BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Bitcoin value hits five-month high; IMF projects Nigeria’s economy to grow by 2.7% in 2022; 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:

• Bitcoin’s value hits five-month high
• First Bank confirms Otedola’s acquisition of 5.07% equity stake
• Fuel scarcity looms in Cross River as IPMAN threatens strike
• IMF projects Nigeria’s economy to grow by 2.7% in 2022

Summary:

FBN Holdings (FBNH) Plc, the parent company of First Bank, on Saturday confirmed that Femi Otedola has acquired a 5.07 percent equity stake in the lender.

The confirmation came just 24 hours after the company dismissed the report on the acquisition of shares by the billionaire businessman.

In a statement issued by the Company Secretary, Seye Kosoko, and posted on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited website, FBNH confirmed that Otedola and his nominee now own a 5.07 percent equity stake in First Bank.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday predicted Nigeria’s economy to grow by 2.7 percent in 2022.

The IMF disclosed this in its October Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa titled: “One planet, two worlds, three stories,” made available to journalists at the ongoing Annual Meetings with the World Bank in Washington, United States.

Read also: BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Bitcoin holders pocket $90bn amid surge; Nigeria’s inflation drops to 16.63%; Other stories

It said the growth would be driven by the recovery in non-oil sectors and higher oil prices.

The Cross River State branch of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has stated it may soon quit distributing and selling petroleum products in the state owing to police harassment.

Robert Obi, Chairman at IPMAN’s Calabar depot stated this following another invasion of the union’s secretariat.

He also accused the police of disobeying a court order prohibiting police from meddling in its affairs.

Bitcoin’s price reached $63,261 on Tuesday, the digital asset’s highest market value in five months.

The price surge was influenced by increasing confidence in the most popular cryptocurrency by investors and other members of the Bitcoin community.

However, the figure was 2.50 percent lower than the all-time high of $64,888.99 recorded in May, with the total market valuation rising to $1.18 trillion five days after it stood at $1.12 trillion.

On NSE ROUNDUP: Investors gain N30bn as trading rises by 0.14%

Equity capitalization rose by 0.14 percent at the close of trading on the floor of the Nigerian capital market on Friday.

This followed the increase in the equity capitalization by N30billion to close at N21.79billion compared to N21.76trillion posted by the bourse on Thursday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index was up by 59.15 basis points to stand at 41,763.26 against 41,704.11 recorded the previous day.

Meanwhile, on the tech space, Brass, Baxi and Sendbox were some of the names that made the headlines this week.

Brass, being a Nigerian digital bank, closed a $1.7m funding round while pan-African payments company, MFS Africa, acquired Nigerian fintech startup Baxi.

Also, in the digest we featured the story of Sendbox, a Nigerian e-commerce fulfilment startup, that raised a US$1.8 million seed funding round. Check it out on the tech section.

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