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Experts laud FEC approval of NNPC’s acquisition of 20% stake in Dangote Refinery

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Experts laud FEC approval of NNPC's acquisition of 20% stake in Dangote Refinery

Experts laud FEC approval of NNPC’s acquisition of 20% stake in Dangote Refinery

 

 

Dangote-Some economists and oil and gas expert have backed the Federal Executive Council’s  (FEC) approval of the acquisition of 20 percent minority stakes by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the Dangote Petroleum and Petrochemical Refinery.

 

 

 

Experts laud FEC approval of NNPC's acquisition of 20% stake in Dangote Refinery

 

 

 

They made their views known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

 

NAN reports that Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, had announced the approval after the virtual FEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

 

Sylva had said the acquisition was in the sum of $2.76 billion.

 

Reacting to the development, Prof. Chris Onalo, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Credit Administration, said oil and gas remain the major source of revenue for the government which requires massive investment in the sector.

 

Onalo said the Dangote Group had taken the bull by the horns to make a huge investment that was needed to jumpstart the industry and therefore needed the support of all and sundry including the government.

 

He said the investment from the NNPC was to support the billions already committed by Dangote Group in the world’s largest single-train refinery.

 

“The refinery is an expression of massive confidence in the oil and gas economy of this country.

 

“It shows that the sector can take Nigeria out of economic woes. I think it is a welcome development and those of us who are in the public domain can’t wait too long to see that happening.

 

“So, I will say kudos to the Dangote Group for its investment drive across the economy of this country,”Onalo said.

 

He added that the NNPC’S support to  the refinery and others coming on stream soon would increase investors’ confidence in the sector thereby attracting the more investments.

 

Also, Mr Muda Yusuf, an economist and immediate-past Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said the Dangote Refinery was of strategic national importance.

 

“My views have always been that even though this is a private sector project, it makes  both commercial and nationalistic sense for NNPC to express a interest in it.

 

“This project has a good prospect to put an end to fuel importation and the associated leakages of public funds while also preserving our foreign exchange reserves,” Yusuf said.

 

He said the refinery would also stimulate the economy in areas such as job creation, agriculture and exportation of petrochemicals to other countries.

 

Yusuf said: “The proposal by NNPC to take 20 per cent equity stake in the Dangote Refinery is a move in the right direction. The reality is that the Dangote refinery is a project of significant and strategic national importance, even though it is promoted by the private sector.

 

“Taking a stake in the project also makes a great deal of business sense, especially given how far the project execution has gone and our heavy dependence on importation of petroleum products.

 

“It also makes both commercial and nationalistic sense for NNPC to express an interest in a project that has a good prospect to put an end to fuel importation and the associated leakages of public funds.

 

“It would also ensure the preservation of our foreign reserves as we currently spend billions of dollars annually on importation of petroleum products.”

 

He said in addition to the several multiplier effects of the refinery arising from related spin off industries like petrochemicals, fertilizer plants resonates well with the country’s aspiration for self reliance and backward integration.

 

He added that the export prospects of the Dangote Refinery were also quite bright.

 

Yusuf stated that another exciting thing about the investment proposition by the NNPC was that the national oil company would be a minority shareholder and would therefore not take responsibility for the management of the refinery.

 

He noted that the undoing of Nigeria’s public enterprises had been the quality of management, saying as a country, Nigeria had paid a huge price for this in the form of inefficiency, corruption, wastages and many more.

 

The LCCI DG further said that the model being proposed with the Dangote refinery was similar in a way to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited’s model, which according to him, remains the best example of how government funds should be invested.

 

“It is a model that shields the investment from interference by politicians and bureaucrats.

 

“This proposition is much better than the decision to commit scarce public funds to the rehabilitation of decrepit government-owned refineries,” he added.

 

Similarly, Mr. Wilson Opuwei, Chief Executive Officer, Dateline Energy Services Limited, said the approval was a step in the right direction for the country.

 

“It makes sense for the NNPC to invest in ventures that will bring returns to the company. Every business needs good investments and this is what the NNPC is doing with the Dangote Refinery.

