BusinessDay 21 Sep 2017

FG bars discretionary oil bloc awards in marginal fields bid rounds 

... Refutes media reports that licensing rounds are imminent 

ISAAC ANYAOGU 

The Federal Government, 

through the Department 

of Petroleum 

Resources (DPR) an oil 

sector regulator, has foreclosed 

the possibility of the controversial 

discretionary oil bloc 

allocation happening in the 

forthcoming oil marginal fields 

licensing rounds. 

In a public notice, the DPR 

also refuted media reports that it 

has concluded plans to hold an 

oil bidding round for the award 

of marginal oil fields, putting 

paid to hopes of a quick conduct 

of the licensing rounds this year. 

According to a recent report 

by a national daily (not Business- 

Day) the oil licensing rounds 

See BusinessDay Market and Commodities Monitor on page 4 

would hold later this year or 

early 2018. The report claimed 

that as part of the guidelines, 

the FG could award oil blocks to 

Niger Delta indigenes through a 

discretionary award. 

“Though the DPR is yet to 

finalise any framework for a bidding 

round, we can however reaffirm 

government’s longstanding 

adherence to the principle 

of an open competitive bidding 

process, as opposed to a discretionary 

award process of acreage 

allocations that has long been 

discarded by the Federal Government,” 

said the DPR. 

Discretionary award of oil 

blocks is a contentious issue in 

Nigeria. During the days of the 

military, oil blocs were awarded 

to government cronies, who the 

traded the blocks for huge profits 

since they lacked both financial 

and technical competence to 

develop them, leading to huge 

revenue losses to Nigeria. 

While discretionary oil bloc 

award, based on political patronage, 

reduced with the return of 

democracy in 1999, Nigeria’s bid 

rounds have not been without 

controversy. 

Some of the marginal fields 

awarded over the years, are lying 

Continues on page 33 

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I **THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 I VOL. 14, NO 443 I N300 @ g 

FG says no going back on 

airport concessioning 

Approves N45bn severance pay for ex-Nigeria Airways workers 

ONYINYE NWACHUKWU, Abuja 

The Federal Government 

on Wednesday 

said it is not reversing 

its concluded 

plans to concession 

Nigerian airports, beginning 

with Lagos, Abuja, Kano and 

Port Harcourt. 

Government said the decision 

was taken because it can 

no longer sustain the funding of 

the 22 airports across the country, 

assuring that the process 

will be transparently done and 

the aviation workers who fear 

massive job losses will be fully 

carried along. 

Hadi Sirika, Minister of State 

for Aviation, revealed this in reaction 

to resistance by workers 

of the Federal Airports Authority 

of Nigeria (FAAN) under the 

aegis of the Air Transport Service 

Senior Staff Association (ATSS- 

SAN) and the National Union of 

Air Transport Employees (NU- 

ATE) to government’s plans to 

concession the Lagos and Abuja 


L-R: Aigboje Aig-Imuokhuede, president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Bola Adesola, MD/CEO, Standard 

Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited; Muhammed Imam Yahaya, incoming chairman of the board, Standard 

Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited, and Oluremi Omotoso, outgoing chairman, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria 

Limited, during the send forth dinner for Omotoso, organised by the bank in Lagos. 

Join the discourse at 23rd Nigerian Economic Summit 

Theme: Opportunities, Productivity & Employment 

...Actualizing the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 

Africa will become 

the food basket 

of the world, says 

Dangote 

Nigerian business leader 

Aliko Dangote, told investors 

“Agriculture, agriculture, 

agriculture. Africa will 

become the food basket of the 

world.” 

In a packed room at the headquarters 

of global law firm, 

Shearman and Sterling LLC, 

high level business leaders and 

international diplomats invited 

by the Corporate Council for Af- 


Jim Ovia recognised 

in America as Africa’s 

business leader 

Endorsement and recognition 

have again come the 

way of Jim Ovia, Chairman 

of Zenith Bank Plc. as he was on 

Tuesday night recognised as a 

leading entrepreneur in Africa 

by the African-American Institute 

(AAI). 

Ovia, in what is a reward for 

his business leadership and 

philanthropy, received the AAI 

2017 Business Leader Award, at 

a ceremony held on the sideline 

of the ongoing United Nations 


10th - 12th October, 2017 

Transcorp Hilton, Abuja 

www.nesgroup.org

Thursday 21 September 2017 

2 BUSINESS DAY 

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BUSINESS DAY 

3


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FG says no going back on airport concessioning... 

Continued from page 1 

Airports. 

Government had two weeks 

back, approved the concessioning 

of the nation’s four major 

airports, begining with the Lagos 

and Abuja. 

Speaking after the Federal Executive 

Council (FEC) meeting, 

presided over by Vice President 

Yemi Osinbajo, Sirika said the 

Murtala Muhammed Airport in 

Lagos, for instance, was originally 

built to handle 200,000 travelers 

per annum but that today, it is 

serving about eight million per 

annum, which the government 

can no longer handle, since it 

does not have the resources to 

upgrade the facilities. 

“You will agree with me that 

this is not news, they have done 

so in the past. We are a democratic 

government and we recognise 

that it is their right to protests 

and what they are protesting is 

whether there will be job losses 

and labour issues. We have been 

very consistent and we have been 

engaging them. This time it will 

be very very different. 

“At a time the concessioning of 

some government assets started, 

we were not knowledgeable in 

what concession entails but today, 

we have the knowledge and 

it will be transparently done, with 

active participation of workers in 

both the delivery and the steering 

committees, to drive this process,” 

Sirika said, speaking on the 

protests opposing concessioning 

of airports. 

He said the Infrastructure 

Concession Regulatory Commission 

(ICRC) will on Friday, put 

up a portal where all matters of 

concession will be available for 

anyone to see. 

“It is an extra effort by this 

government to be so transparent 

in dealing with this type of situation. 

When it is transparently 

done, labour issues will be addressed 

within the process, you 

will agree with me that this is the 

best way to go. 

“I had talked about concession, 

as against the outright sale 

that was tried in by past governments. 

I read on the social media 

that I had stolen N635 million but 

in the body of the story, they said 

I had budgeted to spend it during 

concession.” 

The minister said he has been 

meeting with the agitating workers 

but that the policy of government 

is that it cannot fund aviation 

infrastructure today, through 

public budgets. 

“The money is not there. We 

intend to get the private sector 

to come and put in their money. 

Sirika further stated that, “the 

Murtala Muhammed Airport was 

built to cater for 200,000 people 

per annum, but today, it is doing 

eight million. The toilets and 

lifts in the airport were meant to 

serve 200,000 people per annum 

but now they are serving eight 

million per annum. There is no 

single addition on that airport 

and we are growing as a people. 

“At the time it was built, we 

were 60 million people today we 

are 173 million. And we cannot 

continue to let the airport be 

like that and we do not have the 

money to invest and develop this 

airport. 

“In our opinion as a government 

and the policy has been 

done that it will go through concession, 

to give to some individuals 

who will build, operate, 

maintain, sustain, make money 

and government will also make 

money in the process and it will 

return to government after a 

number of years, between 20 to 

25 years. This will be transparently 

done, this is the catch phrase, 

so we are proceeding.” 

He disclosed that the Buhari 

administration, on assumption 

of office, resolved to concession 

all the airports, as the only way 

to upgrade and develop airport 

facilities in the country, considering 

government’s poor financial 

status. 

He further disclosed that Buhari 

had approved the concessioning 

of all Nigerian airports 

two months after the administration 

assumed office. 

He said he had written to President 

Buhari on the roadmap, and 

one of them is to concession all 

Nigerian airports. 

“Mr. President gave the approval 

to concession all Nigerian 

airports but to start with the big 

four - Lagos, Abuja, Kano and 

Port Harcourt. And that approval 

was taken to council and it also 

approved Lagos, Abuja, Port 

Harcourt and Kano, to start with. 

The rest will follow in due course. 

“On where we are today, as 

regards concessioning, because 

of the procurement process and 

because of the Act establishing 

ICRC, we have come to the 

stage where we have appointed 

a transaction adviser, they were 

appointed and I briefed you here 

in this hall. They are to drive this 

process on concessioning. 

“We have commissioned 

them, we have given them part 

payment. They are to commence 

what is called the Outline Business 

Case, which they will bring 

and we will take to council after 

which there will be a full business 

case and then we will procure. 

“So Abuja and Lagos are part 

of the big four that will be concessioned 

in this first phase.” 

Sirika also told State House 

Correspondents that President 

Buhari has approved a N45 billion 

severance package for workers 

of the liquidated Nigeria 

Airways. 

The affected workers had on 

Wednesday in Lagos, protested 

the Federal Government’s failure 

to pay their severance benefits, 

running into N78 billion. 

The protesters said they intended 

to draw government’s 

attention to their plight, as many 

of them had died and others 

became homeless after the government 

liquidated the airline 

in 2003. 

Speaking on the matter, Sirika 

blamed past governments for 

liquidating Nigeria Airways without 

tending to the issues of the 

entitlements of the workers who 

are now struggling to get paid. 

“This government, when it 

came on board, decided to take 

it seriously and I am happy to 

announce that Mr. President has 

approved N45 billion which has 

been confirmed to be the entitlements 

of these workers and the 

Ministry of Finance has been 

instructed to pay,” he stressed. 

He said the Ministry of Finance 

wrote to him last week that 

Udo Udoma, 

minister of 

budget and 

national planning 

(l), and 

Kemi Adeosun, 

minister 

of finance, 

during the 

Federal Executive 

Council 

meeting 

chaired by the 

vice president 

at the Council 

chambers, 

Presidential 

Villa, Abuja, 

yesterday 

they have received instructions to 

pay these workers and therefore 

they are going about setting up all 

the modalities to pay. 

“It will be paid by ministry of 

Finance through a process and 

that process will commence very 

soon. 

“So I’m very glad to say that 

this is also what this government 

has done. It took a long time for 

the workers of Nigeria Airways 

to be attended to and we thank 

them for their patience. Unfortunately, 

we lost many of them, 

many of whom I have known 

personally. So this will soon be 

dealt with”. 

The Minister also disclosed 

that FEC meeting approved 

the hosting of the International 

World Aviation Forum, scheduled 

for Abuja for the 20th of 

November this year, where over 

40 aviation ministers around the 

world are expected. 

This is the first time Nigeria 

will be hosting such an event, 

Sirika said, adding that he 

also briefed the council on the 

Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority 

(NCAA) certified Murtala 

Muhammed International Airport 

in Lagos, 38 years after it 

commenced flight operations, 

a process which began since 

2006.


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BUSINESS DAY 

5



C002D5556 

NEWS 

Air passenger traffic rises 27% in Q2 

2017 on back of economic recovery 

… but down 25% compared with same period of 2016 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

Air passenger 

traffic (domestic 

and international) 

for the three 

months ending 

June 2017 has increased by 

27.06 percent over the first 

three months of 2017, data 

from the National Bureau of 

Statistics (NBS) show. 

The pick up in passenger 

traffic further affirms to 

marginal economic growth 

recorded in the economy in 

the first half of the year, and 

indicates that the recovery 

would be sustained. 

However, the report 

shows that passenger traffic 

levels in the second 

quarter (Q2) are still 25.88 

percent lower than what 

it was in the same period 

of 2016, an indication that 

economic activity in the 

aviation sector is yet to 

recover to the levels it was 

before the country went 

into recession. 

The report indicates that 

approximately 1.69 million 

passengers passed through 

Fuel scarcity averted as ULC suspends strike 

JOSHUA BASSEY 

A 

nationwide fuel 

scarcity has been 

averted following 

the suspension of 

the strike called by the United 

Labour Congress (ULC), currently 

seeking registration 

as the third labour centre in 

Nigeria. Others already registered 

are the Nigeria Labour 

Congress (NLC) and Trade 

Union Congress of Nigeria 

(TUC). 

ULC announced the suspension 

of the strike Wednesday, 

saying it was to allow for 

continuation of negotiation 

with the Federal Government 

on the various demands 

raised by labour. 

The strike, which began 

Monday with gradual shutting 

down of oil depots across 

the country, raised concerns 

about petroleum products 

scarcity, as some operators 

of filling stations on Tuesday 

feared they might run dry in 

the absence of further supply. 

Nigerian Union of Petroleum 

and Natural Gas 

Workers (NUPENG), which 

ordered tanker drivers to 

stop the lifting and supply 

of petroleum products, is 

an affiliate of ULC, a labour 

centre yet to be registered by 

the government. 

By yesterday, some of 

the filling stations visited in 

Lagos said they were selling 

their last stocks and stressed 

the need for both labour and 

the government to resolve 

their differences in order to 

avert another round of fuel 

scarcity in an economy just 

exiting recession. 

Joe Ajaero, president 

of ULC, in a statement announcing 


the action, said the decision 

was taken after a meeting 

with the government delegation 

led by Chris Ngige, 

minister of labour and 

employment, in Abuja on 

Wednesday. 

FG set to restore investors’ confidence in capital market 

the country’s airports in 

Q1 2017 and increased to 

2.14 million passengers in 

Q2 2017. 

Similarly, aircraft movement 

increased by 11.23 

percent in Q2 over the first 

quarter, but declined by 

-20.40 percent when compared 

with the same period 

of last year. 

The amount of cargo 

and mail moved through 

the nation’s airport was 

also up by 1.39 percent, but 

-7.72 percent lower than 

the same period of 2016, 

while mail was 28.57 percent 

higher than Q1 of 2017, 

but 1,070.9 percent higher 

than second quarter of 2016 

Murtala Muhammed Airport 

(MMA) in Lagos, as 

usual, recorded the most 

activities during the quarter, 

accounting for 40.7 percent 

of domestic passengers, 74.8 

percent of international passengers, 

89 percent of cargo 

movement and 96.7 percent 

of mail movement. In terms 

of economic output, the 

air transport sector in the 

Q2 increased marginally in 

… inaugurates investment, securities tribunal 

Federal Government 

has reconstituted the 

Investment and Securities 

Tribunal (IST) as a 

practical step towards restoring 

investors’ confidence in the 

capital market, and repositioning 

it to contribute positively to 

the country’s economy. 

The Investment and Securities 

Tribunal was dissolved in 

compliance with the Federal 

Government’s directive on dissolution 

of Boards of Parastatals, 

Agencies, Institutions and 

Government owned Companies 

conveyed in circular 

Ref. No. SGF.19/S:18/XIX/964 

dated October 16, 2015. 

The reconstitution and inauguration 

of the Investment and 

Securities Tribunal (IST) is expected 

to enhance its effectiveness 

and efficiency in handling 

the daily rising number of the 

new cases in the Capital Market. 

The reconstituted ten-man 

Investment and Securities 

Tribunal (IST), which has 

Siaka Isaiah Idoko as the 

chairman, was inaugurated 

on Tuesday by the minister 

real terms by 0.15 percent, 

slightly down from the rate 

recorded in the previous 

quarter, when it recorded 

1.53 percent growth. 

Tayo Ojuri, an industry 

expert/CEO, Aglo Limited, 

an aviation support service 

told BusinessDay that traffic 

picked up during second 

quarter of 2017 is because 

Nigeria is gradually getting 

out of recession. 

“Aviation is usually the 

first sector affected by recession 

and will immediately 

pick up when the economy 

recovers. We just got out of 

recession, so expectedly; 

there should be an increase 

in disposable income, which 

will immediately cause an 

increase in the number of 

people travelling.” 

“During the first quarter 

of 2017, the president was 

not around for most part of 

the month and there was 

no push in the economy, 

as people were not certain 

what the economy will be 

like. Secondly, the budget, 

as at that time was not being 

implemented.” 

... labour to begin negotiation with FG next week 

“We can officially announce 


our ongoing nation-wide 

strike. The decision to suspend 

the strike was taken 

after the meeting with the 

Federal Government delegation 

led by the minister of 

labour and employment in 

Abuja earlier this morning 

(yesterday). 

“This is to allow current 

negotiation with the Federal 

Government continues 

in a peaceful atmosphere 

and to avoid the impending 

hardship which a continuation 

may have meant for 

Nigerians. 

“All affiliates and state 

councils throughout are requested 

to suspend action 

until further notice. ULC 

wishes to thank all that have 

solidarised with us and those 

that have shown willingness 

to join us if the action had 

continued despite not being 

our affiliate,” Ajaero said. 

of finance, Kemi Adeosun. 

Other members are: Jude 

I. Udunni, Nosa Osemwengie, 

Abubakar A. Ahmad, 

Albert L. Otesile, Emeka 

Madubuike, Kasumi Garba 

Kurfi, Edward O. Ajayi, Onyemaechi 

E. M. Elujekor, and 

Mamman Bukar Zargana. 

Speaking at the inauguration, 

Adeosun said the delay 

in reconstituting the Tribunal 

was to enable the Government 

carefully overhaul the 

system and ensure that credible, 

competent and experienced 

people are brought in 

to effect the desired change.


MPC members raise concern on FG 

crowding out private sector credit 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE 

Monetary Policy 

Committee 

(MPC) members 

at the last 

meeting raised concern on 

the crowding out of the private 

sector from borrowing 

by the Federal Government. 

Nnanna Okwu Joseph, 

deputy governor, Financial 

System Stability, CBN, noted 

that credit to the private 

sector contracted as a result 

of the persisting crowdingout 

effect of government 

borrowing requirements 

driving up interest rates. 

Consequently, maximum 

and prime lending rate rose 

by 0.19 and 0.01 percentage 

point, respectively to 30.94 

percent and 17.59 percent in 

June, from May 2017. 

Adelabu Adebayo, deputy 

governor, operations, was 

Fine & Country, BusinessDay RIS-UK to 

give meaning to leadership, economy 

CHUKA UROKO 

Besides its fundamental 

objective of showcasing 

the best of the 

Nigerian real estate 

market and correcting the 

myths and misconceptions 

that tend to blur the opportunities 

therein, this year’s edition 

of Refined Investors Series 

(RIS) to be hosted by Fine & 

Country and BusinessDay in 

the UK will also be celebrating 

leadership in the country as 

well as its economy. 

The two companies believe 

that apart from its burgeoning 

real market, there’s so much 

that is positive about Nigeria 

while there’s a lot that still 

requires correction, leaving 

room for growth and, in some 

cases, radical change. 

“Our aim is to provide accurate 

and current insight on 

the real estate sector and the 

economy as a whole. We want 

to help shape the narrative 

more accurately by sharing the 

positives as well as the areas 

of desired growth. No nation 

can survive if its nationals are 

not proud of their country. We 

have a responsibility to deliberately 

craft platforms that 

enable us to showcase the best 

stories of our nation, its people 

and the path to greatness. 

“That’s why we are kicking 

off the RIS with an Independence 

Celebration Dinner on 

Friday, October 6. We want 

to celebrate our country, its 

people, both local and in Diaspora 

and the initiatives, 

brands, and projects that are 

contributing to it positively,” 

Udo Okonjo, Fine & Country 

CEO, noted in Lagos. 

Arguably, Nigeria’s governance 

structures are a weak 

link and the link is such that 

organisations such as ANAP 

Foundation and many other 

non-governmental institutions 

are focused on building. 

But it is a good thing to have 

private sector leaders who 

have no desire to play the 

ostrich just because they are 

not in full-time public service. 

worried that the short fall 

in government revenue had 

increased government demand 

for banks financing, 

leading to the crowding out 

of the private sector in credit 

allocation. 

Salami Adedoyin, a member 

of the MPC, gave highlights 

of CBN financing of the 

Federal Government since 

December 2016. According 

to Adedoyin, CBN’s claims 

on Federal Government 

at N814 billion is twenty 

fold higher while the claims 

of Commercial Banks rose 

marginally by 0.4 percent 

to N4.6 trillion; 30 percent 

increase to N454 billion 

in CBN’s purchase of government 

T-Bills; 5percent 

increase in FG Overdrafts to 

N2.8 trillion, and increase 

in the ‘mirror account’ from 

N3 billion at the end 2016 to 

N1.5 trillion in April 2017. 

Private sector leaders realise 

that the business climate 

and economy play a 

major role in their long-term 

financial and corporate well 

being, but more importantly 

for the future generation. Real 

leaders think generationally. 

And so, through this two-day 

event, BusinessDay and Fine 

& Country will draw attention 

to and celebrate leadership, 

both in the private and public 

sector. They will highlight the 

fact that there are good leaders 

in Nigeria, have been and will 

continue to be. 

Okonjo explained that, by 

drawing attention to various 

leading corporate brands not 

just in Real Estate, but home 

grown institutions including 

Access Bank, Stanbic, First 

Bank, Seplat, Platform, Famfa 

Oil, South Energyx, Landmark, 

Crown Limited, this epoch 

even will demonstrate that 

the story of Nigeria cannot be 

told without the private sector. 

“It’s the leading brands, 

the selfless and visionary 

leaders in various sectors, 

and the innovative and astute 

real estate companies 

that champion change that 

we want to celebrate”, she 

assured. 

“We have to remember 

that most sectors of the economy 

interact with real estate 

and we have a story to tell 

about the real estate companies 

setting the pace and 

blazing trails even within the 

difficult terrain. The public 

sector, of course, cannot be 

left out, because to a large extent 

they set the temperature 

and climate of the economy. 

“From security to education, 

infrastructure, health, 

housing, monetary policies, 

these are all relevant, and it’s 

our intention not to whitewash 

the reality of our painful 

pathway to development in 

all these areas, but we can’t 

focus only on the difficulties 

or deficiencies without 

identifying and celebrating 

what’s positive, no matter 

how incremental,” she said. 

C002D5556 

FG agrees final terms with Chinese 

firm on Mambilla power plant 

The Federal Government 

through 

the Federal Ministry 

of Power, 

Works and Housing 

Wednesday, communicated 

a notification of final 

acceptance for Gezhouba- 

Sinohydro-Cgcoc, a subsidiary 

of China Energy Engineering 

Corp, towards the 

construction of Mambilla 

power plant. 

By this action, Nigeria has 

committed itself to a contract 

to execute 3,050MW of hydropower 

in Gembu, Taraba 

State, at the cost of $5.792 billion 

in six years. The project 

will include the construction 

of four dams and 700 kilometres 

of transmission lines. 

According to the terms 

of the contract, Nigeria will 

provide about $870 million, 

representing 15 percent of 

the amount while the China 

Energy Engineering Corp 

will finance the rest through 

funding from the China Exim 

Bank. 

Bogged by funding con- 

Take conscious steps to revamp Nigeria’s infrastructure – RMB boss 

The Nigerian government 

has been urged 

by Michael Larbie, 

managing director, 

Rand Merchant Bank, Nigeria, 

who spoke at the 2017 annual 

conference of the Finance Correspondents 

Association of 

Nigeria (FICAN) in Lagos at 

the weekend, to take conscious 

steps in transforming the state 

of infrastructure in the country. 

Larbie spoke alongside the 

acting director general, Infrastructure 

Concession Regulatory 

Commission (ICRC), Chidi 

Izuwah; president of the Africa 

Finance Corporation, Andrew 

Alli (represented by Fola Fagbule), 

CEO of Viathan Engineering 

Limited, Ladi Sanni. 

The RMBN CEO pointed out 

that Nigeria’s economy was too 

big to be ignored in spite of the 

recent recession, adding that the 

non-oil sector mainly wholesale 

straints since the project was 

first conceived in 1982, the 

Mambilla power project is a 

monument to Nigeria’s failed 

leadership as previous administrations 

frittered away 

huge oil incomes while critical 

national project suffers. 

During the Goodluck 

Jonathan administration, 

Nigeria earned over $60 billion 

every year from crude 

oil sales in each of the five 

years he spent in the saddle, 

but could not deliver on the 

project. 

Former President Olusegun 

Obasanjo, in 2007, 

awarded the contract to 

a Chinese consortium – 

Gezhouba Group and China 

Geo-Engineering Corporation 

– at the cost of $1.46 

billion for an aspect of the 

project, according to reports, 

and paid $219 million as 15 

percent advance fee, but the 

project was cancelled. 

A German company was 

also involved in an aspect 

of the project but was enmeshed 

in bribery controversy 

that got it blacklisted by 

the World Bank. 

and retail trade, agriculture, 

services, telecommunication 

propelled economic growth in 

the country, and building and 

construction. 

He noted that deepening 

diversification of the Nigerian 

economy from oil, and development 

of higher value-added 

businesses, large consumer 

market and growing middleincome 

families, are some of the 

opportunities in the Nigerian 

market. According to him, resolution 

of poor electricity output 

would result in significant increase 

in productivity. 

He contextualised infrastructure 

into hard and soft infrastructure, 

explaining that although 

education was infrastructure, but 

the key infrastructure he would 

be focusing on in his presentation 

were energy transport, ICT 

and water. 

In terms of electricity, he 

“Several efforts had been 

made to bring it to reality but 

I’m happy to announce that 

this government approved 

the contract today to joint 

ventures of Chinese Civil and 

Engineering company for the 

engineering and turn-key 

contract, including civil and 

electro-mechanical works 

for $5.792 billion,” said Babatunde 

Fashola, minister 

of power, after the executive 

council meeting where the 

project was approved last 

month. 

The Mambilla power project 

when completed will 

raise Nigeria’s hydropower 

capacity to over 4500MW. 

Experts say the potentials for 

the economy are enormous. 

According to the World 

Bank Infrastructure Country 

Diagnostic (AICD) and a 2015 

McKinsey report, African 

countries are losing 1% of 

gross domestic product per 

annum due to poor power 

infrastructure. Nigeria’s estimated 

GPD loss from 1999 

to 2015 is N71 trillion due to 

under investment in power 

infrastructure. 

stated that Nigeria presently has a 

cost unreflective tariff in place; insufficient 

gas supply to the power 

thermal plants; non-bankable 

gas supply agreements; bureaucracy 

of government agencies; 

lack of affordable long-term 

financing for sponsors; as well as 

low appetite by lenders. 

Also, in ICT, Larbie identified 

digital divide with lack of 

access to ICT across parts of the 

country; lack of policy continuity 

which has constrained the creation 

of ICT parks/hubs; weak 

legal framework; as some of the 

challenges in the sector. 

Furthermore, he pointed out 

that the sub-optimal funding 

arrangement for highways and 

trunk roads; lack of an integrated 

inter-modal transport system 

across the country as some of 

the factors that have continued 

to affect the provision of efficient 

transport infrastructure. 

BUSINESS DAY 

7 

NEWS 

Abdulsamad Rabiu, CEO/executive chairman, BUA Group (m), flanked by Kabiru Rabiu (l), group executive director, BUA 

Group, and Chima-Obi Madukwe, group chief operating officer, at the 2016 AABLA. 

ISAAC ANYAOGU 

Abdulsamad Rabiu, 

others lead 2017 

AABLA nominees 

Nigeria’s fourth richest 

man, according 

to Forbes, Abdulsamad 

Rabiu has 

been nominated for the 2017 

West Africa Business Leader 

of the year at the 2017 CNBC/ 

All African Business Leaders 

Award. 

Rabiu, CEO/founder of 

BUA Group, a Nigerian food 

and infrastructure conglomerate, 

was named alongside 

other CEOs such as Jennifer 

Bash, the CEO AKTZ industries, 

and Mwaura Ndichu, 

the CEO Interswitch GRP, 

Joyce-Ann Jawainaina, the 

CEO of Citi Bank, who are 

also in contention for various 

regional awards. 

The CEO of BUA Group 

who in 2016 won the CBNC/ 

AABLA African Industrialist 

of the Year Award was among 

finalists for this year’s award 

barely a month after commissioning 

BUA Cement $1 

billion plant in Edo State and 

signing a $500 million textile 

cluster agreement in Katsina 

State. 

The nomination process 

for the annual event in partnership 

with CNBC Africa 

began on September 14, and 

ended on September 20, 2017 

with recognition of excellence 

across categories including: 

Young Business Leader of 

the Year; Entrepreneur of 

the Year; Business Woman 

of the Year; Innovator of the 

Year; Industrialist of the Year; 

Company of the Year; Business 

Leader of the Year and 

Philanthropist of the Year. 

The AABLA honours remarkable 

leadership and salutes 

game changers of business on 

the continent for their continuing 

commitment to excellence, 

developing best practices and 

innovative strategies. 

Winners of the Awards 

exemplify the best in African 

leadership. They epitomize 

the core values of a successful 

leader, strength, innovation, 

ingenuity, knowledge and 

foresight – values that are imperative 

to carving out powerful 

business in a Pan-African 

and global economy.



C002D5556 

NEWS 

NCC declares 

N133.4bn remittance 

to FG account 

JUMOKE AKIYODE LAWANSON 

Nigerian Communications 

Commission 

(NCC) has declared 

remittance of a total 

of N133,426,062,786 to the 

consolidated revenue fund 

of the Federal Government 

in the last two years. 

Although the primary responsibility 

of the telecoms 

regulator is not to generate 

revenue for the government, 

but to nurture and regulate 

the industry, stakeholders 

say the figures generated 

in the last two years show 

impressive remittance of 

funds to the coffers of the 

consolidated revenue of the 

government. 

BusinessDay sources at 

NCC say the over N133 billion 

does not include the 

N110 billion fine payments 

from MTN Nigeria out of 

the N330 billion to be paid 

by May 2019. 

“The fine given to MTN 

Nigeria for failing to disconnect 

improperly registered 

SIMs is N330billion to be paid 

in instalments and a total of 

N110 billion has been paid 

to date, but this payment was 

made directly to a nominated 

account for the Federal Government. 

It is not part of the 

N133.4 billion that the NCC 

has remitted in the last two 

years,” a source said. 

In a statement signed by 

Tony Ojobo, public affairs 

director, NCC, the commission 

gave a breakdown of its 

remittances to the consolidated 

revenue fund, stating 

that its last remittance of 

N12, 705,154,120 was made 

on June 30, 2017. Prior to 

this, the NCC remitted the 

sum of N1,282,453,138. 

For 2016, NCC made a 

payment of N20,000,598,873 

and another N15,000,000,000 

in March before remitting 

N29,475,867,407 and 

N16,500,000,000 for the year. 

In 2015, however, the 

commission remitted N23, 

512,316,450 in October after 

paying N6,856,182,132 in 

September of the same year. 

“It is noteworthy also 

that the quarterly contribution 

of telecom sector to the 

GDP has been consistently 

impressive in the last two 

years,” Ojobo said in the 

statement. 

Umar Garba Danbatta, 

CEO of NCC, recently 

said the sector contributed 

N1.549 trillion to the Gross 

Domestic Product (GDP) in 

the second quarter of 2017, 

representing 6.68 percent increase 

from the first quarter 

of the year (N1.452trn). 

The National Bureau of 

Statistics report has confirmed 

that the Nigerian 

telecoms sector, during the 

second quarter of 2017, contributed 

9.5 percent to the 

GDP in contrast to 9.1 percent 

contribution in the first 

quarter of the year. 

Total’s Engina field gets locally built manifolds to realise 200,000bpd output 

IGNATIUS CHUKWU 

Engineers at Aveon 

Offshore Nigeria 

Company have 

completed the 

construction of six 

sets of manifolds that will sit 

1.5km deep in the sea, to suck 

oil from seabed wells and 

transfer to pipes that will send 

to flow station and help Total’s 

Engina field deliver expected 

200,000bpd output next year. 

The multi-million dollar 

project was launched Tuesday 

at Rumuolumini jetty 

beside the Calabar River near 

Port Harcourt. Aveon built 

the sensitive manifolds as 

sub-contractor for Technip 

FMC of Norway and as main 

contractor for Total, but at 

the successful unveiling and 

sail away event on Monday, 

the NNPC announced the 

upgrading of the company to a 

full grade contractor to enable 

it play bigger in the oil and gas 

industry. 

At the load off and sail 

away event, Tein George, 

chairman of Aveon, said the 

company had invested $250m 

in eight years to develop the 

yard that built the sensitive 

manifolds while he said the 

partners had contributed 

$30m to boost investments. 

George said Aveon 

achieved record time delivery 

to boost confidence in local 

fabrication and recorded zero 

in lost time and injury ranking 

after 5.5m hours, one of the 

best in the industry anywhere 

in the world. 

Maikanti Baru, group 

managing director, NNPC, 

cut the tape to launch the 

manifolds, and described the 

event as historic and a major 

breakthrough in the oil industry 

and in the drive towards 

Nigerian content. 

Baru, while flagging off 

the last three manifolds, said, 

“By today’s event, we have 

reaffirmed our commitment 

to the Nigerian Content Act of 

April 2010. We celebrate here 

today a clear demonstration 

of the growing efficiency of 

the Nigerian Content Act. The 

Aveon yard now boas ts of a 

dedicated carbon steel workshop, 

duplex welding facilities 

and painting workshops of 

over 8000 metres and a fully 

reinforced quayside among 

notable upgrades.” 

He assured the management 

and workers that NNPC 

would ensure that the specialised 

yard would have jobs 

to keep afloat and deepen Nigeria’s 

participation in the oil 

industry. Baru also called for 

more projects to sustain such 

big investment and the 1500 

workers that did the magic. 

Speaking at the event, 

Simbi Wabote, executive 

secretary, Nigerian Content 

Development and Monitoring 

Board (NCDMB), urged 

other oil companies to emulate 

Total and bring such 

fabrications to Nigeria. He 

said he was happy that a Shell 

manager was on hand to take 

the message home just as he 

described Total as a true lover 

of Nigeria and her drive for 

local content. 

Musa Kida, deputy managing 

director of Total, said 

the company took a huge 

risk to agree to hand such a 

project to be built in Nigeria 

for the first time. “We took a 

lot of battering for such a risk 

but we are happy today to 

record such a feat.” He said 

the manifolds would add 

200,000bpd next year and 

that the early delivery of the 

manifolds also meant early 

completion of the Egina oil 

project.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

9



C002D5556 

COMMENT 

CHRISTOPHER AKOR 

Chris Akor, a First Class 

graduate of Political Science, holds an 

MSc in African Studies from the University 

of Oxford and is BusinessDay’s 

Op-Ed Editor 

christopher.akor@businessdayonline.com 

One of the characteristic 

of the Nigerian 

state is its resort 

to brute force and 

deadly violence to 

suppress legitimate expression of 

frustration and dissent. Remember 

Ken Saro Wiwa and his Movement 

for the Survival of Ogoni People 

(MOSOP)? They tried to press for 

“political autonomy to participate 

in the affairs of the Republic as a 

distinct and separate unit” and the 

“right to the control and use of a fair 

proportion of economic resources 

for Ogoni development” in the 

1990s and what was the result? The 

Nigerian government responded 

to MOSOP’s demand with a brutal 

crackdown and, ultimately, 

decapitated the leadership of the 

group. Many towns in the region 

do not even have as much as a 

police posts, but security forces – 

the army, police and navy – are 

constantly deployed to protect oil 

installations that dot the region. 

