MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Glo, and other telecom operators made a whopping N3.33 trillion as revenue from calls, data, SMS, and other telecom services in 2022, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said in its 2022 Subscriber/Network Data Annual Report.
According to the commission, the total number of active subscribers increased from 195,463,898 subscriptions in 2021 to 222,571,568 active voice subscriptions as of December 2022, a 13.86 percent year-on-year increase.
“The increase in the Operators’ subscriber base was attributed to a number of reasons which includes subscriber loyalty, promos, seasonal effects, aggressive consumer acquisition drive, and competitive product offerings across all the networks,” the commission said.
It noted that the growth in active subscriptions impacted positively on other derived telecom indicators such as teledensity, Internet penetration as well as broadband penetration.
Data usage also continued its surge in 2022. It increased by 46.77 per cent to 518,381.78TB as of the end of the year.
The NCC stated, “There was an increase in the volume of data consumed at the year-end December 2022 when compared with the year-end December 2021.
The total volume of data consumed by subscribers increased to 518,381.78TB as of December 2022 from 353,118.89TB as of December 2021, representing an increase of 46.77 per cent in data consumption within the period,” the report said.
Author: Chike Ozohili
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Telcos rake in N3.33trn revenue from data, other services —NCC
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Naira drops to new low of N923-950 per dollar
The naira extended its slump in black-market trading as the nation’s dollar shortage deepened two months after the central bank moved to a more flexible exchange rate to encourage inflows.
The naira weakened to N923 per dollar, compared with N917 on Wednesday.
Traders in Lagos said it worsened to an all-time low of N950 to one dollar at the parallel market on Thursday afternoon as against the N897 it traded at the previous day.
At the official window, data showed that the naira closed at N782.38 per $1.
The disparity is now N167.62/$1 one of the widest since the unification of the naira on June 14th, 2023.
Banks have been unable to come up with the dollars to meet demand, and buyers are increasingly turning to the black market, widening the gap between the official exchange rate and the price on the street.
On Tuesday, the naira plunged to a record low of N900/$1 on the parallel market on Tuesday, August 8, 2023, as demand for foreign currency outstripped supply with traders quoting the exchange rate as high as N900/$1 for “inflows” and N895/$1 for cash trades.
The peer-to-peer market, where crypto-currency traders exchange forex, also saw the exchange rate soar above N900/$1.
Meanwhile, in the official Investor and Exporter Window, the exchange rate closed at N774.78/$1 while the NAFEX rate was N776.
The official market also faces supply constraints, with daily turnover averaging $80 million since July.
Forex traders who attributed the depreciation of the naira to a scarcity of supply, said that there were more buyers than sellers in the market and that the situation was unlikely to improve anytime soon.
When asked about the source of the increased demand, traders mentioned a diverse set of buyers, including importers, foreign travelers, and speculators.
There are concerns among some traders that the state of depreciation is unlikely to improve as demand continues to rise unchecked.
Forex analysts explained that there was a huge backlog of unmet forex demand in the official market, estimated at $8-10 billion.
Some of this demand also spills over to the parallel market, as buyers struggle to find enough supply to meet their needs in the official market.
The exchange rate between the naira and dollar has weakened by 16 per cent since the reunification of the exchange rate windows. This compares to a depreciation of 2.5 per cent between January 1 and June 14th. The exchange rate weakened by 22.9 per cent in the whole of 2022.
The naira has been under pressure in the parallel market for several weeks, as the supply of forex from official sources remains inadequate.
On July 1st, the beginning of the second half of the year, the exchange rate in the parallel market was around N772/$1.
However, a surge in demand from various segments of the economy, such as importers, foreign travelers and speculators, has triggered exchange rate volatility.
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NGX moves northward, gains N565bn
Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange on Thursday closed northward, gaining N565 billion following gains recorded by Dangote Cement, Unilever, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, FBNHoldings among others.
The market capitalisation of equities on Thursday appreciated by 1.62 per cent to close at N35.483 trillion from N34.918 trillion reported the previous day.
