The United States has returned 23 stolen Benin Bronzes to Nigeria through the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Rhode Island School of Design. This was disclosed during the handover ceremony by Nigeria’s information minister in Washington DC on Tuesday. He said that he will soon launch an international traveling exhibition with the artifacts being repatriated The Benin Bronzes were looted during the British Empire invasion of Benin in 1897. Countries, including Germany, are in the process of repatriating over 1000 to Nigeria. The minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, commended the United…
Author: Temitope Nlewemchi
French cement maker, Lafarge, has pleaded guilty to U.S. charges of supporting the Islamic State by keeping a factory running in Syria after conflict broke out in 2011. According to Reuters, the admission in Brooklyn Federal Court marked the first time a company has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization. The company agreed to pay $778 million as part of a plea agreement. Lafarge, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim (HOLN.S) in 2015, is also facing charges of complicity in crimes against humanity in Paris. The cement maker previously admitted after an internal…
Shareholders of Airtel Africa Plc, one of the major telecommunications companies quoted on the Nigerian Exchange, again witnessed a massive loss of about N609 billion today, as the stock continued to consolidate its lead on the losers’ chart due to sustained sell pressure on the stock. The telecom giant had previously lost a whopping N676 billion at the end of trading on Monday to top the losers’ chart. The latest loss on Tuesday brings the cumulative losses to N1.285 trillion in two days of trading sessions. Checks by Nairametrics showed that the telecom stock dropped by 10% to close at N1,458…
The era of cash-based transactions is gradually becoming a thing of the past, as more cashless forms of payment continue to be developed and adopted in the Nigerian financial industry. The use of various cashless forms of payment, such as Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals, instant bank transfers, and mobile transfers, and others, has already recorded significant growth in the country. However, cyber threats have continued to militate against the growth of the digital banking sector. The problem is also hampering the actualization of a deeper financial penetration rate in the country. But the good news is that the same problem has prompted the need…
Nigeria’s transport inflation rose to a 15-year high of 18.74% in the month of September 2021, representing a 50-basis points increase compared to 18.24% recorded in the previous month. This is also the highest level since August 2007. This information is contained in the recently released Consumer Price Index (CPI) report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) a copy of which was obtained by Nairametrics. In case you missed it, the CPI report showed that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to a 17-year high of 20.77% in September 2022, driven by increases in the core and food index. The core inflation, which excludes the…
The Nigerian Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has claimed that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s financing of the country’s fiscal deficit is responsible for rising inflation. CPPE disclosed this in a statement made available to Nairametrics by its CEO, Dr Muda Yusuf. According to the statement, Nigeria is suffering from an “Inflation Tax” as a result of the CBN’s contribution to increasing the money supply in the economy. Yusuf’s comments came just shortly after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that Nigeria’s inflation rate had jumped by 20.77% year-on-year in September 2022. What the CPPE is saying Dr…
Nigeria still remains the most cryptocurrency-adopting nation in Africa. The U.S. company’s Crypto index is based on the maximum sums of money that regular people and non-professional investors are ready to put into certain digital assets, in different countries. Chainalysis revealed Sub-Saharan Africa is driving unprecedented crypto growth and usage thanks to small retail purchases, with the area handling the world’s greatest proportion (80%) of crypto retail sales of less than $1,000. The research also emphasizes that Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest prevalence of peer-to-peer transactions worldwide. Peer-to-peer transactions in Africa account for around 6% of global crypto transaction volume, much exceeding…
The current situation where 10 brokers still control over 50% of the total value of transactions on the nation’s local bourse in a market with more than 250 players raises a lot of worries that if more dealing members, especially the domestic ones, are not expanded by way of government intervention, the local bourse might face similar situation it witnessed during the global financial meltdown of 2007 and 2008. The outcome of the meltdown saw the nation’s capital market lose huge funds, as the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s All-Share Index fell from a height of 66,000 basis points in March 2008…
The Nigerian Bourse (NGX) closed positive amidst buy-interests and sell-offs as bulls dominated proceedings, driving up the broad market by 45 basis points. The All-share Index (ASI) appreciated by 0.45% to close at 47,565.92 points. In the same vein, Market Capitalization grew by N117 billion to close at N25.91 trillion while the Year-to-Date (YtD) returns settled at 11.35%. The stock market has advanced by 4,849.48 base points since the start of the year. The SWOOTs capitalization closed positive driven by changes in BUACEMENT at the end of the trading session. Market breadth closed negative as MAYBAKER led 12 gainers, and…
The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar traded at an average of N730/$1 at the black market, on Tuesday, 11th October 2022, representing a 0.14% appreciation from N731/$1 recorded on Monday. This is according to information from black market traders who spoke to Nairametrics. The naira at the cryptocurrency peer-to-peer FX market depreciated marginally by 0.12% to trade at a minimum of N732.8/$1 on Tuesday morning, against N731.94/$1 traded at the same time on Monday, 10th October 2022. In the same vein, the exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar at the I&E official window depreciated to its…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in August 2022, extended N22 trillion in loans to the federal government under its Ways and Means provision as included in the CBN Act. The Ways and Means clause permit the government to borrow money from the Apex Bank in an emergency or for a short period of time to cover fiscal imbalances caused by the delayed government-expected financial receipts. The statute has provisions that limit monetary financing of fiscal deficits to 5% of revenues from the previous year. With the country’s revenue collection dwindling and oil theft preventing the country from capitalizing on the high oil price,…
