Business
Imoke Disagrees With S’South Economic Summit Critics
The Chairman of the South-South Governors Forum, Senator Liyel Imoke, says the success of the just-concluded second South-South Economic Summit has proved “skeptics” of its propriety wrong.
Imoke, who is the governor of Cross River, made the remark on Saturday at the closing ceremony of the three-day summit held in Asaba, Delta.
He recalled that at the first summit held in Calabar, Cross River, in April, 2009, some skeptics had dubbed it a “talk show” and said that it could not be sustained.
Imoke explained that the views of such persons were because they believed that the people of the region were not united and could not speak with one voice.
“But the success of this second South-South economic summit hosted by Delta has proved those skeptics wrong as it has shown that the people of the region were more committed and united.”
Imoke also said that the success of the summit reflected a positive direction for the region in its development pursuit.
He recalled that the Asaba summit ought to have been held in 2011 but explained that the delay was caused by interruptions in governance in some states in the region, arising from electoral cases in court.
Imoke stressed that the summit was not a talk-show but one designed to bring stakeholders in the public and private sector together to dissect the potentials of the region and chart ways for harnessing them collectively.
The governor emphasised that the time for the people of the region to take charge of their destiny was now, adding that “to achieve this is for the BRACED states to build on the recommendations of the summit.”
He noted that it was laudable that the people of the region had come together to chart a way of taking the economy of the area to greater height.
“The future is yours and only you can determine it. Our challenge in the next one year when the third summit will hold is to report back the progress made.”
Imoke announced that the third and fourth economic summits will be hosted by Rivers ad Awa-Ibom, respectively.
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Nigeria directs all oil, gas revenues to federation account in sweeping reform
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has signed an order directing that all oil and gas revenues owed to the government be paid directly into the federation account, in sweeping reforms aimed at boosting public finances, the presidency said on Wednesday.
Under the law, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation keeps 30% of oil and gas profits for frontier exploration in inland basins. The presidency said those funds will now be paid into the federation account and appropriated by the government.
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NNPC also retains 30% of oil and gas sales as operational costs and receives 30% of proceeds from Production Sharing Contracts. Under the new directive, all revenues under these arrangements will flow directly to the federation account, while the company will instead receive appropriated management fees.
Royalty payments, petroleum profit taxes and other statutory revenues previously collected and retained by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) will also be paid directly into the Federation Account. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) will likewise remit its revenues in full, with its cost of collection to be funded through appropriation.
Tinubu’s office said deductions enabled by the law had sharply reduced net oil inflows and contributed to fiscal strain across federal, state and local governments. The president also ordered a review of the law and established an implementation committee to enforce the changes.
The Bank of Industry (BoI) has introduced a business clinic model designed to diagnose, treat and rehabilitate the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to ensure long-term growth and sustainability.
The Divisional Head, Business Development, BoI, Dr Obaro Osah, made this known at the bank’s Thrive Summit with the theme: “Driving Growth through Innovation and Financial Empowerment” on Tuesday in Lagos.
Osah noted that traditional banking often treated businesses as mere account opening and management relationships.
He said the BoI business clinic model was created to reimagine the essence of a bank as a specialised teaching hospital.
According to him, just as a hospital requires a thorough diagnosis before service treatment/surgery, the bank must analyse the structural health of a small business before injecting capital.
“Financial distress is often just a symptom, the disease lies in operations and adopted philosophy, strategy, or governance,” he said.
Osah noted the many MSMEs, in spite of their potential, suffer from recurring ailments: restricted cash flow, poor operational structure, lack of proper packaging and market access, poor management among others.
He said the bank’s triage and vital signs included screening SMEs by maturity stage, pulse check to assess cash flow and liquidity and market temperature to evaluate competitive landscape.
Osah said after these evaluation, advanced diagnostics, prescriptions, surgical interventions and recovery and rehabilitation would be carried out where necessary.
“Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice and the Thrive Summit ensures we treat the root cause, not just the symptoms,” he said.
The Chief Strategy and Development Officer, BoI, Dr Isa Omagu, noted that MSMEs needed more than finance to succeed.
Omagu said they needed structure, advisory, capacity building, governance, digital readiness, access to market information and the right business infrastructure to operate and scale effectively.
He said as part of the bank’s 2025-2027 Corporate Strategy, the business clinic would expand BoI’s value proposition to broaden its products and services to better reach target segments.
Omagu said by offering structured business advisory and project development support, the clinic would enable the bank deliver deeper, more holistic value to MSMEs beyond financing.
“This vision of a structured, holistic business clinic; one that strengthens MSMEs across all core business functions and makes them more bankable, competitive, digitally enabled, and sustainable, is fully aligned with our strategic initiative to develop and roll out non-financial product offerings.
“Through this initiative, BoI commits to providing business advisory for MSMEs and project lifecycle support for enterprises, and the business clinic serves as the practical platform through which this commitment comes to life,” he said.
Omagu urged MSMEs to apply the guidance received to strengthen structure, governance, and financial management.