Repeating mistakes of the past 

These security forces constantly 

engage in torture and extra judicial 

killings of people in the communities 

and are rightly viewed 

as henchmen of a distant government 

concerned primarily with 

securing the oil and gas facilities 

and installations scattered across 

the regions on which the Nigerian 

economy, and more particular, 

the Nigerian federation, depends. 

Even with the return to democratic 

governance in 1999 with the 

attendant freedom of expression 

it guarantees, the Nigerian state 

was still unwilling to listen to any 

legitimate agitation and was determined 

to employ maximum 

force to crush any form of dissent 

and protect. Gradually and with 

time, non state actors have come 

to understand that the only language 

the Nigerian government 

understands is that of force. 

Thus, by 2005, violence became 

the chief means by which 

power and resources were negotiated 

in the Niger Delta region. 

Consequently, the loci of power 

shifted from community elders 

– a group the government and 

particularly the multinational 

oil companies found expedient 

to negotiate with and settle to 

quieten agitations – to militant 

youth groups who have been 

using violent means to successfully 

challenge the legitimacy of 

the Nigerian state. The only snag 

is that when these youth groups 

took up arms, the military that is 

quick to crush peaceful dissent 

and protests, proved incapable of 

suppressing them when armed. 

I think Nigerians need to be 

worried about their armed 

forces that, recently, only 

specialises in winning battles 

involving unarmed civilians 

and groups. When they have 

faced armed groups, the outcome 

hasn’t been flattering 

They consequently used the instrumentality 

of violence to successfully 

threaten the economic survival of 

the Nigerian state and consequently 

negotiate an amnesty programme, 

in 2009, with the Nigerian state, 

worth billions of dollars and set the 

precedence for violent confrontation 

as the only viable means of resolving 

disputes with the state. 

Almost at the same time the 

government was negotiating peace 

terms with the dreaded Niger Delta 

militants, it unleashed the army 

on another extremist but largely 

peaceful group – Boko Haram 

– actively proselytising in Borno 

state. The army and police pursued 

a brutal, deadly and illegal crackdown 

on the group that peaceful elements 

within the group were either 

wiped out or lost their voices and 

the apostle of extreme violence and 

terror – Shiek Ibrahim Shekau – and 

his like took over. As usual, the moment 

Boko Haram took up arms the 

Nigerian army became scarred and 

could no longer confront them as it 

did when they weren’t armed. The 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com 

Nigerian government has sought 

and got various international support, 

formed a multilateral force, 

and used mercenaries but is still 

unable to comprehensively defeat 

the insurgency. 

But alas, the Nigerian state has 

learnt nothing from such bitter 

experiences and has continued 

to use crude violence and force to 

respond to peaceful agitations. For 

instance, in December 2015, the 

Nigerian Army mercilessly mowed 

down close to 500 members of the 

Shiite sect in Zaria and destroyed 

their leader’s house and shrines 

just for blocking the convoy of the 

Army Chief. The Human Rights 

Watch (HRW) was later to declare 

that the Nigerian army unjustifiably 

killed more than 300 members 

of the Islamic Movement of 

Nigeria (IMN) and secretly buried 

them. That assertion was later 

corroborated by the Kaduna state 

government, which even put the 

figure of those killed higher than 

the HRW. The violence against the 

largely peaceful sect has continued 

unabated and the leader of the sect 

- Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, his 

wife and other members has been 

in government detention unlawfully 

since their arrest in 2015. 

Feeling lucky, the Army has now 

extended its murderous crackdown 

to the largely peaceful but extremist 

Indigenous people of Biafra 

(IPOD) group. The unlawful killings 

started since last year but have now 

intensified with the army’s operation 

Python Dance 2. By declaring 

a largely peaceful group a terrorist 

organisation, proscribing an en- 

Don’t lose the plot – agriculture in the right context 

tire people’s right to free speech 

and association, and deliberately 

provoking them to violence, the 

Nigerian government is steadily 

and quickly pushing the group to 

embrace violence. The unspoken 

message to these groups that are 

continually being massacred and 

mowed down by the army is that 

peaceful demonstrations or protests 

never pay. The only chance 

they have of being taken seriously 

is by engaging in armed and violent 

confrontation with the state. The 

only problem is that when these 

groups do take up arms, the army 

often doesn’t have the capability to 

stop them. We have good examples 

in the Niger Delta militants and 

Boko Haram. 

But the government may be 

lucky again. Unlike the Niger Delta 

militants who had Nigeria by 

the balls and the Boko Haram 

militants motivated by extremist 

ideology, the motivation for 

the current Biafran secessionist 

movement appears to be largely 

economic and is unlikely to survive 

a brutal crackdown. However, the 

crackdown will be at the expense 

of Nigeria’s unity! 

Finally, I think Nigerians need 

to be worried about their armed 

forces that, recently, only specialises 

in winning battles involving 

unarmed civilians and groups. 

When they have faced armed 

groups, the outcome hasn’t been 

flattering. 

Send reactions to: 

comment@businessdayonline.com 

DAYO ODUWOLE 

Oduwole is an Investment Banking 

Professional writing in from Lagos. 

He writes via: oladayo@cefmr.com 

Here is something you’ve 

probably not heard regarding 

agriculture in 

Africa: African farmers 

are old. Think about it for a second. 

Do you know anyone that owns 

a farm? What is the age of this 

person? According to the United 

Nations Development Programme 

(“UNDP”) dataset, the average 

Kenyan farmer is 60 years old. 

In Nigeria, farmers are about 54 

years old. Life expectancy at birth 

in Kenya is 62 years and 53 years 

in Nigeria, comparing the average 

age of farmers to life expectancy 

at birth, it is easy to conclude that 

African farming has a demographical 

problem. A new reality television 

show has been airing in East 

Africa entitled don’t lose the plot. 

It follows the lives of four young 

people (two pairs from Tanzania 

and Kenya) who have been allotted 

one acre of land for agricultural 

production and follows their activities 

over a nine-month period. 

The most profitable farmer at the 

end of the show wins an agricultural 

investment of $10,000. The 

show is supported by various 

institutions including the USAID. 

The objective of the programme 

is showcasing to the youth the 

activities involved in agriculture 

and perhaps encourage them to 

join the profession. The show’s 

producers want farming to be 

perceived as “cool”. Whether the 

most appropriate medium to 

achieve this objective is a reality 

TV show is to be seen. 

A fresh attempt at encouraging 

young people to engage in the 

profession and adjust the demographical 

problem is seemingly 

laudable. Demography is however 

not the only nor the biggest 

problem faced by African governments 

with regards to agriculture; 

low productivity is a frequently 

cited problem in African agriculture. 

Dercon and Gollin (2014) 

and Gollin et al (2014) show 

that agricultural productivity in 

Africa is only 28% of non-agricultural 

productivity. In effect, if 

productivity maximization was 

the objective of governments, 

agriculture should receive significantly 

less resources. In Nigeria, 

agriculture accounts for about 

30% of employed adults, contrast 

with the United States of America 

where it only accounts for 1.3% of 

available jobs. Similarly, across 

the OECD, only a small percentage 

of the working populations work 

in agriculture. The corollary here 

is that a large part of the Nigerian 

working population is involved in 

a very low productivity sector. This 

point should alarm policy framers. 

A recent NOI poll in Nigeria 

showed that 90% of respondents 

held the view that “the agriculture 

sector is one of the most viable 

means of driving the nation’s economy 

positively and pulling it out the 

current recession”. Nigeria is now 

out of recession but the results of the 

poll buttress the nationwide view of 

agriculture and its importance in the 

economy. Whilst the general population 

can hold this view about the 

importance of agriculture, should 

SSA governments hold a similar 

view considering existing empirical 

evidence? Has agricultural policy in 

SSA already lost the plot? 

Agricultural policy in Nigeria like 

the rest of sub-Saharan Africa has 

revolved around the following four 

critical points; food security, poverty 

alleviation, economic growth 

and development and a balance of 

trade. Here is a very important and 

closely held secret, several studies 

have reviewed the evidence on the 

impact of agriculture on growth and 

development, the evidence is inconclusive 

on whether governmental 

focus on agriculture would deliver 

economic growth and achieve the 

three other critical objectives of 

governments. Should these governments 

continue to enact policy 

experiments in agriculture despite 

inconclusive evidence? The simple 

answer is NO. In Nigeria, there are 

multiple policies and strategies 

dealing with different crops, from 

rice to tomatoes to palm oil to 

cassava. Each policy and directive 

centered around the four critical 

points earlier mentioned. A critical 

home truth per Dercon and Gollin 

is that growth in agriculture will 

not come in isolation but from 

its interaction with the rest of the 

economy. A careful assessment 

of the relative benefits in each 

context of investing resources in 

agriculture versus other sectors is 

essential but largely lacking across 

the SSA region and more importantly 

in Nigeria. 

The following points remain true 

about agriculture in Africa; it remains 

the primary source of livelihoods for 

many households in sub-Saharan 

Africa. Most of these households 

operate their own farms; relatively 

few people are employed as agricultural 

wage workers and farm sizes 

are extremely small in most African 

production settings, with almost all 

land holdings under 5 hectares. In the 

UK, average farm size is 54 hectares, 

and in the USA, its 169 hectares. With 

clear and apparent problems in the 

sector it is understandable that the 

sector takes up resources from a 

policy formulation perspective and 

within public discourse. 

So, what is the way forward? 

Agriculture as private enterprise 

is profitable when conducted 

appropriately as is evident from 

some listed companies on the 

Nigerian stock exchange. The role 

of government should be restricted 

primarily to supporting and promoting 

private sector investment 

in Agriculture. Land tenor laws 

like; the land use act needs urgent 

revision to help facilitate easy land 

acquisition for agricultural purposes. 

More important is how the 

agricultural production interacts 

with other sectors of the economy. 

A concerted effort should be made 

to encourage industrial growth as 

this will drive demand for agricultural 

commodities as a source of 

inputs. In 60 years, there have been 

over fifteen different government 

schemes ranging from Operation 

Feed the Nation to the National 

Fadama project and several others 

in between, showing ineffectiveness 

of policy initiatives. These 

policies can be contrasted with the 

European common agricultural 

policy that was enacted in 1962 

but has evolved along the way and 

remained coherent. The Nigerian 

government needs to admit that 

its agricultural policies need a 

thorough review and perhaps 

borrow a leaf from the “Don’t lose 

the plot” producers by taking a 

single problem and attempting to 

solve it. The focus for government 

agricultural policy should be how 

to grow private sector investment 

in agriculture and serve as an input 

provider for the industrial sector. 


comment@businessdayonline.com


COMMENT 

UCHE UWALEKE 

Uche Uwaleke is the Head of 

Banking & Finance department at 

Nasarawa State University Keffi 

At a time global commodity 

price fluctuations have 

widened trade deficits 

and contributed to foreign 

exchange shortages, 

import Substitution Industrialization 

finds a lot of appeal for economies 

seeking to conserve foreign exchange 

and protect domestic industry from 

unfair practices such as dumping. 

Since the first National Development 

Plan (1962-68), Nigeria has adopted 

a number of measures such as tariffs, 

quotas and outright import bans for 

encouraging import substitution in 

order to curtail the mounting import 

bill and protect infant industries. 

The devaluation of the naira in 1986 

following the Structural Adjustment 

Programme was an indirect step in 

this direction. 

Several years after, no thanks to 

policy somersaults and the porous 

borders, these measures have been 

largely unsuccessful at helping local 

producers regain market share. The 

collapse of the textile industry and 

attendant job losses in a country once 

famed as the leading textile hub in 

Africa tells the sad story. Food import 

bills have remained high with about 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

11 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com 

CBN’s 41 items and the rebirth of import substitution 

N1 trillion spent on import of items 

such as rice, wheat and many others 

as recently disclosed by Godwin 

Emefiele, the Central Bank of Nigeria 

Governor. Data from the Federal 

Ministry of Agriculture indicate that 

demand for rice in Nigeria reached 

6.3 million metric tonnes in 2015, 

with only 2.3 million metric tonnes 

of that demand satisfied by local 

production. This local production 

shortfall left a gap of 4 million metric 

tonnes that was filled through 

importation. 

A 2016 study by FBN Quest, 

which highlighted the potentials in 

the country’s aquaculture industry, 

disclosed that Nigeria’s total annual 

fish demand was estimated at 2.7 

million metric tonnes while only 

30 per cent of this demand was 

met domestically, resulting in an 

annual spend of N125 billion on fish 

imports. According to a report by 

the Bank of Industry, Nigeria ranks 

as the second highest producer 

of tomatoes in Africa with over 

200,000 farmers collectively growing 

over 1.5 million metric tonnes. 

Yet N11.7 billion is spent annually 

on the average to import processed 

tomato paste into the country. Nigerians 

reportedly spent USD2.71 and 

USD1.32 million in 2014 and 2015 

respectively importing toothpick 

into the country! A country that used 

to be the world’s largest producer of 

palm oil now imports nearly 600,000 

metric tonnes while Indonesia and 

Malaysia combine to export over 90 

percent of global demand. Recently, 

Indonesia’s Trade Minister Enggartiasto 

Lukita said in a statement 

issued to Reuters that his country 

was considering exchanging palm 

oil for crude oil with countries such 

To consolidate on these gains and 

further ramp up production of 

these commodities, the government 

should continue to work on 

providing the enabling environment. 

The large body of research on 

import substitution industrialization 

highlight political stability/Security, 

high literacy rate/skills level, use of 

fiscal incentives, access to low interest 

rate, functional infrastructure as 

critical success factors 

as Nigeria. Imagine that! 

Concerned by the huge import 

bill on commodities that could be 

produced locally amidst dwindling 

external reserves, the Central Bank of 

Nigeria in 2015, following the collapse 

of the crude oil price, introduced some 

policy measures to help conserve 

foreign reserves as well as facilitate the 

resuscitation of domestic industries. 

These involved restricting access to 

the official foreign exchange market 

with respect to import of 41 categories 

of items. Not surprisingly, the measure 

drew criticisms from many quarters 

including the Economist, a UK based 

magazine which published a scathing 

assessment of the policy in a report 

titled “Nigeria’s Currency: Toothpick 

Alert’’. What the author of that negative 

report failed to realize is that even 

Great Britain passed through this 

development phase. 

It was Dr. Ha-Joon Chang who 

provided evidence in his book, Kicking 

Away the Ladder: Development 

Strategy in Historical Perspective, to 

show that the prescriptions for devel- 

oping countries such as liberalization 

of trade based on Washington 

Consensus in order to facilitate 

economic development were not 

followed by many developed countries 

in their own developmental 

experience. Britain and the United 

States for instance employed a mix 

of infant industry promotion and 

tariff barriers in earlier stages of 

development. So, kicking against 

any measure to promote domestic 

industry in Nigeria by a UK-based 

media outfit amounts to ‘kicking 

away the ladder’. 

Few months after the directive 

on 41 items was issued by the CBN, 

it has proved in many respects, to be 

the launch pad for the rebirth of import 

substitution in Nigerian as local 

manufacturers are regaining their 

production strength. In December 

2016, the first indigenous toothpick 

and pencil manufacturing factory 

in Nigeria was commissioned in 

Akure with the capacity to generate 

more than 300 jobs when fully 

operational. The country’s palm oil 

production is equally gaining traction. 

As evidence, Presco Plc and 

Okomu Oil Palm Plc, two of Nigeria’s 

largest palm oil producers have witnessed 

significant improvement in 

earnings with associated uptick in 

share prices. In its 2017 interim half 

year result, Presco Plc revenue rose 

from N7.5 billion to N12.8 billion 

while Okomu Oil Palm Plc turnover 

jumped to N12.5 billion from N7.6 

billion reported the previous period. 

While addressing a town hall 

meeting in Ibadan last July, attended 

by farmers, youths, women and other 

stakeholders in the agricultural 

sector, the Minister of Agriculture 

and Rural Development, Chief Audu 

Ogbeh, had said that the country 

would be self sufficient in rice production 

by November this year 

resulting in a significant reduction in 

the price of the commodity. Considering 

the successes recorded in the 

CBN Anchor Borrower programme, 

there is every reason to believe him. 

The Minister also expressed confidence 

that self sufficiency in tomato 

paste production would be attained 

before the end of this year. The success 

of import substitution in local 

cement production especially since 

the CBN measure was introduced 

bears replicating in other sectors. 

To consolidate on these gains 

and further ramp up production of 

these commodities, the government 

should continue to work on providing 

the enabling environment. The 

large body of research on import 

substitution industrialization highlight 

political stability/Security, high 

literacy rate/skills level, use of fiscal 

incentives, access to low interest rate, 

functional infrastructure as critical 

success factors. The implementation 

of the Executive order on ease of doing 

business and patronage of locally 

made products would help. So also 

would lower interest rates which are 

supportive of domestic production. 

In the light of testimonies from 

local manufacturers and Entrepreneurs 

regarding the production of 

many of the 41 items marked ‘’not 

valid for forex’’ especially toothpicks, 

tomato paste, palm oil, poultry, fish, 

clothing, footwear, furniture and rice, 

the policy should be sustained by the 

CBN till the products are in a position 

to compete with foreign ones. 


comment@businessdayonline.com 

Bolanle Ambode’s Novel Leadership in Lifting the Underprivileged 

ABDUL HAKEEM ABDUL LATEEF 

Dr Abdul Lateef is Honourable 

Commissioner, Lagos State 

Ministry of Home Affairs 

I 

grew up knowing that the first 

step to greatness is to admire 

greatness. Finding my way to the 

spotlight of public life however 

taught me that we owe our society 

the duty of celebrating greatness in 

a world where negativity has greater 

audience. This is the conviction with 

which I tell the world about the greatness 

I see in Mrs Bolanle Ambode. 

First Ladies in Lagos State from 

Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Dame 

Abimbola Fashola to Mrs. Bolanle 

Ambode have been of great blessings 

to the State. In her foresightedness, 

enthusiasm and dynamism, Senator 

Oluremi Tinubu, has bequeathed 

many landmark projects, most of 

which continue to yield fantastic 

results and benefiting millions of 

women and children up till today. 

These programmes such as “Spelling 

Bee Competition” and “One Day 

Governor” have been nurtured by 

succeeding first ladies to national 

prominence. The present First Lady, 

Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, however, is 

widening the scope of these programmes, 

increasing their acceptance, 

promoting participation and 

proliferating benefits, which are 

now having very visible impacts in 

social, economic and political land 

space of Lagos. Indeed, First Ladies 

in the State have proven to be highly 

indispensable and relevant in the 

current democratic dispensation. 

Thus, on Wednesday, 13th September, 

2017, Lagosians had a 

glimpse of the future, when the 

First Family and Cabinet Members 

hosted the One Day Governor, Miss 

Zuffon Bukola and her Deputy, 

Miss Rosemary Ogidan, both of 

whom are young girls (an unprecedented 

feat in the annals of the 

programme), prompting His Excellency, 

Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, 

to remark that: “I believe Lagos 

will soon produce the first elected 

female governor in Nigeria.” 

However, I know of one individual 

who shares the same passionate 

view, but more religiously, our own 

First Lady, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode. 

She has every reason to feel that way 

because females are almost 50% of 

Nigeria’s population while youth 

(under 35) are over 75%. However, 

a vast majority of these groups are 

under-privileged. 

Indeed, Nigerians have had 

many First Ladies both at the federal 

and state levels. But the current 

First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs. 

Bolanle Ambode, is one with a difference. 

She is not only an epitome 

of humility but she is also a paragon 

of modesty with deep love and 

affection for the underprivileged 

people, particularly the rural dwellers 

who are the primary targets of 

her humanitarian initiatives. 

Right at the Central Primary 

School, Oba Akinjobi Way Ikeja on 

February 17, 2017, the First Lady 

flagged off distribution of 175,000 

school shoes and socks, to children in 

Lagos State public primary school 1-3. 

The distribution of these items was 

never by mistake or accident. It was 

a conscious act and promise that was 

faithfully fulfilled in spite of the number 

of pupils and resources involved. 

The essence of school shoes must 

not be lost on us so soon if we can 

recall its devastating implications in 

our political misadventure of recent. 

This generous and motherly gift of 

shoes and socks are important and 

symbolic in a system where the shoe 

has become a mark of status while 

uniform has become a leveller. 

The provision of uniform shoes to 

all children of different backgrounds 

and status is indeed a creative strategy 

for the attainment of “Project Bright 

Steps” of the First Lady. One, disadvantaged 

parents are relieved of the 

cost of shoes as their children and 

wards return to school. Two, the pupils 

too are purged of envy, unnecessary 

show off, rivalry and segregation on 

the basis of foot wears. With a uniform 

clothe and shoe, the children 

are left to face their studies squarely 

with a high sense of equality. 

I must confess that it takes a great 

divine touch to embark on an ambitious 

project of this nature. It is only 

the chosen ones like our First Lady 

that can feel the obligation as a responsible 

and responsive mother of 

a nation to ensure our future leaders 

have all the supports in preparing 

them to fulfil their purpose. It is a 

rare demonstration of courage and 

empathy by a first lady to know and 

unequivocally point out that wearing 

shoe is not a luxury, but a necessity. 

Mrs. Bolanle Ambode deserves 

commendation for this singular 

charity of enormous benefits and 

psychological stability and courageous 

public admittance of eternal 

truism that wearing of shoe is truly 

not a luxury but a necessity in the 

current digital age. 

The far-reaching and thoughtful 

projects of the Lagos State First 

Lady are a clear testimony of her 

being a gift to humanity. The empowerment 

of widows in a system 

where women are overburdened 

with family upkeep in addition to 

child upbringing can only place her 

on the same pedestal with Melinda 

Gate, the wife of the world’s richest 

man, who is widely regarded as a 

thoughtful campaigner and works 

methodically to drive change without 

seeking the limelight. 

However, the uniqueness and 

effectiveness of the project of 

Mrs. Ambode on the widow lie in 

its extensive research leading to 

distinct categorization that determines 

and specifies appropriate 

needs of each group. After a careful 

analysis, the First Lady said at the 

occasion of her widow empowerment 

programme that “we realized 

that though all the widows need 

support, but the same type of assistance 

cannot work for everyone 

because of age differences and 

circumstances around them,” And 

working in line with the analysis, 

beneficiaries of her largesse were 

divided into three categories, one 

of them being those that require 

skill acquisition, these are relatively 

young widows. The second category 

comprises those that require equipment 

support to stabilize their businesses. 

The last category has widows 

that require financial assistance to 

expand their businesses. 

The use of research to come up 

with projects, define beneficiaries 

and determine appropriate methodology 

to reach the target groups sets 

the First Lady apart as somebody that 

is determined to make a difference. 

It also portrays her as somebody 

who believes in people ownership 

of their projects. She does not believe 

in forcing her ideas on people or 

deciding on projects just because of 

personal gains. Project impacts can 

only endure and be sustained when 

it is derived from priority needs of 

the beneficiaries that are fully carried 

along and made to own it but 

not from priority interests of the 

executors. 

I am more than convinced that 

Lagosians haven’t seen anything 

yet from the amiable First Lady of 

Lagos State. She has just begun like 

her husband just started the work 

of changing the face of Lagos. Mrs. 

Ambode too is currently changing the 

orientation of women, young children 

and the underprivileged. The 

First Lady has said and practically 

demonstrated she is prepared and 

willing to partner and support the 

initiatives of local non-governmental 

and community based organizations 

that share her vision. It is a great 

innovation to move forward and 

faster too. It is a leverage strategy that 

enhances and develops the capacity 

of the giver and the receiver organizations 

and their beneficiaries. 

Just this year, Mrs. Ambode extended 

her hand of cooperation, 

through the instrumentality of her 

non-government organization - 

Hope for Women in Nigeria Initiative 

(HOFOWEN), to Sebeccly Cancer 

Foundation to support cancer cases; 

Irede Foundation to provide prosthetic 

limb for children with mobility 

issues; Children Development Centre 

to support children with autism 

and Lydia Foundation to rehabilitate 

prostitutes. 

Note: the rest of this article continues 

in the online edition of Business 

Day @https://businessdayonline.com/



C002D5556 

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ENQUIRIES 

Probe allegation against police 

It is now more than 

three weeks since the 

release of the report 

on a detailed survey by 

the Nigerian Bureau of 

Statistics (NBS) in collaboration 

with the United Nations 

Office on Drugs and Crime 

and the European Union on 

the quality and integrity of 

public services in Nigeria and 

the impact of corruption on 

daily life in Nigeria that shows 

that the Nigerian police is 

the most corrupt public institution 

in Nigeria followed 

closely by judges, prosecutors 

and the Customs. Since 

the publication of the results 

of the survey, there has been 

absolutely no comment from 

the Nigerian government – a 

government that is supposedly 

determined to fight and 

wipe out corruption from 

Nigeria. 

As if that was not enough, 

another angle to police corruption 

was unearthed by 

the altercation between Senator 

Hamman Misau and 

the Nigerian police. Senator 

Misau, representing Bauchi 

Central Senatorial district 

and a retired Deputy Superintendent 

of police, accused 

the Inspector General of Police 

of wanton corruption and 

bribe-taking in discharging his 

duties. According to Senator 

Misau, the IGP pockets over 

N120 billion annually from 

payment for special security 

services rendered by the police 

to corporate organisations and 

very important personalities. 

Hear him: “The IGP, on good 

authority from within the force, 

collects over N10billion on 

monthly basis as money for 

special security provided by 

men of the Force to corporate 

bodies and highly placed individuals, 

including criminals, 

running to N120billion on 

yearly basis without any reflection 

in Police annual budgets or 

internally generated revenue.” 

Sadly, according to Misau, the 

over 50, 000 police personnel 

deployed to perform such 

duties don’t benefit from the 

money. The organisations and 

individuals requiring their 

services have to settle them 

separately. 

Sadly, since the second allegation 

was made, the police 

had sought to deflect attention 

by turning the focus on 

Senator Misau, accusing him 

of being a deserter who did not 

validly resign from the force before 

entering partisan politics 

and threatening to deal with 

him. The police and the police 

service commission (whose 

Chairman Senator Misau also 

accused of corruption) have 

set up panels to investigate 

Senator Misau and determine 

whether he actually resigned 

from the force or not. 

The charade must stop. An 

accused party cannot investigate 

its accuser. 

The President, Muhammadu 

Buhari, must immediately set 

up a panel to investigate allegations 

of corruption against the 

police high command. That is 

the public interest angle to the 

whole saga. It is only after that 

is done that the police and the 

police is found innocent that 

it can have the moral right to 

investigate Senator Misau. 

Besides, the issue at hand is 

not the retirement of Misau 

but the wanton corruption in 

the police. 

There is no government 

interested in law and order 

and a corrupt-free society that 

will keep mum in the face of 

these weighty allegations and 

results of a survey carried out 

in conjunction with a federal 

government agency. It is either 

the government is complicit or 

it has long control of its agencies 

and can’t act to discipline 

its personnel. 

Besides, we should be 

alarmed that the most critical 

institutions and personnel 

in the dispensation of justice 

– police officers, judges and 

prosecutors – are said to be 

the most corrupt officials in 

Nigeria. If this is true, it means 

the Nigerian state is simply a 

criminal enterprise where the 

rich and wealthy bend the law 

to their favour. It also means 

ordinary citizens cannot rely 

on the police to maintain law 

and order in the country and 

cannot rely on them to arrest 

and prosecute criminals and 

secure peace-loving Nigerians. 

Just like the lie they hang on the 

wall of every police station stating 

that “bail is free”, available 

evidence show that the police 

is a thoroughly corrupt institution 

that will commoditise 

security, law and order and sell 

them to the rich. 

If the government wishes 

to be taken seriously on its 

anti-corruption war, then it 

must order a thorough probe 

of the police and the Inspector 

General. Failure to do that, 

the government may as well 

kiss its anti-corruption war 

goodbye. 

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Thursday 21 September 2017 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 13 

COMPANIES 

& MARKETS 

Company news analysis and insight 

Continental Re’s underwriting 

profit grows on reduced claims 

BALA AUGIE 

Schneider 

Electric restates 

commitment to 

Innovation 

P14 

Continental Reinsurance 

Plc has 

maintained an efficient 

underwriting 

capacity amid 

challenging macroeconomic 

environment as underwriting 

profit surged on account of 

a sharp reduction in claims 

expenses. 

For the first six months 

through June 2017, Continental 

Re’s underwriting 

profit rose by 158.11 percent 

to N2.08 billion from N808.67 

million the previous year. 

The growth in underwriting 

profit was underpinned 

by a 33.49 percent reduction 

in net claims expenses to 

N3.51billion as insurance 

claims and losses under loss 

adjustment expenses recoverable 

from retrocessionaires 

reduced obligations to policy 

holders. 

The insurer’s combined 

ratio (CR) fell to 80.79 percent 

in June 2017 from 92.34 percent 

the previous year, which 

means the insurer had earned 

more premiums than losses 

plus expenses. 

Combined ratios are seen 

as a good measure of an insurance 

company’s financial 

health because they examine 

profitability only from the 

standpoint of the company’s 

insurance operations. 

Continental Re, the largest 

privately-owned reinsurance 

company in Africa, has 

urged insurers to merge or 

consolidate in order to retain 

premium locally, take on more 

risk and compete with some 

of their peers in sub Saharan 

Africa (SSA). 

According to Femi Oyetunji, 

the company’s group 

managing director of the 

company, Nigeria has 50 insurance 

companies; Ghana 

has 46; Kenya has 47. Oyetunji 

revealed that Mozambique 

has 18 insurance 

companies. Liberia with 

a population of only four 

million has 20 insurance 

companies. 

Analysts agree that a 

scheme of mergers and acquisition 

can help shore up 

the capital of insurers as these 

firms have a very low valuation. 

Furthermore, there is a 

widening gap between the big 

insurers and the small ones as 

the former make up nearly 90 

percent of profit and market 

capitalization of the over 30 

firms quoted on the floor of 

the Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE). 

“You still have the top six 

insurance companies owning 

and controlling more than 60 

per cent of the market and that 

means the other 50 companies 

are not doing as much,” 

said Kabir Okunlola, head of 

the insurance audit group at 

KPMG. 

Apathy towards insurance, 

weak regulations and economic 

downturn are holding 

back the growth of insurers 

operating in the country. 

Despite these monumental 

challenges, Continental 

Re’s gross premium written 

was up 27.38 percent to 

N15.19 billion in June 2017 

from N11.92 billion the previous 

year. 

Similarly, gross premium 

income (GPI) increased by 

7.15 percent to N12.69 billion 

in the period under review 

as against N11.85 billion in 

June 2016. 

The second quarter premium 

income of NSE insurance 

15, the most liquid insurance 

companies on the bourse, 

have risen in the period under 

Microsoft to provide over $13,000 cloud solutions to entrepreneurs 

…Signs MOU with Tony Elumelu foundation 

Jumoke Akiyode 

Lawanson 

Microsoft has 

signed a memorandum 

of 

understanding 

(MOU) agreement with the 

Tony Elumelu Foundation 

(TEF) to provide over $13,000 

worth of cloud solution and 

technology-based tools to 

members of the TEF entrepreneurship 

program. 

The availability of technology 

solutions will give about 

3,000 TEF entrepreneurs 

across 54 African countries 

including Nigeria where over 

50 percent of applications 

come from; the chance to 

effectively use ICT to modernise 

their businesses, enrich 

their offerings and reach new 

customers. 

Speaking at the signing 

of the agreement at the Microsoft 

head office in Lagos 

on Monday, September 18, 

2017, Akin Banuso, General 

Manager, Microsoft Nigeria 

said: “Through this partnership, 

we have an opportunity 

to reach out to more entrepreneurs, 

in line with our 

4Afrika initiative mission to 

empower as many people as 

possible.” 

Banuso added: “As we 

enter into an era of digital 

transformation, it is vital that 

we help all entrepreneurs 

develop relevant technology 

skills and integrate ICT into 

their businesses. Technology 

can help SMEs reach customers 

outside their local markets, 

generate powerful business 

insights and improve their 

customer retention. We have 

found that SMEs who adopt 

this kind of modern IT have 

seen 15 percent faster revenue 

growth than those not 

using it.” 

Also speaking, Parminder 

Vir OBE, Chief Executive Officer, 

Tony Elumelu Foundation, 

said that the foundation 

would leverage its partnership 

with Microsoft to really 

scale up its entrepreneurship 

program. 

“Currently, the foundation 

provides 1, 000 entrepreneurs 

with business 

training, mentoring, access 

to seed capital funding and 

membership into the TEF 

Africa-wide Network every 

year. The program is scalable 

and we can train more 

people, considering that we 

got more than 93,000 applications 

last year which was 

the third year and we could 

only select a thousand. 

Microsoft says it will also 

identify high potential entrepreneurs 

from the TEF 

Entrepreneurship Program 

and integrate them into its 

Innovation Grant Program. 

review after 2 year of tepid 

growth that was caused by a 

sharp drop in oil price and a 

severe dollar shortage. 

Experts have attributed 

the uptick in the revenues 

of these firms to increased 

purchase of insurance policy 

and improved economic activities 

as the country exited 

recession. 

Further analysis of Continental 

Re’s financial statement 

shows net income 

dipped by 1.55 percent to 

N2.32 billion in the period 

under review as gains on 

foreign exchange slumped 

88.89 percent. 

The company’s operating 

expenses reduced by 25 

percent to N532.28 million; 

underwriting expenses dipped 

by 15.11 percent to N5.23 billion 

as at June 2017. 

Continental Reinsurance is 

the largest private pan-African 

reinsurer, outside South Africa, 

writing business in more 

than 50 countries across the 

African continent. Established 

in 1985, and listed on the Nigerian 

Stock Exchange (NSE) 

in 2007, Continental Reinsurance 

provides support to over 

200 insurance companies in 

Africa with its main offices in 

Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, 

Côte d’Ivoire, Tunisia and 

Botswana. 

Adeniyi Olayemi, a TEF 

entrepreneur already benefitting 

from the partnership, 

said: “the training I received 

through the foundation 

helped me to refine my business 

idea and then produce 

a successful proposal, then 

once we received access to 

Microsoft’s Azure software, I 

was able to close on a deal.” 

Since 2013, the Innovation 

Grant Program has provided 

financial support to over 55 

local start-ups, who have since 

generated $5.1 million in reciprocal 

investments.

