Hello, and welcome to Business Roundup this week. Here, we bring you highlights of events that happened during the week —from the capital market to the mainstream business activities, while not forgetting the tech/economy build up.
Here are the Headlines:
• Nigeria displaces Libya and Angola as Africa’s top oil producer
• Nigerians to pay more on network tariff
• Union Bank’s exit from NGX to cost capital market N193bn
• CBN extends old naira notes’ validity indefinitely
• Oando, Afreximbank sign $800m deal
Summary
Nigeria has ousted Libya, and Angola to regain its position as Africa’s top crude oil producer for October.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) disclosed this in its monthly oil market report released on Monday.
The oil production figures aside from condensate production from the top four oil producers in Africa were stated below:
• Nigeria – 1.35 million barrels per day
• Libya – 1.18 million barrels per day
• Angola – 1.14 million barrels per day
• Algeria – 961,000 barrels per day
The tariff of Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in Nigeria like Globacom, 9mobile, MTN and Airtel may soon be reviewed upward as telecom operators under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) on Thursday said that the current tariff regime in the sector was no longer sustainable.
The Chairman of ALTON, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, dropped this hint in Lagos during a stakeholders’ meeting with the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida while noting that the price review is in line with the rising operating cost, adding that operators are burdened by 52 taxes across the country.
“Our current pricing regime is no longer sustainable. That is the fact, with the way things are going, I am not sure we can sustain this sector with the current pricing regime,” he said.
The exit of Union Bank of Nigeria from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) is poised to shed the sum of N193.7 billion from the bourse.
Union Bank, listed on the NGX (previously known as Stock Exchange) as UBN in 1971 has a market capitalization of N193.7 billion which will be removed from the Exchange’s total market capitalization which closed yesterday at N38.940tr.
It would be recalled that in a notice to the NGX, Union Bank had unveiled the move to delist from the NGX following the acquisition of shareholding by Titan Trust Bank.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended the validity of the old notes indefinitely.
The former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, in October 2022 announced the redesign of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
Emefiele, who announced the move at a media briefing in Abuja, gave January 31 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the old bank notes from circulation.
Oando Plc has signed a $800m deal with the African Export and Import Bank (AFREXIM) at the ongoing Intra-African Trade Fair in Cairo, Egypt to boost the Nigerian oil company’s operation.
The financial package comprises a $500m Senior Secured Reserve Based Lending facility and a $300m Receivables Backed Term Loan facility.
The aim is to fuel a strategic acquisition of a 20 per cent participating interest in the Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited. This includes Oil Mining Leases 60, 61, 62, and 63, as well as the entire issued share capital of NAOC, acquired from Eni S.A.
ON NSE ROUNDUP: Nigeria’s stock market ends trading week with 0.12% ASI growth
The Nigerian capital market ended the week with a 0.12 percent increase in the All-Share Index (ASI) on Friday.
After five hours of trading on Friday, the ASI rose to 71,112.99 from 71,025.16 posted by the bourse the previous day.
For the week, market performance increased by 0.37 percent to 71,112.99 from 70,849.38 recorded at the beginning of the week on Monday.
ON TECH SCENE: Welltec, AKHDAR, Neighbourgood, Lynx, Raiven Capital, Bolt Food, Shekel Mobility, Wicrypt Network, UfarmX, Guideli, Mafhoom Technologies, Pineapple, KudiGo, AltSchool, were some of the names that made the headlines this week.
OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, has sacked its chief executive officer, Sam Altman, over a lack of confidence in his ability.
Also, Zenith Bank of Nigeria, in collaboration with Seedstars, has unveiled Zecathon 3.0, a startup competition designed to identify, support, and mentor MVP-stage startups in Nigeria.
The post BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Nigerians to pay more for network tariff; CBN extends old naira notes’ validity; Other stories appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Top Stories from Ripples Nigeria.