Economy
Anxiety as 24th Africa Oil Week Draws Closer
By Dipo Olowookere
Stakeholders in the oil and gas industry in Africa are eagerly gearing up for the forthcoming 24th Africa Oil Week, which holds in Cape Town, South Africa, from 23-27 October.
At the moment, organisers of leading international oil and gas event have announced highlights of the internationally renowned programme.
The restrained business climate that has reigned over the industry for the past few years demanded that all operators review and adapt their business models and the way they operate. By the same token, the organisers of Africa Oil Week had to radically rethink the content for this year’s edition to meet the needs of delegates in search of solutions for tackling new challenges.
ITE’s Vice President for Africa, Sonika Greyvenstein, says, “We pride ourselves on being recognised as the world’s leading Africa-focused oil and gas event. To retain this title, we really had to think outside the box to design a programme that offers something over and above our renowned networking and deal-making opportunities – we want to give delegates access to revolutionary new ways of working, so they go away with knowledge, tools and methods to help them face a fast-evolving industry”.
The result is a programme strong on skills, solutions and strategies and infused with talks and debates of an ethical, political and motivational nature.
With the aim of providing the most current status of African and international policy, ITE has ramped up the presence of top ranking government officials. Rick Perry, US Energy Secretary, has been invited to speak as guest of honour at a session on global energy policy as well as during his department’s presentation of its LNG Handbook, designed to facilitate LNG projects in Sub-Saharan African nations.
In terms of African oil and gas ministers, participants will be able to engage directly with them on issues crucial to their investment plans and projects at the Ministerial Panel on African government strategies for “Attracting Operators and Investment”.
It includes presentations covering fiscal reforms and investment opportunities from the oil and gas ministers of Egypt, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Republic of Congo and Namibia. South African Minister of Energy, Mmamoloko Kubayi, will open proceedings on Tuesday 24th October with a talk on the right energy mix for meeting environmental and development goals.
The Côte d’Ivoire Roadshow, presided over by Minister Thierry Tanoh, will promote the country’s hydrocarbons code and introduce its energy strategy 2020 along with available blocks coming up for licensing, thereby providing further opportunities for showcasing its investment environment as well as its petroleum code and legal and fiscal framework.
Mali, ranked one of the most dynamic countries in the region by the World Bank’s “Doing Business” report and winner of the AIM “Investment Award” for its incentive-strengthening reforms, is promoting its five oil-rich basins. Mr Hamed Ag Mohamed, Director-General of the Authority for the Promotion of Oil Research, will present the investment framework and its Public-Private Partnership policy.
A not-to-be-missed event is the debate “Phasing Out Fossil Fuels: The Moral Case”. Alex Epstein, Founder and President of the Center for Industrial Progress and author of the New York Times bestseller, “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels” will pitch his pro-fossil fuels argument against that of renewable energy development and investment pioneer Charlotte Aubin-Kalaidjian, co-Founder and CEO of GreenWish Partners. Later in the day, Mr Epstein is the guest speaker at the invitation-only VIP & CEO Luncheon, to be held in the Exhibition Ballroom.
Contributing to the cutting edge content is the AAPG Science Seminar, comprising three half-day forums focusing on energising the growing world through knowledge and technology. This is especially important considering that the new wave of exploration is spearheaded by digital technology which, in turn, paves the way for new careers.
This digital aspect of the industry is of special interest to the students and graduates attending the Young Professional Roundtable discussions, during which they will be looking at the capabilities and skills that will secure their future in a constrained job market.
With the evolution of the industry requiring operators and stakeholders to be more resourceful and inventive, Africa Oil Week is bringing out some big guns in terms of analysis, inspiration and motivation. Daniel Silke, South African futurist and leading political economy analyst, kicks off the third day of the conference with a keynote on Africa’s resilience.
Mr Silke is renowned for his insights into issues surrounding global change, volatility and the future of the world. Then there’s Gilan Gork, renowned mentalist and master of influence. As a guest speaker at the SA Rugby Museum Cocktail Reception, Gilan will challenge delegates thinking while intelligently entertaining and motivating them.
Along with these exciting and innovative additions to this year’s Africa Oil Week programme, each session now includes an interactive Q&A, during which delegates can engage on a wide range of issues. In addition, there is an official Africa Oil Week App for IOS & Android devices to give delegates up-to-date information about the event, speakers, programme, networking sessions and venues and enabling them to post questions, participate in polls and contact other delegates.
Delegates who register by 30th September qualify for the £300 Early Bird Discount while companies registering three or more delegates benefit from an additional 10% discount.
All registration fees include access to the 17th Africa Independents Forum and the 24th Africa Upstream Conference and Exhibition but exclude the 80th PetroAfricanus Dinner and 9th Global Women Petroleum & Energy Club Luncheon, which must be booked separately. Companies registering three or more delegates benefit from an additional 10% discount.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government areas have received N1.727 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for December 2024.
The funds were disbursed to the three tiers of government from the revenue generated by the nation in November 2024.
At the December meeting of FAAC held in Abuja, it was stated that the amount distributed comprised distributable statutory revenue of N455.354 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N585.700 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.046 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N671.392 billion.
According to a statement signed on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations for FAAC, Mr Bawa Mokwa, the money generated last month was about N3.143 trillion, with N103.307 billion used for cost of collection and N1.312 trillion for transfers, interventions and refunds.
It was disclosed that gross statutory revenue of N1.827 trillion was received compared with the N1.336 trillion recorded a month earlier.
The statement said gross revenue of N628.972 billion was available from VAT versus N668.291 billion in the preceding month.
The organisation stated that last month, oil and gas royalty and CET levies recorded significant increases, while excise duty, VAT, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and EMTL decreased considerably.
As for the sharing, FAAC disclosed that from the N1.727 trillion, the central government got N581.856 billion, the states received N549.792 billion, the councils took N402.553 billion, while the benefiting states got N193.291 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
From the N585.700 billion VAT earnings, the national government got N87.855 billion, the states received N292.850 billion and the local councils were given N204.995 billion.
Also, from the N455.354 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government was given N175.690 billion, the states got N89.113 billion, the local governments had N68.702 billion, and the benefiting states received N121.849 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
In addition, from the N15.046 billion EMTL revenue, FAAC shared N2.257 billion to the federal government, disbursed N7.523 billion to the states and transferred N5.266 billion to the local councils.
Further, from the N671.392 billion Exchange Difference earnings, it gave central government N316.054 billion, the states N160.306 billion, the local government areas N123.590 billion, and the oil-producing states N71.442 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.
On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.
In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.
The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.
The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.
The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.
Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.
In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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