Daily Watch – States can exploit minerals, Bears having fun at the NSE

14th January 2016

  • The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has disclosed that state governments are now free to explore and exploit mineral deposits in their domains, provided they go about such in a legal manner that will not interfere with locations already given to other stakeholders. While acknowledging that the Federal Government enjoys exclusive rights to mine minerals across the country, Fayemi noted that the Constitution encourages states to either set up their own investment corporations or partner private investors to exploit minerals in their jurisdictions.
  • Nigerian equities dropped into a correction as plunging oil prices dimmed the growth outlook for Africa’s biggest economy. The Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index fell 3.7 percent on Wednesday to 25,072.66 by 1422 hours in Lagos, the lowest level since September 2012 and the most among 93 global indexes tracked by Bloomberg after Egypt. The measure is down 12 percent since the previous peak on December 31, more than the 10 percent drop that indicates a market correction. Nigerian Breweries dropped 4.9 percent, falling for an eighth day to the lowest since June 2012, and the biggest drain on the ASI. Zenith Bank slid 8.9 percent to a six-year low, while Nestle declined 5 percent, the most since August 28.
  • The Federal Government, has announced that gas projects saddled with the responsibility of improving power supply in the country are scheduled for completion in the second quarter of this year. In a communiqué issued at the end of the first monthly meeting of operators in the power sector, we were told that the country’s gas sector was still facing some challenges in the aspects of payment and security, but the government expressed optimism that the supply of gas for electricity generation would improve from the second quarter of this year.
  • Nigeria’s currency woes took a turn for the worse after the exchange rate between the dollar and the naira crossed the N300 mark to close at N301 in a cross section of the parallel market on Wednesday. The rate on the average was about N298 if you wanted to buy. The exchange rate depreciated massively on Tuesday after the CBN announced that it was no longer going to sell forex to the BDC’s blaming them for round tripping and causing more harm that good.