Economy
Ambode Woos Investors with 24-Hour Electricity by 2018
By Dipo Olowookere
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has assured investors and residents of the state that his administration will ensure 24-hour power supply by the end of 2018.
“As a government, we are strongly committed to power freedom; we want to free ourselves from darkness and we want to open up the sector for more investors,” Mr Ambode said this at an interactive session with members of the business community and informal sector last week.
The Governor expressed readiness of the state government to partner with any investor willing to key into his administration’s massive infrastructural renewal drive in critical sectors, saying such would be a win-win situation for the overall benefit of the people.
Mr Ambode said public private partnership was critical to accelerate development, and that the government is open to collaborate with interested investors.
For instance, Governor Ambode said the state government would be willing to partner with any investor interested in taking up the second phase of the Mile 2 to Seme Border ten-lane road project.
“At the moment, work is already ongoing from Eric More to Okokomaiko but we are willing to partner with any investor interested in taking up the construction of the second phase which is ten-lane road from Okokomaiko to Seme Border.
“If we are able to achieve that, it will open up and transform the western axis, especially Badagry forever, and the project will also complement the massive projects being undertaken in the axis,” the Governor said at the gathering.
Besides, Governor Ambode said plans were already at advanced stages to bring about constant power supply to all homes and businesses in the State by the end of 2018.
He said though the political geography of the country was affecting the visionary strategy to solve the power challenges being essentially in the control of the Federal Government, but the State Government had devised policies and strategies to short-circuit power generation, transmission and distribution to ensure constant power supply to the people of the State.
Likewise, the Governor said the state government is also in talks with electricity distribution companies operating in the State to see possibility of supplying 24/7 power to residents at a bit higher tariff than what currently obtains subject to agreement of all stakeholders, while government would be the guarantor of the people.
The Governor also revealed that the legal framework to prevent power theft and also legitimize the concept of power generation had already been sent to the State House of Assembly for approval.
“Presently, we have less than 1,000MW in Lagos and the fundamental issues remain with generation, transmission and then distribution. Who is transmitting? It is still owned primary by the Federal Government but in Lagos State, we have become creative and we have done Independent Power Project (IPP) before through which we were able to generate 47.5MW which was distributed short-circuiting transmission.
“So, if it works, does it look like a template we can now use to get power freedom or what we call power security? If we say we are the fifth largest economy in Africa and we are not in control of how power is generated in an economy that wants to move from fifth to third, then something is wrong. So, what we are saying is let’s find a way to short-circuit them within the ambit of the law.
“If the law allows you to have independent power and going through the regulatory commission then you are smart enough to do that. The only thing we have done is to get permission from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to create clusters of embedded power in our state and if we are able to do it, we become a test case for the rest of the economy,” he added.
On the collaboration with electricity distribution companies, Governor Ambode said the state government was willing to stand as the guarantor for the people to get 24/7 power supply.
“The idea is that look can we have a mid-point on how to get 24/7 power? The generator that people are using is extremely expensive and what we are saying is that can we work with all these stakeholders and push the tariff for example from N20 to maybe N40 but guarantee the people of 24/7 power? So, if I am able to do that and I get the confidence, I will just stand on behalf of Lagosians to say that the new tariff as agreed by all of us, if we can provide it for the people 24/7, they are likely to pay. In case they don’t pay, I get financially exposed.
“That is what we are trying to do; we become the guarantor on behalf of Lagosians and then if all those things work out, by this time next year, people will have constant power supply,” the Governor disclosed.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has revealed that Nigeria’s crude total oil and condensate production stood at 1.61.
This was contained in its Monthly Report Summary for April 2025 which contained key operational and financial metrics.
According to the state oil firm, this was 3.2 per cent higher than 1.56 million barrels of oil per day recorded in March.
Giving a breakdown of the monthly production figures, total crude oil and condensate production was out at 1.67 million barrels of oil per day in January, 1.62 million barrels of oil per day in February, 1.56 million barrels per day in March and 1.61 million barrels of oil per day in the month under review.
Meanwhile the country’s natural gas production reached 7.35 billion standard cubic feet per day in April.
A breakdown showed that in January, the production stood at 7.12 billion standard cubic feet, it dropped to 6.62 billion standard cubic feet in February and rose to 6.92 billion standard cubic feet, and 7.35 billion standard cubic feet in April.
