BusinessDay 24 May 2017
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Importers to save N1trn annually on <strong>24</strong>-hour port operations<br />
…But FG must improve port security and access roads<br />
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE<br />
Importers and businesses<br />
that depend on the nation’s<br />
seaports to bring in raw<br />
materials or export finished<br />
goods will save as much as N1<br />
trillion in demurrage and storage<br />
costs annually, if the Federal<br />
Government’s executive order<br />
that ports should commence<br />
<strong>24</strong>-hour operations comes into<br />
effect.<br />
The N1 trillion estimate is the<br />
cost paid by importers annually,<br />
on account of delays caused by<br />
the use of cumbersome paper<br />
work in cargo clearance and<br />
inefficient port systems, stated a<br />
report by the Lagos Chamber of<br />
Commerce and Industry (LCCI)<br />
and the Financial Derivatives<br />
Company, published in the last<br />
quarter of 2016.<br />
According to the Nigerian<br />
Shippers Council (NSC) report,<br />
the nation’s ports have<br />
the longest cargo dwell time of<br />
19-25 days, compared to other<br />
sea ports in the world because<br />
cargo clearance takes longer<br />
days against the ideal period of<br />
Continues on page 33<br />
MARKETS AND COMMODITIES MONITOR FMDQ Close (Rate & Prices)<br />
COMMODITIES EXCHANGE RATE FMDQ Close (Rate & Prices)<br />
Oil US $53.90<br />
NSE Close BDC TRAVELEX Foreign Exchange FX<br />
Treasury bills<br />
FGN Bonds)<br />
$-N380.00 380.00 Market<br />
Spot $/N 3M 6M 5Y 10Y<br />
GOLD $ 1,254.40 15.00<br />
£-N490.00 490.00 I&E (Indicative 382.31<br />
0.40 0.08 0.10 0.00<br />
COCOA $ 1,998.00 28,093.30<br />
€-N420.00 420.00 CBN (SMIS) 320.00<br />
19.51 21.09 16.13 16.28<br />
20Y<br />
0.09<br />
16.04<br />
NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I **WEDNESDAY <strong>24</strong> MAY <strong>2017</strong> I VOL. 14, NO 358 I N300 @ g<br />
CBN vows more dollar<br />
supply to help end recession<br />
As GDP contracts by 0.52% in Q1’17 MPC keeps rate on hold<br />
PATRICK ATUANYA, HOPE-MOSES ASHIKE,<br />
Lagos & ONYINYE NWACHUKWU, Abuja<br />
The Central Bank of<br />
Nigeria (CBN) yesterday<br />
pledged to sustain<br />
its recent dollar<br />
supply tempo to help<br />
improve FX availability in the<br />
economy and bring an end to<br />
the current recession.<br />
The CBN made its position<br />
known, even as new data showed<br />
that the economy contracted for<br />
a fifth consecutive quarter by<br />
0.52 percent year on year (YoY)<br />
in the First Quarter (Q1) of <strong>2017</strong><br />
according to the National Bureau<br />
of Statistics (NBS).<br />
This compares to the revised<br />
contraction of 1.73 percent in<br />
Continues on page 4<br />
L-R: Hakeem Oguniran, managing director; Larry Ettah, chairman and Godwin Samuel, company secretary, all of UACN Property Development<br />
Company Plc (UPDC) at the company’s 19th annual general meeting in Lagos, yesterday.<br />
Pic by Olawale Amoo<br />
Inside<br />
UBA to launch<br />
$500m<br />
Eurobond<br />
P. 4<br />
FG says new<br />
executive<br />
orders will be<br />
enforced<br />
P. 4<br />
<strong>May</strong> & Baker<br />
not in merger<br />
talks<br />
– Aboderin<br />
P. 34<br />
Austin Okere<br />
writes on<br />
The Fintech<br />
challenge and<br />
the new face of<br />
banking (Part 1)<br />
P. 9
2<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong>
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
9
4 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
NEWS<br />
UBA to launch $500m Eurobond<br />
… Gets Fitch ratings as CBN, SEC give ‘No Objection’ approvals<br />
IHEANYI NWACHUKWU<br />
The United Bank for Africa<br />
Plc (UBA) has notified<br />
the investing public of<br />
its intention to launch<br />
up to $500million senior<br />
unsecured medium term debt<br />
notes (Eurobond).<br />
Fitch Ratings has assigned an<br />
expected rating of ‘B (EXP)’ to the<br />
United Bank for Africa Plc proposed<br />
senior unsecured medium-term<br />
notes. The bank plans to raise between<br />
$350 million and $500 million<br />
of fixed-rate five-year bonds.<br />
UBA intends to use the Notes<br />
directly but will retain the flexibility<br />
to substitute the issuer with an<br />
offshore special purpose vehicle,<br />
where market conditions require<br />
and allow for such, prior to the<br />
maturity of the notes.<br />
The bank intends to list the<br />
notes on the Irish Stock Exchange<br />
(ISE), with the expectation that the<br />
notes will be traded on its regulated<br />
market.<br />
Already, the Central Bank of Nigeria<br />
(CBN) and the Securities and<br />
Exchange Commission (SEC) have<br />
given “No Objection” approvals to<br />
the transaction.<br />
The bank intended to make announcement<br />
yesterday, <strong>May</strong> 23, regarding<br />
planned investor meetings<br />
in Europe and the United States, in<br />
respect of the issuance of the notes.<br />
The commencement of the<br />
transaction will however be subject<br />
CBN vows more dollar supply to help end...<br />
Continued from page 1<br />
the fourth quarter of 2016 and<br />
a revised 0.67 percent contraction<br />
in the comparable first quarter of<br />
2016.<br />
“The CBNs intervention will<br />
be more rigorous and intense by<br />
making foreign exchange more<br />
available to all sectors of the Nigerian<br />
economy,” CBN Governor<br />
Godwin Emefiele, said in a news<br />
briefing on the outcome of the twoday<br />
Monetary Policy Committee<br />
(MPC) meeting in Abuja.<br />
“I still hold the position that by<br />
the end of the third quarter of <strong>2017</strong>,<br />
we will be out the recession.”<br />
The MPC also voted to retain the<br />
Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 14<br />
percent, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)<br />
at 22.5 percent, as well as Liquidity<br />
Ratio at 30 percent.<br />
They maintained the asymmetric<br />
corridor around the MPR<br />
to finalising transaction documentation<br />
and prevailing market<br />
conditions.<br />
UBA intends to utilise the net<br />
proceeds of the notes for its general<br />
banking purposes, stating that it<br />
will pay the net proceeds from the<br />
notes issuance into its foreign currency<br />
domiciliary account, which<br />
may be retained by UBA in foreign<br />
currency or converted into naira,<br />
depending on the bank’s requirement<br />
from time to time.<br />
The United Bank for Africa<br />
Plc further said in a statement to<br />
investors at the Nigerian Stock<br />
Exchange (NSE) that a certificate<br />
of capital importation (CCI) will<br />
not be obtained in respect of the<br />
proceeds of the notes that are not<br />
converted into naira, noting that<br />
a CCI is only issued in respect of<br />
capital imported into Nigeria and<br />
converted into naira.<br />
UBA intends to make principal<br />
repayments and interest payments<br />
on the notes from its foreign currency<br />
reserves, since it will not<br />
be able to obtain access to the<br />
Nigerian foreign exchange market<br />
for the purpose of making such<br />
payments.<br />
Notwithstanding the foregoing,<br />
L-R: Haruna Jalo-Waziri, executive director, business development, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Funso Akere, chief<br />
executive, Stanbic IBTC Capital; Tola Akinwunmi, real estate debt structuring and advisory, Stanbic IBTC Capital, and Chris<br />
Godman, executive managing director, equity capital market, standard Bank international, at the Real Estate Investment<br />
Trust Conference co-sponsored by Stanbic IBTC in Lagos.<br />
Pic by Pius Okeosisi<br />
unchanged at +200 and -500 basis<br />
points.<br />
Emefiele said the policy retention<br />
is intended to allow the existing<br />
policies to fully achieve their<br />
goals and objectives.<br />
Africa’s largest economy derives<br />
more than 90 percent of its export<br />
earnings and 60 percent of its fiscal<br />
revenue from oil and gas proceeds.<br />
Nigeria is still undergoing a<br />
severe economic alignment in the<br />
context of lower oil prices, which<br />
has resulted in reduced US dollar<br />
supply and lower GDP growth,<br />
Moody’s Investor Services said in<br />
a recent report.<br />
“The constrained US dollar<br />
supply continues to hurt corporates’<br />
operations and profitability,<br />
especially those affected by a ban<br />
on accessing Nigeria’s official<br />
foreign-exchange markets for purchases<br />
of certain imported items,”<br />
Moody’s said.<br />
About $1.1 billion has flowed<br />
through the new importers and<br />
exporters (I & E) FX window in<br />
the last four weeks, with the CBN<br />
intervention in that segment of<br />
the market at less than 30 percent,<br />
Emefiele said.<br />
The rest were made up of nonoil<br />
exporters and Foreign Portfolio<br />
Investments (FPI), according to<br />
Emefiele.<br />
Investors are gradually returning<br />
through the I & E window<br />
to play in Nigeria’s equity and<br />
bond markets, according to Bayo<br />
Adeyemo, country treasurer and<br />
markets head at Citi Bank Nigeria.<br />
“Things have improved and it<br />
is now up to the CBN to stay the<br />
course and allow more transparency,<br />
as there is room for more<br />
flows to come in.”<br />
The I & E foreign exchange<br />
window closed trading at N382.31<br />
per dollar on Tuesday, data from<br />
the FMDQ show.<br />
Although the GDP contraction<br />
Continues on page 33<br />
may weigh heavily on sentiment<br />
moving forward, it should be kept<br />
in mind that it remains the best<br />
performance seen in four quarters,<br />
said Lukman Otunuga, Research<br />
Analyst for FXTM.<br />
“With many sectors of the Nigerian<br />
economy turning positive,<br />
the overall outlook still looks encouraging<br />
with the bullish impacts<br />
likely to be realised in the second<br />
and third quarter of this year.”<br />
Emefiele noted in his statement<br />
that the MPC is particularly<br />
pleased with the gradual fall in inflation,<br />
which moderated, marginally<br />
to 17.<strong>24</strong> percent in April as<br />
against 17.26 in March <strong>2017</strong>.<br />
On the financial stability outlook,<br />
the committee noted that in<br />
spite of the banking sector resilience,<br />
the weak macro-economic<br />
environment continues to exert<br />
pressure on the system.<br />
The Committee therefore urged<br />
the CBN to intensify surveillance<br />
to tackle emerging vulnerabilities.<br />
FG says new<br />
executive orders<br />
will be enforced<br />
…as it reconsiders<br />
replacement of PenCom DG<br />
ELIZABETH ARCHIBONG<br />
The Federal Government says<br />
already existing civil service<br />
laws will be invoked to ensure<br />
that the executive orders signed by<br />
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo<br />
last Friday are followed to the letter.<br />
Government also intends to<br />
work on changing the orientation<br />
of Nigerians, Presidential Media<br />
Aide, Laolu Akande said during<br />
a midterm press briefing to commemorate<br />
the second anniversary<br />
of the Buhari administration.<br />
Briefing alongside Presidential<br />
Spokesman, Femi Adesina and<br />
Garba Shehu, Akande noted that<br />
since the orders will be driven<br />
mostly by officials of the Ministries<br />
Departments and Agencies of the<br />
government, the existing laws<br />
would be met with sanctions if anyone<br />
tried to go against the orders.<br />
Already, Acting President Osinbajo<br />
will on Wednesday meet with<br />
about 2,000 public and civil servants<br />
to interact and ensure they<br />
understand the role they play in<br />
the implementation of the orders.<br />
“There are rules in the civil<br />
service and these rules will be invoked<br />
if anyone tries to go against<br />
the orders.<br />
“The Acting President is meeting<br />
with 2,000 public and civil<br />
Continues on page 8<br />
It also asked the banks to step<br />
up credit to the private sector to<br />
support economic recovery and<br />
convey a positive feedback to the<br />
financial system.<br />
Ayodeji Ebo, Managing Director,<br />
Afrinvest Securities limited said<br />
The MPC’s decision was broadly in<br />
line with expectation and analysts’<br />
consensus.<br />
“We expect the renewed investor<br />
sentiment in the Nigerian<br />
capital market will be sustained as<br />
the CBN has reaffirmed its commitment<br />
to ensure the dynamics<br />
of demand and supply play out in<br />
the I&E FX window. “Besides, lowering<br />
MPR now will not translate<br />
into improved lending, as the risk<br />
within the real sector remains evident.<br />
That said, the fiscal managers<br />
should consolidate on the current<br />
FX market gains by channelling<br />
more effort to the successful implementation<br />
of the approved government<br />
policies targeted at lifting the<br />
economy out of recession.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
5
6<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong>
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
7
8 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
NEWS<br />
Experts push for proper taxation, regulatory policies to grow REITs market<br />
CHUKA UROKO<br />
Experts at a one-day<br />
conference on ‘Real Estate<br />
Investment Trusts<br />
(REITs) in Sub-Saharan<br />
Africa (SSA) organised by the<br />
Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)<br />
in Lagos Tuesday pushed for<br />
proper taxation, favaourable<br />
regulatory policies and transparent<br />
corporate governance<br />
which they considered as major<br />
impediments to the growth of<br />
REITs market in SSA, especially<br />
in Nigeria.<br />
Globally, the REITs market<br />
has seen some momentum<br />
which speaks to relative growth<br />
and development. According to<br />
Ernest & Young report of 2016,<br />
global market capitalization of<br />
REITs now stands at approximately<br />
US$1.7 trillion, up from<br />
US$734 billion in 2010.<br />
In the US where REITs started<br />
in 1960, the market has grown<br />
by almost 150 percent, while the<br />
market capitalization of non-US<br />
REITs has more than doubled.<br />
The two fastest-growing markets<br />
in the last five years are Australia<br />
and Japan, both of which have<br />
now overtaken France and the<br />
UK to be the second- and thirdlargest<br />
global REIT markets respectively.<br />
In Africa, the market has not<br />
done so well, though not without<br />
encouraging story. According<br />
to Oscar Onyema, NSE’s CEO,<br />
African REITs market is presently<br />
valued at US$29 billion and is<br />
available in four countries including<br />
Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa<br />
and Kenya.<br />
“There are only 32 REITs in<br />
Africa with South Africa being<br />
the largest REIT market having<br />
27 REITs and Nigeria second with<br />
three REITs listed. In 2015, an<br />
estimated $265 million worth of<br />
transactions were concluded in<br />
Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana, a big<br />
improvement on the $65 million<br />
seen in the three markets during<br />
2012”, he said, adding, “this<br />
indicates an increasing market<br />
as a larger number of investors<br />
are beginning to take increased<br />
interest and participation in the<br />
real estate sector.<br />
The African real estate markets<br />
are well positioned for a longterm<br />
growth phase, especially<br />
in Nigeria, given the significant<br />
supply deficit across the continent.<br />
Onyma believes that the<br />
current state of this asset class<br />
and the huge opportunities the<br />
sector holds make the push for<br />
favourable policy frame work,<br />
good tax regime and corporate<br />
governance necessary.<br />
As an investment vehicle<br />
or instrument that owns and<br />
manages portfolio of incomegenerating<br />
real estate, REITs<br />
comes with attractive benefits<br />
that include higher dividend,<br />
secured income by long leases,<br />
inflation protection, portfolio<br />
diversification, high liquidity, etc.<br />
But investors don’t readily move<br />
cash to that market, hence its slow<br />
growth 10 years after the first REIT<br />
was floated by Sky Shelter Fund.<br />
The slow growth of the market<br />
is reflected in the performance<br />
of the six REITs that have<br />
come to the market within this<br />
period, including the Sky Shelter<br />
Fund, Union Homes Hibrid REIT,<br />
Sun Trust, UPDC, HMK REIT<br />
and the most recent one floated<br />
by Top Services Limited which is<br />
targeted at retail market.<br />
“The poor performance of<br />
REITs as an investment instrument<br />
in Nigeria is due to lack<br />
of transparency, low foreign<br />
capital inflow, the Land Use Act,<br />
poor regulatory policies, etc”, said<br />
Abimbola Ogunbanjo, 1st Vice<br />
President of the NSE, who also<br />
canvassed the establishment<br />
of a separate land registry that<br />
should deal with all issues related<br />
to REITs .<br />
Taiwo Ogundele, partner at<br />
PwC West Africa Tax Leader, who<br />
spoke on Regulatory Environment<br />
and Financial Reporting to<br />
Promote Market and Investor in<br />
the Development of Real Estate<br />
Assets and Investments, added<br />
that a special tax regime should<br />
be created for the REITs market.<br />
“The regulatory issues by the<br />
Securities and Exchange Commission<br />
(SEC) and NSE should<br />
be harmonized”, he suggested<br />
and advised that government<br />
should do what is expected of it<br />
with right policies and leave the<br />
private sector to drive and grow<br />
the market.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
INSIGHT<br />
AUSTIN OKERE<br />
Austin Okere is the Founder of CWG<br />
Plc & Entrepreneur in Residence at<br />
CBS, New York. Austin also serves<br />
on the World Economic Forum Global<br />
Agenda Council on Innovation and<br />
Intrapreneurship and on the Advisory<br />
Board of the Global Business School<br />
Network (GBSN).<br />
Should banks be changing?<br />
After centuries of conservatism<br />
in receiving deposits<br />
and making loans, should<br />
banks be changing? There<br />
are two main issues stirring<br />
the yearning for change: The first<br />
being that it is a very difficult club to<br />
join, and hence the large population<br />
of unbanked adults. Secondly, even<br />
for the members of this elite club,<br />
the relationship is acutely skewed<br />
in favour of the banks; naturally so,<br />
as they have carried on as protected<br />
monopolies with no serious challenge<br />
or competition, resulting in no significant<br />
innovation over the decades.<br />
The biggest threat to the banks has<br />
been precisely their seeming success.<br />
Centuries of relatively significant<br />
higher returns, even in the midst of<br />
economic downturns that adversely<br />
affect the real sectors has engendered<br />
an attitude of invincibility and pomposity,<br />
characterized by a loss of touch<br />
with their customers. Considered too<br />
big to fail, they take it for granted that<br />
they will be bailed out with taxpayers’<br />
money in the event of any missteps – a<br />
perfect prey for disruption.<br />
Fintech – the new kid on the<br />
block<br />
Today, there has emerged a powerful<br />
force of challenge from Financial<br />
J. B NWACHUKWU<br />
Nwachukwu is a lawyer and a writer.<br />
nwachukwujo@gmail.com<br />
In life and indeed in everything,<br />
forget the razzmatazz<br />
and focus on the fundamentals<br />
– Eugene Anenih<br />
These were the last words<br />
I heard from Eugene exactly a<br />
week before his death. On that<br />
day, we had lunch together and<br />
an interesting get-together, where<br />
he spoke on life and work. His<br />
death came as a shock and thus<br />
disrupted everything, hence this<br />
tribute.<br />
In several of his tribute, the<br />
late Chukwudifu Optua, a former<br />
Justice of the Supreme Court,<br />
constantly repeated that we are<br />
all actors on a passing stage. We<br />
act and we fade away. Hence<br />
the importance of acting well, of<br />
being an inspiration, of leaving<br />
footprints others can follow, of<br />
being a beacon for posterity, a<br />
light unto all.<br />
At the end what matters most<br />
In Nigeria the Yello<br />
Mobile Account, jointly<br />
offered by ICT giant CWG<br />
Plc and GSM major MTN,<br />
added over 6m accounts<br />
to an early adopter,<br />
Diamond bank, within<br />
the first year of launch.<br />
Mobile Money services<br />
are today generating<br />
6.7% of Africa’s GDP.<br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
The Fintech challenge and the new face of banking (Part 1)<br />
Tribute to Eugene Anenih: A man of peace and tranquillity<br />
is not death—it’s inevitable—but<br />
how one lived. How the time we<br />
have is spent in serving others.<br />
Eugene’s life can be summed<br />
up in Justice Oputa’s dictum. He<br />
focused on the fundamentals:<br />
God, family and work. He struggled<br />
daily to be a better Christian.<br />
He was convinced his relationship<br />
with God had to be worked<br />
on. He sought to improve his<br />
doctrinal and spiritual formation<br />
because he believed in the logic,<br />
“the more one knows, one loves.”<br />
His two preferred parking slots<br />
were known at the local parish<br />
where he attended Mass daily, not<br />
because they were reserved for<br />
him; Eugene made an effort to be<br />
punctual to all his engagements.<br />
He served his parish in different<br />
capacities—the Saturday before<br />
he died, he led the procession<br />
to mark the centenary of Mary’s<br />
apparition at Fatima. He was glad<br />
to be of service at the Catholic<br />
Church of Divine Mercy. Not too<br />
long ago, the Laity Council gave<br />
him an award of appreciation and<br />
excellence.<br />
He was humble. Neither the influence<br />
and affluence of his father<br />
got to him; he kept his feet on the<br />
ground and lived his own life. Although<br />
surrounded by wealth, he<br />
was poor in spirit. In this secularist<br />
era where wealth, well-being and<br />
knowledge are excuses for disbelieving,<br />
Eugene wouldn’t have any<br />
of that. He was proud of his faith,<br />
engaged friends and colleagues<br />
on the need to lead better lives.<br />
He even evangelised. I doubt the<br />
prisoners at Ikoyi prisons whom<br />
he visited frequently would believe<br />
he was Tony Anenih’s son. It’s<br />
uncommon to find people of such<br />
calibre paying prisoners visits.<br />
Eugene placed his professional<br />
work last not due to a disdain for<br />
work, on the contrary he was competent,<br />
principled and hardworking.<br />
Clienteles of Nova Finance<br />
and Securities Ltd, his stockbroking<br />
firm, is proof of his capabilities.<br />
When it was time to work, Eugene<br />
worked but he knew when to stop<br />
and focus on other priorities. At<br />
a meeting last week in Ibadan,<br />
a lawyer noticed I didn’t want<br />
the meeting to drag. When I told<br />
him I was in a rush to get back to<br />
Lagos for Eugene’s wake keep he<br />
said Nova Securities’ Ltd were his<br />
stockbrokers and they were good.<br />
Eugene’s life in general, his<br />
family life especially, was peaceful<br />
because he took care of the fundamentals.<br />
In our current world,<br />
we are constantly bamboozled<br />
with lots of noise, with competing<br />
interests, societal pressures,<br />
9<br />
Technology companies or FINTECHs,<br />
as they are more popularly referred to.<br />
The promise of Fintech is great. It is<br />
shaking up a stodgy banking system<br />
and helping to build a more efficient<br />
one, especially for consumers and<br />
small businesses.<br />
Emerging markets showing the<br />
way in Fintech<br />
For years, emerging economies<br />
have looked up to developed countries<br />
for ideas about how to manage their<br />
financial systems. When it comes to<br />
Fintech though, the rest of the world<br />
will be studying the experience of<br />
the emerging markets, embodied by<br />
the widely successful MPESA mobile<br />
money system, championed by Safaricom<br />
in Kenya. MPESA has made<br />
it possible for a large swathe of the<br />
population to gain financial inclusion<br />
by providing the opportunity to transact<br />
financial services vide your mobile<br />
phone, on a continent where typically<br />
70% of the population is unbanked.<br />
MPESA today has more than 60%<br />
of Kenya’s 33 million mobile users;<br />
not bad for a service which was only<br />
launched in 2007. Similar applications<br />
have metamorphosed across Africa.<br />
In Nigeria the Yello Mobile Account,<br />
jointly offered by ICT giant<br />
CWG Plc and GSM major MTN, added<br />
over 6m accounts to an early adopter,<br />
Diamond bank, within the first year<br />
of launch. Mobile Money services are<br />
today generating 6.7% of Africa’s GDP.<br />
China is the undisputed world<br />
leader in Fintech<br />
By just about any measure of size,<br />
China is the world’s leader in Fintech.<br />
It is by far the biggest market for<br />
digital payments, accounting for half<br />
of the global market, according to the<br />
Economist Magazine. A ranking of<br />
the world’s most innovative Fintech<br />
firms gave Chinese companies four<br />
of the five top slots in 2016. The largest<br />
Chinese Fintech company, Ant Financial,<br />
has been valued at about $60b, on<br />
par with UBS which is Switzerland’s<br />
biggest bank. Today, digital payments<br />
account for nearly two-thirds of noncash<br />
payments in China, far surpassing<br />
debit and credit cards.<br />
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lenders in<br />
China grew from 214 to over 3,000 in<br />
2015, and P2P loans increased 28 fold<br />
from 30b yuan in 2014 to 850b yuan in<br />
2016.Alibaba’s four year old Yu’eBao<br />
fund with $165.6b has emerged as the<br />
world’s largest, overtaking JPMorgan’s<br />
US government money market fund,<br />
which has $150b.<br />
Austin’s Five Forces Model and the<br />
future of banking<br />
There are indeed five major forces<br />
at play here:<br />
• The banks - traditional and established,<br />
best with cash and ancillary<br />
instruments<br />
• Fintechs – the new kid on the<br />
block, disrupter, mostly telecom roots,<br />
best with digital currencies and mobile<br />
services<br />
• Regulators - Central Banks, regulating<br />
traditional banks; and Communication<br />
Commissions, responsible<br />
for telecoms regulation (and thus<br />
Fintechs)<br />
• Currencies - traditional, such as<br />
cash and cheques; or Digital, such as<br />
bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies<br />
• Customers, and the weight of<br />
their new found voice. Typically, they<br />
clamour for whatever will give them<br />
convenience and lower costs.<br />
Customers are the most significant<br />
force, and represented by the<br />
outermost sector of the concentric<br />
circles. As they tend more towards a<br />
preference for digital currencies, the<br />
Fintechs will tend to assume a more<br />
prominent role in the new face of<br />
banking, and the Regulatory regime<br />
will inadvertently tend towards the<br />
Communication Commissions under<br />
whose purview the Fintechs fall.<br />
This will introduce a regulatory imbroglio,<br />
as future ‘Huge Banks’ may fall<br />
outside the regulatory ambit of Central<br />
Banks (as seems to be the case with<br />
the MPESA mobile money platform,<br />
through which Kenyans transacted<br />
$28billion in 2015, representing about<br />
44% of the country’s GDP. Safaricom,<br />
the telecoms promoter of MPESA<br />
ironically falls under the regulation<br />
of the Communications Authority of<br />
Kenya rather than the Kenyan Central<br />
Bank).<br />
If the customers however, maintain<br />
a strong appetite for traditional instruments<br />
of financial transactions such as<br />
notes & coins, cheques etc. then the<br />
current status quo will remain. The<br />
face of banking will thus be more of<br />
the same, and the regulatory authority<br />
will continue to be Central Banks.<br />
Between these two positions may be<br />
many variants, depending on the appetite<br />
and preferences of customers,<br />
and the pace at which they are willing<br />
to embrace change.<br />
Retailers are jumping into financial<br />
services<br />
Fintechs are not the only ones<br />
challenging traditional banks for turf.<br />
Retailers are also jumping into the<br />
financial services fray. For instance<br />
Amazon has launched Amazon Cash,<br />
a way to shop its site without a bank<br />
card. The service allows consumers to<br />
add cash to their Amazon.com balance<br />
by showing a barcode at a participating<br />
retailer, then having the cash applied<br />
immediately to their online Amazon<br />
account. This product is meant to appeal<br />
to the those who get paid in cash,<br />
don’t have a bank account or debit<br />
card, and who don’t use credit cards.<br />
Google is also rolling out a new integration<br />
on mobile. Users of the Gmail<br />
app on Android will be able to send or<br />
request money with anyone, including<br />
those who don’t have a Gmail address,<br />
with just a tap.<br />
Banking is going mobile<br />
In most emerging markets and<br />
developing countries, the current<br />
formal financial system only reaches<br />
a minority of the working-age adult<br />
population. Smallholder farmers, selfemployed<br />
households, and micro-entrepreneurs<br />
have to rely on the age-old<br />
informal financial mechanisms such<br />
as rotating savings clubs, moneylenders,<br />
and pawnbrokers. These<br />
mechanisms can be unreliable and<br />
very expensive. In Nigeria for instance<br />
84.6m people, accounting for 47% of<br />
the population are unbanked. In sharp<br />
contrast, mobile phone penetration is<br />
very high at 94.5 percent; a perfect setup<br />
for the Fintechs to exploit in their<br />
mobile dominated financial services<br />
offering.<br />
For policymakers from the global<br />
south, the digitization of retail payment<br />
systems and financial services<br />
has become an important economic<br />
development priority. It offers the<br />
prospect of reaching far more people<br />
at far lower costs with the broader<br />
range of financial services they need<br />
to build resilience and capture opportunities.<br />
The 2015 annual gathering of some<br />
300 central bankers and policymakers<br />
from 90 countries who have formed<br />
the Alliance for Financial Inclusion,<br />
dedicated the bulk of the agenda<br />
to explore such innovations, which<br />
could deepen formal financial intermediation<br />
of their economies.<br />
Imagine a world where all money<br />
is digital. Instead of carrying coins and<br />
notes in their purse, people would keep<br />
digital currency units in electronic wallets<br />
on phones, watches or other electronic<br />
devices. All of this could happen<br />
digitally the way cash is handed over<br />
today; in real time, irreversibly, with<br />
no additional fees.<br />
(Part 2; the concluding part of this<br />
series will follow shortly)<br />
misplacement of priorities etc. All<br />
this makes it extremely difficult to<br />
attain peace. Either exteriorly or<br />
interiorly, because of this difficulty,<br />
many choose to believe that it’s<br />
not possible to achieve it. But the<br />
truth is that deep down many people<br />
both the poor and the rich desperately<br />
yearn for peace but they are<br />
searching in the wrong places. Peace<br />
cannot be paid for or ordered from<br />
any mall, it is a fruit of close union<br />
with God, who is the King of peace.<br />
Indeed it is gift of God to man. In<br />
John 14:27, Jesus told his apostles<br />
“peace I leave you with, my peace I<br />
give you not as the world gives do I<br />
give” This peace is so important that<br />
in Matthew 10:12-<strong>24</strong>, he charged<br />
his disciples saying, “when you<br />
enter any house, they should salute<br />
it and if it is worthy let their peace<br />
come upon it”. The homilist at the<br />
funeral Mass sang hymn 313 (Seek<br />
heaven Alone) from the Catholic<br />
Hymn Book. Some key lines were,<br />
“seeking heaven alone, brings true<br />
happiness” “though we gain the<br />
whole world, poor indeed are we, if<br />
we lose our Jesus for eternity” “Seek<br />
then, but salvation, seek that peace<br />
and joy which endure forever, bliss<br />
without alloy”. I wouldn’t be wrong<br />
to say that Eugene followed hymn<br />
313 to the letter.<br />
The mood of the crowd that attended<br />
the wake keep and funeral<br />
Mass didn’t suggest they were gathered<br />
for a high society event, they<br />
came to say goodbye to a good man.<br />
It was an opportunity to reflect on<br />
how transient and unpredictable life<br />
is. Eugene was a keen tennis player.<br />
Many saw him in Church on Sunday<br />
and yet the next thing we heard<br />
was, Eugene is dead. When I told<br />
the security man at my house, he<br />
jumped and shouted, “that big man”.<br />
Yes, beg men die too. For some days,<br />
I’ve noticed the security man hasn’t<br />
been himself, neither have I—we are<br />
going examining our lives.<br />
His death still remains a shock;<br />
In fact, some tennis players have<br />
hung their rackets, either as a sign<br />
of mourning or superstitious fear<br />
that they could be next. Whatever<br />
be the case, it’s undeniable that we<br />
are still in disbelief<br />
As he was laid to rest, I prayed<br />
that Eugene may enjoy eternal<br />
peace; the peace he had began to<br />
enjoy here on earth. That myself<br />
and indeed all would forget the<br />
razzmatazz and focus on the fundamentals.<br />
And that his wife, three<br />
children, extended family and<br />
friends be filled with that Peace.<br />
Requiescat in pace Eugene.<br />
Send reactions to:<br />
comment@businessdayonline.com
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
10 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
COMMENT<br />
ECONOMY, POLITY, SOCIETY<br />
comment is free<br />
Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com<br />
Private capital, foreign investment and the ERGP (2)<br />
OPEYEMI AGBAJE<br />
opeyemiagbaje@rtcadvisory.com.<br />
I<br />
am constrained to make this<br />
final intervention on the impact<br />
of multiple and hugely<br />
divergent foreign exchange<br />
rates as well as unclear, unarticulated<br />
and confusing economic<br />
policy on foreign direct investment<br />
in response to our “academic”<br />
economist’s long treatise of <strong>May</strong><br />
18, <strong>2017</strong> in this newspaper. I will<br />
confine myself to the issues originally<br />
in contention, rather than red<br />
herrings brought into the debate.<br />
Put simply my statement which<br />
the academic economist found objectionable<br />
was that multiple and<br />
wildly divergent foreign exchange<br />
rates and unclear economic policy<br />
were a deterrent to foreign direct<br />
investment in 2016, which he<br />
disputed contending that in spite<br />
of those conditions, Nigeria could<br />
still “attract” significant foreign<br />
direct investment in support of<br />
which he offered two illustrationsa<br />
purported 1994 investment in<br />
Nigeria LNG when he claims a dual<br />
exchange rate system existed and<br />
the recent Eurobond fund raising.<br />
I must first correct the factsanyone<br />
who googles NLNG would<br />
quickly find that the company was<br />
started in 1989 and not 1994! In addition,<br />
the CBN Statistical Bulletin<br />
2015 confirms that we operated a<br />
dual exchange rate between 1995<br />
and 1998. So the academic economist’s<br />
argument is wrong on two<br />
accounts!<br />
Let me quote directly from my<br />
first article, “In 2015 and 2016 for<br />
instance, Nigeria “erected” two<br />
structural barriers against foreign<br />
investment-one, the structure of<br />
multiple exchange rates reaching<br />
as many as 13 according to some<br />
reports and the huge variance between<br />
the rates at a point rising to<br />
a difference of over N200 between<br />
the lowest and the highest rates;<br />
and the absence of clarity over economic<br />
policy. The result of these<br />
twin barriers was the collapse of<br />
foreign investment in Nigeria from<br />
$20.8billion in 2014 to $9.8billion in<br />
2015 and only $5.1 billion in 2016.<br />
Given the structure of exchange<br />
rates and policy uncertainty last<br />
year, it was highly unlikely that<br />
any rational investor, except for<br />
mandatory investments, would<br />
invest in our economy. Even the<br />
Nigerian government had to postpone<br />
its $1billion Eurobond which<br />
was slated for 2016 to <strong>2017</strong> when<br />
a better investment environment<br />
had begun to emerge with rising<br />
oil prices, larger foreign reserves,<br />
a new economic policy document<br />
and CBN policy refinements which<br />
have significantly increased the<br />
supply of foreign currency and narrowed<br />
the gap between the various<br />
exchange rates.”<br />
I made these remarks at a public<br />
forum on <strong>May</strong> 6, <strong>2017</strong> which<br />
attracted the “academic” economist’s<br />
ire! By the way, both those<br />
comments and my subsequent<br />
article of <strong>May</strong> 10 were not a “single<br />
purpose project” designed to attack<br />
anyone,but the substance of<br />
both interventions was to focus<br />
on government’s Economic Recovery<br />
and Growth Plan (ERGP),<br />
highlight lessons Nigeria could<br />
learn from failed or sub-optimal<br />
implementation of previous economic<br />
blueprints, and discuss<br />
constraints and/or impediments<br />
which must be removed for the<br />
plan to succeed, especially in relation<br />
to private capital and foreign<br />
direct investment. I maintain<br />
and the evidence is overwhelming<br />
that multiple and widely<br />
divergent foreign exchange rates<br />
and policy uncertainty were significant<br />
impediments to foreign<br />
direct investment, whether real or<br />
portfolio FDI in 2016 and would<br />
remain so if not addressed. I am<br />
also confident that except for<br />
the surprising exception of our<br />
“academic” economist, those<br />
assertions are uncontroversial.<br />
I must add that I am inclined to<br />
discuss substance rather than<br />
personalities, and unlike some<br />
who may get their testosterone<br />
levels enhanced by mentioning<br />
individual names multiple times<br />
in a 2,200 verbiage, I remain interested<br />
only in the issues!<br />
At the forum where these<br />
pseudo-controversies arose, I had<br />
pre-informed the organisers that I<br />
was teaching at a business school<br />
at 1.00pm and was therefore unable<br />
to wait for the combined<br />
Q and A session holding after a<br />
subsequent panel. The moderator<br />
was standing up and closing the<br />
session immediately after the “academic”<br />
economist’s statement<br />
having previously highlighted<br />
time constraints, and other panelists<br />
were rising and departing<br />
as well. Indeed the moderator<br />
only very reluctantly yielded the<br />
microphone to the correspondent<br />
for a “final word” which turned<br />
out to be a frontal attack on my<br />
position. And I had subsequently<br />
made efforts to discuss issues<br />
with our correspondent privately.<br />
At that point, it became my duty<br />
to clarify the public record, else<br />
the patently erroneous view that<br />
multiple and divergent exchange<br />
rates and economic policy confusions<br />
do not negatively affect FDI,<br />
become accepted as truth.<br />
I have quoted the figures for<br />
total FDI in Nigeria between 2014<br />
and 2016 above-$20.8billion in<br />
2014; $9.8billion in 2015; and only<br />
$5.1billion in 2016. A deconstruction<br />
of those figures reveal that the<br />
decline pervaded all categories<br />
of foreign investment: in 2014,<br />
real FDI was $2.3bn; in 2015 it<br />
fell by 36% to $1.47bn; and it fell<br />
again by 29% to $1.044bn in 2016,<br />
a cumulative collapse of 55%!<br />
Portfolio investment was $14.9bn<br />
in 2014; it declined 60% to $6.09bn<br />
in 2015; and by 2016, it declined<br />
further by 70% (!) to only $1.8bn<br />
in 2016! Other investments were<br />
$3.57bn in 2014; it was lower by<br />
38% ($2.22bn) by 2015 and stayed<br />
flat in 2016. Even if we accept the<br />
narrower and more restrictive<br />
interpretation of the opposing<br />
contention by limiting the argument<br />
to only real FDI while<br />
ignoring portfolio investments,<br />
these data show categorically that<br />
Nigeria must embark on<br />
effective implementation<br />
of the ERGP and in doing<br />
so, we must remove<br />
all constraints to<br />
domestic and foreign<br />
capital, including and<br />
particularly the<br />
multiple and divergent<br />
exchange rates system<br />
all categories of foreign investment<br />
suffered from the conditions in 2015<br />
and 2016. While it is obvious to everyone<br />
that portfolio investors have<br />
a shorter investment horizon than<br />
real FDI investors and are naturally<br />
more brittle, yet the data and our<br />
practical experience confirm that<br />
all investors are concerned about<br />
sensible and predictable economic<br />
policy and exchange rate management<br />
systems!<br />
What do other economists and<br />
economic institutions have to say<br />
on the issue? The International<br />
Monetary Fund (IMF) conducted<br />
a very recent Article IV Consultation<br />
on Nigeria published in March<br />
<strong>2017</strong>. Some news media in Nigeria<br />
and abroad titled their reports on<br />
that publication, “Dump Multiple<br />
Exchange Rates, Forex Curbs, IMF<br />
Tells Nigeria” or words to the same<br />
effect! I should take quotes from the<br />
report:-<br />
• “The external current account<br />
turned into a surplus in 2016,<br />
as import compression continues<br />
to offset falling exports. The foreign<br />
exchange regime was liberalized<br />
in June 2016, but FX restrictions<br />
remain in place and the market<br />
continues to be characterized by<br />
significant distortions that have<br />
contributed to a 50 percent parallel<br />
market premium which was halved<br />
following recent increases in central<br />
bank interventions and the removal<br />
of prioritized allocation of foreign<br />
exchange. Under unchanged policies,<br />
the outlook remains challenging…policy<br />
uncertainty, crowding<br />
out, and FX market distortions<br />
would be expected to drag activity”<br />
• “The authorities’ Economic<br />
Recovery and Growth Plan,<br />
published March 7, <strong>2017</strong> is a welcome<br />
step forward. It appropriately<br />
focuses on private sector led economic<br />
diversification, supported<br />
by government efforts to strengthen<br />
infrastructure and the business<br />
environment. But without stronger<br />
macroeconomic policies-notably<br />
higher non-oil tax collections (to<br />
create fiscal space) and a more<br />
transparent foreign exchange regime<br />
(to facilitate adjustment and<br />
promote diversification)-the plan<br />
will not meet the objectives of fostering<br />
higher growth and employment”<br />
In these quotes, the IMF makes<br />
essentially the point I was making!<br />
Multiple media reports also<br />
highlighted the African Development<br />
Bank’s (AfDB) approval of a<br />
$1bn facility in the first instance for<br />
Nigeria, with prospects of a larger<br />
$4.1bn approval that could even<br />
rise to $10bn. However AfDB disbursed<br />
only $600million of these<br />
insisting on further policy reforms<br />
before continuing further disbursements.<br />
Nigeria’s delisting<br />
from the JP Morgan Government<br />
Bond Index for Emerging Markets<br />
in 2015 which cost us huge<br />
portfolio flows in 2015-2016 and<br />
till date was due to the absence of<br />
liquidity and transparency in our<br />
foreign exchange markets. Quite<br />
frankly on further reflection, given<br />
the publicly available data and information,<br />
it is simply astounding<br />
that we are now engaged in this<br />
debate! I should take a quote from<br />
“Equities Market Outlook in <strong>2017</strong>”<br />
issued by Afrinvest reported in the<br />
media under the headline “Multiple<br />
Exchange Rates Stall Foreign<br />
Inflow into Nigerian Equities” in<br />
January <strong>2017</strong>, “Our interactions<br />
with several foreign investors with<br />
interests in Nigeria suggest that<br />
a decision to stake any position<br />
in the Nigerian market will be a<br />
function of currency liquidity and<br />
a greater certainty on their ability<br />
to repatriate capital anytime they<br />
divest. As a result, we do not see<br />
significant foreign capital flowing<br />
into Nigerian equities in the short<br />
to medium term as the discrepancy<br />
between the parallel and interbank<br />
market rates continue to deter interest<br />
in Nigeria”<br />
Former Chief Economic Adviser<br />
and CBN Governor, Professor<br />
Chukwuma Soludo has also been<br />
on record on several occasions<br />
against policy and exchange rate<br />
uncertainty. In a widely reported<br />
intervention in April <strong>2017</strong>, Soludo<br />
advised the FGN/CBN to end the<br />
multiple exchange rates and wide<br />
divergence between exchange<br />
rates saying, “Nigeria must get out<br />
of multiple exchange rates and we<br />
must eliminate the premium…the<br />
uncertainty that is created by that<br />
is so enormous”<br />
In relation to the two examples<br />
offered in support of a flawed hypothesis,<br />
I wondered in the first<br />
instalment of this article “how does<br />
a <strong>2017</strong> offer which was deferred<br />
precisely because the environment<br />
was unfavourable in 2016, disprove<br />
a hypothesis about the conditions<br />
in 2016?” and “how can a successful<br />
dollar Eurobond priced at over<br />
7% be the evidence anyone offers<br />
when FDI and portfolio investment<br />
remain significantly suppressed in<br />
the economy?” Incidentally Businessday<br />
featured in its edition of<br />
<strong>May</strong> 18, (the same day the academic<br />
economist’s treatise was printed)<br />
a report that “Senegal raises $1.1bn<br />
Eurobond at lower cost than Nigeria’s<br />
$1.5bn”. Senegal is a far smaller<br />
economy than Nigeria, but while<br />
our Eurobond was issued at 7.87%,<br />
they raised money at 6.25%. Andrew<br />
Nevin, an economist with a<br />
Doctorate from Harvard explained<br />
that “in Nigeria’s case, the relatively<br />
high rate demanded by investors<br />
reflects continuing uncertainty<br />
about the path of economic development<br />
(i.e. policies)…investors<br />
are concerned by our poor Ease<br />
of Doing Business and confusing<br />
FX policies”. With regard to the<br />
NLNG investment I also re-state<br />
my previous position-“most analysts<br />
and academics know that if<br />
anyone wanted to demonstrate the<br />
strange hypothesis that multiple<br />
and widely divergent exchange<br />
rates do not affect foreign investment,<br />
he could cite the evidence<br />
of more recent years, but that ob-<br />
viously not being consistent with<br />
the facts, our economist then went<br />
over two decades back to 1994 to<br />
cite an exception, a single investment<br />
in an environment of otherwise<br />
grossly low investment, in a<br />
sector where people invest even<br />
in times of war, to justify a faulty<br />
hypothesis”. It should be easy to<br />
understand that exchange rates are<br />
not a major concern for an investor<br />
who is coming to take mineral<br />
resources from your country (oil,<br />
gas, diamonds, copper etc.), sell<br />
them in the international market<br />
and retain the proceeds in foreign<br />
currency in its home country. That<br />
is why IOCs continued to invest<br />
in Nigeria throughout our years<br />
under military rule and why there<br />
are still global companies taking<br />
mineral resources from D.R Congo,<br />
Iraq and Libya inspite of war and<br />
instability! And even then, investments<br />
have been significantly reduced<br />
in our contemporary oil and<br />
gas sector due to the absence of<br />
fiscal terms, regulation and other<br />
legal and policy gaps!!!Most importantly<br />
our academic economist’s<br />
whole hypothesis is founded on an<br />
easily verifiable falsehood-NLNG<br />
was incorporated in <strong>May</strong> 1989 and<br />
the dual exchange rate system only<br />
happened between 1995 and 1998.<br />
By the way, most readers know<br />
that I am a big advocate of private<br />
capital-domestic and foreign,<br />
and I have consistently advanced<br />
positions in support of FDI, FPI,<br />
Concessions, PPPs, private investments<br />
in infrastructure, deregulation<br />
and liberalization, and other<br />
policies and strategies for improving<br />
investment in the Nigerian<br />
economy. Indeed most people<br />
are aware that my major critique<br />
of economic policy since <strong>May</strong><br />
2015 was a “body language” that<br />
appeared to disdain private and<br />
foreign capital, a point ironically<br />
that I also made on <strong>May</strong> 6, <strong>2017</strong>. Attempting<br />
to cast a treatise as if the<br />
argument was over the desirability<br />
or otherwise of foreign real FDI<br />
investment amounts to intellectual<br />
sophistry! And by the way, how do<br />
you “attract” real FDI without clarity<br />
in your policy positions? Isn’t<br />
our “academic” economist perhaps<br />
actually calling for POLICY<br />
designed to attract real FDI?<br />
I acknowledge(and I did so in<br />
my comments of <strong>May</strong> 6 and article<br />
of <strong>May</strong> 10) that conditions have<br />
somewhat improved for FDI and<br />
overall economic growth in <strong>2017</strong><br />
with a decent policy documentthe<br />
ERGP, greater FX availability<br />
and increased rate convergence,<br />
amongst others. As I concluded in<br />
my original article, the substantive<br />
and I insist uncontroversial<br />
take-away from all this is that<br />
“Nigeria must embark on effective<br />
implementation of the ERGP and<br />
in doing so, we must remove all<br />
constraints to domestic and foreign<br />
capital, including and particularly<br />
the multiple and divergent<br />
exchange rates system. Of course<br />
many other steps, some outlined<br />
in ERGP and others not quite,<br />
must be taken to build a growing,<br />
diversified, globally competitive<br />
and inclusive Nigerian economy”.<br />
So much for academic distractions!<br />
Send reactions to:<br />
comment@businessdayonline.com
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
COMMENT<br />
SMALL BUSINESS HANDBOOK<br />
EMEKA OSUJI<br />
Dr Emeka Osuji<br />
School of Management and<br />
Social Sciences<br />
Pan Atlantic University<br />
Lagos. eosuji@pau.edu.ng @Emyosuji<br />
The problem of poverty in<br />
Nigeria is not abating. At<br />
best it is getting worse and<br />
at worst it has gone beyond<br />
our capacity to manage.<br />
And this has nothing to do with the<br />
laudable policy of microfinance and<br />
its very successful implementation.<br />
Nigeria is at critical cross roads of its<br />
socio-economic development. The<br />
continued organised misgovernance<br />
and manipulation of religion and politics<br />
by vested interests have ensured<br />
that we get into a bind that is hard to<br />
break. Today, the poor in many parts<br />
of the country are no longer afraid of<br />
poverty because something worse<br />
than poverty has arrived. They fear for<br />
their lives. As things stand, the nation<br />
is in such a bad shape that in or out of<br />
recession, it makes no difference to the<br />
lives of most of the ordinary people. In<br />
Nigeria hard facts are risky to share but<br />
the man dies…..<br />
There is incontrovertible evidence<br />
that most of the 36 states have practically<br />
become unable to meet the needs<br />
of their people. They exist only because<br />
it is politically profitable to some of our<br />
political class to continue to maintain<br />
this failed structure and leadership<br />
style. Not only are the majority of the<br />
