Five things to know to start your Saturday

Over 20% of Nigerian households borrow food to eat

Over the last 30 days, about one in five Nigerian families (20.8 per cent) had to borrow food or ask friends and relatives to help feed themselves.

This information comes from a recent survey by NBS and the World Bank called the General Household Survey-Panel Wave 5.

That’s not all. Almost two-thirds of households (65.8 per cent) couldn’t afford to eat healthy or preferred foods because they didn’t have enough money. A similar number (63.8 per cent) had to limit themselves to eating just a few different types of food.

Perhaps most concerning is that in some families (12.3 per cent), at least one person went a whole day without eating anything at all.

Dangote Refinery isn’t getting enough crude from NNPCL

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reported problems getting enough crude oil from the government under their special payment arrangement, where they would pay for crude oil in naira.

According to the refinery, they’re receiving very small amounts of oil from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) – far less than what they need to make enough petrol and other fuel products.

Devakumar Edwin, who serves as Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, explained to Reuters that since October, when this program began, NNPCL hasn’t delivered the minimum amount of oil they promised – 385,000 barrels per day.

As Edwin explained: “We need 650,000 barrels per day. NNPCL agreed to give a minimum of 385,000 bpd, but they are not even delivering that.”

Read Also: Dangote Refinery resumes crude oil imports from US after three months break

Putin says Russia will keep testing its new missile in combat

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will continue testing its newest weapon – the Oreshnik hypersonic missile – in actual combat, and they have some ready to use.

This announcement came just one day after Russia used this new medium-range weapon against Ukraine for the first time. Putin said they did this because Ukraine had been using American ballistic missiles and British cruise missiles to attack Russia.

The missile, whose name “Oreshnik” means hazel tree in Russian, was first used in what Putin called a successful test. He made it clear they plan to do more testing: “We will continue these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and the nature of the security threats that are created for Russia,” he told defence officials and the missile’s developers during a televised meeting.

Trump picked Scott Bessent, a hedge fund chief, to lead US Treasury

Donald Trump has picked his next Treasury Secretary – Scott Bessent, a well-known investor. This decision comes after several days of competition between various high-profile candidates for this important government job.

Wall Street has been paying close attention to this choice, as Trump plans to change global trade by using tariffs and wants to continue (and maybe increase) the tax cuts from his first time as president.

By choosing Bessent, who is 62 years old and has worked in finance his whole career, Trump is selecting someone who supports changing tax laws and reducing government regulations – positions that Wall Street generally favours.

Trump announced this decision on Friday night along with several other appointments. The choice ends a week of uncertainty where different well-known Wall Street figures seemed to be the leading candidate each day.

Elon Musk’s wealth reached a new record high

Elon Musk’s wealth has reached its highest level ever: $347.8 billion. Two main things drove this increase: Tesla’s stock price keeps going up, and his AI company xAI is now valued at $50 billion after its latest round of funding.

Musk’s companies have been growing more valuable since Donald Trump won the election. People are calling Musk the “first buddy” because of his close connection to Trump, which has put him in the political spotlight.

Tesla’s stock price went up 3.8% on Friday because investors think Trump’s plans for self-driving cars and electric vehicle support will help Tesla do better than other car companies. Since November 4 (the day before the election), Tesla’s stock has risen 45%, making the company worth about $350 billion more than before.