Author: Ogochukwu Ndubuisi

Transcorp, Dangote Sugar Drive Intraday Gain on NGX Recovering from sell heats, Transcorp and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, among other early risers, are currently driving the Nigerian Exchange, NGX, all share index higher. During early trading hours, investors have started to reposition in these top two early risers after their latest price declined. Other stocks in the banking sectors are tracking higher along, with the potential to reverse the negative performance of the exchange this week. Trading activities were relatively bearish last week, with the local exchange closing negative for four out of five trading sessions. On Monday, buying momentum…

Canada Will Never be Part of U.S. – Carney Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said that Canada will “never ever’’ be part of America after winning the race to succeed Justin Trudeau as the country’s prime minister. Carney, who headed Britain’s central bank between 2013 and 2020 would replace the 59-year-old after winning the Liberal Party leadership race. Trudeau, who has served as prime minister since 2015, announced he was stepping down in January after facing calls to quit from his own lawmakers. Carney, 59, is currently chairman of Canadian alternative investment firm Brookfield Asset Management. He…

Naira Skids as Foreign Investors US Dollar Demand Clouds Supply The Nigerian local currency, the naira, lost against the US dollar across foreign exchange markets as FX demand by foreign investors weakened Central Bank sales to banks. The exchange rate fell by N24.75 amidst daily fluctuations before it closed at $/N1,517.24 per US dollar on Friday. The official market faced huge pressures arising from increasing demand for the US dollar. In its note, CardinalStone Partners Limited noted that the exchange rate fell as increased demand pressure arising from profit-taking actions by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and local corporates offset support…

OMO Bills Yield Falls as Banks, FPIs Boost Holdings The average yield on OMO bills fell by 9 basis points in the secondary market to close at 22.4%, fixed income market analysts said in a report. The yield on OMO bills declined as local deposit money banks, and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) boosted their holdings. Last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) conducted an OMO auction on Thursday, offering instruments worth N600.00 billion across two maturities. The offer was split into N300.00 billion for the 355 days and N300.00 billion for the 362 days to investors at the primary…

Nigeria, UAE to Resolve Visa for Nigerians The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that the Federal Government and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will resolve issues related to visa procurement for Nigerians seeking to travel to the UAE. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, made this known in a statement following the visit of Amb. Salem Alshamsi, the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria. Odumegwu-Ojukwu explained that the decision was made during a meeting with Alshamsi. She acknowledged that Nigerians had faced difficulties in obtaining UAE visas, especially tourism visas. This challenge, according to her, persisted in…

Why I Pulled out of World Bank Loan, Refused to Borrow— Soludo Gov. Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra says his administration pulled out of an existing loan arrangement with the World Bank to save the state from “debt overhang”. Soludo said this while addressing members of the Late Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah Media team who were on inspection of the ongoing Government House and Governors Lodge project in Awka on Sunday. He said his administration had not only refused to borrow from any bank or institution but also refused to access the Federal Government loan to states in 2024. He said that…

Oil Market Faces Pressure, Brent Price Hovers at $70 Oil prices have steadily declined throughout the week, driven by geopolitical tensions, OPEC+ supply adjustments, and growing concerns over a global economic slowdown fueled by US trade policies. The international benchmark Brent crude traded at $70.47 per barrel, down by around 3.4% from last week’s closing price of $72.96 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the American benchmark, traded at $67.23 per barrel at the same time on Friday, down about 3.6% from last Friday’s closing price of $69.77 per barrel. The tariffs announced by the US on Tuesday have fueled…

Nigeria Restates Commitment to Deepening Cooperation with Ghana The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, has affirmed Nigeria’s commitment to deepening cooperation with Ghana in areas of mutual interest, including trade, education, security and regional integration. A statement on Thursday by Kimiebi Ebienfa, Acting-spokesperson of the ministry, quoted Tuggar as making the affirmation in a congratulatory message on the occasion of the 68th Independence Anniversary of the Republic of Ghana. The letter was addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of the Republic of Ghana, Samuel Ablakwa. The minister said that as Ghana mark 68-years of…

Nigerian Exchange Sheds N152bn as MTNN, Transcorp Slump The Nigerian Exchange, NGX, shed about N152 billion from its opening market capitalisation on Friday as investors dumped MTN Nigeria, Transcorp, due to negative sentiment. The Nigerian equity market closed the week in negative territory, bringing the year-to-date return to 3.51%. NGX key performance market indicators fell by 0.23% on the last trading day. The local bourse downturn was primarily driven by profit-taking in some medium- and large-scale stocks amidst downbeat sentiment. The Nigerian Exchange All Share Index decreased by 1,282.79 basis points today, representing a drop of 1.19% to close at…

Dangote Group Pays N402.3B Tax To Nigerian Government in 2024 The Pan African Conglomerate Dangote Industries Limited, (Dangote Group), and its subsidiaries has disclosed that it paid over N402 billion in taxes in 2024, making it the highest taxpayer in the country. Dangote’s Chief Branding and Communication Officer, Anthony Chiejina, declared during a meeting with some senior media executives who visited him in his Lagos Office that Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) and its subsidiaries, namely, Dangote Cement, NASCON, Dangote Packaging Limited among others, remitted a total of N402.319billion for the out-gone year as taxes as responsible business enterprises. Recall that…