₦airaland Forum

“The situation in Mali is disturbing, FLA rebels and JNIM terrorists in a surprise attack have overrun and Captured major towns in Northern and Southern Mali, the terrorists are currently 15km from the Capital of Mali.”

Copied.

chimex38:
JB had Wike in their pockets from 2015-2023..
Na turn by turn
No one really made much fuse cuz they most certainly always deliver on quality and timely to shut out naysayers.

Hope Hi-tech does the same

Let’s settle this argument once and fall. A comparison between Hitech and JB:

“Both Julius Berger and Hitech are titans in the Nigerian construction industry, but they are often distinguished by their specific technical approaches and historical specialties regarding concrete roads.
While Julius Berger has historically been the "gold standard" for general infrastructure, Hitech has carved out a specific reputation as a pioneer for Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP) in Nigeria. 

1. Hitech Construction: The Concrete Specialists
Hitech is widely regarded as the expert for modern, heavy-duty concrete road construction, particularly in challenging terrains like Lagos. 

• The CRCP Pioneer: Hitech introduced and popularized Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavements (CRCP) in Nigeria. This method uses a continuous bed of steel reinforcement without transverse joints, making the road exceptionally durable and smooth for high-traffic areas. 

• Signature Projects: * The Lagos-Badagry Expressway: A massive project where they utilized concrete for durability against heavy axle loads.

• The Lekki-Epe Expressway: One of the most famous examples of their concrete road expertise.

• Dangote’s Apapa-Oworonshoki Expressway: Though multi-faceted, Hitech's technical footprint is heavy in the concrete-paved sections of major industrial corridors.

2. Julius Berger: The Infrastructure Powerhouse
Julius Berger is often seen as the premier all-rounder. While they have mastered concrete technology, they are historically associated with Bituminous (Asphalt) roads and massive bridge engineering.

• Technological Innovation: They recently introduced Cold Recycling Methodology in Nigeria, which focuses on rehabilitating existing roads by reusing materials, often mixing them with cement or bitumen to create a stabilized base.

• Concrete Expertise: Their expertise is more visible in structural concrete (bridges, flyovers, and dams) rather than just the road surface itself. They built the Second Niger Bridge and the Third Mainland Bridge, which are masterpieces of reinforced concrete engineering.

• Standard of Excellence: When they do use concrete for road pavements (like in some Abuja arterial roads), the quality is considered world-class, but it isn't always their primary "calling card" in the same way it is for Hitech.

Verdict:
If your focus is specifically on rigid concrete pavement for highways (especially in coastal or water-logged areas), Hitech is currently viewed as the leading specialist in that niche. However, for structural concrete engineering (complex interchanges and bridges), Julius Berger remains the undisputed authority.”

Zenith Bank is now worth over $4 Billion.

mikeapollo:
There is nothing like consolidation nor expansion going on. It is borrowing for jamboree!
They are borrowing and awarding dubious, inflated contracts without tender, no bidding, no senate approval, no budgetary allocation etc. to cronies like Chagoury brothers who had no competence nor experience whatsoever in construction.
But all of a sudden, contracts are being withdrawn from reputable companies like Julius Berger and handed over to Chagoury Brothers without any cross bids.

Can Julius Berger do a better job than Hitech when it comes to coastal road constructions?

megawealth01:
Why is Nigeria still borrowing money ooooo? I thought we removed subsi*y? Na sanusi dey ask sha... At least an economist is asking an intelligent question...

Valid question. I don’t think he has anything against borrowing itself for growth but why not consolidate your finances first before expanding aggressively?

ppogba:
"Population explosion would have made regional government to go further from their people" --------Adjectival clause of Assumption. (WASCE May 2031).

Regional Government underestimates Nigeria’s complexity. Nigeria is not just South West, South East and North West where the tribes are largely homogeneous. Those regions can have regional Governments but it’s more complex in the North Central, North East and South South with hundreds of different tribes.

Sunrisepebble:
I don’t understand how they’ve contained the costs. Is this just price increases they’re enjoying ? No volume growth.
I didn’t see their volumes for last year, but Dangote was similar, costs were flat and they didn’t grow volumes. Only Wapco did

Probably some of these guys have successfully switched to CNG (to have it as additional source of fuel) and do not use diesel fully for their operations.

