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BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Nigeria to exit recession by Q1 2021; Food prices increased in October; See other stories that made our pick

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Nigeria retains position, scores lower in global competitiveness index

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:

  • Emefiele projects Nigeria to exit recession by Q1 2021
  • Nigeria losing daily share of African market due to border closure —MAN
  • Nigeria’s forex reserves enough to meet seven-month import needs –Emefiele
  • Food prices increased in October – NBS

Summary:

The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN, Godwin Emefiele, said on Friday the country could exit recession by the first quarter of 2021. Emefiele, who spoke at the 55th Annual Bankers Dinner organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos, also projected a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 2.0 percent in 2021.

He said because of the impacts of COVID-19 on key economic variables such as crude oil, the fiscal and monetary authorities had taken unprecedented measures to prevent long-term damage to the growth prospects of the economy. Read more

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Friday said members were losing their share of the African manufacturing industry to other countries on the continent on a daily basis on account of closure of Nigerian land borders.

MAN president, Mansur Ahmed, disclosed in a statement titled ‘MAN’s Position on the Reopening of Land Border Closure’, that key producers of cement, tobacco, polypropylene bags, toiletries, beverages as well as the cosmetic industry were conceding markets they struggled to gain in the West and Central African regions. Read more

Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves, which come to $35.4 billion, are adequate to meet import needs and services for seven months, Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) chief told bankers Friday night.

Read also: BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Naira weakens to N478 on parallel market; Nigeria to import oil from Niger; See other stories that made our pick

Emefiele said in Lagos at a dinner arranged by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria that the twin factors of foreign portfolio investors exit from the Nigerian economy and fall in crude oil proceeds weighed on forex availability in the country. Read more

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday the prices of some major selected food items increased last month. In its report on Food Price Watch for the month, NBS said the prices of commodities, including eggs, increased during the month.

According to the bureau, the average price of 1kilogramme of tomato increased year-on-year by 31.81 percent and month-on-month by 7.22 percent to N307.63 in October from N286.92 in the previous month. Read more

On NSE ROUNDUP: Investors’ confidence lifts year-to-date return to 30%

Increasing optimism in Nigerian stocks delivered both a 2.2% or N390.257 billion rise in market capitalisation this week and upped the yield on investment of 29.97% from the start of the year to date.

The central bank, rising from its last monetary policy committee meeting for this year on Tuesday, retained the benchmark interest rate at 11.5% to allow existing monetary strategies to run their cross across the economy and this could sustain the current growth level till the end of the year or even extend it. Read more

MEANWHILE, on the tech scene, this week, Young Ifeoluwa got the attention of the world after emerging as a star robotics engineer at age 11 with his agro solution design. Another interest is Seso’s expansion to South Africa and Ghana as it looks to scale beyond the borders of Nigeria.

The week also opened an opportunity window for startups with the Venture for Africa’s new call for applications. Reviewers noted that the organization did this as a way to help startup leaders to scale. Read full review.

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.

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