In a bid to increase financial inclusion in the country the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued new licenses to 15 mobile money operators.
“We have so far provided 15 licenses to several mobile money operators who are working to increase access to finance using digital channels,” Godwin Emefiele, the Apex bank’s governor reveals. Emefiele explained that the bank’s action is a joint initiative with Bankers Committee with the goal of rolling out 500,000 agent touchpoint in 2020.
According to CBN, the newly licensed mobile operators will join the 21 existing ones to provide mobile money services to millions of Nigerians as a means of bridging the gap between the financially served, the underserved and unserved. More details here.
Below is the Ventures Africa Weekly Economic Index, for the week ending 20th of December 2019. This economic index gives you a glimpse into other recent activities in Nigeria’s economy as well as changes and prices that could affect the economy:
Nigerian Stock Exchange
Data released by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as of December 20th 2019, showed that the NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalization declined by 0.04% and 0.03% to close the week at 26,526.35 and N12.804 trillion respectively. All other indices finished higher with the exception of, NSE Premium, NSE-AFR Div Yield, NSE Oil and Gas, NSE Lotus ll and NSE Industrial Goods indices which depreciated by 0.86%, 3.14%, 0.68%, 0.06% and 0.49%, respectively, while the NSE ASeM Index closed flat.
Top five price gainers and decliners in the week under review:
Top five price gainers
A.G. Leventis Nigeria Plc.
Chams Plc.
Royal Exchange Plc.
Nigerian Brew. Plc.
Ikeja Hotel Plc.
Top five price decliners
Cornerstone Insurance Plc.
UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust
UACN Property Development Company Plc.
Nascon Allied Industries Plc.
Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc.
How did the Naira fare?
The Nigerian currency rose against the dollar at the close of last week, trading at 364 Naira per dollar. This is slightly lower than N365 per dollar recorded a week before.
How did the price of oil fare?
Brent oil prices closed out the week on the 20th of December 2019 at $66.35 per barrel, an increase from the $64.63 recorded a week earlier.
