Daily Watch – Kenya PMI expands in December, Auditor-General slams NNPC

7th January 2025

A report by the office of Nigeria’s Auditor-General has indicted the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for alleged unauthorised deductions of ₦82.9 billion from federation revenue for refinery rehabilitation. The indictments are contained in the 2021 Auditor-General’s annual report published in November 2024. The NNPCL also got knocks for its “irregular deductions of funds from domestic crude sales at source,” which the Auditor General said was a breach of the Nigerian Constitution and Financial Regulations (3106 and 3129) 2009 in respect of economy of expenditure. The report recommended that the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL should “furnish reasons to the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly, for the unauthorised deduction of funds and to recover and remit the sum of the lost funds” to the government’s treasury.

The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday, ordered Governor Monday Okpebholo, the Edo House of Assembly and other parties in a suit filed by the 18 suspended local government chairpersons in the state to maintain the status quo. Justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling, gave the order after counsel to the plaintiffs. Anderson Asemota, moved a motion ex-parte to the effect. The lawyer said the motion sought an order directing the parties in the suit to maintain the status quo as of 15 December 2024. He based his argument on the grounds that the Supreme Court in July 2024 held that state governors had no power to suspend elected local government chairperson. He alleged that the chairpersons’ suspension stemmed from their disagreement with the governor to operate a joint account against the Supreme Court decision. The matter was subsequently adjourned until 20 January for a hearing of the substantive suit.

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Ernest Addison has revealed that the central bank is projecting the inflation rate to reach single digit by the first quarter of 2026. He pointed out that the forecast will depend on the economic programmes and policies that will be implemented in 2025 by the incoming John Mahama government. Dr. Addison explained that inflation is expected to slow down due to the monetary policy measures instituted by the BoG. “Inflation rate will hit 15% by the end of 2025, from the current 23%”, he assured. He insisted that the economic situation in the last quarter of 2024 improved, indicating the resilience of the BoG’s policies. Dr Addison is hopeful the cedi will continue to stabilise in 2025, positively impacting the prices of goods.

Kenya’s private sector activity expanded very slightly in December, with growth slowing a little from a month earlier but remaining supported by increased customer sales, a survey showed on Monday. The Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dipped to 50.6 in December from 50.9 a month earlier. Readings above 50.0 signal an expansion in activity. “Positively, this is the first quarter of expansion in output since (the fourth quarter of 2021), suggesting that the private sector is showing signs of turning around with new orders and employment also in expansionary territory,” said Christopher Legilisho, an economist at Stanbic Bank. The economy is estimated to have grown 5.2% in 2024 and is projected to expand 5.4% in 2025, the finance ministry says. The economy grew 5.6% in 2023.