BUA Cement…🔥🔥. See profit na.

So I asked Claude AI what we can expect from Taiwo in contrast to Wale and this is the interesting answer I got. Is this also bullish for the stock market?

“This is a great question. Based on both men’s backgrounds and track records, here’s a reasoned contrast:
Wale Edun’s approach
Edun is an investment banker and close Tinubu ally with deep ties to financial markets. His tenure leaned toward macroeconomic stabilisation — exchange rate reform, courting foreign investors, and signalling orthodox monetary discipline to multilateral institutions like the IMF and World Bank.

What to expect from Oyedele
Given his background, a few shifts seem likely:
1. Fiscal activism over financial markets focus
Oyedele’s entire career has been about domestic revenue — widening the tax base, reducing leakages, and making the system fairer. Expect him to prioritise getting more Nigerians and businesses into the tax net rather than primarily managing Nigeria’s relationship with external creditors and investors.

2. Tax reform implementation
He architected Nigeria’s four new tax laws. As the full minister, he now controls the machinery to actually implement them. Expect aggressive enforcement and defence of those reforms, which he clearly believes in deeply.

3. Simplified, transparent fiscal governance
His public communications have always been plain-language and reform-oriented. He’s likely to push for clearer budget transparency and reduced off-budget spending.

4. Possible tension with the CBN
Edun and CBN Governor Cardoso had a relatively aligned relationship. Oyedele may push harder on fiscal-monetary coordination, particularly on revenue sharing and subsidy management.

5. Less investor relations focus, more domestic mobilisation
Edun spoke the language of Wall Street. Oyedele speaks the language of tax compliance and public finance. Foreign investors may find him less familiar, but domestic reformers will likely cheer.

The big question is whether he’ll have the political capital and bandwidth to execute, given that his reforms have already attracted significant resistance from powerful interests.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​“

DMerciful:
Too late. He'll be sacked himself come 2027.

Peter Obi is the one on whose rock the new Nigeria will be built and the gates of criminality shall not prevail against him

Gates of criminality wen full ADC already? Wetin una dey smoke sef?

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has given approval for the investment of $75 million in Flutterwave, as plans for the deal move closer to completion.

“ To understand what this means, you need to track how we got here. Flutterwave invited the Federal Government to invest $75 million as part of a planned $250 million Initial Public Offer on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, with the investment expected to come through the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI).

At the time, Western Post reports that no concrete agreement had been reached, though Flutterwave had already secured institutional investors, some represented on its board, with new external investors also showing interest.

The government was not rushing. The Federal Government engaged two of the four biggest global accounting and auditing firms to conduct a comprehensive review of Flutterwave’s financial statements and operations, wanting to be certain of the company’s valuation, structure, and long-term viability before committing public funds.

That is due diligence at the highest level, and the pace of it tells you how seriously this was taken inside the Presidency.

Now the approval has reportedly come through. And the context around it is thick.”

https://technext24.com/2026/04/20/tinubu-approves-75m-stake-in-flutterwave/

Agbalowomeri:
Market is not yet deep enough for this number of hours

To attract more investors from the U.S especially now that we are a frontier market.

Oil prices going down. Strait of Hormuz declared open by Iran.

Valthegreat:
Oboy! The gap between JSE and NSE is like the distance between heaven and earth. NSE can't reach the distance in 20 years time even if they place an embargo on JSE growth. We must give it to the whites that they know how to run countries and economies. Zulus and Xhosas couldn't have achieved anything close to where South African economy is today on their own but they know how to make mouth because people who believe in development have built the system already.

I don’t want to be racist but to be honest I don’t know if it has to do with our black skin 😀😭(I still doubt that). Because even the other countries just behind Nigeria are white North Africans (Morocco and Egypt).

Now look at the gap between 4th place Egypt and no 5 called BRVM ( a regional West African exchange consisting of 8 countries together in West Africa). Note that these 8 Francophone countries with just $27.5 Billion total market cap have had stable currencies backed by France for decades.

