Economy
Dangote Cement Sponsors 115 Students in Ogun
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
In a major boost to its Corporate Social Responsibility profile, Dangote Cement Plc, Ibese Plant, has announced a multi-million Naira educational scholarship award for 115 students from its 15 host communities for the 2017/2018 academic session.
The cement maker said the scholarship has become an annual event meant to contribute to the educational development of the people and the area and position them in right place in the scheme of things in Ogun state and Nigeria in general.
Acting Plant Director of Dangote Cement at Ibese, Mr Louis Raj, while speaking during the presentation of cheques to the beneficiaries at Ibese Plant explained that the management decided to increase the number of beneficiaries to 115 from the previous 80 so that more children of the area could benefit.
He also said the decision was meant to encourage the young ones to go to school as a sure way of building them mentally and morally so that they be good to themselves and the society.
According to him, the scholarship award is just one of the many Social Services the company has committed itself to and continue to provide other social services as a way of giving back to the society within which it operates.
Mr Raj stated that the scholarship award and other CSR projects were being undertaken as a way of saying thanks to the people for maintenance and sustenance of peace in the area pointing out that it was the prevailing atmosphere of peace that make the company to operate smoothly.
He expressed the management gratitude to the royal fathers and other community leaders whose efforts have accounted for the peace and tranquillity, noting that the company would wish the spirit of peaceful coexistence continues.
The General Manager, Government and Community Relations, Mr Joseph Alabi while giving the breakdown of the scholarship said the award covered 115 students of Yewa origin studying various courses across several higher institutions of learning in the country.
Some of the schools where the beneficiaries are studying include Polytechnics, Universities, College of Educations, College of Technologies, and secondary schools scattered across Ogun state.
Mr Alabi also announced a list of candidates from the host communities who have been selected to attend Dangote Academy for training in various arts and vocations pointing out that the training will equip them with wherewithal to work and do their own business whenever they chose to.
“In Dangote Group, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to our communities is our watchword and focus. Giving scholarships, construction of roads and drainages, provision of transformers and other projects to connect communities to national grid, among others are what will do every year. We award scholarships to communities in order to give the communities part of wealth being created.”
“I think everything is not about money but the main benefit is to provide them the opportunity to have better education and in the future, if they are good students, well-qualified, we will also offer them opportunities to work here at Ibese Cement Plant. This is part of CSR to ensure good relations, good partnership with our communities,” he added.
In his remark, the Olu of Imasayi, Oba Gbadebo Oni said the host communities are happy with Dangote Cement with its handling of community issues, saying Alhaji Aliko Dangote deserves all the cooperation his people could muster for citing the cement plant in their land and then taking care of the people and the communities.
He promised that his people would continue to give peace a chance always because to whom much is given, much is expected. The Monarch said the education scholarship is the best thing that has happened to the host communities because the issue of quality education cannot be quantified in monetary terms.
The scholarship according to him, has offered a big relief to parents who have to struggle so much to ensure their children school fees are paid, saying they will forever be grateful to the management of Dangote cement.
It would be recalled that the company had some years ago instituted scholarships for the indigenes of any of the host communities in any higher institution and secondary schools with the management saying it was poised to making life more meaningful to all members of the host communities with a promise to ensure that all projects meet the specific need of each community.
Also, the Dangote Cement Plc, Gboko factory in Benue State had also given out N20 million worth of scholarships to indigent students from the firm’s host community, Mbayion, as part of its CSR in the last one year.
The Group also emerged Nigeria’s best Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Company according to a survey by Governance Advancement Initiative for Nigeria (GAIN), an NGO.
Dangote was the adjudged overall winner among 25 Nigerian and multinational companies operating in the country in 2016, scoring 6.3 percent, followed by Nestle with 5.51 percent and Etisalat with 5.45 percent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The domestic supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, from the Dangote Refinery increased by 64.4 percent in December 2025, contributing to an enhancement in Nigeria’s overall petrol availability.
This is according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in its December 2025 Factsheet Report released on Thursday.
The downstream regulatory agency revealed that the private refinery raised its domestic petrol supply from 19.47 million litres per day in November 2025 to an average of 32.012 million litres per day in December, as it quelled any probable fuel scarcity associated with the festive month.
The report attributed the improvement to more substantial capacity utilisation at the Lagos-based oil facility, which reached a peak of 71 per cent in December.
The increased output from Dangote Refinery contributed to a rise in Nigeria’s total daily domestic PMS supply to 74.2 million litres in December, up from 71.5 million litres per day recorded in November.
The authority also reported a sharp increase in petrol consumption, rising to 63.7 million litres per day in December 2025, up from 52.9 million litres per day in the previous month.
