Economy
Sahara Power Group Backs Light Up Nigeria Energy Confab
By Dipo Olowookere
A conference aimed to address the key issues affecting the energy sector in Nigeria and also proffer solutions to them has received the full backing of one of the key players in the sector, Sahara Power Group, a subsidiary of Sahara Group, a leading international energy conglomerate in Africa.
Tagged the Light Up Nigeria Energy Conference, the event aims to bring together experts in the field, giving them the opportunity to air their views on issues affecting the industry.
The conference, scheduled to hold on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos, will focus on “Repositioning the Energy Sector for Growth.’
Expected to grace the event is Mr Tonye Cole, the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Sahara Group, who is actually the Chairperson for the confab.
Speaking ahead of the programme, Mr Cole explained that the Group’s partnership with Brandzone LLC was a reflection of its concerted collaboration with stakeholders in the power value chain, in its bid to significantly contribute to the transformation of the sector for the benefit of all Nigerians.
According to him, “We are delighted to partner with Light Up Nigeria in a dual capacity. Sahara is not just a corporate player in most of the concerned sub-sectors, we also have a social purpose to fulfil by leading the movement to ‘Light up Nigeria’ and the wider sub-Saharan African region. I fully anticipate contributing to and learning from the conversation.”
Mr Cole reiterated the need for the Energy sector to position itself to play a more dominant role as a development and growth catalyst for the economy, while expressing optimism that the 2018 conference will definitely offer valuable insights in addressing the challenges, reveal more opportunities and innovative approach to achieving efficiency in the sector.”
Speaking further to the glaring ‘resource to capacity’ deficit blighting the country, Group Managing Director of Sahara Power Group Limited and Chairman of Egbin Power Plc, Mr Kola Adesina, remarked that Nigeria has Africa’s largest natural gas reserves but still disabled from generating power at even a third of capacity and he sees the conference as a platform to dissect the problem.
He also pointed out that it further gives the industry stakeholders the opportunity to proffer solutions both as corporates and concerned citizens.
In his words: “We could argue that lighting up Nigeria is a metaphor for powering the rest of the region with electricity. Getting power to homes and businesses has to be at the top of both national and regional socio-economic agendas. We are fully committed to seeking new and sustainable means of keeping our turbines turning and the economy growing.”
Sahara Power Group is one the largest private power businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its operating entities include, First Independent Power Limits, FIPL; Egbin Power Plc, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest privately owned thermal power generation plant and Ikeja Electric Plc, Nigeria’s leading Electricity Distribution Company.
Post the 2013 privatization exercise, SPG’s entities have continued to enhance the profile of the sector through ongoing investments in human capital, technology and service excellence.
Egbin has continuously invested in human capital and infrastructure upgrade to enhance the plant’s productivity.
This is evident in its planned investments in additional gas pipelines, and the proposed Floating Storage & Regasification Unit (FSRU) project, Egbin Phase 2 project with an estimated capacity of between 1,350MW and 1800MW using modern technologies.
It is the largest power generating plant in Nigeria and contributes over 20 percent of total electricity generated across Nigeria.
Ikeja Electric occupies a key position in the nation’s power sector geographically for its privileged coverage of many industrial centres. Since 2013, the company has embarked on execution of critical projects to stabilize the network and close identified immediate gaps in technical and customer service deliveries
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government has been asked by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to suspend the implementation of the controversial tax laws.
In a reaction to the tax reform acts, the president of the group, Mr Afam Osigwe (SAN), the suspension of the laws would allow for a proper investigation into allegations of alterations in the gazetted and harmonised copies.
A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Abdussamad Dasuki, alleged that some parts of the laws passed by the parliament were different from the gazetted copy.
To address the issues raised, the NBA said it is “imperative that a comprehensive, open, and transparent investigation be conducted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the laws and to restore public confidence in the legislative process.”
“Until these issues are fully examined and resolved, all plans for the implementation of the Tax Reform Acts should be immediately suspended,” the association declared.
