CAPITAL MARKET
AfricInvest acquires minority stake in Royal Exchange General Insurance
Royal Exchange General Insurance Company on Wednesday announced the acquisition of a minority stake in the company by AfricInvest, a Pan-African asset management company. It said in a statement that the investment was made through its evergreen private equity fund, FIVE, in the form of a subscription to a capital increase. The underwriting firm said, “The desire to participate in more large-ticket corporate transactions, diversify existing business and product lines as well as diversification of delivery channels were some of the key drivers behind this push for additional working capital by REGIC. Punch
Stock Market Maintains Bullish Run, Appreciates by N286.53bn in 3 Days
The Stock market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) appreciated by N286.53billion in three days to maintain its bullish trading activates this week. Consequently, the market capitalisation rose by 1.4per cent to close on Wednesday to close at N21.24trillion from N20.96trillion the stock market opened for trading this week. The market appreciated most on Tuesday following investors renewed interest in Airtel Africa following its share buy-back plan buoyed the impressive performance. THISDAY had report that the market capitalisation gained N14 billion on Monday to close at N20.970 trillion, while on Tuesday, it appreciated by N247 billion to close at N21.217 trillion. This Day
BANKING
Banks have started to onboard the e-Naira feature on their applications.
In its latest update, the Guaranty Trust World app has integrated a e-Naira feature. However, when opened, the bank said, “Kindly note that you will need to download and onboard on the CBN e-Naira speed wallet app to create your e-Naira username and password. Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria recently postponed the planned unveiling of the country’s digital currency, e-Naira. According to the CBN, the e-Naira wallet is a digital storage to hold the e-Naira. It added that it would be held and managed on a distributed ledger, and required to access, hold and use e-Naira. The bank said, “Your e-Naira wallet offers a great way of making purchases with retailers on-site, transferring or sending money while tracking rewards programmes. Punch
ECONOMY
World Bank projects Nigeria’s growth for 2022, 2023 at below 4%
“Faster vaccine deployment would accelerate the region’s growth to 5.1 percent in 2022 and 5.4 percent in 2023 – as more containment measures are lifted, boosting consumption and investment”. The analysis shows that current speeds of economic recovery in the region are varied, with the three largest economies, Angola, Nigeria, and South Africa, expected to grow by 0.4 percent, 2.4 percent, 4.6 percent respectively. The report further stated that “excluding South Africa and Nigeria, the rest of SSA is rebounding faster at a growth rate of 3.6 percent in 2021, with non-resource-rich countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya expected to recover strongly at 6.2 and 5.0 per cent, respectively”. The Sun
[email protected]: Insurance sector slowly breaking iron ceilings amidst headwinds
Across the world, the insurance industry is perceived as one of the major drivers of the economy due to its capacity to offer a solid framework which can be leveraged on for sustainable growth and development. It is in the light of this critical role the sector plays that stakeholder expect the Nigerian insurance industry; a major component of the financial market, to overtly and covertly contribute tremendously to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and growth of the country’s economy. As Nigeria celebrate the country’s 61st independence anniversary, stakeholders have appraised the sector’s performance over the last three decades stating that it has advanced so far considering the numerous challenges bewildering the industry and the volatile business space. The Sun
Google set to invest $1bn in Nigeria, others
Google has said it will invest $1bn over five years to support digital transformation in Nigeria and other African countries. The company added that this investment will lead to a 21 per cent drop in internet prices, and a five-fold increase in internet speed in Nigeria. This was disclosed at the first Google for Africa event that held on Wednesday. Managing Director for Google in Africa, Nitin Gajria, said, “Google remains committed to being helpful to every African business, person and classroom. “Google is invested in building our global infrastructure to help bring everyone online. Punch
