Nigeria failed to meet its crude oil production quota of 1.5 million barrels per day approved by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in the first month of 2026, extending its streak of underperformance to six consecutive months.

According to OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report, Nigeria produced about 1.46 million barrels of crude oil per day in January 2026. Specifically, output rose from 1.422 mbpd in December 2025 to 1.459 mbpd in January, representing an increase of about 38,000 barrels per day.

Despite the marginal improvement, production remained below the 1.5 mbpd quota, marking the sixth straight month the country has missed its OPEC target, spanning August 2025 to January 2026.

Crude oil output had dipped in December 2025 by 14,000 barrels per day, despite government efforts to ramp up production. Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission showed that production fell from 1.436 mbpd in November to 1.422 mbpd in December, instead of rising to meet the OPEC quota.

In 2025, Nigeria’s crude oil production fell below its OPEC quota in nine months, meeting or slightly exceeding the target only in January, June, and July. Year-on-year, crude production declined by over 80,000 barrels per day. Nigeria opened 2025 strongly, producing 1.54 mbpd in January, about 38,700 barrels per day above its OPEC allocation.

Output, however, slipped below the quota in February at 1.47 mbpd and weakened further in March, when production averaged 1.40 mbpd, representing one of the widest shortfalls of the year.

Although output recovered modestly in April at 1.49 mbpd and May at 1.45 mbpd, Nigeria remained under its OPEC ceiling until June, when crude production edged up to 1.51 mbpd, marginally exceeding the quota. The country sustained this momentum in July, producing 1.51 mbpd, before slipping below the threshold again in the following months.

As 2026 progresses, expectations are that Nigeria will ramp up crude production, especially as the Dangote refinery announced it has reached its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.

Meanwhile, the new Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, has pledged to increase oil production. In a statement issued by the commission’s Head of Media and Strategic Communication, Eniola Akinkuotu, the NUPRC boss said her vision for the upstream sector rests on three pillars: production optimisation and revenue expansion; regulatory predictability and speed; and safe, governed and sustainable operations.

According to her, the agenda aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the administration’s plan to grow Nigeria’s crude oil production to 2 mbpd by 2027 and 3 mbpd by 2030.

Eyesan said the commission would pursue production and revenue growth by recovering shut-in volumes with economic value, arresting natural field decline, reducing losses, and accelerating time-to-first oil, without imposing additional regulatory burdens or transaction costs on operators.

The United Bank for Africa Plc has introduced a new Aggregator Sales Structure for its RedPay POS and Agency Banking Network, aiming to strengthen its relationships with partners and promote greater financial inclusion throughout Nigeria.

The newly launched multi-benefit structure was unveiled at the inaugural UBA Aggregator Engagement Session, held at the bank’s head office in Lagos on Tuesday. The session, themed ‘POS-itive Impact: Connecting Agents, Merchants, and Customers’, served as a collaborative platform to align strategies for scaling the UBAMONI Agency Banking ecosystem and bringing together key industry aggregators, Point-of-Sale partners, and network managers.

UBA’s Executive Director Designate, Digital Banking, Emmanuel Lamptey, who spoke at the event, said, “Today’s session marks a pivotal step in our collective journey to democratise financial access in Nigeria.

By bringing together our valued aggregators and partners, we are strengthening the ecosystem that connects UBA directly to communities and ensuring that reliable financial services are within everyone’s reach.”

Emphasising the need for partnerships, UBA’s Head of Digital Banking, Shamsideen Fashola, who presented the keynote address, outlined the strategic imperative behind the new structure.

“Our aggregators are fundamental to realising our ambition of building Africa’s most impactful digital collections network. This structured framework is designed to be scalable, transparent, and mutually rewarding, empowering our partners with the technology and support needed to drive agent productivity as well as serve underserved communities effectively,” Fashola noted.

The lender said that the platform delivers comprehensive value to agents and aggregators alike, featuring instant settlement, reliable transaction processing, real-time dashboard reporting, and a full suite of services, including dispute and terminal management, analytics, card withdrawals, bill payments, and pay-with-transfer.

For aggregators specifically, the model provides a structured opportunity to onboard and manage agents within UBA’s network and access attractive incentives and commissions, as well as leverage a dedicated Aggregator Admin Portal for real-time visibility into agent performance and transactions.

Adetunji Iyiola, UBA’s Head of Agency Banking, highlighted the customer-focused nature of the initiative, saying the new structure significantly enhances collaboration between UBA, its merchants, and agents.

“This rollout is about creating superior value for every stakeholder and enabling better service delivery to customers while ensuring our partners have the tools and incentives to thrive. It reinforces our promise to deliver essential banking services exactly where they are needed most,” he said.

With the introduction of the aggregator framework, UBA further cements its leadership in pioneering innovative digital financial solutions that bridge the inclusion gap and drive economic empowerment across the African continent.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has vowed to fully use its enhanced enforcement powers granted by the NDIC Act 2023 to recover outstanding loans from debtors of failed banks.

