Business News

Monday, 06 April 2020 05:56

Banks review downward card spending abroad

Banks are adjusting the value and volume of transactions customers can do with their debit cards abroad as Nigeria’s dollar earnings dip over the Coronavirus pandemic, The Nation has learnt. The lenders, which two years ago, raised their card spending limits on Point of Sale (PoS) and online card transactions abroad, are currently placing limits on amounts customers can withdraw with their debit cards in offshore transactions. This became exigent as foreign reserves dipped by $3.02 billion from $38.53 billion on January 2, 2020, to $35.51 billion as of March 27, 2020, latest statistics from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)…

Monday, 06 April 2020 05:49

4 signs that a boss has high Emotional Intelligence

During the current pandemic, a quick exercise in assessing emotional intelligence is in order. Forrest Gump is known for the famous line, "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." The same is true for bosses. Anytime anyone accepts a position, they never really know what they're going to get. To really find out whether you have a good boss or not, a quick exercise in assessing your boss's current emotional competencies against bosses with high emotional intelligence (EQ) is in order. During the stress and anxiety…

Sunday, 05 April 2020 05:51

OPEC+ planned meeting postponed over Saudi Arabia, Russia disagreements

OPEC and Russia have postponed a Monday meeting to discuss oil output cuts until April 9, OPEC sources said on Saturday, as a dispute between Moscow and Saudi Arabia over who is to blame for plunging crude prices intensified. The delay came amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries led by Saudi Arabia and its allies, a group collectively known as OPEC+, to urgently stabilise global oil markets. Oil prices hit an 18-year low on March 30 due to a slump in demand caused by lockdowns to contain the coronavirus outbreak and…

Saturday, 04 April 2020 05:59

Hope rises for Nigeria as oil prices climb

International prices of crude oil spiked yesterday, raising hopes in the country that Nigeria could meet its financial obligations to its citizens and fulfil its global commitments in the short term as the Brent sold for $34.42 per barrel. With dwindling prices of the country’s major revenue earner in the last few weeks, the federal government had had to realign its 2020 budget in the face of current economic realities which have seen the price fall from close to $60 per barrel to just about $20. But yesterday, the price of crude oil spiked, gaining as much as 15 per…

Thursday, 02 April 2020 05:56

Credit processes of Nigerian banks improve as non-performing loans declined 41% in 2019

Nonperforming loans (NPL) in the banking sector fell by 41 percent, year-on-year (YoY) to N1.05 trillion in 2019 from N1.79 trillion in 2018. National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this yesterday in its Selected Banking Sector Data for the fourth quarter 2019 (Q4’19). The bureau also disclosed that banks’ credit to private sector rose in 2019 by four percent to N17.19 trillion from N15.13 trillion in 2018. NBS data showed that credit allocated to Oil and Gas sector dropped by four percent, YoY, to N3.42 trillion in 2019 from N3.55 trillion in 2018 while credit allocated to manufacturing sector rose…

Thursday, 02 April 2020 05:54

Naira Black-Market rate weakest in three years

The Nigerian currency depreciated to its weakest level since February 2017 in the unofficial black market after the country’s central bank cut supply to dealers. The local unit traded at 415 naira per dollar according to abokiFX.com, which collates rates from street-traders in Lagos. In the official spot market, naira traded 386.51 per dollar as of 4:15pm in Lagos, the highest it has traded in 24 years. The central bank in Africa’s most populous country announced last week that it was suspending foreign exchange sales to money changers until further notice. A move it said was in line with curtailing…

Thursday, 02 April 2020 05:46

Global markets reel under coronavirus woes

World markets fell on Wednesday as the coronavirus threat ensured an ugly start to April and the second quarter for equities and commodities. Traders headed for the safety of government bonds, the dollar [USD] and gold [GOL] as evidence continued to mount that the virus was sending the global economy into a deep recession. Tokyo's Nikkei (.N225) slumped 4.5% after the worst plunge in factory activity in almost a decade. The pan-European STOXX (.STOXX) 600 sank 2.7% [.EU] and Wall Street futures (.ESc1) dived 3% [.N] after a dire forecast of likely U.S. coronavirus deaths. “US president, Mr Donald Trump's…

