Author: Julius Alagbe
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.
Fitch Places Arada on Rating Watch Negative Fitch Ratings has placed Arada Developments LLC’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘B+’ and its senior unsecured debt of ‘BB-‘ on Rating Watch Negative (RWN). The RWN also applies to the senior unsecured rating of Arada Sukuk Limited’s and Arada Sukuk 2 Limited’s sukuk. The debt has a Recovery Rating of ‘RR3’. Fitch said the RWN reflects heightened geopolitical risk affecting UAE and the Gulf region, which could hamper housing and investor demand. The regional conflict could increase unsold stock and cancellation risk, which would raise working capital needs and require cash…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday acknowledged the judgment of a Federal High Court in Lagos on its regulatory action against Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (UBN) in January 2024.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again cut interest rates on Nigerian Treasury bills with 182-day and 364-day maturities, according to auction results obtained by MarketForces Africa.
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ruled that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) acted beyond its powers when it sacked the board and management of Union Bank of Nigeria in January 2024.
U.S. Tech Giants’ AI Spending to Hit $700 billion Rapid AI advancement and increasing adoption are driving robust demand for computing capacity and pushing US data Centre hyperscalers to invest heavily, Moody’s said in a note. The global ratings agency revealed the expectation that total capital expenditures for the six US hyperscalers — Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com, Inc., Amazon Web Services (AWS), Meta Platforms, Inc, Alphabet Inc., Oracle Corporation, and CoreWeave, Inc would increase to $700 billion this year. The projected capital spending amount is nearly 6x their 2022 spending, according to Moody’s. Analysts said the investments are accelerating revenue growth,…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has opened N400 billion worth of local treasury bills for subscription on Wednesday, bringing the total number of auctions in the quarter to eight, rather than the seven initially proposed.
Moody’s Ratings has today assigned a Ba3 backed senior unsecured rating to Helios Towers plc’s (Helios Towers) proposed benchmark-size senior unsecured notes to be issued by HTA Group, Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of Helios Towers.
GCR Ratings has upgraded SFS Capital Nigeria Limited’s national-scale long-term and short-term issuer ratings to A(NG) and A1(NG), respectively, from A-(NG) and A2(NG), with a stable outlook.
Fitch Ratings has assigned Helios Towers Plc’s (HT) proposed senior unsecured notes an expected rating of ‘BB-(EXP)’ with a Recovery Rating of RR4, in line with its ‘BB-‘ Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and existing senior unsecured debt.
Iran launched a rapid and intense missile strike against Israel on Tuesday, while Tehran accused U.S. President Donald Trump of lying about diplomatic discussions.