CBN Injects $418m to Oil Marketers, Others

In line with its avowed determination to ensure ample supply of foreign exchange (FX) in the market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last Friday auctioned US$418 million through retail-Special Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS), at a marginal rate of N310/$.

Oil Set for Longest Gain This Year as Libyan Field Said Shut

Oil headed for its longest run of gains this year as Libya’s biggest oil field was said to have suffered another outage while Russia signaled it’s weighing an extension of OPEC-led production cuts.

Futures gained for a fifth day in New York after advancing 3.2 percent last week following a U.S. military strike on Syria. Libya’s Sharara field stopped producing just one week after it reopened, according to two people familiar with the matter, although it wasn’t clear why. Russia’s energy ministry has been in discussions with oil companies regarding the need to prolong the six-month deal when it expires, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday.

Rand Goes From World's Best to Worst on Zuma, Junk Status: Chart

South Africa’s rand, which had been the world’s best-performing currency in 2017, gave up all its gains in just a week after President Jacob Zuma recalled Pravin Gordhan from meeting investors in London and replaced him as finance minister in a midnight cabinet shuffle, spurring S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings Ltd. to downgrade the nation’s debt to junk.

French Drugs Maker Targets Africa With Nigerian Acquisition

Biogaran SAS, a closely held French pharmaceuticals manufacturer, plans to tap into Nigeria’s $1.3 billion drugs market as a launchpad for its expansion into Africa, company President Pascal Briere said.

Buhari releases N54bn to settle pension backlog

The Muhammadu Buhari administration has released N54 billion to clear part of the backlog of accrued pension rights for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016. The Director of Information, Ministry of Finance, Mr Salisu Danbatta said on Wednesday that N41.5 billion has already been released to the National Pension Commission (PENCOM).

Naira Overvalued by 20%- IMF

LAGOS — Fund, IMF, ye The International Monetary Fund yesterday, said the naira is overvalued by 10 to 20 per cent. Head of IMF Mission in Nigeria, Gene Leon, stated this during a telephone media briefing on the IMF staff report on 2017 Article IV Consultation with Nigeria.

FEC approves $1.3bn loan request from World Bank, others for DBN

ABUJA —The Federal Government, yesterday, approved the request for three loans worth $1.3 billion for the newly established Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN, to kick off. The Federal Executive Council, FEC, formally granted the approval at yesterday’s meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. FEC also gave its nod for the registration of 200,000 personnel of the Nigerian military, cutting across the Army, Navy and Air Force into the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, IPPIS. Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi ADEOSUN This, the council did by approving the award for the procurement of project managers and verification consultants for a total cost of N550 million to bring the personnel onto the IPSS platform, hoping to bring in all the military by third quarter of 2017.