Thursday <strong>21</strong> <strong>Sep</strong>tember <strong>2017</strong> 32 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556
Thursday <strong>21</strong> <strong>Sep</strong>tember <strong>2017</strong> Africa will become the food basket of the world... Continued from page 1 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... Continued from page 1 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... Continued from page 4 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, <strong>2017</strong> 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 (£2<strong>21</strong>m). 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.
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