AfDB Approves Debt Policy for Low-Income Countries

By Adedapo Adesanya The prices of food globally dropped to 121.4 points in August, 2.1 per cent lower than the 123.5 points from July, reversing the rebound registered last month and pushing the index as much as 38.3 points (24.0 per cent) below its peak reached in March 2022. This is according to the latest figure by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Friday, which showed that the drop reflected declines in the price indices for dairy products, vegetable oils, meat and cereals, while the sugar price index increased moderately. The FAO Cereal Price Index averaged 125.0 points in

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has called on African countries to prioritise the development of public and private export trading companies (ETCs) in order to position the continent’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to participate effectively in global trade. This was a core message in an address to the Africa International Exhibition on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York by Mrs Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, speaking on behalf of Bank President Mr Benedict Oramah. She said that SMEs participating directly in global trade face stiff competition from

By Adedapo Adesanya The leader of the coup that ousted Gabon’s President, Mr Ali Bongo, Mr Brice Oligui Nguema, has promised to bring reforms as he was sworn in as interim president of the central African country on Monday. In Africa’s ninth coup in three years, army officers led by Mr Nguema (a general) seized power on August 30, minutes after an announcement that Mr Bongo had won his third term election in his 14 years as president. According to reports, Mr Nguema, a cousin of the deposed Garbonese leader, was given a standing ovation by military officers and officials

By Adedapo Adesanya Energy giant, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, has reiterated its desire to invest in Nigeria despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. The reassurance was made by the company’s Managing Director, Mr Mike Sangster, on Tuesday at the ongoing Society of Petroleum Engineers’ (SPE) Nigeria Energy Industry Transformation Summit (NEITS) 2020. Mr Sangster stated that the company was interested in making constructive contributions to the debate on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) especially as the passage of the bill, would spur a new wave of investments by oil and gas companies in the Nigerian petroleum

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Trading session on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) finished higher on Tuesday by 0.71 percent with investors still interest in banking stocks. Business Post reports that it was a roller-coaster trading day today and the market, which was almost halting the four consecutive trading sessions since last Wednesday, experienced a last-minute appreciation to eventually finish in the green zone, extending the rally to five trading sessions. At the close of trading activities on the floor of the NSE, the benchmark index, All-Share Index (ASI), progressed by 240.5 points to settle at 34,375.60 points, while

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A total of N150 billion green bonds are expected to be issued by 2021 by Access Bank, with the first tranche of N15 billion to be floated in the first quarter of this year. If successful, Access Bank will become the first company to issue a corporate green bond in the country. In 2017, the Nigerian government sold the first green bond worth N10.7 billion and in 2018, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange launched the Nigerian Green Bond Market Development Programme to encourage private companies to sell climate-related debts. A green

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange plunged into the bearish territory as profit-taking on four heavyweight stocks weakened the market by 3.19 per cent on Friday, May 6.  The heavy downturn ensured that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) lost 25.65 points to wrap the session at 778.03 points compared with 803.68 points recorded at the previous session.  Following the same trend, the session ended with the market valuation losing N18.24 billion to N553.06 billion from N571.27 billion it closed a day earlier. FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc recorded a depreciation of N8.64 or 6.5 per cent to

By Aduragbemi Omiyale More than 150 ease of doing business reforms have been implemented by the federal government, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, has claimed. He said one of the reforms include the signing of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA 2020) by President Muhammadu Buhari, which introduced at least 15 new provisions that promote ease of doing business and reduce regulatory hurdles in Nigeria. Mr Mohammed, while speaking during a visit to the IshK Tolaram Foundation in Lagos on Monday, stated that these reforms were the brainchild of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment

By Adedapo Adesanya The final trading session at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed in the flat territory on Thursday, (June 30), with the key performance indicators remaining unchanged. Business Post reports that the market capitalisation of the NASD Exchange retained the previous value of N1.004 trillion, while the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 763.24 basis points. The stalemate witnessed at the session came as there was no price advancer or decliner at the close of business in the unlisted securities market. However, there were movements in the activity chart as investors traded a total of

By Dipo Olowookere One of the subsidiary companies of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Nigerian Gas Processing and Transportation Company Limited (NGPTC), has declared a profit after tax of N15.81 billion in 2016. This is part of the dividends of the on-going transformation of the NNPC, a statement issued by the state-owned firm said today. It was gathered that the profit was due to the write-back of deferred tax of N8.05 billion in 2015. While presenting the firm’s report last Thursday during the 22nd Annual General Meeting at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, Chief Operating Officer of NNPC’s