BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Nigeria owes China $3.12bn; Lagos to support MSMEs; See other stories that made our pick 

Hello, and welcome to Business Roundup this week. Here, we bring you highlights of events that happened during the week -from the capital market, mainstream business activities while not forgetting the tech/economy build up.

Here are the Headlines:

Oil prices climb to recover Nigeria’s debt to China hits $3.12bn in Q1 –DMO CBN to fund value chains of 9 agricultural commodities with N432bn Lagos to support MSMEs with N5bn stimulus

Summary:

Oil rose past $42 a barrel on Friday, increasing the gains recorded at the last session, after OPEC producers and allies agreed to meet supply cuts and indications emerged that demand was recovering.

Iraq and Kazakhstan, during a meeting of an OPEC+ panel on Thursday, vowed to comply more with production cuts, sources told Reuters. By implication, curbs by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, could deepen in July. Read more

Nigeria’s total borrowing from China at the end of March stood at $3.121 billion (N1.127 trillion at N361/$), the Debt Management Office (DMO) has said. In a press release issued in Abuja on Thursday, the debt office stated that the country’s indebtedness to China represented only 3.94% of Nigeria’s total public debt of $79.303 billion (N28.628 trillion at N361/$) as of 31st March 2020.

According to the DMO, the total borrowing of $3.121 billion from China at the end of the first quarter of this year are concessional loans with interest rates of 2.50% per annum with a tenor of 20 years and a grace period (moratorium) of 7 years. Read more

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Thursday said it would fund the value chains of nine agricultural commodities with N432 billion during the 2020 wet planting season.

The apex bank listed the commodities as tomato, poultry, rice, oil palm, cotton, maize, fish, cocoa and livestock/dairy. Top officials of the CBN unveiled the plan at a stakeholders’ meeting held to review the progress recorded in the bank’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) and the strategies for the 2020 wet season. Read more

Read also: BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Transporters record N200bn loss in 3 months; fuel supply falls by 21%; See other stories that made our pick

The Lagos State Governor, Sanwo-Olu, has declared that the state is developing measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the state.

Part of the measures is a further N5 billion bailout aimed at ensuring business sustainability and boosting economic growth. Sanwo-Olu made the disclosure at a private sector interactive webinar put together by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday. Read more

MEANWHILE, from the Nigerian Stock Exchange: Market capitalisation sheds N56bn as profit-taking persists

On Friday, June 19, The Nigerian equity market contracted further as profit-taking especially in Dangote Cement, Okomu Oil and Guinness caused investors to lose N55.640 billion. A negative market breadth was recorded as 21 losers emerged against 13 gainers.

Across the sector indices, only the Industrial Index posted a positive performance, advancing by 2.67% to 1,219.69 basis points. The All Share Index (ASI) fell by 0.43% to close at 24,826.75 basis points. The market capitalisation slumped to N12.951 trillion at the end of today’s trade.Read more

Thanks for joining the roundup this week. See you next week for another serving of Business Roundup. Don’t forget, for the latest news and updates from around the globe, keep reading Ripples Nigeria.

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