Business News

Monday, 20 April 2020 05:43

7 questions that separate great bosses from bad ones

Contrary to conventional wisdom, research shows the difference comes down to hard skills, not just soft skills. While occasionally a great team succeeds in spite of a bad boss, great businesses are almost always built by great leaders. Unfortunately, illusory superiority is an actual thing. Eight out of 10 people believe they're above average drivers. Nine out of 10 college professors believe they're above average teachers. Ninety-nine out of 100 high school kids believe their social skills are above average. And most people in leadership positions believe they're good bosses. But since leadership is more art than science, how can…

Saturday, 18 April 2020 04:00

Nigeria’s oil that costs $22 to produce now sells for $12

The real oil market is killing Nigeria. One of the country’s benchmark grades, Bonny Light, fell to about $12 or $13 a barrel this week, according to traders monitoring the West African market. The deeply loss-making level shines a light on a chasm that’s emerged between real crude prices that producers are fetching, and headline futures contracts like Brent, which stood at about $28 on Friday. Swathes of Europe, the staple market for the West Arican nation, have gone into lockdown to combat the coronavirus. Even with prices deeply depressed though, long-haul buyers in Asia don’t…

Friday, 17 April 2020 04:59

Coronavirus: China's economy shrinks for first time in decades

The Chinese economy shrank for the first time in decades in the first quarter of the year, as factories and businesses were forced to close. The world's second biggest economy contracted 6.8% according to official data released on Friday. The financial toll the coronavirus is having on the Chinese economy will be a huge concern to other countries. China is an economic powerhouse as a major consumer and producer of goods and services. Last year, it saw healthy economic growth of 6.4% in the first quarter, a period when it was locked in a trade war with the US. In…

Wednesday, 15 April 2020 06:28

80,000 apply for N50bn CBN Covid-19 credit facility

Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), says it has received 80,000 applications on the N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Managing Director of NIRSAL, Mr Abubakar Kure, disclosed at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday. CBN had in March announced release of N50 billion TCF stimulus package to support households and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) affected by COVID-19 pandemic. Kure said out of the number, 40,000 of the applicants who applied for the facility were households. He said the objective of the facility was to allow…

Tuesday, 14 April 2020 05:42

CBN lists conditions for accessing N50b Covid-19 intervention fund

Central Bank of Nigeria says interested stakeholders must meet its set criteria to access its N50bn intervention loans for small and medium scale enterprises. CBN introduced the N50bn Targeted Credit Facility as a stimulus package to support households and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and guidelines to access the funds. To access, it stated that, “Eligible households or MSMEs shall submit applications directly to NIRSAL Microfinance Bank; and the application must, among others, contain BVN number, business registration (where applicable) and business plan with clear evidence of the opportunity or adverse impact as a result…

Tuesday, 14 April 2020 05:40

Oil prices remain low despite output cut by OPEC+

Despite the oil output cut initiative of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and non-OPEC members (OPEC+), the price of Bonny Light, Nigeria’s premium oil grade, only rose marginally from $23.19 to $23.25 per barrel, yesterday. Prices of other crudes, including Brent and OPEC Basket also remained low at $32.05 and $21.19 per barrel respectively. Investigation by journalists showed that it would take a much longer time for the market to respond to the oil cut as the market was saturated with excess oil from many nations, including Mexico, which has already opted out of the accord. Moved to tackle…

Monday, 13 April 2020 05:29

Oil firmer on OPEC+ deal, equities unable to shake pandemic fears

Global shares fell on Monday as investors braced for more signs of economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic although a landmark deal by OPEC and its allies to slash output helped oil prices climbed in volatile trade. The Nikkei (.N225) fell 1.4% while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) slipped slightly, with South Korean shares (.KS11) falling 0.9%. U.S. S&P 500 mini futures (EScv1) dropped 1.54%, erasing a brief gain to a one-month high made right after the start of trading. Financial markets in Australia and Hong Kong were closed while in mainland China, the CSI300 index…

