Author: Olu Anisere

CBEX Illegal, Unlicensed Digital Assets Exchange – SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stated that Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) was never granted registration to operate as a digital assets exchange in Nigeria.Dr Emomotimi Agama, Director-General of the SEC, said this in a statement while urging the public to cease all dealings with the platform. The warning follows recent reports of CBEX, operating under various names, including ST Technologies International Ltd. and Smart Treasure/Super Technology, soliciting investments with promises of high returns. CBEX has failed to honour withdrawal requests from its subscribers and abruptly closed its physical offices amid…

Nigerian Treasury Bills Yield Pulls Back Amidst Disinflation The average yield on Nigerian Treasury bills pulled back in the secondary market due to the latest round of bargain hunting for naira assets amidst disinflation. Nigeria’s inflation soared 105 basis points to 24.23%, based on the rebased consumer price index (CPI) data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from 23.18% in February. On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices increased to 3.90%. The market has been reacting with sentiment, with some analysts projecting the monetary policy is tight-fisted to adjust benchmark interest due to a shift in global sentiment. In the secondary…

Nigerian Exchange Slumps as Equities Investors Lose N455bn Due to sell pressure, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) market capitalisation plunged sharply on Wednesday, reducing equities investors’ portfolio value by N445 billion after disinflation. The local bourse closed negative following the announcement that Nigeria’s rebased consumer price index increased to 24.2% after a two-month disinflation experience. This stokes pressures in a market that has already been plagued with a massive stock-selling rally, year-to-date return moderated, and other key performance indicators retreated. The trading session closed in the red midweek, with key market performance indicators—the all-share index and market cap—both dropping by 0.68%.…

Oil Prices Decline over Tariffs, Demand Concerns In the global commodity market, the prices of crude oil declined across grades amidst the U.S.-China tariff standoff and demand concerns as global economies come under pressure. Also supporting the bearish performance, the U.S. crude oil inventories surge ahead of OPEC+ output boost in May. The international benchmark, Brent crude, decreased by around 1.47%, trading at $63.44 per barrel, down from $64.38 at the previous session’s close. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) decreased by 1.58%, settling at $60.06 per barrel, compared to its prior session close of $61.03. The tariff-driven standoff…

Interbank Rates Ease as Remita, States Inflows Boost Liquidity Money market rates fell as Remita and other states  inflows bolstered liquidity levels in the financial system. The market also experienced banks depositing excess cash with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Standing Deposit Facility in the absence of funding pressures. The short-term benchmark interest rate movements were kept in check as the banking system liquidity ended the day in surplus, closing at more than N534 billion on Tuesday. Hence, the Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate (NIBOR) declined across all tenors, indicating improved liquidity conditions in the banking system. The liquidity injection…

Fitch Affirms Standard Bank Group at ‘BB-‘; Outlook Stable Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of Standard Bank Group Limited (SBG) and its main operating subsidiary, The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited (SBSA), at ‘BB-‘ with a stable outlook. According to Fitch, the long-term IDRs of SBG and SBSA are driven by their standalone creditworthiness, as expressed by their ‘bb-‘ Viability Ratings (VRs). The rating note said the VRs are one notch below the implied VRs of ‘bb’ due to operating environment and sovereign rating constraints. This underlines the concentration of activities in South Africa…

Nigeria Records Significant Drop in Petrol Imports – NMDPRA The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says Nigeria has significantly reduced its importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). The Chief Executive Officer, NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, said this during the Meet-the-Press briefing series organised by the Presidential Communications Team (PTC) at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday. Ahmed said the county’s PMS daily importation had dropped from 44.6 million litres in August 2024 to 14.7 million litres as of April 13. He attributed the 30-million-litre drop in imports to increased contributions from local refineries. Ahmed also disclosed that…

SEC to Broaden Access to Market-Based Financing Instruments for SMEs The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says it is working to broaden access to market-based financing instruments for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Dr Emomotimi Agama, the Director-General of SEC, said this during a meeting with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) on Tuesday in Abuja. Agama said the commission would make this happen through its newly established Office of Small Business Advocacy (OSBA). He said SEC would collaborate with SMEDAN to implement a joint nationwide sensitisation on ‘Financing SMEs through the Capital Market.’Agama said the…

Nigerian Exchange Expands as Equities Investors Gain N19bn The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) all-share index climbs as equities investors portfolio value appreciated by more than N19 billion. Stocks rebounded modestly from the previous day’s loss to close today’s session on a positive note, as key performance indicators advanced by 0.03%. This uptick is a result of the buying sentiment of investors in some mid- to high-capitalized stocks, including UNILEVER (9.65%), INTBREW (4.36%), WEMABANK (3.91%), ACCESSCORP (3.13%), JAIZBANK (1.69%), UBA (0.80%), FIDELITYBK (0.55%), NB (0.31%), STERLINGNG (0.19%), TRANSCORP (0.12%), among others. Today’s mild recovery was largely driven by renewed buying interest in…

Meta, MTN Partner to Enhance Voice, Video Calling Quality Meta and MTN Group have announced a groundbreaking partnership to enhance the quality of voice and video calls on real-time communication platforms, including WhatsApp, across 12 MTN markets. This is contained in a statement by the company on Tuesday in Lagos. Diego Mari, the Head of Network Ecosystem Engineering, Meta said the collaboration would allow them to deploy advanced solutions for an unparalleled real-time experience in Nigeria. Mari added that it would showcase Meta’s dedication to elevating service quality and improving user experience, while striving for continued efficiency in traffic delivery.…