Category: West Africa

Abuja — The Federal Government on Wednesday cried out over the continuing attacks on pipelines supplying gas to power plants across the country, declaring that there are forces undermining its effort to boost power supply to Nigerians. Minister of Power, Cinedu Nebo said in Abuja that pipeline vandals are targeting gas facilities to ensure that power generation do not exceed 4,000mega watt. To check this, Nebo said Government was deploying remote sensing technologies to assist security agents to curb the menace. He, however, stressed that Government efforts would amount to nothing without the collaboration of citizens. Nebo therefore called on Nigerians to join the Government in its fight against the vandals by promptly reporting incidences of vandalism in the areas. To achieve this, Government signed a memorandum of understanding with Charlie Boy, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and other youth groups to sensitize citizens on the activities of […]

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(Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s naira fell to a record after the West African nation’s decision to postpone elections increased risks the continent’s worst-performing currency will be devalued. The naira retreated as much as 1.5 percent to 199.10 per dollar before paring losses to trade at 199.01 by 11:12 a.m. in Lagos. The currency is depreciating for a seventh day to the weakest level since Bloomberg started compiling the data in January 1999, extending losses this year to 7.8 percent, the most among 24 currencies tracked by Bloomberg. “Traders are seeing higher uncertainties in the market with the postponement of the election,” Lanre Buluro, head of research at Primera Africa Securities Ltd., said by phone from Lagos. “There is speculation on the naira with many buying dollars in anticipation of imminent devaluation before the election or after.” Investors are delaying decisions to commit money to Nigeria as escalating violence by the […]

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DAKAR, Senegal — Nigeria ’s election agency on Saturday night put off a closely contested presidential election after weeks of pressure to postpone it from the ruling party, which analysts say was facing potential defeat for the first time in more than 15 years. The move is sure to anger the opposition, which has been arguing against a postponement, and inflame its supporters in a volatile electoral environment. The election, originally scheduled for next Saturday, will now be held March 28, the election agency head told a news conference in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, late Saturday night. The elections official, Attahiru Jega, after days of what were reportedly heated meetings with the government, cited “security” concerns for the delay. He said that Nigeria’s top military men — themselves close to the government — refused to ensure that security would be “guaranteed” if the vote went ahead as scheduled. The country’s […]

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ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) – In late 2013, Nigeria’s then central bank governor Lamido Sanusi wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan claiming that the state oil company had failed to remit tens of billions of oil revenues it owed the state. After the letter was leaked to Reuters and a local news site, Jonathan publicly dismissed the claim and replaced Sanusi, saying the banker had mismanaged the central bank’s budget. A Senate committee later found Sanusi’s account lacked substance. Sanusi has since become Emir of Kano, the country’s second highest Islamic authority, and has smoothed over relations with the president. He declined to discuss his earlier assertions. Before he was sacked, though, the central banker submitted to Nigeria’s parliament more than 300 pages of documentation in support of his claim. Reuters has reviewed that dossier, which offers one of the most comprehensive studies of waste, mismanagement and what Sanusi called “leakages” of cash in Nigeria’s oil industry. Detailed here, […]

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Lamido Sansusi (Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s state oil company operates an “unsustainable model” and should refund a minimum $1.48 billion to the government, a PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP audit recommends. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. spends 46 percent of domestic oil proceeds on operations and subsidies, according to highlights of an 18-month review between January 2012 and July 2013 released by the office of Nigeria’s Auditor General. The NNPC can’t sustain monthly remittances to government or meet operational costs from crude revenue and incurs third-party liabilities to fund the gap, according to the statement. “PwC therefore recommended that the NNPC model of operation must be urgently reviewed and restructured,” according to Auditor General Ukura Samuel’s statement. “The current model which has been in operation since the creation of the corporation cannot be sustained.” The audit came after the former central bank governor of Africa’s largest oil producer, Lamido Sanusi, wrote to President […]

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(Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s Finance Ministry isn’t wedded to an oil benchmark price of $65 per barrel estimated in this year’s budget and has plans on how it will respond if crude drops lower. The government has a “scenario-based approach with accompanying adjustment measures, given the uncertainty as to where the oil price would eventually settle,” Paul Nwabuikwu, spokesman for the ministry, said in an e-mail on Thursday. “The scenarios developed go as low as $45 per barrel.” Crude prices have plunged by more than half since June, cutting revenue in Africa’s biggest oil producer and forcing the government to tighten its budget. The currency has slumped 17 percent against the dollar in the past six months, the most of more than 30 African nations tracked by Bloomberg. The government will introduce additional measures to protect capital expenditure in the budget if oil prices remain below $65 a barrel, Nwabuikwu […]

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Lamido Sanusi Photo: Leadership Abuja — PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday received the report of the forensic investigation into the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with a pledge to ensuring that all aspects of the reports would be implemented to move the industry forward. The submission of the report is coming barely 24 hours after Sanusi’s predecessor in office, Prof. Charles Soludo, raised fresh allegation against the Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that no less than N30 trillion had been mismanaged under her tenure. But receiving the report at the new Banquet Hall Presidential Villa, Abuja, Jonathan admitted that there had been so much of controversy over this NNPC and expressed the hope that with the submission of the reports, all the issues generated would be put to a final stop. Though details of the reports were not made public, the President has […]

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(Bloomberg) — Economic growth in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude producer, is projected to slow to 5.5 percent this year after oil prices plunged, the statistics office said. Gross domestic product growth is set to decelerate from an estimated 6.2 percent last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report on its website. The economy is forecast to expand 5.8 percent in 2016 and 5.8 percent in 2017. “The decline in crude oil prices is a downside to the economy in both the short and medium term,” the agency said. “The crude oil price shocks, the resulting declining government expenditure and its multiplier effects are likely to impact businesses.” Oil prices have plunged more than 50 percent since June, curbing export revenue in Africa’s biggest economy, forcing the government to cut back on spending and prompting the central bank to devalue the naira as foreign-currency reserves slumped. The […]

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