The market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) shed N8 billion Monday as investors moved in to take profit after stocks closed at record highs last week. Stocks rode on the wave of positive investor sentiments in reaction to third quarter results (Q3) and lifted the NSE All-Share Index (ASI) by 3.6 per cent to close at 39,246.05 last week. Some stocks rose between 61 per cent and 32 per cent last week. However, when trading resumed for the week yesterday, there was a moderation in pricing as profit-taking ruled the market. As a result, the ASI went down by 0.06 per cent while market capitalisation shed N8 billion to close at N12.545 trillion.
Updated 6 Years ago

Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology Hon. Abiodun Akinlade has disclosed that the House of Representatives would soon come up with a law that will compel flour millers across the country to add at least 10 percent cassava content to wheat flour for bread production. Akinlade,who represents Ipokia/Yewa South Federal constituency in Ogun State stated this shortly after he was conferred with the Patronship of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ogun State Council at its Awards and Galanite held in Abeokuta. He said that the inclusion and utilization of cassava flour for bread production could save Nigeria a whooping sum of N200 billion annually, adding that it would generate employment opportunities for teeming jobless Nigerians and would also affect positively the Nigerian balance of payement.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Government of Switzerland has said it has not yet received a request from any arm of the Nigerian government on the Berne Declaration report which exposed the fraudulent oil deals of up to $6.8 billion by Swiss-based traders acting in collusion with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), but is ready to assist when approached. Briefing the press ahead of a two-day seminar on Anti-money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism in Abuja Monday, the Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Hans-Rudolph Hodel, said his government had successfully closed the case against former military Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha, following the restitution of $700 million to Nigeria’s coffers.
Updated 6 Years ago

Oil workers, under the auspices of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have vowed to resist the federal government’s plan to privatise Nigeria’s four refineries. According to them, the proposed sale of the refineries, located in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt, is against the overall national interest and is only in the interest of “a few Nigerians who are lurking around the corridor of power to milk the country dry.” Speaking against the backdrop of the plan by the federal government to privatise the four refineries by 2014, PENGASSAN President, Mr. Babatunde Ogun, berated the government for its decision to sell the nation's assets without considering available options and rational rule for such a lucrative business deal.
Updated 6 Years ago

Ethiopia has awarded two US-based companies, Global Trade and Development Consulting (GTDC) and Energy Ventures to build, operate and transmit three solar power sites that will generate up to 300 megawatts in total in the eastern region of the country. “This project represents a significant advance in our Ethiopian energy initiative and is now part of our comprehensive Energy Plan,” Ethiopia’s Minister of Water and Energy, Alemayehu Tegenu said without disclosing the value of the projects.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, has said that Nigeria has made significant progress in its shift away from oil and enhancing the development of the non-oil sector. Okonjo Iweala in an interview with the CNBC, monitored by Vanguard, also said that Nigeria must work faster to reduce its dependence on oil for greater economic growth. “Nigeria is one of the fastest growing countries in the world, we just saw third quarter GDP growth of 6.8 percent and we expect to end the year at 6.75 percent – and the IMF is forecasting higher growth rate, but we think we need to grow faster,” Okonjo-Iweala told CNBC last week. “We are making progress [moving away from oil] but we want to do it faster,” she added. “At one point 90 percent of our revenues came from oil so we’re making progress.” Nigeria’s oil reserves, production and exports generate around 70 percent of the government’s revenues, but Okonjo-Iweala said the country had many untapped growth opportunities it needed to explore in order to maintain a high growth rate.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Federal Government has once again debunked Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s recent allegation that the management of the country’s resources is shrouded in secrecy. The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja explained that contrary to the allegation by the governor, the state actually received the sum of N257.6bn within the first 10 months of this year from the federation account.
Updated 6 Years ago

It was another huge step towards banishing unemployment in Osun as the government of the state under the leadership of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to increase the production chain of the International Breweries, Plc, Ilesa. The company will invest $40 million to build another factory that would increase the production of the breweries. According to the MoU, the state government will be responsible for the acquisition of land and payment of compensations to the original owners.
Updated 6 Years ago

Africa has become the world’s leading oil consumer, with demand for the resource having surged 5 percent in the past year, it emerged on Monday. Africa’s oil consumption increased at a time when global demand for oil only gained 1 percent, DHL Customer Solutions & Innovations’ President for the Energy Sector, Steve Harley said. “This (demand for oil in Africa) is likely to continue as many of the fastest growing economies are situated on the continent.”
Updated 6 Years ago

JPMorgan Chase & Co has withdrawn from a syndicate of banks working on a $2 billion Hong Kong listing by China Everbright Bank Co, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. JPMorgan's exit comes as it faces a number of investigations by U.S. regulators, including a look into its hiring practices in China. U.S. authorities are probing whether the bank improperly gave jobs to well connected people in Asia to win business. JPMorgan at one point hired Tang Xiaoning, the son of Tang Shuangning, chairman of Everbright Bank's parent, China Everbright Group, and a former bank regulator, The New York Times reported in August. After the younger Tang joined JPMorgan, the bank won several important assignments from Everbright, including advising a subsidiary on a stock offering, the newspaper reported.
Updated 6 Years ago