Italy judge expected to rule on Eni, Shell indictment over Nigeria on Dec. 20 - source

An Italian judge is expected to decide on December 20 whether to send oil majors Eni and Shell to trial over alleged corruption in Nigeria, two legal sources said on Tuesday.Milan prosecutors have asked for the two companies and some past and present managers, including current Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, to be indicted in a case revolving around the purchase of a Nigerian oilfield in 2011.A judge must now rule whether to press charges or dismiss the...

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AfDB says 'll continue to support Nigeria reforms

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has reiterated its continued support for the government of Nigeria and its economic reform programme. The bank in a statement on Tuesday said it was encouraged by the economic recovery of Nigeria from a recession and lauded the government's efforts towards diversification of the economy. "The Bank also strongly supports the Economic and Growth Recovery Plan of the Government and efforts to stem corruption...

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Heineken plans $35.5 mln investment to double beer production in Ivory Coast

Heineken, the world’s second-largest beer producer said it plans to invest $35.49 million to double its beer production in Ivory Coast by next year. This was in a bid to increase its share of the market in the West African country and compete with French company Castel in a booming market. “We will invest 20 billion CFA francs ($35.49 million) by the end of the year...to double our capacity,” said Alexander Koch, general manager of the brewery. “We...

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Kenya's inflation slows to 5.72 percent in Oct, currency stable

Kenya’s inflation slowed to 5.72 percent year-on-year in October to its lowest level in 17 months, driven by a fall in prices among food items, the statistics office said on Tuesday.The rate, which stood at 7.06 percent a month earlier, had shot outside of the government’s preferred band of 2.5-7.5 percent earlier in the year due to a severe drought.Month on month, inflation was -0.63 percent, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement....

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Nigeria saves $2 bln from local cement productions, capacity rises to 30 mln tonnes

Nigeria cement firms have ramped up local productions to about 30 million tonnes yearly thus saving the West African country around $2 billion in foreign exchange, Abdulsamad Rabiu, chairman of BUA Group has said. Dangote Cement, majorly owned by African richest man Aliko Dangote is the largest producers in the country with presence in 14 other African countries.  Dangote Cement's current total production capacity in Nigeria stood at 20.25...

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Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves climb 4.04 pct by Oct 27

Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves climbed 4.04 percent to $33.68 billion as at October 27, from $32.37 billion in the previous month, latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shown.The Africa's biggest economy dollar reserves also jumped 40.68 percent on year-on-year basis. The reserves stood at $23.94 billion in the corresponding period of last year.The reserves hit their highest since 2015 as the global oil prices continue to rise...

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Two Banks Drop McKinsey In Fallout From South Africa Scandal

Barclays Africa and Standard Bank said on Monday they would stop working with McKinsey, a further blow to the global consultancy as it faces allegations of bribery for work done with friends of South African President Jacob Zuma.Privately-held McKinsey, the world’s largest management consultancy, has denied doing anything illegal but said this month that it was embarrassed by mistakes it made while working with South African state utility Eskom last...

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Oil price breaks above $60: Are we out of the woods yet? - United Capital

For the first time in over two years, Brent – the international benchmark for oil prices, rallied on Monday to $60.5 per barrel, above its highest level since July 2015, thanks to comments by the influential crown prince of Saudi Arabia about cutting production.What's our take on the outlook of Oil prices for the rest of the year?Broadly, we note that the factors that have given oil prices a boost so far this month stem largely from "un-fundamental...

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Nigeria to build Nuclear power plant, signs deals with Russian firm

Nigeria government has signed an agreement with a Russian firm, Rosatom for the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant and research centre in its quest to boost power supply in Africa’s biggest economy. Nigeria, which first signed a broad nuclear cooperation agreement with Rosatom in 2009, is turning to nuclear power as Africa’s most populous nation tries to end decades of blackouts that has hindered its economy. “The development...

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Nigerian farmers accuse telco firm MTN of aiding terrorism with unregistered sims

Nigerian farmers in the northeastern part where Boko Haram terrorists have continued to commit havoc on the region have asked wireless telecommunications operators to block SIM cards that haven’t been formally registered by their users, saying such sims aided the activities of the terror group. They particularly accused the local unit of South Africa telecom firm MTN of being a major culprit in the unregistered sims saga. The farmers believe that...

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IMF says rising debt, political risk dim sub-Saharan Africa's economic outlook

Economic growth is expected to rise to 3.4 percent in sub-Saharan Africa next year from 2.6 percent in 2017, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report on Monday. The Fund, however, warned that rising debt and political risks in larger economies would weigh down future growth.Nigeria and South African are the biggest economies in Africa south of the Sahara, but both nations have been clouded by political uncertainty linked to the tenure...

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Nigeria sees inflation fall to single-digits next year

Nigeria has projected that its consumer inflation rate will decelerate to a single digit level by the middle of next year, its central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele has said. “We are very optimistic that food prices will come down, and as they come down it will help to complement the reduction in core inflation,” Emefiele said on the sidelines of an investment conference at the London Stock Exchange last week. He said he expected a “more aggressive...

