FG selects two sites for nuclear power plants

The federal government has selected two sites for the construction of its planned nuclear power plants, as Africa’s biggest economy tries to end decades of electricity blackouts that have blighted its growth.

Russia’s state-owned Rosatom, which has been in talks with Nigeria over the nuclear plants, on Friday confirmed two sites had been selected in Africa’s most populous nation and said they would have a total of four reactors.

Neither side would say where the sites were, but a source at Nigeria’s nuclear agency said the sites will be in Akwa Ibom state, in southeast Nigeria, and Kogi state, in the central northern part of the country.

Nigeria, with a population of around 170 million, has installed power capacity that fluctuates between around 6,000 MW to just over 7,000 MW, according to the Transmission Company of Nigeria, with 80 percent of its power plants fired by gas.

By comparison, South Africa’s capacity is almost seven times greater for a population less than a third as big.

Africa’s biggest economy has no experience in developing and operating nuclear plants but has small reactors producing around 30 KW for research, Franklin Erepamo Osaisai, chief executive of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, said on its website.

One nuclear power plant costs between $5 billion to $8 billion, a source at Rosatom said. Nigeria has not yet said how it plans to fund the construction, a key question given its finances have taken a hit after a slump in the price of oil, its main export.

Nigeria's four oil refineries to resume production in July

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said on Friday that the country's four oil refineries will resume production in July.

Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ohi Alegbe said the two refineries in Port Harcout would begin operations after turnaround maintenance, followed by those in Warri and Kaduna.

Nigeria has been forced to import most of its petrol products due to its ailing refinery system, which generally runs well below capacity, sometimes at just 20 percent, due to neglect and pipeline sabotage.

Alegbe said the turnaround maintenance for the four refineries had been ongoing since November.

POWER SUPPLY: FG to get 170m Euros AFD grant

The Federal Government on Friday in Abuja said it was working with the Agence Française de Dévelopement (AFD) to secure a grant of 170 million Euros for the building of transmission networks in Abuja area.

AFD is the French Development Agency which participates in promoting and financing development throughout the world. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Dr Godnkows Igali, disclosed this at the inauguration of a 9-member Steering Committee for enhancing vocational training delivery for the power sector.

He urged all agencies of government to move towards strategic partnership with international organisations for funding.

Earlier, Mr Rueben Okeke, Director-General, National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), said that the essence of the committee was to ensure an efficient workforce for the sector. He said that the committee was critical to the sustenance of the power sector.

In a remark, Ms Celine Gratadour, Head of Projects, AFD, said that Nigeria’s huge power sector required adequate technical capacity to effectively man the sector. She said that the agency was in Nigeria to get a feedback on the sector from NAPTIN.

POWER SUPPLY: FG to get 170m Euros AFD grant By Olawale Kadir on June 19, 2015 @ 4:12 pm@todayng powerplant-geregu Click here for Nigeria's Largest Newspaper Directory The Federal Government on Friday in Abuja said it was working with the Agence Française de Dévelopement (AFD) to secure a grant of 170 million Euros for the building of transmission networks in Abuja area. AFD is the French Development Agency which participates in promoting and financing development throughout the world. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Dr Godnkows Igali, disclosed this at the inauguration of a 9-member Steering Committee for enhancing vocational training delivery for the power sector. He urged all agencies of government to move towards strategic partnership with international organisations for funding. “Agencies of government must not wait for funding from government alone,’’ he said. Igali described the occasion as significant to the power sector especially as it was moving from public to private driven. Earlier, Mr Rueben Okeke, Director-General, National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), said that the essence of the committee was to ensure an efficient workforce for the sector. He said that the committee was critical to the sustenance of the power sector. In a remark, Ms Celine Gratadour, Head of Projects, AFD, said that Nigeria’s huge power sector required adequate technical capacity to effectively man the sector. She said that the agency was in Nigeria to get a feedback on the sector from NAPTIN. On her part, Ms Alexandra Oldford, Consultant, CPCS Transcom Limited, said that the primary objective of the project was to develop new strategic plan for NAPTIN. CPCS is an international infrastructure development firm specialising in private sector participation in transport, energy, and urban development sectors. She said that the committee was expected to guide the project with clear direction and as well act as the decision making body for the project, among others. The committee has a member each from the ministries of Finance and Power, National Planning Commission, Bureau of Public Enterprise, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. Others are Transmission Company of Nigeria, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, NAPTIN and Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company. (NAN)

Read full story here: http://www.today.ng/news/power-supply-fg-to-get-170m-euros-afd-grant/

Nigeria crude differential hits 10-year low as glut takes toll

Official prices for Nigerian crude have hit their lowest in at least a decade as a nagging oversupply of physical oil takes its toll.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) lowered the official selling price for its largest crude oil stream, Qua Iboe, to dated Brent plus 35 cents per barrel, the lowest differential since May 2005.

