The President/Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria have called on the Federal Government to amend the Public Procurement Act to embed the Nigeria First Policy and link budgetary releases to verified compliance with local content targets.

Dangote made the call on Thursday in Lagos while delivering the keynote address at the 53rd Annual General Meeting of MAN, themed “Nigeria First: Prioritising Made-in-Nigeria.”

He urged the government to “gazette the Nigeria First Policy as a binding law with punitive measures for non-compliance,” stressing that Executive Orders 003 and 005 failed because of “weak enforcement.”

“The Public Procurement Act should be amended to embed the Nigeria First Policy and link budgetary releases to verified compliance levels,” Dangote said. “The government must mandate all MDAs to allocate at least 65 per cent of their procurement budgets to locally manufactured products

He proposed the establishment of an Independent Monitoring and Compliance Agency to audit Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, as well as their contractors, in real time, with sanctions for defaulting entities, including budget cuts and blacklisting from public tenders.

Dangote stated that a properly legislated and consistently enforced policy would strengthen the local manufacturing base, create jobs, and promote self-sufficiency.

“The Nigeria First Policy is not just an economic slogan but a strategic blueprint for industrial survival and prosperity,” he said.

He warned that Nigeria must avoid a repeat of the textile industry’s collapse, which resulted in over 500,000 job losses due to unchecked importation and poor policy enforcement. “Revitalising domestic industries requires not just protectionism but targeted investment in infrastructure, skills, and technology,” he added.

The industrialist outlined eight expectations from the Nigeria First framework, including policy consistency, the creation of a national supplier registry in partnership with MAN, and the institutionalisation of transparent monitoring systems.

He also called for tax incentives for firms investing in backward integration, local sourcing, and research, as well as cheaper credit for manufacturers, especially SMEs supplying government contracts.

“Manufacturers need single-digit interest rates and priority access to foreign exchange for machinery and inputs,” he noted.

Dangote urged the Federal Government to address infrastructure and energy deficits, saying, “Without reliable power and efficient transport systems, local manufacturers cannot meet the demands of the Nigeria First procurement goals.”

Earlier in his welcome address, President of MAN, Francis Meshioye, commended the Federal Government’s ongoing industrial reforms, including the establishment of the Industrial Revolution Working Group and the Presidential Economic Coordination Council.

He, however, stressed that the Nigeria First Policy must be “fully legislated and implemented” to ensure measurable outcomes for local producers. “We are eager to see this policy move from advocacy to action. It holds the potential to significantly boost the manufacturing sector and improve citizens’ welfare,” Meshioye said.

Also speaking, Minister of State for Industry Senator John Enoh reaffirmed the government’s commitment to advancing industrial backward integration and local sourcing. He disclosed that the ministry would, by December 2025, issue procurement documentation guidelines requiring justification when imported goods are preferred over certified local alternatives.

He added that the Bank of Industry, SMEDAN, and MAN would collaborate to graduate 1,000 MSMEs into certified supplier chains by 2026, while energy and transport ministries would prioritise dedicated power and logistics infrastructure for industrial clusters in Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Kaduna, Aba, and Onitsha.

Dangote concluded his address by urging collaboration between government and industry to ensure the policy translates into tangible national growth. “Every nation is in a race to improve the living conditions of its citizens. Nigeria must act decisively. The Nigeria First Policy gives us a fighting chance to compete globally,” he said.

Independent petroleum marketers have confirmed that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has set a target to release up to 600 million litres of petrol monthly as part of efforts to stabilise supply in the domestic market and ease the recent surge in pump prices.

It said the new distribution framework is been finalised with 20 selected marketers that will see the release of up to 600 million litres of petrol monthly to stabilise the Nigerian downstream market amid lingering supply challenges and rising pump prices.

This was disclosed by the National Public Relations Officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, on Thursday, who confirmed that the refinery recently held a strategic meeting with key players in the downstream sector.

According to him, the meeting, which included representatives of A.Y.M. Shafa, A. A Rano, NNPCL Retail, Salbas, and several other major distributors, focused on how to streamline product allocation and reduce the layers of middlemen contributing to price distortions

“At the meeting, Dangote announced plans to sell to only 20 selected marketers who will serve as primary distributors to other dealers. Each of them will lift a minimum of two million litres, which will translate to about 600 million litres every month,” Ukadike said.

