By Dipo Olowookere

The president of the Dangote Group, Mr Aliko Dangote, has said his Lagos-based refinery is not in competition with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

Speaking during a visit to the headquarters of the NNPC in Abuja on Thursday, the businessman said the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP) and the NNPC are business partners and are not at war as being insinuated.

He promised to collaborate with the new management team of the state-owned oil agency led by Mr Bashir Bayo Ojulari to drive economic growth in Nigeria.

“There is no competition between us, we are not here to compete with NNPC Ltd. NNPC is part and parcel of our business, and we are also part of NNPC. This is an era of co-operation between the two organisations,” Mr Dangote was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the NNPC spokesperson, Mr Olufemi Soneye.

Mr Dangote explained that he visited the NNPC tas part of ongoing efforts to promote mutually beneficial partnerships and foster healthy competition in the energy landscape in the country to boost Nigeria’s energy security and advance shared prosperity for Nigerians.

The richest man in Africa also congratulated Mr Ojulari and the Senior Management Team on their “well-deserved appointments,” acknowledging the enormity of the responsibility ahead.

In his remarks, the chief executive of NNPC assured Dangote of a mutually beneficial partnership anchored on healthy competition and productive collaboration, highlighting the exceptional calibre of talent he met in the organisation, describing the workforce as dedicated, highly skilled, and hardworking professionals who are consistently keen on delivering value for Nigeria.

Expressing the company’s readiness to build a legacy of national prosperity through innovation and shared purpose, Mr Ojulari said NNPC would sustain its collaboration with the Dangote Group especially where there is commercial advantage for Nigeria. It had been speculated that there is a price war between Dangote Refinery and the NNPC, especially in terms of the retail price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.

It was intense under the leadership of the immediate past chief executive of the NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, leading to the suspension of the Naira-for-crude sale agreement with Dangote Refinery and other private refiners.

However, the federal government announced the reinstatement of the deal last month after Mr Kyari was removed from office a few days earlier.

The NNPC was initially meant to be a shareholder in Dangote Refinery, but the deal later fell through.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Price appreciation recorded by three securities raised the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.84 per cent on Thursday, May 8.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by N2.20 to close at N41.03 per share compared with the preceding day’s value of N38.83 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc exchanged by N2.17 to trade at N23.88 per unit versus N21.71 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc added N1.07 to settle at N17.45 per share, in contrast to Wednesday’s price of N16.38 per share.

On the flip side, the price of Geo-Fluids Plc went down by 8 Kobo to end at N1.92 per unit compared with the N2.00 per unit it was traded at midweek.

At the close of transactions, the market capitalisation of the trading platform went up by N16.27 billion to N1.944 trillion from N1.927 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 27.80 points to 3,320.16 points from the previous session’s 3,292.36 points.

During the trading session, there was a 58,260.6 per cent surge in the volume of securities transacted in the session to 346.3 million units from the 593,373 units transacted in the previous trading day.

Equally, there was a 4,832.3 per cent rise in the value of securities traded during the trading day to N882.8 million from N17.9 million, but the number of deals dropped 40.7 per cent to 16 deals from 27 deals previously recorded on Wednesday.

Impresit Bakolori Plc finished the day as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 265.8 million units valued at N469.5 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion.

Okitipupa Plc also remained as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million valued at N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 19.5 million units sold for N750.2 million and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira traded mixed in the foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday, appreciated against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) and depreciating in the black market.

In the parallel market, the Nigerian currency weakened against the greenback during the trading day by N5 to sell for N1,625/$1, in contrast to the N1,620/$1 it was traded a day earlier.

However, in the official market, the domestic currency improved its value against its American counterpart by 0.1 per cent or 89 Kobo to trade at N1,609.57/$1 compared with the N1,610.46/$1 it was exchanged at midweek.

In the same spot market, the Naira tumbled against the Pound Sterling on Thursday by N7.75 to settle at N2,145.48/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N2,137.73/£1 and gained N3.35 against the Euro to close at N1,818.41/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,821.41/€1.

Sustained pressure on the country’s external reserves and a widening demand-supply gap in the FX market have weakened the Naira in the past few sessions.

However, there is evidence that debt repayments made from the external reserves have yielded outcome as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has removed Nigeria from its Total IMF Credit Outstanding list after repaying the $3.4 billion pandemic loan.

Nigeria was among the countries that relied on the IMF for funding support and it has repaid the loan, prompting the lender to remove its name from the debtors’ list.

The journey towards clearing this debt began in earnest in 2023, when the nation’s IMF debt stood at $1.61 billion, reaching $472 million by January 2025.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market soared yesterday in response to US President Donald Trump’s hyping up a trade deal with the United Kingdom, which offered the market some respite as it signaled reducing risk.

Bitcoin (BTC) was up by 4.3 per cent to $103,130.67, Ethereum (ETH) surged by 18.1 per cent to $2,249.11, Cardano (ADA) rose by 9.1 per cent to $0.7675, Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 8.8 per cent to $0.1965, and Solana (SOL) jumped by 8.7 per cent to $163.25.

Further, Ripple (XRP) grew by 5.9 per cent to $2.30, Litecoin (LTC) went up by 4.3 per cent to $95.59, and Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 2.9 per cent to $628.48, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed lat at $1.00 each.