Author: Marketforces Africa

As a result, the market capitalisation inched to N11.3tn as investors’ wealth increased by N84.4bn. Nevertheless, activity level weakened as volume and value traded declined 32.8% and 30.7% to 216.0m units and N3.2bn respectively. The top traded stocks by volume wereACCESS (39.2m units), UBA (24.2m units) and LASACO (20.8m units) while the top traded stocks by value were NESTLE (N1.5bn), ZENITH (N342.5m) and GUARANTY (N311.6m). Mixed Sector PerformanceThe sector performance was mixed albeit negatively skewed as 3 out of 5 indices under our coverage declined. The Oil & Gas index shed the most, down 1.4% due to sell-offs onSEPLAT (-3.4%). In the same vein, the Industrial Goods and Banking indices dipped 0.4%…

Food prices rose in Kogi, Plateau and Lagos in the month of March as headline inflation rate declined 60 basis points to close at 11.26%. The consumer price index, (CPI) which measures inflation increased by 11.25 percent (year-on-year) in March 2019, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistic notified in its recent report. The change is 0.06 percent points lower than the rate recorded in February 2019 when inflation rate rested at 11.31 percent. Increases were recorded in all 12 Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the Headline index. NBS report shows that on month-on-month basis, the headline…

Diversifying the government’s revenue base, increasing non-oil revenues, and securing oil revenues, will all be critical, says the IMF in its latest economic health check of sub-Saharan Africa’s most populous economy. “Identifying two or three big-ticket items could lift revenue sustainably and in a timely manner—other reforms could follow,” said Amine Mati, IMF mission chief and senior resident representative in Nigeria. Challenges of a global dimension According to the report, public services and infrastructure in Nigeria are under considerable strain. Globally, Nigeria ranks first in the number of children out of school. Infant mortality is also high: 12 percent of all…

Some economic experts have said that the current economic policy insufficient to boost growth. This reaction came on the hind of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on Nigeria’s economy last week.  Afrinvest in its analysts review said; “The report is largely consistent with our views on the direction of the economy and the need for structural reforms to boost growth and investment. Analysts said they discovered IMF increasing focus on human capital, similar to the World Bank’s last Bi-Annual update on Nigeria in October 2018. Investment in human resources is at its lowest as Nigeria continues to losing best brains…

If you want to be successful in China’s booming retail market, you have to be flexible in your approach and decisive when entering the market Everybody’s talking about China. And everyone wants to quickly enter the largest e-commerce market in the world these days. This is the right attitude, because if you want to be successful in China, you have to be flexible and often very fast. The country offers great potential, especially for international retailers and brands. But one thing should be clear to everyone who wants to expand their business to China: what works in Europe or in…

It is easier for entrepreneurs to make U-turn when business is having some issues, for example lack of sales or when the owners lose interest. You can sell the business or do a work over to trigger demand in the case of poor demand. However, it is difficult to make U-turn when a weak brand is having backlog of debts that worth more than the value of the business itself. No one will be willing to buy except you are highly priced brands. Poor financial strategy kills business faster than competition. Business and finance are twins, born of capitalist parents.…

Mr. Kolawole Benson, Managing Director at Benson Investment Limited (BIL) and operated a retail hardware and software services in Lagos. The company was set up after Kolawole left his job at Lloyd  Plc as General Manager; having spent 18 years with various employers. Kolly, as he is fondly call among friends and associates thought the theories he learned as an MBA holder would do the magic until it found himself seeking professional advisory services. To Kolawole, he understands the whole value chain in the industry and is willing to explore the market by opening his own business. For his pockets,…

Yes! But not when you are taking expensive loans that would automatically wipe off your returns. If you are managing operations of a business, it is either you finance it with your fund or you borrow. Occasionally, many businesses often demand capital injections. Entrepreneurs however prefer cheapest one. That’s good but desire to access free funds is not a business language. Please, stop thinking about it; because it cost money to get money. It also cost money to keep money. What happen when you need some quick capital injection into operation of your business? It could be to close working…

What distinguishes executives that are performing is not quality of strategy alone. More often than not, it is their leadership quality that makes the difference. There is no business without human faces, running and implementing ideas, strategies. While strategies are designed at corporate level, some people are responsible to implement or execute it. Corporate empathy, quality human relations key to business success. Fact is, executives that are succeeding have lowered down corporate wall to be able to relate with subordinates. Some companies are removing the tall barrier, like using the word “sir” in addressing each other. They say it is…

Stock market opens on negative note on Monday as the all share index nosedived 16 basis points. The domestic bourse closed in the red, starting the week on a bearish note as DANGCEM (-1.6%), UBA (-4.6%) and FBNH (-3.3%) pushed the All Share Index (ASI) 16bps lower to settle at 29,518.85 points. Consequently, investors’ wealth reduced by N17.7 billion as market capitalisation closed at N11.1 trillion while YTD return further declined to -6.1%. In the same vein, activity level weakened as volume and value traded shed 4.6% and 12.2% to 224.2 million units and N1.8 billion respectively. The top traded by volume were SOVRENINS (45.7 million units),…