Crypto investors got emboldened by news that the UN had urged the Fed to halt raising interest rates because it might trigger a worldwide recession, and the situation started to alter. The cryptocurrency market responded favorably, early today as bitcoin soared to a multi-day high of just over $20K. The asset is currently centimeters from that desired line, yet its market cap has increased to $385 billion. For the first time in weeks, its dominance over the alternatives is greater than 40%. The unusual plea is being issued in the midst of mounting worry over how quickly the Fed and its rivals are raising borrowing…
Mr. Bello Hassan, the MD/CEO of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation has outlined potential threats faced by the Nigerian economy. He outlined the threats while Speaking at the ongoing Technical Assistance Workshop of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI). Assistance Workshop in Abuja. According to him, the potential threats at present, include the Russia-Ukraine war, cyber threats posing increasing risks to financial institutions, slow growth, increasing inflation, and tighter global financial conditions that may all exacerbate pre-existing vulnerabilities. Mr. Hassan noted that growing financial inter-connectedness has shown that a banking crisis can have contagion effects. He said “A system-wide approach…
Nigeria’s current account balance rose to a 9-year high of $7.7 billion in the first half of 2022, five times higher than the $1.13 billion recorded in the second half of last year. It is also significantly higher when compared to the negative balance of $2.98 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021. This is according to data tracked by Nairalytics from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Nigeria’s current account also known as the balance of payment, is a statement that records all the monetary transactions made between residents of a country and the rest of the world during any given period. A balance…
Market operators have said that the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to increase the interest rate by 15.5% would further depress investors’ appetite for equities to embrace money market instruments. The operators who said the investors will migrate their financial assets away from equities to money market instruments. The MPC voted to increase interest rates to a 15.5% as the apex bank fights rising inflation. The Central Bank, during its last MPC meeting had increased the interest rate from 11.5% to 14%. In the last two meetings, however, with the inflation rate still spiking above 20%, the…
The Central Bank of Nigeria has disbursed a cumulative total of N4.5 trillion in intervention funds to the private sector of the Nigerian Economy as of September 2022. The data was compiled from official statements contained in the monetary policy communique of the apex bank as tracked by Nairametrics. This was the latest update the CBN provided in the MPC communique. Under the Real Sector Facility, the Bank released the sum of ₦66.99 billion to 12 additional projects in manufacturing and agriculture. Cumulative disbursements under the Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF) currently stood at ₦2.10 trillion disbursed to 426 projects across the country. Furthermore, under the 100…
Some sensitive safety equipment of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) is being vandalized across airports and sites in the country, a security agent close to the agency has said. It was gathered that the equipment is being regularly vandalized in at least 24 airports across the country, including those with perimeter fences and there are fears that this may affect air safety in the country. Some of the equipment being vandalized includes the Low-Level Windshear Alert System (LLWAS), alert system sensors, automatic weather display system, and others. The security source who didn’t want his name in print told Nairametrics that most…
Capital Hotels Plc has announced the acquisition of 1,611,995,510 ordinary shares of the company by 22 Hospitality Limited. Following the acquisition, directors of the company resigned their appointment and new ones were appointed In a statement signed by Alex Ugwuany for the company secretary, Capital Hotels Plc informed its shareholders and other stakeholders that 22 Hospitality Limited has successfully acquired 1,611,995,510 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each representing 51% of the equity share capital of the company through private placement. The company said: “All the required regulatory approvals have been received for the transaction. In addition, 22 Hospitality Limited also bought 456,641,337,…
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has voted to increase the benchmark interest rate (monetary policy rate) to 15.5% from 14%, being the third hawkish move by the apex bank in 2022 following the rising rate of inflation. This was disclosed by the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, while reading the communique of the monetary policy committee meeting on Tuesday 27th September 2022. The Central Bank during its last MPC meeting had increased the interest rate from 11.5% to 14% in the last two meetings, however with the inflation rate still spiking above 20%, the…
As the equities market continues bearish performance, shareholders of BUA Cement Plc lost a whopping N111.752 billion in yesterday’s trading session. This is in spite of the fact that the company witnessed an improved performance in half year 2022 on various parameters like credit growth, asset quality, and profitability. Checks by Nairametrics showed that at the close of trading, BUA Cement Plc’s share price dropped by 6.18% to N50.10 per share and N1.697 trillion in market capitalisation as of the close of trading yesterday (September 22nd) from N53.40 and N1.808 trillion, which were the share price and market capitalisation recorded…