FG unveils new redesign Naira notes
The Federal Government Wednesday unveiled the redesigned naira notes to the public at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari. Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, warned Nigerians against hoarding the old notes, saying there is no going back on the January 31st 2023 deadline to completely render the old notes useless. The redesigned notes are in denominations of N1000, N500 and N200. However, on October 26, CBN announced that it had gotten permission from the president to redesign the N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes. The new banknotes sport new colour schemes with not much change from their original design. According to the president in a statement by Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, ‘‘the new Naira banknotes have been fortified with security features that make them difficult to counterfeit.’’
Fuel queues return in Lagos as scarcity bites
Queues to buy petrol formed in many filling stations across Lagos since Tuesday, worsening traffic situation and leaving many stranded at bus stops across the state. Following the threat to shut down supplies by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) due to rampant extortion, intimidation, and violent attacks by hoodlums on its members, petrol is becoming scarce again in the country that, until few months ago, was Africa’s biggest crude producer. Afolabi Olawale, general secretary of NUPENG, in an October 28 letter to the state governor, said the union had previously denounced the activities of these elements and written to several authorities, including security agencies to curtail them, but to no avail. “I have been standing at the bus stop for almost an hour because public buses are scarce,” Blessing Dike, an attendant on her way to work, told BusinessDay. Since the controversy surrounding the sustainability of paying fuel subsidies in Nigeria assumed existential threat, petrol pump price has risen from the regulated price of N165 per litre to around N180. Enquiries show that some petrol stations were selling as high as N220. Petrol stations with the most queues are those selling at the government-regulated price.
Innoson exports $4.7m Made-in-Nigeria Vehicles to Sierra Leone
THE first batch of vehicles manufactured for the government of Sierra Leone by Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Ltd., (IVM) has been delivered to the West African country by the Nnewi-based indigenous automaker. The vehicles, which arrived in Freetown on November 21, 2022, were built to order by Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Defence. The request for the made-in-Nigeria vehicles was made during a working visit to Innoson Vehicles by the top hierarchy of the Sierra Leone Defence Ministry led by Edward Soloku, the Minister of Internal Affairs, as well as the Sierra Leone Road Transport Corporation, SLRTC, led by its President, Isaac Ken-Green. Cornel Osigwe, head of Corporate Communications, Innoson Group, in a statement said that various models of vehicles bought within that dispensation were for the present administration. Osigwe explained that subsequently, the government of Sierra Leone, led by President Julius Maada Bio, placed an order for the manufacturing of Innoson vehicles valued at $4.7 million for the officers of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces, (RSLAF). The first set of vehicles supplied from Nigeria to Sierra Leone left on Monday from Queen Elizabeth 2 Port (Sierra Leone’s seaport, “Water Quay”) in Free Town for distribution to military officers across the country.
Nigeria’s GDP Growth Slows to 2.25% in Q3
Nigeria’s economy grew at a slower pace in the third quarter of this year, compared to the previous quarter, official data released on Thursday show. Africa’s biggest economy saw its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grow by 2.25 percent (year-on-year) in real terms in Q3 2022, down from 3.54 percent in Q2 and 4.03 percent in the same period last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). NBS said the reduction in growth is attributable to the base effects of the recession and the challenging economic conditions that have impeded productive activities.
Shell completes 225,000 bpd Bonga FPSO’s maintanance ahead schedule
Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) announced the completion of the 2022 Turnaround Maintenance (TAM) of the Bonga floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO). On October 18, the 225kbopd capacity FPSO was shut down to carry out statutory inspections, recertifications and other critical asset integrity restoration activities. According to Shell, commissioning and start-up activities were in progress and would culminate in ramp-up of oil and gas production in the coming days.
SOURCE:BUSINESS DAY
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