stepaside1: What he says in public and what he really means behind closed doors are 2 different things. By the way, TotalEnergies is only selling its stake in the SPDC JV. It is not yet divesting from its own JV with NNPC.
@ The bolded... True that.
That Weblink you provided was very revealing nevertheless. We'll see how things pan out down the road.
ijustdey: Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, says he still faces difficulties travelling in Africa with his Nigerian passport.
Dangote spoke recently at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
“I still complained to President Kagame. I told him that as an investor, I have to now apply for 35 different visas on my passport, and I told Mr. President, I really don’t have the time to go and be dropping my passports in embassies to get a visa,” he said.
“But you see, the most annoying thing is that yes, if you are treating everybody the same, then I can understand.”
Using the French passport as an example, Dangote said Patrick Pouyanne, chairman of Total Energies, does not need 35 visas on his French passport to gain access to African countries.
“You don’t need 35 visas on your French passport. This means you have a freer movement than myself in Africa,” he said.
Speaking further on businesses within Africa, he said right now, “our main job is to make sure the regional markets all work. Once they work, then we can now go to Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). But then, for AfCFTA also, we need to make sure that it works”.
“We cannot have a very promising continent and our intra-trade rate is less than 16 percent. Okay, so we Africans will have to do it. If we are waiting for foreigners to come and do it, both the development of Africa, it’s not going to happen,” he said.
“So it can only happen to us Africans. We must risk our sources and make sure that we lead, then we will have people who actually trust and believe in Africa like Patrick to come and help us to push to the next level.”
Also, at the event, the business mogul announced that Nigeria will not have to import petrol into the country by June when Dangote refinery commences production of the product.
stepaside1: This same TotalEnergies CEO just last December when he met Tinubu, promised to commit $6bln in Nigerian investments. Shell a few days earlier had also promised $6bln investments. The question to ask is - what has changed?
Angola too has massive oil and gas reserves onshore and especially offshore, so, the CEO of TotalEnergies has already made up his mind to move to Angola. So, there has to be clear intentionality in getting these multinationals to invest in Nigeria and explore for more crude oil and gas in the deep offshore.
stepaside1: Patrick Pouyanne just wants to put pressure on PBAT and the Nigerian Govt. Granted that the PIB was in the works for several years but now that it has been passed, there is little excuse.
The fiscal terms they enjoy in the deep water space is one of the best in the world. If they can't invest in the onshore business for security and crude theft reasons, they have little excuse in the deep offshore space.
That said, TotalEnergies still has massive investments in Nigeria including NLNG where they and their fellow shareholders are making a kill.
I wonder why he was quiet on their investment in Mozambique where the massive LNG investment has run into troubled waters due to massive insecurity issues. Angola might be the short term beneficiary but they all know Nigeria offers long term benefits and Patrick only wants to strike a good deal with Tinubu. TotalEnergies realises 10% of its global revenue from this same Nigeria and about 13% of its global investments are in Nigeria. Just think of that for a moment. Not sure they are in a hurry to leave a country they have been doing business in since the 1950s or so. Patrick just wants to pressure us to get a little more from Nigeria.
What little more are you referring to here?
The CEO specifically talked about insecurity being his major factor for deciding where TotalEnergies would invest in.
FreeStuffsNG: Chevron chose Guyana over UK too and heavens didn't fall. Meanwhile, same TotalEnergies is hustling to bring the oil to Nigeria's Dangote Refinery.
God bless Nigeria for ever!Check my signature for free stuffs!
Yeah... Guyana is a greenfield. An emerging crude oil and gas player. So, Chevron made the right choice.
A 21-storey building... The same height as the then tallest building in Nigeria in the 1950s (Cocoa House) but containing smart devices.
The building looks very impressive. Only further Industrialization of Akwa Ibom State would bring in more big ticket investors and multinationals who would then use the building for office spaces.
LegacyB: This man has mental issues. Those edging him on are very wicked, I pray same happens to their loved ones too. Tell the guy to just shut up, he is deluded. His people should also start looking for a political solution ASAP. Check Mandela’s story for reference, since he jokingly likes to see himself as a hero.
InfoGuru118: The detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu had said that he cannot be trialed by any court in Nigeria.
