Episode 74
Nigeria Update– Refinery & more –25th May 2023
Dangote launches the largest oil refinery in Africa, Nigerian food exports are not meeting international standards, court orders an investigation into the failed multi-million dollar Abuja CCTV project, a new AGF appointed, and much more.
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Transcript
We start with big news in the business sector!
On Monday the 22nd in Lagos, President Buhari finally inaugurated the Dangote petroleum refinery, a remarkable project expected to transform Nigeria’s energy sector. Industry players and presidents of African countries gathered to witness the unveiling of the nineteen billion dollar facility, set to revolutionize crude oil refining in Africa.
for the refinery in September:The facility which is the largest oil refinery in Africa has the capacity to process 650,000 barrels a day of crude which would enable Nigeria to achieve self-sufficiency in refined products, and some surplus for export.
Still on the project, Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (best known as CBN), said that the Dangote Group has paid back seventy percent of the loans it took to build the refinery. The CBN head said that the refinery was initially estimated to cost just about 9 billion dollars but the project cost escalated and came to a total of 18.5 billion dollars. Banks financed 50% of the project. He added that the CBN also partnered with the Dangote Group by providing about 125 billion naira (about 271 million dollars) to ensure a successful completion of the project The CBN provided the Dangote group with naira while also ensuring the availability of foreign exchange to pay for imported equipment.
The CBN governor said that Nigeria, through the refinery, will cease importing petroleum products, fertilisers and petrochemicals and save the country over twenty-six billion dollars. The first batch of refined petroleum products will hit the market before the end of July.
th of October,:We’ll take one more sizzling business story before we call it a wrap with the numbers!
ual gross domestic product by:Moving on, the supreme court has fixed the 26th of May to deliver judgment in a suit seeking the disqualification of Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (or APC). The judgment will be delivered three days before the inauguration of the president-and vice-president-elect. The People’s Democratic Party (or PDP) argued that Shettima’s nomination to contest the position of vice-president and of Borno central senatorial seat — at the same time —broke the law. Keep in mind that the Labor Party also sued the APC, we’ll let you know when the court announces the verdict.
Meanwhile, in the health sector things are looking a bit hopeful. Recall that we told you resident doctors had embarked on a strike over the government’s failure to meet their demands. Well, the doctors ended the strike on Monday the 22nd after a meeting with Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment. In a memorandum of understanding that they signed, both parties agreed that resident doctors are going to see if the government is doing a good job and will define a better way of payment if needed in a meeting in June.
Still in the health sector, President Buhari inaugurated a 21 billion naira (about 45 million dollars) presidential wing of the Aso Villa medical centre on Friday the 19th. Aisha, the wife of the president, said that the new VIP medical centre will end health trips abroad for future presidents. Aisha said she came up with the idea of the VIP wing six years ago after her husband had to overstay abroad for medical treatment. She realized the president needed a private medical wing because when Buhari needed medical attention, the state health centers were dealing with thousands of patients.
The new facility will cater to the medical needs of the president, vice-president, their immediate families and VIPs.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (best known as NAFDAC) has said that more than seventy percent of food exported from Nigeria is rejected abroad. On Sunday the 21st, speaking at the official commissioning of the new NAFDAC office complex at the international Airport in Lagos, Mojisola Adeyeye, the agency’s director-general, lamented that the issue was causing huge financial losses to the exporters and the country at large. However, she said that other countries’ exported food rejection may soon become a thing of the past if it strengthens the collaboration between NAFDAC and other government agencies at the ports Adeyeye said that along with the port agencies, NAFDAC would ensure goods being exported are of quality and meet the regulatory requirements of the importing countries before they are even packaged.
In other news, a federal high court in Abuja has ordered the President Buhari-led administration to account for the spending of a 460 million dollar Chinese loan to fund the failed Abuja closed-circuit television (or CCTV) project. Those who are familiar with the city of Abuja know about the non-functional CCTV cameras which are intersected at traffic lights on the road. Some have even been destroyed while others have been stolen.
ementation of the project. In:Here’s an update on the status of the accountant-general of the federation (or AGF) position that was previously vacated.
On Friday the 19th, President Buhari approved the appointment of Oluwatoyin Madein as the new AGF. Ahmed Idris, the former main AGF was removed due to corruption charges.
Aaaaand that’s it for this week! We want to hear from you! Write to us at nigeria@rorshok.com
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