Economy

How Oil Firms Can Achieve Exponential Growth—Verraki

Published

7 years ago

27/08/2019

By Dipo Olowookere

Players in the nation’s oil and gas industry have been told what could be done to survive the rough operating terrain they find themselves in. In recent times, prices of crude oil have been unstable on the global market, which is giving some of them somethings to worry about.

Energy Lead and Senior Partner, Real Sector at Verraki, Mrs Abayomi Olarinmoye, while commenting on happenings in the sector, said stakeholders must begin to look at different areas to achieve exponential growth if they intend to stay long in business.

The former Managing Director for Accenture’s Resources Operating Group in Nigeria, while addressing the media at an interactive session, opined that upstream players in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry can gain competitive advantage, operational excellence and financial transparency by embracing more automation in their operations and enjoy several benefits including increased productivity, reduced operational costs and highly engaged employees.

She identified several value-adding opportunities for oil and gas companies to deploy digital technologies which would serve as catalysts to achieve exponential growth.

Mrs Olarinmoye identified the increasing reliance on real-time data by international oil and gas operators and the need for Nigerian players to adopt similar strategies given the existing infrastructure, security and operational challenges.

She further identified utilization of applications as a service business models which allow operators to deploy technology customized to suit the size of their business operations, stressing that she believes that if oil and gas companies maximize the potentials of digital supply chain technologies available today, it would help to establish a new ecosystem of markets and alliance partners.

Commenting on the energy industry in Africa, its technological advancement and the impact of these on business operations, Mrs Olarinmoye said, “The energy industry is getting smarter and more intelligent as business operations and growth decisions are being backed by leading-edge data gathering using more sophisticated tools and internet enabled equipment.

“The Internet of Things has created a paradigm shift in data-gathering – today, collected and derived data are being used to improve asset utilization and to reduce costs. This will help place the industry at the forefront of global competitiveness.”

Further speaking on the use of technology to expedite growth, Mrs Olarinmoye described how new technologies are being used in other parts of the world for data gathering in remote locations, such as drones and other intelligent equipment to inspect pipelines, enabling improved collection of data and communication within an integrated operational infrastructure.

“In order to unlock additional value from their businesses, more oil companies need to deploy digital technologies for predictive asset maintenance and to automate basic, repetitive engineering functions and operations,” she said at the gathering.

To ensure more efficient operations in the industry, she stated that oil and gas players can also unlock value from their business by deploying emerging digital technologies for remote asset monitoring, surveillance and data management.

She stressed that this becomes consequential, given the increasing demand for smarter devices and automated sensors on the field and a move to stay continuously connected with assets in remote locations.

In her words, “Investing in shared platforms for service delivery and adoption of these digital technologies by oil and gas companies will enable the ability to provide critical data in real-time without any downtime, hence improving co-operation within the ecosystems and their communities.”

Mrs Olarinmoye urged industry players to take advantage of Verraki’s best practice techniques to deliver supply chain optimization opportunities, digitize processes and guarantee production and efficiency improvements for oil and gas companies.

Verraki is focused on implementing technology and business solutions designed inherently for Africa and fit for purpose, while curating business ventures that would contribute to unlocking new sources of growth across the continent.

Led by foremost corporate professionals as well as former Accenture leadership in Nigeria, Verraki will apply its global expertise and local insights to partner with enterprises and governments to accelerate the development and transformation of Africa by providing business solutions uniquely tailored for Africa.

Economy

NRS Launches Unified Tax ID System

Published

3 hours ago

19/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has unveiled a unified Taxpayer Identification (Tax ID) system for all taxable persons across the country as part of efforts to strengthen tax administration and improve transparency.

The agency announced the development in a public notice issued jointly with the Joint Revenue Board (JRB) on Monday.

According to the notice, the initiative is backed by Sections 6, 7, and 8 of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025, which mandate every taxable person in Nigeria to obtain a Tax ID, in a wider move to expand the country’s tax base.

The NRS said the new framework is designed to create a centralised and harmonised taxpayer database that would enhance interactions between taxpayers and revenue authorities at both federal and sub-national levels.