states insolvent and unable to meet<br />
their financial obligations, they are<br />
BRIAN REUBEN<br />
Brian Reuben is a global thought leader<br />
on business and leadership. He helps<br />
business leaders improve performance<br />
and make more profit. @brianreuben<br />
Conventionally, it is thought<br />
that increased pay leads<br />
to increased productivity.<br />
But a recent study by<br />
economists at the University of<br />
Warwick found that happiness led<br />
to a 12% increase in productivity,<br />
while unhappy workers proved 10%<br />
less productive.<br />
According to Professor Andrew<br />
Oswald, one of three researchers<br />
who led the study, companies that<br />
invest in employee support and<br />
satisfaction tend to succeed in generating<br />
happier workers. At Google,<br />
employee satisfaction rose 37% as a<br />
result of those initiatives—suggesting<br />
that financial incentives aren’t<br />
enough to make for highly productive<br />
employees.<br />
Your most important assets are<br />
human beings and interestingly man<br />
is more of an emotional rather than<br />
intellectual being. The biggest and<br />
most profitable companies in the<br />
world understand this truth and are<br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
comment is free<br />
Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.<br />
Microfinance and the challenge of failing states<br />
flatly unable to provide safety and security<br />
to their people. And this is one<br />
of the parts of the Nigerian problem<br />
that everyone would like to avoid but<br />
the man dies…...<br />
Worse still, the institutions endowed<br />
with the capacity to secure them<br />
have been privatized. The police and,<br />
sometimes, the army whose primary<br />
duty is to protect the people, have been<br />
parcelled out to politicians and the<br />
privileged few on guard duty and as orderlies<br />
for all manner of people. Few are<br />
left for the real calling. As a result, the<br />
streets have been occupied by dangerous<br />
gangs who make sure that, in some<br />
rural areas, farmers no longer farm and<br />
traders no longer come to markets. The<br />
economic activity of the poor, which is<br />
the basis of microfinancing has been<br />
victimised and brought to a standstill.<br />
In such areas, one begins to wonder<br />
how the effectiveness of our microfinance<br />
programme can be assessed, as<br />
social collapse and insecurity continue<br />
to rubbish microfinancing.<br />
A recent Channels Television presentation<br />
on the power supply challenges<br />
faced by artisans in Nassarawa state<br />
was as elixir for this piece. Although it<br />
was a rehash of the tale of woes we get<br />
from all over the country on the failure<br />
of governments to solve the basic problem,<br />
which everyone knows is behind<br />
the mass poverty in Nigeria–debilitating<br />
epilepsy of power supply. In that<br />
story, a spray painter and many other<br />
artisans, who seek to legitimately earn<br />
a living, spend all they make to provide<br />
power through generators. This is the<br />
same story everywhere and instead<br />
of declaring a national emergency on<br />
electricity we are busy splitting hair<br />
on what an Acting President could<br />
sign and not sign.; and following the<br />
same spending pattern that brought<br />
us to this shameful state – a battle of<br />
supremacy between the executive and<br />
How many of us know that<br />
there are days reserved for<br />
armed robbers to rob the<br />
people in some places and<br />
that there are days when<br />
people in some villages literally<br />
dress up and wait to be<br />
robbed by armed robbers?<br />
The robbers come on certain<br />
market days as a matter of appointment,<br />
to rob the people<br />
in some villages outside Lafia<br />
in Nassarawa state<br />
the legislature, a bloated civil service of<br />
many ghost workers the source of whose<br />
entry to the service has never been found,<br />
translucent security votes and inflated<br />
contracts and more.<br />
Following the Nassarawa story I<br />
decided to dig deeper on the economic<br />
activity of the poor in that area of Nigeria.<br />
The results are terrifying. As we sit in<br />
Abuja to postulate our shares of the <strong>2017</strong><br />
budget, life has come to a standstill in<br />
many parts of the middle belt. At a point<br />
one wonders whether some of these<br />
states, including Nassarawa and Taraba,<br />
are not worse hit by Boko Haram than<br />
the North East. I don’t know how many<br />
of us are aware that life in many parts of<br />
that area, especially outside their state<br />
capitals, is a nightmare. How many of<br />
us know that there are days reserved<br />
for armed robbers to rob the people in<br />
some places and that there are days when<br />
people in some villages literally dress up<br />
and wait to be robbed by armed robbers?<br />
The robbers come on certain market days<br />
as a matter of appointment, to rob the<br />
people in some villages outside Lafia in<br />
Nassarawa state. I was told that the rob-<br />
bers come on market days to rob those<br />
who sold cattle. It was alleged that the<br />
police is aware and feeling inadequate<br />
to confront the robbers, often close by<br />
6pm and return to their bases, leaving<br />
the people to their own devices.<br />
This further strengthens the argument<br />
that Nigeria as presently constituted<br />
cannot serve the needs of a modern<br />
state. The borders are wide open and<br />
trailer loads of strangers, most of whom<br />
do not speak any Nigerian language<br />
poured into Taraba when Sambisa<br />
Forest was attacked, according to the<br />
Governors Chief of Staff. The strange<br />
visitors entry was turned to a political<br />
discourse and nothing happened.<br />
This story of the artisans in Nassarawa<br />
is not a unique. It is the story of<br />
every part of the country. The absence<br />
of electricity, among other tools of<br />
economic empowerment, has made it<br />
impossible for Nigerians to depend on<br />
themselves. They have been deprived of<br />
the opportunity to exercise their talents<br />
and therefore, poverty has become the<br />
destiny of many children yet unborn.<br />
Poverty reduces the quality of the human<br />
person. The poor often sound<br />
incoherent and appear somewhat<br />
unintelligent because they have little<br />
learning and no time to think outside<br />
the box of hunger and destitution. They<br />
are forced to focus on the immediate<br />
stomach infrastructure challenges to the<br />
exclusion of any futuristic engagement.<br />
Some governments around the world,<br />
including North Korea, have at one<br />
point or the other used mass emiseration<br />
to elicit loyalty from their people.<br />
Microfinancing cannot succeed in<br />
an environment where people have<br />
suspended their will and enterprise and<br />
resorted to opportunism and dependence<br />
on prebendalism. The essence<br />
of microfinancing is to tackle poverty<br />
by empowering the poor who are economically<br />
active. This is what prompted<br />
the federal government to launch the<br />
How to build a highly productive workforce<br />
as such committed to the emotional<br />
stability of their workforce. Lara<br />
Harding, People Programs Manager,<br />
Google gave an insight into how<br />
Google look at their people when<br />
he said, At Google, we know that<br />
health, family and wellbeing are an<br />
important aspect of Googlers’ lives.<br />
We have also noticed that employees<br />
who are happy ... demonstrate<br />
increased motivation ... [We] ...<br />
work to ensure that Google is... an<br />
emotionally healthy place to work.<br />
Perhaps one of the most important<br />
things business leaders<br />
must accomplish is shaping the<br />
perception of their workforce in the<br />
direction of their corporate vision.<br />
When workers see themselves as a<br />
part of the company, when they feel<br />
at home, are happy and take pride<br />
in their job they can withstand any<br />
pressure at work.<br />
The happiness of your workforce<br />
is directly linked to their productivity.<br />
The truth is that even one<br />
unhappy employee can negatively<br />
impact on your organisational<br />
performance. So you want to have<br />
happy and satisfied employees because<br />
that’s good for your business.<br />
Ironically being the highest paying<br />
company in your industry does not<br />
guarantee a happy workforce. It<br />
takes an intelligent mix of mission,<br />
culture and management to create<br />
happy employees.<br />
Mission<br />
A mission defines what a company<br />
live for. It begins by a clearly defined<br />
and effectively communicated mission<br />
such that everyone in the organization<br />
from the CEO to the Janitor<br />
understands clearly, believe in and are<br />
excited about; a mission the workforce<br />
so believes in that it shapes their life<br />
and work attitude. There is the apocryphal<br />
story about a janitor at NASA<br />
who when asked by someone what<br />
he was doing, replied ‘I’m helping to<br />
put a man on the moon.’ How could<br />
the Janitor think that way? The answer<br />
is simple. The leadership at NASA did<br />
a good work in communicating their<br />
mission to the entire workforce.<br />
People are glad to be a part of<br />
something meaningful. They put their<br />
best effort in a mission or goal that<br />
excites them. This is where you begin.<br />
Clearly every successful organisation<br />
has an exciting mission that is so<br />
well communicated that even their<br />
security men understand it. For Coca<br />
Cola, it is to refresh the world in mind,<br />
body and spirit. To inspire moments of<br />
optimism and happiness through our<br />
brands and actions. For Microsoft, it is<br />
to empower every person and every<br />
organization on the planet to achieve<br />
more. Need we be surprise then these<br />
companies make it into the list of the<br />
best companies to work in?<br />
Culture<br />
“There’s no magic formula for a<br />
great company culture. The key is just<br />
to treat your staff how you would like<br />
to be treated.” – Richard Branson<br />
The corporate culture is the core<br />
of any businesses and it is as important<br />
as getting in the sales. According<br />
to Investopedia, a corporate culture<br />
refers to the beliefs and behaviours<br />
that determine how the company’s<br />
employees and management interact<br />
and handle outside business<br />
transactions.<br />
You should let your corporate<br />
culture inspire happiness among<br />
your workforce. The advice of Mr<br />
Branson sums up the secret of creating<br />
a culture that will make the heart<br />
of your employees to sing. Following<br />
his advice delivers the magic of happiness<br />
in your organisation. Imagine<br />
for instance, an organisation where<br />
the CEO understands how to be firm<br />
as well as laugh freely with the employees.<br />
That’s just like a good daddy.<br />
The staff are glad you are there, not<br />
scared. Consider Facebook which<br />
targeting a ‘frictionless’ workplace<br />
has everyone working together on<br />
big, white, communal desks.<br />
Even Mr. Zuckerberg doesn’t have<br />
an office. Instead, opting to work<br />
alongside the other employees in the<br />
‘bull-pen’ like workspace. Potentially<br />
having an intern work alongside the<br />
boss is incredibly daunting, yet motivating.<br />
This surely adds to the corporate<br />
culture at Facebook, as equality<br />
is not only preached, but practiced.<br />
So think about your peculiar case<br />
and create a culture that inspires<br />
11<br />
National Microfinance Policy, which has<br />
gone a long way to tackle the endemic<br />
poverty across the country.<br />
Today, microfinance banks, numbering<br />
about 1000 have been established<br />
and working all over the country.<br />
However, while considerable progress<br />
has been made in canalizing financial<br />
resources to the poor and boosting their<br />
economic activities, it does appear that<br />
much has not been achieved. As more<br />
microfinance institutions get into the<br />
fray, more people seem to get into the<br />
poverty net. There are more educated<br />
beggars today than in 2005. Many are beginning<br />
to think that the microfinance<br />
sector is failing in reducing poverty.<br />
This may be a wrong impression but<br />
it is justifiable based on facts outside<br />
the control of the microfinance sector.<br />
It is hard to talk about microfinancing<br />
without talking about poverty,<br />
its raison d’eter. Nor can we discuss<br />
poverty in Nigeria without mentioning<br />
the rapidly shrinking ability of the<br />
state to protect the citizens. How does<br />
a microfinance institution deal with<br />
the poor in a state where people sleep<br />
in churches and mosques most nights?<br />
How do people survive in a state where<br />
hotel management evacuates guests<br />
because an attack was expected? This<br />
is what is going on in the villages of<br />
Nassarawa state and perhaps, other<br />
surrounding states. I hope Boko Haram<br />
has not left and changed tactics while<br />
we continue to bombardSambisa.<br />
Could it be that the robbers are not<br />
mere armed robbers? Could it be that<br />
Boko Haram has stopped holding<br />
territories but makes do with ensuring<br />
that the place is destabilised? As I said<br />
there are certain topics we do not like to<br />
discuss but microfinance fails wherever<br />
the state fails.<br />
Send reactions to:<br />
comment@businessdayonline.com<br />
your employees to believe in your<br />
company. Be a mentor rather than a<br />
superior. Be unassuming, employees<br />
like it.<br />
Besides that, find ways to make<br />
people laugh freely at the work place.<br />
Nothing beats creating a happier corporate<br />
culture by bringing smiles and<br />
laughter into the work place.<br />
Management<br />
According to Hal Rosenbluth in<br />
his book Customers Come Second,<br />
“Profits are a natural extension of happiness<br />
in the workplace.” Your employees<br />
will care about your business<br />
to the degree you care about them.<br />
Part of management’s responsibility<br />
is to manage the total well being of<br />
the employees. You can’t close your<br />
eyes and insist on performance when<br />
a staff is weighed down by emotional<br />
issues. You can’t act like you don’t<br />
know someone looks depressed when<br />
you should as a matter of fact observe<br />
the disposition of your people. Show<br />
enough concern in the affairs of your<br />
people and they will be happy to give<br />
you their commitment.<br />
Finally, it matters how happy your<br />
people are. Their productivity depends<br />
on how happy they are. When<br />
you care about your people they<br />
will care about your business. If you<br />
neglect that you will watch profits go<br />
down the drain.<br />
Send reactions to:<br />
comment@businessdayonline.com
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
12 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
PUBLISHER/CEO<br />
Frank Aigbogun<br />
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF<br />
Prof. Onwuchekwa Jemie<br />
EDITOR<br />
Anthony Osae-Brown<br />
DEPUTY EDITOR<br />
John Osadolor, Abuja<br />
NEWS EDITOR<br />
Bill Okonedo<br />
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,<br />
SALES AND MARKETING<br />
Kola Garuba<br />
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS<br />
Fabian Akagha<br />
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DIGITAL SERVICES<br />
Oghenevwoke Ighure<br />
CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER<br />
Folashade Odusanya<br />
MANAGER, SYSTEMS & CONTROL<br />
Emeka Ifeanyi<br />
HEAD OF SALES, CONFERENCES<br />
Rerhe Idonije<br />
SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER<br />
Patrick Ijegbai<br />
CIRCULATION MANAGER<br />
John Okpaire<br />
GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North)<br />
Bashir Ibrahim Hassan<br />
GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South)<br />
Ignatius Chukwu<br />
Deepening LPG usage<br />
Nigeria’s per capita<br />
consumption<br />
of Liquefied<br />
Petroleum<br />
Gas (LPG) commonly<br />
called cooking gas is<br />
about 2 kg or 350,000 metric<br />
tons a year. It ranks very low<br />
especially when compared<br />
to some African countries<br />
like Ghana (4.7kg), Senegal<br />
(9kg), Egypt (60kg) and Morocco<br />
(68kg). LPG is the least<br />
utilized of the four major<br />
cooking fuels (Firewood,<br />
Kerosene, Charcoal, and Gas)<br />
in Nigeria.<br />
Though, Nigeria’s LPG<br />
market has witnessed massive<br />
growth from less than<br />
70,000 metric tonnes consumed<br />
in 2007 to the current<br />
400,000MT (471.4 percent<br />
increase within 10 years),<br />
there is, however, potential<br />
to grow Nigeria’s consumption<br />
to over 1 million metric<br />
tonnes in the near term. This<br />
will throw up investment opportunities<br />
in the LPG value<br />
chain especially in-country cylinder<br />
manufacturing which was<br />
previously the case for Nigeria.<br />
Nigeria currently relies<br />
mostly on gas from Nigeria<br />
Liquefied Natural Gas Limited<br />
(NLNG) to meet local demand<br />
but even that suffers from delays<br />
due to government’s decision<br />
to prioritise petrol in<br />
discharge to jetties and limited<br />
number of jetties and terminals.<br />
Recently, there was price<br />
volatility of LPG due to unpredictable<br />
and supply shortages.<br />
The cost of 12.50 kg cylinder<br />
moved from between N2, 900<br />
and N3, 100 to between N 6,000<br />
and N 7,000. During the price<br />
hike, some of the users of cooking<br />
gas around the country,<br />
especially food sellers vowed<br />
that except the price of cooking<br />
gas becomes affordable they<br />
would return to their old ways<br />
of using fire wood.<br />
One of the impediments to<br />
ramping up LPG usage is Nigeria’s<br />
gas cylinder manufacturing<br />
capacity which is still low<br />
largely due to high cost of steel,<br />
power challenges and freewheeling<br />
exchange rate that<br />
has seen the cost of production<br />
hit the roof. Raw materials for<br />
gas cylinders are imported and<br />
they suffer 40 per cent duties<br />
and tariffs. The consequence of<br />
this situation is increased importation<br />
of gas cylinders and<br />
the use of expired gas cylinders<br />
which pose risk of leakage and<br />
endangers lives and property.<br />
Industry analysts say the<br />
Federal Government should<br />
put in place intervention funds<br />
to encourage the manufacture<br />
of cylinders in the country to<br />
stem the loss of about $10m<br />
being spent annually to import<br />
them.<br />
Another major issue is that<br />
Lagos is the only point in the<br />
country where you can bring<br />
in LPG. Ships have to wait for<br />
many days sometimes to unload<br />
leading to demurrages.<br />
This means that consumers<br />
cannot depend on LPG because<br />
supply is sporadic and unreliable<br />
and will instead continue<br />
to use kerosene. Consumers<br />
become extremely susceptible<br />
to fluctuation in prices due<br />
to inconsistent availability or<br />
government support.<br />
There should be a deliberate<br />
policy by government to<br />
drive investments in the LPG<br />
sub-sector and remove current<br />
challenges. There are operators<br />
who need to have certain guarantees<br />
in relation to market,<br />
even in terms of taxes when<br />
they are investing in much<br />
needed infrastructure.<br />
There is an urgent need for<br />
an LPG road-map in Nigeria<br />
that would drive development<br />
and growth in the market. If this<br />
is not done, we will continue to<br />
talk and work without noticeable<br />
progress. There is also the<br />
need for a greater level of sensitization<br />
of Nigerians on the<br />
importance and relevance of<br />
the usage of LPG, which is a factor<br />
for the pursuit of a cleaner<br />
energy that is also affordable.<br />
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD<br />
Dick Kramer - Chairman<br />
Imo Itsueli<br />
Mohammed Hayatudeen<br />
Albert Alos<br />
Funke Osibodu<br />
Afolabi Oladele<br />
Dayo Lawuyi<br />
Vincent Maduka<br />
Wole Obayomi<br />
Maneesh Garg<br />
Keith Richards<br />
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Amina Oyagbola<br />
Bolanle Onagoruwa<br />
Fola Laoye<br />
Chuka Mordi<br />
Sim Shagaya<br />
Mezuo Nwuneli<br />
Emeka Emuwa<br />
Charles Anudu<br />
Tunji Adegbesan<br />
Eyo Ekpo<br />
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Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 13<br />
COMPANIES<br />
& MARKETS<br />
COMPANY NEWS ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT<br />
‘No Premium No Cover’ undermines<br />
Staco Insurance premiums<br />
…Company Posts N1.85 billion loss<br />
BALA AUGIE<br />
The ‘No Premium Cover<br />
policy introduced by regulators<br />
in order to ensure<br />
that operators are liquid has<br />
undermined Staco Insurance<br />
premium income as the insurer<br />
posted a loss of N1.85 billion<br />
to end the 2016 financial year.<br />
Gross premium written was<br />
N5.40 billion in December 2016<br />
as against N6.18 billion the<br />
previous year. Net premium<br />
income fell by 23.07 percent<br />
to N3.60 billion in the period<br />
under review as against N4.68<br />
billion as at December 2015.<br />
“There was a decrease of<br />
12.33% and 15.96% in gross<br />
written premium respectively<br />
for group and company in 2016<br />
in comparison with 2015 due<br />
to the reality of no premium<br />
no cover policy that was put<br />
in force by the Nigerian Insurance<br />
Industry regulator,” the<br />
company said in its Management’s<br />
Comment and Analysis.<br />
A combination of weak<br />
top lines and rising operating<br />
expenses was responsible for<br />
Staco Insurance 2016 loss.<br />
The Nigerian insurer has<br />
an operating expenses ratio of<br />
94.05 percent, which means<br />
it spent nearly its entire net<br />
premium income to fund the<br />
its operational costs of close to<br />
N3.4 billion.<br />
The National Insurance<br />
Commission (NAICOM), the<br />
body that regulates insurance<br />
business in Africa’s most populous<br />
nation introduced the ‘No<br />
Premium No Cover’ Policy in<br />
order to make the government<br />
Electricity market gears for competition<br />
as Gencos sell power to customers<br />
ISAAC ANYAOGU<br />
Nigeria’s electricity<br />
market is bracing for<br />
competition after<br />
the Federal Government<br />
through the Nigerian Electricity<br />
Regulatory Commission<br />
directed that electricity<br />
generation companies can<br />
now sell power directly to<br />
customers.<br />
The directive is based on<br />
the provisions of Section 27<br />
of the Electric Power Sector<br />
Reform Act 2005 that allows<br />
eligible customers are permitted<br />
to buy power from a<br />
licensee other than electricity<br />
distribution companies.<br />
Prior to this policy, the<br />
DisCos operated like a mo-<br />
more committed to premium<br />
obligations and make it pay<br />
large amount of debts it owed<br />
the insurance industry.<br />
“The receipts of an insurance<br />
premium shall be<br />
a condition precedent to a<br />
valid contract of insurance<br />
and there shall be no cover in<br />
respect of an insurance risk<br />
unless the premium is paid<br />
in advance,” Section 50 of the<br />
Insurance Act says.<br />
nopoly. Even investors interested<br />
in mini grid plants<br />
were constrained by the<br />
exclusive rights the DisCos<br />
assume over their franchise<br />
areas. This is changing.<br />
“It will deepen competition<br />
in the electricity market,”<br />
says Idowu Oyebanjo,<br />
a Power System Engineer<br />
from the UK.<br />
Oyebanjo further said,<br />
“The expectation is that the<br />
large industrial consumers<br />
like Manufacturers Association<br />
of Nigeria, (MAN)<br />
industrial clusters and business<br />
and energy parks will<br />
benefit from this policy.<br />
This is will gravitate towards<br />
the independent electricity<br />
distribution networks own-<br />
Apart from the negative<br />
impact of the aforementioned<br />
policy on the performance<br />
of Staco, the economic<br />
downturn created<br />
apathy towards the insurance<br />
industry.<br />
A recession caused by a<br />
sharp drop in the price of oil<br />
and a severe dollar shortage<br />
rendered consumers impotent<br />
and unable to acquire<br />
properties worth insuring.<br />
ership.”<br />
The four categories of<br />
eligible customers in the<br />
Nigerian Electricity Supply<br />
Industry (NESI) comprises<br />
of a group of end-users registered<br />
with the Commission<br />
whose consumption is<br />
no less than 2MWhr/h and<br />
connected to a metered<br />
11kV or 33kV delivery point<br />
on the distribution network<br />
and subject to a distribution<br />
use of system agreement<br />
for the delivery of electrical<br />
energy.<br />
The next category includes<br />
those connected to<br />
a metered 132kV or 330kV<br />
delivery point on the transmission<br />
network under a<br />
transmission use of system<br />
Rising unemployment<br />
evidenced by layoffs means<br />
insurers lost premium they<br />
would have made on employee<br />
contributions.<br />
Insurance contributed<br />
less than 1 percent to the<br />
country’s GDP in 2016.<br />
A recent survey by the<br />
Chartered Insurance Institute<br />
of Nigeria (CIIN) revealed<br />
that about 86.6 million<br />
Nigerians do not have any form<br />
Primary education<br />
should be the focus of<br />
educational policies<br />
of insurance cover.<br />
In spite of all these challenges,<br />
Staco Insurance remained<br />
profitable and efficient<br />
as combined ratio (CR) stood at<br />
57.77 percent, lower than the<br />
100 percent threshold.<br />
The Nigerian insurer’s total<br />
net claims plunged 37.50 percent<br />
to N1.05 billion; claims<br />
ratio dropped to 29.16 percent<br />
in December 2016 from 35.89<br />
percent as at December 2015.<br />
L-R: Monica Peach, Human Resources Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc (GN Plc); Peter Ndegwa, Managing Director, GN Plc; Bola Olajomi-Otubu,<br />
Human Resources Director, Commercial; and Rotimi Odusola, Acting Corporate Relations Director, during the grand finale of the Guinness<br />
Cup held at Agege Stadium, Lagos.<br />
Pic by Pius Okeosisi<br />
agreement for connection<br />
and delivery of energy.<br />
Other category of customers<br />
includes those with<br />
monthly consumption in<br />
excess of 2MWhr/h, and<br />
who are connected directly<br />
to a metered 33kV delivery<br />
point on the transmission<br />
network under a transmission<br />
use of system agreement.<br />
The last category comprise<br />
eligible customers<br />
whose minimum consumption<br />
is more than 2MWhr/h<br />
over a period of one month<br />
and who are directly connected<br />
to the metering facility<br />
of a generation company,<br />
and has entered into<br />
a bilateral agreement for the<br />
construction and operation<br />
of a distribution line with<br />
the distribution licensee<br />
licensed to operate in the<br />
location.<br />
“But it’s not all doom<br />
and gloom for Discos,” said<br />
Wesley Omonfoman. “Other<br />
than those connected directly<br />
to the transmission<br />
system, eligible customers at<br />
11KV and 33KV would need<br />
to enter into an agreement<br />
with Discos, called Distribution<br />
Use of System (DUoS)<br />
to get supply from Gencos.”<br />
Omonfoman further said,<br />
“Thus Discos expectedly<br />
would still earn their percentage<br />
of the revenues due<br />
to them from the overall<br />
electricity tariff.”<br />
P15<br />
Synergy Capital’s<br />
$100mn maiden<br />
fund buys<br />
Dimension Data<br />
INNOCENT UNAH<br />
Synergy Capital, the Mauritius-domiciled<br />
private<br />
equity fund that focuses<br />
on West Africa investments,<br />
has acquired the Nigerian<br />
and Ghanaian subsidiaries of<br />
technology company Dimension<br />
Data in a deal whose<br />
terms were not disclosed. The<br />
purchase is the 10th investment<br />
Synergy is making with<br />
its $100 million maiden fund.<br />
Dimension Data is based<br />
in Johannesburg, with a turnover<br />
of USD 7.4 billion and<br />
offices in 49 countries, is a<br />
member of the Japan-based<br />
NTT group, the world’s largest<br />
colocation provider that<br />
owns more than 12.5 million<br />
square feet of gross data center<br />
spaces as at 2015.<br />
The Nigerian and Ghanaian<br />
business concerns of<br />
Dimension data will now<br />
be called Cloud Exchange<br />
Limited in a brief transitional<br />
period; the company will provide<br />
IT systems integration<br />
services to large corporations<br />
and government entities<br />
across West Africa.<br />
“Our deep understanding<br />
of the region together with the<br />
Dimension Data and NTT’s<br />
technological capabilities will<br />
unlock value for our clients,”<br />
said Akintoye Akindele, Partner<br />
at Synergy Capital. “Our<br />
ability to anticipate and adapt<br />
to technological changes has<br />
been the drive for this partnership<br />
and acquisition.”<br />
The Economist Intelligence<br />
Unit’s ‘Building a digital<br />
Nigeria’, a report published<br />
last year, said that digital<br />
technology is helping to drive<br />
growth in promising non-oil<br />
sectors in Nigeria, from media<br />
and entertainment to finance<br />
and fast-moving consumer<br />
goods.<br />
The report said that digital<br />
technology could play an enabling<br />
role in increasing access<br />
to government services<br />
like health and education,<br />
improving financial inclusion<br />
through mobile money, and<br />
helping businesses overcome<br />
infrastructure deficits.<br />
Nigeria is connected to<br />
the Internet by 5 submarine<br />
cables, all of which land in<br />
Lagos,11 providing upwards<br />
of 11 terabytes of bandwidth<br />
per second, much higher<br />
than many other West African<br />
countries, although only<br />
between 10 and 20% of this<br />
capacity is actually used.<br />
This gap reflects the lack of<br />
necessary surrounding digital<br />
infrastructures like fibre optic<br />
cable and base transceiver<br />
stations (BTS).
14<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
COMPANIES & MARKETS<br />
Sokoto State Govt, BOI to disburse N2bn<br />
loans to entrepreneurs – Commissioner<br />
Sokoto State Government<br />
and the Bank of<br />
Industry (BOI), are set<br />
to disburse N2 billion loans<br />
to small, medium and large<br />
scale entrepreneurs to boost<br />
industrial development.<br />
The state’s Commissioner<br />
for Commerce, Industry and<br />
Tourism, Alhaji Aminu Bello,<br />
announced this at a news<br />
briefing to mark the two years<br />
in office of Gov. Aminu Tambuwal<br />
in Sokoto on Monday.<br />
Bello said: “The BOI has<br />
concluded arrangement to<br />
contribute a matching fund<br />
of N1billion, plus the N1billion<br />
the state government will<br />
contribute to make the total<br />
N2billion.”<br />
“As soon as formalities<br />
regarding the facility are com-<br />
Shoprite Nigeria makes large donation to AUN’s feed and read program<br />
KEHINDE AKINTOLA<br />
Shoprite has donated<br />
goods valued at N2-<br />
million to the American<br />
University of Nigeria’s<br />
Feed and Read Program.<br />
The items, which included<br />
perishable and<br />
non-perishable food, beverages,<br />
and toiletries, will<br />
be used by the program to<br />
help vulnerable children<br />
in the North-Eastern part<br />
of Nigeria, where an estimated<br />
78% of 6-17 year<br />
pleted, disbursement will be<br />
made to the beneficiaries.”<br />
The commissioner further<br />
said the newly established<br />
Sokoto Organic Fertiliser<br />
Production Plant at Kware<br />
Local Government Area will<br />
soon commence production.<br />
He said, ”the project,<br />
which is a partnership between<br />
the state government<br />
and IML Company, has been<br />
completed.<br />
“The plant is a publicprivate<br />
partnership between<br />
Sokoto State Government<br />
and IML Company, which is<br />
constructing the plant.<br />
“The project is 100 percent<br />
completed while the factory<br />
has carried out test run process<br />
successfully. Thus, full<br />
operation will commence<br />
olds cannot read. The statistics<br />
for girls and women<br />
are even worse.<br />
The low literacy and<br />
numeracy rates are compounded<br />
by the number<br />
of children who are displaced,<br />
separated from<br />
families or orphaned; large<br />
numbers of displaced<br />
teachers; and schools that<br />
have been destroyed or<br />
closed due to violence in<br />
the area.<br />
The program teaches<br />
beneficiaries how to read<br />
soon”, Bello said.<br />
”The N250million plant<br />
would produce 15,000 metric<br />
tonnes of fertiliser annually<br />
as well as provide over 20,000<br />
jobs.”<br />
Bello said 100 per cent of<br />
the raw materials to be used<br />
in the production of the commodity<br />
would be sourced<br />
locally in the state.<br />
According to him, apart<br />
from opportunity for wealth<br />
creation, the fertiliser factory<br />
would explore abundant<br />
natural resources in the state.<br />
Bello further disclosed<br />
that the state government<br />
will hold 40 per cent equity<br />
shares in trust for the people<br />
of the state, while the remaining<br />
shares will be held by<br />
IML Ltd.<br />
and provides them with a<br />
meal every day. It is aimed<br />
at preparing them to move<br />
into mainstream schooling<br />
and finding employment.<br />
The donation reflects<br />
Shoprite Nigeria’s support<br />
for the aims of the<br />
Feed and Read program<br />
and the incredible hard<br />
work and persistence of its<br />
team. Shoprite Nigeria is<br />
committed to supporting<br />
initiatives which benefit<br />
the communities in which<br />
it operates.<br />
Business Event<br />
C002D5556<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
L-R: James Carmichael, director, examinations SSA, British Council, Janet Morris, director International<br />
Network, Cambridge; Neil Musk, director operations, Cambridge, and Andrew Davidson, head of prosperity<br />
fund and deputy head of Missions, British High Commission, representing the British Deputy High<br />
Commissioner, at the British Council Recognition and Outstanding Cambridge Learners Awards in Lagos.<br />
L-R: Sam Adeboye Afolabi, board member, Hall of Grace Awards; Waheed Olagunju, acting managing<br />
director, Bank of Industry (BoI), receiving the Plaque as the CEO of the Year from Dupe Olatunbosun,<br />
and Rupart Ojenuwa, CEO, HOG Awards and Magazine, during the Hall of Grace (HOG) Awards<br />
Anniversary 07 in Lagos.<br />
L-R: Sina Ogunbona, pionner staff and long serving Staff, Draiklinas Limited; Tunde Ayeye, chairman,<br />
board of directors, and Afolabi Abraham, country manager, during the presentation of long service award<br />
and cash price to Ogunbona, by the management of Draiklinas, at UBA House, Lagos.<br />
Obafemi George, Eti-Osa LGA Chairmanship Aspirants with H.E Sebastian Kurz the Foreign Secretary<br />
of Austria and contender for the next Austrian Chancellor at the recently concluded one week leadership<br />
programme for future political and business leaders from around the world hosted by the Austrian<br />
Government in Vienna.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 15<br />
COMPANIES & MARKETS<br />
Primary education should be the<br />
focus of educational policies<br />
The quality of time invested in studying is often associated with high examination success. However, experts have<br />
also established the important role of good policies and teaching methodologies in this success. Ignatius Inyang,<br />
regional manager of Tutor Doctor Nigeria, a franchise of the global in-home tutorial provider recently spoke to<br />
FRANK ELEANYA about the unique method the organisation uses to reduce examination failure in Nigeria.<br />
What gave<br />
birth to Tutor<br />
Doctor?<br />
Founded<br />
in 2000 by<br />
John Hooi in North America,<br />
John realized that there was<br />
a huge demand for quality,<br />
focused and very personal<br />
one to one tuition carried<br />
out by only the best tutors<br />
within the students own<br />
home and family environment.<br />
He realized that the<br />
biggest way we could help<br />
struggling students was to<br />
make it easy on them. The<br />
team then started by visiting<br />
students at home, on<br />
the schedule they chose and<br />
set the price in such a way<br />
that not only wealthy parents<br />
were able to afford the<br />
teaching advantage that was<br />
offered. That has become<br />
our driving model till date.<br />
Today, Tutor Doctor has<br />
over 500 offices in 17 countries.<br />
And each tutor recruited<br />
by the franchisee<br />
goes out into the field and<br />
gives a free consultation to<br />
evaluate the possible tutor/student<br />
relationship, to<br />
build a personalized map for<br />
the student’s success, and to<br />
help educated the parents<br />
on how Tutor Doctor works.<br />
What characteristics of<br />
a doctor best typify the<br />
Tutor Doctor methods?<br />
Our methodology focuses<br />
on an in-depth face to face<br />
consultation with the parents<br />
or guardians and the<br />
student to assess exactly<br />
what the challenges are,<br />
academic goals to be met<br />
and aspirations of the student.<br />
Taking the students<br />
personality, learning style,<br />
likes, dislikes and interests<br />
into consideration we take<br />
care to match the best possible<br />
tutor with the student.<br />
Our in-home tutoring<br />
service evaluates every student<br />
closely to identify their<br />
needs and to track their<br />
progress. We understand<br />
that no two students are the<br />
same. Everyone learns with<br />
different styles and at their<br />
own pace. That is why we<br />
Ignatius Inyang<br />
offer specialized tutoring<br />
to address all our clients’<br />
needs.<br />
Tutor Doctor treats each<br />
student like a unique individual.<br />
We know that every<br />
child, teenager, and adult<br />
has different learning styles.<br />
That is why our tutors sit<br />
down with you and your<br />
child to develop a program<br />
that fits their specific needs<br />
and learning abilities. Our<br />
process is unique, focusing<br />
on the student’s areas of<br />
weakness and approach to<br />
learning.<br />
In your view, what are<br />
the major issues that<br />
has made examination<br />
failure rate stay so high<br />
in Nigeria?<br />
As with many countries<br />
around the world investment<br />
by the federal government<br />
in the state education<br />
system is challenged by lack<br />
of available funds leading<br />
to high classroom student<br />
numbers and lack of learning<br />
resources. Limited resources<br />
dilute the effectiveness<br />
of formal education.<br />
Do you offer tutorial on<br />
every subject?<br />
Tutor Doctor should be<br />
seen as an education ‘concierge’<br />
service. We are able<br />
to help all students of all<br />
ages with all subjects, as<br />
well as students with learning<br />
challenges. Tutor Doctor<br />
also helps students in all<br />
varieties of academic tests,<br />
including SAT, PSAT, WAEC,<br />
UTME and many others.<br />
During sessions, we provide<br />
exercises and drills that develop<br />
test-taking skill, quick<br />
recall, and mitigate worry.<br />
Teacher quality is a<br />
major challenge and a<br />
contributor to failure rate.<br />
What criteria do you consider<br />
when recruiting<br />
teachers?<br />
There are three criteria<br />
which are of paramount<br />
importance when recruiting<br />
a Tutor Doctor tutor - 1)<br />
Proven academic qualifications<br />
to show an intimate<br />
knowledge of the subject or<br />
subjects the tutor is going<br />
to engage in. 2) A clear passion<br />
in being able to make a<br />
difference to the academic<br />
success of a young person.<br />
3) Excellent verbal and written<br />
communication skills in<br />
order to be able to build a<br />
solid relationship with the<br />
families they are working<br />
with.<br />
Give us an example of<br />
your success stories?<br />
There are thousands of<br />
success stories from those<br />
who have become high<br />
achievers to those who<br />
just needed help improving<br />
their grades so they<br />
could enter the next stage<br />
of their education journey<br />
and reach for their dreams.<br />
Tutor Doctor changes lives<br />
every day and these can be<br />
seen from our tens of thousands<br />
of positive testimonials<br />
we have received from<br />
parents across the world.<br />
Each year we honour our<br />
tutors through our Global<br />
Tutor of the Year Award. In<br />
<strong>2017</strong> nearly 500 tutors were<br />
nominated by families for<br />
their excellent work. Nominations<br />
were received from<br />
all corners of the globe.<br />
Do parents immediately<br />
warm up to the idea<br />
of a personal teacher?<br />
Our success story is a<br />
powerful one with parents,<br />
and also with schools, our<br />
tutors alongside our rigorous<br />
matching process help<br />
parents to see very quickly<br />
that our methodology<br />
makes a difference.<br />
Do you have regulatory<br />
challenges and how<br />
have you dealt with them<br />
so far?<br />
There are some regulations<br />
which have to be<br />
complied with but nothing<br />
out of the ordinary or challenging.<br />
You mentioned in an<br />
interview that you rely on<br />
the existing curriculum.<br />
Do you consider that<br />
enough in today’s digitally<br />
competitive world?<br />
The existing local curriculum<br />
which the student<br />
is studying is what we focus<br />
on because students are<br />
generally aiming to pass<br />
local exams with the best<br />
grades they can achieve.<br />
Of course, if we are asked<br />
to provide any other subject<br />
matter we are happy<br />
to do so and sometimes if<br />
the student has expressed<br />
his/her aspirations we will<br />
suggest enhanced learning<br />
opportunities<br />
Which level of education<br />
should be the primary<br />
focus of educational<br />
policies?<br />
Primary education<br />
should be the focus of educational<br />
policies as it forms<br />
the bedrock of academic<br />
knowledge.<br />
How do you deploy<br />
technology in teaching<br />
your students?<br />
Tutor Doctor supports<br />
the use of technology to<br />
deliver the very best tutorial<br />
in the appropriate circumstances.<br />
For example<br />
if the best match tutor is a<br />
large distance away from<br />
the student we would recommend<br />
to the parents that<br />
we provide the tuition using<br />
an online learning platform<br />
where student and tutor can<br />
interact together.<br />
Where do you see Tutor<br />
Doctor in the next ten<br />
years?<br />
Tutor Doctor will continue<br />
to grow in our existing<br />
markets as well as in<br />
new countries across the<br />
globe as the demand for<br />
supplementary education<br />
continues to rise and global<br />
employment opportunities<br />
become more competitive.<br />
We expect to have over 1000<br />
offices globally
16 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556 Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
BANKING<br />
In Association<br />
with<br />
Improving economy<br />
positive for banking sector<br />
Stories by<br />
HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE<br />
The economy<br />
which is beginning<br />
to recover<br />
from recession<br />
occasioned by<br />
drop in oil prices and foreign<br />
exchange shortage is<br />
seen to impact positively<br />
on the banking sector.<br />
There has been a record<br />
of improvement on the oil<br />
prices and production capacity.<br />
For instance, Brent<br />
oil traded at $53.86 per barrel<br />
as at Monday <strong>May</strong> 22,<br />
<strong>2017</strong> afternoon, extending<br />
gains as Saudi Arabia said<br />
all producers participating<br />
in output cuts have agreed<br />
on prolonging the deal till<br />
the end of the first quarter<br />
of next year.<br />
Also the naira/dollar<br />
exchange rate has recorded<br />
some improvement,<br />
How Fidelity Bank boosts savings with promo scheme<br />
The savings deposit<br />
base of Fidelity<br />
Bank plc has been<br />
enhanced since<br />
it began the promo draw<br />
initiative called “Get Alart<br />
in Millions”, aimed at encouraging<br />
savings culture<br />
and promoting financial<br />
inclusion.<br />
In its 8th monthly draw<br />
in the ‘get alert in million<br />
promo held last week, the<br />
bank gave out N11 million<br />
to six lucky customers and<br />
12 consolation prizes to<br />
18 winners.<br />
With this, the bank has<br />
given out a total of N84<br />
million to 128 winners<br />
with several consolation<br />
prizes since the inception<br />
Segun Ajibola, president/chairman, council, Chartered<br />
Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN)<br />
of the initiative in September<br />
last year.<br />
Customers who won<br />
N2 million each in the<br />
last draw include Latinwo<br />
Idowu Adefowope<br />
from Ota branch, Ogun<br />
State; Bonori Isa, a student<br />
of Afe Babalola University;<br />
Kafilat Olayinka<br />
Dada, a fashion designer<br />
of the bank’s Iyanu Ipaja<br />
branch; Saifullahi Ibrahim<br />
of Katsina branch<br />
and Onoyima Ejiofor,<br />
Okafor Francis and Mbah<br />
Innocent (joint account<br />
holders) from the bank’s<br />
Nnewi branch.<br />
Chijioke Ugochukwu,<br />
executive director, shared<br />
service and product, “We<br />
with the local currency<br />
presently trading at the<br />
rate of between N378 and<br />
N380 to the dollar from<br />
N520/$ sold in January<br />
and early February. This<br />
follows the intervention<br />
of the Central Bank of<br />
Nigeria (CBN) by way of<br />
increased dollar supply in<br />
the foreign exchange market<br />
as well as the creation<br />
of various forex windows<br />
to ease pressure on access<br />
to foreign exchange<br />
and to close the huge gap<br />
between the official and<br />
Bureau De Change (BDC)<br />
segment of the market.<br />
“I believe the economy<br />
is recovering fast from recession<br />
that it found its self<br />
in the last two years. The<br />
global oil market is recording<br />
some improvement<br />
and some other sectors<br />
of the economy are growing<br />
and making some new<br />
wave. All these put together,<br />
we expect some modest<br />
Nnamdi Okonkwo, managing director, Fidelity Bank<br />
improvement in the overall<br />
economy and when this<br />
happens it will be positive<br />
on the banking industry”,<br />
Segun Ajibola, president/<br />
chairman of council, Chartered<br />
Institute of Bankers of<br />
Nigeria (CIBN) said.<br />
Speaking with journalists<br />
in Lagos at the end of<br />
the annual general meeting<br />
of the Institute, Ajibola said,<br />
“as at today, there are a lot<br />
of challenges in the banking<br />
industry in the area of<br />
performance of borrowers<br />
in particular honouring<br />
their obligations as at when<br />
due and in other key performance<br />
indicators but as the<br />
economy improves, we expect<br />
that to rub positive on<br />
the Nigerian banking and<br />
financial institutions generally”.<br />
Looking at the performance<br />
of the Institute in<br />
2016, Ajibola said “the<br />
2016 is an improvement<br />
over the previous year, but<br />
are still working hard to<br />
make sure we make more<br />
millionaires. We are very<br />
excited and pleased that<br />
this is taking place under<br />
the watchful eyes of the<br />
lottery regulators.”<br />
Speaking further she<br />
said, “This is the best time<br />
to have a promo that gives<br />
out cash and several of<br />
the winners of both today<br />
and the past, have<br />
expressed a lot of joy and<br />
happiness that the winnings<br />
will make great different<br />
in their businesses,<br />
in their family lives, in all<br />
that they have proposed<br />
and planned to doing this<br />
years,”.<br />
She advised members<br />
we do know that the economy<br />
was challenged in<br />
2016. There were a lot of<br />
global developments that<br />
created disequilibrium in<br />
the economy but through<br />
some new initiatives, the<br />
doggedness of the leadership<br />
of the institute, and<br />
our courage into new areas<br />
and the activities of the<br />
institute, we were able to<br />
record some special improvement<br />
in all aspect of<br />
the institute life”.<br />
Seye Awojobi, Registrar/CEO<br />
of the Institute<br />
said the year 2016 was both<br />
challenging and rewarding,<br />
adding that the Institute<br />
weathered the storm with<br />
remarkable achievements.<br />
During the year under<br />
review, he said the membership<br />
of the Institute<br />
grew slightly from 118,802<br />
in 2015 to 122,680 in 2016<br />
representing an increase of<br />
3.26 percent.<br />
of the public to leverage<br />
the promo initiative to<br />
open account with the<br />
bank. According to her<br />
the bank would continue<br />
to introduce customer reward<br />
schemes to encourage<br />
loyal customers.<br />
To participate in the<br />
promo draw, you are required<br />
to open a savings<br />
account and grow it to<br />
N20, 000 or top up existing<br />
account with N10,<br />
000 or more to qualify for<br />
monthly draws to win up<br />
to N3 million. You can also<br />
grow your account balance<br />
by N50, 000 monthly<br />
to qualify for quarterly<br />
draws to win star prize of<br />
N5 million.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
Tax Digest<br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
17<br />
Nigeria’s economy seen hindering<br />
level of tax compliance<br />
IHEANYI NWACHUKWU<br />
The dwindling<br />
state of Nigerian<br />
economy and<br />
the present economic<br />
recession<br />
have hindered the level of<br />
tax compliance by individuals<br />
and organizations, said<br />
Ntiedo Umoren, immediate<br />
past dean of the Faculty of<br />
Business Administration,<br />
University of Uyo.<br />
The expert believes that<br />
when tax is managed properly,<br />
the economy grows at<br />
an acceptable pace, while<br />
social programmes that<br />
benefit the poor receive<br />
boosts to enhance quality<br />
living conditions for all.<br />
Umoren disclosed this<br />
in a paper titled “alignment<br />
of appropriate tax policy<br />
options with economic realities:<br />
the essence of business<br />
oriented and timely<br />
intervention”, he presented<br />
at the just concluded 19th<br />
annual tax conference of the<br />
Chartered Institute of Taxation<br />
of Nigeria (CITN) held<br />
in Abeokuta, Ogun State<br />
with the theme “Taxation<br />
and Governance: The Social<br />
Contract Imperatives”.<br />
According to him,<br />
“Where the income of individuals<br />
and organisations<br />
are negatively affected by<br />
external factors, tax evasion<br />
becomes a normal practice.”<br />
In the paper he presented,<br />
Umoren attempted to<br />
examine how a business oriented<br />
approach to taxation<br />
via qualitative tax policies<br />
can enhance an improved<br />
socio-economic environment<br />
for the benefit of the<br />
people. He discussed current<br />
tax policy options in<br />
Nigeria.<br />
“This practice affects<br />
government revenue and<br />
the provision of infrastructures.<br />
This also impairs<br />
government from the fulfil-<br />
ment of social contract to<br />
its citizens. Therefore, to establish<br />
the link between tax<br />
policies, socio-economic<br />
realities, there is the need<br />
to revisit the fundamental<br />
principles of taxation as<br />
advanced by Adam Smith,”<br />
Umoren noted.<br />
The professor opined<br />
that there can be no meaningful<br />
tax policy if the four<br />
doctrines (Canon of Equality,<br />
Canon of Certainty,<br />
Canon of Economy, and<br />
Canon of Convenience) are<br />
not satisfied.<br />
“Where taxes are assessed<br />
