Business
NGX emerges as second best-performing market in Africa
![](https://bodexng.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/NGX-suspends-trading-in-shares-of-Sterling-Bank.jpg)
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) has emerged as one of the best-performing exchanges in Africa during a 3-month duration.
Investors’ confidence in Nigeria’s stock market has remained strong despite concerns about soaring inflation, interest rate hikes, and weak macroeconomic indices.
In a statement made available by the NGX, according to African markets, a website tracking the performance of exchanges in Africa, the Ghana Stock Exchange (+22.84%) emerged first while NGX (+19.33%) emerged second on the list, followed by Malawi stock exchange (+15.79%).
15-year high
This development has pushed the market to its 15-year high on the back of strong positive sentiments, as the market capitalization listed value of equities, which opened the trading month of August at N35.011 trillion, closed the month at N36.422 trillion, hence gaining N1.41 trillion.
On the other hand, the All-Share Index (ASI), which is the broad index that measures the performance of Nigerian stocks, opened the trading month at 64,337.52 index points at the beginning of trading on August 3, 2023, and closed at 66,548.99 points at the end the month on August 31, gaining 2,211.47 basis points or 3.44%.
The bullish trend can be attributed to investors’ jostling for low, medium, and high-capitalized stocks across some major sectors amid favourable policies introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s new administration such as the removal of fuel subsidies, unification of exchange rate, investors’ strategic positioning themselves and taking advantage of the recent record earnings posted by quoted firms and the recent formation of the country’s economic cabinet and executives.
Interestingly, the market traded in mixed sentiments during the month under review.
Analysts at the United Capital in their H1 2023 review and H2 2023 outlook report said that keeping in view that two key factors which have kept the development of the real sector suppressed (elevated interest rate and foreign exchange losses), they expect the new policies of the new administration particularly the “Unification of the exchange rate”, and “Advocacy for a Lower Interest rate Environment” to stand as a significant upside for the earnings performance of listed Nigerian corporates, which will bolster investors’ confidence toward listed corporates, particularly in earning seasons (H1-2023, and Q3-2023 earnings season).
“Overall, we anticipate a broadly favourable market for the Equities Market in H2-2023, supported by the above expectations.
For the fixed-income market, we believe the new administration’s objective to dampen the interest rates environment will continue to provide enough incentive for the CBN to leave the financial system mostly liquid, in a bid to stimulate activities in the real sector.
The MPR and improved foreign participation are two strong factors to determine the trend of yields from the mid-long end of the curve.
That said, we forecast that the equities market will be the most favourable market segment for both foreign and local investors.
A strong incentive will be the cheaper Naira, removal of multiple taxations, and easy repatriation of FX by foreign investors,” they said.
Reacting to the performance of the market, market analysts maintained that most investors, particularly domestic investors are optimistic that the economy will take shape soon, hence the reason the stock market is defying current macroeconomic uncertainties.
Cordros Research in their Market review and outlook for financial markets titled; Veering from the watershed point, stated that the equities market resilience reflects heightened investor optimism for domestic growth with the new administration’s promulgation of long-needed policies.
According to the report, the implementation of policy reforms, accommodative monetary policy, and resilient corporate earnings have so far supported buying activities in August.
The report further said that:
“Even though foreign investors are expected to stay on the sidelines as long as FX illiquidity issues persist, its baseline expectation is that the market will deliver a positive return of 25.8% in the full year of 2023”.
Business
Bank of Industry secures €1.42bn global syndication loan
![](https://bodexng.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Bank-of-Industry-secures-E1.42bn-global-syndication-loan.webp)
The Bank of Industry (BoI) says it secured €1.425 billion from the senior phase of its global loan syndication scheme.
In a statement on Thursday, the BoI said the loan is largest in its history and represents a 42.5 percent oversubscription from international financial markets.
The bank said the facility includes a fully and partially guaranteed tranche by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).
“Previously, Bank of Industry had raised EUR 1,000,000,000 via a Term Loan syndicated facility In July 2022, which has been successfully repaid in July 2024,” the statement reads.
“The performance of the syndication is a mark of confidence in the bank and indeed in the Nigerian economy by foreign investors who perceive a bright future for the country.”
The BoI said proceeds of the loan would help to finance a growing demand for its funds across the country.
According to the statement, the bank appointed the AFC and Standard Chartered Bank as the global coordinators for the €1 billion syndicated term loan facility (with an accordion of another €1 billion).
“Africa Finance Corporation, African Export-Import Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, FirstRand Bank Limited (London Branch), acting through its Rand Merchant Bank division, Mashreqbank psc, SMBC Bank International pic, and Standard Chartered Bank were appointed as the initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners,” the BoI said.
