General News
FG Inks $4.5Bn Deal for 6 New Refineries
Federal government has signed a memorandum of understanding with an American company to build six modular refineries with a combined capacity of 180,000 barrels a day.
Mr. Olusegun Aganga, Nigeria’s Trade and Investment Minister said the deal was in line with a U.S.-Nigerian joint venture comprising Vulcan Energy Corp. and Petroleum Refining and Strategic Reserve Limited.
According to electronic message from the office of the Minister, Venture group signed a $4.5 billion (N697.5billion ) deal to build the refineries in collaboration with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC).
Two of the refineries are expected to be completed within a year.
“We are working in collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC; we are working together as a team to ensure that in 12 months’ time, we witness the commissioning of the refineries,” Aganga said.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, plans to boost foreign investment in industries by making it easier to do business in the country. The government is focusing on changes that can improve the investment climate and on the overhaul of industries.
The continent’s most populous nation, with more than 160 million inhabitants, relies on foreign fuel supplies for 70 percent of its requirements because of inadequate refining capacity, Diezani Alison-Madueke, Petroleum minister, said in November. It exchanges 60,000 barrels a day of crude for products with Trafigura Beheer BV and a similar amount with Societe Ivoirienne de Raffinage’s refinery in Ivory Coast, according to NNPC.
The refineries are to be located in areas where there are crude oil pipelines in collaboration with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Each modular refinery, when completed, will refine up to 30, 000 barrels of crude oil per day and produce up to five million litres of petrol, diesel kerosene and LPFO.
Aganga, signed on behalf of the Federal Government, while Jim Mansfield, vice-president/director, Vulcan Petroleum Resources Limited, and Edozie Njoku, chairman, Petroleum Refining and Strategic Reserve Limited, singed of behalf of their companies respectively.
Also present during the signing of the MoU, was Chukwuemeka Ezeife, former Governor of Anambra state.
Speaking during signing ceremony, Aganga, said the event represented a major milestone and paradigm shift in President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration plan towards Industrial Revolution, job creation, wealth generation.
“This is a historic moment and a big step for us as a country .Apart from power, one of the critical areas which President Goodluck Jonathan has made a priority is to have functional refineries. My understanding is that by the time the whole project is completed, the cost is estimated at about $4.5bn.
“This is the beginning of changing our old paradigm from exporting just raw materials and exporting jobs to the Western countries. This is something that we have done as a country for so long time. There is no nation that has moved from being a poor nation to a rich one by exporting raw materials without having a vibrant industrial base. That is what we have to change for us to be a rich nation, and that is what of National Industrial Revolution Plan is based on.”
Aganga said that the Ministry of Trade and Investment would work together with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to ensure the actualisation of the projects.
He added, “The Nigerian Industrialisation Revolution Plan is based on areas where we have comparative and competitive advantage as a country. The signing of the MOU is the beginning of the process. The Ministry of Trade and Investment has not done this alone. We are working in collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC. We are working together as a team to ensure that in 12 months’ time, we witness the commissioning of the refineries.
“What we have done is to carry out due diligence on the prospective investors before we even start having discussions with them. We try to find out where they are coming from and their antecedents, whether they have done what they are planning in other parts of the world, and also if they have the money to invest.”
Also speaking during the event, Jim Mansfield of Vulcan Petroleum Resources Limited, said the investment was a testimony that “Nigeria is a good place to do business.”
“The funding for the project will be a non-Nigeria source and is from investors who firmly believe that Nigeria is a good place to do business. We also believe that Nigeria is open for business,” he said.
While Edozie Njoku of Petroleum Refining and Strategic Reserve Limited, , said that the company would work with its foreign technical partner and the regulatory authorities to ensure the successful completion of the project within the time frame.
“The six refineries will have a combined capacity to refine 180, 000 barrels of crude oil within the country and produce up to 30 million litres per day of refined products within 30 months. The entire modular refinery complex is built in the United States, including all piping and electrical and test operated to assure that each plant will achieve 100 per cent of its approximately five million litres per day production capacity.
“It will take approximately six months to construct each refinery in the USA, one month to test and dismantle the refinery for shipping; one month to commence shipment of the refinery complex to Nigeria; followed by four-five months to re-assemble the refinery in Nigeria and commence full production. The modular refinery is far easier to construct and maintain, and it can be constructed at any place and relocated to any site depending on the need.
