BusinessDay 07 Nov 2017

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Saudi turmoil drives Brent crude to 28-months high ...Page 4 

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I **TUESDAY 07 NOVEMBER 2017 I VOL. 14, NO 476 I N300 @ g 

Concerns mount over 2018 budget as 

Buhari presents appropriation bill 

Lawmakers yet to receive copies of MTEF 

TONY AILEMEN; KEHINDE AKINTOLA; 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE; INNOCCENT ODOH & 

HARRISON EDEH 

As President Muhammadu 

Buhari presents 

the 2018 Appropriation 

Bill to the 

National Assembly 

today, there are already concerns 

that the budget would, 

again, face hitches like in the 

past, particularly as copies of 

the Medium Term Expenditure 

Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal 

Strategy Paper (FSP) were yet to 

be circulated among the federal 

law makers as at last night. 

Buhari’s government had 

assured to use the 2018 budget, 

to correct the anomalies and 

delays which had been common 

with the federal annual budgets 

in recent years but indications 

have emerged that the National 

Assembly will be unlikely to 

pass the budget before the end 

of the year. 

The MTEF/FSP is medium 

British charity worker 

dies in Nigeria’s 

restive oil region P. 35 

Equity investors successfully 

booked the largest 

chunk of capital gains in 

the shares of C&I Leasing 

Plc, Fidson Healthcare Plc, 

(1) be the basis for the preparation 

of the estimates of revenue 

and expenditure required to be 

prepared and laid before the Na- 

Continues on page 4 

Banks shun real 

estate as lending 

rates near 36% 

CHUKA UROKO 

Nigerian banks are pulling 

back from extending 

credit to the housing 

sector leading to a gradual rise in 

landing rates for real estate and 

construction. 

“Local real estate and construction 

lending rates are hitting 

new highs of up to 36 percent,” 

says Munach Okoye, CEO, 

MCORE, in their third quarter 

report on the real estate sector. 

According to him, these high 

lending rates speak to the banks’ 

unwillingness to lend to the sector 

based on their perception of risk 

compared to the high yields available 

from risk-free treasury bills. 

“This is also a reflection of 


Rail freight traffic 

down 49% in Q2 - NBS 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE 

The rail actual freight traffic 

declined by 49.77 percent 

to 16,159 tons in second 

quarter of 2017, from 32,168 

tons in first quarter of the same 

year, according to data released 

yesterday by the National Bureau 

of Statistics (NBS). 

When compared with the 


C&I Leasing, Fidson, May & Baker lead NSE 37% gains 

IHEANYI NWACHUKWU & TELIAT SULE 

term strategy, which among other 

things contains assumptions 

on which the national annual 

budget should be premised. 

According to section 18 of the 

L-R: Solomon kayode Onafowokan, president, Retail Council of Nigeria (RCN); Victor Durodola, representing 

Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria; Babatunde Irukera, director-general, Consumer Protection 

Council (CPC), and Segun Ogunsanya, MD/CEO, Airtel Nigeria, at the inauguration of the board of trustees 

and the governing council of RCN in Lagos, yesterday. 

Pic by Olawale Amoo 

and May & Baker Nigeria Plc 

following about 200 percent rise 

in their share prices year-to-date 

(Ytd). 

C&I Leasing Plc stock recorded 

the biggest ytd increase 

of 244 percent to N1.72; Fidson 

Fiscal Responsibility Act, “Notwithstanding 

anything to the 

contrary contained in this Act or 

any other law, the Medium-Term 

Expenditure Framework shall: 

... Pension Funds sit out rally 

Healthcare Plc followed with a 

208 percent price gain to N3.95; 

while May & Baker Nigeria Plc 

stock advanced to N2.75, an 

increase of about 187percent. 

“The NSE has benefited from 

a ‘sweet spot’. The oil price is off 

... Vacancy factor shoots up 

the floor, reserves accumulation 

has been impressive and the 

Federal Government has made 

some positive steps on deficit 

financing,” according to Gregory 

Kronsten-led team of analysts at 

Lagos-based FBNQuest. 

The Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE) all share index has gained 

37 percent this year driven largely 

by the offshore investor response 

to the FX window for investors 

and exporters (NAFEX). 

Other stocks that have had 

impressive returns include that 

of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc 

with record 184 percent increase 

to N42.60; International Brewer- 

Continues on page 34

Tuesday 07 November 2017 

2 BUSINESS DAY


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4 BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 


NEWS 

LOLADE AKINMURELE; OKAFOR 

ENDURANCE & DIPO OLADEHINDE 

ers gather to discuss prolonging 

historic production caps. 

