CAPITAL MARKET
Stock investors lose N360bn, market cap falls below N20tn
Investors lost N360bn on Tuesday at the end of trading on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited as the stock market extended its decline. The NGX All-Share Index fell by 1.81 per cent to close at 37,847.07 basis points from 38,545.3bps on Monday, while the market capitalisation dropped to N19.73tn from N20.09tn. A total of 218.27 million shares valued at N2.73bn were traded by investors in 3,524 deals, compared to 209.21 million valued at N1.76bn in 3,390 deals on Monday. Punch
Investors’ divestments cost stock market N1.8tr in six months
The continuous exit of funds from the equities market to another investment instrument, especially the fixed income segment has become a source of worry to capital market stakeholders, as they urged the Federal Government to tackle growing security challenges in Nigeria. The stakeholders argued that insecurity problem in Nigeria has increased investors’ apathy in the stock market as they prefer to stake their funds in the fixed market where there is some stability. The Guardian
Leveraging Bond Market for Growth
Goddy Egene writes that companies have been taking advantage of the capital market to raise bonds to fund their operations for growth and improved returns Operating in the Nigerian economy has been a big challenge for companies in many ways. To operate successfully in Nigeria, companies have to provide virtually all their needs- electricity, water and others. All these bring extra operational costs, which reduce the profitability of businesses. This Day
BANKING
Ecobank Moves to Empower Female Entrepreneurs
Ecobank Nigeria has gone into partnership with a media entrepreneur and blogger, Linda Ikeji to host ‘Self-Made Woman 2021’. The event is geared towards mentoring and providing financial empowerment and liberation to young aspiring female entrepreneurs, thereby building stronger economies and improving the quality of life for such women. Under the initiative, prospective female entrepreneurs have access to a special loan package, where they can easily access credit facility with interest rates as low as 1 percent. This Day
ECONOMY
Analysts say global oil market faces risk, price hits $75
Analysts have stated that the global oil market faces huge supply risks if oil majors do not invest in new upstream projects as there is a large financing gap to cover to boost the market. S&P Global Platts reported that JP Morgan’s head of oil and gas research Christyan Malek stated recently at the FT Commodities Global Summit that the bank had identified a shortfall of $600bn of upstream investments needed between 2021 and 2030 to meet what he called a ‘muted view of global demand’. Punch
W’Bank: How Nigeria Can Generate N10tn Tax Revenue in Three Years
The World Bank has advised the federal government to focus on low-hanging and revenue-yielding fruits in order to achieve substantial gains, grow Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio to about seven per cent and rake in about N10 trillion revenue in the next three years. Specifically, the bank advised the government to increase ‘sin taxes,’ charging fees for electronic money transfers, rationalizing tax expenditures, removing loopholes in tax laws, and improve tax compliance with more disciplined revenue administration. This Day
U.S. seeks beneficial trade ties with Nigeria, others
The United States – Africa relationship under the government of Biden – Harris Administration, will entail increasing two-way trade and investment between Africa and the United States, working with African Governments as partners in pursuing shared interests such as global health, climate change and the creative industry, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Akunna Cook, has said. The Guardian