14 

BUSINESS DAY 

COMPANIES & MARKETS 

Schneider Electric restates 

commitment to Innovation 

FRANK UZUEGBUNAM 

Schneider Electric 

has emphasized the 

strategic role of innovation 

in driving 

and achieving the 

desired transformations as 

well as consolidating gains in 

the power sector. 

The global giant assured of 

its strategic commitment to 

championing innovations and 

ground-breaking solutions 

that can enhance the Federal 

Government’s efforts towards 

implementing the nation’s 

power reforms. 

Ifeanyi Odoh, regional 

sales manager for solar business 

at Schneider Electric Nigeria, 

in a presentation titled 

Industrial Innovations and 

Access to Energy at the Power 

Nigeria 2017 exhibition and 

conference, said the company 

would continue to add value 

and expand the frontiers of 

innovation as it thrives in the 

country’s power ecosystem. 

Odoh explained how 

Schneider Electric’s 40 

years+ strong footprint 

across Africa has remained 

committed to developing 

innovations that ensure 

sustainable social and economic 

development and access 

to energy programmes 

such as distribution offers, 

investments funds and vocational 

trainings all in a 

bid to support the establishment 

of solar power in West 

Africa. 

A discovery session on the 

EcoStruxure architecture was 

held by Schneider Electric 

Country President himself, 

Balaji Lenka, along with experts. 

The session generated 

lots of interests as it illustrated 

how the EcoStruxure system 

of IoT-enabled, open and interoperable 

solutions improve 

business efficiency, reliability, 

safety and connectivity across 

four end markets: Buildings, 

Data Centre, Industry and 

Infrastructure. 

The EcoStruxure architecture 

collects and analyses 

critical data from sensors to 

cloud, with key features for 

implementing smart operations 

across enterprises such 

as monitoring environmental 

parameters and asset utiliza- 

Aquadana deepens competition 

with highest ISO certification 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

In recognition of its high 

quality management 

standards, leading food 

and beverage company, 

Ashmina Limited, manufacturers 

of Aquadana bottled 

water, has received with the 

NIS ISO 9001:2015 certificate 

by the Standards Organisation 

of Nigeria. 

The company is the first 

food and beverage company 

to get certified with the quality 

management system (QMS) 

of this level. 

The Nigerian Industrial 

Standards (NIS) certificate 

is usually presented to companies 

that have continuously 

maintained high quality 

management systems 

(QMS) and processes to meet 

customer requirements and 

expectations. 

While receiving the certificate, 

Gautam Hathiramani, 

deputy managing 

director of Dana Group of 

companies, said: “our commitment 

to providing quality 

products and services has 

never been in doubt and we 

are proud of our dedicated 

team for making this milestone 

achievement. This 

affirms our commitment to 

internationally recognized 

quality management principles 

and encourages us to 

do better each day.’’ 

Commenting further Hathiramani 

said: “the fact that 

we are the first in Nigeria 

to be certified also shows 

that we are living up to our 

vision which is to become 

the best manufacturer of 

bottled water in Nigeria. We 

are honoured that Aquadana 

has achieved this.’’ 

Having passed numerous 

audits including the KFC 

tion, providing predictive 

analysis, smart alarming and 

the possibility to make control 

decisions anytime, anywhere 

and from any smart device. 

This was demonstrated 

in the session through three 

Schneider Electric solutions, 

the Premset smart medium 

voltage switchgear, Smart Low 

Voltage Panels and the Galaxy 

VX Smart UPS. 

“This has been a successful 

event and the most attended 

one yet. We’re glad key stakeholders 

in the African Power 

and Electricity markets can 

appreciate the level of innovation 

of our solutions and 

the high standards we set for 

the West African market in 

solar and across industries”, 

Lenka said. 

Food Safety Audit and European 

Standards for packaged 

premium drinking water, 

Aquadana is one of Nigeria’s 

most popular brands and is 

available in 150 centilitres 

(cl), 75 cl, 60 cl, 50 cl, 33 cl, 

and 19 litre jars. 

Ashmina Limited is a subsidiary 

of Dana Group of 

Companies Plc - an industrial 

and commercial conglomerate 

with a business portfolio 

ranging from pharmaceuticals, 

plastics, Fast Moving 

Consumer Goods (FMCGs) 

and steel, to automobiles and 

aviation. 

L-R: Lewisa Lewis Daiko and Gbangbar Stella-Maris, Glo subscribers; Hadiza Blell (Di’Ja), Glo brand ambassador, and other Glo subscribers, 

Gbangbar Seember and Beatrice Akemeh, at the Makurdi, Benue State, edition of the Glo Mega Music Nationwide Tour , Benue State. 

C002D5556 


Cold Stone Creamery marks 

5years with Take5 campaign 

MABEL DIMMA 

After five years of operating 

in Nigeria with 

23 successful stores in 

Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja 

and Uyo, Cold Stone Creamery 

appreciated Nigerians with 

series of events, giveaways 

and giveback in its ‘Take5 

Campaign’. 

Shedding more light on 

the concept of the campaign, 

Timilehin Lajubutu, marketing 

coordinator of the brand 

said: “the Take5 campaign is 

one that invites Nigerians to 

literarily take a five-minute 

break away from the hustle 

and bustle of life, to indulge, 

be happy and even make the 

world a better place by giving 

back.” 

She added that the anniversary 

campaign stretches 

throughout the month of September 

with a series of online 

and offline activities. 

“We already kicked off with 

our five Nigerian inspired ice 

creams flavours like Scented 

Leaf, Orijin Coconut, Chocolate 

Chilli, Zobo and Suya 

flavours. This is our way of saying 

thank you to a country that 

has shown us so much love,” 

Lajubutu said. 

As a brand passionate 

about children, Cold Stone 

Creamery Nigeria partnered 

with Sum to School as part of 

its corporate social responsibility 

(CSR) programmes to 

give hope and smiles to children 

living in slums. 

BOA, NIPOST to provide financial services 

to 5 million farmers – MD 

The Bank of Agriculture 

(BOA) and Nigeria 

Postal Service (NI- 

POST) are collaborating 

to provide financial services 

to five million farmers across 

the country over the next two 

years. 

Kabir Adamu, managing 

director of BOA, made the 

disclosure on Tuesday in Kaduna 

after the bank signed 

a memorandum of understanding 

(MoU) on policy and 

multi-sector partnership with 

e-Worldwide Group, a consultancy 

firm. 

“We will collaborate with 

the Nigerian Postal Service to 

open branches in more than 

700 capitals of local government 

areas to provide needed 

financial services for women 

and farmers in rural communities,” 

Adamu said. “The collaboration 

will provide them 

with the services needed for 

financial inclusion and would 

support multiple small and medium 

entrepreneurs especially 

for women and the youth in the 

agriculture sector.” 

According to him, the effort 

will increase women financial 

inclusiveness, provide multiple 

employment opportunities, 

and increase food production. 

On the MoU signed with 

e-Worldwide, the managing 

director said it was to provide 

funding for automated and 

Amalia Sebakunzi, marketing 

director of Eat ‘N’ Go 

(Master Franchisees of Cold 

Stone Creamery Nigeria) said: 

“our passion for children and 

education birthed the Take5 

for Literacy aspect of the campaign. 

We are partnering with 

Slum to School to achieve 

their target of sending over 

300 children from the Makoko 

and Tarkwa Bay slum to school 

this year.” 

Meanwhile Cold Stone 

Creamery Nigeria will also be 

rewarding customers on their 

online platforms and in-stores 

nationwide. The giveaways 

are at its peak during the anniversary 

week which is from 

Monday the 18th to Sunday 

24th of September. 

According to Lajubutu, 

“With our online competition, 

customers stand a chance 

to win ice cream for a year 

and this week, we would be 

randomly storming our stores 

nationwide and paying for the 

treats of all those found in our 

stores at the pre-announced 

time.” 

According to Lajubutu, 

Cold Stone Creamery, like any 

other business, has faced its 

own challenges, but the warn 

reception and patronage of 

Nigerians, even during peak 

of the recession is worth it all. 

She added that the monthlong 

campaign will be brought 

to an end with an anniversary 

party for loyal customers and 

media influencers slated for 

the end of September. 

technology driven services to 

beneficiaries. 

The parties agreed to develop 

and deliver holistic policies, 

strategies and multi-sector 

partnership to achieve sustainable 

development goals 

(SDGs) and support the federal 

government diversification 

agenda. 

They would also provide 

farming support and advisory 

networks using information 

and communication technology 

in crops and animals value 

chains. 

The two would equally “develop 

effective farming clusters 

and models at the village 

level using ICTs to determine 

the supply of the items to the 

clusters as well as develop 

need based designs of women 

centred initiatives.” 

Salma Abbasi, who signed 

for e Worldwide, said the company 

would provide the technology 

and finances for the 

bank to support production 

in communities across the 

country. 

Abbasi said that the company 

would also attract foreign 

investments both in finances 

and ICT, to support SMEs, 

women and youth. 

The group is a multi-project 

firm provides consultancy services 

in ICT and SMEs through 

knowledge transfer and technology 

development.

Thursday 21 September 2017 C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 15 


LAPO boosts farmers’ capacity 

with N3.2bn in seven months 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin 

The management of 

Lift Above Poverty 

Organization (LAPO) 

has said that a total 

of 98,202 subsistence 

farmers were between January 

and July, 2017 empowered with 

the sum of N3.233 billion. 

The organization had disbursed 

close to N2.2 billion to 92, 

156 subsistence farmers across 

the country between January 

and May, 2017. 

Sabina Idowu-Osehobo, 

executive director of LAPO, gave 

the hint in Benin-City while reviewing 

the performance of the 

LAPO Agricultural and Rural 

Development Initiative (LARDI). 

Osehobo said the programme 

was part of the organization’s 

policy to improve food 

security as well as enhanced 

the production capacity of rural 

farmers in the country. 

While attributing LAPO’s 

outstanding performance over 

the years to strong institutional 

strength, staff commitment to 

excellence and hardwork, she 

added that the organization was 

ready to maintain its superior 

performance trajectory. 

Idowu-Osehobo enjoined 

low-income farmers to take 

advantage of the affordable loan 

opportunity offered by LAPO to 

enhance the growth and development 

of their farm enterprises. 

Illegal dollar evacuation to Dubai 

threatens naira stability – Gwadabe 

She also restated the organization’s 

commitment to agricultural 

development in the 

country. 

She posited that the LAPO 

organization equally builds the 

capacity of rural farmers through 

on-farm demonstration and 

training as well as developed 

recently a 5-year growth strategy 

with People, Technology, 

Products and Performance as 

strategic pillars. 

Osehobo noted that the organization 

has over the years 

evolved robust, viable, well 

equipped institutions with systems 

and structures that are 

capable of delivering sound economic, 

social and health services 

in the fight against poverty. 

Business Event 

L-R: D.J. Binitie, president, GCUOBA, Lagos Branch ; Charles Majoroh, acting president-general 

Worldwide, GCUOBA, and Alfred Okoigun, chairman, national dinner organizing committee, at a 

press conference to sensitize the press and the public on the forthcoming annual national dinner of the 

Government College Ughelli Old Boys Association (GCUOBA),scheduled for October 7, 2017 in Lagos. 

Aminu Gwadabe, the 

President of Association 

of Bureaux De 

Change Operators of 

Nigeria (ABCON), says consistent 

evacuation of dollars 

illegally from Nigeria to Dubai is 

a threat to stability of the naira. 

Gwadabe made the observation 

in an interview with the 

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) 

in Lagos on Monday. 

He said that currency speculators 

would stop at nothing to 

make nonsense of the gains 

the naira had made against the 

dollar at the foreign exchange 

market in Nigeria. 

According to him, huge 

sums of dollars go through 

the nation’s boarders illegally, 

creating artificial dollar scarcity 

in Nigeria. 

The ABCON chief said that: 

“Hawala activities, where the 

naira is traded abroad and create 

frivolous demand for the dollar 

is still a threat to naira stability.” 

The financial expert, however, 

said that the naira had 

remained stable in the local 

market exchanging between 

N360 and N365 to the dollar in 

the past five months. 

He said that the depreciation 

in the value in the naira was only 

being witnessed abroad. 

Gwadabe dismissed reports 

that the naira was traded for as 

low as as N369 to the dollar at the 

parallel market, describing it as 

the handiwork of speculators. 

He said that currency speculators 

were bent on distorting 

the market to mitigate the effects 

of their losses arising from the 

appreciation of the naira against 

the dollar. 

NAN reports that since February 

when the CBN started 

aggressive interventions at the 

foreign exchange market, it has 

injected more than 3.6 billion 

dollars into the market. 

These series of interventions 

resulted in the stability of the 

naira at the parallel market and 

narrowed the gap between the 

interbank and parallel market 

exchange rates. 

Some experts have advised 

the CBN to give more attention 

to the manufacturing sector 

in the allocation of foreign 

exchange to boost activities in 

the sector. 

L-R: Bunmi Balogun, operations director, Banksome Global Renewable Energy Limited; Babajide 

Somefun, executive chairman, Banksome Group; Yemi Osinbajo, vice president of Nigeria; Kenneth Ife, 

Consultant to Banksome, and Bayo Fisher, managing director, Banksome Global Renewable Energy 

Limited during a courtesy visit to the Vice President on Renewable Energy for Nigeria in Abuja. 

Halogen launches professional MBA 

programme in security management 

Halogen School of Security 

Management 

and Technology has 

signed a memorandum 

of understanding with 

Babcock Centre for Executive 

Development of the Babcock 

University, on Tuesday 29th 

August, 2017. The collaboration 

seeks to provide a specialized 

post-graduate program titled 

“Professional MBA in Security 

Management” (PMBA). This 

programme will start week commencing 

30th October 2017 at 

the Ilisan Campus. 

The aim of this initiative 

is to broaden the knowledge 

base and develop the next generation 

of industry leaders with 

advanced security and technology 

skills required to tackle the 

security and risk challenges 

facing our nation. Security has 

become an important aspect 

of human nature as the world 

has become smaller, open and 

exposed without boundaries, 

noting the rapid influence of the 

internet and cyber space. 

The signing ceremony was 

witnessed by Wale Olaoye, managing 

director and chief CEO 

of Halogen Security Ltd; the 

MoU was signed by Ademola 

Tayo, president and vice chancellor 

of Babcock University, 

and Adebowale Adeagbo, chief 

operating officer at the Halogen 

School of Security Management 

and Technology. 

Speaking on the partnership, 

Adeagbo said, “the future of every 

nation depends on how you 

nurture and grow the capacity of 

your next generation. Hence we 

need new skills that will manage 

the varied facets of our security. 

We believe that this programme 

- which will be 70% online so as 

to enable flexible learning - will 

change the equation and ensure 

new competencies and capabilities 

are developed whilst we disrupt 

the way we learn and tackle 

security in a strategic way.” 

Olaoye noted that the program 

is set to release the next 

generation of risk managers who 

are no longer looking at security 

the way we do today. 

He said: “these will be experts 

who are able to lead our 

national security space in a more 

strategic way, as they tackle head 

on, the challenges of our current 

and the future exposure in an 

open world.” 

“National security today 

is not limited to the statutory 

and private forces, but must be 

looked at from broader perspectives, 

in terms of food, technology, 

medicine, ethics, human relations, 

electronics, physical and 

the entire component of what 

makes life a living for people. 

These perspectives thus take security 

to a different dimension, 

noting the realities of the world 

today,” he added, concluding 

that the new generation of risk 

managers the program will 

breed will ensure the safety and 

security of the entire existential 

space. 

In his address Ademola Tayo 

said: “We are excited about this 

partnership, understanding that 

Halogen is a household name 

when it comes to providing security 

and the training needed 

in our challenging environment. 

It is also important to note that 

Babcock University is known for 

excellence. 

L –R: Tunde Akindele, director and former board chairman, Institute for National Transformation (INT) 

Vincent Anigbogu, director general, international, Institute for National Transformation; Peggy Anigbogu 

, chief of admin, Institute for National Transformation (INT), international and Philip Igbinijesu, executive 

director, Institute for National Transformation (INT), West Africa, at the 10th year anniversary briefing of 

Institute for National Transformation in Lagos . 

Pic by Pius Okeosisi 

L-R: Buniface Ortese, the executive secretary, Benue State Emergency Management Agency, BESEMA; 

Terlumun Utsev, commissioner for water resources and environment; Blessing Amanze, regional trade 

marketing manager, MTN Nigeria, and Lolo Antonia Agbasi, MTN Nigeria trade partner, Benue State, 

during the honourable commissioner presenting the gift items to the executive secretary of the Benue 

State Emergency Management Agency.


C002D5556 Thursday 21 September 2017 

I NVESTOR 

In association with 

Helping you to build wealth & make wise decisions 

Week open (08 – 09–17) 

Week close (15 – 09–17) 

Percentage change (WoW) 

Percentage change (YTD) 30.26 32.08 

IHEANYI NWACHUKWU 

NSE All Share Index 

35,957.24 

35,005.57 

NSE Premium Index The NSE-Main Board 

Market capitalisation 

NSE ASeM Index NSE 30 Index NSE Banking Index NSE Insurance Index NSE Consumer Goods Index NSE Oil/Gas Index 

Year Open 26,874.62 N9.247 trillion 1,695.51 1,203.79 1,189.69 1,195.20 274.32 

-2.65 

N12.393 trillion 

N12.068 trillion 

2,337.51 

2,239.36 

-4.20 

1,642.55 

1,614.09 

-1.73 

1,160.78 

1,158.74 

-0.18 

1,649.58 

34.08 -2.60 34.60 

434.93 

1,608.76 424.92 

126.29 

137.40 

136.95 

712.65 

965.91 

941.55 

-2.47 -2.30% -0.33% -2.52% 

312.68 

287.67 

288.15 

0.17% 

54.90% 8.44% 32.12% -7.85% 

Stock market searches for new triggers 

in ‘historically challenging’ quarter 

…take strategic positions in stocks that pay interim dividends –analysts 

The Nigerian stock market 

is currently searching for 

new triggers following 

increasing sell-side 

sentiments at the local 

bourse. 

Investors buy sentiment weakened 

last week as the benchmark index fell 

2.6percent week-on-week (WoW) 

to close at 35,005.57 points, while 

year-to-date (YtD) return lowered to 

30.3percent. 

Recall that the introduction of the 

Investors and Exporters (I & E) FX 

window in April this year had helped 

pave the way for a weighty increase in 

trading activities as foreign investors 

who were once shy of naira assets plied 

into the market. 

Also, the much improved economic 

data and decent earnings scorecards 

in first-half (H1) of 2017 spurred 

investments in the stock market, which 

helped shoot the All Share Index (ASI) 

forward high. 

As buying momentum slows, 

analysts foresee the possibility of 

further correction till fourth-quarter 

(Q4), noting that the Nigerian 

stock market currently trading in a 

historically challenging quarter. 

“Over the past 19 years, the third 

quarter (Q3) of the year has been the 

worst-off for stocks, followed by the 

fourth quarter (Q4). This indicates 

that we may see more correction in the 

market going into the last quarter of the 

year”, United Capital research analysts 

said in their recent insight. 

“In the last few weeks however, we 

observe that sentiments have cooled 

off as investors began to sell the rally 

after the bullish streak witnessed 

during the earnings season”, the 

analysts added. 

While they still maintain a base 

case of positive, double-digit gains in 

the Nigerian equity market this year, 

United Capital analysts still belief the 

recent moderation in trading activities 

amid a dearth of bullish triggers in the 

interim suggests that appetite for stocks 

have cooled-off. 

Afrinvest Securities analysts who 

noted their weekly sentiment index 

weakened to 2.5 points last week from 

2.8 points the preceding week expect to 

see an uptrend in market performance 

“as investors take advantage of bargain 

opportunities.” 

Equity research analysts at Lagosbased 

Vetiva Capital Management 

who noted that market sentiment 

remained tepid throughout last week, 

indicated by the consistently negative 

market breadth expect this sentiment 

to filter into this week and “anticipate 

a negative week open.” 

In line with Vetiva analysts’ 

expectations, the Nigerian stock 

market opened the week on a negative 

note with a record 0.38percent loss on 

the first trading day of this week. 

The recent auction of FGN Savings 

Bond for the month of September also 

helped moderate investible funds flow 

into equities. 

The 2-year FGN Savings Bond due 

September 20, 2019 and 3-year FGN 

Savings Bond due September 20, 

2020 were offered at 13.817percent 

and 14.817percent per annum 

respectively. The auctioned started 

Monday September 11 and ended 

Friday September 15, 2017. 

Market data show that total 

transactions at the nation’s bourse 

decreased by 11.86percent from 

N220.27billion recorded in June 2017 

to N194.15billion (about $640 billion) 

in July 2017. 

The aggregate value of equity 

transactions from January to July 

2017 increased by 58.05percent from 

N714.60 billion recorded in 2016 to 

N1.129trillion in 2017. 

Domestic investors outperformed 

foreign investors by 37.68percent. 

Total domestic transactions 

increased by 12.56percent from 

N118.74 billion recorded in June 

2017 to N133.65 billion in July 

2017 while foreign transactions 


N101.53 billion to N60.50 billion 

within the same period. 

Monthly foreign inflows outpaced 

outflows. However, foreign inflows 


N65.93 billion in June 2017 to N38.44 

billion in July 2017. Foreign outflows 

also decreased by 38.03percent from 

N35.60 billion in June 2017 to N22.06 

billion in July 2017. 

NSE Lotus II 

1,841.59 

2,241.00 

2,195.55 

-2.03% 

19.22% 

NSE Ind. Goods Index 

2,176.44 

2,031.28 

1,942.02 

-4.39% 

21.73% 

NSE Pension Index 

810.04 

1,232.59 

1,215.41 

-1.39% 

50.04% 

NSE ‘Investor Clinic’ focuses on 

dematerialisation, Direct Cash 

Settlement, E-Dividend 

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) 

recently organised an Investor 

Clinic where capital market 

stakeholders were educated on the 

role of Dematerialisation, Direct Cash 

Settlement (DCS) and E-dividend in 

the development of the Nigerian Capital 

Market. 

Aside educating stakeholders on 

the importance of dematerialisation, 

participants were also made to 

understand the advantages of direct cash 

settlement and e- dividend processing 

in the consolidation of returns on their 

equity investment as well as the overall 

benefits to the Nigerian Capital Market. 

Targeted at sensitizing the investing 

public and brokerage community of 

contemporary initiatives in the market, 

this year’s edition of the NSE Investor 

Clinic was sponsored by ARM Pension 

Fund Managers Limited and Africa 

Prudential Registrars Plc. 

Ade Bajomo Executive Director, 

Market Operations and Technology, 

NSE, said “the NSE Investor Clinic 

brings to the fore the importance of 

dematerialisation in ensuring improved 

market velocity and integrity as well 

as the role of direct cash settlement 

in enhancing investor confidence by 

ensuring that proceeds from the sale 

of securities are remitted directly into 

investors’ accounts. 

He stressed the importance 

of e-dividend in not only reducing 

the perennial issue of unclaimed 

dividend growth, but in ensuring that 

investors derive the full benefits of their 

investments by having their dividends 

paid directly into their bank accounts as 

soon as these are disbursed by issuers, 

regardless of whether these are savings 

or current accounts. 

Bajomo added that “at The Nigerian 

Stock Exchange, we are committed to 

improving overall financial literacy and 

inclusion in the country, and ensuring 

we implement efficient processes that 

provide investors easy and intuitive 

access to grow their wealth.”

Thursday 21 September 2017 C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 17 

I NVESTOR 


United Capital Investment View 

ASI pares gains, down 2.7% week-on-week 

…as rates moderate on buoyant liquidity profile 

This past week saw the 

equities market pare 

the preceding week’s 

gain as profit-taking 

dominated the wider market. 

The market ended three of the 

week’s five trading days in the 

red as the All Share Index (ASI) 

tumbled 2.7percent w/w to settle 

at 35,005.57 points. 

As such, year-to-date (YtD) 

return moderated to 30.3% as 

market capitalisation declined 

N325.5bn to settle at N12.07tn. 

During the week, the Central 

Bank of Nigeria released the 

Q4-2017 NTB issuance calendar 

on Wednesday even as the 

monetary authority conducted 

it’s bi-weekly Nigerian Treasury 

Bill (NTB) auction on Thursday, 

successfully rolling over 

N171.4bn at the following stop 

rates: 91-day (13.25% vs. 13.30% 

at the last auction), 182-day 

(17.36% vs. 17.36% at the last 

auction) and 364-day (17.75% 

vs. 18.52% at the last auction). 

Bid cover at the auction stood at 

1.3x (last auction: 1.2x). 

Additionally, a total of 

N246.4bn OMO bills matured 

into the system, buoying the 

liquidity profile for the week, 

despite OMO mop-ups that were 

carried out on all trading days 

of the week except Wednesday, 

which totaled N73.0bn. 

Overall, money market rates 

closed the week lower; OBB 

(down 17.8% to 11.3%) and 

O/N (down 18.7% to 12.2%) 

w/w. We opine that a dearth of 

bullish triggers in the market 

roused the sell-side sentiments 

in the past week. In the coming 

week, we envisage a likely 

reversal of sentiment with 

speculators hunting for bargain. 

Consequently, we posit that the 

market may close higher. In the 

week ahead, we expect N229.9bn 

OMO bills to mature into the 

system on Thursday. 

Buoyant US market belies 

risk factors 

Equity benchmarks in the 

U.S. market regained strength 

in the prior week despite 

underwhelming economic data 

and the latest North Korean 

missile launch which did little 

dampen sentiment. Thus, the 

S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial 

Average and Nasdaq Composite 

Indices all inched higher, up 

1.3%, 1.9% and 1.1% w/w 

respectively. 

European stocks chalked 

mixed-to-bullish returns in 

the week to 15th September 

amid the Bank of England’s 

decision to keep policy rates 

unchanged while keeping an 

option to raise rates in November 

on the table. Overall, UK’s FTSE 

(-2.2%) underperformed peers 

as Germany’s DAX (+1.7%), 

and CAC (+1.9%) and the pan- 

European STOXX 600 (+1.4%) 

eked out gains for the week. 

Performance across the 

BRICS classification mirrored 

previous week’s mixed 

performance. Brazil’s IBOV 

(+2.7%), India’s BSE Sensex 

(+2.4%) and Russia’s RTSI 

(+0.4%) all closed the in the green 

while both South Africa’s JSE 

(-0.7%) and China’s SCHOMP 

(-0.3%) ended the week lower. 

Equities: ASI pares gains, 

down 2.7% w/w 

This past week saw the 

equities market pare the 

previous week’s gain as profittaking 

dominated the wider 

market. The market ended 3 of 

the week’s 5 trading days in the 

red as the All Share Index (ASI) 

tumbled 2.7% w/w to settle at 

35,005.57 points. As such, YTD 

return moderated to 30.3% as 

market capitalization declined 

N325.5bn to settle at N12.07tn. 

Performance across the 

sectors was mixed with a bearish 

tilt as 3 of 5 sectors trended 

southward. The Insurance 

(+0.6%) and Oil & Gas (+0.3%) 

sector indices recorded a positive 

return on account of price 

appreciation in NEM (+19.0%) 

and SEPLAT (+5.0%). On the 

flip side, the Industrial Goods 

(-4.3%) index led sector losers 

followed by Consumer Goods 

(-2.4%) and Banking (-2.4%) 

indices, as investors booked 

profit in DANGCEM (-4.3%), 

WAPCO (-5.3%), NB (-5.2%), 

NESTLE (-1.2%), GUARANTY 

(-4.0%) and ZENITH (-4.3%). 

Market breadth remained 

bearish at 0.6x (relative to 0.8x in 

the previous week) as 24 stocks 

advanced against 43 decliners. 

Also, the activity level for the 

week was bearish as average 

value and volume traded fell 

10.4% w/w to N3.3bn and 4.9% 

w/w to 195.5mn units. We opine 

that a dearth of bullish triggers in 

the market roused the sell-side 

sentiments in the past week. In 

the coming week, we envisage a 

likely reversal of sentiment with 

speculators hunting for bargain. 

Consequently, we posit that the 

market may close higher. 

Money Market: Improved 

liquidity profile keeps rates 

relatively low 

During the week, the Central 

Bank of Nigeria released the Q4- 

2017 NTB issuance calendar on 

Wednesday even as the monetary 

authority conducted its bi-weekly 

Nigerian Treasury Bill (NTB) 

auction on Thursday, successfully 

rolling over N171.4bn at the 

following stop rates: 91-day 

(13.25% vs. 13.30% at the last 

auction), 182-day (17.36% vs. 

17.36% at the last auction) and 

364-day (17.75% vs. 18.52% at 

the last auction). Bid cover at 

the auction stood at 1.3x (last 

auction: 1.2x). Additionally, a 

total of N246.4bn OMO bills 

matured into the system, buoying 

the liquidity profile for the week, 

despite OMO mop-ups that were 

carried out on all trading days 

of the week except Wednesday, 

which totaled N73.0bn. Overall, 

money market rates closed the 

week lower; OBB (down 17.8% to 

11.3%) and O/N (down 18.7% to 

12.2%) w/w. In the week ahead, 

we expect N229.9bn OMO bills 

to mature into the system on 

Thursday. 

Fixed Income Market: 

Players react to PMA results amid 

absence of longer-dated papers 

on OMO auctions 

A lull theme was seen at the 

beginning the week as players 

stayed on the sideline while 

awaiting the 4th quarter T-Bills 

calendar. Activities for the week 

were broadly driven by sentiments 

around a likely postponement of 

the bond auction by the DMO, 

the implication of an 80bps dip in 

marginal rate of the 364-day Bills 

at the NTB PMA, the absence of 

longer-dated papers on OMO 

auctions that were carried out 

during the week, FX interventions 

as well as OMO mop-ups. 

Overall, average T-bill yield 

decreased by 21bps w/w to close 

Friday at 19.3% (91-day (down 

6bps to 18.5%), 182-day (up 4bps 

to 19.5%) and the 364-day (down 

97bps to 20.5%). 

In a similar bullish theme, 

average bonds yield edged lower 

by 31bps to cap the week at 16.3%, 

driven by bargain-hunting in the 

3-year, 5-year, 7-year and 10- 

year maturities (where yields fell 

60bps, 21bps, 16bps and 27bps 

respectively). In the interim, 

we expect mixed sentiments to 

dictate proceedings in the T-bills 

space, even as the bonds space 

stays tepid in the absence of any 

system shocks that will catalyze 

activity. 

Currency Market: Naira 

depreciates in the I & E window 

In the Foreign exchange 

market, the naira traded 

sideways in the official market to 

settle at N306.0/$. Nevertheless, 

the domestic currency saw 

an 82bps downtrend in the 

parallel market, to settle at 

N367.0/$1USD. Similarly, 

the naira depreciated in the 

Investors and Exporters FX 

window by 52bps to end at 

N360.4/$1. In the oil market, 

prices from $53.8/b to $55.6/b 

w/w on expectations of stronger 

demand. The outlook of the 

naira remains tied to the spate 

of CBN’s intervention in the spot 

and forward markets as well as 

the better price discovery in the 

I&E FX window. 

Investor’s Square 

•Have you been shabbily treated by your registrar, stockbroke r or 

other capital market operators? 

Let us know and investor will help you investigate and report back. 

E-mail: investor@businessdayonline.com 

Africa investor index 

Company Ticker Sector Country Price Price MKT P/E Shares 

US$ Chan. on Cap in issue 

the week SMn Mn. 

SAB Miller SAB SJ Beverages South Africa 59.50 -2.7% 95,837.67 34.8 1,610.64 

Anglo American AGL SJ Mining South Africa 16.79 3.3% 21,467.93 -10.5 1,278.50 

Sasol SOL SJ Oil & gas South Africa 30.78 -0.1% 20,046.78 9.7 651.39 

MTN Group MTN SJ Telecommunications South Africa 8.75 -4.9% 15,730.46 15.6 1,797.23 

Standard Bank SBK SJ Banking & finance South Africa 12.47 -2.0% 19,911.87 12.0 1,596.58 

Anglo Platinum AMS SJ Mining South Africa 25.23 2.1% 6,769.03 140.5 268.30 

ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI LTD ANG SJ Mining South Africa 9.21 -9.2% 3,761.03 -80.7 408.22 

Tullow Oil plc TLW GN Oil & gas Ghana 4.07 -0.1% 3,706.24 381.7 911.38 

Maroc Telecom IAM MC Telecommunications Morocco 14.46 -0.3% 12,707.53 20.9 879.10 

DANGOTE CEMENT PLC DANG NL Building Materials Nigeria 0.67 -9.1% 11,365.72 17.9 17,040.51 

Orascom Construction OCIC EY Construction Egypt 12.23 0.5% 2,530.25 74.0 206.92 

Attijariwafa Bank ATW MC Banking & finance Morocco 47.95 1.0% 9,759.68 17.0 203.53 

Nigerian Breweries NB NL Breweries Nigeria 0.98 -9.5% 7,385.83 28.4 7,562.56 

Banque Marocaine du Commerce BCE MC Banking & finance Morocco 21.89 1.2% 3,929.13 16.3 179.46 

Telecom Egypt ETEL EY Telecommunications Egypt 0.61 0.5% 1,045.31 8.2 1,707.07 

VODAFONE EGYPT VODE EY Telecommunications Egypt 4.04 -8.2% 968.55 7.1 240.00 

Banque Centrale Populaire BCP MC Banks Morocco 30.97 0.1% 4,006.41 19.0 182.30 

Lafarge LAC MC Building materials Morocco 229.72 -2.4% 5,382.73 25.1 23.43 

Douja Prom Addoha ADH MC Real Estate Morocco 5.06 -0.5% 1,632.87 13.5 322.56 

Sonatel Sn SNTS BC Telecommunications Brvm 43.57 2.6% 4,356.63 12.9 100.00 

Guaranty Trust Bank GUARANTY NL Banking & finance Nigeria 0.11 -13.9% 3,244.64 8.9 29,431.18 

Zenith Bank ZENITH NL Banking & finance Nigeria 0.07 -13.9% 2,180.62 6.5 31,396.49 

CGI CGI MC Real Estate Morocco 45.16 1.2% 831.30 14.4 18.41 

Guinness Nigeria PLC GUINNES NL Beverages Nigeria 0.20 -2.1% 315.75 -52.0 1,591.13 

Commercial International Bank CIB EY Banks Egypt 4.68 -1.9% 5,398.79 15.4 1,153.87 

First Bank FIRSTBAN NL Banks Nigeria 0.02 -4.8% 615.35 3.9 35,895.00 

Abu Kir Fertilizers ABUK EY Chemicals Egypt 9.13 -37.6% 1,152.31 10.0 126.19 

East African Breweries EABL KN Breweries Kenya 2.61 1.1% 2,066.42 24.8 790.77 

Safaricom Ltd SAFCOM KN Telecommunications Kenya 0.23 -4.1% 9,214.95 19.8 40,065.43 

Mauritius Comm. Bank MCB MP Banking & finance Mauritius 6.77 1.5% 1,613.18 7.5 238.19 

Mobinil EMOB EY Telecommunications Egypt 7.11 14.4% 711.08 - 100.00 

T M G HOLDING TMGH EY Real Estate Egypt 0.42 -0.1% 876.05 17.6 2,063.56 

Poulina Group Holding PGH TU Holding Companies-Divers Tunisia 3.44 1.3% 618.31 14.5 180.00 

Ecobank Transnational Inc ETIT BC Banks Brvm 0.03 1.3% 519.09 2.0 15,952.70 

STANBIC IBTC BANK PLC IBTCCB NL Banks Nigeria 0.10 -11.6% 1,033.55 11.2 10,000.00 

State Bank Mauritius SBM MP Banking & finance Mauritius 0.03 1.5% 1,035.11 11.2 31,000.00 

Barclays Bank Kenya BCBL KN Banking & finance Kenya 0.09 -2.1% 510.37 7.6 5,432.00 

Banque De Tunisie BT TU Banking & finance Tunisia 3.39 -1.3% 508.98 13.7 150.00 

Equity Bank Limited EQBNK KN Banking & finance Kenya 0.39 -4.2% 1,468.10 9.3 3,773.67 

Kenya Comm. Bank Ltd KNCB KN Banking & finance Kenya 0.40 -1.2% 1,199.13 6.4 3,025.21 

Africa investor Ai40 Weekly Commentary – 7 August 2017 

After notching gains for 

four consecutive weeks, 

the Ai40 Investor’s 

Index finally cooled off and 

ended last week in negative 

territory. Telecoms and mining 

stocks tracked by the Index 

performed exceptionally well, 

while Nigerian-listed equities 

experienced a heavy sell-off. 

