BusinessDay 26 Mar 2018

22
BUSINESS DAY
COMPANIES & MARKETS
NSE market capitalisation
drops N59bn
Activities on the Nigerian
Stock Exchange
(NSE) closed on a
negative note on Friday
with the market capitalisation
shedding N59 billion.
The market capitalisation
lost N59 billion or 0.39 per
cent to close at N14.981 trillion
against N15.040 trillion
on Thursday.
Also, the All-Share Index
dipped 161.69 points or 0.39
per cent to close at 41,472.10
compared with 41,633.79
achieved on Thursday.
Nestle topped the losers’
chart, dropping by N13.30 to
close at N1,317 per share.
It was followed by Dangote
Cement trailed with a loss of
N9.90 to close at N255, while
Presco was down by N3.30 to
close at N68.70 per share.
Nigeria Breweries depreciated
by N1.40 to close at
N126.30, while PZ Industries
fell by N0.95 kobo to close at
N22.05
On the other hand, Lafarge
Africa led the gainers’ table
growing by N2.50 to close at
N50 per share.
GT Bank followed with
a gain of N1.95 to close at
N46.90, while Zenith International
Bank increased by
N1.40 to N30.20 per share.
Cadbury advanced by
N1.30 kobo to N14.55, while
GlaxosmithKline added N1.20
to close at N25.50 per share.
AIICO Insurance led the
activity chart during the day,
trading 139.34 million shares
worth N94.83 million.
Access Bank’s 39.06 million
shares cost N105.39
million, while FBN Holdings
transacted 36.97 million
shares valued at N452.26
million.
However, GT Bank accounted
for 34.31 million
shares valued at N1.58 billion.
Over all, the volume of
shares traded appreciated by
3.28 per cent with a total of
560.12 million shares worth
N6.76billion in 4,605 deals.
This was against 542.35
million shares worth N7.35
billion achieved in 5,039 deals
on Thursday.
C002D5556
Monday 26 March 2018
CBN sustains intervention in foreign
exchange market with $339.89m
The Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN)
on Friday sustained
its intervention
in the
Foreign Exchange market by
injecting 339.89 million dollars
in the Retail Secondary
Market Intervention Sales
(SMIS) segment.
The Acting Director, Corporate
Communications
Department, CBN, Isaac
Okoroafor in a statement
on Friday, said the continued
interventions were in
line with CBN’s pledge to
sustain market liquidity in
order to boost production
and trade.
Okoroafor said that the
amount released was for
requests in the agriculture,
airlines, petroleum products
and raw materials, and machinery
sectors.
According to Okoroafor,
the feedback from
the wholesale and retail
segments of the Nigerian
Foreign Exchange markets
showed that customers are
R-L: Huub Stokman , CEO, OVH Energy; Nneka Onyeiwu, dealer, Ojodu-Berger Service Station,
and Lillian Ikokwu, head, Lubes, OVH Energy Marketing, at the Oleum lubricants shop opening
during the MOMTAN secretariat upgrade unveiling ceremony in Agidigbi Mechanic Village, Ikeja,
Lagos.
satisfied with their level of
access to foreign exchange.
He also assured Nigerians
that the recent
confirmation of Deputy
Governors and Monetary
Policy Committee (MPC)
nominees by the Senate
would further spur the
bank toward taking sound
decisions needed for economic
development.
Recall that the apex bank
had on 19 March, injected
210 million dollars into the
Wholesale segment of the
foreign exchange market.
Meanwhile, the naira
exchanged at N362 to a dollar
in the Bureau de Change
segment of the market.
Afreximbank opens $800m credit lines in
55 banks to facilitate letters of credit
The African Export-
Import Bank (Afreximbank)
says it has
opened credit lines
amounting to $800 million in
55 banks across Africa to facilitate
the confirmation of letters
of credit to support intra-African
trade.
This is contained in a statement
by Obi Emekekwue, the
bank’s Director and Global
Head, Communications and
Events Management Department.
The statement quoted
the bank’s President, Benedict
Oramah, as disclosing the strategy
at the signing of African
Continental Free Trade Area
(AfCFTA) agreement in Kigali.
Oramah said that under
the strategy launched in 2016,
about $25 billion would be
disbursed in support of intra-
African trade during the five
years ending in 2021.
He said that the bank’s goal
was to extend such lines to at
least 500 banks in all African
countries by 2021 in order to
significantly reduce the cost of
intra-African trade finance.
According to him, the aim is
to counter the constraints posed
by country risks associated with
the confirmation of such letters
of credit.
Oramah said that Afreximbank
was also on the verge
of launching an intra-African
trade platform that would facilitate
the clearing and settlement
of intra-African trade transactions
in African currencies.
He said the platform would
significantly reduce the use of
hard currencies in the settlement
of such trade.
