Musings From Abroad

Nigeria finally wins $11bn P&ID case in London

Published

7 months ago

October 23, 2023

Nigeria has gotten a victory to stop the enforcement of the $11 billion arbitration award in favour of Process & Industrial (P&ID) against Nigeria in a case marked CL-2019-000752.

The Business and Property Court in London held on Monday, in a judgement delivered by Justice Robert Knowles, that the process through which P&ID secured a 2010 contract to build a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State, was fraudulent.

“In the circumstances and for the reasons I have sought to describe and explain, Nigeria succeeds in its challenge under Section 68. I have not accepted all of Nigeria’s allegations. However, the awards were obtained by fraud, and the way in which they were procured was contrary to public policy.

“What happened in this case is very serious indeed, and it is important that Section 68 has been available to maintain the rule of law,” Justice Knowles said in his ruling.

Nigeria’s request for a stay on asset seizures while its legal challenge is pending was granted by the judge, but in order to maintain the stay, Nigeria must pay $200 million to the court within 60 days. Within 14 days, it must also reimburse P&ID for certain court expenses.

Nigeria and P&ID have been at odds ever since the latter claimed the former was responsible for a deal gone wrong by not supplying them with gas. When the arbitration panel ordered the country to pay P&ID with interest beginning in March 2013, the nation was left with a $6.6 billion judgement debt in 2017.

P&ID claimed that Nigeria had broken the terms of the agreement by not supplying gas for the power plant it intended to construct in the nation. Under former President Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian government came to an out-of-tribunal agreement for the payment of $850 million, and it transferred the payment to President Buhari’s administration.

Buhari objected to the idea of having to pay the agreed-upon amount, revoked the settlement, and filed a challenge with the English Commercial Court to have the award enforced, but the London court increased the total to $9 billion by adding $2.4 billion in interest.

Related Topics:Featured Nigeria P&ID case

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Musings From Abroad

Nigeria’s Air Peace accused of safety violation by UK regulator

Published

2 days ago

May 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority has received a letter from the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority claiming that Nigerian carrier, Air Peace, had allegedly broken several aviation safety laws.

The allegation comes just three months after the Nigerian airline initiated the Lagos-London route.

“United Kingdom SAFA Ramp Inspection Report with reference number: CAA-UK, -2024-0217” and “NATS Management System Safety Report” were the titles of the CAA’s letter of complaint that was sent to the NCAA. Additionally, the NCAA has written to Air Peace to elucidate the matters at hand.

The letter was labelled “United Kingdom SAFA Ramp Inspection Report” and has the reference number NCAA/DOLTS/APL/Vol.11/03624 on it. Capt. O.O. Lawani, the NCAA General Manager of Operations, signed the document, which had the date May 14, 2024.

The NCAA stated in the letter that the flight captain acknowledged using an electronic flight bag for navigation and that the UK CAA had alerted it to the lack of operational approval for Electronic Flight Bag functions that could compromise the aircraft’s safety.

NCAA added that “no mounting device for the use of EFB, no charging points, or battery for backup” was mentioned in the letter from the CAA.

Air Peace has started flying from Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos to London Gatwick as part of Nigeria and the United Kingdom’s bilateral air services agreement.

As of the time of publication, Stanley Olisa, the Air Peace spokesperson, could not be reached.

Since Air Peace started operating flights from Lagos to London, international airlines including British Airways, Virgin, and others have reduced their fares on the route.

Several industry watchers have urged Nigeria’s government to back Air Peace by opposing ‘aero politics” along the route and taking retaliatory measures to undermine Air Peace’s viability there.

Musings From Abroad

China’s Hailiang, Shinzoom to establish vehicle battery installations in Morocco

Published

5 days ago

May 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Hailiang and Shinzoom, Chinese car battery makers, will establish two separate operations in Morocco as the country strives to adapt its burgeoning automotive sector to rising demand for electric vehicles, Moroccan officials announced on Tuesday.

Tanger Tech, the Moroccan northern industrial zone’s development authority, said Hailiang intends to establish a $450 million copper facility on a 30-hectare plot of land. Shinzoom, a subsidiary of Hunan Zhongke, plans to invest $460 million in an anode plant spanning 20 hectares, according to a statement.

In April, the Moroccan government approved Chinese electric battery company BTR New Material Group (835185.BJE)’s plans to build a factory in Tangier to manufacture crucial component cathodes.

Another Chinese firm, CNGR Advanced Material (300919.SZ), plans to develop a cathode plant in Jorf Lasfar, 100 miles south of Casablanca, where the government has set aside 283 hectares for electric battery sectors.

Last year, the Moroccan government and China’s Gotion agreed to examine establishing an electric vehicle battery plant in the country, with a potential investment of up to $6.3 billion. Last month, Industry Minister Ryad Mezzour told Reuters that the Gotion project was moving forward, with conversations over its footprint and location.

Morocco’s strategic location on the Strait of Gibraltar, free trade agreements with important EU and US markets, and existing automotive sector cluster all attract Chinese enterprises.

In 2023, the automotive sector topped Morocco’s industrial exports with $14 billion, a 27% increase. Morocco is home to Stellantis (STLAM.MI) and Renault (RENA.PA) production factories with an annual combined capacity of 700,000 automobiles, as well as a network of local suppliers.