APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that Nigeria and Angola have opposed a reduction in their crude oil production quotas by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that Nigeria and Angola have opposed a reduction in their crude oil production quotas by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that OPEC was no closer to resolving the deadlock over oil production quotas for some African members that had already forced the group to delay a critical meeting amid faltering prices, according to delegates.
The report stated that the Saudi-led alliance had not been able to reach an agreement with Angola and Nigeria, which were pushing back against lower quota limits for 2024 that reflect their diminished production capabilities, delegates told Bloomberg, asking not to be named because the information was private.
The stalemate may not be resolved before the scheduled OPEC meeting on November 30, 2023, potentially requiring a further delay, one delegate said.
OPEC and its partners need to finalise production policy for 2024, with market watchers predicting that further cuts were needed as crude prices sag toward $80 per barrel on the prospect of a renewed surplus.
Saudi Arabia, which has been making a voluntary oil production reduction of one million barrels per day since July, is asking other members of the coalition to reduce their quotas to share the burden of cuts.
Angola and Nigeria are disputing changes to their oil production targets that were provisionally agreed when OPEC last met in June.
The newspaper says that the Presidency on Tuesday expressed support for the banking sector consolidation initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria, saying it would help the country to grow the economy to a new height.
This came barely five days after the CBN said it would ask banks to raise new capital.
According to the Presidency, it has become important to consider the capital adequacy of Nigerian banks in light of the projected $1tn economy in eight years.
Representing President Bola Tinubu at the 40th Anniversary Celebration of The Guardian Newspapers in Lagos on Tuesday, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said there would be a strong need to revisit the capital adequacy levels of banks
Onanuga said, “On the economy, that is facing all of us, our ambition to attain the $1tn appears daunting but we believe that it is achievable with God on our side and our collective determine. This explains the reason the VP and I have been on the road trying to attract huge investments into various phases of our economy; agriculture, oil and gas and others.
“To arrive at the $1tn economy, we must address the capital adequacy of our banks that will prepare the fuel for this journey.”
At the 58th annual Bankers’ Dinner last Friday, CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, had said a stress test performed on Nigerian banks revealed that while they would withstand mild to moderate stress, they would be unable to service a $1tn economy projected by Tinubu in seven years, hence the need for recapitalisation.
The Guardian reports that the inability of Nigeria to feed itself in the face of rising population and over $6.7 trillion natural resources may increase the food import burden to $110 billion in the next two years, the President of African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said yesterday.
Barley three months after Nigeria through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited took a $3 billion crude-backed loan from the African Export–Import Bank, Adesina, who spoke at the Public Lecture marking The Guardian’s 40th Anniversary, kicked against such debts, saying they remained non-transparent, expensive and would not help Africa.
Amidst rising closure of factories across Nigeria and suffocating small businesses, Adesina also said Nigeria and Africa must begin to think more strategically to lift its people out of extreme poverty. He attributed the widespread poverty to Africa’s export of raw materials, which he described as “the door to poverty”. The desired prosperity, he said, could only come through value addition and industrialisation.
Although he noted that AfDB has invested over $8 billion in agriculture over the past seven years, which has improved food security for 250 million people, over 283 million people still go hungry to beds on the continent.
Already, the United Nations said 37 per cent of children or six million children are stunted (chronically malnourished or low height for their age).Adesina insisted that the continent must do more than simply produce more food and agricultural commodities, stressing that Africa, which accounts for 65 per cent of the production of cocoa, receives only two per cent of the $120 billion chocolate industry.
“While African farmers languish in poverty, chocolate processors smile to the bank. One is condemned to penury and the other creates wealth,” he said.
The ex-agriculture minister, while rejecting the notion that countries become poor when they have natural resources, said the so-called resource curse has not applied to Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Norway.
The newspaper says that President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to give him authorisation to borrow $8,699,168,559 and €100 million to carry out critical projects across the country.
The President’s request was contained in a letter read at commencement of plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, yesterday. Tinubu, in the letter, explained that the request was part of the Federal Government’s 2022-2024 external borrowing plan approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
He said the projects cut across different sectors of the economy and were selected based on economic evaluation and expected contribution to the country’s development.
The letter reads: “I write in respect of the above subject and to submit the attached: the Federal Government’s 2022-2024 external borrowing plan, for consideration and early approval of the National Assembly to ensure prompt implementation of the projects.
“The Senate may wish to note that the past administration approved a 2022-2024 borrowing plan by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) held on May 15, 2023.
“The projects cut across all sectors, with specific emphasis on infrastructure, agriculture, health, water supply, roads, security, and employment generation as well as financial management reforms.”
GIK/APA