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Nigeria To End Fuel Imports As 650,000pbd Dangote Oil Refinery Takeoff

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Dangote Petroleum Refinery which commences production today, will help Nigeria transited from being the largest importer of these products to a net exporter.

Aliko Dangote, the President and CEO of Dangote Group, affirmed this during the inauguration ceremony of the plants by the outgoing President, Muhammadu Buhari, at the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.

“This project is just the beginning of a great journey, a milestone in a new and exciting trajectory for the downstream sector of Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry. 

“It is our firm commitment that we will replicate in this sector, what we have achieved in the cement and fertilizer markets, where Nigeria transited from being the largest importer of these products to a net exporter,” said Dangote.

He disclosed that the first product of the refinery “will be in the market before the end of July, or  beginning of August this year.”

He stated that given the 650,000 barrel per day processing capacity, the refinery is more than able to meet all of Nigeria’s domestic fuel consumption, which is about 450,000 barrels per day. This leaves the excess production of 200,000 bpd available for export.

” The group’s huge investment of over $18.5 billion in the oil and gas industry has been prompted by the desire to support and contribute our quota to the Federal Government’s sustained effort to transform our economy and properly position our country as the leading Nation in Africa, and a respected member among emerging economies in the world.

“Beyond today’s ceremony, our first goal is to ramp up production of the various products to ensure that within this year, we can fully satisfy our nation’s demand for high-quality products to enable us to eliminate the tragedy of import dependency and stop, once and for all, the dumping in our market of toxic sub-standard petroleum products,” he said.

He added that beyond the local market, the group intend to ensure that the plants are run at the highest capacity utilization and highest efficiency to enable us to export competitively to other markets, especially in the ECOWAS and the wider Africa Region in which 53 countries out of 55 are dependent on imports to meet their petroleum products demand.

Gratitude For Projects’ Supports 
Dangote thanked President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerians, for the immeasurable support his company got from the inception of the project to its completion.

“Well, what I want to share with Nigerians is actually to show my gratitude and that of the Dangote Group, for all the assistance that we got from the President, from the Federal Government of Nigeria, from even the President-Elect, because he also set the pace by creating the Lekki Free Trade Zone as part of his dream.
And also we want to thank Governor Fashola, Governor Ambode and Governor Sanwo-Olu; because they have given us all the assistance that we were looking for.

“We thank all Nigerians for giving us their support which is too numerous to mention,” he said.

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Data Centers Attract $270bn Investments in 2025 — Unctad

France, the United States and the Republic of Korea led as host countries, while emerging markets such as Brazil, India, Thailand and Malaysia also attracted major projects.

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Image credit : Unctad

UN Trade and Development has reported that out of $1.6 trillion global foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2025, data centres attracted more than one fifth of global greenfield projects, with announced investment exceeding $270 billion.

In the report published this week on its website, Unctad, said that the demand for data centers investment was driven by AI infrastructure and digital networks.

The report reads:

” France, the United States and the Republic of Korea led as host countries, while emerging markets such as Brazil, India, Thailand and Malaysia also attracted major projects.

Similarly, the value of newly announced semiconductor projects rose by 35%.

By contrast, project numbers fell sharply by 25% in tariff-exposed, global value chain-intensive sectors.

Textiles, electronics and machinery were particularly affected.

While investment in technology-driven, capital-intensive projects lifts overall FDI figures, flows remain highly concentrated and generate limited spillovers.

Policies should aim to link digital infrastructure investment more closely to skills development, innovation systems and local value creation.

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Tony Elumelu Becomes Seplat Energy’s Non-Executive Director

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Seplat Energy Plc has appointed Tony O. Elumelu, the renowned Nigerian businessman and chairman of Heirs Holdings and United Bank for Africa (UBA), as a Non-Executive Director on its board with effect from January 22, 2026.

The appointment comes shortly after Elumelu’s investment entities, Heirs Holdings Limited and Heirs Energies Limited, acquired a 20.07% stake in Seplat Energy from French oil company Maurel & Prom (M&P) in a December 2025 transaction valued at approximately $500 million.

The deal positioned Heirs as the company’s largest single shareholder.In a related board change, Seplat announced the resignation of Mr. Olivier Cleret De Langavant, who had represented M&P as a Non-Executive Director since January 2020.

Both the appointment and resignation were disclosed in a filing to the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

Elumelu brings deep expertise in energy, banking, power generation, and pan-African investments.

His entry to the board is widely seen as a strategic move to support Seplat’s long-term growth ambitions and further strengthen indigenous participation in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas industry.

The leadership transition underscores Seplat Energy’s evolving ownership structure and its continued focus on operational excellence and value creation in Africa’s energy sector.

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EFCC Directs Moniepoint to Tighten Regulatory Compliance and Strengthen KYC Processes

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has called on Moniepoint, a prominent Nigerian fintech platform, to improve its regulatory compliance standards and reinforce its Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures.

EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede made the appeal during a recent meeting with Moniepoint’s leadership team. He highlighted the vital role that strong KYC processes play in detecting and preventing fraud, money laundering, and other illicit financial activities, while protecting the overall integrity of the financial system.

The chairman reportedly stressed that full adherence to existing regulations is mandatory for all fintech operators. He encouraged Moniepoint to exceed the baseline requirements set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by putting in place more rigorous internal controls and enhanced due diligence measures to ensure only legitimate customers access its services.

This directive is part of wider regulatory attention on Nigeria’s fintech industry. It follows previous enforcement actions, including the CBN’s imposition of ₦1 billion fines on Moniepoint and several other digital payment providers in 2024 for identified compliance gaps.

Those incidents also led to temporary restrictions on new customer onboarding for some platforms.

In response, Moniepoint has stated its commitment to further strengthening internal controls and upholding the highest standards of compliance in order to deliver secure and transparent financial services to its users.

The EFCC’s position reflects the Nigerian authorities’ continued efforts to tighten supervision of digital financial platforms amid growing concerns over financial crime and illicit flows in the sector.

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