Santa and Subsidy
Nigeria has saved billions from subsidy removal, and Dangote has a gift for you
Good morning, Big Brains. November really said, “I don’t have your time,” and I rate it! Also, happy salary day to you. I hope this one lasts until the end of the month.
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Reading time ~ 2 mins
This Week’s Big Question: “If you could change one thing about living in Nigeria, and it had to happen immediately, what would it be?” Share your responses with us, and if we think they’re fun enough, we’ll feature them in the newsletter :) so be on the lookout.
Let’s get into the news you missed during the weekend:
Nigeria is saving billions from subsidy removal
Dangote has a Christmas gift for you
The Big Deal
Nigeria is saving billions from subsidy removal
It’s been over a year since President Tinubu removed fuel subsidies, and according to the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, this move has been paying off.
Edun says that while the rest of us have been pitying our pockets, the subsidy removal has made the government $20 billion richer. The minister sympathised with your wallets, but he spoke more about how that decision has been incredibly beneficial to the government.
According to his explanation, the $20 billion was “sponsoring inefficiency” but now that the cash is back in the system, it would go a long way in helping federal, state, and local governments actually do their jobs.
Why is this a big deal?
In an ideal world, we’d probably be doing a dancey dance to celebrate Nigeria’s $20 billion win, but the fact that corruption is still ranked fourth on the list of problems stopping Nigeria from leaving the trenches makes us wonder if this is worth celebrating at all.
If you’ve been reading The Big Daily for a while, you’d definitely agree we sound like a broken record at this point when we say that Nigeria is still spending more than it earns and relying on debt to settle whatever its revenue cannot cover. In the first 11 months of 2024 alone, the federal government borrowed ₦5.63 trillion from local investors to cover this spending gap and fund infrastructure projects.
As Edun mentioned, this money should be poured back into projects that would make the life of an average Nigerian easier, but the economic hardship plaguing the country makes us wonder where this money has actually been going.
$20 billion might not completely close the government’s spending gap but if the government doesn’t clearly show how the money saved from removing subsidies is being used, Nigerians could end up taking more Ls than they should. We might keep struggling with expensive fuel prices without seeing any real benefits while the saved funds end up in the hands of a few government officials.
Dangote has a Christmas gift for you
Remember when we told you that Dangote’s new partnership with Nigerian oil marketers will likely make fuel cheaper? Well, we’re here to gloat and say, “We told you so.”
Dangote Refinery has reduced the export deposit price of petrol from ₦990 to ₦970 per litre. This means oil marketers now get it cheaper, and should trickle down to the rest of us soon. It might not be the big slash you were hoping for, but a win is a win.
According to the Dangote Group, this is their way of saying “thank you” to Nigerians for supporting their refinery dream. Anthony Chiejina, the company’s head of communications, called it an end-of-year gift, probably hoping we don’t side-eye the price drop too much.
Chiejina also mentioned that the refinery is committed to providing high-quality, eco-friendly fuel (which sounds nice, but we’d appreciate lower prices too).
While the ₦20 cut might not feel like much, it fuels (pun is intended like mad) the hope that this could be the first of many slashes to come (don’t quote us).
The Big Picks
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UK Faith Leaders Oppose Assisted Dying Bill: UK religious leaders united on Sunday to express their "deep concern" over proposed legislation to legalize assisted dying, set for a parliamentary vote this week.
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