Oil traders said Bonny Light, once in demand for its high yield of valuable motor fuels, fell to dated Brent plus 23 cents, with the differential below May 2005 levels.

Sellers of Nigerian crudes have aggressively pushed into new markets from Uruguay to China, but are coming up against other crude producers, including fellow members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, as well as new refineries that are geared towards heavier oil.

As a result, as much as 10 million barrels of Nigerian grades that have already loaded are floating in vessels, taking months in some cases to find buyers.  

Nigerian interbank rates rise on bonds, Treasury bills auction

 Nigeria's interbank lending rate climbed to an average of 15 percent on Friday from 8.25 percent last week as cash flowed out of the banking system to settle bonds and treasury-bill purchases.

The central bank sold a total of 235.49 billion Nigerian naira worth in both treasury bills and bonds this week, draining the system of liquidity and pushed up the cost of borrowing among commercial lenders.

Traders said interbank rates initially rose to about 20 percent because of tight liquidity, but fell when the central bank refunded 27.7 billion naira in excess amounts it had charged to enforce a cash reserve requirement.

Nigerian banks are required to deposit 31 percent of their customer's deposits with the central bank on zero interest as part of measures to curb excess liquidity in the banking system.

Both the secured open buy back (OBB) and overnight placement closed at 15 percent on Friday. OBB was 8 percent, compared with the benchmark rate of 13 percent. Overnight placement was at 8.5 percent last week.

Chevron completes sale of 40 pct stake in two Nigerian oil blocks

U.S. oil company Chevron Corp said on Thursday it has completed the sale of its 40 percent stake in two Nigerian offshore oil blocks to local firm First Exploration & Petroleum Development Company Limited.

Chevron said in a statement that the sale of its interest in OML 83 and OML 85, started two years ago.

Nigeria raises 144 bln naira in Treasury bills; yields mixed

The Central Bank of Nigeria says it raised 143.64 billion naira ($723 million) in Treasury bills with mixed yields.

The bank said on Thursday that total bids for the notes stood at 275.30 billion, up from 253.82 billion naira at the last auction on June 3, it said.

The bank said it sold 26.30 billion naira worth of 3-month bills at 10 percent, up from 9.79 percent at the previous sale. It sold 25 billion naira worth of the six-month paper at 12.7 percent, unchanged from the last auction.

The bank said it sold 92.34 billion naira worth of the one-year note at 12.80 percent, down from 12.99 percent.

Central Bank of Nigeria calls Friday meeting with banks on Foreign exchange rules - banking sources

The Central Bank of Nigeria has called a meeting with chief executives and treasurers of commercial lenders on Friday to discuss issues surrounding its policy on the foreign exchange market.

The apex bank imposed tight controls on the foreign exchange market in February to curb speculation on the naira and save its dwindling foreign reserves in Africa's biggest economy.

Before setting the restrictions, the central bank had been battling to prop up the naira after a sharp fall in the price of oil, Nigeria's main export, which triggered a sell-off in assets by foreign investors.

Traders were upbeat on the outcome of the meeting which they claimed was long overdue to ease the tight control in the market and allow the local currency to find its real value.

JPMorgan has threatened to eject Nigeria from its Government Bond Index (GBI-EM) by the year-end unless it restores liquidity to currency markets in a way that allows foreign investors tracking the benchmark to transact with minimal hurdles.

Nigeria's central bank set its exchange rate peg at 198 to the dollar in February but has changed it to 196.90 naira against the dollar last week, with dealers saying the tweaking was not a reflection of the market.

Nigeria's Stanbic IBTC to publish list of loan defaulters

 

Nigeria's Stanbic IBTC, the local unit of South Africa's Standard Bank, said on Wednesday it will publish the list of loan defaulters in line with a new directive by the central bank.


Stanbic IBTC would be among the first banks to publish such a list after the regulator ordered lenders in April to crack down on non-performing loans to forestall a repeat of a 2009 industry bailout that cost the government $4 billion.

