet until he succumbed to death

By Dipo Olowookere In order to improve on and increase the capacity of the youth in building Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), General Electric (GE) has announced a partnership with the management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to empower corps members with valuable entrepreneurial skills in line with its commitment to skills development in Nigeria. GE, the world’s premier Digital Industrial Company, is coming up with a scheme known as the Start & Improve Your Business (SIYB) training programme. The initiative is based on the curriculum of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and will see thousands of

By Dipo Olowookere The federal government has listed some of the gains achieved so far with the closure of the nation’s land borders in four geo-political zones of the country. Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, during a visit to the Seme Border in Lagos, said few of the gains include higher import revenue, lower domestic fuel consumption and increased rice production by local farmers. He was accompanied to the town bordering Nigeria with Benin Republic by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola; Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National

By Dipo Olowookere The average yields of treasury bills at the secondary market increased on Tuesday amid renewed bearish activity of investors at the market, Business Post is reporting. For the most tenors of the debt instrument monitored during the trading session, yields faced north as market players prepare for the sale of T-bills today by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). During today’s primary market auction, the central bank would sell treasury bills valued at N122 billion in the usual three tenor. The bank said it would sell N5.85 billion worth of the 91-day bills, N3.50 billion worth of