without any input<br />
from the taxpayer, it negates<br />
the provisions of the<br />
basic cannon of equality”,<br />
he added.<br />
He had noted that as a<br />
critical component of the<br />
global governance structure,<br />
taxes provide governments<br />
with a manipulative<br />
tool for national development.<br />
“It does not matter<br />
whether the government<br />
in power is conservative<br />
or liberal, it surely must<br />
tinker with taxes in order<br />
to develop a budget that<br />
matches that government’s<br />
developmental agenda”.<br />
“We have argued elsewhere<br />
(Umoren, 2015) that<br />
taxes drive economic progress,<br />
and provide social<br />
stability.<br />
There are ample theoretical<br />
and empirical evidence<br />
in the literature indicating<br />
that a strong historical,<br />
causal, and symptomatic<br />
relationship exists between<br />
the sustainability of effective<br />
taxation, good governance<br />
and social contract.<br />
However, in spite of the<br />
huge benefits derivable<br />
from taxation which is indeed<br />
a social contract with<br />
the people, the scarcity of<br />
money in the economy usually<br />
necessitates tax evasion<br />
among individuals<br />
and organizations”, Umoren<br />
stated.<br />
Psychology of taxpayers and voluntary tax compliance (1)<br />
FRANK UDEMBA JACOBS,<br />
MAN PRESIDENT<br />
Traditional economics<br />
postulated that<br />
voluntary tax compliance<br />
is determined by<br />
punitive measures in Tax laws<br />
aimed at deterring defaults.<br />
However, even as there have<br />
been many cases where tax<br />
defaulters have been severely<br />
punished by way of frozen<br />
accounts, seized landed property<br />
and at the extreme jail<br />
terms sentences; non-taxcompliance<br />
persists. It therefore<br />
follows that by implication<br />
punitive measures have<br />
failed to completely entrench<br />
voluntary compliance among<br />
taxpayers.<br />
To reiterate, the focus of<br />
this paper is to examine the<br />
influence of psychological<br />
factors on behaviour of taxpayers<br />
for compliance. Modern<br />
explanation of factors<br />
influencing tax compliance is<br />
predicated on the psychological<br />
perception of the taxpayers.<br />
This perception borders more<br />
on Political Government Accountability.<br />
Damayanthi in<br />
his study on “Psychological<br />
Factors that affect Tax Compliance”<br />
published in 2015 noted<br />
that the perception of political<br />
government accountability is<br />
categorized into social norms,<br />
public spending, perceived<br />
fairness on tax system and<br />
moral tax.<br />
Social Norms<br />
Sigala et al. in their study<br />
on “Tax Communication and<br />
Social Influence: Evidence<br />
from a British sample” published<br />
in 1999 noted that social<br />
norms are one of the most<br />
important predictors of Tax<br />
compliance. According to the<br />
study, by approval or disapproval,<br />
norm-following and<br />
norm-breaking are accepted<br />
in a society and individual<br />
behaviour is adjusted by the<br />
norms. There are two major<br />
levels at which social norms<br />
are built and they include Personal<br />
and Society levels. These<br />
norms are important determinants<br />
of tax compliance and<br />
are behavioral standards.<br />
Personal Norm presupposes<br />
that moral reasoning,<br />
values, religious beliefs, good<br />
upbringing as well as community<br />
values ensure voluntary<br />
tax compliance. Standards<br />
of behaviours such as honest<br />
personality, norm-dependency,<br />
or religious beliefs usually<br />
correlate with high Tax ethics<br />
and willingness to comply.<br />
Society norms also determine<br />
the level of voluntary<br />
tax compliance. Relationship<br />
between Tax payer and<br />
authorities as well as the Tax<br />
legislation represent the integrated<br />
cultural standards of<br />
societal norms. When a mutually<br />
beneficial understanding<br />
exists between the Tax payers<br />
and the authorities, compliance<br />
is achieved effortlessly.<br />
This can be related to the<br />
impasse currently brewing<br />
the Federal Inland Revenue<br />
Service and manufacturers<br />
who woke up to receive notices<br />
of Property Valuation and Assessment<br />
without any prior<br />
discussion and explanation.<br />
Of course manufacturers necessarily<br />
and justifiably kicked<br />
against it<br />
Fairness and Equity<br />
Fairness and equity of a<br />
tax system also impacts upon<br />
compliance levels. Perceived<br />
fairness of taxation has been<br />
found to strongly co-vary with<br />
compliance. Unfairness serves<br />
as rationalization and justification<br />
for tax non-compliance.<br />
A good tax system must be<br />
designed on the basis of an<br />
appropriate set of principles,<br />
such as equity or fairness and<br />
certainty. The most explicable<br />
requirement of equity or fairness<br />
is to treat equal people<br />
in equal circumstances in an<br />
equal way.<br />
Fair treatment of taxpayers<br />
and a culture of mutual<br />
understanding between tax<br />
authorities and taxpayers improve<br />
trust in authorities and<br />
enhance compliance.<br />
Tax Morale<br />
Tax morale is defined as the<br />
collective attitudes of a group<br />
or population to comply with<br />
tax law. Tax morale is linked<br />
to the motivational concept<br />
of civic duty. Tax morale and<br />
compliance is higher in countries<br />
characterized by high<br />
control of corruption, low size<br />
of bureaucracy and political<br />
stability. Richardson in his<br />
“Preliminary study of the impact<br />
of tax fairness perception<br />
dimensions on tax compliance<br />
behaviour in Australia”<br />
published in 2008 noted that<br />
low trust in tax authorities are<br />
correlated with high levels<br />
of tax evasion. Damayanthi<br />
also noted that ‘tax morale’<br />
has higher legitimacy for political<br />
institutions that has led<br />
to higher tax morale values.<br />
Compliance is therefore highest<br />
in countries characterized<br />
by high control of corruption<br />
and low size of bureaucracy.<br />
Generally, the tax attitude<br />
of taxpayers depends to a great<br />
extent on the ways tax revenue<br />
are collected and expended.<br />
It is found that if taxpayers<br />
perceive that the government<br />
is expending on something<br />
considered unnecessary or<br />
unbeneficial to the development<br />
of the country, taxpayers<br />
tend to avoid and attempt to<br />
evade tax. Taxpayer’s perceptions<br />
are potentially important<br />
in determining their compliance<br />
behaviours. In summary,<br />
the government should<br />
prudently spend taxpayers’<br />
money because the way in<br />
which the government spends<br />
the money influences levels of<br />
compliance.<br />
Overview of Tax Performance<br />
in Nigeria<br />
Tax plays a crucial role<br />
in the development of any<br />
economy in the context of<br />
revenue generation and tools<br />
for economic stabilization. As<br />
a revenue generator, it provides<br />
the Government with the<br />
needed funds to offer welfare<br />
services to the citizenry. Taxes<br />
and tax systems are, therefore,<br />
central to any effort to build a<br />
nation especially in the developing<br />
world.<br />
The key components of any<br />
tax system are tax policies and<br />
tax administration.<br />
This is an extract from<br />
the paper he presented at the<br />
just concluded 19th annual<br />
tax conference of the Chartered<br />
Institute of Taxation of<br />
Nigeria (CITN)
18<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
maritime<br />
Shipping Logistics Maritime e-Commerce<br />
business<br />
How pirate attacks, security concern threaten<br />
shipping activities in Eastern ports<br />
…As NIMASA moves to enhance safety of ships on Nigerian maritime domain<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
Stories by<br />
Uzoamaka Anagor-Ewuzie<br />
The Nigerian Ports<br />
Authority (NPA)<br />
Eastern Zone has<br />
indentified security<br />
concern caused<br />
by activities of pirates and<br />
sea robbers as a major challenge<br />
facing seaports in the<br />
South-South region, popularly<br />
known as the Eastern ports.<br />
Abubakar Garba Umar,<br />
port manager of Rivers Port<br />
Complex, who said in a statement<br />
issued at the weekend,<br />
that ‘issue of piracy attack and<br />
ensuring safety and security<br />
on the water ways’ are the immediate<br />
responsibilities of the<br />
Nigerian Maritime Administration<br />
and Safety Agency<br />
(NIMASA), also pointed to<br />
the need to increase security<br />
patrol of the water ways leading<br />
the ports in the Eastern<br />
region.<br />
The port manager, who<br />
recently paid a courtesy call<br />
to the port service comptroller<br />
of NIMASA, Umar Dachia<br />
with the aim of maintaining<br />
the existing cordial relationship<br />
between both agencies,<br />
stated that constant security<br />
patrol of the waterway gives<br />
ship owners the confidence<br />
of doing business in the port<br />
without having the fear of being<br />
attacked.<br />
“The attack of pirates on<br />
ships is a serious issue that<br />
affects the patronage of the<br />
port,” Umar pointed.<br />
Commending NIMASA’s<br />
effort in enhancing trade facilitation<br />
at the port, the NPA<br />
boss observed, that since he<br />
took over as the port manager,<br />
NPA has never received<br />
any complain of delay in<br />
ship clearance from shipping<br />
agents.<br />
This, according to him,<br />
shows that NIMASA recognises<br />
the issue of trade facilitation<br />
as one of its statutory<br />
responsibility that must be<br />
handled with keen attention.<br />
The NPA boss however<br />
solicited officials of NIMASA<br />
to put the authority on the<br />
known especially as regards<br />
to change of status of shipping<br />
Hadiza Bala Usman<br />
company by NIMASA.<br />
In his response, Dachia<br />
said that NIMASA has been<br />
trying in terms of security,<br />
and this led her to previously<br />
establish partnership with<br />
the Global Vessel to provide<br />
the agency with platform<br />
for the patrol of the nation’s<br />
maritime domain, which the<br />
agency has terminated and<br />
looking for new options to<br />
ensure that the waterways are<br />
constantly in check. NIMASA<br />
also signed Memorandum of<br />
Understanding (MoU) with<br />
the Nigerian Navy to patrol<br />
the water ways.<br />
Dachia promised to put<br />
his men on the right track<br />
of ensuring that whenever<br />
there is change in the<br />
documentation procedure<br />
as it covers ship clearance<br />
and operations, the Port<br />
Manager should be given<br />
first-hand information. He<br />
promised to bring up all<br />
the challenges and issues<br />
brought up by the NPA to the<br />
management of NIMASA at<br />
the headquarters.<br />
In a related development,<br />
Dakuku Peterside, the director<br />
general of the NIMASA<br />
has assured Nigerians and<br />
the international maritime<br />
community that the Federal<br />
Government is leaving no<br />
stone unturned in tackling the<br />
menace of piracy and other<br />
illicit crimes on the nation’s<br />
territorial waters.<br />
He disclosed that the Federal<br />
Government recently approved<br />
for the procurement of<br />
three helicopters and 12 fast<br />
intervention vessels to ensure<br />
coastal and aerial surveillance<br />
as well as constant patrol<br />
of the Nigerian maritime<br />
domain by the Nigerian Navy<br />
and the NIMASA team.<br />
Stating that piracy was<br />
not on the increase in the<br />
Nigerian waters and the Gulf<br />
of Guinea, Peterside noted<br />
that inter agency and regional<br />
cooperation through bilateral<br />
agreements as well as effective<br />
maritime domain awareness<br />
and strong legislation to<br />
criminalise and punish pirate,<br />
have become fundamental in<br />
addressing the challenges.<br />
Also, Abdulsalam Suleiman,<br />
director, Legal Services<br />
of NIMASA said recently in<br />
a statement issued by the<br />
agency that NIMASA is presently<br />
working with the Federal<br />
Ministry of Justice to<br />
finalise the bill and has the<br />
assurances of the National<br />
Assembly of the expeditious<br />
passage of the bill into law<br />
within the shortest possible<br />
time to strengthen Nigeria’s<br />
anti piracy crusade.<br />
Recall that as part of its<br />
commitment to fighting<br />
piracy and other maritime<br />
related crimes, the Federal<br />
Government approved the<br />
sum of $186 million for the<br />
acquisition of the above mentioned<br />
maritime security<br />
infrastructure.<br />
Osikoya says diversity, inclusion drive innovation<br />
at world’s biggest shipping firm, Maersk Group<br />
The priority attention<br />
accorded to the concept<br />
of diversity and<br />
inclusion has become<br />
critical to driving innovation at<br />
the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group,<br />
Rachel Osikoya, head, Diversity<br />
and Inclusion of theMaersk<br />
Group says.<br />
“At Maersk we are focusing<br />
specifically on diversity<br />
in terms of gender, nationality<br />
and age. Generational<br />
diversity is something a lot of<br />
companies are looking at now.<br />
It is also about how you think,<br />
how you solve problems, what<br />
difference you bring to the<br />
organisation,” said Osikoya,<br />
who was in Lagos recently for<br />
a women leadership development<br />
programme.<br />
According to her, diversity<br />
is about understanding and<br />
managing differences at the<br />
workplace. “If we have the<br />
same particular set of people<br />
in an organisation, we are<br />
never going to innovate or<br />
come up with new ideas. We<br />
are going to be doing things<br />
in the same way every time<br />
and in our industry, things<br />
are changing rapidly. So, we<br />
need to have that diversity in<br />
our organisation to compete<br />
successfully,” she added.<br />
According to her, there<br />
Rachel Osikoya<br />
is need to have leaders or<br />
managers who would bring in<br />
those different ideas and enable<br />
people to be able to use<br />
that diversity for the benefit of<br />
the organisation. “The inclusion<br />
phase is how you make<br />
the diversity work. So, we see<br />
it as a competitive advantage<br />
for Maersk.”<br />
She said to increase the<br />
retention rate of women in<br />
the organisation, a new policy<br />
which allows female staff enjoy<br />
18 weeks of maternity leave on<br />
full pay after childbirth came<br />
into effect from April 4, 2016.<br />
“The maternity policy also<br />
includes a phased reintegration<br />
to work for all onshore<br />
employees.<br />
“We are still measuring<br />
the impact of the maternity<br />
policy because it has just been<br />
a year but what we are seeing<br />
is an increase in the retention<br />
of women, which is what we<br />
want. The policy gives the<br />
mother the time to bond with<br />
the child and be ready to come<br />
back to work.<br />
Also, she observed that the<br />
Group saw that the policy will<br />
enable to retain roughly about<br />
70 percent of females after<br />
maternity leave because 80<br />
percent of the women that left<br />
did so in the first 12 months,<br />
which is the most critical period<br />
in retaining new mothers.<br />
“Integration back into<br />
work after a maternity leave<br />
is important and it helps to<br />
provide a little flexibility for<br />
the employee coming back,”<br />
Osikoya said.<br />
She said the Maersk Group<br />
has received positive feedback<br />
from its staff on the new maternity<br />
policy.<br />
“We have heard positive<br />
response from the female<br />
staff and even the male staff<br />
commenting on how good<br />
the maternity leave was for<br />
women. So, we had positive<br />
response from employees<br />
and a good response from our<br />
Human Resource team as well<br />
who implemented the policy<br />
across the 130 countries,” she<br />
added.<br />
SIFAX Haulage, SAHCOL get award for outstanding service delivery<br />
SIFAX Haulage and<br />
Logistics Limited and<br />
the Skyway Aviation<br />
Handling Company<br />
Limited (SAHCOL), of the SI-<br />
FAX Group, have received two<br />
major recognitions for delivery<br />
outstanding services in<br />
the nation’s transport sector.<br />
SIFAX Haulage and Logistics<br />
Limited received ‘the<br />
Haulage & Logistics Company<br />
of the Year’ while SAHCOL<br />
clinched ‘the Aviation Handling<br />
Company of the Year’<br />
at the fifth Nigeria Transport<br />
Awards held in Lagos.<br />
The award, Frank Kintum,<br />
editor-in-chief of Transport<br />
Day Newspaper said, was<br />
in recognition of the SIFAX<br />
contribution to the development<br />
of the industry, which<br />
is expected to spur competition<br />
and excellence service<br />
delivery in the sector.<br />
Henry Ajetunmobi, executive<br />
director of SIFAX Haulage<br />
said the award was in recognition<br />
of the hard work and<br />
innovation the company’s<br />
management and staffs have<br />
put in over the last one year.<br />
“The company has worked<br />
assiduously over the years to<br />
build a haulage company that<br />
is reliable, efficient and customer-focused.<br />
Our driving<br />
force is the desire to surpass<br />
the expectations of our client,<br />
no matter how high they are,”<br />
he added.<br />
While appreciating the<br />
organisers for the award, Basil<br />
Agboarumi, general manager,<br />
Corporate Communication<br />
of SAHCOL assured that the<br />
company would strive to<br />
maintain the high standards<br />
that it has set for itself.<br />
The Nigeria Transport<br />
Awards is an annual event<br />
designed to reward deserving<br />
companies that have shown<br />
diligence, innovation and<br />
excellence in the logistics<br />
industry.<br />
L-R: Afolasade Ekundayo, client relationship officer; Olusola Ajayi, assistant general manager;<br />
Henry Ajetunmobi (rtd), executive director, all of SIFAX Haulage and Logistics; Basil Agboarumi,<br />
general manager, Corporate Communications, Skyway Aviation Handling Company of Nigeria<br />
(SAHCOL), a subsidiary of SIFAX Group and Olumuyiwa Akande, corporate affairs manager,<br />
SIFAX Group at the 5th Nigeria Transport Awards held in Lagos recently.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 19<br />
E-mail: ag@businessdayonline.com<br />
AGRIC<br />
BUSINESS<br />
6 cocoa processors owe Nigerian banks N50bn<br />
…cocoa value addition on the decline<br />
Stories by JOSEPHINE OKOJIE<br />
Nigeria’s cocoa processing<br />
industry has been<br />
choked by a N50 billion<br />
debt it owed commercial<br />
banks operators in the<br />
country.<br />
This has led to a decline in the<br />
country’s value addition in recent years<br />
and resulting to a $2 billion annual loss,<br />
industry sources say.<br />
Key players in the industry who<br />
spoke with <strong>BusinessDay</strong> said unless<br />
there is a well-defined policy for<br />
processing of agricultural commodities,<br />
the country would continue to exports<br />
it jobs and lose revenue it would have<br />
generated through value addition.<br />
“Most of the indigenous cocoa<br />
processors are really under the heavy<br />
weight of debt and that why none is<br />
operating at full capacity today. The total<br />
debt in the industry today is not less that<br />
N50billipn between six processors,”<br />
said Akin Olusuyi, chairman, Cocoa<br />
Processors Association of Nigeria<br />
(COPAN) during a press briefing with<br />
journalists in Lagos recently.<br />
“We have a total of eight cocoa<br />
processing firms in the country with<br />
only 2 functional. The two that are<br />
functional now are foreigner owned.<br />
There is no indigenous processor that<br />
is functioning now as we speak,” said<br />
Olusuyi who is also the chief executive<br />
officer of Ile Oluji Nigeria Limited.<br />
He stated that the total installed<br />
capacity of cocoa processing plants in<br />
the country is 270,000 metric tonnes<br />
but cumulatively, the industry is<br />
operating below 15 percent capacity<br />
currently.<br />
Nigeria, world’s fourth largest<br />
cocoa producer and supplier, saw the<br />
value of its global supply decline by 23.4<br />
percent from <strong>24</strong>8,000 metric tonnes<br />
in 2014 to 190,000 tonnes in 2015,<br />
according to the International Cocoa<br />
Organisation (ICCO) in its latest data<br />
on global production.<br />
According to COPAN, the debt<br />
incurred by the industry was as a result<br />
of the harsh operating environment in<br />
the country and the inability to secure<br />
loans at single digit interest rate.<br />
“An average borrowing cost to any<br />
cocoa processors by any bank in the<br />
country is 25 percent interest rate,<br />
when processors in Ivory Coast and<br />
Ghana obtain loans at single digit. How<br />
can we be competitive?” asked Akin<br />
Laoye, executive director, FTN Cocoa<br />
Processors PLC.<br />
“We are yet to access the EEG that<br />
was designed to cushion structural<br />
misalignment in our economy since<br />
2013. Since last year we have been<br />
given approval by NEXIM and our<br />
banks but we are yet to get it,” said<br />
Laoye.<br />
According to Olusuyi who was<br />
earlier quoted, the government has<br />
failed to provide a clear cut policy<br />
direction as to what it intends to<br />
do in terms of industrialising the<br />
economy through processing of agro<br />
commodities.<br />
“This why our agriculture has<br />
remained at the rudimentary stage<br />
because the active players that take<br />
the commodity from the farmers do<br />
not add any value by processing it,”<br />
he added.<br />
He noted that Nigeria cannot<br />
develop without developing agriculture<br />
to include processing. “The direction to<br />
economic growth is industrialisation<br />
and not the exporting of raw agric<br />
commodities,” he further stated.<br />
Similarly, another challenge facing<br />
the sector is the crisis rocking the 65,000<br />
capacity Multritrex Integrated, the<br />
country’s largest cocoa processor, which<br />
has cut industry production by over 26<br />
percent, according to calculations.<br />
Multritrex was shut down by the<br />
Asset Management Corporation of<br />
Nigeria (AMNCON) over N5 billion<br />
debt.<br />
The company officials told<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> that though firm had<br />
been handed over to a new receivership,<br />
production was at the peripheral level.<br />
“Since AMCON took over Multitrex<br />
Foods, nothing meaningful has been<br />
achieved. The best option is to work<br />
out a plan so that the business can<br />
continue,” Olusuyi said.<br />
On the global scale, cocoa grinding<br />
has been on the increase. “The<br />
grindings picture worldwide for the<br />
first quarter of the current cocoa season<br />
reflected a considerable increase,<br />
with Asian grindings data showing a<br />
19.2 percent year-on-year increase to<br />
177,450 tonnes,” data from ICCO latest<br />
cocoa monthly report show.<br />
Abx World launches solar powered farmers’ mart<br />
…to address postharvest loss<br />
Abx World Nigeria Limited,<br />
a working partner of the<br />
Global Good Agricultural<br />
Practice (GAP), has<br />
launched a solar powered farmers’<br />
mart equipped with freezers<br />
and refrigerator with embedded<br />
interactive mobile application<br />
using the Internet of Things (IoT)<br />
solutions.<br />
The farmers’ mart will<br />
revolutionalise the country’s<br />
agricultural supply chain and<br />
address the issue of postharvest<br />
losses in fresh fruits and vegetables.<br />
The solar powered mart which<br />
is called the Abxworld Farmers<br />
Market can be strategically<br />
deployed in streets across the<br />
country.<br />
John Okakpu, managing<br />
director and chief executive<br />
officer, ABX World, disclosed<br />
this to journalist during the<br />
Food West Africa event held in<br />
Lagos recently. He stated that the<br />
project which will soon enter large<br />
scale implementations is a good<br />
initiative to create a vibrant IoT<br />
ecosystem full of opportunities<br />
and benefits for farmers and end<br />
users.<br />
The project pioneers have<br />
provided insights into a manifold<br />
of dimensions that are relevant<br />
for medium-term market<br />
deployment, such as economic<br />
conditions, technical feasibility,<br />
farmer adoption, industrial<br />
value for key players, consumers<br />
and society expectations, and<br />
scalability of the solutions to<br />
meet immediate environmental<br />
sanitation.<br />
According to Okakpu, with 82<br />
million hectares of arable and over<br />
70 million estimated farmers in<br />
the country, Nigeria has no reason<br />
for the high rate of unemployment.<br />
“The Food and Agricultural<br />
Organisation (FAO) report that<br />
one third (1/3) of the global<br />
agricultural produce which<br />
roughly stands at an estimated<br />
1.3 billion tons of food is wasted<br />
annually and mainly because such<br />
foods are simply not available at<br />
the locations where they are badly<br />
needed. We want to ensure this<br />
is eliminated in Nigeria through<br />
abxworld’s famers’ market,” he<br />
said.<br />
“Through the app integrated<br />
to the freezer and refrigerator it<br />
will enable easy for monitoring.<br />
There are a number of innovations<br />
and opportunities this project will<br />
create, particularly in creating<br />
employment. Nigeria has no<br />
reason being poor,” Okakpu added.<br />
The managing director assured<br />
that states will also benefit from<br />
the scheme as they are targeting<br />
50-100 tons per state daily when<br />
fully implemented.<br />
“We will also keep the state<br />
clean through the program under<br />
Global GAP,” he said, adding that<br />
the farmers’ market can easily be<br />
mounted and dismounted at any<br />
location while the farm products<br />
are hygienically packaged for the<br />
consumer.<br />
Okakpu further charged<br />
Government at different levels to<br />
speed up processes for training of<br />
local farmers in line with modern<br />
trends while assisting them to<br />
export their products.<br />
This, he said, is a sure way to<br />
grow the economy especially the<br />
foreign exchange market.
20 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
AGRIC<br />
BUSINESS<br />
Expert lists strategies to resolve<br />
herdsmen/farmers conflicts<br />
RAZAQ AYINLA, ABEOKUTA<br />
Olufemi Onifade,<br />
professor of forage<br />
agronomy and<br />
utilisation at the<br />
Federal University of<br />
Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB)<br />
has said that a national herd<br />
count and upgrade of gazetted<br />
112 grazing reserves located in 17<br />
states of Nigeria will be panacea<br />
to the frequent conflicts between<br />
herdsmen and farmers in the<br />
country.<br />
Onifade, who attributed<br />
incessant conflicts between<br />
herdsmen and farmers to<br />
government’s neglect of ranches<br />
and grazing reserves, failure to<br />
conduct herd count, inadequate<br />
departments of pasture and<br />
range management in tertiary<br />
institutions, among others, urging<br />
government to work in partnership<br />
with private sector to provide<br />
urgent solutions for the challenges<br />
identified.<br />
Delivering the 53rd FUNAAB<br />
Inaugural Lecture tagged, “Grasses:<br />
Production and Management for<br />
Sustainable Livestock Industry”<br />
at the institution main Auditorium<br />
in Abeokuta recently, Onifade said<br />
that Nigeria is better blessed in<br />
Aller Aqua trains fish farmers on<br />
proper feed management strategy<br />
JOSEPHINE OKOJIE<br />
Nigeria’s target of<br />
achieving selfsufficiency<br />
in fish<br />
production has<br />
received a boost as Aller Aqua<br />
Limited has trained over 1000<br />
catfish and tilapia farmers on<br />
proper feed management to<br />
boost local production and<br />
reduce the country’s annual<br />
import bill of N238 billion.<br />
“The training is focused<br />
on increasing efficiency and<br />
production of fish farmers<br />
using efficient fish conversion,”<br />
said Dada Folusho, regional<br />
sales manager, Aller Aqua<br />
Nigeria Limited during one<br />
of the training programme at<br />
Agege in Lagos recently.<br />
“With this, a catfish<br />
farmer with 1,200 pieces of<br />
fish can make <strong>24</strong>.7 percent<br />
profit margins, having three<br />
production cycles of four<br />
months each and a tilapia<br />
farmer with same pieces of fish<br />
will have 37.5 percent profits,”<br />
Folusho said.<br />
Nigeria’s total annual fish<br />
terms of lush vegetation and land<br />
mass than having issues as regards<br />
conflict between herdsmen and<br />
framers, but for government’s<br />
failure to put things in order.<br />
The Professor noted that<br />
although harsh climatic condition<br />
and varied rainy days from less<br />
than 90 days in the north to 365<br />
days in the swampy southern<br />
areas have prompted southwards<br />
drift and subsequent destructive<br />
actions of herdsmen and<br />
pastoralists on crops which usually<br />
lead to conflicts.<br />
“As the growing season comes<br />
to an end in the semi-arid zone,<br />
southward movement of livestock<br />
in search of green pasture begins.<br />
The 112 grazing reserves gazetted<br />
by some state governments out<br />
of 415 earmarked to cater for the<br />
settling of pastoralists and for<br />
livestock production have been<br />
encroached upon and degraded.<br />
“These reserves were<br />
established based on the<br />
Grazing Reserve Law of 1965.<br />
The vegetation in the reserves<br />
has further deteriorated with the<br />
presence of unpalatable plants,<br />
bare ground and less tree canopy.<br />
In addition, facilities such as<br />
water dams, clinics, schools in<br />
most of the reserves are no longer<br />
functional.<br />
demand is put at 2.7 million<br />
metric tons (MT), while the<br />
country produces only 800,000<br />
MT, leaving a gap of 1.9 million<br />
MT annually, according to data<br />
obtained from the country’s<br />
agricultural road map.<br />
This yawning gap is filled<br />
with fish imports estimated at<br />
about N238 billion (US$625m),<br />
which erodes Nigeria’s<br />
chances of diversification in<br />
the face of FX scarcity.<br />
Also, speaking to<br />
journalists during the<br />
training, Tiamiyu Nurudeen,<br />
managing director, Amolese<br />
Aquaculture Nigeria Limited<br />
said “the essence of this<br />
training is that we want<br />
farmers to understand<br />
better the mechanism of<br />
aquaculture; the feeding<br />
regime and rate, timing<br />
because fish farming is<br />
science and that is the<br />
mistake a lot of farmers are<br />
making thinking it is just a<br />
backyard farming.”<br />
“An average fish farmer<br />
should keep abreast with<br />
knowledge and that is what<br />
L-R: Kashim Shettima, Governor of Borno State; Kenton Dasiell, deputy director general, Partnerships for Delivery at IITA and<br />
Olusegun Obasanjo, IITA ambassador and former president of Nigeria, during the donation of 35,930 kilograms of seeds and 2640<br />
kilograms of rice to Borno State government recently in Maiduguri.<br />
“Concerted efforts by state<br />
governments on the renovation of<br />
this resource base to ‘carry’ more<br />
livestock will, to a greater extent,<br />
reduce unwarranted movement,<br />
number of animals seeking greener<br />
pastures led by pastoralists, an<br />
action which usually results in<br />
conflicts. The renovation of grazing<br />
reserves will necessitate reduction<br />
Aller Aqua is doing today.<br />
Farmers need to get more<br />
abreast of new technologies<br />
and new ideas to be more<br />
profitable,” Nurudeen said.<br />
Farmers blamed the failure<br />
of the country to tremendously<br />
increase its fish production in<br />
recent years on the high cost<br />
of quality fish feeds as a result<br />
of FX volatility which has<br />
constrained the importation<br />
of feeds, while also hurting<br />
the fish farming business.<br />
“The major challenge in<br />
a culture today is that the<br />
industry is highly dependent<br />
on import for its fish feed,<br />
which consists test 75 percent<br />
of total cost,” said Nurudeen<br />
who is also the national vice<br />
president Tilapia Aquaculture<br />
Developers Association of<br />
Nigeria (TADAN).<br />
“Now the prices are high<br />
and the margins are smaller<br />
because we spend more on fish<br />
feeds and this is why smuggling<br />
will not stop because it is<br />
cheaper,” he added.<br />
The training took place in<br />
Ikorodu, Agege and Ibadan.<br />
in number of animals or sales of<br />
bulls for fattening.<br />
“The need to take another<br />
count of the National herd is<br />
urgent to enable proper planning<br />
of resources for the development<br />
of the livestock industry. Lastly, to<br />
effectively monitor the status and<br />
development of fodder resources<br />
in the reserves and across<br />
Kogi seeks World Bank assistance<br />
to boost rice production<br />
VICTORIA NNAKIAIKE, LOKOJA<br />
The Kogi State government<br />
is seeking the assistance<br />
of the World Bank through<br />
its FADAMA 111 AF project<br />
to boost its rice production and<br />
become the largest rice producer<br />
in the north-central region of the<br />
country.<br />
This was disclosed by Kehinde<br />
Oloruntoba, commissioner of<br />
agriculture in the state during a<br />
visit by a team from the FADAMA<br />
111 project in Kogi recently.<br />
According to Oloruntoba the<br />
intervention would enable the<br />
state to attain its desired target of<br />
becoming the largest producer of<br />
rice in the North Central region and<br />
help address youth unemployment<br />
in the state.<br />
“We have just completed<br />
arrangement with a private<br />
investor who will be siting a rice<br />
mill of 50 tons per day at Omi in<br />
Yagba West Local Government of<br />
the state,” he said.<br />
“The Federal Government has<br />
also promised us another 50 tons<br />
rice mill in Ibaji and so, we must<br />
upscale our rice cultivation to<br />
produce paddy rice to feed these<br />
mills,” he added.<br />
the country, and Institute for<br />
Grassland and Pasture Research<br />
should be established”, he said.<br />
While urging Nigeria<br />
government to upgrade gazetted<br />
112 grazing reserves in 17 states,<br />
totalling 956,738 hectares and<br />
possibly, establish more reserves,<br />
he urged the National Universities<br />
Commission to facilitate creation<br />
Adetunji Oredipe, task team<br />
leader, FADAMA III AF in the state,<br />
said the mid-term review mission<br />
team was in the state to re-assess<br />
the intervention programme by<br />
finding answers to some salient<br />
questions on its activities.<br />
“Kogi signed a subsidiary<br />
agreement to access $20 million<br />
but had so far only drawn $3<br />
million for its intervention<br />
projects,” Oredipe said.<br />
He explained that there is still<br />
a window of opportunity to access<br />
the fund with the extension of the<br />
programme by eight months for<br />
the benefit of the devastated North<br />
East states.<br />
The team leader solicited the<br />
support of the government for the<br />
success of the FADAMA projects<br />
in the state by waiving the new<br />
order for all MDAs to operate<br />
on the Single Treasury Account<br />
(TSA) saying that the practice<br />
would impede progress of the<br />
programme.<br />
Oredipe said the four-day midterm<br />
review would enable the<br />
team address issues of assumption<br />
of the success or otherwise of<br />
the programme in the state and<br />
identify specific areas that required<br />
modification or outright overhaul.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
21<br />
InsuranceToday<br />
E-mail: insurancetoday@businessdayonline.com<br />
C002D5556<br />
L-R: Adewale Kadri, head, Non-Life Business; Babatunde Fajemirokun , executive director;<br />
Edwin Igbiti, managing director/CEO and Ayodele Bamidele, chief financial officer all of<br />
AIICO Insurance Plc at the Company’s Pre AGM Press briefing in Lagos.<br />
L-R: Bode Akinboye, group managing director, Standard Alliance Insurance Plc; Alex Brown,<br />
Duncan Thomson; Ahmed Salawudeen; Nick Brown; Zainab Bakare and Biodun Jegede at a<br />
meeting with SA Insurance foreign reinsurance consultants in Lagos<br />
‘African insurance to remain<br />
on growth trajectory despite<br />
economic headwinds’<br />
Modestus Anaesoronye<br />
The potential for growth of<br />
insurance in the African<br />
continent remains huge on<br />
back of young, growing and<br />
more affluent population as well as<br />
investments in infrastructure and<br />
exploitation of the continent’s raw<br />
materials, experts have said.<br />
According to the 2nd Africa Insurance<br />
Barometer, launched Monday<br />
at the 44th AIO Conference & General<br />
Assembly in Kampala, Uganda,<br />
Africa’s insurers remain upbeat<br />
about the prospects of their markets.<br />
The 29 senior executives from<br />
regional and international insurers,<br />
reinsurers and brokers polled for<br />
this year’s survey contend that the<br />
young, growing and more affluent<br />
population as well as investments in<br />
infrastructure and exploitation of the<br />
continent’s raw materials will drive<br />
demand for insurance protection.<br />
However, the executives posit that<br />
inadequately harmonised regulatory<br />
frameworks across the continent,<br />
which frequently are poorly<br />
enforced, as well as the persistent<br />
lack in skills and local talents remain<br />
the industry’s soft spots. Furthermore<br />
– unless the regulators take<br />
action – many African insurers are<br />
insufficiently capitalized and lack<br />
financial stability, which could<br />
dampen consumer confidence.<br />
“The Africa Insurance Barometer<br />
provides a comprehensive overview<br />
of the current state and future<br />
prospects of the $ 64 billion African<br />
insurance market,” says Prisca<br />
Soares, the secretary general of the<br />
African Insurance Organisation.<br />
“The executives interviewed for this<br />
year’s edition expect the underlying<br />
market fundamentals to prevail over<br />
the economic decline that many<br />
markets witnessed in 2016. A majority<br />
of our interviewees assume that<br />
premiums will outgrow GDP. Africa’s<br />
insurance penetration, which currently<br />
stands at 2.9 percent or less<br />
than half of the global average, will<br />
translate into accelerated premium<br />
growth – provided global demand<br />
and commodity prices continue to<br />
bounce back in <strong>2017</strong> and 2018.”<br />
Due to new technology, in particular<br />
mobile telephones and the<br />
internet, a broader array of products<br />
and distribution channels is available<br />
to access the continent’s corporate<br />
and partly untapped consumer<br />
base, including its growing middle<br />
class. However, adequate regulation<br />
is needed to control and facilitate<br />
the market’s expansion. Some requirements<br />
tightened in the past<br />
year. But interviewees are also concerned<br />
about overregulation with<br />
a tendency to burdening insurers<br />
with additional cost, complexity and<br />
incoherent regulatory enactment.<br />
Pressure on insurance rates is<br />
most pronounced among Africa’s<br />
commoditized commercial lines of<br />
business, where barriers to entry are<br />
low and customers are insurancesavvy,<br />
opportunistic and fight for<br />
the best price. Obviously, noncommoditized<br />
lines, which require<br />
a high specialization, are able to<br />
escape from some of the pricing<br />
pressure. As a result, interviewees<br />
predict that rates will remain subdued<br />
over the next twelve months.<br />
Profitability still benefits from the<br />
adequate original pricing of the risks,<br />
but declining rates, inflation and<br />
claims costs reduce margins.<br />
In personal lines rates are more<br />
favourable. While access to the<br />
market is more complex and policyholders<br />
act less opportunistically,<br />
insurers try to control more of the<br />
value chain themselves. Profitability<br />
also fares better than in commercial<br />
lines, although claims inflation and<br />
a depressed economy negatively affect<br />
the bottom line. Going forward<br />
almost 80 percent of interviewees<br />
predict stable or even rising profits,<br />
as personal lines are viewed as less<br />
volatile and exposed to cutthroat<br />
competition.<br />
According to 70 percent of executives,<br />
access to local skills and talent<br />
is a challenge for African insurers.<br />
While expertise is generally hard to<br />
come by in small markets, specialists,<br />
such as actuaries, are scarce<br />
even in the more populous markets.<br />
As know-how is missing to develop<br />
and introduce new products, capital<br />
is invested in mainstream solutions,<br />
further aggravating the fierce<br />
competition in those segments.<br />
Interviewees expect a further concentration<br />
of Africa’s insurance<br />
industry, driven by heightened competition,<br />
regulatory pressure and the<br />
economic downturn. While regional<br />
or international insurers increase<br />
their footprint through acquisitions,<br />
smaller insurers might choose to exit<br />
the market. As regulators force them<br />
to strengthen their capital base, they<br />
struggle to survive in an environment<br />
of anaemic top line growth,<br />
high claims, currency devaluation<br />
and inflationary pressure.<br />
PFA list steps to include informal<br />
sector into pension scheme<br />
Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers<br />
Limited has outlined<br />
four vital measures<br />
needed to bring the country’s<br />
huge informal sector into<br />
the formal pension system. These<br />
are awareness and collaboration<br />
with key associations and unions;<br />
tax incentives and guarantee;<br />
seamless registration and service<br />
delivery.<br />
Eric Fajemisin, chief executive,<br />
Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers<br />
Limited, said these steps<br />
would attract a sizeable chunk<br />
of the estimated 38 million<br />
workers in the informal sector<br />
and significantly boost the<br />
reported eight million people<br />
currently registered under the<br />
Contributory Pension System<br />
(CPS). Accounting for about 60<br />
percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic<br />
Product and employing<br />
over 90 percent of its workforce,<br />
the informal sector is largely insignificant<br />
in the CPS.<br />
Fajemisin made the remark in<br />
Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at an<br />
employers’ forum organized by the<br />
PFA to encourage participation in<br />
the pension scheme.<br />
Fajemisin, who was represented<br />
by Oladele Sotubo, executive<br />
director, Investments said it is imperative<br />
to raise the level of awareness<br />
through major informal sector<br />
associations and unions due<br />
to the prominent role they play in<br />
the sector. In addition, endorsements<br />
from these unions will help<br />
to motivate members and build<br />
the requisite trust in the pension<br />
scheme.<br />
The on-boarding process for<br />
the informal sector customers’<br />
needs to be flexible and devoid of<br />
any form of complexity, Fajemisin<br />
said, adding that this objective can<br />
be achieved through the adoption<br />
of a unique identifier like BVN and<br />
the use of mobile technology for<br />
registration, collection and benefit<br />
payment.<br />
‘Kwara not owing pensions, salaries’<br />
Kwara State is fully up to<br />
date with payment of<br />
pension and salaries to its<br />
pensioners and workers<br />
despite the economic situation in<br />
the country.<br />
Muyideen Akorede, senior special<br />
Assistant on Media and Communication<br />
to Kwara State Governor,<br />
who made this known in an<br />
interview with journalists, said the<br />
governor was able to achieve this<br />
through intense reform of Internally<br />
Generated Revenue (IGR) of the<br />
state and cutting down the cost of<br />
governance by 40 per cent.<br />
He stressed that contrary to reports<br />
in a newspaper that the state<br />
is owing 11 months salaries and<br />
pensions, the State does not have<br />
any pension or salary arrears.<br />
He disclosed that the only arrears<br />
are with workers and pensioners<br />
at the local government<br />
level which have a separate allocation<br />
from the federal government.<br />
He said the local governments<br />
are also not owing 11 months as<br />
speculated but only have various<br />
degrees of arrears of one and half<br />
month, 3 months or 6 months depending<br />
on the IGR capacity and<br />
the allocation.<br />
Akorede further explained that<br />
the local government is a different<br />
tier of government and, with special<br />
regards to the case of Kwara<br />
state, is autonomous.<br />
“The state government is not<br />
owing pensions or salaries except<br />
for local governments which are a<br />
different tier of government and,<br />
with special regards to the case of<br />
Kwara state, are autonomous. Their<br />
funds by law come through the<br />
state and are allocated publicly by<br />
a body comprising the chairmen of<br />
the local governments, their treasurers<br />
and the state commissioner<br />
for finance as well as labor leaders.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
22 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
InsuranceToday<br />
E-mail: insurancetoday@businessdayonline.com<br />
Wapic Smart Wealth<br />
Plan targets to raise<br />
financially smart citizens<br />
L-R: Segun Balogun, managing director/CEO, LASACO Assurance Plc; Babatunde Rotinwa, chairman, Local Government<br />
Service Commission and Musliu Folami, commissioner, Ministry of Local Government & Community Affairs at the presentation<br />
of death benefit cheques from LASACO Assurance Plc to beneficiaries of deceased employees of Lagos State.<br />
As part of its vision<br />
to ensure that financially<br />
smart<br />
citizens are raised<br />
in the society, Wapic Insurance<br />
has introduced yet<br />
another ground breaking<br />
insurance product under<br />
the umbrella of SMART Plan<br />
known as the Wapic Smart<br />
Wealth Plan.<br />
Speaking at the launch of<br />
the product, Oroma Ovunda-Nsirim<br />
of the corporate<br />
communications unit,<br />
Wapic Insurance noted that<br />
this is an insurance solution<br />
that provides one, the opportunity<br />
of investment and<br />
embedded insurance protection<br />
against the risks of<br />
demise. The insurance premium<br />
is deducted within<br />
the period of investment but<br />
insurance cover is for life<br />
even when you have taken<br />
the maturity proceeds.<br />
Wapic Smart Wealth Plan<br />
provides you, in addition,<br />
the benefit of an insurance<br />
cover for life even when premium<br />
is deducted from your<br />
contribution only within the<br />
investment period.<br />
She further noted that<br />
more benefits of the products<br />
as: Enjoy life cover beyond<br />
duration of the policy,<br />
Return on Investment: Flexible<br />
but high (linked to FGN<br />
Bonds), Critical Illness Benefit:<br />
Up to 70 percent of sum<br />
assured; balance payable<br />
in the event of demise, Life<br />
Cover: Payable in the event<br />
of demise, Succour in the<br />
event of demise, Premiums<br />
are tax deductible<br />
When asked about the<br />
premiums, the company<br />
noted that the premium to<br />
be deducted depends on<br />
the sum assured chosen and<br />
the end date of the policy.<br />
For a sum assured of N5<br />
million on a policy ending at<br />
age 50 years, the premium<br />
could be as cheap as N8,000<br />
per month (320/day), for a<br />
person aged 35 years.<br />
Jocelyn Ogbuokiri, president, Professional Insurance Ladies Association flanked on the left by Tonia Smart; on the right, Femi<br />
Ogun with students at the PILA Career Talk for Secondary Schools Student held at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal<br />
Studies, University of Lagos.<br />
Insurance makes meaning, as LASACO Assurance<br />
pays death benefits to Lagos workers<br />
Stories Modestus Anaesoronye<br />
Insurance does not<br />
make much meaning<br />
until an incident occurs<br />
and people are paid<br />
benefits or compensation,<br />
which enables the victim<br />
or dependants of victims to<br />
return to the position they<br />
were before the incident or a<br />
kind of succour at that critical<br />
time when all hope seems to<br />
have been lost.<br />
This confirmation about<br />
the importance and benefits<br />
of insurance came to the fore<br />
recently, when dependants of<br />
bereaved staff of the Ministry<br />
of Local Government and<br />
Community Affairs and The<br />
State Universal Basic Education<br />
Board (SUBED) received<br />
death benefit cheques from<br />
LASACO Assurance Plc, on<br />
the life insurance policy undertaken<br />
by the Lagos State<br />
Government on behalf of its<br />
workers.<br />
The Pension Reform Act<br />
stipulates that every employer,<br />
to which the Act applies,<br />
must maintain Life Insurance<br />
Policy in favour of the<br />
employee for a minimum of<br />
three times the annual total<br />
emolument of the employee.<br />
Under the policy, total annual<br />
emolument is defined as the<br />
basic salary, transport and<br />
housing allowances and shall<br />
not include bonuses, overtime,<br />
directors’ fees or other<br />
fluctuating emoluments.<br />
Section 8(1) of the Pension<br />
Reform Act 2014 stipulates<br />
that “Where an employee<br />
dies, his entitlement under<br />
the insurance policy maintained<br />
under subsection (5)<br />
of section 4 of this Bill shall<br />
be paid by an underwriter to<br />
the named beneficiary in line<br />
with section57 of the Insurance<br />
Act 2003.<br />
Segun Balogun, managing<br />
director/CEO, LASACO Assurance<br />
Plc speaking at the<br />
cheque presentation held<br />
at Lagos State Secretariat,<br />
Alausa commended the State<br />
Government for complying<br />
with the Pension Reform Act<br />
2004 which mandates employers<br />
to provide life insurance<br />
for their employees. He<br />
said Lagos is among the few<br />
State governments that have<br />
complied fully with provisions<br />
of this law, stating that<br />
this shows commitment to<br />
welfare the state employees.<br />
While thanking Governor<br />
Akinwunmi Ambode for<br />
regularly paying the insurance<br />
premiums despite the<br />
economic situation, urged<br />
beneficiaries and dependants<br />
of the deceased workers<br />
to make judicious use of the<br />
money so that the dead can<br />
be happy wherever they are.<br />
Musliu Folami, commissioner,<br />
Ministry of Local<br />
Government & Community<br />
Affairs who represented the<br />
governor Ambode reaffirmed<br />
the commitment of the state<br />
government in ensuring that<br />
its employees welfare are<br />
raised to reasonable standard.<br />
Folami assured LASACO<br />
Assurance that the governor<br />
will continue to pay the<br />
premium, pointing out that<br />
insurance by this arrangement<br />
has made meaning to<br />
the life of the people and will<br />
be sustained.<br />
The insurance scheme,<br />
which started in 2009 paid<br />
total of 174 beneficiaries in<br />
2013 and 2016. And for this<br />
year(<strong>2017</strong>) being the third in<br />
the series, 85 beneficiaries got<br />
cheques consisting of 50 local<br />
government and 35 SUBEB<br />
deceased staff.<br />
According to the guidelines<br />
for life insurance policy<br />
for employees jointly issued<br />
by the National Insurance<br />
Commission (NAICOM)<br />
and National Pension Commission<br />
(PenCom), the employer<br />
is required to fully<br />
bear all costs in relation to<br />
procurement of this policy,<br />
and this shall be in addition<br />
to the contributions to be<br />
