BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Battle for share of cement market, Arik Air’s mess; see other stories that made our pick

Hello and welcome to the Business Roundup this week. Here are the top highlights of events that happened during the week that ushered in the new month of November that you probably missed.

Headlines:

• CCNN, Obu Cement sign merger agreement in a bid to challenge Dangote Cement for market leadership
• Minister writes off Arik as national carrier, advises airline on how to key into govt’s vision
• Google set to acquire Fitbit for $2.1bn in a move to rival Apple
• Nigeria’s foreign reserves shed $1.2b in October

Summary:

In a notification sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the investing public on Wednesday, the board of Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) said it is exploring a merger agreement with Obu Cement Company Plc.

According to the report, the proposed merger was the result of the joint aspiration of both cement companies to expand their frontiers in the Nigerian cement industry. Will this proposed merger, if eventually granted, affect the Dangote Cement? Read full report here.

Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has declared that Arik Air is not qualified as a national carrier. According to Sirika, the current constituted structure of Arik, is not in line with the thinking of the ministry.

The minister stated this on Wednesday in Abuja while briefing State House correspondents after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. Find details here.

American tech firm, Google, in an announcement, on Friday, has agreed to acquire fitness wearable device maker, Fitbit, for the sum of $2.1 billion, in a move to diversify to the wearable technology space.

This move will see Google in another competition with iWatch maker, Apple. Remember that Google is already competing with Apple for market share in the mobile device space. Follow link to read Google’s vision.

A report by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday revealed that Nigeria’s foreign reserves fell by $1.26 billion from $41.76 billion in October 2 to $40.5 billion as of October 30 2019.

It was observed that the reserves had continued to fall in recent months, dropping by $482.18m from N45.14bn as of July 8 to $44.65bn as of August 8 2019. Read more from the CBN’s report.

On NSE ROUNDUP: University Press, Cornerstone Insurance led gainers though the bourse closed week bearish.

Read also: BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Nigeria’s viable States, World Bank’s country ranking; see other stories that made the pick

The Nigerian Stock Exchange closed the week on a bearish note despite having 3 days of bullish trade. The market opened at 26,348.73 basis points and closed on Friday at 26,293.30, shedding .43 points. Week to date, the market went down by 0.21%, while on a year to date basis the market is by 16.34%.

During this week’s trading, 1.5 billion shares valued at N16.2 billion exchanged hands in 15,544 deals by investor compared to 2.1 billion shares worth 16.1 billion traded in 13,508 deals. See the 27 equities that appreciated in value during the week.

Meanwhile, on our editorial Business Review segment;

On Wednesday, we looked at how the nationwide poor state of infrastructure points to the fact that Nigeria hasn’t shown to be business ready. We agreed with the President when he stated that solving the challenge of infrastructure will go a long way to scale up standard of living and ease of doing business.

However, we listed a number of infrastructures that are in deplorable states, and needing serious attention. Perhaps, the presidency will take a leaf from the piece to address the situation. Also, in the review, see why it is taking a Dangote, Africa’s richest business tycoon, too long to complete his refinery project. Read review.

On Saturday, we shifted focus to recognise strides made by female CEO’s and financial experts. We noted that gone were the days when the female gender only took up jobs as secretaries, officer assistants or storekeepers.

We recognised how things, like times, have changed. And, how women have moved from messengers to managers, and from assistants to directors and top executives in fields that were once dominated by the male counterparts. With this impressive record, however, we wondered why these women have not been well represented in politics. Glance through a list of these women that court our attention.

Bye for now, and see you next week for another yet fresh serving of Business Roundup. For the latest news and updates from around the globe, keep reading Ripples.

 

By Ridwan Adelaja…

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now