Tuesday 12 March 2019
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Saudi Arabia seeks to re-balance oil market as Nigeria loses customers STEPHEN ONYEKWELU
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ith eyes on shoring up prices, Saudi Arabia is committing to more cuts in both production and export of its crude oil by April while Nigeria faces loss of big customers for its crude grades. Saudi Arabia plans to cut its crude oil exports to below 7 million barrels per day (mbpd) and keep its output “well below” 10mbpd, to drain a supply glut and support oil prices, a Saudi official said on Monday. Experts say Nigeria faces a different set of challenges because it might not necessarily benefit from rallying oil prices as much as Saudi Arabia. Vessel-tracking data compiled from the Bloomberg terminal observed that crude exports from Nigeria fell for a second month in January, led by a drop in shipments of grades
including Bonny Light, Brass and Bonga. “As sweet as Nigeria’s crudes are renowned to be globally, we have recently lost our most-valued customers and our gas buyers are themselves now competing with us in the same market space as suppliers,” Luqman Agboola, head of infrastructure at Sofidam Capital Limited, told BusinessDay. State-owned Saudi Aramco’s oil allocations for April are 635,000bpd below customers’ nominations requests made by refiners and clients for Saudi crude, the Saudi official said. “In spite of very strong demand from international waterborne customers at more than 7.6mbpd, customers were allocated less than 7mbpd,” the official said. March’s oil exports will also be below 7mbpd, the official said. Saudi Arabia faces a budget imbalance that will require
oil prices to hold at 30 percent above current price levels to redress and other oil exporting countries, such as Nigeria also face varying degrees of exposure. An International Monetary Fund official recently said the world’s top oil exporter would need oil priced at $80-$85 a barrel to fix its budget imbalance. Nigeria’s benchmark mark oil price for the 2019 budget was $60 per barrel. Africa’s largest crude oil producer may not have much to worry about at the moment. International Benchmark Brent crude traded at $66.63 as of 2:52pm local time. And the West Texas Intermediate was trading at $56.88 as of 2:52pm local time. But if you take Saudi Arabia’s 2019 “budget as presented with everything remaining equal, a breakeven point would be around $80-$85,” Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department, told
Reuters. The April allocations by Aramco show “a deep cut of 635,000bpd from customer requests for its crude oil. This will keep production well below 10mbpd in April,’’ the official said. The official added that this was also below the 10.311mbpd that the Kingdom had agreed as its production target under an OPECled supply cut agreement. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers such as Russia, colloquially known as OPEC+, agreed in December to reduce supply by 1.2mbpd from January 1 for six months. “Saudi Arabia is demonstrating extraordinary commitment to accelerating market rebalancing,” the Saudi official said, adding that the Kingdom expects all other OPEC+ countries to show similar levels of contributions and high conformity.
L-R: Yakubu Gowon, former head of state; Chris Ogunbanjo, foremost industrialist; Subomi Balogun, founder, FCMB Group, his wife Abimbola Balogun, and Ladi Balogun, group chief executive, FCMB Group, during the 85th birthday celebration of Otunba Balogun in Lagos.
StateCraft extends winning streak into Francophone Africa with Senegal presidential win INIOBONG IWOK
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tateCraft Inc, the elections and governance consulting company under the media group, RED, extended its winning streak into Francophone Africa with the re-election of President Macky Sall of Senegal. The candidate, who oversaw seven years of rapid economic growth and infrastructural transformation, beat his two main rivals, exPrime Minister Idrissa Seck and Ousmane Sonko, to win the keenly contested race. He won re-election by polling 58 percent of total votes as announced by the National Vote Counting Commission.
“It was an immense privilege to work with the party coalition, Benno Bokk Yakkar, which has been at the forefront of political reform in Senegal, including other talented teams and individuals all working to tell amazing stories of President Sall’s sterling achievements over the course of two years via our campaign, #UnSénégalPourTous,” StateCraft’s co-founder, Adebola Williams, said. “As a partner of democracy in Africa, having a front row view of his dedication to excellence and development for all of Senegal leaves us in no doubt that the president-elect is supremely qualified and dedicated to leading the fast-ris-
ing West African nation to greatness for the good of all Senegalese,” Williams said. He congratulated the people of Senegal who went out en masse to vote for a brighter future for themselves and for the country, stating, “We are fully in the business of nation-building, and we are indeed pleased to enjoy the political sophistication of a people determined to continue to forge a democratic path ahead.” StateCraft Inc.’s work in Senegal builds on its recent victories in Nigeria with President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, and in Ghana with the 2016 election of President Nana Akufo-Addo.