 

He said that the refinery will ensure energy security as the Refinery is capable of meeting Nigeria’s gasoline requirements while generating revenue in hard currency from export of diesel, jet fuel, polypropylene among many others.

 

 

Chief Operations Officer, Dangote Oil Refining Company, Mr Giuseppe Surace told the marketers that the refinery has been designed to process a variety of light and medium grades of crude, including petrol and diesel as well as jet fuel and polypropylene.

 

He said the refinery was billed to produce up to 50 million litres of petrol and 15 million litres of diesel a day, roughly 10.4 million tonnes of the product, 4.6 million tonnes of diesel, and 4 million tonnes of jet fuel yearly.

 

According to him, this is in addition to having a fertiliser plant, which would utilise the refinery by-products as raw materials.

 

He disclosed that the refinery which has recorded 90 per cent completion, was expected to address the challenge of petroleum product importation in Nigeria and other African countries.

 

He said, “If you look at the overall percentage completion, we have achieved good, considerable progress. But that overall includes engineering and design, which is 100 per cent over.

 

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ZENITH BANK REWARDS HACKATHON WINNERS WITH N77.5M CASH PRIZE AT ZENITH TECH FAIR 4.0

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ZENITH BANK REWARDS HACKATHON WINNERS WITH N77.5M CASH PRIZE AT ZENITH TECH FAIR 4.0

 

A total sum of N77.5 million in prize money was won at the end of a keenly contested hackathon session at the Fourth Edition of the Zenith Tech Fair, themed “Future Forward 4.0: Embedded Finance, Cybersecurity & Growth Imperatives – The Impact of AI “, which held on Thursday, November 21, 2024, at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The prize money was shared among ten finalists who emerged from the over 1,700 contestants that took part in the hackathon, with JumpnPass, a self-checkout technology solution reshaping the retail landscape in Africa emerging as the overall winner and taking home the grand prize of N25 million. This is in addition to a six-week mentorship and incubation program designed to help them grow and scale effectively, which will run from December 2024 to February 2025.

The first runner-up, CreditChek, a credit and verification service provider which leverages AI and open banking to streamline income and credit history verification for financial institutions, won N20 million and a mentorship programme, while the second runner-up, Salad Africa, a start-up which offers seamless integration of credit products for digital platforms and software companies won N15 million as well as a mentorship programme. Other finalists who took home N2.5million each include Regxta, CashAfrica, Middleman, Messenger, Pocketfood, Famasi Africa, Kitovu.

Earlier during the programme, the Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, Dame (Dr.) Adaora Umeoji, OON, in her welcome address expressed her appreciation to the Founder & Chairman, Dr Jim Ovia, CFR, for birthing the idea that led to the establishment of the Tech Fair initiative 5 years ago, she thanked him for his vision and foresight in utilizing technology to revolutionize the world of business and banking.

Commenting on the Hackathon, she said, “This prestigious annual event was created to empower and nurture young fertile minds. We hope to produce the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk from the Zenith Bank Hackathons in the nearest future. According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, 70% of Nigeria’s population are youths which is an economic asset when properly harnessed. This is part of the reason why Zenith Bank is hosting this event to support the development of technology startups. Their success not only fosters innovation and growth in Nigeria, but it also plays a vital role in creating employment opportunities for our youth.” She also stressed on the importance of innovation and embedded finance in ensuring strong and enduring institutions. According to her, “it is paramount that we adapt and adopt technology to stay ahead of the curve. We have seen various cases of companies that failed because of their lack of innovation. It is quite obvious that when companies fail to innovate; they can easily be displaced, so this is not the time to be orthodox, innovation should be a top priority for us.”

In his goodwill message, The Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu called for a global approach to doing business in the country. According to him, “What we need to do is to be able to enhance our product and services in order to compete in the world. We can’t continue to act local, we need to think global. Anything that we’re doing now, we need to be able to know that we are not just serving a local market, we actually want to serve the global market, and that’s why I’m glad that consistently, for the past four years, I have kept up with the Zenith Tech Fair. I am sure 5.0 should be bigger and better than what we have today, but for us as a government, what we need to do is to continue to use platforms like this to reassure you of our readiness to provide an enabling environment for your ideas and innovative solutions.”

