While many firms could hardly raise cheap capital to run their businesses last year, the state and federal government had a field day accessing funds from the bond market. Since the stock market crisis which began in 2008, many believed that the bond market would provide a more reliable avenue for firms to raise capital. But that was not to…
Trading activities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) witnessed a negative performance on Thursday after recording an improvement the previous day. The market capitalisation of the 201 First-Tier equities closed lower yesterday at N8.504 trillion after opening the day at N8.529 trillion, reflecting 0.29 per cent decline or N25 billion losses; about N87 billion gains were recorded after Wednesday’s trading.…
A halt to cocoa buying in Cote D’Ivoire is leaving beans to rot in farm warehouses, while smuggling through Ghana intensifies and some growers switch to other crops, farmers said on Thursday. Economic sanctions, a cocoa export ban, and a liquidity shortage since incumbent Laurent Gbagbo seized the central bank’s local branch has left the cocoa industry in chaos in…
Internal communication is an important tool for imparting the culture and values of an organisation to its employees. This way, employees can be enlisted to share in the company’s vision and goals. The focus of this column last week was on living the brand, but without a functional internal communication mechanism, there is no way employees can live the brand…
Egypt's core annual inflation rose to 9.74 per cent in the year to January from 9.65 per cent in December, the Central Bank said on its website on Thursday. Core inflation affected subsidised goods and volatile items including fruit and vegetables. Urban consumer price inflation, the most closely watched indicator of prices, rose to 10.8 per cent year on year…
Growth in South Africa's manufacturing output slowed to just 0.2 per cent in December and was far below analysts forecasts, showing the vital sector still struggling to recover from a recession in 2009. The number is likely to affect economic growth estimates for the fourth quarter of 2010, but analysts said on its own it was unlikely to shift expectations…
The Enugu State government is to disburse N1 billion to farmer cooperative groups as part of efforts to ensure the success of the Enugu-Songhai Initiative. The chairman of the State Assembly committee on agriculture, Okey Nwoke, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Wednesday that the fund would be accessed from the CBN. He said that the…
President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday in Bauchi said the federal government would intensify oil and gas exploration in the north-east zone to harness the resources for economic development. The president, who announced this during the launch of his north-east presidential campaign, said government was of the belief that oil and gas deposit were in the Lake Chad basin. He also…
Kenyan power generating firm, Iberafrica, plans to buy 320,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil for its 110 megawatt (MW) power plant in the capital for use over the next 24 months, it said on Thursday. Several parts of East Africa's largest economy - which relies on hydro power for the lion's share of its electricity - are experiencing severe drought,…
The federal government has assured Nigerians in the Diaspora of a stable environment for rapid economic growth and development. Dozie Nwanna, Nigeria's acting High Commissioner to the UK, gave the assurance in London on Wednesday at the Conference of Ethnic Nationalities of Nigeria in the UK. Mr. Nwanna said the current efforts by the present administration in improving several sectors,…
The Abuja Securities and Commodities Exchange (ASCE) is partnering with the CBN to embark on Warehouse Receipt Financing scheme for farmers. The group head, management services of the Exchange, Zaheera Baba-Ari, disclosed the plan in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday. Ms. Baba-Ari said that the scheme would enable farmers to use the…
Finance experts have said rising oil prices is good for the nation’s economy, even though it could have serious implications on the global economy. Bismarck Rewane, an economist with Financial Derivative Company, a finance firm, said “$100 per barrel of oil is ‘good’ for Nigeria but bad for the global recovery. Oil at over $100pb is bad for the dollar…
The Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, has refused to name the proposed bidders as it divests from four of its oil blocks, after a similar exercise last year. Precious Okolobo, a spokesperson of the company, said there is no official comment on the process. However, some international dailies reported that final bids should have been conducted mid January, with winners…
The Central Bank of Nigeria has rolled out penalties to be meted out to recalcitrant operators who have ignored its regulations in a bid to protect Automated Teller Machines (ATM) users. In a circular last Monday, the CBN expressed displeasure at the impunity with which some operators have disregarded previous circulars and guidelines. “The bank has observed, with great concern,…
High international commodities prices and a weakening shilling against the dollar are expected to cushion Kenyan listed agricultural stocks from inflationary pressures and the effects of a biting drought, analysts said. Kenya’s metrological department indicated in a forecast report in January that drought conditions are expected to plague the nation for the next three months, reducing agricultural output in the…