He said that 44 African countries
had so far signed the Agreement
Establishing the AfCFTA,
while 43 countries signed the
Kigali declaration for the launch
of the AfCFTA.
He said 25 countries had
also signed the protocol to the
treaty establishing the African
Economic Community relating
to Free Movement of Persons,
Right of Residence and Right of
Establishment.
Afreximbank is the foremost
pan-African multilateral
financial institution devoted to
financing and promoting intraand
extra-African trade.
The bank was established
in October 1993 by African
governments, African private
and institutional investors and
non-African investors.
Since 1994, it has approved
more than $51 billion in credit
facilities for African businesses,
including about $10.3 billion
in 2016.
TAGEXPO 2018 partners Kreativ Management on property expo
As part of effort to grow
the Real Estate sector
in Nigeria, TAGEXPO
have partnered with
“Kreativ Management Limited”
– a financial advisory and solutions
firm to host the 2018 edition
of the Real Estate Exhibition and
Trade Show.
Speaking on the occasion,
Ejoh, who is the convener of the
TAGEXPO and chief marketing
officer T. A. G Nigeria Limited,
said the decision to partner with
Kreativ Management Limited
is in line with the TAGEXPO’s
growth plan, following a successful
two year run.
Ejoh said TAGEXPO has positioned
itself as the go-to source
for Real Estate solutions for
Diaspora Nigeria, and this year’s
event in the UK and US, in June
2018, will further establish that
KREATIV FINANCE provides
Financing Support, Business
Advisory and Payday Finance
services specifically designed
to meet the unique needs and
purposes of its clients.
According to the organisers,
the TAGEXPO is a 1-day Real
Estate fair that gives real estate
developers and stakeholders
in Nigeria the opportunity to
display their unique housing
products and solutions to the
vast crowd of already identified
target market made up of successful
Nigerian professionals
in key positions within various
industries in the host country,
who either want to return home
or are seeking investment opportunities
back in Nigeria, with
a focus on but not limited to
Lagos and Abuja.
The partnership agreement
was signed on Tuesday March
20, 2018 at a closed ceremony
which was higlighted by the
formal agreement presentation
by the Principal partners of both
organizations - Opeoluwa Osho
of Kreativ Management Limited
and Michael Ejoh for T. A. G Nigeria,
the concept developers of
the TAGEXPO.
In a release sent to BusinessDay,
Osho said his team
had carefully considered the
TAGEXPO as a viable solution to
the challenges facing Nigerians
in the Diaspora who needed real
estate advice and a connection to
credible developers from whom
they can purchase property in
Nigeria.
Open Banking Nigeria debuts to offer
banks opportunity for revenue growth
HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE
Open Banking Nigeria,
an initiative designed
to enhance
and improve banking
experience, officially debuts with
opportunity for banks to grow
more revenue from additional
transactions powered by open
banking and driven by Fintechs.
The concept of Open Banking
has been gathering waves
over the years but reached a watershed
with the pronouncement
of the PSD2. Beyond Europe,
countries such as Australia, Hong
Kong, United Kingdom, and
Nigeria are at various stages of
review, design or implementation
of Open Banking.
Open Banking brings immense
benefits to customers,
banks and Fintechs.
It would provide customers
with innovative products such as
single view banking apps, power
services such as robo-advisory.
Banks would see more revenue
from additional transactions
powered by Fintechs.
The transformation that
Open Banking would bring to
the financial industry would be
more impactful than the ATM
and interbank transfer as it frees
banks and Fintechs to expand
their sphere of innovation tremendously.
In his opening remarks at the
official launch of Open Banking,
Adedejo Olowe, Trustee Open
Banking Nigeria, described the
advent of Open Banking to the
emergence of ATMs in Nigeria
where all the banks came together
and decided to adopt a
single standard.
He explained that they went
as far as contributing into creating
a shared platform in Interswitch.
Consequently, for the
first time, customers could visit
any bank ATM and withdraw
cash, transfer money and buy
airtime, amongst other transactions
they could do, without
thinking if the terminal belongs
to their bank or not.
“Banks have subsequently
worked together to standardize
on POS, NUBAN accounts, BVN,
watch-list, among others,” said
Olowe. Among the panellists
who spoke at the event are Ladi
Asuni, Associate Director at
KPMG (Moderator), Tobi Boshoro,
Divisional Head of Ebanking,
Stanbic IBTC, Ayowole Popoola,
Group Head, Operational and IT
Risk Management, Fidelity Bank
Plc and Akin Sawyerr, Director,
Kinexus Limited.
They agreed that the benefits
of open banking far outweigh
its downside as it helps to drive
financial inclusion, makes transaction
seamless and cheaper.
Opeyemi Ndukwe, Management
Consultant, Blue Advisory,
during her keynote presentation
described the current challenges
and opportunities within the
financial industry and how collaboration
and partnership will
help take the industry to the
Promised Land.