Development Impact

Osinbajo commissions Transcorp’s Afam 240MW power plant: The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has commissioned Transafam Power Limited, a subsidiary of Transnational Corporation Plc’s 240MW Afam Three Fast Power plant in Afam, Rivers State. The project was executed in a collaborative effort between General Electric, the Federal Government, and other stakeholders to improve power generation and supply in the country, and is expected to augment the national grid with an additional 966 MW of electricity.

Nigeria to produce 30% locally electric vehicles by 2033- NADIP: The Nigerian Government has announced the adoption of a new National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NADIP) from 2023 to 2033. According to the country’s Trade Minister, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, the policy is aimed at enabling the exponential increase in the local production numbers of vehicles, reaching 40% local content, and attaining 30% locally produced electric vehicles.

Lagos partners with Sweden and Japan on clean energy projects: The Governor of Lagos state Babajide Sanwo-Olu has stated his administration is partnering with Sweden and Japan to establish clean energy projects in Lagos state. This plan is in line with the 1 gigawatt (GW) solar power target set by Sanwo-Olu in March 2023. According to Governor Sanwo-Olu, Lagos state is always looking for innovative solutions to reduce carbon footprint and increase the sustainability of investments in transportation infrastructure and services.

Reduce emissions, not energy access – COP 28 President: The COP 28 President and UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, has called on global stakeholders to work towards reducing emissions, not energy access, during the UAE Climate Tech conference in Abu Dhabi. According to him, the focus should be on emissions reduction as opposed to limiting energy access, as the world population keeps growing.

FG plans five million solar power units in rural communities: The Federal Government is partnering with investors to deploy five million solar power connections in communities that are not connected to the national electricity grid. Under its Solar Power Naija Programme, the government, through the Rural Electrification Agency, held an investor match-making event to provide the opportunity for potential investors to pitch their financial offerings to developers.

GCR affirms WSTC Financial Services Limited’s National Scale Long and Short-term Issuer Ratings: GCR Ratings (“GCR”) has affirmed WSTC Financial Services Limited’s national scale long and short-term ratings of BBB-(NG) and A3(NG) respectively. The outlook is accorded as Stable.

Nigeria’s inflation rate defies interest rate hikes, hits 22.22% in April 2023: According to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s inflation rate has increased for the fourth consecutive month, maintaining the highest rate in 17 years. Compared to the corresponding period of 2022, inflation increased by 5.4% from 16.82% recorded in April 2022.

Contributory pensions gained N590bn in Q1 – Report: According to the National Pension Commission the assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme rose by N590bn in the first quarter of 2023.The figures disclosed in the pension funds industry portfolio for the period ended 31 March 2023, revealed that the assets rose to N15.58tn as of the end of March 2023.

Angola overtakes Nigeria as Africa’s top crude producer: Data from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has revealed that Angola overtook Nigeria to emerge top African crude oil producer for the month of April. According to the April 2023 Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) published by the oil cartel, Angola recorded 1.06 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude production in April, up from 972,000 bpd recorded in March. OPEC noted that Nigeria’s economy faced challenges in gaining momentum in the first quarter of 2023, with business activity and consumer spending remaining subdued, in addition to high input-cost inflation and lower employment levels compared with the previous year.

Angola overtakes Nigeria as Africa’s top crude producerBuhari writes Senate, seeks approval for $800m loan from World Bank: President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Senate to approve his request for obtaining a loan facility of $800m from World Bank to finance the National Safety Net Programme. The president stated that the $800m loan facility facility is an extension of the unconditional cash transfer being implemented by the federal government to support poor Nigerians and will be disbursed to poor households across the country.