Economy
FG Expects Completion of AKK Gas Pipeline in Q1 2025
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has assured that the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project will impact the nation’s economic growth and industrialisation when complete in the first quarter of 2025.
This was made known by the Group CEO of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Mele Kyari, during the visit of three cabinet Ministers to the AKK Gas Pipeline Project site where they inspected the River Kaduna crossing milestone of the project in Kaduna, on Friday.
The three Ministers who visited the Project Site were the Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun; the Minister of Information & National Orientation, Mr Mohammed Idris and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo.
Speaking at the project site, Mr Edun described the AKK Gas pipeline as the pipeline of prosperity, which is very dear to President Bola Tinubu because it will deliver the critical infrastructure needed to trigger the nation’s economic growth and industrialisation.
“The AKK Gas Pipeline is crucial for this administration and its delivery is in line with Mr. President’s strategy of bringing prosperity to the people,” Mr Edun added.
In his remarks, Mr Idris said the AKK Gas Pipeline Project is a testimony to the fact that the Federal Government’s “Decade of Gas” has commenced in earnest.
“Nigerians should be proud of the AKK Gas Pipeline project. With the delivery of this project, the prosperity that Mr. President is always talking about is unravelling right here before our eyes,” he said.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekpo said the gas pipeline is part of the Federal Government’s many efforts to harness the nation’s abundant gas resources towards improving power generation, revamping ailing industries and creating employment opportunities in the country.
Mr Ekpo urged all stakeholders to support the NNPC Ltd towards delivering the project and several other gas projects as the country depends on it to bring prosperity to the people.
The three ministers lauded the NNPC Ltd and its project partner, Brentex/CPP Ltd (BCL) on the progress made so far, and also expressed optimism that the NNPC will deliver as promised.
Earlier in his remarks, Mr Kyari assured the Project will be delivered by the first quarter of 2025 as major segments of the job have been completed.
“Without promising too much, we assure you that this Project will be delivered on schedule. Our mission is to work towards delivering it by December this year. But we are confident this project will be delivered by 1st Quarter of 2025,” Mr Kyari informed the three visiting Ministers.
The NNPC helmsman recognised the strategic importance and enormous value of the project to Nigeria’s economy and stressed that the Company was bankrolling the project on the back of its balance sheet.
In his speech, the Governor of Kaduna State, Mr Uba Sani, represented by his Deputy, Mrs Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, said the completion of the AKK gas pipeline will herald the much-needed economic and industrial revival in the state.
“If you know about the Kakuri Industrial Area and how most of our factories there have become moribund, you will understand why we in Kaduna State are all excited about the AKK Gas Pipeline. Without a doubt, the pipeline will revamp our industries and bring about a huge impact on our people. We can’t wait for it to be completed,” the Governor added.
The Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline is a 40-inch by 614km linear pipeline system running from Akaojuta in Kogi State to Kano with associated intermediate, terminal gas facilities and other related equipment to transport natural gas to off-takers at Abuja, Kaduna and Kano.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Geo-Fluids Plc and Afriland Properties Plc propelled the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange up 0.13 per cent on Friday, January 10.
Investors gained N1.4 billion during the trading session after the market capitalisation of the bourse ended at N1.053 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.052 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased at the close of business by 4.07 points to wrap the session at 3,073.93 points compared with 3,069.86 points recorded at the previous session.
Geo-Fluids added 25 Kobo to its value to close at N4.85 per unit compared with the previous session’s N4.60 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 24 Kobo to close at N16.25 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N16.01 per share.
There was a 35.4 per cent fall in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 4.3 million units compared to 6.6 million units traded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded yesterday went down by 37.4 per cent to N17.2 million from the N27.5 million recorded a day earlier, and the number of deals decreased by 47.2 per cent to 19 deals from the 36 deals recorded in the preceding day.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units worth N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira witnessed a depreciation on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 10.
According to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the local currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by 0.12 per cent or N1.80 to sell for N1,543.03/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,541.23/$1.
The pressure on the domestic currency came as the access granted to the Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to purchase FX from the official market through the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform prepares to end next week, precisely on January 19.
The CBN had given a 42-day window to the operators to access the platform to help stabilise the Naira in December, and this expires next week.
On Friday, the Nigerian currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N30.78 to sell for N1,889.29/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,858.51/£1, but gained N5.48 against the Euro to finish at N1,583.81/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s rate of N1,589.29/€1.
As for the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira remained stable against the US Dollar during the trading session at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.
In the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as the US economy added 256,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, topping forecasts for 160,000 and up from 212,000 in November (revised from an originally reported 227,000).
However, the readings came after a number of recent economic reports triggered a broad-market pullback across asset classes such as crypto as investors quickly scaled back the idea of a continued series of Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.
Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to trade at $0.921, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $185.93, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.4 per cent to $3,233.27, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.3 per cent to finish at $103.62, Dogecoin (DOGE) shed 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.3315, Bitcoin (BTC), waned by 0.2 per cent to $94,154.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 0.1 per cent to $693.30.
On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.5 per cent to settle at $2.34, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
Profit-takers took control of Customs Street on Friday, plunging it by 0.08 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The sell-offs were across all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on last trading session of the week.
The insurance space went down by 1.53 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.41 per cent, the consumer goods sector weakened by 0.16 per cent, and the energy counter slumped by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 79.68 points to 105,451.06 points from 105,530.74 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N48 billion to N64.303 trillion from N64.351 trillion.
Yesterday, investors traded 1.5 billion shares worth N19.4 billion in 12,877 deals compared with the 489.5 million shares worth N13.1 billion transacted in 13,010 deals in the preceding day, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 1.02 deals and a rise in the trading volume and value by 203.14 per cent and 48.09 per cent, respectively.
Wema Bank was the busiest stock with 976.2 million units valued at N9.8 billion, Tantalizers traded 53.0 million units worth 129.6 million, Universal Insurance sold 34.8 million units for N26.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 33.9 million units valued at N843.8 million, and Nigerian Breweries traded 27.3 million units worth N873.3 million.
The heaviest loss was suffered by Sunu Assurances with a decline of 9.99 per cent to trade at N7.30, Eunisell shed 9.96 per cent to N17.35, SAHCO crumbled by 9.87 per cent to N30.15, DAAR Communications plunged by 9.28 per cent to 88 Kobo, and Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 7.04 per cent to N1.32.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing gained 10.00 per cent to close at N4.51, Honeywell Flour appreciated by 9.99 per cent to N10.02, Trans Nationwide Express jumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.00, RT Briscoe rose by 9.83 per cent to N2.57, and Secure Electronic Technology grew by 9.46 per cent to 81 Kobo.
Business Post reports that the bourse ended with 33 price gainers and 25 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
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