Economy
Nigeria Hopes to Replace Russia as Gas Supplier to Europe
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria is offering to become an alternative gas supplier to Europe amid sanctions on Russia by the European Union (EU) over its invasion of Europe.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, while receiving a delegation led by the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mrs Samuela Isopi, in Abuja, said Nigeria was capable of filling the gap.
However, he urged the EU to increase investments in gas and hydrocarbons in Nigeria to enable the country to meet the bloc’s energy needs.
The Minister’s call comes on the heels of the festering war between Ukraine and Russia, which threatens gas supply to European countries.
Russia currently supplies about 30-40 per cent of the EU’s gas needs.
In a statement issued Saturday by his Senior Adviser – Media and Communications, Mr Horatius Egua, the Minister said Nigeria was ready to step in as an alternative gas supplier to Europe, urging the EU to encourage its oil and gas companies such as Shell, Eni, and Total Energies to scale up investments in the Nigerian gas sector.
“One of the things we warned against earlier was the speed with which the EU was taking away investments in fossil fuels.
“We warned that the speed was faster than they were developing renewable energy. You can see now that what we were warning against is what is happening now,” the Minister said.
He told the delegation that what stunted growth in the development of gas in Nigeria was the lack of fresh investments, and called for a change of attitude on the part of the EU if its requests to increase supplies to Europe would be realised.
According to the Minister, one of the biggest challenges the sector has is a lack of investments.
“In the last 10 years, over $70 billion worth of investments came to Africa, but sadly less than $4 billion came to Nigeria.
“Surprisingly, we are the biggest in Africa. If we cannot attract investments to Nigeria, you know where we are heading.
“You have been our longtime friend. As of today, our gas reserve is one of the biggest in the world. We have a proven gas reserve of 206 tcf and if we focus on gas exploitation we can get up to 600 tcf.
“We are already building gas infrastructure such as the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline project, expected to take gas to Algeria, and the West Africa Gas Pipeline project designed to take gas to Morocco,” Mr Sylva explained.
The Minister further said that after the Russia-Ukrainian war, the EU must have a buffer or an alternative source of gas, and collaboration with Nigeria in that regard was paramount.
He reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to working with the EU to bridge the gap in terms of gas, adding that from the Russian-Ukranian crisis, it was evident that gas had been weaponised and unless it created an alternative, it would only get worse.
He reassured the EU diplomats of Nigeria’s readiness to be an alternative supplier of gas to the EU but urged its companies operating in the country to invest more here.
“We would like to be reliable partners to solve the energy problem in Europe and we can only achieve this by working together. It is only when investing in these areas is increased that Nigeria can meet that obligation,” Mr Sylva said.
While emphasising the need for the transfer of technology in gas and renewable energy, he said Africa must be allowed to continue to exploit its hydrocarbon deposits to develop the continent.
In her response, Mrs Isopi urged Nigeria to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the present crisis in Europe to shore up gas supplies to the continent.
By Dipo Olowookere
The first trading session of the new week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a bullish note on Monday after a marginal 0.02 per cent growth.
This was influenced by bargain-hunting activities in the financial and industrial goods ecosystems.
According to data obtained from Customs Street, the insurance space grew by 2.12 per cent, the industrial goods sector appreciated by 0.17 per cent and the banking space expanded by 0.12 per cent.
However, due to profit-taking, the consumer goods index went down yesterday by 0.46 per cent and the energy counter decreased by 0.11 per cent.
When the bourse ended for the session, the bulls were in charge after dealing with the bears, leaving the All-Share Index (ASI) higher by 16.68 points to 102,370.36 points from 102,353.68 points and the market capitalisation increased by N10 billion to N62.861 trillion from N62.851 trillion.
Investor sentiment was strong during the session after the stock exchange finished with 32 price gainers and 26 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index.
Caverton gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Coronation Insurance improved by 9.91 per cent to N2.44, SCOA Nigeria expanded by 9.68 per cent to N2.72, UPDC jumped by 9.52 per cent to N1.84, and Universal Insurance also rose by 9.52 per cent to 69 Kobo.
On the flip side, Eunisell declined by 9.99 per cent to N14.06, John Holt lost 9.63 per cent to trade at N9.20, Secure Electronic Technology shed 8.99 per cent to quote at 81 Kobo, Honeywell Flour dropped 7.58 per cent to settle at N9.15, and PZ Cussons weakened by 6.00 per cent to N23.50.
