Economy
Group Calls for Subsidized Modular Refineries Licensing in Niger Delta
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC) has said the federal government must subsidise the cost of license for the setting up of modular refineries in the Niger Delta region of the country.
The group called on the government to do this as a way of showing it is committed to ending oil theft and pulling out artisanal refiners from the creeks.
Executive Director of YEAC, Mr Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, stated this during the training of artisanal refiners in Ogoni and surrounding communities on guidelines for the establishment of modular refineries, held in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Mr Fyneface explained that in the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) guidelines, the license to establish a modular refinery was $50,000, with an additional N500,000 processing fee, valid for only two years.
He pointed out that the government, through modular refineries, will solve the issues of militancy, pipeline vandalism, environmental pollution, unemployment and youth restiveness in the Niger Delta.
YEAC maintained that licenses for the establishment and construction of modular refiners should be given free of charge to repentant illegal oil refiners to serve as an incentive; while also advocating for tax holidays to modular refinery investors.
“These people who we are pulling out from the creeks do not have $50,000 to pay for a license; so, the government should give them license free of charge if they (government) are really committed to ending oil theft and removing these boys out from the creeks.
“Government must subsidise the cost of modular refinery license, subsidise the cost of crude that would be sold to modular refineries and also give tax holidays to modular refinery investors, then there should be simple policies and regulations to enable the people to key in if they (government) are serious about getting these youths from the creeks,” he said.
“For you to establish a modular refinery, you must have obtained three licenses. The first is a licence to establish, which is $50,000 with an additional N500,000 processing fee, which is valid for two years, according to DPR guidelines.
“Secondly, you will need a license to construct which is $1,000, with an additional N500,000 processing fee, also valid for two years.
“Then, after construction, you will need a license to operate, which is also $1,000 with additional N500,000 processing fees, also valid for two years.
“These are just the financial aspects to get the license and we all know the bureaucratic bottlenecks that are associated with getting licenses from the government,” he further said.
YEAC also advocated that a similar initiative like the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) should be set up in the Niger Delta to regulate and polish artisanal crude oil refining, just as it has been done to illegal gold mining in the northern part of the country.
“So we’re saying that, once these youths have formed cooperatives on modular refineries, the government should give them license-free charge as incentives for them to leave the creeks.
“Afterall in the north, we have the PAGMI for illegal gold miners to pull them out if illegal mining business.
“The Niger Delta should have a corresponding initiative like the Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiatives (PACORDI) in addition to modular refineries, to make what they are doing legal and also save the environment, just like it is done to illegal gold miners in the north,” Mr Fyneface said.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited returned to green territory on Friday, closing higher by 0.10 per cent after investor sentiment turned bullish.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive yesterday after the bourse ended with 29 appreciating equities and 21 depreciating equities.
Linkage Assurance gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N1.43, Livestock Feeds appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N8.41, Mutual Benefits jumped by 9.84 per cent to 67 Kobo, UBA soared by 5.75 per cent to N36.80, and Oando grew by 5.59 per cent to N51.00.
Conversely, Red Star Express lost 9.91 per cent to finish at N4.82, Learn Africa depreciated by 9.85 per cent to N3.02, FTN Cocoa declined by 9.43 per cent to N4.80, Coronation Insurance slumped by 9.39 per cent to N2.22, and Ikeja Hotel slipped by 9.35 per cent to N9.70.
Customs Street grew yesterday as a result of buying interest in banking equities, which dominated the activity chart, according to data from the bourse.
Fidelity Bank transacted 62.3 million shares for N1.1 billion, Access Holdings traded 38.3 million equities worth N843.7 million, Tantalizers sold 32.0 million stocks valued at N99.2 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 31.4 million shares worth N38.4 million, and Zenith Bank traded 22.7 million equities valued at N1.1 billion.
At the close of trades, a total of 397.2 million stocks worth N14.2 billion exchanged hands in 10,099 deals compared with the 310.5 million stocks valued at N6.3 billion traded in 10,182 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 0.82 per cent, and the growth in the trading volume and value by 27.92 per cent and 125.40 per cent, respectively.
The industrial goods and commodity sectors remained unchanged during the session, the insurance and consumer goods indices tumbled by 0.49 per cent and 0.02 per cent apiece, while the energy and banking counters went up by 0.50 per cent and 0.12 per cent, respectively.
The bargain-hunting activities of the market participants lifted the All-Share Index (ASI) on Friday by 104.19 points to 104,962.96 points from 104,858.77 points and the market capitalisation increased by N66 billion to N65.820 trillion from N65.754 trillion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The last trading session this week at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended on a negative note with a 0.44 per cent decline on Friday, March 21.
The market capitalisation of the OTC securities exchange went down by N8.67 billion to N1.939 trillion from N1.948 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) ended the session at 3,358.61 points after dropping 15.01 points from the preceding day’s 3,373.62 points.
Trading data showed an increase of 50.7 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 304,188 units from the 201,873 units transacted in the previous trading day, the value of transactions surged by 1,214.8 per cent to N10.2 million from N776,509.51, and the number of deals rose by 88.2 per cent to 32 deals from 17 deals.
Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.84 to trade at N37.17 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N39.01 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc depreciated by N1.01 to sell at N22.84 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N213.85 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc declined by 2 Kobo to close the day at N19.50 per share versus the previous session’s N19.52 per share.
At the close of trading activities, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with a turnover of 69.9 million units valued at N23.7 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.1 million units sold for N88.9 million.
Similarly, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with the sale of 13.2 million units valued at N511.8 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.6 million units sold for N360.1 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, March 21 by N2.72 or 0.18 per cent to settle at N1,537.05/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,534.33/1$.
In the same official FX market, the exchange rate of the Nigerian Naira and the Pound Sterling and the Euro remained unchanged at N1,972.89/£1 and N1,657.81/€1, respectively.
At the parallel market segment, the local currency tumbled against the Dollar during the trading session by N5 to trade at N1,590/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,585/$1.
The pressure on the market continued as the Dollar strengthened in the international market, making currencies like the Naira weaker.
The continuous downward trend of the Naira has raised concerns about the effectiveness of recent injections into the market even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) channeled more than $55 million into the banks during the week.
In the cryptocurrency market, most tokens as prices inversed with the wider financial markets, which are down on tariff worries and decreased corporate earnings.
On the regulatory front, the US government is moving towards a market structure bill that has been touted as historic.
Solana (SOL) appreciated by 1.2 per cent to sell at $129.31, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.9 per cent to $0.1692, Ethereum (ETH) went up by 0.9 per cent to $1,988.34, and Ripple (XRP) added 0.8 per cent to close at $2.40.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $84,293.76, Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 0.4 per cent to $631.94, and Cardano jumped by 0.3 per cent to end at $0.7134.
On the flip side, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.8 per cent to $91.25, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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