Category: West Africa
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Nigeria: U.S. Will Block Stolen Nigerian Funds From American Banks – Envoy
The outgoing United States Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, has assured that the US is committed to ensure no stolen public funds from Nigeria are laundered through American banks. Entwistle said that the Obama administration was committed to stand with Nigeria in its fight against corruption. According to him, the U.S. government has offered technical…
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Nigeria signs $80 bln of oil, gas infrastructure deals with China
Nigeria has signed oil and gas infrastructure agreements worth $80 billion with Chinese companies, the West African country’s state oil company said on Thursday. Nigeria, an OPEC member which was until recently Africa’s biggest oil producer, relies on crude sales for around 70 percent of national income, but its oil and gas infrastructure is in…
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Nigeria:How MTN sliced billions off its telecoms fine
Telecoms firm MTN hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in January to help it reduce a $3.9 billion fine imposed in Nigeria over unregistered SIM cards. Five months later, it struck a deal to pay less than half of that. The entrance of Holder, who stood down as attorney general last year after presiding…
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Nigeria: PIB – Buhari Urged to Stop Further Slips After U.S.$80 Billion Loss
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to intervene and secure the political will to stop further loss of investments after loss of $80billion direct foreign investment and another $10billion fresh investment were recorded in the oil sector due to the non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). Experts in oil and gas and the civil…
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Nigerian Equity Market Drops Further By 0.89 Percent
The market indices of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday, dropped further by 0.89 per cent due to persistent sell pressure embarked by some investors. The All-Share Index lost 264.99 points or 0.89 per cent to close at 29,575.24 against 29,840.23 recorded on Monday. Also, the market capitalisation which opened at N10.248 trillion shed…
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Nigeria: Court Summons EFCC, Zenith Bank to Defend Freezing of Fayose’s Account
The Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti, has summoned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Zenith Bank Plc to show why an order exparte to unfreeze Governor Ayodele Fayose’s accounts now before it should not be granted. Presiding judge, Taiwo Taiwo, gave Monday, July 4, 2016 for the EFCC (1st defendant) and the bank (2nd…
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Nigeria’s Buhari questions benefit of currency float
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday told a gathering of business leaders that he did not see the benefit of the naira’s currency peg against the U.S. dollar being removed. Nigeria’s central bank abandoned the naira’s 16-month old exchange rate peg, of 197 naira to a dollar, a week ago in an effort to alleviate…
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Nigeria Will Be Self-Sufficient in Rice Production in 18 Months – Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja said his administration would make Nigeria self-sufficient in rice production within 18 months. The president, who was speaking at the Ramadan breaking of fast with members of the business community, said 13 states of the federation had been identified for the production of the crop. He said the…
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Nigerians Split Over Negotiating with Oil Militants
Nigeria’s government is trying to talk its way out of an unfolding crisis in its oil-producing Niger Delta region, but activists and traditional leaders are divided over whether negotiation is the best solution. The minister of state for petroleum, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, says the government wants to work with the Niger Delta Avengers, a militant…
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Nigeria:Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote shifts focus from cement to oil and gas
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, plans to launch Nigeria’s first private crude oil refinery by 2019 while almost doubling his cement production on the continent by adding plants in eight countries as he shrugs off a regional economic downturn. Dangote told Reuters the $12 billion refinery would have a capacity of 650,000 barrels a day,…