Economy
Buhari to Commission Oil Centre in Lagos Thursday
By Adedapo Adesanya
As part of efforts to boost the operations of the nation’s petroleum sector, President Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday, January 21, 2021, inaugurate the National Oil and Gas Excellence Centre (NOGEC) in Lagos.
Head of Public Affairs at the Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR), Mr Paul Osu, said in a statement on Monday that the centre was structured to drive the three-prong objectives of safety, value and cost efficiency, which are critical for oil and gas industry stability, growth and sustainability.
The commissioning, which will be hosted by the Director of DPR, Mr Sarki Auwalu, will give an opportunity to stakeholders in the Nigerian oil and gas industry discuss the crucial elements for competitive advantage in a changing global energy landscape.
“The integrated centre will also entrench Nigeria’s status as a regional leader and position the nation for significant global impact in the provision of value-added services and breakthrough solutions for the industry in years and decades to come,” the statement said.
It was disclosed that the NOGEC complex was structured to house the various flagship centres in order to comprehensively cover key areas of the industry, including Search, Rescue and Surveillance, SeRAS Command and Control Centre and National improved Oil Recovery Centre (NIOR).
Others are Oil and Gas Dispute Resolution Centre, DRC, Oil and Gas Competence Development Centre, CDC, and Integrated Data Mining and Analytics Centre, IDMAC.
Mr Auwalu was quoted to have said “SeRAS is an industry-wide programme established to enhance safety management, emergency preparedness and response as well as bed space management and logistics services across the industry.
”SeRAS will entrench safe practices, drive cost reduction and improve operational efficiency across the industry.
“The SeRAS Command and Control Centre (CCC) established at the NOGEC Centre, Lagos while two other Rescue Coordination Centres (RCC) will be set up at Osubi and Brass, in the first instance, for effective coverage of areas of operations.”
According to him, the NIORC is established to formulate and implement strategies for improved and enhanced oil recovery methods in the oil and gas industry for the purpose of achieving maximum production at the lowest possible cost.
“The centre will partner with operators and technology innovators in their research and development efforts for achieving its objective.
“It will also collaborate with similar international oil and gas regulators in sharing lesson learnt and operational best practice.
“NIORC will focus on the implementation of a robust national IOR framework to enable the country to optimise its resources as well as create greater opportunities for operators,” he said.
He noted that the Oil and Gas DRC would offer arbitration, mediation and conciliation services for the Industry.
Mr Auwalu said the centre would leverage industry technical experts, Alternative Dispute Resolution Practitioners and resources of the National Data Repository, NDR to provide fair and balanced resolutions of industry-related disputes from an informed position.
He said: “The DRC is structured to adequately resolve disputes in a manner consistent with regulatory and commercial interests of the Industry.
“This will address suboptimal development of oil and gas assets associated with lingering disputes and the attendant consequences of value erosion in terms of national resource growth, global competitiveness, investment attractiveness, government take and investor’s profitability.”
Mr Auwalu said the Oil and Gas CDC was a world-class centre of excellence that would serve as the innovation hub for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, and beyond.
He said: “The centre will feature state-of-the-art training facilities, meeting rooms, conferencing, electronic library, digital visualisation centre, and co-working spaces designed to stimulate creative thinking to proffer solutions for the technical and business challenges facing energy sector practitioner.
“The CDC Is set up to be a regional hub to deliver trainings for oil and gas industry practitioner
“The centre will significantly reduce the cost of training and capacity building which is often associated with international travels by utilising both local and international subject matter experts (SME) to deliver world-class training in-country
“The centre shall leverage the National Data Repository, NDR and its robust suite of digital solutions as well as other existing real-time electronic services to deliver hands-on, practical solutions to industry challenges.
Mr Auwalu said the IDMAC would provide the platform for appropriate analysis of industry data to provide meaningful insights that would enable effective decision making for investment, asset development, portfolio management and operational excellence.
”Technical, operational and economic decisions across the value chain are underpinned by credible, reliable dataset both from a corporate and national planning perspective.
“IDMAC will take advantage of DPR’s resources and tools- Big Data, Internet of things, loT and Artificial intelligence, Al for evaluation, analytics and data synthesis by interested parties.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile network operator, has entered advanced discussions to buy approximately 75 per cent of shares in IHS Holding Limited (IHS Towers) that it does not already own.
The move would give the South African telco full control of IHS, which is the leading independent tower operator in several of its key markets, providing colocation services and supporting the expansion of mobile networks in regions with growing demand for digital connectivity.
In a cautionary announcement to investors on Thursday, MTN confirmed it is considering a transaction to acquire the remaining stake in the New York Stock Exchange-listed IHS, following recent market speculation.
