As Nigeria struggles with the challenges of energy crisis, alongside oil theft and global transition agenda, the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Nigeria Council, has urged the government to deploy adaptive strategies that protect Nigerians from the socio-economic impact. Chairman, SPE, Nigeria Council, Olalekan Olafuyi, stated this at a press conference preparatory to the 2022 Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) in Lagos. The NAICE is a yearly event of the SPE and this year’s edition is scheduled to hold from August 1, to August 3, in Lagos. Olafuyi said the theme of the conference: “Global Transition to Renewable…
Author: Temitope N.
With a global market estimated at $110 billion, the Federal Government has called on investors to explore the development of the nation’s 42 billion barrels of bitumen reserves. Speaking at a virtual clarification session, organized by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in collaboration with PwC Nigeria, the Director-General of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, Dr. Abdulrasaq Garbar, who provided geoscientific data and other information to guide potential investors, said the country holds the sixth largest reserves of bitumen in the world. He said the mineral remained unexploited for years, thereby creating a massive opportunity for domestic production of…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has advised Nigerians not to succumb to the speculative activities of some players in the foreign exchange market. Mr Osita Nwanisobi, CBN’s Director, Corporate Communications CBN, advised in a statement on Friday, against the backdrop of rising demand for foreign exchange for goods and services. Nwanisobi said that the CBN remained committed to resolving the foreign exchange issues confronting the nation, and had been working to manage both the demand and supply challenges. He said that the apex bank was concerned about the international value of the Naira. He said that the monetary authority…
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) have canvassed greater collaboration in harnessing opportunities for conducting the underwriting and brokerage businesses through technology. The decision was made at the 2022 mid-year workshop organized by the Lagos Area Committee (LAC) of NCRIB with the theme ‘Opportunities and Challenges of Insurtech’ and held in Lagos. At the program, the President of NCRIB, Rotimi Edu, condemned the low penetration of insurance in the country and urged participants to leverage opportunities presented by Insurtech to harness not only the accounts of big government corporations such as the…
The perfect storm of inflationary pressures, aggressive monetary tightening from central banks, combined with a deepening of the Russia/Ukraine crisis, have made capital raising via traditional bond markets, particularly, expensive for African countries whose governments have been forced to find innovative ways to raise capital, Co-Head of Loan Syndication at Rand Merchant Bank, Miranda Abraham, has said. Abraham said: “While the quality of African sovereigns hasn’t declined, risk appetite amongst typical bond investors certainly has and this has pushed pricing up to prohibitively high levels.” African government bonds have historically offered fairly priced, long-term debt for issuers and attractive returns…
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) has vowed to intensify efforts aimed at attracting young investors to the stock market and addressing perennial issues constituting disincentives to the financial technology (fintech) firms in accessing the market. Chief Executive Officer of the NGX, Temi Popoola, while welcoming the Africa Walk Delegates to the exchange at the weekend, assured that the NGX has developed a focused strategy that would help to address major constraints such as listing rules and other concerns that have pushed fintech firm to source for offshore capital. Investigations revealed that Nigerian fintech firms are approaching investors and getting funded,…
Heavy transactions in the shares of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO), and Access Holdings Plc lifted the volume of shares traded last week, as a turnover of 917.2 million shares worth N14.8 billion was recorded in 19, 513 deals by investors. However, the volume of shares traded was higher than a total of N504 million units valued at N7.5 billion that was exchanged in 12, 393 deals. The top three equities accounted for 365.6 million shares worth N4.1 billion in 562 deals, contributing 38.8 percent to the total equity volume. The financial services industry…
Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Public Sector Matters and Secretary of the National Action Committee (NAC) on African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Francis Anatogu, said the inter-African trade policy would reduce poverty in Nigeria and boost the wealth-creating capacity of the citizens when it fully takes off. Anatogu said this at CEO Dinner/ Luncheon of Toiletries and Cosmetics Manufacturing Group (T&C group) of the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Lagos. He described the regional trade pact as a process that would benefit generations to come but noted that inter-agency collaboration was necessary if Nigeria would…
Justice Zaynab Bashir of the National Industrial Court has awarded a driver, Sunday Onyemara the sum of N500,000 as general damages for the wrongful termination of his employment. While delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Zaynab held said the firm failed to accord the claimant the right to a fair hearing before terminating his employment. Consequently, she declared that the termination of Mr Onyemara’s employment on October 31, 2019, from Wheels Services Ltd., was wrongful. Mr Sunday told the court that he was employed by the firm as a driver in September 2019. However, he was later arrested with one of…
I’m seated at a dinner in faraway Dubai pondering as the Chairman of United Bank for Africa gave the opening remark for the launch of UBA Dubai. It’s a landmark event as it positions UBA as one of the leading Nigerian and indeed African banks when it comes to having a global footprint. Regional and global trade will surely dominate how businesses are conducted in the next few years and it’s not difficult to see what UBA is trying to achieve here. As I ponder, my thoughts gravitate to what this latest move could mean for the bank’s shareholders. Why…
