Economy
Impact of Nigeria’s FX Reforms on Businesses Thrills BUA Group Owner
By Adedapo Adesanya
The chairman and founder of BUA Group, Mr Abdul Samad Rabiu, has lauded the impact of Nigeria’s foreign exchange reforms on businesses.
The businessman opined that Nigeria’s reforms have put the country on the global economic map, urging Britain and other Western allies to deepen partnerships and increase investments in Nigeria.
In a recent opinion piece published in the Telegraph of London, the philanthropist asserted that President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms were positioning the country prominently on the global economic map.
He said in the UK newspaper that President Tinubu’s decisive leadership in reforms had cut Nigeria’s official consumption of petrol by 45 per cent.
According to him, as someone who has built multinational businesses across Africa, I know the vast opportunity the continent offers, and Nigeria in particular which alone accounts for a fifth of sub-Saharan Africa’s 1.2 billion people.
“Lowering barriers to trade is crucial, and for that Britain’s ETIP looks prescient.
“However, investment and business potential will remain discounted as long as African nations cling to state intervention from subsidies and price controls to exchange rate distortions all of which have consistently bred dysfunction and economic instability.
“Fortunately, Nigeria has now decisively turned a corner, embracing market economics under a liberalising government.”
He said that the shift in policies by the Tinubu administration had projected Nigeria towards a better future.
“In making that shift, Nigeria is taking the lead for a continent to follow. So many Nigerian administrations I have known have been hostage to economic events, doubling down time and again on state intervention rather than having the conviction to reform.
“This administration is proving different. After two years of difficult reforms, Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu is now poised to fulfil the promise of its vast natural resources, rapidly growing population of over 200 million people, and strategic coastal location along the Gulf of Guinea,” he said.
The BUA founder observed the drastic fall in official consumption of petrol as one of the gains of the reforms saying “First, the Tinubu administration removed a crippling fuel subsidy; the most significant policy reform in years.
“When President Tinubu ditched the fuel subsidy on his first day in office, criticism quickly followed. However, statistics must be understood in light of the wide-ranging distortions the subsidy created.”
“But that is not because Nigerians’ petrol use reduced by this amount. In reality the country was subsidising the region, with cross border fuel smugglers profiting from arbitrage.
“The illegal trade was so blatant that on a visit to neighbouring Niger a few years ago, then President Mohamed Bazoum even joked about it, thanking Nigeria for the cheap fuel. Though the move was politically unpopular, the subsidy had become unsustainable.
“Now, spending is being redirected toward development and infrastructure, laying the foundations for long-term growth,” he said.
Mr Rabiu also said that the country had moved from a fixed to a market-determined exchange rate.
According to him, previously, only select groups could access the official rate especially those with political connections; the rest had to rely on a more expensive parallel informal market determined by supply and demand.
“But selling Dollars at an artificially low rate only entrenched scarcity, a problem compounded by an opaque exchange mechanism that deterred foreign investment.
“Every two weeks, we used to make the 12-hour drive to Abuja to seek Dollar allocations for imports, camping out at the Central Bank for three or four days. Now, I no longer need to go. I’ve met the new Governor only once in two years because I haven’t had to.
“Monetary orthodoxy has finally arrived, bringing with it the liquidity that both domestic and foreign businesses depend on to smooth trade and de-risk investment.”
He further said that the shackles of politics were being prised from business, bringing greater certainty, fairness and stability to the landscape.
“Indeed, many of the benefits of reform are still to be felt by the wider public. But economic fundamentals must be fixed before that becomes possible.
“Now that Nigeria has made it through the toughest phase, its direction should be clear to investors.
“For Britain, the Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership with Nigeria is a strategic bet on reform, resilience and long-term reward.
“Nigeria is now delivering its part of the bargain. As my country steadies itself, the UK, its Western allies and their companies should deepen this partnership,” he added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has revealed that Nigeria’s crude total oil and condensate production stood at 1.61.
This was contained in its Monthly Report Summary for April 2025 which contained key operational and financial metrics.
According to the state oil firm, this was 3.2 per cent higher than 1.56 million barrels of oil per day recorded in March.
Giving a breakdown of the monthly production figures, total crude oil and condensate production was out at 1.67 million barrels of oil per day in January, 1.62 million barrels of oil per day in February, 1.56 million barrels per day in March and 1.61 million barrels of oil per day in the month under review.
Meanwhile the country’s natural gas production reached 7.35 billion standard cubic feet per day in April.
A breakdown showed that in January, the production stood at 7.12 billion standard cubic feet, it dropped to 6.62 billion standard cubic feet in February and rose to 6.92 billion standard cubic feet, and 7.35 billion standard cubic feet in April.
