VenturesNow

Nigeria’s SEC talks infrastructure financing, recent delistings ahead of 2024

Published

12 months ago

November 20, 2023

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says it will focus on infrastructure financing through the capital markets in 2024.

The commission’s Director-General, Lamido Yuguda disclosed this during the third quarter post-capital market committee press briefing held in Lagos.

“The goal of the Commission in 2024 is to refocus attention on how we can galvanise capital market money into financing infrastructure. The president mentioned recently that a $1 trillion economy was possible in three years by 2026. And a $3 trillion economy is possible by the end of this decade, and I am one of those who firmly believe that this goal is possible.

“This country has what it takes to do it. This is the direction of the government, and this is what the Securities and Exchange Commission is doing to galvanise the market to help finance infrastructure. This is one area we focused on yesterday (at the CMC meeting), We set up a group to look at what we need to do to further this process”, he said.

Additionally, Mr Yuguda discussed the recent delisting in the capital markets, saying that although the exits were noteworthy, the market still had high capital stocks. This follows announcements by PZ Cussons, Union Bank, and GSK regarding the delisting process from the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE).

The high cost of industrial operations is largely influenced by Nigeria’s epileptic power supply and the extreme rise in the price of diesel has been a clog in the wheel of industrial growth in the country, forcing some multinationals to leave, but Yuguda believes the departures were not as significant as the number of new foreign entrants into Nigeria’s market.

“I’ll correct the elephants that are running in. You mentioned Union Bank and also a few other companies that have exited the market. We sat down and did the math. If you take in the last few years all the companies that have exited and taken their market capitalisation. That is the total value of their entire shareholding; compare it with those of the new companies that came into the market; the ones who exited are less than two per cent”, he said.

VenturesNow

Food prices drive second straight monthly hike in Nigeria’s inflation

Published

2 days ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to official statistics released on Friday, Nigeria’s inflation rate increased for the second consecutive month in October, rising to 33.88% in annual terms from 32.70% in September, mostly as a result of increasing food costs.

In an attempt to boost economic development and strengthen public finances, President Bola Tinubu devalued the naira and reduced subsidies, which caused inflation to spike in the second half of last year.

As the effects of the naira devaluation started to lessen in July of this year, a slew of hikes in the price of petroleum and devastating floods that destroyed crops once again exacerbated pricing pressures, making the greatest cost-of-living crisis in decades worse in Africa’s most populous country.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, price increases for basics such as rice, maize, bread, potatoes, and cooking oil prompted food inflation to surge from 37.77% in October to 39.16% year over year.

This year, more than 1.5 million hectares of agriculture have been damaged by torrential rain and floods in 29 of Nigeria’s 36 states, leaving millions hungry and displacing large numbers of people.

In an effort to curb inflation, the central bank has raised interest rates five times this year. On November 26, it is expected to make its final rate decision of the year.

VenturesNow

MTN financial report reveals drop in group service revenue

Published

2 days ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Due to operational difficulties in Sudan and the depreciation of the Nigerian naira, MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecom provider, announced on Thursday an 18.5% decline in service revenue for the third quarter that concluded on September 30.

With 288 million users in 17 African regions, MTN said that its group service revenue dropped from 156.3 billion rand ($6.99 billion) in the same quarter of the previous year to 127.4 billion rand.

Despite stating that “the naira was less volatile on a sequential basis in Q3 than in preceding quarters,” the business reported a 48.7% decline in MTN Nigeria’s income due to the currency’s depreciation.

Due to a stronger Ugandan shilling than the previous year, Uganda’s largest contributor, MTN South Africa (MTN SA), expanded by a meagre 3.3%.

Due to “subscriber registration regulations in Nigeria and a decline in users in Sudan, where the conflict has displaced millions of people,” the business reported that its subscriber base increased by 1.6% to 288 million.

Given the higher demand in Nigeria despite the legal obstacles, MTN plans to increase its capital expenditures, which it expects would total between 28 and 33 billion rand for the entire year.