The NGX All Share Index also appreciated by 1037.43 basis points to 65204.82 points from 64167.39 points traded on Wednesday.
A reviews of the investment during the day showed that Chellaram Plc led gainers table in percentage terms, gaining 10 per cent to close at N4.40 per share, SCOA Plc followed with a gain of 9.35 per cent to close at N1.17 per share, Dangote Cement gained 9.34 per cent to close at N349.90 per share, Thomas Way added 9.32 per cent to close at N1.29 per unit, Cornerstone Insurance increased by 9.09 per cent to close at N1.08 per share.
On the contrary, Cap Plc topped losers chart, shedding 10 per cent to close at N19.80 per share, Academy Press trailed with a loss of 9.36 per cent to close at N2.13 per unit, Dangote Sugar Refinery dipped by 6.63 per cent to close at N32.40 per unit, Glaxo Smithkline fell by 6.60 per cent to close at N9.20 per share, Chams Plc down by 5.05 per cent to close at N0.94 per share.
Volume of trades increased by 123.16 million, representing 51.73 per cent as investors traded 361.197 million shares valued at N5.743 billion in 5531 deals against 238.039 million shares worth N2.616 billion in 6001 deals.
Transactions in the shares of FBNHoldings Ltd market activities with 140.179 million shares valued at N2.608 billion in 280 deals, Fidelity Bank followed with account of 21.559 million shares worth N165.186 million in 170 deals, Universal insurance traded 18.706 million shares valued at N4.211 million in 62 deals.
Transnational Corporation of Nigeria exchanged 17.307 million shares valued at N62.606 million in 176 deals while United Bank for Africa exchanged 13.081 million shares costing N188.990 million in 249 deals.
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Nigerian airlines to smile as FG assures of BASA implementation
The Federal Government has assured that it would strive to implement policies that ensure Nigeria’s airlines benefit from the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) it signed with other countries.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace, Dr Emmanuel Meribole made this statement at a reception recently organised by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to celebrate the commencement of direct flights between Nigeria and the Caribbean country by Air Peace Airline recently.
Represented by Director Air Transport Management of the Ministry, Mr. Hassan Ejibunu, Meribole said the journey would further strengthen the relationship of both countries in the areas of commerce, trade, and tourism while acknowledged the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Antiguan/Barbudan authorities for approving the designation of Air Peace by the Nigerian Aeronautical Authorities to fly the Nigerian-Antiguan route.
In his remarks, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Mr. Gatson Browne said “It is a new dawn for the relationship between Nigeria and Antigua”.
He emphasized on the ancestral linkage between the Caribbean nations and Africa, which he referred to as the Motherland saying Antigua and Barbuda was home to every African and his government is desirous to promote economic and bilateral ties with African nations within the context of the South-South cooperation.
He urged members of the business community from Nigeria and potential investors to take advantage of the favorable economic policy of his government to invest in the country.
The Prime Minister further revealed that the country was in a collaboration with Air Peace Airline to float an airline known as LIAT 2020 which would commence flight operations soon. The airline, he said , on commencement of operations would operate in the entire Caribbean countries thus making air connectivity between Africa, the entire Caribbean countries, and America stress-free.
Speaking earlier, Director for Economic, Trade and Investment, in the Foreign Affairs Ministry Amb. Bolaji Akinremi, said the development signposts the beginning of a newfound relationship between Antigua and Barbuda as well as the entire Caribbean countries.
He said the air connectivity was in sync with the Foreign policy of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu of integrating the economy of Africa nations.
Akinremi further said, Caribbean countries were considered as an integral part of Africa as the fifth bloc.
He added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would continue to foster the new fond relationship by promoting Bilateral meetings between the business communities of both counties.
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Various prizes up for grabs in BUA Cement’s #WinWithTheKing promo
As part of efforts to promote sales and reward brand loyalty, BUA Cement has launched its #WinWithTheKing promo.
The #WinWithTheKing promo is the first of its kind by BUA since it was established.
