President Bola Tinubu has reiterated his administration’s commitment to creating a robust financial system and a business-friendly economy that will attract more foreign direct investments.

The President made the commitment on Thursday in Abuja, as the Coca-Cola Company announced plans to invest $1 billion in Nigeria over the next five years.

According to a statement by Chief Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the announcement was made at a meeting between the President and the global leadership team of Coca-Cola Company, led by Mr John Murphy, its president and chief financial officer, and the Chairman of Nigerian Bottling Company, Ambassador Segun Apata.

The statement which Nationwide Reports obtained Thursday, added that President Tinubu commended Coca-Cola for its long-standing partnership with Nigeria and for promoting investment opportunities that have employed over 3000 people across nine production facilities.

”We are business-friendly, and as I said at my inauguration, we must create an environment of easy-in and easy-out for businesses.

”We are building a financial system where you can invest, re-invest, and repatriate all your dividends. I have a firm belief in that,” he said.

President Tinubu told the delegation that private sector partnerships, which sustain investments, are central to his government’s far-reaching reforms to improve the business environment.

He pledged that the government would continue partnering with Coca-Cola to expand investments in Nigeria and address environmental issues, including climate change.

”The size of this country is enormous in Africa, and the consumption capacity of Nigeria is expanding daily,” President Tinubu added while commending the company for scaling up its skill development and community initiatives as part of its corporate social responsibility.

Presenting an overview of Coca-Cola’s business in Nigeria, Murphy noted that the company generates N320 billion annually through nearly 300,000 customers and contributes almost N90 billion in revenue to the Nigerian government.

”We are very proud of the growth of the business over a long period and its impact on the daily lives of many Nigerians.

”Beyond the financial impacts, we are also very committed to supporting the communities, and over the last number of years, we’ve had a special focus on several areas in the world of sustainability, water packaging and others, ” he said.

Mr Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO of Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, explained that the company’s confidence in Nigerian government policies had encouraged it to make the $1 billion investment pledge.

”Mr President, in your inaugural address, we were very pleased to hear of your invitation for foreign investors to invest and your assurance that foreign businesses can repatriate dividends and profits.

”That assurance gives us the confidence to continue our investments. Since 2013, we have invested $ 1.5 billion in Nigeria in capacity expansion, transformation of our supply chain infrastructure capabilities, training and development.

”I am very pleased to announce that, with a predictable and enabling environment in place, we plan to invest an additional $1 billion over the next five years.

”We believe Nigeria’s potential is tremendous, and we are committed to working with the government to realise this potential,” he said.

Dangote Group has assured Nigerians that the correct price for its Premium Motor Spirit, PMS also known as Petrol, would be determined after 1st October this year when it begins to buy crude oil from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in Naira.

Dangote therefore described a statement by the NNPC that it bought petrol at N898 per litre from the indigenous refinery as “misleading and mischievous”.

The NNPC earlier on Sunday announced its fuel purchase from Dangote Refinery at a rate of N898 per litre.

The national petroleum firm had dispatched about 300 trucks to the 650,000-barrels-per-day capacity refinery in Lagos on Saturday, with loading operations commencing on Sunday.

Spokesperson for the NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, on Sunday said it  bought the fuel as N898 per litre contrary to reports claiming N760.

“We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote Refinery today. The claim that we purchased it at N760 per litre is incorrect. For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per litre,” he said.

However, Anthony Chiejina, Dangote Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, in a statement on Sunday evening, knocked the claim made by the NNPC.

He said, “Our attention has been drawn to a statement attributed to NNPCL spokesperson, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, that we sell our PMS at N898 per litre to the NNPCL.

“This statement is both misleading and mischievous, deliberately aimed at undermining the milestone achievement recorded today, September 15, 2024, towards addressing energy insufficiency and insecurity, which has bedeviled the economy in the past 50 years.

“We urge Nigerians to disregard this malicious statement and await a formal announcement on the pricing, by the Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales to local refineries, appointed by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, which will commence on October 1, 2024, bearing in mind that our current stock of crude was procured in dollars.

“It should also be noted that we sold the products to NNPCL in dollars with a lot of savings against what they are currently importing. With this action, there will be petrol in every local government area of the country regardless of their remote nature.”

“We assure Nigerians of availability of quality petroleum product and putting an end to the endemic fuel scarcity in the country,” he added

A new deal has been sealed between Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL that would guarantee steady and uninterrupted supply of petroleum products from Sunday, September 15, 2024.

A Nigerian presidential committee announced on Friday that NNPC Limited will distribute gasoline from the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery to the local market which would end the deadlock that had stalled distribution.

The $20 billion refinery, built by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote in Lagos, began processing gasoline last week. However, disagreements over offtake rights and pricing had delayed distribution.

“I am glad to announce that all agreements have been finalised, and the first batch of Premium Motor Spirit (Gasoline) will begin loading on Sunday,” Zacch Adedeji, head of Nigeria’s tax authority, said.

Adedeji said that in exchange for crude oil, Dangote will supply gasoline and diesel of equivalent value to the domestic market, with transactions settled in the local naira currency.
The Nigerian government previously said it would facilitate the sale of crude to Dangote in naira.

While Dangote’s diesel, which has primarily been exported, will now be sold to local fuel traders in naira, NNPC will have exclusive rights to lift gasoline and sell locally both in bulk to fuel traders and at its gas stations for now.