made by the employer to<br />
each employee’s Retirement<br />
Savings Account.<br />
The policy provides cover<br />
to the insured against death<br />
and the insurance cover is<br />
mandatory for all employees<br />
as long as they are in employment.<br />
This means that<br />
the policy provides for the<br />
payment of the sum assured<br />
in the event of the death of a<br />
member of the scheme from<br />
any cause, natural and accidental.<br />
PILA strengthens insurance<br />
awareness efforts across<br />
secondary schools<br />
Committed to creating<br />
awareness<br />
and ensuring<br />
that young generation<br />
of Nigerians across<br />
secondary schools appreciate,<br />
understand and<br />
take insurance as a career,<br />
the Professional Insurance<br />
Ladies Association (PILA)<br />
has held its <strong>2017</strong> edition of<br />
‘PILA Career Talk for Secondary<br />
Schools’.<br />
Jocelyn Ogbuokiri,<br />
president, PILA who spoke<br />
at the <strong>2017</strong> Career Talk<br />
for secondary school students<br />
organized by PILA<br />
at the Nigerian Institute of<br />
Advanced Legal Studies,<br />
University of Lagos Said,:<br />
“Deepening insurance<br />
awareness, appreciation<br />
and understanding among<br />
the young generation is one<br />
of the cardinal objectives of<br />
the Professional Insurance<br />
Ladies Association. The Career<br />
Talk is one of the ways<br />
we aim at achieving this<br />
purpose.”<br />
Ogbuokiri noted that<br />
besides providing avenue<br />
for better appreciation of<br />
the workings of insurance<br />
as a life tool, the Career<br />
Talk also provides a very<br />
good boost for the upcoming<br />
generation to decide<br />
for insurance as a Career<br />
having had the opportunity<br />
of interacting first hand<br />
with very successful professionals.<br />
“As an icing on the cake,<br />
we have designed a Mentoring<br />
Program this year,<br />
that will get interested students<br />
attached to Mentors<br />
that will guide them successfully<br />
through their career<br />
path as they decide for<br />
insurance.”<br />
She said this year’s<br />
theme “ Empowering the<br />
Next Generation of Insurance<br />
Practitioners” has<br />
been carefully thought out<br />
to reflect our passion to adequately<br />
equip the young<br />
generation with the requisite<br />
knowledge and counseling<br />
that will enable them<br />
effectively take charge of<br />
the insurance industry in<br />
Nigeria in their time.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
In Association with<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
23<br />
PensionToday<br />
E-mail: insurancetoday@businessdayonline.com<br />
C002D5556<br />
As multi-fund structure sets to change<br />
pension industry investment dynamics<br />
…carters for individual investment preferences<br />
...variable income instruments get boosts<br />
The multi-fund structure<br />
in the newly<br />
amended investment<br />
guideline recently released<br />
by the National<br />
Pension Commission (PenCom)<br />
when implemented would change<br />
the pension industry investment<br />
dynamics.<br />
Pension Fund Administrators<br />
(PFAs), the mangers of the burgeoning<br />
country’s pension funds<br />
are positive that new scheme<br />
would carter for individual investment<br />
preferences.<br />
Besides that, it will give younger<br />
contributors who still have long<br />
period to retire, theopportunity<br />
ofearning higher returns on investmentin<br />
the variable income<br />
instruments.<br />
PenCom recently released the<br />
amended investment guidelines<br />
introducing multi-fund structure<br />
comprising Fund I, Fund II, Fund<br />
III and Fund IV (Retiree Fund).<br />
Funds I, II, III and IV shall however<br />
differ among themselves according<br />
to their overall exposure to<br />
variable income instruments.<br />
According to the guideline,<br />
the exposure to variable income<br />
instruments is defined as the sum<br />
of a PFA’s investments in ordinary<br />
shares and participation units<br />
of open close-ended and hybrid<br />
funds; real estate investment<br />
trust; infrastructure funds; and<br />
private equity funds comprising<br />
its current holdings and any future<br />
financial commitments to the acquisition<br />
of participation units in<br />
these funds.<br />
Eguarekhide Longe, managing<br />
director/CEO, AIICO Pensions<br />
Limitedsaid the multi-fund structure<br />
means that individual investment<br />
preferences will be catered<br />
for just like in the regular asset<br />
management industry.<br />
Longe, who is also the chairman<br />
of Pension Fund Operators Association<br />
of Nigeria (PenOp) said<br />
for younger contributors capable<br />
of absorbing more risk, they will<br />
have the option of selecting the<br />
funds with larger variable income<br />
exposure, while those who would<br />
rather be more conservative, due<br />
to age, will select the more predictable<br />
fixed income funds. “One size<br />
will not be compelled to fit all as<br />
currently obtains.”<br />
According to him, enhancement<br />
of returns is not the focus of<br />
the new fund structure but rather,<br />
it is for risk predisposition.<br />
Longe further emphasized that<br />
experience over the years show<br />
that variable income investments<br />
(e.g. equities) tend to outperform<br />
other asset classes, so “it is expected<br />
that for those with a longer<br />
term investment horizon, they will<br />
ride the fluctuations over the years<br />
and earn superior return over the<br />
life of the investments that will be<br />
made for them in the portfolios<br />
that are exposed to higher risks.”<br />
Glory Etaduovie, managing<br />
director/CEO, IEI-Anchor Pension<br />
Managers Ltd said that the<br />
multi-fund structure is designed<br />
for proper definition of available<br />
funds for types of investments,<br />
long term and short term to suit<br />
various developmental needs and<br />
stimuli for sustainable growth.<br />
“Pension funds are a delicate<br />
fund which needs to be managed<br />
delicately. It is not free money as<br />
many seem to allude to in recent<br />
developments. It is the people’s<br />
future and it will be immoral to<br />
deal treacherously with the funds<br />
because the future generations<br />
will judge us.”<br />
He noted that the funds are<br />
graded to determine use to which<br />
it may be used safely.<br />
“Portions of funds for those<br />
nearing retirement cannot be<br />
used for long term investments.<br />
Younger contributors will not<br />
need their contributions in the<br />
very near future, so it can be stud-<br />
ied for sustainable development”.<br />
You will observe I keep mentioning’<br />
sustainable development,’<br />
it refers to a well rounded out<br />
investment/development plans<br />
where no sector suffers the aftermath<br />
of lope-sided investment<br />
decisions. It is good for the government;<br />
it is good for the public and<br />
the citizenry.”<br />
According to him, contributors<br />
will make double gain - the<br />
funds will be structured in a way<br />
that nothing that accrues to them<br />
will be taken away. It will also be<br />
wasteful to let the funds lie idle,<br />
not being productive economically.<br />
Contributors are part of the<br />
society and so they will also benefit<br />
from meaningful infrastructural<br />
developments.”<br />
Etaduovie further contended<br />
that everything about the new<br />
fund structure is exciting, as it excites<br />
increased study and financial<br />
intelligence being developed in<br />
the country now.<br />
“It is also going to attract bigger<br />
business ideas needing long<br />
term funds. Everyone stands to<br />
gain - the pension industry will be<br />
seen as a worthy growth and development<br />
partner, the citizenry,<br />
economy and the government will<br />
all gain, Etaduovie stated.<br />
In line with 7.3(a) of the guideline,<br />
the maximum exposure to<br />
variable income instruments by<br />
the Fund types are as follows:<br />
Fund I: 75 percent of portfolio<br />
value; Fund II: 55 percent of portfolio<br />
value; Fund III: 20 percent<br />
of portfolio value and Fund IV: 10<br />
percent of portfolio value.<br />
PFAs are also expected to invest<br />
in such a way that the actual exposure<br />
to variable income instruments<br />
in Fund I is higher than the<br />
exposure in Fund II. Likewise, the<br />
exposure in Fund II shall be higher<br />
than the exposure in Fund III. Accordingly,<br />
the minimum exposure<br />
to variable income instruments<br />
by Fund Type shall be: Fund I:<br />
20 percent; Fund II: 10 percent;<br />
Fund III: 5 percent and Fund IV:<br />
0 percent.<br />
Effective from the date of implementation<br />
of the multi-fund<br />
structure, the PFAs shall allocate<br />
contributors to various fund types<br />
according to the following criteria:<br />
membership of Fund I shall strictly<br />
be by formal request by a contributor;<br />
active contributors who<br />
are 49 years and below as at their<br />
last birthdays shall be assigned to<br />
Fund II; active contributors who<br />
are 50 years and above as at their<br />
last birthdays shall be assigned to<br />
Fund III and Fund IV shall strictly<br />
be for RSA retirees only.<br />
RC634453<br />
Diamond Pension Fund Custodian Limited<br />
1A, Tiamiyu Savage Street, Victoria Island, Lagos State.<br />
Tel: 01-4613753, 2713680, 2713954<br />
Fax: 01-2713955<br />
Email: info@diamondpfc.com<br />
Website: www.diamondpfc.com<br />
This section is<br />
created to increase<br />
awarness and deepen<br />
knowledge about<br />
the contributory<br />
pension scheme.<br />
If you have enquiries<br />
or contributions,<br />
send to this e-mail:<br />
diamondpfcbusday@yahoo.com
<strong>24</strong><br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
Financial Inclusion<br />
& Innovation Weekly<br />
Supported<br />
ANALYSIS<br />
Targeted solutions needed to break<br />
financial inclusion gender gap<br />
PATRICK ATUANYA<br />
A<br />
recent World Bank report<br />
presents evidence<br />
that policy measures to<br />
increase financial inclusion<br />
need to be countryspecific,<br />
based on each country’s<br />
gender gap and specific challenges<br />
and opportunities.<br />
To eliminate the persistent gender<br />
gap and expand access to financial<br />
services for both women and men,<br />
policies should be adapted and integrated<br />
in national financial inclusion<br />
strategies and other policy initiatives.<br />
Alliance for Financial Inclusion<br />
(AFI) and Women’s World Banking<br />
developed a study to examine the<br />
experience of Nigeria, where there<br />
are currently many approaches to<br />
gender-focused financial inclusion<br />
policies.<br />
Nigeria is the largest country in<br />
Africa, with a population of 177.5<br />
million, which is almost double the<br />
population of the second most populous,<br />
Ethiopia.<br />
With a per capita GDP of $3,203<br />
(significantly higher than Ghana<br />
and Kenya), Nigeria is classified as a<br />
lower-middle income country, however<br />
much lower oil prices continue<br />
to pose challenges for public finance<br />
at all levels of government.<br />
A 2013 household survey revealed<br />
the per capita national poverty rate<br />
(based on the official poverty line)<br />
was 33.1 percent, but a large share<br />
of Nigeria’s population live not far<br />
above the poverty line.<br />
According to Global Findex data,<br />
Nigeria has made some progress in<br />
increasing the percentage of women<br />
who have access to an account in a<br />
financial institution.<br />
However, the gender gap has<br />
increased significantly in the last<br />
three years, from 7.3 percent to 20.7<br />
percent (see table).<br />
NEWS<br />
BALA AUGIE<br />
Businesses and banks in<br />
Africa’s most populous<br />
nation will save money<br />
to a tune of N2.60 trillion ($8.53<br />
billion) from digital financial<br />
service through reduced theft,<br />
error and improved cash management,<br />
according to McKinsey<br />
Global Institute (MGI).<br />
This figure is equivalent to 1.30<br />
percent of the country’s gross<br />
domestic product of N150.02 trillion<br />
($495 billion), based on the<br />
exchange rate of N305/$.<br />
The September 2016 report<br />
by the global institute says financial<br />
institution will save<br />
through reduced account costs,<br />
cash in, cash out CICO costs,<br />
transaction costs, loan issuance<br />
costs, and opportunity costs of<br />
currency.<br />
Savings in each category<br />
With banks perceived as less accessible<br />
to women, the expansion of<br />
mobile financial services is seen as a<br />
particularly valuable opportunity to<br />
foster financial inclusion for women.<br />
Although Nigeria has challenges—<br />
a vast population, geopolitical divisions<br />
and social norms that constrict<br />
women’s activities—it has seen<br />
meaningful policy change under the<br />
2012 National Financial Inclusion<br />
Strategy (“the Strategy”).<br />
Digital financial services can save Nigeria N2.60 trillion<br />
showed the country will save<br />
N260.77 billion ($791 million) in<br />
reduced shrinkage, N91.50 billion<br />
($300 million) in improved<br />
cash management, N238.81 billion<br />
($783 million) in accounts<br />
cost reductions, N2.01 trillion<br />
($6.81 billion) in CICO costs<br />
reduction.<br />
The role of digitalization in<br />
saving costs for financial institutions<br />
and companies cannot<br />
be overemphasized as lenders<br />
have lost huge sums of money<br />
to fraud.<br />
This ranges from bank robberies<br />
across the length and breadth<br />
of the country.<br />
According to a 2015 report by<br />
the National Deposit Insurance<br />
Corporation (NDIC), banks lost<br />
N18 billion to fraud. The corporation<br />
said there is an increase in<br />
the cases of ATM fraud.<br />
An explicit focus on women was<br />
undertaken recently with a Special<br />
Interventions Working Group of the<br />
Technical Committee implementing<br />
the National Financial Inclusion<br />
Strategy.<br />
With numerous changes underway,<br />
the coming years are expected<br />
to be one of significant policy change,<br />
particularly in terms of the regulation<br />
of mobile financial services.<br />
The World Bank report notes that it<br />
From year 200 to 2014 alone,<br />
Nigerian banks have lost a total<br />
of N199 billion to e-fraud between,<br />
mostly due to inappropriate<br />
and reckless management of<br />
customers’ data.<br />
Nigeria and emerging markets<br />
use cash for transaction<br />
will be important to focus on mobile<br />
financial services and outreach to<br />
rural women (mutually reinforcing<br />
objectives) if more progress is to be<br />
made in expanding financial services<br />
to Nigerian women.<br />
However in Nigeria’s fragmented<br />
market, the use of digital financial<br />
services has not yet become popular.<br />
While there are now 21 fully licensed<br />
mobile money operators<br />
(MMOs) able to offer mobile financial<br />
compared with countries in the<br />
Europe, Asia and the United<br />
States of America (USA).<br />
According to the Central Bank<br />
of Nigeria (CBN), digital financial<br />
services are estimated to<br />
reduce the cost of providing<br />
financial services by 80 to 90<br />
services, mobile money usage is still<br />
extremely low (0.3% when the Strategy<br />
was being prepared and only 0.8% by<br />
2014),and is primarily limited to bank<br />
account users who use mobile money<br />
as an additional product.<br />
Development financial institutions<br />
such as the Bank of<br />
Agriculture provides opportunities<br />
to reach out to women, and the MSME<br />
Development Fund, an initiative of<br />
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),<br />
also has programs aimed at women.<br />
The informal sector is an important<br />
part of Nigeria’s financial inclusion<br />
landscape. According to the National<br />
Financial Inclusion Strategy, 17.4<br />
percent of Nigerians (14.8 million<br />
people) only use informal financial<br />
services, such as esusu (rotating savings<br />
and credit groups), village savings<br />
groups and savings collectors, with<br />
slightly higher percentages of women<br />
using these services.<br />
The report notes that as they currently<br />
stand, none of the financial<br />
institution models in Nigeria are a<br />
driving force of financial inclusion<br />
for women.<br />
One explanation for the persistent<br />
gender gap is that progress in financial<br />
inclusion to date has been with groups<br />
who have been traditionally easier to<br />
reach—primarily urban men.<br />
Efforts to expand financial inclusion<br />
now face, in the words of one<br />
interviewee, “stubborn demographics,”<br />
with overall trends moving in<br />
the right direction, but there is now<br />
a need to focus on more difficult to<br />
reach groups, especially women in<br />
rural areas.<br />
In addition to the geographical<br />
distinction, women represent a large<br />
percentage of the young, have less<br />
education and lower incomes.<br />
The report concludes that this<br />
calls for different tactics to close the<br />
gender gap.<br />
percent compared to the cost of<br />
a traditional bank branch.<br />
Digital financial service can<br />
also help break the barriers to<br />
financial inclusion and promote<br />
economic growth through the<br />
creation of millions of jobs.<br />
“Digital financial services can<br />
also bring about substantial<br />
benefits for financial services<br />
providers, and the economy as<br />
a whole, beyond financial inclusion.<br />
It can boost a country’s<br />
GDP significantly and more sustainably,”<br />
said Godwin Emefiele,<br />
Nigeria’s central bank governor.<br />
“It can boost a country’s GDP<br />
significantly and more sustainably.<br />
For instance, the same<br />
McKinsey study postulates that<br />
digital financial services can<br />
increase Nigeria’s GDP by 12<br />
percent or US$88 billion by the<br />
year 2025,” said Emefiele.
Fiat debuts in<br />
Nigeria<br />
weekend<br />
Page 26 Page 26<br />
General Motors to<br />
pull out of South<br />
Africa<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
ExecutiveMotoring<br />
TNL receives new look Coaster bus<br />
…A combination of functionality, safety and comfort<br />
MIKE OCHONMA<br />
Toyota Nigeria Limited<br />
(TNL) has taken<br />
delivery of the<br />
revamped version<br />
of the Coaster commercial<br />
passenger bus. This<br />
was presented to the motoring<br />
journalists at the company’s<br />
headquarters in Lekki, Lagos<br />
recently. The new Coaster bus<br />
retains all the DNA and trapping<br />
of its predecessors with<br />
improved head and leg room,<br />
safety and comfort features.<br />
This is coming at a time<br />
when the global leader in automotive<br />
business is opening<br />
another chapter in its<br />
history after the launch of<br />
the completely redesigned<br />
Toyota Coaster at Toyota dealers<br />
(Osaka Toyopet dealers in<br />
the Osaka region) nationwide<br />
across Japan in 2016.<br />
It would be recalled that<br />
the Toyota Coaster was first<br />
launched as the “Light Bus” in<br />
1963, in response to increased<br />
demand for a minibus that<br />
could approximately seat 25<br />
passengers comfortably.<br />
Six years after, the vehicle<br />
underwent a partial redesign<br />
and was later renamed Coaster;<br />
a name which it has continued<br />
to use for over the past 50 years.<br />
It supports the movement<br />
of people around the world.<br />
At present, it is for sale in over<br />
110 countries and regions, and<br />
total sales have now exceeded<br />
550,000 vehicles.<br />
Since its world-wide introduction,<br />
Coaster has become<br />
a household name not only in<br />
Nigeria where Toyota Nigeria<br />
Limited is the principal manu-<br />
The Federal Road Safety<br />
Corps (FRSC) has revealed<br />
that its patrol<br />
team had apprehended and<br />
impounded a vehicle along<br />
Badagry Seme Border for<br />
seatbelt violation and driver<br />
licence violation, only to discover<br />
that the said vehicle was<br />
conveying a large quantity of<br />
Indian Hemp into Nigeria.<br />
Bisi Kazeem, Head, Media<br />
Relations and Strategy, FRSC,<br />
the team of Badagry Unit<br />
Command of FRSC on patrol<br />
facturers’ representatives, but<br />
it is also regularly seen in almost<br />
every market and continents<br />
across the globe.<br />
It is used in a variety of<br />
situations including the transportation<br />
of passengers and<br />
workers as staff buses, and<br />
other commuters from one<br />
location to another including<br />
going and coming back from<br />
restaurants, hotels, and tourists<br />
including beach goers and<br />
kindergartens among other<br />
utility functions.<br />
The current, third-generation<br />
Coaster was launched in<br />
1993. While this model has received<br />
praise for its outstanding<br />
reliability, there have been<br />
growing calls for a new design<br />
that incorporates the full safety<br />
features package.<br />
In addition, since revitalization<br />
of the tourism industry<br />
in Nigeria is expected<br />
operations along the route<br />
intercepted the vehicle with<br />
vehicle number, EPE 237 XC<br />
in the morning hours and had<br />
to lead to increased demand<br />
for minibuses, Toyota Motor<br />
Corporation (TMC) is aiming<br />
to develop a vehicle that will<br />
be cherished and ridden for<br />
many years to come.<br />
This complete redesign<br />
marks a significant evolution<br />
from the current model, and<br />
features a full range of safety<br />
functions, improved comfort,<br />
outstanding reliability, and a<br />
design appropriate for a new<br />
generation of minibuses.<br />
The Coaster is the first vehicle<br />
to undergo a complete<br />
redesign under the supervision<br />
of the (Commercial Vehicle)<br />
CV Company, which was<br />
established last year April to<br />
carry out the development of<br />
commercial vehicles from the<br />
planning to production stages.<br />
The CV Company is an inhouse<br />
company that oversees<br />
the development of vehicles<br />
already established the two offences<br />
before making the discovery<br />
with the collaborative<br />
effort of the Nigerian Customs<br />
that continue to support the<br />
lifestyles of people from various<br />
regions around the world. Company<br />
sources states that going<br />
forward, the company will continue<br />
to engage in the creation of<br />
ever-better commercial vehicles.<br />
Flaunting outstanding<br />
body rigidity and full range<br />
of safety equipment, the bus<br />
utilizes a ringed body frame<br />
which unifies the roof, sides,<br />
and floor frame sections. The<br />
use of high-tensile steel plates<br />
further contributes to a rigid<br />
body that complies with the<br />
ECE2 Regulation 663 (Rollover)<br />
global safety-performance<br />
standard.<br />
The vehicle also provides<br />
passenger safety and a peace<br />
of mind for our customers in<br />
the event of an emergency<br />
through the use of pre-tensioners,<br />
which instantly takes<br />
up seatbelt slack and secure<br />
who were equally on the same<br />
route with their patrol team.<br />
The vehicle is presently<br />
with the Comptroller Custom<br />
Seme for further investigations<br />
before it would be<br />
handed over to the appropriate<br />
drug law authority for contravening<br />
the law against drug<br />
peddling.<br />
Bisi Kazeem stated that it<br />
is in view of this great mark of<br />
achievement which is targeted<br />
at keeping the society sane as<br />
a security outfit that the FRSC<br />
passengers, as well as the use<br />
of force limiters, which reduces<br />
the force applied to passengers’<br />
chest regions.<br />
The cabin space has been<br />
heightened by 60 mm, and the<br />
windows have been moved<br />
outwards by approximately 40<br />
mm, thus providing enough<br />
space for passengers to rest<br />
their elbows. In addition, the<br />
side windows have increased<br />
in height by 50 mm, which creates<br />
a comfortable and open<br />
passenger space.<br />
Apart from its quiet interior,<br />
a stable and comfortable<br />
ride, it has improved body<br />
rigidity due to the ringed<br />
body frame, adjustments to<br />
engine cover structures, enhanced<br />
body-seal structures.<br />
The optimal distribution of<br />
soundproofing materials all<br />
contribute to improved cabin<br />
quietness.<br />
FRSC discovers large Indian hemp in contravened vehicle<br />
Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi,<br />
continues to call for a<br />
stronger collaboration with<br />
sister agencies.<br />
Recall that not long ago,<br />
the Corps had intercepted a<br />
vehicle convening children<br />
(minors) through Kaduna<br />
with some suspected child<br />
traffickers who were consequently<br />
handed over to the<br />
relevant authorities.<br />
And in the same Kaduna,<br />
the FRSC rescue team had<br />
equally recovered five locally<br />
Mombasa-Nairobi<br />
rail SGR set for<br />
commissioning<br />
Page 27<br />
25<br />
Volvo to<br />
assemble<br />
trucks in<br />
Kenya<br />
Swedish truck maker, AB<br />
Volvo, is to start assembling<br />
vehicles in Kenya,<br />
the company said. Claes<br />
Nilsson, President of Volvo<br />
Trucks, said in a statement<br />
that the move was part of<br />
series of investments aimed<br />
at boosting the company’s<br />
presence in the region.<br />
Nilsson said Volvo would<br />
also open an office in Kenya<br />
to serve East Africa, open 20<br />
workshops around the region<br />
and a parts warehouse.<br />
He said it was partnering<br />
with local firm NECST in the<br />
plan which will create about<br />
300 direct jobs.<br />
“There is a significant potential<br />
for the premium truck<br />
business as regional economies<br />
grow, infrastructure<br />
investments expand and the<br />
business environment remains<br />
investment friendly,”<br />
Nilsson said.<br />
The East African nation<br />
undermined what was a<br />
thriving local assembly industry<br />
in the 1990s with policies<br />
that encouraged cheap<br />
second hand imports. It is<br />
now seeking to attract manufacturers<br />
back to help create<br />
jobs and support growth.<br />
Volvo is only the latest<br />
vehicle maker to announce<br />
plans in recent months to<br />
start assembling locally, following<br />
moves by Volkswagen,<br />
PSA Peugeot and CNH<br />
Industrial’s Iveco.<br />
made AK 47 rifles from a man<br />
whose vehicle was involved in<br />
a crash.<br />
Against this backdrop,<br />
Kazeem stated that the Corps<br />
Marshal is pleased to see that<br />
the officers and men of the<br />
Corps have so far been demonstrating<br />
the willingness to<br />
make the rules of engagement<br />
with sister agencies viable and<br />
more diligent in their duties<br />
combined with maintenance<br />
of security and safety as it relates<br />
to the motoring public.
26 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
ExecutiveMotoring<br />
Fiat debuts in Nigeria weekend<br />
… Luxury brand with Italian heritage<br />
MIKE OCHONMA<br />
The Nigerian<br />
market will<br />
be witnessing<br />
a new introduction<br />
into<br />
the automobile segment<br />
with the planned media<br />
launch of the new Fiat<br />
range of automobiles this<br />
week Friday in Lagos.<br />
Plans are underway to<br />
officially launch the first<br />
model with the return of<br />
Fiat Tipo, and by extension<br />
making Weststar the<br />
authorized distributor of<br />
the brand and Fiat professional<br />
range of automobiles<br />
in the country.<br />
The four-door sedan<br />
version of the Tipo is one<br />
of the first models which<br />
will be exclusively available<br />
at Weststar Associates<br />
Limited, authorized<br />
and general distributors<br />
of Mercedes-Benz, Jeep,<br />
Dodge, Ram, Fiat and Fiat<br />
professional in Nigeria.<br />
According to Stavros<br />
Diamantidis, General<br />
Manager, FCA group,<br />
Weststar Associates Limited,<br />
“We are thrilled<br />
about this development<br />
as Nigerians can now<br />
enjoy real value for their<br />
In what industry stakeholders<br />
described as a<br />
rude shock, General<br />
Motors has stated that, it<br />
intends to pull out of the<br />
South African market, however<br />
the company has managed<br />
to negotiate the sale<br />
of its local manufacturing<br />
facility to Isuzu Motors,<br />
which plans to bolster its<br />
African operations.<br />
These moves are, however,<br />
all subject to local regulatory<br />
requirements. GM<br />
will cease production of<br />
the locally-built Utility as it<br />
pulls out of South Africa at<br />
the end of <strong>2017</strong>, while Isuzu<br />
will take over the Struandale<br />
plant. Isuzu also plans to<br />
set up its own South African<br />
dealer network.<br />
General Motors, meanwhile<br />
intends to pull the<br />
plug on its local operations,<br />
with the Chevrolet<br />
brand set to be taken off the<br />
market by end of <strong>2017</strong>. Not<br />
only does this mean ending<br />
production of the locally<br />
manufactured Chevrolet<br />
Utility bakkie and Spark<br />
hatchback, but imports<br />
of the Cruze, Captiva and<br />
Trailblazer will cease.<br />
As for the Opel brand,<br />
GM recently sold its Ger-<br />
money. Tipo fits perfectly<br />
in its segment and will be<br />
officially presented before<br />
the month ends’’.<br />
It offers high appeal<br />
as it comes with a vast<br />
variety of standard options.<br />
The Italian heritage<br />
promises comfort, quality<br />
and versatility.<br />
This same Italian heritage<br />
is seen in the model,<br />
with its unique features<br />
such as versatility, large<br />
interior space and compact<br />
exterior dimensions.<br />
The name Tipo is a celebrated<br />
designation that it<br />
has used many times durman<br />
division to PSA<br />
(Peugeot-Citroen) and said<br />
that it is working with the<br />
new owner to “evaluate<br />
future opportunity for the<br />
Opel brand in South Africa.”<br />
GM also promised that existing<br />
Chevrolet and Opel<br />
customers will continue to<br />
be supported in the market.<br />
Following the purchase<br />
of GM’s Struandale<br />
factory in Port Elizabeth<br />
as well as its parts distribution<br />
and vehicle conversion<br />
centres, Isuzu<br />
plans to continue manufacturing<br />
the Isuzu KB as<br />
ing it’s over one century of<br />
history.<br />
The Tipo is one of the<br />
models to carry the coveted<br />
name of which nearly<br />
two million were produced<br />
from 1988 to 1995 and<br />
which was first awarded<br />
“Car of the Year” in 1989.<br />
‘’With the Tipo, you<br />
do not need much to get<br />
a lot. Thus, it serves as a<br />
wonderful option for Nigerians<br />
even as we have<br />
already put in place, an<br />
excellent maintenance<br />
culture offered by our aftersales<br />
team.” The general<br />
manager disclosed.<br />
General Motors to pull out of South Africa<br />
well as its medium and<br />
heavy-duty trucks in Port<br />
Elizabeth.<br />
“We are committed<br />
to the South African<br />
market,” said Isuzu’s executive<br />
officer of sales,<br />
Haruyasu Tanishige. “Integrating<br />
the South African<br />
light commercial vehicle<br />
operations into our<br />
business is the next step in<br />
laying the foundation for<br />
our growth plans in the future.”<br />
General Motors meanwhile<br />
said that it will cease<br />
the manufacture and sup-<br />
Fiat is majorly known<br />
as automakers of luxurious<br />
high performance<br />
sports cars such as Ferrari<br />
and Maserati. In October,<br />
2014, Fiat and Chrysler<br />
Group of automobiles<br />
formed a merger to become<br />
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.<br />
The new alliance paved<br />
way for access to newer<br />
technologies and advanced<br />
engineering solutions.<br />
In 2016, Ferrari was<br />
signed off as a separate<br />
entity in order for FCA to<br />
focus more on manufacturing<br />
city cars.<br />
ply of Chevrolet vehicles by<br />
the end of <strong>2017</strong>, subject to<br />
consultation with employees<br />
and unions. However, it<br />
would continue to provide<br />
existing Chevrolet customers<br />
with parts and service<br />
support.<br />
GMSA has also promised<br />
to work closely with<br />
existing dealers on “a robust<br />
transition plan”.<br />
Automotive News reports<br />
that GM will also<br />
cease operations in India<br />
as it aims to concentrate its<br />
investments on fewer, but<br />
more profitable, markets.<br />
Leventis Motors acquires LOVOL<br />
machinery franchise in Nigeria<br />
In what many market<br />
watchers could describe<br />
as a further business<br />
diversification strategy<br />
designed to shore its bottomline,<br />
ensure good returns<br />
on investment to its shareholders<br />
and more importantly add<br />
value to its customers across<br />
the country, Leventis Motors,<br />
a division of A.G. Leventis (Nigeria)<br />
Plc weekend in Lagos<br />
organised a pre-launch and<br />
dinner night for its customers,<br />
during which time, the management<br />
used the opportunity<br />
to announce its new product<br />
line.<br />
This time around, the Leventis<br />
Motors said it has entered<br />
into dealership franchise with<br />
Lovol Heavy Industry Co. Limited<br />
to import and distribute<br />
the Lovol branded range of<br />
construction machinery and<br />
equipment in the country.<br />
The pre-launch and dinner<br />
night held in Lagos was so<br />
important for both companies<br />
that it attracted the presence of<br />
Lovol Construction Machinery<br />
team including Andy Liu, Manager,<br />
Africa Regional Sales.<br />
In his presentation, Andy<br />
Liu told the enthusiastic customers<br />
and other invited guests<br />
that the choice of Leventis Motors<br />
and preferred partners<br />
was the outcome of exhaustive<br />
search since 2015 for a trusted<br />
and reliable partner in Nigeria’s<br />
automotive business and one<br />
that has reputation.<br />
Andy Liu noted that over<br />
the years, Leventis Motors has<br />
maintained a brand name<br />
that is synonymous with the<br />
pedigree earned by the parent<br />
company over the past 60 years<br />
it has been doing business in<br />
Nigeria.<br />
In his welcome remarks,<br />
Sarnelli Daniele, Head, Construction<br />
Equipment pointed<br />
out the decision to enter into<br />
franchise was driven by the<br />
quest to offer a budget-friendly<br />
product to customers that<br />
comes with a number of advantages<br />
over other competitors.<br />
Lovol construction equipment<br />
and machinery achieves<br />
15 percent less fuel consumption<br />
compared to other rival<br />
brands, it can operate over 12<br />
hours consecutively and had<br />
a climatic temperature of up<br />
to 50 degree which is very suitable<br />
and tropicalized for Africa.<br />
Lovol range of products comes<br />
with Deutz engine with German<br />
power.<br />
During the night that fea-<br />
tured cultural entertainment<br />
and musical interlude, the<br />
management of the automobile<br />
company used the opportunity<br />
for presentation of<br />
awards to different companies<br />
that are patronising the company<br />
over the years including<br />
a subsidiary of the Dangote<br />
group.<br />
There were also raffle draws<br />
in which Leventis offered up to<br />
a cumulative N5million discount<br />
related to specific models<br />
that would be purchased by<br />
the companies after after the<br />
product launch.<br />
After the raffle draws conducted<br />
during the night, purchases<br />
made by the first two<br />
companies picked from the<br />
lucky dip will attract 10 percent<br />
discount, next three companies<br />
picked will enjoy 7 percent<br />
discount, while the other<br />
5 companies picked from the<br />
pot shall be entitled to 5 percent<br />
discount on any model<br />
of the Lovol Construction Machinery<br />
purchased.<br />
Leventis Motors; a division<br />
of A.G. Leventis (Nigeria) Plc<br />
incorporated in 1952 became a<br />
name synonymous with quality<br />
and assurance of support<br />
in automotive, construction<br />
equipment and other related<br />
products.<br />
It is the only automobile<br />
company in Nigeria with ISO<br />
900:2008 Certification, with<br />
a team of over 900 workforce<br />
and Pan Nigerian presence<br />
with a network of four operating<br />
branches with sales, aftersales<br />
and genuine parts availability.<br />
Founded in 1998, Lovol is a<br />
large-scale equipment manufacturing<br />
enterprise and the<br />
main business covers agriculture<br />
equipment, construction<br />
machinery, vehicles and finance<br />
plus internet.<br />
The Chinese company<br />
has a total of 16,000 employees<br />
with a total assets base<br />
of $2.75billion. It consists of<br />
13 functional departments, 9<br />
business divisions, 2 manufacturing<br />
plants located in the<br />
Xinjiang and Heilongjiang<br />
provinces of China.<br />
It has four managementoriented<br />
companies made<br />
up of logistics, real estate, exchange,<br />
financing and leasing<br />
and bank guarantee and two<br />
overseas research and development<br />
centres made up of Japanffor<br />
construction machinery<br />
and ITALAY for Agriculture<br />
equipment.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
27<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
RailBusiness<br />
C002D5556<br />
Mombasa-Nairobi rail SGR set<br />
for commissioning<br />
Rolls-Royce<br />
to supply<br />
engines for<br />
Chinese-built<br />
locomotives<br />
Rolls-Royce is to supply<br />
CRRC with 15<br />
MTU engines to be<br />
used by New Zealand rail<br />
operator KiwiRail. The 20V<br />
4000 R43 engines will power<br />
15 DL class freight locomotives.<br />
The engines each deliver<br />
2,700 kW and are EU Stage<br />
IIIA-compliant; they have a<br />
high power density and low<br />
fuel consumption.<br />
The engines are expected<br />
to be delivered from July<br />
<strong>2017</strong>.<br />
It marks the fourth time<br />
KiwiRail has chosen CRRC<br />
locomotives powered by<br />
MIKE OCHONMA<br />
In what looks like a<br />
benchmark for the Nigerian<br />
Railways and<br />
the transport industry,<br />
Kenya is gearing up for<br />
a new era in railway transport<br />
with the impending commissioning<br />
of a standard-gauge<br />
railway (SGR) line on June 1.<br />
The commissioning of the<br />
line comes at a time when cargo<br />
traffic at the Mombasa port<br />
is increasing, having gone up<br />
by 2.4% from 26.7-million tons<br />
in 2015 to 27.3-million tons in<br />
2016.<br />
The East African nation has<br />
depended on a dilapidated<br />
1-m-gauge railway system for<br />
more than a century, but that<br />
is about to change, following<br />
the completion of the $3.8-billion<br />
472 km SGR line from the<br />
coastal city of Mombasa to Nairobi,<br />
the capital city.<br />
“The SGR line is the largest<br />
infrastructure project in<br />
post- independence Kenya. It’s<br />
commissioning will mean low<br />
freight transport costs, which<br />
is a good development for the<br />
economies of the region,” Kenya<br />
Railways MD Atanas Maina<br />
tells Engineering News.<br />
The line, constructed by<br />
China Communications Construction<br />
Company (CCCC),<br />
has the potential to reduce<br />
transport costs by as much as<br />
35%. Australia-based construction<br />
company John Holland, a<br />
subsidiary of CCCC, has been<br />
contracted to operate the SGR<br />
line.<br />
“The SGR line will assist in<br />
lowering the logistics costs associated<br />
with freight storage<br />
and delivery, which will lead to<br />
low freight transport costs for<br />
the business community,” says<br />
Maina.<br />
The completion of the<br />
Mombasa–Nairobi line, which<br />
forms the first phase of a<br />
broader railway investment<br />
programme, is testament to<br />
Kenya’s determination to become<br />
East Africa’s transport<br />
hub.<br />
Apart from the new line,<br />
Kenya intends to construct a<br />
3,500 km SGR network under<br />
the Railways Master Plan<br />
that will connect the country<br />
to Uganda, South Sudan and<br />
Ethiopia.<br />
The Mombasa–Nairobi line<br />
is critical for the development<br />
of Kenya because it will provide<br />
a more efficient mode of transport<br />
for freight in the northern<br />
corridor, the main transport<br />
route for cargo destined for not<br />
only Kenya but also Uganda,<br />
Rwanda and parts of the Democratic<br />
Republic of Congo.<br />
Trains will travel at 80<br />
km/h, which will significantly<br />
reduce transit times for cargo<br />
with a haulage capacity of up to<br />
4 000 t a trip.<br />
Currently, cargo transport<br />
along the northern corridor,<br />
which competes with Tanzania’s<br />
central corridor, is mainly<br />
by road, at 97%. Rift Valley Railways,<br />
the operator of the 1-mgauge<br />
line between Kenya and<br />
Uganda, has been struggling to<br />
operate profitably.<br />
“The SGR line designed to<br />
carry 22-million tons of cargo<br />
a year, equivalent to 40% of the<br />
Mombasa port’s throughput<br />
will play a vital role in decongesting<br />
the Port of Mombasa,<br />
thus enable it to increase cargo<br />
throughput to the inland,” says<br />
Maina.<br />
In anticipation of increased<br />
container throughput at the<br />
port, the Kenya government<br />
is modernising and expanding<br />
the inland container depot<br />
(ICD), in Nairobi.<br />
When completed, by August,<br />
the ICD will have five additional<br />
SGR lines serviced by<br />
six gantry cranes for offloading<br />
and loading containers, a staking<br />
yard for at least 5,000 twenty-foot<br />
equivalent units (TEUs)<br />
and a yearly throughput of 405<br />
000 TEUs. Currently, the depot<br />
has a yearly throughput of 180<br />
000 TEUs.<br />
The second phase of the<br />
SGR project will see the line<br />
being extended from Nairobi<br />
to Naivasha, a distance of 120<br />
km, at a cost of $1.5-billion,<br />
funded by a loan from the Chinese<br />
government.<br />
MTU engines since 2009.<br />
KiwiRail has been deploying<br />
the 108-tonne DL class<br />
locomotives since 2010 for<br />
service on New Zealand’s<br />
North Island main trunk,<br />
which passes through<br />
Auckland, Hamilton and<br />
Tauranga.<br />
Bernd Krüper, vice president<br />
of industrial business<br />
at Rolls-Royce Power Systems,<br />
said: “The fact that<br />
KiwiRail has again decided<br />
to place an order for CRRCbuilt<br />
freight locomotives<br />
equipped with powerful<br />
and cost-efficient engines<br />
from MTU is a tremendous<br />
mark of confidence.”<br />
‘Rail lines should be linked to tourist sites’<br />
Experts have advocated<br />
on the Federal Government<br />
to formulate policy<br />
on railway connectivity<br />
which they believe can help<br />
promote tourism by connecting<br />
tourist spots across<br />
the country through trains.<br />
The policy, which will be<br />
first-of-its-kind exercise by<br />
the Railways authorities in<br />
the country the experts argue<br />
will aims at hassle-free<br />
and seamless movement of<br />
people across different tourist<br />
places.<br />
Before this can be<br />
achieved, they said that as a<br />
way out, seeking suggestions<br />
from stakeholders, the public<br />
and other bodies concerned,<br />
there should be a draft tourism<br />
policy.<br />
Among other considerations,<br />
tourism will be one of<br />
the frontline activities with<br />
the railways and the scope<br />
will be increased by focusing<br />
on domestic and international<br />
tourists and by making<br />
value- addition to tourism<br />
products, especially designed<br />
for this segment.<br />
Since tourist trains have<br />
special fares, the Nigerian<br />
Railways can position itself to<br />
generate substantial revenue<br />
focusing on international and<br />
domestic tourists by launching<br />
more such services.<br />
The infrastructure on railways<br />
can be leveraged for<br />
launching a diverse range<br />
of products and services to<br />
ensure bright business prospects<br />
with adequate profitability.<br />
The aim should target<br />
to operate more trains connecting<br />
tourist destinations<br />
and also by providing special<br />
train services ranging from<br />
luxury to budget sections. In<br />
Nigeria today, many tourist<br />
spots have limited connectivity.<br />
When fully operational,<br />
it should offer luxury tourist<br />
trains, semi- luxury tourist<br />
trains, special train and other<br />
special services in order to<br />
attract domestic and international<br />
tourists.<br />
It should also offer interstate<br />
tourist train services,<br />
flexi-package tourist trains,<br />
ordinary tourist trains, hill<br />
tourist trains as well as valueadded<br />
tour package.<br />
At the long run, there<br />
should be a tourism arm of<br />
the Railways that will positioned<br />
as a one stop shop for<br />
all the requirements of both<br />
domestic and international<br />
tourists.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
28 BUSINESS DAY<br />
Leadership<br />
SHAPING PEOPLE INTO A TEAM<br />
Limit cyberattacks with a systemwide<br />
Cyberattacks cost companies<br />
an estimated<br />
half a trillion dollars<br />
in damages every year.<br />
The main reason they<br />
can harm companies to such a<br />
staggering degree is that today’s cybersecurity<br />
systems use centralized<br />
monitoring, with little beyond their<br />
main firewalls to protect the rest of<br />
the organization. As a result, when<br />
companies are hacked, it can take<br />
days for information technology<br />
teams to isolate infected systems,<br />
remove malicious code and restore<br />
business continuity. By the time<br />
they identify, assess and resolve<br />
the incident, the malicious code<br />
has usually proliferated across any<br />
connected or even tangentially related<br />
systems, giving hackers even<br />
more time to access sensitive data<br />
and cause malfunctions.<br />
To stay ahead of new intrusion<br />
techniques, companies need to<br />
adopt decentralized cybersecurity<br />
architectures, armed with intelligent<br />
mechanisms that will either<br />
automatically disconnect from a<br />
breached system or default to a<br />
“safe mode” that will enable them<br />
to operate at a reduced level until<br />
the effects of cyberattacks can be<br />
contained and corrected. Like the<br />
general security systems at highrisk<br />
sites such as nuclear power<br />
plants, companies require multiple<br />
layers of redundant safety mechanisms<br />
and cybernetic control systems.<br />
The goal should be to create<br />
“air pockets,” with neither direct<br />
nor indirect internet connections,<br />
that can protect critical equipment<br />
and internet-connected devices.<br />
Every company’s cybersecurity<br />
program will have unique<br />
attributes, but there are several<br />
fundamentals to this decentralized<br />
architecture that can help companies<br />
shift the balance of power<br />
away from attackers.<br />
DETECTION<br />
Even the most expertly designed<br />
cyber architecture is useless if it<br />
can’t detect and understand the<br />
threats it faces. Companies are<br />
experiencing more viral outbreaks<br />
because they often can’t even detect<br />
them until it’s too late. Today’s<br />
cybersecurity systems have been<br />
built to detect previously identified<br />
malicious codes and malware. But<br />
cyberattacks are morphing so fast<br />
that threat patterns are unpredictable.<br />
To identify and mitigate new<br />
attack scenarios, security systems<br />
need to search for anomalies,<br />
analyze the probability that they are<br />
hostile acts and incorporate them<br />
into a continually expanding list of<br />
possibilities. This level of detection<br />
should be carried out by components<br />
on many different levels to<br />
cover the multitude of devices and<br />
system components connected to<br />
the internet and physical environments.<br />
Together, these cybernetic<br />
systems can identify new forms of<br />
attacks by comparing what they<br />
understand to be their normal,<br />
uncompromised state — both on<br />
their own and in combination with<br />
c<br />
other systems.<br />
Rather than reacting to a defined<br />
set of indicators, these systems can<br />
detect and react to irregularities<br />
in data flows, involving anything<br />
from the amount, type, origination<br />
or timing of data. For example, to<br />
determine whether someone<br />
should be locked out of an<br />
online bank account, some<br />
banks’ cybersecurity systems<br />
are starting to use artificial<br />
intelligence to compare how a<br />
person normally types or uses<br />
his computer mouse.<br />
HARM REDUCTION<br />
The next step is to make sure<br />
that decentralized, intelligent<br />
systems minimize the impact<br />
of attacks by taking potentially<br />
compromised systems offline,<br />
by disconnecting them from<br />
other critical equipment or by<br />
locking them in a safe mode.<br />
Current cybersecurity systems<br />
usually trigger an alert if they<br />
have identified a specific attack.<br />
But they continue to operate<br />
and communicate with<br />
other systems until IT teams<br />
shut them down and correct<br />
the malfunction.<br />
SECURE BY DESIGN<br />
Finally, all companies’ products<br />
will eventually have to<br />
become secure by design. So<br />
far, it seems that companies<br />
pay little heed to cybersecurity<br />
during product development.<br />
That needs to change. Hackers<br />
have remotely accessed and<br />
controlled everything from<br />
network-connected electricity<br />
“smart meters” to security<br />
cameras. In 2015 Chrysler<br />
announced a recall of 1.4<br />
million vehicles after a pair<br />
of cybersecurity researchers<br />
demonstrated that they could<br />
remotely hijack a Jeep’s digital<br />
systems over the internet.<br />
In Germany, nearly 1 million<br />
homes suffered brief internet<br />
outages in 2016 after criminals<br />
gained access to and remotely<br />
shut down their internet routers.<br />
The U.S. Food and Drug<br />
Administration warns that<br />
<strong>2017</strong> Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate<br />
medical devices connected to<br />
hospital networks, other medical<br />
devices and smartphones<br />
— such as implantable heart<br />
monitors — are now at risk of<br />
remote tampering that could<br />
deplete the devices’ batteries<br />
or result in inappropriate pacing<br />
or shocks.<br />
Companies need to build<br />
kill switches, safe modes and<br />
encryptions into their products<br />
during development.<br />
This will protect not only the<br />
companies’ systems but also<br />
their customers’. Apple, for<br />
example, installs layers of data<br />
encryption into its products<br />
and permits customers to run<br />
only Apple-approved software<br />
programs on their devices.<br />
Such practices need to become<br />
standard operating procedure<br />
across all industries.<br />
Stopping cyberattacks will<br />
never be cheap or easy. Developing<br />
decentralized, intelligent<br />
cybersecurity systems will likely<br />
happen in fits and starts as<br />
devices learn through trial and<br />
error not to react to false positives<br />
or to go into safe mode<br />
more often than is necessary.<br />
Managers will have to show<br />
leadership, since most customers<br />
remain unaware of the level<br />
of danger that cyberattacks<br />
pose to the products in their<br />
possession, and so are likely to<br />
be impatient with glitches and<br />
delays. The good news is that<br />
the technology exists to make<br />
good cybersecurity a reality.<br />
Decentralized, intelligent systems<br />
can significantly decrease<br />
the risk of cyberattacks and<br />
minimize their damage. The<br />
savings will be enormous.<br />
(Claus Herbolzheimer is a<br />
Berlin-based partner in Oliver<br />
Wyman’s digital and strategic<br />
IT practices.)
