Economy
Helium Gas to Drive Industrialisation in Tanzania—Experts
By Dipo Olowookere
Stakeholders in the exploration industry in Tanzania have predicted the industrialisation in the East African nation would be propelled by helium gas in the country.
At a one-day workshop organised by Helium One at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) to build local capacity and awareness on the origin, exploration and development of helium in Tanzania, chief executive of the firm, Mr Thomas Abraham-James, stated that, “Helium One believes there is an opportunity through helium exploration and development to develop world-class technical skills and scientific expertise locally in Tanzania.
“We continue to build on our partnership with UDSM through knowledge-sharing, training for students and Ministry of Minerals’ staff, and development of a scholarship programme”.
Helium One is a mineral exploration company that has been conducting surveying and exploration activities for helium in the Rukwa Region, in partnership with the Geology Department of UDSM and Oxford University.
Held at the Council Chamber, University of Dar es Salaam, the workshop’s main objective was to bring together experts/scientists and key stakeholders from local, national and international communities to share their expertise, experiences and disseminate research findings on helium in the context of its use in enhancing industrialization in Tanzania and globally.
The workshop also featured high level noble gas scientists from Oxford University, collaborating with UDSM’s geology department, decision makers, development partners, policy developers and practitioners from Government, researchers, private sectors and the local and international media.
During the workshop Helium One awarded two UDSM students a funded MSc programme, which includes a placement at Oxford University, a sponsorship that he said was geared towards imparting world-class technical skills and scientific expertise to Tanzanians as well as fostering the existing productive partnership between Helium One and UDSM.
Helium One has so far discovered an estimated 98.9bcf of helium, representing a major helium discovery in the global context of rapidly diminishing supply and growing demand for the resource. “We believe our Rukwa basin helium project holds the potential to become a flagship example of the Government of Tanzania’s industrialization agenda, set out in the 2016/17-2020/21 National Development Plan”, Thomas added.
On his part, Mr Mussa Abbasi, representative from the Ministry of Energy who commended Helium One for its productive helium exploration activities, said that Tanzania was committed to creating a conducive environment for all genuine investors who were keen on investing in various economic sectors in the country.
“The government, through the Ministry of Minerals wishes to reaffirm its unflinching commitment in encouraging, promoting and facilitating investment in Tanzania.
“We consider private investment an integral part of our country’s economic growth and that’s why the government has put in place progressive and dynamic mechanisms to spur direct and indirect investment,” Mr Abbasi said.
On his part, Prof John Machiwa representing the Vice Chancellor for Research, UDSM said that the forum provided a most ideal platform for students, the staff and the entire UDSM academic fraternity to understand and explore ways in which they can work together with Helium One in harnessing skills as well as acquiring expertise in helium exploration, production and exportation.
“We believe that UDSM and Helium One have a lot to offer through the requisite partnership in terms of exchange of skills and professional expertise that will lead to leveraging locally-available skilled man-power from UDSM and other local institutions of higher learning”, noted Prof Machiwa.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The domestic supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, from the Dangote Refinery increased by 64.4 percent in December 2025, contributing to an enhancement in Nigeria’s overall petrol availability.
This is according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in its December 2025 Factsheet Report released on Thursday.
The downstream regulatory agency revealed that the private refinery raised its domestic petrol supply from 19.47 million litres per day in November 2025 to an average of 32.012 million litres per day in December, as it quelled any probable fuel scarcity associated with the festive month.
The report attributed the improvement to more substantial capacity utilisation at the Lagos-based oil facility, which reached a peak of 71 per cent in December.
The increased output from Dangote Refinery contributed to a rise in Nigeria’s total daily domestic PMS supply to 74.2 million litres in December, up from 71.5 million litres per day recorded in November.
The authority also reported a sharp increase in petrol consumption, rising to 63.7 million litres per day in December 2025, up from 52.9 million litres per day in the previous month.
In contrast, the domestic supply of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) known as diesel declined to 17.9 million litres per day in December from 20.4 million litres per day in November, even as daily diesel consumption increased to 16.4 million litres per day from 15.4 million litres per day.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply recorded modest growth during the period, rising to 5.2 metric tonnes per day in December from 5.0 metric tonnes per day in November.
Despite the gains recorded by Dangote Refinery and modular refineries, the NMDPRA disclosed that Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries recorded zero production in December.
