Economy
Dangote Refinery to Reduce Nigeria’s FX Pressure by 40%
By Adedapo Adesanya
The chief executive of Dangote Group, Mr Aliko Dangote, says the injection of petrol from his 650,000 barrels per day refinery into the domestic market will help ease Nigeria’s foreign exchange pressure by 40 per cent.
This was one of his soundbites from his recent interview with Bloomberg Television in New York earlier this week.
“We will sell the crude in Naira after we have bought in Naira. So now, we are currently working out with the committee that the exchange rate is going to be priced. It is going to be normal pricing, you know, if crude is at $80, we will pay that price at an agreed exchange rate.
“And then, we will also sell in the domestic market. What that will do is that it’s going to remove 40 per cent pressure on the naira. So because see, the petroleum products consume about 40 per cent of foreign exchange, so you know, and then, you know, it’s like you have 40 per cent of demand been taken out so that can actually stabilize the naira and even if they subsidise, they would know what they are paying for,” the businessman said.
He said that the idea was to leverage an agreement that would serve its business operation and the government.
“The deal is to give the government something that they want. It’s also a win-win situation for all and it would benefit the country.
“Currently, discussions are still ongoing to determine the details of the agreement. They are working out something that I think would be a win-win between us and the NNPC.
“The agreement is very robust. Well, first of all, we would have energy security where they will give us crude. For example, in October, they’re going to give us 12 million barrels, which is on average, about 390,000 barrels a day, which will sell both gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel,” he explained.
He also revealed the details of the pricing disagreement that occurred with the NNPC Limited.
He said the national oil company bought its current stock from the refinery at a cheaper price than its imported fuel but gave a uniform price for all products.
“There wasn’t really a disagreement, per se. NNPC bought from us on the 15th of September at the international price, which they also bought, about 800,000 metric tons of gasoline imported. So the one that they bought from us actually is cheaper than the one they are importing.
“And so when they announced our price, the guy, I don’t know whether he was authorized. It wasn’t really the real price. What they have announced is most likely that is what it cost them, including profit and other expenses.
“And then the other one is one that they imported. But the people don’t know how much they spend in terms of imports, but their importation is almost, maybe about 15 per cent more expensive than ours, you know.
“So what they are supposed to do is to sell at a basket price, or if they want to remove subsidy, they can announce that they will remove subsidy, which is okay, everybody you know will adjust it.”
Mr Dangote said that discussions are still ongoing and a detailed agreement will be finalised this week on the planned crude oil sales anticipated to begin in October.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
