Annual Africa Week Kicks Off in New York

By Adedapo Adesanya The Norwegian Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) leasing firm, BW Offshore, has closed the transaction for the sale of the Nigerian vessel, Abo FPSO, after several short-term charter extensions for $20 million. FPSO refers to a floating vessel located near an offshore oil field, where oil is processed and stored until it can be transferred to a tanker for transporting and additional refining. BW Offshore closed the transaction for the sale of Abo FPSO to STAC Marine Offshore Limited, a member of the Nigerian Transport Group (STAC). As part of the transaction, BW Offshore has entered

By Bliss Okperan The Sokoto State Election Petition Tribunal will on Saturday, September 30, 2023, deliver a judgement on the petition filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the governorship election in the state, Mr Sa’idu Umar. Mr Umar challenged the victory of the Governor of Sokoto State, Mr Ahmed Aliyu, who contested the poll under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He said Mr Aliyu was not qualified to partake in the poll and also alleged electoral fraud during the March 18 governorship election. In a press release, the court stated that, “Take

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has been chosen as the best federal government agency in Digital Transformation. This recognition came from the Presidency through the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR). In a statement, it was disclosed that the Director-General of the maritime regulator, Mr Bashir Jamoh, has been nominated to receive the distinguished GovTech Trailblazers Award for his exemplary leadership. The BPSR explained that the nominees were picked from a nationwide nomination and online voting process initiated by the bureau, as well as a detailed analysis of the performance of all government MDAs

By Precious Olisa Three Nigerian women entrepreneurs have been selected among 24 finalists for the 2023 African Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) awards. The Nigerians are the CEO of Bridge Merchant Enterprise (Agri Entrepreneur Award), Ms Chinwendu Nweke; the CEO of Clean Technology Hub (Energy Entrepreneur Award), Ms Ifeoma Malo; and the co-founder/CEO of D-Olivette Global Enterprise, (Social Entrepreneur Award), Ms Damilola Aminat Adeyemi. Launched in 2017, the annual AWIEF Awards is an initiative to recognise, honour, and celebrate women entrepreneurs and business owners in Africa across various industry sectors for their achievements and contribution to the continent’s inclusive

By Dipo Olowookere The board of Dangote Flour Mills Plc has announced the postponement of the company’s 2019 Annual General Meeting (AGM) earlier slated for this month. In a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) the flour miller said though it has no specific date this gathering of shareholders would take place, it was optimistic it should occur before December 21, 2019. Explaining the rationale behind the cancellation of the AGM, the board said it was because of the Court-Ordered Meeting (COM) scheduled to hold on October 14, 2019 in Lagos. “Based on the forthcoming Court Ordered Meeting, the

Nigeria’s first credit Rating Agency and a pan African leader in credit reports, Agusto & Co. limited whose strong credibility presence and ratings are globally accepted in Nigeria, and across the globe has just assigned an “A” rating to FSDH Merchant Bank Limited. The rating assigned to FSDH Merchant Bank Limited is underpinned by good capitalisation, good liquidity, good profitability and an experienced management team. The rating is however constrained by a concentration in the loan book, inflexible funding and the fragile state of the Nigerian economy, Agusto said in a statement. During the 2018 financial year, FSDH’s profitability strengthened

By Adedapo Adesanya President Muhammadu Buhari departed Abuja Tuesday for Madrid, Spain as head of an 11-man delegation on a state visit to the European country. The visit to the European nation is at the invitation of the Spanish President, Mr Pedro Sanchez, and will be expected back in the country on Friday, June 3. According to a release issued by his Media Adviser, Mr Femi Adesina on Tuesday, during the visit, the first by the Nigerian leader, President Buhari meet with the Head of State of the Spanish nation, His Majesty King Felipe VI. During his engagements with both

By Adedapo Adesanya The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and Association of Distributors and Transporters of Petroleum Products (ADITOP) have urged their members not to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) above N165 per litre. This is coming after some members of IPMAN in Lagos urged their members to sell fuel above N180 per litre. Yesterday, the IPMAN National President, Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo, said his members earlier briefed him on why they wanted a price hike. Mr Okoronkwo said that the federal government had released enough fuel from their depot which enabled them to maintain the status quo. He

A while ago, Business Post reported a story of an explosion at Iju-Ishaga under the Ifako Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos State. We have now received more updates on the unfortunate incident, which has caused panic in the area and its environs, including Akute, Fagba and others. It was gathered that the explosion, which precisely occurred at Cele Bus stop, Iju Ishaga on Thursday afternoon, was allegedly caused by a truck conveying gasoline. This was confirmed by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) through a situation report of the event signed by Mr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, DG/CEO of the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has charged the Port & Cargo Handling Services (P&CHS) Limited to fast track its port automation processes in order to have seamless cargo evacuation at the terminal. Speaking when the management of the NSC paid a courtesy visit to the P&CHS, Executive Secretary of the NSC, Mr Hassan Bello, said the company has to improve its operations in terms of efficiency, as it takes a cargo about four months to exit the terminal via barges based on the reports received by NSC. According to him, P&CHS scored 25 per cent out of

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria could benefit from the experience of countries that have been successful in attracting foreign direct investments (FDIs) into their manufacturing sectors as long as it follows some tested and proven strategies, says the African Development Bank (AfDB). This is cogent as Nigeria witnessed Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into the country turned negative by $187 million, according to the United Nations. The first time in 33 years. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first three months of this year, FDIs contributed just $47.60 million or 4.2 per cent of the capital inflows into the

By Investors Hub Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday as oil extended a steep drop from the previous session and investors looked ahead to the release of U.S. Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report. Markets in China and Japan remained closed for holidays. U.S. employment is expected to increase by 185,000 jobs in April following the addition of 196,000 jobs in March, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.8 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 137.37 points or 0.5 percent to 30,081.55 as the U.S. and China ended their latest round of trade negotiations in