Search results

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has named Olayemi Cardoso to head the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Cardoso was Lagos state’s economic planning and budget commissioner from 1999 until 2005, when Tinubu was governor. He is the latest member of that team to be appointed to high office. Cardaso fills the vacancy left by Godwin Emefiele’s suspension and arrest in June, as the ex-governor was closely linked to disastrous policies enacted by outgoing president Muhammadu Buhari’s government.

‘Last mile’ access software and hardware provider Okra Solar has secured fresh debt and equity in a series-A round of financing intended to scale up its mesh-grid technology for off-grid projects in Nigeria.

Once fully commissioned, the nameplate 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery complex is expected to transform the downstream sector in West Africa, but other major refinery projects are also under way in Angola and Ghana, writes James Gavin.

President Tinubu aims to double Nigeria’s crude output by 2027, but while a series of oil and gas projects are moving forward – and should arrest the slide in production of recent years – analysts suggest the new government may find it is being overly-ambitious, writes James Gavin.

A $3bn emergency loan secured by Nigerian National Petroleum Company from Cairo-based Afreximbank has reinforced Nigeria’s tight relationship with one of the few multilateral lenders still willing to support oil and gas spending, and underlined Abuja’s urgent need for financial support to underwrite President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda.

Italy’s Eni is selling its onshore exploration and production subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to local conglomerate Oando, becoming the latest international major to offload non-core African assets. The deal includes stakes in the gas-fired Okpai 1 and Okpai 2 power plants, with a combined capacity of 960MW.

The agreement for Senegal to become only the second African economy to secure a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) has the potential to salvage the climate financing framework’s credibility, which appeared to be flatlining.

Following a fall in African liquefied natural gas exports in 2022, there are signs of fresh momentum in a number of large onshore and floating LNG projects in key markets including Nigeria and Mozambique, write James Gavin and African Energy staff.

£10m ($12.7m) from the United Kingdom International Development-funded FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) to a new Risk Sharing Backstop Facility (RSBF), which is intended to support sustainable climate infrastructure in Nigeria, was announced on 2 August, during a visit to Abuja by UK foreign secretary James Cleverly.

President Bola Tinubu’s first two months in office have been marked by rapid moves to reform the poorly performing economy. However, his government faces daunting challenges which may not be eased by many senior posts going to ‘political’ appointees, as the new president returns pre-election favours. As inflation spikes, continued protests against ‘anti-poor policies’ are adding to pressures on Nigeria’s new leader, writes Jon Marks.

Nigeria’s Starsight Energy and South Africa’s SolarAfrica said on 1 August they had completed their merger deal, first announced in September 2022. The deal creates one of Africa’s largest renewable energy-focused commercial and industrial players.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ticked a lot of the right boxes for those hoping Nigeria will at last tackle the thorny problems that have hobbled the country’s economic and political prospects. In some respects, he has moved even more quickly than even those close to his transition team expected, in response to the deterioration of key indicators during his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari’s two terms. 

Lagos-headquartered commercial and industrial (C&I) developer Rensource has closed a $15m debt finance facility with Afrigreen’s Debt Impact Fund.

Geregu Power has to date paid NGN8.8bn ($10.8m) to Italian company Ansaldo Energia for repairs to gas turbines at the Geregu gas-fired power plant in Ajaokuta, Kogi state.

Lagos-based developer Elektron Energy Development Strategies and utility Eko Electricity Distribution Company are partnering on the construction of a 30MW natural gas-fired power plant on the commercial capital’s Victoria Island (VI).