This charge was delivered by the Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Energy Plc, Engr. Effiong Okon, during a panel session at the 49th Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE), organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) in Lagos.

Speaking on the conference theme, “Building Resilient Energy Systems in a Rapidly Evolving Energy Landscape,” Okon stressed that maintaining critical equipment at a top-quartile availability rate of 95 percent is essential to minimizing unscheduled deferments.

“You must follow your oil and gas molecules from reservoir to export,” Okon stated. “The approach is all-encompassing—you must understand your reservoir capacity, well capacity, flow lines, and surface facilities. This means total understanding of the asset.”

To drive down operational costs, the Seplat CEO highlighted key strategic measures:

 Implementing effective water treatment procedures.

 Eliminating routine flaring and monetizing gas molecules rather than paying regulatory penalties.

 Removing evacuation route redundancies.

 Building logistically efficient networks and leveraging strategic outsourcing.

Okon also emphasized that technical efficiency must be paired with investment in human capital to bridge skill gaps across subsurface, well, and facility management. He urged the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) to step up capacity-building initiatives to nurture the next generation of Nigerian energy engineers.

Reaffirming Seplat Energy’s market position, Okon noted that the indigenous producer continues to balance strong shareholder returns via dividends and share appreciation with disciplined capital allocation for long-term growth.

Highlighting Seplat’s leadership in domestic gas supply and carbon reduction, Okon revealed plans to unlock and monetize approximately 12 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas from its shallow-water assets. He added that Seplat’s expanding Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) initiatives aim to displace domestic biomass usage and lower overall carbon intensity across Nigeria.

The post Seplat CEO Charges Independent Operators On Asset Integrity And Cost Optimization appeared first on Business Today NG.

Gross revenue rose 30 percent to $1.82 billion from $1.398 billion in H1 2025, supported by an average realized oil price of $94.13 per barrel, representing a $7.47 premium to Brent crude. Strong operational execution expanded gross profits by 68 percent to $815.9 million, while cash generated from operations expanded 29 percent to $985.9 million.

In line with its strong balance sheet, Seplat declared a total second-quarter dividend of USD 12.0 cents per share ($72 million), comprising a USD 5.0 cents core payout and a USD 7.0 cents special dividend. Following robust performance and a newly reached agreement to sell a 10 percent interest in the NNPCL-SEPNU Joint Venture to NNPC Limited for $281.6 million, the company plans to raise its full-year 2026 dividend projection to USD 68.3 cents per share ($410 million)—a 173 percent growth year-on-year.

Operationally, group production averaged 139,509 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the first half of 2026, marking a 4 percent growth year-on-year and remaining comfortably within full-year target guidance. Second-quarter output surged to 149,070 boepd, up 15 percent from the first quarter, boosted by onshore production improvements and an active idle well restoration program that restored 26,000 barrels per day of gross capacity across 24 wells. The firm also achieved 18.8 million man-hours across operated assets without any Lost Time Injury (LTI), while lowering carbon emissions intensity by 18 percent.

Financially, Seplat significantly deleveraged its balance sheet, making an early repayment and cancellation of $200 million under its Advanced Payment Facility. Consequently, Net Debt dropped 45 percent to $370.7 million by the end of June, pushing the Net Debt/EBITDA leverage ratio down to 0.25x and prompting S&P to upgrade the company’s credit rating to ‘B+’.

The strong half-year earnings coincide with scheduled executive leadership transitions. Engr. Effiong Okon took over as Chief Executive Officer from Mr. Roger Brown on August 1, 2026, while Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, is slated to succeed Senator Udoma Udo Udoma as Board Chairman on January 1, 2027.

Commenting on the results, outgoing CEO Roger Brown remarked that the company is handing over leadership from a position of unprecedented financial and operational resilience, backed by expanding cash flows, accelerated debt repayment, and historic returns for shareholders.

The post Seplat Energy Records 498% Profit Surge to $164m, Declares 12 Cents Dividend for H1 2026 appeared first on Business Today NG.

This is why Nigeria must move beyond the old model of corporate philanthropy in education — the one-off donation, ceremonial scholarship or isolated classroom block — and encourage interventions that strengthen the full learning pipeline. The NNPC/Seplat Energy Joint Venture’s education model offers a useful example because it spans teacher development, student competition, school infrastructure, scholarships and entrepreneurship support. Its value lies not only in scale, but in structure: it treats education as a system, not a photo opportunity.