The potential offer price would be “at a level near the last trading price” of IHS shares on the NYSE as of February 4, 2025, a period when the stock has seen a sharp rise in recent months, reflecting renewed investor confidence in the sector.
No binding agreement has been reached, and MTN emphasised there is no certainty that the deal will proceed.
However, if completed, the transaction could materially impact MTN’s share price, prompting the company to advise shareholders to exercise caution in trading until further updates.
MTN already holds a significant stake in IHS and maintains a deep operational partnership across multiple African markets.
Over the past decade, MTN has sold thousands of passive network sites to IHS through sale-and-leaseback deals, including a major transaction in South Africa in 2022 involving over 5,700 towers.
These arrangements allowed MTN to free up capital from infrastructure while securing long-term tower access via master lease agreements.
A full buyout would represent a dramatic strategic pivot for MTN, effectively bringing tower infrastructure back in-house after years of outsourcing to specialised operators like IHS.
MTN has previously voiced concerns about corporate governance at IHS, adding context to its cautious approach in the announcement.
If the deal falls through, MTN said it would continue exploring options to unlock value from its IHS investment, consistent with its disciplined capital allocation strategy.
The potential acquisition underscores the evolving dynamics in Africa’s telecom infrastructure sector, where operators weigh the benefits of owning versus leasing critical assets amid rising data demands and economic pressures.
By Adedapo Adesanya
For the third consecutive trading session, the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended in the green territory, rising further by 0.77 per cent on Thursday, February 5.
Two price gainers helped the bourse to rally during the session, with the market capitalisation up by N16.87 billion to N2.197 trillion from N2.180 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) up by 3.18 points to 3,672 points from the 3,644.48 points in the midweek session.
The advancers’ group was led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS), which added N3.70 to sell at N48.67 per share versus the previous day’s N44.97 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc expanded by N1.01 to N15.01 per unit from N14.01 per unit.
It was observed that the alternative stock exchange recorded two price losers led by Geo-Fluids Plc, which further lost 51 Kobo to sell at N4.75 per share versus Wednesday’s closing price of N5.26 per share, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) declined by 6 Kobo to 59 Kobo per unit from 65 Kobo per unit.
During the session, the volume of securities transacted by investors slid by 51.9 per cent to 1.2 million units from 2.5 million units, the value of securities went down by 32.0 per cent to N12.0 million from N17.7 million, and the number of deals increased by 27.8 per cent to 23 deals from 18 deals.
At the close of trades, CSCS Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 16.2 million units exchanged for N659.9 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.7 million units traded for N117.8 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 12.3 million units valued at N79.1 million.
CSCS Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 16.2 million units sold for N659.9 million, trailed by Mass Telecom Innovation Plc with 13.6 million units valued at N5.5 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 12.3 million units worth N79.1 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited recorded another milestone after it further closed higher by 1.18 per cent on Thursday amid renewed confidence in the market.
The All-Share Index (ASI) crossed the 170,000-point threshold during the session as it added 1,975.18 points to the preceding day’s 168,030.18 points to settle at 170,005.36 points.
Also yesterday, the market capitalisation of Customs Street was up by 1,268 trillion to N109.129 trillion from the N107.861 it ended a day earlier.
The growth recorded during the session was powered 55 equities, which outweighed the losses recorded by 19 other equities.
Guinea Insurance expanded by 10.00 per cent to N1.43, Seplat Energy grew by 10.00 per cent to N7,370.00, RT Briscoe increased by 9.95 per cent to N11.49, Neimeth chalked up 9.90 per cent to close at N11.10, and Zichis rose by 9.89 per cent to N6.11.
At the other side, Deap Capital lost 9.62 per cent to trade at N6.20, Universal Insurance slipped by 9.43 per cent to N1.44, Haldane McCall declined by 9.09 per cent to N4.00, Red Star Express went down by 9.04 per cent to N15.60, and UPDC depreciated by 7.02 per cent to N5.30.
Business Post reports that the energy index was up by 4.68 per cent, the industrial goods improved by 0.79 per cent, the banking space grew by 0.64 per cent, and the consumer goods sector soared by 0.11 per cent, while the insurance counter lost 0.31 per cent.
Yesterday, market participants traded 713.0 million stocks valued at N22.3 billion in 46,104 deals versus the 694.8 million stocks worth N20.6 billion transacted in 42,095 deals on Wednesday, showing a spike in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 2.62 per cent, 8.25 per cent, and 9.52 per cent, respectively.
Access Holdings sold 106.6 million shares valued at N2.5 billion, Chams transacted 44.5 million equities worth N201.3 million, Champion Breweries traded 44.5 million stocks for N774.3 million, Universal Insurance exchanged 34.8 million shares worth N53.6 million, and Deap Capital sold 22.7 million equities valued at N141.9 million.
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