By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has received an interim dividend payment of N450 million out of the N1.5 billion Waltersmith Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited declared.
This payment represents NCDMB’s 30 per cent share in the company for the year ended 2023.
The NCDMB had in July 2018 invested $10 million to acquire a 30 per cent stake in the 5,000 barrels per day modular refinery project located at Ibigwe, Imo State, to support the federal government’s policy on modular refinery which would help stimulate investment and create employment opportunities.
The Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Mr Felix Omotsola Ogbe confirmed that a total dividend of N4.5 billion had been approved for the year 2023, pending final approval at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The company books showed that it reported a total profit of N23.6 billion as profit after tax (PAT) for the year under review after a
Mr Ogbe said that NCDMB will also receive an 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 barrels per day to 10,000 barrels per day and the expansion project is 44 per cent completed and on time to be commissioned by early 2025.
According to a statement, NCDMB said its 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 on by the Board, and it provided proof of concept and paved the way for other successful investments by the board.
This comes two weeks after the 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 chairman of the company, Mr Emeka Ene, presented the cheque when he visited the Nigerian Content Tower in Yenagoa Bayelsa State, where he was received by the Executive Secretary and other members of the Board’s management.