Author: Julius Alagbe

Julius Alagbe is a senior financial journalist and Editor at MarketForces Africa with nearly two decades of experience in finance, accounting, and economics reporting.He is one of Nigeria's most prolific financial market reporters, covering capital markets, monetary policy, corporate earnings, banking, telecoms, and macroeconomic developments across Africa.Julius has built a strong footprint reporting on Nigeria's leading corporates and financial services sector, including coverage of the Nigerian Exchange Group, Central Bank of Nigeria monetary operations, MTN Nigeria, GTCO, and major investment banking transactions.He regularly monitors the CBN’s open market operations, interbank FX markets, and equity market movements, providing readers with real-time intelligence on Nigeria’s financial landscape.His reporting draws on direct access to institutional research from firms including Moody’s Ratings, CardinalStone Securities, Fitch, and other leading African investment houses.Julius brings analytical depth and editorial rigour to every story, making complex financial data accessible to professionals, investors, and policymakers across Africa.Julius Alagbe is based in Lagos, Nigeria.

Nigeria, Germany, EU unveil Programme to Boost Sustainable Energy Sector The European Union (EU), Germany and Nigeria on Thursday unveiled the third phase of the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), aimed at bolstering Nigeria’s sustainable energy sector. The programme seeks to support the federal government’s effort by fostering investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and rural electrification. Speaking at the event, which was also the first NESP III Steering Committee meeting, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Mahmuda Mamman, appreciated the EU and Germany for their support. According to him, attracting more investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, was…

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Buni Presents N320.8bn Appropriation Bill for 2025 Before House of Assembly Gov. Mai Mala Buni of Yobe, on Thursday, presented a N320.8 billion Appropriation Bill for the 2025 fiscal year before the state House of Assembly. Speaking at the occasion in Damaturu, Buni said that the estimates tagged “Budget of Economic Consolidation and Poverty Reduction” was aimed at completing ongoing projects in the state. He said N176.8 billion was earmarked for capital expenditure while recurrent expenditure was N144 billion. According to him, the capital and recurrent expenditures represent 51.1 per cent and 44.9 per cent respectively of the total budget.…

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Diri Presents N689.4bn 2025 Budget to Bayelsa Assembly Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa on Thursday presented a total budget of N689.4 billion christened, Budget of Assured Prosperity, for the 2025 fiscal year. Diri, who made the presentation at the plenary of the assembly, said that implementation of the 2025 budget would require some level of efficiency and synergy in government activities across ministries, departments and agencies. Giving the expenditure breakdown in some of the sectors, Diri said the sum of N178.7 billion was budgeted for Works and Infrastructure; Education, N47.1 billion and Sports N37.8 billion. Others are Urban and Housing…

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EKEDC Announces the Commencement of the STS 2.0 Free Meter Upgrade on October 31 …..Encourages Customers to Load Previous Tokens Before Upgrading Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has set Thursday, October 31, 2024, as the starting date for the Standard Transfer Specification (STS) 2.0-meter upgrade for its metered customers. This upgrade, prompted by the scheduled expiration of the current vending platform, will transition customers to a more advanced and efficient system. The upgrade process is simple and can be completed by following these easy steps: Visit (http://kctcheck.ekedp.com), enter your meter number, and click “search.” Retrieve two sets of 20-digit Key…

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Zenith Bank Profit Grows by 90.5% to N827 Billion Zenith Bank Plc profit has increased by 90.5% year on year to N827.2 billion in 12 months, according to details from its financials submitted on the Nigerian Exchange. In its unaudited 9M-2024 financial statement, Zenith Bank Plc pretax profit reached an all-time high level of N1 trillion, which was +98.5% above N505.1 billion recorded in the equivalent period in 2023. The significant improvement in earnings performance in the period stem from its core operations, despite cost pressures from interest paid to fund providers, impairment charges, and operating expenses. Details from its…

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Russia Fines Google $2.5 Decillion Over YouTube Bans Russia has fined Google a world record-breaking fine of $2.5 decillion after years of refusing to restore the accounts of pro-Kremlin and state-run media outlets, the RBC news website reported, citing an anonymous source familiar with court rulings against the tech company. According to RBC’s sources, Google began accumulating daily penalties of 100,000 rubles in 2020 after the pro-government media outlets Tsargrad and RIA FAN won lawsuits against the company for blocking their YouTube channels. Those daily penalties have doubled each week, leading to the current overall fine of around 2 undecillion…

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