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
29
30<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong>
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
31
32 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />
NEWS<br />
Obaseki closes down Edo Line over N1.5bn debt<br />
--relocate staff to ministry of transportation<br />
IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, BENIN<br />
N11bn fuel subsidy: Court to decide legality of Uba’s detention<br />
SEYI ANJORIN, ABUJA<br />
Justice Yusuf Halilu of<br />
the High Court of Federal<br />
Capital Territory,<br />
Jabi has fixed Thursday<br />
for ruling on a motion on<br />
notice filed by embattled<br />
Chief Executive Officer of<br />
Capital Oil and Gas Ltd,<br />
Ifeanyi Uba, challenging his<br />
continued detention by the<br />
Department of State Service<br />
(DSS).<br />
In the motion brought<br />
pursuant to Section 298(2)<br />
of the Administration of<br />
Criminal Justice Act (ACJA)<br />
2015, Uba, through his lawyer,<br />
Ifeoma Esom is praying<br />
for “an order vacating/discharging<br />
the exparte order<br />
of this honourable court<br />
made on the 10th of <strong>May</strong>,<br />
<strong>2017</strong>, allowing the applicant<br />
to detain the respondent in<br />
the custody of the applicant<br />
for an initial period of 14<br />
A<br />
Nigerian employee of<br />
the British American<br />
Tobacco (BAT) Nigeria<br />
Limited, Timothy Ogbole, has<br />
been dismissed from the company<br />
for exposing wrongdoings<br />
by an expatriate manager.<br />
Ogbole, a pioneer staff who<br />
rose to the position of Process<br />
Engineer/Pest and Hygiene<br />
Manager, was forced out of<br />
the company through a plot<br />
hatched and executed by Ilker<br />
Ogretir, a Turkish national<br />
and BAT’s Manufacturing<br />
Manager.<br />
In March 2016, Ogbole was<br />
commended, via email by the<br />
Human Resources Manager,<br />
days pending the completion<br />
of investigation”.<br />
The DSS, based on a<br />
report made to it by the<br />
Nigerian National Petroleum<br />
Corporation (NNPC),<br />
over the purely civil dispute<br />
arising out of the alleged<br />
indebtedness of Capital<br />
Oil and Gas (COG) to the<br />
NNPC, arrested Uba from<br />
his house in Lagos on March<br />
<strong>24</strong>, <strong>2017</strong> and kept him in<br />
its custody until April 14,<br />
<strong>2017</strong>, when he was temporarily<br />
and conditionally<br />
released after he had been<br />
coerced into making payment<br />
of N2billion and executing<br />
various documents<br />
in favour of NNPC and Asset<br />
Management Corporation<br />
of Nigeria (AMCON).<br />
However, Esom told the<br />
court that Uba upon return<br />
to his home in Lagos, in fear<br />
for his life and liberty should<br />
he renew his claims that he<br />
is not indebted to either<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
L-R: Ada Ijara, head, private trust, United Capital Plc; Charles Odenigbo, MD/CEO, Scobro International Limited; Dave Uduanu, MD/<br />
CEO, Sigma Pensions, and Mabel George, vice president, development, Sigma Pensions, at the Sigma Pensions human resources<br />
conference in Lagos, yesterday.<br />
Pic by Olawale Amoo<br />
NNPC Retail Ltd or AMCON<br />
as he had maintained before<br />
his incarceration, instructed<br />
his counsel to file an application<br />
for the enforcement<br />
of his fundamental rights.<br />
When the suit came up<br />
before the Lagos division of<br />
the Federal High Court on<br />
the April 27, <strong>2017</strong>, the court<br />
granted him leave to serve<br />
the originating processes<br />
on the SSS outside Lagos<br />
whereupon the originating<br />
processes were served on<br />
them on the 28th of April<br />
<strong>2017</strong>.<br />
According to Esom, “notwithstanding<br />
the pendency<br />
of the suit and the service of<br />
the originating processes,<br />
the SSS again invited the<br />
Respondent to report to<br />
its offices in respect of the<br />
same allegations made by<br />
the NNPC and AMCON<br />
which is the subject matter<br />
of the suit.<br />
British American Tobacco’s Turkish manager sacks Nigerian for exposing stock fixing<br />
BUNMI BANJO<br />
Edo State Governor,<br />
Godwin Obaseki has<br />
shut down indefinitely<br />
the Edo Line transport<br />
company. The state-owned<br />
transport company was shut<br />
down November 2010 by the<br />
immediate past governor,<br />
Adams Oshiomhole over<br />
the rejection of the appointment<br />
of Amos Osunbor as<br />
the board chairman of the<br />
company by the workers.<br />
Oshiomhole however in<br />
2012 made Osamede Adu,<br />
the chairman of Bob Izua<br />
company as the sole administrator<br />
of the company<br />
Following the appalled by<br />
organized Labour during the<br />
last <strong>May</strong> Day celebration in<br />
Benin-City that the governor<br />
should revitalize moribund<br />
companies in the stage, the<br />
governor, Godwin Obaseki<br />
vowed not to put for sale<br />
all the ailing industries and<br />
redeploy staff to the relevant<br />
ministries.<br />
In fulfillment of the<br />
threat, the governor during<br />
inspection announced the<br />
closing of the company and<br />
the redeployment of all the<br />
staff to the ministry of transport.The<br />
governor said the<br />
company was indebted to<br />
the tune of N1.5 billion while<br />
some buses and major departments<br />
were in disrepair.<br />
Among the disrepair departments<br />
are the mechanic<br />
unit, the courier section, the<br />
staff office among others.<br />
According to him, we will<br />
shut down this place, clean<br />
it up, and decide on how to<br />
liquidate the debt and plan<br />
how to use the premises for<br />
other ventures.<br />
“The company’s debt was<br />
about N1.5 billion. This is<br />
a typical waste. Can you<br />
see how many vehicles are<br />
around? We have been paying<br />
people close up to four<br />
years without doing any<br />
work. “The company has a<br />
huge amount of debt and<br />
as a government, we cannot<br />
continue in this situation.<br />
What we are doing is that we<br />
are absorbing the staff<br />
The company had workforce<br />
that was 186-people<br />
strong with its headquarters<br />
located at James Watt Road,<br />
Off Mission road, Benin City<br />
and other outlets in Lagos,<br />
Abuja, as well as other parts<br />
of the country”, he added.<br />
for his performance in his<br />
new role as Process Engineer.<br />
According to Sahara reports<br />
he was a diligent staff.<br />
It was that role that caused<br />
the friction between him and<br />
Ogretir. Company sources<br />
disclosed that Ogbole observed<br />
that Ogretir was involved<br />
in certain fraudulent<br />
activities and stock fixing.<br />
Aware that what Ogretir was<br />
doing could adversely affect<br />
leaf waste management, one<br />
of his key performance indicators,<br />
Ogbole was said to have<br />
requested, via email, that the<br />
stock fixing be stopped. This,<br />
unknown to Ogbole, got his<br />
Turkish boss very angry.<br />
Buhari terminates pre-shipment<br />
contracts awarded under Jonathan<br />
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, ABUJA<br />
Facts emerged on Tuesday<br />
that President<br />
Muhammadu Buhari<br />
terminated the controversial<br />
appointment of<br />
Pre-shipment Inspection Agents<br />
(PIA) which was approved three<br />
In November 2016, Ogbole’s<br />
line manager, Adetola<br />
Musa, confided in him that<br />
he had been instructed to<br />
place him on a Performance<br />
Improvement Plan (PIP). Realizing<br />
that this was a booby<br />
trap, Ogbole refused to sign<br />
the PIP document, insisting<br />
on a performance evaluation<br />
based on key performance<br />
indicators set at the beginning<br />
of 2016.<br />
Ogbole knew that it was his<br />
Turkish boss’ scheme to either<br />
get him sacked or demoted.<br />
This was confirmed in a video<br />
recording of the discussion<br />
between him and Adeola, his<br />
line manager.<br />
days before the expiration of<br />
President Goodluck Jonathan’s<br />
administration.<br />
President Buhari’s decision<br />
was in line with paragraph<br />
12(2b) of the contract agreement<br />
signed between Federal<br />
Government and the PIAs,<br />
which stated that: “the preshipment<br />
inspection contracts<br />
so signed shall be deemed<br />
terminated upon any change<br />
of government bringing an<br />
end to the life of the preceding<br />
government.”<br />
According to a letter issued<br />
by the office of the Accountant<br />
General of the Federation<br />
(AGF), with reference No:<br />
FD/LS/0167/III/DF dated<br />
12th <strong>May</strong>, <strong>2017</strong> sent to the<br />
Chairman, House Committee<br />
on Public Procurement,<br />
Oluwole Oke, and obtained<br />
by <strong>BusinessDay</strong>, total sum of<br />
N70,053,195,868.22 was paid<br />
by the 11 PIAs between January<br />
2011 and April <strong>2017</strong>.<br />
According to the letter<br />
signed by Ahmed Idris, AGF,<br />
Colbalt International Services<br />
Ltd paid N11,307,644,156.71;<br />
JBIS Integrated Resources<br />
Ltd paid N15,206,397,092.42;<br />
Global Scansystems Ltd<br />
paid N14,120,797,979.28;<br />
Arlington Securitas paid<br />
N8,495,355,177.67; Robinson<br />
Internal Energy Ltd<br />
paid N6,099,409,893.12;<br />
Swede Control Intertek Ltd<br />
paid N5,623,500,645.53;<br />
Lagos begins review of newspaper registration law<br />
JOSHUA BASSEY<br />
Lagos State government<br />
says it has started the<br />
process of reviewing the<br />
Newspaper Registration<br />
Law, part of the aim being to<br />
ascertain the number of outfits:<br />
online and conventional media<br />
that are Lagos based.<br />
Steve Ayorinde, the commissioner<br />
for information and<br />
strategy, disclosed this at a news<br />
conference onTuesday, as part<br />
of activities to mark the second<br />
anniversary of the Governor<br />
Akinwunmi Ambode led administration,<br />
assuring that the<br />
review was not meant to muzzle<br />
media practice, but know who<br />
publishes what within the state<br />
and their status.<br />
According to Ayorinde, this<br />
has become necessary because<br />
the existing law signed into effect<br />
Candid Oil Services Ltd<br />
paid N2,929,587,557.59;<br />
Trobell International Ltd<br />
paid N2,537,273,056.<strong>24</strong>;<br />
Gulf Inspection Service Ltd<br />
paid N799,829,808.57; Carmaine<br />
Asseyer Ltd paid<br />
N163,306,953.60 while total<br />
sum of N2,779,093,557 was<br />
added as schedule of outstanding<br />
claims.<br />
Idris further explained that<br />
the role of the oAGF “is limited<br />
Topsy mentioned facilitation,<br />
based on submission of requests<br />
and approval in the<br />
agents policy files maintained<br />
at the Federal Ministry of Finance.<br />
Evaluation of the agents<br />
request/bills is done by the Central<br />
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and<br />
Federal Ministry of Finance.<br />
However, payments could only<br />
be effected based on available<br />
cash flow in the dedicated NESS<br />
(Oil & Gas) account maintained<br />
and operated with the Central<br />
Bank of Nigeria.”<br />
In his testimony, Muhammad<br />
Wanka, Managing<br />
Director of Arlington Securitas,<br />
which paid the sum of<br />
N8,495,355,177.67, who alleged<br />
that the pre-shipment inspection<br />
contracts terminated by<br />
Federal Ministry of Finance<br />
in September 2015, however<br />
confirmed that the contract<br />
letters were signed by President<br />
Jonathan on the 26th <strong>May</strong>, 2015.<br />
Wanka who confirmed<br />
signing the contract papers<br />
in 2003, has become obsolete and<br />
no longer in tune with modern<br />
reality and new developments<br />
within the media industry, especially<br />
the growth and penetration<br />
of the digital platforms.<br />
“In views of the realisation that<br />
the State Newspaper Cap Law is<br />
obsolete, the State Government<br />
has commenced the process of<br />
reviewing existing Newspaper<br />
Law Cap No2 of 2003 with a view<br />
to making it more effective and<br />
in tune with modern reality. The<br />
review is not an attempt to stifle<br />
the media. The idea is to move<br />
with the trends and development<br />
of the time. It is for the good of the<br />
journalism profession.”<br />
Ayorinde said the government<br />
would be inviting media<br />
stakeholders to seek their inputs<br />
to intimate them with the provisions<br />
of the law and their obligations<br />
before enactment.<br />
however noted that despite the<br />
termination of the contract, his<br />
company did not stop working<br />
since the approval was for two<br />
years without payment from<br />
government.<br />
While speaking, Ibrahim<br />
Dutse (APC-Jigawa) blamed the<br />
Finance Minister for the development<br />
and losses recorded by<br />
the companies having failed to<br />
appoint a replacement before<br />
disengaging them.<br />
On his part, Bulus Maren<br />
however observed that the decision<br />
of Allington and others like<br />
it to keep carrying out inspection<br />
was out of their own volition<br />
having being disengaged.<br />
“Whatever Allignton or any<br />
of the affected firms did in the<br />
absence of a running contract<br />
was purely volunteerism on<br />
behalf of the country,” Maren<br />
said, just as he thanked the<br />
companies for their charity and<br />
selfless services to Nigeria.<br />
Also at the hearing, Nigerian<br />
Social Insurance Trust<br />
Fund (NSITF) to the committee<br />
traded blames over the<br />
submission of Bureau for Public<br />
Procurement (BPP) on the prequalification<br />
of companies for<br />
pre-shipment inspection.<br />
In his remarks, Mamman<br />
Ahmad, BPP Director General<br />
explained that approvals were<br />
given to companies based on<br />
verification of their particulars,<br />
including compliance certificates<br />
issued by NSITF.<br />
“You can’t operate as a print<br />
and not be registered with the<br />
ministry. The media space has<br />
been going through transformation<br />
and the review is in line with<br />
the changes in the media space.<br />
According to Ayorinde, there is<br />
the need to address the challenge<br />
ascertaining the actual number of<br />
media houses operating in Lagos<br />
to facilitate documentation and<br />
billings. He said the review is about<br />
how the ministry can be empowered<br />
to register online media, tract<br />
who is who and from where they<br />
are operating.<br />
While claiming that 90 percent<br />
of the online media are<br />
based in Lagos, Ayorinde enjoined<br />
online media publishers<br />
to come forward to identify themselves<br />
with a location. He said the<br />
review is being looked at from the<br />
point of the media and the law.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
UBA to launch $500m...<br />
Continued from page 4<br />
UBA said it will obtain the approval<br />
of the CBN to access the official<br />
foreign exchange market, if for<br />
any reason the bank does not have<br />
sufficient foreign currency reserves<br />
to meet the principal and interest<br />
payments due on the notes.<br />
Based on Fitch’s assessment on<br />
expected recoveries in a liquidation<br />
scenario, an expected Recovery<br />
Rating (RR) of ‘RR4 (EXP)’ is<br />
also assigned to the notes, implying<br />
average recovery prospects.<br />
The notes will constitute senior<br />
unsecured obligations of UBA and<br />
will be used for general corporate<br />
purposes.<br />
Fitch said the assignment of<br />
the final rating is contingent on<br />
the receipt of final documents<br />
conforming to the information<br />
received to date. The expected rating<br />
is in line with UBA’s Long-Term<br />
Foreign-Currency Issuer Default<br />
Rating (IDR) of ‘B’. In Fitch’s view,<br />
the likelihood of default on these<br />
notes reflects the likelihood of<br />
default of the bank.<br />
According to Fitch’s criteria,<br />
a bank’s IDR usually expresses<br />
Fitch’s opinion on the risk of default<br />
on senior obligations to thirdparty,<br />
non-government creditors<br />
as in Fitch’s view, these are typically<br />
the obligations whose nonperformance<br />
would best reflect the<br />
uncured failure of the entity.<br />
Where a bank has a Long-Term<br />
IDR of ‘B+’ or below, Fitch usually<br />
assigns an RR to the entity’s issues.<br />
RRs provide greater transparency<br />
on the recoveries component of<br />
Fitch’s assessment of the credit<br />
risk of low-rated issuer’s securities.<br />
“A change in UBA’s IDR would<br />
affect the rating of the notes and<br />
may also affect recovery prospects<br />
and the RR. UBA’s IDRs are driven<br />
by the bank’s standalone financial<br />
profile, as reflected in its Viability<br />
Rating (VR) of ‘b’. UBA’s VR and<br />
IDRs are primarily sensitive to<br />
further asset-quality deterioration<br />
and capital deterioration as well<br />
as continued pressure on foreigncurrency<br />
funding and liquidity,”<br />
Fitch Ratings stated.<br />
Importers to save N1trn annually on <strong>24</strong>-hour...<br />
Continued from page 1<br />
two to seven days in Cotonou;<br />
Durban port, South Africa and<br />
Mombassa port.<br />
“In Nigerian ports, an importer<br />
of a 20-foot container is expected<br />
to get five days demurrage free and<br />
to pay daily charges of N2,850 for<br />
6-10 days; N4,400 for 11-<strong>24</strong> days<br />
and N6,600 for 25 days and above.<br />
Acting President Osinbajo on <strong>May</strong><br />
19 signed, a new ‘Executive Order<br />
on Promotion of Transparency and<br />
Efficiency in the Business Environment,’<br />
directing the Nigeria Customs<br />
Service (NCS), Nigerian Ports Authority<br />
(NPA), terminal operators and<br />
other government agencies involved<br />
in cargo clearance at the nation’s<br />
seaports to begin round-the-clock<br />
operations at the port within 30 days.<br />
“Currently, the marine and ship<br />
side of port operations, carried out<br />
by the terminal operators have<br />
been taking place <strong>24</strong> hours, seven<br />
days a week, without interruption<br />
in most terminals in Lagos ports.<br />
This means that ships bringing<br />
cargoes are being attended to any<br />
time and day, including public<br />
holidays and weekends. However,<br />
cargo clearance and examination<br />
by Customs and other agencies do<br />
FG says new executive orders will be...<br />
Continued from page 4<br />
C002D5556<br />
L-R: Raji Afolagbe, national president of Government High School old students association; Raliat Abdul-Razaq, wife of the<br />
founder and first School Administrator; Alimi Abdul-Razaq, eldest child of the founder, and Saka Isau, former Secretary to<br />
the Government of Kwara State and old student, during the reception hosted by the family of Abdulganiyu Abdul-Razaq,<br />
founder of Ilorin College, now Government High School, Ilorin, to mark the 50th anniversary of the school.<br />
not take place at night, weekends<br />
and public holidays,” said Lucky<br />
Amiwero, a maritime analyst, in a<br />
telephone interview.<br />
According to Amiwero, only a<br />
few terminals allow agents to take<br />
delivery of already cleared consignments<br />
but <strong>24</strong>-hour port operation<br />
can only have impact on cargo<br />
clearance, ‘if all the government<br />
agencies at the ports, including<br />
commercial banks that would<br />
collect import duties and clearing<br />
agents, are encouraged to work<br />
round-the-clock and every day.<br />
“The situation where banks operate<br />
from 8am to 4pm everyday,<br />
would not allow the importers and<br />
their agents to pay import duty and<br />
obtain necessary clearance that<br />
would enable Customs to release<br />
the cargo. It is not enough to issue<br />
an executive order on paper, the<br />
Federal Government needs to put<br />
structures on ground to ensure<br />
round-the-clock power supply at<br />
the ports, as well as illuminate the<br />
ports and environs.<br />
“As we speak now, the access<br />
roads leading to the ports in Lagos<br />
are in a sorry state and the question<br />
is, how would our ports operate<br />
<strong>24</strong>-hours in such a state?”.<br />
servants who will be in charge of<br />
the implementation. To ensure that<br />
the orders<br />
work, we want to change the<br />
orientation of Nigerians,” Akande<br />
said, adding that Nigerians need<br />
to understand that it is the duty of<br />
everyone to ensure the improvement<br />
of the Nigerian business<br />
environment.<br />
The newly signed executive<br />
order calls for transparency in Ministries,<br />
Departments and Agencies<br />
(MDAs) of the Federal Government<br />
of Nigeria. It also deals with<br />
government agencies budgeting<br />
and expenditure procedures, a<br />
new visa regime that reviews entry<br />
experience of visitors and travellers,<br />
as well as port operations that under<br />
the order will now run for <strong>24</strong> hours.<br />
Meanwhile, more than one<br />
month after the sack of the Director-<br />
General of the National Pension’s<br />
Commission (PenCom), Chinelo<br />
Anohu-Amazu and appointment of<br />
a replacement, Dikko Aliyu Abdulrahman<br />
and his subsequent rejection<br />
by the Senate, the government<br />
is yet to pick a replacement.<br />
Presidential Spokesman, Femi<br />
Adesina told newsmen at the<br />
briefing that the matter is still being<br />
looked into, describing it as a<br />
developing story.<br />
“It is a developing story and it is<br />
being looked at. No name has been<br />
transmitted to the Senate for now<br />
and that tells you the matter is still<br />
being looked at”.<br />
On April 13, President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari fired heads of 22<br />
parastatals, including Pencom,<br />
and announced Abdulrahman<br />
as the new director-general of<br />
Pencom, subject to the Senate’s<br />
confirmation.<br />
The President also appointed<br />
Funso Doherty as chairman of<br />
Pencom Board, as well as Akin Akinwale,<br />
Abubakar Zaki Magawata,<br />
Ben Oviosun and Nyerere Ayim as<br />
executive commissioners.<br />
The appointment of the new<br />
PenCOm DG is a breach of the provisions<br />
of the Pension Reform Act,<br />
2014 that provides that the nominee<br />
for the position of the chairman<br />
or director-general of Pencom<br />
cannot be a shareholder or staff of<br />
any Pension Fund Administrator<br />
(PFA), within three years before or<br />
after his or her appointment.<br />
Section 21 (2) of the Act also states<br />
that in the event of a vacancy (for the<br />
chairman, DG or other members of<br />
board), the President shall appoint a<br />
replacement from the geo-political<br />
zone of the immediate past member<br />
that vacated the office to complete<br />
the remaining tenure.<br />
According to the Pensions Act,<br />
the Commission’s DG is entitled to<br />
five years tenure of office, subject<br />
to renewal for another term in office.<br />
The sacked DG was appointed<br />
in 2014 even though she was in<br />
charge of the agency in acting capacity<br />
from December 2012.<br />
Abdulraham, the nominated<br />
DG, is from the North-West geopolitical<br />
zone, while the former<br />
DG is from Anambra State, South<br />
East Nigeria.<br />
The sacked PenCom DG was<br />
reputed to have increased pension<br />
assets from N2.9 trillion in 2012 to<br />
N6.7 trillion in <strong>2017</strong> and the Retirement<br />
Savings Account from N5.39<br />
million to N7.2 million.<br />
Amiwero also observed that there<br />
are too many agencies at the ports<br />
and for “<strong>24</strong>-hour port operation to<br />
achieve its aim, the government<br />
needs to prune down the number of<br />
agencies at the ports because many<br />
of them duplicate functions.”<br />
Tony Anakebe, managing director<br />
of Gold-Link Investment Limited,<br />
also agreed that round-theclock<br />
port operations will reduce<br />
demurrage charges importers pay<br />
to shipping companies and storage<br />
charges paid as rent to terminal operators<br />
for delayed cargo clearance.<br />
Anakebe however said that “If<br />
<strong>24</strong>-hour operation must work, the<br />
government must improve on the<br />
security system within and around<br />
the port by ensuring that port access<br />
roads are well illuminated and<br />
that security cameras are installed<br />
to monitor movement of persons<br />
and cargoes in and out of the ports.<br />
Security officials such as men of<br />
the Nigerian Police Force and others<br />
must be on ground to monitor<br />
activities around the ports,” he said.<br />
Anakebe, who noted that the<br />
efforts of the past administration of<br />
Good-Luck Jonathan to introduce<br />
<strong>24</strong>-hour port operations, as directed<br />
by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, then minister<br />
of finance failed due to poor<br />
infrastructure around the port area.<br />
He further observed that government<br />
must ensure that port access<br />
roads are in good shape to ensure<br />
free flow of traffic day and night.<br />
“The past administration did<br />
not have the political will to implement<br />
the <strong>24</strong>-hour port operation<br />
and the government also did not<br />
put pressure on agencies and other<br />
operators involved, so as to ensure<br />
that the ports operate round-theclock,<br />
in line with the international<br />
best practices.”<br />
Jonathan Nicole, President<br />
Shippers’ Association of Lagos,<br />
who commended the government<br />
for the new order, said that if well<br />
implemented, it would reduce the<br />
time spent in clearing goods from<br />
21 days to two days, and further<br />
help in reducing the cost of doing<br />
business at the ports.<br />
“Customs officers and all other<br />
operators that now work from 9am<br />
to 5pm are expected to be on seat<br />
regularly to attend to importers<br />
and their agents, and they can<br />
achieve this by running 12-hour<br />
shifts on a daily basis.<br />
“If the Federal Government succeeds<br />
in implementing the <strong>24</strong>-hour<br />
port operations, Nigerian seaports<br />
would become user-friendly and<br />
more efficient, reducing the dwell<br />
time of cargo and ensuring faster<br />
turnaround time for ships calling<br />
at the ports,” Nicole added.<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
33<br />
NEWS<br />
Briefs<br />
Trump’s $4.1tr budget takes hatchet to safety net<br />
The White House has unveiled<br />
a $4.1tr (£3.1tr) budget<br />
that would take the axe to the<br />
social safety net for the poor.<br />
The plan would sharply slash<br />
food stamps, healthcare for<br />
low-income patients, disability<br />
benefits and eliminate student<br />
loan subsidies.<br />
The budget also features an<br />
Ivanka Trump plan for paid parental<br />
leave.<br />
Government borrowing at three-year April high<br />
Government borrowing was<br />
at its highest April level for three<br />
years, according to the latest figures<br />
from the Office for National<br />
Statistics (ONS).<br />
Public sector net borrowing,<br />
excluding public sector banks,<br />
was £10.4bn last month, up by<br />
£1.2bn from April 2016.<br />
Public sector net debt was<br />
£1.72tn, equivalent to 86% of<br />
GDP, an increase of £114bn on<br />
April 2016.<br />
German police raid Daimler offices<br />
German police have searched<br />
11 offices of carmaker Daimler<br />
as part of their investigation into<br />
possible fraudulent emissions<br />
data by employees.<br />
A total of 23 prosecutors and<br />
230 police officers took part in<br />
the search in the states of Baden-<br />
Wuerttemberg, Berlin, Lower<br />
Saxony and Saxony,<br />
Daimler, which owns Mercedes-Benz,<br />
said it was cooperating<br />
with authorities.<br />
Housing recovery intact despite drop in new home sales<br />
New U.S. single-family home<br />
sales tumbled from near a 9-1/2-<br />
year high in April, but the housing<br />
recovery likely remains intact<br />
amid a tightening labor market.<br />
The Commerce Department<br />
said on Tuesday new home<br />
sales declined 11.4 percent to a<br />
seasonally adjusted annual rate<br />
of 569,00 units last month, with<br />
sales in the West region plunging<br />
to their lowest level in nearly<br />
1-1/2 years.<br />
U.S. plan to sell oil reserve shows declining import needs<br />
President Donald Trump’s<br />
proposal to sell half of the U.S.<br />
strategic oil reserve highlights a<br />
decline in the biggest oil user’s<br />
reliance on imports - and a<br />
weaning off OPEC crude - as its<br />
domestic production soars.<br />
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum<br />
Reserve (SPR) SPR-STK-T-EIA,<br />
the world’s largest, holds about<br />
688 million barrels of crude in<br />
heavily guarded underground<br />
caverns in Louisiana and Texas.<br />
Apple and Nokia see deeper partnership after ending patent dispute<br />
Apple (AAPL.O) has settled<br />
a patent dispute with Finnish<br />
telecom equipment maker Nokia<br />
and agreed to buy more of its<br />
network products and services,<br />
sending Nokia shares up 7 percent.<br />
The deal means Nokia will get<br />
bigger royalties from Apple for<br />
using its mobile phone patents,<br />
helping offset the impact of<br />
waning demand for its mobile<br />
network hardware.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
NEWS<br />
<strong>May</strong> & Baker not in merger talks – Aboderin<br />
Ayodeji Aboderin, executive<br />
director, Finance,<br />
<strong>May</strong> & Baker<br />
Nigeria Plc, has told<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> Newspapers that<br />
the pharmaceutical giant is not<br />
negotiating a merger deal with<br />
Fidson Pharmaceutical, or any<br />
other party.<br />
<strong>May</strong> & Baker is a leading<br />
pharmaceutical company in<br />
Nigeria with over 72 years of<br />
doing business in the country.<br />
It is also one of the few Nigerian<br />
pharmaceutical companies<br />
certified for Good Manufacturing<br />
Practice (GMP) by the<br />
World Health Organisation<br />
(WHO).<br />
“<strong>May</strong> & Baker has consistent<br />
record of growth in sales<br />
and profitability with a culture<br />
of robust dividends payment,”<br />
said Aboderin in a letter to<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> yesterday. “It<br />
has earning capacity above<br />
industry average.”<br />
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE<br />
Four months after the<br />
Nigeria Customs Service’s<br />
(NCS’s) Federal<br />
Operations Unit<br />
(FOU) intercepted 49 boxes<br />
loaded with 661 pieces of<br />
pump action rifles imported<br />
into the country from China,<br />
the Tin-Can Island Command<br />
of the Service yesterday<br />
in Lagos impounded<br />
440 guns of various sizes and<br />
designs.<br />
Speaking with newsmen,<br />
Monday Abuse, assistant<br />
comptroller general of Customs<br />
said that the contraband<br />
cargo was shipped from<br />
Turkey.<br />
Abueh also said a suspect<br />
has been arrested in connection<br />
with arms import. The<br />
Since joining the Nigerian<br />
Stock Exchange in 1994,<br />
Aboderin said that the company<br />
has continued to better<br />
its year-end financial performance<br />
and has won the best<br />
performance award of the NSE<br />
in the healthcare category over<br />
six times.<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> had reported<br />
on Monday that Fidson Pharmaceutical<br />
was said to be looking<br />
to acquire <strong>May</strong> and Baker<br />
Nigeria Plc, an event which the<br />
publication deemed should<br />
be growth positive for the<br />
sector which is grappling with<br />
higher input costs, counterfeit<br />
drugs, lack of meaningful patent<br />
legislation on pricing, and<br />
a chronically underfunded<br />
healthcare sector.<br />
<strong>May</strong> & Baker, with a market<br />
capitalisation of N1.4 billion, is<br />
the best performing Pharma<br />
stock on the Nigerian Stock Exchange<br />
(NSE) with a 56 percent<br />
gain year to date. The company<br />
constructed what was West<br />
Africa’s biggest pharmaceutical<br />
plant in 2007 and diversified<br />
her operations into food processing,<br />
Aboderin said.<br />
“<strong>May</strong> & Baker began West<br />
and Central Africa’s first private<br />
vaccine production investment<br />
with 51 per cent stake in<br />
Biovaccines Nigeria Limited,<br />
a public private partnership<br />
with the federal government of<br />
Nigeria for local manufacture<br />
of vaccines, a project that is<br />
expected to take off soon.”<br />
“The company continues<br />
to grow in leaps and bounds<br />
with new investment in roads<br />
that make her future even more<br />
alluring.”<br />
<strong>May</strong> & Baker was priced at<br />
N1.28 per share at The Nigerian<br />
Stock Exchange as at the close<br />
of trading yesterday, the price it<br />
has retained for three consecutive<br />
trading days.<br />
Customs intercepts imported 440 guns at Tin-Can port<br />
CHANGE OF NAME<br />
I, formerly known and addressed as<br />
Miss Chioma Jane-Frances Igbor<br />
now wish to be known and addressed<br />
as Mrs Chioma Jane-Frances Akor.<br />
All former documents remain valid.<br />
General Public please take note.<br />
CHANGE OF NAME<br />
I, formerly known and addressed as<br />
Emmanuel Ogechukwu Nwankwo<br />
now wish to be known and addressed<br />
as Emmanuel Ugochukwu Eleazar.<br />
All former documents remain valid.<br />
General Public please take note.<br />
CHANGE OF NAME<br />
I, formerly known and addressed as<br />
Mr. Okuoka Akpos Donald now<br />
wish to be known and addressed<br />
as Mr. Edward O. Akpos Donald.<br />
All former documents remain valid.<br />
General Public please take note.<br />
CHANGE OF NAME<br />
I, formerly known and addressed as<br />
Innocent Ogbuehi now wish<br />
to be known and addressed as<br />
Ogbuehi Innocent Maduabuchi.<br />
All former documents remain valid.<br />
General Public please take note.<br />
CHANGE OF NAME<br />
I, formerly known and addressed as<br />
Anenin Helen now wish to<br />
be known and addressed as<br />
Okosun Helen. All former<br />
documents remain valid. General<br />
Public please take note.<br />
consignment, according to<br />
the Zonal Comptroller of<br />
Customs was declared as<br />
POP powder to cover up the<br />
illicit import.<br />
Abueh explained thst<br />
the container with number<br />
PONU 2100<strong>24</strong> was picked up<br />
based on intelligence adding<br />
that investigation into<br />
how and who is behind the<br />
import is ongoing. “Right in<br />
my hand is a sample pump<br />
action of various designs.<br />
Based on intelligence report,<br />
this command identified the<br />
container and the container<br />
was intercepted even before<br />
declaration.<br />
“On opening the container,<br />
we discovered that<br />
they used POP powder to<br />
conceal the importation but<br />
based on intelligence report<br />
we were able to know that<br />
the container was laden<br />
with arm.<br />
Industry stakeholders<br />
blamed the rising crime<br />
wave caused by high rate<br />
of unemployment in the<br />
country for the growing rate<br />
CHANGE OF NAME<br />
I, formerly known and addressed as<br />
Miss Blessing Ekaete Bassey now<br />
wish to be known and addressed as<br />
Mrs Blessing Ekaete Ebri. All<br />
former documents remain valid.<br />
General Public please take note.<br />
CHANGE OF NAME<br />
I, formerly known and addressed as<br />
Miss Igwebuike ljeoma Eucharia<br />
now wish to be known and addressed<br />
as Mrs Ijeoma Eucharia Nnamani.<br />
All former documents remain valid.<br />
General Public please take note.<br />
CHANGE OF NAME<br />
I, formerly known and addressed as<br />
Amore, Oloruntowo Josephina<br />
now wish to be known and addressed<br />
as Raphael Oloruntowo<br />
Josephina. All former documents<br />
remain valid. First Bank Plc &<br />
General Public please take note.<br />
CHANGE OF NAME<br />
I, formerly known and addressed as<br />
Ismaila Umar Abubakar now<br />
wish to be known and addressed<br />
as Umar Ismaila. All former documents<br />
remain valid. First Bank Plc<br />
& General Public please take note.<br />
of arms importation in the<br />
country.<br />
Emma Nwabunwanne, a<br />
Lagos based importer told<br />
our correspondent in a telephone<br />
interview that the<br />
current economic downturn<br />
that led to job loss in different<br />
sectors of the economy<br />
is beginning to take toll on<br />
security of lives and property<br />
by way of youths indulging in<br />
armed robbery and kidnapping<br />
for ransom.<br />
“It is worrisome to know<br />
that the National Bureau of<br />
Statistics (NBS) statistics reported<br />
that the nation’s gross<br />
domestic product (GDP) has<br />
contracted again in the first<br />
quarter of the year, showing<br />
that hope for economic<br />
recovery and job creation<br />
are still far from reality,” said<br />
Nwabunwanne.<br />
According to him, there<br />
is need for the Federal Government<br />
and its economic<br />
management team to put in<br />
place, structures that would<br />
bring the economy back on<br />
track so that there would be<br />
food on people’s table, crime<br />
rate would reduce and Nigerians<br />
would assure of safety.<br />
According to Dennis<br />
Amaeshi, importation of<br />
arms and ammunition is a<br />
usual trend that when politicians<br />
start warming-up for<br />
election. “Though, it may<br />
seems that 2019 election is<br />
still far as we are currently<br />
in <strong>2017</strong>, but we sincerely<br />
believe that arms import is<br />
a trend that is synonymous<br />
election preparation.”<br />
Recall that in December<br />
2016, Tin-Can Island Port<br />
Command also intercepted<br />
guns and ammunition concealed<br />
in an imported used<br />
vehicle, and another sets of<br />
arms accessories hidden in<br />
a container loaded with used<br />
vehicle.<br />
The items impouned include<br />
-one Omini American<br />
Tactical riffle numbered<br />
AR48634; another riffle- one<br />
moasberg American pump<br />
action numbered U648018; an<br />
additional 3,500 pieces of premier<br />
gun pellet and another<br />
4,000 pieces of gun pellet.<br />
The container also had 26<br />
packages of already-mademilitary-food;<br />
nine pieces of<br />
military bullet proof verse; a<br />
piece of military helmet; a<br />
piece of military gas mask;<br />
two pairs of glasses; two<br />
pairs of military booty and<br />
one piece of riffle paunch.<br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY 34
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
35<br />
Live @ the Stock exchange<br />
Market reroutes north as<br />
large cap stocks gain<br />
Stories by<br />
Iheanyi Nwachukwu<br />
Nigerian stocks<br />
rallied by<br />
0.05percent<br />
on Tuesday as<br />
Nestle Nigeria<br />
Plc led other largely capitalised<br />
stocks in the basket of<br />
23 gainers against 18 losers.<br />
The value of listed equities<br />
increased by N5billion<br />
as evidenced in the market<br />
capitalisation which<br />
closed at N9.712 trillion<br />
against preceding day close<br />
of N9.707 trillion.<br />
The Nigerian Stock Exchange<br />
(NSE) All Share<br />
Index (ASI) closed at<br />
28,093.30 points against<br />
the preceding day close of<br />
28,078.30 points. The Yearto-Date<br />
(ytd) return stood<br />
at 4.53percent.<br />
Nestle Nigeria Plc rallied<br />
most by N14, from<br />
N836 to N850; followed<br />
by Nigerian Breweries Plc<br />
which gained N3.16, from<br />
N140.84 to N144. GlaxoSmithKline<br />
Consumer Nigeria<br />
Plc gained 57kobo, from<br />
N15.43 to N16; while Ecobank<br />
Transnational Incorporated<br />
Plc gained 31kobo<br />
from N9.31 to N9.62.<br />
Total Nigeria Plc recorded<br />
biggest loss by N9.99,<br />
from N270 to N260.01; followed<br />
by Dangote Cement<br />
Plc which lost 99kobo, from<br />
N163 to N162.01. UBA Plc<br />
lost 23kobo, from N7.22 to<br />
N6.99; Cement Company<br />
of Northern Nigeria Plc<br />
lost 22kobo, from N4.83 to<br />
N4.61. Also, Dangote Flour<br />
Mills Plc dipped by 21kobo,<br />
from N4.34 to N4.13.<br />
The volume of stocks<br />
traded increased by 2.09percent,<br />
from 208.33million to<br />
212.69million, while the<br />
Oscar Onyema, NSE CEO<br />
total value of stocks traded<br />
decreased by 41.67percent,<br />
from N3.73billion to N2.181<br />
billion in 3,908 deals.<br />
The Financial Services<br />
sector led Tuesday activ-<br />
UPDC targets N1.75 billion from on-going Rights Issue<br />
Larry Ettah, chairman,<br />
UPDC plc.<br />
The UACN Property<br />
Development<br />
Company (UPDC)<br />
Plc has urged its<br />
shareholders to take up<br />
their Rights as the Company<br />
targets to raise about<br />
N1.75billion from on-going<br />
Rights Issue. Larry Ettah,<br />
chairman, UPDC Plc noted<br />
this while addressing shareholders<br />
at the company’s<br />
Annual General Meeting<br />
(AGM) held in Lagos.<br />
The Right offer at N3 per<br />
share 50 kobo share on the<br />
basis of 1 for 1 opened on<br />
<strong>May</strong> 18, <strong>2017</strong> and is expected<br />
to close on <strong>May</strong> 26, <strong>2017</strong>.<br />
Ettah said the company is<br />
repositioning for improved<br />
performance and that the<br />
board has put in place adequate<br />
strategies to enable<br />
it deliver better value to all<br />
stakeholders.<br />
He noted that the Nigerian<br />
real estate sector is one of<br />
the significant drivers in the<br />
country’s non-oil economy.<br />
The sector accounted for<br />
7.5% of total GDP in 2015<br />
and grew by 2.1% year-onyear<br />
in the same year. However,<br />
it recorded negative<br />
GDP growth in 2016. Q1<br />
contracted by -4.69%, Q2<br />
by-5.27%, Q3 by -7.37% and<br />
Q4 by -9.27%.<br />
Ettah pointed out that Nigeria’s<br />
real estate market still<br />
presents substantial opportunities<br />
as well as a number<br />
of challenges for property<br />
investors and developers.<br />
Cumbersome and timeconsuming<br />
processes for<br />
land acquisition, insecure<br />
land title, infrastructure<br />
deficiency are few of the<br />
challenges of the sector.<br />
Existing concerns such as<br />
underdeveloped mortgage<br />
market, paucity of medium<br />
to long term infrastructure<br />
and financial institutions<br />
with reasonable interest<br />
rates are areas the Federal<br />
Government would need<br />
to pay particular attention<br />
to in the near future in order<br />
to move the sector forward.<br />
According to the Chairman,<br />
the Company posted<br />
revenue of N4.99b (Group<br />
N6.34bn) as against 2015<br />
revenue of N3.74b (Group<br />
N5.12bn). Loss before taxation<br />
(LBT) was (N2.02bn),<br />
Group N1.78bn against<br />
loss of N1.8bn and Group’s<br />
profit of N0.56mn in 2015.<br />
In view of this performance,<br />
the Board, regrettably will<br />
not be recommending the<br />
payment of dividend for<br />
the year under review. The<br />
recommendation was approved<br />
by shareholders<br />
during the meeting.<br />
Commenting on the<br />
operating environment,<br />
Ettah stated that housing<br />
demand in residential real<br />
estate has consistently exceeded<br />
supply. A key constraint<br />
in bridging the huge<br />
gap in housing delivery on<br />
the demand side is affordability.<br />
The reduced purchasing<br />
power of Nigerians<br />
and the inability of the lowincome<br />
earners to pay the<br />
prevailing exorbitant rents<br />
have led to increased demand<br />
for affordable houses.<br />
Consequently, developers<br />
in recent times have<br />
shifted focus to the middleincome<br />
segment of the market,<br />
where there appears to<br />
have been a significant level<br />
of income stabilization. The<br />
Federal Government and<br />
certain State Governments<br />
have embarked on initiatives<br />
regarding affordable<br />
homes and have specific<br />
agencies set-up towards<br />
that end.<br />
Growth in the retail development<br />
slowed down<br />
with vacancy rate of between<br />
33%-65% in the big<br />
Shopping Malls due to uncomplimentary<br />
foreign exchange<br />
regime. He stated<br />
that the increase in Monetary<br />
Policy Rate, recession,<br />
government policies and<br />
other un-abating economic<br />
ity chart with 161.20million<br />
shares exchanged for<br />
N1.06billion, followed by<br />
Oil and Gas with 12.10million<br />
shares traded for<br />
N694million.<br />
vagaries in 2016 had negative<br />
impact on the performance<br />
of the Company.<br />
Ettah noted that the cost<br />
of debt increased significantly.<br />
The Chairman stated<br />
that the company recorded<br />
losses upon completion<br />
of certain UPDC &<br />
Joint Venture projects. The<br />
losses are mainly due to<br />
high interest costs, effect<br />
of the 41 banned items<br />
on the CBN list as well<br />
as extended completion<br />
date, noting that the losses<br />
wiped out the Company’s<br />
investment in MetroCity<br />
JV in line with the tenets<br />
of International Financial<br />
Reporting Standards.<br />
Ettah noted that despite<br />
the challenging business<br />
terrain, the Company continued<br />
its ongoing project<br />
developments in 2016 and<br />
commenced new ones.<br />
Providing details on<br />
the company’s plan for the<br />
future, the Chairman said<br />
“A key strategic imperative<br />
for <strong>2017</strong> is to deleverage<br />
the Company. This is<br />
being achieved through<br />
deployment of an aggressive<br />
sales strategy, 1 for 1<br />
Rights Issue that is about<br />
to be launched, and divestment<br />
from low yielding<br />
investment properties.<br />
The fundamentals of the<br />
Company are strong; and<br />
the brand remains positioned<br />
to deliver value to<br />
all stakeholders.”<br />
FBN Holdings pays N7.18bn dividend<br />
FBN Holdings Plc<br />
has paid N7.18<br />
billion total dividend<br />
which translates<br />
to 20 kobo per for<br />
the financial year ended<br />
December.<br />
This follows the approval<br />
of the shareholders<br />
of the Holding Company<br />
(HoldCo) at its 5th annual<br />
general meeting held last<br />
week in Lagos.<br />
The 20 kobo dividend<br />
per share was against<br />
N5.38 billion or 15 kobo<br />
per share the financial<br />
institution paid in the<br />
corresponding year 2015.<br />
At the annual general<br />
meeting, the shareholders<br />
of FBN Holdings Plc<br />
received and adopted<br />
report of the directors;<br />
the company’s audited<br />
financial statements for<br />
the year ended December<br />
31, 2016 and report of the<br />
auditors and the audit<br />
committee thereon.<br />
In the year under<br />
review, FBN Holdings<br />
Plc, owners of First Bank<br />
Limited gross earnings<br />
increase by 15.7percent<br />
AXA Mansard pays dividend, assures<br />
shareholders of increasing RoI<br />
AXA Mansard Insurance<br />
Plc has<br />
paid its shareholders<br />
a dividend<br />
of 5kobo per share<br />
for the financial year ended<br />
December 31, 2016.<br />
This follows the approval<br />
of its shareholders at the<br />
company’s 25th annual<br />
general meeting (AGM)<br />
held last week in Lagos.<br />
At the meeting, the<br />
shareholders of the insurance<br />
company received<br />
and adopted the company’s<br />
audited financial<br />
statements for the year<br />
ended December 31,<br />
2016; reports of the directors;<br />
the auditors and the<br />
audit committee thereon.<br />
Olusola Adeeyo,<br />
