Dangote refinery will save Nigeria $3bn forex annually – Emefiele – Newstrends
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Dangote refinery will save Nigeria $3bn forex annually – Emefiele

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Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has said the country will save about $3bn of foreign exchange being spent on petroleum imports annually when Dangote refinery is fully operational.

He said the latest records showed petroleum products took about 25 per cent of the nation’s total imports.

Emefiele spoke during an inspection of the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, on Friday.

He was accompanied on the visit by some banks chief executives.

Dangote Fertilizer Limited has also disclosed the formal commencement of production of urea in commercial quantity and plan to hit the Nigerian market on Monday.

The CBN governor said the bank was introducing initiatives to support indigenous producers to stimulate local production and preserve forex in the country. He added, “Imagine if this refinery comes to life, hopefully by first quarter of next year, where we have propylene, polyethylene, granules and other by-products from petrochemicals, we will be saving about $3bn worth of import annually.

He said, “For me, that is extremely gratifying. Don’t forget that I keep asking what is the contribution of import to our GDP? Contribution of import to GDP is negative. And if we can reduce our import by about $3bn annually, imagine how our GDP will be growing. That is the sence behind what we are doing. Reduce imports and produce things we can make locally and consume locally, thereby promoting solid import substitution.”

Emefiele said Nigeria had the potential to export at least 3.5 metric tonnes of urea to different parts of the world. He said, “Nigeria needs between one metric tonnes and 1.5 metric tonnes of urea to meet local demand. So, we have potential to export at least three to four metrics tonnes of urea to different parts of the world.

“With this latest development, Nigeria now ranks among leading countries in Urea production in the world. This, for me is a story no one would have believed will happen in Nigeria.”

The CBN governor said the petrochemical and refinery plant would commence operation by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, Mr Herbert Wigwe, expressed joy for the support they gave to Dangote to create a world-class manufacturing enterprise in Nigeria.

President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, thanked the Nigerian banks for believing in his dreams and supporting his initiatives.

He said, “This Phase 1 of the project, which is estimated to cost $2.5bn, is to manufacture 3mmtpa of urea per annum.

“This capacity will later be expanded to produce multi grades of fertilisers to meet soil, crop and climate specific requirements for the African continent.”

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CBN raises commercial banks’ capital base to N500bn

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CBN raises commercial banks’ capital base to N500bn

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased the minimum capital requirements for commercial, merchant and non-interest banks.

The CBN increased the capital base for commercial banks with international licences to N500 billion, while national and regional financial institutions’ capital bases were fixed at N200 billion and N50 billion, respectively.

This was announced in a statement on Thursday, noting that the increase was due to prevailing macroeconomic challenges and headwinds.

The statement signed by Haruna Mustafa, director, financial policy and regulation department at the CBN.

It said the upward review would enhance the banks’ resilience, solvency and capacity to continue to support the growth of the Nigerian economy.

Also, the CBN raised the merchant bank minimum capital requirement to N50 billion for national licence holders.

The financial regulator said the capital base for national and regional non-interest banks is N20 billion and N10 billion, respectively.

To meet the minimum capital requirements, the CBN advised banks to consider the injection of “fresh equity capital through private placements, rights issue and/or offer for subscription”.

The CBN also suggested merger and acquisition (M&A), as well as upgrade or downgrade of licences.

“The minimum capital specified above shall comprise paid-up capital and share premium only. For the avoidance of doubt, the new capital requirement shall not be based on shareholders’ funds,” it stated

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Tinubu orders creation of single-digit tax system

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Tinubu orders creation of single-digit tax system

President Bola Tinubu has directed a creation of a single-digit tax system with a maximum of nine taxes for a company or an individual.

Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, disclosed this in Abuja while speaking with the management team of Guinness Nigeria who paid him a visit.

A statement on Wednesday by Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman, quoted Adedeji as saying, “The President gave a directive that he wants a single-digit tax in the country, meaning that the maximum number of taxes we will have after the work of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms will be nine taxes.”

The statement added that the plan was aimed at having a conducive environment “created for businesses to flourish and grow the economy.”

 

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Naira gains further against dollar

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Naira gains further against dollar

The Naira rose further in the official market on Tuesday, trading at N1,382.95 to the dollar.

According to data from the FMDQ’s official trading portal, the Naira rose by N25.09, or 1.78 percent, from the previous day’s rate of N1,408 versus the dollar.

On Tuesday, total turnover was $245.58 million, up from $222.15 million on Monday.

Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporters (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1,486 and N1,300 against the dollar.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had, earlier on Tuesday at its 294th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), raised Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 200 basis points from 22.75 per cent to 24.75 per cent.

CBN governor Yemi Cardoso said that was meant to tackle the nation’s rising inflation.

Naira gains further against dollar

(NAN)

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