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BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Nigeria’s debt to hit N32.87tn; NNPC hikes petrol price. See other stories that made our pick

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BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Nigeria to disconnect Togo and Benin; China displaces America. 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:

  • Nigeria’s debt to hit N32.87tn
  • NNPC hikes petrol ex-depot price to N155, marketers to now sell at N168
  • Foreign exchange reserves hit 12-week low of $35.63bn
  • Nigerian govt owes 3,504 housing contractors N70bn

Summary:

The Nigerian government said it was set to take another $750 million loan facility from Washington-based World Bank to ramp up the economies of states and improve the quality of lives of the vulnerable.

“The Federal Government is in the process of accessing a World Bank loan of $750m on behalf of the states to stimulate the local economy and support vulnerable households’ consumption,” said Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed on Friday during the inauguration of Federal Steering Committees of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus. Read more

The Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has hitched up the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also called petrol.

It increased the rate at which it sells the product to marketers, from N147.67 per litre to N155.17, equivalent to a 5.1% hike. Marketers are to sell petrol at a price anywhere between N168 and N170 with effect from Friday (today), a memo signed by Tijani Ali, PPMC Marketing manager said. Read more

Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves plunged to a 12-week low of $35.63 billion on Wednesday, its lowest point since 21st August, when $35.607 billion was recorded, data gleaned from the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) on Friday showed.

The reserves have been recording falls in recent months, dipping to $35.69 billion on 28th October from the $35.74 billion reported on 30th September. Read more

Read also: BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Nigeria received $26.94bn in foreign donations; Power generation records all-time peak; See other stories that made our pick

Babatunde Fashola, the minister of works and housing, has said his ministry was indebted to 3,504 contractors executing housing projects countrywide to the tune of N69.91 billion.

He told the committee of the National Assembly on housing on Thursday during his 2021 budget defence session that the intervention of the lawmakers were required on how to clear the indebtedness, considering that the ministry’s allocation of N76.4 billion in next year’s budget was well below the outlay needed to implement its 186 projects across Nigeria. Read more

On NSE ROUNDUP: Market returns biggest weekly gain as fixed-income fund chase stocks

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) reported a humongous return this week, with an outpouring of funds from the fixed income market, where yields are currently low, seeking equity investment at all costs.

Liquidity was at its full throttle and the frenzied rush for stocks on Thursday not only forced the NSE authority to quickly halt trade and summon an emergency meeting to curb the sudden volatility but also pushed that day’s gain to N1.084 trillion, equivalent to more than half of the whole week’s gain. Read more

MEANWHILE, on the tech scene, taking off from the previous week, Nigeria, again, recorded yet another significant momentum as it pushes towards becoming the tech-capital of Africa. Kuda Bank led on the fund raiser table, netting US$10M from foreign venture capital.

Aside equity raiser, the week also featured product launch, where Xend pushed out its decentralised platform to distrust the Fintech ecosystem. Other major events include expansion and noteworthy wins by Nigerian startup. 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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