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

• Tough time for Nigerian companies as customers buy mostly on credit
• NYSC members receive Unity Bank’s N10m entrepreneurship grant
• Bank assets jump to over N64.32tn
• Shell threatens to leave Nigeria over crude oil theft

Summary:

Nigerian companies are facing a cash crunch which confirms how financially stretched Nigerians are becoming.

Although they are making more sales, Nigeria’s largest listed companies have seen their net cash flow from operating activities reduced to N577.95 billion in March 2022.

This represents a 29.98 percent drop when compared to the N825.52 billion net cash flow stood as at March 2021.

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) Limited on Friday threatened to leave the country over theft of crude oil and production challenges.

The company’s Managing Director, Osagie Okunbor, who stated this at the just concluded Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference in Port Harcourt, said the crude oil theft has resulted in the shutdown of two of its major pipelines.

He said oil theft was one of the reasons Nigeria could not meet its oil production quota of 1.8 million barrels a day imposed on the country Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

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Nigerian banks’ total assets rose by N11.15 trillion in one year to N64.32tn as of the end of April.

This is according to figures obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website.

The data revealed that the assets of commercial banks rose from N53.17 trillion in the corresponding period of 2021. The 2022 numbers showed a 21 per cent increase over the period.

National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members involved in agriculture, bakery, fashion and other small business ventures in Nigeria have received N10 million grant from Unity Bank.

The fund was awarded at the eighth edition of Unity Bank‘s Entrepreneurship Development Initiative, known as Corpreneurship Challenge. Since the programme began in 2019, 88 corp members have received N100 million grant.

The event, which held across 10 states; Rivers, Delta, Sokoto, Edo, Abuja, Akwa-Ibom, Osun, Kano, Bayelsa and Enugu, is an entrepreneurship contest among corpers showcasing their entrepreneurial skills.

On NSE ROUNDUP: Capital market roundup: Investors reduce stock investment, part with N10.36 billion

Investment into the Nigerian capital market took a nosedive this week, with investors trading 822.404 million shares worth N10.366 billion in 20,643 deals within five days.

This fell short of last week’s turnover of 1.348 billion shares valued at N24.487 billion that exchanged hands last week in 22,155 deals.

The Financial Services Industry, Conglomerates Industry and Consumer Goods Industry were the best performing sectors after five days of trading by measure of volumes traded.

On the tech scene, Autochek, Whatsapp, Hyperclear, Flocash, Duhqa, OQC were some of the names that made the headlines this week.

The world’s richest person, Elon Musk, faces a court battle after he terminated his Twitter acquisition deal.

Also, Nigerian Digital automotive commerce company, Autochek, has announced the acquisition of CoinAfrique, for an undisclosed amount to accelerate growth in Francophone African countries.

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