Nigeria’s licensing system should make it harder to win acreage without the capacity to develop it. But there is a line the country must not cross: requirements designed to screen out unserious bidders should not become so costly or uncertain that capable investors decide to stay away. That balance matters in a market competing for limited capital. The International Energy Agency’s World Energy Investment 2025 estimates that energy investment in Africa is one-third lower in 2025 than it was in 2015. That figure covers the wider energy sector, not Nigerian upstream projects alone. Still, it is a useful reminder that investors…
Author: Development Reporting
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; business leader and philanthropist, Folorunso Alakija; and former Ekiti State first lady, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, are among prominent figures expected to headline the 10th Voice of Women Conference and Awards in Lagos. The anniversary edition, scheduled for 6 October at Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos, will bring together women leaders, policymakers, entrepreneurs, young women, grassroots advocates and five female political aspirants ahead of the 2027 elections. Organised by the Voice of Women Empowerment Foundation (VOWEF) in partnership with Women Radio WFM 91.7 and themed “A Decade of Voices and Impact,” the…
The Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo campus, was agog on 18 August as thousands of graduating students, their families, friends and well-wishers gathered for the university’s 29th and 30th convocation ceremonies for the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions While graduates received congratulatory messages, posed for photographs and celebrated the culmination of years of hard work, Ayomide Aboaba, an Accounting graduate, was not among them. Instead, the 23-year-old was at a dialysis centre with his mother and aunties, marking a milestone he had fought for through eight years of kidney disease, recurring medical crises and prolonged hospital admissions. Ayomide should ordinarily…
The National Examinations Council (NECO) has released the results of the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) Internal, with 804,948 candidates, representing 58.67 per cent of those who sat the examination, obtaining five credits and above, including English Language and Mathematics. The Council also disclosed that 1,162,118 candidates, representing 84.70 per cent, obtained five credits and above irrespective of their performance in English Language and Mathematics. Speaking at a press briefing in Minna, Niger State, on Thursday, NECO Registrar/Chief Executive, Dantani Wushishi, a professor said the examination was conducted across Nigeria and six foreign countries between 15 June and 23 July. Mr…
More than 23 million Nigerians remain offline as stakeholders across the telecommunications, technology and infrastructure sectors prepare to converge in Lagos for the second edition of the Rural Connectivity Summit to examine the barriers to wider connectivity and explore practical ways to reach underserved communities. Organised by Business Metrics Limited (BML), the Summit will be held on Tuesday, 13 October at Providence Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, under the theme “Rural Inclusion at Scale: Connecting the Next 25 Million Users for Frontier Market Growth.” According to the organisers, key government agencies driving Nigeria’s connectivity and digital inclusion agenda have keyed into the summit,…
Kenya’s stock exchange is pushing to bring African investors into Dangote Refinery’s record initial public offering (IPO), while discussions over a possible Nairobi cross-listing put the sale at the centre of a wider effort to connect Africa’s capital markets. The bigger test is whether African savings can help finance the next generation of industrial companies at scale. Bonface Orucho, bird story agency Dangote’s US$1.6 billion (₦2.15 trillion) refinery IPO is turning one of Africa’s biggest industrial projects into a publicly investable asset, drawing retail and institutional investors into its ownership. The early scramble for access, including efforts to bring investors…
The management of DevReporting, a cinematic media platform committed to rigorous, data-driven reporting on development issues across Nigeria and Africa, on Monday paid a courtesy visit to the management of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to flag off awareness for its forthcoming 3-in-1 event scheduled for Thursday, 29 October. In a statement issued by DevReporting, the delegation, led by its Managing Editor, Christiana Alabi-Akande, briefed the university management that the event will feature three key activities, including: the screening of ‘LG Billions in the Dark’, an investigative documentary; the unveiling of the Development Reporting Africa Foundation (DRAF), the non-profit arm…
By Malik Samuel Nigeria’s worsening security crisis is forcing federal and state authorities to experiment with solutions that would once have appeared unlikely. One of the most striking is the recruitment and deployment of former Boko Haram members from the Northeast to support efforts against bandits and jihadist groups in Northwest and Northcentral Nigeria. Interviews with former Boko Haram members involved in these deployments reveal that some have been deployed to Niger and Zamfara states, while others have been sent to Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto, Katsina, and the Federal Capital Territory. According to those interviewed, the State Security Services (SSS), Nigeria’s…
The central question raised by the Dangote Refinery IPO is not whether the company is worth ₦65 trillion. It is whether Nigeria’s institutions are prepared for the risks created when one private enterprise becomes an energy-security asset, investment destination, capital-market heavyweight and instrument of industrial policy. Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals is offering 4.1 billion shares at ₦525 each, seeking ₦2.15 trillion and implying a post-offer market capitalisation of about ₦65.2 trillion. Reuters reports that it earned $1.82 billion in the first half of 2026 on revenue exceeding $13 billion, after a loss in 2025. Investors must decide how much…
The industrial dispute over the proposed concession of King’s College, Lagos to its old boys’ association has taken a new turn, with the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) and the Joint Workers Committee of Unions (JWC) directing workers to suspend their strike and resume duties, while a faction of ASCSN has ordered the continued shutdown of federal unity colleges nationwide. The conflicting directives followed a conciliatory meeting between the Federal Ministry of Education and organised labour, during which the proposed concession to the King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) was placed on hold for two weeks to…