Business

Naira stages a comeback as dollar crashes at parallel market to N730

Published

2 years ago

November 11, 2022

The naira, which has been falling against major currencies in the past two weeks, has staged a comeback, recording gains on the parallel market as it exchanged for about N730 to a dollar on Thursday.

Recall that the Nigerian currency hit an all-time low of about N850 to the US dollar on the black market shortly after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced plans to redesign high-value currency notes of N200, N500 and N1,000 and reissued from December 15.

CBN said the affected currency notes will cease to be accepted after January 31, 2023, and asked currency holders to pay their currency notes to the banks before then.

While some have begun paying their hordes of naira notes into banks, many have sought refuge in the dollar, mopping up the dollar bills from Bureaus de Change, to preserve value.

In Lagos, black-market traders attributed the recovery of the naira to its scarcity, saying this was responsible for the inability of speculators buying dollars to offer higher rates for the green back.

“There is no naira in the system,” one currency dealer told Daily Trust in Central Lagos District, the heart of the financial market.

He said the dollar had risen to N730, but said if a seller wants naira to be paid into his bank account, it would be done at a lower rate of N700. In Port Harcourt, a dealer priced the dollar at N700 but demanded N720 to sell dollars to buyers.

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In Abuja around the Zone 4 area, some BDCs recalled the drop in patronage of the dollar over varying accounts of information.

According to Umaru Abu, “People are scared that with recent information that the US is rejecting the $100 bill, buying the dollar could be a risk, but we have now heard from CBN officials that it is not true.

“Some of my colleagues said maybe people are buying more assets due to the CBN naira redesign policy and are cutting down spending in dollars. But we have observed some drop in patronage since Tuesday evening,” he noted.

In the meantime, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) is worried about the pressure the naira is facing from the US dollar.

A dollar exchanged for about N780 to N820 in the parallel market earlier, far above the around N450/$ official rate, due to insufficient supply, which has implications on inflation and the sourcing of raw materials and services.

ICAN president, Mallam Tijjani Isa, stated this on Thursday in Lagos during a briefing to commemorate the International Accounting Day 2022.

“As a nation, we must find a permanent solution to the forex crisis if we are to develop at the desired pace,” he said.

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The president in the company of the Chairman, Body of Past Presidents of the Institute, Dr Sir Ike Nwokolo, led other members to embark on a health walk among other activities to commemorate the International Accounting Day 2022.

Naira gain may be short-lived – AZA

While the latest firming of the naira against the dollar could be good to tame the rising inflation, analysts say the recovery by the local currency is unlikely to be sustainable, noting the flight into the dollar will resume.

“While Nigerian bureau de change operators have confirmed reduced demand at current parallel market levels, we expect dollar appetite to pick up again in the coming days and the naira to resume its recent slide,” AZA Finance wrote in a note to clients on Thursday.

The CBN has set limits to acceptable amounts of cash deposits into accounts, warning that it would monitor such transactions in conjunction with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Since then, the EFCC has raided the offices of bureau de change operators and black-market currency traders in Abuja, Lagos, and other towns.

Related Topics:Dollar Featured Naira parallel market

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Naira records major gain against dollar, sells for N680/$

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Aviation

Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight

Published

6 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight

An Abuja-Lagos flight was on Thursday aborted following a bird strike on the airplane belonging to Air Peace, forcing the authorities to ground the aircraft.

The bird strike experienced in the early hours reportedly prompted a ramp return to ensure the safety of passengers onboard.

All the passengers quickly disembarked and were calmed down before they were moved into another plane for the one-hour journey.

A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft, or other airborne animal, while the aircraft is in flight, taking off, or landing. And it can be a significant threat to aircraft safety.

Air Peace in a statement by its Head of Corporate Communications, Ejike Ndiulo, said the bird strike occurred at 6:30am, and all passengers disembarked normally.

The statement read, “We wish to inform our esteemed passengers that our Abuja- Lagos 06:30 flight experienced a bird strike before take-off, prompting a ramp return as a safety measure. All passengers disembarked normally.