The promo which is expected to run for 83 days will see users of BUA Cement winning the company’s branded T-shirts, rechargeable lamps, TV sets, Generator sets, tricycles for carrying cement, and Android phones.
Also, there is N16 million for 16 end users to win while the grand prize is a MG executive saloon car.
Unveiling of the promo on Thursday in Abuja, the Managing Director of BUA Cement, Engr. Yusuf Haliru Binji, said it was time that the company rewarded its loyal customers, launch sales and build brand awareness.
Binji, who was represented by the Chief Financial Officer, Jacques Piekarski, said the promo is a way of showing its customers that they are important stakeholders to the giant stride the company is recording.
He said: “With this promo, we want to reward our loyal customers, launch sales and build brand awareness.
“We take a lot of courage to deal with our customers, nd distributors, they are very important to us and we take them seriously and we work hard to satisfy them and also to support them.
“It’s important to have them loyal to us and also in line with the expansion of the company we need to ensure that our customers are going to continue with us and we need to reward them for that. We need also to use this to sustain our sales and continue to build our brand.”
While stressing that the BUA brand has over time been proven to be the best, Binji said with the two new production lines starting operation by the first quarter of 2024, the company would be adding an additional 6 million to its daily production capacity.
“Currently, we are building two factories in Sokoto and Okpella, this will add 6 million from the beginning of next year, and we will have a total production capacity of 17 million a day. This is thanks to you customers for without you there will be no expansion,” he added.
On his part, Director Marketing and Sales Nasir Ladan, reiterated that the promo is part of efforts to sustain sales and improve its market visibility.
According to him, the #WinWithTheKing, is the frst in a series of promos that the company has lined up for the benefit of its customers.
The objective of the promo is actually to reward our loyal customers and also sustain our sales, and our brand visibility, that is basically the objective of the promo.
All the end users are eligible; those that are exempted are BUA cement staff, their relatives, and all those that have a role to play in the organisation of this sales promo. Every other use, every other stakeholder is eligible to play.
“The target is actually the end users and all those who have one thing or the other to do with BUA cement.
“The users of our cement are going to benefit from it,” he explained.
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Subsidy Removal: Jigawa Govt rolls out palliatives for less privileged, SMEs
The Jigawa Government has rolled out palliatives to cushion the effects of the removal of fuel subsidy among people in the state, including entrepreneurs, Small and Medium Scale Business (SMEs) operators.
The State Commissioner for Information, Youths, Sports and Culture, Mr Sagir Musa, stated this when he addressed newsmen on the resolutions of the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting in Dutse.
Musa said the state government had approved N134 million for the purchase of five trucks of rice for distribution to less privileged people.
He explained that the approval was to complement the efforts of the Federal Government which donated five trucks of rice to the state government for distribution as palliative to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.
“The executive council has deliberated on the Federal Government intervention with five trucks of rice, received through SEMA for distribution across the 27 LGAs as palliative to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.
The removal has caused hike in the prices of food items and other commodities.
“The council has also approved the purchase of additional five trucks of rice at the cost of N134 million to cover more beneficiaries,” he said.
The commissioner added that the council also considered and approved another empowerment programme for 1,500 young entrepreneurs running existing businesses across the 27 local government areas of the state.
According to him, each of the beneficiaries will receive N50, 000 to enhance their businesses.
Musa said the programme would be executed by the Ministry of Information, Youths, Sports and Culture, in collaboration with the state Youths Employment and Employment Agency.
He further stated that the council approved to support 1,000 SMEs with N100,000 each, under its J-Cares, a World Bank supported programme.
The commissioner, however, pointed out that only those SMEs that made the World Bank’s criteria of being registered, have bank accounts, BVN and have at least two employees.
According to Musa, the state government will continue to initiate policies and programmes that will uplift the living standard of the people of the state.
The government, in its maiden executive council meeting on July 26, approved N50 million to empower 1,000 women traders, to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal on their businesses.
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Binance’s illegal operations driving FX market volatility –ABCON
The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) says the operations of Binance, among other factors, are putting pressure on the Naira, and therefore should be banned.
