Business
NSE Maintains Bullish Trend, Investors’ Networth Rallied By N191bn
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) sustained bullish trend last Friday with the market capitalisation rising further by N191 billion due to Nestle gain.
Speficially, the market capitalisation which opened at N11.754 trillion rose by N191 billion to close at N11.945 trillion.
Also, the All-Share Index which opened at 22,554.84 grew by 366.75 points or 1.63 per cent to close at 22,921.59.
Market watchers attributed the persistent four-day rally to activities of institutional investors who were taking advantage of low price of stocks to increase their stake in the market.
Nestle Nigeria dominated the gainers’ table with a gain of N53.80 to close at N967 per share.
Nigerian Breweries trailed with N2.90 to close at N32.35, while BUA Cement garnered N2.45 to close at N31.85 per share.
Conoil appreciated by N1.55 to close at N17.40, while NASCON improved by 85k to close at N9.35 per share.
Conversely, Ardova topped the losers’ chart with a loss of N1.10 to close at N10.10 per share.
Cadbury came second with 70k to close at N6.30, while Lafarge Africa dipped 40k to close at N11.60 per share.
Flour Mills was down by 30k to close at N21.20, while Oando dipped 26k to close at N2.62 per share.
In spite of the growth by market indicators, volume of shares traded by investors closed lower.
Consequently, investors bought and sold 231.61 million shares valued at N2.61 billion transacted in 4,521 deals.
This was in contrast with 379.11 million shares valued at N4.33 billion traded in 5,985 deals last Thursday.
The banking stocks remained the toast of investors with FBN Holdings emerging the most active, exchanging 47.69 million shares worth N219.71 million.
United Bank for Africa followed with 36.53 million shares valued at N220.47 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank accounted for 32.85 million shares worth N686.88 million.
Zenith Bank sold 29.89 million shares valued at N445.81 million, while Fidelity Bank accounted for 16.28 million shares worth N33.29 million.
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Nigeria’s Federal Government has declared that the country’s’s oil production, including condensates, increased by 9.9 per cent to 1.69 million barrels per day in November 2024, up from 1.538mbpd recorded in October 2024.
This is according to the latest data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), an agency of the Federal Government.
The agency said liquid crude oil production rose by 11.42 per cent, reaching 1.48mbpd in November compared to 1.33mbpd in October.
This figure, however, remains below the production quota allocated to Nigeria by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Conversely, condensate oil production — exempt from OPEC’s quotas —declined slightly by 0.01 per cent in November, dropping to 204,828 barrels per day from 204,806 barrels per day in October.
Despite these improvements, oil production continues to fall short of the 2024 budget benchmark of 1.78mbpd. This discrepancy persists despite claims by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited that oil production has risen to 1.8mbpd.
The data highlights the ongoing challenges in meeting national production targets while underscoring recent efforts to boost output in the upstream sector.
Commenting on Nigeria’s quota, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, said the resolution of OPEC to extend Nigeria’s oil production quota to 1.5 million bpd is in line with the country’s output target.
Lokpobiri said the quota complements Nigeria’s 2025 oil output benchmark of 2.06 million bpd.
“For Nigeria, these resolutions align with our 2025 production target of 2.06 million barrels per day, inclusive of condensates, as outlined in the draft 2025 Appropriation Bill”, he said.
On November 26, the Port Harcourt refinery, with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, officially commenced crude oil processing.
Meanwhile, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries says Nigeria has retained its position as the largest oil producer in Africa.
In its latest monthly report on Wednesday, OPEC said Nigeria’s oil output increased in November to 1.48 million barrels per day from 1.33 million bpd in the previous month.
The oil alliance said the production figure was Africa’s largest in October, even as Nigeria continued to hold the top spot on the continent in the subsequent month.
In November, OPEC said Nigeria surpassed Algeria, which produced 908,000 bpd, followed by Congo, which had an output of 268,000 bpd.
OPEC said its data was based on direct communication, noting that its secondary sources reported that Nigeria’s crude production increased to 1.417 million bpd in November — up from 1.4 million bpd in October.
“According to secondary sources, total OPEC-12 crude oil production averaged 26.66 mb/d in November 2024, which is 104 tb/d higher, m-o-m.
“Crude oil output increased mainly in Libya, IR Iran and Nigeria, while production in Iraq, Venezuela, and Kuwait decreased.
“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.01 mb/d in November 2024, which is 219 tb/d higher, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Kazakhstan and Malaysia”, OPEX said.
On Wednesday, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission said Nigeria’s crude oil production increased to 1.69 million bpd in November — from 1.53 million bpd in October.