Brent crude was up 2.84 percent 

to $63.83 per barrel on 

Monday, according to Bloomberg 

data. 

Futures jumped 2 percent 

in New York, closing above $55 

a barrel for the first time since 

July 2015. 

“It is very positive for Nigeria. 

We should begin to see improved 

foreign interest in our fixed 

income instruments and equities, 

given that higher oil prices 

spurs positive sentiments about 

Nigeria,” said Ayodeji Ebo, managing 

director at Lagos-based 

financial advisory firm, Afrinvest 

Securities. 

“It sends a signal to foreign investors 

that the Central Bank has 

Saudi turmoil drives Brent crude to 28-months high 

Oil reached levels last 

seen more than two 

years ago as traders 

began to price 

in geopolitical 

risks from Saudi Arabian King 

Salman’s anti-corruption drive 

just weeks before major producfirepower 

to defend the naira.” 

Oil has advanced for four 

straight weeks in New York on 

signs that a global glut is shrinking 

in response to output caps 

implemented by the Organization 

of Petroleum Exporting 

Countries and allied producers 

including Russia. 

Higher oil prices is positive 

for Nigeria, whose 2017 budget 

is pegged against an oil price of 

$44.5 per barrel. 

It also holds upside for the 

naira which has appreciated in 

the past months against the dollar 

helped in part by increased 

CBN supply on the back of 

higher oil revenue. 

The naira traded at N360 per 


Concerns mount over 2018 budget as Buhari... 

Continued from page 1 

tional Assembly under section 81 

(1) of the Constitution. 

(2) The sectoral and compositional 

distribution of the estimates of 

expenditure referred to in subsection 

(1) of this section shall be consistent 

with the medium term developmental 

priorities set out in the Medium 

Term expenditure Framework.” 

BusinessDay was reliably informed 

that members of House of 

Representatives had not received 

copies of the Medium Term Expenditure 

Framework (MTEF) 

and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), 

less than 20 hours before formal 

presentation of the 2018 budget 

estimates by the President. 

Buhari is scheduled to lay the 

N8.60 trillion budget estimates before 

the joint session of the National 

Assembly by 2pm today (Tuesday). 

Abdulrasak Namdas, Chairman, 

House Committee on Media 

and Public Affairs via phone chat 

told one of our correspondents that 

copies of the MTEF/FSP sent to the 

House penultimate week has not 

been circulated. 

“I have not seen anything yet,” he 

said. “We have not done anything 

yet,” the House spokesman explained. 

He however assured that the 

National Assembly will pass the 

MTEF/FSP before considering the 

2018 budget as stipulated by the 

Fiscal Responsibility Act. 

Johnson Chukwu, Managing 

Director of Cowry Assets, in his reaction 

say these kinds of delays and 

developments violate provisions in 

the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 

and have grave implications for the 

entire budget and economy just 

coming out of a recession. 

“The National Assembly should 

consider the implications of considering 

a national budget ahead 

of their own review and approval 

of the MTEF. This is because the 

MTEF defines the parameters with 

which the budget assumptions are 

based on,” Chukwu told Businessday 

in a telephone conversation. 

“Ordinarily, I would have 

thought that the Fiscal Responsibility 

Act required that the MTEF/ 

FSP is considered ahead of the 

presentation of the budget. 

“But if the budget is now presented 

ahead of the consideration, 

though it has been submitted to the 

NASS, it is not proper unless we are 

going to assume that the assumptions 

in the MTEF/FSP would be 

adopted as they are, then there is 

actually no need sending to the National 

Assembly for consideration. 

“The key to this is that we may 

now go through the period of attrition 

where the budget will now 

be returned to incorporate the real 

assumptions adopted by the NASS 

and we keep going back and forth.” 

According to the Medium Term 

Expenditure Framework and Fiscal 

Strategy Paper transmitted earlier 

by the President to the National Assembly, 

the aggregate expenditure 

for 2018 fiscal year is N8.6 trillion 

against N7.44 trillion for 2017, showing 

a difference of N1.16 trillion or 

15.5 percent increase compared to 

the 2017 Appropriation Act. 

Total sum of N6, 128,290,144,686 

is expected from oil sector while 

N5, 596,745,945,657 is expected 

from non-oil subsector for the 

incoming year. 

