Monday, July 16, 2018
Video - Nigeria floods worsen food shortages
Flooding and heavy rains are affecting many parts of Nigeria. Dozens of people have been killed and crops have been lost, raising fears of a food shortage. As the rains peak in a few weeks’ time, many farming communities living in Nigeria’s fertile basins are bracing for more losses, with wider implications on country’s agricultural output.
Video - Five officers, 18 soldiers missing after attack in Borno state, Nigeria
More than 100 Nigerian army troops are still missing following an attack on a military convoy on Saturday in Borno state. The attacking insurgents were believed to have been those who escaped the ongoing military offensive in the Sambisa Forest and Lake Chad region. Local media reports say the military was acting on intelligence when it mobilised the troops in a convoy of 11 trucks to clear the insurgents from the Bama Local Government Area in Borno State. Reinforcement troops have since been deployed from Maiduguri to Borno state following the attack.
China planning to invest $3 billion in oil operations in Nigeria
China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) is willing to invest $3 billion in its existing oil and gas operation in Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said on Sunday following a meeting with the Chinese in Abuja.
During a visit to Nigeria’s state-owned NNPC, CNOOC Chief Executive Yuan Guangyu said the Beijing-based oil company had invested more than $14 billion in its Nigerian operations and expressed readiness to invest more.
Guangyu said Nigeria was their largest investment destination and also asked the NNPC to seek common grounds with CNOOC for enhanced productivity.
Nigeria has been holding talks with oil majors over new finance agreements for joint ventures since last year. The NNPC last year signed financing agreements with Chevron (CVX.N) and Shell (RDSa.L) worth at least $780 million to boost crude production and reserves.
Other western oil companies, including ExxonMobil (XOM.N), operate in Nigeria through joint ventures with NNPC.
During a visit to Nigeria’s state-owned NNPC, CNOOC Chief Executive Yuan Guangyu said the Beijing-based oil company had invested more than $14 billion in its Nigerian operations and expressed readiness to invest more.
Guangyu said Nigeria was their largest investment destination and also asked the NNPC to seek common grounds with CNOOC for enhanced productivity.
Nigeria has been holding talks with oil majors over new finance agreements for joint ventures since last year. The NNPC last year signed financing agreements with Chevron (CVX.N) and Shell (RDSa.L) worth at least $780 million to boost crude production and reserves.
Other western oil companies, including ExxonMobil (XOM.N), operate in Nigeria through joint ventures with NNPC.
Friday, July 13, 2018
Video - Nigerian president says he intends to sign CFTA agreement
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted the reason he hasn't signed the Continental Free-Trade Area agreement is because he is, quote, a slow reader. But the Nigerian leader says he does intend to sign the deal, which was reached by African leaders at a summit in Rwanda in March. Once the agreement is implemented, it will be the world's largest free-trade area.
MTN offices reopen in Nigeria after days of violent protests
MTN Group Ltd. reopened offices in Nigeria that had been closed since Monday due to violent protests by labor groups against Africa’s largest mobile-phone company by subscribers.
Staff were assaulted and properties vandalized during the demonstrations, the Johannesburg-based company said in an emailed response to questions on Friday. The wireless carrier is working with the Nigerian Communications Commission, government ministries and industry groups to reach an “amicable resolution” with unions led by the Nigeria Labour Congress, MTN said.
A spokesman for MTN Nigeria said later Friday that the offices were back open. He declined to comment on whether a settlement had been reached with the labor groups.
The NLC had been picketing MTN’s offices across Nigeria all this week, accusing the company of refusing to allow workers to be asked whether they want to join a labor union. The company rejected the claim, saying none of its workers took part in the protest.
MTN is the market leader in Nigeria with almost 55 million customers, but has had a troubled relationship with Africa’s most populous country in recent years. In 2015, the company was hit with a regulatory fine that led to more than 18 months of negotiations that eroded the share price. Last year, MTN Nigeria’s headquarters in the capital, Abuja, were vandalized in retaliation for xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.
The shares declined 0.2 percent to 106.67 rand as of 12:15 p.m. in Johannesburg, extending the year-to-date drop to 21 percent.
Staff were assaulted and properties vandalized during the demonstrations, the Johannesburg-based company said in an emailed response to questions on Friday. The wireless carrier is working with the Nigerian Communications Commission, government ministries and industry groups to reach an “amicable resolution” with unions led by the Nigeria Labour Congress, MTN said.
A spokesman for MTN Nigeria said later Friday that the offices were back open. He declined to comment on whether a settlement had been reached with the labor groups.
The NLC had been picketing MTN’s offices across Nigeria all this week, accusing the company of refusing to allow workers to be asked whether they want to join a labor union. The company rejected the claim, saying none of its workers took part in the protest.
MTN is the market leader in Nigeria with almost 55 million customers, but has had a troubled relationship with Africa’s most populous country in recent years. In 2015, the company was hit with a regulatory fine that led to more than 18 months of negotiations that eroded the share price. Last year, MTN Nigeria’s headquarters in the capital, Abuja, were vandalized in retaliation for xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.
The shares declined 0.2 percent to 106.67 rand as of 12:15 p.m. in Johannesburg, extending the year-to-date drop to 21 percent.
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