Foreign portfolio investments in Nigeria drops by 77.4% in Q1 2021
Foreign portfolio investments (FPIs) in Nigeria recorded a 77.4% year-on-year decline in the first quarter of 2021 to stand at $974.1 million. This is according to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Nigeria’s foreign investments.
Portfolio investments dropped from $4.31 billion recorded in Q1 2020 to $974.1 million in Q1 2021. Quarter on quarter, however, this was a 1,635% increase compared to $56.15 million recorded in the previous quarter (Q4 2020).
FPIs generally consist of securities and alternative foreign financial assets that are passively held by foreign investors. It involves an investor purchasing foreign financial assets, such as; equities, bonds, derivatives, mutual funds, and guaranteed investment certificates, among other instruments.
Cholera kills 20 in Bauchi, 302 hospitalised
Twenty residents of Bauchi State have lost their lives to Cholera while 302 others are receiving treatment in hospitals, the Commissioner for Health, Aliyu Maigoro, said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
Maigoro explained that nine local councils in the state recorded 322 cases in one month, putting the fatality rate at 6.2 per cent.
He said: “The state’s Ministry of Health was notified of a sporadic case of gastroenteritis in Magami Community, Burra Ward of Ningi Local Council by the Area Health Officer in Burra District on the May 11, 2021.
“This followed an increase in the number of cases above normal in the community. The index case was a 37-year-old housewife who presented at Burra General Hospital on April 24, 2021. She complained of abdominal pains, diarrhoea and vomiting. She and others were successfully managed and discharged.”
Over N17 billion royalties unremitted as solid minerals export policy lingers
The Nigerian Government is losing huge revenue from the solid mineral sector in the country, due to the lack of standardized guideline procedure and requirements for exporters despite the need to attract investments in the sector.
Despite attempts to develop the draft policy since 2017 without success after the stakeholders’ consultative forum on the policy was first set up, as much as N17.5 billion worth of royalties is due by operators in the sector, as a result of the absence of a clear operation procedure and guidelines for export operations in the sector.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite painted the sad situation in the sector at another session of the Forum’s meeting in Abuja to present the progress report to the Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed and also to solicit input from stakeholders for the Policy.
Next COVID-19 vaccine supply for Nigeria uncertain, NPHCDA reveals
The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), yesterday, expressed uncertainty over the arrival of the next batch of COVID-19 in Nigeria due to the supply challenges being encountered by the global community.
This came as it was revealed that the most populous black nation had almost completed administering the first doses of Oxford AstraZeneca on 1,929,237 Nigerians, representing 96 per cent of the targeted population. Of the number, 440,000 were health workers.
Also, 4,683 persons have received the second round of the jab.
NPHCDA’s Executive Director, Faisal Shuaib, told reporters in Abuja, that like most nations, “this global shortage in vaccine supply impacts the clarity over Nigeria’s next shipment. The agency has information that it may get the next consignment of vaccines by end of July or August. This has not been officially confirmed.
Five firms account for 70% of Nigeria’s stock market value
Dangote Cement Plc and four other companies accounted for about 69.59 per cent of the market capitalisation of equities on the Nigerian Exchange Limited as of the end of April.
The other companies are MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, Airtel Africa Plc, BUA Cement Plc and Nestle Nigeria Plc.
An analysis of data obtained from the NGX showed that the five biggest listed companies boosted their combined market capitalisation by N520bn in April to N14.51tn.
The market capitalisation of all the 162 companies listed on the NGX stood at N20.85tn as of April 30, compared to N20.43tn at the end of March.
Dangote Cement, the country’s biggest listed company, saw its market cap grow to N3.69tn at the end of last month from N3.66tn in March.
MTN Nigeria boosted its market value to N3.56tn from N3.26tn while that of Airtel Africa remained unchanged at N3.49tn.
BUA Cement’s market cap rose to N2.64tn in April from N2.49tn in March while Nestle Nigeria grew its market value to N1.13tn from N1.09tn.
