Friday, January 15, 2021
Equities Market Rises Further as Bulls Consolidate Hold
The bulls consolidated their hold on the market yesterday as buying interests in Dangote Cement Plc, MTN Nigeria Plc and Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc lifted the benchmark index further. The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 1.54 per cent to close at 40,963.14, while market capitalisation rose by N325.3 billion to close at N21.4 trillion. Read more
CFOs Urged to Redefine Roles to Match COVID-19
As organisations enter recovery phase in the wake of COVID-19, experts have said new challenges and realities would need to be approached with technology at the center. According to Chief Finance Officer (CFO) for Middle East Africa Emerging Markets at Microsoft, the setbacks experienced as a result of the pandemic have been unlike any seen before, adding that the impact seen on the financials of industries and organisations across the globe has been unprecedented, with many not surviving to this point. Read more
Govs Move to Take Over COVID-19 Vaccines’ Distribution, Meet Wednesday
Following concerns over the opaqueness of the recent allocation of expected 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to states by the federal government, governors of the 36 states of the federation are making moves to take over the distribution of the life-saving substance, THISDAY gathered yesterday. Read more
Nigeria’s daily oil production sinks to 1.17 million barrels
Crude oil production in Nigeria tumbled by 155,000 barrels to a record low in December amid the production cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies. OPEC disclosed this on Thursday in its report for January, saying a meaningful rise in oil prices would brighten Nigeria’s economic outlook this year. The report showed that the country’s oil production fell to 1.17 million barrels per day in December 2020, from 1.33 million bpd in November, based on direct communication. Read more
Lagos plans bonds, others to fund N192.49bn budget deficit
The Lagos State Government says it will explore a number of sources including bonds, domestic borrowing and foreign debt to finance a gap of N192.49bn contained in its 2021 budget. Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr Sam Egube, said this at a breakdown of the budget in Lagos on Thursday. Egube who was accompanied by some cabinet members and other officials of the government said that 60 per cent of the N1.16tn would go into capital expenditure while 40 per cent would go into recurrent expenditure. Read more
FBN General Insurance gets N1.04bn capital boost
The shareholders of FBN General Insurance, a general insurance company, have injected additional capital of N1.048bn into the company, bringing its total share capital to N5.bn. The firm said this in a statement on Thursday titled ‘FBN General Insurance shareholders drive innovation with additional funds’. Read more
Lagos State targets N991.03 billion revenue in 2021
Despite admitting to presenting an ambitious and audacious Budget of Rekindled Hope amid global economic crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lagos State Government insists its total revenue target of N991.03billion for the 2021 financial year is very much feasible. Read more
CBN issues new guidelines on e-payment, fintech development
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued fresh guidelines aimed at strengthening the payment system and development of other disruptive technologies relating to financial services. The regulatory frameworks are contained in two separate documents issued by the apex banks. The documents are created to address challenges in regulatory sandbox and quick response (QR) code payment operations in the country. Read more