Author: Olu Anisere

FG Targets 32% Contribution to GDP by Agricultural Commodities The Federal Government has begun developing national agric-commodity value addition guidelines to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and agribusinesses in achieving agriculture value chain development and commodity industrialisation. Amb. Nura Rimi, Permanent Secretary, Commodities and Export Department, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, gave the assurance at a stakeholders’ forum held in Ikeja. The News Agency reports that the forum had the theme: “Agric-commodities Value Addition, Industrialisation and Improved Market Access: An Imperative Of Value Addition Guidelines”. Rimi was represented by the Director of Commodities and Export Department in…

Oil Prices Rise as US Economic Growth Beats Estimate Oil prices rose on Friday as US economic grew faster than anticipated in the second quarter of 2024, according to data from Commerce department. Oil prices increased on Friday over signals of greater oil demand supported by data showing that the US economy had grown faster than expected. ICE Brent rose 0.15% to $82.49 per barrel. Also, the American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $78.39 per barrel at the same time, a 0.14% rise from the previous session that closed at $78.28 per barrel. The US economy expanded 2.8%…

C’River Assembly Approves N437bn Supplementary Budget The Cross River House of Assembly has passed a supplementary budget of N437.876 billion for the governance of the state. A breakdown of the budget showed that N151.684 billion was appropriated for personnel cost, N283.333 billion was for capital expenditure and N2.857 billion was approved for statutory expenditure. It would be recalled that on July 18, Gov. Bassey Otu, presented the Supplementary Appropriation Bill to the assembly. Speaking during debate on the bill, Mr Cyril Omini, the Chairman, Finance and Appropriation Committee, said that the committee undertook a detailed scrutiny of the bill before…

Tech, AI Stocks Tumble – How, Why, and What’s Next? The market turbulence, which saw major US stock indices experience their worst day in over 18 months on Wednesday, is creating a unique buying opportunity for savvy investors, particularly in the technology and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors. The comments made available to MarketForces Africa from Nigel Green, the CEO of deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory and asset management organizations, comes as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite tumbled by 2.3% and 3.6%, respectively, with the decline driven by some of the most influential tech stocks.…

Oando, Transcorp Drive Midday Gain on Nigerian Exchange Oando, Transnational Incorporation and banking names are driving midday gain on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Friday amidst flood of earning releases from listed companies. The market has seen rapid weight loss in the past days due to risk off sentiments triggered by increase in benchmark interest rate by the monetary policy committee of the Central Bank. Most investors exited their positions in banking names while insurance stocks were priced lower amidst earnings festival in the local bourse. At mid-day trading, the NGX All share Index trended bullish showing a gain of…

Reps Give EFCC Chairman 4-day Ultimatum to Appear Before it The House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes has given Mr Ola Olukoyede, Chairman, Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), till July 30 to appear before it over budgetary allocation issues. The committee said that Olukoyede, along with his management team, should appear to answer questions relating to the commission’s budget performance and its challenges. Rep. Obinna Onwusibe, the hairman of the committee, expressed the panel’s displeasure at an oversight of the commission’s office in Abuja. The committee condemned what it described as the snobbish attitude of the chairman and…

Fitch Revises Outlooks on FBN Holdings, First Bank of Nigeria Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlooks on FBN Holdings Plc’s (FBNH) and its main operating subsidiary First Bank of Nigeria Ltd.’s (FBN) Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to Positive from Stable and affirmed the IDRs at ‘B-‘. The revision of the Outlooks mirrors the recent sovereign outlook revision and reflects Fitch’s view that Nigeria’s Long-Term IDRs are likely to represent less of a constraint on the issuers’ standalone creditworthiness in the near term. Fitch has also affirmed the issuers’ National Long-Term Ratings at ‘A(nga)’ with stable outlooks. According to the…

Nigeria, China Hold Crucial Talk on Evergreen City – Envoy Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, said his team had a meeting on Thursday with the management of China National Building Materials Corporation (CNBM), Beijing, China. He said, in statement on Friday, that discussion at the meeting focused on areas of mutual interest with respect to the Evergreen City Project. He said the Chinese delegation was led by Mr Li Xinhua CNBM Group Executive General Manager, in the company of Mr Yin Zhisong, Chairman of Sinoma International Engineering Company. “This prospective collaboration requires structured and effective follow-up.…

FG, Financial Experts Differ on Windfall Tax Financial experts have raised concerns about the Federal Government’s proposed windfall tax on banks’ 2023 foreign exchange gains and its potential impact on the economy. They expressed their divergent views during the hybrid fourth edition of the Mid-Year Review of the 2024 Economic Outlook, organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Centre for Financial Studies in Lagos. Dr ‘Biodun Adedipe, Chief Consultant at B. Adedipe Associates Ltd., while responding to a participant’s question about the policy’s implications, said that the 70 per cent windfall tax imposed by the National Assembly…

Dangote Cement Profit Grows by 6% to N190bn Dangote Cement Plc grew net profit by less than 6.3% in the first half of 2024, the company’s unaudited financial statement reviewed by MarketForces Africa showed. The cement giant’s revenue rose by 85% to N1.76 trillion following price hike in the market, from N950.832 billion in the comparable period in 2023, its unaudited financials revealed. However, a spike in production costs affected the company’s strong line performance in the period, justifying an increase in the cement price with Nigeria’s damaging inflation condition. Details from the cement company’s financials revealed that production costs…