There are also testimonies of free technical education.

Top 10 African Stock Exchanges (April 2026)
Rank
Stock Exchange
Country
Est. Market Cap (USD)

1
Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)
South Africa
~$1.1 Trillion

2
Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX)
Nigeria
~$105 Billion

3
Casablanca Stock Exchange
Morocco
~$102 Billion

4
Egyptian Exchange (EGX)
Egypt
~$68 Billion

5
BRVM (Regional Exchange)
West Africa (WAEMU)
~$27.5 Billion

6
Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)
Kenya
~$23 Billion

7
Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE)
Ghana
~$22 Billion

8
Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM)
Mauritius
~$15 Billion

9
Bourse de Tunis
Tunisia
~$10 Billion

10
Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE)
Botswana
~$4.6 Billion

April 2026 following the trend of July 2025 in the NGX.

nosa2:
The man is a daft who thought he was a genius. I still remember a TV interview he did when he said he wasn't convinced as to why we needed to devalue (Naira was about N250/$1). Or paying ransom for the Chibok girls which has led to kidnapping being a business.

A leader's job is to appoint advisers and to listen to that advise. Buhari truly believed he had the solution to Nigeria's problems. Patriotism has nothing to do with leadership ability.

Anyway make I no vex this morning

On the late naira devaluation of 2015/2016, I think it was based on his past experience.

When Babangida took over in 1986, he immediately devalued the naira in order to liberalise FX and prevent scarcity of imported items which led to queues in the Buhari era (both Shagari and Buhari had refused to devalue Naira despite fiscal crises from low oil prices since 1981).

Buhari and my parents saw first hand how the naira never looked back since that Babangida devaluation and they learnt the wrong lessons from it. That Naira devaluation itself by Babangida (or any president) is the problem rather than the symptom.
They failed to learn that when you don’t devalue on time based on the macroeconomic realities and you suppress a currency for long (leading to wide black market rates), the aftermath of the devaluation after the suppression usually becomes disastrous.

The key is to find a balance and manage the float.

nosa2:
Globally, Buhari should be amongst the worst peacetime leaders of all time. The man is one of the main reasons why Nigeria is still a third world country.

It’s not necessarily Buhari. The man himself is a patriot who did what he could but his ideology is similar to that of Yaradua (who many Nigerians love today), Kwankwanso, Sowore and most Nigerians. He is a social welfarist and like all ideologies (including capitalism), it has its pros and cons (tradeoffs).

Streetinvestor2:
Na that time I go sell all my village land and people if possible invest in the market. Ngx bull go enter Guinness record..lol

Politics aside, I remember just before the election in 2023, analysts made it clear that whoever won out of the three candidates would make the markets bullish because they had similar policies.
I think these policies (which have been unfortunately but expectedly brutal to the micros) are largely part of the reasons the markets have never looked back in 3 years.

It has grown by at least over 30% YTD since 2023.

nosa2:
Thanks for this.

What percentage of their earnings comes from the refinery business? I am bearish on oil and gas but bullish on refining.

I think they are expanding their refinery and may even start petrol refining this year but it’s not the major part of their business.

The NGX touched the $100 Billion mark yesterday: 134.77 trillion naira (at FX rate: 1343 naira/$). Its second highest market cap in history (in dollar terms).

The NGX in 2008 (then the NSE) actually hit an all-time high in dollar terms back in February 2008, reaching approximately $107.5 Billion. 

• The Devaluation Effect: Since 2008, the Naira has undergone several significant devaluations. This means that even as the market grew in local value, its "dollarized" value often shrank. For example, in January 2026, when the market first hit the ₦100 Trillion milestone, it was valued at roughly $71 Billion due to the exchange rates at the time. 

• The 2026 Rally: Crossing $100 Billion now is a major recovery. It shows that the market's growth is finally outpacing currency depreciation, reclaiming value that was essentially "lost" during the sharp devaluations of 2024 and 2025. 

