Economy
Zenith Bank, MTN, 20 Others Bring Back Bulls to Stock Market
By Dipo Olowookere
The bulls made a return to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday after they were chased out by profit-takers, who brought in bears to devour the market.
At the equity market yesterday, gains in some large-cap stocks propelled the local bourse to a 0.38 per cent growth, which reduced the year-to-date loss to 4.92 per cent.
It equally boosted the All-Share Index (ASI) by 96.06 per cent to 25,520.97 points from 25,424.91 points and jerked up the market capitalisation by N50 billion to N13.314 trillion from N13.264 trillion.
Business Post observed that the growth witnessed yesterday was as a result of demand for the shares of some tier-one banks, which proposed the payment of interim dividend a few days ago.
As the qualification date for the cash reward is getting closer, dividend hunters have started to pick them up after their prices went low in the previous sessions.
At the close of business, Zenith Bank led the gainers’ chart, which had 22 members on Thursday, after adding 55 kobo to its share value to settle at N16.95 per unit.
MTN Nigeria gained 50 kobo to close at N120 per share, GTBank appreciated by 45 kobo to sell for N24.75 per unit, C&I Leasing improved by 30 kobo to trade at N3.85 per share, while Access Bank grew by 25 kobo to quote at N6.75 per unit.
On the losers’ log, which had 12 members, Seplat took the first spot after shedding N10 to close at N390 per share, while Fidson depreciated by 18 kobo to quote at N3.80 per share.
Custodian Investment declined by 15 kobo to sell for N4.80 per share, FCMB dropped 11 kobo to settle at N2.15 per share, while Africa Prudential decreased by 8 kobo to sell for N4.30 per share.
At the market on Thursday, a total of 236.5 million stocks worth N1.7 billion exchanged hands in 3,251 deals compared with the 269.6 million shares valued at N2.9 billion traded in 4,155 deals on Wednesday. This indicated 12.29 per cent decline in the trading volume, 42.62 per cent drop in the trading value and 21.76 per cent reduction in the number of deals yesterday.
Zenith Bank closed the session as the most active stock, transacting 33.2 million units worth N546.8 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 30.0 million shares valued at N52.7 million.
Mutual Benefits traded 25.0 million equities for N5.0 million, Wema Bank exchanged 20.2 million shares for N11.0 million, while FBN Holdings traded 20.1 million stocks for N100.3 million.
For the performance of the five major sub-sectors of the market, the banking space recorded the highest growth, rising by 2.28 per cent and was followed by the consumer goods counter, which gained 0.08 per cent and the industrial goods sector, which rose by 0.02 per cent.
The insurance index lost 1.66 per cent during the trading day, while the energy counter depreciated by 1.28 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the law establishing the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC).
The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after the Senate considered and adopted the report of its committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East, who presented the report, stated that the proposed legislation was necessary because the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become outdated and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or global regulatory standards.
According to the Senate, the decision to change the Commission’s name was informed by the need to eliminate confusion associated with the existing designation and to better reflect the institution’s regulatory mandate within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The bill also provides legal protection for the commission and its officers against adverse claims arising from the lawful execution of their statutory duties.
However, he noted that the commission’s enabling law had become obsolete, exposing significant regulatory gaps that required urgent legislative intervention.
‘The current National Insurance Commission Act 1997 is outdated and does not adequately address the emerging economic growth, needs and development of the insurance business,” the lawmaker said.
He explained that the new legislation seeks to strengthen the independence of the commission by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue influence in the country’s insurance sector.
According to him, the bill also enhances the commission’s authority to exchange information and collaborate with domestic and international regulatory bodies, issue regulations, guidelines, standards and directives on insurance-related matters, and intervene more effectively in financially distressed insurance companies to protect policyholders and preserve financial stability.
This marks yet another move to strengthen the country’s insurance sector following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) of 2025 and the industry-wide recapitalisation exercise, which will wrap up by July 31.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
