Author: Marketforces Africa

Bitcoin Rises by 3.3% as Top Cryptocurrencies Rally Bitcoin (BTC-USD) price crossed $102,000 on Friday, up by about 3.3% over 24 hours as major digital assets boost global cryptocurrencies market capitalisation. The surge was boosted by interest in stablecoins as pressures on Bitcoin linked exchange traded funds eased. According to data from CoinMarketCap.com, the global crypto market cap inched higher to $3.6 trillion due to buying interest, translating to a 2.61% increase over the last day. On the back of the latest rally, the total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours reached $166.73 billion, which makes a 2.13%…

Alleged N12bn Fraud: Court to Arraign Oba Otudeko, EX-FirstBank MD A Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed Jan. 20 for arraignment of Chairman of the Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko, over alleged N12.3 billion fraud. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) preferred a 13-count charge against Otudeko and a former Managing Director of First Bank Plc, Olabisi Onasanya. Also charged is a former board member of Honeywell, Soji Akintayo, and a firm, Anchorage Leisure Ltd. The charge is marked FHC/L/20C/2025. The defendants were accused of allegedly looting N12.3 billion from First Bank. According to the EFCC, they committed the…

Naira Rises as CBN Sells $146mn to Banks in 2-Day The naira rose against the US dollar in the foreign exchange market as demand pressures eased after two days of FX intervention by the Central Bank. The local currency strengthened as US dollar volume available in the official market outweighed daily demand logged for foreign payments. Spot FX data obtained from the FMDQ platform revealed that the naira depreciated by 0.06% in the official window, closing at N1,548.47 per dollar. Analysts at AIICO Capital Limited reported that transactions executed within N1,500.00 and N1,570 per greenback. Conversely, the exchange rate appreciated…

Nigerian Bonds Yield Hits 20% as DMO Releases Auction Plan In the secondary market, the Federal Government of Nigerian (FGN) bonds benchmark yield crossed 20% for the first time in a long time due to sell pressures, spooked by rising headline inflation. The local bond market was rocked with bearish sentiments as sell-offs were predominant at the mid-segment of the curve, investment firm CardinalStone Limited said in a note. The market witnessed sell pressure on the JUL-34 paper, causing its yield to rise by 138 basis points on the day. Profit-taking activities were also witnessed at the belly of the…

Petrol Price Hovers at N1,214.17 in November 2024- NBS The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the average retail price of a litre of petrol increased from N648.93 in November 2023 to N1,214.17 in November 2024. It made the declaration in its Petrol Price Watch for November 2024 released in Abuja on Thursday. It stated that the November 2024 price of N1,214.17 represented an 87.10  per cent increase over the price of N648.93  recorded in November 2023. “Comparing the average price value with the previous month of October, the average retail price increased by 2.48 per cent from N1,184.83.”. On…

The Nigerian bond benchmark yield rose near 20% in the secondary market as inflation surged, triggering risk-off sentiments in the market. Inflation

NIGCOMSAT Partners Eutelsat to Enhance Connectivity The Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) has partnered with Eutelsat, a global satellite communications leader, to deliver Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite services in the country. This was revealed in a statement by Aisha Bantam, Head of Corporate Affairs at NIGCOMSAT in Abuja, on Wednesday. The partnership positions NIGCOMSAT as Nigeria’s leading satellite service provider, utilising the OneWeb LEO network to deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity. It will benefit government, businesses, and rural communities, supporting remote communication, mobile connectivity, and offshore operations. Mrs Jane Egerton-Idehen, Managing Director of NIGCOMSAT, described the partnership as a step in…

Afreximbank to Support African Airlines with Aircraft Financing The Africa Import-Export Bank (Afreximbank) has said that it will support African airlines with 25 aircraft via a leasing subsidiary to promote competitiveness. Mrs Helen Brume, Director Project and Asset-Based Finance of Afreximbank, disclosed this at the close of the Airline Economics Growth Frontiers Global in Dublin, Ireland. The conference held from Jan. 12 to Jan. 15 at the Mansion House in Dublin brought together aviation professionals from around the world and focused on current developments and hot topics in the airline industry. Afreximbank, a 30-year-old development financing institution, has a primary…

Dangote Cement Loses N1.55T in 2-Day as Investors Exit Position Dangote Cement Plc lost an additional 10% of its market value on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) as sell pressures persisted in the local bourse. In two days, the cement company has lost about N1.55 trillion due to sell pressures. Data from the local bourse showed that the cement stock fell again as investors’ trimmed shareholdings for second consecutive days in the equities market. After two days of sell pressure, investors priced Dangote Cement Plc.’s 17.040 billion shares outstanding at N6.610 trillion. NGX data showed that Dangote Cement share price declined…

Biden Bans Connected Vehicles from China, Russia over Security Risks Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden announced a ban on Chinese and Russian technology in vehicles, citing national security concerns. The new regulations will prevent the sale and import of connected vehicle hardware and software systems, as well as completed connected vehicles, from China and Russia. This is according to a White House statement released on Tuesday. The White House stated that restrictions on software would take effect starting from the 2027 model year, while restrictions on hardware will apply from the 2030 model year. The White House said that these…