Kanu said this after Justice Nyako rejected the argument by defence lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor that the Supreme Court held that the earlier bail granted him ought not to have been revoked.
The judge held that she perused the said judgment of the Supreme Court, but could not locate the claim made by the defence lawyer.
Jolted by the judge’s pronouncement, Kanu began to shout from the dock and protested that he would not stand trial before any court in Nigeria.
According to Kanu, any attempt to put him on trial would amount to a breach of Nigeria’s Constitution and international laws.
I saw a video here on NL where Asari Dokubo himself CLEARLY stated that he was the one that assisted Nnamdi to escape from Nigeria through Lagos. From Lagos State, Asari helped Nnamdi to cross into Benin Republic and he headed for London.
In that video, Asari Dokubo was very angry because he had already fallen out with Kanu who he called an ingrate for lying against him and he VOWED in that video that he would ENSURE that Nnamdi is smoked out, caught and brought to justice in Nigeria. By some kind of magical spell some months later, this dude called Kanu was indeed rearrested and brought into Nigeria to face charges for incitements, terrorism and jumping bail.
Catapault: Macao is around China. Guyana is a black Caribbean country that is a small population -1 million people - and is massively oil rich, having discovered 11 billion barrels of oil in its shores recently.
It is projected that by 2035 they will be the 4th largest oil producer on Earth.
They are doing everything to avoid the 'resource curse', and are putting in place major infrastructural projects to raise living standards across the nation.
Guyana is a good place to migrate today and start a family. They will prosper in what will be the richest black nation on Earth in the next few years.
Guyana will be the black UAE.
The black Kuwait.
The black Saudi Arabia.
If I were to Japa today, I would move to Guyana.
Marry someone there and become a citizen.
That's your future generation sorted out.
These are interesting summations here. Guyana is the country where the British-Nigerian soccer stars John Fashanu and Justin Fashanu's mother came from. Rihanna's mother is also from Guyana but got married to a Barbadian.
Just a quick note though... Guyana is an ethnically mixed country (just like the nearby Trinidad and Tobago) with NOT just folks of Black African descent from the time of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, but a large population of descendants of Indian and Pakistani immigrants who were brought by the British in the 1800s to work as indentured workers in those two countries after plantation slavery was banned. This was meant to take care of the shortfalls in labor due to the end of the enslavement of Africans.
So, in Guyana and Trinidad, at least half the population of the TWO countries are of Indian and Pakistani origin haven migrated on ships right from the 1800s. The British also imported large numbers of Indians and Pakistanis (Pakistan and Bangladesh didn't exist then because they were still part of the larger British Colonial India) to Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, etc, to work on railway constructions and big commercial plantations for export purposes. These guys eventually settled down in those British colonies in Africa and became citizens of Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, etc.
AuntyMunaFrench: Have been stalked before just because you can't speak or understand a language If yes, then don't let your kids experience same Give them the opportunity to do more than you To be better than you and learning french is one of the ways to help them do so
Hurry now!!
So, you mean you can get "stalked" in France or French-speaking Quebec in Canada for instance because you can't speak French? Interesting. The hustle is real.
AuntyMunaFrench: Do you want your kids/ward/children to be fluent in French language? And you stay on the island in Lagos? If yes, Aunty muna French tutor, is here to render a home tutoring on French language, to give your wards an edge in life, to prepared them for the challenges ahead.
Bestmanfornow: Newly completed Seaman Rice processing Mill at Nnobi in Idemili South local government area of Anambra by Chief Emeka Agbanari chairman Seaman group of companies, the full production will commence soon Watch full video through this link
You simply CANNOT call for the prosecution of Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials without including the entire Hamas leadership and their lieutenants for preventing huge numbers of Palestinian women, children, and the elderly from leaving Gaza even after Israel gave several warnings for these folks to leave Gaza before the final ground and air invasion by the IDF. NOT allowing them to leave (by Hamas) caused the large number of civilian casualties!
