Business

Petrol Import Jumps By 88% In 12 Months, Hits N3.97tn –Report

Published

4 years ago

March 26, 2022

The value of imported Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, jumped by 88.15 per cent to N3.97tn in 2021, data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics have revealed.

The NBS report shows that the value of petrol import rose by N1.86tn or 88.15 per cent higher than the N2.11tn worth of PMS imported in 2020.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is the sole importer of petrol into the country in recent years. Private marketers are yet to resume petrol importation due to a lack of full deregulation of petrol prices and access to foreign exchange at the official rate.

The NBS report further revealed that PMS, used vehicles and durum wheat topped the list of items imported by Nigeria in 2021, jointly accounting for 28.9 per cent of the total import bill recorded in the year under review.

Following the war between Russia and Ukraine, the prices of crude oil have increased significantly in the global market, which has also affected the landing cost of petrol, indicating that Nigeria will spend more this year.

According to the NBS report, Nigeria imported goods worth over N20.84tn in 2021, indicating an increase of 64 per cent compared to the N12.7tn recorded in the preceding year.

This is also the highest import bill recorded by Nigeria, based on available data.

Nigeria recorded a 58 per cent surge in total international trade to N39.75tn in 2021 from N25.22tn recorded in the previous year.

However, the significant surge in import bills led to a trade deficit of N1.94tn, further placing Nigeria as a net importing nation.

A further breakdown of the report indicated that Nigeria exported crude oil worth N14.41tn in 2021, which represents a 53 per cent increase compared to the N9.44tn recorded in 2020, while also accounting for 76 per cent of Nigeria’s total export earnings.

A sum of N1.29tn was spent on Nigeria’s importation of durum wheat in 2021, which accounts for 6.2 per cent of the total import bill in the year under review, and the second most imported item by value.

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, wheat is the third most widely consumed grain in the country after maize and rice.

Nigeria imported used vehicles worth N770.13bn in 2021, representing 3.7 per cent of the total import bill recorded in the year under review.

According to the NBS, the used vehicle popularly referred to as ‘Tokunbo’ is stated as used vehicles, with diesel or semi-diesel engines, of cylinder capacity >2500cc.

Aside from the increasing cost of petrol importation, the Federal Government has also incurred increasing cost of petrol subsidy, also known as under-recovery.

In 2021, the NNPC said fuel subsidy gulped N1.43tn, although there was no record for under-recovery in January.

In February, March, April, May, and June 2021, under-recovery for PMS amounted to N25.37bn, N60.39bn, N61.96bn, N126.29bn, and N164.33bn, respectively.

In July, August, September, October, November and December, the NNPC spent N103.28bn, N173.13bn, N149.28bn, N163bn, N131.4bn, and N270.83bn, respectively.

Economic and energy experts have continued to decry the rising cost of fuel subsidy to the Federal Government.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have decried the Federal Government’s huge spending on petrol subsidy, urging the government to end the regime.

Although the Federal Government had planned to stop subsidising fuel subsidy by June 2022, the government later backtracked on the plan.

Despite the increase in the cost of fuel subsidy, Nigerians have had to pay more for fuel and transportation over the years.

PUNCH.

Business

Okonjo-Iweala Reveals How Nigeria Can Dominate AfCFTA

Published

9 hours ago

September 23, 2025

Editor

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says Nigeria has what it takes to lead Africa’s new era of trade if it tackles high logistics costs, develops efficient payment systems, and invests in value addition.

Okonjo-Iweala, who was speaking on the sidelines of the WTO Public Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, said Nigeria and other African economies must speed up the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, and build stronger infrastructure to unlock billions of dollars in opportunities in manufacturing, services, and digital trade.

“The AfCFTA is a great step, but Africa trades only about 15–20 percent within itself — far below the European Union, EU’s 60 percent. We (Nigeria) need to speed up implementation so Africans trade more with each other.

“Take Lesotho: it exports around $200 million worth of textiles (jeans, etc.) to the U.S. — about 10 percent of its GDP — while Africa imports $7 billion of similar goods. Why not absorb Lesotho’s products within Africa? To unlock intra-African trade, we (Nigeria) need efficient payment systems (Afreximbank and others are working on this), better infrastructure and lower trade costs. It shouldn’t take longer to ship goods from Cape Town to Lagos than from China to Lagos.

“With critical minerals, energy, and new supply chains, plus opportunities in services and digital trade, there’s huge potential — if we invest in connectivity and implementation,” she said.

The former Nigeria’s Minister of Finance also cautioned that negative narratives about global commerce risk overshadowing recent successes achieved through multilateral cooperation.

Business

French Media Giant Canal+ Takes Over S.Africa’s Multichoice

Published

1 day ago

September 22, 2025

Editor

French media giant Canal+ said Monday it had taken effective control of South African television and streaming company MultiChoice, creating a group present in nearly 70 countries in Africa, Europe and Asia.

The companies said in a joint statement that the combined group will have a workforce of 17,000 employees and serve more than 40 million subscribers.

The acquisition is “the largest transaction ever undertaken” by Canal+, the statement said.

Canal+, which is already the sector’s leader in French-speaking African countries, now controls what it described as the leader in the continent’s English- and Portuguese-speaking regions.

“This acquisition allows us to strengthen our position as a leader in Africa, one of the most dynamic pay-TV markets in the world,” Canal+ chief executive Maxime Saada said in the statement.

The buyout was given a final green light by South Africa’s competition authority in late July, more than a year after Canal+ launched its bid.

Canal+ offered 125 rand ($7.2) per share for MultiChoice when it launched its offer last year, valuing the South African firm at around $3.0 billion.

Canal+ is present in 25 African countries through 16 subsidiaries and has eight million subscribers.

MultiChoice operates in 50 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and has 14.5 million subscribers.

It includes Africa’s premier sports broadcaster, SuperSport, and the DStv satellite television service.

AFP

Business

BREAKING: Nigeria’s GDP Grows By 4.23% In Q2 2025 – NBS

Published

2 days ago

September 22, 2025

Editor

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.23 per cent (year-on-year) in the second quarter of 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics revealed in its Q2 2025 GDP Report.

According to the report released on Monday on its website, the figure shows a significant improvement compared to 3.48 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2024 and the 3.13 per cent recorded in Q1 2025.

The figures signal a strengthening economy, driven by recent rebasing, rebound in oil production and a resilient non-oil sector.

The report said, “Following the rebasing of the Gross Domestic Product using 2019 as the base year, previous quarterly GDP estimates were benchmarked to the rebased annual estimates to align the old series with the new rebased estimates

“This procedure provided a new quarterly GDP series, which is compared to the 2025 second quarter estimates. Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.23% (year-on-year) in real terms in the second quarter of 2025.

“This growth rate is higher than the 3.48 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2024. During the quarter under review, agriculture grew by 2.82%, an improvement from the 2.60% recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2024.

According to NBS, “The growth of the industry sector stood at 7.45% from 3.72% recorded in the second quarter of 2024, while the Services sector recorded a growth of 3.94% from 3.83% in the same quarter of 2024.”

The report said in terms of share of the GDP, “the Industry sector contributed more to the aggregate GDP in the second quarter of 2025 at 17.31% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2024 at 16.79%.”

It added, “In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP at basic price stood at N100,730,501.10 million in nominal terms. This performance is higher when compared to the second quarter of 2024, which recorded an aggregate GDP of N84,484,878.46 million, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth of 19.23%.”

Details later…