Latest Business News 24 April - 1 May 2021: 10 Latest Business News Roundup For The Week

Welcome to the AllNews roundup of the 10 Latest Business News that made the round during the week.

Major Issues Of Building Collapse Man-made – Institute

The Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) declared on Friday that the root of most buildings collapses in the country were due to human incompetence.

Mr. Akinola Mmeke, the National Publicity Secretary of NIOB, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja while reacting to cases of incessant building collapse across the country. Read more here.

Bua Cement Dissociates Self From Purported Increase Prices Of Cement

BUA Cement Plc has said it is not party to any increase in price per bag of cement.

The company disclosed in a statement signed by its management. It said it has been inundated with calls seeking clarification as to whether it is part of a purported price increase. Read more here.

Investors Gain N356bn As All-Share Index Spikes

Investors gained nearly N356 billion at the Nigerian stock market on Thursday as the All-Share Index (ASI) climbed 1.75 percent to 39,461.2 index points, erasing the previous day's losses.

After closing the day's trading with 270,681,776 shares traded in 3,897 deals, worth N2.03billion, the NSE market capitalization surged to NGN 20.66 trillion from yesterday's 20.3 trillion as turnovers improved 6 percent. Read more here.

Total's Profit Surges Back To Pre-Pandemic Levels

Energy sector giant Total said on Thursday that its profit jumped in the first quarter close to levels from before the coronavirus pandemic on the back of rising oil and gas prices.

Big Oil has enjoyed more favourable conditions this year thanks to rising crude prices and recovering fuel demand, but Total is in a better position than many of its peers. The company, which is branching into renewable energy and diversifying away from hydrocarbon-centred activities, benefited from this drive as areas like oil refining suffered. Read more here.

Oil Gains As Strengthening Demand Outweighs Virus Fears

Oil edged higher on Thursday after closing at a six-week high as signs of strengthening demand in key markets conquered fears that surging coronavirus cases in India, Japan, and Brazil will shrink demand.

Brent crude for June rose 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $67.49 a barrel by 05:05 WAT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was at $64.04 a barrel, up 18 cents, or 0.3%. Read more here.

Ether On Bull Run As European International Bank Issues Digital Bond On Ethereum

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced that it used Ethereum technology to issue €100 million ($121 million) in two-year digital notes for the first time.

Ether has been trading above $2,700 after it hit a new record high of $2,763 at 11:15 pm WAT on Coindesk on Wednesday, strengthening a case for a continuous bullish run to $3,000 in the short term. Read more here.

Dogecoin Spikes As Elon Musk Calls Himself The "Dogefather"

The price of dogecoin shot up on Wednesday after technology billionaire Elon Musk referred to himself as “The Dogefather” on Twitter ahead of his appearance on US comedy show SNL.

The meme-inspired cryptocurrency jumped from $0.25 to $0.30 in less than 15 minutes on Wednesday morning, recovering its losses from last week and pushing it back towards the record highs that it touched earlier this month. Dogecoin as of press time was trading above 31 cents after it had touched a 24-hour high of 34 cents according to data from coindesk.com. Read more here.

How Nigerian Cars Can Be Solar-Powered In The Future — Ben Murray-Bruce

Nigerian politician and businessman Ben Murray-Bruce has revealed his plan for Nigerian cars to be powered by the sun in the future.

Bruce, a senator representing Bayelsa, unveiled his idea in a Twitter thread on Wednesday, revealing why he made the call for Nigeria to ban all combustion engines by 2035. Read more here.

Ecobank Group's Profit Surges in Q1 2021

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated announced that its profit before tax rose by 22 percent to N40.3bn in the first quarter of 2021.

The pan-African bank disclosed this in a statement on its unaudited results for the period ended March 31, 2021, titled ‘Ecobank Group declares superlative Q1 result; PBT up 11 percent to N40.3bn’ on Tuesday. Read more here.

CBN Adds VFD, 9 Others To List Of Licensed Money Transfer Operators

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved 10 additional international money transfer operators (IMTOs) to boost diaspora remittances.

While some of the operators had their addresses in Nigeria, others were based outside the country. These 10 new additions bring the total number of licensed IMTOs to stand at 57. Read more here.

That’s the roundup of the top Business News trending this week. More Business News Updates are available on AllNews website.