Described as a huge success by participants, the Fair featured the launch of the bank’s digital wallet, EazyByZenith, which will help to support the bank’s retail and financial inclusion strategy. The fair also included presentations on the leading technological innovations that cut across different aspects of life, such as Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Risk Management, Compliance, Financial Intelligence, Cloud Computing and Communication Technologies, with the keynote address, “Banking Transformation in a Digital World”, delivered by Robin Speculand, a renowned Strategy & Digital Implementation Specialist.

The event also featured goodwill messages by Jim Ovia, CFR, Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank; His Excellency, Hon. Kashim Shettima, GCON, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (represented by Dr. Tope Fasua, Special Adviser to the Presidency on Economic Matters). Other eminent IT practitioners from top global brands who also made presentations include; Robin Speculand, renowned Strategy & Digital Implementation Specialist; Danilo McGarry, Global Expert on Digital Transformation and AI; Jania Okwechime, Partner, Africa, AI & Data Leader, Deloitte; Rupert Nicolay, Director, Microsoft Worldwide Financial Services.

The panel session had Wole Odeyele, Client Technology Lead for Microsoft Inc. as its host, and featured six discussants including Ada Jabaru, Founder & Director, Nistad Limited; Funke Opeke, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, MainOne; Guy Futi, Chief Executive Officer, Orda; Dr Auwal Adam Sa’ad, Founder, ZamzamPay; Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and Engr. Bisoye Coker-Odusote, Director General/Chief Executive Officer, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

The Zenith Bank startup pitch competition and incubation program seeks to identify and fast-track the growth of high-potential Nigerian startups innovating in key sectors, including Embedded Finance, Cybersecurity, Fintech, HealthTech, Agritech, E-commerce, and more. The program provides an ideal platform for startups to showcase their groundbreaking ideas and gain access to invaluable resources to scale their businesses.

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NEW BPP DG COMMITS TO EFFICIENCY AND STAFF WELFARE FOR IMPACTFUL SERVICE DELIVERY

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NEW BPP DG COMMITS TO EFFICIENCY AND STAFF WELFARE FOR IMPACTFUL SERVICE DELIVERY*

*_…begins review of bureau processes to enhance government procurement systems_*

The Director General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Dr Adebowale Adedokun, has outlined his vision to drive efficiency, enhance staff welfare, and reinforce the Bureau’s regulatory mandate in alignment with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s renewed hope mandate and his commitment to improving Nigeria’s economy. This was made known during an interactive session with staff of the Bureau at the State House Banquet Hall on November 20, 2024. Dr Adedokun emphasised the urgency of delivering results as well as improving trust in the government procurement system to support President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, declaring, “Let us work together to get value for money for Nigeria’s developmental processes and achieve President Tinubu’s mandate of making Nigeria’s economy better.”

Furthermore, in a bid to strengthen operational efficiency, the DG also announced key reforms, including introducing Service Level Agreements for the bureau’s processes ensuring that letters are treated within 3 (three) days, and ensuring reports are completed within 14 (fourteen) days. He also highlighted plans to secure a sustainable budget that would improve the working environment and provide better welfare for staff.

Dr Adedokun firmly stated the Bureau’s resolve to uphold its regulatory integrity under his watch. He warned that officers are prohibited from visiting Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) unless on official assignments stressing the need for officers of the Bureau to stay above board. He further declared that contractors are no longer allowed within the Bureau’s premises to ensure that officers can perform their duties without undue interference and influence.

Calling for a collaborative approach, the DG urged staff to embody the Bureau’s regulatory values by adhering to procurement guidelines, avoiding delays, and striving for excellence. “As a regulator, you must be seen to be guided by the procurement process,” he stated. He assured the team of an open-door policy, encouraging innovative ideas that could propel the Bureau to greater heights.