Why This Time Feels Different

While it’s the second time hitting that dollar threshold, the market structure is quite different now:
• Institutional Depth: There is much higher participation from local institutional investors (like pension funds) compared to 2008.
• Market Dominance: A few "mega-caps" (like Dangote Cement, BUA Foods, and Airtel Africa) now represent a huge portion of that valuation, providing a different kind of stability—and concentration risk—than the banking-heavy rally of 2008.
• Global Performance: In the first quarter of 2026, the NGX has been ranked as one of the best-performing markets globally in dollar terms, which is attracting foreign portfolio investors back to the floor.

SECNigeria wants Free Trade Zone Companies listed on the Stock Exchange

The newly proposed rules would allow FTZEs to raise public capital, with a minimum N7.5bn paid-up capital, a 3-year track record & full disclosure requirements.

Source: Proshare

verminnel:
Jeez!!! Sad i sold off seplat

Seeing that in some years time they would control a lot of the natural gas Nigeria would produce alongside NNPC, I knew not to sell off.

Top African Companies by Size & Influence

🇿🇦 Naspers
🇩🇿 Sonatrach
🇿🇦 Sasol
🇿🇦 MTN Group
🇳🇬 NNPC Limited
🇲🇦 OCP Group
🇿🇦 Shoprite Holdings
🇿🇦 Standard Bank Group
🇿🇦 Vodacom Group
🇳🇬 Dangote Group
🇿🇦 FirstRand
🇿🇦 Absa Group
🇿🇦 Anglo American Platinum
🇿🇦 Sibanye-Stillwater
🇪🇬 Commercial International Bank
🇿🇦 Bidcorp
🇿🇦 Pick n Pay Stores
🇿🇦 Spar Group
🇰🇪 Safaricom
🇳🇬 Zenith Bank

NGX would soon easily be over a $100 Billion market.

nosa2:
Did you buy your ETI?

Up 10% already.

Analysts have started to analyse

I made a mistake. Exited ETI (little though) a day before the result came out. 😭

Niyijac:
Implications of the new policy

The steel tariff cuts (35% across the board) compress margins for listed manufacturers like Dangote and BUA who rely on import duty protection. Watch those stocks.

But the flip side: zero tariffs on agricultural and manufacturing machinery slash costs such that companies investing in expansion get cheaper equipment immediately.

Sugar and rice reductions will hit Dangote sugar, BUA Foods and Flour Mills etc. hardest. Their pricing power shrinks the moment cheaper imports land. Short-term pressure on earnings is real.

Zero tariff on cargo ships signals a logistics push. Ports and freight plays could benefit.

For Nigerians at large,
Rice, salt, sugar, and palm oil tariffs all dropped. That should ease food prices. It only works if importers pass the savings down rather than pocket the margin. With naira volatility still in the picture, the relief may be partial.

Construction gets cheaper: tiles and steel bars are both down. Anyone building or renovating sees real cost reduction.
Surgical theatres at 5% from 20% is a quiet win for healthcare infrastructure.

The green tax exemptions for EVs, mass transit buses, and small-engine cars nudge transport toward affordability and cleaner options, but the EV market in Nigeria is still nascent, so this is a long game.

Source: The cable, https://share.google/IOdbOqD5ug8XvwfnG

Why I like markets is that if an importer doesn’t bring down his prices on time, another importer would do that and gain a better share of the market, forcing the first importer to bring down his prices eventually in order to save his market share. But this happens only when there is no monopoly or oligopoly. Where the market is allowed to play out with different players.

Yoursfaithful:
Source: TheCable
https://share.google/IOdbOqD5ug8XvwfnG

EXCLUSIVE: FG cuts tariffs on cars, palm oil, sugar in new fiscal policy measures

Why cars and not tractors?

Seplat, GT, Airtel

There is something I have observed about this Cardoso era which is strange to me.

In the past, naira and foreign exchange reserves improved with increase in crude oil prices (and logically so) but in Cardoso’s era, naira and FX reserves both struggle with increase in crude oil prices and world instability but starts improving again when the escalation is down.

Finally. This would increase the inflow of foreign capital into Nigerian Equity market which had been on a significant decline since the strict FX controls in 2021. Rebounded in recent years but only slightly.