Border Closure: Benin Adamant to Cooperate—FG

By Adedapo Adesanya The President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Professor Benedict Oramah, has been recognised with the Forbes Africa magazine 2023 Person of The Year award. At a well-attended award ceremony in Cairo, which also included the unveiling of the cover for Forbes Africa’s December 2023/January 2024 edition featuring Mr Oramah as cover personality, Mr Rakesh Wahi, Forbes Africa Founder and Publisher, and Ms Roberta Naicker, Managing Director, said that the award recognised the stellar accomplishments of leading Africans contributing to the development of the continent. “With a career spanning three decades at Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah is

By Modupe Gbadeyanka An initiative aimed to promote the diversity of the African continent and showcase its rich cultural heritage to the rest of the world has been launched by YouTube. The social campaign, The Voices of Africa, will be used to celebrate the continent’s unique and traditional expressions through a select group of African creators. They will create and share videos on their YouTube Channels of their unique cultural heritage stories about their local traditions and practices, conversations with friends and family, and with people in their local communities. Some of the creators who are part of the campaign

By Dipo Olowookere President Bola Tinubu has arrived at the National Assembly to present the 2024 Appropriation Bill to the federal lawmakers. The President got to the parliament at about a few minutes past 11 am on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, and was accompanied by the Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima; his Chief of Staff, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila; the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Abdullahi Gandoje; and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr George Akume; among others. He is expected to present the 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion to a joint

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Oyo State government has maintained that its decision to register all commercial motorcycle and tricycle riders in the state was to promote public safety and not for any other purpose. The Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mr Dotun Oyelade, said this during a one-day sensitisation meeting with Okada and Keke riders in Ibadan. He explained that the meeting became necessary following a recent state security council meeting, noting that the exercise will help in the documentation of riders in the state. The Commissioner called for sustained cooperation between motorcycle and tricycle riders and the state

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has sought the assistance of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) in its plan to set up a Research and Development Agency for the Military. The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) made this request Wednesday when the leadership of the NSE paid him a courtesy visit at the DHQ, Abuja. The CDS, an Engineer himself intimated his guests that the Research and Development department of the DHQ is being upgraded to an agency in order to have the capacity to attract proper funding. The bill for the establishment of the agency is already

By Adedapo Adesanya Food Concepts Plc, Acorn Petroleum Plc, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc were in the green territory on Thursday, lifting the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.32 per cent at the close of transactions. Data obtained from the NASD OTC bourse showed that Food Concepts Plc appreciated by 12 Kobo to settle at N1.27 per share compared with the previous day’s N1.15 per share, Acorn Petroleum Plc improved its stock price by 3 Kobo to trade at 34 Kobo per unit versus Wednesday’s 31 Kobo per unit, and IGI Plc rose by 2 Kobo to

By Adedapo Adesanya The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has commended two state governors in the country for approving N145 per liner right-of-way (RoW) charge in their various states. According to a press statement signed by the Executive Secretary of ATCON, Mr Ajibola Olude, the body extended gratitude to the governors of both Ekiti and Imo States and their respective State Houses of Assembly for approving implementation of the approved right of way price of N145 per liner meter approved by the federal government. “ATCON also appreciated the states for considering its letter which was sent to them

By Dipo Olowookere There was a significant rise, about 755 per cent, in the trading volume of the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday. This was buoyed by the sale of Champion Breweries during the session, trading 1.9 billion units of its shares valued at N5.0 billion. UBA exchanged 26.5 million stocks for N228.5 million, Dangote Sugar transacted 21.5 million equities worth N397.9 million, Fidelity Bank traded 15.7 million stocks valued at N39.8 million, while Access Bank exchanged 13.3 million shares worth N117.1 million. At the close of transactions, the number of shares transacted by market participants

By Adedapo Adesanya A continuous global supply shortage and strong demand in the United States, the world’s biggest consumer of oil, pushed the global benchmark crude, Brent, to $86 per barrel, its highest price best since 2014. The main headline crude in the world appreciated by 0.45 per cent or 39 cents to trade at $86.38 per barrel, while the US crude, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), gained 1.07 per cent or 90 cents to sell at $84.66 per barrel on Tuesday, its best price since October 2014. Primarily, the market is facing a supply shortage in the midst of faces

By Adedapo Adesanya The Association of Food and Agro Processors (AFAP) has appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to assist Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to easily access foreign exchange for procurement of machinery. The call was made by the National President of the association, Mr Duro Kuteyi, on the sidelines of the award and end-of-year ceremony of Spectra Industries Limited in Lagos on Thursday. Mr Kuteyi, who is also Chief Executive Officer of Spectra Industries Limited, noted that some members of the association had secured funding under CBN’s financial intervention. He said that the challenge was converting

By Dipo Olowookere The stop rate for 91-day treasury bills was slightly lowered to 1.09 per cent on Wednesday by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 1.10 per cent at the last exercise. The fixed income market has been very unattractive lately with rates crashing from double digits a few years ago (about 20 per cent) to the recent lows. This has largely been due to the high level of liquidity in the financial system, which has made borrowing cheaper in the domestic market. Business Post reports that yesterday, the CBN approached the primary market with the debt instruments

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Chief Executive Officer of Jumia Nigeria, Ms Juliet Anammah, has revealed the main secrets responsible for the growth across Africa. According to Ms Anammah, the firms’ integrated and interconnected ecosystem across its 23 markets in Africa has helped to build a solid foundation for the company in Nigeria and across Africa. Speaking recently with some foreign media delegates, who came to Nigeria to tour the company’s expansive Lagos warehouse located in Ikeja, Lagos, the Jumia boss said, “We built one integrated, inter-connected ecosystem that captures most of the simple day to day needs that people could do