BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Shell sells SPDC for $2.4bn; Nigerian govt to continues electricity subsidy; 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

• Shell sells SPDC to Renaissance for $2.4bn
• Reprieve for Glo subscribers as NCC shelves plans to bar network
• Nigerian govt to continue electricity subsidy
• GSK secures SEC approval to delist N20bn worth of stocks from NGX

Summary

Dutch oil giant, Shell has assured workers that their jobs are safe as it reaches an agreement to sell its Nigerian onshore subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), to Renaissance For $2.4bn.

Renaissance is a consortium of five firms made up of four exploration and production companies based in Nigeria and also an international energy group.

“Completion of the transaction is subject to approvals by the Federal Government of Nigeria and other conditions,” Shell said in a Tuesday statement on its website.

Subscribers on the Globacom Limited platform can now heave a sigh of relief as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has suspended its plan to bar the network’s subscribers from calling MTN lines for 21 days.

The NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Mouka, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

READ ALSO:BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Glo, MTN bicker over interconnect charges; Nigeria ranks 6th with cheapest petrol price in Africa; Other stories

He said the commission suspended the action after the two companies agreed to resolve all outstanding issues between them.

The Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Mr. Sanusi Garba, said on Wednesday the Federal Government would continue to subsidise electricity to ease the financial burden on Nigerians.

Garba, who stated this at a news conference in Abuja, said the commission had spelt out what the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) are allowed to charge in the new tariff if they are to remain in service.

He said: “The government has decided for now, arising from the cost of living crisis and so many others, to in the meantime continue to subsidise electricity.

The Board of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc (GSK) has announced that the company whose market capitalization is worth N20.1bn has received the nod of the Securities and Exchange Commission of its scheme of arrangement which will result in delisting from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

The approval follows the Court Ordered Meeting held on December 5, 2023 – at which the shareholders of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc approved the proposed Scheme of Arrangement.

This was contained in the company’s Notice to the NGX and investing Public on Thursday, January 18, 2024.

ON NGX ROUND UP: NGX:May & Baker, Dangote lead trading as investors gain N1.45tr

Investors in the Nigerian equities market pocketed N1.45 trillion at the close of trading on Friday.

This followed an increase in market capitalization by N1.4 trillion to N51.7 trillion from N50.290 trillion posted by the bourse the previous day.

Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased to 94,538.12 from 91,896.97 recorded on Thursday.

ON TECH SCENE: Droobi Health, Smit.fit, Meta, Accelerate Africa, Google Maps, MasterCard, Illicocash Locofy, Dawa Mkononi, Apple, Kia America Inc., are some of the names that made the headlines this week.

Venture capitalist Iyin Aboyeji, founder of Future Africa, and Mia von Koschitzky-Kimani, Managing Partner, are gearing up to launch Accelerate Africa, an accelerator fueled by a $750,000 grant from USAID.

Also, India’s Deputy IT Minister, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has issued a stern warning to tech companies, indicating readiness to impose bans if they do not actively address the issue of deepfake videos.

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