Business

Ban UK domestic flights and subsidise rail travel, urges transport charity

Domestic flights should be banned and long-distance train fares subsidised, transport campaigners have urged, highlighting the relative environmental and financial costs of air and rail travel.

The Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) called on ministers to outlaw internal UK flights if an equivalent train journey took less than five hours and to resist calls for any cut in air passenger duty.

Mandatory emissions labels on tickets and a frequent flyer levy should also be introduced, the charity said.

The demands came before the 27 October budget, in which the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, may decide to cut taxes on domestic flights in response to pressure from the aviation industry, a possibility mooted by the prime minister earlier this year. Such a move could, however, prove an embarrassment a week before the UK hosts the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow.

The proposed ban would not affect isolated communities or the longest UK air corridors, but would hit flights such as Manchester to London, London to Edinburgh and Birmingham to Glasgow. Passengers should be offered cheaper train tickets, while anyone taking more than three international flights a year would be required to pay a frequent flyer levy, the campaign proposes.

Paul Tuohy, the chief executive of CBT said: “Cheap domestic flights might seem a good deal when you buy them, but they are a climate disaster, generating seven times more harmful greenhouse emissions than the equivalent train journey.

“Making the train cheaper will boost passenger numbers and help reduce emissions from aviation, but any cut to air passenger duty – coupled with a rise in rail fares in January – will send the wrong message about how the government wants people to travel and mean more people choosing to fly.”

British Airways now offsets carbon emissions on all domestic flights and there are hopes that short-haul electric planes could operate internally within 15 years. However, “jet zero” ambitions remain some way from reality and CBT argues that major internal routes are feasible by direct train instead, with similar journey times once airport journeys and formalities are factored in. However, ticket prices are often prohibitive.

In a staged “race” carried out on Friday from central London to Glasgow city centre, Tuohy took the plane and – including airport transfers and check-in – arrived in five hours 17 minutes, two minutes before the former transport minister Norman Baker, who travelled by train. CBT said the train journey emitted less than one-sixth of the carbon emissions of the flight – 20kg compared with 137kg – but cost twice as much at £109 v £52.

Rail fares have risen steadily above inflation for well over a decade. A walk-up return ticket to travel on morning train services between London and Manchester now costs £369.40, while an off-peak return is £94.50 between the capital and northern England’s biggest city.

The government has not announced a decision on further rail fare increases, but should they follow the RPI+1% formula the cost could increase by another 4.8% in January. Ministers are keen to reduce rail subsidy after spending an additional £8bn to cover lost revenue during the pandemic.

Passenger numbers have returned to around 65% of pre-Covid levels, according to the latest Department for Transport figures.

Business

NNPC refineries may never work again – Dangote

The President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has stated that Nigeria’s state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna may never function properly again, despite the reported $18 billion spent on their rehabilitation.

Speaking while hosting members of Global CEO Africa at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Dangote revealed that his decision to construct the 650,000-barrel-per-day facility followed the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua’s administration’s refusal to sell the refineries to him.

According to Dangote, he and other investors had acquired the refineries in January 2007 but were compelled to return them to government ownership after a change in administration. He observed that despite significant subsequent investment, the refineries have remained inoperative.

“The refineries we bought before, which were owned by Nigeria, were producing about 22 per cent of PMS. We bought them in January 2007 but had to return them due to a change in government. The managing director at that time convinced Yar’Adua that the refineries would work,” he said.

“As of today, they have spent about $18 billion on those refineries, and they are still not working. I doubt very much if they will ever work,” he added.

Dangote likened the rehabilitation efforts to attempting to upgrade a 40-year-old car with modern technology, suggesting that even a new engine would not be compatible with the outdated framework.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had earlier expressed similar misgivings. In a previous interview, he asserted that the NNPC knew it was incapable of effectively operating the refineries but actively blocked private sector involvement.

Obasanjo disclosed that Dangote and other investors had paid $750 million to acquire the refineries, only for the deal to be reversed by the Yar’Adua administration.

