Author: Marketforces Africa

Dangote Refinery Slashes Ex-depot Price of Petrol to N890 Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reduced the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, from N950 to N890, effective from Saturday. In an official statement, the company said the price adjustment is in response to favourable developments in the global energy sector and a significant decline in international crude oil prices. Dangote Refinery’s decision reflects its commitment to aligning with market realities and ensuring that consumers benefit from changes in international crude oil prices. A statement from Dangote Petroleum Refinery, issued by the Group Chief Branding and Communications…

Oil Prices Short 3% Ahead of Feb.3 OPEC+ Meeting Oil prices fell short by about 3% in the global commodity market ahead of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Allies (OPEC+) meeting on Monday. Due to bearish sentiment, oil saw a weekly decline as US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, coupled with the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) decision to keep the interest rate unchanged,. The International benchmark Brent crude traded at $75.42 per barrel down by around 2.7% relative to the closing price of $77.54 a barrel last week. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the American benchmark, traded at $72.15 a…

FG Allocates N940bn to TETfund in 2025 Budget—Tinubu The Federal Government, FG, says it has allocated N940.5 billion to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in the 2025 fiscal year to enhance manpower and infrastructure development in the education sector. President Bola Tinubu stated this on Saturday at the 42nd Founders’ Day and 33rd Convocation of the Federal University of Technology, Minna. Represented by Rakiya Iliyasu, Director of Tertiary Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Tinubu said the gesture was demonstrating his administration’s commitment towards improving educational infrastructure and manpower. He said the federal government had disbursed over N104 billion in…

NEPC Generates $5.46bn Non-oil Revenue in 2024 The Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) says the council contributed to economic diversification with an impressive non-oil performance of 5.456 billion dollars in 2024. The Executive Director of the NEPC, Mrs Nonye Ayeni, said this while addresing newsmen on the non-oil export performance for the year 2024 in Abuja on Friday. Ayeni said the effort and commitment in achieving the goal was through effective collaboration with other relevant agencies. “It is worth noting that this reflects a significant increase of 20.77 per cent (938.442 million) compared to the recorded figure of 4.517 billion…

Ecobank Rewards Customers with N42m, Promotes Savings Culture Ecobank Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to financial inclusion and savings culture by awarding N42 million to its customers. Ms Adeola Ogunyemi, Head of Consumer Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, made this known at the grand finale of the bank’s Super Rewards ‘Millionaire Geng Promo’ on Friday in Lagos. She said that the initiative is part of the bank’s strategy to deepen financial inclusion for all classes of Nigerians and to reward customers’ loyalty. “It is not just about winning cash prizes; it is about financial security and long-term stability,” Ogunyemi said. Ogunyemi also…

Nigerian Exchange Lost N160bn as Sell Side Actors Exit Positions The Nigerian Exchange, NGX, market capitalisation declined by about N160 billion as sell-side actors exited position amidst the earnings festival. The equities market ended the week on a negative note as key performance indicators dipped. Data from the local bourse indicated that the market index dropped by 0.24% but the value of all stocks listed on the exchange declined by 0.25%. Stockbrokers attributed the discrepancy to delisting of Tourist Company of Nigeria Plc and Union Homes Savings and Loans Plc shares on the exchange today. Details revealed that the All-Share…

Cameroon Unlocks Access to IMF Loan to Drive Economic Growth The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Cameroonian authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on the seventh reviews of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), as well as the second review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The ECF/EFF arrangements were approved by the IMF Executive Board for a total amount of SDR 483 million (US$ 689.5 million) in July 2021, according to an official statement. An extension of these arrangements of 12 months was approved in December 2023 to allow more time to…

Euro Drops to 2-Week Low amidst ECB Rates Cut The euro dropped below $1.038, hitting a two-week low amidst European Central Bank (ECB) rate cuts and weak economic data. The ECB dropped its benchmark interest rates by another 25 basis points to 2.75%, and the accompanying communication fully matched expectations. The Governing Council retained a meeting-by-meeting, data-dependent approach but also reaffirmed its dovish bias on the back of optimistic disinflation expectations and a grim growth outlook, ING analyst Francesco Pesole said. Unlike the Bank of Canada, which on Wednesday had strictly tied future cuts to US trade policy, the ECB…

Exchange Rate: FX Traders Price US Dollar at 1485 Naira The naira was priced at 1485 to the US dollar in the forex market on Thursday as FX demand undercut the supply side. The local currency has gained strongly against major foreign currency pairs on the back of rock-solid FX liquidity in the market. FX inflows have flooded in from international oil companies, foreign portfolio investors, and exporter activities. The Central Bank of Nigeria started its aggressive FX intervention, one of its kind, in December, and this has helped the naira to survive the onslaught from increased US dollar demand.…

CBN’s Policy Prevents Inflation from Reaching 42.81% -Cardoso The Central Bank of Nigeria has said that without its policy interventions, inflation could have risen to 42.81 percent in December 2024. The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, made this known at the 2025 Monetary Policy Forum of the Apex Bank on Thursday in Abuja. The forum attracted ministers, heads of departments, and agencies involved in economic matters, as well as private sector players. Cardoso also projected that diaspora remittances would increase to N31.787 trillion when the fourth quarter 2024 figures are released. He said that the CBN would continue to employ orthodox…