Port Harcourt refinery operations, panel report on CBN… 7 business stories to track this week

Here are the seven top business stories you need to track this week — December 25 to December 29.

PORT HARCOURT REFINERY TO BEGIN OPERATIONS ‘AFTER CHRISTMAS’

On December 21, 2023, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited said it had completed the mechanical phase of the turnaround maintenance at the Port Harcourt refinery.

Femi Soneye, NNPC’s spokesperson, said the national oil company has finally delivered on its promise.

Speaking during an inspection tour of the plant, Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), said production would commence at the refinery after Christmas.

The minister also said the federal government has made substantial strides across all refineries under rehabilitation.

DANGOTE REFINERY RECEIVES OVER 900,000 BARRELS FROM NNPC

The Dangote Refinery has received the second phase of its crude feedstock, with the latest coming from the NNPC.

Confirming the delivery, a source at the refinery had told TheCable that the firm received 952,668 barrels of crude oil through Bonny Shell terminal on December 20, 2023.

The vessel named MT OTIS was said to have sailed from Bonny Shell terminal to Dangote Refinery’s single point mooring (SPM).

According to the source, “three more cargoes carrying a minimum 3 million bbl in total are expected before 30th December 2023.”

CBN LIFTS BAN ON CRYPTO TRANSACTIONS

On December 22, 2023, the CBN hinted at lifting the ban on cryptocurrency transactions when it issued operational guidelines on virtual assets service providers (VASPs) to all banks and other financial institutions (OFIs).

The guidelines are contained in a circular dated December 22, 2023, and signed by Haruna Mustapha, CBN’s director of the financial policy and regulation department.

According to the CBN, VASPs are entities that conduct exchange between virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) and fiat currencies, and transfers of virtual assets.

Read TheCable’s highlights of the guidelines released by the financial regulator.

CBN TO PROBE ‘COLLUSION’ BETWEEN POS OPERATORS, BANKS

The CBN has warned banks and point of sale (PoS) operators against “hoarding” and “colluding” to impact liquidity.

The warning comes amid complaints of cash scarcity across the country.

In the statement on December 21, 2023, the regulator said its attention has been drawn to alleged cases of collusion between some banks and PoS operators to disrupt the circulation of the naira.

The financial regulator said it is investigating the cases, as they are capable of undermining the smooth running of the economy.

NCC DIRECTS TELCOS TO BAN UNLINKED SUBSCRIBERS

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed telcos to bar phone lines of unlinked subscribers from February 2024.

The directive was disclosed in MTN Nigeria’s corporate filing on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), dated December 18, 2023.

The commission, according to the filing, signed by Uto Ukpanah, MTN’s secretary, directed a full network barring on all phone lines of unlinked subscribers and those whose NINs are unverified.

PANEL REPORT ON EMEFIELE

A report by the special investigation panel on the CBN and related entities has accused Godwin Emefiele, the regulator’s erstwhile governor, of sharp practices of humongous proportions in the apex bank.

The report, tagged, ‘Report of the Special Investigation on CBN and Related Entities (Chargeable Offences)’, was submitted the report to President Bola Tinubu by the panel, led by Jim Obazee, the special investigator.

The report alleged, among other things, that Godwin Emefiele, the regulator’s ex-governor, approved the naira redesign policy without presidential approval and withdrew $6.23 million from the CBN vault.

It also said Emefiele illegally kept billions of naira in 593 bank accounts in the United States, United Kingdom, and China.

‘NIGERIA’S DEBT INCREASED TO N87.91TRN IN Q3’

In its report on December 20, 2023, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said Nigeria’s third quarter (Q3) total public debt stood at N87.91 trillion (US$114.35 billion).

The latest figure represents a 0.61 percent or N530 billion increase compared to N87.38 trillion recorded in the second quarter (Q2) of the year.

In the previous quarter, the total debt stock had increased by 75.29 percent.