Economy
Emefiele Assures Rice Millers Long-term Loans for Backward Integration
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, has called on rice millers in the country to adopt the federal government’s backward integration programme to boost the country’s rice security.
He made the disclosure on Tuesday when he inaugurated the N15 billion ultra-modern 420 metric tons per day capacity rice milling factory in Kano State.
He urged rice mills owners to be involved in paddy production for sustainable supply through a partnership with the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), assuring them that the bank will provide long-term loans to enable them to key into the scheme.
“As we increase the milling capacity of rice nationwide, we are encouraging all rice mills to embrace our backward integration programme and get involved in paddy production to guarantee a sustainable supply of paddy to your mills and complement the supply from smallholder farmers.
“The private sector-led Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme provides long-term financing options to millers to finance commercial farms, land development, irrigation facilities; and other agricultural infrastructure that will enhance the production plan,” Mr Emefiele stated.
He disclosed that the quality of milled Nigerian rice could match others produced in other parts of the world.
“As Nigerians, we need to become more patriotic and embrace Mr President’s mantra of producing what we eat, and eat what we grow,” he said.
Mr Emefiele noted that prior to the introduction of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme in Nigeria, there were less than 10 functional rice-milling plants in the country, with a combined capacity of 350,000 metric tons.
“These have increased to over 60 integrated mills, with a combined capacity of over three million metric tons, as of today, with about 10 more mills scheduled to be commissioned this year,” he said.
On his part, the Kano State Governor, Mr Abdullahi Ganduje, said the state was surrounded by dams and rivers, which gave farmers ample opportunity for growing rice, tomato, and other crops. Ganduje assured that his administration would continue to provide an enabling environment for farming and business activities in the state.
Mr Ganduje revealed that the new rice mill would assist in creating jobs and boost the economic status of people in the state.
The Governors of Jigawa and Kebbi states, Mr Badaru Abubakar and Mr Atiku Bagudu, respectively, attended the ceremony. They thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for introducing the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) to guarantee food security.
By Dipo Olowookere
A leading investment banking and capital markets solutions provider, Stanbic IBTC Capital, has been commended for its role in the Mandatory Takeover Offer (MTO) of minority shareholders of Guinness Nigeria Plc by Tolaram.
The deal underscored Stanbic IBTC Capital’s expertise in advising on complex transactions and delivering comprehensive financial solutions to clients.
Tolaram, acting through N Seven Nigeria Limited, contracted the services of Stanbic IBTC Capital as financial adviser for the transaction.
After acquiring a 58.02 per cent stake in Guinness Nigeria in 2024, Tolaram moved to take over the shares of minority investors of the brewery giant.
To make the minority equity boyout successful and meet regulatory requirements, Stanbic IBTC Capital provided comprehensive end-to-end support across both transactions, delivering a full suite of investment banking and capital markets solutions to facilitate the successful completion of this complex corporate action.
This helped Tolaram to, on May 20, 2025, to complete the purchase of the 283,099,431 shares held by minority investors for N22.94 billion, raising its shareholding in Guinness Nigeria to 70.85 per cent.
“We are grateful for the end-to-end support Stanbic IBTC Capital provided Tolaram throughout the MTO process.
“Their on-the-ground presence and expertise was invaluable in navigating the regulatory landscape and ensuring that interested Guinness Nigeria minorities were given the opportunity to sell their shares at the same price that Tolaram acquired the Guinness Nigeria stake from Diageo Plc.
“Guinness Nigeria has sufficient free float despite the MTO and Tolaram intends to continue to maintain Guinness Nigeria’s listing on Nigerian Exchange Limited,” the Group Finance Director of Tolaram, Mr Dinesh Rathi, stated.
In his remarks, the chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Capital, Mr Oladele Sotubo, said, “We thank Tolaram for the longstanding partnership and for trusting Stanbic IBTC Capital to handle this important MTO, having also advised Tolaram on its acquisition of Guinness Nigeria last year.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Global payments solutions platform, Verto, has launched a new solution which will allow businesses to secure optimal foreign exchange (FX) rates automatically.
According to a statement shared with Business Post, Auto Exchange, as the new feature is called, was designed to help rate-sensitive customers secure their target FX rates without constant monitoring.
As a platform, Verto simplifies international money transfers and currency exchange for businesses of all sizes. With a focus on transparency, speed, and cost-effectiveness, Verto empowers businesses to thrive in the global marketplace.
The new tool allows users to set their desired exchange rate and trade amount within the Verto platform, enabling automatic execution when the Verto rate reaches their specified level.
Verto has automating the monitoring and execution process, empowering customers to capture their target rates even when they are not actively logged into the platform. It says this will allow many businesses prioritize achieving the most favorable exchange rates amid market fluctuations.
Auto Exchange provides a seamless and efficient solution, thereby making users can optimise their time and reducing missed opportunities.
“We’re thrilled to introduce Auto Exchange, a feature designed to bring both efficiency and peace of mind to our customers’ FX operations,” says Verto Product Director, Mr Tomasz Bilakiewicz, adding that “No more constant refreshing or fear of missing a target rate. With Auto Exchange, businesses can set their parameters and trust Verto to execute automatically, allowing them to focus on what truly matters – growing their business.”
Verto users can easily set up Auto Exchange orders within the platform by specifying the currency pair for exchange, their desired target exchange rate, the amount they wish to exchange, as well as the direction of the exchange (e.g., GBP to USD).
Auto Exchange is part of a suit of FX solutions offered by cross-border payment platform Verto. With the ability to exchange with bank-beating rates across 49 currencies, Verto is revolutionising cross-border payments with a focus one merging markets.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said that the nation’s oil production rig has witnessed a 475 per cent rise from eight in 2021 to 46 in July 2025.
The chief executive of the agency, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at the inauguration of a media workshop organised for journalists covering the oil and gas sector.
The rig countis a key metric for measuring vibrancy and performance in the oil and gas industry.
The rig which is a key equipment on which the oil is drilled reveals the level of vibrancy and the activities in the industry.
According to the commission’s data, about 46 active rigs are driving the current oil production in Nigeria.
Mr Komolafe, however, attributed the steady growth in the rig count to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) enactment in 2021, and the commission’s commitment geared towards increasing oil production in the country.
He said the NUPRC through its Project One Million Barrels initiative had scaled up Nigeria’s oil production from one million barrels per day, oscillating around 1.7 million barrels.
The NUPRC boss said the initiative which was inaugurated in October 2024, was expected to increase oil production by one million additional units per year, adding that about 300,000 barrels of oil per day has been achieved since the inauguration of the programme.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for the Executive Orders 40, 41, and 42, which encouraged tax incentives and tax remission as well as redefined the contracting circle and the threshold in the industry.
Mr Komolafe said the 2024 Executive Orders: 40 on fiscal incentives, 41 on local content, and 42 on cost efficiency and contract timelines, had catalysed massive investment inflows.
“These have yielded positive results in terms of the Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) that have attracted huge amounts of money, billions of dollars to the country,” he said.
He urged the media practitioners to report the commission activities professionally in such a way that Nigerians would appreciate and understand its operations.
“As a regulator, we are wrongly perceived, often times people fail to understand the difference between a regulator and an operator.
“As a regulator, our activities put us in a quasi-judicial position, in position to mediate, it is an omnibus job,” he said
He reiterated that the commission will continue to play its role in Nigeria’s oil and gas development.
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