The Index fell 2.15 points, a drop 

of 2.13% from last week’s value 

of 100.58, to close Friday at a 

value of 98.43. 

In US markets, the strongerthan-expected 

non-farm 

payroll numbers gave stock 

markets a boost on Friday. 

According to CNBC, “the U.S. 

economy added 209,000 jobs 

last month, according to the 

Labor Department, well above 

the expected gain of 183,000.” 

The Dow Jones Industrial 

Average broke the 22000 point 

for the first time ever, led by 

gains in large-cap banking 

stocks. Reuters analysts suggest 

that the jobs report may pave 

the way for the Fed to announce 

plans to cut down its $4.2 trillion 

bond portfolio in September, 

and could reinforce its case 

to hike rates for the third time 

this year in December. Global 

markets were mixed at Friday’s 

close, as the pan-European 

Stoxx 600 gained 0.95% while 

“Shanghai’s index fell amid 

news that U.S. is considering 

investigating China’s demands 

that American companies 

share more of their advanced 

technology” according to Times 

Colonist. 

At Friday’s close, the Dow 

Jones Industrial Average was up 

0.30%, or 66.71 points, to close 

the week at a value of 22,092.81. 

The Nasdaq Composite Index 

gained 0.18% or 11.22 points, 

to end the week at a value of 

6,351.56. The S&P 500 closed 

the week higher by 0.19% or 4.67 

points, to close Friday on a value 

of 2,476.83. 

Gainers 

Orange Egypt enjoyed huge 

gains last week (coming from 

being the worst performer 

in the last review). The stock 

gained 14.4%. JSE-listed miners 

Anglo American and Anglo 

Platinum also enjoyed upward 

price movements last week, 

with increases of 3.3% and 2.1%. 

Anglo American’s diamond 

mining arm De Beers, reported 

a 5.7% rise in diamond sales on 

Tuesday. 

Shares for Sonatel – a BRVMlisted 

telecoms company – and 

Mauritius Commercial Bank 

closed off the Gainers List with 

increases of 2.6% and 1.5% 

respectively. 

Losers 

Nigerian equities tracked by 

the Index dominated the Losers 

List last week as the country 

“missed its best chance in 13 

months to overtake Egypt in 

stock-market capitalization 

as an expansion of the new 

foreign-exchange window 

spurred a plunge in the naira” 

according to Bloomberg. 

Amongst the banking stocks, 

Zenith and Guaranty Trust 

Bank both fell by 13.9%; while 

Stanbic IBTC Bank was down 

by 11.6%. Shares for Nigerian 

Breweries ended the week in 

red with a 9.5% drop. 

However, last week’s worst 

performing stock on the Index 

was Cairo-listed Abu Kir 

Fertilizers as the share price 

dropped by a hefty 37.6%.



C002D5556 

I NVESTOR 


Union Bank N50bn Rights Issue opens 

Th 

e 

subscription 

for N50 billion 

Rights Issue 

by Union 

Bank of Nigeria Plc 

commenced yesterday 

Wednesday September 

20 and will close on 

Monday, October 30, 

2017. 

Union Bank is offering 

12.1 billion ordinary 

shares of 50 kobo each 

at N4.10 per share on the 

basis of five new shares 

for every seven (5 for 7) 

shares held as at August 

21, 2017. 

“ W i t h t h e 

commencement 

of the Rights Issue 

subscription, we have 

now officially entered 

a new phase of our 

transformation where 

we will be focused on 

accelerating business 

growth to deliver on our 

Neimeth, Skye, May & Baker, Flourmills, 

Honeywell, Oando stocks worst hit 

Investors in the 

shares of two major 

pharmaceutical 

companies – 

Neimeth International 

Pharmaceuticals Plc and 

May & Baker Nigeria Plc 

as well as those holding 

the shares of Skye Bank 

Plc, Flour Mills of Nigeria 

Plc, Honeywell Flour 

Mills Plc, and Oando 

Plc were worst hit in last 

week’s record loss in 

excess of N300billion. 

In the trading week 

to September 15, 2017, 

twenty-three (23) 

equities appreciated 

in price, lower than 

twenty-eight (28) in the 

preceding trading week. 

Forty-five (45) 

equities depreciated in 

price, higher than thirtyeight 

(38) equities in 

the preceding trading 

week, while 104 equities 

remained unchanged 

lower than 105 equities 

recorded in the 

preceding week. 

objective of becoming 

one of Nigeria’s leading 

financial institutions,” 

said the bank’s Chief 

Executive Officer, Emeka 

Emuwa. 

Following a roadshow 

held in Enugu last 

week, the bank plans 

shareholder forums 

The Nigerian Stock 

Exchange (NSE) All- 

Share Index (ASI) and 

Market Capitalisation 

depreciated by 

2.65percent and 

2.63percent to close the 

review week at 35,005.57 

points and N12.068 

trillion respectively, 

against week open level 

of 35,957.24 points and 

N12.393 trillion. 

The value of listed 

Nigerian equities lost 

about N325billion 

last week. Neimeth 

I n t e r n a t i o n a l 

Pharmaceuticals Plc 

declined most by 13kobo 

or 15.66percent as its 

share price dropped 

from 83kobo to 70kobo. 

Also on the top losers 

table in the trading week 

to September 15 is Skye 

Bank Plc which lost 

7kobo or 11.86 percent 

of its week-open share 

price. The bank share 

price declined from 

59kobo to 52kobo. May 

& Baker Nigeria Plc lost 

32kobo or 10.67percent, 

which will hold in Lagos, 

Port-Harcourt and Abuja 

this month. 

The commencement 

of the Rights Issue 

comes on the heels of 

all necessary regulatory 

approvals from the 

Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE) and Securities and 

…in last week N300bn market loss 

IHEANYI NWACHUKWU 

from N3 to N2.68. 

Flour Mills of 

Nigeria Plc lost N2.60 

or 8.67percent of its 

week-open price from 

N30 to N27.40. Linkage 

Assurance Plc declined 

from 64kobo to 59kobo, 

which represents 5kobo 

loss or 7.81percent 

decline. 

Honeywell Flour 

Mills Plc share price lost 

15kobo or 7.32percent in 

one week, from N2.05 to 

N1.90; while Oando Plc 

share price declined by 


from N6.51 to N6.05. 

Presco Plc lost N4.49 

or 6.91percent, from 

N64.98 to N60.49. 

Lafarge Africa Plc share 

price declined from 

N52.77 to N49.97, down 

by N2.80 or 5.31percent. 

Unity Bank Plc lost 

3kobo or 5.26 percent in 

one week, from 57kobo 

to 54kobo. 

N.E.M Insurance 

Company (Nigeria) 

Plc gained most by 

19kobo or 19percent, 

Exchange Commission 

(SEC). 

Chapel Hill Advisory 

Partners Limited is Lead 

Issuing House to the 

Rights Issue; while FSDH 

Merchant Bank Limited 

and Stanbic IBTC Capital 

Limited are Joint Issuing 

Houses. 

from N1 to N1.19; C & I 

Leasing Plc increased by 


from N1.06 N1.19. 

International Breweries 

Plc gained N3.38 


N35.57 to N38.95. 

Newrest ASL Nigeria 

Plc gained 54kobo or 

9.06percent, from N5.96 

to N6.50. UAC of Nigeria 

Plc gained 85kobo 


N14.60 N15.45. 

Transnational 

Corporation of Nigeria 

Plc gained 7kobo or 

5.56percent, from N1.26 

to N1.33. Okomu Oil 

Palm Plc rose by N3.50 


N63 or N66.50. Cutix Plc 

gained 13kobo or 5percent, 

from N2.60 to N2.73. 

Seplat Petroleum 

Development Company 

Limited gained N22.89 or 

5percent, from N457.90 

to N480.79. Transcorp 

Hotels Plc share price 

rose by 34kobo or 

4.95percent last week, 

from N6.87 to N7.21. 

Accessing market information 

to guide investing 

It is generally accepted that 

the capital market is a near 

accurate representation 

of a Perfect Competition 

Market Structure; a market 

structure which posits that 

firms cannot control the 

market price of their product 

as price is actively determined 

by demand and supply. It 

also states that complete 

information about a product 

is readily available to all 

market participants at the 

same time. This generally 

ensures fairness and reduces 

the chances of customer 

exploitation. 

In the Nigerian stock 

market, investors are provided 

with several avenues through 

which they can access market 

information. A notable 

example of this is The Nigerian 

Stock Exchange, which 

makes announcements, 

annual financial reports, 

quarterly financial reports, 

trading statistics, report of 

unscheduled material events 

or corporate changes and 

other information about 

the operations of publicly 

traded companies available 

to stakeholders via its 

website. Market data are 

also disseminated to market 

participants through NSE’s 

trading platform, X-GEN, 

alongside other authorized 

data vendors. 

Information on the 

compliance status of listed 

companies is a key factor in 

the decision making process 

of any investor, and the NSE 

provides this information 

to investors through the 

X-Compliance Report on 

its website. This report 

provides compliance related 

information on all NSE listed 

companies and is updated by 

close of business every Friday. 

Information in the report 

includes early filers of audited 

accounts, delinquent filers 

of audited accounts and 

quarterly reports, companies 

slated for delisting or 

restructuring, companies in 

breach of NSE listing rules, 

companies who have been 

granted waivers on the free 

float requirement of the 

Exchange and company 

financials, and can also be 

viewed as an indicator of the 

level of corporate governance 

in listed companies. 

In 2016, The Exchange took 

a further step to introduce 

Compliance Status Indicators 

(CSI), a three character code 

displayed on the ticker 

tape which indicates the 

compliance status of a listed 

company at any particular 

point in time. To view the 

X-Compliance report, please 

visit the NSE website and 

mouse over the issuers’ link on 

the main navigation and then 

click X-Compliance under 

the Corporate Disclosure sub 

menu. 

When Companies 

release financial reports, the 

information is disseminated 

through X-Gen and it is 

generally made available to 

market participants. It can 

also be obtained from NSE 

authorized Market Data 

Vendors. On the NSE website, 

this information can be gotten 

from the company results 

tab under the Corporate 

Disclosure sub menu. The 

NSE website also provides 

trading statistics on a real 

time basis. 

Investors looking to 

engage the services of a 

stockbroking house can also 

access the website for up to 

date information on the firm. 

Finding a dealing member 

has been made easy as all an 

investor needs to do is mouse 

over the Dealing member 

tab on the main navigation 

menu and then proceed to 

click on dealing member 

directory. This provides a list 

of all dealing members and 

their status. It is important 

to note the status when 

selecting a dealing member 

to avoid transacting business 

with firms that have been 

deregistered. 

To further ensure investors 

have all the information 

needed, the NSE created 

the ‘BrokerTrax’. BrokerTrax 

is a compliance report on 

the dealing members of the 

NSE and can be accessed 

on the NSE website. This 

report contains information 

on blacklisted firms, firms 

involved in unauthorized 

sales of investors’ shares, 

firms who are not compliant 

with the Minimum operating 

Standards, etc. Other reports 

such as the Top Ten Brokers 

performance reports can 

also be accessed on the NSE 

website. 

The Nigerian Stock 

Exchange is committed to 

bridging the information gap 

between The Exchange and 

market participants having 

taken into account the fact 

that the stock market thrives 

on information. However, 

when making investment 

decisions, investors are 

advised to weigh their risks 

appetite and consult a 

licensed broker.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

19 

Retail & Consumer Business 

Luxury Malls Companies Deals Spending Trends 

Saint-Gobain targets Nigerian market 

…promise consumers innovative solutions 

Stories by CHINWE AGBEZE 

Saint-Gobain, a world leader 

in the habitat and construction 

markets, says it 

is set to expand its market 

share in Nigeria. 

The company disclosed this at a 

one-day workshop with the theme, 

‘Creating great living spaces: Innovative 

solutions for greater wellbeing’ 

organized for stakeholders in the 

industry held at the Renaissance 

hotel, Ikeja GRA, Lagos recently. 

Created over 350 years ago, Saint- 

Gobain made a total net sales of 

£39.1 billion in 2016 and operates 

in 67 countries with more than 170, 

000 employees. 

‘‘Saint-Gobain has come a long 

way in mastering the art of designing 

high quality plasterboards to suit 

all categories of customers,’’ said 

WesttarKapito, regional director, 

Saint-Gobain. 

The event which was packaged 

to showcase Saint-Gobain’s innovative 

products with a demonstration 

of the techniques of mounting 

and finishing plasterboards from 

start to finish had Architects, civil 

engineers, installers, major distributors 

and professional bodies 

in attendance. 

‘‘Our products are reliably made 

with the finest raw materials you can 

get anywhere in the world, and they 

can indeed stand the test of time. We 

are here in Nigeria to replicate what 

we have achieved in other markets,” 

said Kapito. 

The workshop provided a unique 

opportunity for the company to 

interact with various professionals 

L-R :Umeojiaka Kingsley, managing director, Tormek Global Services Limited; Heidi Olivier, senior product manager, Saint-Gobain; Ifeanyi Udeogu, 

chairman, Tormek Global Services Limited; WesttarKapito, regional director, Saint-Gobain; Nicolas Fuchs, technical marketing manager, Saint- 

Gobain and Francois Accambray, development manager, Africa, Saint-Gobain; during Saint-Gobain’s stakeholders workshop in Lagos recently. 

who use Saint-Gobain products and 

services in the course of doing their 

jobs and also bring them up to speed 

with the company’s latest offering in 

the market. 

According to the company, the 

entrance of Saint-Gobain into the 

Nigerian market with its modern 

innovative technologies in making 

plasterboards and other construction 

materials would be of 

immense benefits to stakeholders 

and the entire construction sector 

which is currently in dire need of 

innovative technologies to drive 

the industry. 

‘‘Consumers can be rest assured 

that Saint-Gobain’s range of products 

would offer them a new value 

chain in the long run,’’Kapito added. 

Attesting to the expertise of Saint- 

Gobain, Ahmed Tajudeen, executive 

director, Avalon Intercontinental, 

owners of Renaissance hotel, who 

was one of the guests at the workshop, 

said it was a great experience 

having Saint-Gobain as part of the 

finishing of the hotel, which today 

stands tall as one of the best hotels 

in Lagos. 

He said, ‘‘The company helped 

in designing and also provided an 

installation team for all materials 

required including gypsum boards, 

walls, ceilings, cross and main tee, 

insulation, finishing solutions, flooring 

solutions. 

‘‘Saint-Gobain brought specific 

solutions matching our needs such 

as standard regular boards for ceilings, 

firestop boards for corridor 

walls and bedrooms, moisture resistant 

boards for wet areas like 

bathroom and kitchen walls, and 

glass wool insulation for acoustic 

performance in walls and ceilings.’’ 

Continuing, Tajudeensaid, ‘‘In 

the course of the project Saint- 

Gobain flew some of their personnel 

all the way from South Africa 

to train our men in Nigeria, which 

for me is quite remarkable. Saint- 

Gobain supplied virtually everything 

from the kitchen finishing, 

to the bathroom down to the nails. 

It is on that ground that I highly 

recommend Saint-Gobain brand 

to everyone.” 

This global company is reputed 

for contributing to the development 

of sub-Saharan Africa in offering an 

array of its products and services. 

Saint-Gobain’s range of products 

has become part of everyday living, 

making up public and private buildings, 

transportation system, massive 

infrastructure and most industrial 

hubs around the world. 

Their products and activity scope 

include; plasterboards systems, 

building plasters, industrial plasters, 

gypsum ceilings and mineral wool & 

metal ceiling, mortars, insulation, 

pipe systems, glass, and abrasives. 

Heidi Olivier, senior product 

manager, Saint-Gobain Gyproc, who 

also spoke at the event, said, “Nigeria 

is no doubt the biggest market in 

sub-Saharan-Africa, and as such 

we are happy to be here to expand 

our business scope in partnership 

with our major distributor of Gyproc 

plasterboards in the country.’’ 

Speaking further, she said Saint- 

Gobain has made a name for itself in 

the industry with the production of 

high quality plasterboards which are 

second to none in the industry and 

that has earned it a lot of recognition 

globally. 

Over the years Saint-Gobain has 

built a reputation for itself creating 

a unique positioning through its 

industrial and distribution expertise, 

as well as up scaling its research 

effort in the area of materials and 

energy efficiency. It has also mastered 

the art of creating a network 

of professionals using its existing 

distribution network team across 

the world. 

The company says it will hold 

another event for installers before 

the end of 2017 and also disclosed 

plans to open a customer experience 

centre in Lagos soon. 

Saint-Gobain is in partnership 

with Tormek Global Services limited, 

a major dealer in Gyproc plasterboard 

in Nigeria, with its showroom 

located in Yaba area of Lagos State. 

Godrej launches leading US hair care brand ProfectivMegaGrowth in Nigeria 

…announces Tiwa Savage as brand ambassador 

ProfectivMegaGrowth, 

an iconic brand from 

the Strength of Nature 

family which has 

a stellar history of providing 

exceptional and effective 

hair care products for African 

women across the globe, has 

launched operations in Nigeria 

through Godrej Nigeria 

Limited, a leading Nigerian 

FMCG company. 

In its continuing endeavour 

to celebrate Nigerian 

women and provide worldclass 

hair solutions, the company 

showcased the innovative 

Crème on Crème No lye 

relaxer which offers superior 

hair manageability at accessible 

prices. 

Strength of Nature’s team 

of scientists and cosmetologist 

have worked over years 

to identify the fundamental 

causes of hair and scalp damage 

in order to understand 

how to prevent and treat it. 

Their extensive research 

helped them identify the most 

nourishing and strengthening 

ingredients which make ProfectivMegaGrowth 

range the 

perfect solution to counter the 

daily stresses of heat styling, 

weaves, hair color and hair 

style transitions. 

With this collaboration, 

Godrej Nigeria Limited, which 

is already one of the leaders in 

the hair extensions category in 

Nigeria will become one of the 

first Nigerian companies to 

offer end to end hair solutions. 

ProfectivMegaGrowth announced 

Tiwa Savage, the 

award winning Nigerian Musician 

as its brand ambassador 

and also unveiled its first 

ever TVC starring her. The 

Nigerian icon epitomizes the 

attitude and confidence that is 

synonymous with the brand. 

Excited to be part of this 

association, Tiwa Savage said 

“I am thrilled to be associated 

with MegaGrowth, a brand 

that is loved across the entire 

African continent. The team 

at ProfectivMegaGrowth are 

true hair experts who understand 

the importance of hair 

for African women. I admire 

the fact that this brand celebrates 

Strong and Beautiful 

women”. 

During the press conference 

held in Lagos, Mario 

de la Guardia, President and 

Founder of Strength of Nature 

said, “Our vision and commitment 

is to provide the highest 

quality, most innovative hair 

care products that meet the 

diverse needs of our consumers 

worldwide. 

“While we have made significant 

strides in achieving 

this vision in the US, our 

strategic global partnership 

with Godrej representing 

our brand provides us with a 

unique opportunity to better 

serve the huge number of potential 

consumers outside the 

US, especially in Africa. The 

synergies between our strong 

L-R: Rakesh Sharma, head of Sales, Godrej Nigeria; Prashant Chacko, head of Marketing, Africa; Tiwa Savage, 

MegaGrowth Brand Ambassador; Mario de la Guardia, President/Founder, Strength of Nature and AyodeleOtujinrin, 

marketing manager, Godrej Nigeria. 

US platform and Godrej’s 

African footprint are compelling, 

as is our shared commitment 

to excellence and 

innovation for the betterment 

of our employees, consumers 

and communities.” 

Talking about the launch, 

Prashant Chacko, Marketing 

Head – Godrej Africa, said “We 

at Godrej are here to celebrate 

the indomitable spirit of Nigerian 

women. We appreciate 

the role that they are playing 

in the transformation of the 

country and also understand 

the importance of great hair to 

them. ProfectivMegaGrowth is 

here to support them in their 

journey of personal transformation 

by offering them superior 

products which promote 

strong and beautiful hair.” 

ProfectivMegaGrowth was 

introduced to the press at a 

Landmark Event Center on 

Saturday, September 9th, 

2017, after which a launch 

party was held at the same 

venue.

20 

BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Thursday 21 September 2017 

Retail & Consumer Business 

LG excites consumers with its newest technology 

There is no doubt 

2017 has been an 

interesting year for 

consumers of electronic 

products all 

over the world, as the finest 

of innovative breathtaking 

products were introduced 

into the market ranging from 

OLED televisions to washing 

machines, sound systems, 

robotic technologies, air conditioning 

units, refrigerators 

among others. 

Leading electronics companies 

are choosing to bring 

consumers up to speed with 

imminent technologies, their 

benefits as well as the significant 

difference they are 

expected to make in their 

day to day lives. One of such 

companies is LG Electronics 

with its smart ecosystem and 

user-centric products. 

Every year, technological 

advancements are witnessed 

here and there with appliances 

evolving every day to 

meet the unending needs of 

average consumers. This has 

kept companies on their innovative 

toes gazing into the 

crystal world of technology to 

predict what would likely be 

the next user trends and how 

to meet it. 

It is in this light that LG 

Electronics has carved a niche 

for itself as a company that 

is ever ready to push a little 

further beyond the precincts 

of innovation and altering 

known conventions. Obviously, 

it has resulted in the 

designing of mind blowing 

products, one of which is 

the InstaView Door-in-Door 

refrigerator with knock code 

and an inverter linear compressor 

boosting overall energy 

efficiency. 

InstaView Door-in-Door 

has impressed media and 

industry insiders alike with 

its never-before-seen 33-inch 

sleek glass panel and array of 

innovative features. In addition, 

the interior is illuminated 

when the panel is knocked 

on twice. This allows users 

to see inside without ever 

opening the door or wasting 

cold air, transforming the way 

consumers use refrigerators 

from an appliance they have 

to open to see what’s inside to 

one they can see inside before 

opening. 

Moreover, the spacious 

Door-in-Door compartment 

allows users to easily store 

frequently accessed snacks 

or beverages. The refrigerator’s 

storage space can be 

effortlessly accessed using 

the hidden button under the 

refrigerator door while also 

granting users a wider view 

of the items stored inside, offering 

the utmost in flexibility 

and convenience. By reducing 

Life in Recession 

How Nigerians are struggling to survive 

If you want to contact the writer of this story 

call: +234(0) 803 889 1567, +234(0) 802 223 8495. 

chinwe.agbeze@businessdayonline.com 

cold air loss by up to 41 percent, 

the compartment keeps 

food fresher longer. 

Early this year, we saw 

the introduction of impressive 

collections of robotic 

technology from LG which 

includes; Lawnmower Robot, 

Hub Robot, Hom-Bot, 

Airport Robot and Airport 

Cleaning Robot. This has 

clearly placed it far ahead of 

its competition as a dynamic 

and adaptive technological 

leader. For instance, the 

Hom-Bot combines powerful 

cleaning performance with 

home security features and 

DeepThinQ technology allowing 

vacuum to adapt to its 

routine as it cleans the house. 

While the Airport robot on 

the other hand is designed 

basically with travellers in 

mind, answering questions 

in a number of languages in 

order to streamline air travel. 

As industry watchers look 

forward to LG Electronics 

newest innovative products 

as the year gradually winds 

down, the V30 is obviously 

one of the products to look 

out for as it prepares to up 

the game in the evolution of 

premium smartphones with 

Dollar a day 

Sweeper says paying children’s school fees is her greatest worry 

Name: Beauty Japhet 

State of Origin: Delta 

State 

Dependents: Three children 

Business: I sweep people’s 

compounds for a living 

and I have been doing this 

business for seven years 

now. I also do laundry jobs 

but that does not come 

often. 

Currently, I sweep three 

compounds all in Ikotun 

area of Lagos but because of 

the situation in the country, 

some people still owe me 

while others say they no 

longer need my services. 

My husband was into 

sliding doors and windows 

but he went back to the village 

two years ago in search 

of another job. Business had 

been bad for him and he 

could not get another job in 

Lagos but since he travelled 

back to the village he has not 

found any job. He only calls 

once in a while to check on 

us when he has money to 

buy airtime which in once 

in many months. 

Profit: I sweep three 

compounds thrice in a 

week. In one of the compounds, 

I’m paid N2,000 

monthly and the other two, 

I get paid N2,500 and N4,000 

monthly but I’m still being 

owed. 

Sometimes people call 

me for laundry jobs and 

pay me between N300 and 

N1,000 depending on the 

quantity of the clothes. I also 

clean people’s houses but 

it’s once in a while. 

I hardly get favours like 

before and people are not 

Beauty Japhet 

Analysts: Chinwe Agbeze, Stephen Onyekwelu 

so many first to its advantage 

like; the first F1.6 aperture 

camera lens, the first glass 

Crystal clear lens; the first 

OLED full vision display; Cine 

Video mode for producing 

movie quality and so many 

other features on it. 

When it is eventually 

launched, the V30 will be the 

first global smartphone to support 

MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) 

technology which 

allows streaming of high-resolution 

audio. This technology 

enables it to capture the sound 

of original studio master and 

folds into smaller file to make 

high-resolution audio easy to 

stream. The much anticipated 

LG V30 is an improvement 

from the V phone series with 

new mobile experience and 

optimal multimedia features. 

Taeick Son, managing director, 

LG Electronics West 

Africa operations, said: “LG 

will continue to give the 

industry something to talk 

about as far innovation is 

concerned. 

‘‘Right from the beginning 

of the year, we have churned 

out cutting-edge technological 

products to ensure 

that our consumers are expectations 

are fully met. For 

the remaining part of the year 

we will definitely, introduce 

more mind blowing products 

that will shake the industry I 

giving me gifts the way 

they were giving me last 

year. They called me more 

last year for laundry jobs 

than this year. After working 

for people, when it gets 

to the time to pay, they will 

start complaining saying 

they don’t have money to 

pay. I cannot pay my children’s 

school fees now and 

feeding is even another 

problem. 

School fees: I have not 

paid my children’s school 

fees since September last 

year. Out of pity, the proprietress 

of Heritage Nursery 

and primary school in Abaranje, 

my children’s school 

does not collect school fees 

for my daughter who is in 

Nursery two. She told me 

to pay N15,000 for the fees 

of my two children but still 

can assure you of that.” 

The next generation of 

smartphone will need to expand 

beyond the camera and 

the display and focus on the 

whole experience of content 

generation and consumption 

including connectivity 

and audio. The camera is no 

doubt one area innovation is 

transforming the smartphone 

market today. 

The V30 is supported by 

Optical Image Stabilization 

(OIS), Electronic Image Stabilization 

(EIS) and Hybrid 

Auto Focus that combines 

both Laser Detection Auto 

Focus and Face Detection 

Auto Focus. Consumers are 

already salivating for the next 

technological products that 

will shape the years ahead 

with regards to LG Electronics 

their trusted brand. 

With the V30 photo capturing 

will be more advanced 

with users able to select professional 

images from the 

Graphy website or mobile 

app and apply the same presets 

such as white balance, 

shutter speed, aperture and 

ISO to photos taken with 

the V30. This is in line with 

what analyst have predicted 

about the next generation of 

devices focusing on features 

that would allow consumers 

to be more productive with 

their phones. 

I still cannot afford that. 

The location of the public 

school is far from our 

house and my children are 

still very tender. 

House rent: My landlord 

has been on my neck to pay 

the rent or vacate his house 

but I’m still begging him 

hoping that my debtors will 

pay me so I can pay part of 

what I owe him. I pay N2,000 

every month and the last 

rent I paid was in June last 

year. 

Challenge: I want my 

children to go back to school 

because education is more 

important. If I had gone to 

school, I won’t be a sweeper 

and life would have been 

better for my family. I also 

want to start selling foodstuff 

because it’s a very profitable 

business.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

21

C002D5556 



BUSINESSTRAVEL 

Domestic airlines brace up for 

international operations 

…acquire aircraft, get IATA membership 

Stories by IFEOMA OKEKE 

Domestic airlines 

operating in Nigeria 

are gradually 

bracing up 

to commence 

and expand international 

operations with acquisition 

of new aircraft and admission 

of the carriers into the 

International Air Transport 

Association (IATA). 

BusinessDay’s checks 

show that the airlines are beginning 

to acquire more aircraft, 

join IATA membership, 

get international certifications 

and subject themselves to 

frequent audit and checks by 

international aviation organisations 

to enable them fly into 

Middle East, European and 

African countries. 

Last week, Dana air and 

Air Peace were admitted as 

a member of the International 

Air Transport Association 

(IATA). These airlines 

achieved the feat few months 

after securing their IATA Operational 

Safety Audit (IOSA) 

certificate. Two weeks back, 

Medview acquired a Boeing 

777 for its London operations. 

Allen Onyema, Chairman 

of Air Peace Airline said its 

admission into the global air 

transport body was a heartwarming 

development, coming 

at a time it was deepening 

the quality of its flight services 

and expanding its operations 

to seamlessly connect more local, 

regional and international 

destinations. 

“We should have by now 

started our foreign operations 

but for some kind of hindrances 

that have to do with policy. 

We are ready to touch the 

whole world but we need the 

support of government and 

people of Nigeria. The Boeing 

777 aircraft we bought have 

to be type certificated by the 

Nigerian Civil 

Aviation Authority (NCAA), 

because before now, no Nigerian 

airline has operated the 

aircraft type. 

“That is why we are waiting 

on Boeing and the Nigerian 

government, as represented 

by the NCAA to come together 

and type certificate Nigeria on 

the aircraft type. It is after that, 

NCAA will be able to carry 

out oversight function on the 

aircraft. 

“We have facilitated the 

training of NCAA pilots and 

engineers on the aircraft. That 

is why the aircraft are not 

yet in Nigeria and it costs Air 

Peace hugely to maintain them 

where they are outside the 

country. After the type certification 

we can now bring in 

these beautiful birds into the 

country,” Onyema said. 

He said the airline will 

save Nigeria a lot of money 

when it begins to operate 

international destinations, 

adding that Nigeria needs 

more domestic airlines to 

operate international. 

He disclosed that Air Peace 

has received approval from 

one of the countries it wished 

to fly to, but will commence 

operations yet or announce 

it until the airline gets type 

certificated. 

Obi Mbanuzuo, the accountable 

Manager of Dana 

Air, while responding to the 

airline’s latest achievement 

said, “becoming a member 

of IATA is a significant 

milestone for us at Dana Air 

and this only demonstrates 

our level of professionalism 

and commitment to operational 

efficiency in terms of 

providing our guests with 

safe, seamless and worldclass 

air transport service 

in Nigeria. 

“Apart from the fact that 

this membership will further 

strengthen our relationship 

with other international airlines, 

we see it as an opportunity 

to take our amazing 

products to the global stage 

through interline and codeshare 

agreements. 

“You would recall that 

Dana Air is the first and only 

Nigerian airline to have undergone 

an operational audit 

conducted by the Nigerian 

Civil Aviation Authority and 

its foreign partners – The Flight 

Safety Group, and we are determined 

to reinforce our strategic 

route network within and 

beyond Nigeria,’’ Mbanuzuo 

said. 

The fierce competition in 

the highly priced Lagos-London 

route, where international 

carriers like British Airways 

and Virgin Atlantic make their 

kill with outrageous fares may 

have ebbed as the domestic 

carrier; Medview, joins the fray 

with state of the art aircraft and 

excellent service. 

The new aircraft introduced 

by the domestic carrier has 

in-house entertainment that 

may rate as the best on the 

route with well-groomed cabin 

crew, unbeatable cuisine with 

a touch of local foods and flat 

beds in business class. 

BusinessDay’s checks 

show that Medview airline 

return economy class ticket 

on the Lagos-London route, 

cost N333,000, while a British 

Airways airline return economy 

class ticket on the Lagos- 

London route cost almost 

N1.5million, almost four times 

the amount Medview is cur- 

rently charging. 

Lookman Animashaun, 

the Airline’s Chief Operating 

Officer said in a bid to satisfy 

its customers, the airline deployed 

this aircraft to London 

route. 

“The aircraft was brought in 

from Portugal. It has the best 

state-of-the-arts facilities. This 

is the best aircraft for them to 

use. This aircraft will be used 

to ply the London route for 

two years. Passengers’ reactions 

towards this new aircraft 

have been amazing. They love 

it so much and have expressed 

their feeling,” Animashaun 

said. 

He noted that last year’s 

patronage was great for the 

airline and it hopes to sustain 

the patronage, especially with 

the new aircraft. 

