Business
Why Northern Industries Collapse – Dangote
“Without electricity, you cannot have growth, no matter how hard you try,” he warned.
Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has linked the North’s slow economic growth and rising insecurity to decades of policy inconsistency and chronic electricity shortages.
Dangote spoke today during the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) 25th anniversary dinner in Kaduna State.
He told the ACF leaders that many promising northern industries collapsed because government policies “kept shifting the goalpost,” eroding investor confidence.
He recalled that Arthur Andersen (now part of KPMG) was commissioned to study why northern textile magnates and other industrialists failed despite strong starts.
The findings, he said, pointed largely to unpredictable government policies and an unreliable power supply.
Dangote disclosed that his group connects to public electricity to public electricity only in South Africa and Ethiopia, because of Nigeria’s unstable grid.
“Without electricity, you cannot have growth, no matter how hard you try,” he warned.
He added that today’s insecurity — banditry, youth joblessness and economic displacement — is a direct consequence of long-standing neglect.
Dangote urged northern leaders to commit to a coherent, long-term economic roadmap anchored on education, industry and agriculture, aligning with the transformation agenda highlighted by the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Atiku stressed that the ACF was conceived not only to foster political harmony, but to drive development in line with the vision of Sir Ahmadu Bello.
He cited the Sardauna’s 1961 priorities — education, agriculture and industrial growth — noting that they remain more urgent today than ever.
He outlined past initiatives such as the Northern Education Project, which exposed the region’s crumbling school system and triggered reforms that boosted enrolment and transition rates.
He also referenced the Northern Development Project, NDP, which sought to rebuild agricultural value chains and address climate-induced productivity challenges.
Yet, he lamented that key obstacles— from energy poverty to multiple taxation — still plague northern industries two decades on.
Business
Flutterwave buys Mono for $40 million
Under the deal, Mono will continue to operate as an independent product, with no changes to its leadership or operations.
• Flutterwave Nigeria HQ, Lagos
Flutterwave, Africa’s largest fintech company, has acquired Nigerian open banking startup Mono in an all-stock transaction valued between $25 million and $40 million.
The acquisition brings together two major fintech infrastructure players as Flutterwave looks to strengthen its payments stack with open banking, data, and identity capabilities.
Under the deal, Mono will continue to operate as an independent product, with no changes to its leadership or operations.
The transaction allows Mono’s investors to at least recoup their capital, with some early backers reportedly recording returns of up to 20x.
(Nairametrics)
Business
Venezuela: Crude prices edge lower following Maduro’s overthrow
CNBC reports that U.S. crude oil fell 31 cents, or 0.54%, to $57.01 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent fell 22 cents, or 0.36%, to $60.53 per barrel.
• An oil-themed mural in Caracas, Venezuela
Crude oil prices edged lower Sunday, as the overthrow of President Nicolas Maduro by the Trump administration has cast deep uncertainty over oil-rich Venezuela.
Venezuela, a founding member of OPEC, sits on the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world at 303 billion barrels or about 17% of the global total, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
CNBC reports that U.S. crude oil fell 31 cents, or 0.54%, to $57.01 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent fell 22 cents, or 0.36%, to $60.53 per barrel.
President Donald Trump made it clear Saturday that U.S. investment in Venezuela’s oil sector is a key objective of the regime change operation that ousted Maduro.
“We’re going to have our huge United States oil companies — the biggest anywhere in the world — go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure,” Trump said in a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
The president said Saturday that the U.S. embargo of Venezuelan oil remains in place.
Business
MAN woos CBN, MOF for manufacturing refinancing facility
The Director -General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, made the call for the facility in a report on the manufacturing outlook for 2026.
Cover image: MAN
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has called on the monetary authorities ( CBN and MOF) to introduce a Manufacturing Refinancing and Rediscounting Facility (MRRF) believing that it can reinvigorate the manufacturing sector in 2026.
The Director -General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, made the call for the facility in a report on the manufacturing outlook for 2026.
He said that the MRRF is to enable banks to refinance approved manufacturing loans at single-digit rates for up to seven years.
He emphasised that to ensure a more robust manufacturing sector in 2026 , there was need for:
- 1. Launch a Manufacturing Refinancing and Rediscounting Facility (MRRF) that allows banks to refinance approved manufacturing loans at single-digit rates for up to 7 years.
- 2. Create a publicly accessible dashboard tracking lending flows, interest rate spreads, loan approvals and sectoral disbursement patterns in real time.
3. Further reduce the benchmark interest rate by at least 200–300 basis points over the next two quarters to make credit affordable for manufacturers.
4. Craft and ensure the effective execution of the implementation strategy for the recently approved Nigeria Industrial Policy.
5. Categorize manufacturers as strategic users of gas to remove the gap between what manufacturers and electricity generation companies pay per cubic foot of gas.
6. Introduce a stable, transparent gas pricing framework for manufacturers and prioritize local gas supply before exports.
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