Economy
Nigeria Targets $2.7bn Yearly Revenue From New Blue Economy Policy
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria is planning to unveil a national policy on marine and blue economy which it envisaged will deliver over $2.7 billion in revenue per annum for the national economy.
This was disclosed by the Director of the Maritime Safety and Security Department at the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Babatunde Hafiz, at a stakeholders forum in Lagos, noting that the policy will play a great role in enhancing the performance of the shipping sub-sector and boost trade facilitation as well as economic growth.
Mr Hafiz said the policy will provide a comprehensive framework/blueprint that will also tackle revenue leakages, through the envisaged streamlined approach to the management of the sector.
He said the ministry is determined to work towards the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF).
CVFF is an intervention fund established by the Cabotage Act to assist indigenous shipping operators in acquiring new vessels to enhance indigenous capacity building. It is also a strategic instrument within the legislative framework to stimulate the expansion of domestic shipping capability.
“To ensure the full implementation of the CVFF, the Ministry has constituted a Committee to develop clear guidelines and mechanisms to facilitate improved access to the Fund by Stakeholders in the Shipping Sub Sector. This initiative is envisaged to ensure that the Fund achieves its goal of providing the required financial support for indigenous shipowners to acquire, construct and repair their vessels,” Mr Hafiz said.
“The CVFF will allow the indigenous shipowners to fund the acquisition of more vessels at a single-digit interest rate. Limiting Cabotage trade to Nigeria-owned, crewed and operated ships, will increase the number of ship fleets/tonnage in the country and attract healthy competition with foreign shipping companies in international shipping.
“The CVFF will also enhance the employment of Nigerians in the maritime sector, increase locally induced Cabotage trade and movement of passengers and cargo by indigenous shippers,” he stated.
Mr Hafiz also said the arrangements to herald the Regional Maritime Development Bank (RMDB ) establishment are at an advanced stage.
“The RMDB establishment is ongoing, with Nigeria set to host the headquarters and having the highest share among MOWCA member states.
“The bank’s objectives include funding port infrastructure, vessel acquisition, and human capacity development, among others. The RMDB’s establishment was conceived by the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), which comprises 25 countries.
“The RMDB’s capital base is expected to be $1 billion, with Nigeria having the highest share of 12 per cent among MOWCA member states. The bank will be a private-public sector-driven bank, with 51% shareholding for MOWCA states and 49 per cent for institutional investors.
“The bank’s establishment process is ongoing and office space has been provided for the bank at the NIMASA, Abuja Office. Its establishment will increase access to funding for the acquisition, construction and repairs of vessels by indigenous shipowners,” he said.
He added the ministry through its agency – the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is collaborating with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) to provide accurate sea weather forecasts to aid sea navigation and provide information for seafarers to support safe navigation and efficient operations in Nigerian waters.
“As part of the collaboration, NiMet has invested over N2 billion to enhance its marine meteorological services, including the upgrade and expansion of automatic marine stations, installation of tide gauges and buoy systems, and the establishment of a dedicated Central Marine Forecast Office (CMFO),” he stated.
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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