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The new plan requires banks to give bad debtors three months to square their accounts, following which they would be named in Nigerian media and barred from taking part in currency and government debt markets in Africa's biggest economy.

Stanbic said in a statement that in addition to publishing a list of defaulters by the end of August, it would also use legal and other means to recover non-performing loans.

While issuing its order, the central bank did not give an estimate of the level of non-performing loans held by banks.

It would be recalled that the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2009, rescued several banks that had lent mainly to the oil and gas sector just before crude prices collapsed, triggering a near-collapse of eight commercial banks.

Geometric Power, GE to build 1,080 MW plant in Nigeria

 

Nigeria's Geometric Power will build a 1,080 megawatt power plant jointly with General Electric, with the first phase of the project generating 500 MW expected to be completed in 2019 at a cost of $800 million.

Geometric Power CEO, Bart Nnaji said the firm had also appointed London-based Standard Chartered Bank as financial advisers for the first phase of the plant.
 
Africa's biggest economy broke up its monopoly on power generation and distribution by privatising the sector two years ago, hoping to attract foreign investors, but the amount of power produced has stagnated at around half total capacity.

"We have a 1,080 megawatt project ... (in partnership) with General Electric. The power goes to the national grid. What we are doing is to build up power projects in this way," Nnaji, a former Nigerian minister of power, told Reuters late on Tuesday on the sidelines of a power conference in Lagos.

Nnaji said the firm was in discussions with some Chinese, European and U.S. investors and expected financial close by year-end. Construction would start early next year.

Geometric Power, which has a 141 megawatt captive power for industrial use in Abia State, said the new plant would also be located in Abia State, southeast Nigeria.

Nigeria, with a population of around 170 million, has installed power capacity that fluctuates between around 6,000 to just over 7,000 MW, but experiences severe electricity shortages that are crippling its growth.

Some of the older plants, sold in October 2013, are in dire need of an upgrade while the fledgling generating firms lacking the cash as distributors struggle with non-paying consumers and inadequate gas supplies required to keep the plants running.

Nigeria is also in talks with Russia's state-owned Rosatom to build nuclear power plants.

Nigeria to raise 120.5 bln naira in Treasury bills next week

 

Nigeria plans to sell 120.52 billion naira ($606 million) of 3-month, 6-month and 1-year Treasury bills on June 24, the central bank said on Wednesday.

The apex bank said in a statement it would sell 31.19 billion naira worth of the 3-month paper, 39.33 billion naira of the 6-month bill and 50 billion naira in the 1-year debt next week, using the Dutch auction System.

At an auction later on Wednesday, the bank is offering 143.64 billion worth of Treasury bills of tenors ranging between 3-month and 1-year. In addition, a total of 80 billion naira worth of Treasury bonds with maturities between 5-year and 20-year are also on offer at the same auction.

The results of both auctions will be published the Thursday.

($1 = 198.9000 naira)

Nigeria $5.6 bln power plants sell-off stalls on gas shortages

Nigeria's privatisation of 10-independent power plants (IPPs) that could fetch up to $5.6 billion is stalling due to a lack of gas supply, the chief executive of Aiteo Power and Gas said.

Africa's biggest economy broke up its monopoly on power generation and distribution by privatizing the sector two years ago, hoping to attract foreign investors.

Since that privatisation, the amount of power produced has stagnated, failing to reach a 2012 peak of 4,500 megawatts of electricity owing to gas constraints, plant outages and tripped circuits, according to Transmission Company of Nigeria.

About 3,346 MW of power was distributed to consumers during this year, it said.

The government also blames gas pipeline vandalism.

Read more here...

NASS Members To Receive N8.64bn As Wardrobe Allowance

The National Assembly members will receive a total of N8.64billion as wardrobe allowance next week, This Day has obtained.

This is aside other allowances they are entitled to, including housing and vehicle allowances. Each of 360 House of Representatives members is to get N17.5million as a wardrobe allowance and each of 109 senators – N21.5million.

Wardrobe allowance covers the the whole four-year tenure, while housing allowances are paid on a yearly basis.

READ ALSO: N27 Billion New Residences For NASS Presiding Officers (PHOTOS)

Calculations based on the system approved by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, each senator will be paid N4,052,800 as housing allowance. The Senate president and his deputy will be provided accommodation by the Federal Government.

Each reps member will be paid N3,970,425 as housing allowance upon assumption of office. Similarly, speaker’s and deputy speaker’s is to be ensured by the government.

