Daily Watch – Electricity generation went up in July, LSETF good to go

4th August 2016

  • The naira continued its slide on Wednesday, dropping to ₦390 against the American dollar at the parallel market as forex scarcity persisted. The naira, dropped to 382 against the dollar on Monday, down from the 380 on Friday, had been little changed on Tuesday, hovering between 381 and 382. Economic and financial experts say inadequate forex liquidity at the interbank market was taking a toll on the parallel market.
  • The national electricity grid sustained 3,000MW in daily generation for twenty days in July. However, while the grid maintained a range of 3,000MW to 3,300MW for those days, generation dipped to as low as 773MW for the remainder of days during the month. This represents a remarkable improvement from the 87MW lowest generation mark recorded in June. The highest generation mark during the month was 3,332MW recorded on July 12, with generation reaching 3,094MW on August 1 and remaining at 3,061MW the following day. About 70,081MWh were dispatched by TCN for distribution to homes last Monday, a significant improvement in energy delivery from the previous figures that fell lower than 40,000MWh.
  • The Lagos State government says the disbursement of ₦6.25 billion being the first tranche from the ₦25 billion Employment Trust Fund to beneficiaries will commence in September. The fund is aimed at stimulating the small and medium-sized enterprises in the state. The fund seeks to benefit “proven hard-working and innovative youths who must possess the acumen to exploit the existing business opportunities and discover new ones with a view to creating wealth and employment.”
  • AMCON may introduce a real-estate investment scheme by year’s end to raise money to meet its bond repayments. AMCON CEO, Ahmed Kuru, told Bloomberg that the agency plans to sell the properties when the economy improves and the assets can attract fair value. Leasing out properties seized from debtor companies will enable it to address an operational cash squeeze. The agency purchased about 14,000 non-performing loans at a cost of ₦3.9 trillion in a government-led bailout of ten companies following the 2009 banking crisis.