Business Hub: Fuel Hikes, Stagnant Manufacturing, and VC Breakthroughs

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has adjusted its gantry price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) upward again to ₦1,200 per litre. Marking its second price revision within a single week, the refinery directed distributors to return existing loading tickets for repricing before new contracts are issued. 

With depot rates across Lagos adjusting upward in response, filling station pump prices are expected to climb toward ₦1,250 per litre, placing fresh upward pressure on domestic transport and logistics costs.

Despite ten years of industrial policy drives and structural reforms, Nigeria’s manufacturing sector remains stuck in single-digit contributions to the national economy. Data compiled from the National Bureau of Statistics and the World Bank reveals that manufacturing slipped from 9.43% of GDP in 2015 down to roughly 8.05% a decade later. 

Industry analysts describe the period as a lost decade, pointing to persistent power outages, expensive commercial credit, multiple taxation, and heavy import dependency as key factors choking industrial scale.

Defying a severe global venture capital contraction and a pullback in late-stage tech investments, West African firm Ventures Platform completed the final close of its second pan-African fund at $84 million beating its initial $75 million target. Backed by development finance institutions and family offices, the fund provides fresh institutional liquidity to early-stage founders building core economic infrastructure, digital supply chains, and financial technology across the continent. 

The Federal Government is moving to review its Public-Private Partnership agreement on the 125km Benin-Asaba Expressway after the corridor collapsed into severe gridlock and disrepair. Minister of Works David Umahi publicly faulted the concessionaire, Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company (BAECC), accusing them of technical incompetence for stripping asphalt without first constructing proper drainage. 

The ministry intends to invoke overriding public interest provisions to bring in competent contractors to restore the vital commercial transport