Telecommunications sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) went down by 2.48 per cent in the third quarter of 2021. Statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) showed that the figure dropped from 14.42 per cent in Q2, 2021 to 11.94 per cent in Q3, 2021. Checks showed that within the same period in 2020, the contribution was 11.20 per cent Industry analysts hinged the drop on several factors including the Federal Government NIN-SIM policy; Twitter ban, weak consumer purchasing power and the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). Precisely, the NIN-SIM mandatory exercise, which started in December 2020 and…
Author: Temitope N.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies announced yesterday that they will return 400,000 barrels per day to the global oil market in the month of February. The alliance, therefore, decided to stick with its plan on gradual output increase first reached in April 2021. Oil futures rose yesterday, with global benchmark Brent crude topping $80 a barrel to trade at its highest price in over five weeks. Under the new plan, Nigeria is expected to pump 1.7 million barrels a day in February, although lingering challenges may undermine the country’s capacity to meet the target, going…
Shehu established that the president assented to the budget due to the need to save value-additive projects, programmes and policies and felt that it would not be wise to throw it all away. He said that despite the reduction and introduction of new projects, there are tens of thousands more provisions in the 2022 Budget, all of which, when efficiently and effectively implemented, will have significant developmental impact on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Nigerians. The presidential media aide also pointed out that President Muhammadu Buhari believes in the supremacy of the constitution, with its checks and balances across…
The NNPC said the fire incident at the Port Harcourt Refining Company was caused by a spark while a 33,000-litre truck was discharging naphtha into a tank at the PHRC. NNPC played down the effect of the fire outbreak explaining that it caused insignificant damage and was put out in less than two hours. Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Garba Deen Muhammad explained what happened in a statement titled, ‘Minor Fire At Port Harcourt Refining Company Put Out.’ T“This morning, 01/01/2022, a minor fire incident occurred at the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC). “The incident, which was…
OPEC+ announced on Tuesday that it is sticking with its plan to gradually boost oil output next month, as the group brushed off concerns about Omicron’s impact on global crude demand. The 23-nation member group encompassing Saudi Arabia-led OPEC and the cartel’s allies led by Russia agreed at the end of its meeting on Tuesday to adhere to its previous decision to increase oil production by 400,000 barrels a day in February. Last August, OPEC+ started incrementally opening the taps each month to roll back severe production cuts introduced during the opening months of the pandemic when oil prices crashed.…
The Federal Government has been encouraged not to increase the economic hardship index of the country with its planned removal of fuel subsidies. The Founder and President of Moahz Group Of Companies, Dr. Ojo Abdulqadir, stated this in a statement. He advised that the furore over fuel subsidy should be resolved to avoid panic. Abdulqadir noted that everybody, particularly the less privileged, would feel the impact of people and that negative effects would outweigh the benefits. He added that the cost of transportation and other essential commodities across the country would skyrocket with a spiral effect on the living standard…
The monetary authority is in a good position to ease foreign exchange (FX) pressure as its coffers have been enhanced by a sizable $7.3 billion liquidity – $4 billion Eurobond issuance and $3.3billion special drawing right (SDR) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These were among the projections of EFG Hermes, in its report titled, ‘The Year Ahead 2022 – Recovery intact, but expect volatility. The report mentioned that a number of local banks have been active in the international debt market, raising billions of dollar, which will help improve FX liquidity. The report stated: “We are less optimistic that…
The government’s lack of capacity to reduce tariffs and foreign exchange (FX) crisis will continue to give other West and Central African countries a comparative advantage ahead of Nigeria in the maritime business. Already, Togo has overtaken Nigeria to become the leading port in West Africa. The latest United Nations (UN) report said Togo recorded 1, 725, 520 twenty-foot equivalent (TUEs) cargo throughput in 2020 while Nigeria recorded 1, 528, 520 TUEs in the same year, thereby losing over 196, 750 TUEs or 30 per cent of container traffic to Lome port. There are also reports of diversion of Nigerian-bound…
Central Bank of Nigeria and others particularly the financial services regulators, would invest N1.54 trillion over five years to increase liquidity in the financial services sector. The government intends to boost the liquidity thresholds in each segment of the financial system to levels that will sustain the country’s growth and development, according to the Federal Government’s National Development Plan 2021-2025. The investment is also expected to optimize all aspects of the country’s balance sheet to free up the liquidity needed to support the economy’s stability, growth, and transformation. According to the document, the Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning,…
The year 2021 was a recovery year for many, as businesses, especially those in the agricultural space, started to get back on, and some even waxed stronger than they had before the pandemic. While agriculture continues to play a crucial role in economic growth across many nations around the globe, the continuously growing population and rising demand for agricultural output indicate the need for investments in agricultural technology (agritech) solutions. Agritech, the application of technology to enhance agricultural production as well as bring about production efficiency, has been growing at an impressive pace worldwide and Nigeria is not left out of the list of countries exploring the space. To further traverse the ecosystem, agritech entrepreneurs are securing funds to advance areas like the software…
