SEC Authorises MTN Nigeria to Sell 575 million Shares to Public

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has exempted imported Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and its equipment from the payment of customs duty and value-added tax (VAT), a move expected to result in a drop in the cost of cooking gas in the country and bring much-needed succour to Nigerians. This was disclosed by the Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, in a letter (dated November 28, 2023) to the Special Adviser to the President on Energy; the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS); and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Recall that in 2019, the federal

By Adedapo Adesanya The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to disclose Nigeria’s daily oil production and exports as well as the total amounts of revenue generated from oil since the removal of subsidy on petrol in mid-2023. In a letter dated December 9, 2023, the group asked the chief executive of the NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, “to disclose how much of the revenues generated from oil have been remitted to the public treasury since the removal of subsidy on petrol.” He was also requested “to disclose details of payment of

By Adedapo Adesanya The President of the Dangote Group, the owners of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals plant, Mr Aliko Dangote, has said that following the purchase of 1 million barrels of Agbami crude grade from Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (STASCO), it will be looking to ramp up its production in coming months. The 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery is not expected to hit full capacity until 2025, but with a gradual ramping, it is expected that it will begin with begin producing up to 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel. “We

By Aduragbemi Omiyale One of the players in the personal healthcare and consumer goods sectors, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, has published a list of its shareholders with unclaimed dividends. Unclaimed dividends are cash rewards given to investors, mainly from the profits from the company’s operations, but are yet to be collected by the beneficiaries. This has been a major source of sleepless nights for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is working to bring down the number of unclaimed dividends. It has been reported that the value of unclaimed dividends in the nation’s stock market is over N185 billion.

By Dipo Olowookere Analysts at ARM Research have disclosed that beyond 2017, they expect a more improved performance by Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc (Seplat). In its report released yesterday titled ‘Seplat Plc – In the clear,’ ARM research noted that starting off in 2018, it expects the company’s exports to rise largely reflecting the planned completion of the Escravos pipeline which offer a third export route for the company. ARM Research said it revised its estimates for Seplat and increased its fair value estimate (FVE) to N518.74/share (previously N346/share) after the lifting of the force majeure on the TransForcados

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has launched an enhanced e-passport in the United Kingdom to improve the passport application process for Nigerians at home and in the diaspora. This was disclosed in a statement by Mr Sola Fasure, Media Adviser to the Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, following the official rollout at the Nigerian High Commission in London, United Kingdom. The Minister said the Nigerian passport is the highest affirmation of Nigerian citizenship, and therefore it is the responsibility of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to provide the passport without any stress, within a reasonable

By Adedapo Adesanya As the relationship between social media giant, Twitter, and billionaire businessman, Mr Elon Musk, turns sour, the company on Thursday said the notion Elon Musk was “hoodwinked” into inking a $44 billion buyout deal defies reason and the facts. In a filing, Twitter rejected counterclaims made by Mr Musk as he fights to walk away from the deal he inked in April to buy the San Francisco-based company. “According to Musk, he – the billionaire founder of multiple companies, advised by Wall Street bankers and lawyers – was hoodwinked by Twitter into signing a $44 billion merger

By Dipo Olowookere Kwara State government has described as outright falsehood media reports that it received N9 billion as its share of the London-Paris Loan Club refund from the federal government. Reacting on behalf of the government, Commissioner for Finance, Mr Demola Banu, explained that the state government has only received and declared N5 billion so far from the federal government but was yet to receive the balance of about N3.7 billion. He emphasized however that the state government is in the process of getting the Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja to process and release the balance. Providing further explanation,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Africa’s newest satellite network, Kwesé TV, has commenced its Pay-TV satellite service, beaming Kwesé’s full suite of superior entertainment and sports programming to households in Ghana, Rwanda and Zambia, which make up the initial phase of the Kwesé TV rollout across Africa, as other countries will be announced in due course. Viewers in these countries can now access Kwesé TV via Kwesé’s own satellite and set-top-box (decoder) available at leading retailers. Kwesé TV launched with a full-suite of top-shelf content which is unprecedented for a new broadcaster. Having already showcased its impressive portfolio of sports assets on

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Nigerian equity market closed out last week on a bright note, climbing 115bps to notch a 105bps w/w gain. Market sentiment at the end of last week was largely positive – evidenced by markedly positive market breadth and a strong green close. We expect this sentiment to lift the ASI in today’s session. Last week, Julius Berger released its Q1’18 results, reporting revenue of N35 billion (+3% y/y), 7% below our estimate and PAT of N1.5 billion (Q1’17: N420 million LAT) – 94% above estimates. The stock gained 487bps on Friday to close at N26.90 and

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has said that it would address and resolve the issues hindering the installation of lights on Lagos airport runway 18L/36R (domestic airway). It was gathered that the AirField Lighting on Runway 18 Left at the airport has been uninstalled for the past 13 years and has prevented aircraft from landing or taking off when it is dark on the runway. The unserviceable state of the runway lights had, in June, forced British Airways to divert all its flights out of London to enable it to land at Lagos airport in

By Dipo Olowookere Foodies and food vendors in the country are currently excited on the commencement of a Food Festival Campaign organised by Jumia Nigeria. The festival was put together to promote the adoption of a meal and food ordering among consumers, which has become increasingly popular in the last few years in three major cities of Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The event hopes to support restaurant businesses and the overall food ecosystem, as these have been severely affected by COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, resulting in less capacity, fewer opening hours, and sometimes shutdowns. According to the organisers, the food