BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Naira devaluation to impact foreign currency loans; Nigerian govt stops sacking of 300 Arik Air staff; 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:

• Nigerian govt stops planned dismissal of 300 Arik Air staff
• Nigerian govt insists on airport concession, national carrier
• Naira devaluation could negatively impact foreign currency loans –Report
• COVID-19 could force Nigerian airlines to merge –NCAA boss

 

Summary:

The Nigerian government Thursday said it had halted the proposed retrenchment of 300 staff of Arik Air.

Musa Nuhu, the director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), stated in Abuja that there was an issue at Arik Air but the dismissal was never implemented.

“There was a threat by one of the airlines (Arik Air) and some disengagement disagreements, but the NCAA intervened,” the NCAA boss said. Read more

The Federal Government on Monday said it would go ahead with its planned airport concession despite widespread opposition to the plan.

The Minister for Aviation, Hadi Sirika revealed the position of government on Monday in his message on the commemoration of the 2020 International Civil Aviation Day, adding that plans for the establishment of a national carrier was still on course.

It would be recalled that federal lawmakers had opposed plans by government on airport concession, with the House of Representatives asking the Federal Government to suspend the plan to concession airports until all issues had been addressed. Read more 

Naira devaluation against other currencies around the world could weigh on loans sourced in foreign currencies and, in so doing, weaken the capital base of banks, the Afrinvest Banking Sector Report for 2020 issued on Tuesday said. The document affirmed that the capital base of the Nigerian banking industry had come under strain by reason of the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards.

The unfriendly business ambience has accelerated the incidence of non-performing loans and substantial write-offs, which has heightened asset deterioration in the loan portfolios of lenders. Read more

Airlines in the Nigerian aviation industry might be compelled by circumstances to embrace merger as a result of the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on business, Musa Nuhu, the director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said.

 

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

The NCAA chief gave the revelation while examining the effects of the pandemic outbreak on the sector during a Nigerian Television Authority programme on Saturday.

“The COVID-19 pandemic exaggerated a bad situation; some airlines may not survive but the industry will come back better. It has always gone through crisis but has come out stronger. The Airlines Operators of Nigeria are coming together to see what they can do to help the situation and they met with me. The industry will be different altogether,” the NCAA boss said. Read more 

On NSE ROUNDUP: Negative sentiment causes investors to lose N464bn

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) this week reported a N463.732 billion loss in market capitalisation as there was a week-long scramble to sell off shares in huge quantities. Trade sessions were bearish Monday through Friday as no gain was recorded.

All the key market performance indicators advanced. A negative market breadth was recorded, with 46 losers emerging against 13 gainers. The All-Share Index and market capitalisation both declined by 2.53%. While the former closed at 34,250.74 index points, the latter closed at N17.902 trillion. Read more

MEANWHILE, on the tech scene, this week, more than anything else, we saw more equity raiser and expansion. That this happened barely few days after the Nigerian population authority, National Population Commission (NPopC) published new figure for the country’s net population points to the fact that investors and international communities are equally studying trends.

Local Fintech player, Indicina raised a 6-figure investment while Nigerian pharma startup Medsaf announced movement into big data. Also during the week, the Federal Government on Thursday directed that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to put in place measures to effect more than 50 per cent reduction in data price. Read more

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.

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