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By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) yesterday, announced that it had received an interim dividend payment of N450 million out the N1.5 billion declared by the Waltersmith Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited.
The payment represents NCDMB’s 30 per cent share in the company for the year 2023. The NCDMB had in July 2018, invested $10 million to acquire 30 per cent stake in the 5,000 barrels per day (bpd) modular refinery project located at Ibigwe, Imo State, to support the federal government’s policy on modular refinery, stimulate investment and create employment oppourtunities.
Rising from a board meeting of Waltersmith Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited, the executive secretary NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, confirmed that a total dividend of N4.5bn had been approved for the year 2023, pending final approval at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The company reported a total profit of N23.6 billion as profit after tax for the same year.
Ogbe hinted that NCDMB expects to receive additional 30 per cent of the outstanding N3 billion dividend after the AGM is convened later this year.
He added that the receipt of this interim dividend payment is a testament to the strong performance and profitability of Waltersmith Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited.
“The NCDMB is proud to be a part of this success and looks forward to continued collaboration with the company in the future,” he stated.
He affirmed that the company is upscaling the refinery capacity from 5000 bpd to 10,000bpd and the expansion project is 44% completed and on time to be commissioned by early 2025.
NCDMB’s investment in the Waltersmith project was also geared to catalyse the industrialisation of the Nigerian oil and gas industry and its linkage sectors and deepen Nigerian content in the oil and gas industry. It was the first third-party investment embarked by the board and it provided proof of concept and paved the way for other successful investments by the board.
Two weeks ago, NCDMB received a cheque of $1 million from Nedogas Development Company Limited (NDCL), being part of the return on investment (ROI) on one of the board’s strategic investments.
The cheque was presented by the chairman of the company, Emeka Ene, when he visited the Nigerian Content Tower in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