“Our operations on the 

London route have been 

able to checkmate airfares 

for competing carriers on the 

London route. I learnt about 

few weeks back that British 

Airways brought down their 

airfares to below 600dollars 

which has never happened 

and this is because Medview 

has been able to standardise 

the fares,” he disclosed. 

He further revealed that 

on November, 8th, the airline 

plans to commence Dubai 

route, and they are also planning 

to commence Johannesburg 

towards first quarter 

of next year. 

Air Peace secures IATA membership, 

assures of service delivery 

Air Peace’s expansion 

drive has received 

a big boost with the 

admission of the 

carrier as a member of the 

International Air Transport 

Association (IATA). The airline 

achieved the feat only a 

few months after securing its 

IATA Operational Safety Audit 

(IOSA) certificate. 

In a letter dated July 21, 

2017, Alexandre de Juniac, 

the director general/chief executive 

officer of IATA, said the 

organisation was pleased to 

have Air Peace as its member. 

The IATA boss assured Al- 

len Onyema, Air Peace Chairman/Chief 

Executive Officer, 

that the global aviation body 

was focussed on creating the 

right atmosphere for safe air 

services. 

“Our vision”, Juniac said, “is 

to be the force for value creation 

and innovation driving 

a safe, secure and profitable air 

transport industry that sustainably 

connects and enriches 

our world.” 

For its part, Air Peace said 

its admission into the global 

air transport body was a heartwarming 

development, coming 

at a time it was deepening 

the quality of its flight services 

and expanding its operations 

to seamlessly connect more 

local, regional and international 

destinations. 

The carrier assured that its 

membership of IATA would 

broaden its space to continue 

to deliver exceptional flight 

services in Nigeria, energise its 

drive to connect more countries 

in the West Coast of Africa 

and aid the launch of its flight 

operations to London, Atlanta, 

Dubai, Guangzhou-China, 

Mumbai and Johannesburg. 

“It greatly delights us to be 

part of the reputable International 

Air Transport Association. 

As an airline irrevocably 

committed to excellent customer 

service and safe flight 

operations, we are ready and 

willing to exploit all the opportunities 

provided by our 

membership of IATA to deliver 

the best flight experience to 

our numerous guests”, Chris 

Iwarah said in a statement 

signed by Air Peace Corporate 

Communications Manager. 

AIB partners ICAO, NTSB on accident 

investigation training 

Capacity building 

in the aviation industry 

has received 

a boost as Nigeria’s 

Accident Investigation 

Bureau (AIB) partners the 

International Civil Aviation 

Organization (ICAO) and 

the National Transportation 

Safety Board (NTSB) of the 

United States of America for 

one-week training in accident/incident 

investigation, 

for the benefit of the entire 

West African sub region. 

The workshop to be facilitated 

by the two international 

organizations, seeks 

to deepen the knowledge, 

and sharpen the skills of 

the participants drawn from 

AIB, Nigerian Civil Aviation 

Authority (NCAA), domestic 

airlines and members of the 

Banjul Accord Group Accident 

Investigation Agency 

(BAGAIA). 

Tagged ICAO Accident/ 

Incident Investigation Workshop 

will be held in Lagos 

from September 25, 2017. The 

training would navigate the 

participants through various 

aspects of accident investigation 

including Annex 13 guidance 

materials; investigating 

organizational factors and 

human performance; records 

investigation; investigating 

rotorcraft accidents and incidents; 

on-site investigation 

and flight recorders. 

The training will also cover 

fire investigation, managing 

large scale accident and 

incident investigation, emergency 

response and record 

investigation among others. 

The facilitators include 

the Dennis Jones, managing 

director of NTSB, who for 

many years was the NTSB 

representative in Africa and 

Andre de Kock from ICAO. 

Akin Olateru, the Commissioner 

of AIB, said, “We 

are very pleased to be partnering 

with ICAO and NTSB 

on this important training. 

We value the cooperation and 

technical assistance we have 

been receiving from these 

organizations, which would 

greatly complement our efforts 

to make AIB formidable. 

Capacity development, 

infrastructural improvement, 

system and process 

re-engineering remain our 

focus in making sure that AIB 

contributes meaningfully to 

aviation safety for the common 

good of all.” 

Speaking on the necessity 

of the OJT, Olateru said 

“capacity building is so vital 

to AIB’s job functions. This 

guarantees that all reports 

and safety recommendations 

issued out by AIB is hoisted 

on the certainty that they do 

not miss out any vital subject 

matter in their investigations 

that impacts safety. Consequently, 

practical hands-on 

training which is what an OJT 

is all about cannot be ‘one 

too many’, when it comes to 

training.


C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 33 

CITYFile 

Odua varsity denies link to 

remanded suspected cultists 

FRSC officials trying to remove the wreckages of a vehicle that was involved in an accident on Kubwa-Berger Road. 

7 criminal suspects 

arrested in Kwara 

SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin 

The police in Kwara have arrested 

a suspected armed 

robber identified as Oladapo 

Olawoye and six others suspected 

to be members of a 

secret cult in the state. 

The suspected cultists, who paraded 

alongside Olawoye on Tuesday 

include Ahmed Abdulrasheed, Aliyu 

Dahiru,Olafimihan Moses, Peter Jasper, 

Mohammed Azeez and Akeem Ganiyu. 

According to the police, one Omotoyosi 

Adewoye, reported at A Division 

on September 7, that a young man later 

known as Oladapo Olawoye approached 

her after an evening church service they 

both attended at Living Faith Church, 

Offa garage. 

The accused requested for a ride and 

she obliged. Halfway into the journey 

the accused stopped the complainant 

at Gaa-Akanbi area, brought out a knife 

Lagos to launch compendium of artisans 

JOSHUA BASSEY 

Lagos says it is working to unveil 

a compendium of registered 

artisans in the state as part of 

measures to scale up the informal 

sector. 

The objective, according to the government, 

is to increase job opportunities 

and further grow the Gross Domestic 

Product (GDP) of the state. 

Tunde Durosimi-Etti, the state commissioner 

for wealth creation and employment, 

who disclosed this said the 

compendium would help promote the 

businesses of the artisans. 

and threatened to kill her if she did not 

hand over her car’s key. 

The suspect succeeded in snatching 

the vehicle (Hyundai saloon car) with 

registration No: Lagos EPE 168 CE , a 

17-month old son of the complainant 

by name Okikiola Adewoye who was 

sleeping in the car and other valuables. 

“On receipt of the report, all patrol 

teams were alerted. All entry and exit 

points were blocked and that led to the 

recovery of abandoned boy at Akerebiata 

area of Ilorin while the suspect and the 

vehicle were later traced and recovered 

at Aiyetoro, Asa-Dam Ilorin. The suspect 

will soon be charged to court,” said 

Lawan Ado, the state Commissioner of 

Police 

On the cultists, Ado said “On the 

September 7, 2017, acting on intelligence, 

a team of anti-cultism unit of 

the state police command criminal and 

intelligence department swooped on 

notorious and dreaded Buccaneer secret 

Durosimi-Etti spoke with journalists 

after the visit of members of the Lagos 

State Council of Tradesmen and Artisans 

(LACOSTA) to Governor Akinwunmi 

Ambode on Tuesday. 

He said the compendium, which will 

be launched during the annual artisans’ 

day in October, will comprise the list of 

all registered artisans in Lagos, their 

locations and business details. 

According to him, the compendium 

when fully launched will increase the 

number of artisans to access state 

funded Employment Trust Fund (ETF) 

as well as help residents and potential 

customers to locate artisans in any part 

NAN 

cult fraternity at Zango area of Ilorin and 

they confessed to be members of the said 

secret cult”. 

He also added that his men in Offa 

accosted one Musa Umar, and when he 

was searched, a locally made pistol was 

recovered from him. 

“On interrogation, he confessed to 

be a member of Eiye confraternity and 

taken part in many criminal activities in 

and around Offa while his partner, Jolayemi 

Gbenga, an ex-student of Federal 

Polytechnic, Offa escaped arrest” 

The police boss, who pointed out that 

no fewer than 41 suspected cultists had 

been arrested and charged to court since 

his assumption of office three months 

ago, noted that the police command 

was intensifying efforts at arresting other 

cultists and charging them to court. 

He advised the residents of the state to 

be law abiding, warning that the police 

would not condone any act of violence 

as anyone caught will be prosecuted. 

of Lagos. 

“The compendium will have every 

artisan having a registration number and 

can be a sort of reference point for the Employment 

Trust Fund in assisting artisans 

to access capital,” Durosimi-Etti said. 

Nurudeen Buhari, president of 

LACOSTA, said the visit to Ambode was 

to appreciate the fact that the policies 

enunciated by his administration have 

help to reposition artisans in the state. 

He said the meeting was also to assure 

the state government that members of 

the association were committed towards 

contributing their quota to the growth 

and development of the state. 

BOLA BAMIGBOLA, Osogbo 

Management of Oduduwa University, 

Ile-Ife, Osun State has 

denied any link to the four suspected 

cultists recently arraigned before 

an Osogbo Chief Magistrate Court and 

were subsequently remanded in prison. 

The suspects are Olabanji Michael 

(23), Adewusi Michael (23), Oyinbo Kehinde 

(21) and Afolabi Yusuf (23). 

They are standing trial on charges 

bordering on conspiracy, unlawful possession 

of firearms and membership of 

a secret cult. 

It was stated in the charge sheet that 

the accused are students of Oduduwa 

University, Ile Ife. 

But Chibuzo Nwoke, a professor and 

vice chancellor of the university, said 

the students had been expelled from the 

school months back. 

Nwoke explained that the university 

has zero tolerance for cultism, thus the 

expulsion of the students, after being 

found guilty of some atrocities on the 

campus earlier in the year. 

He also hinted that the university has 

put in place a committee to ensure that 

peace reigns on the campus, and also 

ensure good relationship with other critical 

stakeholders working closely with the 

university. 

He maintained that the university, as 

part of measures to secure the school, has 

engaged the services of men of Nigeria 

Police, Civil Defence Corps and Department 

of State Security. 

Nwoke, who noted that in the past 

9 years the university has been in 

existence, it has never recorded any 

incident of violence or students’ unrest 

said that the institution has put in place 

a series of tests for applicants, before 

being admitted to the school, to ensure 

only students of sound morals are given 

admission. 

Police warn against 

violence in A/Ibom polls 

ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo 

Akwa Ibom State police command 

has warned against violence as 

the local government elections 

scheduled to hold in December this year. 

Zubairu Muazu, Commissioner of 

Police, Akwa Ibom command gave the 

warning during a meeting with stakeholders 

in partnership with Akwa Ibom 

State Independent Electoral Commission 

(AKISEC). 

He said the game of politics should be 

played according to the rules and should 

not be seen as a do-or-die affair. 

He said that the security agencies 

would provide adequate security before, 

during and after the elections, calling on 

politicians to eschew violence. 

“Local government election is very 

important to us, secondly, the issue of 

security we believe involves all of us who 

are here and we have a stake in ensuring 

that a peaceful, free, fair and credibleelections 

is held in Akwa Ibom state, that 

is why we believe in coming together to 

bare our minds on the need to prepare for 

a peaceful elections.”

24 BUSINESS DAY Thursday 21 September 2017 

Harvard 

Business 

Review 

Global Business Perspectives 

CONNECTING THE WORLD ONE BUSINESS AT A TIME 

Angry birds spreads its wings on Wall Street 

CHAD BRAY 

The digital world is littered 

with one-hit wonders 

— companies that 

tried to turn a single 

successful brand into 

a big-time business, only to be 

eclipsed by changing technology 

and consumer tastes. 

Zynga, which once paraded 

sheep in Times Square to celebrate 

a spinoff of its highly addictive 

Farmville, is worth far less than it 

was when it went public in 2011. 

King Digital Entertainment tried to 

build an entire Candy Crush empire, 

but sold out to a traditional 

game-maker two years ago. 

The maker of Angry Birds, 

Rovio Entertainment, hopes to 

defy that trend. 

Rovio found success in a smartphone 

game that pitted a brightly 

colored feathered flock against an 

army of green pigs, spawning a series 

of sequels, a feature film and 

lines of toys and clothing. Now the 

Finnish company is planning an 

initial public offering that could 

value the company at roughly $2 

billion, in a test of whether investors 

will find favor in a single franchise 

and whether the business 

can evolve. 

Rovio helped usher in the rise 

of smartphone games, building 

a juggernaut around the Angry 

Birds brand. In the game, released 

in 2009, users fling birds at elaborate 

structures built by pigs that 

have stolen their eggs. 

The game’s idiosyncratic concept 

now has several spinoffs 

that rank among the most downloaded 

apps on smartphones and 

tablets. Rovio’s titles have been 

downloaded 3.7 billion times, the 

company said. 

Rovio has ridden the wave of a 

rapidly expanding mobile-gaming 

market. The industry’s worldwide 

revenue was about $16 billion in 

2012 and is forecast to top more 

than $50 billion this year, according 

to data from Superdata 

Research, a data provider on the 

games industry. 

A screenshot from the “Angry Birds 2,” game. (CREDIT: Rovio) 

Now, however, the company 

needs to prove that it can profit 

beyond the success of Angry 

Birds. Its games business, which 

includes the original Angry Birds 

and more than a dozen spinoff 

titles, accounted for 79% of its revenue 

in the 12 months through 

June. 

“They need to find a way to diversify 

their brand portfolio in the 

future,” said Atte Riikola, a research 

analyst at Inderes in Helsinki. 

“They have had problems in their 

history when trying to diversify, so 

it won’t be an easy task to do.” 

The company has done a good 

job creating offshoots of its flagship 

game, including Bad Piggies 

and Angry Birds Match. It also 

has introduced several non-Angry 

Birds titles in recent years, including 

a puzzle game called Fruit 

Nibblers and a game tied to the 

pop singer Shakira. 

“The hardest part in the app 

market is to find the users, to get 

people to download your game,” 

said Tero Kuittinen, chief strategist 

at Kuuhubb, a Finnish company 

focused on lifestyle and mobile 

video-game applications. “If you 

have a well-known intellectual 

property — you have something 

that is instantly recognizable, 

James Bond, ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ 

any kind of property like that — it 

helps you a lot. Why wouldn’t they 

leverage Angry Birds?” 

It is still unclear, however, 

whether Rovio has the framework 

or model to fuel innovation and 

expand beyond its main brand. 

The mobile-gaming environment 

is especially competitive. 

“At a certain stage you will need 

a formula for more efficient innovation 

success,” said Mark DiMassimo, 

C.E.O. and chief creative 

officer at the advertising agency 

DiMassimo Goldstein. “You’re going 

to need to get to winners faster 

than other folks, more efficiently 

than other folks. If you don’t, 

you’re going to be on the losing 

end of the category.” 

The announcement of the public 

offering marks a turnaround 

for Rovio, which struggled financially 

in the years after the initial 

release of Angry Birds. The company, 

which started out by selling 

its games, was caught flat-footed 

as consumers gravitated to games 

offered through a so-called “freemium” 

model, in which players 

download the game for free and 

pay for additional features. Since 

then Rovio has switched from 

paid apps to free downloads of its 

games. 

Mikael Hed, a co-founder, 

stepped down as its C.E.O. in 

2014, and the company announced 

plans to cut nearly 40% 

of its work force the next year. Hed 

is still executive chairman of Rovio 

Animation, which helped bring 

“The Angry Birds Movie” (2016) to 

the big screen. 

Rovio returned to a profit in 

2016 and reported revenue of 

about $228 million last year. 

The company is the latest 

game-maker to turn to the public 

markets after becoming a cultural 

phenomenon, following in the 

footsteps of Zynga and King Digital. 

Zynga, the company behind 

not only Farmville but also Words 

with Friends, was valued at $7 billion 

when it went public in 2011. Its 

shares are now trading at a third of 

the initial price. The company rose 

to fame with social games played 

on Facebook, but it was slow to recognize 

the move to mobile gaming. 

While it has shifted its focus, the 

company has not been able to repeat 

its earlier success. 

King Digital, the Swedish maker 

of Candy Crush, went public 

in 2014, but a year later was sold 

for about $5.9 billion to Activision 

Blizzard. It sold at a discount to its 

initial listing price, as it struggled 

to replicate the success of its biggest 

hit. 

The founder of Supercell, the 

Finnish rival behind the hit Clash 

of Clans, opted not to pursue an 

I.P.O., instead selling a 51% stake 

to the Japanese telecommunications 

giant Softbank in 2013 for 

about $1.5 billion. Last year the 

Chinese internet giant Tencent 

paid $8.6 billion for a controlling 

stake in Supercell. 

Rovio said that the aim of the 

I.P.O. was to help it carry out a growth 

strategy, and that it would use its 

shares for possible acquisitions and 

as rewards to its employees. 

The company has said that the 

I.P.O. will consist of the sale of 

stock by its main shareholder, Trema 

International Holdings, and 

other shareholders. The company 

also is seeking to issue additional 

shares, worth about $36 million, 

in the offering. 

“That’s really the question for 

the market around this IPO,’ said 

Will McInnes, chief marketing officer 

at Brandwatch, which monitors 

social-media trends. “To what 

extent do we believe the company 

can exploit its existing intellectual 

property, and to what extent can it 

go again and deliver another big 

hit?” 

(Chad Bray is a business 

reporter for The New York Times.) 

2017 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate

BUSINESS DAY 

25 


BDLegalBusiness 

C002D5556 

Research Intelligence Practice Management Industry Report Partnerships 

INSIDE 

Obaseki, Irukera 

join Conversation 

on Consumer Protection 

in Benin City 

Pg 26 

Mahmoud describes 

2016/2017 Legal Year as 

a year of ‘undiluted 

pleasure’ 

Pg 26 

Mediation seen as future for 

dispute resolution in Nigeria 

for dispute resolution 

Taxability of voluntary pension 

contributions in Nigeria: Appraising 

the public notices issued by 

the Lagos State Internal Revenue 

Service and The Joint Tax Board 

Pg 28 

Pg 27 

Evaluating the regulation of real estate 

in Lagos state; the clock is ticking 

The city of Lagos, popularly referred to as “Las 

Gidi” by its young and vibrant inhabitants, is 

known as one of Africa’s most vivacious and 

culturally diverse cities. Many residents of 

the city who pride themselves as “Lagosians” 

may not understand why this is so. Perhaps, those who 

appreciate its commercial history, will understand why 

although, the smallest state in the country in terms of 

land mass, Lagos will potentially remain industrious, 

highly populated and the preferred city for multinationals 

and locals alike to do business in Nigeria. 

Due to its coastal nature, and resultant ease of travel, 

Lagos in the pre-colonial era, attracted individuals 

from various tribes within Nigeria who were interested 

in fishing and other economic activities. In addition, 

Lagos served as a center of trans-atlantic slave trade 

for the Portuguese and other European countries 

in West Africa. During the colonial era, its potential 

to drive income for the British colony was quickly 

identified. By creating ports, duties and administrative 

levies were charged on imported and exported 

goods. Courts were established not only to resolve 

disputes but also to generate revenue for the colony. 

As economic activities increased, markets were built, 

financial institutions were established and roads were 

constructed to continue the facilitation of trade. This 

in summary is how Lagos became and remains the 

economic capital of Nigeria. 

Across the world, urban development is recognised 

as a major contributor to economic development. In 

other words, real estate is fundamental to financial 

advancement. Lagos as a fast growing city, is not left 

out in identifying this fact. It is for this reason that 

the past and present governments of the State have 

aspired to develop Lagos into a mega city. To achieve 

this however, availability of housing, healthcare, effective 

sewage, drainage and waste management systems, 

hotels, education and recreational amenities is crucial. 

Local and Foreign Investment by the private sector is 

also paramount in developing these facilities. 

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lagos 

State’s real estate sector is valued at about $45.6 Billion. 

Specifically, due to the exponential growth of its ever 

increasing population, and its increasing need for infrastructure, 

the state government in 2003, signed into 

law, the Public Private Partnership law to encourage 

private participation in infrastructural development to 

enable the state meet its housing and basic infrastructure 

demands. To promote investment in the real estate 

sector, one notable regulatory development in Nigeria 

is that REITs have now been granted pioneer status, 

effective August 2017. In effect, companies registered as REITs and 

listed on the Nigerian Stock exchange will be granted tax holidays 

for a period of 3 to 5 years. 

Challenges 

Similar to other emerging economies however, investment in 

real estate is not without drawbacks. Some will argue that Lagos is 

closer to becoming one of the biggest slums in the world than it is 

to becoming a mega city. This observation arises due to the impact 

of urbanization on major cities across the world. 

Ownership 

For every law student and commercial lawyer in Nigeria, one issue 

remains mind-boggling. The Land Use Act which is the federal 

law governing interest in land in Nigeria, vests title in land in the 

state to be held in trust for its citizens. This therefore, is not peculiar 

to Lagos State, as the law is applicable to Nigeria’s 36 states. Following 

that position of the law after its promulgation in 1979, every 

person who acquires interest in land is granted a Certificate of 

Occupancy for a period not exceeding 99 years. 

In essence under the law, there is no freehold interest in land 

and any acquisition or transfer in title to a third party only grants 

interest for the remainder years from the date of the Certificate 

of Occupancy. The questions therefore arise- Does the allocation 

automatically renew after 99 years? Is the holder of legal title 

required to pay huge sums of money to retain possession after 

99years? In any case, what happens to developments on the land 

where renewal is not achievable? These are pertinent questions 

that remain unanswered and create uncertainties for both local 

and foreign investors. Hopefully, the government will recognise 

the need for a clear policy direction on this issue. 

Construction 

According to the media, in 2016, Lagos recorded the highest 

number of incidents of building collapses in the past 10 years. 

Many will recall the incident involving a six-storey building popularly 

known as “The Synagogue” which left over 100 people dead 

and scores injured. Many will also recall the more recent tragedy 

which occurred within an estate known as The Lekki Gardens 

which left about 35 workers dead. According to reports, orders 

of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, prohibiting further 

construction of the building were flouted. Generally, building 

collapses have been identified to be caused by failure to abide 

by building codes, using substandard materials, improper piling, 

foundational faults, amongst others. 

To control indiscriminate construction in Lagos State, the 

previous administration passed into law, the Urban and Regional 

Planning and Development Law (2010). Under this law, the Lagos 

State Building and Control Agency is conferred with the primary 

responsibility of enforcing construction regulations and issuing 

building permits. The same law also creates a number of other 

agencies responsible for ensuring quality control, inspection and 

testing of building materials, and issuing certificates verifying 

that buildings are safe and fit for purpose. 

It is due to non-compliance with this law, that structures, for 

which no permits/approvals were obtained are demolished from 

time to time. The demolition exercises are however criticized 

by many and labelled as being targeted at the more vulnerable 

population without providing them with alternative homes or 

business locations. 

The reality however remains that, majority of the agencies do 

not give effect to the purpose for which they were established. It 

is not uncommon in Lagos Island for example to see evidently 

illegal developments for which permits could not have been lawfully 

issued or obtained due to their location and structure. It is 

ADERONKE ALEX-ADEDIPE 

STRACHAN PARTNERS 

Continues on page 27

26 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Thursday 21 September 2017 

INDUSTRYFILE 

Obaseki, Irukera join Conversation on 

Consumer Protection in Benin City 

As Alegeh & Co partners NBA-LIM for quarterly Roundtable 


Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki and 

the Director-General, Consumer Protection 

Agency, Mr. Tunde Irukera are among 

dignitaries expected at the Nigerian Bar Association 

( NBA) Lawyers in the Media ( LIM) 

Quarterly Roundtable scheduled to hold at the 

Protea Hotel, Benin-City Edo State on Thursday, 

September 28, 2017. 

The roundtable with the theme” Consumer 

Protection and Economic Development, the 

need for Media intervention” will be declared 

open by Governor Obaseki under the chairmanship 

of the immediate President of the Nigerian 

Bar Association (NBA) Mr. Augustine Alegeh 

(SAN). 

The Director-General of the Consumer Protection 

Agency, Mr. Tunde Irukera will be the 

Lead speaker, Dean Faculty of Law, University of 

Benin Prof. Nathaniel Inegbedion will be a Guest 

speaker, while Mrs. Chinwe Odigboegwu, Head 

of Litigation at Nigerian Bottling Company and 

Vice- Chairman NBA Section on Business Law, 

Mr. Seni Adio ( SAN)Former Director-General, 

Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies ( 

NIALS) Prof. Epiphany Azinge ( SAN), former 

Dean Post Graduate School, Ambrose Ali University, 

Ekpoma, Prof. A. D. Badaiki and a host 

of others will be panelists. 

The Attorney General and Commissioner 

for Justice, Edo State, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe and 

the Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Esohe Ikponwen 

are also expected to be special Guests at the 

event. Other distinguished guests at the event 

include the pioneer chairman of the NBA Section 

on Business Law, Mr. George Etomi and the chairman 

of SBL, Mr. Olumide Apata. Senior Special 

Assistant to Governor Obaseki on Sustainable 

Development Goals, Mrs Ifueko Alufohai is also 

expected to grace the occasion. Chief Arthur 

Obi Okafor (SAN), Prof. Ernest Ojukwu (SAN), 

Mazi Afam Obi and representatives of the Young 

Lawyers Forum are also expected to give goodwill 

messages at the occasion. 

In a chat with the Guardian, the chairman 

of the NBA Lawyers In the Media (LIM) Forum, 

Theodora Kio-Lawson said that the essence of 

the roundtable to drive goals and objectives of the 

NBA Lawyers in the Media Forum. 

“The LIM quarterly event is geared towards law 

and economical development, with the media as 

a viable tool and this roundtable will attempt to 

interrogate critical issues and regulatory challenges 

in the reform of the Aviation, Food & 

Beverage and Banking sectors; the competition 

in these sectors, guidelines, safeguards, rights and 

interests in consumer protection, the limitations 

of the Consumer Protection Act, as well as the role 

of the media” Kio-Lawson stated. 

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lawyers 

in the Media (LIM) Forum, consists of members 

of the legal profession who are also media practitioners 

in both print and electronic media houses, 

with the objective of promoting the principles of 

both professions for the development of society. 

To drive home its goals and objectives, the forum 

holds quarterly roundtables, breakfast meetings 

and seminars with eminent members of both 

professions with open invitations to members of 

the public to confer on topical and developmental 

issues in the nation at every given time. 

Mahmoud describes 2016/2017 Legal Year as a year of ‘undiluted pleasure’ 

THEODORA KIO-LAWSON 

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association 

(NBA), Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, SAN has 

said that the 2016/2017 Legal Year was wrought 

with challenges for lawyers and judges alike. 

Speaking at a special sitting of the Supreme Court 

to mark the beginning of the legal year 2017/18 as 

well as the admission of 29 distinguished members of 

the bar into the inner Bar, the NBA President said, 

“It has been the tradition that on occasion of the 

opening of the legal year we take time to reflect, take 

stock, and chart the way forward for the coming year 

not only for this Court, but indeed for the legal profession 

and the administration of justice in general. In 

keeping with this tradition, I crave your indulgence to, 

on behalf of the Bar, make some statements, on the 

state of the Bar, the legal profession in general and 

also state of the nation.” 

Taking an introspective look at the legal year gone 

by, Mahmoud described it by the Latin phrase Annus 

Horribillis – “a year in which the profession will look 

back with ‘undiluted displeasure!” he said. 

He said “We began early in September with scathing 

and uncharitable description of Senior Lawyers 

as ‘Vultures’, followed later in October by the now 

infamous raid and detention of justices of Superior 

Courts with all the ensuing controversies, then the 

tardy succession into the office of the Chief Justice 

and more lately the rumour of an on-going criminal 

investigation involving the leadership of the Court. 

“I have no intention of stirring or raking up any 

wounds. I am sure, much has been learnt from 

these experiences and it is to the positive side I will 

rather turn to.” 

On the state of the bar, the NBA president noted 

that the wrangling that has bedeviled the bar from 

the inception of his administration has been mostly 

internal. 

“Some of our branches have been mired in unnecessary 

leadership tussles. Some of the dramatis 

personae have rebuffed all efforts from our leaders 

to cooperate to resolve these issues. The national 

body was not spared. We have faced unnecessary 

legal challenges in courts. Including unnecessary 

challenge to our Constitution. 

“Leadership quest is now so intense that it leaves 

the impression that, the quest is not about service to 

the profession but for something else. This is hurting 

our image. I am happy to report nonetheless that 

the Trustees of our Association have risen to the occasion 

and have continued to play a salutary role in 

counseling some of our colleagues to allow common 

sense to prevail. 

“On my part and other elected officers of the Association, 

we have remained resolute and focused 

on delivering our mandate. We have been working 

hard with honesty and dedication,” the NBA president 

said. 

“Let me conclude my remarks on the State of Bar 

by once more appealing to our colleagues especially 

those with grievances of whatever nature to sheath 

their swords and join me in the great work we are 

trying to accomplish for the Bar. At our last Annual 

General Meeting after the Conference, the AGM approved 

the appointment of a Constitution Review 

Committee, which has been given the task of looking 

into all the grievances arising from the adoption of the 

2015 NBA Constitution. The committee is headed 

by Mallam Yusuf Ali SAN. I urge you to cooperate 

fully with the committee and submit your views and 

recommendations. Amongst the areas that the committee 

will looking at are: The NBA succession system. 

It is clear that we cannot afford to continue with the 

current system. We must learn from other law societ- 

QUOTE 

The legal year 2016/2017 was our own 

Annus Horribillis 

a year on which we shall certainly look 

back with ‘undiluted displeasure’! 

We began early in September with scathing 

and uncharitable description of Senior 

Lawyers as ‘Vultures’, 

followed later in October by the now 

infamous raid and detention of justices 

of Superior Courts with all the ensuing 

controversies, 

then the tardy succession into the office of 

the Chief Justice and more lately the rumour 

of an on-going criminal investigation 

involving the leadership of the Court. 

I have no intention of stirring or raking up 

any wounds. I am sure, much has been 

learnt from these experiences and it is to 

the positive side I will later turn to. 

ies and bar associations across the world and indeed 

other professional bodies here in Nigeria. 

“Our bar elections have become too acrimonious 

and expensive, involving dangerous crisscrossing 

the country by contestants. They have become 

more akin to political party campaigns and elections 

than of professional bodies. The system is 

undermining discipline in the profession. The committee 

will also look at the existing branch structure 

and make recommendations. I urge all our members 

to avail themselves with the current opportunity 

and let us work together to strengthen the NBA. 

In closing, the NBA President said, “Recent 

pronouncements by the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria, 

Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen, give us hope 

that the preceding 2016/2017 legal year which I 

had earlier described as our own Annus horribilis 

(Undiluted Displeasure) will give way to Annus 

mirabilis, or in simple English a ‘wonderful year’! It 

is our hope that this new legal year will mark a new 

decisive era by which the Judiciary itself takes bold 

and strong measures to regain the full confidence of 

Nigerians.” 

In his remarks, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), 

Hon Justice Walter Onnoghen while 

Conferring 29 legal practitioners with the rank of 

Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) reminded them that 

the rank was only a privilege and can be withdrawn 

if abused. 

“The privilege you are conferred with today is not 

intended as a weapon of intimidation or license for 

rudeness and arrogance,” the CJN said. 

“It is an appointment that places both moral and 

professional duties on you, for which you have been 

found worthy to bear and discharge. As members of 

the Inner Bar, you now occupy positions of trust and 

great responsibility. Expectedly, you must imbibe 

every virtue of excellence, integrity, and diligence at 

all times. You must also remember your duties to the 

Courts as custodians of justice.” 

Among those elevated to the rank of Senior 

Advocate are, Akinlolu Osinbajo, a former Attorney- 

General and Commissioner of Justice in Ogun State 

and the Vice President’s brother; a former Director- 

General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, Prof. 

Adebambo Adewepo, and the Director-General of the 

Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Prof. 

Adedeji Adekunle, 

Others are, Festus Keyamo Olusola Oke, Chibuike 

Nwokeukwu, Johnnie Egwuonwu, Bert Igwilo, Sylvester 

Enema, Ikenna Egbuna, Wilcox Aberton, Michael 

Alliyu, Francis Egele, Nasser Dangiri, Emeka Okpoko, 

Sani Garun-Gabbas, Abdul Ibrahim, John Odubela, 

Gboyega Oyewole and Joshua Musa, Ibrahim Mohammed, 

Ekemejero Ohwovorile,Oyetola Oshobi, 

Sulaiman Usman, Kehinde Ogunwumiju, Chiesonu 

Okpoko and Kamaldeen Ajibade, Enefiok Essien, 

and Sadiq Shikyl.


INDUSTRYFILE 

Mediation seen as future for 

dispute resolution in Nigeria 

The young silk… 

T 

C002D5556 

he Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen 

on Monday this week, swore in 29 lawyers who 

were conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate 

of Nigeria (SAN). Among those sworn in was 37-year old 

Kehinde Olamide Ogunwumiju (pictured above) who is 

the youngest recipient of the prestigious award this year. 

HIS PROFILE 

Kehinde Olamide Ogunwumiju was born on December 

24th 1981 to Justice Helen Moronkeji Ogunwumiju of 

the Court of Appeal and Late Pharmacist Festus Kokumo 

Ogunwumiju. 

He started his early years in Ibadan at Omolewa nursery 

and primary school and proceeded to international School 

Ibadan for secondary education. He graduated from the 

University of Ibadan in 2004 and was called to the Nigerian 

Bar in 2005 

He proceeded to the Northumbria University in England 

for his masters and graduated in 2007. 

He started his career as a Corp Member in AFe Babalola 

chambers (Ibadan office) and later moved to the Abuja 

office and rose to the Enviable position of a Partner in Afe 

Babalola Chambers. He has since been involved in active 

litigation. His areas of specialty include appeals, arbitration, 

criminal litigation and election petitions. 

Olamide is married to Tara Ogunwumiju and they are 

blessed with a Son. 

BUSINESS DAY 


27 

L-R: Osa Abiola Ezekiel, partner, Oakwell Partners; Amina Oyagbola, MD, AKMS Consulting; Caroline Etuk, 

Director,Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse; Opeyemi Oke, Administrative Judge of Lagos High Court; Amanda Bucklow, 

Keynote Speaker from UK; Osarieme Ezekiel, managing partner, Oakwell Partners, and Deji Adekunle, DG, Nigeria 

Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at the conference in Lagos recently. 

CHUKA UROKO 

When experts and sundry stakeholders 

in the profession gathered recently 

for the second edition of the Mediation 

Conference in Lagos recently, insights were 

offered just as concerns were raised on mediation 

as an informal conflict process or mechanism 

for commercial conflicts resolution. 