chairman, AXA Mansard<br />
Insurance Plc who assured<br />
shareholders of the<br />
Board’s committing to increasing<br />
returns on their<br />
investments (RoI) said,<br />
“We are grateful for your<br />
support and the trust you<br />
have placed in the Board<br />
and management team<br />
through the years as we<br />
seek to position the company<br />
for future growth.<br />
Importantly, we also appreciate<br />
your faith in the<br />
AXA Mansard brand”.<br />
He assured the shareholders<br />
that AXA Mansard<br />
Insurance Plc will on<br />
its success path in <strong>2017</strong><br />
amid prognosis around<br />
to N581.8 billion, from<br />
N502.7billion in 2015.<br />
This record growth in<br />
full year earnings was<br />
driven by 2.6 percent<br />
growth in interest income<br />
to N405.3 billion<br />
and 68.9percent growth<br />
in non-interest income to<br />
N165.5 billion.<br />
Speaking at the annual<br />
general meeting,<br />
the shareholders stressed<br />
the need for the Holding<br />
Company to enhance<br />
profitability.<br />
Sunny Nwosu, National<br />
Coordinator Emeritus,<br />
Independent Shareholders<br />
Association of Nigeria<br />
(ISAN) commended the<br />
company for declaring dividend<br />
in spite of the harsh<br />
operating environment.<br />
Nona Awo, an independent<br />
shareholder<br />
expressed concern on<br />
the company’s huge unclaimed<br />
dividend. He also<br />
noted that the company<br />
needed to increase its<br />
customer deposit base<br />
and reduce non-performing<br />
loans.<br />
the macro economy.<br />
In the review year, AXA<br />
Mansard Insurance Plc,<br />
a member of the AXA<br />
Group reported Profit<br />
After Tax (PAT) of N2.63<br />
billion, which represents<br />
an increase of 59percent<br />
from N1.66 billion in 2015.<br />
Details of the results show<br />
Gross Written Premium<br />
of N20.71 billion, up 25<br />
percent from N16.57 billion<br />
in 2015. Net Premium<br />
Income of N10.95 billion,<br />
up 11 percent from N9.90<br />
billion in 2015.<br />
Investment and Other<br />
Income rose to N6.39 billion,<br />
up 39 percent from<br />
N4.60 billion in 2015. The<br />
Group Operating Expenses<br />
of N5.76 billion rose<br />
by 12 percent from N5.14<br />
billion in 2015. Profit before<br />
Tax (PBT) stood at<br />
N3.13 billion, up 54 percent<br />
from N2.02billion<br />
recorded in 2015.<br />
Highlights of the company’s<br />
statement of financial<br />
position also showed<br />
Total Assets grew by 7<br />
percent to N54.96 billion<br />
from N51.21billion as at<br />
December 2015; Insurance<br />
Liabilities rose by 12<br />
percent to N14.43 billion,<br />
from N12.92 billion as at<br />
December 2015; while<br />
shareholders’ funds stood<br />
at N17.41 billion, same as<br />
N17.41 billion recorded in<br />
December 2015.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
A1<br />
BUSINESSDAY<br />
STATES COMPETITIVENESS &<br />
GOOD GOVERNANCE AWARDS<br />
<strong>2017</strong><br />
C O N F E R E N C E S<br />
Award Categories<br />
Most Improved In Housing Development<br />
Most Improved In Educational Development<br />
Best State Promoting Made in Nigeria<br />
Goods/SME Development<br />
State With The Most Improved Security<br />
Most Improved State In ICT/Technology<br />
Best State In Sports Development<br />
Best State In Tourism<br />
Fastest Growing State Economy<br />
Ease Of Doing Business<br />
Transparency In Governance<br />
Most Improved In Rural And Urban<br />
Infrastructure Development<br />
Most Improved In Health Care Development<br />
Most Improved In Agricultural Development<br />
Governor Of The Year<br />
Transcorp Hilton, ABUJA Thursday 13th, July 6:00pm<br />
For further enquiries, call:<br />
ANTHONY - 0802 316 5438 | RERHE - 0909 392 5792 | JOHN - 0802 316 5436<br />
BASHIR - 0802 758 8990 | PATRICK - 0703 <strong>24</strong>9 6069 | ADA - 0803 426 5411<br />
email:<br />
conferences@businessdayonline.com
A2 BUSINESSDAY C002D5556<br />
Jubilee Syringe sets to end regime<br />
of syringe importation in Nigeria<br />
IFEOMA OKEKE<br />
As an answer to Nigeria<br />
call for increased direct<br />
foreign investment in the<br />
country and also create<br />
jobs across the various cadres,<br />
Jubilee Syringe Manufacturing<br />
Company will in August this year<br />
commence full production of<br />
syringes in the country.<br />
Located on an 8000 square<br />
meter of land area in Onna Local<br />
Government of Akwa Ibom State,<br />
Jubilee Syringe which will be the<br />
first syringe manufacturing company<br />
in Nigeria, second only to<br />
South Africa in the whole of Africa,<br />
intends to kick off with a start up<br />
production capacity of between<br />
350 to 400 million syringes annually,<br />
with provision for expanding<br />
its production capacity to 1billion<br />
syringes by 2018.<br />
This estimated 350 - 400 million<br />
production lines Jubilee Syringe<br />
intend to start-up with in<br />
Nigeria, far overshoots that of<br />
South Africa, as the South African<br />
Company has a production capacity<br />
of only 93 million, making<br />
Jubilee Syringe, of course, upon<br />
completion and commencement<br />
of operations the largest syringe<br />
production company in the entire<br />
African continent.<br />
Owned by Onur Kumral,<br />
a Turkish-born business man<br />
and investor, whose investments<br />
spanned over 17 countries of<br />
the world, and having believe<br />
that Akwa Ibom has good development<br />
policies and adequate<br />
security, in addition to the overwhelming<br />
support provided by<br />
Governor Udom Emmanuel’s<br />
administration, he was spurred<br />
to confidently take the risk of<br />
IT experts chart way for<br />
data explosion in Africa<br />
Information Technology (IT)<br />
and telecommunications<br />
experts at the International<br />
Telecoms Week Conference<br />
in Chicago have discussed<br />
the dire need for Africa to grow<br />
its broadband data through increased<br />
investment.<br />
Experts from Google, Facebook,<br />
WIOCC, Liquid Telecom<br />
and Angola Cables who spoke<br />
on the theme “Achieving a Connected<br />
Continent: Leading The<br />
Data Explosion Across Africa”,<br />
said that the data explosion in<br />
the continent will need to be<br />
driven by further investment in<br />
local networks to reach more<br />
end users rather than new submarine<br />
cables, as most African<br />
submarine cable systems had<br />
the capability to deliver 100 GBPS<br />
wavelengths, however, Africa has<br />
not utilised near enough capacity<br />
to saturate those systems.<br />
According to the panelists, for<br />
broadband to become more pervasive,<br />
there is need for continued<br />
investment and innovative<br />
business models to aid the rapid<br />
deployment of access networks<br />
across the continent.<br />
Speaking on ways to improve<br />
broadband and data penetration,<br />
Nic Rudnick, CEO of Liquid<br />
Telecom, said that there is a need<br />
for the continent to go beyond<br />
mobile infrastructure.<br />
The CEO of the company<br />
which recently acquired South<br />
bringing such huge investment<br />
as Jubilee Syringe into the country.<br />
According to Kumral, even<br />
though the company is in Nigeria<br />
to make profit, its primary aim<br />
is not only to create jobs, but<br />
also to help in stabilising the nation’s<br />
economy and add value to<br />
Nigerians through training and<br />
retraining.<br />
His promise of adding value<br />
to Nigerians was realised when<br />
Jubilee Syringe recently sent 12<br />
Nigerians to Istanbul, Turkey, for<br />
advance training on key areas<br />
of Injection Machines. These 12<br />
Nigerians were trained on the<br />
operation of Injection Moulding<br />
Machines, Maintenance of<br />
Moulds and Quality Control.<br />
Kumral had stated in an interview<br />
recently that there is this situation<br />
in Nigeria right now where<br />
the country is losing huge dollars<br />
daily through importations and<br />
noted that there must be deliberate<br />
efforts by all to stop it.<br />
“If you are losing your dollars,<br />
you arrest the situation by simply<br />
stopping importations. And this<br />
arrest is possible only when you<br />
start producing and manufacturing<br />
inside your country. If you<br />
manufacture, you save huge dollars<br />
and use it for something else,”<br />
he advised.<br />
Zubeyir Gulabi, Jubilee Syringe<br />
managing director for Nigeria<br />
said while receiving the 12<br />
Nigerians who returned from<br />
Turkey, that they are the future<br />
of industrialization in the state<br />
and the nation. He observed that<br />
there are plans by Jubilee Syringe<br />
to send more Nigerians for training<br />
especially in the area of safety,<br />
packaging and printing.<br />
…Say there is need to go beyond mobile infrastructure<br />
JUMOKE AKIYODE<br />
African operator, Neotel for $429<br />
million said; “As consumers in<br />
Africa start to use the internet<br />
for content, TV and on-demand<br />
services, mobile will have its<br />
limitations, not just in terms of<br />
technology, but also in price. We<br />
need to look at other technologies<br />
to achieve cost effectiveness”.<br />
Uche Ofodile, Regional<br />
Head, Africa for Express Wifi at<br />
Facebook said that Facebook’s<br />
decision to invest in Uganda by<br />
working with Airtel to deploy fiber<br />
backhaul was informed by the<br />
demand for it, as well as favorable<br />
regulatory environments.<br />
The panelists’ assessment<br />
of data center growth in Africa<br />
also indicated that uptake is not<br />
as rapid as experienced in other<br />
parts of the world and that most<br />
of the content consumed in Africa<br />
is hosted in Europe.<br />
Data center operators, MainOne<br />
and Liquid shared their<br />
experience that initial demand<br />
on the continent has been driven<br />
by Enterprises and financial<br />
institutions as against other<br />
geographies where OTT players<br />
are the biggest data center players.<br />
“We do not see any of these<br />
OTTs hosting their services from<br />
Africa. We are not seeing meaningful<br />
investments coming into<br />
Africa (from OTT players) and<br />
with the sizeable population of<br />
the continent, we need to see<br />
them play a larger role in the<br />
African ecosystem”, the panel<br />
concluded.<br />
Q1 GDP shows Nigeria gradually exiting recession<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
NEWS<br />
L-R: Ingo Herbert, Germany Consul General; Steve Ayorinde, commissioner for information & strategy, Lagos State, and Laurent Polonceux,<br />
France Consul General, after a reading of ROUTE 234, a travel anthology by Nigerian arts and culture journalists at the German Consulate.<br />
Bonga production hits 200,000 bpd after TAM<br />
.....as plans are underway to extend life span of FPSO<br />
OLUSOLA BELLO<br />
Production from the<br />
Bonga oil field, the<br />
nation’s first deepwater<br />
development<br />
now hits between<br />
180,000 barrels per day and<br />
200,000 barrels per day after<br />
the completion of the turnaround<br />
maintenance (TAM),<br />
which took about 36 day to<br />
complete. The Total Capacity<br />
of Bonga field is 225,000<br />
barrels per day.<br />
There are also indications<br />
that the Life span of the Floating<br />
Production Storage and<br />
Offloading (FPSO) facility<br />
may be extended by 10 years<br />
from 20 years if all the plans<br />
on ground work out well.<br />
The field has also in the last<br />
12 years delivered 702 million<br />
barrels and currently operates<br />
at 92 per cent availability.<br />
The volumes came from<br />
the Bonga main field and<br />
Bonga Phases 2 and 3 that<br />
unlocked the nearby Bonga<br />
North West field in August<br />
2014. It has capacity for 65,000<br />
barrels of oil equivalent per<br />
day.<br />
Lurking in pockets of Nigeria’s<br />
first quarter Gross<br />
Domestic Product (GDP)<br />
report released Tuesday, <strong>May</strong><br />
23 by the National Bureau of<br />
Statistics (NBS) are signs of an<br />
economy cranking back to life.<br />
Bogged down by a sickly oil<br />
sector and slowing agricultural<br />
expansion, GDP shrank 0.5 percent<br />
in the first three months of<br />
the year. It is however the second<br />
successive quarter of milder contraction,<br />
following a 1.7 percent<br />
retreat in the final quarter of 2016.<br />
“That means we are gradually<br />
getting out of recession,” said<br />
Muda-Yusuf, director-general<br />
of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce<br />
and Industry (LCCI).<br />
“There are signs the economy<br />
will exit negative territory in the<br />
According to the Bayon<br />
Ojulari, Managing Director<br />
of the oil field operator, Shell<br />
Nigeria Exploration and Production<br />
Company (SNEPCo),<br />
who spoke after the completion<br />
of the TAM, said “after<br />
a major turnaround maintenance<br />
which was completed<br />
in April, one of the highpoints<br />
of the turnaround was the engagement<br />
of about 65 Nigerian<br />
contractors and subcontractor<br />
companies”.<br />
Over 1000 people were<br />
involved, spread across worksites<br />
and vessels in the exercise<br />
described as the biggest<br />
in scope in the 12-year history<br />
of the asset<br />
He said, “The exercise<br />
stimulated growth of support<br />
industries vital to deep-water<br />
asset management. It provided<br />
a wider benefit to the<br />
Nigerian economy by boosting<br />
demand for a range of goods<br />
and services including offshore<br />
vessels and platforms,<br />
materials, floating hotel and<br />
helicopters.”<br />
According to Ojulari, the<br />
turnaround witnessed an<br />
optimisation of resources<br />
..manufacturing grows for first time since Q4 2015<br />
LOLADE AKINMURELE & HEZRON ATUNDE<br />
second quarter,” Yusuf said by<br />
phone, hinging his outlook on<br />
increased dollar supply in the<br />
period, as well as initiatives to<br />
boost the ease of doing business.<br />
“The Central Bank Nigeria<br />
(CBN) upped dollar supply significantly<br />
in the second quarter,<br />
even as radical reforms boosted<br />
the ease of doing business. These<br />
should move the economy into<br />
positive territory in Q2,” Yusuf said.<br />
The CBN has sold more than<br />
$4 billion in the last four months<br />
to ease pressure on the naira,<br />
which has now firmed on the<br />
black market from a record low<br />
of N520 to the dollar prior to the<br />
interventions.<br />
The black market naira exchanged<br />
for N380 per dollar on<br />
Tuesday, according to Abokifx,<br />
which collates daily prices from<br />
traders. The official interbank rate<br />
and was safely completed<br />
within schedule. The exercise<br />
included statutory and regulatory<br />
checks and inspections;<br />
repairs and replacement of<br />
equipment; and upgrade of<br />
facilities.<br />
A critical success factor,<br />
according to Ojulari, was the<br />
collaboration by more than 10<br />
functions who benchmarked<br />
their contributions against a<br />
robust execution plan. Procuring<br />
materials from Original<br />
Equipment Manufacturers<br />
(OEMs) saved cost and<br />
ensured seamless delivery,<br />
and the project team sourced<br />
key equipment and carried<br />
out fabrications within Nigeria.<br />
This innovation, he said,<br />
marked a turning point in<br />
SNEPCo’s efforts to develop<br />
the capabilities of Nigerian<br />
companies in the provision<br />
of goods and services in deepwater<br />
oil and gas production.<br />
Ojulari expressed delight<br />
at the increasing number of<br />
women on the frontline, noting<br />
that more women were<br />
involved at every stage of the<br />
turnaround compared to any<br />
of the three previous exercises.<br />
has stagnated at N305 per dollar<br />
since the start of the year.<br />
Bayo Adeyemo, markets head<br />
and country treasurer at Citi Bank<br />
thinks the CBN deserves a pat on<br />
the back for the naira appreciation.<br />
Nigeria’s economy contracted<br />
last year, for the first time in 25<br />
years, after it took a beating from a<br />
slump in oil prices and militant attacks<br />
on pipelines, which caused<br />
production to fall to an almost<br />
three-decade low.<br />
Foreign-currency shortages<br />
fuelled by falling oil exports<br />
caused inflation to accelerate<br />
every month for more than a year<br />
until January. But the index has<br />
since slowed, while optimism for<br />
an economic rebound has grown.<br />
Inflation printed 17.2 percent in<br />
April, after slowing for the third<br />
consecutive month.<br />
Naira maintains<br />
gain as CBN keeps<br />
interest rate<br />
unchanged<br />
…External reserves<br />
declines to $30.6<br />
HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE<br />
The nation’s currency<br />
on Tuesday strengthened<br />
against the<br />
U S dollar across foreign<br />
exchange market segment<br />
after the Central Bank of<br />
Nigeria (CBN) kept Monetary<br />
Policy Rate (MPR)<br />
unchanged.<br />
Naira gained N0.25k to<br />
close at N383.31k per dollar<br />
at the investors and exporters<br />
window on Tuesday<br />
compared to N382.56k per<br />
dollar quoted on Monday<br />
according to data obtained<br />
from FMDQ.<br />
The local currency also<br />
gained marginally N0.05k<br />
at the inter-bank spot<br />
foreign exchange market. It<br />
closed at N305.40k per dollar<br />
as against N305.45k per<br />
dollar the level it was last<br />
week. At the black market,<br />
the naira remained stable<br />
closing at the rate of N380<br />
to the dollar.<br />
External reserves has<br />
declined by 1.04 percent<br />
to $30. 66 billion as at<br />
<strong>May</strong> 19, <strong>2017</strong> from $30.9<br />
billion stood as at <strong>May</strong> 5,<br />
<strong>2017</strong>, data from CBN has<br />
revealed.<br />
The CBN has since<br />
February 20 been intervening<br />
in the foreign exchange<br />
market by way of injecting<br />
dollar to meet demand for<br />
retail and wholesale as well<br />
as to close the huge gap<br />
between the official market<br />
and Bureau De Change<br />
(BDC) segment.<br />
The Monetary Policy<br />
Committee (MPC) yesterday<br />
at the meeting in Abuja<br />
emphasized the need to<br />
sustain and deepen the<br />
Bank’s foreign exchange<br />
management policies and<br />
measures in order to reap<br />
the benefits of the passthrough<br />
to consumer prices.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
FT<br />
TIMES<br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
A3<br />
Blockchain consortium raises record<br />
$100m<br />
Page A5<br />
Driverless cars - The new gold rush<br />
Page A6<br />
In association with<br />
-<br />
FINANCIAL<br />
World Business Newspaper<br />
Nigeria’s ‘Chibok girls’<br />
wait to return home<br />
after being rescued<br />
from Boko Haram<br />
MAGGIE FICK<br />
Joshua Andrew, a Nigerian<br />
pastor, was at home listening<br />
to the radioin Abuja<br />
when he heard miraculous<br />
news: the government had<br />
negotiated the release of 82 of<br />
the “ Chibok girls” kidnapped<br />
by Boko Haram three years ago.<br />
The pastor scrambled to turn<br />
on his television and called his<br />
wife and children. He soon identified<br />
his daughter Esther among<br />
the rows of young women wearing<br />
matching outfits. The cheers<br />
and shouts in the living room led<br />
neighbours to his door.<br />
“We said, ‘We are full of joy,<br />
we saw our daughter on that television,’”<br />
recalled Mr Andrew. As<br />
the man of the house, he added,<br />
he had to hold back his own<br />
tears as his wife Godiya wept<br />
with relief.<br />
Two weeks passed before Mr<br />
and Mrs Andrew were permitted<br />
to hold Esther in their arms, in a<br />
reunion at the weekend attended<br />
by parents and a scrum of cameramen.<br />
“Even I myself cried,” he<br />
admitted. The moment was brief.<br />
Esther and the other girls remain<br />
in state custody.<br />
Their continued detention -<br />
and the fact that politicians met<br />
the former captives before their<br />
families did - have cast a shadow<br />
over what should have been<br />
Police have identified the<br />
suicide bomber who<br />
killed 22 people, including<br />
children, in Monday<br />
night’s Manchester terrorist attack<br />
as Salman Abedi, a 22-yearold<br />
native of the northern English<br />
city.<br />
Public records seen by the<br />
Financial Times showed Abedi<br />
was born in Manchester and lived<br />
with his brother Ismail in one its<br />
southern neighbourhoods; his<br />
last listed address on UK voter<br />
rolls was raided by Manchester<br />
police yesterday.<br />
a success story for President<br />
Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.<br />
During his two years in office,<br />
the president has promised<br />
to rescue the nearly 300 teenage<br />
girls who were kidnapped<br />
at their boarding school in the<br />
north-eastern town of Chibok in<br />
2014. But most remain in Boko<br />
Haram’s hands.<br />
The government’s insistence<br />
on keeping the rescued girls in<br />
custody has fuelled speculation<br />
that officials suspect that<br />
they developed sympathy for<br />
their captors. Before seeing his<br />
daughter, Mr Andrew dismissed<br />
the notion that Esther and the<br />
other captives could possibly<br />
sympathise with the Islamists.<br />
“I’d like people to know that<br />
these victims have not been influenced<br />
by Satan, nothing has<br />
changed them. They have not<br />
been injected with anything that<br />
will harm people,” he said. After<br />
Saturday’s reunion, Mr Andrew’s<br />
daughter was taken back to a<br />
guarded facility and the pastor<br />
does not know when he will be<br />
allowed to see her again.<br />
Mausi Segun, Nigeria researcher<br />
at Human Rights Watch,<br />
says: “Authorities should clarify<br />
to families whether the rescued<br />
girls are being held in preventative<br />
detention or as criminal<br />
suspects.”<br />
Manchester man identified as<br />
bomber who killed 22 at concert<br />
SAM JONES, LEILA HADDOU<br />
& ANDREW BOUNDS<br />
The raid, in the city’s Fallowfield<br />
district, was one of three<br />
operations carried out by police<br />
across the south of the city<br />
yesterday as authorities tried<br />
to establish whether Abedi had<br />
been working alone or as part of<br />
a network.<br />
The attack was the most serious<br />
terrorism incident in the<br />
UK since the Islamist suicide<br />
bombings in London that hit the<br />
Underground network and a bus<br />
in 2005, killing 52 people.<br />
It comes after a spate of recent<br />
attacks, including in France, Belgium,<br />
Germany and Sweden, that<br />
have posed a deadly challenge to<br />
Continues on page A2<br />
President Muhammadu Buhari<br />
Trump vows to resolve Arab-Israeli conflict<br />
JOHN REED<br />
Donald Trump reaffirmed<br />
his commitment<br />
to resolving the<br />
Arab-Israeli conflict<br />
after meeting Palestinian president<br />
Mahmoud Abbas yesterday,<br />
but gave scant detail about how<br />
he planned to bring the parties<br />
to the table.<br />
In a speech heralded as the<br />
highlight of his visit, the US president<br />
also refrained from recognising<br />
Jerusalem as Israel’s capital<br />
or announcing a move of the US<br />
embassy to the city - two things<br />
Israelis had called for. Nor did he<br />
provide any details for achieving<br />
his promise to pursue Israeli-<br />
Palestinian peace.<br />
“I can tell you the Palestinians<br />
are ready to reach for peace,”<br />
Trump said in a speech at the<br />
Israel Museum in Jerusalem. “I<br />
know you have heard it before,<br />
and I am telling you again - that’s<br />
what I do - they are reaching for<br />
peace.”<br />
Mr Trump’s remarks came<br />
after he met Mr Abbas in Bethlehem,<br />
where the Palestinian leader<br />
made a pledge “to co-operate with<br />
you in order to make peace and<br />
forge a historic peace deal” and<br />
help the US fight terrorism.<br />
The US president was accompanied<br />
by his son-in-law Jared<br />
Kushner, who is advising him on<br />
efforts to reach a peace deal with<br />
Arab countries’ backing, and<br />
Jason Greenblatt, his main envoy<br />
for the region. Neither of them<br />
have made public remarks during<br />
the visit.<br />
In the speech, Trump refrained<br />
from criticising Israeli<br />
settlement building in occupied<br />
territories, which Palestinians and<br />
many countries see as a primary<br />
obstacle to peace. He also made<br />
no reference to the occupation,<br />
which will enter its 51st year next<br />
month with the anniversary of the<br />
Six Day War.<br />
The president did, however, build<br />
on the principal theme of the visit<br />
by saying he planned to work with<br />
Israel and Sunni Arab states to fight<br />
terrorism and Iran. He said he was<br />
determined to prevent the Islamic<br />
republic from obtaining a nuclear<br />
bomb.<br />
“Isis targets Jewish neighbourhoods,<br />
synagogues and storefronts<br />
and Iran’s leaders routinely call for<br />
Israel’s destruction,” Trump said,<br />
in a line that brought a standing<br />
ovation from listeners. “Not with<br />
Donald J Trump.”<br />
Iran has always insisted its nuclear<br />
activities are for peaceful civilian<br />
use. In 2015, Tehran signed an accord<br />
with the US and five other powers<br />
under which it agreed to reduce<br />
its nuclear activities in return for<br />
many sanctions being lifted.<br />
Israel and Gulf states viewed<br />
the deal as emboldening Iran and<br />
increasing Tehran’s threat to the<br />
region. Trump has also criticised the<br />
agreement as one of the “worst ever”.<br />
In his Jerusalem speech, Trump<br />
said it was a “false choice” to say the<br />
US must choose between Israel and<br />
Arab and Muslim nations. “That is<br />
completely wrong,” Trump said. “All<br />
decent people want to live in peace”.<br />
Later Trump visited Yad Vashem,<br />
the Holocaust monument and remembrance<br />
centre, where he laid<br />
a wreath and received a replica of<br />
a personal album that belonged to<br />
a victim who was murdered at the<br />
age of 16.<br />
The visit was a closely watched<br />
part of Trump’s itinerary among<br />
Israelis who were disturbed by<br />
allegations of anti-Semitism made<br />
against some of the president’s<br />
supporters and members of his<br />
administration.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
A4 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
FT<br />
NATIONAL NEWS<br />
In association with<br />
US files lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler alleging diesel emissions violations<br />
DAVID LYNCH<br />
The US has filed a suit against<br />
Fiat Chrysler, accusing the<br />
Italian- American carmaker<br />
of violating diesel emissions<br />
standards but stopping short of alleging<br />
it had intentionally designed its vehicles<br />
to cheat environmental testing.<br />
The US justice department had<br />
been in talks with Fiat to try and avoid<br />
the lawsuit, with the carmaker making<br />
a last-ditch effort to settle the case by<br />
proposing a fix for 104,000 dieselpowered<br />
vehicles in the US that failed<br />
to satisfy environmental regulators.<br />
The decision to move ahead with<br />
the suit is a setback for the carmaker,<br />
raising the prospect of large fines and<br />
penalties. But the charges allow Fiat<br />
to avoid the fate of European rival<br />
Volkswagen, which was accused by the<br />
justice department of developing software<br />
to intentionally cheat nitrogen<br />
oxide emissions tests. Fiat shares fell<br />
nearly 3 per cent on news of the suit.<br />
The allegations have been hanging<br />
over Fiat since January, when the US<br />
Environmental Protection Agency accused<br />
the company of violating emissions<br />
laws in its diesel vehicles. The<br />
charges were made public a day after<br />
VW agreed to pay a $4.3bn criminal<br />
fine for evading US pollution laws. Fiat<br />
said it was “disappointed” with the suit<br />
but would “defend itself vigorously”.<br />
In its settlement with Washington,<br />
VW acknowledged that “defeat<br />
devices” it used in its diesel vehicles<br />
allowed them to perform differently<br />
under test conditions than during<br />
normal driving. This enabled them to<br />
trick the government emissions testing<br />
meant to catch vehicles that emit<br />
excess pollutants.<br />
Although Fiat vehicles have also<br />
been accused of having “defeat devices”,<br />
sources close to the company<br />
insisted the designation was an umbrella<br />
term under US environmental<br />
law which could include less egregious<br />
conduct than that admitted by VW.<br />
“It does not mean [Fiat] did the same<br />
thing,” said one person close to the<br />
company.<br />
Manchester man identified...<br />
Continued from page A3<br />
western European governments<br />
struggling to contain the threat<br />
from Isis and other Islamists.<br />
The bomber detonated his<br />
device, loaded with metal objects,<br />
near one of the main exits of the<br />
21,000-seater Manchester Arena,<br />
the biggest indoor venue in the<br />
UK, as mostly young female fans<br />
were leaving a concert by US pop<br />
star Ariana Grande. The attack<br />
echoed the bloody assault on the<br />
Bataclan concert hall in Paris in<br />
November 2015.<br />
A friend of the family told the<br />
Financial Times that Abedi had a<br />
history of gang membership and<br />
had only recently turned to radical<br />
Islam.<br />
“We struggle to comprehend<br />
the warped and twisted mind that<br />
sees a room of young people as an<br />
opportunity for carnage,” Theresa<br />
<strong>May</strong>, the prime minister, said in<br />
a sombre statement outside 10<br />
Downing Street.<br />
Britain’s political parties suspended<br />
campaigning for the June<br />
8 general election in response to<br />
the killings. Donald Trump, US<br />
president, condemned the attack,<br />
saying such perpetrators were<br />
“evil losers in life”.<br />
“Terrorists must be driven from<br />
our society forever. This wicked<br />
ideology must be obliterated.<br />
Completely obliterated. Innocent<br />
life must be protected,” he said on<br />
a visit to Bethlehem for a meeting<br />
with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian<br />
president.<br />
In France, the western country<br />
hardest hit by Islamist attacks<br />
recently, President Emmanuel<br />
Macron expressed “compassion<br />
and solidarity with the people of<br />
Britain”. His office said Mr Macron<br />
would “pursue with the government<br />
and with British forces the<br />
fight against terrorism”.<br />
Isis claimed responsibility for<br />
the attack, although the jihadi<br />
group has in the past taken credit<br />
for terror incidents with which<br />
it was later found to be unconnected.<br />
Dan Coats, US director of<br />
national intelligence, said Isis’s<br />
role had yet to be confirmed.<br />
Nitin Gadkari<br />
India takes on challenge of port expansion<br />
SIMON MUNDY<br />
Off a dusty stretch of coast<br />
under the scorching Gujarat<br />
sun, dredgers are<br />
reclaiming hundreds of<br />
hectares of land from the Arabian<br />
Sea in the latest challenge to India’s<br />
once-dominant state-owned ports:<br />
a private deepwater terminal that<br />
will handle 20m tonnes a year of<br />
everything from textiles to cement.<br />
Print article Add to basket<br />
 Essar Ports, which is developing<br />
the Hazira site, is one of<br />
several companies to have spied an<br />
opportunity as government facilities<br />
struggle to keep pace with India’s<br />
booming international trade. The<br />
big 12 state-owned ports’ share of<br />
the country’s shipping by volume<br />
has fallen from 72 per cent to 55 per<br />
cent in less than a decade.<br />
The future of these marine gateways<br />
is crucial to the economy,<br />
the fastest-growing of any leading<br />
nation, with an annual growth rate<br />
above 7 per cent. To maintain that<br />
pace, India needs to handle ever<br />
larger volumes of trade. And if the<br />
government is to realise its hopes of<br />
boosting India’s status as an exporting<br />
power, it will need to narrow<br />
the logistical gap with rivals such<br />
as China.<br />
To some, the answer is a continued<br />
shift away from public ports.<br />
“Productivity and efficiency are<br />
much higher at the private ports,”<br />
says Subhas Das, the Hazira port’s<br />
chief executive. “None of the state<br />
ports are yet modern.”<br />
But Nitin Gadkari, the minister<br />
for road and maritime infrastructure,<br />
is fighting back against such<br />
criticism with a vast campaign to<br />
improve the state ports’ efficiency<br />
and scale that has earmarked Rs8tn<br />
($1<strong>24</strong>bn) in spending over the next<br />
18 years.<br />
“It will be the biggest project in<br />
the history of the country,” Gadkari<br />
said in December of the Sagarmala<br />
scheme, which includes upgrades to<br />
the big 12 state ports, the construction<br />
of six new ones and improved<br />
ship-to-rail links.<br />
The government sees it as a main<br />
plank in its ambitious plans for<br />
infrastructure in India, which has<br />
already witnessed blistering growth<br />
in sea trade since the liberalisation<br />
of the 1990s.<br />
Container shipping volumes,<br />
which in 1991 amounted to just<br />
602,000 twenty foot equivalent units<br />
(TEUs), hit 13.2m last year. Given<br />
this was only about half that of South<br />
Korea, Malaysia or Japan, and one<br />
15th that of China, the government<br />
expects expansion to continue.<br />
Yet little detail has been given<br />
on funding for the Sagarmala programme.<br />
And the state’s performance<br />
in other industries gives<br />
grounds for scepticism about its ability<br />
to compete with the private sector.<br />
The state-owned flag carrier Air India<br />
has racked up eight annual losses in<br />
the past decade after losing share to<br />
more efficient private airlines.<br />
Nonetheless, the government’s<br />
focus on port improvement is<br />
prompting optimism for the likes of<br />
Cyril George, vice-chairman of the<br />
Port of Chennai.<br />
The port, one of India’s oldest, is<br />
working to boost efficiency through<br />
measures such as automated gates<br />
that allow trucks swifter passage - but<br />
it is still hampered by “legacy issues”<br />
including a large manpower surplus,<br />
Mr George warns. By comparison,<br />
he says, the private ports “enjoy a lot<br />
of freedom in all respects” - a gap he<br />
thinks will be closed by passage of a<br />
bill giving greater autonomy to state<br />
ports to invest and form partnerships<br />
with private companies.<br />
Greek bailout<br />
deal moves a<br />
step closer<br />
JIM BRUNSDEN<br />
Eurozone finance ministers<br />
and the International<br />
Monetary Fund are exploring<br />
a compromise plan for<br />
Greece’s bailout that would allow<br />
the country to receive much-needed<br />
funds this summer while delaying<br />
sensitive discussions on whether it<br />
will get debt relief.<br />
Diplomats said the proposal, put<br />
forward by the IMF, would involve<br />
the fund taking a formal decision to<br />
join Greece’s bailout, but with the<br />
proviso that it would not provide any<br />
money until the eurozone gave further<br />
details on how it was prepared<br />
to ease Athens’ debts.<br />
Supporters of the plan argue that<br />
it would deliver formal IMF backing<br />
for the Greek programme, which<br />
Germany has made a prerequisite for<br />
Athens to receive any further tranches<br />
of aid from its €86bn bailout.<br />
At the same time, the approach<br />
would buy time for politically sensitive<br />
talks about a debt relief package,<br />
which the IMF says is essential for<br />
Greece to recover. The approach<br />
won support from finance ministers,<br />
including Germany’s Wolfgang<br />
Schäuble, during seven hours of<br />
negotiations in Brussels on Monday<br />
evening.<br />
Although talks ended without<br />
agreement, diplomats expect the<br />
plan to form the basis of discussions<br />
when IMF officials and eurozone<br />
ministers regroup on June 15 to try<br />
to broker a deal.<br />
Greece’s need for money is pressing.<br />
It faces more than €7bn of debt<br />
repayments in July.<br />
The Washington-based fund had<br />
previously insisted it would decide to<br />
join the bailout only if the eurozone<br />
provided much more detail on the<br />
debt relief it would give. But people<br />
involved in the talks said the IMF’s<br />
plan to initially withhold its bailout<br />
loans would remove this urgency<br />
and allow talks on debt relief after<br />
Germany’s elections in September.<br />
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Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED 2015<br />
Blockchain<br />
consortium raises<br />
record $100m<br />
A<br />
consortium of banks<br />
looking to build<br />
blockchains for<br />
modern finance has<br />
completed the largest<br />
fundraising to date for the<br />
emerging technology, raising<br />
more than $100m from about<br />
half its membership as well as<br />
technology group Intel.<br />
R3, the New York group, said<br />
yesterday it had secured $107m<br />
to develop a blockchain platform<br />
from 43 financial institutions, as<br />
well as Temasek, the Singaporean<br />
state investment company,<br />
and Intel Capital, the US tech<br />
group’s venture capital arm.<br />
The technology - an electronic<br />
ledger with records stored in<br />
“blocks” - aims to automate the<br />
complex networks of trust and<br />
verification on which modern<br />
finance sits, potentially cutting<br />
tens of billions of dollars of costs<br />
from the financial sector.<br />
But the seven-month fundraising<br />
has been marked by ten-<br />
PHILIP STAFFORD<br />
FINANCIAL TIMES<br />
COMPANIES & MARKETS<br />
sions among big banks assessing<br />
which blockchain projects they<br />
should back, as the two-yearold<br />
consortium’s membership<br />
swelled from an original nine to<br />
more than 80.<br />
Some early members, such as<br />
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and<br />
Morgan Stanley balked at being<br />
asked to invest and are planning<br />
to withdraw from the venture.<br />
Some have backed rival blockchain<br />
projects such as Digital<br />
Asset Holdings and Axoni.<br />
However, many others, including<br />
Barclays, Bank of America<br />
Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse,<br />
UBS and HSBC participated in<br />
the fundraising.<br />
The capital raising took place<br />
in three stages, with the first two<br />
open to members of the R3 consortium<br />
only, plus a dispensation<br />
for Intel to participate.<br />
A final tranche, also open to<br />
non-members, will begin this<br />
year. Although R3 did not put a<br />
figure on it, a person involved<br />
in the financing said it would be<br />
around $50m.<br />
LAURA NOONAN<br />
Commodities and foreign<br />
exchange traders endured<br />
their worst first<br />
quarter in more than a<br />
decade, as they were left out of<br />
a double-digit surge in revenues<br />
across the world’s biggest investment<br />
banks.<br />
Revenues from commodities<br />
fell 29 per cent year on year at<br />
the top 12 investment banks and<br />
revenues from trading currencies<br />
dropped 25 per cent amid lower<br />
volatility and volumes, according<br />
to data from industry monitor Coalition.<br />
In both cases, total revenue<br />
was at the lowest level since 2006.<br />
However, overall investment<br />
banking revenue at the 12 banks<br />
jumped 14 per cent to $42.4bn,<br />
powered by rises in other parts<br />
of fixed income trading and in<br />
fees for advising clients on raising<br />
debt and equity. Nevertheless,<br />
the combined total remains well<br />
below revenue levels earlier in<br />
the decade.<br />
C002D5556<br />
The Coalition data help explain<br />
why Goldman Sachs failed<br />
to share in a rebound enjoyed by<br />
rivals; it cited commodities weakness<br />
as one reason it missed out.<br />
Regulatory changes have prompted<br />
most banks to scale back their<br />
commodity trading units, leaving<br />
Goldman and Morgan Stanley<br />
with the largest remaining exposure,<br />
said JPMorgan analyst Kian<br />
Abouhossein.<br />
He added that he did not expect<br />
revenues from commodities or<br />
foreign exchange trading to pick<br />
up in the second quarter. Trading<br />
revenue in both activities is dependent<br />
on the level of volatility in<br />
the market, which inspires clients<br />
to trade more and allows banks to<br />
earn higher margins.<br />
“Volatility has further declined<br />
on a quarter on quarter basis,<br />
there are not a lot of trigger events<br />
in the market which would lead to<br />
an increase [in volatility]”, he said.<br />
The UK’s Brexit vote delivered a<br />
surge in foreign exchange volatility<br />
in the second quarter of 2016, as<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
In association with<br />
Commodities and forex trade dives<br />
A5<br />
did the US presidential campaign<br />
in the second half of the year.<br />
Cash equities traders also had<br />
a tough start to the year, with revenue<br />
down 18 per cent according<br />
to Coalition data, but that market<br />
has improved. “We have really<br />
seen a change in direction,” said<br />
Abouhossein. “Cash equities are<br />
suddenly performing better than<br />
equity derivatives, with transaction<br />
volumes up significantly in<br />
the EU. Markets are higher as well<br />
which helps in Europe.”<br />
George Kuznetsov, Coalition’s<br />
head of research, said one of<br />
the biggest surprises of the first<br />
quarter was a boost in revenues<br />
that banks earned from advising<br />
clients on IPOs and other equity<br />
raising activities. Equity capital<br />
markets were up 97 per cent in the<br />
first quarter.<br />
Abouhossein said new data<br />
from Dealogic suggests that the<br />
trend is continuing in the second<br />
quarter. ‘Volatility has further<br />
declined on a quarter on quarter<br />
basis’<br />
Eurozone growth boosts equities<br />
but single currency’s gains recede<br />
DAVE SHELLOCK<br />
The euro struggled to hold<br />
on to early gains against the<br />
dollar and sterling even as<br />
the latest batch of economic<br />
reports confirmed the eurozone’s<br />
strong growth momentum of recent<br />
months.<br />
European equities also had a<br />
broadly positive session while on<br />
Wall Street, the S&P 500 continued<br />
to inch back towards its recent<br />
record high. Oil prices maintained<br />
their firm trend ahead of this week’s<br />
Opec meeting in Vienna but the<br />
mildly “risk-on” tone of the markets<br />
left gold and US Treasuries slightly<br />
lower.<br />
Eurozone economic data provided<br />
an early focus for the markets,<br />
with the region’s “flash” composite<br />
purchasing managers’ index holding<br />
steady at a six-year high of 56.8<br />
this month.<br />
“This indicates that growth in<br />
the second quarter continues to be<br />
strong and could even surprise on<br />
the upside on these strong figures,”<br />
said Bert Colijn, senior eurozone<br />
economist at ING.<br />
“Businesses continue to indicate<br />
that job growth is picking up<br />
speed and that backlogs of work are<br />
reaching new highs. This means that<br />
domestic demand continues to drive<br />
the strong growth in the eurozone.”<br />
Further positive signals came<br />
from Germany, where first-quarter<br />
GDP growth was confirmed at 0.6<br />
per cent quarter on quarter and 1.7<br />
per cent year on year. Meanwhile, the<br />
German Ifo business climate index<br />
in <strong>May</strong> rose to a record high.<br />
“Germany has become a powerful<br />
two-engine economy benefiting<br />
from strong domestic demand and<br />
surging global trade,” said Andreas<br />
Rees, chief German economist at<br />
UniCredit.<br />
“We do not believe in a sentiment<br />
bubble but think that the latest<br />
round of renewed optimism among<br />
companies is for real.”<br />
The markets appeared to agree,<br />
with the euro touching a fresh sixmonth<br />
high against the dollar of<br />
$1.1267 in early trade before retreating<br />
to $1.1222, down 0.1 per cent on<br />
the day. Just seven sessions ago, the<br />
single currency was trading below<br />
$1.09.<br />
The euro was 0.2 per cent weaker<br />
against the pound at £0.8625, having<br />
earlier hit a two-month peak of<br />
£0.8675.<br />
“Euro/dollar has finally faltered<br />
a bit today despite supportive European<br />
data, a possible sign that<br />
the steepness of the recent action<br />
has brought the pair into temporarily<br />
overbought territory,” said John<br />
Hardy, head of forex strategy at Saxo<br />
Bank.<br />
Kazuo Hirai<br />
Sony chief outlines plan to capitalise on growth<br />
KANA INAGAKI<br />
With Sony closing in on<br />
its highest profit in two<br />
decades, Kazuo Hirai,<br />
chief executive, says he<br />
will aim to succeed where his predecessors<br />
have failed by maintaining<br />
the success.<br />
Analysts say Mr Hirai faces a<br />
challenge as he tries to position Sony<br />
to capture new markets for autonomous<br />
cars, robotics and the internet<br />
of things while ensuring volatility in<br />
its film and electronics units do not<br />
jeopardise recovery.<br />
Investors have so far backed Mr<br />
Hirai’s turnround strategy, with<br />
shares in the Japanese entertainment<br />
and electronics group rising 36 per<br />
cent in the past 12 months. In the final<br />
year of its three-year business plan<br />
through to March 2018, the company<br />
expects operating profit to hit ¥500bn<br />
($4.5bn), which would mark its best<br />
income performance since the 1997-<br />
98 fiscal year.<br />
“The operating profit target of<br />
¥500bn for fiscal <strong>2017</strong> will mark our<br />
highest level in 20 years, but not<br />
once have we been able to sustain<br />
this profit level over several years in<br />
Sony’s 71-year history,” Mr Hirai told<br />
a news conference in Tokyo yesterday.<br />
“For Sony to be able to continue<br />
generating high profits, each of our<br />
group’s divisions needs to strengthen<br />
their efforts to build new businesses<br />
rather than maintaining the status<br />
quo,” he said.<br />
Despite stemming losses from<br />
its television, smartphone and other<br />
electronics businesses, however,<br />
Sony has yet to restore its ailing film<br />
studio after a dismal run at the box<br />
office which has left it trailing its Hollywood<br />
rivals.<br />
This month Mr Hirai named Tony<br />
Vinciquerra, a former 21st Century<br />
Fox executive, as chairman and chief<br />
executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment,<br />
which includes Sony’s film studio,<br />
television production business<br />
and global television networks unit.<br />
The film business will aim to<br />
achieve an operating profit margin<br />
of 3.8 per cent in the current financial<br />
year, well below the 7-8 per cent margin<br />
Sony had originally targeted when<br />
it released its three-year plan in 2015.<br />
To rebuild its film business, Mr<br />
Hirai said the company would aim<br />
to make better use of its intellectual<br />
property portfolio including Spider-<br />
Man, which will be released this<br />
summer as a co-production with<br />
Walt Disney’s Marvel Studios, while<br />
continuing with cuts in production<br />
and marketing costs.
