Senate will approve Tinubu’s $2.2 billion loan request today
The Senate will approve President Bola Tinubu’s loan request of $2.2bn (about N1.77tn) today (Wednesday).
The President submitted this request as part of the external borrowing plan needed to implement the N28.7tn 2024 budget.
In separate letters read during the Senate and House of Representatives plenary on Tuesday, Tinubu explained that the loan would help cover part of the N9.7tn budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year.
After reading the letter, Senate President Godswill Akpabio instructed the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts to review the request and provide their report within 24 hours.
Akpabio stated, “The Presidential request for $2.2bn, equivalent to N1.77tn, is already enshrined in the external borrowing plan for the 2024 fiscal year.
“The Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Loans should therefore give the request expeditious consideration and report back within 24 hours.”
Additionally, Tinubu has submitted his Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper for 2025-2027 to both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Nigeria’s oil reserves fell by 50 billion barrels
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NUPRC) reports that the country’s oil reserves have fallen by 50 billion barrels over a 14-year period.
According to the NUPRC, oil reserves decreased from 38 billion barrels to 37.50 billion barrels between 2008 and 2023.
The NUPRC explained in a publication that this decline was due to a significant drop in exploration activities, caused by exploration and production companies’ lack of investment.
The regulatory body noted that this lack of investment from oil companies could be linked to several factors, including delays in passing the Petroleum Industry Bill and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden approved giving antipersonnel land mines to Ukraine
President Joe Biden has approved sending anti-personnel land mines to Ukraine, according to Reuters, which cited a U.S official. These mines could help slow Russian advances in Ukraine’s eastern regions, particularly when used alongside other American-supplied munitions.
The United States expects Ukraine to use these mines only within its own territory, and Ukraine has promised not to place them in areas where its own civilians live, the official explained.
While the United States has been supplying Ukraine with anti-tank mines throughout the war with Russia, the addition of anti-personnel mines is specifically aimed at slowing down Russian ground troops, according to the official, who spoke anonymously.
The official noted that these U.S.-supplied mines are different from Russian ones because they are “non-persistent”, meaning they become harmless after a preset time. They require batteries to work and won’t explode once these batteries are depleted.
Read Also: Biden allows Ukraine to launch strikes inside Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles
United States President-elect Donald Trump has chosen billionaire businessman Howard Lutnick and wrestling executive Linda McMahon as his nominees for secretary of commerce and secretary of education, respectively.
If approved, Lutnick would manage 12 bureaus and nearly 47,000 employees handling various responsibilities, from supporting domestic chip production to developing trade restrictions and publishing economic data.
Lutnick, who has been a prominent Trump supporter on Wall Street, is known for taking a tough stance on China and strongly backing tariffs, which he describes as an “amazing tool” to “protect the American worker”.
Trump said that McMahon, who previously served as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, would give parents more control over their children’s education and help make the US “number one” in education.
McMahon previously ran the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term and twice unsuccessfully campaigned for the US Senate in Connecticut.
Dangote Refinery started exporting products to West African neighbours
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has started exporting refined petroleum products to nearby West African countries, signalling to traders that the mega-refinery’s operations could potentially transform regional fuel markets.
According to a Bloomberg report published on Tuesday, which cited data from Vortexa, Kpler, Precise Intelligence, a port report, and ship-tracking platform, a tanker has transported a shipment of petrol from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to waters off Togo’s coast.
The report indicated that a vessel called CL Jane Austen recently loaded more than 300,000 barrels from Dangote and sailed west.
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