Economy
Firm Builds Gas Plant in Lagos to Deepen LPG Penetration
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government, in line with its goal to expand its footprint in the manufacturing of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) or cooking gas, over the weekend announced the groundbreaking of Rungas ALFA plant.
The event was performed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, at Alaro City, Free Trade Zone, Epe, Lagos State.
It was gathered that plant, alongside its sister plant – Rungas Prime in Polaku, Bayelsa State, is being developed with equity investments by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
The federal government said upon its completion, the plant will have a combined capacity of over 1.2 million cylinders per annum, surpassing the record held by a European firm that produces 900 cylinders.
The Minister described the cylinder plants as key to achieving deeper penetration of LPG and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to ensure economic diversification.
He stated that cylinders are the most visible element of the LPG value chain and the manufacturing facilities will not only bring affordable and durable cylinders to Nigeria but also create countless direct and indirect jobs for citizens.
Mr Sylva also commended NCDMB for recording another milestone in the drive to enhance domestic participation and capacity building of indigenous companies in the oil and gas industry.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Simbi Kesiye Wabote noted that the expected completion date of the facility would be about 12 months and noted that he was confident that the Board will successfully deliver on any project it participates in.
He said the ground-breaking event confirms that Private-Public Partnership is an effective model for putting in place the needed infrastructure, facilities, and manufacturing base, to position Nigeria for the opportunities that abound in the region and continent.
Mr Wabote also affirmed the board’s excitement for being an active participant and a front-runner in taking practical steps to deliver on lofty goals of the ‘’Decade of Gas’’ that is being championed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.
Other interventions by the board in the gas value-chain include the development of LPG storage terminals and jetties, inland gas processing for the production of LPG and propane, infrastructure for gas gathering and injection into gas pipeline networks and CNG facilities.
He said NCDMB was deliberate in going for the Type-3 Composite LPG cylinders considering the unique features such as safety, lightweight, and durability.
In his words, “Our handshake with the Rungas Group will catalyse the transition away from the heavy metallic LPG cylinders. It will also address the issue of high importation of LPG cylinders with the attendant economic losses.”
Other benefits of the project include helping to eliminate deaths and illnesses caused by smoke and wood fumes associated with cooking with firewood and bringing the products closer to end-users.
The NCDMB Chief noted that its interests in equity investments in strategic oil and gas projects were because the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act mandates the Board to build capacities in the oil and gas industry and harness opportunities to create jobs.
“You cannot create jobs if you do not get involved in projects. We expect that during the construction phase, hundreds of people will be involved and during the operations phase, direct and indirect jobs will be created. There is no way to create jobs if you do not create the opportunity.
“As a country, we cannot continue to sit and wait for people to bring opportunities for us. We must create those opportunities so we can employ our youths.
“We have proven the concept with regards to a modular refinery and today, the Waltersmith modular refinery cannot even meet demand from customers for its products. Imagine that we had done this in the past; today we would not be discussing the issue of fuel availability or scarcity in this country.”
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer, Rungas Group, Mr Lanre Runsewe lauded the NCDMB for triggering the local manufacturing of safe cooking gas cylinders and becoming the catalyst for the rapid industrialisation of gas-based Industries.
He stated that “without the NCDMB initial and extended facilitation for the local manufacture of cooking gas cylinders in Nigeria, it would have been more difficult and expensive to implement the imminent National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) rollout, due to lack of locally manufactured safe cylinders. The country would have had to resort to importation.”
He also revealed that NCDMB’s participation and the substantial quantity of cylinders to be manufactured had “triggered a clause in our contractual agreements based on one million cylinders with our Italian, Portuguese Original Equipment Manufacturers which will result in direct investments of over $40 million to produce some of our key raw materials in Nigeria. We are currently working in conjunction with our Alaro City Partners to position them in this Free Trade Zone.”
The Chairman, Rungas Group, Mr Shuaibu Ahmed added the facility in Bayelsa was Africa’s first composite cylinder manufacturing plant and expressed hope that the facilities would produce enough products to meet local demand and export to other countries, earning the nation much needed foreign exchange.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc again pulled down the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Thursday, August 20, by 1.11 per cent.
The securities depository company further lost N5.93 during the trading session to close at N82.20 per share versus the midweek closing price of N88.12 per share.
