BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Angola is Africa’s biggest oil producer; Nigeria’s Inflation rate rises to 18.6% for June. Other stories

Hello, and welcome to Business Roundup this week. Here, we bring you highlights of events that happened during the week -from the capital market to the mainstream business activities, while not forgetting the tech/economy build up.

Here are the Headlines:

• World Bank ranks Nigeria 8th among countries with worst inflation rates
• Angola edges Nigeria to remain Africa’s biggest oil producer for second straight month
• Investors selling off investments in oil futures over recession fears
• Nigeria’s Inflation rate rises to 18.6% for June
• Economic forecast to change, as IMF warns of cost of living crisis

Summary:
The World Bank has listed Nigeria among the top 10 countries with the worst inflation rates in the world.

In its latest report which was based on 2021 figures and seen by Ripples Nigeria on Saturday, Nigeria was ranked eighth with an annual inflation rate of 16.95 percent.

However, the latest data from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics showed that the country’s inflation jumped to 18.6 percent in June.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has hinted that it will change the institution’s global growth forecast in the wake of soaring historical inflation rate, induced by the Ukraine war.

IMF quoted Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, in a blog post on Friday, where she said the current economic downturn would weigh heavily on poor families, as the crisis raises cost of living, as governments across the world struggle with skyrocketing inflation.

Ripples Nigeria had reported that Nigeria’s inflation hit 18.60% in June, its highest in five years. Also, the United States had released its inflation data, which soared to 9.1% in June, the highest level in the last 41 years.

The National Bureau if Statistics on Friday revealed that the nation’s headline inflation rate increased to 18.60 per cent in June, up from 17.71 per cent in the previous month.

The latest figure is the highest level since January 2017.

The NBS said this in its consumer price index (CPI) report which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services in the country.

Hedge fund managers are selling off oil futures amid fear that projected recession could cause demand for the commodity to drop, thereby, reducing the value in the global market.

Investors trade in oil futures by agreeing to sell or buy crude oil at a certain date and particular price, which is often more than the cost at the period of agreement.

Read also:BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Bank assets jump to over N64.32tn; Shell may leave Nigeria over crude oil theft. Other stories

However, with recession fears gripping the oil market, oil futures traders are dumping their holdings to prevent their investment from losing value as a result of potential economic downturn.

Angola has retained its position as the biggest oil producer in Africa for the second straight month.

New data released by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). on Tuesday shows Angola produced more crude oil than Nigeria in June.

This is despite Nigeria recording its biggest production jump in months by 134,000 barrels per barrel (bpd) to 1.158 million bpd in June from 1.024 million in May, based on direct communication.

On NSE ROUNDUP: Nigeria’s capital market gains N470bn as Wema Bank, Airtel lead recovery

The Nigerian capital market halted its losses following the increase in the market share by 1.70 percent on Friday.

Data obtained from the capital market revealed that the growth lifted the equity capitalisation by N470 billion from N27.68 trillion to N28.15 trillion after eight hours of trading on Friday.

The All-Share Index was up by 876.11 basis points to close at 52,215.12 as against 51,339.01 achieved on Thursday.

On the tech scene, MTN Group, Lightyear, Catalyst Fund, DigsConnec, Capchase, Zazuu, Thunes were some of the names that made the headlines this week.

A Nigerian non-profit social enterprise, Techrity, has announced plans to host a crypto-focused event in Africa.

Also, Nigerian-founded Digital Music and Commerce Exchange Limited (DMCE) has announced partnership with ChordCash to launch Orin Fund for African Artistes.

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