BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Investors make N102.3bn in five hours; IMF scores CBN’s eNaira ‘disappointingly low’; other stories

Hello, and welcome to the 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:

· IMF scores CBN’s eNaira ‘disappointingly low’, reveals challenges in new report

· IMF approves Ghana’s $3bn loan request

· Investors make N102.3bn in five hours

· Nigerian govt to generate $800m from airports’ concession

Summary:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that the adoption of Nigeria’s digital currency, eNaira, by Nigerians has been disappointingly low.

In a report dated May 2023 and obtained on Friday, titled; “Nigeria’s eNaira, One Year After,” the IMF said the phased approach chosen by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is to blame and its inability to force usage.

According to IMF, downloads have been slow since the eNaira recorded 500,000 downloads when it launched one year ago.

After reaching 500,000 downloads, it took 63 days to record 100,000 downloads. After an additional 143 days, the eNaira peaked at 700,000, but as of the end of November 2021, only 860,000 retail wallet downloads had been recorded, while merchant wallets are only 100,000 downloads.

The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja and the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano have been concessioned by the federal government of Nigeria for periods of 20 and 30 years, respectively.

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At the same time, the federal government hopes to receive $797.4 million (N368.8 billion) in taxes and concession fees from Corporación America Airports, who is the concessionaire.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made this known while speaking with State House Correspondents, on Wednesday, after this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the Ghanaian government’s request for a $3 billion loan.

Ghana had requested the loan following a financial crisis that made it impossible for the country to meet local and international credit obligations.

The loan will be disbursed in tranches, with the IMF releasing $600 million to aid Ghana in its comprehensive reform programme.

Investors in the Nigerian capital market gained N102.3 billion at the close of trading on Tuesday.

This followed the rise in market capitalization from N28.44 trillion to N28.54 trillion after five hours of trading today.

Similarly, the All-Share Index rose by 188.04 basis points to close at 52,419.33, up from 52,231.29 achieved by the bourse on Monday.

Investors coughed out N6.78 billion for 576.85 million shares in 6,143 deals on Tuesday.

On NSE ROUNDUP: Market cap up by N50bn as Nigeria’s capital market rebounds from trading losses

The equity capitalization in the Nigerian capital market rose by 0.15 percent on Friday.

This represented a N50 billion growth in the market capitalization from N28.37 trillion to N28.42 trillion after five hours of trading today.

Similarly, the All-Share Index rose by 78.5 basis points to close at 52,187.93, up from 52,109.43 reported by the bourse the previous day.

Investors traded 810.77 million shares valued at N8.20 billion on Friday.

On the tech scene, Reef, GoGettaz, ChatGPT, Tilta, Ripple, Ma’aden, Port443, Wefox, fitted, WhatsApp, Wasoko, Payment24, Clara were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

Also, a Nigerian startup connecting and empowering tailors, fitted, has announced developing a digital platform that uses machine learning to eliminate inefficiencies in the custom tailoring industry.

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