“The Tax ID will serve as a single, unified identity for all taxpayers, enabling seamless interaction with tax authorities at both federal and sub-national levels. It is designed to consolidate taxpayer records, eliminate duplication, and ensure more efficient management of tax-related information,” the agency stated.

The revenue agency explained that the new system would simplify tax compliance procedures, including taxpayer registration, filing of returns, and payment processes.

According to the NRS, the framework is also expected to improve accountability and reduce leakages in tax collection by creating better visibility and tracking of taxpayer information nationwide.

“The initiative will simplify tax compliance processes, including registration, tax filing, and payment procedures. The system will improve transparency by enabling better visibility and tracking of taxpayer records while reducing leakages and improving accountability in tax collection. The framework will also harmonise taxpayer information across all levels of government,” the notice added.

The agency further disclosed that the new Tax ID system would replace the existing Tax Identification Number (TIN) Validation API currently used by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), financial institutions, and other organisations for taxpayer verification.

Economy

OTC Securities Exchange Falls 1.31% as Key Stocks Decline

Published

5 hours ago

19/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three bellwether stocks weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.31 per cent on Monday, May 18.

This brought the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 54.71 points to 4,133.70 points from 4,188.41 points, and shrank the market capitalisation by N32.73 billion to N2.473 trillion from N2.506 trillion.

Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc contracted by N12.45 to sell at N146.55 per share compared with last Friday’s closing price of N159.00 per share, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc declined by N2.34 to N70.00 per unit from N72.34 per unit, and NASD Plc lost 50 Kobo to trade at N34.50 per share versus N35.00 per share.

The trio overpowered the N5.56 gained Newrest Asl Plc. This stock ended the trading session at N61.15 per unit, in contrast to the previous session’s N55.59 per unit.

During the trading day, the volume of securities traded by investors slid by 56.1 per cent to 514,142 units from 1.2 million units, and the value of securities dropped 29.8 per cent to close at N17.4 million versus N29.8 million, while the number of deals jumped 12.5 per cent to 27 deals from 24 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.8 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.9 million units traded for N1.9 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.

Economy

FX Pressure Pushes Naira Lower to N1,373/$1 at Official Market

Published

5 hours ago

19/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was a horrible day for the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday, May 15, as its value further weakened against the United States Dollar.

In the black market window, the Naira lost N5 against the Dollar yesterday to sell for N1,390/$1 compared with the previous value of N1,385/$1, but at the GTBank forex counter, it remained unchanged at N1,383/$1.

In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), the Nigerian currency depreciated against the greenback by N2.66 or 0.19 per cent to sell for N1,373.70/$1 compared to last Friday’s rate of N1,371.04/$1.

Equally, it fell against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N9.05 to trade at N1,839.66/£1 versus N1,830.61/£1, and lost N5.42 on the Euro to close at N1,600.49/€1 versus N1,595.07/€1.

The performance of the local currency during the session indicates early worries despite all signals pointing to stability, amid improved Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with steady, higher oil receipts to bolster the nation’s reserves.

Activity at the market showed that turnover rose 57.3 per cent to $76.29 million on Monday from $48.49 million posted on Friday.

Over the weekend, S&P raised Nigeria’s credit ratings for the first time since 2012 and highlighted improved FX market liquidity and $10 billion turnover recorded in April 2026 as one of the major gains of the CBN-led FX reforms.

The agency said the liberalisation of the exchange rate has bolstered access to foreign currency and enabled a market-driven exchange-rate environment while supporting investor and consumer confidence.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Monday as investors monitored developments in the Iran conflict and weighed the impact of surging oil prices on inflation and US interest-rate expectations.

Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at $2,134.10, Cardano (ADA) rose by 0.6 per cent to $0.2515, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.3 per cent to $85.11, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 0.2 per cent to $643.29, TRON (TRX) increased by 0.03 per cent to $0.3565, and Bitcoin (BTC) advanced by 0.02 per cent to $76,912.12.

On the flip side, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 1.5 per cent to $0.1044, and Ripple (XRP) decreased by 0.5 per cent to $1.38, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.