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The officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and financial experts, in Lagos, yesterday, differed on the controversial issue of multiple exchange rates and its implications for the economy. The Senior Special Assistant to CBN Governor, Emmanuel Ukeje, said the development has severally been clarified, except that people have chosen to go with misconceptions.He the nation’s apex bank is not practicing multiple exchange rates, but multiple windows due to the country’s peculiar situation. Making the clarification at the Special Policy Dialogue Colloquium, entitled: “Policy Change – The Enabler of Sustainable Growth”, organised by the Financial Derivatives Company, he said that those rates at N345/$ are forward rates, not spot rates, which when delivered in six months period are equivalent to N360 per dollar at spot rates. He said that such moves are arranged to take care of the various sectors that will naturally not be serviced by the ...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive for banks not to deposit funds above N2 billion at its Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) window will free over N750 billion for loans, it was learnt on Thursday. Commercial banks are expected to deposit excess funds at the CBN daily and earn interests on such funds, The Nation learnt. The guideline, issued on Wednesday, took effect yesterday. It reduced the remunerable daily placement of SDF from N7.5 billion to N2 billion. SDF is the excess reserve funds that banks deposit at the SDF window of the CBN at the end of each business day. The Standing Lending Facility (SLF) is fund borrowed by banks from the apex bank to square up their positions in the market. The SDR attracts interest rate of Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) minus 500 basis points, which is 8.5 per cent per annum up to the limit of N2 billion. Any deposit over and above the maximum will attract zero interest rate. CBN Director Financial Markets Department Angela Sere-Ejemb...

The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has said total deregulation of the downstream sub-sector remains the best option, as no marketer is getting foreign exchange at N305 to a dollar for importation of petrol. Its chairman, Tunji Oyebanji who made the clarifications on the side-lines of the just concluded Nigerian Oil and Gas conference in Abuja, said none of its members were getting foreign exchange at N305 to a dollar for the importation of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol. The Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, NNPC, Henry Ikem-Obih had stated that the state corporation was able to save $1.7billion from the forex intervention scheme which was rolled out by CBN and co- managed by the NNPC, adding that applications that came in for AGO,HHK,HTK also got forex at N305/$1. The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has said total deregulation of the downstream sub-sector remains the best option, as no marketer is getting foreign exchange a...

Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), operator of the Otakikpo Marginal Field, in oil mining lease (OML) 11, Rivers State, said it has secured a $350million financing package for the second phase development of the field. GEIL said the fund was secured from a consortium of international companies, including an oil services giant, London-based International Bank, prominent crude oil offtaker, and EPIC contractor.With the deal, the Otakikpo field, a crude processing and exporting hub in the Eastern Niger Delta, would unlock the potential of other commercially-stranded marginal fields in the area, GEIL Chairman, Prof. Anthony Adegbulugbe, said in a statement. He said the second phase development involves the drilling of additional wells at the Otakikpo Field, which would significantly increase the field production from the present 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (bopd) to 20,000 bopd, and the expansion of processing facilities from 12,000 to 50,000 bopd to adequately ha...

Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC’s) compliance with its production quotas fell sharply in June, as output gains in the month by Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, along with Iraq’s continued flouting of its cap, shrank the bloc’s margin despite its supply cut agreement. According to Platts’ data, Nigeria’s production rose to 1.97 million barrels per day (mbpd) last month, up from the 1.69mbpd quota under the cut agreement, signalling the nation’s highest output since January 2015.Among OPEC’s 11 members with quotas, Nigeria and Iraq were the least compliant, as Platts’ survey showed that pressure on both countries to comply with their quotas is expected to grow in the coming months. Nigeria’s 1.97 million bpd output is its highest since January 2015, as its newest deepwater field Egina, which started production six months ago, is already pumping close to its capacity of 200,000 bpd. The June figure was 110,000 bpd rise from May as none of Nigeria’s crude export g...

Aiming to better the lives of millions of consumers in the cement industry, Nigeria’s leading cement brand, Dangote Cement, plans to empower about 21 million consumers in a mega promo. The promo, which runs from July to September, will enrich consumers with prizes worth billions of Naira, comprising 43 cars, 24 tricycles, 24 motorcycles, 550 refrigerators, 400 television sets, 300,000 Dangote foods goodies packs, and recharge cards for all networks worth N200 million.   Speaking in a media parley to unveil the jumbo consumer promo tagged, “Dangote Cement Bag of Goodies,” yesterday, in Lagos, the Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Joseph Makoju, represented by the Group Executive Director, Dangote Industries Limited, Knut Ulvmoen, said the promo was a way to contribute to the economic wellbeing of e customers. According to him, the promo would reward valued consumers for their unflinching partnership in ensuring that the company’s range of cement products remains ...

