China wants to buy more oil from Nigeria

In what might be perceived as a welcomed development, China has said that it would need more crude oil from Nigeria. NAN reports that Zao LingXiang who is the economic and commercial counsellor of the Chinese embassy in Nigeria made this declaration in Abuja.

In 2015, the total amount of crude oil export to China was only about one million barrels which was just 1.3 per cent of Nigerian annual export. He said: “In my opinion, it really doesn’t matter whether Iran comes back or not; Chinese companies want to import more crude oil from Nigeria.” He explained that current trade volume between Nigeria and China was $14.94 billion in 2014, making Nigeria third largest trade partner of China in Africa. The economic counsellor added that Nigeria’s trade figure was 8.3 per cent of China’s total trade volume with Africa and 42 per cent of the total trade volume between China and Africa.

“China is the largest developing country in the world and Nigeria is the largest developing country in Africa and both countries have complementary advantages in natural and human resources, funds and markets."

“Right now, the Nigerian government is trying to diversify its economy which is fully in line with the 10 China-Africa cooperation plans announced at the summit on China-Africa trade in Johannesburg in 2015. “There are great potential for cooperation between China and Nigeria in the fields of industrialisation, agricultural modernisation, infrastructure construction, financial services, trade and investment facilitation, among others.”

LinXiang said that in the area of infrastructure, the two countries had made significant development. He said that President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to visit China in April and that this visit would facilitate the implementation of agreements reached at the 2015 China-African summit which took place in South Africa. The economic counselor explained that the total investment volume between China and Africa exceeded $100 billion in 2015 in spite of the decline in imports from Africa.

“The amount in import from Africa to China declined but did not decline remarkably."

“Moreover, the economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa is not only about trade but technical cooperation as well."

 “China’s total investment volume in Africa last year increased by 100 times more in a short span of 10 years, which shows that cooperation between both parties is moving to a new level,” he said.

Oil prices rose close to $40 per barrel on March 7. The reduction in the output of US production increased the North American WTI crude benchmark. Brent crude which is the benchmark in the pricing of Nigerian oil increased by nearly 0.76 percent and reached some of the highest levels since early January and standing at $39.48 per barrel.


Naij

Video - Oil workers suspend national strike in Nigeria

Nigerian Oil workers have suspended a country wide protest following an overhaul of the the county's most important parastatal -The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation. NNPC under the petroleum ministry is responsible for the regulation and making business sense of Nigeria's vast petroleum wealth. But it has been implicated severally for corrupt dealings that have cost the country billions.

MTN offers $1.5 billion to settle fine imposed by Nigeria

South African telecoms firm MTN Group has offered $1.5 billion to settle a much larger fine from Nigerian regulators for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered SIM card users, a document seen by Reuters shows.

Africa's biggest mobile phone group has been in talks with Nigerian authorities to have the $3.9 billion penalty reduced and last month made a "good faith" payment of $250 million towards a settlement.

In a letter to the Nigerian government from MTN's lawyer, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the company proposed a 300 billion naira ($1.5 billion) settlement to be paid through a combination of government bond purchases, cash instalments and network access to the Nigerian government.

Holder said in the letter, dated Feb. 24, the offer "ultimately is in the best interest of the FGN (Federal Government of Nigeria) and MTN Nigeria."

Johannesburg-based MTN said on Friday talks with the Nigerian government were ongoing.

"MTN has previously advised shareholders not to make decisions based on press reports and MTN again urges its shareholders to refrain from doing so," it said.

Nigeria's telecoms ministry had no immediate comment.

In its annual results last week, MTN said it had put aside $600 million to cover a deal over the fine, which was originally set at $5.2 billion on the basis of charging $1,000 for every unregistered SIM card.

Nigeria imposed a deadline on mobile operators to cut off unregistered SIM cards, which MTN missed, amid fears the lines were being used by criminal gangs, including militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

The fine, equating to more than twice MTN's annual average capital expenditure over the past five years, came months after Muhammadu Buhari was swept to power after an election campaign which pledged tougher regulation and a fight against corruption.

Shares in MTN, which makes about 37 percent of its sales in Nigeria, were little changed at 147.53 rand at 0839 GMT, after rising more than 2 percent shortly after the market opened.


Reuters

U-17 World Cup winner Kelechi Nwakali signs with Arsenal

Nigerian midfielder Kelechi Nwakali has signed a deal to join Arsenal on a five-year contract this summer, sources have told ESPN FC.

Arsenal have been in advanced talks with Nwakali and fellow Nigerian teenager Samuel Chukwueze since January, with both players helping Golden Eaglets win last year's FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

AllNigeriaSoccer reported that Nwakali told them on Thursday that he had put pen to paper, but the midfielder claimed he had not said those quotes. "I've seen it [the report]. I am surprised about it because I did not speak to anybody. I never said anything like that," he told ESPN FC.

Sources told ESPN FC that the deal is done, but that there are still some complications to be ironed out which is why the deal has not been announced.

The Gunners will reportedly pay a transfer fee of about £2.5 million to the Diamond Football Academy as part of the deal and Nwakali will join when he turns 18 in June.

Nwakali has an older brother, Chidiebere, who is part of Manchester City's academy, but has previously said he admired Arsenal's track record of giving young players the chance to play first-team football.

The midfielder was voted the Most Valuable Player of the U17 World Cup, where he caught the eye of many European clubs -- including Arsenal.

"We identified Nwakali as the player of the tournament, basically, and as a top player," Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said in January.

Nwakali was pictured with Wenger and former Arsenal and Nigeria striker Nwankwo Kanu during his visit to the Emirates in January. Wenger said at the time that the talks to sign Nwakali and Chukwueze were "progressing well" but that they would remain in Nigeria until they turn 18.

Nigeria international Alex Iwobi, who joined Arsenal's youth setup at the age of eight, was also recently promoted to the club's first-team and has played a part in the club's FA Cup campaign this season.

ESPN 

Related story: Video - Nigeria defend title and defeat Mali in 2015 FIFA U17 World Cup Final

Building collapse in Lagos, Nigeria kills 30

The number of people killed when a five-storey building under construction in Nigeria's main city, Lagos, collapsed yesterday has risen to 30, emergency officials say.

The building, located in the wealthy Lekki district, crumbled during heavy rainfall.

Thirteen people have so far been rescued but it's thought others may still be trapped in the rubble.

In a statement, the Lagos State government said work on the building had continued without a permit from the authorities, who had sealed off the site.

They have ordered the managers of the project to report to police or face arrest.

The building had been inhabited by construction workers and their families.

BBC