Business

Macron steps back from midnight threat against UK exports in fishing row

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has shelved his threat to clog up UK exports and ban its fishers from landing catches at French ports from midnight in a dispute over access to British fishing waters, as his deadline approached.

Discussions resumed after a proposal was put forward by Macron’s government late on Monday. Downing Street had previously said it was bracing for Paris to deliver on its vow to retaliate over the issue of fishing permits.

“Since this afternoon, discussions have resumed on the basis of a proposal I made to prime minister [Boris] Johnson. The talks need to continue,” Macron told reporters on the sidelines of the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow. “We’ll see where we are tomorrow at the end of the day, to see if things have really changed.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “We welcome the French government’s announcement that they will not go ahead with implementing their proposed measures as planned tomorrow. As we have said consistently, we are ready to continue intensive discussions on fisheries … We welcome France’s acknowledgement that in-depth discussions are needed to resolve the range of difficulties in the UK-EU relationship.”

France had been expected to impose extra customs checks and ban British fishing boats at some French ports from midnight. Official sources initially reported that neither side was backing down in the post-Brexit row.

However, David Frost, the UK’s Brexit secretary, is to meet Clément Beaune, the French minister for EU affairs, in Paris on Thursday, to discuss possible ways out of the crisis. Beaune tweeted that he had already spoken to Frost on Monday and that he expected a response to Paris’s compromise proposal by Wednesday.

He wrote that he looked forward to an “in-depth discussion” with Frost over the range of post-Brexit issues causing problems in the British-Franco relationship.

France has been infuriated that some of its small boats are being denied permission to fish in the waters around the UK and Channel Islands. The UK insists its licensing regime is reasonable and it will continue to require boats to provide evidence that they have previously fished in those waters on at least four days in the last four years.

Johnson and Macron had bumped fists as they arrived at the Cop26 summit on Monday.

At a post-G20 press conference on Sunday, Macron initially insisted that Britain had to give ground or France would trigger trade reprisals this week. “The ball is in Britain’s court. If the British make no movement, the measures of 2 November will have to be put in place,” he said.

But on Monday evening, the French president said he had pushed back the deadline by which Paris had said it would impose the new measures.

Earlier in the day, Liz Truss, the UK foreign secretary, had told France it had 48 hours to back down on threats or Britain would begin dispute talks set out in the Brexit deal.

A spokesman for Johnson suggested there would not be retaliatory UK trade measures, but action could be triggered through the dispute mechanism. “Depending on if, or what, the French decide to do, we will enact them as and when we need to,” he said.

A meeting to find a compromise, organised by the European Commission with officials from the UK, Jersey and France, had initially been marked by a lack of movement by both sides on Monday, with sources describing the mood as sour.

Jersey’s government was preparing to provide its fishers with financial support in the expectation that its vessels would not be able to land catches in French ports. The Jersey Fishermen’s Association (JFA) also called for the island’s authorities to respond in kind to the expected crisis by closing off the whelk and scallop fisheries to French vessels and banning dredging and trawling “with immediate effect for a period of six weeks”.

The talks continued late into the evening, however.

The diplomatic row over fishing, a very small sector of the UK economy, threatened to overshadow the G20 talks, which took place in Rome at the weekend, and also the Cop26 summit.

Almost 1,700 EU vessels have been licensed to fish in UK waters, equating to 98% of EU applications for fishing licences, the UK government says, but this figure is disputed in Paris. The main area of disagreement is over the number of small French vessels given access to the immediate coastal waters of the UK and Jersey. On Monday evening, the UK government spokesperson said it would consider any new evidence to support the remaining licence applications.

Truss had suggested on Monday that Macron may be making “unreasonable threats” because he has a difficult election looming.

Asked about whether France and the UK had come to an agreement, she told Sky News: “The deal hasn’t been done. The French have made completely unreasonable threats, including to the Channel Islands and to our fishing industry and they need to withdraw those threats.”

Asked why the row had emerged, she said: “You might say there’s a French election coming up.” Seeming angered by the dispute, she added: “I’m not remotely happy about what has happened.”

Business

Nigeria begins sales of Crude Oil in Naira

Nigeria has officially commenced the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in Naira.

This milestone, announced by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, marks a new chapter in the nation’s economic strategy.

Effective from October 1, 2024, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) directive to trade crude oil and petroleum products in Naira was implemented following a key meeting of the Implementation Committee.

