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Diesel price hits all-time high in Nigeria after Vice President met oil executives

Published

1 year ago

March 8, 2022

With continued scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in Nigeria, the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo yesterday summoned the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the Presidential Villa.

Meanwhile, the price of diesel has hit a record height at ₦625 per litre in filling stations. The price jumped from ₦ 430 to ₦545 two days ago. The product was sold for as low as ₦ 420 last week.

The summon came less than 24 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari declared that his deputy is now in charge of the country as he departed for a two-week medical vacation to London,

Sources confirmed that Mr. Mele Kyari, the GMD of the NNPC and some other executives of the company were seen on Monday afternoon coming into the Villa and leaving soon after.

Nigerians have been reacting to the continued scarcity of the essential commodity which became scarce in the first week of February 2022 when the Nigerian government says it found an unsafe quantity of methanol in petrol imported into the country, and cited that as the reason for fuel shortage that has led to hard times for many Nigerians.

It was disclosed that in what was a short meeting, the Vice President asked for an update on how the NNPC intended to quickly resolve the lingering fuel scarcity.

“The NNPC boss gave an impressive report and plan to the VP and was seen leaving the Villa…walking briskly as if he had been given a firm order,” said a reliable source.

Sources added that a sense of urgency to resolve the fuel scarcity was stressed by the Vice President at the meeting, a cue the NNPC executives also took.

“Judging from the look of things, the scarcity would be over very soon,” said another source close to the NNPC executives.

Related Topics:DIESEL Featured Nigeria oil

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Kenya: Parliament approves appointment of Kamau Thugge as central bank governor

Published

18 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Months after throwing open the position for the country’s top banker, Kenya’s parliament has approved the appointment of Kamau Thugge as the country’s central bank governor.

The National Assembly on Wednesday approved the
appointment of economist and senior civil servant who was nominated by President William Ruto as the next apex bank chief.

Thugge, who served as principal secretary in the finance ministry until mid-2018, was nominated after serving as one of the president’s senior economic advisers since late last year.

He shook off competition from others shortlisted candidates like Adan Mohamed, who served in the cabinet from 2013-2022, with four others also interviewed for the role.

The new central bank governor will be faced with the immediate pressure of stabilizing the country’s monetary policy as the East African giant currently faces a shortage of funds amidst rising public debt.

Despite the odds, the World Bank in a report earlier today expects growth to edge up to 5.0% in 2023, underpinned by a recovery in agriculture.

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Ghana presents ‘working proposal’ for debt restructuring— IMF sources

Published

18 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

West African country, Ghana has made a major move at resolving its debt crisis as the country has presented debt restructuring proposal to its creditors.

According to sources quoted by Reuters, a “working proposal” has been submitted to help the country escape its worst economic crisis in a generation.

One of the sources revealed that the proposal was a first attempt to engage the official creditor committee after its formation in May. It should be recalled that the Paris Club last month announced that official sector of creditors of Ghana had formed a committee co-chaired by China and France for debt restructuring talks.

The plan is to end restructuring of domestic debt before turning to negotiations with its official bilateral creditors and international bondholders, a government official said.

Ghana is one of several cash-strapped countries facing unprecedented delays in getting bailouts as China, its biggest bilateral creditor with about $1.7 billion of debt and Western economies disagree over how debt relief should be structured.

The first formal review of the programme will hold in the coming months as an IMF team will visit Ghana between 8th and 15th of June.