Author: Olu Anisere

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday received former Minister of Transportation, Sa’idu Alkali, at the State House ahead of Tuesday’s resignation deadline.

Naira Depreciates as Interbank Deals Sink on FX Shortage The naira maintained a downtrend against the US dollar for the second trading session at the Nigerian foreign exchange market (NFEM) on Tuesday. There are signs that the forex market’s liquidity shrank, as the number of interbank FX deals collapsed by 62% in 24 hours to 114. According to data published by the Central Bank, the official spot rate closed at N1386.72 per dollar, up from N1383.58 the previous day, reflecting increased demand for foreign payments. Naira wobbled at the official window last week despite the FX intervention operations that saw…

Dangote Refinery Obtains $4bn Syndicated Loans Led by Afreximbank African Export-Import Bank has underwritten $2.5 billion in a $4 billion senior syndicated term loan for Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, in a move aimed at strengthening the refinery’s financial position and supporting its long-term growth and expansion strategy. The five-year facility, arranged alongside Access Bank as co-Mandated Lead Arrangers, is designed to consolidate existing debt, optimise the refinery’s capital structure and align its financing with current operational realities. The transaction marks a significant milestone for the Dangote Refinery, Africa’s largest refining and petrochemical complex with a capacity of 650,000 barrels…

CBN Raises N1.7trn from OMO Bills Sales to Banks, FPIs The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) conducted an open market operation on Monday, offering N600 billion in OMO bills across three tenors: 8-day, 99-day, and 120-day. The offer was made to deposit money banks (DMBs) and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), the key eligible market participants at the auction. This auction aimed to reduce excess liquidity in the financial system and address expectations of additional OMO repayments. Reflecting a strong demand for the attractive yields, total subscriptions reached N1.9 trillion at the primary market auction conducted by the monetary authority. Ultimately,…

FG’s N501bn Bond to Resolve Power Sector Liquidity Challenges-Adviser The Federal Government’s N501.02 billion bond issuance has been described as a major milestone in Nigeria’s power sector reform agenda aimed at addressing longstanding liquidity challenges. Mr Bolaji Tunji, Special Adviser on Strategic Communications and Media Relations to the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja. Tunji said the bond issuance was central to restoring confidence in the electricity market and repositioning the sector for long-term sustainability. Tunji said that as reforms continued to unfold in the power sector, the bond stood out…

Nigerian Exchange Opens Negative, Investors Lose N275bn The equity segment of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) opened the week on a negative note as investors’ portfolio balance reduced by N275 billion on Monday. The local bourse slipped with the All-Share Index (ASI) declining 0.21% to close at 200,484.43 points, according to trading details from the local bourse. The selloffs pulled NGX’s year-to-date return backwards to +28.84% and erased ₦275.14 billion from market capitalisation, which settled at ₦128.69 trillion. Trading activity was mixed, as turnover and deal count rose 4.83% and 38.84% to ₦25.65 billion and 60,311 transactions, respectively, even as volume…

Nigeria Targets 7% GDP Growth, $14bn Infrastructure Boost— Edun The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, says Nigeria is targeting a seven per cent annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate. Edun also said the country requires about 14 billion dollars in annual investment to bridge its infrastructure gap. He said this on Monday in Lagos at the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Day, where he highlighted Nigeria’s deepening partnership with the bank. According to him, the seven per cent growth target is critical to reducing poverty and outpacing the country’s population growth rate of…

Israel’s Haifa Oil Refinery Hit by Rocket From Lebanon An oil refinery in the northern Israeli city of Haifa was struck by a rocket fired by Hezbollah in Lebanon on Monday, Israeli authorities said. A fire broke out, and a large plume of black smoke was seen rising above a structure following the strike. The Fire and Rescue Services said that there was no leakage of hazardous materials. Israel’s local media reported that the rocket hit an oil tanker and an industrial structure. The military confirmed that a barrage of about 10 rockets was fired by Hezbollah before noon, activating…

Crude oil prices surged early on Monday amid concerns about rising supply risks as the war in the Middle East spread across the region.  The US-Iran war could be prolonged after the 15-point peace proposal by Washington was rejected by Tehran, with a counterproposal last week.

Experts Spotlight Innovation as Driver of Africa’s Structural Transformation Africa must move faster to harness data and frontier technologies if it is to turn economic growth into structural transformation, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa for Programme Support, Mama Keita, said at the opening of the Committee of Experts segment of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. Speaking on behalf of the ECA Executive Secretary Claver Gatete, Keita said the conference theme, “Growth through innovation: harnessing data and frontier technologies for the economic transformation of Africa”, comes at a critical moment…