Oil prices spiked with bond yields Monday as Donald Trump’s rejection of an Iranian offer of a seven-day truce stoked inflation concerns, while stocks were mixed as traders look ahead to the release of key US data.

Tehran last week set out a plan at the UN General Assembly for a halt in hostilities that would see the Strait of Hormuz reopened, which would ease a crippling supply crisis that has jacked up costs around the world.

The waterway is key to the world’s energy supply and is now central to the conflict between the US and Iran, particularly with Houthis seizing Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital shipping lane.

However, the US president told reporters outside the White House, “I reject their proposal.”

Still, he told Axios that he expects negotiations to resume.

“They want to make a deal, but it is not the deal that I want to make,” he told the news platform. “It is what we would have maybe agreed to a year ago.”

“They overplayed their hand,” Trump added in the interview published Sunday.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Axios reported that indirect talks between Washington and Tehran could take place as early as Monday.

Iran was still standing by its conditions for reopening the Strait, including the release of frozen assets, the lifting of sanctions on its oil and an end to the US naval blockade.

Oil prices, which fell more than two per cent Friday on news of the offer, bounced back at the start of the new week, with Brent surging more than three per cent back above $107 a barrel.

That stoked inflation concerns again, and weighed on stock markets.

Seoul fell 2.7 per cent as it reopened after a long break, while Tokyo, Shanghai, Manila, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta also dropped.

There were gains in Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore and Wellington, while London, Paris and Frankfurt were also on the front foot.

Bond yields climbed, with the average on a gauge of world bonds topping four per cent last week for the first time since 2007, according to Bloomberg.

The rise in prices puts the focus back on the Federal Reserve ahead of its next policy meeting at the end of October, with CME’s FedWatch tool putting the chances of a second successive interest rate hike at more than 65 per cent.

Before that decision is made, investors will see the release of the bank’s preferred gauge of inflation this week as well as a key jobs report that could play a vital role in policymakers’ thinking.

“Middle East tensions have flared again after President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz,” wrote Stephen Innes at Quintex Intel.

“Oil has pushed higher, Asian equities are softer, and suddenly the brief Friday reprieve in global fixed income looks more like an intermission than the end of the show.”

Still, he added: “The market is still pricing some probability that everyone eventually finds their way back to the table, even if they continue to spend the next few weeks shouting across it first.”

– Key figures at around 0810 GMT –

West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.2 per cent at $94.50 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.5 per cent at $106.96 per barrel

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 per cent at 65,877.62 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 per cent at 24,642.51 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.7 per cent at 3,823.62 (close)

London – FTSE 100: UP 0.4 per cent at 10,736.87

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 156.78 yen from 157.20 yen on Friday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1382 from $1.1399

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3266 from $1.3251

Euro/pound: DOWN to 85.80 pence from 86.03 pence

New York – Dow: UP 0.9 per cent to 51,828.62 (close)

AFP

Source: punchng.com

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The first world owes much of its progress to philanthropy. In those climes, those whose palm-kernels were cracked by the benevolent spirit, to borrow from the late Chinua Achebe, are constantly paying it forward through their philanthropic support for the arts, humanities, education, health, and other charitable endeavors. Even Africa isn’t left out of the enduring helping hands of J.D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, John D. MacArthur, and many more. Nigeria still counts on the enduring support of Bill Gates through his Gates Foundation to tackle several public health challenges. I suppose the pioneering efforts of these philanthropists of yore and those of today continue to inspire public-spirited business elites. It is heartening to note that Africa is building an influential corps of philanthropists who are deploying their immense means to take on challenges that can unlock significant value for the greatest number of people on the continent. I am a beneficiary of the transforming impact of the largely unsung philanthropic interventions of a Nigerian Banker, especially in developing human capital for Africa’s public sector.