Total sum of N350 billion proposed 

for special interventions 

(recurrent); N2,597,246,628,719 

is for capital expenditure for 

2018 while deficit is pegged at 

N2,948,777,905,500 (2.61% of GDP). 

The total oil production is pegged 

at 2.51 million barrels per day while 

budgeted oil production volume net 

incremental was pegged at 2.3mbpd; 

$45 oil benchmark; while exchange 

rate was pegged at N305/$ for 2018 

fiscal year. 

The fiscal deficit is to be maintained 

at 3 percent level as stipulated 

in the Fiscal Responsibility 

Act, 2007 but at an average of about 

1.93 percent of GDP, but declining 

to less than 1 percent by 2020. 

Expected to accompany the 

President to the National Assembly 

chambers are key members of the 

Federal Executive Council namely: 

Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of 

Budget and National Planning and 

Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance. 

Others are: Ita Enang, Senior 

Special Adviser to the President 

on National Assembly Matters 

(Senate) and Ismaila Kawu, Senior 

Special Adviser to the President on 

National Assembly Matters (House 

of Representatives). 

But ahead of the presentation of 

the 2018 budget to a joint session 

of the National Assembly today, 

lawmakers from both chambers 

have intensified their opposition 

to the budget presentation. 

Findings by BusinessDay revealed 

that this may not be unconnected 

with poor implementation 

of the 2017 budget. 

At an interactive session with 

the joint committee on Appropriation 

and Finance last month, 

Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, 

had put capital releases at just 

N440.9 billion out of the capital 

expenditure of N2.177 trillion for 

the 2017 budget. 

With speculations that the National 

Assembly will embark on 

Christmas break in the next five 

weeks, it is yet to approve the 

N135.6 billion virement, $5.5billion 

foreign loan as well as 2017 budgets 

of over 38 federal agencies. 

Lawmakers are also unhappy 

that the Executive is yet to release 

Constituency Projects running into 

N100 billion. 

A top National Assembly source 

insisted that lawmakers from the 

two chambers are not in a hurry to 

pass the budget unless the Executive 

releases funds for constituency 

projects, which they would showcase 

to the constituents as the 2019 

elections approach. 

On Monday, it emerged that 

the increasing tension around the 

President’s bid to present the budget 

proposal had degenerated to the 

extent that some groups of lawmakers 

had begun to perfect strategies of 

truncating the budget presentation. 

The body of opposition which 

cuts across political and ethnoregional 

boundaries in the National 

Assembly anchored their protest 

against the budget presentation on 

what a lawmaker described as the 

attempt by the Executive arm of 

government to sabotage their political 

fortunes in their constituencies. 

“How else can one’s political 

career be frustrated? Since 2015, 

we have never had a single budget 

that recorded 50 percent success in 

terms of implementation particularly 

with regards capital projects. We 

had hoped that all these would be 

corrected in the 2017 budget but 

no! When we asked questions, no 

concrete response is forthcoming; 

and you expect us to just keep quiet 

and allow the President to present 

another budget that may go the 

same way. 

“Remember that the 2018 budget 

is the last one to be executed 

fully by this administration. What 

will the President count as his 

legacy in terms of budget implementation? 

Also take note that 

all these budget failures has very 

damning effects on members of 

the National Assembly who are the 

real representatives of the people. 

What do they expect us to tell our 

constituents? It is really a sad moment 

for us,” the source said. 

•Continues online at www.businessdayonline.com


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6 BUSINESS DAY


BUSINESS DAY 

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C002D5556 

NEWS 

Ekweremadu advocates visa free regime among Commonwealth nations 

CBN to empower 

10,000 youths in 

Ondo through 

agriculture 

YOMI AYELESO, Akure 

The Central Bank of 

Nigeria (CBN) has 

announced its plan 

to empower 10,000 

in Ondo state under the new 

agriculture scheme tagged, 

“Accelerated Agricultural 

Development Scheme for 

which it has earmarked the 

sum of N1.5 billion. 

This was the statement 

credited to the Apex bank 

when its team of experts 

led by Amina Umar visited 

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu 

in his office on Monday in 

Akure, saying youths between 

the ages of 18 and 35 

years will benefit from the 

scheme. 

Amina Umar, the leader 

of CBN Delegation, said the 

move was made to unlock 

opportunities abound in 

agriculture and agribusiness 

in Ondo state and Nigeria, 

just as he she stressed that 

the scheme was designed 

to create jobs for the unemployed 

youths through 

mechanised farming. Umar 

however, requested the State 

government to make provide 

100 hectares of agriculture 

land for the scheme to take 

off in the state. 

