Business

Dangote’s $2.5bn Urea Fertilizer Plant Produces 120 Truckloads Daily

Published

3 years ago

June 15, 2021

Eric

After months of speculations, Dangote Urea fertilizer is now finally on sales nationwide and it currently pushes out a minimum of 120 trucks per day across the country

Group Executive Director (Strategy, Capital Projects & Portfolio Development), Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, revealed to the press over the weekend that the Plant which has the capacity to turn out more than 4,500 tonnes of urea per day will conveniently meet the local demand and even produce for exports.

According to him: “…We have the capacity to turn out 4,500 tonnes of Urea everyday – this is a bulk application fertilizer – each crop in Nigeria or globally will require Nitrogen and this is a rich fertilizer, having 46 per cent nitrogen…The company has the capacity to meet local demand and also export to African countries.

“Currently the demand is less than 1 million tonnes and we alone can produce 3 million tonnes, so we can easily meet local demand and also produce for export to other west African countries.”

Aside fertilizer production, the company, according to Edwin is already working to support the farmers with training on application of the fertilizer and even establish laboratories across the country for proper soil examination.

“The uniqueness of this plant, apart from the fact that we are producing is the focus on farmers’ support, on training, education, development as we are now establishing laboratories across the country and even mobile laboratories where we can go drive around and take soil samples for proper examination to effectively grow the agricultural outputs across the country”

The Urea Fertilizer plant was built to tap into Nigeria’s demand for fertilizer, a critical component of achieving food sufficiency for Africa’s most populous country.

The Fertilizer plant is expected to manufacture 3 million metric tonnes of urea per annum, with a view to reducing the nation’s fertilizer imports, and generating $400m annual foreign exchange from export to Africa countries.

Meanwhile marketers and farmers in Kano have described the newly introduced Dangote Fertilizer as a game changer and a forecast for the expected agricultural revolution in the country.

Marketers and farmers who were apparently excited, over the weekend welcomed the more-than ten trucks that entered Kano markets at the weekend.
Speaking at the event organized by Dan Hydro Company in Kano to mark the introduction of the fertilizer into the northern market, chairman of the Kano state Agro Dealers Association Alhaji Shuaibu Akarami said agro dealers have confidence in Dangote fertilizer as they have in all his products, adding that as a dealer who spent decades in the business he has discovered that Dangote fertilizer will have no problem penetrating the market in the North.

“I have checked the product and have found out that it will have no problem penetrating the market. With my experience in agro products, I can authoritatively say the product has met our expectations and that has confirmed the confidence we have in Dangote fertilizer and other sister products of the Dangote Group,” he said.

The Dan-Hydro fertilizer Company in Kano which took delivery of the first batch of trucks in Kano said the timing and strategy for the introduction are rife.
Head of operations, Dan- Hydro operations Mr. Hamadi Sekou Drammeh said the Dangote fertilizer conforms to all set standard required by the regulatory agencies.

He said the phenomenon of perennial shortage of the fertilizer product will be over in the country.

He said as part of its public enlightenment plan, the company was going to work with all stakeholders in the agricultural sectors.

In the same vein, Sales Manager of Dan Hydro Mr. Sulaiman Tanko assured that the product will be sold at a reasonable price that will enable fair competition in the market.

Business

FirstBank Appoints New MD/CEO, Alebiosu

Published

5 days ago

April 22, 2024

Eric

First Bank of Nigeria has appointed Olusegun Alebiosu as its new Managing Director with effect from April 2024.

The Bank stated this in a release signed by its acting company secretary Adewale Arogundade.

Alebiosu takes from Adesola Adeduntan, who resigned abruptly on Saturday with eight months left to complete his tenure in December 2024.

The release stated that “following the resignation of the managing director/CEO of FirstBank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, the Board of Directors has appointed Olusegun Alebiosu as the acting CEO of the 130-year-old institution.

“The appointment takes effect immediately and is subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

The release stated that Alebiosu was until this appointment the executive director, chief risk officer and executive compliance officer since January 2022. Prior to that, he was the Group executive/ chief risk officer, a position he held since 2016.

“Alebiosu brings to the executive management of FirstBank over 28 years’ experience in the banking and financial services industry with cross-functional exposure to Credit risk management, Financial planning and control, Credit and marketing, Trade, Corporate and commercial banking, Agriculture financing, Oil and Gas, Transportation (including Aviation and Shipping) and Project financing.”

It added that the new acting MD/CEO commenced his professional career in 1991 with Oceanic Bank Plc (now EcoBank) and prior to joining FirstBank in 2016 served as Chief Risk Officer at Coronation Merchant Bank Limited, Chief Credit Risk Officer at African Development Bank Group and Group Head, Credit Policy & Deputy Chief Credit Risk Officer at United Bank for Africa Plc.

“He is an alumnus of Harvard School of Government and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management. He also obtained a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos and holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

“He is a member of various professional bodies namely, Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants (FCA), Associate, Nigeria Institute of Management (ANIM), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and Member, Nigeria Institute of International Affairs.”

Business

Again, Naira Slumps Against Dollar, Trades at N1,169/$1 in Official Window

Published

6 days ago

April 20, 2024

Eric

The Naira, on Friday, slumped for the second consecutive day against the American dollar at the official window trading at N1,169/$1, according to data from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).

At the end of trading on Friday, the Naira lost N15 against the dollar when compared to the previous exchange rate of N1,154/$1 on Thursday, April 18, 2024.

The intra-day high and low recorded during the day were N1,236/$1 and N1,021/$1 respectively, representing a lean spread of N215/$1.

Similarly, the Naira slumped against the dollar at the parallel market for the second consecutive day to trade at N1,150/$1 representing a loss of N50 when compared to the N1,100/$1 it traded the previous day.

The British Pound also slumped against the Naira by N50 to trade at N1,500/£1 as against the previous trading price of N1,450/£1 representing a loss of N50 for the local currency,

The Canadian dollar however closed flat against the Naira to trade at N1,000/CA$1 same as the previous trading day rate of N1,000/ CA$1.

The Euro also slumped against the Naira to trade at N1, 280/€1 as against the rate of N1,200/€1 the previous trading rate indicating a gain of N80 in the European currency.

Business

Glo Launches New Internet Solution Products for Homes, Businesses

Published

3 weeks ago

April 8, 2024

Eric

Two new products, which provide internet connectivity solutions specially designed for Residential and SME commercial customers, have been unveiled by digital solutions company, Globacom.

The products, Fibre to the Home (FTTH) and Fibre to the Business (FTTB) were packaged for Glo customers to enjoy reliable and high speed internet through linked fibre services.

Globacom said in a statement in Lagos “With these services, businesses and homes can access dedicated internet speeds of up to 1GBps, allowing unlimited internet usages for seamless video calls, video and music streaming and a whole lot of other dedicated usages to promote business success and equally provide endless entertainment for homes”.

It explained that the new product comes with a unique opportunity for “Residential Estates, High Rise Apartments, Commercial SME Estates to enjoy dedicated high speed internet in their cluster”.

These services, according to Globacom, give exceptional experience and unmatched speed for users at home or in offices and are provided through hi-speed fibre – unlike copper which was being used in the past.

Positioning itself as the premier provider of innovative solutions for businesses of all sizes, Globacom assured customers of the best value for money with the new offerings, adding that users who sign on for these services will also enjoy fully dedicated bandwidth.

“We are committed to delivering the most cost-effective data connectivity experience for homes and businesses in addition to providing dedicated and reliable services.” Globacom concluded.