The government of Nigeria has disclosed plans to restructure the country’s oil giant in order to move it from a loss-making position to profitability.
Nigeria to restructure state oil giant, NNPC, for profitability
According to the ‘junior’ oil minister, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu; the state oil giant, the Nigerian Natioanl Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), would be broken up into 30 “profit-making” companies, in order to achieve the desired profitability after years of running at a loss.
‘‘That is just a tip of the iceberg because by the time these 30 companies are unbundled and the Managing Directors will set programmes, you are going to meet us in an active world. It means we are all going to compete, we are going to make these things work,” Kachikwu, a former ExxonMobil chief told an audience in Abuja.
FG MOVES TO UNBUNDLE NNPC INTO 30 COMPANIES... pic.twitter.com/KGP8zDaUq9— NNPC Group (@NNPCgroup) March 3, 2016
He promised that the NNPC would return to making profits in July of this year, the first time the company would be making profits since 2001.
As Africa’s biggest oil producer, falling oil prices have affected Nigeria’s economy, the oil minister who also heads the NNPC said monthly losses by the corporation have rapidly declined and now stand at $15m (£11m).
The NNPC has been long seen as a corruption infested institution that was running at a loss for many years, yet the Buhari-led administration insists it would transform the NNPC into a profitable enterprise.
President Buhari is Nigeria’s oil minister, a move ostensibly to cut down on the corruption in the sector which contributes a lot to the nigerian economy.