China Cuts Tariffs on US Imports by 50%

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh Russian President, Mr Vladimir Putin, has held talks with the Equatorial Guinean President, Mr Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who was in Moscow on an official working visit. The visit could be characterized as historic and interpreted as one major step to broadly review the political situation in the Central African region, and specifically assess the prospects for deepening bilateral cooperation between Russia and Equatorial Guinea. As the current rotating Chairman of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the regional economic bloc uniting Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea,

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has urged entrepreneurs in Nordic countries and Ireland to make Africa their business and investment destination. According to a statement, the call was made by the lender’s Chief Economist, Mr Kevin Chika Urama, on a spate of official visits to Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden between September 25 – 29. He said Africa’s population boom is projected to make it the world’s most populous region by the end of the century, with up to 3.4 billion people offering huge business and investment opportunities to the rest of the world. “With

By Adedapo Adesanya A cross-border fintech company, Grey, has embarked on a significant global brand rebranding initiative, revealing a fresh logo and website design as part of moves to expand its footprint in the global market. The company’s transformation was unveiled on its social media platforms on Monday, November 27, 2023, and follows closely on the heels of Grey celebrating a milestone achievement of surpassing 500,000 users. Grey, which was founded in mid-2020 by Mr Idorenyin Obong and Mr Femi Aghedo, aims to leverage this fresh identity to reach a broader audience and solidify its international presence. The updated brand

By Adedapo Adesanya The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has announced that it would hold a special opportunity fair for People With Disabilities (PWDs) as part of its efforts to encourage socio-economic inclusion for PWDs entrepreneurs in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The Director General of SMEDAN, Mr Olawale Fasanya, during a capacity-building programme titled Grant and Growth Support for Business Membership Organisations and Trade Associations that was targeted at PWDs said the programme will pilot in Lagos. Mr Fasanya said: “We are going to organise Special Opportunity Fairs for the PWDs and we are

With over 35% of adults in Nigeria dabbling in cryptocurrency within the last year, It is no surprise that the current state of the Crypto market has caused concern for quite a few crypto lovers. It has been a difficult month for the crypto portfolios of many. As Nigerians, young and old, turned to crypto as a way to safeguard against the weakening Naira, it served most well as 2021 saw a big crypto boom. However, in the last week, most of our crypto portfolios have taken a turn for the worse. Crypto favourites Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Dogecoin

By Dipo Olowookere Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, February 1, 2021, ended bearish with a 0.13 per cent loss. This was influenced by profit-taking witnessed in the consumer goods and banking sectors, which outweighed the gains posted by insurance and energy sectors. As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI reduced by 54.76 points to 42,357.90 points from the previous 42,412.66 points, while the market capitalisation was cut down by N29 billion to N22.158 trillion from N22.187 trillion. Business Post reports that it was a bad day for Nestle Nigeria as its share price

By Dipo Olowookere The second Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2019 has commenced in Lagos. The meeting kicked off on Thursday, August 22, 2019 at the Grand Ballroom of Eko Hotels & Suites on Victoria Island, Lagos. The CMC meeting is attended by top management staff of the apex capital market regulator headed by the Acting Director General, Ms Mary Uduk. During the meeting, SEC will discuss issues bordering on the implementation of the 10-year Capital Market Master Plan as well as others relating to the capital market, such as financial technology

By Dipo Olowookere Activities in the treasury bills market remained bullish on Tuesday like in the previous session. Business Post reports that this was supported by buoyant system liquidity and demand from investors looking to reinvest bond coupon payments in the interim as yields continue to adjust to local and international headwinds. According to analysts at Zedcrest Research, discount rates compressed by about 0.24 percent across the trading benchmark securities, with majority of the demand witnessed on the short to medium end of the curve. This trend is expected to continue in the interim, barring any liquidity management action by

By Adedapo Adesanya The Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has revealed that the federal government has disbursed N528.38 billion to 233,974 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. She made this disclosure at the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration Scorecard Series (2015 and 2023) at the National Press Centre, Radio House, Abuja, monitored by Business Post. She explained that in the seven years of the current administration, “President Muhammadu Buhari has disbursed a total of N528,384,778,445.70 and supported a total of 233,974 MSMEs.” The Minister noted that this is one

By Dipo Olowookere A close-ended fund worth N150 billion aimed to provide long-term financing for the delivery of critical infrastructure that would bridge the infrastructure deficits in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa has been introduced by United Capital Plc. A notice from United Capital said the Naira-denominated infrastructure fund has been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Business Post reports that proceeds from the N150 billion issuance programme would be used specifically “to finance bankable infrastructure assets that cut across sectors such as power and renewable energy, transportation, agribusiness and industrial infrastructure, healthcare, technology, mass housing, urban and social

By Dipo Olowookere Shareholders of United Bank for Africa (UBA) have applauded the board for its decision to reduce the dividend payout for the 2020 fiscal year, saying it was in the best interest of the company. Last month, UBA announced the payment of 35 kobo final dividend instead of the 80 kobo it paid in the 2019 financial year. This did not go down well with some of the investors, who felt the lender should have done better, considering that two of its peers, GTBank and Zenith Bank increased their cash rewards in the same period despite the global