Naija Business Hub

🌐 Bank of England Warns AI Debt Surge Risks Market Crash Bank of England Governor has warned that a surge in debt financing AI investment could trigger a sharp market correction, cautioning that regulators "cannot stand aside" and assume the AI industry will self-manage risks to financial stability. Source

🌐 U.S. Consumer Spending Rebounds in August American consumer spending bounced back in August after a brief slowdown, adding to signs that the U.S. economy may be picking up pace despite ongoing pressures. Source

🇳🇬 Nigeria Prepares for 2027 FATF Mutual Evaluation The EFCC and Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) have begun a three-day stocktake to assess Nigeria's readiness for the Financial Action Task Force's 2027 Mutual Evaluation on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. Nigeria exited the FATF grey list in October 2024 after demonstrating "significant progress" in its AML/CFT regime. Source

🇳🇬 NNPC Profit Rises 33% to N7.2tn Despite Revenue Drop NNPC Limited posted a profit after tax of N7.2 trillion in 2025, up 33% from N5.4 trillion in 2024, even as revenue fell 24% to N34.5 trillion. The state oil company attributed the profit growth to improved operational efficiency. Government remittances climbed 39% to N22.3 trillion during the year. NNPC said crude oil and condensate production reached a five-year high of 1.77 million barrels per day. The results were released Tuesday alongside the company's 2025 Audited Financial Statements. Source

🇳🇬 FG Launches $618M Digital Skills Programme for 300,000 Youths Nigeria's Federal Government has rolled out the iDICE Skills-to-Jobs Initiative, described as the largest government-anchored digital skills-to-employment programme in the country's history. Backed by $617.7 million, it targets 300,000 young Nigerians across all six geopolitical zones, with a goal of linking at least 80% of trainees to jobs in the digital and creative economy. Source

📈 Oil Prices and US Treasury Yields Hit Tightest Link Since 1990 Bond investors are closely tracking crude oil prices and the Iran conflict as key signals for where US government borrowing costs are headed, with the correlation between oil and Treasury yields reaching its strongest level since 1990. Source

🇳🇬 Dangote Refinery IPO Breaks Digital Subscription Records Dangote Petroleum Refinery's IPO surpassed the digital subscription levels of both MTN Nigeria and GTCO on its first day, according to Chapel Hill Denham — marking a notable milestone for Nigeria's capital markets. Source

🇳🇬 Dangote Targets $115bn Turnover by 2030 The Dangote Group has unveiled its Vision 2030 plan, setting a target of over $115 billion in annual turnover and approximately $35 billion in annual profit by the end of the decade. Source

📈 Wall Street Rally Masks Rising Market Stress Major U.S. stock indexes near record highs are concealing underlying pressure: elevated oil prices, rising Treasury yields, and a Fed signalling further interest-rate hikes are straining the rally beneath the surface. Source

📈 Micron May Overtake Nvidia as S&P 500's Top Profit Driver Micron Technology is growing in significance to S&P 500 earnings, with analysts describing its quarterly reports as "a market event in and of itself" — and the chipmaker is now seen as a potential rival to Nvidia for the title of biggest driver of index profit growth. Source

🇳🇬 NGX Market Cap Rises to N163.66tn on Surge in Activity Nigerian Exchange turnover jumped 44.33% week-on-week to N240.82bn, with 4.689 billion shares changing hands across 261,198 deals. Market capitalisation gained 0.92% to close at N163.66tn. Source

💼 Apple Hit With $5.7B Patent Verdict Over Haptics A federal jury ruled Apple infringed two haptics patents held by Taction Technology, awarding over $5.7 billion in damages. The verdict covers iPhone and Apple Watch haptic technology. Apple plans to appeal. Source

🌐 Foreign Buying of US Stocks Hits $940bn Record Overseas investors poured more than $940bn into US equities in the 12 months to July — a record high — as appetite for US debt faded. The surge coincided with strong gains in the S&P 500. Source

🇳🇬 Nigeria Criminalises Artisanal Miners Amid Global Critical Minerals Rush As global demand for critical minerals surges, Nigeria continues to raid and detain artisanal miners rather than formalise the sector. Analysts argue the government must extend licensing beyond large operators — mirroring concerns about oil bloc allocations — and instead offer small-scale miners dedicated licences, safety training, geological data, and equipment leasing. The call follows the deaths of 37 Nigerians in state custody in Minna, Niger State, after a mining crackdown. Source

📈 Rising US Bond Yields Failing to Slow Economy, Investors Say Surging US bond yields are not cooling the world's biggest economy, according to investors — with rising borrowing costs showing no sign of braking economic activity so far. Source

💼 Microsoft Relaunches Copilot as AI "Super App" for Business Microsoft has overhauled its Copilot app into a unified "super app," bundling chat, coding, and agentic automation into a single interface. The redesigned app features three tabs — Home, Code, and Autopilot — with Home combining Copilot Chat and Cowork, while Autopilot (a rebrand of the AI assistant Scout) handles agentic tasks. Microsoft is also integrating Word, Excel, and PowerPoint directly into the app. Pricing, the company says, is still "evolving." Source

🇳🇬 Lagos IGR Hits N1.77trn, Tops 22 States Combined Lagos State generated N1.77 trillion in Internally Generated Revenue in 2025 — more than the combined N909.35 billion raised by 22 other states, according to the NBS. Total IGR across all 36 states and the FCT rose 41% year-on-year to N5.15 trillion in 2025, up from N3.65 trillion in 2024, highlighting a sharp but uneven expansion in states' ability to finance public spending domestically. Source

🇳🇬 Nigeria's Pension Funds Commit ₦241bn to Infrastructure The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has committed ₦241 billion in pension capital to infrastructure development, with the figure expected to rise to nearly ₦300 billion as additional commitments are finalised. DG Omolola Oloworaran disclosed this at a press briefing following the commission's board meeting. Source

📈 Analyst Warns of 20% S&P 500 Drop in 2026 Clocktower's Eric Wallerstein says the stock market is "priced for perfection" and could fall nearly 20% next year. He also sees safety-seeking investors potentially pushing gold to $6,000 an ounce. Source

🇳🇬 TotalEnergies, AMNI Greenlight Nigeria's $800m Ima Gas Field After 53 years undeveloped, Nigeria's Ima Gas Field has finally received an $800 million Final Investment Decision, signed by AMNI International and TotalEnergies. The federal government and Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) hailed the FID as a game-changer for domestic gas supply and a potential boost to NLNG Train 7. Source