The mediation conference, an annual 

event orgainsed by Oakwell Partners, a multidisciplinary 

Commercial Law Firm, seeks to 

highlight the advantages and benefits people 

involved in disputes, civil or commercial, 

derive from embracing mediation as against 

litigation in resolving their differences. 

This year’s edition with the theme, ‘Mediation: 

A Core Business Process and Catalyst for 

Growth’, attracted both international and local 

legal professionals including Amanda Bucklow, 

a renowned International Commercial 

Mediator from the United Kingdom who has 

over two decades of mediating complex cross 

border commercial transactions in the private 

and public sector. 

Almost always, mediation is referred to 

as an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 

mechanism, but in her presentation, Bucklow 

debunked that, saying the using of ‘alternative’ 

was wrong. “It is suggestive that the 

mechanism is inferior and or less effective in 

comparison to litigation which is seen as the 

core process to resolving conflict; this perception 

thus sometimes affects its acceptability”, 

she explained. 

She explained further that mediation skill 

could be used to negotiate and assess every 

area of the business process, citing examples 

of mediation skills she had used to promote 

the negotiation and execution of complex 

projects from commencement to completion 

in 12 weeks. According to her, the proper use 

of mediation skill could accelerate and help 

business communities attain their respective 

business goals in a cost-effective way and 

with speed. 

Opeyemi Oke, the Administrative Judge of 

Lagos High Court who represented the Chief 

Judge of Lagos state, Oluwafunmilayo Olajumoke 

Atilade, agreed, stressing that mediation 

was the future for commercial disputes 

resolution in modern societies, and that, more 

than ever before, it has become necessary to 

let the business community understand the 

advantages of using mediation. 

Disputes are expected to arise in a society 

where there are business activities involving 

individual, small scale and medium scale enterprises, 

but in resolving these disputes, they 

should embrace mediation which, Oke said, 

saves time and money and promotes healthy 

and mutual co-existence. 

“Unlike litigation through which huge money 

is lost in the processing of resolving disputes, 

mediation is less expensive, time is also saved 

and used to do other useful things, litigants 

are saved the big and boring jargons from their 

lawyers”, she said, adding that “amicable resolution 

of cases, especially commercial disputes, 

boosts investors confidence in an economy”. 

Oke disclosed that the Lagos State judiciary 

was working out a mechanism aimed to build 

confidence in the state’s justice system, but 

lamented that lawyers were busy looking for 

ways to manipulate the process. “Mediation 

is not taking away your source of income”, he 

assured the lawyers, explaining that it rather 

helps everybody by making ases and their 

settlement easy. 

To succeed in this crusade, Deji Adekunle, 

the Director General of Nigerian Institute of Advanced 

Legal Studies, canvassed mediation skills 

for lawyers. He noted that lawyers were often too 

possessive of case files and would always want 

to keep those files alife for as long as possible. 

Adekunle, a law professor, pointed out 

however that despite the high points of mediation, 

it still has its challenges. “Mediation 

needs the consent of the litigant which some 

people interpret to mean that he has a weak 

case that he is not sure to win”, the professor 

said, adding that the regulatory environment 

is confusing for many sectors of the economy, 

and even the regulators themselves have capacity 

deficit. 

Earlier in her welcome address, Osarieme 

Ezekiel, Oakwewll’s Managing Partner, and a 

UK-accredited mediatior , commended Lagos 

State government for recognising mediation as 

a mainstream justice administration solution. 

She however, advised that mediation should 

not be seen to be supplementary or subsidiary 

to other methods of resolving disputes. “It can 

be and is a holistic mechanism on its own, in 

sync with the courts as validating authority of 

course”, she posited. 

PERSPECTIVE 

Evaluating the regulation... 


correct that illegal structures are sealed and 

demolished from time to time but it is also the 

case that, permits and approvals are obtained 

without following due process, while buildings 

are certified as fit for purpose without the due 

diligence required to be conducted by the 

relevant agencies. 

Registration Procedures 

Generally, ease of registration of title in 

property has been recognized as a contributing 

factor to the promotion of foreign investments 

in developed and developing countries. 

To this end, in 2015, property registration was 

included in the annual World Bank’s Ease of 

doing Business Report as one of the indices 

for ranking participating countries. 

In Nigeria, the process and costs of registration 

of title in land vary from state to state. 

One common factor however is that costs are 

usually high and procedures, cumbersome. 

On matters relating to record-keeping, availability 

of information and costs of registration 

however, Lagos State has advanced beyond 

most states and is worthy of emulation by 

others. Prior to January, 2015, the cost of perfection 

of title was about 15% of the purchase 

price and was reduced to 3% of the “fair market 

value” of the property by an executive order 

of the state government. Essentially however, 

the effect of basing the costs on “fair market 

value” was to reduce the costs within certain 

geographical locations while increasing the 

costs by over 300% in other areas. For one 

thing, whilst the cost of registration is rather 

high and discourages purchasers from taking 

steps to register their title, the level of bureaucracy 

also creates difficulty for many. Not only 

do transferees have to deal with unofficial fees, 

obtaining information on land is sometimes 

more tedious than necessary. Comparatively, 

in Dubai which has a thriving real estate industry, 

information is available at the tick of 

the clock and by law, the cost of registration 

is borne equally by both the seller and the 

buyer, therefore reducing financial burden 

in land acquisitions. Similarly, in the United 

Kingdom, information on required documentation, 

official fees (which are often nominal) 

and procedure can be easily obtained over 

the internet. 

Land Grabbing 

One recurring menace is having to deal 

with hoodlums popularly known as Omo 

Oniles. If you have acquired land or have 

ever constructed a building in Lagos State, 

encountering Omo Oniles is inevitable. They 

are self-proclaimed land owners who take over 

construction sites and unoccupied property 

and harass lawful owners into parting away 

with substantial sums of money in exchange 

for peaceful possession. Their activities have 

remained a recurring nightmare for property 

owners. 

To protect lawful owners from continuous 

harassment and exploitation, the state government, 

on 15th August 2016, passed the Lagos 

State Properties Protection Law into law. The law 

precludes individuals and unauthorized agencies 

from demanding payment for construction 

and also criminalizes the acts of the Omo Oniles. 

The impact of this law is yet to be felt. But time 

will determine whether the law will be effective 

in the final event. 

Waste Management 

Again, Lagos is at the forefront of generating 

waste as it reportedly generates 15,000 metric 

tonnes daily, making it the largest waste producing 

State in Nigeria. Waste Management has been 

one major impediment to the development of 

Lagos state. Scavenging also serves as a source of 

livelihood for many. In highbrow areas like Ikoyi 

and Victoria island, littering streets and dumping 

wastes is not unusual. In line with the Clean 

Lagos Initiative which was introduced to resolve 

these issues, the Environmental Sanitation Law, 

was passed in March 2017. Under the law, issues 

of water generation, drainage maintenance and 

licensing are catered for. Under the Initiative, an 

efficient value chain of waste management and 

environmental protection will be created. 

Conclusion 

It is true that Rome was not built in a day. It is 

interesting to note however that similar to Lagos, 

50 years prior to now, Dubai, was a fishing settlement 

surrounded by creeks. Presently, Dubai 

boasts of a booming real estate and tourism sector, 

being the city with the 3rd highest number of sky 

scrapers in the world, exotic hotels, some of the 

best health facilities, good roads and transportation 

system. Therefore, a mega city is achievable. 

Some will argue that there are insufficient laws 

to deal with the issues highlighted above. But the 

laws exist. It is the efficiency of those laws that is 

lacking due to factors such as corruption, lack 

of political will and the lackadaisical nature 

of some which are inherent in our systems. 

To achieve the much desired status, these 

concerns must be addressed holistically, 

continuously and aggressively. Amidst the 

current socio-economic challenges in Nigeria, 

investors require a highly incentivized and 

efficiently regulated business environment. 

ADERONKE ALEX-ADEDIPE 

STRACHAN PARTNERS

28 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 


GREYMATTER 


Taxability of voluntary pension contributions in Nigeria: Appraising the public notices 

issued by the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service and The Joint Tax Board 

In what appears like coordinated 

efforts against perceived abuse of 

the voluntary pension contribution 

(“VPC”) option, under the 

contributory pension scheme 

(“CPS”) established by the Pension 

Reform Act, 2014 (“PRA”), the Lagos 

State Internal Revenue Service (“LIRS”) 

and the Joint Tax Board (“JTB”) recently 

issued separate Public Notices – “Public 

Notice on Tax Relief on Voluntary 

Pension Contributions” dated August 

21, 2017 and “Public Notice on Abuse 

of Voluntary Pension Contribution 

Scheme” dated August 24, 2017 respectively. 

Whilst both LIRS and JTB (collectively 

referred to in this piece as the 

“tax authorities”) placed reliance on 

Section 16 of the PRA and Section 17 of 

the Personal Income Tax Act (“PITA”) 

(Cap P8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 

2004, as amended), as the legal 

basis for issuing their respective Public 

Notices,; the JTB also relied on Section 

5(7) of the Labour Act (Cap L1, Laws 

of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004) for 

its action. Both tax authorities in their 

respective Public Notices lay claim 

to inherent powers derived from the 

stated sections of the PITA and Labour 

Act, to deem as invalid and as “artificial 

transactions”, withdrawals made in 

breach of the conditions spelt out in 

Section 16 of the PRA; to the effect that 

such withdrawals “will be considered 

to fall outside the tax exemptions 

granted in Section 10(3) of the PRA”. 

The Public Notices vis-à-vis Statutory 

Provisions 

The taxability of the compulsory 

pension contributions and of the 

income earned on voluntary pension 

contributions is determined by the 

provisions of Section 10 of the PRA. 

Section 10(1) includes contributions 

to the Scheme under the PRA as part 

of tax deductible expenses in the computation 

of tax payable by an employer 

or employee under the relevant income 

Tax Law and this is irrespective of the 

provisions of any other Law. Section 

10(2) exempts all interests, dividends, 

profits, investment and other income 

accruable to pension funds and assets 

under the PRA from tax. Section 

10(3) extends the tax exemption to 

any amount payable as a retirement 

benefit under the PRA. Further, Section 

10(4) renders any income earned 

on any voluntary contribution made 

under Section 4(3) of the PRA subject 

to tax at the point of withdrawal where 

the withdrawal is made before the end 

of 5 years from the date the voluntary 

contribution was made. 

Employees are permitted under 

Section 4(3) of the PRA to contribute 

additional portions of their earnings 

as VPC to their retirement savings accounts 

(“RSAs”) maintained with any 

Pension Fund Administrator (“PFA”) 

of their choice. This is distinct from and 

clearly independent of the statutory 

contributions of a minimum of 10% of 

an employee’s monthly emoluments 

by the employer and the minimum of 

8% of the same income stream by the 

employee under the CPS. 

The LIRS and JTB allege in their 

Public Notices incidences of prearranged 

contribution of large portions 

of employees’ emoluments as VPC 

into their RSAs simply as a means of 

avoiding the payment of adequate personal 

income tax, to be subsequently 

withdrawn few years later (sometimes 

before the minimum five years of statutory 

tax holiday) in lump sum. Whilst 

the JTB in its Public Notice directly 

accuses PFAs of marketing the alleged 

pre-arranged uncapped VPCs by 

employees and allowing unrestricted 

withdrawal of same in breach of Section 

16 of the PRA, the LIRS declared 

that it will begin periodic audit of 

PFA-approved withdrawals of VPCs 

by individuals, so as to subject such to 

taxes where they are proven to be in 

violation of the Section 16. 

In specifics, the LIRS states in its 

Public Notice, that; 

any payments made by PFAs to individuals 

that do not meet the relevant 

conditions specified in Section 16 of the 

PRA will be considered to fall outside 

the tax exemption granted in Section 

10(3) thereof; 

the LIRS will periodically audit withdrawals 

of voluntary pension contributions 

authorized by the respective PFAs 

and will be relying on the provisions of 

Section 17 of PITA; 

the LIRS will enforce the law with 

respect to recovery of any tax due which 

will include: applying interest and 

penalties on any resulting tax due on 

the employer under the PAYE scheme 

in line with Paragraph 8 of the Fourth 

Schedule of PITA; 

the LIRS is willing to defend its position 

with each taxpayer or employer 

through the available judicial process; 

a reporting obligation, on an annual 

basis, is placed on individuals claiming 

tax relief on VPC to submit alongside 

their income tax return, a copy of their 

RSA statements for the relevant tax 

year and any other period requested 

by the LIRS. 

Similarly, the JTB Public Notice, in 

addition to deeming payments made 

by PFAs on account of VPCs in breach of 

Section 16 of the PRA as artificial transactions, 

seeks to restrict the amount that 

an employee may contribute as VPC to 

just one-third of the employee’s salary, 

based on the provisions of Section 5(7) 

of the Labour Act. 

Under Section 16 of the PRA, an 

employee who is below the age of 50 

is generally not entitled to make withdrawal 

from his RSA except; 

after having attained the age of 50 

years or where he is permitted in accordance 

with the terms and conditions of 

his employment to do so before attaining 

that age; 

where he retires, disengages or is 

disengaged from employment on the 

advice of a suitably qualified physician 

or a properly constituted medical board 

certifying that he is no longer mentally 

or physically capable of carrying out the 

functions of his office; 

if he suffers from total or permanent 

disability either of the mind or body; and 

where he is out of one employment and 

is unable to secure another employment 

within four (4) months. 

Section 5(7) of the Labour Act limits 

the total amount of deductions an employer 

may make from a worker’s wages 

in a month, for any approved purposes, 

including pension contribution, to one 

third of the wages of the worker for that 

month. 

Section 17(1) of the PITA allows a 

tax authority to disregard or make such 

adjustments to the income of a tax 

payer which counteracts the effects of 

any disposition or transaction where 

it is of opinion that such disposition is 

not in fact given effect to, or that such 

transaction which reduces or would 

reduce the amount of any tax payable 

is artificial or fictitious. 

Issues arising from the Public Notices 

The main issues agitating the mind 

following the Public Notices are simply 

that of propriety and enforceability. The 

positions taken by the tax authorities in 

the Public Notices could face a number 

of legal hurdles and indeed open the 

floodgates of unending litigation, if 

the Public Notices are implemented as 

indicated. 

First, we observe that VPCs as well 

as employer’s and employee’s statutory 

contributions under the CPS are covered 

by the general exemption of pension 

contributions from taxes provided 

in Section 10(1) of the PRA. This tax exempt 

status also extends to all interests, 

dividends, profits, investment and other 

income accruable to pension funds 

and assets (inclusive of VPCs as well as 

employer’s and employee’s statutory 

contributions) except income earned on 

VPCs where withdrawal is made from 

the VPC by an employee within 5 years 

from the date of the voluntary contribution. 

In this respect a distinction is made 

between the VPC itself (as a form of 

pension contribution) and the income 

accruing therefrom. Therefore, where 

the withdrawal is made from the VPC 

after 5 years from the date of the voluntary 

contribution albeit in contravention 

of section 16 of the PRA, it seems there 

would be no legal and valid basis for 

subjecting either the amount of the VPC 

withdrawal or the value of the income 

earned on same to any form of tax. Also, 

where such withdrawal is made before 

the expiration of 5 years from the date of 

the voluntary contribution, it does not 

appear that the provisions of section 10 

of the PRA permits imposition of tax on 

such withdrawal. According to section 

10(4), only income earned on such VPC 

can be subjected to tax. 

Second, it would appear that the 

tax authorities presume that Section 

16 of the PRA sets exhaustive rules for 

withdrawals from RSAs and subjects 

to tax any withdrawal made otherwise 

than in accordance with its provisions. 

However, a closer scrutiny of Section 16 

would show that the section generally 

provides for the circumstances under 

which withdrawals may be made from 

the RSA and does not in any manner 

attempt to specifically set rules for 

VPC withdrawals. It is admitted that 

since VPCs are deposited in RSA, any 

withdrawal therefrom would amount 

to withdrawal from an RSA which will 

come within the ambit of Section 16 

of PRA. However, it is doubtful that the 

tax authorities can apply Section 16 to 

override Section 10(4) such that any 

withdrawal made in contravention of 

Section 16 will be subject to tax or that 

income earned from VPC will be subject 

to tax where the withdrawal was made 

after 5 years of the voluntary contribution. 

This is especially so, in light of the 

fact that Section 10(1) of the PRA commences 

with the phrase “Notwithstanding 

the provision of any other law…” 

Third, a deeper look at Section 5(7) 

of the Labour Act raises some concerns 

as to its applicability to the issue at 

hand. Though the section rightly limits 

the total allowable deductions from 

the monthly wages of a worker to onethird 

of the wages of the worker for that 

month, it is doubtful if such limit can be 

extended to voluntary contributions. It 

would appear that such limit is intended 

to be a statutory shield for workers in 

respect of permissible mandatory deductions 

to which their wages may be 

subjected and such deductions seem 

to be restricted to those listed in the 

preceding subsections – reasonable 

amount of fines for injury or loss caused 

to the employer by the willful misconduct 

or neglect of the worker; pension 

contribution such as is obligated under 

the CPS; membership dues to any 

recognized trade unions; and refund of 

overpayment of wages. Therefore, since 

VPCs are being made by the worker as 

a means of savings (employers would 

only be involved as mechanism for effecting 

the payment), they do not fall 

within the category of “deductions” 

covered by the said Section 5 of the 

Labour Act and a worker cannot be 

legally restricted from making voluntary 

personal savings from his legally 

earned income nor can the amount of 

such savings be capped. 

Further regarding the applicability 

of Section 5 of the Labour Act, the 

definition of a “worker” under Section 

91(1) of the Labour Act clearly excludes 

certain cadre of employees from the 

ambit of the Act. These are: 

any person employed otherwise 

than for the purposes of the employer’s 

business; or persons exercising 

administrative, executive, technical 

or professional functions as public 

officers or otherwise; or members of 

the employer’s family; or representatives, 

agents and commercial travelers 

in so far as their work is carried on 

outside the permanent workplace of 

the employer’s establishment; or any 

person to whom articles or materials 

are given out to be made up, cleaned, 

washed, altered, ornamented, finished, 

repaired or adapted for sale in his own 

home or on other premises not under 

the control or management of the 

person who gave out the articles or 

the material; or any person employed 

in a vessel or aircraft to which the laws 

regulating merchant shipping or civil 

aviation apply;”. 

So, with the various exemptions 

created under Section 91(1), it is doubtful 

if the JTB can validly apply its Public 

Notice to the generality of employees 

as intended. 

Fourth, and finally, while it appears 

the tax authorities have some 

measure of discretionary powers under 

Section 17(1) of the PITA, to classify any 

disposition as artificial or fictitious and 

the relationship existing between an 

employee and an employer on the one 

hand and that between an employee, an 

employer and a PFA on the other, both fall 

within the purview of the wide discretion 

granted under Section 17(3)(b), it is not 

clear whether pension contributions, 

which are usually not taxable in many 

jurisdictions globally, in order to encourage 

savings and stimulate provident 

funds among the populace; could validly 

be grouped with the certain transactions 

affected by Section 17(3)(b) of PITA. 

Furthermore, employers of labour cannot 

be compelled to stop withdrawals of 

VPCs by their employees as the individual 

employee’s RSA is completely outside 

the control of the employer. At any rate, it 

would appear difficult for tax authorities 

to singlehandedly impose penalties for 

any deemed breach of the conditions for 

permissible withdrawals under Section 

16 of the PRA (against any erring PFA or 

possibly against an employee under the 

CPS), without the involvement of the National 

Pension Commission (“PenCom”), 

the regulatory authority for the pension 

industry in Nigeria. 

Concluding Remarks 

The objectives of the Public Notices 

issued on withdrawal of VPCs by the tax 

authorities are clear and understandable. 

Simply, they aim at; curbing the 

alleged abuse of the VPC scheme; reducing 

the rate of tax avoidance among 

income earners and blocking revenue 

leakages for the government; achieving 

the overall purpose of adopting the CPS 

model of provident fund which is steady, 

stable and secure future savings; and 

implementing the recently launched 

National Tax Policy (“NTP”). 

As laudable as these objectives are, 

it is our opinion that enforcement of the 

Public Notices will face stiff challenges 

as to their legality or of steps proposed 

therein. We therefore advise the tax authorities 

to collaborate with other stakeholders 

towards initiating legislative 

reforms for streamlining the connected 

statutes such as the PRA, PITA and Labour 

Act and other relevant statutes with 

a view to providing the required legal 

framework for the current tax-revenue 

drive of the government and plugging 

any identified loopholes being utilized 

in tax avoidance schemes. This is certainly 

more expedient than embarking 

on a course of action that is likely to 

result in unending distractive litigation 

that is likely to trail any enforcement 

of compliance with the Public Notices 

and the attendant expenditure of time 

and resource. 

The Grey Matter Concept is an 

initiative of the law firm, Banwo & 

Ighodalo 

DISCLAIMER: This article is only 

intended to provide general information 

on the subject matter and does 

not by itself create a client/attorney 

relationship between readers and 

our Law Firm. Specialist legal advice 

should be sought about the readers’ 

specific circumstances when they 

arise.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

29


C002D5556 Thursday 21 September 2017 

TechTalk 

Innovation Apps Fin-Tech Start-up Gadgets Ecommerce IOTs Broadband Infrastructure Bank IT Security 

Nigeria, 4 others to account for over 40% 

of global smartphone connections in 2020 

FRANK ELEANYA 

By 2020, countries 

such as Nigeria, 

India, China, Indonesia 

and Pakistan 

will account 

for 40 percent of projected 1.6 

billion new smartphone connections, 

according to a new 

research by the intelligence 

unit of GSMA. 

GSMA Intelligence, an arm 

of GSM Association, is a global 

provider of mobile operator 

data, analysis and forecasts. 

In its latest report ‘Global 

Mobile Trends 2017’, the research 

firm noted that smartphones 

account for over half 

of total connections globally, 

as two-thirds of the global 

populations are now mobile 

subscribers. 

Growth however has not 

measured up with expectations, 

if anything, it is slowing 

down. According to the report, 

it took four years to move from 

4 billion to 5 billion mobile 

subscribers in second quarter 

of 2017 and it might take longer 

to reach 6 billion. 

Nevertheless, there are 

many bright spots for emerging 

markets in the future of 

smartphone connections. 

GSMA Intelligence projects 

that an additional 620 

million subscribers will be 

What to know 

before upgrading your 

Apple device to iOS 11 

Nokia 8 debuts with ZEISS optics, dual-sight mode, OZO audio 

CALEB OJEWALE 

The season of new 

(flagship) phone announcements 

does 

not appear to be over, at 

least not yet as HMD Global 

has announced the release 

of Nokia 8. The phone is the 

first new generation Nokia 

Smartphone to feature ZEISS 

optics, also spotting a dualsight 

mode that allows users 

to ‘tell both sides of the story 

with real-time live streaming’, 

and features the Nokia OZO 

spatial 360° audio. 

A statement by HMD, 

detailing the phone’s specifications, 

stated that the 

Nokia 8 has been designed 

from the ground up with the 

consumer in mind to deliver 

unique content capture and 

sharing experiences. This requires 

it to be as meticulously 

designed on the inside as it is 

on the outside. To keep your 

phone working harder for 

added by 2020. The emerging 

markets will be responsible 

for 40 percent of the increase. 

“Lower cost smartphones 

from local manufacturers 

such as Huawei, Oppo, One- 

Plus and Xiaomi in China, 

Micromax in India, and now 

AfriOne in Nigeria” is seen to 

be addressing the affordability 

problems in these markets. 

The researchers at GSMA 

projects that nearly one billion 

people will connect their 

mobile phones to access the 

internet by 2020. Again, Africa 

is expected to grow rapidly in 

this area. 

The report acknowledges 

that despite near saturation 

longer, the design, innovation 

and engineering teams 

worked hand-in-hand to deliver. 

The result is a full-length 

graphite shielded copper 

cooling pipe that dissipates 

the heat generated by the high 

performing system across 

the full length and breadth 

of the handset. The Nokia 8 

runs cooler in even the most 

demanding situations. 

Nokia 8 is Qualcomm® 

Quick ChargeTM 3.0 compatible, 

meaning when your 

battery is running low you 

can get back to recording your 

important moments sooner. 

Joseph Umunakwe, general 

manager, West, East and 

Central Africa, HMD Global, 

said of the phone’s release: 

“We know that fans are creating 

and sharing live content 

more than ever before, with 

millions of photos and videos 

shared every minute on social 

media. People are inspired 

by the content they consume 

of smartphone adoption and 

data usage in many advance 

markets, half of the world still 

lack access or are not on the 

internet at all. 

The developing countries 

accounts for majority of the 

estimated 3.7 billion people 

that are not using the internet. 

In fact, India and sub-Saharan 

Africa share the bulk of 42% 

of the world’s unconnected, 

“with more than 60 percent 

of their respective populations 

not yet on the internet.” 

“The largely rural populations 

and lack of fixed line 

infrastructure make extending 

coverage a longstanding challenge 

for many developing 

and are looking for new ways 

to create their own. It’s these 

people who have inspired us 

to craft a flagship Smartphone 

which perfectly balances premium 

design, an outstanding 

experience and powerful 

performance.” 

The Dual-Sight feature of 

Nokia 8, with support from 

countries,” The report stated. 

It further noted that, 

around a third of the 3.7 billion 

people that lack internet 

access live outside a 3G or 4G 

signal and so could be considered 

excluded because they 

do not have strong network 

coverage. 

Challenges like affordability, 

content relevance, literacy 

skills and gender factors make 

up the limitations in the unconnected 

regions. Africa lies 

at the base of internet penetration 

on the global map. 

And for Africa, a major 

limitation is locally a relevant 

content which needs to support 

hundreds of dialects. 

the Qualcomm Spectra 180 

ISP, is designed to help users 

“create and share the full 

picture”. The front and rearfacing 

cameras on the Nokia 8 

have been co-developed with 

ZEISS optics for an optimum 

all round experience. Content 

creators can natively broadcast 

their unique #Bothie sto- 

CALEB OJEWALE 

Apple’s scheduled 

update for the iOS 

11 this Tuesday will 

on one hand offer users 

an array of new features 

and enhancements, and at 

the same time, may cause 

some apps to stop working 

with the removal of support 

for 32-bit apps. 

In essence, many of 

the existing apps on the 

iPhone or iPad won’t work 

if iOS 11 is installed, unless 

developers upgrade their 

apps for compatibility. 

To check if your existing 

apps are not compatible 

with iOS 11, go to Settings 

General About Applications. 

There you will see a 

list of applications that are 

not going to survive the 

transition; at least not unless 

their developers decide 

to fix compatibility issues in 

a future update. However, if 

there aren’t any apps showing, 

then it means all apps 

are up to date and compatible 

with iOS 11. 

It should be noted that 

iOS 11 won’t purge incompatible 

apps from your deries 

to social media through 

the Dual-Sight functionality 

located within the camera 

app. Fans can also enjoy unlimited 

photo and video uploads 

to Google Photos. 

The Nokia 8 also features 

OZO Audio, which combines 

three microphones with exclusive 

Nokia acoustic algovices, 

instead they won’t 

launch — unless/until 

they get an update fix. 

iOS 11 will be available 

on the recently unveiled 

iPhones (8, 8s and X), and 

it will be compatible with 

the following models of 

iPhone, iPad and iPod. 

iPhone: 5s, 6, 6 Plus, 

6s, 6s Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 

8 Plus, X 

iPad: 5th generation 

(2017); Mini 2, 3 and 4; 

all Air models and all Pro 

Models 

iPod Touch: 6th generation 

(2015) 

Unfortunately, iPhone 

5 and iPhone 5c will not be 

able to get iOS 11. Apple is 

also dropping support for 

the 2012 iPad 4. 

Key features in iOS 11 

will include a redesigned 

control centre, the ability 

to screen record, and later 

the ability to make payments 

to friends in iMessage 

via Apple Pay. iOS 11 

is also introducing a Do 

Not Disturb while Driving 

mode, which is aimed at 

removing the temptation 

for motorists to look at 

their iPhone when behind 

the wheel. 

rithms to capture audio with 

immersive 360° spatial surround 

sound. Users can share 

4K videos with OZO Audio 

anywhere – binaural codecs 

enable high fidelity playback 

even on devices without OZO 

Audio. Leading-edge 360° 

audio capture ensures the 

playback lets users truly relive 

the moment so that memories 

can be preserved quite 

accurately. 

HMD describes the new 

Nokia 8 as; a high performance, 

beautifully crafted 

Smartphone, designed with 

content creators in mind. 

It brings three world-firsts 

to Android smart phones, 

including a debut collaboration 

with ZEISS optics. With 

performance and pure Android 

at its heart, as well as the 

most advanced aluminium 

unibody design to date, the 

Nokia 8 represents all the 

hallmarks of a true flagship 

Nokia Smartphone. 

Team: Frank Eleanya, frank.eleanya@businessdayonline.com; Caleb Ojewale , caleb.ojewale@businessdayonline.com


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

31 

GARDEN CITY BUSINESS DIGEST 

Airports as cash cows: 

PH investors hail airport handover, demand 

for action on PH International Airport 

- Urge army, agitators to save the region’s economy 


Investors in Port Harcourt 

have hailed the resolve of 

the federal government 

to hand over two key airports 

in Nigeria to private 

managers. The announcement 

was made last week by the vice 

president, Yemi Osinbajo.over 

airports in Lagos and Abuja. 

Reacting, the president of the 

Rivers Entrepreneurs and Investors 

Forum (REIF), Ibifri Bobmanuel, 

who just returned from 

a month-long vacation abroad 

said it appeared the FG woke up 

to the reality that the private sector 

is the key. “If they eventually 

cristalise the deal, they would 

exit payment of humongous staff 

salaries. The private sector would 

manage the staff and the assets as 

a business. Then, they would at 

that point know that they must 

make profit.” 

He went on: “Those airports 

are major cash cows everywhere 

in the world. We have not been 

able to scratch the surface of 

the potentials of those airports. 

I weep whenever I pass through 

those airports because one can 

make huge revenue from them, 

but because the system is programmed 

to fail, you find out 

that they always turn out as major 

drain pipes in the system.” 

Bobmanuel commended the 

minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, 

as a man with a vision. “He is selfless. 

This singular action shows 

how selfless he is. We should all 

Port Harcourt by Boat 

With 


Is Port Harcourt truly the melting 

pot of Nigeria’s food cultures, the 

oldest food taste destination? 

Should Nigeria’s food brand 

eventually emerge, would it likely be 

something out of Port Harcourt pots? 

Kenneth George Kalio, a strategy consultant 

with a bias for food discovery 

and tastes believes Port Harcourt 

should lead Nigeria and Africa in foods 

and tastes. The strategist with interest 

in lifestyle says an upcoming international 

food show, ‘FoodieRevolution’, 

would decide the contest and would 

convince doubters. 

On tastes, Kalio believes that Rivers 

State offers a strong variety of food 

tastes because of variety and integration 

of national and international 

tastes that converge over the years. 

Rivers is a confluence of tastes, uniting 

food tastes from Cross River, Akwa 

Ibom, and other nearby food cultures. 

Here, ‘afang and edikaikom’ soups 

may ring bells. These have gradually 

shifted from the Akwa Ibom and Cross 

River axis to PH, the food headquarters 

of the Niger Delta. 

Popular foods include ‘bole’ which 

he says was learnt from Western Nigeria 

(plantain with ground nut) but 

PH introduced fish to make it plantain 

with fish. It is now an important food 

taste sought after by many. “We intend 

to promote this brand. Now, the new 

craze is plantain with chicken. The 

craze is coming from Cross River and 

Akwa Ibom axis (AkwaCross taste). 

There is native soup that is popular in 

this zone, full of sea foods.” 

He says food has gone far beyond 

something for survival but now a 

lifestyle. It is not just for people to eat 

but some go as far as cuddling their 

food, snapping with it, sharing photos 

of what they just ate, etc. It is now a 

social matter. Some may even use it 

to demonstrate social symbol. It is 

now for the cameras. Some record the 

cooking process and show off with it. 

Is there a revolution in foods? He 

says; ‘Food is now a serious product, 

L-R: Ibifiri Bobmanuel and Gov Nyesom Wike 

encourage him regardless of your 

political or other affiliations, we 

should support those few that 

are selfless.” 

REIF said the action has 

brought to the fore the sorry state 

of the Port Harcourt International 

Airport at Omagwa. “What comes 

to mind is; why is Pot Harcourt 

not being concessions. Looking 

at the state of PH Airport, you will 

agree with me that they should 

crystalise the agreement with 

Inter-Bua Nigeria Limited that is 

building that particular airport. 

From the little I know as the 

President of the Investors Forum, 

the Ministry has released payment 

to the contractor. We know 

this because we have engaged 

with the Ministry (Minister) and 

Inter Bua, as part of our humble 

efforts. We did this because it is 

always a sorry sight when you 

come to a state as strategic as 

Rivers State in Nigeria with an 

international airport in that sorry 

state. It is always working against 

the progress of our businesses in 

this part of Nigeria. The minister 

gave us his word on mobilizing 

the contractor. True to his word, 

the ministry did. The contractor 

confirmed that they had given 

him some form of payment. That 

is why there is some form of work, 

but we are not comfortable with 

the amount of work put into the 

airport job. We do not expect that 

work to last more than one year 

from date of payment but we are 

running into almost six months 

and we can’t see anything tangible 

being done.’ 

The investor promised a 

return to both the Ministry and 

Inter Bua to ascertain what is 

going on so that PH can follow 

suit. “PH Airport must be concessioned 

just the way the others 

are being treated. It opens up PH 

and indeed the Niger Delta to the 

world. No investor comes into a 

place to invest through a shabby 

airport made up of tents. It is 

enough disincentive but knowing 

the minister of aviation as a man 

who knows what he does, good 

results would surely come out.” 

The FG must fall back on concessionng. 

“This is because all of 

the infrastructures are major cash 

cows. Government has proved to 

be a bad business man. It is only 

in a communist society where 

you see a government trying to 

run everything. Even Russia it is 

no longer in fashion. In the UK, 

you find out that one of the major 

airports is run by a Nigerian. Why 

is it that back home here, we suffer 

at the airports. Some of the 

air-conditioners are not working 

and the government would be 

losing revenue. We think what 

the minister has done is to take 

the bull by the horn. We all should 

support him to see that this policy 

is successful to create a model for 

all other airport to follow.” 

some with branding and an identity. 

