NAIJAFEED

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Naira gains on spot market after central bank rate hike

Nigeria's naira rose to a five-week high against the dollar in intraday trading on Wednesday, a day after the central bank hiked interest rates to tame inflation and lifted restrictions on foreign investors participating in its fixed-income auctions.

The currency rose to 1,200 per dollar on the official market, LSEG data showed, strengthening above the parallel market levels at about 1,340.

Africa's largest economy has been grappling with dollar shortages that pushed its currency to a record low of 1,851 per dollar last month, though central bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso has said that dollar liquidity is improving.

Last week, Nigeria's central bank said it had cleared all of its verified foreign exchange backlog, part of its strategy to stabilise the naira and tame soaring inflation.

The central bank on Tuesday raised its monetary policy rate 200 basis points to 24.75% from 22.75%, a month after its largest hike in around 17 years.

The central bank paid 26.6% for the one-year Treasury bill at its last auction two weeks ago, but investors at Wednesday's auction expect yields to rise above secondary market quotes of around 22.75% for the one-year bill and around 20.6% for the benchmark 10-year note.

Goldman Sachs analysts Andrew Matheny and Bojosi Morule said the central bank's further rate hike and "the emphasis on improving monetary transmission mechanism by mopping up liquidity will help to rebuild policy credibility", boosting Treasury bill yields to about 28% to 29%.

In the past, lenders faced constraints in fulfilling foreign investors' bids as they incurred extra costs on settlement day if they borrowed from the central bank's discount window to pay for bills.

Foreign investors can now pre-fund their accounts and get naira at the prevailing exchange rate for the auctions, analysts said.

"With this policy mix and with more inflows likely, including a Eurobond, we remain constructive on the naira, with our forex strategists forecasting an appreciation to 1,200 versus the dollar over the next 12 months," Matheny and Morule wrote in a research note to clients on Wednesday.

The central bank hopes the auctions can attract sufficient foreign interest to boost dollar liquidity.
Tellimer economist Patrick Curran said that "while forex liquidity has improved, it is still well below pre-pandemic levels and a boost in dollar supply will be needed to support further naira appreciation."

By Chijioke Ohuocha and Elisha Bala-Gbogbo, Reuters

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Court in Nigeria sentences Chinese businessman to death for murdering girlfriend

A Nigerian court has sentenced a Chinese businessman to death after being found guilty of murdering his girlfriend Ummu Kulthum Sani in 2022.

Frank Geng Quarong was discovered in her room after having stabbed her several times there.

The killing of the 22-year-old university student shocked Nigerians and the case was closely followed.

Death sentences are rarely carried out in Nigeria. Quarong has 90 days to appeal against the verdict.

Speaking on behalf of the family, the victim's brother, Sadiq Sani, described the sentence of death by hanging handed down by the court in Kano as justice. He said that whoever kills anyone deserved to be killed too.

"We thank God for showing us this day... I pray that my sister's soul continues to rest in peace," he told the BBC.

Her family remember the young agriculture undergraduate as kind and jovial.

Quarong, 49, and Ms Sani had been in a relationship since 2020 after having met in a shopping mall, according to Mr Sani.

He was in the country working for a Nigerian textiles firm.

Talking shortly after the killing in September 2022, family friend Ahmad Abdullahi described what had happened.

He remembered coming to the family home and seeing that "a lot of people had gathered outside the house".

"That was when we knew something bad had happened. Geng was her boyfriend and had good relations with her family prior to that day.

"Before the incident they were having issues as she was no longer interested and he didn't want to let go."

According to neighbours, on the night of the killing Quarong was heard knocking heavily on the gate to the Sani family home.

When Ms Sani's mother opened the gate he pushed her aside and rushed straight to Ms Sani's room, locking it from the inside.

Her shouts and cries attracted the family and before anyone could break down the door to help she had been stabbed several times.

She died later in hospital.

Nigeria currently has more than 3,400 people on death row and the last execution was carried out in 2012.

By Mansur Abubakar, BBC

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Kidnapped Edo PDP chairperson freed

The Chairperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Tony Aziegbemi, abducted on 15 March in Benin, has been freed.

The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that Mr Aziegbemi reunited with his family at 3 a.m. on Tuesday after 10 days in captivity.

Clem Aziegbemi, on behalf of the family, said the PDP leader was released unhurt.

“As a member of the Aziegbemi family, we say thank you all for your great show of love and solidarity with us all through the period of the abduction of our beloved son, brother, cousin, and leader, Dr Tony Aziegbemi.

“Thank you, all…. We are most grateful for all your valuable contributions through prayers and steadfastness. God bless,” he said.

Mr Aziegbemi was ambushed at the Bishop Edokpolor Boulevard Junction, off Country Home, GRA Benin City, while returning from the Government House, where he held a meeting with Governor Godwin Obaseki

His abduction came less than a month after his party conducted a primary election for the 21 September governorship election in the state.

When contacted, the police spokesperson in Edo, Chidi Nwabuzor, said the police would soon issue an official statement on the development.

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Monday, March 25, 2024

Video - Nigeria food banks cut back on handouts as prices soar

At a warehouse in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos, dozens of women patiently wait their turn to receive food handouts. Among them is 68-year-old widow Damilola Salami, who received an invitation to the facility just as she had almost run out of food.

The Lagos Food Bank is a crucial lifeline to residents like Salami, but has seen supplies from private and other donors fall as inflation soars in Africa's biggest economy.

Nigeria is grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in decades, which has deepened since President Bola Tinubu rolled out bold but unpopular economic reforms after assuming office last May.

"There is nothing for us to eat, we are hungry," said Salami as she waited for her share of food and cooking oil. "Our children are out of school because of the increase in fees. Now, the children are at home and there is no food."

Mabel Wade, an 80-year-old charcoal seller, said sustenance was scarce and she often relied on neighbours before she was told of the food bank.

"Sometimes there is no food to eat at all... Sometimes, it is biscuit and water," she said, after registering for food stamps.

Last month a stampede broke out and killed seven people at a food distribution centre in Lagos.
World Bank data shows that 46% of Nigeria's population was deemed poor in 2023. Twenty million of them live in urban areas.

In the past, the imposing warehouse of Lagos Food Bank would be fully stocked with bags of Nigerian staples like rice, beans and vegetable oil. Not anymore.

Founder Michael Sunbola said the facility's major donor had cut supplies by 93%, citing the high cost of food.

The food bank has now dialled back on quantities, providing families with enough supplies for a few days at a time when once their parcels would have lasted two weeks. The facility is also having to "narrow down the number of people we want to reach out to", said Sunbola of the people invited to use the service.

"Now, we do only women from the age of 50," he told Reuters.

No Hunger Initiatives, a food bank serving mostly internally displaced people in the capital Abuja, faces similar problems.

The number of people seeking food handouts has tripled since May 2023 but the facility is unable to keep up because donors have cut back supplies by half due to rising inflation, said Kumdet Yilkon, a senior official.

By Ope Adetayo, Reuters

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