Nigeria's State-Owned Oil Firm Makes First Profit in 44 Years

President Muhammadu Buhari, who doubles as petroleum resources minister, has announced that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has made a profit for the first time in its 44-year history, generating an income of U.S.$698 million, after tax, in 2020.

It is not yet clear how the NNPC made a profit, at a time when Nigeria's oil-dependent economy was devastated because of a sharp crash in global oil prices caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, said the oil company saw opportunities to cut cost, improve efficiency as well as lower borrowing rates, he said explaining the profit figure, without providing details.

Anti-corruption campaigners have long asked for NNPC to be more transparent, and last year it published audited 2019 accounts of 20 of its subsidiaries in what it said was a historical first - its first audited financial reports in 43 years.

 

InFocus

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