Economy
SONA Group Bolsters Nigeria’s Economy with Backward Integration
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
One of the leading manufacturing companies in Nigeria, SONA Group, has reiterated its commitment to supporting the various policies of federal government aimed at making the economy better.
One of the policies by government aimed at achieving this goal is the backward integration, where manufacturing firms operating in the country are encouraged to source for their materials locally.
As a major manufacturing company, SONA Group has vast product scope, panning across its 10 subsidiary companies, including Shongai Packaging Industry Limited, Euro Global Foods and Distilleries Ltd, Sona Agro Allied Foods Ltd, among others.
From March 12 – 14, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in conjunction with Clarion Events West Africa, organised the 2019 Manufacturing & Equipment Expo at the Landmark Exhibition Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
SONA Group was one of the exhibitors, where it showcased the company’s distinctive range of products and equipment to stakeholders.
Some of the products exhibited include Maltonic, Aqua Euro Water, high resilient injection moulded plastic pallets, Golden Choco Drink, Happy Family basins and buckets, cosmetic jars, storage crates and a host of others.
Speaking on the sole purpose of SONA’s participation at this year’s expo, Chief Operating Officer of SONA Group, Mr Ashok Manghnani, stated that, “We participate annually to display our products and innovations and in every edition, we have new additions to our line of products. We have some interesting products we recently introduced and the expo is a great platform to showcase them.
“A lot of people, including other manufacturers and consumers frequently visit our stand to take product samples which then go into the market. Umpteen times, many return for further enquiries, which in turn increases our visibility in the market space.”
Among the company’s new additions to its exhibition at this year’s expo is a variety of wafer and biscuits which include Milkie Bar Wafer, Duo Choco Wafers and Digestive Cookies; all manufactured by Sona Agro Allied Foods Ltd. The premium quality wafers are available in two sizes; 50g and 22g which are sold at affordable prices.
A new addition is the Happy Home line of dustbins which are designed to provide a more efficient way to store waste in the office and homes. Manufactured by Shongai Packaging Industry Limited, the dustbins come with a set of unique features, including reinforced rubber tyres with anti-skid serrations which precludes uneven or irregular rotation, sleek inside walls, which allows for easy discarding of waste and easy cleaning, strong body for durability, specially designed lid that enables easy lifting and prevents the ingression of water. Other noteworthy inclusions include sorghum flour, chocolates and plastic pallets.
The company revealed the ingredients for its products including the dustbins and wafers are locally sourced; partnering and supporting local employment to drive growth towards its Nigerian-made products portfolio. Also, with the implementation of Backward Integration in its manufacturing processes, SONA Group aims to bolster Nigeria’s economic growth by locally sourcing for over 90% of its raw materials used in production in all its subsidiaries.
Expounding SONA Group’s Backward Integration, Mr Manghnani commented “We strongly believe in the use of Backward Integration to maximize the quality of our products at SONA Group. A typical example is our line of biscuits and drinks as we manufacture the packaging and labels ourselves – we also manufacture labels and packaging for several other companies both local and multinationals, which sets us apart in the industry. We understand the imperativeness of agricultural development in Nigeria, hence we support local farmers, buying over 40, 000 tons of sorghum from the north.”
“We currently have two recycling plants where plastic wastes are processed into raw materials which are then used to manufacture our wide range of plastic products. This significantly truncates the cost of production, enabling us sell the products at incredibly affordable rates in the market. This, coupled with our backward integration directly improves the economy,” he added.
Further speaking on SONA Group’s contribution to economic and technological advancement in Nigeria, Ashok said “We espouse the use of technological advancement to harness the production of high quality products and as such, we do not settle for cheap machines at SONA Group.
“We import the latest cutting-edge industrial machines from Germany and Europe and participate in exhibitions whenever new technologies are invented or introduced, so as to provide our Nigerian consumers with utmost quality products.
“With all of this in place, we will continue to contribute substantially to the overall growth of the Nigerian economy.”
Other manufacturing companies at this year’s Manufacturing & Equipment Expo include Bank of Industry, Dangote, Procter & Gamble, Rite Foods, Real People Concept, West Africa Ceramics Limited, Wahum Group, Briscoe and several more.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the law establishing the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC).
The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after the Senate considered and adopted the report of its committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East, who presented the report, stated that the proposed legislation was necessary because the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become outdated and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or global regulatory standards.
According to the Senate, the decision to change the Commission’s name was informed by the need to eliminate confusion associated with the existing designation and to better reflect the institution’s regulatory mandate within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The bill also provides legal protection for the commission and its officers against adverse claims arising from the lawful execution of their statutory duties.
However, he noted that the commission’s enabling law had become obsolete, exposing significant regulatory gaps that required urgent legislative intervention.
‘The current National Insurance Commission Act 1997 is outdated and does not adequately address the emerging economic growth, needs and development of the insurance business,” the lawmaker said.
He explained that the new legislation seeks to strengthen the independence of the commission by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue influence in the country’s insurance sector.
According to him, the bill also enhances the commission’s authority to exchange information and collaborate with domestic and international regulatory bodies, issue regulations, guidelines, standards and directives on insurance-related matters, and intervene more effectively in financially distressed insurance companies to protect policyholders and preserve financial stability.
This marks yet another move to strengthen the country’s insurance sector following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) of 2025 and the industry-wide recapitalisation exercise, which will wrap up by July 31.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
