Hunger Looms As Bakers Set To Shut Down Industry Nationwide

Published

3 years ago

July 6, 2022

The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN) South-East chapter, has said it is set to withdraw its services from July 13, as directed by its national body.

The Zonal Chairman of the association, Chief Dominic Nwibe made this known in an interview with NAN on Wednesday in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.

Recall that the National President of AMBCN, Malam Mansur Umar had also said members would begin a two-week strike from July 13, citing an increase in prices of bakery materials.

Following the directive, Chief Dominic said, “We had a zonal meeting in Abakaliki and decided to follow the directive which is supposed to last for two weeks.

“A bag of baking flour which hitherto cost N25,000 presently cost N28,000 and it is worrisome that it will keep increasing.

“A bag of sugar which hitherto cost N9,000 presently cost N30,000 while 20 litres of groundnut oil costs about N20,000″.

According to him, the members felt it was unnecessary to keep increasing the prices of bakery products such as bread to the detriment of customers.

“The customers would feel that we are greedy and we want to let the federal government know that the situation has become unbearable.

“We are asking for the liberalisation of the sugar importation process to break the monopoly by two or three firms.

“These firms import sugar and control its price mechanisms as the withdrawal of services will make our customers know we are telling the truth on reasons for price increases,” he added.

The zonal chairman regretted that the authorities blamed the high cost of materials on the economic effects of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

“We don’t see any justification to this assertion as flour for instance, can be sourced from nearby countries,” he said.

Also speaking, the south east Zonal Secretary of the association, Mr Okey Ezeanata said that “bakers have been seriously affected by the development as most of them have closed shops”.

“The market forces have been unfair to us and as the time we increased prices of products in April till present, there have been several changes.

“We urge the federal government to allow mass participation in our materials’ importation process just like in the telecommunication sector,” he said.

NAN reports that the association alleged that the National Wheat Cultivation Committee already constituted is yet to be inaugurated after over one year.

Nigerian Stock Market Hits 10th Consecutive Uptrend As investors Gain N308bn

Published

1 day ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian Stock Market recorded its 10th consecutive uptrend as investors raked in N308 billion gain on Thursday.

This comes as the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX, market capitalisation, which opened at N92.490 trillion, appreciated by 0.33 per cent to close at N92.798 trillion on Thursday.

Also, the All-Share Index added 0.33 per cent, or 485.25 points, to close at 146,204.34, compared with 145,719.09 recorded on Wednesday.

Increased trading in Eunisell Interlinked, Caverton Offshore Support Group, Sunu Assurances, Industrial and Medical Gases, Mecure, and 27 other advancing stocks boosted market performance on Thursday.

To this end, the market breadth also closed positive with 32 gainers and 21 losers.

Further analysis showed that Eunisell Interlinked and Caverton Offshore Support Group led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, closing at N44 and N6.93 per share, respectively, while FTN Cocoa Processors led the losers’ table by 6.67 per cent, closing at N5.60 per share.

Market activity showed a decline in the number of deals and volume traded but an improvement in trade value.

Accordingly, a total of 346.99 million shares worth N27.43 billion were traded in 24,691 deals, compared with 525.72 million shares worth N13.61 billion exchanged in 25,597 deals on Wednesday.

Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 42.01 million shares valued at N861.54 million.

According to DAILY POST, NGX has continued its bullish run from last month’s end to date.

Business

CBN Sets POS Maximum Transactions In Fresh Guidelines

Published

3 days ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria has rolled out fresh guidelines for agent banking, known as Point of Sales, across the country.

The apex also in the guidelines pegged daily POS transactions at N1.2 million per agent and N100,000 per individual.

CBN disclosed this in a circular signed by its Director of the Payments System Management Department, Musa Jimoh.

The guidelines further mandate all financial institutions to publish the list of all their POS agents on their website and to display it in their branches.

CBN noted that the guidelines would take effect from April 1, 2026.

“The Guidelines aim to establish minimum standards for operating agent banking in Nigeria, enhancing agent banking to provide financial services and promoting financial inclusion, encouraging responsible market conduct and improving service quality in agent banking operations.

“This circular takes effect from the date of release, while the implementation of agent location and agent exclusivity shall be in effect from April 1, 2026.

“POS agents are restricted to a maximum of N1.2 million per day. Individual customers are limited to N100,000 in daily transactions.

“These limits are intended to curb misuse, enhance financial integrity, and protect consumers within the agent banking framework,” it stated.

Business

Naira Records First Appreciation Against US Dollar At Official Market

Published

3 days ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

The Naira recorded appreciation on Wednesday against the United States dollar at the official market, the first time in three days this week.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange rate data showed that the Naira strengthened to N 1,470.62 per dollar on Wednesday, up from N1,471.09 traded on Tuesday.

This means that the country’s currency firmed up slightly by N0.47 against the dollar on a day-to-day basis.

Monday and Tuesday, the Naira recorded negative sentiment at the official foreign exchange market.

However, at the black market, the Naira remained unchanged at N1,500 per dollar on Wednesday, the same rate exchanged on Tuesday.

The apex bank data indicated that the country’s external reserves, a determinant of the exchange rates, stood at $42.57 billion as of October 7, 2025.