Petroleum Act: Sylva Charges Team to Transform Sector

By Adedapo Adesanya  Oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel on Wednesday as investors focused their attention on an upcoming OPEC+ output policy meeting and looked past a jump in crude stockpiles in the United States. Brent crude futures were up by $1.01 or 1.2 per cent to $82.69 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.16 or 1.5 per cent to close at $77.57 a barrel. Prices were lifted by a media report that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, known collectively as OPEC+, was considering

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives has pledged to stop international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta from divestment of their offshore assets without being accountable to the environment. The Chairman of the House of Reps Committee on Host Communities, Mr Dumnamene Dekor, said this during a technical session on the implementation of the Host Communities Development Trusts (HCDT), organised by Spaces for Change (S4C) with support from Ford Foundation. Mr Dekor raised the alarm that since the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021, host communities have not experienced any positive change, rather have remained

By Aduragbemi Omiyale President Bola Tinubu has said the 2024 budget presented to the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday was designed to achieve macroeconomic stability, a better investment environment, greater access to social security, poverty reduction and enhanced human capital development. According to him, if these goals are achieved, the standard of living of Nigerians will improve and the citizens will enjoy the dividends of democracy. While presenting the 2024 Appropriation Bills to the parliament yesterday, the President said this was why he christened the budget proposal as the Budget of Renewed Hope. Mr Tinubu told the

By Mayowa Olajide Akinleye Nigeria is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 12 of that document establishes that young people must be heard. They must be listened to and taken seriously. It is their right. This idea presupposes that there is a speaking, an expression that is present but ignorable. Articles 2 and 13 recognize this seeming powerlessness and, in seeking to protect the right to be heard, establish that young people have a right to not be discriminated against and can freely express themselves without fear. Yet, 95% of its youth

By Investors Hub European stocks have fallen on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session as global growth worries persist and investors watch the latest developments on Brexit after U.K. Prime Minister won support from Britain’s top business group for her draft deal. While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index has fallen by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are down by 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. The British pound has held steady against the euro and dollar as investors look forward to testimony by Bank of England policymakers on the latest November inflation

By Modupe Gbadeyanka One of the leading rating agencies in the world, S&P Global Ratings, has affirmed its ‘B/B’ long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings on Nigeria with a stable outlook. At the same time, it affirmed its long- and short-term Nigeria national scale ratings at ‘ngBBB/ngA-2’. S&P Global Ratings said the ratings on Nigeria are constrained by its low level of economic wealth, real GDP per capita trend growth rates below those of peers with similar levels of development, and future policy responses that may be difficult to predict because of the highly centralized political environment. The ratings are

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh The World Bank has approved a $1 billion loan to support South Africa’s energy sector which is currently experiencing worse conditions including inadequate funds for overhauling, renovation and upgrading. Energy experts believe that the World Bank’s loan, which seems the last resort, would pull South Africa out of its persistent energy crisis that has adversely hit industrial production. The energy problem has forced the country to lean on its highly polluting coal-fired power stations and consistent difficulties of generating enough electricity for its 62 million people. The state-run power utility, Eskom, generates approximately 80% of the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Leading financial institution, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc, has released a short film titled A Mother Knows. The new film, according to information at our disposal, was shot to raise awareness on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Nigeria. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in 160 children live with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) worldwide. In Nigeria, however, the condition is hardly diagnosed, rarely understood and children with ASD often suffer neglect and stigmatization. To address these challenges, GTBank launched the Orange Ribbon Initiative to support children and adults living with Autism and other developmental disorders.

By Dipo Olowookere The sale of the N25 billion commercial papers by Coronation Merchant Bank Limited will close today, Friday, April 22, 2022. Business Post reports that the exercise started on Thursday, April 14, 2022, and the offering is in two maturities of 182 days and 269 days. The short-term debt instrument, series I and series II, is being issued under the lender’s N100 billion Commercial Paper Programme. According to the company, the proceeds of the papers would be used for short-term working capital requirements. The discount rate for the 182-day note is 7.9240 per cent and the 269-day note

By Adedapo Adesanya and Sodeinde Temidayo David Nigerian startup that caters to home service needs, Eden Life, has completed a $1.4 million seed round to expand its business offerings. This brings Eden Life’s total investment to date to $2 million following pre-seed backing from all of Andela’s original co-founders, and additional accelerator support over the last 18 months. The new capital obtained by the company will be deployed to build Eden Life’s in-house technology and develop its own world-class kitchens and operations hubs, as it builds a new tech-based platform to improve and grow Africa’s service industry. Launched in 2019,

By Dipo Olowookere As parts of the efforts to meet the 21st century technology requirement for development in Lagos, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, on Friday unveiled the ‘Code Lagos’ computer programming initiative. Speaking at the event, the Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Oluranti Adebule, who represented the Governor, stated that the primary aim of the initiative “is to meet the growing demand for technical skills” so as to develop a workforce that would speak a universal digital language and provide solutions to myriad of socio-economic problems confronting the society.” The Governor said that, with the new concept, Lagos State “has joined the