Oando Declares N3.5b Profit for 2016

By Adedapo Adesanya A foreign oil company, Equinor ASA, has chosen a little-known Nigerian company, Chappal Energy, as the preferred buyer of its stake in one of the country’s largest deep-water oil fields, Agbami. According to a report by Bloomberg on Monday, the Norwegian energy giant is trying to sell its 20.2 per cent interest in the Agbami field – joining other international producers such as Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corporation and Eni SpA in looking to offload assets in Africa’s biggest crude producer, Nigeria. In January, Equinor launched the sale of its stake in an offshore Nigerian oilfield, joining

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian government is targeting an estimated $55.2 billion in oil and gas investments by 2030, according to the Special Adviser to the President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Mrs Olu Verheijen. She said the government has wrapped up a series of strategic engagements with 15 leading international and independent oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria. The President’s aide recently organised sessions in Lagos and Abuja in partnership with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to review ways to improve the sector and address the nation’s revenue emergency whilst contributing to stabilising Nigeria’s economy. Involved in

By Bliss Okperan Nigeria’s internet speed averages 25 megabits per second (Mbps), according to data from Surf Shark, a cybersecurity company focused on developing humanised privacy and security solutions. The ranking, contained in the 5th annual (Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL), showed that the country dropped two places to 7th from 9th within the last two years. A quick average analysis shows that at an average of 25 Mbps, Nigeria is far from the world’s fastest fixed internet Singapore, which is 300 Mbps and is ahead compared to the slowest fixed internet in the world, Yemen, which is 11

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Lagos State Government has waded into the rancour brewing among the host communities for the proposed Badagry Deep Seaport. The Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Mrs Lola Akande, held a meeting with them on Friday, urging them to give peace a chance as the project would benefit them. Mrs Akande, during the meeting with leaders of the 12 host communities as well as other relevant stakeholders in the deep-sea port project, stressed the need to embrace unity and speak with one voice so that their demands can be quickly met and adequately catered for. She

No fewer than 25 local entrepreneurs have benefited from an advanced manufacturing training programme organised by the Ondo State government and General Electric, the world’s digital industrial company. The skill development partnership programme involved GE’s Lagos Garage and the Ondo State Information Technology Agency. It was aimed to develop the skills of entrepreneurs in the state in advanced manufacturing and business development. The intensive one-week training was also aimed at empowering 25 entrepreneurs drawn from across the state with valuable skills in advanced manufacturing. The programme, facilitated by GE Garage engineers and instructors, took place at the Ondo State Information

By Jerome-Mario Utomi The reported remark by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin at the just concluded 47th session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, calling on the Western world to reflect deeply on their own human rights abuse, has again brought to our consciousness the troubling reality that despite the widening strides by pro-democracy advocates to advertise the virtues and attributes of democracy over other forms of government, the balance of power within the last decades appears to be shifting. The envoy said in part, “I want to stress that it is these Western countries that are

Not too long ago, Bola Ahmed Tinubu won the presidential election. He will take over the presidency of Nigeria in May 2023 and will have the difficult challenge of reviving the weak Nigerian economy by implementing many crucial changes. GDP Growth Rate The National Bureau of Statistics’ latest data on Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shows a decrease in the annual GDP growth rate to 3.10% in 2022, compared to 3.40% in 2021. However, in the 4th quarter of 2022, the economy grew by 3.52%, in contrast to the 2.25% in the previous quarter. Non-oil sectors were responsible for most

By Investors Hub The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Tuesday, with stocks likely to give back ground after trending higher in recent sessions. The downward momentum on Wall Street comes as traders react to earnings news from home improvement retailer Home Depot (HD). Shares of Home Depot are moving notably lower in pre-market trading after the company reported first quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates but weaker than expected sales. Despite this, when comparing Home Depot vs. Lowes, Home Depot continues to showcase positive strengths. After failing to sustain an early move to the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Investments into the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) an emerging business hub in the Lagos axis of the State has risen to over N100 billion in the last 10 years. Chairman of Lekki Free Zone Development Company, Mr Abiodun Dabiri disclosed this at the weekend while giving progress report on the Zone to state Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode. Mr Dabiri noted that more investors have indicated interest in coming to set up businesses in the Zone. According to him, the recent efforts by the Governor especially in the change of baton in the management of the Zone

By Dipo Olowookere Worried by attacks on voters in Igbo dominated areas of Lagos during the February 23, 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections, a group known as the South East Revival Group (SERG) has urged federal government and all security agencies “to ensure no Nigerian got molested for exercising their franchise in accordance with the laws of the land.” In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday and signed by its National Coordinator, Mr Willy Ezugwu, SERG noted that it was “baffled that Nigeria can degenerate into the level of anarchy witnessed during the presidential and national legislative elections

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Bank of Industry (BoI) has opposed the scrapping of the bank and the establishment of National Development Bank of Nigeria (NDBN). At the one-day public hearing organised on Monday by the Senate Committee on Bank, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions in National Assembly on a bill seeking to establish NDBN, the Acting Managing Director of BoI, Mr Waheed Olagunju, described the move as anti-people. He argued that the BoI already handles the responsibilities the proposed institution plans to carry out when granted the approval to operate. “We are of the opinion that BoI as presently constituted