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FUEL SCARCITY: Nigerian Airlines give 3 days to shut down, want rights to import jet fuel

Published

2 years ago

March 15, 2022

The effect of recent fuel scarcity in Nigeria is hitting harder on citizens of the West African country as its airline operators on Monday said they have only three more days to fly due to the high cost of aviation fuel.

The scarcity began in the first week of February 2022 when the Nigerian government says it found an unsafe quantity of methanol in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) imported into the country, and cited that as the reason for fuel shortage that has led to hard times for many Nigerians.

One of the airline operators, Mr Allen Onyema, the CEO of Air Peace, who spoke on behalf of the operators, said at a public hearing of ad hoc committee of the lower chamber of Nigeria’s legislature, the House of Representatives. The committee is investigating the scarcity of aviation fuel in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

Slamreportafrica.com reported last week the price of diesel has hit a record high at ₦625 per litre in filling stations after it jumped from ₦ 430 to ₦545 two days earlier. The product was sold for as low as ₦ 420 two weeks ago.

Diesel currently sells for ₦720 at the deports, the price is as high as ₦800 at some filling station in the country.

Onyema accused aviation fuel marketers of not speaking the truth about the actual landing cost of aviation fuel, adding that if drastic measures were not taken, the least air ticket would go for as high as N120,000.

He urged the House of Reps to give operators of airlines the license to import aviation fuel, saying this would reduce the unnecessary burden on the citizenry.

“What we are asking from the government is to give us the right to import aviation fuel. What others use in insuring one plane is what we use in insuring three planes in Nigeria, so the Nigeria airline is dead on arrival,” he said.

The Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd, Mr Mele Kyari, said that it would consider granting licenses to operators of airlines to import aviation fuel.

Kyari also agreed that aviation fuel would now be sold at N500 per litre contrary to the current N670 per litre.

Meanwhile, Mr Ugbugo Ukoha, the Executive Director for Distribution System for Storage and Retailing Infrastructure in the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, said that Nigeria had an excess supply of Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK).

He said the country had sufficient products that could go round, adding that the scarcity and the high cost remained the marketers’ challenge.

Committee reactions…

Hon. Ahmed Wase, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Reps, said that the committee was only after the fact, as it was poised to protect the interest of Nigerians.

“We are not willing to compromise what is in the interest of our country,” he said.

He, however, chided the marketers for speaking the language they did not understand in order to cover up some facts.

According to him, the marketers’ analyses are not correct based on the fact at the committee’s disposal.

He also queried why some government agencies would not be telling the truth about the scarcity and the high cost of aviation fuel, saying “we should be seen to protect the interest of Nigeria and not otherwise”.

He said that the committee would ensure that the right thing was done in the interest of the country, adding that the basic tenet of governance remained the welfare of the people.

Hon. Toby Okechukwu, the Minority leader of the House, however, raised questions on what determined the marketers prices and why they were hoarding the product.

Okechukwu said that such actions by marketers were bringing a lot of dysfunction to the country’s economy.

“If we are saying that the landing cost of aviation fuel is N450 from the Central Bank of Nigeria who approved it,” he said.

He also accused the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd. of not knowing those managing the products.

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Nigeria gets $600 million investment from Danish firm Moller-Maersk

Published

9 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s presidency said on Sunday that President Bola Tinubu had secured an investment of $600 million from Danish shipping and logistics company, A.P. Moller-Maersk.

Nigerian ports will get more space for container shipping services as part of the deal by improving their facilities.

A presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said in a statement that the decision was made by Mr Robert Maersk Uggla, Chairman of A.P. Moller-Maersk, during a meeting with President Tinubu on Sunday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy for Development.

”We have seen a significant opportunity for Nigeria to cater for larger container ships. Historically, most of the West African coasts are already served by smaller ships. Currently, we see an opportunity to deploy larger ships to Nigeria. To achieve this, we need to expand the port infrastructure, especially in Lagos, where we need a bigger hub for logistics services. The growth potential is hard to quantify,” Ngelale quoted Uggla as saying.

”We believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships.”

Tinubu, for his part, thanked the company for what it did for the Nigerian economy.

“We appreciate your business and the contribution you have made and continue to make to our country’s economy over time. We do not take our partners for granted. A bet on Nigeria is a winning bet. It is also a bet that rewards beyond what is obtainable elsewhere,” Tinubu said.

“More investment opportunities are available, and my government has worked on various reforms to encourage investments. We need to encourage more opportunities for revenue expansion and minimize trans-shipments from larger ships to smaller ships.”

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Nigeria: Bureaux De Change operators to harmonise retail FX market

Published

1 day ago

April 28, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Amidst the volatility around the Nigerian currency and its foreign exchange market, the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators in the country has revealed plans for a unified retail end of the foreign currency market.

In a statement released on Saturday, the association said that the move would reduce volatility and improve regulatory compliance in that market sector.

The lack of dollars has had a huge effect on Nigeria. In the past few weeks, the naira has hit all-time lows, and the central bank has had to weaken the currency twice in less than a year and launched campaigns against currency racketeers as well as other policies like banning Binance and other crypto companies’ online sites through the Nigerian Communications Commission to stop what the government saw as ongoing manipulation of the foreign exchange market and the illegal flow of money.

Aminu Gwadabe, President of ABCON, said that the organization was putting plans in place to bring together market operators from different backgrounds. These plans included starting state groups to coordinate, integrate, and run a single market structure.

Gwadebe said that all BDC owners in Nigerian markets would be taken care of when it was done. He also talked about plans to improve its Business Process Platform, which used to be known as SAAZ Master.

He said, “Part of our vision for a united retail-end forex market includes activating geo-mapping and automated BDCs physical office verification exercise using the Remote Gravity Physical verification apps. This will enable forex buyers to locate BDCs offices for effective and seamless transactions easily.”

He said again that a strong retail end forex market would help the Central Bank of Nigeria reach its goal of real price discovery for the naira, as well as meet international obligations and national goals, make it easier for security agencies to monitor and supervise, and give BDC players a better view of the market.

Gwadabe says that the goal of a unified retail end forex market will help with the creation of market intelligence reports, improve the image of BDCs, other players, and market operators both locally and internationally, and create more jobs.

Gwadabe said that if this plan is carried out well, it will help the government make money through a digitalized retail end market and create a well-structured, open, and competitive platform to stop the threat of illegal platforms.

“With the world going digital, BDC operators under the ABCON leadership are committed to staying ahead of the competition by deploying time-tested technology to deliver effective services to foreign exchange end-users.

“Finally, we also condemned in its entity, the seeming reappearance of illegal economic behaviours in forex conversion and peer-to-peer trading that pose another recent surprise in naira volatility and I therefore want to warn that while surprises are the new normal, resilience is also the new skills,” Gwadebe explained.