Binance is a global online exchange where users can trade cryptocurrencies on a daily basis. It supports hundreds of the most commonly traded cryptos.
President of ABCON, Alhaji Aminu Gwadebe disclosed that Binance trading is becoming the anchorage of the Investor and Exporters window and the parallel market, adding that the exchange is the most liquid market with 1.2 million transactions per second.He said, “If you know about Binance, you will know that Binance trading is becoming the anchorage of both the investors’ and exporters’ window and the parallel market, which is unfortunate.
“So, we have to do something that can stop Binance. It’s a competition; we need to ban Binance and the only way to do so is if you have liquidity.
“As I speak, Binance is the most liquid market; they do 1.2 million transactions per second. So it’s a very liquid market but that is not a scary situation, we can break it through our local content and peculiarities.”
The ABCON president noted that optimism was giving way to pessimism in the present foreign exchange market situation.
Gwadabe said that when pessimism overrode the psychology of the market, it would lead to a loss of confidence by citizens, saying that was key in every currency of every nation.
He said, “So we are seeing a scenario where optimism is giving way to pessimism; investors are not coming, Nigerians don’t have confidence in the market and we have to look for external finances that are coming in as a quick fix.
“There is a lot of pressure on the naira, from foreign exchange hoarding by the banks and oil companies.
”Is it Nigerians that want to pay school fees, round-tripping, speculations, among others? All these galvanised to put pressure on the naira.
“Spike and volatility did not start now, it’s something the present government inherited and has gone a long way in checkmating illegal behaviours around the foreign exchange market and that is the objective of the unification.”
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Russia-Ukraine war pushing up global inflation rates -CBN
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has highlighted some of the factors pushing up inflation rates across the globe, citing the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine as one of the major factors.
The Acting Governor of the CBN, Folashodun Shonubi, who was represented by the Bank’s deputy governor, Economic Policy, Kingsley Obiorah, stated this at the 2023 Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar.
“We know that the war between Russia and Ukraine is contributing a lot as the two countries are very important commodity exporters. Both of them account for 30 ppercentof sunflower exports in the world. So, when such a region is at war, you know what will happen to food prices worldwide.
“We know too that there’s been a shift in demand from goods to services; services are usually more expensive. There’s also the disruption going on in China today with their zero COVID policy, power cuts as we know, and then the switch from coal to more renewable energy has also meant that power is not as valuable as it used to be.
“We see too in China today some correction in the property market. A lot of Chinese don’t have quite the kind of investment vehicles that say the average American has.“A lot of them have put their savings into property. But that has meant an oversupply of property in China today. There are 65 million empty apartments in China.
“That’s enough to take the entire population of France. So that correction is also leading to supply chain disruptions.”
He noted that all of these factors are exacerbating the high food prices globally. He cited an instance of Lebanon, where inflation is currently at 269 per cent.
According to him, beyond Africa, several countries of the world are also currently battling with hyperinflation. He attributed this to the war between Russia and Ukraine, which he said has led to an astronomic rise in the prices of foods globally.
According to him, in Argentina, inflation is right now at 115 percent while in Turkey, it has risen to 38 percent.
“Now when you come down to Africa and neighbouring Ghana, At the last count inflation there is at 42.5 per cent. We have it at 31 per cent in Ethiopia and 36 per cent in Egypt.
“So, in our dear country, we are at 22.8 per cent. When you hear these figures, it tells you that we’re not doing as badly but all of this has also affected economic growth itself. Today, the IMF has revised growth downwards from 3.5 per cent to 3 per cent this year and 3 per cent next year,” he said.
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FG unveils AGRA-funded NASC upgraded lab
The $100,000 Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) funded National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) upgraded Central Seed Testing Laboratory (CSTL), has been commissioned by the Federal Government.
Speaking during the unveiling of lab equipment donated to NASC by AGRA on Wednesday in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe, said the ministry would strive to ensure that it drives President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision of food security for Nigeria.
He said, “To achieve this laudable objective, we are repositioning our strengths and opportunities with collaborating partners as the job for food sufficiency involves the participation of partners along the various value chains from crop to animal health and husbandry, fisheries, agribusiness, processing, storage and inputs.
