Author: Julius Alagbe

Oil Prices Surge Week-on-Week over Heightened Uncertainties Oil prices rose this week as investors priced in heightened uncertainties surrounding the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and growing geopolitical risks linked to developments in Venezuela, Iran and Cuba, which raised concerns over potential supply disruptions. International benchmark Brent crude traded at $64.04 per barrel, up 1.56% from last Friday’s close of $62.74. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 1.59% to $59.76 per barrel, compared with $58.61 a week earlier. Prices gained early in the week on expectations that the Fed could move toward interest rate cuts, weakening the US dollar and…

EU Removes Nigeria from Financial Crime Watch List  Nigeria has achieved a major international milestone in its campaign against money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. This followed its removal from the European Union’s (EU) list of high-risk third countries under the EU Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework. The delisting is contained in the European Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) C (2025) 8460, adopted on Dec. 4, 2025, in line with updates issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at its October 2025 Plenary. This is contained in statement by the Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Nigerian…

Naira Gains Value Against US Dollar at CBN FX Window The naira appreciated against the US dollar at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) official trading platform on Friday in the absence of FX scarcity. The spot fx rate touched an intraday low of N1416.80 per dollar as healthy liquidity in the official market supported international payments without the Apex Bank intervention. The naira reached an intraday high of N1420.5000 but closed the day strong as exporters’ and importers’ inflows, in addition to non-bank corporate supply, enhanced liquidity. Daily FX data released by the CBN showed the official rate rose…

Ghana’s Outlook Brightens as Inflation, Interest Rates Plunge Ghana’s economic outlook has been projected to climb in 2026 following significant improvement in key macroeconomic indices in 2025. The lower interest rate has boosted credit uptakes, a development helped by successive declines in the consumer price index. This has helped the private sector performance in post-debt market restructuring. The cedi remained strong but has also become a disadvantage for export earnings in competitive markets for some of the local goods transmitted abroad. Cocoa and other export revenue, however, acted as shock absorber for the country’s fiscal performance. According to the country’s…

Trump Turns Venezuelan Oil into Political Weapon – CEO  Venezuelan oil supply is becoming “politically elastic”, with volumes now dependent on US electoral and foreign-policy dynamics, adding a new layer of volatility, warns the CEO of global financial advisory giant deVere Group in a statement obtained by MarketForces Africa. The warning from Nigel Green comes as the first US-authorised sale of Venezuelan crude was to a company whose senior oil trader donated to Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and attended a White House meeting with the president last week. Venezuelan oil policy now sits squarely within the US administration. John Addison,…

Naira Sees Market-Wide Rally as FX Users Price in Projections The naira experienced a market-wide rally on Thursday amidst projections that the Nigerian economy will expand more strongly than in past years as reforms produce results. The exchange rate touched an intraday low of N1,418 per dollar, reflecting the absence of significant international payment pressures. The local currency hit an intraday high of N1422 before closing relatively stronger, according to daily FX update released by the Central Bank. At the official window, the Naira on Thursday strengthened marginally by 5 bps, or ₦0.75 against the US dollar, closing at N1,419.28/$…

Petrol Daily Supply Hits 74.2m Litres in December – NMDPRA The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says the daily domestic supply of petrol or Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) rose to 74.2 million litres/day (ml/d) in December 2025. This is relative to the 71.5 million litres/day supplied in November 2025. The NMDPRA made this known in its Factsheet Report for December 2025 released on Thursday. The report contains key statistics on the midstream and downstream petroleum operations in Nigeria. It revealed that consumption of PMS, also known as fuel, increased to 63.7 million litres/day in December 2025, from…

No New VAT Charges on Bank Services, NRS Says The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has dispelled news making the rounds on the imposition of Value-Added Tax (VAT) on banking services, including electronic money transfer, fees and commission. Mr Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser on Media to Dr Zacch Adedeji, the Executive Chairman of NRS, said this in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, describing the reports as incorrect and misleading. Adeknambi said that VAT had always applied to banking services, adding that it was not newly introduced under the new tax law, the Nigeria Tax Act. According to him, the Nigeria…

CBN, Nigeria’s Finest Economists Project Faster GDP Growth for 2026 The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and leading economists have projected stronger economic or gross domestic product (GDP) growth and lower inflation in 2026, citing improved macroeconomic fundamentals and reform impacts. The projection was made on Thursday at a hybrid roundtable organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria Centre for Financial Studies with B. Adedipe Associates. The Lagos event was the theme ’12th Edition National Economic Outlook: Implications for Businesses in Nigeria in 2026′. CBN Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, Dr Muhammad Abdullahi, said real GDP growth was…

ADAUSD Falls as Crypto Market Bill Delay Hurts Altcoins Cardano (ADAUSD) experienced a decline of 4.6% over the past 24 hours, prompted by selling activity driven by negative sentiment following the delay of the cryptocurrency market bill, which led to altcoin sell-offs on Thursday. ADA significantly underperformed Bitcoin (+1.4%) and the broader crypto market index amidst widening losses that reflected sell-offs. Trading data showed that ADA hovers around $0.4 amidst huge volume decline. Crypto analysts said ADA’s drop reflects sector-wide caution, technical profit-taking, and Bitcoin’s safe-haven appeal. While development milestones, offer long-term upside, short-term traders continue to monitor the $0.395…