Category: Featured

MTN Nigeria to inject $1.5bn into broadband expansion plans

Umar Suleiman
MTN Nigeria to inject $1.5bn into broadband expansion plans

MTN Nigeria to inject $1.5bn into broadband expansion plans   Plans to sell 14% stakes to Nigerian investors   Telecommunications giant, MTN Nigeria plans to invest N640 billion, or $1.5 billion over the next three years to expand the country’s broadband access. The move is in line with the Nigerian government’s 2020 to 2025 National Broadband Plan ambitions of 90 per cent broadband population coverage by 2025 and MTN Group’s Ambition 2025 strategy. The group also plans to build a new flagship headquarters in Lagos to mark the twentieth anniversary…

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EXPLAINER: Why crypto market lost $120bn in a day and $270bn in 1 week

David Alonge
Why crypto market lost $120bn in a day and $270bn in 1 week

EXPLAINER: Why crypto market lost $120bn in a day and $270bn in 1 week     The going is getting tougher for the crypto market, and like never before, the is losing billions of dollars at an accelerated rate. The cryptocurrency market had a fatal week as the market capitalization of the entire market shed approximately 17 per cent value over the week. his represents a $270 billion decline which put the current market capitalization at $1.36 billion from $1.63 trillion at the start of the previous week. Three main reasons…

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Nigerians pay 17.5% more on imported rice – NBS

Umar Suleiman
Nigerians pay 17.5% more on imported rice

Nigerians pay 17.5% more on imported rice – NBS     The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed that the average price of 1kg of rice (imported high quality sold loose) increased year-on-year by 17.46 per cent as at May 2021. The price has also experienced a marginal uptick of 0.65 per cent month-on-month by to stand at N544.09 per 1kg in May 2021 from N540.58 in April 2021. NBS in its “selected food price” data for May 2021 also reflected that the average price of 1 dozen of Agric…

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Nigeria takes step to auction 3.5 gigahertz spectrum for 5G deployment

Omobayo Azeez
spectrum for 5G deployment

Nigeria takes step to auction 3.5 gigahertz spectrum for 5G deployment     The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has inaugurated a committee to develop the Information Memorandum (IM) for the auction of 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum band which will be used for early deployment of 5G services in the country. The major regulatory step by the commission followed a Senate investigative hearing which gave the Fifth Generation (5G) technology a clean bill of health to clear the air on early controversies that greeted the technology in the country. The Executive…

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Equities post 1.3% pullback as investors take profit

Banjo Olaniran
Equities post 1.3% pullback as investors take profit

Equities post 1.3% pullback as investors take profit     Investors profit-taking on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) downed the equities market segment in four active days of trading last week. The market capitalisation opened for trading at N20.409trillion, N266billion or 1.3per cent decline from N20.143trillion it opened for trading, while the NGX also depreciated by 1.30 per cent to 38,648.91 basis points from 39,156.28 basis points it opened for trading last week. It was a four-day trading last week as the Federal Government declared Monday 14th June 2021 as…

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Exposed! 70% Nigerian businesses are ignorant of marketing privacy laws

David Alonge
70% Nigerian businesses are ignorant of marketing privacy laws

Exposed! 70% Nigerian businesses are ignorant of marketing privacy laws     According to a recent survey, only 30 per cent of Nigerian businesses are aware of privacy laws governing their marketing activities, despite Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) being in effect since 2019. The survey, conducted by WorldWideWorx and commissioned by global technology company Zoho, also revealed that even though businesses are concerned about the privacy of customer’s data in the hands of third-party vendors, they are reliant on them for revenue generation and gathering customer insights. This makes…

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COVID-19: UAE lifts travel ban on Nigeria

Banjo Olaniran
UAE lifts travel ban on Nigeria

COVID-19: UAE lifts travel ban on Nigeria     The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has finally lifted the travel ban on Nigeria, paving the way for the resumption of flights between the two countries. Flights were suspended since March following a diplomatic row between the two over the COVID-19 rapid antigen test introduced by the UAE government in addition to the negative PCR test requirement stipulated by the Federal Government of Nigeria. The UAE flag carrier, Emirates, which suspended its flight since March, has now announced resumption from June 23rd.…

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Equities make rebound attempt with N30bn gain

Banjo Olaniran
Equities make rebound attempt with N30bn gain In a struggle between the bear and bull camps, the bulls managed to reclaim the trading floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday by closing the session on N30 billion gain. The gain of the day was however a mere attempt to recover a whooping loss of N340 billion to sell-offs in the preceding session. Business Metrics also observed that the N30 billion profit was a narrow escape from another bearish experience that prevailed for most of trading hours of the day before activities in the shares or MTN Nigeria at the eleventh hour averted the crisis and thus, spurred the first gain of the week. As MTN gained 1.2 per cent to close the day, the benchmark index inched higher by 0.15 per cent to 38,564.70 basis points, while market capitalisation followed suit to close higher at N20.099 trillion. Consequently, the Month-to-Date (MtD) return increased to +0.3 per cent, while the Year-to-Date (YtD) loss moderated to -4.2 per cent. Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Oil & Gas and consumer goods indices gained +0.9 per cent and +0.2 per cent respectively, while the insurance and banking indices closed in the red by -0.5 per cenr and -0.3 per cent in that order. The Industrial Goods index was flat. Turnover for the session was mixed as total volume traded increased by 1.81 per cent against shrinking trade value that plunged by 23.02 per cent. At the close of the session, investors collectively traded 302.72 million share units, valued at N2.81 billion, and exchanged in 4,387 deals. This is in contrast with 297.34 million shares worth N3.65 billion that exchanged hands in 4,402 transactions in the previous session. According to trading statistics obtained from the Nigerian Exchange Limited, STERLNBANK was the most traded stock by volume at 37.47 million units, while GUARANTY was the most traded stock by value at N745.34 million. As measured by market breadth, market sentiment turned positive (1.4x) as 27 tickers gained, relative to 20 losers. CORNERST and MORISON recorded highest gains of the day as they appreciated by 10.0 per cent and 9.7 respectively. On the flip side, while both ABBEYBDS and CHIPLC shed -9.5 per cent in share prices to top the losers’ list.

Equities make rebound attempt with N30bn gain     In a struggle between the bear and bull camps, the bulls managed to reclaim the trading floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday by closing the session on N30 billion gain. The gain of the day was however a mere attempt to recover a whooping loss of N340 billion to sell-offs in the preceding session. Business Metrics also observed that the N30 billion profit was a narrow escape from another bearish experience that prevailed for most of trading hours of…

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ANALYSIS: Bitcoin and Nigeria

Business Metrics
Bitcoin and Nigeria

By Coronation Research   Bitcoin has taken the world by storm over the past year, but Nigerians were alert to the opportunities early on, and data suggests that they are among the most active Bitcoin traders in the world. At the same time, numerous central banks take a dim view of cryptocurrencies and would like to control them. What is the way forward? Bitcoin is the most commonly traded cryptocurrency in the world, accounting for about 60% of the global cryptocurrency market. It is created as a reward for a…

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Brent price surpasses $74 per barrel to trade 32-month high

Omobayo Azeez
Crude oil prices drop, pressured by stronger U.S. dollar

Brent price surpasses $74 per barrel to trade 32-month high     Crude oil prices have jumped on growing demand optimism as Brent crude trades over $74 per barrel, indicating a 32-month high. The Brent Crude against which Nigeria’s oil is benchmarked gained 1.84% on Tuesday to close at $74.2, while WTI recorded a gain of 1.75% to close at $72.12. The surge in crude oil price is largely attributed to increased demand for oil after a report from American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a substantial draw in US crude…

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