As a result, the NASD Security Index (NSI) slid by 48.25 points to 4,284.84 points from 4,333.09 points, and trimmed the bourse’s market capitalisation by N28.96 billion to N2.571 trillion from N2.60 trillion.
During the trading day, the price of Afriland Properties Plc went up by 50 Kobo to N20.50 per unit from N20.00 per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities transacted by investors slumped by 85.1 per cent to 112,218 units from 747,429 units, the value of securities fell by 95.2 per cent to 4.6 million from 9.4 million, and the number of deals decreased by 40.5 per cent to 25 deals from 42 deals.
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, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.9 million units worth N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units transacted 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 sold for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira improved its value against the United States Dollar by N2.78 or 0.21 per cent to N1,347.63/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, August 20, from the previous day’s N1,350.41/$1.
Also, the domestic currency gained 43 Kobo against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday to trade at N1,838.70/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,839.13/£1, but lost 66 Kobo against the Euro to finish at N1,574.97/€1, in contrast to Wednesday’s N1,574.31/€1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar yesterday by N1 to close at N1,358/$1 versus the previous session’s N1,357/$1, while at the parallel market, it remained unchanged at N1,390/$1.
Daily FX update released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that interbank turnover at the official window increased by 0.22 per cent to $371.788 million from $370.98 million, with the number of deals up to 134 from 100.
Transactions were consummated between N1,347 and N1,351.5000 during the trading session.
As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) topped $75,000 in the latest rally amid euphoria over a US Treasury liquidity signal from the buyback plan, rising by 8.8 per cent to $75,371.36.
The US Treasury Department has decided to at least double liquidity-support buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities. This applies in the 10- to 30-year segment.
Additional catalysts included the latest crypto proposal by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), while President Donald Trump, after meeting with prominent crypto executives, urged Congress to pass what he calls a fair version of the Clarity Act before year-end.
Further, Ripple (XRP) rose by 18.7 per cent to $1.30, Cardano (ADA) grew by 13.9 per cent to $0.2086, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 10.8 per cent to $0.0826, Solana (SOL) expanded by 6.5 per cent to $90.37, Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 6.3 per cent to $664.00, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 5.2 per cent to $2,363.26, and TRON (TRX) climbed by 1.5 per cent to $0.3379, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
For the eighth straight session, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed lower, losing 0.32 per cent at the close of business on Thursday as a result of continued sell-offs.
Yesterday, the financial and energy sectors came under selling pressure as investors’ appetite for domestic equities waned, with attention turning to the 2027 presidential campaigns, which kicked off on Wednesday.
The energy index shed 2.49 per cent, the insurance sector depreciated by 0.79 per cent, and the banking segment declined by 0.41 per cent. But the consumer goods space gained 0.10 per cent, while the industrial goods counter closed flat.
When the market closed for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 712.67 points to 240,037.80 points from 240,750.47 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N439 billion to N154.978 trillion from N155.417 trillion.
International Energy Insurance slumped by 9.85 per cent to N4.30, Coronation Insurance dropped 9.84 per cent to trade at N2.20, Fortis Global slipped by 9.76 per cent to N1.85, AVA Capital crashed by 7.89 per cent to N7.00, and Zichis shrank by 7.36 per cent to N17.00.
On the other side, Haldane McCall rose by 9.38 per cent to N3.85, Trans-Nationwide Express jumped by 8.90 per cent to N3.06, McNichols appreciated by 8.33 per cent to N5.20, Cutix gained 2.56 per cent to close at N2.40, and Veritas Kapital expanded by 1.52 per cent to N1.34.
Business Post reports that Customs Street recorded 14 advancing stocks and 29 declining stocks, representing a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
A total of 2.9 billion shares worth N34.0 billion were transacted in 34,725 deals during the session versus the 1.2 billion shares valued at N37.8 billion traded in 34,546 deals at midweek. This showed that the trading value moderated by 10.05 per cent, while the trading volume and number of deals increased by 141.67 per cent and 0.59 per cent apiece.
Fortis Global Insurance was on top of the activity chart yesterday, with a turnover of 2.6 billion equities valued at N5.2 billion. Sterling Holdings exchanged 28.1 million shares worth N211.4 million, Trans-Nationwide Express transacted 21.7 million stocks for N66.2 million, UBA sold 17.9 million equities worth N803.7 million, and First Holdco traded 15.7 million shares valued at N2.0 billion.
