businessday market monitor
Biggest Gainer Total
Foreign Exchange
Biggest Loser Nestle
9.35 pc N1469.9 29,710.56
N107
FMDQ Close
Everdon Bureau De Change
Bitcoin
NSE Foreign Reserve - $38.320bn Cross Rates GBP-$:1.30 YUANY - 52.79
Commodities -6.12 pc Cocoa US$2,797.00
Gold $1,560.77
news you can trust I ** tuesDAY 21 january 2020 I vol. 19, no 481
Amotekun: Face of future Nigeria as regions opt for self-help Joshua Bassey, Iniobong Iwok, Lagos; Godfrey Ofurum, Aba, & Remi Feyisipo, Ibadan
T
he declaration by the Federal Government of Nigeria that the operation of Amotekun, the security outfit set up by the six states of the Southwest, is illegal and that it must cease, is unlikely to lead to its cessation. On the contrary, demand for similar units will rise across the nation. Amotekun in the Yoruba language means Leopard, a symbol of a relentless fighter. Now, since the governors of Southwest region inaugurated their security outfit early this month and called it by that name, Amotekun has come to represent the yearning for self-defence by Nigerians, who have been traumatised by rising insecurity. Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State declared recently that Amotekun was established to complement the work of the security agencies and bridge the gaps in the security of the geopolitical zone. He spoke in response to the order by Nigeria’s AttorneyGeneral and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who days
₦3,084,602.85 -1.60
N300
Sell
$-N 359.00 362.00 £-N 470.00 479.00 €-N 392.00 400.00
Crude Oil $ 65.18
I
Buy
g
www.
Market
Spot ($/N) 362.38 306.95
Currency Futures
NGUS mar 25 2020 364.46
g
6M
5Y
0.00 4.43
0.00
10 Y 0.00
30 Y 0.00
10.40
11.39
12.61
NGUS jun 24 2020 365.37
@
NGUS jan 27 2021 367.48
g
Nigeria’s appetite for subsidies shows little sign of waning LOLADE AKINMURELE & DIPO OLADEHINDE
N
igeria may be set to throw on a new consumption subsidy despite a long history of the damaging practice that has knocked
As FG plans CNG subsidy as alternative to petrol
investor confidence and deterred economic growth. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said last week that plans were ongoing by the Federal Govern-
ment to expand the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an alternative to petrol. The problem with that plan is not only its lack of viability but also that it may be the start-
Continues on page 38
Inside
IMF maintains 2.5% growth for Nigeria in 2020-2021 P. 2
3M 0.00 2.19
I&E FX Window CBN Official Rate ($/N)
fgn bonds
Treasury bills
L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari; Tony Elumelu, founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation, and Babajide SanwoOlu, Lagos State governor, at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London.
ing point for another expensive subsidy. Sylva said CNG could be made available at a cost of between N95 and N97 for Nigerians who found petrol too expensive. But that price is an 11-fold discount to the market price of CNG, which is between $2 (N723) and $3 (N1,084.50), according to CNGprices.com. Despite being a huge premium compared to the subsidy on petrol, Sylva said the switch to CNG will help reduce the burden of petrol subsidy on the finances of the country, adding that the government was working towards encouraging Nigerians to use CNG as fuel for transportation. “The Minister may have other plans in mind but you can’t help but think here we go again with subsidies,” a fund manager who needed authorisation to speak publicly told BusinessDay on condition of anonymity. “It’s hard to see how that will work,” the person said, referring to the viability of turning to CNG as an alternative to petrol. Sylva also said government had over the years done a pilot scheme on CNG in Benin City, and it had proven that it would go a long way in serving Continues on page 38