CAPITAL MARKET
NGX transactions hit N1.51tn in five months
The total value of domestic and foreign transactions on Nigerian Exchange Limited for the first five months of the year 2022 rose to N1.51tn. This record shoots higher against N933.65bn, which was the total transactions carried out by both domestic and foreign investors in the corresponding period of January to May 2021. In a report released by NGX Regulation Limited on behalf of NGX, the ‘Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Investment May 2022’ report showed the transactions as well as trading figures from market operators. It also showed that domestic investors had continued to hold ground on the floor of the NGX despite rising inflation and currency volatility in the foreign exchange market which remained key drivers of the domestic and foreign portfolio investment. Punch
BAKING
Taming Risk Factors in Open Banking
The open banking system, which mandates banks to open up their Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to Fintechs to access financial information needed to develop new apps and services, is beginning to pose some regulatory risk factors as perceived by the Central Bank of Nigeria, writes Emma Okonji Last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), organised the maiden edition of the Community of African Banking Supervisors (CABS) Fintech forum, with the primary objective of contributing to the strengthening and harmonisation of banking regulatory and supervisory practices in Africa. The forum focused on the risk factors emerging from open banking system and how best to tame them.The emergence of Fintech firms, coupled with developments in telecommunications across Africa, have resulted in the rapid growth of digital payment platforms, as major emerging markets in Africa such a Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Egypt, key into more efficient tech-enabled solutions. This Day
ECONOMY
Fuel scarcity: Marketers rally against NNPC’s monopoly
Oil marketers have urged the Federal Government to put an end to the monopolistic privilege enjoyed by the Nigerian National Petroluem Corporation, NNPC. NNPC currently enjoys monopoly on importation and supply of petroleum products into the country. But oil marketers said the market situation was creating more problems for the country. Marketers under the auspices of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, during a briefing with newsmen on Thursday, said as part of permanent measures to curb fuel scarcity, other marketers should also be given a free and fair play in the importation of products. Oil marketers have consistently complained about their inability to import products due to forex scarcity, rising inflation, including excess and multiple import charges. Punch
‘Why Nigeria, others should eliminate use of SF6 gas in appliances’
The Regional Sales Manager West Africa, Eaton Powering Business Worldwide, Charles Iyo, has called on Nigeria and African governments to take proactive steps and implement regulations to stop the use of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) gas in electrical appliances. Iyo, who made the call yesterday at the Power, Water Exhibition and Conference 2022, held in Lagos, with the theme: ‘A Call to Action on the ‘dirtiest’ greenhouse gas in clean energy; said SF6 is one of the world’s most potent greenhouse gasses that is dangerous to the climate and humans, which is mostly used in switchgear production.. Guardian
Mobile Broadband Penetration Hits 83.37m as Impact of Ban on New Sim Wanes
After a drop in mobile broadband penetrating to as low as 75.57 million subscriptions, equivalent to 39.59 per cent penetration in May 2021, following the ban on new sim registration by the federal government, Nigeria’s broadband penetration picked up again, one year after, to reach 83.37 million subscriptions, equivalent to 43.67 per cent penetration in May 2022. The mobile broadband penetration data, which THISDAY obtained from the official website of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), showed a rebound in mobile broadband penetration, one year after it dropped in May 2021. This Day
Kerosene, gas prices rise 88% in one year – NBS
Primary cooking fuels, kerosene and Liquefied Petroleum Gas, otherwise referred to as cooking gas, recorded an 88 per cent price increase within in one year. According to a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics titled, “National Household Kerosene Price Watch,” the price of kerosene went up by 86.94 per cent in one year. The report also said that the average retail price per litre of household kerosene (HHK) paid by consumers in May 2022 increased by 15.21 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N589.82 in April 2022 to N679.54 in May 2022. The state profile analysis showed that the highest average price per litre in May 2022 was recorded in Enugu with N868.75, followed by Ebonyi with N861.11 and Imo with N801.67. On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Bayelsa with N558.06, followed by Yobe with N601.39 and Nasarawa with N603.33. Punch
We’ll use Nigeria’s vast gas resources as transition fuel – NNPC
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said it would use the vast gas resources across the country as a transition fuel going by the recent global push for energy transition away from hydrocarbons. In his speech at the 1st National Extractives Dialogue organised by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in Abuja on Tuesday, the Chief Executive Officer, NNPC, Mele Kyari, stated that the national oil firm was currently revising its strategies on energy transition. He said, “The aftermath of COP26 in Glasgow has shown that the world is committed to energy transition which the EITl and other stakeholders have also recognised. Punch