Economy

NNPC Woos Investors for Mega Projects in 2018

Published

9 years ago

10/12/2017

By Dipo Olowookere

Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Maikanti Baru, has called on foreign investors to partner with the state-owned oil firm in its multi-billion dollar projects expected to come up next year.

The NNPC chief made the call in London at the Forbes Award on him, disclosing that NNPC would be involved in a number of projects which would require international collaboration.

“Our programme for 2018 is very aggressive and will require cooperation from the international community in supporting our activities through technical and financial collaboration,” he said.

The GMD who had departed the UK, listed some of the mega projects that would be launched in the coming year to include: Bonga SW/Aparo; Zaba-zaba; Bosi; the 7 critical gas projects and gas pipelines; NLNG Train 7 plus expansion; possible divestment of Government Equity in JV and development of modular refineries amongst others.

He added: “Today, the confidence of investors is being restored, thanks to good governance provided by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. I therefore call on you all to utilize this golden opportunity made possible by our supportive President.”

Mr Baru averred that international collaboration between the NNPC and its partners was fast yielding results, adding that within the last three years, NNPC had secured about $3.7 billion alternative financing agreements aimed at sustaining and increasing the national daily production and producibility.

He said the alternative financing approach had yielded positive results and helped to renew investors’ confidence resulting in a boost in Foreign Direct Investments in Nigeria.

The GMD observed that the financing arrangement had also deepen the participation of local banks in funding the Upstream Sector as it the funds were syndicated from both local and International banks as well as lenders.

He commended the local and international lenders and the Joint Venture partners for their continued faith in Nigeria and their support towards providing the funding.

Thanking Forbes for the 2017 Africa Oil & Gas Man of the Year Award conferred on him, Baru described the recognition as not only special to him, but to all Nigerians.

“This award is so special to me. It is an award to Nigeria which fills me with immense national pride. It also reinforces the long-established and far-reaching impact of the NNPC in national, regional and global economic growth and stability,” he added.

The award, he said, came to him as a big surprise, owing to the fact that the scope of the nomination represents a huge selection of highly qualified professionals across Africa.

While conferring the award on the GMD, a representative of Forbes, Mr Mark Furlong, said his institution was celebrating an embodiment of hardwork, integrity and intelligence who was making giant strides in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and beyond.

“Dr Baru is admired and celebrated nationwide and internationally. He is a credible and courageous man with high moral virtue. His broad knowledge and positive leadership style are worthy of emulation,” Mr Furlong added.

Also speaking, Chairman Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), Mr Bassey Albert Akpan, said having worked closely with Dr Baru when the GMD was GED Exploration & Production, the Forbes award did not come as a surprise.

“Dr. Baru has done well as the GMD of NNPC over the last 18 months. He is a strong-willed fellow whose passion and commitment to his job is incomprehensible. I believe Forbes will find him more deserving for this award,” Senator Akpan concluded.

Economy

SEC Okays Emerald Holdco’s Takeover of N6.94bn Beta Glass Minority Shares

Published

2 hours ago

08/07/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Emerald Holdco has been authorised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to proceed with its mandatory takeover offer (MTO) of shares of Beta Glass Plc worth N6.94 billion held by minority investors.

In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, it was disclosed that the MTO involves 11,741,509 ordinary shares of Beta Glass at a unit price of N590.94.

Shareholders of the company are required to fill out the MTO form for the exercise, which opened on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, and is expected to close at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.

Business Post reports that Emerald Holdco recently completed the acquisition of 100 per cent of the shares of Emerald Nigeria Intermediate Holdings B.V. (formerly Frigoinvest Nigeria Holding B.V), which owns 76.03 per cent of Packaging Industries Nigeria Limited (formerly Frigoglass Industries (Nigeria) Limited) from the Frigoglass Group.

As part of this transaction, Emerald Holdco has assumed indirect ownership of 331,260,999 ordinary shares in the company, previously held by Frigoglass Group, which represent approximately 55.22 per cent of the issued share capital of the organisation.

In accordance with the Nigerian Takeover Rules, Emerald Holdco is required to make a takeover offer to all other shareholders of Beta Glass. It is permitted to make an offer for all or a portion of the shares held by the other shareholders of the firm.

Following this requirement, Emerald Holdco sought and obtained approval from its board and shareholders to launch a takeover offer to all qualifying shareholders for the acquisition of up to 11,741,509 ordinary shares, representing 1.96 per cent of the total issued and fully paid-up share capital of Beta Glass.

The board and shareholders granted this approval on February 5, 2026, and March 3, 2026, respectively.

Economy

NASD Index Crashes 6.11% as FrieslandCampina Shares Tumble

Published

3 hours ago

08/07/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

A plunge in the share price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc purged the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 6.11 per cent on Tuesday, July 7.

The milk producer, famed for brands like Peak Milk and Three Crowns, was the sole price loser during the session, shedding N12.41 to end at N139.41 per unit compared with the previous day’s N151.82 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation of the alternative stock market went down by N155.40 billion to close at N2.387 trillion, in contrast to Monday’s closing value of N2.543 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) fell by 258.90 points to close at 3,978.07 points compared with the preceding session’s 4,236.97 points.

Business Post reports that NASD Plc was the only price gainer for the day, gaining 80 Kobo to close at N34.10 per share versus N33.30 per share.

Yesterday, the value of securities surged by 98.3 per cent to N15.9 million from the preceding session’s N2.8 million, the volume of securities increased by 183.6 per cent to 323,780 units from 114.175 million units, and the number of deals grew by 61.1 per cent to 29 deals from 18 deals.

At the close of business, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded security by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 70.7 million units exchanged for N4.9 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.

Economy

Naira Falls to N1,375/$1 at Official Market, N1,395/$1 at Parallel Market

Published

4 hours ago

08/07/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira weakened by N7.48 or 0.55 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, July 7, to N1,375.75/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s N1,368.27/$1.

Equally, the local currency fell against the Pound Sterling in the same official FX market yesterday by N14.66 to trade at N1,841.57/£1 versus Monday’s closing price of N1,826.91/£1, and against the Euro, it depreciated by N10.61 to close at N1,573.30/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,562.69/€1.

In the parallel market, the Nigerian currency lost N5 against the US Dollar during the trading day to settle at N1,395/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,390/$1, and at the GTBank forex desk, it remained unchanged at N1,831/$1.

Liquidity fluctuations amidst sustained FX inflows from foreign portfolio investors, exporters, non-bank corporates and other sources weakened the Naira despite rising external reserves. Updated data showed that gross external reserves increased to $ 51.525 billion from $51.549 billion.

Daily interbank FX turnover stood at $54.180 million across 70 deals, from $70.430 million.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) signalled its intention in the first half of the year to slow the Naira rally and avoid capital flight by purchasing US Dollars from the market.

As for the cryptocurrency market, benchmarked tokens dipped following renewed strikes on Iran by the US after an attack on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The US Central Command forces said it began launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose high costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.

The latest exchange of fire will test the fragile ceasefire as Iran struck back by targeting US bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. The renewed attacks in the Middle East have doused the flames of the recent rally, with markets losing $50 billion over the past 12 hours.

Cardano (ADA) fell by 5.8 per cent to $0.1695, Solana (SOL) dropped 3.4 per cent to sell at $78.24, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 3.3 per cent to $1.08, Dogecoin (DOGE) declined by 3.2 per cent to $0.0724, and Binance Coin (BNB) slid by 1.9 per cent to $567.58.

Further, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 1.1 per cent to $1,751.40, Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.8 per cent to quote at $62,538.88, and TRON (TRX) decreased by 0.4 per cent to $0.3289, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.