The meeting included prominent stakeholders, such as the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), the Special Advisers to the President on Revenue and Energy, executives from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), and top representatives of the Dangote Group. The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC and its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) were also in attendance, underscoring the initiative’s national significance.

The strategic policy, championed by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration, is expected to reshape Nigeria’s economy.

By denominating oil sales in Naira, the country aims to bolster economic growth, enhance stability, and promote self-sufficiency.

The move is seen as a crucial step toward reducing dependency on foreign currencies, positioning Nigeria for long-term success amidst the ever-changing dynamics of global markets.

Business

Electricity Tariff hike: Nigeria’s discos collect N887bn as revenue

Revenue of electricity distribution companies in Nigeria increased to N887.86 billion in the first seven months of 2024 amid an electricity tariff hike.

This is according to the analysis of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission data on Discos’ commercial performance for the seven months of 2024.

The data showed that out of N1.14 trillion electricity bill issued by Discos to customers, the companies recorded 79.7 percent collection efficiency which stood at N887.86bn in the period under review.

A breakdown of the bill collection by Discos from January to July 2024 includes N95bn, N97bn, N100.44bn, N142.92bn, N191.65bn, N150.86bn and N162.14bn which amounted to N887.86 billion.

Further analysis showed that during the corresponding period in 2023, the companies issued bills totaling N797.18 billion, while they managed to collect N604.15 billion.

This surge in revenue collection is not unconnected to the hike in electricity tariff in April from N66 per kilowatt-hour to N225.

Recall that amid the call for the electricity tariff hike reversal, it was reviewed downward to 206.68 per kilowatt-hour, but was reviewed upward to N209 per kilowatt-hour thereafter.

Though the electricity tariff hike was introduced for customers getting at least 20 hours of power supply, Nigerians have lamented the burden occasioned by the tariff.

The energy cost pain has been exacerbated as Discos migrate more consumers to Band A feeders.

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, however, insisted that Nigeria’s electricity tariff is among the cheapest within African countries.

Business

FG unveils seven CNG conversion centres in Ekiti

The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNGi) has unveiled seven centres where commercial transporters can convert their petrol to CNG-powered vehicles in Ekiti.

The Program Director of P-CNGi, Michael Oluwagbemi who spoke during the official unveiling of the centres and handing over of 15 CNG-powered buses to government in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital at the weekend, urged commercial transporters in the state to visit the centers to convert their vehicle free of charge.

He explained that the CNG initiative is cheaper, more convenient, and safer compared to petrol, noting that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is determined to energize the economy through the initiative which he said would create jobs and enhance sustainable development.

Oluwagbemi disclosed that the administration is targeting one million vehicle conversions to CNG by 2027, saying that no fewer than 125 centres have been opened across the country.

He listed the new centres in Ekiti state to include, Femoyo centres, Beijing Universal Limited, ABJ oil and gas, Bovas Company, and NADDC training center in the state capital.

The program director said that the 15 buses donated would be deployed for inter and intra-state transportation towards achieving about 40 percent reduction in the transportation cost and ultimately reduced hike in food items.

According to him, ” the government of President Bola Tinubu through the presidential CNG initiative is committed to ensuring they(transporters) use this for their vehicles because it is cheaper, cleaner and more importantly it is safer and more reliable.

” This is a compressed natural gas, it is not the same you use in your kitchen to cook. It is lighter and stored in a bulletproof container. It is also the fact it is produced in Nigeria and what the president said is that instead of us to continue to import poverty and export jobs. He said will need to look inward and use what God has given us.

” It is about job creation, it is about reducing the cost of transportation and ensuring economic development by moving away from subsidy payment where we were making the few richer.

” This is a more sensible and reliable path for Nigeria in terms of our energy sector, and that is what the president is doing with this initiative.”

Speaking, the state governor, Biodun Oyebanji commended the federal government for the initiative, adding that the state would support the programme towards ensuring that more vehicle owners embrace the CNG conversion.

The governor who was represented by the commissioner for Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Professor Mobolaji Aluko explained that the CNG conversion initiative would help in generating employment opportunities and economic development in line with his shared prosperity agenda for the state.

The state chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers(NURTW) Joseph Falope and his counterpart in Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria(RTEAN) Sunday Adeola, expressed delight over the initiative, assuring the government that members of their respective unions would take their vehicles for conversion to CNG.

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Joseph Osanipin said the council has trained no fewer than 45 technicians across the state on how to convert petrol vehicles to CNG-powered vehicles.