Author: Julius Alagbe

First Bank: Court Strikes Out N12.3bn Fraud Case against Oba Otudeko A Federal High Court in Lagos, on Wednesday, struck out a N12.3 billion fraud case preferred by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Chairman of the Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko, and others. The EFCC had in suit No. FHC/L/20C/2025, filed 13-count charges against Otudeko, former First Bank Managing Director Olabisi Onasanya, former Honeywell board member Soji Akintayo, and Anchorage Leisure Limited. The defendants were accused of conspiring to fraudulently obtain N12.3 billion from First Bank of Nigeria under the guise of credit facilities for V-TECH Dynamic Links…

CBN Spot FX Rate Dips Slowly as External Reserves Cross $38bn The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira official exchange rate slid against the US dollar at the foreign exchange market amidst the country’s rising external reserves. FX data update from the CBN showed that the exchange rate depreciated to N1535.61 per dollar on Wednesday as the authority slowed down FX intervention sales. At the parallel market, the local currency spot exchange rate closed at N1536 per greenback, leaving less than N1 as FX spread, thus discouraging speculative activities. The gross balance in Nigeria’s foreign reserves crossed $38 billion this…

Nigerian Stocks Index Rises as Investors Book N67bn Gain The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index rose by eight basis points midweek as equity investors portfolio value gained about N67 billion. The local bourse extended its bullish trajectory on Wednesday, with the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) edging up by 0.08% to close at 132,557.43 points, trading data revealed. Stockbrokers said the modest uptick lifted the year-to-date (YTD) return to 28.79%, reflecting persistent investor optimism and strengthening confidence in the resilience of the local bourse. As a result, market capitalization increased by N66.8 billion to settle at N83.86 trillion, underscoring improved liquidity…

Euro Hits 4-Year High Ahead of EU, US Trade Deal European currency, the euro, recalibrated against the US dollar to a four year high at the forex markets as investors and other traders anticipate US, EU trade closure ahead of the August 1 implementation deadline. Increased bets on the euro strengthening against the dollar in the options market look justified given the threat to the Federal Reserve’s independence, Commerzbank’s Thu Lan Nguyen says in a note. Still, investors and traders were cautious in opening dollar positions ahead of tariff negotiations between Washington and Brussels, amid reports that the EU is…

Moody’s Upgrades Ecobank Ratings Outlook to Stable Moody’s has affirmed Ecobank Transnational Incorporated’s (ETI) B3/Not Prime long- and short-term issuer ratings; B3 senior unsecured debt rating; b2 notional Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA); and b1 Adjusted BCA. At the same time, rating analysts at Moody’s said they have changed the outlook on the group’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to stable from negative. ETI’s subsidiaries operate across 38 countries—including 35 African countries- and total assets of $28.9 billion as of March 2025, details from the rating note highlighted. Moody’s said the decision to change the outlook to stable on…

NGX Index Ticks Up as Dangote, UCAP See Intraday Rally The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) is trending positively during the intraday trading session, supported by bargain hunting in Dangote Sugar Refinery and United Capital Plc shares. Investors maintain positive sentiment as the central bank failed to adjust the interest rate at its bimonthly policy committee meeting. The local bourse has seen a significant surge in market capitalization, while the year-to-date return is fast approaching 30%, in contrast to annual inflation rate of 22.22%. Stock market analysts said investors are entering positions in fundamentally sound listed companies’ shares ahead…

Foreign Investors Increase Bets on Nigeria’s Eurobonds, Rates Ease The average yield on Nigeria’s sovereign eurobonds eased as foreign portfolio investors ’boosted the investment positions as macroeconomic indicators improved. The country’s inflation rate has been falling for three consecutive months, gross domestic product (GDP) surged by 3.13% in the first quarter of 2025, and the authority has decided to maintain a high interest rate economy. Bola Tinubu, the Nigerian president, has also obtained senate approval to raise $21 billion in foreign loans, while local bond supply has been tightened. Borrowing costs from international capital markets are expected to reduce as…

Top 10 Largest Countries Debt to Surpass $64trn, US Drives Surge—Fitch Government debt among 10 of the largest developed markets is set to continue rising sharply, exceeding USD64 trillion, which is 115% of GDP, by the end of 2025, Fitch Ratings says in a new quarterly Developed Market Sovereigns Debt Sustainability Monitor. According to Fitch’s debt sustainability monitor, this marks a dramatic increase from USD 25 trillion, or 72% of GDP in 2007, with over two-thirds of the growth attributable to the US. The recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act will entrench high US budget deficits over the medium…

Commodities Exchanges, Warehouses Can Unlock $500bn – Agama The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr Emomotimi Agama, says that formalising commodities and warehouse receipts in the capital market can unlock $500 billion in dormant agricultural and mineral assets. Agama said this at the workshop the 2025 Workshop of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) on Tuesday in Abuja. He said the move would transform the receipts into tradeable securities, help the economy diversify from the oil and gas industry, and create wealth for the country. Agama explained that the Investments and Securities Act (ISA, 2025) had empowered…

MPC Keeps Interest Rate Benchmark at 27.5% The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) monetary policy committee (MPC) retained the benchmark interest rate at 27.5% after the conclusion of the two-day meeting in Abuja. The committee also retained the asymmetric corridor around the policy rate at +500 bps/-100 bps. MPC also retained the cash reserves ratio (CRR) for deposit money banks at 50.0% and merchant banks at 16.0%. The liquidity rate is kept at 30.0%. The decision came after National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released revised GDP figures, selecting 2019 as the new base year due to its relative economic stability…