Being politically correct has become a misnomer to be honest. How impressionable young college students and other PC folks allow themselves to come under mind and emotional control and begin to protest against Israel while symphatizing with the criminal terror group called Hamas is mind boggling. The Shiite state of Iran (who are the major sponsors of terror groups such as Hamas, the Houthis of Yemen, and Hezbollah in Lebanon) is also culpable here. It doesn't make sense.
Every one of them must face punishments for their roles in the deliberate mass killings of civilians.
WakaTravels: Have You Considered Visiting Japan as a Tourist?
Discover the enchanting city of Kyoto, Japan, a destination where ancient tradition meets modern elegance. Renowned for its well-preserved temples, stunning gardens, and vibrant cultural festivals, Kyoto offers a glimpse into Japan's rich heritage.
Begin your journey at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, famous for its thousands of red torii gates. Stroll through the historic district of Gion, where you might spot a geisha hurrying to an appointment. Don't miss the serene Arashiyama Bamboo Grove or the breathtaking Kinkaku-ji, also known as the Golden Pavilion.
For an immersive cultural experience, participate in a traditional tea ceremony or visit during cherry blossom season to see Kyoto bathed in pink. With its blend of history, culture, and natural beauty, Kyoto is a must-visit for any traveler seeking to explore the soul of Japan.
Have you ever been to Japan as a tourist before now?
Deltafirstson: “The money spent on importing these phones is also increasing. From charges at the ports, dollar rate, logistics among other things.
“We are also struggling just like our customers.”
Investigations revealed that the current prices of most popular phone brands have increased. The price of phones of brands like Samsung, Infinix, Nokia, Techno, Microsoft, Xiaomi Redmi and Itel phones with smaller gigabytes of Read Only Memory (ROM) and Read Access Memory (RAM) with low or medium battery power ranges from N70,000 to N90,000.
Those with higher ROM and RAM goes for N150,000 above which were sold at N70,000 before. Mrs. Demilade Raymond, a salary earner, said she swapped her Techno pop 5 for a higher grade last month.
“My old phone, Techno Pop 5 , had little space. Most times it hangs whenever I don’t relieve it from large documents it stores.
“I have been using the phone for almost three years.
“The manager at the phone store where I did the swapping said the phone series was highly sought after by some people.
“He valued the phone at N30,000. I was asked to add N70,999 to get the new model of my choice. “At least I have a new phone now and spend less.”
Mr. Daniel Apata, a mechanic said he swapped his android phone for a non android phone (“Palasa or torchlight phone” as it is popularly called).
“When I visited the phone store, I requested to swap my android phone for another thinking I will just add N20,000 to get a new phone.
“But I was surprised when my old phone was valued at N20,000.
“I had no choice but to swap for a non android phone by adding N5,000. “It is better than nothing.”
This will teach people more resilience and survival skills until the economic cycle begins to look up again. The lessons learned here will lead people to unleash their full potentials and see little things from fresher perspectives.
Nothing can break a truly determined man or woman in the race for contentment and survival.
Mariangeles: I'm an adventurous person by nature. I like exploring and trying new things.
I've watched how kilishi is made on YouTube, and I don't think I'm ready for that challenge just yet. Especially how the meat are thinly sliced. So for now, I'll just work on my own flavours. 😀
Thanks Mr Konquest. Happy Sunday to you. 🙂
Ah, that's mad cool... Traveling indeed liberates the mind and enables folks who are adventurous and ready for the challenges to embrace fresh cultural perspectives in life.
Second, I trust you... You don't ever waste time in acquiring knowledge from YT... Yes, I watched some YT videos on how it's traditionally made out of curiosity and it was demanding with reference to having to cut the meat into thin slices, and then sun-drying that mass of meat... but I also got a hint from a Website that the roasted kilishi tastes FAR better than the non-roasted kilishi.
It's better to use the modern method of NOT sun-drying the meat though... and I see unlimited possibilities for those who have the time on their hands to take the preparation away from the traditional method to the modern method of using an oven because of standard food hygiene issues. It's like Obalende Suya in London...The gentleman who started it back in the 1990s took suya grilling to another level. That's the kind of unlimited opportunity I'm talking about.
Yup! You're welcome dear and have a great week too.
Eight manufacturers, including Dangote, BUA and Lafarge saw their foreign exchange-related losses rise to N627.7bn in the first quarter of the year, according to findings by The PUNCH.
