Economy
Nigeria’s Forex Reserves Now $49bn on Reforms—Cardoso
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, has disclosed that Nigeria’s external reserves have risen to about $49 billion as of February 5, 2026, describing the development as a clear sign of improving confidence in the country’s economy.
Mr Cardoso spoke on Monday in Abuja at the second edition of the National Economic Council (NEC) conference, where he explained that the growth in reserves represents a 4.93 per cent increase from the last figure of $46.7 billion which marks a major turnaround from what the country faced when the current leadership took over the apex bank.
“This is obviously a very important statistic,” Mr Cardoso said. “When we took over, the net reserve figure was about $3 billion. As at the end of last year, the net reserve figure had gone up strongly into the 30s. And as I said, as of February 5, 2026, it is $49 billion. We are now net buyers.”
He explained that the central bank now allows the foreign exchange market to largely determine prices, while the bank steps in to buy foreign exchange when necessary. According to him, this approach has helped to close the gap between the official and parallel market exchange rates. “The premium between the official and parallel market rates has collapsed to under two per cent,” he said.
Mr Cardoso said remittances from Nigerians living abroad have played a major role in boosting the country’s foreign reserves. He noted that Nigerians in the diaspora come from all parts of the country and are keen to support the economy by sending money home.
“Remittances have made a big difference to how we have grown our reserves,” he said. “The diaspora come from every single state represented here. We have engaged with them and made it easier for them to remit money back to Nigeria.”
He added that the cooperation of state governors and other leaders would be crucial in sustaining this progress in the coming years.
The CBN helmsman said recent reforms have also made foreign exchange more accessible to ordinary Nigerians, especially those travelling abroad.
“When people travel now, you don’t have to look for foreign exchange to travel,” he said. “You use your Naira card and pay for whatever you want. Now the Naira is more competitive and people are not afraid to hold Naira.”
He warned Nigerians who are holding foreign currency without real need that such actions could lead to losses.
“Those holding unnecessary foreign exchange reserves are losing money every day,” he said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
About N878.7 billion was remitted to federal and state authorities in taxes, levies and duties by MTN Nigeria Communications Plc in the 2025 financial year.
According to details of the company’s 2025 Sustainability Report, this amount was 15 per higher than the previous year, helping the country achieve its target of expanding non-oil revenue and improving tax collection under its fiscal reform agenda, corporate tax contributions from major private-sector operators.
In 2023, MTN Nigeria paid N543.9 billion in taxes and levies, and a year later, it moved higher by about 62 per cent to N764 billion.
The N878.7 billion remitted to the government in 2025 covered corporation tax, value-added tax, spectrum fees, import duties, NCC levies and contributions under the Rural and Urban Terrestrial Infrastructure (RUTI) tax credit scheme, an initiative with deep roots in MTN Nigeria’s public-private partnership playbook.
The company has long embraced such mechanisms: it participated in the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, under which it committed N202.8 billion towards reconstructing the 110-kilometre Enugu-Onitsha Expressway.
In 2025, the RUTI scheme reached 50% completion after securing approval for an additional N23 billion tax credit aimed at expanding fibre and telecoms infrastructure in underserved communities, a model the company argues supports infrastructure development without requiring direct public expenditure.
The report also highlighted the firm’s growing domestic economic footprint, with 62 per cent of procurement spending directed to Nigerian suppliers in 2025. This was up from 59.6 per cent a year earlier.
MTN Nigeria said the policy aligns with the federal government’s local-content objectives and supports sectors including civil construction, logistics, software services and power infrastructure.
The organisation’s operational footprint expanded to 2,087 active base stations nationwide, while active mobile subscribers stood at 85.4 million by the third quarter of 2025. Active data users rose to 51.1 million, supported by smartphone penetration of 65.1 per cent.
During the year, MTN Nigeria renewed its 800MHz spectrum licence for another 10 years, to December 2034, and secured regulatory approval to lease additional spectrum from T2 Mobile, formerly 9Mobile, across 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is considering a new partnership model that could give Chinese investors a majority 51 per cent stake in the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries as part of efforts to revive and commercially reposition the struggling national assets.
Details of the proposed arrangement emerged after NNPC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China’s Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xinganchen (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Ltd. for what the national oil company described as a “potential technical equity partnership”.
The agreement, signed on April 30 in Jiaxing City, China, involved NNPC’s chief executive, Mr Bayo Ojulari, Sanjiang Chemical Chairman, Mr Guan Jianzhong, and Xinganchen Chairman, Mr Bill Bi.
According to reports, the framework is modelled after the Nigeria LNG structure, where investors hold majority equity, participate in governance and remain actively involved in operations over the long term.
Under the proposed arrangement, the Chinese firms are expected to help complete outstanding engineering and rehabilitation work at the Port Harcourt and Warri facilities while also providing operations and maintenance services aimed at delivering sustainable, world-class refinery performance.
Beyond restarting the plants, the partnership is expected to target capacity expansion, improved refining yields, cleaner fuel production and stronger profitability.
The agreement also opens the door to broader industrial ambitions, including petrochemical integration and gas-based industrial projects built around the refinery corridors.
Recall that Mr Ojulari, at the signing ceremony in April, described the deal as a major breakthrough following more than six months of negotiations.
“All parties recognise mutually beneficial opportunities for the development and long-term sustainable profitability of NNPC’s refining assets in Nigeria and the collective weight required for success,” he said.
He added that the MoU marked an important step towards identifying technical equity partners capable of restarting and expanding Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.
“The MoU is a significant step on the journey towards identifying potential technical equity partner(s) to restart and expand NNPC’s refineries and to explore opportunities in co-located petrochemical and gas-based industries,” Mr Ojulari stated.
Reports indicate that the arrangement remains non-binding and subject to technical, financial, legal and regulatory reviews before any final commercial agreements can be executed. Due diligence will cover engineering performance, operational viability, financial structure, commercial feasibility and legal compliance.
The Port Harcourt refinery rehabilitation contract had earlier been awarded to Italian engineering giant Maire Tecnimont, while separate repair efforts were also launched at the Warri refinery.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The total issued and fully paid-up shares of Eterna Plc are almost 2.2 billion after the listing of additional shares of the company on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited this week.
Precisely on Wednesday, an additional 882,064,158 ordinary shares of the organisation were listed on Customs Street, a regulatory notice confirmed.
These extra stocks were from the rights issue of the firm, issued to shareholders at N22.00 per unit on the basis of three new ordinary stocks for every existing four ordinary stocks held as at the close of business on Thursday, November 27, 2025.
Eterna wanted to sell a total of 978,108,485 units, but investors only picked 882,064,158, indicating a subscription rate of 90.18 per cent.
At midweek, the new equities were brought to the stock exchange for listing, increasing the total issued and fully paid-up shares of the company from 1,304,144,647 units to 2,186,208,805 units.
“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 882,064,158 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Eterna Plc were on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, listed on the daily official list of NGX.
“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 978,108,485 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N22.00 per share on the basis of three new ordinary shares for every existing four ordinary shares held as at the close of business on Thursday, November 27, 2025.
“With the listing of the additional 882,064,158 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Eterna Plc have now increased from 1,304,144,647 to 2,186,208,805 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the notice signed by the Head of Issuer Regulation Department at NGX RegCo Limited, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, stated.
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