Furniture allowance for the senators will take away N6,079,200 from the NASS budget, N650,474,400 for each (107, excluding president and deputy president).
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Furniture allowance for each member of the House of Representatives will correspond N2,132,118,225, which makes  N5,955,637.50 for each.

OPC pulls out of NNPC pipeline surveillance

The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) said it would pull out its men from guarding all Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines nationwide from Monday evening.

Yinka Oguntimehin, the Spokesman for Gani Adams Faction of the congress said this became necessary because the corporation had yet to start paying for the work its men are doing.

He said the corporation was, as part of the contractual agreement entered into, three months ago, expected to start payment.

The spokesman said the OPC personnel had continued to guard the pipelines with the belief that the corporation would pay as promised.

“When we were given the contract on March 15, it was agreed that they will release money for the OPC personnel for effective protection of the NNPC pipelines nationwide.”

“We lost one man last month because of the activities of the vandals here in Lagos, while some of our men were arrested in the course of protecting the pipeline.”

“We had told them to release some of our money before the new administration took over, but they kept promising us.”

“Enough is enough, three months have passed since our members started monitoring the pipeline, and we have fulfilled our part of the agreement.”

“By 10p.m today, our personnel will move out of the NNPC pipelines nationwide and this applies to other groups in the country,” he said.

The federal Government had in March awarded a multi-billion Naira contract to the OPC to secure NNPC pipelines in the South-West Zone of the country.

NAN

NERC Issues Licences To 4 Electricity Firms

Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has issued fresh generation licences to four firms with total generation targets of 774 mega watts of electricity.

In issuing the fresh licences, NERC said it had extracted concrete commitments from the promoters of the four benefiting firms to produce power or be sanctioned.

The companies are Pan Africa Solar Limited, based in Kankia, Katsina State, to generate 24mw from solar, and Nigeria Solar Capital Partners Limited, based in Ganjuwa, Bauchi State, to generate 100mw from solar. Others are Proton Energy Limited, based in Ogorode, Delta State, to generate 150mw from gas, and Turbine Drives Limited, based in Ajaokuta, to generate 500mw from gas.

The licences were presented by Sam Amadi, chairman of NERC.

Meanwhile, the Commission also announced that it has commenced revoking many of the generation licences that it issued which are ‘non-performing.’

The NERC, which reviewed the status of the 120 licences issued since 2006, noted that government had since resolved some of the complaints of the licensees by establishing the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET or Bulk Trader) to act as the off taker for the sector.

Nigerian Banks Are Healthy - NDIC

Against fears being entertained especially by investors and Nigerian businessmen and women, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has said that all banks operating in Nigeria are healthy and that their workings are in line with global standards.

The Deputy Director, Research, (NDIC), Hashim Ahmad, disclosed this while addressing journalists shortly after the sensitization of the 2015 Batch 'A Stream 2', National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members at the orientation camp, Paiko in Niger state.

Hashim said the corporation undertakes proper supervision of the banks in the country as insurer to ensure they remain healthy, adding that "The annual report normally summarizes the healthy or otherwise status of the industry."

"Nigerian Banks are relatively healthy in line with global standards. It is unlikely announcing the healthy status of our banks in the public but we normally say in aggregate and I think our annual report will soon be released and be made available for public scrutiny", he said

The NDIC Deputy Director, Research said, "We don't particularly say Bank A or B is distressed. We are simply saying that on aggregate basis we will tell you the industry is this or that, but we undertake supervision of the banks as insurer as you know, no insurer will sit back and allow his risk to crystallize before he wakes up.

Akpabio dragged to EFCC over alleged misuse of N3trn allocations

Immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio, has been dragged to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for allegedly mismanaging the sum of N3trillion allocations to the state while in office.

akpopiaThe action against Akpabio is initiated by a lawyer, Chief Leo Ekpenyong.

In his petition to the EFCC, Ekpenyong asked the anti-graft agency to investigate the former Governor for misusing the N3trillion allocations to the state government during his tenure.

Ekpenyong, in the five-page petition, dated June 8, 2015, which he addressed to EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, a copy, which he sent President Muhammadu Buhari and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, he alleged that Akwa Ibom State received statutory allocations amounting to over N3trillion during the eight-year administration of Akpabio, which, he claimed the ex-governor spent recklessly.

Ekpenyong alleged that the amount is more than five times what the entire five states of the South-East zone received from the Federation Account within the same period.

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