DESPITE sustained negative impacts of economy headwind on the banking industry, banking sector index has led performance in the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE , accounting for N1.484 trillion or 9.3 per cent of total investment value on the NSE from Year to Date, YtD.

I am thankful to you for counting me among the elders of the industry, it is a very distinguish company worthy of keeping. As to why elders stay behind the scene I can only speculate on the answer, it should be to allow the younger professionals in the industry to manage the affairs of industry space, without undue interference by the elders.

There is the current awareness on the part of investors to invest in projects which not only impact the society but are also ethical. Investors are now more than ever literate with respect to financial decision making. This we have seen playing out in the successful outcome of sukuks. Of importance too is the issuer, where the reputation of the issuer is above board it is a critical success factor in the launch of any product.

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will this week mop up N310 billion through sales of treasury bills. Meanwhile, Demand for Nigeria’s Eurobond on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) persisted last week translating to price appreciation across tenors.

I think the greatest challenge we have in downstream oil and gas sector is because today, we are back to what you may call ‘a managed subsidy system’ and once in a while, there is strong feeling that government will allow market forces to determine the price of petroleum products, particularly Premium Motor Spirit.