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Nigeria, China Trade Hits $9.5bn in 2016 – Envoy

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  • Nigeria, China Trade Hits $9.5bn in 2016

Trade between Nigeria and China stood at 9.5 billion dollars in 2016, according to the Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy, Mr Zhao Linxiang.

Linxiang gave the figure at a dinner to host participants of different training courses in China on Friday night in Abuja.

The envoy said though bilateral relations between both countries faced challenges, Nigeria remained China’s fourth largest trading partner in Africa.

““In the first 11 months of last year (2016), our bilateral trade reached 9.5 billion dollars. It is a great achievement under the current condition the Nigerian economy is.

““So far, China’s total investment in Nigeria reached 2.2 billion dollars and Nigeria is China’s important destination in Africa.

“”Our investment cooperation is expanding.

“A large number of Chinese investors and enterprises are concentrated in Nigeria and cover various fields like oil and gas exploration, free trade zone project, steel processing, manufacturing, agriculture, broadcasting and pharmacy among others,’’ the counsellor said.

He added that implementation of the 10 major China-Africa cooperation projects, which began in 2016 was progressing.

The envoy said it was important for both countries to promote win-win cooperation, seek common development goals and maintain high-level exchanges.

Linxiang reiterated China’s commitment to work with Nigeria to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation and promote Nigeria’s industrialisation and agricultural modernisation.

According to him, both countries can better enhance cooperation in the area of capacity building.

“”We will provide more training and scholarship for Nigerians under the framework of `1000 People Plan’.

““The friendship between both countries needs more publicity,’’ he said.

The envoy said the Chinese Government offered training opportunities to 3,200 Nigerians in the last decade, adding that 260 officials participated in different training opportunities in China in 2016.

“”Last year, we held the 2016 China-Nigeria Agricultural Technical Training programme; 40 Nigerian officials and technicians got trained in Abuja.

““This is a historical beginning which means we can achieve better results through providing localised courses,’’ he said.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said the relationship between both countries was beneficial.

““China has been in several developmental places in Nigeria,’’ Ahmed added.

The minister further remarked that continued engagement with the right partners would bring Nigeria out of its current economic situation.

“”Our focus is to develop infrastructure required to ease the difficulties of doing business in our country and the Chinese companies working in Nigeria are set to help us in deploying those projects.

“”We will be reaching out to you to make sure that some of the projects that we have started discussing are crystallising within the shortest possible time,’’ she said.

Mr Stephen Anayo, who spoke on behalf of the trainees, said that Nigeria could learn from China’s development.

Anayo urged the Chinese Government to sustain the training opportunities, adding that it would promote capacity building and boost development in the country.

“”Transfer knowledge is the best a partner or friend can do for another; China is considered as one of Nigeria’s allies.

“”When people are knowledgeable, they know what to do and do it right,’’ he said.

He called on other participants to utilise the knowledge acquired for the development of the country.

 

Is the CEO and Founder of Investors King Limited. He is a seasoned foreign exchange research analyst and a published author on Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Nasdaq, Entrepreneur.com, Investorplace, and other prominent platforms. With over two decades of experience in global financial markets, Olukoya is well-recognized in the industry.

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Crude Oil

Brent Rises to $73 Per Barrel as Oil Producer Iran Plans Another Attack on Israel

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The international crude benchmark, Brent Crude, rose to $73 per barrel as it rose 29 cents or 0.4 percent to settle at $73.10 a barrel on Friday on expectations that Iran will attack Israel from Iraq in the coming days.

The US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 23 cents, or 0.3 percent to settle at $69.49.

The market has seized on the news from Thursday that Iran is preparing to attack Israel from Iraq within days.

However, market analysts point out that the impact on oil prices may be muted as the attacks signify a show of strength rather than action. This is why there wasn’t a much price boost.

Iran’s backed groups are currently fighting Israel, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen. So, this has seen the two countries engaged in a series of retaliatory strikes within the broader Middle East warfare set off by fighting in Gaza.

In a related development, the US asked Lebanon to declare a unilateral ceasefire with Israel to revive stalled talks to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Another factor supporting prices is the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, OPEC+ which could delay plans to increase supply in December.

The group has always maintained that its planning production cuts rollback would depend on market conditions.

The US, the world’s largest oil producer has been seeing an increase in its production with Exxon Mobil saying its global output hit an all-time high while Chevron also said its US production hit a record high.

