The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Maire Technimont have signed off on the $1.5billion contract for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
The refinery has the capacity to process 210,000 barrels of crude per day. The contract is expected to run in three phases of 18 months, 24 months and 44 months respectively.
The project is expected to be funded by the NNPC, budgetary provisions, IGR and the AfreximBank.
LEADERSHIP reports that the major source of concern is that although the nation’s debt to GDP ratio stands at 34 per cent, one of the lowest globally, the nation is not making enough money to service her debts.
Also 93% of government revenue is currently used to service debts.
The rehabilitation of the refinery has generated a lot of controversies as many have expressed a lack of trust and fear that the funds might be going down drain and will further deepen the debt profile of the country needlessly.
The contract was signed on Tuesday by the Managing Director of the Refinery, Ahmed Dikko, as well as the vice president of Tecnimont, Sub-Saharan Africa, Davide Pellizola.
Credit: Leadership