“Absa Bank Limited (acting through its corporate and investment banking division) and its affiliates and Export-Import Bank of India London Branch have also joined the facility as initial mandated lead arrangers.”
The bank said it is looking forward to a successful conclusion of the ongoing general phase, given the level of interest expressed by local and international banks and investors.
Speaking on the transaction, Olasupo Olusi, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the bank, attributed the achievement to the hard work and dedication of the institution’s management.
“This the largest syndication in the Bank’s history and is testament to the hard work and dedication of the management of Bol to ensuring that much needed low interest and longer tenured funds are available to Nigeria’s growing private sector in line with the vision of his excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Olusi said.
“We are grateful for the support received from the CBN and other agencies of government.”
Olusi assured that the bank, under his leadership, would continue to work with global development financial institutions to ensure better loan terms for Nigeria’s private enterprises.
Business
CBN sells FX to BDCs at N1,580/$
![](https://bodexng.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/us-dollar-forecast-2023.webp)
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the sale of dollars to bureau de change (BDC) operators at N1,580/$.
In a circular signed by W.J Kanya, acting director, trade and exchange department, on Friday, each BDC can get foreign exchange (FX) of $20,000.
“This is to inform the Bureau De Change (BDC) Operators and the general public that we are providing more liquidity into the market,” CBN said.
“To this end, the CBN has approved the sale of US$20,000.00 to each eligible BDC at the rate of N1,580/$.
“This is to meet the demand for invisible transactions.”
According to the apex bank, all BDCs are allowed to sell to eligible end-users at a margin not more than 1 percent above the purchase rate from CBN.
CBN also directed interested eligible BDCs to make the naira payment to the CBN deposit account numbers with them.
“Also, payment confirmation and all necessary documentation for disbursement are to be submitted at the appropriate CBN branches – (Abuja, Awka, Kano and Lagos) for collection of the US$20,000.00,” CBN added.
On July 18, CBN approved the sale of FX to BDC operators at N1,450 per dollar to meet the demand for invisible transactions.
Business
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov addresses accusations and charges in an official Statement
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has responded to the accusations and charges leveled against him by French authorities for the first time since his arrest last month.
The Russian Billionaire founder of Telegram, a social media app that now boasts 950 million global users, was arrested in France upon touching down at the airport to honour French President Emmanuel Macron’s invitation to dinner.
Durov took to his Telegram channel to drop his official statement on the imbroglio, which has now been stretched for more than a week.
In his statement, Durov addressed Telegram’s challenges in moderating content but also stated that Telegram already has a European Union compliance officer who oversees Telegram’s compliance with EU laws.
He also criticized the approach of holding Tech founders culpable for the actions of its users as misguided. Durov’s statement also addressed the manner he was accosted by French authorities despite having better alternatives. He thanked the crypto community for their continued support.
“ Thanks everyone for your support and love!
Last month I got interviewed by police for 4 days after arriving in Paris. I was told I may be personally responsible for other people’s illegal use of Telegram because the French authorities didn’t receive responses from Telegram.
- Telegram has an official representative in the EU that accepts and replies to EU requests. Its email address has been publicly available for anyone in the EU who googles “Telegram EU address for law enforcement”.
- The French authorities had numerous ways to reach me to request assistance. As a French citizen, I was a frequent guest at the French consulate in Dubai. A while ago, when asked, I personally helped them establish a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France.
- If a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start legal action against the service itself. Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach. Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for the potential abuse of those tools. “Durov Stated
Durov lamented the difficulty in finding a balance between Privacy and security and what it takes to strike a much-needed balance.
“Establishing the right balance between privacy and security is not easy. You have to reconcile privacy laws with law enforcement requirements, and local laws with EU laws. You have to take into account technological limitations”. Durov added.
-
Crime7 days ago
NDLEA intercepts 31 million pills, bottles of opioids worth N17.9billion at Lagos, PH ports
-
Business2 days ago
CAC threatens to shut down unregistered PoS businesses as September 5 deadline lapses
-
Business6 days ago
Zenith Bank wins investor confidence in the ongoing rights issue and public offer with N1.00 interim dividend as PBT hits N727 billion in H1 2024
-
Health1 week ago
5 drinks that can damage the kidneys
-
Celebrities1 week ago
Wizkid paid me N10m to play Asake’s ‘Fuji Vibe’ at UK show, says DJ Tunez
-
Crime1 week ago
Lagos task force arrests 25 hoodlums over attacks on motorists
-
World1 week ago
Canada ends visitor-to-work permit policy
-
Politics5 days ago
Kenneth Okonkwo hits Nigerians for not protesting petrol price hike