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.
Alleged Oceangate Fraud: Court Rules on EFCC’s Final Forfeiture Request The Federal High Court in Abuja, fixed March 25 for ruling on an application filed by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for final forfeiture order on 13 million dollars linked to Aisha Achimugu’s Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd. Justice Emeka Nwite fixed the date on Tuesday, after EFCC lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, and counsel for the company, Darlington Ozurumba, adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the case on Monday. Justice Nwite had, on Aug. 22, 2025, granted the anti-graft agency’s motion ex-parte for an…
Aradel, Zenith Bank Drive NGX Rally, Investors Gain N93.45bn Buying interest in Aradel Holdings, Zenith Bank, and others drove the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) uptrend on Tuesday. The stock market key performance indicators improved, though the market witnesses some portfolio adjustment in some overbought stocks. The market index climbed by 0.09% to close at 166,256.82 points, supported by some position taking in the banking, insurance and industrial indices. Stockbrokers reported that equities market capitalization increased by N93.48 billion to N106.44 trillion, with 39 gainers outpacing 25 losers. Today’s performance was buoyed by price upticks in ARADEL (+5.68%), MECURE (+6.45%), ZENITHBANK (+0.84%),…
Cryptos Fall as Leverage Traders Exit Positions Amid Gold Rally The market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies decreased by 2.51% to $3.07 trillion within the past 24 hours across various exchanges, as leveraged traders closed their positions during a surge in gold prices. Bitcoin price has plunged to $90k, losing more than 2.2% in the last 24 hours, and Ethereum is down by 3.51%, trading slightly above $3k on Tuesday. At the same time, other top cryptocurrencies are struggling to keep their position in strong volatile market development amidst U.S. actions that are changing world economic orders with President Donald Trump’s tariff…
Overnight Lending Rate Rises as Banks’ Lodgements Increase The overnight lending rate rose, but the repo rate was steadied in the money market amidst excess liquidity level in the banking system. The absence of significant funding pressure kept money market rates movement in check. The market witnessed increased activities at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) window, with local banks surging lodgements at the 22.50% SDF rate. There was also additional inflow from primary market repayment ahead of the midweek auction on Wednesday, where the CBN will offer N1.15 trillion of treasury bills for subscription. System…
Europe Eyes ‘Capital Weapon’ As Trump Doubles Down On Greenland Europe’s consideration of using capital markets as retaliation against President Trump over Greenland would trigger financial disruption far exceeding the impact of tariffs, warns the CEO of global financial advisory giant deVere Group. Nigel Green’s warning comes as the European Union is reportedly weighing deployment of its Anti-Coercion Instrument while preparing up to €93 billion in retaliatory tariffs against the US. The measures would follow Trump’s warning that tariffs could rise to 25% unless Europe agreed to a deal involving Greenland. Trump’s appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos…
NCC Unveils 2026–2030 Spectrum Roadmap, Promises Transparency The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the National Spectrum Roadmap 2026–2030 will drive Nigeria’s digital future through transparency and predictable spectrum regulation. The Executive Vice Chairman, Dr Aminu Maida, disclosed this on Monday at a spectrum roadmap stakeholders’ consultation forum in Abuja. Maida said the initiative includes the Spectrum Roadmap 2026–2030 and guidelines for opening the lower 6GHz and 60GHz licence-exempt bands. Represented by the Head of Spectrum Administration, Atiku Lawal, he said the measures aim to improve quality of service nationwide. Maida said: “Our national ambitions are growing. We want faster speeds,…
GBPUSD Climbs as U.S. Threatens UK, EU over Greenland The British pound (GBPUSD) strengthened to around $1.342 on Tuesday, moving away from a four-week low as the US stepped up its attempt to secure Greenland for national security purposes. The push up was helped by renewed pressure on the dollar index after President Donald Trump revived tariff threats linked to his push to assert control over Greenland. U.S dollar declined against its trading pairs across the forex market amidst retaliation expectations against the renewed U.S. tariff threat against the UK and the European Union. Trump warned that countries opposing his…
Oil Prices Decline as Supply Concerns Deflate Oil prices declined in the global commodity market on Monday as supply concerns generated by the U.S. plan to attack Iran deflated sharply. According to reports, US President Donald Trump had halted plans for a potential attack on Iran, easing worries about supply disruptions from the Middle East. Brent crude traded at $63.83 per barrel, down around 0.5% from last Friday’s close of $64.13. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $59.13 per barrel, down around 0.5% compared with $59.44 last week. Trump aborted planned military strikes against Iran due to a…
Investors’ Appetite for FGN Bonds Ease Ahead of Q1 Supply Investors’ appetite for the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) tightened with subdued trading activities in the secondary market ahead of anticipated huge supply. The Debt Management Office is scheduled to launch its 2026 borrowing plan, and market expectations remain that the widening budget deficit will enhance supply. The expectation, and latest disinflation reversal, has triggered some portfolio adjustment as wealth managers, pension fund administrators and other continue to device trading approach to optimise return. Despite disinflation, real return on fixed income market securities remained at double digit. Analysts are also…
Fitch Affirms Saudi Arabia at ‘A+’, Outlook Stable Fitch Ratings has affirmed Saudi Arabia’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘A+’ with a stable outlook. The affirmation of Saudi Arabia’s ratings reflects its strong fiscal and external balance sheets, with government debt/GDP and sovereign net foreign assets (SNFA) considerably stronger than both the ‘A’ and ‘AA’ medians, and significant fiscal buffers in the form of deposits and other public sector assets. Ratings analysts noted that Saudi Arabia’s oil dependence, World Bank Governance Indicators (WBGI) and vulnerability to geopolitical shocks have improved but remain weaknesses. The kingdom’s deep and broad…