The NNPC clarified that all crude oil and gas figures are provisional and based solely on NNPC Limited’s data, adding that the figures excluded production by independent operators as reported by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
On the financial part, the NNPC generated revenue up to N5.89 trillion with a Profit After Tax of N748 billion.
The national oil company report also showed that statutory payments for the period January to March 2025 totaled N4.23 trillion.
In terms of supply NNPC Retail Limited (NRL) Stations’ petrol availability was at 54 per cent.
Giving updates on the ongoing projects— the NNPC said the OB3 pipeline project has achieved 95 per cent completion, while the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) pipeline has reached 70 per cent completion as of the review month.
It added that upstream pipeline availability was recorded at 97 per cent.
On its upcoming Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) in 2025, the NNPC disclosed that the Nkori Development (OML 102), crude oil production expansion project (OML 29), gas development projects (OMLs 40, 42) and Brass Fertilizer (Financial Close) will all be done in the fourth quarter of the year.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded its first loss in five consecutive sessions, declining by 0.33 per cent on Wednesday, June 11.
At the close of trading activities, the market capitalisation of the bourse declined by N6.45 billion to finish at N1.954 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.960 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased by 11.01 points to settle at 3,337.24 points, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing value of 3,348.25 points.
Share prices of three companies on the trading platform recorded movements at midweek, according to data obtained byBusiness Post.
Geo-Fluids Plc was up by 31 Kobo to end at N3.50 per unit versus the preceding day’s N3.19 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc expanded by 13 Kobo to end at N28.13 per share compared with the previous day’s N28.00 per share.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc further depreciated by N4.31 yesterday to quote at N74.37 per unit versus the preceding day’s N78.68 per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities surged by 1,232.6 per cent to 3.3 million units from the 248,882 units recorded a day earlier, the value of securities went up by 31.8 per cent to N12.9 million from N9.8 million, and the number of deals increased by 46.7 per cent to 44 deals from the 30 deals posted in the preceding trading session.
At the close of business, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 536.9 million units worth N524.8 million, trailed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million valued at N4.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 268.4 million units sold for N475.6 million.
Also, Okitipupa Plc maintained its position as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.7 million units traded for N4.9 billion, followed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units worth N4.2 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 38.9 million units valued at N1.6 billion.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Between January 2025 and March 2025, Nigeria improved its trade surplus by about 52 per cent to N5.17 trillion from the N3.4 trillion recorded between October 2024 and December 2024.
This information was made known to the public by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Report for Q1’25 released on Wednesday.
The agency disclosed that on a year-on-year basis, trade surplus expanded by 17.5 per cent from the N4.4 trillion achieved in the first quarter of last year.
According to the NBS, the total merchandise trade posted by Nigeria in Q1 of 2025 was N36.024 trillion, higher than the N33.92 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2024 by 6.19 per cent, but lower than the N36.6 trillion reported in the preceding quarter by 1.58 per cent.
It stated that the value of total imports stood at N15.42 trillion in the first quarter of this year, 4.59 per cent higher than the N14.75 trillion posted in the same period of 2024 and 7.02 per cent lower than the N16.59 trillion recorded in the last quarter of 2024.
Also, the value of exports achieved in the first quarter of 2025 was N20.59 trillion, higher than the N19.17 trillion posted in the same period of last year by 7.42 per cent, and 2.92 per cent higher than the N20.00 trillion recorded in the previous quarter, with India, the Netherlands, the United States, France, and Spain as the top five trading export partners of the country.
“The merchandise trade balance for Q1 2025 remained positive at N5.17 trillion indicating an increase of 52 percent compared to the value recorded in the preceding quarter,” it said.
“Further analysis shows that Nigeria’s exports trade continued to be dominated by crude oil in the first quarter of 2025 valued at N12.95 trillion representing 62.89 per cent of total exports while the value of non-crude oil exports stood at N7.64 trillion accounting for 37.11 per cent of total exports; of which non-oil products contributed N3.16 trillion or 15.38 percent of total exports,” the stats office said.
It disclosed that, “China remains Nigeria’s highest trading partner on the import side in the first quarter of 2025, followed by India, United States of America, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirate.
“The most traded commodities imported during the quarter were, Gas oil, Motor spirit ordinary, Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude, Cane sugar meant for sugar refinery, and Durum wheat (Not in seeds).”
It was further revealed that the most exported commodities included crude oil, liquefied natural gas, other petroleum gases in a gaseous state, Urea, whether or not in aqueous solution, and Standard quality Cocoa beans.
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