BUSINESS ROUNDUP: NNPCL warns against panic-buying; TCN restores collapsed national grid; Other stories

Hello, and welcome to Business Roundup this week. Here, we bring you highlights of events that happened during the week —from the capital market to the mainstream business activities, while not forgetting the tech/economy build up.

Here are the Headlines:

• PH refinery takes delivery of 475,000 barrels of crude oil from Shell

• TCN restores collapsed national grid

• Oyo, Kaduna, C’Rivers to get AfDB’s $540m for food security

• NNPCL warns against panic-buying

• FCMB launches accelerator programme to empower SMEs

Summary

After several years of dormancy, it appears the Port Harcourt refinery is set for a restart as Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited (SPDC) has disclosed that it delivered 475,000 barrels of crude oil to the refinery this week.

The Port Harcourt Refinery, one of Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries, has endured extensive neglect and deterioration over the years.

A $1.5 billion rehabilitation project of the refinery was launched by former President Muhammadu Buhari administration in 2019, to restore the refinery to its nameplate capacity of 210,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Following a report by Ripples Nigeria of the graveyard silence by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) over the latest collapse of the national grid that has thrown Nigerians into darkness, the company has confirmed the “full restoration” of the national grid.

In a statement titled “Partial System Disturbance Today At 11:21hrs, Grid Fully Restored” subsequently issued by TCN’s Public Affairs General Manager, Ndidi Mbah, she said the blackout followed partial disturbance experienced by the grid at about 11:21Hours on Sunday.

The statement noted that the incident affected the Ibom power station, feeding Eket, Ekim, Itu and Uyo transmission substations.

All is set for the African Development Bank (AfDB) to commence the disbursement of $540 million to the first phase of states in Nigeria for the development of Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs).

This is part of moves by the Nigerian government and the bank to ensure food security in the country.

Three states, Oyo, Kaduna and Cross River are to benefit from phase one of the development of processing zones, while others are to get theirs as soon as they are through with documentation.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has ruled out an increase in the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol.

The company’s clarification followed the reappearance of long queues in different filling stations in Lagos State and other parts of the country.

In a statement issued on Thursday, NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, assured Nigerians there was no immediate plan to increase product price by the company.

In a bid to reduce green house emission, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in Abuja, the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory on Monday unveiled an alliance with the United States Department of States and the global management consultancy firm, Deloitte.

This collaborative effort is aimed at achieving net-zero carbon objectives through the initiation of a project focused on reducing methane and other greenhouse gas emissions originating from the company’s upstream operations.

This development was announced in an official statement by Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC Ltd.

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has launched an accelerator programme to upskill and grow over one million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.

Partnering with SkillPaddy and other industry experts, the bank aims to equip startups and existing businesses with the skills and resources to develop innovative products and services, create new markets and fast-track their growth.

The bank aims to upskill about one million SMEs through a Technical Assistance grant of ₦284.7 million from Proparco (the private-sector arm of the French Development Agency) and another ₦227 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

ON NGX ROUND UP: Stock market rebounds from trading losses as investors make N345bn

The Nigerian stock market rebounded from the four-day consecutive losses with a N345 billion growth in shareholders’ investments at the close of trading on Friday.

This followed the growth in the market capitalization to N55.7tr from N55.3tr posted by the bourse the previous day.

For the first time this week, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased to 101,858.37 from 101,227.42 recorded on Thursday

ON TECH SCENE: Pennylane, Atlantic Money, CAMB.AI, Rize, The Digital Hotelier, Klas, are some of the names that made the headlines this week.

Paris-based accounting firm, Pennylane, has raised $43 million in Series C funding from existing investors DST and Sequoia, catapulting the company into unicorn status.

Also, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has secured a position on the Digital Innovation Board of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development, overseen by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), joining 17 other distinguished members in this role.

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