Money market
Naira depreciates by 0.02% to N394.33/$ at I & EFX market
By Kayode Tokede
Naira depreciated by 0.02 per cent to N394.33 against the dollar at the Investors & Exporters Foreign Exchange ( I & EFX) window on Thursday.
The local currency closed down by 1.21per cent and 1.38 per cent against the euro and pound sterling to print at N477.26 and N540.39 respectively.
According to FMDQ Exchange, a turnover of $37.58million was traded by investors & exporters on Thursday as against $51.51million turnover traded by investors and exporters on Wednesday.
At the parallel market, the Naira closed flat against the pound sterling, euro and dollar at N650, N580 and N478 respectively.
“Going forward, we expect the FX market to be dictated by heightened dollar demand and CBN FX policies,” analysts at Investment One research said.
The NTB secondary market was bearish, as average yield expanded by 50basis points to 1.1per cent.
Across the curve, average yield was higher across all the tenors – short (+28 basis points), mid (+30basis points) and long (+76 basis points) – due to upward repricing of the 14DTM (+49 basis points), 182DTM (+63 basis points) and 259DTM (+107 basis points) instruments, respectively.
Elsewhere, trading at the OMO segment (average yield flat at 1.6per cent) was relatively quiet, as market participants positioned for renewed supply at the primary market.
The Treasury bonds secondary market maintained its bearish stance, as average yield expanded by six basis points to 7.4 per cent.
Across the curve, average yield contracted at the short (-6 basis points) end, following buying activity in the JAN-2022 (-86 basis points) bond, and expanded at the mid (+34 basis points) segment, due to profit-taking on the APR-2029 (+48 basis points) bond; the long end was flat.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says the regulation of crypto-currencies and other digital assets are under its full control and regulation.
The Director-General of SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama, said this at the first Annual Conference of the Association of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria (ACMAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
Agama described crypto assets as digital or virtual assets utilised by cryptography for security.
He said there were over 15,000 crypto currencies created which had Bitcoin as the most popular.
The director-general said that the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrency was not yet firm even in the United States.
According to him, Nigeria’s crypto transaction volume had reached $56.7 billion between July 2022 and June 2023, hence the efforts by SEC.
Agama quoted a survey which said that 33.4 per cent of Nigerians were using or owned crypto currencies.
”Secrecy of crypto usage is what is driving its adoption by the youth.
”Some people don’t have bank accounts but they have crypto wallet.
”Crypto is like an air, can you cage it, No. What you can do is to build a risk management around it, ”he said.
Agama said the commission would continue to educate investors on the risks associated with digital assets to be able to make wise investment decisions.
Chief Osita Izunaso, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market, said the country required effective crypto regulation to benefit from the gains of the market.
Izunaso said the absence of effective regulation on crypto currencies had exposed so many investors to fraud.
He called for synergy from all stakeholders to harness opportunities in the crypto space.
The Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Ms Patience Oniha, called for awareness creation to educate investors to make informed decisions.
Mr Bello Hassan, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, said that crypto currencies had come to stay as younger people were patronising the market.
Hassan called on SEC to constantly update investors with unbiased information of the associated risks of trading in the crypto market.
Prof. Uche Uwaleke, the President, ACMAN, said the conference was aimed at considering the possibilities of expanding the financial sector regulations.
Uwaleke said the conference would also explore ways to accommodate crypto assets within the regulatory space.
ACMAN conferred awards on many stakeholders in the financial and capital markets for their various contributions in moving the markets forward.
The conference was organised by ACMAN in collaboration with SEC.
By Opeyemi Abdulsalam
The Nigerian currency, Naira, maintained its stability against the United States dollar at the official foreign exchange market on Wednesday, trading at N1,507.83 per dollar.
According to data from FMDQ, this represents a marginal change of N0.04 from the previous day’s rate of N1,507.79 per dollar.
At the parallel market, the naira also maintained its exchange rate of N1,505 per dollar, unchanged from the previous day.
Bureau de Change operators in the Wuse Zone 4 area of Abuja confirmed the rates, with one operator, Dayyabu Ashiru, stating that they sell at N1,505 per dollar and buy at N1,495.
“We sell at N1,505 per dollar and buy at N1,495,” Dayyabu Ashiru, a Bureau de Change operator in Wuse Zone 4 told a source on Wednesday.
The stability of the naira comes on the heels of recent reforms implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which have attracted a significant inflow of $24 billion into the country in the first quarter of 2024, according to the CBN Governor’s recent interview with Bloomberg Television.
In a related development, the CBN on Tuesday issued a fresh directive permitting International Money Transfer Operators and all banks to pay diaspora remittances in naira.
O3 Capital, a leading Nigerian fintech and the country’s first non-bank credit card issuer, has disclosed that the launch of its four American Express (‘Amex’) cards have been met with huge demand both in and out of Nigeria.
Chief Executive Officer of O3 Capital, Abimbola Pinheiro, in a statement said, “We are delighted with the amazing response to our launch of American Express cards in Nigeria.
“The success of the Green and Platinum cards, in particular, shows the market’s enthusiasm for modern financial solutions. We are proud to support both individual and corporate customers in their financial journeys.
“Our cards launch has also struck a major chord with established banks and fintechs – many of whom have approached us to partner with them. The future for O3 is exciting.
“We are also pleased to have received a positive acknowledgment from the Government of Nigeria, to our exciting developments – and which is aligned with the Financial System Strategy 2020 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the main thrust of a ‘cashless Nigeria’,” he stated.
Abimbola further said the acknowledgment underscores the importance of O3 Capital’s contribution to the country’s financial ecosystem.
In May 2024, O3 Capital announced an agreement with American Express to issue four new American Express credit cards: the O3 American Express® Green Card for consumers, the O3 American Express Gold Card for consumers, and the O3 American Express Platinum® Card for consumers; and the O3 American Express Gold Business Card for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
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