Nigeria’s Federal Government is offering a N728.98bn power sector bond to clear legacy debts owed to electricity generation companies. The issue is split into a N400bn cash tranche and a N328.98bn non-cash tranche, with a coupon marketed in a 17.85% to 17.95% range versus 17.50% on the inaugural deal. Subscriptions opened on August 3 and are scheduled to close on August 14, with settlement expected on August 24. The issuance forms part of a broader N4tn power-sector debt reduction programme.

Nigeria’s federal government has agreed to an $11.5-per-barrel tax incentive to help Shell’s $20bn Bonga South West deepwater project move forward, aiming to draw more than $50bn in capital. The project is presented as building on the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) track record since 1999, including nearly $130bn in sales, $2.1bn in company income tax paid in 2015, $21bn in feedgas purchases and $10bn spent on local goods and services. The government says the move is intended to unlock stranded capacity and add meaningful barrels to global crude supply, according to Bloomberg.

The Central Bank of Nigeria sold N700bn of treasury bills across 91-day, 182-day and 364-day tenors, drawing total subscriptions of N3.62tn, an oversubscription of 5.17 times. The stop rate on the 364-day bill fell to 17.35% from the prior auction, down 31 basis points. Stop rates on the 91-day and 182-day bills were unchanged at 16.30% and 16.50%. The auction underscored strong local money-market demand for short-term government securities and is a key operation in Nigeria’s monetary policy implementation.

In the first half of 2026, Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) led local bond issuance after raising N501.02bn, while the Lagos State Government issued a combined N244.82bn across two maturities including a N14.82bn Green Bond. Access Bank issued a N193.83bn Series 3 senior unsecured bond, and Sunbeth raised N150.41bn through multiple commercial paper series. The deals point to stronger activity in the naira debt market, with issuance concentrated among utilities, subnational governments and commercial banks.

Nigeria’s PanAfrican investment bank United Capital Plc reported profit before tax of N24.78bn for the half-year ended 30 June 2026, up 80% year on year. Gross earnings rose 58% to N37.49bn. The board approved an interim dividend of 30 kobo per share. Shareholders’ funds increased 25% year to date to N187.09bn and managed funds grew 4% to N1.04tn.

First HoldCo Plc rose 9.91% to close at a record N120.90, lifting its market value to N5.49tn. The move followed a disclosure that Calvados Global Services bought 706,131,179 shares on 22 July 2026 at N109.88 per share. Trading volume reached 106,397,127 shares, with turnover of N12.49bn.

Nigeria’s naira is facing fresh depreciation pressure as fuel importers step up dollar purchases to build inventories after receiving new regulatory licences, lifting demand for foreign exchange. The currency was quoted at N1,368/$ on the official market, while the parallel market was around N1,420/$. Downstream operators say the import policy is intensifying FX pressure, distorting prices and hurting local refiners’ competitiveness. They point to imported petrol selling for about N1,350 per litre, far above the price of supplies from the Dangote refinery.

Pivot Integrated Energy Services Limited has launched a commercial paper issuance of up to N100bn as the first series under its broader N300bn Commercial Paper Programme. Proceeds will be used for working capital to support the importation, trading, storage, distribution and supply of refined petroleum products across Nigeria and selected African markets. Pivot is one of 20 approved offtakers under the Dangote Refinery PMS Consortium with an allocated target volume of 300 million litres per quarter. Credit rating agencies have assigned short-term ratings ranging from A1 to A3.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has called on the Federal Government to immediately suspend petrol import licences, saying the permits have coincided with higher pump prices of about N1,350 per litre. The group said imported petrol is selling well above supplies from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and is worsening price volatility. It added that the implied offshore cost of imported products is almost 20 per cent higher than Dangote’s prices, increasing pressure on the dollar and the naira.