By Taiye Olayemi

Investors on the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) traded 2.094 billion shares worth N52.967 billion in 64,612 deals during the week under review.

This is in contrast to 1.183 billion shares valued at N28.868 billion that exchanged hands across 42,397 transactions last week.

Consequently, the value of transactions traded by investors on the Exchange rose by 83.5 per cent as inventors gained N24.099 billion.

The Financial Services led the activity chart with 1.539 billion shares valued at N36.353 billion traded in 36,013 transactions.

This contributed 73.49 per cent and 68.63 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Agriculture Industry followed with 98.884 million shares worth N 1.344 billion in 2,772 deals.

The third place was the Services Industry, with a turnover of 93.000 million shares worth N522.147 million in 3,012 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely Access Holdings Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc and Zenith Bank Plc accounted for 629.327 million shares worth N25.820 billion in 12,742 transactions.

This contributed 30.06 per cent and 48.75 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The NGX All-Share Index and market capitalisation depreciated by 0.90 per cent and 0.67 per cent, to close the week at 104,563.34 and N65.707 trillion respectively.

Similarly, all other indices finished lower with the exception of NGX Growth and Sovereign Bond Indices, which appreciated by 0.37 per cent and 3.42 per cent respectively while the NGX AseM index closed flat.

Twenty-seven equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 23 equities in the previous week.

Fifty-six equities depreciated in price, higher than 51 in the previous week, while 64 equities remained unchanged, lower than 73 recorded in the previous week.

VFD Group, Union Dicon Salt, ABBEY Mortgage Bank, FTN Cocoa Processors and TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria were the top five gainers for the week, as they grew by 53.86 per cent, 31.03 per cent, 29.60 per cent, 18.75 per cent and 9.61 per cent respectively.

The companies gained N30.70, N1.80, N1.40, 30k and N65.30 respectively.

The top five decliners for the week are: Royal Exchange, Cornerstone Insurance, Sovereign Trust Insurance, Lasaco Assurance and CAP Plc as they lost 21k, 50k, 15k, 30k and N5.50 respectively.

Meanwhile, the March 2025 Issue of the Federal Government of Nigeria Savings Bonds were listed on NGX on Monday, April 7.

Listing of First HoldCo Plc’s Rights Issue of 5,982,548,799 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N25.00 per share on the basis of one new ordinary share for every existing 6 ordinary shares held on Friday, Oct. 18.

Additional 5,982,548,799 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N25.00 per share of First HoldCo Plc were listed on the Daily Official List of the NGX on Monday, April 7. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Olawunmi Ashafa

By Lucy Ogalue

The Federal Government says it will in May inaugurate a de-risking fund to improve access to affordable financing for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The Special Adviser to the President on Job Creation and MSMEs, Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, said this at the 2025 International Women’s Day event organised by Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) on Saturday in Abuja.

According to Adekunle-Johnson, the de-risking fund is part of a broader strategy to address high lending rates and boost small businesses’ growth across the country.

“In the month of May, we are going to be launching two very important schemes. One is the de-risking fund for SMEs.

“We are encouraging state governments and our commercial banks to come together to ensure that SMEs are able to get loan facilities for less than the ridiculous 28 per cent or 30 per cent.

“It is not sustainable. So, we are trying to ensure that when the state government brings a facility, we get a commercial bank that will match that fund.

“And you can give it to SMEs at minimal amount. I cannot stand here and say I am guaranteeing 10 per cent or nine per cent, but it is way lower than the 28 per cent of this world,” he said.

Adekunle-Johnson added that the fund would serve as a cushion for SMEs grappling with the impact of international trade challenges, including the 14 per cent tariff imposed by the United States.

He said although the Minister of Finance had addressed the tariff issue, further interventions were underway to support the affected businesses.

In addition, he announced plans by the Federal Government to expand MSMEs shared facility hubs across the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the hubs are places where SMEs could go and do businesses with international equipment for ICT, agriculture and fashion, among others.

“Last year, Mr President announced that we have done 10 facility hubs.

“And by the end of this year we will be on track to do another eight or 10, so we should have about 20 between last year and this year,2025.

“At a subsidised fee sometimes as low as N1,000 per day, small business owners can use the facilities with guaranteed power supply to meet production targets,” he said.

According to him, each hub is designed to accommodate between 150 and 200 entrepreneurs daily, and more than 120,000 MSMEs have benefited from the initiative in the past year alone.

The presidential aide said that the initiative was managed by the private sector, with government oversight to ensure efficiency and accountability.

The special adviser reiterated the commitment of the Tinubu’s administration to building a vibrant MSMEs ecosystem as a critical pillar for job creation and inclusive economic growth.

Earlier, Dr Abdulrashid Yerima, the President of NASME, called for an urgent and practical support for women-owned MSMEs in the country, stressing the need for actionable steps beyond policies.

