Sunday, April 27, 2025
24.3 C
Lagos

Nigeria Under Pressure as Oil Freeze Talks Collapse

Nigeria and other African economies that depend solely on oil revenue are once again are under pressure as talks by oil producers on April 17, 2016 in Doha, Qatar, over output freeze failed.

The talks lasted 11 hours more than required, but finally, Saudi Arabia, who produces 30.8% of OPEC’s output, said Iran must be present before reaching any agreement. Iran however, could not be present given tensions with Saudi Arabia.

Subsequently, oil price fell to $38.4/barrel, resulting in a new dollar hike, which pressures African economies.

Nations such as Angola, Nigeria or CEMAC’s, whose revenues directly depend on crude export, should not have their budget earnings improve in the short term. Meanwhile, the new dollar hike weighs on African currencies, even non-oil producers’.

In this context, Nigeria plans to reinforce taxation so as to generate more tax revenues. It is an option which has proven efficient in the Lagos State and the Federal Government now wants to replicate in other states. But it is easier said than done, according to observers of the Nigerian economy.

Another solution would be to raise Value Added Tax (Nigeria is one of the lowest worldwide with 5%) as inflation is now a major issue.

Wary of the international debt market where conditions tightened, many African economies, suffering from weakening currency and pressure on budget, reached out to IMF asking for help. And though average rates of African sovereign bonds have been falling since the beginning of March 2016, they remain quite high for emerging economies.

So, countries like Mozambique, Angola (now leading oil producer in Africa), Ghana and Tunisia already asked IMF for large credit lines. Other nations such as Kenya have negotiated, still with IMF, precautionary provision. It is expected that Zambia will also ask the Bretton Woods institution for help.

Nigeria keeps signing partnerships to finance its infrastructure projects and reduce its budget gap.
Regarding the OPEC meeting, a new one is planned for June 2016.

Analysts however are not very optimistic about its outcome but looking at global production, it is possible that balance between supply and demand might be achieved around mid-2017.

Also, despite Iran re-entering the market, OPEC only contributes to 38.5% of global production. This will not be regularised in the short-term and should be a strong argument in up-coming negotiations.

-Idriss Linge

spot_img
spot_img
spot_img

Hot this week

FG Bans Waivers for Threaded Pipes, as Monarch Alloys Opens Factory

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator...

NCDMB Visits MT Group’s Facilities, Pledges Support for Firm’s Valves Manufacturing Plans

A delegation from the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring...

Leadway Pensure Clinches 2025 West African Service Excellence Awards to Maintain Three-Year Winning Streak

Leadway Pensure, a leading Pension Fund Administrator in Nigeria,...

Stanbic IBTC Bank Supports GTR West Africa 2025 to Strengthen Regional Commerce

Stanbic IBTC Bank, a leading financial institution committed to...

Heirs Life Assurance Appoints Callista Azogu as Independent Non-Executive Director

Heirs Life Assurance, the specialist life insurance member of...

Topics

The IMF perspective: 7 Questions on Oil Price Slump

Oil prices have plunged recently, affecting everyone: producers, exporters,...

NEXIM Bank to Support Growth of Mining Sector

“Solid minerals, along with the other three sectors of...

AIICO Insurance Reaps CEO, Corporate Brand Awards

It was a moment of celebration and recognition for...

World Economic Forum: Sage CEO Laments Absence of Small Business Issues

CEO Stephen Kelly says small businesses still being ignored...

Eskom cannot be given a new licence to kill

Yesterday, Greenpeace Africa submitted comments to Naledzi Environmental Consultants...

AIO 2020 Postponed to Oct 3 over Coronavirus

  The Executive Committee of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO)...

Global Wealth Rose to $250 Trn in 2020 Despite Covid-19 Pandemic

Global financial wealth reached an all-time high of $250...

NCC Chief, Danbatta, to keynote Business Journal Lecture on Digital Disruption

Professor Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)...
spot_img

Related Articles

Popular Categories

spot_imgspot_img