• Heineken

Global brewer, Heineken, yesterday, said it would retrench 6,000 staff out of its 87,000 global workforce this year as it grapples with weak demand and rising costs.

The second biggest brewer by market value has promised to deliver higher growth with less resources as it looks to assuage investors who said it has fallen behind on efficiency.

This is coming right after the surprise January resignation of its current Chief Executive Officer, Dolf van den Brink, leaving the company scrambling for a new CEO.Also, sales across the sector are faltering ⁠amid strained consumer finances, geopolitical turbulence and bad weather.

The company said this ⁠productivity drive will unlock savings and reduce its global head count by 5,000 to 6,000 positions over the next two years, roughly seven percent of its global workforce of 87,000 people.

The company’s head of finance, Harold van den Broek, added that they are doing this to strengthen operations and to be able to invest in growth.

There are fears that Nigeria would be impacted as the company revealed that the cuts would be focused on non-priority markets offering fewer growth prospects.

He added that further cuts would also result from previously announced initiatives targeting Heineken’s supply network, head office and regional business units.

Outgoing-CEO van den Brink, who steps down in May, said that there was ⁠no update on the brewer’s search for a successor.

Along with weak demand, brewers are facing long-term declines in beer sales in some key markets, dented by issues such concerns over the health impact of alcohol consumption.

Heineken expects slower profit growth for 2026 of between 2 and 6 per cent against the 4 to 8 per cent growth it guided for last year.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has dismissed as false reports claiming that the Federal Government directed it to suspend enforcement actions against sachet alcohol and 200ml PET bottle alcoholic products.

In a statement signed by Mojisola Adeyeye, its director general, the agency described the publication as “false and misleading,” stressing that it had received no official communication from the Federal Government ordering such a suspension.

NAFDAC stated that it operates strictly within its statutory mandate and only acts on formally communicated government policies and directives.

According to the agency, “At no time has the Agency received any formal directive ordering the suspension of its regulatory or enforcement activities in respect of sachet alcohol products.”

The regulator reaffirmed its commitment to public health protection, regulatory compliance, and transparency in carrying out its responsibilities in line with established laws and due process. It emphasised that any decision affecting national regulatory actions would be conveyed through official government communication channels.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced the attainment of 650,000 barrels per day production capacity from the initial 450,000 daily barrels.

The company on Wednesday attributes the feat to a major operational milestone with the full restoration and optimisation of its Crude Distillation Unit and Motor Spirit production block.

Both the crude distillation and Motor Spirit production units are now running at optimal performance, further strengthening the steady state operations of the refining facility.

Following a scheduled maintenance exercise on the CDU and MS Block, the refinery has also commenced an intensive 72 hour series of performance test runs in collaboration with licensor UOP.

These tests are designed to validate operational efficiency and confirm that all critical parameters meet global standards.

Chief Executive Officer, David Bird, says all remaining processing units will begin their respective performance test runs in Phase 2, scheduled to commence next week.