Wednesday, 01 April 2020 06:00

Covid-19: IMF extends bilateral borrowing arrangements through 2023

International Monetary Fund has on Tuesday said its board approved a new, three-year framework for bilateral borrowing agreements, ensuring that its full $1 trillion lending capacity will be maintained as member countries battle pressures from the coronavirus outbreak. The new framewor is broadly the same as that enacted in 2016 for agreements that allow wealthier IMF member countries to lend directly to countries in need, the IMF said. It extends the Fund’s bilateral borrowing arrangements from December 2020 through the end of 2023, with a one-year extension possible through the end of 2024. The bilateral borrowing agreements are the IMF’s…

Tuesday, 31 March 2020 05:32

Naira falls further as dollar exchanges for N412

The dollar exchanged for N412 on Monday at the Bureau De Change segment of the market. This followed a temporary suspension of sale of forex to Bureau De Change operators in the industry by Central Bank of Nigeria. Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria had made a request to the CBN to grant it market holidays, given the ongoing challenges faced in the local and global economies due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. CBN granted the BDCs two weeks market holiday as requested. According to BDCs, there had been drastic decline in demand for forex due…

Tuesday, 31 March 2020 05:30

Covid-19: Shares drop as oil plunges to 18-year lows

Oil took another stomach-churning 8% dive on Monday and world shares buckled again as fears mounted that the global coronavirus shutdown could last for months. There were some bright spots, with Australian equities posting a standout jump as the government launched a super-sized support programme and Wall Street futures were fractionally positive, but that was about it. Japan’s Nikkei had led the rest of Asia lower and Europe’s main markets skidded another 1%, adding to what has already been the region’s worst quarter since 1987. The rout in oil took crude to its lowest since 2002. Brent slumped to $22.5…

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Saturday, 28 March 2020 04:46

Oil plunges posting fifth straight weekly loss despite stimulus efforts

Oil prices plunged 5% on Friday and posted a fifth straight weekly loss as demand destruction caused by the coronavirus outweighed stimulus efforts by policymakers around the world. Both contracts are down nearly two thirds this year and the coronavirus-related slump in economic activity and fuel demand has forced massive retrenchment in investment by oil and other energy companies. Brent crude (LCOc1) settled down $1.41, or 5.35% at $24.93 a barrel. The contract fell about 8% on the week. U.S. crude (Clc1) settled down $1.09, or 4.82% at $21.51 a barrel. During the week, U.S. crude fell more than 3%.…

Saturday, 28 March 2020 04:39

The second virus shockwave is hitting China’s factories already

Since last week, emails from foreign clients have been flooding into export manager Grace Gao’s in-box, asking to delay orders already made, putting goods ready to be shipped on hold until further notice, or asking for payment grace periods of up to two months. Gao’s firm, Shandong Pangu Industrial Co., makes tools like hammers and axes, 60% of which go to the European market. As the virus ravages the continent from Spain to Italy, the shutdowns there are cutting off orders to Chinese factories just as they were beginning to get back on their feet. It’s a story playing out…

Friday, 27 March 2020 05:37

Warren Buffett says choosing to live your life this way is what separates successful people from the rest

The mind is a powerful weapon. How are you using yours? Warren Buffett, in addition to being the greatest investor of our generation, is also a champion of self-improvement, sharing a trove of advice to help us better our lives. One of those famous Warren Buffett tips -- what he calls the key to his success -- is actually a rule that he follows religiously: Go to bed a little smarter each day. Known as the Buffett formula, he says, "That's how knowledge builds up. Like compound interest." In theory, the Buffett formula should give you an advantage over a…

Thursday, 26 March 2020 05:35

Air Peace suspends flight operations

Air Peace has announced suspension of all its flight operations from Saturday as part of efforts to check spread of the Coronavirus, a move it described as in the nation’s best interest. In a statement signed by its Chief Operating Officer, Mrs. Toyin Olajide, the company said, “It is with a great sense of responsibility that we have decided, in the best interest of our nation, our passengers and workforce, to suspend scheduled flight operations for 23 days effective 23.00hrs on Friday (an hour before Saturday morning) March 27, 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “This difficult decision…

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