Technology has been introduced into 

the processing, the packaging, and 

designs. You can order food online 

and a meal is delivered to you”. The 

food show is going to be international 

because of the expected presence 

of chefs and other stakeholders in 

the food business resident in Port 

Harcourt expected to participate to 

represent their countries. “It is going 

to be a platform for national and 

international residents from as far 

as the US, India, Lebanon, China to 

showcase their food and taste brands.” 

Nigeria may not be there yet as 

a food brand power. The Jollof Rice 

controversy shows it. Nigeria made 

Jollof Rice popular but Senegal and 

Ghana are important. 

Where is food heading to; to tastes, 

nutrition or health concerns? He answers 

thus: “Food adventurists still 

care much about taste but the elderly 

care more about health foods. Nutrition 

is intended for children for their 

development and growth. The driving 

age is 15 to 45 years and they control 

60 per cent of Nigeria’s population. 

Thus, this is the happening age that 

drives the food industry.” 

The food festival is the second so 

far in the Garden City. There will be a 

showcase of top chefs with exquisite 

cuisines, local and continental dishes 

Violence: 

The REIF president whose efforts 

have brought together entrepreneurs 

in PH and Aba expressed 

sadness over recent acts if violence 

in the two states. “The first thing 

that comes to mind is that businesses 

don’t thrive under chaos. 

So, the security agencies should 

try as much as possible not to 

spark off crisis. There should be no 

overzealousness. For the agitators, 

they should not take laws into their 

hands. Use the proper avenues 

to channel your grievances, be 

law-abiding. The army should 

rise above he circumstances and 

show to any agitating group in 

Nigeria that they are impartial in 

their actions. This endears them 

to the masses.” 

He went on: “If the court 

by various food vendors, display of 

drinks, exciting competitions, professional 

master classes, and sessions 

on food ethics from nutritionists, and 

food technologists. There will also be 

live shows with lots of entertainment, 

from October 14, 2017. PH is a city 

trying to celebrate the food culture. 

Kalio says culture influences food and 

affects culinary types. Port Harcourt is 

a melting pot of cultures and that has 

also helped to melt different food pots 

into a cosmopolitan taste. This started 

to die, but Kalio and group want to 

revive and promote it because there is 

a rich presence of many food cultures. 

Pleasure Park, newly opened, was 

chosen for obvious reasons. “It is to 

explore the openness and ambiance 

that it offers on a busy avenue. The 

first edition held at the Hotel Presidential 

but this year, we want external 

activities which would go well at the 

Pleasure Park.’ 

Experts wonder about the true 

driver of the food and taste industry. 

Kalio says; “The private sector 

practices food but the public sector 

regulates it. Inspection may not be 

very competent but there are agencies 

(NAFDAC, SON) that have for 

years taken strong stance on ensuring 

that foods do not violate mandated 

levels of content. They look after the 

processing and they have always put 

orders his arrest, so be it. There 

should be no singular attention 

to one individual. It sends 

wrong signals as if he is being 

victimized. Nnamdi Kanu 

should learn to live within the 

confines. Ireland has been 

fighting for a referendum for 

long; they have tried violent 

methods but now it is done 

peacefully and it has gone 

higher than where the violent 

agitators left it. Let IPOB leaders 

understand they must learn 

to respect the law. Violence 

could deter investors into that 

region. This is how we keep 

shooting ourselves in the foot. 

That is my discomfort in the 

way we carry ourselves. We 

must imbibe the language of 

business. You attract investors 

by securing your territory and 

investors would naturally gravitate 

toward you. You need to 

put the right indices on ground; 

else, you are chasing shadows.” 

He revealed; “The south-east 

is the hub of commerce but it 

seems not to achieve this lofty 

standard because the leaders 

there have failed to do the needful. 

That is why you have other 

parts of the country accelerating 

ahead of them. The leaders 

should rise and call themselves to 

order to attract businesses coming 

into Nigeria to come to that 

part. I think the south east is the 

heartbeat of Africa because if that 

particular region is humming, 

that would be the springboard 

for things to get into Africa and 

the world.” 

Is Port Harcourt the food taste confluence? 

their feet down on alcohol issues. 

The private sector cares for market 

share and so improves its brands to 

meet competition. They are scared of 

brand injury. They try to protect their 

customers knowing that they would 

lose the market if crisis or scandals 

occur. Commercialism may be there 

but the regulatory agencies ensure 

health guarantees. The producers 

are aware that consumers will retrace 

their steps knowing that crisis can 

cause repulses.” 

Expectations seem to be high at 

the Food Revolution. “If the many 

food vendors and practitioners in the 

Garden City can see this as an opportunity 

to come out and showcase their 

fares. They have variety and should 

come out for enlightenment. The 

aim is to help Nigeria food taste and 

brands to go continental just as Italian 

food, French foods, Chinese, etc. 

We crave to see Nigerian foods such 

as foo-foo being prepared and served 

at international restaurants by other 

nationals. There is the objective of 

creating food standards in restaurants 

across the city so visitors can notice 

what can be called Port Harcourt 

standards in preparing and serving 

foods and the varieties that are created 

in the Garden city. There is need 

for huge food turnout to reflect the 

relevance of taste in the south-south.



C002D5556


Africa will become the food basket of the world... 


rica, to hear Africa’s richest man, 

Aliko Dangote, and Rwandan 

president, Paul Kagame, openly 

converse on Africa’s opportunities 

and challenges. 

Both leaders underscored 

the ongoing movement to diversify 

African economies. In 

the case of Nigeria, Africa’s 

largest economy, Dangote stated 

“we should pray that oil prices 

remain low. This helps wean us 

off the dependency on revenues 

from petroleum. We must take 

oil to be the icing on the cake. We 

already have the cake,” he added. 

In addition to agriculture, 

Dangote cited Nigeria’s vast mineral 

resources and gas, as well 

and the need to manufacture 

more goods locally for domestic 

consumption. Both he and President 

Kagame cited continued 

need for heavy investments in 

education and connected the 

need for young people to be well 

trained for the jobs of tomorrow. 

Dangote predicted that “five 

of the twelve million jobs needed 

in Africa soon must be created 

in Nigeria.” 

Dangote’s fortune which 

stems from cement, sugar, and 

other household commodities, 

has expanded into fertilizer 

and other processed high-value 

goods. “Technology of course 

helps us a lot and our factories 

L-R: Omar Shekarau, general manager, north, Bank of Industry (BoI); Olukayode Pitan, managing director, 

BoI; Muhammad Sanusi, Emir of Kano, and Joseph Babatunde, general manager, large enterprise, BoI, during 

the bank’s visit to the Emir in Kano. 

FG bars discretionary oil bloc awards in marginal... 


idle because some of the bidders 

who acquired divested assets, 

lacked financial and technical 

competence to run them, said 

Osten Olorunshola, chairman, 

Energy Institute, Nigeria and former 

director in DPR, at an oil and 

gas conference last year. 

Discretionary award of licenses, 

violates global best practices 

and also negates the Extractive 

Industry Transparency Initiative, 

(EITI) of which Nigeria is a 

signatory. 

This provision has been prohibited 

in the Petroleum Industry 

Governance Bill (PIGB) passed by 

the Senate in May this year. The 

bill still awaiting passage in the 

are state of the art, with the use 

of robotics but we shouldn’t be 

overly tech oriented to create 

wealth,” he told investors. 

Dangote, who is often cited 

as one of the most inspiring 

business leaders in the world 

today and a model for young 

entrepreneurs, offered advice 

to Americans who tend to rely 

on outdated news and wrong 

perceptions of Africa, “Don’t be 

lazy. Go there and find the real 

story for yourself. Things have 

changed.” 

Dangote noted the Rwanda 

success story, where he has 

business interests, is an example 

of positive change, good governance 

and leadership, and where 

corruption has been cured. He 

cited a personal experience of 

offering a $100 US tip for services 

at the Kigali Airport to staff who 

refused to take money for work 

they were paid to do. President 

Kagame was praised for delivering 

the environment for growth 

he promised. “There is nothing 

African about corruption,” the 

Rwandan president added. 

The session was moderated 

by Rosa Whitaker, former US 

Trade Representative and author 

of the AGOA (African Growth 

Opportunity Act), whose business 

consultancy is credited for 

helping both African governments 

and US companies. 

House of Representative before 

being sent to the President for assent, 

vests approval for allocation 

of oil blocs in a new regulator, the 

Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory 

Commission (NRPC). 

The NRPC now has the power 

to issue, modify, amend, extend, 

suspend, review, cancel and reissue, 

revoke and / or terminate 

upstream licences made in compliance 

with applicable laws and 

regulations of the country. 

DPR admitted there are plans 

to conduct oil bidding rounds, 

but these exercises would only be 

conducted when the agency has 

been given requisite authorisation 

by the Minister of Petroleum 

Resources, to submit operational 

C002D5556 

Jim Ovia recognised in America as Africa’s... 


General Assembly in New York, 

the United States. He was recognised 

for impacting hugely on 

enterprise and human resource 

development on the continent. 

Ovia, founding Group Managing 

Director and CEO of Nigeria’s 

largest bank, was honoured 

along with President Nana 

Akufo-Addo of Ghana (National 

Achievement); Nicole Amarteifio, 

(Leadership in African 

Media and Arts); and Bozoma 

Saint-John, Chief Brand Officer, 

UBER (Innovation & Technology) 

as Africa’s best. 

The Africa-America Institute 

was set up in 1953 to help 

increase Africa’s human capacity 

for development, through 

training and education and 

recognizes Africans who have 

demonstrated remarkable 

achievements in various fields, 

the intention being to present 

the award winners at the high 

profile stage of the UN General 

Assembly, as representatives of 

the great work going on in Africa. 

The AAI awards, which is 

announced annually and showcases 

Africa’s best, has honoured 

individuals who are working to 

fulfill AAI’s mission of increasing 

Africa’s human capacity for 

development and promoting engagement 

between the African 

continent and America. 

The awards are presented 

at a special gala night bringing 

together African Heads of State 

and diplomats, international 

guidelines and technical frameworks 

with which to midwife the 

process. 

The agency further said that 

when such approvals have been 

secured, appropriate mechanism 

would be activated to properly 

appraise interested participants 

and investors, within Nigeria and 

the international community, 

as to how the process would be 

managed, reminiscent of the transparency 

and openness that have 

become sacrosanct guiding principles 

of the current administration. 

Nigeria is planning to conduct 

bid rounds for its marginal fields 

to raise funds to mitigate a slump 

in crude earnings and finance the 

N7.4 trillion, 2017 budget. 

Marginal fields are undeveloped 

discoveries located in oil 

Jim Ovia 

and senior U.S. government officials, 

business and civil society 

leaders, educators, journalists, 

philanthropists and other prominent 

figures who are working towards 

advancing economic and 

development progress in Africa. 

Ovia was at the helm of affairs 

at Zenith Bank, from inception, 

for 20 years, until his resignation 

in July, 2010 but was reappointed 

the Chairman of the bank in 

2014. He was a member of the 

National Economic Management 

Team of Nigeria and he 

is a member of the Honorary 

International Investors’ Council. 

Jim Ovia is a philanthropist 

and the founder and proprietor 

of James Hope College, Agbor, 

Delta State. His foundation, the 

Jim Ovia Foundation, which 

focuses on providing scholarship 

to the less-privileged, has a 

number of beneficiaries that are 

now qualified medical doctors, 

engineers, etc. 

He is also the founder of 

several enterprises and philanthropic 

institutions, including 

the Youth Empowerment & ICT 

Foundation, which focuses on 

improving the socio-economic 

welfare of Nigerian youths by 

empowering them to embrace 

Information and Communication 

Technology. 

In recognition of his achievements, 

particularly in support 

of the Nigerian economy, Jim 

Ovia was conferred with the 

national award of Commander 

of the Order of the Niger (CON) 

in November, 2011. 

Jim Ovia holds a Master’s 

degree in Business Administration 

(MBA) from the University 

of Louisiana, Louisiana, USA 

(1979) and a B.Sc. degree in 

Business Administration from 

Southern University, Louisiana, 

USA (1977). He is an alumnus of 

Harvard Business School (OPM). 

blocks held by oil majors operating 

in the country. A total of 30 

marginal field licenses have been 

awarded since the policy was introduced 

in Nigeria, of which the 

current licensees, only around 12 

fields have reached commercial 

production. While a bid round 

was proposed for 2013, it never 

held and the guidelines did not 

take effect. 

As at 2016, four oil mining 

leases (OMLs) and 24 oil petroleum 

leases (OPLs) have expired. 

In the next five years, 47 OMLs 

will be expiring, while 27 OPLs 

will be available for renewal. The 

DPR has not said which blocks 

would be up for bids and when, 

and as can be deduced from the 

agency’s public notice, neither 

do they. 

BUSINESS DAY 

33 

NEWS 

Briefs 

Toshiba to sell chip unit for $18bn to plug losses 

Toshiba has sold its prized 

semiconductor business to a 

group led by US private equity 

firm Bain Capital in a bid to keep 

its struggling business afloat. 

The $18bn (£13.3bn) deal 

is designed to cover billions 

of dollars of losses incurred in 

Toshiba’s US nuclear unit. 

US markets calm as Fed outcome looms 

US markets opened little 

moved on Wednesday, as investors 

awaited the outcome of 

the latest policy meeting by the 

Federal Reserve. 

In the opening minutes, the 

Dow Jones rose 4.96 points or 

0.02% to 22,375.76, while the 

wider S&P 500 index gained 1.92 

points or 0.08% to 2,508.57. 

NotPetya cyber-attack cost TNT at least $300m 

Delivery company FedEx 

says a recent cyber-attack cost 

its TNT division about $300m 

(£221m). 

The company was one of 

several to have its computer systems 

severely disrupted by the 

NotPetya ransomware outbreak 

in June. 

HTC shares suspended on Google takeover rumours 

Shares in the Taiwanese 

smartphone firm HTC will 

be suspended from trading 

on Thursday amid rumours 

Google’s parent Alphabet is 

planning a takeover. 

The company issued a statement 

in response to a report in 

the China Times, and a request 

from the Taiwanese Stock Exchange. 

Rise in female workers suppressing wages, says OECD 

A rise in the employment rate 

for women since 2008 is holding 

back wage growth globally, the 

OECD has told the BBC. 

Chief economist Catherine 

Mann said women were paid less 

in general, while male employment 

rates remained weak, and 

that this had skewed the figures. 

Waymo seek $2.6b from Uber for one trade secret 

Alphabet Inc’s Waymo unit 

is seeking about $2.6 billion 

from Uber for the alleged theft 

of one of several trade secrets 

in a lawsuit over self-driving 

cars, a lawyer for Uber said on 

Wednesday. 

Uber Technologies Inc attorney 

Bill Carmody disclosed 

the figure in a hearing in federal 

court in San Francisco, where 

both companies are discussing 

whether a trial in the case will 

begin next month. 

Pfizer files suit against J&J over Remicade contracts 

Drugmaker Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) 

on Wednesday filed a lawsuit 

against Johnson & Johnson 

(JNJ.N), saying its rival’s contracts 

with health insurers for 

blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis 

drug, Remicade, were anticompetitive 

and blocked sales of 

Pfizer’s new biosimilar.



C002D5556


Nigeria‘s economic recovery looks up as oil price reaches below $56 per barrel 

OLUSOLA BELLO with agency report 

EFCC recovers N409bn, $69m in 8 

months, secures 137 convictions 


Economic and Financial 

Crimes Commission 

(EFFC) recovered 

N409.270 

billion between January and 

August this year, according 

to its chairman, Ibrahim 

Magu. Magu said about 

$69.501 million, €610,816, 

£231,118, AED443,400, and 

SR70,500 were also recovered 

within the period. 

Speaking at the 20th anniversary 

of the Finance 

Correspondents Association 

of Nigeria (FICAN), in Abuja 

on Tuesday, he also said the 

commission had secured 

137 convictions this year. 

The EFCC boss said that 

Entrepreneurship 

as an instrument 

of development for 

any society involves 

the initiation, organisation 

and management of a business 

venture along with its 

inherent risks. 

This involves capacity to 

find and evaluate business 

opportunities, gather the 

necessary resources and 

implement actions to take 

advantage of the opportunities 

while guided by high 

achievement and motivation. 

It is a dynamic process of 

creating incremental wealth 

by individuals who assume 

major risk in terms of equity, 

time and or career commitment 

to add value. 

From inception, Gamaliel 

& Susan Onosode Foundation 

has organised series of 

lectures to properly examine 

and recommend solutions 

to issues affecting the visible 

development of the Nigerian 

society with children and 

youths as the focal point. 

The 2017 lecture themed, 

Brent, the equivalent of 

the Nigerian‘s Bonny 

crude and West Texas 

Intermediate (WTI), 

dropped to $55.42 on Wednesday 

after hitting fresh highs of 

$56 in early trading on Tuesday, 

with oil demand looking 

particularly robust and fears 

over hurricane damage to the 

market having receded. 

Experts have predicted that 

the price of crude could reach 

$60 per barrels but doubt if it 

would ever go beyond that 

This is no doubt a big boost 

to Nigeria, a country whose 

economy depends solely on 

crude oil as major source of 

foreign exchange earnings. The 

2017 budget benchmark was 

put at $44.5 per barrels. 

The country recent exit from 

recession has been as a result 

of steady rise in the price of the 

commodity and cessation of 

hostility from Niger Delta militants 

that have stopped pipeline 

vandalism, allowing crude 

production to grow steadily. 

Currently, Nigeria produces 

average of 1.8 million barrels of 

crude and about 500,000 barrels 

of condensates, thereby making 

the total oil production to hit 

2.3 million barrels per day. Its 

external reserve hits about $33 

billion last month, no thanks 

to the uninterrupted crude oil 

production for the period. 

Meanwhile, some OPEC 

members are still contemplating 

a further cut in production 

in order to firm up the price of 

the commodity and also clear 

a global glut, led partly by US 

shale production. 

Iraq and some other oil 

producers taking part in global 

output cuts think they should 

reduce supply by an additional 

1 percent to help re-balance the 

market, according to Iraqi Oil 

Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi. Some 

also favour extending cuts until 

the end of 2018, he said. 

Producers are talking about 

what to do next regarding the 

recovered money was kept in 

the Recovery Fund account 

domiciled with the Central 

Bank of Nigeria, saying, 

“They were monies illegally 

siphoned, and which, undoubtedly 

would have gone 

a long way to improve the living 

conditions of Nigerians.” 

At the event, Magu 

blamed corruption for the 

current lack of development 

in the country as well as the 

inability of some media organisation 

to meet their staff 

obligations. 

His words, “Indeed, to 

state that Nigeria has all it 

takes to truly be the Giant of 

Africa, is to state the obvious. 

We are blessed with both human 

and mineral resources. 

4th Gamaliel & Susan Onosode 

Foundation lecture holds today 

“Empowering the Nigerian 

Youth through Entrepreneurship” 

holds today at the Nigerian 

Institute of International 

Affairs (NIIA) at 11am. 

The keynote address will 

be delivered by Yewande 

Zaccheaus, CEO, Eventful 

Limited, a leading events 

planning, venue management 

and consulting company 

in Lagos, alongside 

other discussants relevant to 

the sector. The lecture aims 

to seek out viable means 

to empower the Nigerian 

youth for a better future using 

entrepreneurship as a 

springboard. 

The Foundation is a notfor-profit, 

non-political outfit 

incorporated in May 2013 

and committed to contributing 

consistently to the promotion 

of quality education 

in Nigeria. It was founded by 

Gamaliel Onosode of blessed 

memory. Its mission is to foster 

the success of the Nigerian 

child through innovative and 

flexible learning opportunities 

while providing the 

enabling environment. 

cuts, al-Luaibi said at a conference 

in the emirate of Fujairah in 

the United Arab Emirates. There 

is “no firm decision yet” on 

further cuts or any extension of 

the current reductions, he said. 

“Some think that cuts 

should be extended beyond 

March, three or four months, 

or six months, or maybe till the 

end of 2018,” al-Luaibi said. 

“Some, like Ecuador and other 

countries, even Iraq, think 

there should be another cut of 

1 percent.” 

The OPEC and major suppliers 

including Russia agreed 

to trim output by 1.8 million 

barrels to clear a global glut. 

They extended their accord 

through the first quarter, and 

ministers from Saudi Arabia, 

Venezuela, the United Arab 

Emirates and Russia have 

said producers may consider 

prolonging the cuts further. 

Benchmark Brent crude has 

slid about 2 percent this year 

and is currently trading at less 

than $56 a barrel. 

Federal Government 

said the timely 

commencement 

of the proscription 

process of the Indigenous 

People of Biafra 

(IPOB) by President Muhammadu 

Buhari prevented the 

crises in the South East from 

snowballing into bigger nationwide 

problem. 

This is as minister of 

information and culture, 

Lai Mohammed, officially 

revealed that President 

Buhari had approved the 

process of proscribing 

the separatist organisation 

known as Indigenous 

People of Biafran (IPOB). 

Mohammed disclosed 

this during an interaction 

Governor of Edo State, 

Godwin Obaseki, 

on Wednesday, 

flagged off the 2017 

routine immunisation intensification 

project in Egor Local 

Government Area of the state. 

As an expression of his 

administration’s premium 

on the immunisation project, 

Obaseki rewarded three local 

government areas with N10 

million, for their extensive 

coverage of people during the 

programme from January to 

September this year. 

He declared that the cash 

award would be given yearly 

to encourage local government 

councils to take the immunisation 

programme to 

every doorstep in all the local 

governments of the state, and 

assured that more vehicles 

would be provided to improve 

surveillance of immunisation 

activities. 

“This is the third immunisation 

programme that I am 

flagging off as the governor 

with State House correspondents 

at the Presidential Villa 

Abuja, shortly after the weekly 

Federal Executive Council 

presided over by Vice President 

Yemi Osinbajo. 

The minister, who said 

he refused to join the debate 

over the legality or otherwise 

of the proscription of the 

group, said, “But for the quick 

action of state governors in 

the South East and the North, 

there would have been a 

conflagration of immense 

proportions. 

“But I ask, if the President 

had been overly concerned 

with legality, where would 

Nigeria have been today? If 

attacks in the South East had 

attracted reprisals elsewhere 

in the country, what would 

have happened? 

C002D5556 

of Edo State and we want all 

children under ages 0-5 years 

in the state to be immunised 

against deadly diseases such 

as Polio. 

“We want health workers 

to go out and immunise children 

across the various local 

government councils in the 

state. The need for mothers 

to immunise their children 

should always top the agenda 

during social gatherings,” 

Obaseki said. 

Akoko Edo Local Government 

Area was given N5 

million for clinching the first 

position with 85.5 percent immunisation 

coverage. Estako 

Central LGA was adjudged the 

second-best council and got 

N3 million while Esan Central 

was given N2 million for taking 

the third position. 

In her remarks, the World 

Health Organisation (WHO) 

coordinator, Edo State, Faith Ireye, 

commended the governor 

for initiating the yearly cash 

award to the best performing 

“For those who are fixated 

with legality, I have 

good news for them: President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

has approved the process of 

proscribing IPOB, and the 

procedure is on as I speak.” 

The minister also accused 

IPOB of externalizing it’s 

campaign by writing to the 

government’s and Parliaments 

in the West nation’s alleging 

genocide in the South 

East. He said that the IPOB 

has engaged in using highly 

emotive videos of killings 

to deceive the international 

community. 

He commended the governors 

in the South East for 

dissociating themselves from 

the violent campaign embarked 

upon by the IPOB 

“I am not interested in the 

BUSINESS DAY 

35 

NEWS 

Obaseki flags off immunisation project, rewards LGAs with N10m 

LGAs in routine immunisation 

and said that it would spur 

every local council and health 

workers to put in their best during 

immunisation programme. 

Ireye said Edo State routine 

immunisation coverage 

had been adjudged best in 

the country, with no variation 

between its administrative 

data and the outcome of the 

National Converge Survey 

conducted in 2016. 

“There is a huge reduction 

in vaccine-preventable disease 

rate in the state: Edo had been 

able to achieve the measles 

elimination target of less than 

one measles case per 1, 000,000 

population,” she said. 

The WHO coordinator 

added that the objective of the 

routine immunisation intensification 

project was to improve 

the current immunisation 

coverage of 72 percent by 20 

percent and reduce the number 

of unimmunised children 

in the state of about (26,968) 

by 30 percent. 

L-R: Oladotun Afolabi, executive secretary, Igbobi College Old Boys Association (ICOBA); Julius Solomon, chairman, 

ICOBA 1987 set; Foluso Phillips, president, ICOBA, and Yomi Badejo Okusanya, secretary general, ICOBA, at the launch 

of the Igbobi College Reading & Book Club sponsored by ICOBA set ‘87 as part of activities marking their 30 years of 

leaving school in Lagos. 

Proscription of IPOB prevented 

reprisal attacks - Lai Mohammed 

... as Buhari approves proscription process ... court proscribes IPOB, designates it as terrorists organisation 


semantics or legality of troops 

deployment or the proscription 

of IPOB. All I know is 

that IPOB has engaged in 

terrorist activities, viz: Setting 

up parallel military and 

paramilitary organizations, 

clashing with the national 

army and attempting to seize 

rifles from soldiers, using 

weapons such as machetes, 

molotov cocktails and sticks 

and mounting roadblocks to 

extort money from people, 

among others. 

“To those who have engaged 

in semantics or legality, 

I ask: Which country in 

the world will tolerate those 

activities I have listed above? 

Which national army will 

look the other way when it 

is being attacked by a band 

of thugs?”

Thursday 21 September 2017 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY A1 

FT 

FINANCIAL TIMES 

Russian central bank in 

talks to rescue B&N 

Page A3 

World Business Newspaper 

Toshiba’s prized chip 

unit sold for $18bn 

to Bain-led tech 

consortium 

LEO LEWIS AND PETER WELLS 

Bain Capital, Apple 

and other US tech 

groups have agreed 

the $18bn acquisition 

of Toshiba’s 

prized memory chip business, 

marking one of the biggest private 

equity-led buyouts since the 

end of the financial crisis. 

The deal follows an eightmonth 

bidding war that has 

rocked corporate Japan, threatening 

the future of one of its 

biggest conglomerates and 

exposing the faltering ties between 

government and big 

business that once underpinned 

the Japan Inc model. 

The acquisition of Toshiba 

Memory - the world’s secondlargest 

producer of NAND flash 

memory chips - could yet be 

delayed, however, by antitrust 

scrutiny or legal action by 

Toshiba’s joint venture partner 

in the chipmaking business, US 

group Western Digital. 

The Bain-led consortium 

was picked after a highly 

charged bidding process punctuated 

by courtroom battles, 

abruptly shifting allegiances 

and last-minute efforts to present 

alternative deals by two rival 

bidders led by Western Digital 

and Taiwanese technology group 

Foxconn. 

Bain will create a special pur- 

• Cape Town’s new Zeitz Mocaa 

is the largest museum of 21stcentury 

art from the continent. 

Maya Jaggi reports 

The sheer scale of the Zeitz 

Museum of Contemporary 

Art Africa is a statement. 

With undulating walls like a 

mountain fortress, the hulking 

1920s grain silo on Cape Town’s 

Waterfront - once the tallest 

building south of the Sahara - 

pose acquisition vehicle called 

Pangea to own the business. In 

addition to a substantial investment 

from Apple, whose support 

was claimed by all three bidders 

over the past month, Pangea 

will receive support from Dell, 

Seagate, Kingston and the South 

Korean chipmaker SK Hynix. 

It will eventually receive financial 

support from two Japanese 

state-backed investors, 

whose participation reflects the 

government’s rising panic that 

one of country’s most important 

industrial names was at risk of 

collapse. 

Toshiba itself will invest 

¥350.5bn ($3.1bn) in Pangea to 

“ensure a stable business transfer”, 

it said. 

The deal, agreed by Toshiba’s 

board yesterday under intense 

pressure from its biggest creditors, 

was designed to save the 

group from being delisted from 

the Tokyo Stock Exchange and 

potentially losing key sources of 

funding - a risk created by massive 

writedowns on its Westinghouse 

nuclear business in the 

US and the fallout from a 2015 

accounting scandal. 

But even as the rescue deal 

emerged, analysts were suggesting 

that the sale might ultimately 

make a “zombie” company of 

the rest of Toshiba: the chip and 

nuclear operations had been 

identified by the company as the 

prime growth drivers. 

A shining beacon for African art 

MAYA JAGG 

reopens this week as the world’s 

largest museum of 21st-century 

art from the continent and its diaspora. 

Softly protruding “pillow” 

windows reflecting Table Mountain 

become a lantern at night. 

A new beacon for art, Zeitz 

Mocaa will guide and dazzle. 

Inside the soaring space-age 

atrium, I watched installers suspended 

like astronauts alongside 

an airborne dragon of rubber inner-tubing, 

ribbon and bone. The 

mythological crooner of deathly 

Continues on page A2 

Janet Yellen 

Fed calls historic end to crisis-era 

QE and signals further rate rise 

SAM FLEMING 

• Balance sheet to be pared back 

from next month; Inflation seen 

as strengthening 

The Federal Reserve will 

throw its crisis-era stimulus 

programme into 

reverse from next month in a 

mark of confidence that stagnant 

inflation is starting to 

bounce back. 

The US central bank, chaired 

by Janet Yellen, held rates yesterday 

but said it would consider 

a further interest rate rise 

this year. It starts paring back 

its multitrillion-dollar balance 

sheet in October. While 

acknowledging the damage 

inflicted by recent hurricanes, 

most policymakers stuck with 

forecasts for another rate rise 

in 2017 - most likely in December 

- as well as three further 

increases in 2018. 

In a unanimous decision, 

the Fed said it would start 

normalising its balance sheet 

next month. The move by the 

world’s most influential central 

bank to start paring back its 

asset holdings marks a pivotal 

moment as policymakers 

UK Politics - Corbyn’s 

bind over Brexit 

Page A4 

around the world gingerly 

retreat from the support operations 

they put in place during 

the worst financial meltdown 

of modern times. 

The Fed more than quadrupled 

the size of its balance 

sheet to $4.5tn by purchasing 

Treasuries and mortgagebacked 

securities under Ben 

Bernanke, the former chairman. 

The European Central 

Bank has recently indicated 

that it will wind down its asset 

purchase scheme as it responds 

to firmer growth in the 

euro area, while the Bank of 

England has suggested it could 

lift short-term rates this year 

in response to higher inflation 

risks. 

Signs of a global upswing 

have helped spur the Fed to 

lift rates twice this year and 

prepare to pull back its quantitative 

easing programme, 

as falling unemployment and 

steady growth reduce the need 

for emergency levels of monetary 

support. 

Still, the central bank’s policy 

committee remained divided 

over the urgency of further 

tightening, given the string 

of poor inflation figures. The 

consumer price index jumped 

in August, yet that follows five 

months of weak readings and is 

unlikely to dispel all the worries 

over soggy price growth among 

the Fed’s officials. 

In a signal of their caution 

over the economy’s longer-term 

potential, officials 

brought down their median 

expectation for official rates in 

the long term, cutting it from 

3 per cent to 2.8 per cent. That 

chimes with a longstanding 

view among many investors 

that the Fed will not lift rates 

very far; ahead of yesterday’s 

announcement markets saw 

a 50-50 chance of two rate increases 

by the end of next year. 

In a statement accompanying 

its decision, the Fed gave a 

broadly optimistic take on the 

current economic picture, saying 

business investment had 

picked up even if inflation was 

running below target. 

The Fed’s plan involves setting 

a steadily increasing set 

of caps: payments will be reinvested 

only to the extent 

they exceed the caps. The caps 

will initially be set at $6bn per 

month for Treasuries and $4bn 

for agency MBS.


A2 BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

FT 

A shining beacon for African... 

NATIONAL NEWS 

Merkel moves assuredly towards a fourth term 

Everyone knows the result of Sunday’s 

election in Germany. No one 

is quite so sure of the outcome. 

Barring a political earthquake, the poll 

will return Angela Merkel to the chancellery 

for the fourth term she once resolved 

never to seek. Far less certain is the shape 

and composition of the governing coalition 

she must then assemble. 

The campaign has lacked energy or 

great surprises. That is how Ms Merkel 

planned it. With the economy growing 

Continued from page A3 

Xhosa lullabies, created by the 

Capetonian Nicholas Hlobo 

for the 2011 Venice Biennale, is 

among the art the museum aims 

to preserve for the continent. 

The fate of the Benin bronzes is 

on the mind of its South African 

executive director and chief 

curator, Mark Coetzee, 53, “now 

that museums around the world 

have woken up to African art”. As 

important, it is meant as a catalyst 

for the continent’s artists and 

curators. 

“It’s a public museum with a 

private collection,” Jochen Zeitz, 

54, former chief executive of 

Puma, tells me. The German philanthropist 

has built his worldclass 

collection with Coetzee 

since 2008, expressly to show 

it publicly “as a contribution”. 

Zeitz’s Segera Retreat in Kenya 

was their lab until the Victoria & 

Alfred Waterfront proposed the 

silo as a not-for-profit museum. 

“It’s not my museum or the 

Waterfront’s - it’s for Africa,” Zeitz 

says. “Africans need to come 

on board.” After the free opening 

weekend, for which 24,000 

timed tickets were gone in nine 

minutes, entry will be free for 

under-18s and at various times 

every week for citizens of African 

countries. 

Mindful of those who may 

never have entered an art museum, 

the British architect Thomas 

Heatherwick has devised a 

spectacular lure. The silo, once 

a hub for exporting maize, was 

abandoned in 2001. Rather than 

gutting its vertical storage tubes, 

an organic space was carved out 

of the pinkish concrete to form a 

cathedral-like atrium; the shape 

is precisely that of a grain of corn 

left in the silo, which Heatherwick’s 

team digitally scanned and 

enlarged, mapping it on to the 

interior to be cut away. Obliquely 

severed tubes overhead are held 

up by sleeves of fresh concrete, 

though pockmarks and rust have 

been painstakingly preserved. 

Carving concrete with GPS 

tracking is “cutting-edge technology”, 

says David Green, chief 

executive of the V&A Waterfront, 

whose shareholders funded the 

Silo’s £35m renovation. Their 

joint venture with Zeitz underwrites 

operating costs. The museum’s 

nine floors are leased 

free for 99 years. The seed private 

collection is on loan for at least 

20 years or Zeitz’s lifetime, while 

acquisition committees build a 

permanent core. But curators 

have been given scope to draw 

on loans, making this more than 

a display of one man’s collection. 

strongly, unemployment at 4 per cent 

and the federal government producing 

burgeoning budget surpluses, the chancellor 

is asking the electorate to endorse 

the status quo. Opinion surveys show her 

conservative CDU/CSU partnership will 

secure about 37 per cent of the vote. After 

a lacklustre campaign, support for the 

Social Democrats led by Martin Schulz is 

running at only a little above 20 per cent. 

