Economy
Nigeria Launches Energy Efficiency Label
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Energy Guide Label, a seal to guide Nigerians on the amount of energy consumed by air conditioners, lamps and refrigerators, has been launched by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in collaboration with the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP).
The project is funded by the European Union and the German Government.
Speaking at the launch of the label in Lagos, Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, declared that the label will guide future manufacture and importation of lamps, refrigerators and air conditioners as well as other electrical appliances/equipment in Nigeria.
According to her, the energy guide label was designed for the Nigerian market to be attached on electrical appliances to provide information on the accurate energy consumption of a product. The event was an expose, into teaching consumers to make informed purchasing decisions on electrical products and appliances.
Represented by Mr Barnabas Jatau, a Deputy Director in the Ministry, she stated that the label would provide information on energy performance on air conditioners, refrigerators and lamps and show the conformity of the appliances to the Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) in Nigeria.
The label is important to help consumers purchase appliances that will reduce the amount of money spent on electrical bills, she said.
“The Nigeria energy label is a consumer guide on how to identify efficiency rating of appliances indicated by 1 star for less efficient to 5 stars for more efficient appliances.
“With this label, any air conditioner that is less than 1-star rating will no longer be allowed into the Nigerian market. The label will be attached to all appliances with approved minimum energy performance standards and label,” she said.
The Minister of State disclosed that the development of the Minimum Energy Performance Standards and launching of the label are some of the steps taken by Nigeria as one of the signatories to the climate change treaty to ensure that measures are in place to comply with policies that would reduce energy consumption, thereby reducing emission of greenhouse gasses.
Presenting a paper at the occasion, Director General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr Osita Aboloma noted that the current power available to Nigeria is far below what is required, stressing the need to manage available power efficiently.
Dr Justin Nickaf, Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, who represented the SON helmsman disclosed that his organisation has been working with the UNDP and other members of the energy efficiency review committee, to develop the minimum energy performance standards for lamps and refrigerators, which specify maximum energy consumption of such appliances allowed in the Nigerian market.
This according to him, was followed up with series of enlightenment and sensitization campaigns to importers, marketers and consumers, alike.
Mr Aboloma stated that SON has designed a road map in conjunction with manufacturers for implementation of the MEPS and label. He stressed that enforcement of the label is scheduled to commence after 18 months of the launching.
This he said, is to allow old stocks to be exhausted while importers of completely built units are to fully comply with the standard and label, six months after the launch.
The Head, Nigeria Energy Support Program, Ina Hommers said the label would help Nigerian Consumers make informed decisions as well as Manufacturers and Importers with choice of products.
Hommers said non environment friendly refrigerants and sources of greenhouse gas will no longer be used in both air conditioners and refrigerators in Nigeria which is joining over 100 nations already implementing MEPS and the label. She posited that air conditioners and refrigerators manufactured in Nigeria will gain more market within ECOWAS as a result of the standard and label.
Among other stakeholders present at the launch were, the EU Project officer on Energy, Mr Godfrey Ogbemudia, President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), represented by Mr Mba Sam Qweh and President of NACCIMA, represented by Ms Rebecca Ajibade, Director of Research, Statistics and Development.
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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