Responding, Governor 

Akeredolu, represented by 

his Deputy, Agboola Ajayi, 

urged Central Bank of Nigeria 

to put into consideration 

geographical location of 

states in the country while 

giving incentives to farmers. 

Abia Govt. seeks 

industrial development 

partnership with U.S. 

Okezie Ikpeazu, the 

governor of Abia 

State, on Monday, 

said the state government 

was willing to collaborate 

with the U.S. government 

to facilitate the development 

of the state’s economy. 

Ikpeazu said this when the 

American Ambassador to Nigeria, 

Stuart Symington, paid 

him a visit at Government 

House, Umuahia. “Smallscale 

manufacturing is one of 

our strong points and we have 

secured the development of a 

facility where industrial activities 

will be carried out. 

“We are looking for not less 

than 500 companies to take 

advantage of the investment 

opportunities which the state 

has to offer,” the governor said. 

He said that the industrial 

clusters created by the 

government were backed by 

law, to ensure that the project 

outlived the present administration 

as a measure to 

secure investments. Ikpeazu 

expressed the hope that the 

establishment of commercial 

ties between Abia and the U.S. 

government would go a long 

way to boost industrial development 

in the state. 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja 

The Deputy President 

of the Senate, Ike 

Ekweremadu, has 

called for a visa-free 

regime for Commonwealth 

among the Commonwealth 

member states. 

He emphasised that the 

quest for stronger ties in 

the Commonwealth should 

“transcend the realms of 

lip service, insular, and protective 

tendencies” for the 

organisation to remain relevant. 

Ekweremadu made the 

recommendation on Monday 

in a lead presentation 

on “The Role of Parliamen- 

tarians in Building Stronger 

Ties Within the Commonwealth: 

Including New Trade 

Issues, Visa Issues, Travel 

Restrictions, and Non-tariff 

Restrictions” at the ongoing 

Commonwealth Parliamentary 

Conference in Dhaka, 

Bangladesh. 

A statement by Uche 

Anichukwu, Special Adviser 

(Media) to Deputy President 

of the Senate, quoted 

Ekweremadu as saying: 

“Free movement of citizens 

across Commonwealth borders 

is key to building stronger 

ties amongst member 

states. National parliaments 

should, therefore, champion 

visa-free regime for Commonwealth 

citizens. 

“This may begin with certain 

categories of passport 

holders. Presently, Nigeria 

has a visa-free regime with 

South Africa for citizens 

with diplomatic and official 

passports”. 

Throwing more light 

on his recommendation, 

Ekweremadu also explained 

that citizens of Commonwealth 

in West Africa were 

already enjoying a visa-free 

regime among member nations. 

The senator urged national 

parliaments of Commonwealth 

nations to do more 

in ratifying travel and trade 

agreements entered into by 

the executive arm of their 

countries, especially where 

Commonwealth countries 

were involved. 

The lawmaker said since 

sovereignty resided with the 

people, it was only natural 

for the people’s representatives 

to be at the centre 

of building the principles, 

modalities, legal frameworks, 

institutions, and international 

partnerships for 

providing and promoting 

mutual socio-economic and 

political development of 

member nations. 

“Parliamentarians should 

push for relevant legislations 

to create environments 

that guarantee smooth and 

seamless trade agreements 

amongst member nations. 

“Economic restrictions 

against any Commonwealth 

state for any reason should 

be subject to confirmation 

by parliament, not by Executive 

Orders. 

“It is also time to push 

for economic partnership 

protocols among Commonwealth 

nations”, he said. 

He also called on national 

parliaments of Commonwealth 

nations to establish 

specialised committees on 

trade issues, visa issues, 

travel restrictions, non-tariff 

restrictions, among others to 

make parliamentary inputs 

more effective in these areas.


comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

9 

COMMENT 

All change!!! Nigeria is not an oil economy 

KEMI ADEOSUN 

Kemi Adeosun is Nigeria’s Minister of 

Finance 

Descriptions of 

Nigeria’s economy 

often include 

such 

phrases as ‘Africa’s 

largest oil producer’, 

and ‘the oil rich African nation’. 

However, oil economies 

are typically characterised 

by low population densities 

and abundant oil resources. 

