Business
NNPCL Needs Huge Investment To Meet Demand – Dangote
Africa’s richest man and Chairman, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) needs to invest more in terms of oil and gas to meet the demand for commodities.
According to him, the national oil firm should invest more because there were many off-takers waiting to off-take the products from the company.
Dangote spoke at the ongoing 2023 Annual Value Assurance Review Workshop of the Nigeria Upstream Investment Management Services Limited, according to a statement.
He explained that a good investment manager would actively seek for investment opportunities, assess them and take shrewd investment decisions.
He further stated that the NNPCL could generate billions of dollars in revenue if the right decisions were made, as the Petroleum Industry Act had brought the transformation of the oil firm from a government establishment to a commercial entity with no recourse to government funding.
“I truly believe that NNPCL should be our African Aramco. You have what it takes to take you up there and I am very happy. There is nothing that is impossible. You can make it possible and don’t let anything scare you.
“It is just the same thing with us. If I tell you about our own story, you will be shocked as to how. It wasn’t only the refinery that we started about six years ago. We had 32 projects that we all rolled out at the same time.
“But then, on the way, we had lots of hitches here and there: the devaluation of the currency, COVID, and challenges of infrastructure set in.
“If you want to do a real project in Nigeria, you have to look at the infrastructure that we have, because the infrastructure we have is not meant for mega projects”.
He said it was important to look at the infrastructure in Nigeria and see “how we can take ourselves to the next level and it has to be driven by NNPCL because they are the largest conglomerate and whatever happens to NNPCL’s assets, it actually happens to us, either directly or indirectly”.
Also speaking at the event, the Chairman, Heirs Holding, Tony Elumelu, said efforts made by NNPCL in restoring Nigeria’s oil production impacted positively on the output of Heirs Oil and Gas.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said the challenges confronting the oil and gas industry globally had made it compelling for the oil company to come up with more ingenious ways of doing things.
Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.
Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.
The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.
Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.
“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.
“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”
Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.
In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.
Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.
Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.