Monday, 13 April 2020 05:28

Covid-19: Investors lose N1.87tr within 3 months in stock market crash

Market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), representing the value of all listed securities took a hair-cut of about N1.87 trillion at the end of the first quarter (Q1) of 2020 due to the raging COVID- 19 crisis. Investigations revealed that the domestic bourse’s value dropped by N1.87 trillion to close the month of March 2020 at N11.100 trillion from an opening value of N12.970 trillion as at January 2, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic also added to the woes experienced by investors culminating in a quarterly loss of 21 per cent, the worst since March 2010 as the All-Share…

Friday, 10 April 2020 05:25

FG, not us, will pay for proposed free electricity for Nigerians - Discos

Power distribution companies on Thursday said that the two-month free electricity to customers announced on Wednesday would be paid for by the Federal Government. Speaking through their umbrella body, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, the power firms said they were aligning with the National Assembly and Federal Government’s efforts to provide free electricity for two months as a palliative for the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nigerian electricity consumers. Executive Director and spokesperson for ANED, Mr Sunday Oduntan, said, “The energy to be supplied for the two months is not free from the Discos but is being paid for…

Friday, 10 April 2020 05:20

IMF projects worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression

The coronavirus pandemic will turn global economic growth "sharply negative" this year, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned. Ms Kristalina Georgieva said the world faced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. She forecast that 2021 would only see a partial recovery. Lockdowns imposed by governments have forced many companies to close and lay off staff. Earlier this week, a UN study said 81% of the world's workforce of 3.3 billion people had had their place of work fully or partly closed because of the outbreak. Georgieva, IMF's managing director, made the bleak…

More...

Friday, 10 April 2020 05:19

Oil producers agree to cut production by a fifth

Opec producers and allies have agreed to cut output by more than a fifth to counter the slump in demand caused by coronavirus lockdowns. The group said it would cut output in May and June by 10 million barrels to help prop up prices. The cuts will then be eased gradually until April 2022. Opec+, made up of Opec producers and allies including Russia, held talks on Thursday via video conference. Talks were complicated by disagreements between Russia and Saudi Arabia. The group and its allies agreed to cut 10 million barrels a day or 10% of global supplies. Another…

Thursday, 09 April 2020 06:06

After 25 years of failure, we’ll no longer run Nigeria’s 4 refineries - NNPC

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday announced its decision to quit the management and operations of the nation’s refineries with immediate effect. Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, disclosed the Corporation’s plan to exit the midstream arm of one of its core businesses during a live interview monitored on Arise Television. The move by NNPC to quit refining arm of business comes several years after criticisms of its endless Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) which has gulped several billions of Naira with the country having nothing to show for it as it continues to depend on imported petroleum products.…

Thursday, 09 April 2020 06:01

Nigerians won’t pay for electricity for 2 months, Discos pledge

Power distribution companies on Wednesday announced that they were in support of proposal by National Assembly and the federal government that Nigerians should get two months of free electricity. Speaking through their umbrella body, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, the Discos stated that modalities for the free power would be worked on and made public in due course. Executive Director, ANED, Mr Sunday Oduntan, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja Wednesday night. He said, “The electricity distribution companies recognise the challenging effects of the coronavirus on the economic and daily lives of our customers.…

Tuesday, 07 April 2020 04:51

Nigerian Stock Exchange loses N222bn in six hours

Activities opened on Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for the week on a bearish posture with the market capitalisation losing N222 billion in about six hours of trading. Specifically, the market capitalisation which opened for the week on Monday at N10.993 trillion shed N222 billion or 2.02 per cent to close at N10.771 trillion. In the same vein, All-Share Index dipped 425.24 points or 2.02 per cent to close at 20,669.38 compared with 21,094.62 achieved on Friday. The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Seplat, Dangote Cement, BUA Cement, BOC Gases Nigeria…

Page 171 of 188

Business News

More...

Search

Most Read

Editorial

News

Business

Politics

Opinion

Features

Strangely

Crime

Wars

SCIENCE & TECH

SPECIAL REPORTS

Sports

VIDEOS