Seven Gates Research

Independent research on companies, markets and power.

Nigerian in knowledge, international in scope, sceptical by habit. The argument comes first. The arithmetic gets the final vote.

Market lens / 4 November 2026

What today's news changes

The US midterm sweep raises the price of unilateral policy but does not give Democrats full governing power while President Trump retains the veto. Lower yields and a weaker dollar can help frontier markets, although congressional investigations, tariff conflict and the Iran war keep the transmission uncertain.

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Chellarams: The Family Never Left. Neither Can You.

A Sindhi trading house carried its name from Hyderabad to Lagos in 1923 and stayed through empire, Partition and every devaluation since. Its Isolo yard is worth more than the whole company. In August sellers drove the price down as far as the exchange allows, three times in nine sessions, and then it stopped moving altogether.

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The coverage directory

Follow the company. Test the thesis.

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Published coverage, with the latest view in each company file. Values inside reports are dated research snapshots, never live quotes.

EnergySEPLAT

Seplat Energy

Dollar earnings, additional scale and lower leverage improve the franchise. Valuation and capital allocation still matter.

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FinancialsVFDGROUP

VFD Group

Profit has recovered. Per-share compounding, financing drag and the moat still need proving.

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TelecommunicationsMTNN

MTN Nigeria

Data demand and a repaired balance sheet support the case. Energy costs and capex decide how much growth reaches shareholders.

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The NGX Valuation Lab

Bring your own assumptions.

What has to go right for the price to make sense? Change the inputs and see what happens to value.

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01Discounted cash flow

Growth, reinvestment and the cost of capital.

02Bear, base & bull

Compare the cases behind your conviction.

03Margin of safety

How much room is there to be wrong?

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The seven gates

Judgement before ornament.

Every company passes through the same seven gates before it earns a view.

  1. Ownership and governance
  2. Business economics
  3. Financial integrity
  4. Capital allocation
  5. Competitive endurance
  6. Valuation and expected return
  7. Downside, catalysts and portfolio fitThe keystone

House rule

Interesting first. Correct always.

Strong opinions, loosely held. Capital, tightly held.

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