Latest report by the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has revealed that Nigeria needs to unlock as much as $900billion worth of dead capital to increase economic activities and stimulate growth. In a new report titled, ‘Bringing dead capital to life – What Nigeria should do’, estimated the amount of dead capital in residential agricultural and real estate sectors in Nigeria, which it said: “holds at least $300billion or as much as $900billion worth of dead capital in residential real estate and agricultural land alone.” The report said the high-value real estate market segment held between $230billion and $750billion in value, while the middle market carried between $60billion and $170billion. ‘Dead capital’ was coined by a Peruvian economist, Hernando de Soto, to define assets that cannot be converted to economic capital. With Nigeria’s population projected at 200 million and 40 million families with five members each, the report said, “Approximately 95 per cent of household d...

SEL Capital Limited has launched Customer Experience Centre (CEC) to improve and deliver exceptional experience, providing great opportunity for the financial services company to effectively attend to all of its customers’ enquiries, requests and address their complaints. The Managing Director of the company, Segun Opaleye, said: “We are pleased to launch our CEC at Still Earth Capital Finance. The CEC has been set up to promptly receive and attend to all your enquiries, requests and complaints. “Equipped with the latest technology, product knowledge and effective customer handling skills, our customer service officers are available to deliver a unique experience each time you contact us for enquiries, requests and complaints about our products and services.” Meanwhile, he said SMEs can also get advice on how to establish Letters of Credit (LCs) and be guided on issues around corporate governance, adding that understanding the customers’ business was one of the easiest ways to...

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German, Swiss and Austrian companies in Nigeria may not consolidate on existing investments until the economy improves. A recent survey indicated that the tough economic climate and growth stagnation are forcing most of the companies to withdraw new investments. The report, fourth Austrian-German-Swiss Business Outlook (AGSBO) 2019, by the delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, recently disclosed in Lagos, showed four major factors affecting their operations. They are: compliance and corruption, infrastructure and insecurity, access to forex, and overall security, which also forms part of the major factors affecting Nigeria’s ranking on the 2019 ease of doing business analysis. However, majority of the companies remain optimistic about the economic condition of Nigeria and hope to see future improvements. The delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, organised a survey among the Austrian, German and Swiss companies operating in Nigeria, to unders...

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Following price losses suffered by most blue-chip stocks, trading on the Nigeria equities market extended its bearish run yesterday, causing the All-share index to decline further by 0.2 per cent.Yesterday, the All Share Index (ASI) shed 59.68 absolute points, representing a dip of 0.2 per cent to close at 29,609.00 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation shed N26 billion to close at N13.048 trillion. The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nestle Nigeria, Beta Glass, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), Cadbury Nigeria and MTN Nigeria.Analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said: “Our outlook for equities in the short to medium term remains conservative, amidst absence of a positive catalyst.” Also, APT Securities and Funds Limited said: “We retain our cautious trading advice in the short run. However, accumulation of fundamentally justified and dividend paying stocks for mid to long term is recommended.” M...

Microsoft has called for safer online community in Nigeria, stressing that cybercrime will cost the global economy $6 trillion by 2021. Microsoft said the call became necessary following increasing phishing attacks on the Nigerian community. The firm said phishing, which is the biggest security headache for businesses and individuals, is among the hardest to tackle. The American technology company said phishing increased by over 250 per cent in Nigeria and other parts of the world.Phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by disguising oneself as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. It is typically carried out by email spoofing or instant messaging. It often directs users to enter personal information at a fake website which matches the look and feel of the legitimate site. Speaking with Journalists yesterday, in Lagos, Country Manager for Nigeria & Ghana at Microsoft, Akin Banuso, d...

The federal government is planning to increase the rate of value-added tax to 7.5 percent from the current five percent by 2020, says the former finance minister, Mrs Zainab Ahmed. The ex minister made the disclosure on Tuesday, June 25 at the Bloomberg Emerging & Frontier Forum in London, ThisDay reports. Nigerians had previously opposed earlier plans by the federal government to increase VAT. Ahmed, whose tenure ended with President Muhammadu Buhari’s first term on May 29, said that her main preoccupation while in office was how to raise government’s revenue with only 55 percent of targets being met. She said: “We have developed a strategic revenue growth initiative, which we have started to implement. “Our target is to increase revenue to 65 percent minimum in 2019 so that in the next three years we are able to attain 80-85 percent of our revenue target.” The head, Communication and Servicom Department, Wahab Gbadamosi, made this known in a statement in Abuja. H...