Host Community Impact at a Glance

• 34% of Seplat’s 780 undergraduate scholarships have gone to students from host communities.
• The Seplat JV PEARLs Quiz is open to secondary schools in Delta, Edo and Imo States, with more states to follow.
• Since 2012, PEARLs Quiz has impacted 61,035 teachers and students.
• ₦101 million in prize funding has supported school projects such as libraries, classroom blocks and buses.
• STEP has recorded 1,334 educators trained, including 1,232 secondary-school teachers and 102 Ministry of Education staff.

Too often, companies still approach education through isolated gestures that create goodwill but little systemic change. Nigeria now needs a more disciplined and ambitious full value-chain approach that addresses teachers, students, learning environments, progression pathways and employability as linked parts of one ecosystem.

What distinguishes the Seplat model is that it works across several pressure points at once. Teacher quality is improved through structured capacity building. Student motivation is reinforced through academic competition and recognition. Schools receive infrastructure support. Scholarships widen access to tertiary education, while entrepreneurship training connects learning to economic independence. The logic is simple: if a system is broken at several points, meaningful intervention cannot occur at only one.

The same systems thinking is visible in host communities and host states. PEARLs Quiz rewards academic excellence while leaving behind assets that strengthen schools long after the competition ends. STEP focuses on the teacher as the multiplier: a scholarship may transform one student, but a strong teacher can influence hundreds over time. The undergraduate scholarship allocation also shows a balance between national reach and local responsibility, recognising the special obligation companies have to communities closest to their operations.

The policy lesson is clear. Every serious sector in Nigeria depends on education for its future workforce: energy needs engineers and technicians; healthcare needs skilled professionals; agriculture and manufacturing need technical competence; and the digital economy needs software, design and analytical talent. Poor education today becomes poor productivity tomorrow. Private-sector participation in education should therefore be recognised not as optional benevolence, but as enlightened self-interest and national economic strategy.

For government, the task is to mobilise private-sector capital and execution capacity through intentional partnerships with federal and state education authorities. For companies, the challenge is to move from random acts of generosity to structured interventions that improve learning quality, teacher capability, school infrastructure and access pathways. For the media, the responsibility is to distinguish interventions that genuinely move systems from those that merely generate headlines.

Seplat Energy’s model is worthy of attention because it goes beyond the one-off gesture. It links teachers to students, students to facilities, facilities to opportunity, and opportunity to long-term development. Nigeria does not need just more corporate interventions in education; it needs better-designed ones

The post How Systems-Driven Education Interventions Can Rebuild Nigeria’s Workforce appeared first on Business Today NG.

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The transaction, which is believed to be Africa’s largest publicly disclosed primary equity private placement, marks a significant milestone in the history of the company and demonstrates strong investor confidence in the refinery’s long-term growth strategy and operational excellence.

The capital raise is the first equity funding round involving external investors beyond the company’s legacy shareholder base, underscoring the growing attractiveness of DPRP as a world-class energy and industrial enterprise.

The proceeds from the placement will be deployed to support the continued expansion of the refinery and petrochemical complex, strengthen the company’s capital structure, and enhance financial flexibility to pursue future growth opportunities.

The offering attracted broad participation from international and African institutional investors, sovereign-related investment vehicles, development finance institutions, strategic partners, and individual investors. Notable participants included the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and India Infra Buildco, an investment vehicle facilitated by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), reflecting deep and diversified confidence in DPRP’s long-term prospects.

Commenting on the successful transaction, Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited and Chairman of DPRP, described the placement as a strategic milestone in the company’s evolution.

“This transaction represents a strategic step to deepen and further institutionalise the Enterprise’s shareholder base, while raising capital to complement our internal cash flows and external funding as DPRP advances its expansion agenda.

It also demonstrates our unwavering commitment to developing Africa’s refining and petrochemical capacity, reducing dependence on imported petroleum products and strengthening the continent’s energy security.”

Also speaking on the development, David Bird, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals, said the overwhelming investor response validates the company’s operational performance and growth outlook.

“The exceptional demand we witnessed is a testament to our operational excellence, execution capability and the confidence investors have in DPRP’s leadership and future potential.”

With the successful completion of the placement, DPRP is well-positioned to accelerate its long-term growth strategy while strengthening Africa’s energy security through world-scale refining and petrochemical capacity. The strong investor response further reinforces confidence in the company’s vision and its ability to deliver sustainable value over the long term.

The company also acknowledged the contributions of its professional advisers and partners whose expertise and support were instrumental in delivering the successful transaction.

