The drop in power generation below the 4,000 megawatts mark on Tuesday amid the Eid-el-Kabir celebration and the report that the $1.5bn rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refining Company has commenced in full are some of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that power generation in Nigeria dropped below the 4,000 megawatts mark on Tuesday amid the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
The total generation in the country stood at 3,958.7MW as of 6am on Tuesday, down from 4,270.7MW on Monday, according to data obtained from the Nigerian Electricity System Operator.
On Monday, the peak generation stood at 4,611MW, while the lowest generation was 3,732.1MW, the NESO data showed.
The total energy generated on Monday was 100,974.45MW, out of which 99,272.98MW was sent out.
Although the NESO data did not state the cause of the decline in generation on Tuesday, gas and transmission constraints are the major challenges facing power stations in the country.
The newspaper says that the $1.5bn rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refining Company has commenced in full and part of the facility will start delivering refined products by September next year, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said.
NNPC officially signed the contract with Tecnimont SPA for the $1.5bn rehabilitation programme of PHRC on April 6 and parties in the agreement announced the commencement of the project.
When contacted on Tuesday to speak on the progress of work at the facility, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Kennie Obateru, assured Nigerians that some part of the facility would deliver products in September 2022.
He, however, noted that the entire rehabilitation programme would be over in 44 months, stressing that the contractor had already mobilised to site.
He said, “The work is progressing. We said it will be completed within 18 to 44 months when counting from April this year. By 18 months, some part of the refinery will be producing. The total rehabilitation job will be completed in 44 months.
“Why we said between 18 and 44 months is the fact that it will not be at the end of 44 months before the refinery starts working, but that in 18 months, some sections of the refinery will start producing.”
The Vanguard reports the Nigerian government in collaboration with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to track huge illegal movement of gold from Nigeria to Dubai.
Mr Olamilekan Adegbite, Minister of Mines and Steel Development, announced this in the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum.
According to Adegbite, Nigeria government is currently negotiating a bilateral agreement with the UAE to check every gold entering Dubai from Nigeria.
He noted that huge quantity of gold were being moved from Nigeria illegally on a daily basis to Dubai, adding that the gold passed through UAE police freely unknown to them that royalties were not paid to Nigeria.
“The UAE collect their own charges on gold that arrived in Dubai airport but Nigeria government has told UAE to ask anyone entering Dubai with Nigeria gold to present certificate of exportation got from Nigeria before allowing them to pass.
“We have agreed with UAE to seize any gold from Nigeria without certificate of exportation; we told them that the value of the gold will be shared equally as an incentive for UAE to eradicate illegal exportation of gold from Nigeria to Dubai.
“All we expected from whoever that is travelling from Nigeria to Dubai with our raw gold is to pay royalty to the Nigeria government and such person will be given certificate of exportation.
“The certificate of exportation will be automatically integrated into the Nigeria Customs Services system, our law accepts exportation of gold but royalty must be paid,” he said.
The newspaper says that the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, SCIA, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, yesterday asked the Federal Government and other leaders in the country to fear Allah and support the citizens to come out of hardship and insecurity.
His call came on a day Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, reminded all governments in Nigeria, especially the Federal Government to live up to their responsibility for the good of Nigerians.
According to ACF, Nigerians are unsafe and hungry and, therefore, need deliverance from these challenges.
The Sultan in his Sallah message in Sokoto State, said the existing hardship in the country was of great concern, adding that proper measures were required to address it.
“Nigeria leaders need to strategise, put more measures in place to address our level of poverty and insecurity, as such will further sustain the unity and peaceful co-existence that is in existence in the country.
“It is no longer a story but a reality, people are in dire need of the leaders’ commitment to addressing the high rate of poverty, insecurity, and hunger among other numerous challenges.
“Therefore, leaders should fear Allah and shoulder their responsibilities in order to enhance Nigerians’ living conditions,” he said.
On its part, Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, tasked governments to take Nigerians out of the poverty and insecurity that currently confront the.
ACF National Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, who made the call in a Sallah message, said from the local governments through the states to the Federal Government, the primary responsibility of government was to protect life and property.
ThisDay says that African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has received a set of strong credit rating affirmations and “Positive” outlooks from Moody’s, Fitch Ratings, and GCR Ratings, underlining its resilient financial position and performance.
The ratings reinforce the bank’s access to capital at a competitive cost, ensuring the continued success of key strategic initiatives to stimulate African trade.
A statement explained that Fitch revised its outlook on Afreximbank’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Positive from Stable, highlighting that the upgrade, “reflects the bank’s growing importance as the main multilateral development bank (MDB) providing funding to non-sovereign borrowers in Africa.”
The agency further affirmed the Bank’s IDR at ‘BBB-‘, its Short-Term IDR at ‘F3’ and its senior unsecured debt at ‘BBB-‘.
Fitch observes that, “the significant capital increase (USD6.5 billion, of which USD2.6 billion paid-in) approved by the board of directors in June this year highlights the increased strategic relevance of the bank for its African shareholders.”
Furthermore, Moody’s affirmed the Bank’s ‘Baa1’ rating with a Stable Outlook, while GCR affirmed Afreximbank’s international scale long-term and short-term issuer ratings of ‘A-‘ and ‘A2’, respectively, with the Outlook revised to Positive from Stable.
The agency noted that the positive outlook factors in its expectation, “for the status of the Bank as one of the most influential Africa focused Multilateral Development Bank (‘MDBs’) to strengthen, cemented by its development impact on the African continent (measured by the loan book) now closing in on the USD20bln mark.”
GCR similarly affirmed the international scale long term issuer rating of ‘A-‘ on the Bank’s $5 billion Global Medium-Term Note (GMTN) programme, with a Positive Outlook.
GIK/APA