Author: Julius Alagbe

Naira Touches N1,424 per Dollar as FX Demand Pressure Eases The naira touched an intraday low of N1424 per dollar at the official window on Monday, reflecting the absence of FX pressures at the beginning of the New Year.  The official market recorded about a 21% decline in FX inflows last week, with total FX inflows settling at US$593.70 million from US$748.40 million in the prior week, Coronation Merchant Bank’s research subsidiary said in a report. The daily FX update released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the official rate closed at N1429.31 per dollar on Monday,…

Tinubu Seeks Senate Confirmation for NMDPRA, NUPRC Board Nominees President Bola Tinubu has written to the Senate, seeking confirmation of 21 nominees for the boards of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). This is contained in a statement issued by Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Monday in Abuja. In the first letter, Tinubu nominated Sen. Magnus Abe as Chairman of the NUPRC Board. Abe, who represented Rivers South-East Senatorial District for two terms, is a former board member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and currently chairs the…

Nasarawa Targets N5 billion Monthly IGR in 2026—Official The Nasarawa State Government has expressed its determination to increase its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to N5 billion per month in 2026 as part of its “Budget of Strategic Consolidation”. Haj. Munira Abdullahi, the State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, stated this in Lafia on Monday during a ministerial briefing organised by Dr Ibrahim Tanko, Commissioner for Information, Culture, and Tourism. The briefing is to enable government officials to showcase their achievements. The commissioner, represented by Mr Peter Akolo, Director of Budget in the ministry, said the budget, valued at N545.2…

Bitcoin Rises as BoA Begins to Advise Clients to Buy Crypto Bitcoin (BTCUSD) climbed by about 1.4% to $92.522K in the cryptocurrency market in the last 24 hours, outpacing the broader crypto market’s +1.05% gain. The key driver of its latest price momentum is investors returning to take positions by buying the dip in anticipation of price surge. The rally was supported by bullish technical, geopolitical event trading, and institutional demand signals. BTC price is hovering at $92.5k on Monday, according to data from crypto exchange CoinMarketCap.com, with about 36% spike in trading volume valued at $33.57 billion. The positive…

Ghana All-Share Index Tops African Performers in 2025 The Ghanaian All-Share Index gained approximately 80% in local currency terms in 2025, being the best-performing equity market in the region, Meristem Securities Limited said in its report. The investment firm said investors’ confidence was rekindled following the country’s fiscal debt restructuring and improved macro fundamentals. In 2025, Ghana experienced rapid disinflation, currency appreciation, and monetary easing as government sought to drive economic growth. “We observed strong buying interest in the financial services and energy sectors,” Meristem Securities Limited said in its report.  In the same vein, investors in the Kenyan market…

XRP Rises 4% to $2.09 on Escrow Locks, ETF Demand Ripple (XRPUSD) inched higher by more than 4% over the last 24 hours, outperforming Bitcoin (+1.4%) and Ethereum (+1%) amid a broader crypto market uptick of +1.53%. According to data from CoinMarketCap.com, XRP price hovering around $2.10 as cryptocurrency market volatility increased. There were more buyers than sellers at the press time, tuning up the value of all cryptocurrency by 1.6% in 24 hours to $3.12 trillion on Sunday. With 22% on the day decline in trading volume to $2.94 billion, XRP market value printed higher at $126.72 billion. Key…

ETH, XRP, TRX Boost Crypto Market Cap to $3.06 Trillion Ethereum (ETHUSD), XRP, BNB, SOL, and TRX, among other altcoins, drove momentum in the cryptocurrency market on Saturday, lifting the market value of all digital assets to $3.06 trillion. Trading data from CoinMarketCap.com showed that global crypto market capitalisation increased by 1.16% over the last 24 hours on improved sentiments. The positive price movement seen was driven by altcoin momentum, though some levels of profit-taking activities were observed during early trading hours. Crypto analysts expect momentum to persist as Ethereum’s record network activity and progress toward U.S. crypto legislation boost…

21 Insurance Companies Account for 1% of NGX Capitalisation The insurance index contributed less than 1% to Nigerian Exchange (NGX) equities market capitalisation in 2025, but that market anticipates this development to change in 2026 due to recapitalisation and tax law.  Data released by SAMTL showed that 21 listed insurance companies were worth less than N1 trillion in the local bourse, contributing 0.97% to the NGX capitalisation at the close of the trading session on December 31. Some insurance stocks were, however, among top performers, delivering value to their shareholders. Sovereign Insurance Plc delivered 241.07% year to date gain followed…

NGX Delivers Historic 51.2% Gain in 2025, Highest Since 2020 The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) delivered a historic gain of 51.19% in 2025, the highest surge since 2020, as the local bourse becomes a go-to trading platform to hedge inflation pressure.  This makes NGX the second-best performing market in Africa, marking its highest performance in five years With about N99.38 trillion in equity portfolio value, the Nigerian market delivered significant wealth creation driven by price appreciation and re-rating of large-cap stocks. The market experienced strong gains across the banking, industrial goods, consumer goods, insurance, and energy sectors. This was strengthened by…

GCR Affirms Union Bank of Nigeria Issuer Ratings, Outlook Evolving GCR Ratings has affirmed Union Bank of Nigeria Plc’s (UBN) national scale long and short-term issuer ratings of BBB-(NG) and A3(NG), respectively, with the outlook maintained as evolving. The evolving outlook, according to GCR, reflects the potential changes in UBN’s business and financial profile stemming from the planned consolidation with Titan Trust Bank (TTB), the imminent capital injection and the expected phase-out of the regulatory forbearance, which the bank significantly benefits from. The rating also balances the bank’s weak capitalisation and risk profile against a stable funding structure, adequate liquidity…