He added that they must adopt digital tools and improve internal processes to boost competitiveness while engaging BoI as a long-term partner in building a resilient, scalable business.
Mrs Eniola Akinsete, Divisional Head, Sustainability, BoI, said adopting Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), principles often led to business prosperity.
Akinsete, however, noted that in spite of the benefits, adoption challenges persisted.
She affirmed BoI’s support on the adoption of ESG Practices by the MSMEs.
Earlier, the Executive Director, Corporate Finance, Sustainability and Investments, BoI, Mr Rotimi Akinde, said the summit represented a shared commitment to building a stronger, more resilient business ecosystem in Nigeria.
Akinde stated that the business clinic created a platform for practical knowledge sharing where entrepreneurs and small business owners could gain actionable insights to overcome challenges and seize opportunities.
He said discussions would focus on critical areas that drive sustainable growth, including branding and marketing, financials and activities, human rights, human resources, raising capital for equity and technology.
Nigeria’s Dangote Group has signed a $400 million equipment deal with China’s Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group to speed up the expansion of its oil refinery toward a planned 1.4 million barrels per day, the company said on Tuesday.
The additional equipment is expected to support major projects under construction across refining, petrochemicals, agriculture and infrastructure.
Dangote said the XCMG agreement would allow it to acquire a wide range of new heavy-duty machinery to complement existing assets deployed for the refinery build?out, which the company expects to complete within three years.
As part of the expansion, polypropylene capacity will rise to 2.4 million tons per year from 900,000 tons. Urea production in Nigeria will triple to 9 million tons per year, alongside an existing 3 million-ton plant in Ethiopia, positioning the conglomerate as the world’s largest urea producer, the company said.
The output of linear alkyl benzene – a key raw material for detergents – will increase to 400,000 tons annually, making Dangote the biggest supplier in Africa. Additional base-oil capacity is also planned in the programme.
Dangote Group described the equipment deal as a strategic investment aligned with its ambition to become a $100 billion enterprise by 2030.
“The additional equipment we are acquiring under this partnership will significantly enhance execution across our projects,” it said in a statement.
Owned by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, the $20 billion refinery began operations in 2024 after years of delays. Once fully operational, it is expected to reduce Nigeria’s heavy dependence on imported refined fuel and reshape fuel supply across West and Central Africa.
Reporting by Isaac Anyaogu; Editing by Anil D’Silva
The Nigeria-Slovenia Chamber of Commerce on Thursday urged the Nigerian business community to explore business opportunities in Slovenia to widen their horizons.
The Tide source reports that the chamber made the call at its 2025 Last Quarter Business Forum held in Lagos State.
The forum is the chamber’s routine session aimed at informing businesses about the latest opportunities of mutual benefit between both countries, encouraging people to explore them to improve their livelihoods.
Speaking at the event, which was attended by businessmen and trade regulatory agencies, the Director-General of the Nigeria-Slovenia Chamber of Commerce, Mr Uche Udungwor, described the relationship between the two countries as a bilateral economy.
Udungwor said the body, established to build, promote and facilitate trade and investment activities between Nigeria and Slovenia, had positively impacted both nations.
He said the mandates of the chamber include: “To provide a forum representative of Nigeria and Slovenia’s interests for the development and improvement of commerce and industry between the two countries.
“Also, to create, promote and sustain broad exchanges and interactions in commercial, industrial and economic fields between the countries.
“To promote cooperation on technical and scientific innovations between institutions of the countries through the exchange of regular information on trade and investment opportunities.
“To advise members on opportunities, challenges, legislation or otherwise arising from the pursuit of trade between Nigeria and Slovenia, and to encourage the exchange of ideas and views on trade matters within the context of trade promotion between both countries.”
According to him, Slovenia’s major imports include organic chemicals, agro products such as cocoa beans, iron and steel/metal scraps, wood, and mineral fuels/petroleum products.
He said the trade balance between Slovenia and Nigeria is “not quite encouraging”, citing United Nations COMTRADE data indicating that Slovenia’s imports from Nigeria in 2022 amounted to $5.7 million.
Udungwor described the Republic of Slovenia, located in Central Europe with about 2.1 million inhabitants, as a promising business frontier for Nigerians.
He noted that the country features Alpine mountains, thick forests and a short Adriatic coastline.
“Slovenia, which borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Croatia to the south and southeast, and Hungary to the northeast, has a 2024 GDP of 72.49 billion dollars, a sound economy and a low-risk business environment.
“Slovenia has been a member of the European Union since 2004 and of the Schengen Group since 2007. It is also a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
“Slovenia today is a stable, vibrant democracy that offers a stimulating business environment and represents a bridge between the Balkan, Central European and Western European countries.
“The Nigeria-Slovenia Chamber of Commerce is at your service to provide up-to-date information and advice about Slovenia’s economy, business opportunities, companies, products and services for the mutual benefit of all,” he said.
A participant, Mr Muyiwa Ajose, said his partnership with the chamber had bolstered his agro exports to Slovenia.
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