This is according to an analysis of the financial statements of the firms, published on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
The listed firms include Lafarge Africa Plc, BUA Foods, Nestle Nig, BUA Cement, Dangote Sugar, International Breweries, Nigerian Breweries and Dangote Cement.
Since the turn of the new year, the naira, which was floated almost a year ago has witnessed a dramatic depreciation, leaving a devastating mark on organised businesses across the board.
The height of the depreciation came in February when the local currency traded as high as N1,900 against the dollar at the parallel market.
Forex obligations
This led firms with forex-denominated obligations on their books to revalue those obligations in line with the depreciation of the local currency, which represents the currency of its earnings.
Cement manufacturer, Lafarge Africa Plc’s forex loss increased to N21.8bn from a gain of N320m in the corresponding period last year.
Due to significant forex revaluation losses and higher operating expenses, the company’s pre-tax and post-tax profits fell by 61.25 per cent and 65.34 per cent to N8.71bn and N5.19bn, respectively.
The Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Africa, Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, said even though the company experienced growth in cement sales as the market recovered in the quarter, the foreign exchange losses due to further naira depreciation in the quarter, resulted in an after-tax profit decline of 65 per cent.
Financial profitability ratios slipped, especially return on assets, which fell below one per cent to 0.77 per cent in Q1 2024 from 2.56 per cent in Q1 2023.
Another major cement producer, Dangote Cement saw its forex loss increase to N63.77bn, up from N9.79bn.
The manufacturing giant, however, shrugged off headwinds to double its revenue to N817.35bn in Q1 2024 from N406.72bn recorded in Q1 2023.Completing the trio of cement-making heavyweights was BUA Cement, whose forex loss jumped to N10.06bn from a gain of N1.71bn in the corresponding quarter in 2023.
The company’s revenue rose to N161.13bn in Q1 2024 from N106.35bn in Q1 2023 as the sale of cement increased by 51.51 per cent.
Like other cement manufacturers, the company weathered a number of challenges including inflation and forex volatility, which led to a rise in its cost of sales and cement prices.
BUA Cement took advantage of its newly commissioned plants (Obu Line Three and Sokoto Line Five) to grow sales volume, which was insufficient to improve earning margins in Q1 2024.
The cumulative revenues of the industry’s top three producers grew to N1.12tn from N604.8bn in Q1 2023.
In the food/beverage sector, Nestle Nig led the line with a forex loss of N166.9bn.
The depreciation of the naira in the first quarter of 2024 imposed a net loss of N142.7bn on the company.
Commenting on the results, the Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé Nigeria, Wassim Elhusseini, said the business environment was challenging in the first quarter.
“Further devaluation of the naira in Jan-March 2024 led to the revaluation of our foreign currency obligations which had an adverse impact on the profit after tax resulting in a net loss of N142.7bn for the quarter,” the company said.
Another major manufacturer in the consumer goods sector, Dangote Sugar recorded a forex loss of N102.9bn in the first quarter of the year.
This company recorded a N68.9bn loss in the first quarter of the year, with naira depreciation playing a major role in the numbers recorded during the period in review.
in the same quarter ended March 31, 2023.
Completing the list was BUA Foods, which recorded a forex loss of N27.2bn.
Despite growing its gross profit by 37.93 per cent to N115.42bn in Q1 2024 from N56.66bn in Q1 2023, the company’s Managing Director, Ayodele Abioye, noted that ‘the bulk of our raw materials are FX-dependent…” FX constituted a major challenge for manufacturers in Q1.”
He added, “The depreciation of the naira by 24.51 per cent from N988.46/$ at the start of January to N1,309.4/$ at the end of March 2024 was a major driver of the N27.29bn FX loss incurred by BUA Foods in the quarter.”
Speaking with The PUNCH, a senior lecturer at the Pan-Atlantic University, Olusegun Vincent, noted that forex-related losses do not always come with any degree of finality.
According to him, only forex obligations fully paid for against an increased exchange rate regime translate to an actual forex loss.
He said, “Some of these exchange losses are unrealised. Unrealised exchange loss means the loss cannot be translated into actual cash flow. For example, if I have an obligation to pay a foreign debt in two years time.