He explained that the move was part of the refinery’s strategy to stabilise supply, eliminate speculation, and restore efficiency in product delivery across the country.

“We believe that once this structure takes effect, petrol availability will improve significantly and retail prices will start to ease,” he added.

The National Vice President of IPMAN, Hammed Fashola, also confirmed the arrangement, stating, “I have confirmed that 20 marketers have been shortlisted, although the final list has not yet been made public.”

Despite the refinery’s plan, filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory have continued to adjust pump prices upward amid tight supply.

Checks by The PUNCH showed that some stations, including Optima Energy, increased their prices from N945 to N955 per litre, while A.A. Rano also raised its pump price to N945 per litre. A.Y.M. Shafa sold its products at N940 per litre.

Independent marketers have attributed the recent hikes to supply bottlenecks, depot pricing inconsistencies, and delays in product loading from the refinery.

This challenge moved the price of the commodity to N1,000 per litre mark across major cities in the country.

Reacting, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has blamed depot owners for the sudden surge in petrol prices.

IPMAN President, Abubakar Shettima, told The PUNCH that depot owners increased their prices when they discovered that the Dangote refinery had stopped fuel loading for some days.

“These DAPPMAN people are the only ones who are selling the product now. But, probably, Dangote will start tomorrow (today). So, if Dangote starts selling tomorrow, the price will come down. Dangote has not been selling to marketers since all these days.

“You may see their trucks on the road, but the trucks are not enough; marketers still have to support by going there to load. And immediately, these DAPPMAN people saw that Dangote was not loading, they increased their ex-depot prices. That’s just what is happening. But I know these things are temporary, very soon they will wipe away,” Shettima said.

In a move expected to bring relief to transporters and industrial users, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE has announced a N50 reduction in the ex-depot price of Automotive Gas Oil, popularly known as diesel.

According to a notice issued by the refinery’s Group Commercial Operations Department on Wednesday, the gantry price of diesel has been reviewed downward from N960 per litre to N910 per litre, effective October 15, 2025.

The refinery, in the circular titled “AGO Gantry Price Reduction”, informed its customers of the price change and expressed appreciation for their continued patronage.

The Federal Government has taken steps to stop the use of substandard kits in the conversion of petrol/diesel-powered vehicles to compressed natural gas.

This was aimed at preventing any form of explosion during the CNG refilling process.

On Thursday, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, launched the Nigerian Gas Vehicle Monitoring System, a key step in the Federal Government’s drive to promote safety, accountability, and environmental integrity in the nation’s CNG sector.

Speaking at the pilot launch held at an NNPC Retail Station in Abuja, Ekpo said, “the NGVMS will ensure that only vehicles converted at accredited facilities with certified kits can access CNG at approved stations.”

A statement by the minister’s spokesman, Louis Ibah, quoted him as saying that the system will provide end-to-end oversight, from conversion to refuelling, guaranteeing the safety of citizens and the integrity of Nigeria’s growing CNG ecosystem.

Ekpo described the initiative as a milestone under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the Decade of Gas Initiative, aimed at making CNG the affordable and sustainable energy choice for Nigerians.

The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Presidential Initiative on CNG, Ismaeel Ahmed, revealed that over $1bn in private sector investments have flowed into Nigeria’s CNG value chain.

He added that more conversion and refuelling stations will be commissioned nationwide before the year ends.

Leaders of various transport unions in Nigeria, in separate speeches at the event, expressed gratitude to Tinubu for launching the PiCNG to mitigate the impact of fuel subsidy removal in 2023.

They said that, under the initiative, members had benefited from over one million free CNG kits, buses, and tricycles, which has led to significantly reduced transportation costs and subsequently lowered the prices of foodstuffs across the country.

The union leaders urged the government to prioritise commercial vehicles in the CNG project, ensuring that they are given preference.

“Additionally, they appealed for the expansion of CNG stations nationwide, noting that only a few states currently have CNG conversion and refuelling stations. This, they believe, would further enhance the effectiveness of the initiative,” the statement read.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has said that Nigeria is developing a new framework to enable the use of national currencies in bilateral trade settlements.

Speaking at a press briefing at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC, Cardoso explained that while the country had previously experimented with local currency trade agreements, the initiative did not yield the desired results.

“We have had an experiment with that (switching to national currencies in bilateral trade). And to be frank, it did not work out very well for us.