The post Dangote Refinery completes landmark $2.5billion private Equity Placement appeared first on Business Today NG.

Dangote spoke during the visit of the leadership of South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), alongside the Public Investment Corporation and Alterra Capital Partners, to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals and Dangote Fertiliser Limited in Lagos. The South African delegation included Chairperson of GEPF, Frans Baleni; Principal Executive Officer of GEPF, Musa Mabesa; Deputy Chairperson of PIC, Mongwena Maluleke; Chief Executive Officer of PIC, Patrick Dlamini; and Managing Partner of Alterra Capital Partners, Genevieve Sangudi.

The visit comes amid rising investor interest in Africa-led industrialisation and long-term infrastructure investments. GEPF is Africa’s largest defined benefit pension fund, managing the retirement and associated benefits of more than 1.8 million public sector workers in South Africa, while PIC is the continent’s largest asset manager.

Speaking on the planned refinery listing, Dangote said Africa’s next phase of economic growth must be anchored on large-scale industrial projects capable of creating jobs, strengthening domestic production capacity and generating broad-based prosperity.

“We are opening the doors for investors to participate directly in Africa’s industrial future and the prosperity it will create,” Dangote said.

According to him, the refinery project reflects the scale of untapped opportunities within Africa’s energy market, particularly as most African countries remain dependent on imported refined petroleum products despite growing industrial demand and rising consumption.

Dangote said the Group’s long-term investment strategy is driven by Africa’s expanding energy needs and the urgent requirement for regional refining capacity capable of serving multiple markets across the continent.

The billionaire industrialist noted that demand for products such as polypropylene, aviation fuel and refined petroleum products has exceeded earlier projections, reinforcing the commercial viability of the refinery and shaping future expansion plans.

“We thought about Nigeria first and then exports, but even with our current production, we are practically living hand to mouth because the market demand is extremely high,” he said.

Speaking after the tour of the Dangote facilities in Ibeju-Lekki, the Chairperson of GEPF, Frans Baleni, said that the refinery stands as evidence that Africa can execute transformational infrastructure projects when backed by visionary leadership, long-term investment and strong technical expertise.

“If it can be done anywhere else in the world, it can be done in Africa,” he said. “This project has shown that the continent is capable of achieving world-class industrialisation at scale.”

Baleni added that the significance of the project extends well beyond Nigeria’s borders. “What has been built here is reshaping how the world should think about African industrial capability — and it should reshape how Africa thinks about itself. For too long, projects of this magnitude have been associated with other parts of the world. The Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Complex is a powerful demonstration that, with visionary leadership and long-term capital, that perception no longer holds. This is the kind of African-led industrial scale that institutional investors on this continent should be backing.”

On his part, Chief Executive Officer of PIC, Patrick Dlamini, described the refinery as one of the most transformative industrial projects undertaken on the continent, saying it is reshaping global perceptions about Africa’s industrial capabilities and economic potential.

Quoting former South African President Nelson Mandela, Dlamini said: “It always looks impossible until it’s done. This project is redefining the story of Africa and the possibilities of Africa.”

He said PIC, which manages about $230 billion in assets largely on behalf of South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund, is actively seeking long-term partnerships aligned with infrastructure development, industrialisation and economic transformation across Africa.

“PIC’s mandate is to deploy long-term, patient capital in service of industrialisation, infrastructure and economic transformation across Africa,” Dlamini said. “What we have seen today reinforces our conviction that the next chapter of African prosperity will be written through partnership between African institutional capital and African industrial champions. There is real strategic alignment between Dangote’s industrial agenda and how we are positioning our portfolio, and we look forward to exploring meaningful avenues for collaboration.”

According to him, poverty, unemployment and economic exclusion remain major drivers of instability across Africa, making industrialisation and large-scale job creation critical to the continent’s long-term development.

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The training focused on strengthening corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and risk management across the company and its subsidiaries.

Speaking during the session, Ibinabo Mary Amachree,Head, SCUML, Lagos, highlighted the importance of compliance at board level, emphasizing directors’ personal and corporate liabilities under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (MLPPA) 2022 and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Prohibition Act (TFPPA) 2022.

She also spoke on critical areas including board responsibilities in AML/CFT compliance, fundamentals of money laundering, terrorism financing risks, legal and regulatory frameworks, preventive compliance measures, and governance oversight duties.

Participants were also educated on Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, customer due diligence (CDD), suspicious transaction reporting, targeted financial sanctions screening, record keeping, and independent audit requirements.