In contrast, the domestic supply of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) known as diesel declined to 17.9 million litres per day in December from 20.4 million litres per day in November, even as daily diesel consumption increased to 16.4 million litres per day from 15.4 million litres per day.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply recorded modest growth during the period, rising to 5.2 metric tonnes per day in December from 5.0 metric tonnes per day in November.
Despite the gains recorded by Dangote Refinery and modular refineries, the NMDPRA disclosed that Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries recorded zero production in December.
It said the Port Harcourt Refinery remained shut down, though evacuation of diesel produced before May 24, 2025, averaged 0.247 million litres per day. The Warri and Kaduna refineries also remained shut down throughout the period.
On modular refineries, the report said Waltersmith Refinery (Train 2 with 5,000 barrels per day) completed pre-commissioning in December, with hydrocarbon introduction expected in January 2026. The refinery recorded an average capacity utilisation of 63.24 per cent and an average AGO supply of 0.051 million litres per day
Edo Refinery posted an average capacity utilisation of 85.43 per cent with AGO supply of 0.052 million litres per day, while Aradel recorded 53.89 per cent utilisation and supplied an average of 0.289 million litres per day of AGO.
Total AGO supply from the three modular refineries averaged 0.392 million litres per day, with other products including naphtha, heavy hydrocarbon kerosene (HHK), fuel oil, and marine diesel oil (MDO).
The report listed Nigeria’s 2025 daily consumption benchmarks as 50 million litres per day for petrol, 14 million litres per day for diesel, 3 million litres per day for aviation fuel (ATK), and 3,900 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
Actual daily truck-out consumption in December stood at 63.7 million litres per day for petrol, 16.4 million litres per day for diesel, 2.7 million litres per day for ATK and 4,380 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced a comprehensive revision of minimum capital requirements for nearly all capital market operators, marking the most significant overhaul since 2015.
The changes, outlined in a circular issued on January 16, 2026, obtained from its website on Friday, replace the previous regime. Operators have been given until June 30, 2027, to comply.
The SEC stated that the reforms aim to strengthen market resilience, enhance investor protection, discourage undercapitalised operators, and align capital adequacy with the evolving risk profile of market activities.
According to the circular, “The revised framework applies to brokers, dealers, fund managers, issuing houses, fintech firms, digital asset operators, and market infrastructure providers.”
Some of the key highlights of the new reforms include increment of minimum capital for brokers from N200 million to N600 million while for dealers, it was raised to N1 billion from N100 million.
For broker-dealers, they are to get N2 billion instead of the previous N300 million, reflecting multi-role exposure across trading, execution, and margin lending.
The agency said fund and portfolio managers with assets above N20 billion must hold N5 billion, while mid-tier managers must maintain N2 billion with private equity and venture capital firms to have N500 million and N200 million, respectively.
There was also dynamic rule as firms managing assets above N100 billion must hold at least 10 per cent of assets under management as capital.
“Digital asset firms, previously in a regulatory grey area, are now fully covered: digital exchanges and custodians must maintain N2 billion each, while tokenisation platforms and intermediaries face thresholds of N500 million to N1 billion. Robo-advisers must hold N100 million.
“Other segments are also affected: issuing houses offering full underwriting services must hold N7 billion, advisory-only firms N2 billion, registrars N2.5 billion, trustees N2 billion, underwriters N5 billion, and individual investment advisers N10 million. Market infrastructure providers carry some of the highest obligations, with composite exchanges and central counterparties required to maintain N10 billion each, and clearinghouses N5 billion,” the SEC added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The founder and chief executive of Austin Laz and Company Plc, Mr Asimonye Austin Lazarus Azubuike, has sold off about 52.24 million shares of the organisation.
The stocks were offloaded in 11 tranches at an average price of N4.36 per unit, amounting to about N227.8 million.
The transactions occurred between December 2025 and January 2026, according to a notice filed by the company to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday.
Business Post reports that Austin Laz is known for producing ice block machines, aluminium roofing, thermoplastics coolers, PVC windows and doors, ice cream machines, and disposable plates.
The firm evolved from refrigeration sales to diverse manufacturing since its incorporation in 1982 in Benin City, Edo State, though facing recent operational halts.
According to the statement signed by company secretary, Ifeanyi Offor & Associates, Mr Azubuike first sold 1.5 million units of the equities at N2.42, and then offloaded 2.4 million units at N2.65, and 2.0 million units at N2.65.
In another tranche, he sold another 2.0 million units at a unit price of N2.91, and then 5.0 million units at N3.52, as well as about 4.5 million at N3.87 per share.
It was further disclosed that the owner of the company also sold 9.0 million shares at N4.25, and offloaded another 368,411 units at N4.66, then in another transaction sold about 6.9 million units at N4.67.
In the last two transactions he carried out, Mr Azubuike first traded 10.0 million units equities at N5.13, with the last being 8.5 million stocks sold at N5.64 per unit.
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