Author: Marketforces Africa

The Democratic Front (TDF) says the announcement of a five billion dollar Bonga North Deep Offshore field

Kogi Assembly Approves N582.4bn Budget Proposal Kogi House of Assembly on Tuesday approved N582,404,119.489 budget proposal for 2025. The lawmakers passed the bill in Lokoja after a presentation by the House Standing Committee on Appropriation, Budget Monitoring, and Economic Planning. At the clause-by-clause consideration by the sub-Committee of Supply, the Speaker, Mr Aliyu Yusuf, said the bill had authorised recurrent expenditure of over N281,153,215,687. He said it also approved the authorised capital expenditure of over N301,280,903,802. According to the Speaker, the bill, with various allocations of funds to Ministries, Departments and Agencies, takes effect from Jan. 1, 2025, and ends…

Naira Mixed as CBN Turns Aggressive with FX Interventions The naira exchange rates mixed across foreign exchange markets ahead of holiday as the authority flooded banks with US dollars. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) embarked on aggressive US dollar sales to local banks to ease pressure on the exchange rate. “The intention of the Apex Bank is clear: to stabilise the naira exchange rate for year-on-year performance comparison,” a senior analyst who prefers not to be mentioned told MarketForces Africa in a chat. December FX interventions mirrored previous market experience ahead of December 2nd transition to Bloomberg BMatch system.…

Mbah Signs 2025 Budget of N971bn into Law Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State on Tuesday, signed into law the N971 billion appropriation bill for the 2025 fiscal year. The event took place at the Government House with the members of the State House of Assembly led by the Speaker, Mr Uchenna Ugwu, and some top government functionaries in attendance. The budget comprises N837.9 billion Capital Expenditure, representing 86 per cent of the budget, and a Recurrent Expenditure component of N133 billion, representing 14 per cent of the budget. The education sector got N320.6 billion representing 33 per cent and…

Oil Climbs as Concerns over U.S Economic Growth Ease Oil prices climbed in the global commodities market on Tuesday as concerns over U.S economic growth eased. The international oil benchmark of Brent crude increased by 1.5% to $72.84 per barrel, up from the previous session’s close of $71.74. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate also rose by 0.8% to $69.63 per barrel, compared to $69.08 at the close of the prior session. Last week’s data from the US, the world’s largest oil consumer, heightened concerns about inflation and a potential recession. Additionally, uncertainties surrounding the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate…

Nigerian Exchange Expands Near N62Trn as Investors Gain N503bn The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) expanded to N61.94 trillion as investors gained N503 billion on Santa Claus rallies that have persisted this week. The local stock exchange ended today’s trading session on a positive trajectory, with the All-Share Index (ASI) advancing by 0.82% to close at 102,186.03 points. The bulls continued to dominate the domestic bourse as investor began to hunt for MTN Nigeria and other stocks that had lost weight due to selloffs. Reversing negative price movement, MTN Nigeria share price gained 9%. Pre-Christmas rally also pushed some banking names valuation…

MTN Nigeria Renews Spectrum Lease Agreement with NTEL MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has renewed its spectrum lease agreement with Natcom Development and Investment Limited NTEL, according to an official statement. As part of the disclosure requirement for listed companies, the telecom told the Nigerian Exchange that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has approved the renewal of the spectrum lease agreement between MTN Nigeria and NTEL. MTN said the agreement covers the lease of NTEL’s 5MHz frequency division duplex (FDD) in the 900MHz spectrum band and 10MHz FDD in the 1800MHz spectrum band, which spans 19 states. The telecom company further…

Stockbrokers Propose Strategies to Grow $1trn Economy Nigerian stockbrokers have proposed strategies by which the Federal Government can deepen the capital market to achieve its proposed one trillion dollar economy. They made the proposal in a communiqué signed by Mr Oluropo Dada, President/Chairman of the Council of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), and the Registrar/Chief Executive of CIS, Dr Josiah Akerewusi. The communiqué was from the 28th Annual Conference of CIS held in Ibadan with the theme “Capital Market as Catalyst for the One Trillion Dollar Economy’’. Dada said that, if adhered to, the proposed strategies would help the…

Equities investors trading highs and lows on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) platform are currently taking positions in the local bourse ahead of the Christmas celebration.

Soludo Signs N607 billion 2025 Budget into Law Gov. Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra on Monday signed the State 2025 Appropriation Bill of N607 billion into law. Speaking during the event at the Governor’s Lodge, Awka, Soludo expressed optimism that the budget would catalyse change in the state in the coming year. “With this signing, Anambra State will be ready to begin the journey of implementing the 2025 budget with effect from January 1, 2025,” he said. He thanked the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Dr Somtochukwu Udeze, and all members of the assembly for their cooperation and commitment,…