Nigeria’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 51.1 in June, surpassing the 50-index point benchmark. This represents a 2.2-point increase compared to the 48.9 points recorded in the previous month. This is contained in the Central Bank of Nigeria communique of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting held on Tuesday, 19th July 2022. According to the apex bank. the improvement in the PMI reflects the continued rebound in economic activities due to improvements in supplier delivery time; raw materials inventory; employment levels, and expansion in some sectors such as agriculture, accommodation, and electricity, amongst others. In the same vein, the non-manufacturing PMI rose past the…
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele has said that the country achieved about $2.9 billion from the non-oil export proceed as of the first quarter of 2022. Emefiele while speaking at the 7th Annual Edition of the Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar, themed “Unlocking Opportunities in Nigeria’s Non-Oil Export Business” said the non-oil sector revenue in export is quite low compared to other major African countries. According to him no country in Africa should be better than Nigeria in non-oil sector export. He noted that the CBN RT200 FX programme aimed to achieve $200 billion…
There are reports that the national grid has once again collapsed on Wednesday and has caused a general blackout. This disclosure is contained in a statement issued by the Eko Electricity Distribution Company and can be seen on its official Twitter account, where it confirmed that the incident occurred at around 11.27 am, Wednesday, July 20, 2022. The power firm said that it is currently discussing with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to determine the possible cause of the system collapse and the restoration timeline. The statement from Eko Electricity Distribution Company reads, ‘’Dear Customers, we regret to inform…
Financial experts have sounded a warning to Nigerian companies seeking foreign-denominated loans to have a rethink as global economies responded to hyperinflation with aggressive monetary policy tightening. As the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war continues to fuel inflation globally in a way not seen in decades developing nations are responding by jacking up interest rates. The United States Federal Reserve recently raised its target interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to combat a disruptive rise in inflation, while also forecasting a weakening economy and growing unemployment in the months ahead. Economic analysts are expressing concerns that the hike…
Foreign exchange crises, high inflation, and fiscal pressures generated by fuel subsidies, according to the World Bank, distort the benefits of a growing non-oil sector and high oil prices. Nigeria’s growth prospects have improved for the next three years, mainly to a stronger non-oil recovery and higher global oil prices. However, Nigeria’s macroeconomic framework has eroded, making the country more vulnerable to global and domestic shocks. This was disclosed by the World bank in a document titled ‘Nigeria Development Update (June 2022): The Continuing Urgency of Business Unusual.’ The World Bank stated that the weakening of Nigeria’s macroeconomic framework is mainly…
A substantial rise in energy prices, which was spurred in part by Russia’s war in Ukraine, has driven inflation in the 19 nations that use the euro currency to a record high in June. Headline inflation came in at 8.6% (year-on-year) for last month, according to preliminary figures from Europe’s statistics office Eurostat released Friday. Since last year, inflation has broken monthly records, highlighting how the war’s impact on the world’s energy supplies is raising living expenses for the 343 million people living in the eurozone. Energy prices rocketed 41.9%, and prices for food, alcohol and tobacco were up 8.9%, both faster…
The President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Patrice Motsepe has announced that the Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) prize money has been increased by 150% to $500,000. He stated this at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Morocco. Motsepe said, “We are bringing this competition for the first time in Morocco and we have increased the number of nations to twelve (12) and we have also increased the prize money for the women competition by a hundred and fifty percent (150%), so the winning nation will…
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun 1 Area Command, stated that it seized N1.3 billion worth of goods between May to June around Ogun and its environs. This was disclosed by the Area Comptroller, Bamidele Makinde, at a press briefing on Monday in Idiroko, Ogun based on NAN. He stated that N1,290,108,608.00 was the total estimated Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the seizures made between May and June. Bamidele Makinde stated that during routine patrols, members of the command seized illegal drugs and narcotics in a cooperative effort with other state security organizations. Makinde added that during its anti-smuggling activities between…
Ayodele Hamzat started with Foxygreen in July 2020, enrolling in a short-term investment plan involving catfish breeding. According to information on its Facebook Page, Foxygreen is an agrotech company providing agro-based investment opportunities to individuals and corporations as well as livestock, warehousing, and logistic services. This was at the peak of the global pandemic that had halted commerce, grounded global travel, and threatened to upend the trade of physical goods and services. Yet, Foxygreen which also operated as a multipurpose cooperative partnership, was able to deliver, paying back capital plus interest to Hamzat. This was all he needed to embark on a…
The Zamfara State Governor, Mohammed Matawalle, has directed residents of the state, particularly farmers to acquire guns to defend themselves against bandits and terrorists who appear to be ravaging the state. The directive follows what the state government describes as the deteriorating security situation in parts of the state. According to a statement by the Zamfara State Commissioner for Information, Mr Ibrahim Magaji Dosara, issued to journalists on Sunday, the governor has ordered the state commissioner of police to issue licences to residents who are willing and qualified to obtain guns to defend themselves against the marauding terrorists. Matawalle in…