“In terms of inputs we are all aware that in the crop production sphere seeds are a major determinant of productivity as all other inputs complement the potentials of the seeds planted. This is why the administration has put the availability of quality seeds in the right quantity and right time as a very prominent position in the strategic plans for the food security program in Nigeria.”
Umakhihe, who was represented by the Director, Strategic Grains Reserve, Dr Haruna Sule, said with the accession of Nigeria as the 62nd country in the OECD seed schemes, it would ensure Nigeria produces top quality seeds. He noted that the commissioning of this upgraded lab will up the game in seed production and ensure the country carves a niche for itself in the international seed market.
AGRA country Manager, Dr. Kehinde Makinde, said his organisation is spending so much on the agricultural sector because of the country’s smallholder farmers.
He said AGRA supports smallholder farmers through a series of investment programmes and it is the organisation’s delight to work with the government to touch the lives of the small-time farmers.
“The government has given us priority of supporting the population on food security and we are happy that we are doing this together. As part of our strategy, we launch what we called ‘AGRA 3.0 Strategy’ which is targeted toward Nigeria, that is strengthening the resilient of the small holder farmers, enhancing their competitiveness of small holder farmers to be able to enhance food system transformation in the country for the next five years.
“And if that is going to work, one of the strategic aspects we need to take seriously is the seeds system work which we have started together for more than 15 years now.. Sustainable farming, market and trade and the last thing is quality and test capability and if that would work, seed is very basic. That explains the strong partnership we have with Seed Council,” he said.
Welcoming the participants, NASC Acting Director General, Dr. Ishiaku Khalid, said AGRA has contributed significantly to the development of the Seed sector in Nigeria.
He said the NASC Central Seed Testing laboratory underwent its final audit towards becoming an accredited laboratory of the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA), saying this was a result of the upgrading of the laboratory to an international standard with state-of-the-art equipment and that stakeholders are now awaiting the preliminary report of the 2-man team from the ISTA HQ Geneva.
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Profit-taking leaves equity market with N622bn loss
The nation’s equity market on Wednesday continued on a negative trend, declining by N622 billion on renewed profit-taking activities embarked on by investors.
The market capitalisation of listed equities declined by 1.75 percent to N34.918 trillion from N35.540 trillion reported the previous day.
Similarly, the NGX All Share Index also depreciated by 1142.26 basis points to 64167.39 points from 65309.65 points it closed on Tuesday, with the market recording a year-to-date gain of 26.20 percent at the close of trading yesterday.An analysis of the investment showed that Omatek and Guinea Insurance led the gainers table during the day in percentage terms, gaining 10 percent each to close at N3.15 and N36.90 per share respectively.
Tantalizer followed with a gain of 9.09 percent to close at N0.36 per unit, Abbey Building Society added 8.90 percent to close at N1.59 per unit, TIP also appreciated by 8.86 percent to close at N0.86 per share.
On the contrary, Multiverse and Nascon recorded the highest loss, declining by 10 percent to close at N3.15 and N36.90 per share respectively. JohnHolt trailed with a drop of 9.77 percent to close at N1.20 per share, Dangote Cement declined 9.09 percent to close at N320.00 while Universal Insurance was down by 8.33 percent to close at N0.22 per share.
The volume of transactions during the day went down by 79.78 million, representing 25.09 percent as Investors traded 238.039 million shares valued at N2.616 billion in 6001 deals against 317.808 million shares valued at N4.471 billion exchanged hands the previous day in 6376 deals.
The trading result showed that Sterling Bank led market activities with 32.673 million shares valued at N113.802 million in 91 deals, Fidelity Bank followed with account of 21.124 million shares valued at N161.326 million in 168 deals, Universal Insurance traded 159.151 million shares cost N3.763 million in 31 deals, United Bank for Africa traded 12.278 million shares worth N176.557 million in 251 deals while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria exchanged 9.773 million shares cost N35.931 million in 194 deals.