Economy
Dangote to List Refinery on NGX, Says NNPC Won’t Take Beyond 20% Stake
By Dipo Olowookere
Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Limited will be listed on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in the future, the Chairman of the company, Mr Aliko Dangote, has revealed.
Mr Dangote, who is the richest man in Africa, confirmed this in an interview with the Financial Times published on Saturday.
The refinery will join other businesses of Mr Dangote currently trading their equities on the NGX, Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, and NASCON.
The oil facility, believed to be worth about $20 billion, was launched in May 2023 by the immediate past president of Nigeria, Mr Muhammadu Buhari, though it is yet to commence operations.
A few weeks ago, it was reported that the refinery was starved of crude oil supply by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, one of its major shareholders, frustrating its commencement of the production of premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, which the country desperately needs as it currently relies on the importation of the commodity from Europe, especially from the Netherlands and Belgium.
But in the interview, Mr Dangote confirmed that this issue has been resolved, announcing that the refinery may begin to supply the nation diesel, kerosene and jet fuel from December 2023, which is just a few days away.
“We’re starting with 350,000 barrels a day. [We have sealed a deal for the first cargo of about 6mn barrels [for delivery in December],” he was quoted as saying.
According to him, “We have resolved all the issues of supply [with the NNPC,]” he said, refusing to blame the state-owned oil-firm for the difficulties in supplying crude oil to the refinery.
“Let’s not have the blame game here,” he declared in the interview.
However, he expressed optimism that the oil facility would be a game-changer for Nigeria, especially when it is listed on the domestic stock exchange, stressing that the NNPC was not attempting to increase its stake in the organisation with the supply-restriction tactics.
Recall that in 2021, the NNPC acquired a 20 per cent equity stake in Dangote Refinery for about $2.76 billion, and there have been speculations that the firm was planning to increase its shares in the company, which has the capacity to produce 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day and could generate $25 billion a year.
But Mr Dangote, who is 66, played down these rumours, saying, “I don’t think NNPC needs to buy more shares. I think they’re OK with what we’ve given them.”
Business Post reports that the commencement of production date of Dangote Refinery has been shifted more than three times in 2023.
In August 2022, the NNPC said the oil facility would begin operations by mid-2023, but this did not happen and at the commissioning of the refinery on May 22, 2023, in Lagos, Mr Dangote said the first product from the mega-complex structure “will be in the market before the end of July, beginning of August this year”.
In September 2023, the Dangote Group Executive Director, Mr Devakumar Edwin, told S&P Global Commodity Insights that the refinery will kick off production with 350,000 – 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel by October, when the crude distillation unit, sulfur block and hydrogen plant should be online.
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.
By Dipo Olowookere
For the fourth consecutive trading session, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed higher on Friday by 0.63 per cent on sustained renewed buying pressure.
Apart from the energy and industrial goods sectors which closed flat, every other sector ended in the green territory, according to data obtained from the bourse.
Business Post reports that the insurance index appreciated by 1.52 per cent, the banking space improved by 0.63 per cent, and the consumer goods counter expanded by 0.46 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 617.47 points to settle at 99,378.06 points compared with the preceding day’s 98,760.59 points and the market capitalisation went up by 375 billion to close at N60.242 trillion, in contrast to Thursday’s closing value of N59.867 trillion.
The volume of transactions on Customs Street yesterday grew by 11.13 per cent to 544.2 million shares from the 489.7 million shares transacted a day earlier.
The value of transactions increased during the session by 49.30 per cent to N10.6 billion from N7.1 billion and the number of deals went up by 1.93 per cent to 8,464 deals from the 8,304 deals posted in the previous trading session.
The busiest equity for the trading day was Japaul with the sale of 71.7 million units valued at N158.0 million, eTranzact exchanged 70.7 million units worth N477.5 million, Tantalizers sold 57.3 million units for N101.2 million, FCMB traded 33.0 million units worth N297.3 million, and Universal Insurance transacted 27.1 million units valued at N9.6 million.
A total of 36 stocks ended on the gainers’ chart, while 15 stocks finished on the losers’ table, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
The trio of Aradel Holdings, Ikeja Hotel and Caverton gained 10.00 per cent each to trade at N550.00, N8.80, and N1.98, respectively, as Africa Prudential rose by 9.87 per cent to N17.25 and Golden Guinea Breweries soared by 9.64 per cent to N8.64.
On the flip side, Austin Laz lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1.62, ABC Transport crashed by 8.00 per cent to N1.15, Royal Exchange slumped by 7.69 per cent to 60 Kobo, Secure Electronic Technology plunged by 5.26 per cent to 54 Kobo, and The Initiates crumbled by 4.26 per cent to N2.25.
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