Author: Julius Alagbe

Mayor of Atlanta Applauds Fidelity FNITCC Conference Tier-one lender, Fidelity Bank Plc, has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Nigerian businesses in scaling up and competing effectively on the global stage. This commitment was underscored at the 2025 Fidelity Nigeria International Trade & Creative Connect (FNITCC), held over the weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. Reflecting on FNITCC’s evolution over the past four years, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, described the initiative as a strategic expression of the bank’s vision to empower homegrown businesses for global competitiveness. “FNITCC is a vision that has come a long…

CBN Reforms to Stabilise Economy, Restore Investor Confidence- Cardoso Olayemi Cardoso, says the bank’s reforms are aimed at stabilising the economy, restoring confidence and bringing inflation down to single digits in the medium term. Cardoso said this while taking questions during a fireside chat at his inaugural lecture series at the Lagos Business School (LBS). The lecture had the theme “Next Generation Leadership in Monetary Policy and Nation Building” and marked the launch of the CBN Governor’s Lecture Series. The lecture had in attendance students from various tertiary institutions, members of academia, bankers and industry experts. Cardoso explained the challenges…

Euro Rally as Markets Weigh ECB, Federal Reserve Policy Gap FX market – The euro traded just above $1.17, staying close to last month’s four-year high of $1.192, as markets weighed the widening policy gap between the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Federal Reserve (Fed). The ECB, and US Federal Reserve interest rate policy choice impacted Euro, and US dollar trading direction amidst fluctuating economic data. The euro area economy continued its expansionary trend at the end of the third quarter, with the pace of growth even ticking slightly higher to its strongest since May 2024. The upturn was…

Banks Placements with CBN Spike as Liquidity Surplus Hits N7trn Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) fund placements at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) standing deposit facility, which has surged further given a huge surplus liquidity level in the financial system. Standing in excess of N7 trillion, the money market has been flooded with free flows of funds in the absence of significant liquidity mop-up action from the monetary authority side. Details released by AIICO Capital Limited late on Thursday revealed that the amount in the financial system reached N7.11 trillion as the CBN failed to float an OMO auction again.…

Naira Appreciates Against Dollar to N1455, FX Reserves Rise The Nigerian naira appreciated to N1455 at the official foreign exchange market on Thursday, reflecting strong FX liquidity position in the currency market. The local currency is gaining strength amidst persistent FX intervention, growing foreign reserves and expanding inflows from exporters as reforms turn Nigeria into a net exporting economy. FX spot rate settled at N1455.2373 per dollar, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicates in its daily FX update. This showed the exchange rate appreciated by 1.35% on the day from N1,475.3473 the previous day. There was sufficient US dollar…

Elon Musk Becomes First to Hit $500bn Net Worth as Tesla Soars Elon Musk on Thursday became the first person estimated to reach a net worth of 500 billion dollars. This is according to U.S. magazine Forbes, largely held in shares of electric carmaker Tesla and aerospace firm SpaceX. Forbes calculated Musk’s wealth at roughly 150 billion dollars more than Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. The magazine later revised the estimate slightly down to 499.1 billion dollars. Musk’s wealth is harder to estimate than that of other billionaires because many of his companies are not publicly traded. Musk surpassed the 400…

Liberia Unlocks Access to $26.5 Million IMF Loan Liberia has unlocked access to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) post Article IV consultation and second review loan under its extended credit facility, according to an official statement. The Fund completed the Article IV Consultation and the second review of the 40-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement for Liberia. The Board’s decision allows for an immediate disbursement of SDR 19.3 million or about US$ 26.5 million, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 57.9 million, equivalent to about US$ 79.4 million. Liberia’s ECF arrangement—SDR 155 million, an equivalent of 60 percent…

Lafarge Africa Delivers 80% Return on Investment in 9-Month Due to record price appreciation, a N100 million investment in Lafarge Africa has grown to N180 billion based on the cement company’s share price performance – and this is the best investors get versus its rivals. Lafarge Africa Plc has delivered approximately 80% year-to-date return on investment on the bet on the cement company stock in 2025. Investors with interest in cement stocks are generally sensitive to Nigeria’s capital expenditure plan – which has been well executed. Reflecting stockholders’ sentiment on Lafarge African earnings outlook, the cement company experienced significant price…

Nigeria Beats N20trn Non-Oil Revenue Target in August – Tinubu Reflecting a sharp improvement in fiscal performance, the Federal Government of Nigeria has achieved N20 trillion in non-oil revenue target as if August 2025, details from President Bola Tinubu Independence Day speech highlighted. President Tinubu reiterated the need for Nigerians to patronise made in Nigeria products to grow industries and boost economic performance. He stated that Nigeria is now a net exporters, selling more to the outside world than the country’s aggregate imports – helping the naira to stabilise. According to him, Nigeria should be a nation of producers, not…

Global Economy Loses $4.7trn Annually To Fraud, Says SON The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) says the global economy loses over 4.7 trillion dollars through fraud every year, amounting to nearly seven per cent of annual revenues of organisations worldwide. Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, Chairman of SON’s National Technical Committee on Governance of Organisations, said this on Tuesday in Abuja at the official launch of ISO 37003:2025. The ISO 37003:2025 is the world’s first international fraud control management system standard. Osunbor said that in spite of existing internal mechanisms and statutory regulations, fraud remained pervasive, aided by technology and artificial intelligence.…