The National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) has entered into a partnership drive with the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) on six priority crops: maize, rice, cowpeas, cassava, millet, and oil palm across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria in an effort to enhance food production in Nigeria.
The two organisations did this during a two-day workshop on Enhancing Seed Systems for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Nigeria, organised by NADF and NASC.
The Minister of State, Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, while speaking at the Workshop, emphasised the urgent need to integrate modern seed technology to counter the existential threats posed by climate change on Nigeria’s food systems.
Highlighting the critical role of innovation and collaboration in shaping the future of Nigeria’s seed sector, the Minister tied the initiative to the federal government’s Renewed Hope Agenda under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“We are witnessing the clear and present existential threats of climate change and its impact on our local food systems. It is evident that climate change is real, and it has therefore become inevitable to integrate modern seed technology to ensure sustainability and food security.
“This gathering speaks of the critical role that innovation and collaboration play in the future of our seed sector in the face of our present challenges as a nation”, he said.
The Minister also outlined the hurdles Nigeria faces in transforming its seed system, including poor distribution channels, inadequate infrastructure, and widespread mistrust in the quality and health impacts of improved seeds.
While commending NADF for its leadership in addressing these issues, Senator Abdullahi said “National Agricultural Development Fund is commended for taking the bull by the horns in addressing critical issues hampering our agricultural development”.
The Executive Secretary, National Agricultural Development Fund, Mohammed Abu Ibrahim, said the six priority crops which are staples in different geopolitical zones in Nigeria, are crucial for achieving food security in the country.
“Through the Seed Systems Enhancement Programme, we aim to provide financial support to drive this transformation. This includes funding for agricultural research institutes to develop and scale breeder seeds for priority crops”, Ibrahim said.
He restated the commitment of the Fund on its comprehensive efforts to enhance Nigeria’s seed system with focus on six priority crops maize, rice, cowpeas, cassava, millet, and oil palm across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
The NADF boss underscored the Fund’s focus on financial support to agricultural research institutes and seed companies to develop, scale, and distribute improved seed varieties.
The Acting Director-General of NASC, Dr. Ishiak Khalid, while emphasising the private sector’s pivotal role, lauded the government’s commitment to enacting policies that strengthen the seed sector.
“As the private sector, we need to be more organised to give life to the beautiful policies and shun any kind of circumvention that may collapse the system”, he said.
The workshop ended with a collective call for action with Stakeholders emphasising the need for robust stakeholder collaboration.
Participants commended NADF for its proactive steps and pledged to support a transformative agenda that ensures sustainable agriculture and food security for Nigeria while advocating for a coordinated approach to drive innovation, improve farmer access, and rebuild trust in the seed system.
The Niger State Programme Coordinator for the Federal Government’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), have expressed concern over the low usage of rice threshing machines by farmers in parts of the Nigeria state.
These machines were provided as part of an initiative to help increase harvest yields and reduce post-harvest losses.
In a statement during a training session for rice farmers in Majingari, Katcha Local Government Area, the Value Chain Agricultural Production Officer, Dr. Lawal Mohammed, said adequate use of the machine would help in food security.
According to Dr. Mohammed, the IFAD programme distributed threshing machines to rice farmers in the eight participating local government areas of Niger State to help reduce losses during harvest.
Many farmers have, however, abandoned the machines in favor of traditional threshing methods, thereby missing out on the benefits of increased efficiency and reduced losses.
The Programme Coordinator lamented that due to the underutilisation of such equipment, Nigeria faces a significant challenge, with up to 40 percent of post-harvest losses in the agricultural sector.
During the training, Hajiya Isah emphasised the importance of adopting best agronomy practices, including the proper use of threshing machines, to minimize losses and improve production, particularly for dry season farming.
A rice farmer from Shiroro Local Government, Mustapha P. Gaiya, reiterated that the thresher machine boosted his harvest and income, adding the benefits of the programme of the programme cannot be over emphasised.
He noted that while some farmers consider the thresher to be slow, he finds it faster and more efficient, allowing him to thresh over 40 bags of rice in a day.
The Lead Consultant for the IFAD programme in Niger State, Prof. Abigail Jirgi, also emphasized the need for farmers to follow best practices throughout the entire rice production process, from harvest to storage, in order to reduce losses.
She urged farmers not to burn rice crop residues, as it depletes soil nutrients, but to allow the residues to decompose and enrich the soil.
Prof. Jirgi also called on community leaders to encourage farmers to adopt these best practices for improved yields and economic growth.
The Majingari community, represented by Mohammed Idris Ndaloke, expressed gratitude for the training and pledged to support the effort to educate local farmers on improving their harvest practices and overall economic prosperity.
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