Dangote refinery to start production after receiving crude oil🛢️

TODAY’S MENU

• Dangote refinery to start production in December after receiving one million barrels of crude oil

• Nigerian fintech startup Bujeti secures $2 million in seed funding led by Y Combinator

• WIC Capital Secures $1 Million Loan to Empower Women-Led Businesses in Francophone Africa

• Google’s best Gemini demo was faked

OIL & GAS

Dangote refinery to start production in December after receiving one million barrels of crude oil 🛢️

Dangote refinery is set to commence production after receiving one million barrels of crude oil from Agbami offshore oil field, off the Niger Delta. According to the Dangote group in a statement, this cargo is the first of 6 million barrels that would enable an initial run of the refinery.

The statement also mentioned that the next four cargoes will be supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in two to three weeks while the final six cargoes will be supplied by ExxonMobil.

Dangote refinery entered an agreement in November with NNPCL to supply the crude oil. NNPCL has a 20% stake in the refinery.

Launched in 2013, the 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery is set up to produce up to 53 million litres of gasoline per day, 4 million litres of diesel and 2 million litres of aviation jet fuel per day.

Described as “the world’s largest single train refinery, the refinery was commissioned by outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2023.

It is not quite clear why production was delayed till December. Some reports put the blame on the fact that the refinery was not ready while some others reported that crude oil shortage was delaying the take-off of the refinery…....read more

INVESTMENT

Nigerian fintech startup Bujeti secures $2 million in seed funding led by Y Combinator 💰

Nigerian fintech startup Bujeti has successfully raised $2 million in seed funding to propel its comprehensive corporate card issuance and expense management platform to new heights.

The funding round was spearheaded by Y Combinator, featuring contributions from notable investors such as Alan Rutledge, Heirloom VC, Tristan Walker, Entrée Capital, Voltron Capital, Unpopular VC, Kima Ventures, Mono CEO Abdul Hassan, and Arash Ferdowsi, co-founder of Dropbox.

Established in 2022 by Cossi Achille Arouko (CEO), and Samy Chiba (COO), Bujeti has a mission to empower African businesses across the spectrum, catering to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMBs), large corporations, and startups, facilitating more effective financial management.....….read more

WIC Capital Secures $1 Million Loan to Empower Women-Led Businesses in Francophone Africa 💰

WIC Capital has successfully obtained a $1 million loan from FSDAi Nyala Facility, aiming to bolster its efforts in supporting women-led businesses across Francophone Africa. FSDAi Nyala Facility is a partnership with the Collaborative for Frontier Finance (CFF) and the Facility Manager, Nyala Venture, a Joint Venture of Cardano Development and Total Impact Capital Europe. It is a highly flexible investment vehicle testing novel capital allocation models serving small and growing businesses in sub–Saharan Africa

The funding is a significant step toward addressing the financial challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in the region, particularly in Senegal, where women comprise 31% of entrepreneurs, primarily engaged in small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).…..read more

OTHER STORIES

• Nigerian fintech firm, Kippa, supported by investors including Saison Capital and Horizone, has executed a significant operational transfer of its agency banking product, KippaPay, to Bloc, a fellow Nigerian fintech poised to introduce banking services…..read more

• Google’s new Gemini AI model is getting a mixed reception after its big debut last week, but users may have less confidence in the company’s tech or integrity after finding out that the most impressive demo of Gemini was pretty much faked…..read more

• Lagos State has secured funding for the €410 million Omi Eko project at the ongoing 28^th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP28) being held in Dubai, UAE….read more