Business

Name those behind oil theft, Elumelu tells FG

Published

4 months ago

August 11, 2024

Name those behind oil theft, Elumelu tells FG

Renowned businessman, Tony Elumelu, has challenged the Federal Government and security agents to name and shame those stealing the country’s crude oil.
He stated this in a new interview he granted the Financial Times.
He noted that the menace contributed to the divestment of international oil companies in Nigeria.
According to him, international oil companies started divesting from onshore assets after criminal gangs began stealing crude from his pipelines.
Elumelu who is the chairman of the United Bank for Africa and Transcorp, said, “This is oil theft, we’re not talking about stealing a bottle of Coke you can put in your pocket.
“The government should know, they should tell us. Look at America — Donald Trump was shot at and quickly they knew the background of who shot him.
“Our security agencies should tell us who is stealing our oil. You bring vessels to our territorial waters and we don’t know?”
The 61-year-old founder of Heirs Holdings recalled how the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari allegedly stopped him from acquiring an oilfield.
He said Heirs Holdings had been looking to purchase the oilfield since 2017, having raised $2.5bn to purchase a different one.
He said he was told Nigeria could not allow something of such strategic importance to fall into the hands of a private operator.
“This defied logic,” he added since he would have been purchasing it from a foreign company.
Elumelu disclosed that his decision to buy a 45 per cent stake in an oilfield three years ago when international oil companies were selling off their shallow water assets in Nigeria was to give the country energy security in the face of low power supply.
He said, “We wanted to become a Fortune 500 company and we estimated what we needed. It’s not naira, it’s huge dollars. Energy security is crucial for a country that doesn’t produce enough electricity for its roughly 200 million citizens.”

Business

PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency

Published

6 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

Port Harcourt Refinery

PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency

No fewer than 200 trucks are set to load petroleum products at the government-owned Port Harcourt Refinery, the presidency has said.

A presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, made this known in a statement through his official X handle on Tuesday.

Newstrends had reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company on Tuesday announced that Port Harcourt Refinery has resumed operations and crude oil processing after years of inactivity.

PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency

Business

Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%

Published

7 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the lending interest to 27.50 per cent from 27.25 per cent.

This latest increase in the Monetary Policy Rate came after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday and concluded Tuesday.

The Monetary Policy Rate measures the benchmark interest rate.

The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, announced this in Abuja on Tuesday after the MPC meeting, last for the year, held at the apex bank’s headquarters.

He said the MPC voted unanimously to raise the MPR by 25 basis points from 27.25% to 27.50%; and retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50% for Deposit Money Banks and 16% for Merchant Banks.

The CBN governor also said the MPC retained the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.

Business

Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS

Published

11 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS

Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said in its latest report.

The report released on Monday said the unemployment rate decreased compared to the 5.3 per cent recorded in the Q1 of 2024.

The NBS defined the unemployment rate as the share of the labour force (the combination of unemployed and employed people) who are not employed but actively searching and are available for work.

“The unemployment rate for Q2 2024 was 4.3%, showing an increase of 0.1 percentage point compared to the same period last year,” the report stated.

“The unemployment rate among males was 3.4% and 5.1% among females.

“By place of residence, the unemployment rate was 5.2% in urban areas and 2.8% in rural areas. Youth unemployment rate was 6.5% in Q2 2024, showing a decrease from 8.4% in Q1 2024.”

Report also said the unemployment rate among persons with post-secondary education was 4.8 per cent; 8.5 per cent among those with upper secondary education, 5.8 per cent for those with lower secondary education, and 2.8 per cent among those with primary education in Q2 2024.

Employment rate – 76%

The report showed that the employment-to-population ratio, which measures the number of employed workers against the total working-age population, increased to 76.1 per cent in Q2 2024.

“In Q2 2024, 76.1% of Nigeria’s working-age population was employed, up from 73.1% in Q1 2024,” the report stated.

Self-employment – 85.6%

The report further showed that Nigeria’s labour market saw a notable shift as the proportion of self-employed individuals increased in Q2 2024.

It stated, “The proportion of persons in self-employment in Q2 2024 was 85.6%.”