…As Presidency says: We lifted 5m young Nigerians out of extreme poverty in 3 years***
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday started trading for the month of August with a growth of N14 billion, most probably, as a result of bargain hunting, in the shares of MTN Nigeria, NASCON Allied Industries (NASCON) and 10 other stocks.
Consequently, the market capitalisation improved by N14 billion to close at N13.522 trillion against N13.508 trillion achieved on Wednesday.
In the same vein, the All-Share Index rose by 30.20 points or 0.11 per cent to close at 27,748.46 against 27,718.26 on Wednesday.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, including MTN Nigeria, NASCON, Berger Paints Nigeria, Fidson Healthcare and Flour Mills.
Analysts at Cordros Capital Limited noted, “Amidst mixed corporate earnings, our outlook for equities in the short to medium term remains conservative.”
Market breadth remained negative; 12 stocks posted gains, while 16 stocks posted declines.
Fidson Healthcare recorded the highest price gain of 9.76 per cent to close at N4.50 per share.
Berger Paints followed with a gain of 9.65 per cent to close at N6.25, while NASCON appreciated by 6.87 per cent to close at N14 per share.
Also read: NSE: July closes in red, as Investors lose N50bn
Honeywell Flour Mills went up by 5.26 per cent to close at N1, while Unity Bank appreciated by 3.03 per cent to close at 68k per share.
Conversely, Eterna led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N2.70 per share.
NCR Nigeria followed with a decline of 8.62 per cent to close at N5.30, while Forte Oil went down by 8.14 to close at N18.05 per share.
Wapic Insurance lost 7.14 per cent to close at 39k, while Japaul Oil & Maritime Services shed 4.76 per cent to close at 20k per share.
However, the total volume traded declined by 61.35 per cent as investors bought and sold 97.36 million shares worth N1.77 billion traded in 2,936 deals.
This was in contrast with a total of 251.93 million shares valued at N4.13 billion exchanged in 3, 937 deals on Wednesday.
Zenith International Bank drove the activity chart with an exchange of 11.59 million shares valued at N212.74 million.
United Bank for Africa followed with a turnover of 11.22 million shares worth N67.04 million, while Lafarge Africa sold 10.21 million shares valued at N147.01 million.
Guaranty Trust Bank traded 8.37 million shares worth N235.11 million, while Transcorp transacted 7.18 million shares valued at N6.90 million.
In the meantime, President Muhammadu Buhari, says the Federal Government’s introduced National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), has in three years, lifted no fewer than 5 million young Nigerians, out of extreme poverty.
Buhari said this at the opening of the Global Youth Employment Forum of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Abuja on Thursday.
He said that the forum was an opportunity for young persons to address the challenges of national economic stability.
Represented by Mr. Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Buhari commended the ILO for committing itself to youth employment.
He noted that the Federal Government had an in-depth understanding of the rapidly changing demographics and the emerging world of work.
“We note at this point that the issue of youth unemployment has assumed a global significant, and on the front burner of development discourse.
“The government of Nigeria understands the need to focus attention on youth empowerment by creating the enabling environment for job opportunities and capacity building.
“The present administration from the onset, made the investment in our people, one of the key goals of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, which is the national development blueprint from the period of 2017 to 2020.
“The implementation of the plan also has the flagship programme such as the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).
“It has yielded some measurable outcomes in the form of increased school enrolment and the creation of more jobs.
“One of the key components of the NSIP is the N-Power programme and its sub-components has led to the creation of job opportunities in different sectors of the economy for young persons.
“For example, in the past three years, the programme has yielded over 2 million direct and indirect employment opportunities and has lifted over 5 million Nigerians out of extreme poverty,
“In addition to this achievement, some sectors of the economy with high propensity for massive job creation and employment generation were specifically target by the government for various forms of support.’’
Buhari noted that these sectors included agriculture, solid minerals, power, works and housing, trade and investment, and also in the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The president said some programmes of the federal government were also targeted at the informal sectors, improving their capacity and boosting the domestic economy, such as the import restriction the executive order on ease of doing business.
The ILO Director General, Mr. Guy Ryder, called on governments and the social partners to foster pro-employment growth and decent job creation through macroeconomic policies.
According to him, with right macro-economic policies in place, it will promote youth employability, youth entrepreneurship and rights to tackle the social consequences of youth unemployment.
“There is the need to promote macroeconomic policies and fiscal incentives that support employment and stronger aggregate demand, improve access to finance and increase productive investment, taking account of different economic situations in countries.’’
He recalled that at its 101st International Labour Conference in June 2012, the ILO adopted a Resolution calling for immediate, targeted and renewed action to tackle the youth employment crisis.
