Electron Native

Nigerians will be buying fuel at cheaper rates, again. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation or NNPC has announced a 17.94 per cent reduction in the ‘ex-depot’ price of petrol. Petrol Pump Nozzle Source : Punch Newspapers Nigeria The price was reduced from N113.28k per litre petrol was sold to marketers in the previous month to about N108.00K per litre. The new ex-depot price is coming almost a week into the new month, following the promise last month by the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, that a new pricing template for petroleum products would be released every first of a new month. Ex-depot price is the ceiling price at which petroleum products depot owners or terminal operators are expected to sell to marketers. The marketers, through their various filling stations, then sell to the end users. With the reduction of the ex-depot price, a new retail price of petrol is expected to be announced by the appropriate agency, PPPRA. The Petroleum Prod...

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, says that the nation’s economy will get N2 Trillion stimulus in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fall in oil prices.   Prince Clem Agba Source : Sahel Standard He has also disclosed that the government will explore ways of supporting the airlines in the country, saying that the aviation sector loses N21 billion monthly due to the present pandemic. Speaking at a webinar, Agba adds that the Economic Sustainability Committee had outlined five broad policy objectives with which to deal with the problems. According to him, “Of the $2.5 billion facilities from the World Bank, about $1 billion of it will be going to the States as loans. These are concessionary loans. Mr. President has already approved N850 billion loan from domestic capital market. “He has also approved $150 million to be taken from the Sovereign Wealth Account in support of Federation Account Allocation Commi...

The World Bank has agreed to grant $7 million to Zimbabwe to help it fight the new coronavirus outbreak. Zimbabwe is more than $1.2 billion in arrears to the World Bank, African Development Bank and European Investment Bank, making it normally ineligible for funding or debt forgiveness from global lenders.   Zimbabwe’s finance minister, Mthuli Ncube. Souce : Voice of America, The World Bank spokesman said that while Zimbabwe and other countries indebted to the lender could not access regular financing, they could get money from its trust funds to fight the coronavirus that has slowed down the global economy. The lender explained that, “The bank’s senior management has underlined the need for additional trust fund financing to ensure that Zimbabwe and the small group of other countries in arrears can receive support as part of our global effort to help countries respond to the COVID-19 crisis.”  Zimbabwe will get $5 million from the World Bank’s global financi...

The World Bank has banned a China based electrical company, Liaoning-EFACEC Electrical Equipment Company Limited or  LEEEC  from taking part in a project sponsored by the lender in Zambia for 20 months. The punishment is because the firm is involved in some fraud related practices on a project in Zambia.   Source : LEEEC Headquarters Building. According to the World Bank, the suspension or debarment typically run for three years, but it says this case it shortened the period to 20 months because the company was cooperating and had agreed to develop an “integrity compliance program” consistent with World Bank guidelines. The suspension is part of a settlement agreement under which the company acknowledges responsibility for failing to disclose a conflict of interest and other infringements according to the banks guidelines.  The case involves the Lusaka Transmission and Distribution Rehabilitation Project in Zambia, which has been designed to increas...

Nigeria’s inflation rate has increased for the third consecutive month. With a 0.25% rise, it moved from 11.85% in October to 11.85% in November 2019 according to the National Bureau of Statistics. “The urban inflation rate increased by 12.47 percent (year-on-year) in November 2019 from 12.20 percent recorded in October 2019, while the rural inflation rate increased by 11.30 percent in November 2019 from 11.07 percent in October 2019,” the report reads. Food Items Source: The Market Food Shop Meanwhile, the composite food index rose by 14.48 per cent in November 2019 compared to 14.09 per cent in October 2019. This current rise in the food index is due to the increases in the prices of everyday foods such as bread, cereals, oils and fats, meat, potatoes, yam including other tubers like cassava and fish. When compared to October 2019, the food sub-index increased by 1.25 per cent in November 2019, down 0.08 per cent points from 1.33 percent recorde...