BUSINESS ROUNDUP: UK drugmaker GSK exits Nigeria, Naira devaluation impedes MTN Nigeria’s earnings and other stories

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:

· UK govt to partner with Nigerian Exchange Limited

· FCCPC deletes list of approved loan apps after investigation

· UK drugmaker GSK exits Nigeria

· NNPC to construct 35 CNG stations as a solution to hike in fuel prices

Summary:

In response to the hike in fuel prices in recent months, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has moved to construct 35 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations in the country.

The NNPC spokesman, Garba Muhammad, who disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, said the company would collaborate with NIPCO Gas Limited for the construction of the CNG stations.

Muhammad said the purpose of the CNG stations was to serve as a cheaper alternative to Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as fuel.

Employees at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Nigeria will lose their jobs this year as the company has announced that it would shut down operations.

The company said it failed to retain the approval for the distribution of vaccines and medicines produced by GlaxoSmithKline Group in the United Kingdom.

The firm was the sole distributor of drugs produced by GlaxoSmithKline UK, but the foreign manufacturer has chosen to appoint a different local distributor.

The UK government has announced that it would continue its focus on building future investments in Nigeria as well as its collaboration with Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

This, it said, was aimed at unlocking the pathway to success in the Nigerian economy.

The UK Secretary of State, Hon. James Cleverly, stated this during the closing gong ceremony held on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Tuesday.

The list of approved loan apps in Nigeria has been deleted from the website of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

READ ALSO: BUSINESS ROUNDUP: CBN under probe for withholding excess crude investment; Nigeria’s foreign reserves slump after Tinubu’s forex reforms; Other stories

FCCPC said it deleted the list to clean up the register.

“The list is undergoing a clean-up and will be made available as soon as possible,” the commission wrote on its website Wednesday.

FCCPC had earlier revealed that some registered Digital Money Lenders (DML) apps cleared to operate quick loans in Nigeria have duplicated their apps by operating an Android app on Google Playstore and Android Package Kits (APK) file formats.

On NSE ROUNDUP: Investors lose N35.3bn despite gains in Glaxo SmithKline, Cadbury, and others

Investors in the Nigerian capital market lost N35.6 billion at the close of trading on Friday.

This followed a 0.09 percent dip in the value of investments in the capital market from N35.51 trillion to N35.47 trillion at the close of the day’s business.

The All-Share Index dropped by 64.98 basis points to close at 65,198.08, down from 65,263.06 ASI posted by the bourse on Thursday.

Shareholders traded 363.14 million shares worth N6.07 billion in 6,644 deals on Friday.

This fell short of the 445.27 million shares valued at N5.08 billion traded by the shareholders in 7,095 deals the previous day.

On the tech scene, REdimension, Binance, Airalo, FastaMoni, Zuri Health, Remedial Health, Medius, Getir, and Ethereum, were some of the names that made the headlines this week.

Binance, the leading cryptocurrency exchange, traded $90 billion worth of cryptocurrency-related assets in a single month in China despite the ban on trading in the country since 2021.

Also, Nigerian health-tech startup, Remedial Health, has raised $12 million through equity investment and debt funding from venture capital and financial institution.

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