It said the Port Harcourt Refinery remained shut down, though evacuation of diesel produced before May 24, 2025, averaged 0.247 million litres per day. The Warri and Kaduna refineries also remained shut down throughout the period.
On modular refineries, the report said Waltersmith Refinery (Train 2 with 5,000 barrels per day) completed pre-commissioning in December, with hydrocarbon introduction expected in January 2026. The refinery recorded an average capacity utilisation of 63.24 per cent and an average AGO supply of 0.051 million litres per day
Edo Refinery posted an average capacity utilisation of 85.43 per cent with AGO supply of 0.052 million litres per day, while Aradel recorded 53.89 per cent utilisation and supplied an average of 0.289 million litres per day of AGO.
Total AGO supply from the three modular refineries averaged 0.392 million litres per day, with other products including naphtha, heavy hydrocarbon kerosene (HHK), fuel oil, and marine diesel oil (MDO).
The report listed Nigeria’s 2025 daily consumption benchmarks as 50 million litres per day for petrol, 14 million litres per day for diesel, 3 million litres per day for aviation fuel (ATK), and 3,900 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
Actual daily truck-out consumption in December stood at 63.7 million litres per day for petrol, 16.4 million litres per day for diesel, 2.7 million litres per day for ATK and 4,380 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced a comprehensive revision of minimum capital requirements for nearly all capital market operators, marking the most significant overhaul since 2015.
The changes, outlined in a circular issued on January 16, 2026, obtained from its website on Friday, replace the previous regime. Operators have been given until June 30, 2027, to comply.
The SEC stated that the reforms aim to strengthen market resilience, enhance investor protection, discourage undercapitalised operators, and align capital adequacy with the evolving risk profile of market activities.
According to the circular, “The revised framework applies to brokers, dealers, fund managers, issuing houses, fintech firms, digital asset operators, and market infrastructure providers.”
Some of the key highlights of the new reforms include increment of minimum capital for brokers from N200 million to N600 million while for dealers, it was raised to N1 billion from N100 million.
For broker-dealers, they are to get N2 billion instead of the previous N300 million, reflecting multi-role exposure across trading, execution, and margin lending.
The agency said fund and portfolio managers with assets above N20 billion must hold N5 billion, while mid-tier managers must maintain N2 billion with private equity and venture capital firms to have N500 million and N200 million, respectively.
There was also dynamic rule as firms managing assets above N100 billion must hold at least 10 per cent of assets under management as capital.
“Digital asset firms, previously in a regulatory grey area, are now fully covered: digital exchanges and custodians must maintain N2 billion each, while tokenisation platforms and intermediaries face thresholds of N500 million to N1 billion. Robo-advisers must hold N100 million.
“Other segments are also affected: issuing houses offering full underwriting services must hold N7 billion, advisory-only firms N2 billion, registrars N2.5 billion, trustees N2 billion, underwriters N5 billion, and individual investment advisers N10 million. Market infrastructure providers carry some of the highest obligations, with composite exchanges and central counterparties required to maintain N10 billion each, and clearinghouses N5 billion,” the SEC added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The founder and chief executive of Austin Laz and Company Plc, Mr Asimonye Austin Lazarus Azubuike, has sold off about 52.24 million shares of the organisation.
The stocks were offloaded in 11 tranches at an average price of N4.36 per unit, amounting to about N227.8 million.
The transactions occurred between December 2025 and January 2026, according to a notice filed by the company to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday.
Business Post reports that Austin Laz is known for producing ice block machines, aluminium roofing, thermoplastics coolers, PVC windows and doors, ice cream machines, and disposable plates.
The firm evolved from refrigeration sales to diverse manufacturing since its incorporation in 1982 in Benin City, Edo State, though facing recent operational halts.
According to the statement signed by company secretary, Ifeanyi Offor & Associates, Mr Azubuike first sold 1.5 million units of the equities at N2.42, and then offloaded 2.4 million units at N2.65, and 2.0 million units at N2.65.
In another tranche, he sold another 2.0 million units at a unit price of N2.91, and then 5.0 million units at N3.52, as well as about 4.5 million at N3.87 per share.
It was further disclosed that the owner of the company also sold 9.0 million shares at N4.25, and offloaded another 368,411 units at N4.66, then in another transaction sold about 6.9 million units at N4.67.
In the last two transactions he carried out, Mr Azubuike first traded 10.0 million units equities at N5.13, with the last being 8.5 million stocks sold at N5.64 per unit.
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