It noted that the controversies “raise grave concerns about the integrity, transparency, and credibility of Nigeria’s legislative process.”
“These developments strike at the very heart of constitutional governance and call into question the procedural sanctity that must attend lawmaking in a democratic society,” it noted.
“Legal and policy uncertainty of this magnitude has far-reaching consequences. It unsettles the business environment, erodes investor confidence, and creates unpredictability for individuals, businesses, and institutions required to comply with the law. Such uncertainty is inimical to economic stability and should have no place in a system governed by the rule of law.
“Nigeria’s constitutional democracy demands that laws, especially those with profound economic and social implications, emerge from processes that are transparent, accountable, and beyond reproach. Anything short of this undermines public trust and weakens the foundation upon which lawful governance rests.
“We therefore call on all relevant authorities to act swiftly and responsibly in addressing this controversy, in the overriding interest of constitutional order, economic stability, and the preservation of the rule of law,” the organisation stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Demand for hot stocks, including MRS Oil Plc, buoyed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.52 per cent on Tuesday, December 23.
The energy company was one of the three price gainers for the session as it chalked up N19.69 to sell at N216.59 per share versus the previous day’s value of N196.90 per share.
Further, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N2.95 to close at N56.75 per unit versus N53.80 per unit and Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 84 Kobo to N9.29 per share from Monday’s N8.45 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation went up by N10.95 billion to N2.125 trillion from N2.125 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 18.31 points to 3,570.37 points from 3,552.06 points.
Yesterday, the NASD bourse recorded a price loser, the Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), which gave up 17 Kobo to close at N33.70 per unit against the previous trading value of N33.87 per unit.
The volume of securities traded at the session went down by 97.6 per cent to 297,902 units from the previous day’s 12.6 million units, the value of securities decreased by 98.5 per cent to N10.5 million from N713.6 million, and the number of deals remained flat at 32 deals.
By value, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended as the most actively traded stock on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units exchanged for N16.4 billion. This was followed by Okitipupa Plc, which traded 178.9 million units valued at N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.
In terms of volume, also on a year-to-date basis, InfraCredit Plc led the chart with a turnover of 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion. Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc ranked second with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, while Impresit Bakolori Plc followed with the sale of 536.9 million units valued at N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
It was another bullish trading session for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited as it closed higher by 0.59 per cent on Tuesday.
The market further rallied due to continued interest in large and mid-cap stocks on the exchange by investors rebalancing their portfolios for the year-end.
Yesterday, Aluminium Extrusion sustained its upward trajectory after it further appreciated by 9.96 per cent to N14.90, as Austin Laz gained 9.81 per cent to close at N2.91, Custodian Investment improved by 9.69 per cent to N38.50, and First Holdco soared by 9.35 per cent to N50.30.
Conversely, Royal Exchange declined by 7.22 per cent to N1.80, Champion Breweries shrank by 6.57 per cent to N15.65, NASCON lost 5.36 per cent to trade at N105.05, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 5.28 per cent to N3.77, and Japaul went down by 4.51 per cent to N2.33.
At the close of business, 29 shares ended on the gainers’ table and 27 shares finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
This raised the All-Share Index (ASI) by 895.06 points to 153,354.13 points from 152,459.07 points and lifted the market capitalisation by N579 billion to N97.772 trillion from the previous day’s N97.193 trillion.
VFD Group finished the day as the busiest stock after it recorded a turnover of 192.0 million units worth N2.1 billion, GTCO exchanged 63.5 million units valued at N5.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 49.8 million units for N1.0 billion, First Holdco sold 45.8 million units valued at N2.3 billion, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 38.3 million units worth N28.4 million.
In all, market participants bought and sold 677.4 million units valued at N20.8 billion in 27,589 deals compared with the 451.5 million units worth N13.0 billion traded in 33,327 deals on Monday, showing an improvement in the trading volume and value by 50.03 per cent and 60.00 per cent apiece, and a shortfall in the number of deals by 17.22 per cent.
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