Yesterday, a total of 1.3 billion shares worth N17.7 billion exchanged hands in 13,891 deals compared with the 327.8 million shares valued at N11.8 billion traded in 11,905 deals last Friday, implying an increase in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 304.48 per cent, 50.00 per cent, and 16.68 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock was Wema Bank with a turnover of 980.0 million units worth N9.8 billion, Universal Insurance sold 31.3 million units for N21.2 million, AIICO Insurance traded 22.2 million units valued at N36.9 million, Oando transacted 19.8 million units for N1.5 billion, and Zenith Bank exchanged 19.7 million units worth N926.0 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s maiden shipment under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has successfully arrived at the Mombasa Port in Kenya.
According to the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office in a statement, the development marks a historic moment for Africa’s trade landscape.
The Senior Trade Expert at the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, Mr Olusegun Olutayo, said in line with its mandate under the leadership of the National Coordinator, Mr Olusegun Awolowo, the office had coordinated the landmark event.
He said the achievement marked a significant milestone for Nigeria in realising the vision of increased intra-African trade and economic integration championed by the agreement in line with the decision of the AU Assembly at the 31st Ordinary Session of the Assembly.
“In times of escalating geopolitical tension and looming geo-economic fragmentation, AfCFTA presents a perfect opportunity for Africa to leverage trade as a strategic instrument for enhanced market access among state parties.
“This is a historic moment, a realisation of the vision of our continent’s founding fathers and mothers.”
He also said the first consignment which was a synthetic filaments product of Nigeria’s Lucky Fibres Limited (Lush), a subsidiary of the Tolaram Group, was exported under AfCFTA preferential terms.
Mr Olutayo lauded the bold economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu, emphasising their catalytic role in enabling the country’s active participation in AfCFTA, fostering continental economic integration and industrialisation goals.
He also commended the seamless cooperation and commitment from Kenyan authorities, which exemplifies the true spirit of AfCFTA.
He acknowledged the pivotal leadership role of the AfCFTA Secretariat in fostering the success and emphasised the collaborative efforts of the Kenya AfCFTA Implementation Committee and the Kenya Revenue Authority (Customs).
According to him, the shipment, exported under AfCFTA preferential trade terms, underscores partnership, shared vision, the agreement’s potential to transform Africa’s economic landscape and pave the way for a new era of trade-driven prosperity.
The AfCFTA seeks to create a single market across Africa by reducing barriers to trade, investment, and labour.
The agreement’s goal is to increase socioeconomic development, reduce poverty, and make Africa more competitive globally.
On March 21, 2018, the AfCFTA agreement was adopted and opened for signature in Kigali, Rwanda. The agreement entered into force on May 30, 2019 and officially commenced on January 2021
Former President Muhammadu Buhari established the National Action Committee on AfCFTA (NAC) in December 2019.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fixed January 31 as deadline for all Capital Market Operators (CMOs) to renew their operating licence.
In a circular to the operators on Sunday, the apex regulatory agency in the country’s capital market said the annual registration renewal would last between January 1 and 31, 2025.
SEC said the annual registration renewal enforcement for CMOs was aimed at ensuring that only “fit and proper” persons operate in the capital market, warning that CMOs without valid registration will be penalised and may be excluded from capital market activities.
”This is to inform all CMOs and the general public that the annual renewal of registration of CMOs for the year 2025 will commence from January 01.
“All CMOs applying for renewal are required to include their 2025 annual subscription receipt from their respective trade groups as part of their application.
“In line with the commission’s Rules & Regulations, all CMOs are to complete the process of renewal of registration for 2025 on or before January 31 via registration renewal portal at www.eportal.sec.gov.ng,” it said.
The commission added that CMOs desiring to make enquiries or get support to complete the process should contact [email protected].
The regulator said it had in 2021 re-introduced periodic registration renewal by CMOs to create a reliable active operators’ data bank in the country’s capital market.
It said the renewal arrangement aimed at updating operators information on capital market for official use by local and foreign investors, other regulatory agencies and the public.
The agency added that the renewals would drastically reduce incidences of unethical practices by CMOs which may affect investors’ confidence and impact the capital market negatively, noting that the exercise will strengthen supervision and monitoring of CMOs by the commission.
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