To ensure availability of petroleum products for local consumption, the Federal Government yesterday disclosed it was in talks with a number of financial institutions like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), among others, to provide contributory financing to potential investors in modular refineries in the Niger Delta region.
Speaking at the ongoing Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) in Abuja, Mr. Rabiu Suleiman, the Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, stated that aside the financial support, the government would also guarantee regular crude oil supply to investors to ensure win win situation for them and Nigerians.
Suleiman added that the investors will also enjoy Customs’ duties waivers and other incentives to ensure their projects take off and remain profitable.
Apart from NSIA, CBN and IFC, Suleiman noted that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and some state governments have indicated their willingness to invest in the refineries and gain equity share in them.
Recall that the Federal Government had in November 2017 disclosed it was considering granting 13 operational licences for modular refineries in the Delta region.
It also has, as part of its policy to revive the country’s oil sector – the Seven Big Wins, plans to incentivise construction of modular refineries in the region.
Suleiman, however, explained at an executive session titled, “Petroleum Products Supply and Demand in Africa – Translating Crude Abundance to Product Abundance”, that these were parts of government’s plans to incentivise modular refining and create jobs in the Niger Delta.
“Nobody wants to invest heavy amount of money in places where you are not very sure of doing the business without interference in one way or the other. Modular refining is a small ticket business and it has very long impacts.
“We have a lot of programmes that will support modular refining initiative and a lot of incentives have been put together to support these initiatives, right from Customs duty waivers. Anybody who wants to invest in modular refining in the Niger Delta is going to benefit from such Customs duty waivers and tax reliefs that are being discussed at very senior level and we have reached a very serious level and that is going to happen,” Suleiman said.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government, yesterday, said it is targeting $25 billion new investments for critical projects. It said all is now set for the launch of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) laboratory in March.
The plans come as the government revealed that it is aiming 100th position in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking by 2020.
Speaking at a briefing on the 2017-2020 ERGP, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, told lawmakers that President Muhammadu Buhari will launch the focused laboratory on March 5, 2018.
The event was organised by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning. Udoma explained that the labs which will function for a period of six weeks, will focus on three critical sectors of the economy namely: Agriculture and Transportation, Manufacturing and Processing as well as Power/Gas Supply.
He said participants will be drawn from public sector operators and private sector investors including: those willing to commit N100 million worth of new investments in any of the three critical sectors, those whose existing projects in the three
selected areas are stalled due to burreacracy of government among others.
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