The Director of Corporate Communications, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nwanisobi Osita, has established that the five-year development plan embarked upon by the governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emiefele, will revive and stimulate the Nigerian economy, which will, in turn, stimulate sustainability and reduce inflation. He further said the CBN was promoting the e-naira, which is the equivalent of the physical naira to drive the digital economy, saying, “We are already seeing inflation trending downward from about 16.63 per cent to about 15.4 per cent.” Speaking at a one-day interactive session with members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)…
Going by the renewed bargain hunting in the shares of some blue-chip companies, the Nigerian equities’ market reversed losses to close in an upbeat yesterday, causing market capitalisation to appreciate by N3 billion. In summary, the all-share index (ASI) grew by 6.17 absolute points, representing an increase of 0.01 per cent to close at 41,813.27 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value gained N3 billion to close at N21.825 trillion. The market gain was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup), UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust, Zenith Bank, NEM Insurance…
Disturbed by the marginal 5.7% per cent growth witnessed in the nation’s stock market in 2021, compared to 50.3% rise achieved in 2020, investors have called for the implementation of appropriate legislation that will help tackle insecurity and other macroeconomic challenges challenging the capital market. To stimulate investment and propel a boom in the market in the new year include downward review of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), policy stability, stable foreign exchange policy and implementation of appropriate legislation that would compel major enterprises to be listed to deepen the market. At the close of trading last year, the all-share…
President Muhammadu Buhari has established that his administration is ready to leverage Information Communication Technology (ICT) platforms to create jobs, while making sure that economic diversification creates more support to other emerging sectors this year. He made this commitment in a New Year address to Nigerians, urging them to have hope and envision a year of continued progress against the challenges arising from security and socio-economic issues. He, however, disclosed that several foreign investors are taking advantage of the nation’s ranking as one of the leading start-up ecosystems in Africa to invest in its digital economy. He said: “The major…
Pension Fund Administrator (PFA), Leadway Pensure, has selected a new managing director, Lanre Idris. The new development, according to the PFA, follows the recent retirement of Ronke Adedeji, its former managing director, who steered the ship of the organisation for over a decade. Idris has managerial experience spanning many positions across organisations and industries. His expertise covers leadership, information systems, governance, risk and business process management. Before becoming the new managing director of Leadway Pensure, Idris served as the executive director/COO of the organisation during which he was instrumental to the transformation and remarkable growth of the organisation. He has…
There was so much uncertainty about the unending pandemic and whether the fragile global recovery would be sustained. On the domestic scene, Nigeria was neck-deep in one of its worst recessions in decades. The economy in 2020 had contracted by -6.1 per cent in the second quarter (Q2) and -3.62 the following third (Q3). With dipping revenues, the government could not do much to inspire confidence in an economy that was losing more jobs than it was creating. Indeed, there was a consensus that the recession would be short-lived but sharp disagreement on the speed of recovery – a convoluted…
This came amid uncertainty about the market outlook as the economy wobbles into a new year. With the closure rate, naira had sold at a discount of over 15 per cent to a dollar at the official Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX) window last year. Trading opened last year at N410/$ but the exchange rate fell to about N415/$ as the year rolled by, though it also traded at N415/$ after the Christmas holidays, with extremely wide swings, indicating high volatility of the market. Last Friday, the Naira started trading on an upswing at N420.67/$ but slid to as low…
Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has generated $337.4 million in equity financing, the rocket company disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. SpaceX, which counts Alphabet Inc and Fidelity Investments among its investors, hit $100 billion in valuation following a secondary share sale in October, according to CNBC. It had raised about $1.16 billion in equity financing in April. SpaceX did not immediately respond to Reuters request for more details on the latest funding round. The company competes with former Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos’s space venture Blue Origin and billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic in the burgeoning constellation of commercial…
Tesla is recalling almost 200,000 vehicles in China over problems with the trunk and front hood that raise the risk of collisions, a state regulator said Friday, hours after a similar recall was disclosed in the United States. The order is the latest blow to the American self-driving car pioneer, which is hugely popular in China although the firm’s reputation has taken a hit this year following a spate of crashes, scandals and data security concerns. China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said the defects could affect the vehicles’ backup cameras or cause the hoods to open suddenly while driving.…
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has expressed reservations about government’s political will to remove fuel subsidies. Although the CPPE stated that the outlook for the Nigerian economy in 2022 is largely positive, it noted that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth would remain fragile and projected at three per cent threshold. The centre warned that the seemingly intractable problem of insecurity remains a significant risk to the economy and the impact on some sectors, especially agriculture would be profound. The CPPE added that there are also concerns about the effect on the perception of Nigeria as an…