AfDB urges Africa to reposition itself towards investment opportunities in electric vehicles
Akinwunmi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank, has said that the global shift towards electric vehicles puts Africa in the right place to attract billions of dollars in private investment.
Adesina said this at the ongoing 2023 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
He said, “As the world moves to transition to electric vehicles, Africa stands to be able to attract billions of dollars in private investment for greening global transport systems. That’s because Africa has 80 percent of the global deposits for platinum, 50 percent of cobalt, 40 percent of nickel, and substantial deposits of lithium.
“Africa must set itself up to manufacture lithium-ion batteries to tap into the future market of electric vehicles, that some projections that are estimated to run into several trillions of dollars in the future. The cost of establishing a lithium-ion precursor factory in Africa is three times less expensive than in the US or China.”
Read also: Global warming: AfDB to help private investors increase contribution to climate finance
$2.4bn illegal oil sale: Reps quizzes Malami
The investigation over the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil valued at over $2.4 billion to China continued on Thursday when members of the House of Representatives quizzed Abubakar Malami, SAN, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, for the second time.
Malami, in company of Beatrice Jedy-Agba, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice/Solicitor-General of the Federation, appeared before the House’s Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate the Alleged Loss of Over $2.4 Billion in Revenue from the Illegal Sale of 48 Million Barrels of Crude Oil Export in 2015, Including All Crude Oil Exports and Sales by Nigeria from 2014 to Date.
During the course of the interrogation, the unsatisfied members of the committee asked for more documents from the minister.
However, Malami, not convinced about the need for the investigation and probe, asked the lawmakers to avail him of the documents and facts at their disposal to help in carrying out their investigation.
Audit reports on oil, gas, mining sectors to be released in June — NEITI
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has announced its readiness to release reports on the oil, gas, and mining sectors in June.
Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, Executive Secretary, NEITI, made this declaration in a statement on Thursday, saying that the ongoing nationwide audit of the oil, gas, and mining industries being conducted by NEITI was currently at the data reconciliation stage.
According to him, the exercise, which covers the 2021 period and covers 168 extractive companies and relevant federal agencies, was to help the government establish the quantities of minerals produced and utilised in the country and the quantities of crude oil legally or illegally exported or stolen.
He said NEITI reports also sought to establish the revenue paid by oil, gas, and mining companies and how much of such revenues were actually received into government coffers.
Wike dissolves State Executive Council
Governor Nyesom Wike dissolved the Rivers State Executive Council on Thursday and expressed profound gratitude to the cabinet members for their services to the government and the state.
Wike announced the dissolution after the State Executive Council’s special valedictory session held in Port Harcourt.
In a statement issued to the press by Kelvin Ebiri, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Wike directed all the commissioners to hand over government property in their custody to the permanent secretary or most senior director in their respective ministries.
The governor commended members of the cabinet for their immense sacrifices, commitment, and dedication to service, which were responsible for the tremendous transformation in the state over the past eight years.
“Be happy to say, yes, I participated when they said Rivers State became one of the leading states in this country; when they said there was an infrastructure revolution in the state,” he said.
Oil steadies as markets await clarity on OPEC’s next policy move
Oil prices were roughly unchanged in early trading on Friday, as markets awaited clarity on OPEC and its allies’ next oil policy moves after conflicting messages made it hard to predict the outcome of the meeting next week.
Brent crude slipped 4 cents to $76.22 a barrel at 0022 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate was up 9 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $71.92 a barrel.
Benchmarks had settled more than $2 per barrel lower on Thursday, after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak played down the prospect of further OPEC+ production cuts at its meeting in Vienna on June 4.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that energy prices were approaching an “economically justified position”, also indicating there could be no immediate change to the group’s production policy. (Reuters)