This was disclosed by the Managing Director and Chief Executive of the NDIC, Mr Thompson Oludare, at a sensitisation seminar for Debt Recovery Agents in Lagos under the theme ‘Operationalising the Provisions of NDIC Act 2023 for Effective Debt Recovery’.

The NDIC Act 2023 empowers the corporation to take interim custody of any movable or immovable property of an obligor identified as the bona fide owner of the said property. The same act empowers the NDIC to freeze the funds of an obligor of a failed insured institution with any insured institution.

Oludare, who was represented by the Director of the Legal Department, Olufemi Kushimo, warned that the culture of loan defaults and protracted litigation used by debtors to stall payments would no longer be tolerated.

“We intend to utilise every section, provision, and enforcement mechanism available under the law. Those responsible for bank failures must be held accountable. We are prepared to apply every relevant provision of the Act to bring culpable parties to justice,” he said.

The new tools are designed to bypass the traditional hurdles of repeated court adjournments and “entrenched cultures of default” that have historically slowed down the liquidation of failed banks and mobile money operators.

The core objective of this aggressive recovery push is the prompt payment of liquidation dividends to depositors.

According to the Corporation, successful debt recovery is the only way to restore public confidence in the banking system

The Director of the Asset Management Department, Patricia Okosun, noted that while legal realities make it difficult to set a fixed timeline for all payments, the corporation is now better equipped than ever before.

“The essence of this engagement is to sensitise our agents to the new provisions that will support and improve their work,” Okosun said. “The earlier the recovery, the better, as it enables quicker reimbursement of depositors.”

Beyond just collecting money, the NDIC signalled that the 2023 Act serves as a deterrent. By pursuing “parties at fault”, the corporation aims to sanitise the banking industry and ensure that the consequences of bank failures are felt by those who caused them, rather than just the depositors.

The Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, has urged African governments to partner with the private sector to transform rural economies.

He made the call at the 49th IFAD Governing Council in Rome, according to a statement made available to The on Wednesday.

Elumelu identified electricity access, blended finance, and business education as the three pillars necessary to make agriculture a viable career for Africa’s youth.

Elumelu, who joined IFAD President Alvaro Lario on a panel at an event attended by 500 global leaders, including ministers, UN officials, and development experts, said: “We believe that increased collaboration and cooperation between government and the private sector, especially in Africa, are vital to catalyse more transformation in rural economies and agriculture, increasing food production. Food security is fundamental to societal development. We must work together to make rural economies more attractive. We need to make agriculture appealing and exciting. The youth seem eager to embrace it, but they require more support from all of us.”

Highlighting the success of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, he noted that 21 per cent of its 24,000 empowered entrepreneurs are in agribusiness, a sector where women lead 55 per cent of the ventures.

“Empowering women is akin to empowering entire communities and nations, leading to success,” he said. “These ventures have generated approximately 480,000 jobs across the continent.”

Elumelu emphasised that while seed capital is vital, “energy poverty” remains a massive barrier to the digital innovation required for modern food security, saying, “Access to electricity is essential for economic development and transformation. We cannot discuss AI without improving electricity supplies. Poor electricity access and energy poverty limit how much these young people can embrace technology.”

He urged governments to dismantle stifling regulations and high collateral requirements that currently hinder SME growth.

“In some countries, regulated environments…can be quite stifling. We need to engage governments…what benefits small-scale enterprises benefits the entire economy: jobs are created by SMEs, and we must ensure youth engagement,” he affirmed.

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reduced its Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) gantry price by N25 per litre, lowering the ex-depot rate from N799 to N774 per litre in what industry analysts describe as a strategic recalibration amid evolving market dynamics in 2026.

The refinery communicated the price adjustment to marketers on Tuesday, as it also announced plans for a new business investment in Burundi. The refinery stated that the new PMS price takes immediate effect.

In a notice issued by its Group Commercial Operations Department, Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE stated, “This is to notify you of a change in our PMS gantry price from N799 per litre to N774 per litre.”

Checks by The PUNCH on petroleumprice.ng confirmed that the revised price had already been reflected on industry pricing platforms.

The refinery also informed marketers that its PMS lifting incentive had ended. “Additionally, please note that the PMS lifting bonus ended at 12:00 a.m. on 10th February 2026. The corresponding credit for volumes loaded from 2nd to 10th February 2026, within the stipulated volume thresholds earlier communicated, will be posted to your account statement. Thank you for your continued partnership,” the notice read.

Industry analysts say the closure of the bonus window, alongside the price cut, signals a shift from volume-driven incentives to a more stable pricing regime as the refinery consolidates its domestic market presence.

The latest reduction comes against a backdrop of volatile PMS pricing in 2025, following the full deregulation of the downstream sector and the removal of petrol subsidies.

Prices fluctuated sharply due to exchange rate pressures, global crude oil movements, and reliance on imported fuel, with ex-depot rates ranging between N700 and over N800 per litre. The commencement of large-scale domestic supply from the Dangote refinery late in the year helped moderate prices, particularly along coastal and southern supply corridors.

In early 2026, Dangote’s PMS gantry price had increased to N799 per litre after selling to Nigerians at N699 during the festive period. The latest N25 cut to N774 per litre suggests easing cost pressures, improving operational efficiency, and growing competition from alternative supply channels, including imported cargoes and expected output from modular refineries.

