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 N1<strong>26</strong>.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.<strong>26</strong> 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 <strong>26</strong> <strong>Mar</strong>ch <strong>2018</strong> 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 <strong>Mar</strong>ket 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 <strong>Mar</strong>keting, 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 <strong>Mar</strong>ch, 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 <strong>2018</strong> 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 <strong>2018</strong> 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 <strong>2018</strong>, 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 <strong>Mar</strong>ch 20, <strong>2018</strong> 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 <strong>BusinessDay</strong>, 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.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Mar</strong>ch <strong>2018</strong> BUSINESS DAY 23 COMPANIES & MARKETS Business Event R-L: Huub Stokman , CEO, OVH Energy; Nneka Onyeiwu, dealer, Ojodu-Berger Service Station, and Lillian Ikokwu, head, Lubes, OVH Energy <strong>Mar</strong>keting, at the Oleum lubricants shop opening during the MOMTAN secretariat upgrade unveiling ceremony in Agidigbi Mechanic Village, Ikeja, Lagos. R-L: Simon Lalong, Plateau State governor, Ibrahim Idris, inspector general of Police, and others during the commissioning of 51 security vehicles donated by plateau state government to the Police Force in Shendam Jos, Plateau State. L-R: Group Head, Investor Services & Financial Institutions, Transactional Products & Services (TPS), Standard Bank, Charl Bruyns; Chief Executive, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Oscar Onyema; Head, Transactional Products, Standard Bank, Hassan Khan; Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Nominees Ltd, Akeem Oyewale; Executive Director, Stanbic IBTC Nominees Ltd, Babatunde Majiyagbe; and Head, TPS, Stanbic IBTC, Inwang Akpan; during the closing bell ringing ceremony at the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Wednesday <strong>Mar</strong>ch 21, <strong>2018</strong> L-R: Chairman, Senate Committee on Industry, Senator Sam Egwu; Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs,Senator Sabiu Abdullahi and Minister of Trade and Investments, Okechukwu Enelamah at the commissioning of Sunti Golden Sugar Estates, an FMN Group company in Niger state recently
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