“I told Yar’Adua the refineries would not work. I said, ‘NNPC cannot do it.’ He said, ‘NNPC said they can.’ I told him, ‘When you want to sell them again, you won’t find anyone willing to pay even $200 million as scrap.’ And that is where we are today,” Obasanjo said.

He alleged that the failure to privatise the refineries was fuelled by entrenched corruption within the NNPC, and insisted that those responsible should be held accountable.

Obasanjo further claimed that over $2 billion had been spent on the refineries in recent years, with no tangible results.

“If anyone says the refineries are working, why are they now relying on Aliko Dangote? He will make his refinery work and deliver,” he said.

Business

Nigerian stock market hits historic N1.806trn gains

The Nigerian Stock Exchange, under Nigerian Exchange Group, NGX, Limited, recorded a historic milestone as investors gained N1.806 trillion in a single day.

This development follows a significant rise in the All-Share Index, ASI, which surged by 2,457.13 points, or 2.01 per cent, to close at 124,446.80, crossing the 124,000 mark for the first time, from its previous close of 121,989.67.

The market’s positive performance has been attributed to growing investor confidence in Nigeria’s equities market, bolstered by improved liquidity conditions and ongoing economic reforms.

Market capitalisation similarly rose by 2.35 per cent to settle at N78.726 trillion on Thursday, up from N76.970 trillion recorded on Wednesday.

Consequently, market breadth closed strongly positive, with 70 gainers and only 10 losers.

On the gainers’ table, FTN Cocoa rose by 10 per cent to end the session at N6.82, while UPDC also gained 10 per cent, closing at N4.62 per share.

United Bank for Africa, UBA, soared by 10 per cent to settle at N39.60, while Consolidated Hallmark Holdings similarly rose by 10 per cent to close at N3.30 per share.

Haldane McCall also gained 10 per cent, ending the session at N4.73 per share.

Conversely, Neimeth International Pharmaceutical declined by 9.91 per cent, finishing at N9, while Legend Internet shed 9.88 per cent to settle at N7.21 per share.

Industrial and Medical Gases dropped by 7.36 per cent to close at N34, and Cadbury Nigeria fell by 6.22 per cent, ending the day at N55 per share.

Similarly, Livestock Feeds lost 5.67 per cent, closing at N9.15 per share.

In terms of market activity, 1.3 billion shares valued at N27.73 billion were exchanged across 27,875 transactions.

This compares to 888.70 million shares worth N15.609 billion traded in 24,303 transactions on Wednesday.

Leading the activity chart was Access Corporation, with 174.22 million shares valued at N3.99 billion.

AIICO Insurance followed with 81.96 million shares worth N165 million, while Ja Paul Gold recorded 74.01 million shares traded, valued at N245.2 million.

UBA exchanged 64.51 million shares worth N2.52 billion, and First City Monument Bank traded 63.3 million shares valued at N585.75 million.

Business

NAFDAC uncovers expired chemicals, additives, seals warehouses

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has uncovered a massive illegal operation involving the sale of fake chemicals, expired food flavours, unauthorised fertilisers, and repackaged pharmaceutical raw materials in the Alapere area of Ketu, Lagos.

The agency, in a statement, disclosed that the operation led to the arrest of several suspects and the sealing of three warehouses filled with dangerous substances.

NAFDAC Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Martins Iluyomade, told journalists that the raid followed credible intelligence about a criminal network engaged in large-scale food and chemical counterfeiting.

Iluyomade described the agency’s action as its campaign carried out to protect the health of Nigerians, stressing that individuals posing as legitimate business operators while engaging in activities that seriously endanger public health.

According to him, the offence was the sale and repackaging of expired chemicals, some of which were dangerously redirected for use in food and drug production.

He explained that several controlled substances and high-risk materials, including fertilisers requiring special clearance from the National Security Adviser, were found stocked without any authorisation.