Author: Julius Alagbe

Prisoners Population in Nigerian Prisons Rises by 17% – NBS The total inmate population in Nigerian prisons rose by about 17%, from 69,946 in 2017 to 81,710 in Q2 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a report. The NBS said this in its Nigerian Correctional Service Statistics for 2017 to Q2 2025, released on Wednesday in Abuja. It said that the Q2 2025 figure of 81,710 represented a 16.82 per cent increase from the 69,946 recorded in 2017. The bureau said that the report presented data from the Nigerian Correctional Service covering 2017 to Q2 2025, which…

African Eurobond Yields Fall as Oil-Linked Issuers Rebound Recovering from seller market conditions, the African Eurobond yields dipped in the international market as oil-linked issuers experienced increased demand for their borrowing notes. Trading activities were influenced by rising global oil prices on account of an imbalance between demand and supply outlook with persistent geopolitical tensions. Oil-linked issuers’ bonds were broadly bullish, note, supported by improved risk appetite and a pullback in U.S. Treasury yields, which encouraged selective buying across emerging market sovereign credits. Portfolio buyers re-entered at attractive levels across the curve. Peer sovereigns like Ghana and Angola also posted…

Nigeria, UAE to Host Joint Investment Confab in Lagos — Tinubu President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria will co-host Investopia with the United Arab Emirates in Lagos in February to attract global investors and boost sustainable investment inflows. Tinubu announced this on Tuesday at the 2026 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW). He spoke on the sidelines of Nigeria’s conclusion of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the UAE. This is contained in a statement issued by Presidential spokesperson, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi. The CEPA is aimed at deepening cooperation in renewable energy, infrastructure, logistics and digital…

MTN, UBA Drive NGX Momentum, Investors Gain N1.66trn Boosted by MTN Nigeria, UBA and other risers, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) maintained an uptrend on Tuesday as trading data showed that equity investors’ portfolio value surged by N1.66 trillion. Trading details obtained from the local bourse revealed that the NGX All-Share Index advanced BY 1.59% to 165,837.32 points, supported by interest in telecom, banking and other sectoral indices. Stockbrokers reported that market capitalisation grew by ₦1.66 trillion to ₦106.18 trillion. Positive sentiments in MTNN (+10.00%), NB (+3.67%), and UBA (+4.43%) drove the market’s strong performance. Market breadth also reflected the bullish…

BTCUSD Climbs to $92K on Net Whale Accumulation Bitcoin (BTCUSD) rose 1.71% to $92,159 as the world’s largest digital asset faces counterbalancing pressures: whale distribution hints at caution, while Gold ETP innovation broadens institutional pathways. BTC price edged higher on a 23.31% spike in trading volume, valued at $37.42 billion, supported by net whale accumulation.  The crypto market recorded significant interest from whales, while on the other side it was a seller’s market for some other significant account holders. This lifted the world’s largest digital asset market capitalisation to $1.83 trillion at the press time. Trading data revealed that BTCUSD…

Daily FX Update: Naira Falls to N1,495 in Parallel Market The Nigerian naira exchange rate worsened in the informal sector, or parallel market, during the early hours on Tuesday due to rising demand pressures from users.  According to channel checks in Lagos and Abuja, the local currency depreciates by N10 to N1,495 per dollar in the informal segment, widening fx spread in the foreign exchange market. According to fx data reviewed by MarketForces Africa, the exchange rate gap between the official and the parallel market quotes has risen to N72, creating fresh arbitrage risks in post-reform market development. In the…

NCS Launches New Procedure for Duty-Paid Courier Operations Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it has begun the implementation of a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for regulating courier companies operating under the Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) Incoterm. NCS`s Comptroller-General (C-G), Bashir Adeniyi, made the announcement in a statement by the spokesperson of the service, Abdullahi Maiwada, on Monday in Abuja. Maiwada said that this implementation provides a unified framework for registration, manifest submission, declaration, valuation, clearance, delivery and compliance monitoring, in line with global best practices. Under the newly commenced procedure, he said, courier companies intending to operate the DDP…

U.S. Growth Forecasts Revised Up After Delayed GDP Release Fitch Ratings has raised its estimate of US GDP growth in 2025 and its forecast for growth in 2026 after incorporating economic data releases that were delayed because of the government shutdown late last year. GDP is now estimated to have expanded by 2.1% in 2025 compared to a forecast of 1.8% in Fitch’s December 2025 Global Economic Outlook (GEO). Fitch analysts now forecast growth of 2.0% in 2026 compared to 1.9% in the last GEO. Growth in the third quarter of 2025 was considerably stronger than anticipated at 1.1% quarter…

Nigeria’s Budget Sets Ambitious Revenue, Spending Targets –Fitch Nigeria’s 2026 budget broadly aligns with Fitch Ratings’ fiscal deficit forecast, partly because analysts expect that revenue and expenditure are likely to miss targets. This reflects long-term challenges to raising both oil and non-oil revenues and persistent under-execution of budgeted capital spending, Fitch Ratings says. “We expect revenue to undershoot despite new tax reform laws effective from 1 January 2026, as these face near-term execution risks. “Expenditure will also fall short, despite election-related spending pressures. The government has allocated about 40% of expenditure to capex, but the execution rate for capital projects…

Eterna Opens Rights Issue at 37% Discount to Raise Capital Eterna Plc has launched a N21.52 billion rights issue to shareholders, marking a key step in its capital-raising programme and long-term growth strategy. The Chairman, Dr Gabriel Ogeechee, confirmed this in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday, describing the offer as “pivotal” to strengthening finances. He said the rights issue would accelerate strategic expansion and reinforce the company’s balance sheet amid industry challenges. The offer comprises 978,108,485 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each, priced at N22.00 per share, which is 37% discount to its stock market price of N35.…