In January 2016, I dared to dream. After my performance evaluation with my then-boss the previous month, I resolved to pursue graduate studies at all costs. I knew I wanted a stint at an elite institution, so I put all my eggs in one basket and applied only to the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government.  After submitting my application and references, I waited.  The next month, a mentor asked if I was sure I’d get a place in the incoming cohort. I told her I was confident. I considered my profile stellar enough to earn a place in the competitive program. I followed an online forum for prospective graduate students for updates and waited with bated breath. On the evening of March 30, 2026, an email arrived announcing an offer for the Master of Policy Programme at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. After congratulating me, my wife’s first question was: “Where will you get the money to fund the program?” It was a pertinent question. The fee was a whopping £40,000, not including living expenses.  We had welcomed our son a few months earlier, so all our life savings had gone into hospital bills.

I was sure I would get a scholarship. It was the only way I could afford to take my place in the programme. The alternative was to take on a student loan. For the next four months, my life was consumed by the quest to secure funding to pursue my dream course at the great citadel of learning. I wrote several essays in response to scholarship calls and sent unsolicited letters to philanthropists. While waiting for feedback on some of these essays, I came across news that Nigerian banker, Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede had announced that his foundation would sponsor a select number of West African students to study Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government every year.

It was news to my ears and felt like an immediate answer to my prayers. But there was a snag: I already had an offer to study in September 2016; meanwhile, the AIG scholarship awards would not begin until September 2017. I was momentarily deflated. Not easily deterred, I did some research, found the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation’s landing page, and sent a well-composed email. Although I received two initial partial scholarship offers from the University of Oxford, I still had a huge shortfall. I showed my strong interest in the program by accepting the offer and paying the non-refundable acceptance fee.

I wrote to some Nigerian philanthropists who, at one time or another, had helped indigent students achieve their academic dreams, but I did not hear back from any. Time was now running out. Distraught, I decided to follow up on my previous email to Aig-Imoukhuede’s foundation by sending a letter by courier to his Lagos office. This was my last-ditch effort, as the deadline was closing in and I needed the necessary documents from the school to begin the visa application. By some stroke of providence, in the second week of July, I got an email from the University awarding me a full tuition scholarship. Two days later, I received an email from the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation acknowledging my email and letter. In the email, they asked me to respond to two essay questions, which I did immediately. In my reply, I added that I had been awarded a full scholarship and requested support to cover the shortfall in living expenses, since the school would refund my initial deposit. The director of the foundation, thereafter, asked me to send a breakdown of my living expenses. Days later, I received feedback that the foundation would cover the shortfall in full. In return, I was asked to do a Nigeria-focused internship. Nothing more. Thanks to Aig-Imoukhuede’s generosity, thirty-five other Nigerians and Ghanaians and I have attended the competitive Master of Public Policy programme at the University of Oxford. Recipients of the AIG MPP scholarships now work in the public and development sectors in both countries.

In September 2016, when I subsequently met Aig-Imoukhede, he told me that after reading my letter, he had resolved that the process for selecting scholars for the MPP programme would be rigorous and impersonal. Applicants for the AIG scholarship must go through a competitive selection process even before they apply to the University of Oxford. This reflects his conviction that, if Africa’s fortunes are to change, the public sector must be overhauled and staffed with the most competent individuals. This conviction is further evident in the development of the AIG Public Leaders Programme, a leadership capacity-building initiative designed to equip public sector leaders to drive, lead, and deliver effective change. Now, in its fifth cohort, the PLP programme has trained over three hundred public sector leaders since its launch in 2021.

Aig-Imoukhuede’s philanthropic intervention in Africa’s public service is remarkable and exemplary. By identifying a clear gap in the public sector and consistently and methodically deploying resources to address it, he is charting a new course for Africans to tackle African problems instead of relying on aid and foreign philanthropists whose well-intentioned efforts often erode our agency as a people. After decades of impressive strides in banking and Nigeria’s capital market, Aig-Imoukhuede’s relentless focus on supporting efforts to overhaul Africa’s public sector, starting with Nigeria, rests on the fundamental thesis that a country is as good as the quality of its bureaucrats. This thesis has been tested worldwide, including by Swedish political scientist Prof. Bo Rothstein, a global authority on the quality of government who incidentally taught me at the Blavatnik School of Government.

