The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has approved the investment of pension assets in the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, opening the door for pension fund administrators (PFAs) to participate in one of Africa’s biggest industrial projects.

The decision effectively grants PFAs access to part of Nigeria’s N29.5 trillion pension assets for investment in the refinery, marking it one of the most significant regulatory adjustments in the pension industry in recent years.

PenCom, in a circular displayed on its website, described the approval as a “specific and singular exception” to existing investment regulations because of the refinery’s strategic importance to the Nigerian economy.

Under current pension investment guidelines, PFAs are generally prohibited from investing contributors’ funds in companies without a proven history of profitability and dividend payments.

However, the commission said the refinery’s scale, financial structure and expected economic impact justified the waiver.

The Central Bank of Nigeria says 63.3 percent of Nigerians want interest rates reduced ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting scheduled for May 19 and 20, 2026.

The apex bank disclosed this in its April 2026 Inflation Expectations Survey Report, released by its Statistics Department under the Economic Policy Directorate on its website.

The report found that most respondents preferred lower borrowing costs despite persistent inflationary pressures across the economy.

The survey revealed high public engagement with CBN communications (92.1 percent), a general perception of transparency (93.3 percent), and a strong desire for a reduction in interest rates (63.3 per cent).

In the report, 26.0 percent of respondents wanted interest rates retained at current levels, while 10.7 per cent supported a further rate hike.

The development comes as the MPC prepares to take another decision on the Monetary Policy Rate amid concerns over inflation, exchange rate pressures, insecurity, and rising energy costs.

The survey showed that inflation perception worsened in April 2026, with 67.2 percent of respondents describing inflation as high, up from 56.4 percent recorded in March 2026.

The founder and Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has recounted how he was denied entry into South Africa after his visa expired a day before his trip, while European travellers were reportedly allowed into the country without visas.

Rabiu shared the experience on Thursday while speaking on “Africa at Scale: Capital, Policy and the Architecture of Growth” at the ongoing Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda.

He said that the incident occurred in February 2025 when he travelled from Lagos to Cape Town for the Mining Indaba conference.

He said that immigration officials stopped him on arrival after discovering that his visa had expired the previous day.

Rabiu explained that he and his team spent about four hours at the airport before he was eventually returned to Lagos.

“I take full responsibility because my visa had expired and my crew failed to notice it before the trip,” he said.

However, the businessman said that he became concerned after noticing that passengers arriving on multiple flights from Europe were allowed into South Africa without visas while he, as an African, was denied entry.

“While we were waiting at the immigration desk, there were about three international flights from Europe. Most of the passengers were Europeans, and they all entered Cape Town without visas,” he said.

Rabiu said the experience highlighted the difficulties Africans still face when travelling within the continent despite ongoing talks about African integration and economic cooperation.

“I did not have a problem with being returned because I had no valid visa. My issue was being an African in Africa and being denied entry, while foreigners from other continents were allowed in freely without visas,” he said.

He called for reforms in visa and immigration policies across the continent, stressing that Africa cannot achieve meaningful economic integration while Africans continue to face barriers moving within African countries.