Ugo Nwokolo, Nollywood actor, has shared a controversial opinion on internet fraud, saying it has been keeping the nation’s economy afloat amid a tougher economic climate.
Ugo Nwokolo, Nollywood Actor
Nwokolo made the assertion in a video interview currently circulating on social media.
According to the actor, the cost of living and soaring house rent have made life unbearable for legitimate income earners.
He said high rent in major cities like Lagos and Abuja has edged out those earning N50,000 and N90,000 monthly.
Nwokolo said, “Personally, I think Yahoo has helped keep the economy afloat. Do you expect a civil servant to afford house rent of N3 million or N5 million in Abuja?”
The actor maintained that only the rich, including fraudsters, could meet up with the rising cost of living.
“If you go to Lagos now, the least you’ll see for a two-bedroom apartment is about N7 million or N8 million. Who is supposed to afford it? The civil servants? Of course, it’s the fraudsters,” he stressed.
However, he argued that he was not justifying crime but merely stating fact.
“I’m not justifying crime, but yes, Yahoo is helping the economy. How do you expect people to live in this kind of economy?” he said.
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, plans to dedicate one-third of his wealth to charity as part of his succession plan, Halima Dangote, his daughter, has revealed.
Aliko Dangote
Halima, a trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, disclosed this in an interview with Bloomberg published on Tuesday, saying the billionaire had secured the support of his family to commit 33 per cent of his estate to philanthropy.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote’s net worth is estimated at $35.1 billion, meaning one-third of his current wealth would be worth about $11.7 billion if his fortune remains at that level.
Halima explained that her father views philanthropy as a key part of his legacy and has incorporated it into the family’s long-term succession plans.
She said Dangote had structured his estate to ensure that charitable giving continues across generations, particularly in areas such as healthcare and education.
“He sort of put all the structure in place whereby we focus a lot on health and education. He actually donated 25 per cent to the foundation. If you look at it, it is what we call in Sharia Code in Islam; it means he has donated 33 per cent of his whole inheritance to his foundation,” she said.
Halima added that Dangote believes giving back is central to the success of his businesses and the family’s values.
She said the billionaire asked her, her two sisters, and his mother to sign the agreement allowing 33 per cent of his inheritance to be dedicated to humanitarian causes.
The planned donation builds on Dangote’s longstanding philanthropic activities through the Aliko Dangote Foundation, which was established in 1994.
According to Halima, the foundation received an endowment of $1.25 billion about a decade ago and has since received an additional $700 million in funding.
She said about 70 per cent of the foundation’s spending goes to programmes in Nigeria, while 20 per cent supports projects across Africa, with the remaining funds directed to initiatives in other parts of the world.
The foundation’s interventions focus on healthcare, education, nutrition, and humanitarian support, including partnerships that contributed to the eradication of wild poliovirus in Africa.
Dangote’s planned charitable commitment adds to increasing global attention on billionaire philanthropy.
Although the proposed 33 per cent allocation is below the 50 per cent commitment associated with the Giving Pledge, it would rank among the largest philanthropic commitments announced by an African billionaire.
Earlier this year, Dangote was named among the world’s most influential philanthropists by TIME magazine’s inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy list, recognising the impact of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, which reportedly spends more than ₦50 billion annually on programmes across Africa.
Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), has said that there are plans for Nigeria to begin to generate electricity from nuclear sources.
Mr Anthony Godwin Ekedegwa, chief executive, NAEC stated this when he recently visited Mr Umar Yusuf Girei, acting managing director, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA),in Abuja.
He was at NIWA’s office to solicit the support of NIWA in achieving the numerous advantages of using nuclear energy technology in the country.
According to him, the partnership of critical stakeholders in Nigeria will position the country well in developing and maintaining its nuclear power plant.
The NAEC chief said Nigeria intends to begin the generation of electricity from nuclear sources instead of fossil-based power plants and hydro-based power plants, stressing that for Nigeria to develop, there is a need for the country to diversify its energy needs.
In his remarks, Mr Girei assured NAEC of his agency’s readiness to collaborate on the advancement of a nuclear power plant in Nigeria.
He promised the full support of NAEC for the success of a nuclear power plant in the country, saying that as the organisation saddled with the responsibility of regulating and developing Nigeria Inland Waterways, his entity is strategically positioned to play a critical role in the federal government’s quest for sustainable energy through the new technology.
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