The Securities and Exchange Commission has restated its commitment to partner with relevant government agencies and the private sector to attract more investments to the country in a bid to further boost the economy.
Acting Director General of SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk stated this in Abuja when she received the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Ms. Yewande Sidiku in Abuja.
Uduk said that it is in furtherance of its objectives of attracting more investors to the capital market that the SEC is poised to revitalize the commodities exchange market among other initiatives.
“There are opportunities in the Commodities market and we need to scale up participation in that regard to attract investors. And we will require the collaboration of the NIPC in that regard as the direct investors you are seeking to attract
“Various opportunities abound in the capital market for both individuals and government and that is why we are exploring avenues to attract states to come to the market and raise funds for infrastructural projects. We are happy to partner with you to make the market and the country richer and better” Uduk said.
In her remarks, the NIPC ES, Yewande Sidiku said the Commission is committed to ensuring that the nation has the required business climate to attract both foreign investors and Nigerians in the diaspora.
She said the Commission is visiting different states to explore investment opportunities and also looking at some investments that were started by states but are now moribund and find ways to revitalize them.
“There are many investment opportunities in the states and what we have done now is to design a platform for profiling such investment opportunities. Part of the strategy is to enlighten the state officials as it is important that the states are ready for the investors” Sidiku stated.
She said the mandate of the Commission is to encourage investors to come and that is why incentives are being put in place to make it easier for them to come.
“The work that we do is connected to the work of the SEC, we encourage investors to come while the SEC is here to protect the investors and that is why we need to collaborate. We are happy to work with the SEC to further grow our economy.
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NNPC, African Transportation Union partner on petrol smuggling
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has sought effective collaboration with members of the African Union of Transportation and Logistics Organization to halt incidents of cross-border leakages of petroleum products.
The corporation said smuggling of petroleum products remained a blight in the nation’s fuel supply and distribution matrix.
NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed this while receiving a delegation of the group led by its President, Mr. Mustapha Chaeun, at the NNPC Towers recently, a release by the corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, said.
Dr. Baru noted that the collaboration would not only help to stop the menace but would help rid the West African corridor of other vices that are associated with the illicit fuel smuggling business.
The NNPC GMD also charged the regional transportation union to ensure that its members comply with extant laws and regulations on speed limits, axial weight of haulage tankers and other sundry regulations necessary to ensure safety of high ways across the African terrain.
He said the NNPC was open to new areas of mutual collaboration with the organization while calling on transportation union members to take full advantage of NNPC’s vast business portfolio and strategic position in the West African sub-region and beyond to expand business interest and areas of cooperation.
Responding, Mr. Chaeun, while thanking the NNPC GMD for the warm reception accorded his team, pledged the readiness of members to comply with extant laws and regulations in countries where they operate.
He said that the composition of the union members which encompasses groups from West, Central, East and North Africa, made it imperative for the union to work with key continental institutions like the NNPC to maximize its strategic role in the region.
‘’We expect collaboration on many levels: first at the level of development of our sector, the transport sector, and to enhance human resources management. On another level, there is the need for training our professional drivers that work in transport sector,’’ he noted.
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Balancing oil market will be a “marathon.”-IEA
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest Oil Market Report that “the journey to a balanced market will take time, and is more likely to be a marathon than a sprint.”
The agency noted that while Saudi Arabia seems determined to follow through, there is “less clarity” on Russia.
While leaving its demand forecast unchanged, IEA argued that while the global economy is starting to show some worrying signs, lower oil prices will also help keep demand aloft.
Meanwhile, OPEC in its monthly Oil Market Report released last week revealed a roughly 751,000 bpd decline, according to secondary sources.
Saudi Arabia slashed output by 468,000 bpd, Iran lost 159,000 bpd, and Libya lost 172,000 bpd.
Smaller cuts came from the UAE (-65,000 bpd) and involuntary losses from Venezuela (-33,000 bpd).
The largest gain came from Iraq, which added 88,000 bpd.
The monthly totals occurred before implementation of the OPEC+ agreement, which called for cuts of 1.2 mb/d from October’s baseline.
However, Brent is expected to average $61 per barrel for 2019, with WTI averaging $8 below Brent in the first quarter, a discount that will narrow to a smaller $4-per-barrel markdown by the fourth quarter.