The NNPC clarified that all crude oil and gas figures are provisional and based solely on NNPC Limited’s data, adding that the figures excluded production by independent operators as reported by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
On the financial part, the NNPC generated revenue up to N5.89 trillion with a Profit After Tax of N748 billion.
The national oil company report also showed that statutory payments for the period January to March 2025 totaled N4.23 trillion.
In terms of supply NNPC Retail Limited (NRL) Stations’ petrol availability was at 54 per cent.
Giving updates on the ongoing projects— the NNPC said the OB3 pipeline project has achieved 95 per cent completion, while the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) pipeline has reached 70 per cent completion as of the review month.
It added that upstream pipeline availability was recorded at 97 per cent.
On its upcoming Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) in 2025, the NNPC disclosed that the Nkori Development (OML 102), crude oil production expansion project (OML 29), gas development projects (OMLs 40, 42) and Brass Fertilizer (Financial Close) will all be done in the fourth quarter of the year.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded its first loss in five consecutive sessions, declining by 0.33 per cent on Wednesday, June 11.
At the close of trading activities, the market capitalisation of the bourse declined by N6.45 billion to finish at N1.954 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.960 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased by 11.01 points to settle at 3,337.24 points, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing value of 3,348.25 points.
Share prices of three companies on the trading platform recorded movements at midweek, according to data obtained byBusiness Post.
Geo-Fluids Plc was up by 31 Kobo to end at N3.50 per unit versus the preceding day’s N3.19 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc expanded by 13 Kobo to end at N28.13 per share compared with the previous day’s N28.00 per share.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc further depreciated by N4.31 yesterday to quote at N74.37 per unit versus the preceding day’s N78.68 per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities surged by 1,232.6 per cent to 3.3 million units from the 248,882 units recorded a day earlier, the value of securities went up by 31.8 per cent to N12.9 million from N9.8 million, and the number of deals increased by 46.7 per cent to 44 deals from the 30 deals posted in the preceding trading session.
At the close of business, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 536.9 million units worth N524.8 million, trailed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million valued at N4.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 268.4 million units sold for N475.6 million.
Also, Okitipupa Plc maintained its position as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.7 million units traded for N4.9 billion, followed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units worth N4.2 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 38.9 million units valued at N1.6 billion.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Between January 2025 and March 2025, Nigeria improved its trade surplus by about 52 per cent to N5.17 trillion from the N3.4 trillion recorded between October 2024 and December 2024.
This information was made known to the public by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Report for Q1’25 released on Wednesday.
The agency disclosed that on a year-on-year basis, trade surplus expanded by 17.5 per cent from the N4.4 trillion achieved in the first quarter of last year.
According to the NBS, the total merchandise trade posted by Nigeria in Q1 of 2025 was N36.024 trillion, higher than the N33.92 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2024 by 6.19 per cent, but lower than the N36.6 trillion reported in the preceding quarter by 1.58 per cent.
It stated that the value of total imports stood at N15.42 trillion in the first quarter of this year, 4.59 per cent higher than the N14.75 trillion posted in the same period of 2024 and 7.02 per cent lower than the N16.59 trillion recorded in the last quarter of 2024.
Also, the value of exports achieved in the first quarter of 2025 was N20.59 trillion, higher than the N19.17 trillion posted in the same period of last year by 7.42 per cent, and 2.92 per cent higher than the N20.00 trillion recorded in the previous quarter, with India, the Netherlands, the United States, France, and Spain as the top five trading export partners of the country.
“The merchandise trade balance for Q1 2025 remained positive at N5.17 trillion indicating an increase of 52 percent compared to the value recorded in the preceding quarter,” it said.
“Further analysis shows that Nigeria’s exports trade continued to be dominated by crude oil in the first quarter of 2025 valued at N12.95 trillion representing 62.89 per cent of total exports while the value of non-crude oil exports stood at N7.64 trillion accounting for 37.11 per cent of total exports; of which non-oil products contributed N3.16 trillion or 15.38 percent of total exports,” the stats office said.
It disclosed that, “China remains Nigeria’s highest trading partner on the import side in the first quarter of 2025, followed by India, United States of America, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirate.
“The most traded commodities imported during the quarter were, Gas oil, Motor spirit ordinary, Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude, Cane sugar meant for sugar refinery, and Durum wheat (Not in seeds).”
It was further revealed that the most exported commodities included crude oil, liquefied natural gas, other petroleum gases in a gaseous state, Urea, whether or not in aqueous solution, and Standard quality Cocoa beans.
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