Business
Expert Tasks Shareholders On e-Dividend Payment
The Chief Relationship Officer, Foresight Securities and Investment Ltd., Mr Fakrogha Charles has urged investors in the stock market to embrace the e-dividend payment platform to reduce the rate of unclaimed dividends.
Fakrogha, who gave the advice in an interview with The Tide source in Lagos, said that embracing the e-dividend platform would enable shareholders to get their dividend warrant electronically as at when due and with ease.
E-dividend payment platform is an electronic means of posting shareholders’ dividends directly into their bank accounts.
According to him, the e-dividend platform involves the Registrar collecting the account details of investors such that whenever a dividend warrant is declared, the payment is sent directly into the investors’ accounts.
Reports say that the e-dividend payment platform was introduced in 2008 with the aim of addressing unclaimed dividends in the capital market.
He said that stockbrokers and companies stand a better chance to make investors embrace the innovation better by advising and educating them on its importance.
“We, at Foresight Securities and Investment Ltd., have taken it upon ourselves to ensure that all our investors, both old and new, now have the e-dividend form.
“It is now compulsory in the company that the documentation of all our old clients are revisited to ensure that the e-dividend form is opened for each of them through the registrar.
“If the system of e-dividend payment could be adopted by all investors and companies, the rate of unclaimed dividends will drastically be reduced,” the official said.
He therefore, urged the stock regulatory bodies to sensitise the investing public, through their numerous campaigns on the benefits of the innovation.
According to him, many investors have no knowledge about the e-dividend payment platform, thus calling for the sensitisation of the shareholders.
Meanwhile, an analysis of the market activities for last week revealed that a total of 892.725 million shares worth N13.075 billion in 15,607 deals were traded by investors during the period.
This was in contrast to the 1.533 billion shares valued at N23.026 billion that changed hands last week in 17,009 deals in the previous week.
According to the Financial Services Industry which led the activity chart during the period, with 757.992 million shares valued at N9.251 billion traded in 9,653 deals.
The consumer goods industry followed with 43.651 million shares worth N2.754 billion in 2,231 deals.
The third place was occupied by the oil and gas industry, with a turnover of 28.892 million shares, worth N558.264 million in 1,430 deals.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has criticised Nigeria’s import ban on 25 categories of goods, claiming that the restrictions limit market access for American exporters.
This is the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs introduction on goods entering the United States, with Nigeria facing a 14 per cent duty.
The USTR highlighted the impact of Nigeria’s import ban on various sectors, particularly agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
The restrictions affect items such as beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and alcoholic beverages, which the United States sees as significant barriers to trade.
The agency argues that these limitations reduce export opportunities for United States businesses and lead to lost revenue.
“Nigeria’s import ban on 25 different product categories impacts United States exporters, particularly in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
“Restrictions on items like beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and spirits limit United States market access and reduce export opportunities.
“These policies create significant trade barriers that lead to lost revenue for United States businesses looking to expand in the Nigerian market”, the agency said .
In 2016, Nigeria implemented the ban on these 25 items as part of efforts to control imports and stimulate local production.
Some of the banned items include poultry, pork, refined vegetable oil, sugar, cocoa products, spaghetti, beer, and certain medicines.
On March 26, 2025, the Federal Government also announced plans to halt solar panel imports to encourage local manufacturing as part of its push for clean energy.
A leading agribusiness strategist and digital agriculture expert, Ayo Oluwa Okediji, has sought cooperative-driven investments in sustaining growth of poultry industry in Nigeria.
He said the poultry industry was at a defining moment and requires urgent structural reforms to secure its future and ensure long-term sustainability.
Speaking on the theme, “Strengthening Poultry Farming Through Cooperative Synergy and Strategic Investments”, at the recently concluded Oyo Mega Poultry Workshop 2025 in Ibadan, Okediji called on poultry farmers, cooperative leaders, financial institutions and policy makers to rethink the existing structure of the poultry sector.
He stressed the need to transition from fragmented, individually-driven operations to well-structured, cooperative-led enterprises capable of attracting sustainable financing and securing long-term viability.
He said, “Our poultry sector cannot thrive on individual effort alone. We need to organise ourselves into cooperative clusters, build strong governance systems and position ourselves to attract the level of investment needed to sustain this industry beyond this generation.”
Drawing on lessons from successful global cooperative models such as Rabobank in the Netherlands and Landus Cooperative in the United States, Okediji introduced the FarmClusters Poultry Model, a locally adapted solution developed by Agribusiness Dynamics Technology Limited (AgDyna), a subsidiary of AgroInfoTech Africa.
According to him, the model is currently being piloted in Oyo State in partnership with PANOY Agribusiness Limited and local poultry cooperatives.
The Rivers State Representative of the Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Mines, Industries and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Erasmus Chukwundah, has urged palm oil farmers to consider hybrid seedlings for planting, if they must break even in palm oil business.
Chukwundah said this recently at the Free Oil Palm Business Climate Smart Best Management Practice/Assistance Training organized by Partnership Initiative In Niger Delta (PIND) for Palm Oil Farmers in Elele, Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The Rivers representative said until palm oil farmers begin to consider such hybrid oil palm seedlings, they may not meet up with the daily increasing demand of palm oil in the market.
According to him, the seedlings produce up to 30 bunches at once that ripen same time.
He said PIND decided to partner with Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria (OPGAN) to ensure that the message was received by the targeted audience.
According to him, palm oil remained a popular choice of industry operators as it could be converted to many other products such as vegetable cooking oil.
He also noted that products such as motor tyers, marine ropes and others are now gotten from the palm tree.
Chukwundah, who is the immediate past Director-General of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industries, and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), further warned against use of unrecommended fertilisers in growing oil palms.
He noted that such practices could limit its export value or chances as the foreign marketers have a way of detecting such .
He reiterated the need for organic fertilizers, including poultry droppings, to enable them have a natural palm oil.
“People must reduce physical contact with palm oil production. That is why we are campaigning for hydrolic oil mills. The foreign markets are no longer interested in crude method of palm oil production”, he said.
Meanwhile, one of the farmers, Sonny Didia, who appreciated Chukwundah’s commitment towards the concern of farmers, appealed for an urgent need for loan opportunity with low interest rate in order to enable them beat the target.
King Onunwor