Short Takes

 

• $9.2 mn

Nigeria’s GT Bank traded the largest volume on the Lagos bourse on Thursday in deals worth N2.89 billion ($9.2 million) as foreign funds exchanged shares in off-market deals following strong half-year results, traders said.

Guaranty Trust Bank traded 71 million units in mostly cross-deals at an average price of 40.80 naira between some offshore funds and local investors, traders said.

Brokers said foreign funds viewed the bank favourably as one of the most profitable and some were taking positions in it.

• 8 mn

Nigeria’s oil production, excluding condensates, was slightly below 1.8 million barrels per day in July, the country’s oil minister said.

Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, speaking on the sidelines of an event in the capital, Abuja, said there had been issues with aging pipelines.

Nigeria’s oil output has rebounded this year, aided by government efforts to placate militants in the Niger Delta region where the bulk of the country’s crude is produced, but it has struggled to maintain peak output levels.

• $200 mn

Nigeria launched a fund on Thursday with an initial value of $200 million to support local oil and gas firms, part of a government drive to improve access to low-cost credit across the economy.

The Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) would be financed through allocating the fund one percent of the value of all contracts awarded in the state run upstream oil and gas industry, the Petroleum Ministry said.

The new fund would offer finance to energy firms setting up manufacturing facilities or acquiring assets such as oil rigs, ministry officials said. It would also offer project financing and help refinance existing loans.

 

PATRICK ATUANYA