Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced another reduction in the prices of both diesel and aviation fuel to N940 and N980 per litre, respectively.

The development comes days after the refinery reduced diesel price to N1,000 per litre.

In a statement on Tuesday, the refinery said the price change of N940 is applicable to customers buying five million litres or more from the refinery, while those purchasing one million litres or more will pay N970.

According to the company, this marks the third major reduction in diesel price “in less than three weeks when the product sold at N1,700 to N1,200 and also a further reduction to N1,000 and now N940 for diesel and N980 for aviation fuel per litre”.

Speaking on the new development, Anthony Chiejina, head of communication, Dangote Group, said the new price is in tandem with the company’s commitment to alleviating the effect of economic hardship in Nigeria.

“I can confirm to you that Dangote Petroleum Refinery has entered a strategic partnership with MRS Oil and Gas stations, to ensure that consumers get to buy fuel at affordable price, in all their stations be it Lagos or Maiduguri,” he said.

“You can buy as low as 1 litre of diesel at N1,050 and aviation fuel at N980 at all major airports where MRS operates.”

He added that the partnership will be extended to other major oil marketers.

“The essence of this is to ensure that retail buyers do not buy at exorbitant prices,” he said.

“The Dangote Group is committed to ensuring that Nigerians have a better welfare and as such, we are happy to announce this new prices and hope that it would go a long way to cushion the effect of economic challenges in the country.”

Reacting to the latest development, Ajayi Kadiri, director-general of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), said the decision “to first crash the price from about N1,750/litre to N1,200/litre, N1,000/litre and now N940 is an eloquent demonstration of the capacity of local industries to positively impact the fortunes of the national economy”.

“The trickledown effect of this singular intervention promises to change the dynamics in the energy cost equation of the country, in the midst of inadequate and rising cost of electricity,” Kadiri said.

He said the reduction will ease the high inflation rate in the country, and have far-reaching impact on critical sectors like industrial operations, transportation, logistics, and agriculture.

Kadiri added that companies will be back in operation due to the price reduction.

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced a further reduction in the prices of diesel and aviation fuel to N940 and N980 per litre, respectively.

The development comes days after the refinery slashed diesel price to N1,000.

Details later …

Nigerian Breweries says some employees will be affected by the company’s cost savings measures adopted to improve its finances.

Cost savings measures were adopted by Nigerian Breweries following the N106 billion net loss reported in 2023.

During a media briefing in Lagos on April 17, the company said the workforce will be resized after suspending operations at two of the company’s breweries in Imo and Kaduna states.

Sade Morgan, Nigerian Breweries’ corporate affairs director, said the number of affected staff has not been ascertained.

“This is not a number that we have at this moment, but what we do have is the commitment to keep the number as minimal as possible,” Morgan said.

“How are we going to do that, it’s by exhausting all possibilities of relocating, redistributing our people to our other seven operating breweries.

“And for the affected people, we will ensure that we give them full support and good severance packages, which now are still a subject of discussion with the unions.”

In a statement dated April 12, Nigerian Breweries told the leadership of the National Union of Food, Beverage & Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) and the Food Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) that its proposed plan would include operational efficiency measures.

Also, Nigerian Breweries said soaring inflation rates and foreign exchange (FX) volatility contributed to its net loss last year.

The company said a combination of other challenging economic factors such as heightened operational costs and continued pressure on consumer disposable income also impacted its earnings.

Nigerian Breweries said the resizing is crucial to the company’s quest to return to profitability.

Uaboi Agbebaku, Nigerian Breweries’ legal director, said there is a need to take action to reduce costs overall.

Agbebaku said the resizing and fundraising — through rights issue — are some of the steps taken by Nigerian Breweries to restore profit and give shareholders value.

On April 3, Nigerian Breweries said it would raise N600 billion through rights issue to reduce its debt burden.

The company said its debt and overdue payables were N542 billion last year.