This aligns with projections that annual output was on track to hit a record 13.2 million barrels per day in 2024 and 13.5 million barrels per day in 2025.

Last month, OPEC’s production increased by 370,000 barrels per day in October after Libya’s political resolution and its resultant 500,000 barrel-per-day output boost.

Libya’s output recovery led OPEC to raise its production to nearly 30 million barrels daily, even as Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia lowered their output.

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Petrol

IPMAN Pushes Back on Dangote’s Call to End Petrol Imports, Cites High Costs at Refinery

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The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has addressed concerns about its members purchasing petrol outside the country.

Investors King reported that Aliko Dangote, the owner of Dangote Refinery, urged Nigerian oil marketers to stop importing petrol and instead lift supplies from his refinery.

Dangote mentioned that the refinery currently has over 500 million liters of petrol in storage and that marketers’ reluctance to lift his product is causing financial losses.

In an interview on Friday, IPMAN’s National Assistant Secretary, Yakubu Suleiman, stated that the association cannot compel its members to buy petrol from the Dangote Refinery due to the deregulated nature of the market.

According to Suleiman, IPMAN members cannot patronize Dangote if his petrol is more expensive than other suppliers. He explained that, for profitability, marketers must seek the most affordable fuel sources.

Suleiman also accused Dangote of trying to monopolize the oil market, noting, “Prices are determined by international pricing. Dangote should ideally be communicating daily about his pricing. But he can’t enforce that we buy only from his depot without stakeholder engagement.”

Suleiman added, “IPMAN cannot simply instruct our members to purchase solely from Dangote Refinery. We operate in a deregulated system. Marketers will source products where prices are cheaper and advise members accordingly.”

He explained, “If Dangote sells at N1000 per liter, and there are other sources selling at N900, we can’t direct marketers to choose Dangote simply because it’s his product. We prioritize lower prices and profit.”

Suleiman also noted that last week, Dangote’s price was higher than other sources, explaining, “For example, last week he offered N995 per liter, with additional costs to transport the product to depots. Independent marketers can’t sell at a profit under these conditions, so we must consider Nigerians’ interests.”

This comes after IPMAN President Abubakar Garima countered Dangote’s allegation that marketers were boycotting his refinery.

He pointed out that marketers cannot load petrol from Dangote’s refinery in Lagos despite having paid ₦40 billion to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

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Crude Oil

Rivers State Governor Refutes Claims of NNPCL Shutdown, Labels Report as ‘Propaganda’

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The Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara has denied shutting down the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and other oil companies in the state as retaliation to a Federal High Court’s ruling barring the release of allocations to the state as widely reported.

Shortly after the court’s ruling, a report claiming that Fubara had ordered the immediate closure of NNPC and other oil companies in the oil rich state emerged on social media.

The report alleged that the Rivers State Governor declared that if the government fails to reverse the court ruling, there will be no oil for the country from Rivers.

Reacting to the allegation via a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Warisenibo Joe Johnson, the Rivers government said the report is not only false but a concocted propaganda from the enemies of the state.

The government urged Rivers people to ignore the report, adding that Fubara is committed to the rule of law and does not rely on unconventional and crude approaches to respond to matters of governance.

The statement reads, “The attention of Rivers State Government has been drawn to a spurious news item circulating on social media on “Gov. Siminalayi Fubara shutting down NNPCL and all oil companies in Rivers State”.

“The report was not only false, but a concocted propaganda from the imagination of the author and enemies of the State. The story was also circulated by an inconsequential and unverified medium

“Governor Siminalayi Fubara is committed to the rule of law and does not rely on unconventional and crude approaches to respond to matters of governance.

“We therefore enjoin Rivers people and well-meaning Nigerians to discountenance the spurious and fake report as Governor Fubara at no time contemplated and/or directed such needless order of shutting down the economy for any reason.”

Investors King reported that a Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, restrained the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from releasing monthly allocations to the Rivers State Government.

The judge, Joyce Abdulmalik, in a judgement, held that the receipt and disbursement of monthly allocations since January 2024 by Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State is a constitutional somersault and aberration that must not be allowed to continue.

Abdulmalik submitted that the presentation of the 2024 budget by Fubara before a four-member Rivers State House of Assembly was an affront to the constitutional provision.

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