ECOWAS Suspends Burkina Faso Over Coup

By Adedapo Adesanya Former prime minister of the United Kingdom, Mr David Cameron, has returned to government as Foreign Secretary amid a fresh cabinet shake-up by Prime Minister, Mr Rishi Sunak, on Monday. Downing Street announced on Monday that Mr Cameron would join the government, accepting a peerage in order to do so, as part of a wider reshuffle in which Ms Suella Braverman was sacked as Home Secretary and replaced by the Foreign Secretary, Mr James Cleverly. Business Post also confirmed that Mr Jeremy Hunt would remain as chancellor. Mr Cameron stood down in 2016 after losing the Brexit

By Adedapo Adesanya The SBM Intelligence African Country Instability Risk Report Index (ACIRI) has ranked Nigeria as a stable African country based on select macro indicators benchmarks. The report which was published on Monday assesses the political, economic and social factors contributing to Sub-Saharan Africa’s political instability. It provides a framework for assessing the risk of coups d’état using factors such as ethnic tension, the country’s history of coups, dominant ethnic groups, economic concentration, ageing leaders and monoproduct, bi-product or multi-product economies. The 47 Sub-Saharan sub-region of Africa’s 55 countries were ranked on four benchmarks – leadership and governance, geopolitics,

By Adedapo Adesanya Prices of food in the globe remained unchanged in September 2023, according to measuring indices by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 121.5 points in the month under review, almost unchanged from its value in August, as declines in the price indices of vegetable oils, dairy and meat had offset increases in the sugar and cereal price indices. At this level, the index stood 14.6 points (10.7 per cent) below its corresponding level a year ago and 38.3 points (24.0 per cent) from the all-time high reached in

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh As stipulated by the guidelines, Russia takes over the rotating chairmanship of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) from January 2024. There are high hopes a lot more will change, especially towards widening its numerical strength and increasing support for the Global South. In addition, there is also the expectation that BRICS will consolidate its role within the emerging geopolitical processes and global competition for Africa. China and Russia are currently making efforts to assert influence more aggressively, despite the challenges and obstacles, in cooperating with Africa. According to authentic reports, a number of

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) is set to earn more revenue for the country as the federal government has positioned it to become the most capitalised company in Africa, says the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Mr Mele Kyari. This will happen as the central government has commenced full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in earnest. Mr Kyari made this assertion while addressing staff in a town hall meeting at the weekend said the PIA had put “all money-making options on the table; it is up to us to take advantage

By Modupe Gbadeyanka For the 16th consecutive month, the manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) recorded an expansion in the month of July 2018. According to the index released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday, the index grew to 56.8 index points. The apex bank, in the report, said the index however expanded at a slower rate when compared with the index in the previous month. It said of the 14 subsectors surveyed, 13 reported growth in the review month in the following order: petroleum & coal products; printing & related support activities; paper products; electrical equipment; primary

By Dipo Olowookere The local bourse closed higher on Friday after it suffered a marginal loss of 0.08 percent the previous day, indicating the huge confidence investors still have in the Nigerian capital market. After the brake the market applied yesterday, many investors remained upbeat that the market would pick up immediately and today, the stock market resumed its rally, closing 0.54 percent higher at the close of business. It was observed that the tier two banks continued their upward movements as investors quickly buy up shares in the sector, patiently awaiting the 2017 full year figures of the lenders,

By Dipo Olowookere A local financial technology (fintech) company, Kudimoney, has obtained a microfinance digital banking licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In preparation to the launch of its full digital no-fee bank, the company has changed its name to Kuda Microfinance Bank. With this, the fintech firm can offer current accounts as well as debit cards – something it is already doing with a small group of alpha users. Founders of the company, Babs Ogundeyi and Musty Omotosho, explained that Kuda will offer frustrated consumers a more mobile, modern approach to traditional banking. Unlike traditional banks, Kuda

By Lukman Otunuga Despite oil prices surging to multi-year highs, Nigeria has failed to cash in. The destructive combination of sub-optimal oil production, poor infrastructure, and fuel subsidies have drained oil revenues that account for roughly 90% of foreign exchange earnings. Lower oil revenues and falling foreign exchange reserves are forcing Nigeria to ration dollars. The negative impacts continue to be reflected across the economy and local currency. But now the dollar shortages have attracted the attention of MSCI Inc. which is considering downgrading the MSCI Nigeria indexes to the status of a standalone market from frontier markets. It is

By Dipo Olowookere Mr Risenga Maluleke has been announced as the new Statistician-General and Head of Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). Minister in the Presidency, Mr Jeff Radebe, making the announcement on Friday, stated that Maluleke will resume office on November 1, 2017, when Dr Pali Lehohla’s tenure expires at the end of October. Mr Maluleke has served within Stats SA for 20 years, having joined Stats SA as a manager at Limpopo provincial office in 1997. He is currently a Deputy Director-General (DDG) for Statistical Collections and Outreach. His portfolio is responsible for Provincial Offices (responsible data collection for

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria in the second quarter of 2018 grew by 1.50 percent year-on-year. The stats office, which released the GDP figures on Monday morning, disclosed that the growth in Q2 2018 was 0.79 percent points higher than the same period of 2017, which recorded a growth of 0.72 percent, but –0.45 percent points slower than 1.95 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2018. However, it said on a quarter-on-quarter basis, real GDP growth was 2.94 percent. The NBS said in its report

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Shareholders have agreed to delist Capital Hotels shares from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited after the acquisition of a 51 per cent stake of the firm by 11 Plc through 22 Hospitality Limited. The authorisation was given at the 42nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company held last Wednesday in Abuja. At the meeting, the shareholders passed the resolution “that the shares of Capital Hotels Plc be and are hereby delisted from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) subject to the applicable rules of the exchange and other statutory requirements.” The hospital firm confirmed this development in