The Nigerian stock market extended its positive momentum on Wednesday, marking the fifth consecutive bullish session.

 The market’s upward movement was driven by gains in equities like: Sovereign Trust Insurance, Champion Breweries, Livestock Feeds, Learn Africa, Mutual Benefits and 29 other stocks.

 The market capitalization increased by 0.

20 per cent, adding N315 billion to investors’ portfolio as the market opened at N158.399 trillion and closed higher at N158.714 trillion.

 Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 0.20 per cent, advancing by 487.

28 points to close at 244,791.79, compared to 244,304 51 recorded on Tuesday.

 Consequently, the market’s Year-to-Date return improved to 57.31 per cent.

 Also, the market breadth closed positive with 34 gainers against 26 losers.

 On the gainers’ chart, Sovereign Trust Insurance led by 9.69 per cent, closing at N2.15, Champion Breweries followed by 9.50 per cent, finishing at N10.95 while Livestock Feeds increased by 9.42 per cent, ending the session N7.55 per share.

 Similarly, Learn Africa gained by 9.09 per cent, settling at N8.40 and Mutual Benefits advanced by 8.93 per cent, closing at N3.05 per share.

Conversely, Industrial and Medical Gases led the losers’ chart by 9.93 per cent, settling at N27.65, John Holt trailed by 9.88 per cent, finishing at N7.30 while Livingtrust Mortgage Bank lost by 9.84 per cent, ending the session at N2.84 per share.

Also, Fidson Healthcare declined by 9.19 per cent, closing at N72.65 and Royal Exchange dipped by 9 per cent, finishing at 91k per share.

Market activity strengthened during the session, with total volume traded rising by 27.23 per cent to 662.43 million shares, valued at N37.45 billion in 63,271 deals.

Sterling Nigeria led trading volume with 142.04 million shares, accounting for 21.44 per cent of the total.

 Guaranty Trust Holding Company recorded the highest value traded at N5.27 billion, representing 14.07 per cent of the day’s total. (NAN)

World Bank Group President, Ajay Banga, has announced the appointment of Nobel laureate, Michael Kremer, as the institution’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President for Development Economics.

Banga made the announcement in a statement issued by the World Bank Online Media Centre on Wednesday.

According to the statement Kremer, a renowned development economist, will lead the World Bank Group’s research, data and analytical agenda.

“Kremer is known for tackling real world problems through innovative solutions grounded in rigorous research.

“He is also known for translating his findings into programmes that have reached hundreds of millions of people, from expanding vaccines access and school health programmes to supporting smallholder farmers.

“I am pleased to welcome him to the World Bank Group,” Banga said.

According to him, Kremer joins the group at a time when the world needs bold solutions to its most urgent development challenges.

“This includes creating jobs that meet the aspirations of more than 1.2 billion young people reaching working age in the coming decade.

“Kremer has spent his career, not just identifying what works in development but proving it at scale and that is exactly the kind of thinking we need,” he said.

Banga said the World Bank Group had, in recent years, sought to strengthen the link between knowledge and development impact.

He said that the group did that by ensuring that research and data inform policies, investments, partnerships and scalable solutions across the public and private sectors.

Meanwhile, Kremer said the World Bank Group had significant capacity to develop and test innovative solutions to development challenges and the operational reach to scale them up and improve people’s lives.

According to him, the challenges ahead are enormous, including creating jobs at scale, unlocking the private capital needed to fund development, and ensuring that people have the health, education, and other services they need to thrive.

“At the same time, new technologies create huge opportunities to boost growth and human well-being.

“Data, evidence, and research can help firms and governments navigate both the challenges and opportunities,” he said.

Kremer said he was looking forward to working with staff across the World Bank Group and partners around the world.

With a PhD in Economics from Harvard University, Kremer is currently Director of the Development Innovation Lab at the University of Chicago, where he is a University Professor.

He has conducted research in areas including economic growth, technological change and development economics.

In 2019, Kremer jointly received the Nobel Prize in Economics with Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo for their research on “experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”.

Their research used randomised controlled trials to generate reliable knowledge and identity, teetevidence on development interventions and identify, test and scale practical solutions.

His current research focuses on innovation in education, health, water, finance and agriculture in developing countries.

Together with Rachel Glennerster, he proposed the use of Advance Market Commitments (AMCs) for vaccines and helped launch a 1.5-billion-dollar AMC for a pneumococcal vaccine with Gavi and the World Bank Group.

Vaccines purchased through the AMCs have reached 60 developing countries, addressing a major cause of infant mortality.

His research on deworming has also informed government programmes in Africa and South Asia, with two billion deworming treatments provided to children since 2014.

His work on digital agriculture and artificial intelligence-based agricultural weather forecasting has informed government programmes reaching more than 50 million people in Africa and South Asia.

Kremer also co-founded Precision Development, an initiative that uses digital technology to improve productivity and incomes among smallholder farmers.

He was also a co-founder of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Development Innovation Ventures, which has invested in more than 300 innovations reaching no fewer than 200 million people.

Among his honours, Kremer is a MacArthur Fellow, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He is also a Presidential Faculty Fellow, co-founder of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development and a Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Before joining the University of Chicago, Kremer served as the Gates Professor of Developing Societies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University.

His appointment as World Bank Group Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President for Development Economics takes effect on Oct. 1. (NAN)

The Director-General of the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA), Dr. Pius Akutah, said efficient and competitive seaports are critical to achieving Nigeria’s one trillion dollar economy target by 2030.

Akutah said this on Wednesday in Lagos when the President of the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN), Moses Ebosele, led a delegation on a courtesy visit to the agency’s headquarters to discuss areas of collaboration.

He said NPERA was committed to improving the port regulatory environment through stronger enforcement, standard-setting, automation and digitisation of port operations.

According to him, the measures are aimed at improving efficiency, reducing bottlenecks and making Nigerian ports more competitive.

Akutah said NPERA was established not only to regulate economic activities at the ports but also to enforce compliance and deter practices that could undermine trade facilitation and efficiency in the maritime sector.

He said the agency now had stronger legal powers to sanction infractions than the regulatory framework previously operated by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council.

“In the past, there was no potency in our law, so we could not enforce anything because the penalties were too insignificant to deter infractions at Nigerian ports,” Akutah said.

He said the new framework prescribed a minimum penalty of N500,000 for an individual first offender, with higher penalties for repeat offenders, while corporate offenders could face sanctions of up to N20 million.

The NPERA boss said provisions for legal enforcement and criminal prosecution contained in the agency’s enabling law would serve as deterrence against violations in port operations.

He, however, stressed that the objective of the agency was not to disrupt port operations but to create a regulatory environment that encouraged voluntary compliance with established standards.

“Our focus is to set standards, promote innovation and drive digitisation to make compliance easier, reduce human interference and improve the quality of port operations,” he said.

On concerns about multiple government agencies conducting physical checks at the ports and the effect on trade facilitation, Akutah said NPERA respected the statutory responsibilities of other agencies operating within the maritime sector.

He said increased automation and reduced human interference would help eliminate bottlenecks, improve efficiency and reduce costs for port users.

Akutah added that the measures would also strengthen the competitiveness of Nigerian ports and contribute to the growth of the national economy.

Earlier, Ebosele congratulated the NPERA management on its efforts and invited Akutah to the SCAN 2026 Summit scheduled for Oct. 29 in Lagos.

He said effective port regulation required regular communication and engagement among regulators and stakeholders to achieve sustainable development in the maritime sector.