That is not to say that we are not interested in doing this. We are. And we are really at an elementary stage of putting up a framework, now that our currency is more competitive, to be able to ensure that it is a win‑win for everybody.”

He said the Central Bank was taking a more cautious and structured approach this time to ensure that future local currency trade arrangements deliver mutual benefits and reduce dependence on foreign exchange in cross-border transactions.

Bilateral currency trade arrangements, also known as local currency settlement agreements, allow two countries to trade directly using their national currencies instead of the U.S. dollar or other reserve currencies.

Nigeria has experimented with bilateral currency deals before, most notably with China, through the 2018 currency swap agreement signed between the Central Bank of Nigeria and the People’s Bank of China.

The deal, worth about N720bn (or RMB 15bn), was designed to ease pressure on Nigeria’s dollar reserves, promote trade with China, and make it easier for Nigerian importers to access yuan for Chinese goods.

However, the arrangement struggled to gain traction due to limited awareness among traders, logistical bottlenecks, exchange rate uncertainty, and the lack of a robust settlement framework. Many Nigerian businesses continued to rely on the U.S. dollar for imports, while local banks struggled to build sufficient yuan liquidity.

CBN officials later acknowledged that the pilot phase “did not work as efficiently as expected,” though it provided lessons for designing more effective future frameworks.

Despite this, a new bilateral currency swap agreement was agreed in December 2024 between Nigeria and China.

The renewed deal, jointly announced by the CBN and the People’s Bank of China, amounts to N3.28 tn, approximately 15 billion yuan or $2.09 bn.

Valid for three years and renewable upon mutual agreement, the swap deal aims to boost financial collaboration, simplify transactions involving the naira and yuan, and reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar in trade.

Cardoso’s comments suggest that the Central Bank is revisiting the idea of settling bilateral trade in national currencies, especially as the naira becomes more competitive following recent foreign exchange reforms.

……… Over 40m small businesses To Benefit From Improved Financing Options

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at improving access to long-term financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the Nigerian capital market.

The partnership is designed to create alternative sources of capital for the country’s over 40 million registered micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), helping them grow, create jobs, and contribute to the Federal Government’s $1 trillion economy target.

Speaking at the signing ceremony in Abuja, Director-General of the SEC, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, said the initiative would open new funding routes for SMEs and integrate them into the capital market ecosystem.

“Capital is the bedrock of any company. Today we have about 40 million Small and Medium Enterprises that are duly registered with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and it is important that as a capital market, we are able to find a route for these small and Medium Scale enterprises to be able to raise capital for sustainability.

“We also want to bring them on board the pipeline of listed companies in Nigeria where they will be able to democratize wealth and share a part of their institutions with Nigerians making sure that development is faster and to lead to the growth of the economy,” he stated.

He added that the collaboration aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s agenda on employment, growth, development, and production, describing it as a critical step toward achieving the administration’s trillion-dollar economy vision.

On his part, SMEDAN Director-General, Mr. Charles Odii, said the MoU would enable small businesses to overcome the high cost and scarcity of capital by leveraging the capital market.

“Capital in this part of the world is very expensive and scarce,” Odii said. “Through this collaboration, we are creating another source of financing for our medium-scale businesses. We have set ourselves a target of at least 1,000 SMEs listing on the capital market. This will galvanize growth, create wealth, and reduce unemployment in Nigeria.”

The agreement between the two agencies seeks to deepen the integration of MSMEs into the formal financial system and help them meet regulatory and governance standards required for market participation.

Among its major benefits, the MoU will improve access to long-term financing by supporting qualifying MSMEs to raise funds through equity or debt securities under SEC regulations. It also provides for capacity building, as both agencies will organize training and awareness programs to educate SMEs on capital market participation, financial literacy, and corporate governance.

In addition, the SEC will contribute to SMEDAN’s five-year strategic policy framework to promote inclusive financing and SME-friendly capital market policies. SMEDAN, on its part, will identify and encourage qualifying SMEs to list on recognized exchanges, expanding their access to funding and business growth opportunities.

The collaboration will also facilitate debt market participation by guiding creditworthy SMEs to issue debt securities to qualified investors, thereby widening their financing options beyond traditional bank loans. Both institutions will jointly organize a three-day national SME conference to engage stakeholders, promote market opportunities, and drive policy discussions.

The MoU further provides for the establishment of a Joint Working Group (JWG) to monitor implementation, as well as mechanisms for data sharing in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.