Economy
Flour Mills Stakes Big on Pan-African Expansion with Strategic Restructuring
As one of Nigeria’s oldest and most significant players in the food and agro-allied sectors, Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC (FMN) is making bold moves to secure its future as a regional and industrial powerhouse.
The company recently announced a share acquisition plan aimed at transitioning the firm’s structure to better align with its long-term growth strategy.
In what FMN leadership is describing as a critical step toward becoming a Pan-African food leader, the company is betting big on its ability to unlock value, grow its presence across Africa, and continue contributing to Nigeria’s economic prosperity. And Inspire diversified business growth and returns.
FMN has been a staple of Nigeria’s economy for 64 years, growing from a single flour milling company into a diverse Group spanning food production, agriculture, logistics, and more. However, the conglomerate structure—while effective in past decades—is now seen as limiting the company’s ability to fully capitalize on the opportunities presented by Africa’s growing markets.
“FMN is restructuring to unlock substantial value and enhance its competitiveness across Africa,” explained a senior executive at the company. The restructuring will allow FMN to streamline its operations, focus on its core strengths, and pursue growth opportunities across the continent more nimbly. The share acquisition plan, which involves purchasing minority shares, is central to this new strategy.
Why Now? Nigeria’s Economy and the African Opportunity
The timing of this restructuring is not coincidental. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is undergoing significant reforms under its current administration. These reforms, aimed at diversifying the economy, are creating opportunities for companies like FMN to play a more prominent role in the nation’s food security and economic development.
“We are committed to the growth of Nigeria, a mandate we have fostered for over six decades,” said Mr. John G. Coumantaros, the Chairman of the FMN Board. “Also, in line with the Group’s Pan-African Vision, this positions us to make more meaningful contributions to Nigeria’s economic growth and progressively across the continent.”
This restructuring positions FMN to not only expand its footprint across Nigeria but also capitalize on broader regional growth opportunities, starting with West Africa. By leveraging its long-standing expertise in food production and supply chain management, FMN aims to become a key player in addressing the region’s food security challenges.
There have been concerns about changes in ownership control, but FMN has been clear in emphasizing that this restructuring is driven by its long-term growth strategy, firmly anchored in its Nigerian roots.
The initiative is focused on enhancing operational efficiency, unlocking value, and expanding its influence across Africa. FMN has reassured stakeholders that the move will reinforce, not alter, its commitment to contributing to Nigeria’s economy and supporting local industry.
Minority shareholders, meanwhile, are being offered a significant premium on their shares, allowing them to unlock substantial value. The offer reflects the company’s commitment to fair, transparent corporate governance and commitment to effective stakeholder relations.
Pan-African Ambitions: What’s Next for FMN?
With the restructuring process well underway, FMN’s next challenge will be executing its Pan-African growth plans. The company has already laid the groundwork by investing in local supply chains, creating jobs, and partnering with local farmers to improve agricultural output. These efforts not only contribute to Nigeria’s food security but also strengthen the company’s ability to scale its operations across Africa.
As FMN embarks on this next chapter, the message is clear: this is not a story of foreign control, but one of Nigerian leadership steering the company toward regional growth and global competitiveness. The restructuring is a critical step in ensuring that FMN remains a key contributor to Nigeria’s economic development, while also positioning itself as a leader in Africa’s food security landscape.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude production under the collective Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) fell in May to its lowest level in at least 37 years as the blockade of Iran by the United States and disruptions in the Persian Gulf, continued to limit output.
According to a Bloomberg survey released on Friday, output from the organisation’s 11 current members, including Nigeria, dropped by 1.22 million barrels per day to 16.33 million barrels per day last month.
Iran accounted for more than half of the decline. The data excludes the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which departed the cartel last month after six decades of membership.
War between a US-Israeli alliance and Iran has reduced oil supplies from the Middle East, largely closing the Strait of Hormuz waterway. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Kuwait have been forced to cut crude production. Iranian shipments face additional pressure following a US blockade of its ports imposed in mid-April.
