By Adedapo Adesanya

Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited has exceeded crude oil production targets by 40 per cent in its first month of operating the former Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Joint Venture assets.

In a statement lauding the development, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited hailed the performance as “sterling and remarkable.”

The achievement in April 2025 is being viewed as a strong signal of renewed momentum in Nigeria’s upstream sector and a promising step toward boosting national oil output and economic growth.

“This is to commend Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, your esteemed leadership team and staff for exceeding the production target in your JV assets for April 2025,” said NNPC in an official letter signed by its Executive Vice President, Upstream, Mr Udobong Ntia.

The state oil company expressed hope that the April milestone would inspire Renaissance “towards accelerating the realisation of the initiatives for incremental production volumes while protecting the base.”

The company further pledged its support to the JV operator in “exploring collaborative opportunities, not only for production growth, but also for cost discipline given the current realities of our price environment.”

NNPC reiterated its target to ramp up oil production to over 2 million barrels per day by 2025 and sustain it through 2027, with projections to hit 3 million barrels per day by 2030.

Reacting to the commendation, Renaissance Managing Director and CEO, Mr Tony Attah, described the recognition as both “encouraging and motivating,” stating that the company remains committed to driving operational excellence.

“For us, it is a taste of the new beginning we have promised,” Mr Attah said.

He added that the Renaissance team was “already assessing additional high-impact initiatives and operational enablers capable of unlocking incremental production volumes while ensuring the integrity and protection of our existing base production.”

Mr Attah attributed the early success to strong collaboration with host communities, government stakeholders, JV partners, and the dedication of the workforce.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The proposed sale of a majority stake of Lafarge Africa Plc to a Chinese firm, Huaxin Cement Limited, hit another snag as a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, dismissed a preliminary objection filed by the cement maker.

Justice Lewis Allagoa on Thursday ruled that the court has jurisdiction to hear the suit brought by Strategic Consultancy Limited, a Nigerian company and minority shareholder in Lafarge Africa.

Recall that the Nigerian Senate had also blocked the sale, citing issues around Chinese influence in March 2025.

Yesterday, the judge rejected Lafarge’s motion to strike out the case for lack of jurisdiction, marking a significant legal setback for the 66-year old cement giant.

“The 1st and 2nd defendants’ motion objecting to the Court’s jurisdiction is hereby dismissed,” Justice Allagoa stated in his ruling delivered on Thursday.

The suit, filed by Strategic Consultancy Limited, is challenging Lafarge’s planned sale of 83.81 per cent of its shares; currently held by Holcim Group to Huaxin Cement, a foreign company based in China.

The plaintiff alleges that the sale was conducted secretly and without the knowledge or involvement of minority shareholders.

According to court filings, Strategic Consultancy argued that the planned sale violates provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission Act, and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Act.

“The purported sale was done surreptitiously and without affording Strategic Consultancy Limited and other minority shareholders the opportunity to acquire the shares,” the plaintiff stated in its originating summons.

Represented by senior advocate Mr D.A. Awosika (SAN), Strategic Consultancy also contended that Huaxin Cement is not registered in Nigeria, thus making the transaction unlawful under Nigerian regulations.

Lafarge, represented by Mr Babatunde Fagbohunlu (SAN), and Holcim Group, represented by Mr Uzoma Azikiwe (SAN), had urged the court to dismiss the case on grounds that it lacked the jurisdiction to entertain it. However, Justice Allagoa disagreed.

In a related development, the judge also granted the plaintiff’s request to join Caricement BV (Netherlands) and Associated International Cements Ltd (England) as 5th and 6th defendants respectively, having been identified by the respondents as the actual shareholders involved in the transaction.

“It is hereby ordered that the persons sought to be joined herein and hereby joined as prayed, and leave to issue and serve the Originating Summons out of jurisdiction is hereby granted,” Justice Allagoa ruled.

The case has been adjourned to June 11, 2025, for further proceedings.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Chairman of BUA Group, Mr Abdul Samad Rabiu, has pledged to further crash the prices of rice and other food items to alleviate high food costs in Nigeria.

Speaking to State House Correspondents after meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, Mr Rabiu said BUA Foods keyed into that policy and was able to import quite a lot of wheat, maize and rice.

The billionaire commended President Tinubu for granting waiver on imported food items, saying that his “foresight” helped crash food prices in the country.

Recall that in July 2024, Mr Tinubu’s administration announced the suspension of customs duties on imported food items to stem food inflation.

“At the time food prices were really very high last year. For example, the price of rice was about N100,000 or thereabout per 50 kilo bag. The flour was about N80,000 per bag and maize was about N60,000 per 50 kilo bag, and pasta above N20,000 per Carton. So, what we did was, we keyed into that policy and BUA was able to import quite a lot of wheat, maize and rice.

“The moment the shipment started coming, we started processing, we crushed the prices of some of these commodities. And today I’m happy to inform you that the price of rice is about N60,000 from what it was last year at N110,000. Flour is today N55,000 Naira per 50 kilo bag.

“Maize is about N30,000. And this happened because of Mr President’s foresight and vision by introducing that one-off duty waiver for a period of six months, and with that, we’ve been able to bring down the prices of these commodities,” Mr Rabiu said.

He also said that the Rice Millers Association has come together to address the issue of hoarding by some companies, adding that the association will not allow any of its members to hoard rice.

“What we are doing as rice Millers is that we want to ensure that rice Millers are not buying and hoarding paddy, although at the end of the day, it’s quite difficult to stop that. But what is happening is that once they know that there is rice availability imported, because BUA has imported enough rice to last us until the end of the year…”

He also noted that BUA foods will continue to support the efforts of the government in ensuring that food prices are down.