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Loose Media, AAF announce grant to support aspiring writers
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tory telling has been a cherished cultural heritage in Nigeria, and before the advent of Western civilisation, one of the effective ways of entertainment back then was by telling a story. Of course, there are concomitants teaching values associated with telling and retelling story. To bring back these memories, Loose Media in partnership with African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) have announced a fivemonth grants initiative to support the launch of a platform for aspiring writers known as Loose Conversations The Loose Conversation initiative is designed to challenge one’s mindset; a storytelling-based strategy to give a voice to conversations society has been afraid to have, challenging the status quo and allowing for new standards of thinking. Speaking at a press conference, Valentine Ohu, managing director/CEO, Loose Media Limited, said: “The ‘everyone has a story’ literary commission is a meaningful reflection of our unique relationships and experiences through the art of storytelling. The grant provides important funding to support aspiring writers, further important conversations and invest in online communities through writing.” Ohu noted that from March 2019, the organisation would grant one lucky winner $1,000 for five exceptional stories and $1,000 to one writer every month until July 2019. The initiative is dedicated to empower writers from all backgrounds to express themselves in unorthodox ways.
Tech reforms: Innovator at Edo Innovation Hub shines with MyPaddi App in WHO health challenge
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yPaddi App developed by innovator and medical doctor, Charles Akhimen, who operates from Edo State government-backed Edo Innovation Hub, has been selected as one of the top 30 finalists in the World Health Organisation Health Innovation Challenge. The innovative application was picked from a pool of over 2,400 entries from 77 countries, and was selected for the “potential for making impact as well as the ability to be scaled up in a sustainable way.” The innovators will be formally recognised on the opening day of the second WHO Africa Health Forum in Praia, Cape Verde, on March 26, 2019. Akhimen and his team develop solutions for society’s pressing health-related problems, most notably sexual and reproductive health, and maternal and child health. Akhimen is hosted at the Edo Innovation Hub, a cluster for innovators and inventors set up by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration to develop the capacity of youths for the state’s emerging innovation technology ecosystem. According to Akhimen, “MyPaddi app provides young people with access to accurate, unbiased and youthfriendly sexual and reproductive health information, while ensuring they remain totally anonymous. The app also connects these young people to health professionals in a real-time chat.” Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said, “The extent of response from the Innovation Challenge affirms the enthusiasm, especially among young people, to make a difference and contribute to the health care system on the continent. Health innovators have found a new home at WHO, where their innovative ideas will be supported in partnership with our network of stakeholders.”
AfDB, Sophia University sign MoU to build capacity, expand knowledge base ISRAEL ODUBOLA
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frican Development Bank (AfDB) and Sophia University, a private research university based in Tokyo, Japan, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote capacity development between the two institutions for their mutual gain and the entire African continent. The agreement was signed last weekend at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast capital. “We strongly hope our coming together is not for mere signing of agreement, but a steps towards building the future,” Yoshiaki Teru-
michi, president of Sophia University, who signed for his institution, said. According to Terumichi, the bank’s Group office in Japan and the Human Capital Development Department will continue to work closely with his university to support the bank’s partnership with Japanese academic institutions and to broaden the university’s knowledge base about Africa. While giving his remarks, Charles Boamah, senior vice president of the regional multilateral development finance institution, acknowledged the importance of the collaboration with the university and commended Terumichi’s
kind gesture to sign the agreement in person. “The MoU also supports Sophia University’s capacity to educate Japanese young people to be ready to work for the bank,” Boamah said, adding that the agreement would be a win-win strategy to improve both organisations’ activities. The agreement will foster the Light up and Power Africa initiative, one of the bank’s key strategies to achieve sustainable development in Africa, he said. Cooperation between the two institution dates back to 2015, when Sophia University and the bank’s Asia External Representation Office signed an education partnership agreement.