…As 20 German firms swoop on Nigeria for investment opportunities***
Activities reopened on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday after the long holidays to mark the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations on a downward trend, with the All-Share Index dropping by 0.73 per cent.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the index shed 284.32 points or 0.73 per cent to close at 38,644.15, compared with the 38,928.47 achieved on Thursday.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation which opened at N14. 101 trillion lost N95 billion to close at N14.006 trillion due to profit taking.
An analysis of the price movement chart shows that Unilever posted the highest loss, leading the losers’ chart with a loss of N2, to close at N53 per share.
Forte Oil came second with a loss of N1.80 to close at N35.15, while Flour Mills depreciated by N1.60 to close at N31.15 per share.
NASCON was down by N1.15 to close at N22.80, while Zenith International Bank shed 90k to close at N25.50 per share.
Conversely, International Breweries led the gainers’ table for the day, appreciating by N2.70 to close at N44 per share.
Eterna Oil followed with a gain of N0.31 kobo to close at N6.61 kobo, Ikeja Hotel gained N0.14 kobo to close at N2.99 kobo,
Nigerian Breweries gained 10k to close at N110.10, while C & I Leasing increased by 9k to close at N1.82 per share.
In spite of the drop in the market indices, the volume of shares traded closed higher as investors bought and sold 390.47 million shares valued at N6.12 billion transacted in 3,889 deals.
This was against the turnover of 336.62 million shares worth N5.25 billion transacted in 3,667 deals on Thursday.
United Bank for Africa was the most active stock for the day, exchanging 123 million shares worth N1.30 billion.
It was followed by Zenith International Bank with an account of 35.79 million shares valued at N919.94 million, while Access Bank traded 34.83 million shares worth N365.54 million.
Cement Company of Northern Nigeria sold a total of 32.71 million shares worth N850.36 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank exchanged 23.01 million shares valued at N927.14 million.
Meanwhile, No fewer than 20 German firms are presently in Nigeria to explore investment opportunities.
Already, the Chief Executives of the visiting firms, led by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, on Tuesday paid a courtesy visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to obtain first-hand information on the various investment opportunities.
According to Enelamah, the delegation came from Bavaria, the region of Germany covering Munich and other industrial areas of the country.
“This is a very robust delegation; one of the important insights I gained from the meeting is that they really think that Nigerian economy is picking up.
“They think investments are all looking positive and they believe that it is better to face it and see for themselves rather than read about it from a distance.
“It is also noteworthy that some of them are already here and most of them are actually prospecting,’’ Enelamah told State House Correspondents.
The Minister disclosed that the investors would spend some days in the country, especially in Abuja and Lagos after their successful meeting with the Vice President.
He noted that they would have follow-up meetings with other investment agencies in the country as well as the private sector in Lagos.
Enelamah added that while the new investors were looking for opportunities to invest those already in the country were seeking for chances for expansion.
He noted that they were interested in how to get rid of obstacles on their way to invest.
“There is a strong push by us (Nigeria) to encourage investors to come to create jobs for our people and to help to strengthen our economy,” the minister said.
