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 closed higher by 1.41 per cent on Friday, May 15, supported by four securities on the platform.
During the session, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc added N14.24 to its share price to sell for N159.00 per unit, in contrast to the previous day’s N144.76 per unit.
Further, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N1.34 to N72.34 per share from N71.00 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc improved its price by 4 Kobo to N2.94 per unit from N2.90 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc gained 1 Kobo to trade at 61 Kobo per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of 60 Kobo per share.
As a result, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 58.20 points to 4,188.41 points from 4,130.21 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N34.82 billion to N2.506 trillion from N2.471 trillion on Thursday.
During the session, the volume of trades went up by 180.8 per cent to 1.2 million units from 417,349 units, and the value of transactions increased by 29.8 per cent to N29.8 million from N23.2 million, while the number of deals fell by 22.6 per cent to 24 deals from 31 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.8 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.9 million units valued at N1.9 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
By Dipo Olowookere
The bears overpowered the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday, sinking it further by 0.76 per cent when the closing gong was struck by 4 pm.
The nation’s flagship equity market was under selling pressure during the session, as investors booked profits after the shares witnessed price appreciation in the past trading sessions.
The energy sector was the most impacted, as it shed 4.43 per cent. The consumer goods index declined by 0.90 per cent, the banking counter decreased by 0.15 per cent, and the industrial goods sector lost 0.08 per cent, while the insurance counter gained 2.42 per cent, which was not enough to salvage the situation.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,912.19 points to 250,330.92 points from 252,243.11 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by 1.225 trillion to N160.444 trillion from N161.669 trillion.
Zichis was the worst-performing stock for the session after it gave up 9.97 per cent to close at N29.43, FTN Cocoa slipped by 9.95 per cent to N8.96, The Initiates slumped by 9.90 per cent to N32.30, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank tumbled by 9.88 per cent to N3.83, and International Energy Insurance dropped 9.71 per cent to trade at N2.79.
The best-performing stock was ABC Transport, which grew by 10.00 per cent to N6.27. May and Baker also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N47.30, SCOA Nigeria surged by 9.98 per cent to N33.05, Trans-Nationwide Express expanded by 9.97 per cent to N7.06, and DAAR Communications jumped 9.76 per cent to N2.25.
Yesterday, investors traded 1.1 billion shares worth N44.3 billion in 65,744 deals compared with the 1.0 billion shares valued at N41.6 billion transacted in 74,822 deals a day earlier. This indicated a dip in the number of deals by 12.13 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 10.00 per cent and 6.49 per cent, respectively.
Chams was the busiest equity for the day, with 328.5 million units sold for N1.1 billion. UBA traded 61.6 million units worth N2.7 billion, First Holdco transacted 58.7 million units valued at N4.2 billion, Secure Electronic Technology exchanged 51.9 million units worth N45.0 million, and Access Holdings traded 51.8 million units valued at N1.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The last trading session of the week at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) ended on a negative note for the Naira on Friday, May 15, as it lost N15 Kobo or 0.1 per cent against the Dollar to trade at N1,371.04/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,370.89/$1.
However, it further appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N20.77 to close at N1,830.61/£1 versus Thursday’s value of N1,851.38/£1, and gained N7.91 against the Euro to settle at N1,595.07/€1 versus N1,602.98/€1.
At the GTBank FX desk, the Naira lost N2 against the US Dollar during the session to sell at N1,383/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,381/$1, and at the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,385/$1.
The Naira is forecast to be broadly stable, supported by Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amid steady, higher oil receipts, with the market settling into a balance.
Policy direction is also expected to give the market some boost as the CBN said the new edition of the FX market guidelines will deepen liquidity, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in the country’s foreign exchange market.
According to the Governor of the CBN, Mr Yemi Cardoso, the update is due to changing global economic realities, domestic reforms and the need for a more coherent and forward-looking regulatory framework. According to him, the last edition of the FX manual was issued in 2018, making the latest review both timely and necessary.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market plunged into the red zone as rising bond yields hit risk assets across markets, while traders are increasingly betting the Federal Reserve may need to raise rates again. Rising energy prices and resurging inflation could force central banks back into tightening mode.
Cardano (ADA) shrank by 4.4 per cent to $0.2557, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 3.7 per cent to $0.1104, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.41, Solana (SOL) crashed by 3.5 per cent to $87.81, and Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 3.4 per cent to $659.64.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 2.6 per cent to $78,547.49, Ethereum (ETH) lost 2.1 per cent to quote at $2,209.19, and TRON (TRX) tumbled by 0.7 per cent to $0.3509, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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