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…
Author: Temitope Nlewemchi
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…
The price of bitcoin hit record highs in 2021 thanks to support from traditional finance, but cryptocurrency analyst are struggling to predict next year’s outcome for the volatile sector. Having more than trebled in value to $60,000 between December 2020 and April, bitcoin has lost some shine to trade at under $50,000 heading into the new year. “The current choppy and directionless price action with a possibility of further pressure to the downside has introduced a lot of uncertainty to the digital asset market,” noted Loukas Lagoudis, executive director at cryptocurrency investment fund ARK36. He added, however, that “sustained adoption…
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has disclosed how Nigeria can reduce the importation of drugs from its current 70% to 30% by 2025. The food and drug regulator who is pushing towards making it possible said that this could be achieved through increased local manufacturing of drugs. According to NAN, this was disclosed by the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, on Wednesday in Lagos, as she also read the riot to drug manufacturers in the country. Adeyeye said that increasing local drug manufacturing would help curb the prevalence of substandard drugs and ensure…
Agropartnerships Investors which is an investment platform powered by Farmforte, have threatened to involve lawyers and security personnel in the course of following up on matured investments unpaid by the platform. These investors appear to have run out of patience upon the lapse of the 3-7 days ultimatum which Agropartnerships said would be used to pay investors with one to five units of the cashew 04 cycle which matured on the 15th of December as those with over five units have refused to wait until April next year to access their funds Nairametrics had earlier reported how investors of the…
The Lagos State Government has finalized its plans to include and drive optimal population management initiatives as part of its programmes and projects aimed at ensuring human capital growth and development in line with international best practices. This was disclosed by the Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Sam Egube, during a stakeholders’ forum on Demographic Dividend Roadmap, organised by the Ministry, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Lagos Liaison Office. The event was organized to sensitise Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries on the Demographic Dividend Policy of the State and its implementation. Egube explained…
The Board of Transcorp Hotels Plc. has officially established the appointment of Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa to its Board of Directors as an Independent Non-Executive Director, effective Monday, December 20, 2021. Ms. Onagoruwa brings to the Transcorp Hotels Plc board, a wealth of experience spanning more than three decades across both the private and public sectors in different aspects of law, as well as public sector reform. Her commercial legal practice experience includes roles at Bentley Edu and Co, Nigerian Industrial Development Bank, Midas Merchant Bank, and the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE). Following her retirement from public service, Ms. Onagoruwa…
The Federal Government, yesterday, showed great prowess to end the ongoing marginal bid round, which already had already seen the award of 57 licenses. The Federal Government had in June last year, commenced a bid round for the fields, which are mainly in the Niger Delta. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), which replaced the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources said in a release that the 2020 marginal field bid round programme would be closed with machinery to progress the bid round exercise in line with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA). About $7 billion (N3 trillion) revenue will…
World stock markets swerved on Wednesday before a US Federal Reserve interest rate decision, with London dipping on data showing that UK inflation spiked to its highest level for more than a decade. The British capital’s benchmark FTSE 100 slid 0.3 per cent in afternoon trading after news that UK inflation hit 5.1 per cent in November, sending the pound climbing in anticipation of a possible interest rate rise. The Paris CAC 40 index added 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.3 per cent on the eve of rate calls from both the European Central Bank and the Bank…
The Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, Europe (NIDO-Europe), Italy Chapter, have disclosed that about 1.5 million out of its 3 million registered members in Italy are affected by the scarcity of Nigerian passports. According to NAN, this was disclosed by the Chairman of NIDO-Europe, Italy Chapter, Mr George Omo-Iduhon, during an interview on Monday while reflecting on the activities of NIDOE in Europe and Italy. Omo-Iduhon said there are more Nigerians in Italy than in other European countries and the registered Nigerians according to database are 3 million asides undocumented ones. He said, “One of the major problems faced by Nigerians…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has laid out a warning to the public over the activities of FinAfrica Investment Ltd and Poyoyo Investment, stating that the companies have not been approved by the Commission and operate as Ponzi schemes. The SEC made this known in a circular by the management of the SEC and published on the commission’s website on Tuesday afternoon. The Commission also added that the business operation style of the companies is also not authorized by the SEC. The SEC said, ”The attention of SEC has been drawn to the activities of an illegal operator, FinAfrica…
The Katsina State Government has officially established plans to lift the ban on telecommunication services in the 7 remaining affected local government areas before January 2022. This is coming barely 2 weeks after the state government ordered the restoration of telecommunication services in some local governments in the state which had been heavily affected by banditry and terrorism. According to NAN, this was made known by the Governor of Katsina State, Bello Masari, during a chat with journalists on Tuesday in Katsina, where he urged residents to do their best to protect their areas from bandit attacks. Masari, who was…
Oando Plc has notified the exchange and investors of the company of the appointment and resignation of some members of the Board of Directors at the company. According to the disclosure signed by the company’s secretary, Ayotola Jagun, and filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, Mrs Ronke Sokefun and Mrs. Nana Fatima have both been appointed as Independent Non-Executive Directors. The appointments of the directors are scheduled to take effect from December 23, 2021. This is following the resignation of Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji as a Non-Executive Director of the Company and Mr. Muntari Zubairu as an Executive Director of…
Nigeria recorded a transaction value of $1.1 billion in trades on the Investors and Exporters Window (I&E) where forex is sold officially. This is according to data on the FMDQOTC. Trading values on the I&E window has increased in recent weeks as the CBN continues to struggle to meet surging demand for forex by corporates rushing to fulfill year end obligations. When compared to the same period in 2020 about $531 million dollars were recorded as official trades on the I&E window. A total of $3.9 billion has been sold month to date December 2021 compared to $3.3 billion…
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has established that the joint committee that was created by the Federal Government to tackle violation of consumer rights and unfair practices in the money lending industry will shut down illegal businesses at the commencement of its enforcement. The joint committee is made up of representatives from FCCPC, the CBN, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). According to NAN, this disclosure was made by the Chief Executive Officer of FCCPC, Mr Babatunde Irukera, during an interview on Sunday…
The normal plan is to become a billionaire and remain a billionaire but for some billionaires, 2021 became the year they lost a good amount of their fortunes. While the top five billionaires have seen their fortunes expand even more rapidly in 2021, the same cannot be said of some others who have had to deal with huge net worth declines. From January 2021 through to the month of December, their collective losses amount to about $152 billion. Of the ten billionaires to have had the most losses in 2021, six of them are Chinese. This may be as a result of…
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has shut down the main switch centre of Globacom Limited at Wuse 2, Abuja due to the non-payment of N4.7 billion debt. The NCAA Director-General, Capt. Musa Nuhu, shut the switch centre, under the supervision of the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika. Nuhu told newsmen after locking up the tower that the facility would be switched off until the outstanding debt was paid. He said the company had paid only N500 million out of the N5.2 billion it was owing, pointing out that the outstanding debt was N4.7 billion. According to him, all…
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has confirmed the appointment of seven new General Managers, including Ibrahim Nasiru, who was the Assistant General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications. The Acting Managing Director, Muhammed Bello-Koko, made this known in a statement signed by the new General Manager, Corporate & Strategic Communications, Nasiru, in Lagos on Thursday. According to Nasiru, the appointments take immediate effect. He said that 10 Assistant General Managers were also appointed. “The new appointment is in line with the management’s commitment to employees’ motivation and service excellence. “The new General Managers include Moltok Josephine Adar, formerly the Assistant General…