Daily Watch – Shell’s asset sale to Renaissance okayed, Kenya Court pauses airport lease deal

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has accepted Shell International Plc’s bid to sell its onshore assets to Renaissance—a consortium of four exploration and production companies in Nigeria and an international energy group, in a transaction worth $1.3 billion, senior government sources told BusinessDay. The deal, however, still requires final approval from President Bola Tinubu, who currently holds the Petroleum Minister’s portfolio. The buyer, the Renaissance consortium, comprises ND Western, Aradel Energy, First E&P, and Waltersmith, local oil exploration and production companies, and Petrolin, a Swiss-based trading and investment company. Shell executives have pledged to expedite Bonga asset development, boost oil production, and support government gas plans if the Shell/Renaissance deal succeeds, sources say.

The Nigerian Government’s revenue collection from Value-Added Tax rose to ₦1.56 trillion in the second quarter of 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ Value Added Tax (VAT) Q2 2024 data released on Monday. The figure represents a 99.82% increase compared to the ₦781.35 billion collected in the corresponding quarter of last year. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the Q2 VAT rose by 9.11% from ₦1.43 trillion in Q1 2024. Local VAT payments recorded were ₦792.58 billion, foreign VAT payments stood at ₦395.74 billion, while import VAT contributed ₦372.95 billion in Q2 2024. The federal government’s Company Income Tax (CIT) revenue collection in the second quarter of 2024 rose by 150.83% to ₦2.47 trillion from ₦984.61 billion in Q1. Local payments in the period under review amounted to ₦1.35 trillion, while foreign CIT payments contributed ₦1.12 trillion.

Ghana’s total revenue and grants for the second quarter of 2024 was GH¢74.65 billion, about 7.1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Bank of Ghana Monetary Policy Report has revealed. This was lower than the target of GH¢76.07 billion (7.2% of GDP). However, the outturn represented a shortfall of 1.9% with respect to the target, but a year-on-year growth of 24.6%. Domestic revenue totalled GH¢74.19 billion (7.1% of GDP), marginally below the target of GH¢74.41 billion (7.1% of GDP). Tax revenue was GH¢59.70 billion (5.7% of GDP), higher than the target of GH¢59.30 billion (5.6% of GDP). Non-tax revenue raked in GH¢11.27 billion, missing the target of GH¢11.66 billion by 3.4%, but recorded a year-on-year growth of 36.5%. Other revenue of GH¢2.54 billion failed to meet its target of GH¢2.99 billion. 

Kenya’s high court has temporarily blocked a proposed deal for India’s Adani Group to lease the country’s main airport for 30 years in exchange for expanding it, court documents showed. In a joint application, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), the country’s main bar association, and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) told the court that the country could independently raise the $1.85 billion required to upgrade the airport in the capital Nairobi. LSK and KHRC said the alleged 30-year lease of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), East Africa’s largest aviation hub, was unaffordable, threatened job losses, was a fiscal risk and did not offer taxpayers value for money, court documents on the KHRC website showed. The high court granted the request for leave to file a judicial review to challenge the possible lease of JKIA to Adani, LSK President Faith Odhiambo wrote on X.