Nigeria needs more public-spirited philanthropists in the mold of Aig-Imoukhuede. To whom much is given, much is expected, and giving back should not be restricted to tokenistic dispensing of palliatives to people experiencing poverty. Philanthropy should be structured, intentional, and mission-driven and should dare to confront challenges that other forms of capital would not venture. This is the road less travelled. The courageous benevolence of Aig-Imoukhuede is thus worth celebrating. As Aig-Imoukhuede turns 60 this week, I wish him many more decades of impactful and inspiring work in the public sector, and I hope the seeds of his contributions to the development of Africa’s public sector brain trust will germinate and bear fruit in his lifetime.

Adedotun Eyinade writes from Abuja

Source: punchng.com

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Nigeria’s food, beverage and tobacco industry attracted N375.03bn in fresh investment in 2025, making it the biggest recipient of manufacturing investment during the year.

Investment in the sector jumped by 63.5 per cent from N229.42bn recorded in 2024, according to data from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.

The increase reflects continued expansion by major manufacturers as they seek to meet demand in Nigeria’s large consumer market.

Companies including Flour Mills of Nigeria, BUA Foods, Nestlé Nigeria, Dangote Sugar, Dufil, Cadbury Nigeria, CHI Limited, Unilever Nigeria and Honeywell Flour Mills were among firms investing in the sector.

The non-metallic products industry ranked second with N280.12bn, driven largely by investments in cement and glass manufacturing.

Motor vehicle assembly attracted N170.8bn, while the chemical and pharmaceutical sector received N123.61bn billion.

Industrial plastics, rubber and foam manufacturers invested N123.44bn, while the textile and carpet industry attracted N112.53bn.

Total investment in 2025 stood at N1.33tn. While the food and beverage industry led by sector, Lagos and Ogun remained the main destinations for manufacturing capital.

In 2024 and 2025, the two states attracted N1.74tn in industrial investment, accounting for 87.32 per cent of total investment recorded across Nigeria during the period.

The remaining 34 states attracted only N252.23bn, representing 12.7 per cent.

The figures underline the dominance of the Lagos-Ogun corridor in Nigeria’s manufacturing industry.

Lagos’ large consumer market and access to major ports remain key reasons manufacturers prefer the state.

The Apapa, Tin Can Island and Lekki ports provide access to imported raw materials and export markets, while the state also has a large financial and commercial ecosystem.

Ogun has benefited from its location next to Lagos. Industrial areas such as Agbara, Igbesa, Ota and Sango-Ota have become important manufacturing centres.

The availability of land for factories and lower expansion costs compared with Lagos have also helped Ogun attract manufacturers.

Data from MAN showed that between 2014 and 2020, manufacturers invested N3.35tn in Nigeria.

Ogun received N1.68tn, representing 50.16 per cent of the total, while Lagos attracted only N928bn, or 27.7 per cent.

Manufacturers in other parts of the country face higher logistics costs because of weak road networks, limited port access and other infrastructure challenges.

Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Muda Yusuf, said the Lagos-Ogun axis benefits from both its large market and proximity to ports.

He noted that manufacturers must consider the cost of bringing in raw materials and moving finished products when deciding where to locate factories.

A consultant economist and former Central Bank of Nigeria analyst, Nonso Ihuoma, also linked Lagos’ advantage to its location and functioning seaports.

He said developing ports in other parts of the country could reduce the cost of moving goods and encourage manufacturers to invest outside Lagos and Ogun.

Security challenges in some states also remain a concern for businesses, increasing the cost and risk of operating outside the main industrial corridor.

Experts said better ports, roads, rail infrastructure and investment incentives would help attract more factories to other parts of Nigeria.

Source: punchng.com

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