“As the exchange rate is moving I have to translate it to the current rate. As the exchange rate increases, the loss incurred by the debt which is yet to be paid is called unrealised exchange loss. So, it will still be reported in the statement that the company made losses.”
They'll get back on track. These are some of the things that big multinational companies face during business cycles and economic cycles.
It's very important for all companies to "hedge" their currency exposure risks against wild price swings while carrying out their businesses across borders so that they do NOT run into severe loses due to reduced profits since the objective of being in business is to make profits and declare returns for their investors.
I must commend him though for being very hardworking after he realized that he had become a father at such a young age until he became finally became a successful international businessman with vast investments in different sectors of the economy.
Teetee777: Maybe he never go to Daura, the home of Buhari, you will see many things in Daura village. I always go to Daura every Sunday for salaah livestock I know what I'm saying.
That's interesting. He's obviously a very dishonest man or he has a short memory.
She (Adeola) was born in 1994 when he was 20 years old... Just two years after finishing from high school!
The erstwhile International businessman and Real Estate mogul will be 50 later this year. Reno, Dino, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, and more etc, same year, same Gen X squad.
nlfpmod: Elon Musk’s internet company, Starlink, has emerged as Nigeria’s third largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) by subscriber number in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023.
This was revealed in the latest ISP data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
According to the data, the company’s active customers in Nigeria increased to 23,897 in Q4 of 2024 to become one of the leading ISPs in the country.
As of Q3 2023, NCC’s data showed that Starlink had 11,207 customers. The Q4 figure represents a 113% increase in customers quarter on quarter.
Spectranet, FiberOne maintain lead Meanwhile, one of the oldest ISPs in Nigeria, Spectranet, maintained the top spot in the market with 113,869 active customers. FiberOne came second with 27,000 active users at the end of 2023.
According to NCC’s database, there were a total of a total of 245 companies licensed as ISPs in Nigeria as of 2023 year-end. However, going by the customer data just released, only 106 of the ISPs had active customers as of Q4 2023.
NCC’s data shows that the 106 ISPs had cumulative 262,206 active customers during the period under review. However, the figure is still quite low when compared with internet customers of the four mobile network operators in the country.
As of December 2023, MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile had 163.8 million active internet subscriptions.
The NCC’s database shows that an additional seven new ISPs have been licensed so far this year, bringing the total number of licensed ISPs to 252.
What you should know
Despite its higher costs compared with local ISPs, Starlink, which announced its presence in Nigeria in January 2023, had sparked high interest among Nigerians who were eager to change their service providers.
The ubiquitous status of its satellite service also encourages people in areas with poor internet networks to go for Starlink. Many local ISPs that have been in operation in Nigeria for several years are currently having far less than the number of customers Starlink has garnered in one year.
Last month, Starlink announced a 45% price slash on its router to win more Nigerian customers. The Starlink internet router, which was sold for N800,000 before that time, was slashed to N440,000 in April 2024. However, the monthly subscription for the internet service remains unchanged at N38,000 per month.
Although Starlink officially announced its presence in Nigeria in January last year, Nigerians had been pre-ordering its hardware since 2022. The company, which initially quoted its prices in dollars at $600 for the hardware and $43 for the subscription, changed to naira upon its official announcement.
I have used Arik Air to Johannesburg, New York, and the U.K. Arik Air is an indigenous Airline, and it never had problems or complaints of any ill-treatments in South Africa, the U.S. or the U.K. Mismanagement and corruption killed Arik Air. Otherwise, Arik Air will still be in operation.
Follow due process always.
RwandAir, South African Airways, Ethiopian Airways, etc, have been flying to the U.K. week in and week out for years, and they have never complained about anything.
Politics › Re: TotalEnergies Chose Angola Over Nigeria For $6 Billion Project. See Why by Konquest: 10:11pm On May 20, 2024
Yes, I watched some YT videos on how it's traditionally made out of curiosity and it was demanding with reference to having to cut the meat into thin slices, and then sun-drying that mass of meat... but I also got a hint from a Website that the roasted kilishi tastes FAR better than the non-roasted kilishi. 