According to him, women play a pivotal role in Nigeria’s MSME ecosystem and the wider economy.

“We are here today to celebrate our women MSMEs across the world and particularly those within NASME. They are doing very well, and we have been supporting them,” Yerima said.

Citing a World Bank report, Yerima said that women accounted for 55 per cent of the global employment and remained critical to MSMEs growth and GDP contribution.

He identified access to finance, markets, capacity building, and corporate governance as the major challenges facing women entrepreneurs, adding that NASME had prioritised addressing these concerns.

“We present them to development partners and banks and provide the necessary capacity building.

“We also support them in exports through our Export Readiness Programme,” he said.

Yerima further stated that in spite of trade challenges such as the 40 per cent U.S. tariff, NASME was helping women exporters find alternative markets in Europe, Asia, and within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) through the Guided Trade Initiative.

The National Women Coordinator of NASME, Dr Beatrice Benjamin, expressed concern over the poor implementation of women-focused policies, saying,” it was time to rewrite the agenda for female entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

“There are policies to support these women and SMEs, but implementation has been zero.

“We are not here today to list achievements; we are here to demand action.

“We want models and facilities that are feminine and friendly in nature, that speak directly to the needs of women in business,” she said.

Benjamin lamented that most rural women in nano and micro businesses lacked access to basic infrastructure like electricity and internet, further limiting their ability to grow.

“How many rural communities have power? How many women have access to facilities or movable assets to secure funding? We need real action, not more policies,” she added.

Benjamin welcomed the Federal Government’s commitment to engaging more women in SMEs and entrepreneurship, but emphasised that intervention must be deliberate and swift.

“The development banks must create specific programmes for women. Enough of the policies, what we want now is action, and it must be accelerated,” she said.

The NASME event brought together key stakeholders in the MSME space to evaluate the current status of women in business and ensure greater ways of inclusivity and economic empowerment. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani

By Okeoghene Akubuike

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) says it has disbursed 50 billion Dollars into various sectors of Nigeria in the last 10 years.

Prof. Benedict Oramah disclosed this at the Commissioning of the Afreximbank African Trade Centre (AATC) in Abuja on Thursday.

Oramah said the sectors included energy, infrastructural, manufacturing, healthcare, transport and financial services.
He added that in the last 10 years, the bank’s support to the Nigerian financial services industry amounted to 19 billion dollars.

“This has helped to deepen and expand the sector and elevated their impact on the local economy.”

According to Oramah, the bank is set to commission a 750 million dollar 500-bed African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja in June.

He said the 500-bed medical centre was a quaternary medical facility built to avail top-class care to Africans in the vital areas of oncology, cardiology, and haematology.

Oramah said other interventions by the bank in Nigeria included the operationalisation of the African Quality Assurance Centre (AQAC) in Ogun State.
He said the centre was designed to ease quality infrastructure constraints of exporting agricultural and value-added goods into regional and international markets.

Oramah said similar projects were under development in the states of Imo and Kaduna.

He said in 2024, Nigeria was selected to host the Africa Energy Bank, which was established by Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producer’s Organisation (APPO).

Oramah explained that the bank was also expected to address the financing constraints in the oil, gas and other energy sectors.

“The Energy Bank will position Nigeria as the continental hub for mobilising energy financing.”

He added that in Ogun, a Special Economic Zone was being developed by Afreximbank’s investee company, Arise Integrated Industrial Platform.

“This over 300 million dollar project is being developed to promote export manufacturing and similar projects are expected in Cross Rivers, Imo, Enugu and Kano States.”

Oramah said the bank’s financing support to Nigeria had also helped to boost the oil refining capacity to about 1.2 million barrels per day.

He added that it also helped to boost urea fertiliser production to 7.5 million tonnes per annum, up from under four million tonnes in 2019.

“We expect urea capacity to rise to about 11 million tonnes by 2027 when Dangote Petrochemical company opens the new lines under development.

“These are remarkable and are contributing significantly to Nigeria’s non-oil export revenues.”

He said Afreximbank was also investing in growing the country’s creative sector, through credit lines support, capacity-building initiatives and market access opportunities.

Oramah said recently the bank opened a dedicated 200 million facility to support the sector under an ongoing partnership with the Federal Ministry of Culture and Creative Industry.

He said the support had helped Nigeria to boost the export of its creative content to the rest of Africa and the world while boosting youth employment.

“These projects and interventions add to the significant investments committed by Afreximbank since its inception some 32 years ago.

“ I am most pleased to put on record that the relationship between the Bank and the Federal Government of Nigeria has been truly mutually beneficial and most cordial.

“Over the last three decades, successive governments have accorded unflinching support to Afreximbank by responding most positively to capital calls.

“Also creating a congenial environment for its smooth operations while providing the bank significant domestic policy support that helped to execute many of the development programmes in Nigeria.”(NAN)

Edited by Vivian Ihechu