Zubair Seeks Strong, Competitive Regional Capital Market

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited quickly returned to the green territory after chalking up 0.43 per cent on Tuesday as a result of buying activities in some financial and industrial goods equities. The high demand for some large-cap stocks at the exchange influenced the rebound recorded during the session, ahead of the forthcoming earnings season. Business Post reports that the industrial goods index appreciated by 1.94 per cent, the banking space grew by 1.45 per cent, and the consumer goods sector improved by 0.08 per cent, while the insurance space depreciated by 0.17 per cent, with the

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has projected that its Industry Sustainability Initiative (NISI) will create over $575 billion in capital investment opportunities for Nigeria through the decarbonisation of operations. According to a statement, NMDPRA, while hosting a session on Nigeria’s Pathway to Energy Sustainability and NMDPRA’s Role at the UN Climate Change Conference 2023 (COP28) in Dubai, UAE, x-rayed Nigeria’s journey towards reducing carbon emission and achieving Net Zero by 2060. Speaking at the event, Mr Mustapha Lamorde, the authority’s Executive Director on Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC), said the investment would be

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.18 per cent gain to open the week in positive territory on Monday, December 4, with the unlisted security index rising by 1.59 points to end the day at 862.40 points compared with last Friday’s closing value of 860.81 points. The improvement recorded by the bourse yesterday raised the value of the unlisted stock exchange by N2.5 billion to close at N1.169 trillion, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.166 trillion. The gain posted by the bourse was driven by the N13.70 added to the share price of 11

By Adedapo Adesanya Brent crude marked a second-day rise on Tuesday as it moved closer to $44 per barrel as the announcement of a potential coronavirus vaccine renewed the confidence investors have in the oil market. As a result of this, the price of the global benchmark oil increased by 25 cents or 0.57 per cent to $43.86 per barrel, while the value of the United States’ West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude went up by 31 cents or 0.75 per cent to $41.67 per barrel. On Monday, oil prices recorded the biggest daily growth in more than five months after

By Dipo Olowookere One of the leading GSM network providers in the country, Airtel Nigeria, has renewed its spectrum licences in the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands. A statement issued by its parent company, Airtel Africa Plc, disclosed that these spectrum licences were initially due to expire on November 20, 2021. However, in order not to take chances, which may eventually disrupt services to its numerous customers, an application for the renewal was started ahead of the expiration. The firm wrote to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for a request to extend the expiration date by 10 years and this has

By Modupe Gbadeyanka One of the leading tertiary institutions in Nigeria, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, will on Sunday, November 28, 2021, honour the Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Airtel Africa Plc, Mr Segun Ogunsanya. On that day, the telecommunications expert will be conferred with a Doctor of Science, D.Sc Ed (Honoris Causa) in Computer Science Education. The Acting Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Professor Oluwole Banjo, explained that the conferment is in recognition of his passion for education and numerous contributions to the development of the telecommunications industry in general. “The university took

By Dipo Olowookere The Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Mr Usman Yusuf, has been suspended indefinitely. Mr Yusuf was suspended on Thursday by the governing council of NHIS following allegations of infractions against him. As a result of this development, the governing council of the health agency has announced the appointment of Mr Sadique Abubakar as the acting Executive Secretary of NHIS. According to the council, Mr Yusuf will remain suspended until outcome of a panel set up to investigate the allegations against him. It was disclosed that the investigative panel has three months to conclude

By Dipo Olowookere Pan-African bank, Ecobank, is partnering with leading international children rights NGO Terre des Hommes to offer digital financial services to some of the most vulnerable children in Togo, those under the age of 18 who work or live on the streets. Through the Safe Savings (SaVa) Project a number children in the street will be given a new, secure means to collect and bank their hard-earned income, improving their security situation as well as their own saving habits. The one-year pilot project is being launched during an event held at Ecobank’s headquarters, in the Togolese capital of

By Adedapo Adesanya The G7 Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), the International Financial Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the African Development Bank (AfDB), EBRD and the European Investment Bank (EIB.org) have promised to invest $80 billion in Africa’s private sector over the next five years to support sustainable economic recovery and growth of the continent. According to the institutions, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a severe global economic and health crisis and this proposed investment is to support the long-term development objectives of African economies that have been negatively impacted by the crisis. This will be the first time

By Modupe Gbadeyanka One of the leading rating agencies in the world, S&P Global Ratings, has affirmed its ‘B/B’ long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings on Nigeria with a stable outlook. At the same time, it affirmed its long- and short-term Nigeria national scale ratings at ‘ngBBB/ngA-2’. S&P Global Ratings said the ratings on Nigeria are constrained by its low level of economic wealth, real GDP per capita trend growth rates below those of peers with similar levels of development, and future policy responses that may be difficult to predict because of the highly centralized political environment. The ratings are

By Dipo Olowookere The Federal Government says it has now released enough funds to start the serving of one hot meal a day to more than one million primary school pupils across seven States in the country, under the National Homegrown School Feeding Programme. This disclosure was made on Monday morning by Mr Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the President, Office of the Vice President, while giving a media update on the Social Investment Programme of the Buhari administration. He said specifically, a total sum of N844,360,550 has so far been released for the commencement