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 Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the south territory with a decline of 0.56 per cent on Wednesday, April 2.
This brought down the market capitalisation by N13 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.430 trillion, and downed the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 22.57 points to 4,062.87 points from the previous session’s 4,062.87 points.
It was observed that the NASD exchange ended with three price gainers and three price losers during the trading day.
MRS Oil Plc depreciated by N19.00 to close at N171.00 per unit compared with the previous price of N190.00 per unit, NASD Plc lost N4.14 to trade at N37.36 per share compared with Wednesday’s N41.50 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gave up N2.00 to sell at N78.00 per unit versus N80.00 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 19 Kobo to N93.00 per share from N92.81 per share, Food Concepts Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N2.72 per unit, and Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc improved by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share.
Yesterday, the volume of securities dipped by 91.8 per cent to 260.2 million units from 3.2 billion units, the value of securities went down by 98.1 per cent to N154.2 million from N8.3 billion, while the number of deals soared by 53.3 per cent to 46 deals from 30 deals.
GNI Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 56.9 million units valued at N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.2 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira dropped N2.09 or 0.15 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, April 2, to trade at N1,380.79/$1 compared with Wednesday’s rate of N1,378.70/$1.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.77 to quote at N1,824.86/£1 versus the N1,836.57/£1 it was traded at midweek, and improved its value against the Euro by N10.54 to N1,591.92/€1 from N1,602.46/€1.
Yesterday was the last trading session of the week for the local currency in the spot market, as the market will be closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter Holiday.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the greenback yesterday at N1,405/$1, but gained N8 at the GTBank FX counter to settle at N1,388/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,396/$1.
Pressure eased on the domestic currency as strong policy indicators have helped calm the majority of worries within the financial systems. Particularly in the remittance segment, the apex bank has directed all International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to route remittance transactions through designated Naira settlement accounts in banks, a move aimed at boosting transparency and channelling more foreign exchange into the formal market.
This helps take off pressure from the foreign reserves, which have fallen below the $50 billion mark as they are gradually decreasing rather than falling sharply.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Thursday, as macro sentiment shifted against recent optimism after reports that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns about disruptions to a key global oil route.
The remarks came after U.S. President Trump on Wednesday night vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks and that the Strait of Hormuz would “open naturally” once the war ends.
Cardano (ADA) chalked up 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.2435, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.2 per cent to $0.0912, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $2,066.37, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell at $67,080.53, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.5 per cent to $79.91, and Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.2 per cent to $1.31.
Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) dipped 0.7 per cent to $586.90, and TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3147, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market was relatively flat on Friday, as the bears and the bulls shared the spoils of war, though investor sentiment turned bullish compared with the preceding session’s bearish posture.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was marginally down by 4.66 points as it ended at 201,698.89 points versus Wednesday’s 201,703.55 points, and the market capitalisation slightly contracted by N3 billion to N129.806 trillion from N129.809 trillion.
Customs Street was shut on Friday because of the public holidays declared by the federal government today and next Monday.
Business Post reports that John Holt declined by 9.91 per cent to N15.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank shed 9.60 per cent to trade at N8.95, International Energy Insurance slipped by 6.48 per cent to N3.32, Chams shrank by 5.30 per cent to N3.75, and Tantalizers depreciated by 5.18 per cent to N4.03.
On the flip side, Unilever Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N103.40, Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.82 per cent to trade at N1.23, Multiverse appreciated 9.81 per cent to N20.15, Legend Internet advanced by 9.38 per cent to N6.30, and Zichis grew by 9.02 per cent to N14.14.
The market breadth index was positive during the trading session, as there were 35 appreciating stocks and 24 depreciating stocks.
Yesterday, investors traded 560.0 million equities valued at N19.3 billion in 49,676 deals, in contrast to the 815.5 million equities worth N33.3 billion transacted in 52,641 deals in the preceding day, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 31.33 per cent, 42.04 per cent, and 5.63 per cent, respectively.
Secure Electronic Technology dominated the activity log with 59.7 million shares valued at N61.1 million, Wema Bank exchanged 52.0 million equities worth N1.4 billion, VFD Group transacted 36.0 million stocks for N410.5 million, Access Holdings sold 35.3 million shares valued at N914.8 million, and Chams traded 31.0 million equities worth N115.0 million.
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