Business
Geometric Power Plant to Start Electricity Generation Within 2 Months, Says Prof Nnaji

The 188-megawatt Geometric Power plant in the Osisioma Industrial Layout in Aba, Abia State, will start to generate electricity within two months, according to the Geometric Power group chairman, Professor Bart Nnaji, who is also a former Minister of Power.
Starting with one of its four General Electric brand turbines, the second will come on stream once the performance of the first turbine is declared satisfactory by the team of engineers led by KSE Energy of Turkey and Engineer Ben Caven, a former executive director of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) reputed to be the only person to have run the generation, engineering and transmission divisions of the state-owned utility.
“The generation of electicity from the Geometric Power plant will be a game changer in the socioeconomic development of not just Aba city but nine out of the 17 local government areas in Abia State serviced by Aba Power, a member of Geometric group”, Nnaji declared today to wildly cheering participants at the First African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Market Opportunities Conference holding at the Technology Incubation Centre in Aba, organised by the Continental Export Import (CONEX) Ltd.
“We have completed building four brand new power substations and refurbishing three substations inherited from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), in addition to providing thousands of kilometres of cables and wires, as well as world-class tubular poles available in only highly industrialised cities such as Tokyo in Japan and San Francisco in California.
“All that remains now is to provide fuel or gas to the Geometric Power plant through the 27-kilometre gas pipeline from Owaza in Ukwa West LGA in Abia State to the Osisioma Industrial Layout on the Aba outskirts.
“Oilserv, Nigeria’s foremost indigenous gas pipeline builder, is doing a good job”.
Professor Nnaji, also a former Minister of Science and Technology who held the title of Distinguished Professor of Engineering in the United States, disclosed that though work has been completed on the seven substations, thousands of kms of wires as well as tubular poles, the power infrastructure will be put in use only when the Geometric Power plant becomes operational.
Th plant commissioning, he added, would bring about a dramatic improvement in not power supply but also its quality.
The Aba Integrated Power Project, he continued, “is the only electricity company in Nigeria that generates and also distributes power”.
He disclosed that he chose to cite Geometric Power to catalyse Aba’s development as the headquarters of indigenous technology and manufacturing, noting that with “constant, quality and affordable electricity soon, the cost of doing business in Abia State will reduce significantly and this will, in turn, impact on the national economy”.
He advised Aba business people to embrace the African Continental Free Trade Area, as it will elminate multiple taxes by various local and state governments as well as the Federal Government.
Nigeria has signed the agreement and ratified it, thus attaining the status of a state party whose goods and services can be exported to other African countries with relative ease.
Nnaji commended Aba businesses for excelling in textiles, leather products and metals which need large export markets.
Other participants in the two-day conference which will end tomorrow include the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, the Nigerian Shippers Council, United Bank for Africa, and the African Export Import Bank (AFREXIM Bank).
Business
BACITI Advocates Market Shift for Nigerian Exporters
Nigerian agricultural and manufacturing SMEs that have carved out a market in the U.S.now face a price disadvantage.

The Bashir Adeniyi Centre for International Trade and Investment (BACITI) says that Nigerian fertilizers manufacturers and industrial goods had better consider exporting regionally under the AfCFTA .
BACITI also urges the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to help exporters cope with the tariff’s cost through rebates, tax breaks, or low-interest loans to affected exporters.
BACITI , in its Economic Insight April 2025, noted that the U.S. tariff will hit Nigeria’s non-oil export sector hardest.
Said the report: ” Many African countries rely on preferential access to the U.S.market under AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act), which granted duty-free treatment to thousands of African exports.African manufacturers who invested with AGOA preferences in mind are now at risk.
Textiles, leather, and agro-processing exports from countries like Kenya,Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, and Nigeria may now face 10–14%tariffs, rendering the uncompetitive.
This could lead to job losses in export zones and industrial park.
Nigerian agricultural and manufacturing SMEs that have carved out a market in the U.S.now face a price disadvantage.
Niche products like Nigerian cocoa butter, dried fruits, or textiles and apparels which entered the U.S. duty-free will become costlier and uncompetitive.
Fertilizer makes up 2–3% of Nigeria’s exports to the U.S. A 10-14% tariff on fertilizer could lead U.S. buyers to seek cheaper suppliers, thus Nigerian producers might lose that market or have to accept lower net prices.
While crude oil is less likely to be directly impacted by the new tariffs, the broader uncertainty stemming from the ongoing trade war is likely to exert downward pressure on global oil prices, thereby affecting Nigeria’s export revenues and fiscal stability.
Indirect macro impact via oil prices: fallin oil prices due to slow global trade and economic uncertainty.
This would further reduce Nigeria’s export earnings and government revenue. A $10 drop in oil price, for example, costs Nigeria billions in export earnings.
Fiscal and FX pressures: A decline inNigeria’s export earnings would reduce dollar inflows, placing pressure on the naira.
In times of global uncertainty or trade wars, investors often retreat from riskier markets. As a result, Nigeria could face capital outflows, further currency depreciation, and rising inflationary pressure.”
Business
CPPE Spots Flaws in RMRDC Raw Materials Bill, Calling for its Withdrawal
Dr Muda Yusuf, the Director/ CEO of CPPE, said: ” The RMRDC involvement in trade policy matters is an aberration. Besides, the bill has a very weak value proposition.

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has critiqued the Raw Materials Research and Development Council [RMRDC] Bill in the National Assembly, calling for its withdrawal.
The RMRDC Bill proposed by Senator Peter Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, which aims to ensure local processing of at least 30 percent of Nigeria’s raw materials before exportation, has received overwhelming support from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, and other stakeholders during the public hearing organized by the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, held on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.
However, Dr Muda Yusuf, the Director/ CEO of CPPE, said: ” The RMRDC involvement in trade policy matters is an aberration. Besides, the bill has a very weak value proposition.
The CPPE advises the RMRDC to withdraw the bill.
Dr Yusuf urged the National Assembly to encourage the RMRDC to focus on its core mandate of raw materials research to offer the most cost-effective raw materials option for manufacturers.
Dr Yusuf explained that the RMRDC Bill currently before the National Assembly has the prospect of creating significant adverse and unintended consequences for Nigerian exporters and manufacturers.
What study has been done to determine the local processing capacity for each category of primary products currently being exported?
What metrics would be used to determine raw materials that manufacturers would be allowed to import into the country?
What is the effective time frame for implementation?Is it within the mandate of the RMRDC to promote the ban on exports or imports?
The position of the CPPE is that this bill raises more questions than answers.
It is a very simplistic proposition that has not taken into account the critical challenges of manufacturing, processing,, and value addition in the Nigerian economy. “
Business
FG collected N6.9 billion mining fees across Nigeria in Q1 2025 – Dele Alake
Alake disclosed this via his official X page on Monday.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, has announced that in Q1 2025, the federal government collected N6,957,826,200 in mining fees across Nigeria.
Alake disclosed this via his official X page on Monday.
“I am pleased to share some exciting developments in the mining sector; in the first quarter of this year, the Federal Government collected an impressive N6,957,826,200 in mining fees and registered 118 new private mineral buying centers,” he stated.
Source: Nairametrics.
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