Strong indications emerged yesterday that a strategic investor assumed to be Adebutu Kensington, is taking controlling stake of Wema Bank Plc, given the quantum of transactions executed on its shares on Monday and Tuesday. Specifically, at the close of trading on Monday, June 17, transactions in the shares of Wema Bank topped the activity chart with 2.7 billion shares valued at N1.71 billion. This volume of shares traded by the bank lifted total volume, as turnover rose 1,867.26 per cent to 2.86 billion units, valued at N3.92 billion, exchanged in 3,360 deals. Also, similar massive transactions were recorded in the shares of the bank on Tuesday, June 18, which traded 2.4 billion shares valued at N1.48 billion, resulting to 1.65 per cent rise in turnover to 2.91 billion units, valued at N11.225 billion, exchanged in 3,324 deals. The share price of Wema Bank, which stood at 0.60kobo at the close of trading last week Friday, rose to 0.63kobo on Wednesday, adding 0.03 gain. A ...

Refineries operated by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), recorded deficits running into N141billion within 13 months, between January 2018 and January 2019. Indeed, the sum is capable of addressing capital projects in critical sectors of the economy as captured in the 2019 Budget. A breakdown showed that the losses are capable of funding projects worth N80.29billion, which are expected to drive the agriculture sector in order to address food insecurity and set the economic diversification drive of the current administration on track. Without borrowing, the current losses would have taken care of practically all capital allocations for health, education, as well as the Niger Delta region in the 2019 budget. President Muhammadu Buhari recently assented to the 2019 budget of N8.916trillion, with the hope of borrowing to the make the projections a reality. In the 2019 fiscal spending plan, the Federal Government proposed to execute capital projects worth N47.2...

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The Chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Aliko Dangote has warned that Nigeria is losing over 300,000 metric tonnes of local sugar demand to smuggling on yearly basis.   This figure is huge, as smuggling continues to adversely affect the nation’s sugar industry, he said on the sidelines of the 13th yearly general meeting of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, in Lagos. In his words, “Sugar smuggling is in the range of over 300,000 metric tonnes, which is a lot with some coming to Lagos, but majority of the smuggled commodity goes to Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi and Sokoto. These are the places we are having the most hit. The government needs to stand up to curb smuggling so that we can create jobs for Nigeria’s teeming unemployed youths.” He said local production of sugar should be about 1.5 million tonnes, which he said has the capacity to employ over 250,000 people, but stressed that smuggling has continued to hinder the growth of Nigeria’s sugar industry. He pointed out that 201...

The reign of bears continued unabated on the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), as more bellwether stocks depreciated in price, resulting to a further decline in the All-share index by 0.4 per cent.   Yesterday, the All Share Index (ASI) shed 117.53 absolute points, representing a dip of 0.4 per cent to close at 29,818.80 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation lost N52 billion to close at N13.140 trillion.   Tuesday’s performance was influenced by price depreciation in medium and large capitalised stocks, among which were, Nestle Nigeria, Okomu Oil, Chemical and Allied Products (CAP), Julius Berger, and International Breweries. Analysts at Afrinvest Limited maintained a bearish outlook for subsequent trading sessions, but were optimistic that investors would continue to position in undervalued stocks with good fundamentals.   Also, analysts at Cordros Capital Limited, stated: “In the absence of a positive catalyst, we guide investors to t...

The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, says the country’s daily oil production is currently 2.32million barrel per day. Mr Baru disclosed this on Tuesday when a delegation of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by its President, Chris Isiguzo, visited his office in Abuja. “Since we came in July 2016, we are focused on increasing production of oil and gas and condensates. “At some point, our national combined production was about a million barrels; I am happy that as at the end of 2018, we have moved on averaging last year, about 2.1 million barrels. “As I am speaking, this morning, I look at our production figures, combined oil and condensates we are pushing 2.32 million barrels a day,” he said. According to him, the stability and ability to push production has come as a consequence of several factors, both internally, externally and also with the help of the media. Commenting on the gas sector, he said the cor...