The session also featured a visit from former DG, Engr. Emeka Ezeh, OFR, FNSE, who led the Bureau from 2009 to 2016. Engr. Ezeh commended President Tinubu for appointing Dr Adedokun and urged staff to provide their full support to the new leadership. He encouraged staff to focus on leaving a legacy of excellence, saying, “Work in a way that you will be celebrated wherever you go in life.”

Senior Directors, including Engr. Nasir Bello and Engr. Isaiah Yesufu reiterated the importance of supporting the DG’s vision while emphasizing adherence to the Bureau’s operational guidelines. Staff also welcomed the session, sharing their perspectives on improving the Bureau’s operations and pledging their support for the new leadership.

In a related development, Dr Adedokun sought collaboration with the Presidential Office of Digital Engagement and Strategy (PODES) led by its Head, Mr O’tega Ogra, who is also the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital/New Media, during a courtesy visit to his office on November 21, 2024. The DG emphasized the need to enhance the Bureau’s public engagement and visibility in line with the all-of-government communications approach being espoused by the PODES.

Mr Ogra congratulated Dr Adedokun on his appointment and highlighted the key role BPP plays in advancing Nigeria’s development agenda. O’tega further expressed his commitment to collaborating with the Bureau in amplifying its communication efforts and ensuring Nigerians understand and appreciate its critical role in national governance.

Dr Adedokun’s leadership marks a new chapter for the Bureau of Public Procurement, focused on accountability, efficiency, and impactful service delivery. His vision aligns seamlessly with the Federal Government’s goals of economic transformation and sustainable development as well as President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda.

Janet McDickson
Director, Information & Public Relations/Head, Media-BPP

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Abducted Rivers bizman rescued, suspected robber arrested

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Abducted Rivers bizman rescued, suspected robber arrested

 

The Rivers State Police Command said its men rescued a businessman identified as Julius Madabuchi, who was kidnapped by a four-man gang at a filling station in the Oyigbo Local Government Area of the state.

The police said the man was abducted when the miscreants who were driving in a Black Toyota car stormed the area and started shooting discriminately before executing their plan.

The rescue of the man, the police said, followed a distress call sent to the command control room about the activities of the hoodlums on November 17 and immediately mobilised operatives to the scene, saying the abductors engaged the police in a shootout.

The spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, disclosed this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, on Wednesday.

 

The statement reads, “On the 17th of November, 2014, at about 2023hrs, operatives of the command received a distress call from the Room indicating that a gang of armed men numbering about four operating in a Black colour Toyota Corolla car shot sporadically and kidnapped one Madabuchi Julius at Sabbath Filling Station, Oyigbo.

“Operatives were swiftly mobilised to the scene and the hoodlums on sighting the police operatives drove off, but they were given a hot chase by the operatives and subsequently intercepted along Egbu Street, Oyigbo and a gun duel ensued between the operatives and the hoodlums.

“The hoodlums could not withstand the police’s superior firepower and eventually abandoned the victim and their operational vehicle with registration number RIVERS PHC 938 AH and escaped. The victim was rescued unhurt and the vehicle recovered. He has since reunited with his family.”

 

The state police image maker however said an investigation is ongoing while concerted efforts are being intensified to apprehend other fleeing members of the gang and recover their operational weapons.

In a related development, Iringe-Koko said the following day, precisely on Monday, operatives of the command acted on credible information, coordinated a covert operation at the St Lorinta Street, Oyigbo and arrested one Gabriel Morris, aged 25, at Mercy Ground in Kom-Kom, Oyigbo LGA of the State.

The state police spokesperson stated, “During interrogation, the suspect confessed to being a member of a syndicate that had been terrorising Oyigbo and its environs in recent times.

 

Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, listed items recovered from the suspect including one locally made pistol and a quantity of weeds suspected to be Indian hemp.

She added, “Investigation is ongoing, while concerted efforts are intensified to apprehend other fleeing members of the syndicate.

“This successful operation further demonstrates the effectiveness of the Rivers State Police Command in combating kidnapping and all other forms of crime in the state.”

 

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