C002D5556<br />
A6 BUSINESS DAY<br />
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
FT<br />
ANALYSIS<br />
In association with<br />
Driverless cars - The new gold rush<br />
LESLIE HOOK & TIM BRADSHAW<br />
Money is flooding<br />
into autonomous<br />
car start-ups in Silicon<br />
Valley, along<br />
with huge amounts<br />
of hype. For the sector’s evangelists,<br />
questions about sales, regulations<br />
and business models are missing<br />
the point.<br />
It is a breezy spring day in Willows,<br />
California, and a motley collection<br />
of cars is preparing to take on the<br />
winding course at the Thunderhill<br />
Raceway. But unlike most auto races,<br />
this isn’t a test of the skill of the person<br />
sitting behind the wheel. These<br />
cars are driving themselves.<br />
The entrants in the Self Racing<br />
Cars challenge range from navigation<br />
technology start-ups and<br />
component suppliers to budding<br />
software companies and students. In<br />
a narrow sense, the race is a failure:<br />
after two days of practice, most teams<br />
never manage to make it around the<br />
course fully autonomously.<br />
Still, there is electricity in the air.<br />
Programmers buzzing from energy<br />
drinks make tweaks to their codes<br />
while investors stroll in the parking<br />
lot to check on their companies. Selfdriving<br />
cars are the hottest thing in<br />
Silicon Valley, and this race is a way<br />
for the smallest, boldest start-ups to<br />
show their stuff.<br />
“You are seeing a Cambrian<br />
explosion of different possibilities,<br />
as each different start-up explores<br />
a slightly different space or path<br />
through the problem,” says organiser<br />
and investor Joshua Schachter,<br />
boldly comparing the proliferation<br />
of driverless car start-ups with the<br />
appearance of complex animals<br />
on earth.<br />
Last year there were just three entrants<br />
in the race. This year, there are<br />
10 - just one indicator of the youth<br />
and the rapid growth of the driverless<br />
sector. Entrepreneurs and investors<br />
are rushing to cash in on a trend that<br />
has already made several fortunes,<br />
and autonomous vehicle start-ups<br />
seem to pop up almost every day.<br />
Investment in the sector reached an<br />
all-time high of $750m in the first<br />
quarter of this year, according to CB<br />
Insights.<br />
But even enthusiasts are beginning<br />
to worry that the sector might<br />
be overhyped. Carl Bass, one of the<br />
competitors in last month’s race and<br />
a Silicon Valley veteran, is among<br />
them.<br />
“There is such a crazy thing going<br />
on in the market right now around<br />
autonomous vehicles,” he says as he<br />
hops into his self-driving go-kart. “It<br />
is kind of like if you can spell ‘selfdriving’<br />
you can sell it for a billion<br />
dollars.”<br />
Yet it is not just Silicon Valley<br />
money pouring in. The world’s top<br />
automakers such as Ford and General<br />
Motors have joined Google’s<br />
parent Alphabet, Uber and other<br />
tech companies in funding research<br />
for self-driving technology.<br />
For the automakers, autonomous<br />
vehicles pose an existential threat.<br />
Instead of owning cars, consumers<br />
in the driverless age will simply<br />
nthony Levandowski, a former Google engineer.<br />
summon a robotic transportation<br />
service to their door. One venture<br />
capitalist says auto executives have<br />
come to him saying they know they<br />
are “screwed”, but just want to know<br />
when it will happen.<br />
This desperation has prompted<br />
a string of big acquisitions, which<br />
in turn has fuelled the hopes of the<br />
fortune-seekers in Silicon Valley.<br />
Last year GM paid $1bn for Cruise, a<br />
self-driving car start-up, while Uber<br />
paid $680m for Otto, an autonomous<br />
trucking company that was<br />
less than a year old. In March Intel<br />
spent $15bn to buy Israel’s Mobileye,<br />
which makes self-driving sensors<br />
and software.<br />
Rise of the ‘acqui-hire’<br />
As in past tech hype cycles, the<br />
business model for driverless cars<br />
is not clear, nor is the timeline for<br />
how long it could take the market to<br />
develop. At the moment, driverless<br />
cars have nearly mastered highway<br />
driving but still struggle in complex<br />
urban environments, and there are<br />
huge legal and regulatory questions<br />
to be worked out.<br />
But such details do little to diminish<br />
the promise of the technology,<br />
say entrepreneurs and investors in<br />
the sector. “This is going to be earthshattering<br />
for the [transportation]<br />
industry,” says Sebastian Thrun, one<br />
of the pioneers of self-driving cars<br />
at Google.<br />
“Transportation is a multitrillion<br />
dollar industry. I would argue that,<br />
given the potential of this technology,<br />
we are under-hyping it.”<br />
Other driverless tech evangelists<br />
echo this view. “This is almost like<br />
something that should be a mission<br />
of the human species, instead of<br />
a company,” says James Wu, chief<br />
executive of mapping start-up Deep-<br />
Map. “It can benefit everybody and<br />
save lives.”<br />
In the near term, one of the biggest<br />
challenges for the sector is a<br />
severe talent shortage. People with<br />
expertise are in high demand, giving<br />
them extraordinary leverage. Instead<br />
of taking a job with a salary, they<br />
launch start-ups, then sell out to a<br />
company that wants to hire them.<br />
This lucrative route has come to be<br />
known as the “acqui-hire”.<br />
The purchase prices of recent<br />
acquisitions work out to “roughly<br />
a $10m price tag per person,” says<br />
Thrun, who is often referred to as the<br />
godfather of self-driving cars. “It is a<br />
lot of money.”<br />
He hopes the price tag will fall as<br />
more engineers gain the necessary<br />
skills, noting that the self-driving car<br />
seminar he co-teaches at Udacity has<br />
had more than 25,000 applicants.<br />
The most controversial acqui-hire<br />
was when Uber snatched up a small<br />
trucking start-up, Otto, founded by<br />
Anthony Levandowski, a former<br />
Google engineer.<br />
Levandowski was an early member<br />
of Google’s self-driving team, now<br />
known as Waymo, earning more than<br />
$120m in bonuses for his work.<br />
But outside Waymo he was worth<br />
even more. Levandowski started<br />
discussions with Uber before leaving<br />
Waymo; when he founded Otto,<br />
it was purchased by Uber for $680m<br />
in equity in just six months. (The<br />
events that surround Levandowski’s<br />
departure are the subject of a lawsuit,<br />
which alleges that Uber infringed on<br />
Waymo patents and stole trade secrets.<br />
Uber has denied wrongdoing).<br />
With headline deals like these, investors<br />
such as Amy Gu, a partner at<br />
venture capital firm Hemi Ventures,<br />
fear that the sector may be attracting<br />
the wrong type of entrepreneur. “I<br />
think a lot of people are attracted to<br />
the industry purely by the capital that<br />
is flowing in, instead of by their desire<br />
to figure out this problem,” she says.<br />
While she is still investing in<br />
autonomous start-ups, she says<br />
she seeks companies that have a<br />
revenue model rather than just an<br />
exit strategy.<br />
Self-driving engineers say the<br />
frenzy has complicated life for them<br />
too - and poses risks in terms of safety<br />
and reputation. US regulators have<br />
so far been fairly permissive about<br />
testing autonomous vehicles, but<br />
many worry that one terrible accident<br />
by an overambitious start-up<br />
would quickly change the environment.<br />
Testing of autonomous vehicles<br />
is already legal in more than a<br />
dozen states, and federal guidelines<br />
were issued last year.<br />
Some of these start-ups operate<br />
in a kind of paranoid secrecy, so that<br />
their competitors do not know what<br />
they are doing, or even who works<br />
for them. Zoox, based in Menlo Park<br />
in the San Francisco Bay area, has<br />
raised hundreds of millions of dollars<br />
in venture funding without ever<br />
showing its technology or its “robo<br />
taxi” design in public.<br />
David Liu, founder of self-driving<br />
start-up PlusAI, says he has seen rivals<br />
try to draw new employees with<br />
the promise of a quick acquisition.<br />
“You have a couple of guys who<br />
worked in Tesla or Apple or Google<br />
before, they start a company and<br />
expect to be sold in six months,” he<br />
explains. This mindset is often accompanied<br />
by unfounded marketing<br />
claims that, he worries, could<br />
damage the credibility of the entire<br />
industry.<br />
Tell it to the Teamsters<br />
There is no clear timeline over<br />
how soon autonomous vehicles will<br />
become widely available. Mr Liu<br />
expects it will take five to 10 years<br />
for commercial trucking to become<br />
automated but 30 to 50 years for<br />
individual passenger cars, with<br />
“robo-taxis” happening somewhere<br />
in between, perhaps in 15 years.<br />
Automobiles are a heavily regulated<br />
industry, and carmakers in<br />
Detroit often speak a different language<br />
to entrepreneurs in Silicon<br />
Valley. Established carmakers are<br />
terrified of missing out, but also<br />
afraid of damaging their brands by<br />
moving too quickly. Start-ups, in<br />
turn, can be overly dismissive of the<br />
carmakers’ expertise. A widespread<br />
assumption is that as autonomous<br />
vehicles become accepted, people<br />
will stop buying cars altogether and<br />
instead use autonomous transportation<br />
fleets that they can summon by<br />
smartphone.<br />
In the tech world, there are three<br />
main contenders working on services<br />
like these: Waymo, Uber and<br />
Tesla. Tesla has already been pushing<br />
the boundaries with intelligent<br />
driving assistance in its cars. Waymo<br />
and Uber are testing robo-taxis, albeit<br />
with a human still sitting in the<br />
driver’s seat.<br />
It is unclear where the clutch of<br />
new autonomous vehicle start-ups<br />
will fit in. With no path to the consumer,<br />
most are not able to generate<br />
revenue, and some are struggling.<br />
Several engineers specialising in<br />
artificial intelligence, an area that is<br />
core to autonomous driving, told the<br />
Financial Times they had recently left<br />
the sector because of doubts about<br />
its viability.<br />
“In the actual gold rush, you knew<br />
there was gold out there somewhere,<br />
and people were able to mine it,”<br />
says Josh Hartung, chief executive of<br />
Poly-Sync, which makes software for<br />
autonomous vehicles.<br />
In the autonomous gold rush,<br />
it’s less obvious whether there is<br />
any gold there, he says. “There is<br />
effectively zero revenue that is being<br />
produced by this industry,” he<br />
points out. “You’ve got this massive,<br />
multi-billion-dollar science project,<br />
that’s basically on VC life support,<br />
until such a time as somebody ships<br />
and makes money.”
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
A7<br />
China nearly doubles tax on some<br />
sugar imports to 95%<br />
LUCY CRAYMER<br />
Read Ambitiously<br />
OPEC’s Foil: It can’t drain enough stored oil<br />
to siphon off over 300 million barrels<br />
GEORGI KANTCHEV, SARAH MCFARLANE &<br />
of crude oil from OECD stocks, which<br />
BENOIT FAUCON<br />
reached record highs of over 3 billion<br />
barrels last year.<br />
OPEC is likely to extend and<br />
But OECD stocks continued increasing<br />
in early <strong>2017</strong> and fell in March<br />
perhaps even deepen its<br />
production cuts on Thursday<br />
for one main reason: It<br />
to the International Energy Agency, a<br />
by just 32 million barrels, according<br />
has failed to drain superhigh levels of<br />
global adviser to oil-consuming places<br />
oil in storage enough to raise prices<br />
such as the U.S., India and Europe.<br />
significantly.<br />
Even if the OPEC and non-OPEC cuts<br />
On Sunday, Khalid al-Falih, energy<br />
are extended into the second half of<br />
minister for the Organization of the<br />
<strong>2017</strong>, stocks won’t draw down to the<br />
Petroleum Exporting Countries’ top<br />
five-year average this year, the IEA said.<br />
producer, Saudi Arabia, said OPEC and<br />
An OPEC official said the group’s<br />
its production-cutting allies need to<br />
plan was beginning to work and merely<br />
keep holding back output for another<br />
needed more time.<br />
nine months. The group’s top leaders<br />
“Stocks are now coming down,” the<br />
meet in Vienna on Thursday to make<br />
maneuver by OPEC,” said Antoine of the $60 a barrel target that Saudi official said.<br />
a decision.<br />
Halff, senior researcher at Columbia Arabia wants.<br />
The official said OPEC was also<br />
“We are all ready to consider other<br />
University’s Center on Global Energy OPEC leaders say they want to concerned about high inventories in<br />
creative suggestions that may emerge<br />
Policy. “By choosing a storage target, reduce storage levels in the Organization<br />
for Economic Cooperation and nomic crisis depressed demand and<br />
2008 and 2009, when the global eco-<br />
to between now and <strong>May</strong> 25,” Mr. Falih<br />
they set themselves up for failure.”<br />
told reporters in Riyadh.<br />
Almost six months after OPEC’s 13 Development—a club of industrialized prices, sending storage levels higher.<br />
OPEC’s predicament underscores<br />
members and 11 other heavyweight countries like the U.S.—to a five-year Storage levels eventually fell, and prices<br />
the powerful role global oil inventories<br />
producers pledged to cut around 2% of average. About 550 million barrels rose, in 2009 as the crisis abated and oil<br />
now play, after years of being a technical<br />
detail that some traders ignored.<br />
global oil supply, stored crude has only of crude and oil products have been demand growth returned.<br />
recently begun falling and remains at added to the world’s stocks since OPEC focus on storage levels came<br />
With more data available than ever, oil<br />
historically high levels. Oil prices were 2014, when prices began crashing, after the cartel was humbled by U.S.<br />
storage has joined shale production as<br />
up almost 1% at $51.12 a barrel on said Christopher Bake, a member of shale production’s ability to withstand<br />
a symbol of a global glut of crude that<br />
Monday but remain below the levels the executive committee at the world’s low prices. Now the group has found<br />
has knocked OPEC on its heels.<br />
reached in the days after the production<br />
cut’s announcement and short OPEC leaders have said they want is also<br />
largest oil trader Vitol Group.<br />
that its power to flush oil out of storage<br />
“The production deal was a risky<br />
limited.<br />
Beijing is nearly doubling<br />
its tax on some imported<br />
sugar—further weighing on<br />
one of the worst-performing<br />
commodities of <strong>2017</strong>.<br />
Saying that an investigation had<br />
found that imports have seriously<br />
damaged China’s sugar industry, the<br />
Ministry of Commerce said the tax on<br />
imports beyond the first 1.95 million<br />
tons a year will be raised to 95% from<br />
the current 50%, effective immediately.<br />
After a year, the rate will fall to 90%;<br />
after two years, to 85%. The tax on the<br />
first 1.95 million tons will remain 15%.<br />
China is the world’s largest sugar<br />
importer. Combined official and illegal<br />
imports rose 60% in the three years<br />
through Sept. 30, the U.S. Department<br />
of Agriculture estimates. Official imports<br />
for the current crop year, ending<br />
Sept. 30, were projected to reach 3.5<br />
million tons.<br />
Sugar prices in China, whose production<br />
is barely half of consumption,<br />
are more than double the global<br />
price—making it profitable to import<br />
even with a 50% tariff. But the tax<br />
increase “is going to disincentivize imports,”<br />
said Charles Clack, a sugar analyst<br />
at Rabobank, making importing<br />
sugar a lot less competitive compared<br />
with growing domestically. Sugar production<br />
in China is less mechanized,<br />
and hence more expensive, than in<br />
much of the world.<br />
Chinese imports of the animal feed<br />
dried distillers grains fell by half in<br />
2016, after Beijing imposed new tariffs<br />
following a dumping investigation.<br />
It is a testy time for international<br />
trade. China’s announcement of a<br />
sugar investigation last September<br />
came barely a week after the U.S.<br />
challenged China at the World Trade<br />
Organization over its support program<br />
for wheat, rice and corn growers. There<br />
is a longstanding dispute between the<br />
U.S. and Mexico over whether Mexico<br />
dumps subsidized sugar in the U.S.<br />
market.<br />
Growing Chinese demand for<br />
foreign sugar—primarily from Brazil,<br />
the world’s biggest producer—has<br />
become a major price driver in recent<br />
years. In the year ended Sept. 30, global<br />
prices surged 67% partly due to a sharp<br />
rise in illegal imports to China from<br />
Myanmar, which tightened global<br />
supplies.<br />
Nokia and apple move from courtroom<br />
foes to business partners<br />
DOMINIC CHOPPING<br />
Nokia Corp. NOK 0.49%<br />
and Apple Inc. AAPL<br />
0.61% have settled longrunning<br />
intellectual<br />
property disputes and agreed to a<br />
multiyear patent license, moving<br />
from courtroom foes to business<br />
partners.<br />
Financial details of the deal<br />
weren’t disclosed, but Nokia<br />
will receive an upfront cash payment<br />
from Apple, with additional<br />
revenue during the term of the<br />
agreement.<br />
The companies said Tuesday<br />
that Nokia will provide certain<br />
network infrastructure products<br />
and services to Apple while Apple<br />
will resume carrying Nokia digital<br />
health products in Apple retail and<br />
online stores. They will also jointly<br />
explore future collaboration in<br />
digital health initiatives.<br />
“This is a meaningful agreement<br />
between Nokia and Apple,”<br />
said Maria Varsellona, chief legal<br />
officer at Nokia, responsible for<br />
Nokia’s patent licensing business.<br />
“It moves our relationship with<br />
Apple from being adversaries in<br />
court to business partners working<br />
for the benefit of our customers.”<br />
Shares in Nokia rose nearly 6%<br />
in early trading.<br />
At the end of last year Nokia<br />
confirmed it had filed actions in<br />
11 countries in total, saying Apple<br />
violated 40 of its patents covering<br />
technologies such as display,<br />
user interface, software, antenna,<br />
chipsets and video coding.<br />
At the same time, Apple filed a<br />
suit in the U.S. District Court for<br />
the Northern District of California,<br />
arguing that Nokia excluded some<br />
patents from that agreement and<br />
transferred them to third-party<br />
companies “to be used for extorting<br />
excessive royalties” from<br />
Apple. It asked the court to award<br />
damages and rule that Nokia<br />
breached its contract.<br />
Bundesbank head says ECB<br />
needs to be ready to rein<br />
in stimulus<br />
TOM FAIRLESS<br />
The European Central Bank<br />
shouldn’t wait too long before<br />
withdrawing its large<br />
monetary stimulus, German<br />
central-bank president Jens Weidmann<br />
warned on Monday, wading<br />
into a debate over how quickly the<br />
ECB should signal a policy shift.<br />
Pressure has been building in<br />
Northern Europe for a policy change<br />
from Frankfurt as the region’s economy<br />
picks up. Eurozone inflation<br />
recently jumped to 1.9%, within the<br />
ECB’s target range, after languishing<br />
close to zero for years.<br />
But top ECB officials have yet<br />
to signal they are ready to change<br />
course and start winding down<br />
their €60 billion-a-month bondpurchase<br />
program, known as quantitative<br />
easing or QE. ECB President<br />
Mario Draghi says the topic hasn’t<br />
even been discussed by the bank’s<br />
25-member governing council.<br />
Speaking in the German city of<br />
Bochum, Mr. Weidmann argued<br />
that the ECB’s easy-money policies<br />
are currently appropriate because<br />
underlying inflation in the 19-nation<br />
eurozone—excluding volatile food<br />
and energy prices—remains weak.<br />
If the region’s economic recovery<br />
continues, however, the ECB “will<br />
move closer toward normalizing”<br />
its policy mix, the Bundesbank<br />
president said.<br />
“It’s important that the central<br />
bank tightens policy again when<br />
that’s required for controlling inflation,”<br />
Mr. Weidmann said.<br />
The Bundesbank president has<br />
been the most outspoken internal<br />
critic of the ECB’s massive bondpurchase<br />
program, which is aimed<br />
at supporting growth and inflation in<br />
the currency bloc. He reiterated that<br />
criticism on Monday, arguing that<br />
bond purchases blur the boundary<br />
between fiscal and monetary policy.<br />
In particular, the ECB shouldn’t<br />
delay changing its policy mix because<br />
governments want to keep<br />
their borrowing costs low, he said.<br />
Still, Mr. Weidmann argued it<br />
was “indisputable” that the ECB’s<br />
easy-money policies are currently<br />
appropriate, even if there are different<br />
opinions about the right level of<br />
stimulus and the choice of instruments.<br />
Over the long term, though, easymoney<br />
policies generate risks for<br />
the stability of the financial system<br />
by undermining the profitability<br />
of banks and potentially creating<br />
financial bubbles, he warned.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
A8 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Read Ambitiously<br />
Why Bitcoin is surging,<br />
again, up 130% this year<br />
Trump’s budget seeks cuts to<br />
taxes, safety-net programs<br />
PETER NICHOLAS, KATE DAVIDSON & NICK TIMIRAOS<br />
President Donald Trump<br />
on Tuesday will propose<br />
a plan he says will balance<br />
the federal budget<br />
in a decade on the strength of<br />
substantially faster economic<br />
growth and cuts to taxes and government<br />
safety-net programs.<br />
Programs that would see<br />
dramatic cuts include Medicaid,<br />
food stamps, disability benefits,<br />
welfare and student loans. The<br />
White House says the planned<br />
tax cuts can generate more revenue<br />
for the government rather<br />
than reduce it.<br />
Mr. Trump’s budget proposal—the<br />
clearest window yet into<br />
the new president’s expectations<br />
and priorities—now goes<br />
to Congress, which will decide<br />
whether to turn the vision into<br />
Why European companies<br />
could really miss London<br />
PAUL J. DAVIES<br />
Most industries need<br />
access to raw materials:<br />
In finance<br />
and markets that<br />
raw material is savings.<br />
This simple observation is<br />
often overlooked, but it is a major<br />
reason why the U.S. has the biggest<br />
and most active capital market in<br />
the world, and why Brexit could<br />
make it harder for eurozone companies<br />
to get financing.<br />
European policy makers are<br />
well aware they need more financial<br />
integration as they prepare<br />
to wave goodbye to the U.K.<br />
as a member of the European<br />
Union. The eurozone still doesn’t<br />
have a seamless banking union<br />
reality. It is sure to face a difficult<br />
road on Capitol Hill, despite Republican<br />
control, given competing<br />
factions within the GOP and<br />
the near certainty of blowback<br />
from Democrats.<br />
“It’ll face a tough sled over<br />
here,” Rep. Hal Rogers (R., Ky.),<br />
a former chairman of the House<br />
Appropriations Committee, said<br />
of the Trump budget.<br />
Budget director Mick Mulvaney,<br />
briefing reporters on<br />
Monday, described how Mr.<br />
Trump arrived at the blueprint,<br />
personally going over proposed<br />
cuts line by line and delivering a<br />
verdict: “Yes” or “No.”<br />
Mr. Trump himself won’t<br />
be on hand to sell the plan in<br />
Washington. He is on his maiden<br />
overseas trip as president, traveling<br />
through the Middle East and<br />
Europe.<br />
or single capital market.<br />
But this is only half the story:<br />
Europe needs to change its<br />
savings habits, too. The total<br />
amount of the most readily available<br />
savings for companies and<br />
governments to tap in eurozone<br />
capital markets amounts to less<br />
than 150% of the bloc’s annual<br />
economic output. That counts<br />
all the money in eurozone pensions,<br />
insurance companies<br />
and investment funds. The total<br />
drops to less than 120% of GDP if<br />
you exclude most assets of funds<br />
in Ireland and Luxembourg,<br />
which are popular places to<br />
register international investment<br />
funds that take money from the<br />
rest of the world and invest it<br />
outside Europe.<br />
PAUL VIGNA<br />
The price of bitcoin<br />
surged over the weekend<br />
and into Monday<br />
morning as a new<br />
wave of speculative<br />
investment drove up prices.<br />
Bitcoin traded above $2,200<br />
on Monday, according to the<br />
news and research website Coin-<br />
Desk. That was up about 9% on<br />
the day and more than 15% from<br />
Friday’s closing price of $1,913,<br />
which itself was a fresh high.<br />
Bitcoin is up more than 130%<br />
this year alone, and about 397%<br />
from one year ago.<br />
The market for the nearly<br />
decade-old cryptocurrency is<br />
Greek Bonds would be a great investment, if anyone actually traded them<br />
JON SINDREU<br />
Greek debt has been a<br />
great investment this<br />
year—in theory.<br />
The reality is that almost<br />
nobody trades it, even with<br />
yields at a three-year low, so actually<br />
making significant money is<br />
all but impossible. The tiny volumes<br />
are also a sign that Athens<br />
has a long road ahead before it<br />
can borrow from investors again.<br />
On Tuesday, yields on 10-year<br />
Greek government debt rose to<br />
5.732% from 5.549% the previous<br />
day, according to Tradeweb, and<br />
comes after eurozone finance<br />
ministers failed to agree on the<br />
release of another tranche of bailout<br />
cash that Greece needs to keep<br />
volatile and opaque. But several<br />
trends are underpinning<br />
the recent rise, including the<br />
perception of increased geopolitical<br />
risk and new buying from<br />
Japanese investors.<br />
A new surge of speculative<br />
investment in virtual currencies<br />
in general is also popping up<br />
owing to new fundraising efforts<br />
called token sales, or initial coin<br />
offerings. Startups are building<br />
bitcoin-like coins into their<br />
products, and offering them to<br />
the public ahead of a product<br />
launch. Most are being built on<br />
an alternative cryptoplatform<br />
called Ethereum. Firms raised<br />
nearly $30 million through the<br />
first two weeks of <strong>May</strong> alone.<br />
Another factor is Asia, and<br />
specifically Japan, where bitcoin<br />
just came under the nation’s<br />
regulatory umbrella this spring,<br />
sparking a surge of trading from<br />
the county. “The Japanese have<br />
caught the bitcoin bug,” said<br />
Charles Hayter of the research<br />
firm Crypto Compare.<br />
It isn’t clear why Japanese<br />
investors would be diversifying<br />
their holdings into bitcoin at the<br />
moment, though the country has<br />
a contingent of investors open to<br />
high-tech investments.<br />
While bitcoin moved above<br />
$2,100 in the U.S., it was trading<br />
at a higher price in yen<br />
terms, Mr. Hayter said. That<br />
gap sparked a frenzied arbitrage<br />
trade. Mr. Hayter warned,<br />
however, that, without fresh<br />
fundamentals supporting bitcoin,<br />
“irrational exuberance is<br />
taking hold” in the Japanese<br />
bitcoin market.<br />
There is also speculation<br />
that a longstanding and divisive<br />
bitcoin debate about the structure<br />
of trading in the market<br />
may soon be settled, opening<br />
up more demand for the coin.<br />
Ahead of a large conference in<br />
New York called Consensus,<br />
there is speculation that a solution<br />
to the so-called scaling<br />
debate could be resolved.<br />
paying bondholders this summer.<br />
Yet, there are very few people<br />
trading these bonds, no matter<br />
the price.<br />
Only €160 million ($180 million)<br />
of Greek government bonds<br />
have changed hands on the country’s<br />
HDAT electronic-trading<br />
platform so far this year, according<br />
to figures from the Bank of<br />
Greece . TELL -0.80%<br />
That is a microscopic fraction<br />
of the levels before Greece ran<br />
aground in a decadelong economic<br />
crisis. All the debt traded<br />
so far this year is about as much<br />
as was traded in half an hour, on<br />
average, between 2001 and 2007.<br />
Moreover, trading volumes are<br />
lower this year than they were<br />
in 2016, underscoring the challenges<br />
the Greek government will<br />
face to stage a return to financial<br />
markets, even as officials plan the<br />
first bond issue in three years for<br />
as early as this summer.<br />
J.P. Morgan Asset Management,<br />
a $1.7 trillion moneymanager,<br />
is confident that Athens<br />
will ultimately get the funds and it<br />
doesn’t believe private investors<br />
will take any writedown. But it<br />
doesn’t own any Greek bonds.<br />
“It’s not really in the universe<br />
for us,” said Mike Bell, the company’s<br />
global market strategist.<br />
A key problem is that ratings<br />
firms still rank Greek paper as<br />
junk. This means it’s off the radar<br />
for most money managers other<br />
than hedge funds and some domestic<br />
investors, said John Stopford,<br />
head of multiasset income<br />
at Investec Asset Management.<br />
“There may be opportunities.<br />
But we’re looking at 70 to 80 different<br />
countries and, for the moment,<br />
Greece isn’t one of them,”<br />
he added.<br />
Indeed, the spread between<br />
the price that banks dealing in<br />
Greek bonds are willing to buy<br />
the paper and the price at which<br />
they are willing to sell it is the<br />
widest among eurozone bonds,<br />
which is a further indication of a<br />
very thin market.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
WEST AFRICA ENERGY<br />
oil gas power<br />
R<br />
Government&Policies<br />
Policy shift, new<br />
investments set to<br />
catalyze Nigeria’s<br />
electricity market<br />
Page 5<br />
Finance People<br />
Appointments<br />
L-R: Audrey Joe-Ezigbo, 2nd vice president, NGA/Co-Founder/ED Falcon Corporation Ltd; Dada Thomas, president, NGA/ CEO, Frontier Oil Limited; Mlandezeni<br />
Boyce, Ccountry manager, Sasol & John Okafor business development, Sasol during courtesy visit by NGA to Sasol Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited<br />
Corporate Office in Lagos recently<br />
Debrief<br />
South Africa open to<br />
Iranian investment<br />
if new refinery goes<br />
ahead<br />
Page6<br />
OPEC weekly basket price<br />
DAY<br />
PRICE<br />
19/05/17 49.92<br />
12/05/17 47.53<br />
5/05/17 48.09<br />
28/04/17 49.47<br />
21/04/17 51.52<br />
Source: OPEC<br />
Growing distortion of oil<br />
industry unions’ objectives<br />
FRANK UZUEGBUNAM<br />
ny, Nigerian National Petroleum<br />
Corporation (NNPC).<br />
They have taken up battles<br />
that resonated well with the public<br />
despite the hardships that<br />
come with their actions. But increasingly,<br />
leaderships of these<br />
unions have also taken up less<br />
popular battles with the public<br />
questioning their objectives.<br />
Just recently, PENGASSAN<br />
moved against ExxonMobil,<br />
picketing the company’s premises<br />
nationwide in a three-day<br />
warning strike, an action decried<br />
in some quarters because<br />
of its impact on the country’s<br />
ailing economy as ExxonMobil<br />
is currently one of the largest oil<br />
producing company in Nigeria<br />
with about 660,000 barrel per<br />
day (bpd). They also threatened<br />
The Petroleum and Natural<br />
Gas Senior Staff<br />
Association of Nigeria<br />
(PENGASSAN) and<br />
Nigeria Union of Petroleum<br />
and Natural Gas Workers<br />
(NUPENG) are labour unions<br />
with the objective to guard and<br />
protect the rights of workers in<br />
the oil and gas industry.<br />
In the past, the unions protested<br />
the sale of refineries<br />
which till date have not operated<br />
beyond 25 percent of their various<br />
capacities. They went against<br />
downstream deregulation and<br />
also protested against the unbundling<br />
of the state-oil compathe<br />
entire Nigeria oil industry as<br />
their members also planned to<br />
enforce total shut down in production<br />
at all international oil<br />
companies’ locations across the<br />
country<br />
Before now, the union have<br />
held a couple of strikes in the last<br />
few months after the management<br />
of ExxonMobil let go about<br />
a 100 workers considered to be<br />
delinquent in their duties but<br />
were then given mouthwatering<br />
exit packages with some getting<br />
as much as N100 million each. 83<br />
of them were members of PEN-<br />
GASSAN.<br />
But this latest crisis was<br />
sparked by a disciplinary process<br />
which was instituted on April<br />
28 to have five of the ringleaders<br />
captured on CCTV to have<br />
led the destruction of vital oil<br />
installations and assault on staff<br />
aboard the FSP to account for<br />
their actions.<br />
There is respite following intervention<br />
by the Industrial Arbitration<br />
Panel (IAP) who have ordered<br />
the senior staff association<br />
at the ExxonMobil-NNPC joint<br />
venture to suspend its threat and<br />
order asking their members to<br />
withdraw their services.<br />
However, caution should be<br />
the watchword given that in this<br />
era of dwindling oil fortunes, we<br />
cannot afford to complicate the<br />
numerous economic problems<br />
facing the country by embarking<br />
on needless strike actions with<br />
the potential to throw into disarray,<br />
the implementation of the<br />
yet to be signed <strong>2017</strong> budget.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
02 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
WEST AFRICA ENERGY<br />
oil<br />
Brief<br />
Ghana:<br />
Tullow to drill more wells after ruling on<br />
maritime dispute with Cote d’Ivoire<br />
Tullow Oil says<br />
plans are underway<br />
to resume<br />
drilling next<br />
year to boost output at<br />
its Tweneboa, Enyenra,<br />
Ntomme (TEN) field once<br />
the maritime dispute between<br />
Ghana and Cote<br />
d’Ivoire is resolved.<br />
Charles Darku, Tullow<br />
Ghana Managing Director,<br />
told shareholders that<br />
the drilling of the new<br />
wells would help increase<br />
production to 80,000 barrels<br />
a day from the current<br />
expected level of 50,000<br />
barrels for <strong>2017</strong>.<br />
The International Tribunal<br />
for the Law of the<br />
Sea is set to rule on the<br />
maritime border dispute<br />
in late <strong>2017</strong>.<br />
“We are looking to the<br />
Ghana government to<br />
reach a resolution on that<br />
to enable us immediately<br />
to resume drilling new<br />
wells to boost produc-<br />
Cairn Energy’s<br />
latest SNE well<br />
offshore Senegal,<br />
SNE-6, has<br />
proved to be successful,<br />
with the confirmation of<br />
good connectivity with the<br />
SNE-5 well.<br />
Cairn says that rig performance<br />
continues to be<br />
excellent and operations<br />
have been safely and successfully<br />
completed ahead<br />
of schedule and under<br />
budget following drilling,<br />
logging and drill stem test-<br />
tion,” Darku said.<br />
The offshore TEN<br />
field blocks came on<br />
stream in August last<br />
year.<br />
Darku said since no<br />
wells could be drilled<br />
until after the ruling,<br />
Tullow was managing<br />
the existing wells in a<br />
prudent and sustainable<br />
manner adding that<br />
Tullow would seek additional<br />
reserves to extend<br />
production life while<br />
investing in new exploration<br />
opportunities beyond<br />
Jubilee and TEN.<br />
Senegal:<br />
Cairn finds further Senegal success<br />
ing (DST).<br />
The objective of the<br />
SNE-6 appraisal well, together<br />
with the previous<br />
successful SNE-5 well,<br />
was to flow oil from one<br />
of the principal units in<br />
the upper (400 series)<br />
reservoirs and demonstrate<br />
connectivity<br />
between the two wells,<br />
says Cairn. Pressure data<br />
from SNE-6 immediately<br />
confirmed good connectivity<br />
with SNE-5 and<br />
accordingly a short DST<br />
was performed.<br />
“A good connectivity<br />
between both wells<br />
will drive the effectiveness<br />
of water flooding in<br />
the SNE upper reservoir<br />
which could boost recovery<br />
factors in the upper<br />
sands from the 5-10 percent<br />
currently assumed<br />
(2P case) to some 20 percent,”<br />
says investment<br />
analysts GMP Research.<br />
Is NNPC really open for business?<br />
ISAAC ANYAOGU<br />
At the recent<br />
<strong>2017</strong> Offshore<br />
Technology<br />
Conference<br />
(OTC) in<br />
Houston, Maikanti Baru,<br />
Group Managing Director<br />
of Nigerian National<br />
Petroleum Corporation<br />
(NNPC) said, the “NNPC<br />
is here and we are open<br />
for business.”<br />
The national oil company<br />
have taken to critical<br />
actions to perpetuate<br />
this notion. This month, it<br />
awarded the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano<br />
(AKK) natural<br />
gas pipeline project to a<br />
consortium of Chinese<br />
firms led by the Chinese<br />
Petroleum Engineering<br />
at the cost of $949 million<br />
representing 80 percent of<br />
cost of construction.<br />
NNPC says the objective<br />
of the pipeline is to<br />
address the current operational<br />
challenges experienced<br />
in the Nigeria<br />
power sector limiting the<br />
ability of gas generation<br />
companies (Gencos) from<br />
increasing their output<br />
to due to difficulty transporting<br />
gas from the Niger<br />
Delta to power plants<br />
around the country.<br />
According to the project<br />
tender, the contract<br />
includes a 40-inch pipeline<br />
221 km, 2 stations and<br />
7 valve room and its ancillary<br />
facilities. The pipeline<br />
is expected to run 187<br />
kilometres from Ajaokuta<br />
to Abuja, 193 kilometres<br />
from Abuja to Kaduna, 65<br />
kilometres from Kaduna<br />
to Zaria and then the rest<br />
from Zaria to Kano.<br />
In March this year,<br />
Baru said the process for<br />
the construction of the<br />
650 kilometres northern<br />
gas pipeline that would<br />
run from Ajaokuta in Kogi<br />
State to Kano had begun.<br />
NNPC also has ongoing<br />
gas pipelines projects<br />
that are at various stages<br />
of completion, including<br />
the strategic 127km East-<br />
West Obiafo/Obirikom to<br />
Oben (OB3) pipeline that<br />
is scheduled for completion<br />
by the end of this<br />
year, and the looping of<br />
the Escravos-Lagos Gas<br />
Pipeline System from<br />
Warri to Lagos, which is<br />
scheduled for completion<br />
by July also this year<br />
To cap it all, Nigeria’s<br />
national oil company two<br />
weeks ago, said it will resume<br />
drilling in the Lake<br />
Chad Basin in six weeks’<br />
time after exploratory<br />
activities were halted on<br />
account of insurgency by<br />
Islamist extremist group,<br />
Boko haram.<br />
Saidu Mohammed,<br />
NNPC’s chief executive<br />
officer in charge of Gas<br />
and Power, who represented<br />
Baru, disclosed<br />
this on a visit to the Borno<br />
State governor, Kashim<br />
Shettima, in Maidugiri.<br />
Mohammed said that<br />
light and heavy duty exploration<br />
equipment<br />
were being moved into<br />
the basin to commence<br />
full oil prospecting by the<br />
end of <strong>2017</strong>.<br />
“We are also in the<br />
state to inform you that<br />
in the next six weeks, we<br />
are going to redeploy our<br />
Snapshot<br />
$949m<br />
Cost of<br />
Ajaokuta-<br />
Kaduna-Kano<br />
(AKK) natural<br />
gas pipeline<br />
project<br />
awarded to<br />
a Chinese<br />
company by<br />
the NNPC<br />
team of experts back to<br />
Maiduguri to resume oil<br />
exploration with better<br />
technology in the Lake<br />
Chad Basin.<br />
“This is necessary with<br />
our renewed efforts in<br />
harnessing, Oil, Gas and<br />
Power to increase the<br />
economy of the nation,<br />
in line with the agenda of<br />
President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari in job creation<br />
and economic diversification.”<br />
However, NNPC would<br />
really be open for business<br />
following the model<br />
of Saudi Arabia’s biggest<br />
oil company, Saudi Aramco.<br />
The world’s largest oil<br />
exporter, plans to sell as<br />
much as 5 percent of Aramco<br />
in 2018 as part of a<br />
plan to set up the world’s<br />
biggest sovereign wealth<br />
fund and reduce the<br />
economy’s reliance on oil.<br />
Since King Salman<br />
acceded to the throne<br />
in 2015, the kingdom<br />
changed its oil minister<br />
and the top Aramco leadership.<br />
The company has<br />
formed a supreme board<br />
to oversee its affairs, led<br />
by the king’s influential<br />
son, Deputy Crown Prince<br />
Mohammed Bin Salman.<br />
The prince has been the<br />
driving force behind the<br />
Aramco IPO plans.<br />
Besides the sale of the<br />
IPO, Saudi Arabia seeks to<br />
double refining capacity<br />
and expand natural gas<br />
and chemical businesses<br />
ahead of what could be<br />
the world biggest share<br />
sale. This model represents<br />
the best example of<br />
what it means to be open<br />
for business.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
gas<br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
03<br />
WEST AFRICA ENERGY<br />
Industry skills gap, gas flaring<br />
impede West Africa competitiveness<br />
KELECHI EWUZIE<br />
West Africa<br />
countries<br />
like Nigeria,<br />
Ghana,<br />
Cote<br />
D’ivorie with their combined<br />
years of engagement<br />
in commercial production<br />
of gas have continue<br />
to struggle with issues<br />
around shortfall of required<br />
industry skills and<br />
gas flaring.<br />
Attracting appropriate<br />
skills and its resultant<br />
wage bill remain the biggest<br />
challenge confronting<br />
the gas industry. The<br />
most difficult vacancies<br />
to fill in the industry in a<br />
country like Ghana are<br />
drillers, engineers, mangers,<br />
production and operation<br />
workers.<br />
The main causes of the<br />
skills shortages in Ghana<br />
could be attributable to<br />
the immaturity of the industry,<br />
and insufficient<br />
capacity building in the<br />
acute areas. Also, demand<br />
for skilled labour exceeds<br />
the supply, insufficient<br />
skilled applicants, competition<br />
for labour among<br />
the oil companies and<br />
high cost of labour.<br />
Aside the skills shortfall<br />
concerns, industry<br />
experts opine that gas<br />
flaring in West Africa gas<br />
sectors pose significant<br />
challenge that needs to be<br />
addressed.<br />
Close industry watchers<br />
observe that Gas flaring<br />
among other things affect<br />
the environment and<br />
human health, produces<br />
economic loss, deprives<br />
the government of tax<br />
revenues and trade opportunities,<br />
and deprives<br />
consumers of a clean and<br />
cheaper energy source.<br />
Gas flaring has negative<br />
impact on the economics<br />
of the nation in terms of<br />
loss of funds and revenue.<br />
Report from Nigerian National<br />
Petroleum Corporation<br />
(NNPC) indicates<br />
that in 2016 Nigeria lost<br />
N217bn to gas flaring; in<br />
Ghana there is an estimated<br />
loss of 1.2 million<br />
daily in revenue for either<br />
flaring the gas or delay in<br />
utilising the associated<br />
natural gas by the Ghana<br />
Gas Company.<br />
Giving the zero gas flaring<br />
policy by Ghana National<br />
Petroleum Corporation<br />
(GNPC), the need<br />
to monetize this associated<br />
gas became imperative.<br />
Hence, the establishment<br />
of Ghana National<br />
Gas Company at Atuabo<br />
to harness the potential<br />
of the associated gas to be<br />
utilised as domestic usages<br />
and industrial purposes.<br />
In Nigeria, the ministry<br />
of petroleum resources<br />
through the minister for<br />
State for petroleum, Ibe<br />
Kachikwu was quoted to<br />
have said that under the<br />
gas policy, the government<br />
intends to maximise<br />
utilisation of associated<br />
gas to be treated for supply<br />
to industries.<br />
“To ensure that flared<br />
gas is put to use in markets,<br />
the government will<br />
take measures to ensure<br />
that flare-capture and<br />
utilisation projects are developed<br />
and will work collaboratively<br />
with industry,<br />
Snapshot<br />
N217bn<br />
Estimated<br />
amount lost<br />
by Nigeria to<br />
gas flaring in<br />
2016<br />
development partners,<br />
providers of flare-capture<br />
technologies and third<br />
party investors to this<br />
end,” he was quoted to<br />
have said.<br />
According to the gas<br />
policy, the current gas<br />
flare penalty of N10 per<br />
1,000 scf of associated gas<br />
flared is too low, having<br />
been eroded in value over<br />
time, and is not acting as<br />
intended, as a disincentive.<br />
“Consequently, the<br />
low penalty has made gas<br />
flaring a much cheaper<br />
option for operators compared<br />
to the alternatives<br />
of marketing or re-injection.<br />
The intention of government<br />
is to increase the<br />
gas flaring penalty to an<br />
appropriate level sufficient<br />
to de-incentivise the practice<br />
of gas flaring, whilst introducing<br />
other measures<br />
to encourage efficient gas<br />
utilisation,” it added.<br />
It is the expectation of<br />
industry experts that collaborative<br />
efforts with right<br />
investment climate, government<br />
policies, appropriate<br />
