Afreximbank Anchors $2.5bn of Fresh $4bn Dangote Refinery Syndicated Loan Aliko: Move positions our business for next phase of growth Bank committed $15bn to Dangote Group since 2015, says board chair Cairo-based lender raises $2bn to refinance existing facilities in its biggest-ever syndicated loan
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja and Peter Uzoho in Lagos
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) yesterday announced that it had underwritten $2.5 billion in
a $4 billion syndicated term loan in favour of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, in
a major financing deal aimed at strengthening Africa’s largest refining and petrochemical complex.
Afreximbank disclosed in a statement that the Cairo-based lender and Access Bank were appointed
co-mandated lead arrangers for the Continued on page 8
Wednesday 1 April, 2026 Vol 31. No 11315. Price: N400
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Tinubu: Perpetrators of Plateau, Kaduna Killings Will Face Justice... Page 8
Instead of Saving for Rainy Day, National Assembly Jacks Up 2026 Proposed Budget
Tinubu seeks $5bn Abu Dhabi financing, $1bn UKEF-backed loan for Apapa, TinCan ports Lawmakers raise capital spending to N32.29trn, targets infrastructure, growth, election preparedness Extend 2025 budget cycle to June 2026, warns MDAs against funding delays, weak implementation Atiku slams Tinubu, Senate Chuks Okocha, Adedayo Akinwale and Sunday Aborisade in Abuja Awash with Gulf oil windfall from US-Israel war on Iran, the National Assembly yesterday significantly altered Nigeria’s fiscal trajectory for
2026, raising the Appropriation Bill to N68.323 trillion and simultaneously advancing legislative processes to approve fresh external borrowings totalling $6 billion requested by President Bola Tinubu. The oil price benchmark for the
2026 budget was $64.85 per barrel, with an assumed daily oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day. But since the commencement of the war in the Middle East February 28, the price of Brent crude has risen sharply to $115 per barrel, with
THE ASAGBA OF ASABA AT THE NGX...
projections suggesting a sustained upward trend, as both sides in the Middle East conflict continue to bomb each other’s oil facilities. Nigeria is currently raking in Continued on page 8
L-R: Chairman Organising Committee, Ogbueshi Dr. Boniface Chizea, Group CEO, Mr Temitope Popoola, HRM Asagba of Asaba, Prof. Epiphany Chigbogu Azinge, SAN, OON, FNIALS, Chairman, NGX Group Plc, Dr. Umaru Kwairanga, Chairman, GEC Petroleum Dev. Co., Ogbueshi Dr. Joe Obiago, Fmr. Chairman, NGX Realty Company and CEO, NGX Mr. Jude Chiemeka at the Closing Gong Ceremony at the NGX , during HRM The Asagba’s launch of the Asaba Investment Forum for Corporate Nigeria, in Lagos … yesterday