BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Oil prices fall on slow coronavirus recovery; Pension assets hit N11.08tn; 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, mainstream business activities while not forgetting the tech/economy build up.

Here are the Headlines:

• FG, States, LGs share N676bn for July
• Oil prices fall on slow coronavirus recovery
• Nigeria contributes 70% of products under ECOWAS trade –FG
• Pension assets hit N11.08tn

Summary:

The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has distributed the sum of N676.407 billion for July 2020 federation account revenue to the federal, states and local government councils and relevant agencies in the country.

This was revealed after the monthly FAAC meeting for August 2020 held virtually on Thursday and chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mahmud Isa-Dutse. Read more

Oil prices slipped further on Friday but came close to a five-month high as a relaxation of coronavirus lockdowns support a slow fuel demand recovery, while top crude producers plan to curb supply.

Brent crude futures dropped by 32 cents or 0.71% to $44.58 per barrel at 10:34 West Africa Time while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down by 34 cents or 0.79% at $42.50 a barrel but on track for a weekly gain of about 1.1%. Read more

Nigeria provides between 60 to 70 per cent of products under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Trade Liberalisation Scheme, the Nigerian government has said, adding that the country has more than 2,400 firms with over 6,900 products under the programme.

Zubairu Dada, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, gave the revelation on Thursday at a consultative workshop on ECOWAS post-2020 Vision and how the new vision 2050 would reflect Nigeria’s interests. Read more

Nigeria’s total pension assets climbed to N11.08 trillion in June, 2.6% higher than the N10.8 trillion recorded the month before despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.

Read also: BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Unemployment rises to 27.1%; FIRS generates N3bn weekly; See other stories that made our pick

The National Pension Commission (PenCom)’s report, ‘Summary of Pension Fund Assets as at 30 June 2020’, obtained on Thursday revealed that N7.45 trillion of total pension funds had been invested in Nigerian government’s securities among which are FGN bonds, agency bonds, treasury bills, sukuk and green bonds. Read more

On NSE ROUNDUP: Market capitalisation improves marginally amidst worsening liquidity

The equity section of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded a loss on Monday but posted gains Tuesday through Friday, resulting in a weekly appreciation of N12.224 billion. The liquidity seen in the market this week was lower than that of last week as volume of trade fell by 28.4%.

All the key market performance indicators closed higher. A positive market breadth was recorded this week as 31 losers emerged against 27 losers. The All Share Index (ASI) and the Market Capitalisation simultaneously advanced by 0.09% to 25,221.87 basis points and N13.158 trillion respectively. Read more

MEANWHILE, a new rival has emerged to compete with existing ride-hailing platforms in South Africa.  Going by the name TaxiLive Africa, the startup is appearing as threat to market leader Uber. While it location of launch might be South Africa, it’s milestones and feat after a couple of months can lead it to consider expansion to Nigeria or any other west African states.

It is noteworthy to mention that the startup is the first e-hailing service to recognises drivers as potential shareholders, having pledged to offer 40% of their profit share to their drivers. Analysts say this is enough bait to win the heart of a mass of hungry, unemployment persons.

However, financial experts have warned about the seemingly unsustainable venture, considering the nature of the market from a business point of view. They, thus, submitted that though the startup might gain quick traction, but the viability of the offering might be slim.

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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