capacity building<br />
and other proactive measures<br />
are needed to surmount<br />
the obstacles if the<br />
industry would continue<br />
to play significant role in<br />
the West Africa’s economy.<br />
Brief<br />
Nigeria:<br />
Reps attempt to amend NLNG Act<br />
without shareholders’ involvement<br />
borders on illegality<br />
An amendment<br />
to the Nigeria<br />
LNG Limited<br />
(NLNG) (Fiscal<br />
Incentives, Guarantees<br />
and Assurances) Act<br />
without following the<br />
laid down process stipulated<br />
in the Act for any<br />
amendment would be<br />
contrary to the Rule of<br />
Law. This is the reaction<br />
of the General Manager,<br />
External Relations at<br />
NLNG, Kudo Eresia-Eke.<br />
Eresia-Eke was responding<br />
in Abuja, to<br />
the sponsor of the NLNG<br />
Act Amendment and<br />
member of the House of<br />
Representatives, Honourable<br />
Leo Ogor, during<br />
a live television programme,<br />
Focus Nigeria,<br />
on African Independent<br />
Television (AIT).<br />
KBR has announced<br />
that it<br />
has been awarded<br />
a Front-End<br />
Engineering Design<br />
(FEED) and project management<br />
services contract<br />
for Oman Liquefied<br />
Natural Gas LLC (Oman<br />
LNG) in Qalhat, Oman.<br />
Oman LNG operates<br />
three liquefaction trains<br />
with a total nameplate<br />
capacity of 10.4 million<br />
tonnes per annum<br />
(mtpa).<br />
The project represents<br />
KBR’s reentry into the<br />
Oman market and supports<br />
our strategic focus<br />
Ogor had earlier stated<br />
that the Guarantees and<br />
Assurances in the Act were<br />
not tampered with adding,<br />
that the only amendment<br />
contained in the Bill<br />
as passed by the House<br />
of Representatives was to<br />
include the payment of 3<br />
percent levy to the Niger<br />
Delta Development Commission<br />
(NDDC) levy to<br />
make the Act compliant<br />
with the NDDC Act.<br />
Oman:<br />
KBR awarded FEED for Oman LNG<br />
on gas monetization in the<br />
Middle East region.<br />
“This contract confirms<br />
KBR’s strong reputation as<br />
one of the world’s preeminent<br />
leaders in LNG facilities<br />
and demonstrates the<br />
trust that Oman LNG has<br />
placed in KBR following<br />
the successful development<br />
of the original Front-<br />
End Engineering Design<br />
(FEED) of this world-class<br />
LNG facility,” said Jay<br />
Ibrahim, KBR President:<br />
Europe, Middle East & Africa.<br />
“We are committed<br />
to expanding our footprint<br />
in the Middle East and are<br />
delighted at this opportunity<br />
to reestablish KBR in<br />
Oman and contribute to<br />
Oman’s In-Country Value<br />
(ICV) initiatives.”<br />
Revenue associated<br />
with this contract was<br />
undisclosed and will be<br />
booked into backlog of unfilled<br />
orders for KBR’s Engineering<br />
& Construction<br />
business segment in the<br />
second quarter of <strong>2017</strong>.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
04 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
WEST AFRICA ENERGY<br />
power<br />
‘Right policies will strategically pull<br />
required investment to power sector’<br />
Deepak Khilnani, Chairman of Cummins Power Generation Nigeria and Powergas<br />
Africa. In this interview with Kelechi Ewuzie, Khilnani shares his thoughts on the<br />
Nigerian power sector and his strategy to improve power availability. Excerpts:<br />
What is your general assessment of<br />
Nigeria’s power market and regulation<br />
in relation to the current economic realities<br />
in the country today?<br />
There is a significant supplydemand<br />
imbalance in the<br />
Nigerian power sector. Grid<br />
availability is currently not<br />
sufficient to meet both industrial<br />
and residential demand and hence<br />
majority of sites in Nigeria rely on private<br />
generators. I believe this will change in<br />
the next few years as the government is<br />
making a strong commitment and action<br />
plan to improve grid power. For<br />
example, Cummins is developing a 150<br />
MW grid connected power project in<br />
Rivers State.<br />
With all these challenges, what policy<br />
suggestions do you think will benefit<br />
the oil and gas sector?<br />
Strong and enforceable financial<br />
guarantees will encourage further private<br />
sector investment into the power<br />
industry. Cummins is working closely<br />
with Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading<br />
Plc (NBET) to develop national power<br />
plants and we’ve certainly noticed a<br />
strong alignment towards private sector<br />
co-operation in the power industry<br />
and ‘bankable’ PPA’s (Power Purchase<br />
Agreements) to make the projects commercially<br />
viable.<br />
Moreover, additional investment into<br />
the Transmission and Distribution infrastructure<br />
will minimise power losses<br />
and boost the confidence of the Generation<br />
companies (GENCOs).<br />
How did you receive the presidency’s<br />
call for crude oil and gas companies<br />
to return to the Niger Delta?<br />
Let’s take Powergas for instance, it<br />
provides quality compressed natural<br />
gas to Nigerians no matter where they<br />
live, Niger Delta inclusive. We operate<br />
two gas compression plants in the Niger<br />
Delta, which provide strong local employment<br />
opportunities as well as serve<br />
local industries with clean, reliable and<br />
affordable natural gas. In fact we commissioned<br />
our second plant in the Niger<br />
Delta just last year. For a region so<br />
wealthy in natural resources, the community<br />
development also needs to keep<br />
Deepak Khilnani<br />
pace for the region to truly prosper and<br />
become a stable environment for further<br />
private sector investment.<br />
Is the falling crude oil prices affected<br />
natural gas sales in Nigeria?<br />
Since the fall in crude oil prices, the<br />
price of diesel in Nigeria has actually increased<br />
because the crude is exported<br />
from Nigeria and the refined diesel is<br />
imported. Given diesel is the competing<br />
fuel for natural gas in most off grid<br />
power generation applications, natural<br />
gas has become even more competitive.<br />
Nigeria has the world’s ninth largest<br />
reserves of natural gas. We locally<br />
source, dry and process the gas, hence<br />
are able to sell natural gas at approximately<br />
half the price of diesel. We have<br />
seen strong growth in sales over the past<br />
year due to the wide price differential,<br />
but also the improved industrial reliability<br />
of operating on gas engines. Gas is a<br />
much cleaner fuel than diesel and hence<br />
requires less generator maintenance.<br />
Moreover, the reliance on diesel is<br />
very environmentally damaging and<br />
puts strain on foreign exchange reserves<br />
as a major proportion of dollars are<br />
used to import diesel instead of utilising<br />
cleaner and cheaper domestic fuels.<br />
What do you think about the gas infrastructure<br />
in Nigeria?<br />
The pipeline gas infrastructure in Nigeria<br />
to transport natural gas to the point<br />
of use is relatively small given the size of<br />
the nation and high demand for natural<br />
gas. The pipeline network is limited<br />
to just a few cities Lagos, Port Harcourt,<br />
Aba and Benin City. Pipeline development<br />
costs are high and usually part of<br />
long-term infrastructure projects hence<br />
we pioneered the ‘virtual pipeline’ business<br />
to transport gas by truck to any location<br />
across Nigeria not connected to a<br />
pipeline.<br />
With Cummins and Powergas leaders<br />
in the Nigerian energy industry,<br />
tell us your experience doing business<br />
in Nigeria?<br />
Nigeria is ranked 169 out of 190 in<br />
the World Bank ‘Ease of Doing Business’<br />
report. It is certainly a challenging<br />
market, but I believe through hard<br />
work and persistence you can set industry<br />
standards. For example, our<br />
relentless drive to compete on service<br />
and safety stands out all our power<br />
plants across Nigeria average over 99<br />
percent power availability throughout<br />
the year and we are proud to have a<br />
100 percent safety record. Our business<br />
model is based on a long-term<br />
investment and leadership position in<br />
the Nigerian energy industry.<br />
Who are the majority of your customers<br />
in Nigeria today?<br />
Currently we serve a vast array of<br />
clients in Nigeria ranging from multinationals<br />
to small and medium industries,<br />
hotels and large residential estates<br />
with a tailored power solution for each<br />
site. For example, we install and operate<br />
waste heat recovery equipment at<br />
large industries that require cooling and<br />
heat for industrial process. Similarly, for<br />
factories that require <strong>24</strong>x7 power with<br />
zero downtime, we install synchronised<br />
diesel sets to cater for any chance of gas<br />
outage.<br />
We are also developing national pow-<br />
er plants that supply electricity directly<br />
into the grid and serve Nigerians with<br />
reliable and clean electricity at home a<br />
core right for all citizens in today’s day<br />
and age.<br />
What kind of innovation and technology<br />
should be expected from Cummins?<br />
Cummins recently introduced a<br />
brand new 1540 KW high efficiency Osprey<br />
gas generator which has one of<br />
the lowest fuel consumptions globally<br />
(up to 44 percent electrical efficiency).<br />
Cummins is also launching an upgraded<br />
2000 KW engine next year, which again<br />
will boost performance, stretch maintenance<br />
intervals and reduce gas consumption<br />
all contributing to lower operating<br />
costs.<br />
We have also set up a partnership<br />
with Soventix, a leading solar company<br />
in Germany to support our ambitions to<br />
further reduce emissions and tariffs at<br />
our power plants across Nigeria. We will<br />
be focusing on hybrid solar systems that<br />
interface with the gas generators. There<br />
is so much innovation in the energy industry<br />
and it is essential to keep pace<br />
with these disruptive trends.<br />
What is your strategy to improve the<br />
power situation in Nigeria?<br />
Our short-term strategy continues to<br />
develop reliable and localised energy<br />
solutions that supply electricity and<br />
compressed natural gas (CNG) to industries<br />
and large residential estates. This<br />
requires continuous enhancement of<br />
technology such as remote monitoring<br />
software to analyse plant performance<br />
and people training and development.<br />
I’ve always been a strong believer in<br />
strong local capability in order to build<br />
a sustainable enterprise – especially in a<br />
business like ours that operates complex<br />
industrial machinery across Nigeria.<br />
We are very experienced in building<br />
and operating captive power plants having<br />
been operating in Nigeria since the<br />
late 1990’s in this market.<br />
Our medium-term strategy is to work<br />
with the Federal Government of Nigeria<br />
and local distribution companies to<br />
develop a portfolio of 100 MW national<br />
power plants that pump clean and reliable<br />
electricity into the grid.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
government&policies<br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
05<br />
WEST AFRICA ENERGY<br />
Policy shift, new investments set to<br />
catalyze Nigeria’s electricity market<br />
ISAAC ANYAOGU<br />
Nigeria’s electricity<br />
market is set<br />
to see a boost that<br />
will help resolve<br />
its liquidity constraints<br />
following a directive by<br />
the by the Federal Government<br />
through the Nigerian Electricity<br />
Regulatory Commission<br />
(NERC) that electricity generation<br />
companies can now sell<br />
power directly to customers.<br />
On <strong>May</strong> 15, Babatunde Raji<br />
Fashola, minister of Power,<br />
Works & Housing, long frustrated<br />
with the antics of the<br />
electricity distribution companies<br />
who have failed to invest to<br />
reduce ATC&C losses, improve<br />
distribution infrastructure<br />
and improve collections, announced<br />
that generation companies<br />
(Gencos) could now sell<br />
power directly to eligible customers.<br />
The eligible customers<br />
comprises of a group of endusers<br />
registered with the Commission<br />
whose consumption<br />
is no less than 2MWhr/h and<br />
connected to a metered 11kV<br />
or 33kV delivery point on<br />
the distribution network and<br />
subject to a distribution use<br />
of system agreement for the<br />
delivery of electrical energy.<br />
The next category are those<br />
connected to a metered 132kV<br />
or 330kV delivery point on the<br />
transmission network under<br />
a transmission use of system<br />
agreement for connection and<br />
delivery of energy.<br />
The other category includes<br />
those with consumption in excess<br />
of 2MWhr/h on monthly<br />
basis and connected directly to<br />
a metered 33kV delivery point<br />
on the transmission network<br />
under a transmission use of system<br />
agreement.<br />
The last category are eligible<br />
customers whose minimum<br />
consumption is more than<br />
2MWhr/h over a period of one<br />
month and directly connected<br />
Snapshot<br />
60%<br />
Estimated<br />
losses to DISCOs<br />
from the new<br />
policy should<br />
GENCOs start<br />
selling power<br />
to categories of<br />
customers<br />
to the metering facility of a<br />
generation company, and has<br />
entered into a bilateral agreement<br />
for the construction and<br />
operation of a distribution line<br />
with the distribution licensee<br />
licensed to operate in the location.<br />
This directive is however<br />
in line with Section 27 of the<br />
Electric Power Sector Reform<br />
Act 2005 which permits eligible<br />
customers to buy power from a<br />
licensee other than electricity<br />
distribution companies<br />
Interestingly, investors are<br />
entering into negotiations with<br />
industrial clusters to provide<br />
them power through embedded<br />
generation that are to be<br />
powered by independent power<br />
plants.<br />
A recent example is a new<br />
investment by Geogrid LighTec<br />
Ltd who recently unveiled<br />
plans for a 30 megaatts hybrid<br />
power plant to be sited on a<br />
4,500 square-meter space inside<br />
Cadbury Nigeria property<br />
in Ikeja Industrial cluster and is<br />
partnering with Manufacturers<br />
Power Development Company<br />
to achieve the buy-in of manufacturers.<br />
At the cost of $25million, the<br />
proposed plant is billed to run<br />
70 percent on gas and 30 percent<br />
on diesel. To ensure that<br />
there is no down time; the company<br />
said the engines would be<br />
maintained at different times.<br />
Geogrid has secured a license<br />
from the Nigerian Electricity<br />
Regulatory Commission<br />
(NERC) for 30MW of power for<br />
10 years, the Environmental<br />
Impact Assessment (EIA) has<br />
been carried out, and the Lagos<br />
state government is partnering<br />
with the company on the right<br />
of way.<br />
The proposed plant would<br />
deliver power either at 11KVA<br />
or 33KVA lines depending on<br />
transformers available to the<br />
customers. Geogrid’s value<br />
proposition is that customers<br />
would have the option of take<br />
and pay rather than the take or<br />
pay option. Both options are<br />
industry speak for paying for<br />
subscribed power whether you<br />
use it or not, or pay as you use,<br />
respectively.<br />
Oweh Mba-Sam, coordinator<br />
of the Manufacturers Power Development<br />
Company (MPDC)<br />
speaking on the launch of the<br />
investment said that manufacturers<br />
already have about six<br />
similar projects running in different<br />
industrial clusters in Nigeria.<br />
Manufacturers in Nigeria<br />
say that 40 percent of their cost<br />
goes to providing power.<br />
The sum of this situation is<br />
that it is ramping competition<br />
in the electricity market as monopoly<br />
granted the DisCos is<br />
being removed. Some experts<br />
say the losses to the Discos<br />
could be as high as 60 percent<br />
but competition will improve liquidity<br />
in the electricity market.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
06 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
WEST AFRICA ENERGY finance people appointments<br />
Brief<br />
Halliburton<br />
announces leadership<br />
transition<br />
Ha lliburton<br />
Company has<br />
announced<br />
that its Board<br />
of Directors has unanimously<br />
elected Jeff Miller,<br />
the Company’s president<br />
and a board member, to<br />
the position of president<br />
and CEO. Dave Lesar,<br />
who has led Halliburton<br />
as chairman and CEO<br />
since 2000, will continue<br />
serving the Company as<br />
executive chairman. The<br />
leadership changes are<br />
effective June 1, <strong>2017</strong>.<br />
“I am grateful to the<br />
Board and Dave for this<br />
opportunity to serve Halliburton<br />
shareholders<br />
and employees,” Miller<br />
said. “I have been fortunate<br />
to work directly<br />
with Dave for many years<br />
and to learn from him as<br />
we execute and deliver<br />
industry-leading returns<br />
by serving our customers<br />
and growing our revenue<br />
and margins. I look forward<br />
to leading our organization<br />
as we continue to<br />
collaborate and engineer<br />
solutions to maximize asset<br />
value for our customers.”<br />
Miller will provide the<br />
day-to-day leadership<br />
and management of<br />
the Company. He will<br />
also be responsible for<br />
the planning and execution<br />
of Halliburton’s<br />
strategic direction, financial<br />
objectives, and<br />
technology development<br />
along with Halliburton’s<br />
management<br />
team who will report<br />
directly to him.<br />
As executive chairman,<br />
Lesar will continue<br />
to play an important<br />
leadership role focusing<br />
on the strategic direction<br />
of the Company,<br />
advising the Halliburton<br />
management team<br />
and transitioning CEO<br />
responsibilities to Miller<br />
who will then continue<br />
reporting to Lesar. He<br />
will be actively engaged<br />
with shareholders and<br />
continue working with<br />
customers to ensure the<br />
Company is best addressing<br />
their needs. Lesar has<br />
entered into a new executive<br />
employment agreement<br />
that provides that<br />
he will continue as executive<br />
chairman through<br />
mandatory retirement on<br />
December 31, 2018, and<br />
contains a 4 year noncompete.<br />
South Africa open to Iranian<br />
investment if new refinery goes ahead<br />
South Africa, a<br />
net importer of<br />
refined oil products,<br />
is looking to<br />
West Africa and<br />
the Middle East, including<br />
Iran, for potential partners<br />
on a new refinery project,<br />
energy ministry officials<br />
said.<br />
Energy minister, Mmamoloko<br />
Kubayi, said that<br />
the cabinet expects to decide<br />
by December whether<br />
Ghana Oil Company<br />
Limited<br />
(GOIL) recorded<br />
an impressive<br />
performance in 2016 despite<br />
increasing competition<br />
and a fall in general<br />
consumption of fuel.<br />
The largest Indigenous<br />
oil marketing company<br />
posted a 58.7 percent increase<br />
in profit after tax and<br />
recorded a 26.95 percent<br />
increase in turnover compared<br />
to that of 2015. This<br />
was announced at the 48th<br />
Annual General Meeting<br />
in Accra by the outgoing<br />
Board Chairman William<br />
Asomaning.<br />
The Oil Marketing<br />
Company which declared<br />
a dividend of<br />
0.025 cedis per share to<br />
shareholders also wel-<br />
to build the refinery that<br />
has been under consideration<br />
for almost a decade.<br />
National oil company<br />
PetroSA has promoted the<br />
idea of building a refinery<br />
with a capacity of up to<br />
400,000 barrels per day on<br />
the east coast, but the government<br />
was put off by the<br />
$10 billion price-tag in 2010<br />
and a lack of equity partners.<br />
Kubayi said the refinery<br />
was now urgent because<br />
South Africa’s oil imports<br />
were increasing.<br />
She said that a publicprivate<br />
partnership to develop<br />
the refinery, which<br />
would be majority owned<br />
by the government, was the<br />
preferred approach.<br />
“By the time any new<br />
refinery is completed, the<br />
country will be importing<br />
in excess of a third of its fuel<br />
requirements,” she said.<br />
GOIL posts 58 percent profit,<br />
maintains dividend to shareholders<br />
comed a new Board of<br />
Directors headed by the<br />
Former minister of state,<br />
Kwamena Bartels<br />
Briefing Shareholders<br />
of the performance of<br />
the company in the year<br />
under review, the outgoing<br />
Board Chairman, Prof.<br />
William Asomaning said,<br />
“GOIL achieved 95.8 percent<br />
of its fuel sales target<br />
in spite of the tight competition<br />
in the industry.<br />
Despite a fall of about 5.6<br />
percent in national consumption<br />
of fuel products,<br />
the company grew fuel<br />
sales by 9.8 percent during<br />
2016, LPG sales grew by<br />
30 percent compared to<br />
2015. Lubricant sales also<br />
improved by 11 percent<br />
compared to 2015. He<br />
noted that GOIL remains<br />
the biggest OMC with a<br />
market share of 18.2 percent”.<br />
Asomaning stated that<br />
the right issue undertaken<br />
by GOIL in 2016<br />
raised additional capital<br />
of GH¢150 million which<br />
enabled the company to<br />
undertake key projects<br />
among which are the fully<br />
The acting director<br />
general at the ministry of<br />
energy Tseliso Maqubela<br />
said that South African authorities<br />
were in talks with<br />
countries and firms from<br />
the Middle East and West<br />
Africa to build the refinery.<br />
“At this stage no country<br />
is excluded,” Maqubela<br />
said when asked if Iran was<br />
among the countries being<br />
considered.<br />
He said there was no decision<br />
yet on the new refinery’s<br />
production capacity<br />
or its construction costs.<br />
Royal Dutch Shell, BP,<br />
Total and Sasol are among<br />
the main refinery operators<br />
in Africa’s most industrialised<br />
country. South Africa<br />
bought around 68,000<br />
bpd of crude from Iran in<br />
<strong>May</strong> 2012, a month before<br />
it halted crude purchases<br />
as Western countries pressured<br />
Tehran over its nuclear<br />
programme.<br />
Pretoria, which also gets<br />
oil from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria<br />
and Angola, has said<br />
it wants to resume imports<br />
from Iran since Western<br />
sanctions were lifted in<br />
2016.<br />
automated 3-tank storage<br />
facility at Takoradi Harbour<br />
to store and supply<br />
Marine Gas Oil (MGO), to<br />
meet the ever increasing<br />
demand by supply vessel,<br />
the construction of a bitumen<br />
plant and lubricant<br />
blending plant in Tema.<br />
He announced a dividend<br />
payment of GH¢0.025 per<br />
share to shareholders.<br />
The new Board Chairman<br />
of GOIL, Kwamena<br />
Bartels acknowledged<br />
the good work done by<br />
Prof. Asomaning and his<br />
team and assured the new<br />
Board, Management, Staff<br />
and Shareholders that his<br />
team will continue the<br />
good work begun by the<br />
former board to bring more<br />
success to GOIL during his<br />
tenure.
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
marketinsight<br />
Oil at one-month high, supplycut<br />
extension expected<br />
Oil prices rose<br />
closing out a<br />
second week<br />
of gains on<br />
growing expectations<br />
that OPEC and<br />
other producing countries<br />
will agree next week to extend<br />
output cuts.<br />
Brent crude settled up<br />
There is clear<br />
consensus that<br />
oil prices will be<br />
in the $50-60 per<br />
barrel range this year,<br />
and within the $60-80<br />
per barrel range in 2020,<br />
according to a new survey<br />
from Wood Mackenzie.<br />
The survey, which analyzed<br />
the responses of 170<br />
industry professionals,<br />
revealed that priorities<br />
for <strong>2017</strong> are focused on<br />
protecting dividends and<br />
strengthening balance<br />
sheets.<br />
Higher risk investments,<br />
such as deepwater<br />
projects, are being<br />
screened at higher hurdle<br />
rates by the industry, according<br />
to the report,<br />
which suggested that lower<br />
risk investments, like<br />
$1.10, or 2.1 percent, at<br />
$53.61, the highest settlement<br />
for the international<br />
benchmark since April 18.<br />
US benchmark crude oil<br />
rose 98 cents to $50.33, the<br />
highest close since April<br />
19. US crude gained 5.2<br />
percent for the week, while<br />
Brent rose 5.4 percent.<br />
Report: Oil to hit $60 max in <strong>2017</strong><br />
asset M&A, are most likely<br />
to be pursued by the sector.<br />
“The industry is very<br />
cautious right now and<br />
risk appetite is low,” Mar-<br />
The Organization of<br />
the Petroleum Exporting<br />
Countries (OPEC) and<br />
other producers including<br />
Russia are scheduled to<br />
meet on <strong>May</strong> 25. They are<br />
expected to extend output<br />
cuts of 1.8 million barrels a<br />
day until the end of March<br />
2018.<br />
tin Kelly, Wood Mackenzie’s<br />
head of corporate<br />
analysis, said in a statement.<br />
Wood Mackenzie’s oil<br />
price prediction is in line<br />
The OPEC-led group is<br />
trying to reduce a global<br />
crude glut that has been<br />
slow to balance out due<br />
to weak demand and rising<br />
production elsewhere,<br />
particularly the United<br />
States. An OPEC panel is<br />
considering even deeper<br />
supply cuts to try to boost<br />
prices.<br />
Many investors remain<br />
concerned about high<br />
global inventories, and<br />
supply data from around<br />
the world shows that drawdowns<br />
of global inventories<br />
have slowed or even<br />
reversed.<br />
US crude production<br />
has climbed 10 percent<br />
since mid-2016 to 9.3<br />
million barrels per day<br />
as shale producers have<br />
taken advantage of higher<br />
prices to boost activity.<br />
Energy services firm Baker<br />
Hughes said US drillers<br />
added oil rigs for an 18th<br />
week in a row, the secondlongest<br />
streak on record.<br />
with a recent poll conducted<br />
by Rigzone, which<br />
placed the price of Brent<br />
Crude Oil at around $60<br />
per barrel by the end of<br />
the year.<br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
07<br />
WEST AFRICA ENERGY<br />
OPEC Flakes<br />
Iraq could make OPEC-led oil<br />
output cut extension difficult<br />
Iraq is the big holdout<br />
country that could<br />
thwart Saudi Arabia’s<br />
and Iran’s wish<br />
to extend the OPEC-led<br />
oil production cut by a<br />
further nine months, according<br />
to RBC’s Helima<br />
Croft.<br />
“Getting Iraq on<br />
board is going to be interesting….I<br />
think Iraq in<br />
the end will get on board<br />
but they might make it<br />
difficult along the way,”<br />
said Croft, noting that<br />
the country’s oil minister,<br />
Jabbar al-Luaibi,<br />
had fought hard - and<br />
ultimately to no avail - to<br />
stop Iraq from having to<br />
take the second largest<br />
hit to its production figures<br />
in the deal brokered<br />
between OPEC and non-<br />
OPEC producers last November.<br />
Iraq’s financial woes<br />
have been exacerbated<br />
Qatari oil minister<br />
Mohammad<br />
al-Sada<br />
joined a growing<br />
number of major oil<br />
producers calling for an<br />
extension to the OPEC<br />
and non-OPEC output<br />
cut deal to the end of<br />
March 2018.<br />
After nearly three<br />
years of buildup in oil<br />
stocks, the process of rebalancing<br />
was “finally<br />
gaining momentum,”<br />
Sada said in a statement.<br />
“We are optimistic<br />
that the extension of the<br />
agreement to the second<br />
half of this year will improve<br />
market stability,<br />
due to the higher expected<br />
demand in Q3 and Q4.<br />
This is further supported<br />
by the fact that the world<br />
economic situation is<br />
progressively improving,”<br />
Sada said in a statement.<br />
“We also see merits of<br />
extending the agreement<br />
further to the first quarter<br />
of 2018, when demand<br />
in recent years by ongoing<br />
attempts to eject<br />
militants from fundamentalist<br />
jihadist group<br />
ISIS from within its borders.<br />
The country took<br />
a $5.34 billion loan last<br />
year to shore up its balance<br />
sheet yet is still<br />
struggling to pay its civil<br />
servants, according to<br />
RBC’s Croft.<br />
Qatar joins call for OPEC deal<br />
rollover to March 2018<br />
is seasonally lower,” the<br />
minister added.<br />
OPEC and 11 non-<br />
OPEC producers agreed<br />
last December to cut<br />
production by 1.8 million<br />
b/d. According to Sada,<br />
the breakthrough in reducing<br />
stocks was due<br />
to the “excellent compliance<br />
to the agreed production<br />
cuts by OPEC<br />
members and participating<br />
non-OPEC countries.”
Wednesday <strong>24</strong> <strong>May</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
08 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
WEST AFRICA ENERGY<br />
Domestic Gas Supply - A Pipe dream?<br />
OLA ALOKOLARO<br />
The perennial electricity system collapses<br />
is often attributed to gas supply<br />
shortages to the various thermal power<br />
plants in the country. This shortage is<br />
attributed to pipeline vandalism but<br />
given the differing and wide geographical locations<br />
of the power plants, it appears that vandalism<br />
may not be the sole cause, but rather, gas supply<br />
shortage.<br />
For meaningful progress in either sector, there<br />
must be a new narrative on domestic gas supply<br />
– one which takes cognisance that lack of gas<br />
supply is a local issue which perhaps requires a<br />
local solution.<br />
In setting the tone for anew narrative, an analysis<br />
and understanding of a number of issues in the<br />
gas sector including: ownership of gas resources,<br />
pricing of the resource and the security of supply<br />
of same is required.<br />
Ownership<br />
The vast number of laws governing the petroleum<br />
sector does not contemplate gas exploration<br />
and development. The primary focus of these<br />
laws has been, and continues to be, crude oil<br />
exploration and production with very little reference<br />
to gas.<br />
For the purposes of determining the ownership<br />
of both gas in situ and associated gas produced as<br />
an incidence of crude oil production, the Constitution<br />
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 provides<br />
under s.44(3) that “ the entire property and<br />
control of all minerals, mineral gas in and under<br />
or upon any land in Nigeria or in, under or upon<br />
the territorial waters and exclusive economic zone<br />
shall vest in the Government of the Federation<br />
and shall be managed in such manner as may be<br />
prescribed by the National Assembly”. Similarly s.1<br />
(1) of the Petroleum Act vests the entire ownership<br />
and control of all petroleum resources in, under or<br />
upon any land in Nigeria (including lands under<br />
Nigeria’s Territorial waters, Continental Shelf and<br />
Exclusive Economic Zone) in the Federal Government<br />
of Nigeria. Petroleum is defined in the act to<br />
include gas.<br />
Clearly, from the above, title and ownership<br />
of any gas in situ belongs to the Federal Government<br />
of Nigeria. The question then begs as to<br />
the ownership of gas produced with crude oil<br />
(associated gas)<br />
For the purposes of crude oil exploration and<br />
production, s.2 (1) of the Petroleum Act (the Act)<br />
permits the Minister of Petroleum to grant licences<br />
In association with<br />
and leases for the prospecting, searching, winning,<br />
working, carrying away and disposing of petroleum<br />
and for the purposes of ownership of these grants<br />
and the development of crude oil, the government<br />
enters into various contractual arrangements.<br />
These arrangements are briefly described<br />
below:<br />
Traditional joint ventures: The grantees of the<br />
licences/leases usually the Federal Government<br />
(FG) in the guise of NNPC and the International<br />
Oil Companies (“IOCs”) jointly own the interests<br />
in the entire real property for the duration of the<br />
licence. The supposition here is that the granteesjointly<br />
have title to any petroleum, including gas,<br />
prospected and won under the licence or lease.<br />
Production Sharing Contract (PSC): TheFG,<br />
acting through the NNPC, enters into a contract<br />
with an exploration and production company<br />
under which such company acts as a contractor<br />
to NNPC for the development of crude oil. The<br />
contractor utilises its own funds for the development<br />
and is repaid its costs plus profits from the<br />
crude oil produced. Under this arrangement, all<br />
the contractor owns is an equitable interest in any<br />
petroleum found. It therefore suffices to say, that<br />
the ownership of any associated gas under PSC’s<br />
belongs to the Federal Government. This position<br />
is supported by the provisions in PSC contracts<br />
that require contractors to notify the FG of any<br />
significant gas discovery and submit proposals to<br />
NNPC for the development of same.<br />
Risk Service Contracts: These are similar to<br />
Production Sharing Contracts to the extent only<br />
that the exploration and production company is<br />
a contractor to the Federal Government (NNPC)<br />
and provides all the funds and technical expertise<br />
required for the development of the asset. The contractor<br />
is repaid its investment either in cash or in<br />
kind as the NNPC under the arrangement, retains<br />
the title and rights to the petroleum produced. All<br />
natural gas discovered by the Contractor under<br />
this arrangement belongs to NNPC.Like with the<br />
PSC, where there is a commercial discovery of gas,<br />
the contractor is to submit a proposal for the commercial<br />
development of same further re-inforcing<br />
the notion that the gas found belongs to the state.<br />
Marginal Fields: The marginal fields programme<br />
was introduced to stimulate indigenous<br />
participation in the upstream oil and gas segment<br />
of the chain. The original licencee and or Lessee<br />
(farmor) farmed out the fields within its licence<br />
and or lease area to an indigenous exploration and<br />
production company (farmee) and is paid a royalty<br />
on the production of oil and gas produced from<br />
the field. The ownership of any gas produced from<br />
such oil fields may reside in the farmee subject to<br />
any terms agreed under the governing farm in /<br />
farm out agreement.<br />
From the above, save for arrangements under<br />
the PSC and Risk Service Contracts where any associated<br />
gas belongs solely to the Federal Government,<br />
the ownership of associated gas belongs either<br />
jointly as between the FG and its Joint venture<br />
partners or to the grantees of either discretionary<br />
awards and or marginal field holders.<br />
Whilst the above appears conclusive, some<br />
provisions of our extant petroleum laws seem to<br />
circumscribe the ownership of associated gas.<br />
S.7 of the Act for instance, grants the Minister of<br />
Petroleum the right of pre-emption on all petroleum<br />
and petroleum products in the event of<br />
national emergency or war. Given the gas supply<br />
constraints and the resultant persistent collapse of<br />
the grid, can this be deemed a national emergency,<br />
and if so all gas from JV operations appropriated<br />
for domestic use.<br />
Similarly, the Act also allows the Minister, in the<br />
interest of the public, to impose terms and conditions<br />
on a licencee or lessee as to special conditions<br />
applicable to any natural gas discovered, and such<br />
terms and conditions may include the right of the<br />
government to take associated gas produced free<br />
of cost at the flare or at an agreed cost and without<br />
the payment of royalty.<br />
On the strength of this provision, and with the<br />
volume of gas flared (Nigeria is 2nd only to Russia<br />
), can the government not set in motion a concessioning<br />
arrangement on a PPP basis to capture gas<br />
at the flare and treat same for use by local power<br />
producers and for other domestic uses?<br />
Furthermore and perhaps stemming from<br />
the powers granted the Minister under the Act,<br />
the National Gas Supply and Pricing Regulation<br />
talking points<br />
was introduced requiring every gas producer to<br />
allocate a portion of their gas production for the<br />
domestic gas market. Non-compliance was to<br />
attract penalties including prohibition of any gas<br />
export oriented project. No gas exporter to our<br />
knowledge has been sanctioned..<br />
Pricing<br />
It has also been posited that gas supply constraints<br />
be attributed to the reluctance of the oil<br />
and gas companies particularly the IOCs to invest<br />
in gas development and related infrastructure due<br />
to the uneconomic price of gas in the domestic<br />
gas market.<br />
The Act places an obligation on a licensee or<br />
lessee producing gas to obtain the Federal Government’s<br />
approval as to which price the natural<br />
gas produced (not taken by government) is sold.<br />
It suffices to say that the price of gas in Nigeria<br />
is regulated from the wellhead. Most oil and gas<br />
companies see this as an impediment for to embarking<br />
on gas utilization projects as it would be<br />
uneconomical.<br />
This argument that the price for domestic gas<br />
supply is uneconomical doesn’t quite hold firm<br />
given that some Nigerian Independents such as<br />
Seven Energy and Seplat who without access to<br />
cheap international funds have recorded successes<br />
in domestic gas supply and gas infrastructure<br />
projects.<br />
Security of supply<br />
The Federal Government intends to increase<br />
the electricity generation threshold to 10,000mw<br />
in three (3) years. In the absence of a concerted<br />
renewable energy programme and the overhaul of<br />
the national grid, it would be a near impossible feat<br />
given the lack of critical infrastructure to transport<br />
gas to the various power plants.<br />
The insistence of IOCs on gas export projects<br />
might not be unconnected with securing supply<br />
for the mature gas markets such as Europe and<br />
North America. If this assertion is indeed correct,<br />
then perhaps the solution to this local problem lies<br />
with the local players such as Seplat, Pan Ocean,<br />
Oando and Seven Energy. The introduction of<br />
the Marginal Field model for the exploration and<br />
development of gas fields could help accelerate gas<br />
exploration and development of gas supply infrastructure<br />
ensuring a new narrative for domestic gas<br />
supply even as we continue to await the enablers<br />
to reform and unbundle the sector<br />
A new narrative for the gas sector is a must<br />
and should be driven by the indigenous oil and<br />
gas companies to ensure adequate domestic gas<br />
supply does not remain a pipe dream.<br />
OLA ALOKOLARO is of Advocaat Law Practice.<br />
E-mail: Ola.alokolaro@advocaat-law.com
BUSINESS DAY<br />
Why it Matters<br />
NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I WEDNESDAY <strong>24</strong> MAY <strong>2017</strong><br />
Why new OPEC exemptions<br />
are critical for Nigeria<br />
The world’s<br />
biggest oil<br />
producers<br />
are pushing<br />
to extend the<br />
supply cap deal agreed<br />
last year which saw 1.8<br />
million barrels per day<br />
sliced off global oil production,<br />
to the first quarter<br />
of 2018.<br />
Following a supply<br />
overhang, prices dipped<br />
below $30 in the first half<br />
of 2016, the first time in<br />
over a decade and didn’t<br />
recover above $50 till the<br />
end of 2016.<br />
As indications emerge<br />
last week that beyond<br />
Russia and Saudi Arabia,<br />
who are spearheading<br />
the push for extension,<br />
Kuwait and Iran are positively<br />
inclined to see<br />
the cuts extended too.<br />
The deal which seeks to<br />
curb global inventories<br />
to a 5-year average was<br />
aimed at propping up<br />
oil prices.<br />
Worried over the implications<br />
of fallen oil<br />
prices on national economies,<br />
top oil producers<br />
agreed to cut production<br />
volumes to quell<br />
The NBS report revealed that the<br />
inflation rate in March was at 17.26<br />
percent pointing that current<br />
reforms in the economy seems<br />
to be yielding results.<br />
geria and Libya were<br />
granted exemptions to<br />
production cuts due<br />
to internal crises that<br />
prevented optimal production.<br />
Iran, emerging<br />
from economic sanctions<br />
was allowed to increase<br />
production. Nigeria<br />
secured exemptions<br />
on account of militancy<br />
which cut production by<br />
half a million barrels last<br />
year coupled with low oil<br />
prices which made it difficult<br />
for the government<br />
a troubling glut in the<br />
oil market. Originally,<br />
scheduled to run from<br />
January to July <strong>2017</strong>, the<br />
relative success recorded<br />
and slow recovery of<br />
oil prices is forcing producers<br />
to seek a further<br />
9-month extension.<br />
The only snag the<br />
deal has had is the threat<br />
from shale producers<br />
who began hitting their<br />
platforms to ramp up<br />
production when modest<br />
gains were recorded<br />
on account of the deal.<br />
While it them weeks to<br />
mobilise to their platforms,<br />
advanced fracking<br />
technology is letting<br />
them achieve this in a<br />
matter of days.<br />
Oil producers like Nito<br />
meet its obligations.<br />
However, Nigeria has<br />
been quite fortunate as<br />
the exemptions coincided<br />
with a period of<br />
related calm in the Niger<br />
Delta. There is need to<br />
sustain current production<br />
to continue modest<br />
efforts at economic recovery<br />
witnessed in the<br />
country.<br />
Ibe Kachikwu, Nigeria’s<br />
deputy petroleum<br />
minister at the recent<br />
Offshore Technology<br />
Conference held in Houston,<br />
Texas, USA told<br />
journalists that while the<br />
country is in favour of<br />
extending cuts, there are<br />
no guarantees it could<br />
secure exemptions.<br />
In the past six months<br />
Nigeria’s production has<br />
shown modest signs of<br />
recovery. According to<br />
OPEC’s latest Monthly<br />
Oil Market Report for<br />
<strong>May</strong>, which tracked<br />
activities for April, Nigeria’s<br />
output was put<br />
at 1.484 million bpd,<br />
from 1.21 million bpd in<br />
March.<br />
Also crude grades<br />
that were under force<br />
majeure (a legal clause<br />
that absolves parties to<br />
a contract from liabilities<br />
due to unforeseen<br />
occurrence) are looking<br />
like they would have encumbrances<br />
removed.<br />
Forcadoes, one of Nigeria’s<br />
biggest terminals<br />
may soon be restarted.<br />
A key driver for this<br />
situation is the relative<br />
calm in the Niger<br />
Delta achieved through<br />
backchannel negotiations<br />
spearheaded by<br />
the Presidency and Ibe<br />
Kachikwu. But it also<br />
complicates Nigeria’s<br />
argument for further<br />
exemptions.<br />
Therefore Nigeria’s<br />
argument should be<br />
premised on the fact<br />
that while production<br />
may have marginally<br />
improved the situation<br />
is far from being under<br />
control. To conclude<br />
that the lull in militancy<br />
represents the end of<br />
agitations in the Niger<br />
Delta is delusory.<br />
The trigger for further<br />
attacks could well be<br />
a thoughtless remark<br />
from someone in Abuja,<br />
withholding Amnesty<br />
allocations far longer<br />
than the ex-militant’s<br />
patience could tolerate<br />
or a dispute with an international<br />
oil company<br />
over a failed borehole<br />
project in a backwater<br />
community in the Niger<br />
Delta.<br />
Chijioke Mama, an<br />
energy analyst and<br />
founder of EnergyDatar,<br />
an energy intelligence<br />
firm said that in spite<br />
of production increase,<br />
the underlying threat of<br />
future and further losses<br />
in the Niger Delta due to<br />
militancy is not totally<br />
eliminated. Mama said<br />
a lot is riding on how<br />
Nigeria makes its case.<br />
Africa’s second biggest<br />
oil producer needs<br />
to sustain the current<br />
marginal economic recovery.<br />
Latest inflation<br />
figures from the National<br />
Bureau of Statistics<br />
(NBS) indicates that Nigeria’s<br />
Consumer Price<br />
Index, which measures<br />
inflation, dropped to<br />
17.<strong>24</strong> percent in April,<br />
marking the third consecutive<br />
month the inflation<br />
rate has fallen.<br />
The NBS report revealed<br />
that the inflation<br />
rate in March was at<br />
17.26 percent pointing<br />
that current reforms in<br />
the economy seems to<br />
be yielding results. This<br />
makes the clearest case<br />
for convincing OPEC<br />
members to grant Nigeria<br />
an exemption.<br />
fiveNumbers<br />
9<br />
1.8 million<br />
C002D5556<br />
OPEC is considering a nine-month<br />
extension to its production cuts agreed<br />
in December 2016.<br />
$50<br />
OPEC target is to ensure crude oil price<br />
do not fall below US$50 per barrel.<br />
OPEC and 11 non-OPEC members<br />
agreed in December 2016 to cut crude<br />
oil production by 1.8 million barrels<br />
per day.<br />
10 years<br />
U.S. President Donald Trump proposed<br />
to sell half of the United States’ Strategic<br />
Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in the next 10<br />
years as well as to speed<br />
up Alaskan exploration.<br />
11<br />
The number of non-OPEC oil producers<br />
that have agreed to collaborate with OPEC<br />
to cut production.<br />
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