| Punch
NBS to release Q3 growth data as MPC meets today The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee will on Monday (today) and Tuesday hold its final meeting for the year, to deliberate on key issues affecting the economy. Development bank to release more funds for MSMEs The Development Bank of Nigeria has said it will enter into a strategic partnership with Deposit Money Banks and microfinance banks to enable it to release more funds to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sector. ‘Nigeria earned N69.2bn from solid minerals in one year’ Nigeria earned N69.2bn from solid minerals in 2015, representing an increase of 24 per cent on the N55.8bn generated from the sector in 2014, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative announced on Sunday. NNPC, Chevron sign final phase of $1.7bn deal The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Chevron Nigeria Limited have executed the second and final phase of an alternative financing agreement expected to increase crude oil production in the country by about 39,000 barrels per day from the Sonam and Okan fields located in the OML 90 and 91 of the Niger Delta. This Day Market Turns Bearish on MSCI’s Reclassification The Nigerian equities market reversed the gains recorded last week as foreign investors and domestic institutional adopted cautious trading and profit taking following the decision of Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) to delete FBN Holdings, Forte Oil Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc and PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc from its Main Frontier Markets Indexes. Glo, Airtel, Dangote, Seven Others Advance to Final Stage in 9mobile Bid The scramble to acquire 9mobile, Nigeria’s fourth largest network operator, has advanced to the next stage, with 10 out of the 16 firms that submitted expressions of interest (EoIs) for the telecoms firm, prequalified by Barclays – the financial adviser to the deal – to proceed to the financial bid stage of the exercise. Afreximbank Raises $150m in Samurai Syndicated Term Loan Facility The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has successfully completed its first ever Samurai Syndicated Term Loan Facility, raising the equivalent of US$150 million, comprising two tranches of Japanese Yen 6.2 billion and US$100 million. Alleged Tax Evasion: Lawmakers Threaten Arrest Warrant against Telecoms CEOs The Chairman, House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the activities of telcoms operators and vendors, Hon. Ahmed Abu (APC, Niger) has threatened to serve bench warrants against chief executives of major telecommunications companies over their failure to appear before it and defend allegations of tax evasion amounting to about N143 billion. Vanguard Cost of funds to fall as over N700bn inflow hit interbank Cost of funds in the interbank money market will decline this week in response to inflow of over N700 billion from matured treasury bills and statutory allocation to the three tiers of government. Insurers groan as premium growth lags behind liabilities The insurance industry, during the nine months period ended September 2017, witnessed marginal growth in gross premium written while claims expenses went up significantly. This development may have put the badly affected underwriters in financial stress. Guardian FG mulls reduced interest rate for local manufacturers in Q1 2018 The Federal Government’s commitment to support and encourage local manufacturing firms through access to cheap funds may soon be realised with the implementation of a reduced interest rate regime for local manufacturers in the first quarter of 2018. |
