BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Arik Air sacks 300 workers; CBN tells court not to unfreeze #EndSARS supporters’ accounts; See other stories that made our pick

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:

• Arik Air sacks 300 workers
• Naira appreciates at parallel market
• CBN eyes $2bn from diaspora remittances
• CBN tells court not to unfreeze #EndSARS accounts

Summary:

Arik Air has sacked over 300 workers following the Covid-19 pandemic that practically shut down the aviation industry in Nigeria for many months.

The affected workers were relieved of their jobs on Friday, December 4, in a statement released by the airline, citing the effect of the pandemic which limited its ability to complete the needed maintenance needed to return its planes to operations and reduced revenue amid rising costs.

Arik Air sacked the 300 workers in a statement signed by Arik Air’s Public Relations Manager, Adebanji Ola, who said the 300 employees became redundant due to the current level of operations. Read more

The difference between the official exchange rate of naira to the U.S. dollar and that of the parallel market tightened to its smallest in three weeks, following the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s introduction of a strategy to ramp up dollar supply to bureau de change operators.

The gulf between both rates narrowed to 24% on Thursday from 32%, following Monday’s announcement by the CBN that it would permit recipients of diaspora remittances to be paid in a foreign currency (dollar). Read more

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it was looking to attract $2 billion in diaspora remittances from Nigerians abroad as the country’s foreign exchange reserves shrink steeply and Africa’s biggest economy faces a liquidity crunch across various segments of its currency market.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday that countries like Pakistan, who shared common demographic character with Nigeria, regularly earned around $2 billion through overseas remittances. Read more

The Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), has insisted that the frozen accounts of #EndSARS campaigners on the orders of Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja, must remain as it continues to investigate allegations of terrorism financing.

Read also: BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Nigeria to exit recession by Q1 2021; Food prices increased in October; See other stories that made our pick

The apex bank had approached the court on Tuesday, December 1, with a counter-affidavit in opposition to a motion on notice filed by Gatefield Nigeria Limited, a company that allegedly sponsored freelance journalists to cover the #EndSARS protests in October. Read more

On NSE ROUNDUP: Trade volume down by 7.8% as stocks yield N131bn

Trade volume was 7.8% weaker on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) this week even though the rate of decline was lower than that of the week before, when liquidity fell by 84%. The bulls had the market in their grip, with the NSE returning N130.985 billion on investment as sentiment remained dominantly positive among investors.

All the key market performance indicators advanced. A negative market breadth was recorded, with 45 losers emerging against 22 gainers. The All-Share Index and market capitalisation respectively grew by 0.72% and 0.75%. While the former closed at 35,137.99 basis points, the latter closed at N18.365 trillion. Read more

MEANWHILE, on the tech scene, this week, Nigeria recorded new rise in its investment opportunities as CcHub added to its initial investment inventory in furtherance to its ambition to provide a platform where technology-oriented people share ideas to solving social problems in Nigeria.

CcHub’s story topped on the mentions table, featuring alongside stories of Airtel’s apologies that trended all week. Also, Nigeria emerged amongst AfDB AgriPitch competition winners, going forward to place Nigeria high amongst top ranking nations who entered for the public competition. Read full review

Thanks for joining the roundup this week. See you next week for another serving of Business Roundup. Don’t forget, for the latest news and updates from around the globe, keep reading Ripples Nigeria.

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