Nigeria’s huge economic dependence on crude oil is gradually making it volatile to events within the global oil market. This forced the government to increase the 2019/2020 national budget last year as the crash in oil prices coupled with the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic saw the economy fluctuate considerably.
By November 2020, the country had fallen into a recession. However, Nigeria experienced a growth of 0.11 percent in the 4th quarter helping it to unexpectedly come out of the recession.
Below is the Ventures Africa Weekly Economic Index for the week ending 5th of March 2021. 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
The NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalization depreciated by 1.18 percent to close the week at 39,331.61 and N20.578 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished lower with the exception of NSE Industrial Goods and NSE Sovereign Bond Indices which rose by 1.39 percent and 0.07 percent while the NSE ASeM Index closed flat.
Top five price gainers
Morison Industries Plc.
Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc.
Unity Bank Plc.
Beta Glass Plc.
Lasaco Assurance Plc.
Top five price decliners
Champion Brew. Plc.
Japaul Gold & Ventures Plc.
ARDOVA Plc.
Oando Plc.
Nascon Allied Industries Plc.
How did the Naira fare?
Nigeria’s central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, on January 26 dismissed calls to devalue the naira in his monetary policy committee statement. Instead he chose to continue propping up the currency at 197-199 naira to the dollar and maintain foreign-exchange restrictions. As a result, the naira on the black market is hovering around a record low of 305, fuelling complaints from domestic and foreign businesses who can’t access dollars required for imports. / AFP / PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (Photo credit should read PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/Getty Images)
The Naira appreciated against the dollar at the close of last week. The exchange rate rose to 380.88 per dollar on the 5th of March 2021 as against 412.91 recorded last week.
How did the price of oil fare?
Brent oil prices closed out the week on the 5th of March 2021 at $69.36 per barrel, a significant increase from the $66.13 per barrel recorded a week earlier.
