Nigeria is to shift its focus to natural gas production as its oil reserve has been estimated to be exhausted in the next 25 to 30 years. These were the words of the Minister of oil, Emmanuel Kachikwu (photo), who represented President Muhammadu Buhari, at a labour conference in Abuja on Wednesday. The country’s gas reserves have been estimated to sustain the country’s fuel revenues for 60...

Nigeria needs no less than $10 billion every year over two to four years to achieve its Gas Master Plan, according to Dada Thomas, the President of the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA). Such investment would create job opportunities for construction companies, pipeline operators, amongst others and an annual income of about $0.75 billion, he said. Dada Thomas noted that the domestic...

Lekoil Limited has on Monday announced that about 250,000 barrels of crude oil have been lifted from the Otakikpo Marginal field in Nigeria by Shell Western Supply and Trading Limited, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. Under the existing crude sales agreement between the two firms, it is expected that Shell will forward payment for the crude within the next month. The Otakikpo field continues...

Three weeks after its issue, Nigeria’s first Diaspora Bond today started trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The five-year bond with a coupon of 5.625%, is the first from an African country that is registered with both the UK Listing Authority (UKLA) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and targeted at retail investors, according to a statement from LSE. “We are...

Manufacturing companies and the poultry industry in Nigeria have been hard hit by an 83% increase in the price of maize as a result of persistent armyworm infestation. A metric ton of maize is now being sold at N183, 130 in Lagos compared to the N100, 000 per ton in June 2016, according to Novus Agro, an agro commodity price tracker. Findings by BusinessDay have shown that the price of dry...

On Monday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) welcomed efforts made by the Senegalese government in implementing reforms planned under its 2015-18 financial and economic programme. This was reported in a statement from the ministry of finance. Backed by the Policy Support Instrument (PSI), the programme which has no financial support from IMF, aims at sustaining a solid growth of Senegal’s...

By 2030, child marriage could cost developing economies trillions of US dollars, thus hampering efforts by the international community to end poverty in these countries. This was revealed by the World Bank in a report made public on Tuesday. Entitled “Economic Impacts of Child Marriage”, the report notes that despite the fact that the number of early marriages (under 18) in many developing...

The World Bank just granted Benin a loan of $60 million (FCFA34.6 billion) to improve its power performances. The loan was provided under a development aid fund put in place the international development association (IDA), an arm of the institution, which gives loans to the poorest nations at a very low rates or none. The present loan will help boost the performances of the national power...

In Rwanda, local and international tourism companies wishing to operate across the country can from now on obtain a license online. Interested firms can apply for one on www.tourismregulation.rw. After testing this new mode of licence-awarding process in November 2016, Rwanda’s development board has decided to officially launch the project. During the test, applicants, a group of firms...

Pan-African internet provider, Liquid Telecom, said it plans to launch a $700 million bond and a long term financing package. The two fundraising processes will help the group reduce its debt and support its growth strategy. It is Liquid Telecom’s finance arm, Liquid Telecommunications Financing Plc, which will carry out the operations. Since last June 23, firms selected by Liquid Telecom...