Interactive case-study sessions exposed participants to sector-specific risks across subsidiaries of the group, including Tirex Petroleum & Energy, Still Earth Construction, and Still Earth Capital Finance. Discussions focused on issues such as over-invoicing, shell companies, offshore payments, contract splitting, structuring, fake guest records, politically exposed persons (PEPs), and rapid movement of funds.

Commenting on the training, Kingsley Inyama, Head, Credit Risk described the programme as timely and essential in helping participants understand the dynamics of anti-money laundering and terrorism financing compliance.

According to him, financial institutions and businesses must go beyond merely monitoring inflows into accounts and pay closer attention to the source and legitimacy of funds.

He said: “The essence of the training is to understand when anti-money laundering violations or terrorism financing may be taking place. In business, especially in the international sector, it is important to know the source of funds and how money moves through the financial system.

“Everybody wants to see money coming into accounts, but the critical question is: where is the money coming from? If someone claims to be selling vehicles or household items, does the volume of funds correspond with the business activity?

“This training is important because learning in compliance is continuous. Every time you undergo training like this, new issues emerge, new questions arise, and you gain a better understanding that helps you perform your job more effectively.”

Kingsley further noted that one of his major takeaways from the programme was the importance of identifying both legal and beneficial owners in business transactions.

“For the kind of work I do, we deal with transactions involving corporate entities and individuals. The training has helped me understand that whenever you see a legal owner, it is important to probe further to identify the beneficial owner and ensure proper due diligence.

“The penalties for failing to carry out due diligence can include fines, sanctions, and even imprisonment. That is why compliance is extremely important,” he added.

The training ended with discussions on proposed board resolutions, including the adoption of a zero-tolerance policy on money laundering and terrorism financing, establishment of compliance committees, annual training mandates, and approval for independent audits.

The annual compliance programme was attended by staff and management of Still Earth Holdings’ and her subsidiaries ( Still Earth Capital Finance, Tirex Petroleum & Energy, and Still Earth Construction.)

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The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has commended the Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission (LASERC) for recent consumer focused reforms aimed at stopping estimated billing within the Lagos electricity market.

The Commission particularly welcomed LASERC’s position in the 2025 Lagos Electricity Market Report supporting the enforcement of existing legal provisions relating to electricity supply without meters, alongside the phased rollout of universal smart metering across Lagos State.

LASERC is pursuing a broad reform programme aimed at strengthening consumer protection and improving electricity market performance in Lagos. The measures include the phased enforcement of compulsory metering from 2026, feeder by feeder deployment of universal smart meters, tighter oversight of distribution companies, improved complaint resolution standards and enforcement action against non-compliant operators.

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Mr. Tunji Bello, described the initiative as an important step toward improving billing transparency and reinforcing consumer confidence in the electricity sector.

“Estimated billing remains one of the leading sources of consumer complaints within Nigeria’s power sector. Measures that accelerate metering and improve billing transparency are important to consumer protection and overall market accountability,” he said.

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The company disclosed that armed intruders gained unauthorized access into the facility after scaling the perimeter fence near the entrance gate in an apparent attempt to breach the substation’s security.

According to preliminary findings, the attackers attempted to overpower vigilante security personnel stationed at the facility. However, the security operatives successfully repelled the intrusion after firing warning shots, forcing the suspects to flee through the same route used to enter the premises.

TCN said security personnel later recovered several items abandoned by the fleeing suspects, including tools and personal belongings believed to have been used during the attempted attack.

The company added that traces of blood and footprints were also discovered within the premises, suggesting that some of the suspects may have sustained injuries during the failed operation.

A further search around the substation led to the recovery of an additional bag containing implements suspected to be linked to the attempted robbery.

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The governor disclosed this during an inspection visit to the 4-megawatt gas-fired Independent Power Plant in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, where he explained that the audit would help government monitor electricity distribution, curb leakages, and tackle energy theft.

Abiodun described power as the foundation of industrialisation and economic development, noting that the Ogun State Light-Up Project is aimed at making the state energy self-sufficient while ensuring no community is underserved. He added that both the Oke-Mosan 4-megawatt plant and the 34-megawatt Onijanganjangan power project were designed for future expansion.

The governor also revealed that the newly established Ogun State Electricity Regulatory Commission would oversee electricity generation, transmission, and distribution in the state, stressing that the administration’s goal is to position Ogun as the preferred investment destination with reliable and affordable 24-hour power supply.

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