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Positioning Nigeria for a prosperous future -Kemi Adeosun

Since the middle of 2014, when the price of crude oil fell dramatically, Nigeria’s finances became challenged. This is not hard to explain: we’ve historically depended on crude oil for as much as 70 percent of government revenues, and 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings.  The outcome – pressure on government’s finances – was by no means unusual. A similar fate befell most oil-rich countries around the world.Where Nigeria possibly stood out...

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Nigeria to promote transparency in extractive sector - VP

Nigeria will continue to embrace transparency in the extractive sector because it is in the country’s overriding national interest to do so, said the country's Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. Osinbajo stated this during a bilateral meeting with the Chairman of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), Fredrik Reinfeldt, on the sidelines of the just-concluded EITI Beneficial Ownership Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia. “Transparency in...

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Lafarge Africa to raise 25 bln naira in commercial paper

Lafarge Africa, the local unit of Franco-Swiss group LafargeHolcim plans to issue 25 billion naira in a commercial paper on Monday as part of a 60 billion naira programme, a senior company official has said.The company also intends to raise 131.65 billion naira in a rights issue from existing shareholders subject to the approval of capital market regulators. It has filed a request for approval with the market regulators and expecting approval soon.Lafarge,...

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Men who have performed oral sex on 5 or more partners prone to head and neck cancer

Men who have performed oral sex on five or more partners have the highest risk of HPV-related head and neck cancer, a new study shows. While the current rate of diagnoses is low - affecting just 0.7 percent of the male population - researchers at Johns Hopkins warned men may not be aware that they have a far higher risk than women, especially if they smoke.The study, released today, is the latest piece of evidence to show that boys do need the HPV...

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Nigeria to spend 8.6 trln naira in 2018, GDP at 3.5 pct, Inflation at 12.12 pct - budget document

President Buhari Nigeria plans to spend 8.6 trillion naira for the 2018 fiscal year, up 15.59 percent against 7.44 trillion naira 2017 budget, details from the 2018-2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy has shown.President Muhammadu Buhari has submitted the document to the National Assembly this week ahead of the presentation of the 2018 budget proposal.The document revealed the government proposes to spend 1.16 trillion naira...

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Nigerian financial market this week - Citibank

The naira traded the week between 359.00 and 361.00 per dollar as daily turnover in the investor and exporter (I&E) FX window continues to grow.  Daily turnover in the I&E window yesterday was $269.48 million.  Overnight rates remained elevated in double digits throughout the week as CBN continued its mop of liquidity through OMO issuances.  Overnight rates opened at 26 percent and closed at about the same rate.  The yields on 30-60-day T-bills rose as a consequence of the tight money markets.  The 30, 90, 180...

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Nigeria's Ecobank Ceo slams 100 mln naira suit against Police over harrasement

Kie, Ecobank CEO The chief executive officer of Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Charles Kie, has filed a 100 million suit against the Nigerian police for harassing him over his refusal to conduct an illegal transaction on its behalf.Kie, who was seeking the protection of the Federal High court in Lagos to enforce his fundamental rights, said he now lives under the fear of police intimidation and harassment.According to the Ecobank CEO lawyer, Anthony...

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Nigeria's GTbank profit before tax rises 8.7 pct to 150 bln naira in Q3

Nigeria's top tier 1 bank, Guaranty Trust Bank has posted a profit before tax of 150.03 billion naira for the third quarter of the year, ended Sept. 30, about 8.72 percent higher than the figure posted the same period of last year.The bank profit after tax rose 7.25 percent to 125.57 billion naira in the same period, compared with 117.08 billion naira in the corresponding period last year.The bank said in its financial results published on Thursday,...

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African Dev Bank plans $24 bln investment in Agriculture to boost food security

President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Nigerian born Akinwunmi Adesina has unveiled plans by the bank to invest $24 billion in agriculture over the next 10 years in a bid to unlock its potential and assure food security in the continent. Adesina, who spoke on the sideline of the ongoing Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium in Des Moines, Iowa, USA on Wednesday, said AfDB would provide support to strengthen African agricultural research...

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How Nigerian corporates are dealing with financing pressure - United Capital

The recent economic recession in Nigeria was evident in the severe pressure on corporate performances.  A combination of weaker revenue, higher production cost, bloated finance expenses and unbearable impairment losses hammered profit margins across sectors.  To restore positive GDP growth via expansive fiscal response, the federal government embarked on a broad-based borrowing scheme driving the cost of funds in the local debt market...

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Why SEC suspends trading on shares of Oando

Wale Tinubu, Oando Ceo The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) placed a technical suspension on transactions on the shares of Oando Plc after its finding revealed some weighty transgression by the energy company, which has been under investigations since early July this year.A full suspension is the halt of trading activities in a listed security for a period while a technical suspension is the interruption of price movement in a listed...

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