Dangote Petroleum Refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is Africa’s largest single-train refinery and a cornerstone of Nigeria’s drive to reduce fuel imports and conserve foreign exchange. Since commencing PMS supply to the domestic market, the refinery has increasingly shaped downstream pricing dynamics, often acting as a reference point for ex-depot rates.

In a separate development, the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, is planning a new business investment in Burundi. He visited the East African country with former President Olusegun Obasanjo to explore investment opportunities and cement plans for expanding the group’s presence across the continent.

In a statement, the Dangote Group said the visit included high-level talks with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye at the presidential palace. Dangote described the mission as both diplomatic and economic in scope, noting that two dedicated technical teams—one representing Burundi and the other the Dangote Group—have been constituted to identify priority sectors and develop viable investment projects.

“Our focus really is investing heavily in the African continent, not anywhere else, and so Burundi is part and parcel of that African region,” Dangote reportedly said. He highlighted strong potential in solid minerals, power generation, agriculture, cement production, and infrastructure development, emphasising the goal of building a mutually beneficial partnership that drives shared prosperity.

The statement added that discussions centred on strategic cooperation in infrastructure, logistics, industrialisation, and energy—areas that Burundi considers essential to its long-term economic transformation. The engagement aligns with the country’s broader ambition to attract large-scale private sector investment and strengthen ties with leading African industrial players.

Observers widely view the engagement as a landmark moment, positioning Burundi as a credible destination for African mega-investors and integrating the country more firmly into Dangote’s continental expansion strategy.

Together, the PMS price reduction and the Burundi investment initiative illustrate Dangote’s dual focus: consolidating domestic market influence while actively pursuing strategic continental growth opportunities.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has approved the participation of licensed Bureau De Change operators in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market, allowing each BDC to purchase up to $150,000 weekly, according to a circular issued by the apex bank on Tuesday.

The directive, dated February 10, 2026, was contained in a circular signed by the Director of the Trade and Exchange Department, Dr Musa Nakorji, and addressed to authorised dealer banks and the general public.

This move is expected to narrow the gap between official and parallel market rates, which widened by over N90 for the first time in three years.

In the circular, the Central Bank of Nigeria said the move was aimed at improving foreign exchange liquidity in the retail segment of the market and meeting the legitimate needs of end users.

“To ensure the availability of adequate foreign exchange liquidity in the retail segment of the foreign exchange market to meet the legitimate needs of end users, this is to inform market participants that all BDCs that are duly licensed by the CBN are allowed to access foreign exchange from the NFEM through any Authorised Dealer of their choice, at the prevailing exchange rate,” the bank stated.

The apex bank added that authorised dealer banks must carry out full Know-Your-Customer and due diligence checks on BDC clients before selling foreign exchange to them.

“Authorised dealers are required to complete the necessary KYC and due diligence for their BDC clients in line with applicable regulations and the internal risk management framework,” the circular read.

It explained that upon completion of these requirements, foreign exchange could be sold to BDCs strictly in line with existing operational rules, but subject to a weekly limit.

“Upon completion of these requirements, foreign exchange may be sold to BDCs for utilisation in line with the existing BDC Guidelines, subject to a maximum of USD150,000 per week for each BDC,” the CBN said.

The bank also imposed strict reporting and transparency requirements, directing that “all licensed BDCs shall ensure the timely and accurate submission of returns to the Central Bank electronically, and in accordance with extant regulations.”

To prevent hoarding and speculative positions, the CBN warned that BDCs must not retain unutilised foreign exchange purchased from the market.

“Any unutilised balances are expected to be sold back to the market within 24 hours,” the circular stated, adding that “BDCs are not permitted to keep funds purchased from NFEM in their positions.”

The apex bank further tightened settlement rules, mandating that all foreign exchange transactions by BDCs be routed through settlement accounts with licensed financial institutions.

“Settlement of foreign exchange transactions by BDCs with Authorised Dealers and/or with end user customers shall be conducted exclusively through settlement accounts held with licensed financial institutions,” it said.

It also barred third-party transactions and limited cash settlement, noting that “third-party transactions are prohibited, and settlement of foreign exchange sales in cash is limited to a maximum of 25 per cent of each transaction amount.”

The CBN stressed that existing BDC guidelines would continue to apply to all transactions, signalling a blend of wider market access and strict regulatory oversight as it seeks to stabilise and deepen the foreign exchange market.

Earlier in October 2025, The PUNCH reported that the President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadebe, raised concerns about the hardship that BDC operators face in accessing dollars for their operations.

In a chat with PUNCH Online, Gwadebe said that following the CBN’s suspension of dollar sales to BDCs, operators have to rely on walk-in customers to obtain dollars.

Earlier in 2025, PUNCH Online also reported that the CBN issued new guidelines restricting Bureau de Change operators to purchasing a maximum of $25,000 per week from a single authorised dealer bank as part of efforts to regulate the retail foreign exchange market and enhance transparency. However, with the suspension, they have not been able to source dollars from banks.