Iranian output fell by 710,000 barrels per day to a five-year low of 2.34 million barrels per day in May, the survey showed. Central Command reported that US forces have redirected 127 commercial vessels to enforce the blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports.
Kuwait recorded the second-largest decline last month, with production falling by 310,000 barrels per day to 490,000 barrels per day, less than one-fifth of pre-war levels. Saudi Arabia, the group’s leader, saw output decrease by 240,000 barrels per day to 6.57 million barrels per day.
The production reductions have not prevented OPEC and its allies from raising quotas over recent months, continuing a year-long process of restoring output halted several years ago.
This comes ahead of a meeting scheduled to be held on Sunday, June 7, where a sub-group of seven members is expected to increase targets by 188,000 barrels again in July. The session is one of four online meetings OPEC and its partners plan to hold that day.
Delegates indicated the alliance has plans for two additional monthly quota increases in August and September. UAE output rose by 300,000 barrels per day to 2.44 million barrels per day in May, according to the survey.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The 2025 third quarter Budget Implementation Report from the Budget Office of the Federation has shown that the federal government exceeded the funds allocation for repayment of debts for the first nine months of the fiscal year by about 18 per cent.
In a report by Punch, the sum of N10.74 trillion was budgeted for debt servicing between January and September 2025, but the government used N12.63 trillion for the purpose, N1.90 trillion or 17.65 per cent more than the allocation for the year.
The funds were spent on domestic debts, foreign debts and sinking fund by the central government in nine months.
Business Post reports that for the whole year, the amount approved by the National Assembly and signed by President Bola Tinubu for debt repayments was N14.31 trillion.
Looking at the nine-month figures, domestic debt service gulped N6.23 trillion, exceeding its N5.39 trillion provision, while foreign debt service was N6.30 trillion versus the budget provision of N5.06 trillion.
According to the report, the figures indicated that 67.2 per cent of the federal government’s retained revenue of N18.63 trillion was spent on debt service in the first nine months of 2025. When the sinking fund is included, debt-related payments consumed about 67.8 per cent of revenue.
It was also observed that aggregate federal government revenue underperformed the budget by N12.03 trillion or 39.24 per cent, as actual revenue of N18.63 trillion fell short of the N30.67 trillion projected for the first three quarters.
In the third quarter alone, the government generated N7.70 trillion versus the quarterly target of N10.22 trillion as a result of persistent oil revenue shortfalls, despite stronger non-oil collections.
The debt burden also crowded out capital spending, as total capital expenditure was N3.10 trillion in the first nine months compared with the N17.58 trillion budgeted for the period, indicating that actual debt-related payments were more than four times capital expenditure.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a loss of 1.13 per cent on Thursday, June 4, shrinking the market capitalisation by N30.03 billion to N2.630 trillion from N2.660 trillion on Wednesday.
Similarly, this brought down the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 50.19 points to 4,396.08 points from the 4,446.27 points recorded a day earlier.
The loss was influenced by the overpowering of the bulls by the bears, after the bourse closed with two price gainers and three price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which slumped by N20.03 to sell at N190.38 per unit compared with midweek’s N210.41 per unit. Food Concepts Plc declined by 25 Kobo to trade at N2.50 per share versus the previous day’s N3.00 per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc crumbled by 2 Kobo to end at N1.32 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.34 per unit.
For the gainers, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc added N2.93 to close at N78.34 per share compared with the previous price of N75.41 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 80 Kobo to settle at N16.80 per unit versus N16.00 per unit.
There was a slip in the volume of transactions yesterday by 46.8 per cent to 280,714 units from 527,221 units, as the value of trades dropped 66.5 per cent to N21.8 million from the preceding session’s N64.2 million, and the number of deals fell by 8.7 per cent to 42 deals from 46 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the session as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
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