Yellow Card Gets Virtual Asset Service Licence in Botswana

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Naira weakened to a new low on the American Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, December 8, amid speculations that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again devalued the local currency. In the previous trading session, there were reports that the exchange rate for clearing cargoes has been raised to N952/$1, sparking rumours that domestic currency would hit N1,000/$1 in the spot market. On the last trading session of the week, the Naira lost N255.98 or 30.4 per cent of its value on the greenback to trade at N1,099.05/$1

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira recovered from the previous day’s loss after closing stronger against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 7, by 11.4 per cent or N108.15 to trade at N843.07/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate of N951.22/$1. This occurred as the value of foreign exchange (FX) transactions slightly increased during the session by $1.67 million or 39.5 per cent to $137.25 million from the $135.58 million achieved in the preceding trading session. Similarly, in the official market, the Nigerian Naira strengthened against the British Pound Sterling on Thursday by

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Some retiring Nigerian military personnel have been educated on how they can unlock opportunities in the capital market after active service to the nation. At a seminar held on Thursday, December 7, 2023, at the Nigeria Armed Forces Resettlement Centre in Lagos, the participants were informed of the benefits of diversifying their investments for more earnings. They were also exposed to ways to invest and assess the market with technology, including via the recently launched NGX USSD Code. The Divisional Head of Business Support Services and General Counsel of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Ms Irene Robinson-Ayanwale,

By Dipo Olowookere Nigerian stocks attracted more investments last week than the preceding week as a result of renewed confidence in the market, as traders quickly take a position, especially in large-cap equities, ahead of the release of financial results in the coming months. The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has been impressive in 2023, and there are indications that next year will be better. Those who have missed out on the goodies this year are already positioning themselves for 2024 so as not to be left behind again. Consequently, the bourse witnessed an improvement in the value of transactions by

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) further closed marginally lower on Wednesday, extending the downward trend to the second trading day. Business Post reports that there were profit taking activities recorded in the banking space, especially on tier one banks. At the close of transactions, the equities market went down by 0.06 percent with the Year-to-Date (YtD) gain shrinking further to -0.73 percent. While the market capitalisation depreciated by N9 billion to settle at N13.753 trillion, the All-Share Index (ASI) reduced by 24.61 points to finish at 37,963.93 points. The market breadth on Wednesday ended negative with the

By Adedapo Adesanya A group known as the Coalition for Quality Education Sustainability and Leadership Initiative has called on authorities to investigate and take necessary actions against the new Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Professor Charles Arinzechukwu Igwe, over alleged falsification of age. In a statement signed by the group’s mouthpiece, Comrade James Ezema, the group said it was committed to the sustenance of quality education, pointing out that with the presence of the controversial vice chancellor of the institution, this duty has been compromised. The New Vice Chancellor, as claimed by the group, was three years

By Dipo Olowookere A former federal Nigerian lawmaker, Mr Junaid Mohammed, has appealed to the Senate to begin impeachment process against President Muhammadu Buhari, who is presently abroad for vacation. Mr Buhari was expected to return to Nigeria on Sunday, February 5, 2017 from his 10-day holiday, but he wrote to the Senate yesterday, indicating he was extending his stay indefinitely. But the second republic lawmaker has advised the red chamber of the National Assembly to remove the President, alleging that he seems to be “incapacitated and unable to discharge his duties as President of Nigeria.” Mr Mohammed called on

By Dipo Olowookere The largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, QNB Group, has announced its results for the six months period ended June 30, 2018. During the period under review, the lender recorded a Net Profit of QAR7.1 billion ($1.9 billion), up by 7 percent compared with last year. In addition, the total assets increased by 10 percent from June 2017 to reach QAR846 billion ($232 billion), the highest ever achieved by the Group. The key driver of total assets growth was from loans and advances which grew by 9 percent to reach QAR604 billion

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, in collaboration with Orthner Orthner & Associates, is sponsoring three architectural students from Ghana to attend the annual conference of the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) in Cape Town. The project has been funded by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) with technical support provided by SGS and thinkstep. The students are the winners of a sustainable design competition using IFC’s EDGE green building software. Participants in the competition, launched on July 18 this year, were selected from the Architecture Department of the Central University in

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Foremost Nigerian pharmaceutical company, Swiss Pharma Nigeria Ltd, commonly referred to as Swipha, has been acquired by a new investor called Biogaran. Biogaran is a subsidiary of Servier, which is the number two French pharmaceutical group that specialises in generics. Commenting on the acquisition, President of Biogaran, Mr Pascal Brière, said, “Swipha’s know-how, network and reputation immediately convinced us that it was the right partner for us.” Biogaran said it chose Nigeria to realise its first investment in Africa because of the many long-term opportunities offered by the country, which is Africa’s most populous. “Nigeria quickly established

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs Serah Alade, has retired from the apex after 24 years. Mrs Alade was one time the Acting Governor of the CBN after her boss, Mr Lamido Sanusi, was sacked as the CBN Governor by former President Goodluck Jonathan in February 2014. Until her retirement on Wednesday, Mrs Alade was the CBN Deputy Governor in charge of Economic Policy, a position she held since 2007. She was actively involved in the drafting of the medium-term economic programme for Nigeria and the International Monetary Fund staff monitored programme/standby arrangement.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Debt Management Office (DMO) has projected that Federal Government will have to spend $11.62 billion to service foreign debt from 2017 to 2026. According to the debt office, the amount includes some principals that will fall due for redemption as well as interests that would have accumulated and redeemed on an annual basis. This year, the country will pay $144.4 million in principal redemption and $524.43 million in interest payment. “Increased debt service payments would be made in 2018, 2021 and 2023, amounting to $1.19 billion; $1.58 billion; and $1.69 billion, respectively, when the debut 6.75