The conduct of the campaign - mostly 

courteous and reasoned - has stood 

Angela Merkel 

It has been a while since 

America’s Deep South held 

any sway over the country’s 

future. Whatever Alabama’s 

voters decide next week will 

have a strong impact on Donald 

Trump’s state of mind. 

At stake in Alabama’s Republican 

primary election is the loyalty 

of the president’s base. Are they 

set on humbling America’s establishment 

come what may, as Mr 

Trump originally promised? Or is 

their allegiance to the president 

as a person, regardless of what 

he does? Next week will test the 

theory of President Trump’s base. 

Alabama is the laboratory. 

It is a gamble Mr Trump did 

not have to take. On one side of 

the Alabama primary is Luther 

Strange, the sitting senator, whom 

the Republican establishment 

in contrast to histrionics elsewhere, 

whether the policymaking-by-tweet of 

Donald Trump in the US or the chaos 

of Brexit Britain. Having worked so hard 

to re-establish itself as a “normal” democracy, 

Germany can seem almost 

abnormal in its normality. Mr Trump’s 

dangerous antics provide a powerful 

reason for Germans to vote for the careful 

solidity of a leader who has cast herself as 

mother of the nation. 

It would be a mistake to imagine that 

AMERICA - Trump versus Bannon in the Deep South 

EDWARD LUCE 

convinced Mr Trump to endorse. 

On the other is Roy Moore, the insurgent 

challenger, who is vowing 

to drain the Washington swamp, 

as Mr Trump earlier did. Mr Moore 

is backed by Steve Bannon, Mr 

Trump’s former chief strategist 

and architect of his 2016 campaign. 

It has been barely a month 

since Mr Bannon was ejected from 

the White House. He is already 

on an opposing side to the president. 

Mr Bannon’s team includes 

Sarah Palin, the former governor 

of Alaska, and Sebastian Gorka, 

another hardline former adviser 

to Mr Trump, who also was ejected 

last month. So far their horse is in 

the lead. 

Even by Mr Bannon’s standards, 

Mr Moore is an incendiary 

figure. A judge who has twice 

been removed from the bench for 

injudicious behaviour, Mr Moore 

believes God is punishing America 

McKinsey has closed its eyes in South Africa 

JOHN GAPPE 

It does not take a genius to recognise 

that corporate reputations are 

easily lost in South Africa under 

the dismal presidency of Jacob Zuma. 

It should not be beyond the analytical 

powers of a global consulting firm 

such as KPMG or McKinsey. 

Neither firm was as crass as Bell 

Pottinger, the PR firm that went 

into administration after running 

a racially divisive campaign for the 

holding company of the Gupta family, 

Mr Zuma’s business patrons. But both 

have been tarnished by Mr Zuma’s 

misgovernance of his country and 

its tragic descent into cronyism and 

corruption. 

KPMG audited many of the Guptas’ 

companies and eight of its executives 

last week resigned as it admitted 

its errors of judgment. McKinsey took 

a juicy contract with Eskom, a state 

utility, that involved working with a 

consultancy linked to the family. The 

firm still maintains that it behaved 

correctly and is walking the tightrope 

of self-justification. I am intrigued to 

see how long it will take to fall off. 

Here is a simple guide to South 

African due diligence: avoid the Guptas, 

the Zuma family and state-owned 

enterprises over which they exert 

any influence. Other professional 

services firms paid greater attention 

to the daily bulletins of “state capture” 

by the president’s allies; they 

were also better at resisting financial 

temptation. 

A client gains two things when it 

hires a KPMG or a McKinsey: sound 

advice that helps it to raise revenues 

while maintaining strong controls, 

and the imprimatur that comes with 

their names. Particularly in economies 

where corruption is common, 

Germany has been inoculated entirely 

against the upheavals elsewhere. If the 

polls are correct, the unashamedly xenophobic 

Alternative for Germany will 

secure around 10 per cent of the vote. 

In any event, AfD’s success will mark a 

tilt rightward from Ms Merkel’s studied 

centrism. It will also be the first time 

the radical right has secured seats in the 

Bundestag. 

The chaos that followed the influx 

of about a million migrants when Ms 

for its sins. He vows to end the 

“reign” of Mitch McConnell, the 

Republican Senate leader, if he 

wins. It is the kind of bomb throwing 

in which Mr Trump specialises. 

Polls show Mr Moore with a 

double-digit lead over Mr Strange. 

The president hopes to reverse 

those numbers on Friday when he 

will appear in Alabama with the 

relatively sedate Mr Strange. His 

gamble may well fail. Mr Trump’s 

pride is at stake - as is the direction 

of his presidency. 

Either outcome will be clarifying. 

Shortly after Mr Bannon 

was fired, Mr Trump sent mixed 

signals on whether he would stick 

to his original campaign promise. 

First he announced that within 

six months he would start deporting 

“Dreamers” - those who came 

to the US illegally as children - unless 

Congress said otherwise. The 

right applauded. 

government officials take bribes, and 

regulation is suspect, they can charge 

for lending the benefits of integrity. 

South Africa is tricky, for the end 

of apartheid in the early 1990s offered 

a chance for advisers and consultants 

not only to make money but to become 

part of the legitimate rebuilding of a nation 

that needed business expertise. As 

the country has degenerated during Mr 

Zuma’s tacky leadership, their responsibility 

to examine carefully what they 

are asked to endorse has increased. 

KPMG has conceded that it failed in 

that duty, although it took far too long 

to recognise this failure. It was auditor 

and adviser to Gupta companies for 15 

years, until the taint became too great 

last year. It audited the accounts of one 

Gupta entity that diverted $3.3m of 

public money to a family wedding and 

wrote a report that helped Mr Zuma’s 

circle wrongly to discredit Pravin Gordhan, 

former finance minister. 

Merkel opened the nation’s borders in 

2015 has subsided. The consequences 

have not. Ms Merkel wins widespread 

praise for welcoming the refugees from 

the Syrian civil war. Yet even as they 

take pride in the chancellor’s humanitarianism, 

most voters are insistent that 

immigration on such a scale cannot be 

allowed to happen again. Germany too 

has its left-behinds - in parts of the former 

East Germany the AfD is likely to score 

above 20 per cent. 

Tech’s cash glut leaves 

public markets behind 

• Even if this is not a bubble, it is not a 

healthy development for finance 

A 

year or two ago, there were 

warnings that the party was 

ending in Silicon Valley. “The 

crazy money is drying up,” one observer 

claimed. This newspaper cited 

“ growing caution” among venture 

capitalists. The party may have ended, 

but it has been followed by a wilder, 

if more exclusive, after-party. While 

venture investment overall has been 

more or less constant over the past 

few years, slugs of cash have been 

shovelled into established start-ups. 

Much of the shovelling has been 

done by the Vision Fund, a tech investment 

vehicle operated by SoftBank, 

the Japanese telecom conglomerate. 

It has raised $93bn, some internally 

and more from the sovereign wealth 

funds of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi 

and companies such as Apple and 

Foxconn. The fund has wasted no time 

putting the money to work. More than 

$4bn went into the tech-flavoured 

real estate start-up WeWork, at a 

delirious valuation. Similar amounts 

went into publicly traded chipmaker 

Nvidia and Chinese ride-hailing app 

Didi Chuxing. The fund is angling for 

a large investment in the ride-hailer 

Uber, which is already sitting on billions 

in cash. 

The Vision fund is not alone. 

Slack, which makes office messaging 

software, has just raised $250m, 

valuing the company at more than 

$5bn, despite not having spent any 

of the cash raised in its previous two 

rounds. Internet scrapbook’s Pinterest’s 

$150m fundraising set its value 

at $12bn. While total US VC funding 

fell slightly in the second quarter of 

this year, according to CB Insights, the 

amount invested in “mega-rounds” of 

more than $100m grew by 60 per cent. 

Investors lined up to give $600m to 

Social Capital, a “blank cheque” company. 

It promises to use the money to 

buy a tech start-up. Why bother, given 

that start-ups can go public themselves? 

The idea is that going public 

is a hassle, involving compliance, investor 

presentations and uncertainty, 

often followed by volatile trading. But 

Social Capital investors will allegedly 

take a longer term view. According to 

company filings, skipping tiresome 

disclosures and public scrutiny will 

make the process more “transparent”, 

a claim so bizarre that it defies 

comment. 

In short, money is being crammed 

into established start-ups though a 

private funnel, like grain force-fed to 

a goose. The question is whether the 

resulting pate will be any good. 

The high valuations and desperation 

to put large amounts to work is 

suggestive of a bubble. Private investors 

seem to have concluded that we 

live in a world of low growth and permanently 

low interest rates. If so, there 

is some logic to paying high prices 

(with borrowed money) for companies 

that will outgrow the economy. 

But over history, valuations paid, not 

interest rates, are the surer guide to 

investment returns.


FINANCIAL TIMES 


@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED 2015 

EUROPE - More can be done to help 

business prepare for life after Brexit 

SARAH GORDON 

Relations have improved 

between the UK’s business 

community and its 

government. But there is 

still much more the latter 

should be doing to help companies in 

Britain and the rest of Europe prepare 

for life after Brexit. 

Last Friday’s meeting at the foreign 

secretary’s official residence 

in Chevening of senior business 

representatives, ministers and civil 

servants highlighted this. While 

attendees spoke of a constructive 

atmosphere at the talks, and of a 

growing sense of collaboration, there 

was still disappointment about the 

government’s failure to engage with 

companies’ most pressing practical 

concerns. 

To government, the corporate desire 

to address the nitty-gritty details 

of the UK’s exit from the EU must 

seem mundane. For ministers such 

as Brexit secretary David Davis, who 

hosted Friday’s meeting, the main 

issues remain the high-level ones. 

What bill will Britain pay on 

leaving the EU? What kind of trade 

agreement should the UK ask for? 

Given there is so little agreement at 

the top of government on these, it is 

unsurprising that ministers remain 

pretty casual about the real-life challenges 

that companies face as they 

contemplate a UK trading outside 

the EU. 

At Chevening, the likes of JPMorgan, 

GE, Allianz and BT tried to 

redress the balance. Although much 

public debate focuses on what tariffs 

will be applied to UK imports and 

exports post-Brexit, this is not the 

biggest issue. 

Many companies are worried 

less about the cost of crossing borders 

than the difficulty of doing so. 

Modern cars, for example, are made 

up of thousands of components that 

travel across multiple borders before 

completion. For many industrial 

companies, adding required documentation 

at borders will disrupt 

their “just in time” manufacturing 

Russia’s central bank says it is 

considering a rescue of B&N 

Bank, a large private lender, 

three weeks after another Russian 

bank had to be bailed out. 

The central bank said yesterday 

that Mikhail Gutseriev, the oligarch 

whose Safmar Group owns B&N, 

had asked for a rescue through a 

new fund. 

“We will take a decision on this 

issue in the near future,” the central 

bank said. B&N did not immediately 

respond to a request for comment. 

Mikhail Shishkhanov, Mr 

Gutseriev’s nephew, who co-owns 

B&N, said the lender was in an “active 

stage of negotiations” with the 

central bank over “effective financial 

recovery”. 

Mr Shishkhanov blamed B&N’s 

struggles on MDM, which it acquired 

in 2015, and Rost Bank, a 

failed lender that it is absorbing 

with central bank funds. Mr Shishkhanov 

said those banks’ problems 

“turned out to be much more seri- 

processes. 

Big retailers or distillers such as 

Diageo, also at Chevening, import 

thousands of products from the rest 

of the EU without the need to fill in 

a customs declaration. After Brexit, if 

EU imports must be declared, HMRC 

estimates the number of these forms 

will rise from 55m to a mind-boggling 

255m a year. 

Even under World Trade Organisation 

rules, companies will face 

burdensome new requirements to 

provide proof of the origin of products 

in their supply chains in order 

to qualify for preferential EU tariffs. 

Many simply do not have the data or 

the capacity to do so, especially when 

their supply chains are international. 

Some are even considering not trying, 

even if this means paying higher 

tariffs as a result. 

Companies have limited options 

for mitigating these effects. They do 

not know what the post-Brexit trade 

regime will look like. But there are 

some things they can do to prepare, 

whatever the outcome of negotiations. 

“Trusted trader” status, which 

all EU companies can apply for, 

makes life easier by reducing document 

checks and physical inspections 

and guaranteeing faster clearance at 

customs. 

Companies earn this “authorised 

economic operator” status by meeting 

certain standards for record 

keeping and financial solvency. 

Companies aware of the scheme are 

scrambling to register before Brexit. 

Recommended 

• HMRC boss says Dover to Calais 

route is ‘major concern’ post-Brexit 

• Whitehall must publish its Brexit 

impact assessments 

• The looming cost of customs 

checks for UK exporters 

But there is more that the UK government 

should be doing. For a start, 

not enough companies are aware of 

the programme. About 600 UK companies 

are AEOs, compared with 10 

times the number in Germany. The 

UK government should be spreading 

the word, as well as setting up its own 

accreditation process. 

Russian central bank in talks to rescue B&N 

MAX SEDDON 

ous than assumed in the conditions 

of a falling market and the current 

economic conditions”. 

The central bank also said that it 

had provided B&N with emergency 

liquidity at its owner’s request, but 

did not disclose the terms. 

Before bailing out Russia’s largest 

private lender Otkritie last month, 

the central bank provided it with 

Rbs728bn ($12.6bn) in August, 

some of which came through an 

emergency mechanism that bankers 

told the Financial Times amounted 

to an unsecured loan. 

Two bankers said the central 

bank was likely to announce the 

rescue package for B&N, Russia’s 

12th-largest bank by assets, today. 

Mr Gutseriev, whose main business 

is Russneft, an oil company, 

told the Russian edition of Forbes at 

one point that he saw B&N essentially 

as a vehicle for funding his empire. 

“Banks in Russia aren’t a business, 

they’re a financial instrument,” he 

said. “A bank is to a business what 

bullets are to a gun.” 

ANNA NICOLAOU AND 

KARA SCANNELL 

• Cost of servicing chain’s $5bn debt 

‘not sustainable’ in face of competition 

from Amazon 

Who brought down Toys R 

Us? The 69-year-old toy behemoth 

listed a host of reasons 

for its slide into bankruptcy in a 

Chapter 11 regulatory filing, including 

“expensive debt service”, “unrelenting 

competition from ecommerce and big 

box retailers” and a report that turned 

its consideration of bankruptcy protection 

into a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

But the blame is perhaps to be 

placed most squarely on its private 

equity ownership. Toys R Us has spent 

more than $250m a year servicing 

$5bn in long- term debt, which was 

“not a sustainable situation”, one 

investor said as the company faced 

increasingly crushing competition 

from Amazon and Walmart. 

After years of rearranging its debt 

burden, like other big leveraged buyouts 

of the pre-financial crisis era, it 

Mikhail Gutseriev 

Guggenheim founder faces pressure 

to cede role amid power struggle 

Mark Walter’s role as chief 

executive of Guggenheim 

Partners is hanging in 

the balance as a power struggle 

between the founder of the $240bn 

asset manager and chief investment 

officer Scott Minerd comes 

to a head. 

The co-owner of the Los Angeles 

Dodgers has come under pressure 

from investors and employees 

to cede his role or quit after revelations 

of internal turmoil at the 

investment group, people familiar 

with the matter said. 

Guggenheim was facing regulatory 

scrutiny from the Securities 

and Exchange Commission over 

potential conflicts of interest, putting 

further pressure on the company, 

two people with knowledge 

of the situation said. 

Yesterday, Guggenheim’s board 

C002D5556 

is presenting a restructuring under 

bankruptcy protection as a bid for 

freedom. Toys R Us says it now has a 

chance to bring its “vision to fruition”, 

announcing plans to invest in marketing 

and technology and even promising 

to raise store employees’ wages. 

Despite the years of warning signs, 

even the nervous vendors who in recent 

weeks demanded Toys R Us pay 

for inventory in cash were surprised 

by the speed with which the filing 

came. “We didn’t expect that there 

would be any conversation about this 

until at least after the holidays,” said 

one supplier. 

But Toys R Us could not afford to 

head into the crucial holiday season, 

during which it makes nearly half of 

annual sales, without creditors and 

a functional supply chain. “Management 

concluded if they don’t file now, 

it will have a devastating impact,” says 

Jay Sakalo, a restructuring attorney at 

Bilzin Sumberg. “It all seems somewhat 

rushed.” 

Toys R Us dates back to 1948 when 

Charles Lazarus returned home from 

serving in the second world war and 

of directors sent an email message 

to all staff, saying Mr Walter had its 

“full and unequivocal support” as 

CEO. The directors also said they 

backed Mr Minerd and the rest of 

the senior management team. 

Some investors had cancelled 

meetings, threatened to pull their 

money out, and vented frustration 

with Guggenheim’s management 

over what they saw as a weak corporate 

culture, said several people 

informed about the matter. 

Those briefed on the investor 

and employee revolt said it escalated 

after the Financial Times 

revealed in July a battle between 

Mr Walter and Mr Minerd, who has 

been credited with turning a small 

investment company into a Wall 

Street powerhouse. 

One US investment consultant 

said he had postponed meetings 

with Guggenheim until it resolved 

internal tensions. 

“Guggenheim is a very good 

BUSINESS DAY 

Toys R Us buckles under private equity ownership 

SUJEET INDAP, JAMES FONTANELLA-KHAN, 

KARA SCANNELL AND JOE RENNISON 

A3 

noticed demand for cribs as the baby 

boom took hold. 

“Everyone I talked to said they 

were going to go home, get married, 

have children and live the American 

dream,” he has explained, and he began 

selling strollers out of his father’s 

bicycle repair shop. The company 

grew into the dominant American 

toy seller, helping promote brands 

such as Barbie and Hula Hoops in its 

sprawling stores. 

Mr Lazarus once said that “listening 

to the customer is probably the 

best thing in the world”, but he failed 

to envisage the disruptions that would 

transform shopping. In the 1990s, 

superstore discounters began undercutting 

Toys R Us on price, and by 1998 

his chain was overtaken by Walmart as 

the largest US toy retailer. A year later, 

Amazon began selling toys online. 

Toys R Us was one of the first brickand-mortar 

retailers to make a deal 

with the emerging ecommerce giant, 

in 2000 transferring its entire online 

business to Amazon in exchange for 

an exclusive right to sell toys and baby 

products there. 

investment manager but I want 

this drama to go away,” he said. “I 

haven’t gotten any official word on 

what direction the organisation is 

going.” 

Another consultant, who expressed 

concerns about Guggenheim’s 

corporate culture, said that it 

“would be a good thing” if Mr Walter 

left. Such consultants advise smaller 

investors where to invest. 

A group of Guggenheim’s managing 

partners, including Mr Walter, 

had held a meeting in Chicago in 

August at which Mr Walter’s future 

was discussed, said one person 

briefed about the meeting. 

“Mark Walter has no current 

plans to step down as CEO of 

Guggenheim,” said Mike Sitrick, a 

spokesperson for Guggenheim, who 

also denied that there was a meeting 

in Chicago to discuss his future. 

Mr Sitrick said there was “absolutely 

no truth” to Mr Walter being 

under pressure to step down.


A4 BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

Read Ambitiously 

Pfizer alleges J&J 

thwarted competition to 

Remicade, in legal test of 

Biotech-drug copies 

JONATHAN D. ROCKOFF 

Pfizer Inc. PFE 1.59% filed 

suit Wednesday against 

Johnson & Johnson , JNJ 

-1.35% alleging J&J has thwarted 

competition to its arthritis drug 

Remicade by effectively preventing 

health insurers, hospitals 

and clinics from offering Pfizer’s 

lower-priced copy. 

The complaint, filed in U.S. 

District Court in Philadelphia, 

says J&J’s “exclusionary contracts” 

tie rebates and other J&J 

perks to agreements by hospitals 

and clinics to buy mostly Remicade 

and by insurers to pay for 

prescriptions for it. 

The lawsuit is the first antitrust 

action to surface in the 

emerging market for biosimilars, 

which are copies of popular biotech 

drugs, after years of litigation 

over patents and timing of 

launches. The outcome could 

shape how companies will be 

able to defend their blockbuster 

biotech drugs once copies go 

on sale. 

J&J didn’t immediately respond 

to a request for comment. 

Pfizer has asked the court to 

void the contracts and order J&J 

to pay damages compensating 

for lost sales of its Remicade 

biosimilar, known as Inflectra. 

“We obviously expected competition, 

but we believe Johnson 

& Johnson are not competing 

fairly,” said John Young, the 

Pfizer executive overseeing its 

biosimilars business. 

Biotech drugs, which are produced 

in living cells and typically 

injected or administered intravenously, 

have provided help to 

patients with conditions ranging 

from cancer to hepatitis C to 

multiple sclerosis. But they cost 

a lot, often more than $100,000 a 

year for a patient. 

The 2010 Affordable Care Act 

aimed to limit spending on drugs 

whose patents had expired by 

creating a regulatory framework 

for the approval of copies. 

Last April, Inflectra was 

among the first biosimilars to 

get the go-ahead. Pfizer began 

selling it at the end of the year. 

Sales have been paltry. Inflectra 

recorded just $40 million in 

U.S. sales during the first half of 

this year, compared with the $2.2 

billion by Remicade. J&J sold 

1.7 million vials of Remicade 

in the second quarter, versus 

the 23,000 vials of Inflectra that 

Pfizer sold, according to SSR 

Health LLC, a research firm. 

Death toll in Mexico 

earthquake reaches 227 

JUAN MONTES & ROBBIE WHELAN 

Top Kenya court blames electoral 

commission for vote problems 

MATINA STEVIS-GRIDNEFF 

Kenya’s top court on 

Wednesday lambasted 

electoral officials in a 

detailed account of the 

reasoning behind its unprecedented 

annulment of last month’s 

presidential election, casting 

doubt on whether a repeat vote 

can go ahead when expected. 

Incumbent president Uhuru 

Kenyatta was declared the winner 

of the Aug. 8 elections, but 

the result was challenged by 

his long-time opponent Raila 

Odinga, who maintained there 

were deliberate irregularities, including 

hacking of the electoral 

commission’s computer system. 

The Supreme Court for the 

first time in African history overturned 

an election, siding with 

Mr. Odinga’s petition and calling 

for a new poll—which is now 

scheduled to be held in October. 

The Electoral and Boundaries 

Commission, known as the 

Soldiers, rescue workers 

and volunteers worked 

early Wednesday to 

find both the living 

and the dead beneath 

rubble left by a 7.1-magnitude 

earthquake that collapsed scores 

of buildings in Mexico’s capital 

and surrounding states. 

By dawn on Wednesday, the 

death toll had risen to 227 people, 

according to the Mexican 

Civil Defense Agency. The toll 

was expected to rise as an unknown 

number of people remain 

trapped in collapsed buildings. 

Mexico City officials said 44 

buildings collapsed, most of 

them multistory apartment or 

office buildings that fell sideways 

or pancaked upon themselves. 

Social media was full of 

messages asking for the whereabouts 

of loved ones. 

In the south of the capital, a 

heart-wrenching scene played 

out at a primary school that collapsed. 

Twenty children and two 

adults were killed at the Enrique 

Rebsamen school, Mexican 

President Enrique Peña Nieto 

said late Tuesday after visiting 

the site. At least 30 second-grade 

students were still missing along 

with eight adults, some of them 

teachers, authorities said. 

Scores of parents and other 

students, as well as volunteer 

rescue workers, surrounded the 

school awaiting news into the 

IEBC, didn’t upload all the legal 

forms verifying electoral results in 

thousands of polling station and 

shouldn’t have put out official 

results without them, the court 

said. A study by the court of a random 

sample of those that were 

provided found that many lacked 

the proper watermarks, stamps 

and other marks of validity. 

The justices added that the 

commission didn’t comply with 

court requests to provide proof 

its electoral systems hadn’t 

been hacked, in an indication 

that there may have been illegal 

interference with the commission’s 

computer system. 

The court cast doubt on 

whether the same electoral officials 

could fairly oversee the 

repeat elections. 

“We find that the 2017 presidential 

election was… neither 

transparent nor verifiable. On 

that ground alone… we have no 

choice but to nullify it,” Justice 

Philomena Mwilu said. 

morning hours. 

The timing of the quake 

stunned Mexicans—coming on 

the anniversary of a devastating 

1985 earthquake and less than 

two weeks after another big 

quake struck the country. 

Overnight, in the hard-hit 

neighborhood of Condesa, army 

soldiers and hundreds of volunteers 

used big spotlights to try to 

find people trapped behind the 

debris. If they heard a cry, they 

JEANNETTE NEUMANN 

would use shovels and picks to 

try to break apart concrete slabs. 

Smaller pieces were patiently removed 

by hundreds of volunteers 

that formed a human chain. 

“Is there anyone down there?” 

shouted a rescue worker on the 

top of the debris. The people 

gathered on the spot remained 

completely silent, hoping to 

obtain some response. 

A man and his dog are believed 

to be still alive under the 

debris, said Santiago Sanchez, a 

lawyer who lives in Condesa and 

had been helping rescue efforts 

since minutes after the quake. 

“This is a disaster zone. A 

black September. But we Mexicans 

haven’t forgotten the spirit 

of the 85, when we helped each 

other,” said Mr. Sanchez, his face 

full of dust and carrying a shovel 

by his shoulder. “Solidarity is 

everything, united we will pull 

out of this.” 

The largest toll so far was in 

Mexico City, where 96 people 

have died so far. That was unsurprising 

given the city’s geography, 

built on an ancient lake bed 

that often magnifies the effects 

of an earthquake. The bordering 

southern state of Morelos had 71 

dead, and nearby Puebla had 43 

killed. Other states accounted 

for the rest. 

Spanish police detain Catalan Officials 

ahead of independence vote 

Spanish police arrested 13 

people in the region of Catalonia 

and Madrid for their 

alleged involvement in planning 

a vote to secede from Spain, 

the boldest move yet by Spanish 

authorities to stop the Oct. 1 ballot. 

Early Wednesday morning, 

Spain’s Civil Guard police forces 

searched 22 properties, including 

offices of Catalonia’s regional 

administration in Barcelona, and 

arrested an official in charge of 

the region’s economy, Josep Maria 

Jové, according to a spokesman for 

the Catalan government. 

Twelve others, most of whom 

are regional government officials, 

were also arrested on suspicion 

of abetting the organization of 

the unauthorized independence 

referendum, according to a police 

spokesman. One of those arrested 

was detained in Madrid. 

Hundreds of people gathered 

in central Barcelona to protest the 

arrests, reflecting deepening tensions 

in one of Spain’s most-severe 

political crises in a generation. 

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont 

said the arrested officials 

had the support of the regional 

government. “We think the Spanish 

government has crossed the red 

line that separated it from authoritarian 

and repressive regimes,” he 

said in televised remarks. 

The arrests are the latest response 

by Spanish authorities, 

who are seeking to squelch the 

independence referendum without 

further fomenting separatist 

sentiment in Catalonia. Last week, 

the central government said it was 

taking greater control of Catalonia’s 

finances to guarantee regional 

authorities weren’t dedicating 

any funds to organizing the referendum. 

Catalan regional administration 

leaders have insisted they will hold 

a referendum on independence 

from the rest of Spain on Oct. 1, 

defying a pledge by Prime Minister 

Mariano Rajoy —who says such 

a ballot is unconstitutional—to 

prohibit the vote from taking place. 

Prosecutors have begun to 

investigate more than 700 Catalan 

mayors and other officials who 

plan to help organize the vote. 

Police have seized electoral pamphlets 

and posters. 

Mr. Rajoy said Wednesday the 

Civil Guard police officers were 

acting on the orders of a judge who 

is seeking to uphold Spanish law, 

which doesn’t allow a region to 

hold a unilateral vote on secession. 

Spain’s constitutional court has 

suspended the referendum while 

it weighs the legality of the ballot. 

“There is no democratic country 

in the world that would accept 

what these people are proposing,” 

Mr. Rajoy told journalists at the 

national parliament in Madrid.

BUSINESS DAY 

Fact Check 

Has Nigeria not borrowed internationally 

since 2013? Minister misses mark 

Nigeria’s government 

is 

looking to 

spend big 

on infrastructure. 

For funding, 

it is looking beyond its 

internal markets, but is it 

correct that the country 

has not borrowed in foreign 

markets since 2013? 

We did a bit of checking. 

In a notable move, Nigeria’s 

finance minister 

Kemi Adeosun took to 

Facebook Live for the first 

time in April, where she 

painted broad strokes of 

the country’s economy. 

Outlining the government’s 

borrowing plans, 

Adeosun said the country 

did not have enough of its 

own money for the level of 

infrastructure spending it 

wanted, which she put at 

30% of its budget. 

•To do that, as you 

know, we’ve been out in 

the market, we’ve done the 

Eurobond, we’ve done 2 

now at US$1.5 billion and 

that’s been very exciting for 

us because Nigeria hasn’t 

borrowed internationally 

since 2013,” she said. 

It is estimated that Nigeria 

needs about N10.63 

trillion (US$33.6 billion 

at current rates) to build 

roads, bridges, power 

utilities, hospitals and 

schools. 

“We do need to go outside 

and borrow. But we 

need to borrow as cheaply 

as possible. So we’ve 

approached the World 

Bank, China Exim [Bank] 

and some of the concessional 

lenders who lend 

[at] as low as 1.5%, and 

then we’ll blend that with 

the money we took from 

the Eurobond market 

which is now 7.5%,” Adeosun 

explained further. 

Concessionary loans 

are those with cheaper 

and longer repayment 

terms while Eurobonds 

refer to debt denominated 

in a currency other 

than that of the country 

issuing it. 

Given the country’s 

documented financial 

headaches after the 

steep fall in the price 

of its main export oil, is 

it accurate that Nigeria 

hasn’t been in foreign 

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 C002D5556 

Kemi Adeosun, Nigeria finance minister 

debt markets since 2013? 

What is Nigeria’s external 

debt profile? 

A country can either 

borrow internally or 

from international lenders. 

Once contracted, the 

latter is known as “external 

sovereign debt”. 

Data from Nigeria’s 

debt management office 

shows that at the end 

of 2013, Nigeria owed 

US$8.82 billion on international 

loans. 

At the end of 2015, 

this rose to US$10.7 billion, 

while in January 

2017 it was at US$11.4 

billion – an increase 

of 29.3% over 3 years. 

(Note: The figures do 

not include arrears on 

the principal or interest 

paid on previous loans.) 

In March 2014, multilateral 

lenders such 

as the World Bank and 

International Monetary 

Fund held 71% (US$6.51 

billion) of Nigeria’s external 

debt. In December 

2016 this had risen to 

US$7.99 billion. 

In 2014, Nigeria was 

among the major recipients 

of US$10.6 billion 

in World Bank loans, receiving 

more than $2 billion, 

double the previous 

year. This money funded 

both budget shortfalls 

and infrastructure. 

Bilateral debts – those 

between 2 countries or 

their lending institutions 

– increased by 87.1% 

from US$1.03 billion in 

2013 to US$1.92 billion 

in 2016. Lenders to Nigeria 

included France, 

Germany, Japan and 

China. 

In late 2014 and early 

2015, for example, statefunded 

Chinese deals 

for Nigerian projects 

were announced, running 

into the billions of 

dollars. 

Minister was referring 

to Eurobond only 

When Africa Check 

asked Adeosun about the 

rising external debt profile 

in the period 2013, 

the minister said that 

she was “referring to the 

Eurobond issuance in 

the International Debt 

Capital Markets where 

we last issued in 2013”. 

Other concessional 

loans such as from the 

World Bank had continued, 

she said. 

Official data on the 

country’s Eurobond sales 

showed that Nigeria first 

tapped the Eurobond 

market in January 2011, 

raising US$500 million. 

Its second offer was in 

2013 when it took in US$1 

billion in 2 tranches of 

$500 million. 

In February 2017, 

Nigeria issued another 

Eurobond for $1 billion 

which started trading in 

March 2017. This was followed 

on 29 March by another 

$500 million issue. 

Conclusion: Nigeria 

has borrowed internationally 

since 2013 

In a social media 

broadcast to Nigerians, 

finance minister Kemi 

Adeosun said that to build 

infrastructure that would 

grow the economy, Nigeria 

needed to borrow 

money internationally. 

Outlining why this was 

an attractive option, she 

said that the country had 

not borrowed internationally 

since 2013. 

Africa Check looked 

at the data and found a 

steady rise in external debt 

between 2014 and 2016. 

In response, the minister 

said that she was 

referring only to the issuance 

of foreign currencydenominated 

debt known 

as a Eurobond. 

Data shows that the 

country’s external debt 

profile rose between 2014 

and 2016. Nigeria also issued 

2 Eurobonds in the 

weeks before the minister 

made the claim. We therefore 

find her statement 

incorrect. 

The need to borrow 

to finance projects that 

will lift the economy is 

a staple of almost every 

country, but the right information 

will strengthen 

the public debate around 

national debt. 

Source: Africa Check 

2017 

TopfiveFacts 

Trivial 

US$8.82 billion 

This represents Nigeria’s external 

debt stock as at December 2013. 

Data released by the National 

Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday 

shows that the country’s current 

external debt stock as at June 30, 

2017 was US$15 billion, almost 

twice the debt stock in 2013 

US$1.5 billion 

Total amount of Eurobonds issued 

by the Federal Government 

in 2017 in two different tranches. 

Both Eurobonds were significantly 

oversubscribed, showing a strong 

appetite for Nigerian debts 

7.5% 

This is the average yield on Nigeria’s 

Eurobond issued in the international 

markets in 2016. This 

is about half the yield on domestic 

borrowing hence the government 

plans to borrow more in the 

international markets 

1.5% 

This is the yield that the government 

expects to get if it can 

convince the World Bank to lend 

it some money on concessionary 

basis. World Bank loans are 

cheap but usually comes with 

conditions, some of which will 

not be politically popular 

US$15 billion 

Nigeria’s total external debt stock 

as at June 2017. This is US$3.64 

billion or 32 percent higher than 

the US$11.41 billion debt stock as 

at December 2016 

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Ghana Office: Business Day Ghana Ltd; ABC Junction, near Guinness Ghana Limited, Achimota – Accra, Ghana. 

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BusinessDay 21 Sep 2017

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