“We have deployed a replacement aircraft for the affected flight in order to minimize disruptions, thus ensuring that passengers continue their journeys promptly.

“We appeal for the understanding of our valued passengers impacted by this development, as well as those on other flights that may experience delays.

“At Air Peace, we are committed to providing safe, comfortable, and reliable air travel for all our passengers.”

Business

NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production

Published

6 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and its partners have revved up crude oil and gas production to 1.8million barrels per day (mbpd) and 7.4standard cubic feet per day (scfd).

The company which announced this at a press briefing said the feat was achieved in compliance with the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Speaking on the development, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mele Kyari, congratulated the Production War Room Team that anchored the production recovery process.

“The team has done a great job in driving this project of not just production recovery but also escalating production to expected levels that are in the short and long terms acceptable to our shareholders based on the mandates that we
have from the President, the Honourable Minister, and the Board,” Kyari explained.

Giving details of the efforts of the Production War Room, the Chief War Room Coordinator and Senior Business Adviser to the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lawal Musa, disclosed that the feat was achieved through the collaborative efforts of Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contract partners, the Office of the National Security Adviser, as well as government and private security agencies.

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He said the interventions that led to the recovery of production cut across every segment of the production chain with security agencies closely monitoring the pipelines.
He stressed that when the Production War Room team was inaugurated on 25th June 2024, production was at 1.430mbpd, but the team swung into action, culminating into sustaining the production recovery to 1.7mbpd in August and hitting the current 1.808mbpd in November.
“We are confident that with this same momentum and with the active collaboration of all stakeholders, especially on the security front, we can see the possibility of getting to 2mbpd by the end of the year,” he stated.
Also speaking on the development, Chairman of the NNPC Ltd Board of Directors, Chief Pius Akinyelure, who also congratulated the team, said he was happy to be part of the production recovery process, adding: “today, I will leave this place with my heart full of joy”.

He charged the Company’s Management to come up with a cashflow projection based on the new production figures to facilitate planning, stressing that he was looking forward to further production increase to 3mbpd.

On his part, the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the team and pledged the Federal Government’s support for the company to do more.

NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production

Business

FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects

Published

6 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects

The Federal Government has secured a loan facility of $134million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to help farmers boost seeds and grain production in the country.

This is contained in a statement issued by Anthonia Eremah, Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, on Thursday, in Abuja.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, made his know at the unveiling of the 2024/2025 National Dry Season Farming in Calabar, Cross River State capital.

Kyari explained that with the re-introduction of the national dry season farming to boost year-round agricultural production, the loan would be handy and guarantee national food security in the country.

The minister said the initiative is under the National Agricultural Growth Support Scheme-Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) Project.

He said the federal government had declared an emergency on food production to enable all Nigerians to get easy access to quality and nutritional food at affordable rates.

Kyari also said government wants to use the agricultural sector for national economic revival through increase in production of some staple food crops such as wheat, rice, maize, sorghum, soybean, and cassava during both dry and wet season farming.

He added that 107,429 wheat farmers were supported under phase 1 of the 2023/2024 dry season, and 43,997 rice farmers under the second phase of the 2023/2024 dry season.

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The minister said recently, government supported 192,095 rice, maize, sorghum/millet, soyabean and cassava farmers under the 2024 wet season across the 37 States including the FCT.

He said Cross River was leading 16 other states in wheat production, adding that over 3000 wheat farmers have been listed to benefit from the support to grow the grain.

Kyari noted the Cross River government’s commitment to wheat production.

He said it informed why the federal government is partnering with the state to kick start the maiden wheat production and enlisting them among states commencing the current 2024/2025 dry season farming.

“The 2024/2025 dry season farming, the project is targeted to support 250,000 wheat farmers across the wheat-producing states with subsidised agricultural inputs.

“This is to cultivate about 250,000 hectares with an expected output of about 750,000 metric tonnes of wheat to be added to the food reserve to reduce dependence on importation of the product and also increase domestic consumption.

“Equally the programme will provide support to 150,000 rice farmers under the second phase to cover all the 37 states, including FCT, with an expected output of about 450,000 metric tonnes,” he said.