To put this in context; Saudi 

Arabia, with 10 million barrels 

of oil per day and 30 

million people, Kuwait with 

2.7 million barrels of oil per 

day and 4 million people 

and Qatar with 1.5 million 

barrels of oil per day and 2.5 

million people are typical 

of such. These economies 

pursued an economic model 

that was built around a large 

government, dependent almost 

entirely on oil revenue 

for funding. Such economies 

could afford to have low or 

in some cases no domestic 

revenue mobilisation, in the 

form of taxes. Tax to Gross 

Domestic Product (GDP) ratios 

of less than 10% against 

the OECD average of 34.6% 

could be justified especially 

in the era of high oil prices. 

For over three decades, 

Nigeria pursued this model. 

Things are now changing, 

with the election of President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

in 2015, who was propelled 

into office under the mantra 

of ‘change’. That clamour 

for change, in the areas of 

governance, security and 

economy, coincided with the 

collapse of global oil prices 

and a consequent huge deficit 

in government revenues. 

These circumstances provided 

the ingredients for 

an overhaul of the entire 

economic model. The first 

and rather numbing conclusion 

of that exercise was that 

Nigeria is not actually an ‘oil 

economy’. With just 2 million 

barrels of oil per day and 

over 180 million people, simple 

mathematics tells us that 

90 Nigerians share a barrel 

of oil compared to 3 Saudis, 

1.44 Kuwaitis and 1.69 

Qataris. With oil at just 10% 

of GDP, Nigeria simply does 

not fit into the mould of the 

traditional oil economies. 

Interestingly, even nations 

who did legitimately 

fit into this narrow mould of 

high oil revenues, and low 

populations, are abandoning 

what is now considered to be 

a flawed model. Thus, the 

imperative for Nigeria was 

even more urgent. Nigeria 

recalibrated its target peer 

group from the oil economies 

to the ‘oil plus’ economies 

such as Mexico and Egypt. 

This new peer group have 

diversified economies and 

tax to GDP ratios of 20% and 

16%, respectively, compared 

to Nigeria’s 6%. Consequent- 

Despite the emergence from 

a recession, tax revenues are 

showing early signs of growth. 

VAT shows 18.97% year on year 

improvement. Over 800,000 

companies, including some 

Government contractors, that 

have never paid taxes have 

already been identified and 

are being audited 

ly, the change mantra had to 

be urgently applied to revenue 

mobilisation. 

Analysis of some economic 

data suggests that 

revenue mobilisation is potentially 

the master key to 

unlocking Nigeria’s huge 

growth potential by funding 

its ailing infrastructure 

including roads, power and 

rail. A cursory look at the 

effective tax rates paid by 

the huge multinational and 

local operators, as well as 

the data on illicit financial 

flows, indicates a pattern 

of systematic tax evasion at 

all levels. Recent statistics 

released by the Federal Ministry 

of Finance showed that 

Nigeria has just 14 million 

active tax payers from an 

economically active base of 

70 million. Over 95% of these 

are salary earners in the formal 

sector, just 241 persons 

paid personal income taxes 

of N20m (US$65,573.77) in 

2016. Taxing the high net 

worth and Nigeria’s huge 

community of entrepreneurs 

constitutes a critical but 

yet attainable target. The 

statistics for corporate tax 

payment shows the debilitating 

effects of base erosion, 

and profit shifting as well 

as abuse of an overly generous 

tax incentive and duty 

waiver system. The historical 

government apathy towards 

revenue mobilisation is one 

of the effects of the mistaken 

identity, that saw Nigeria 

perceive itself as an oil economy. 

This Administration is 

determined to correct this 

identity crisis and all its 

concomitant effects. 

In that spirit, we launched 

an ongoing and well received, 

tax amnesty, ‘The 

Voluntary Asset and Income 

Declaration Scheme’ 

(VAIDS). VAIDS provides a 

9-month window for Nigerian 

tax payer’s, both corporate 

and individual, to 

regularise their tax status in 

exchange for a guarantee of 

no interest, penalties, tax investigation 

or further audit. 

This amnesty follows successful 

initiatives in a number 

of countries, where tax 

evasion is a problem, such as 

Indonesia, Argentina, South 

Africa and India. It has been 

programmed to end just as 

the Automatic Exchange of 

Information, which will provide 

Nigerian tax authorities 

with unprecedented levels of 

information on offshore assets, 

becomes effective. 

The initial signs suggest 

that Nigerians are responding 

positively to the new 

revenue narrative. Despite 

the emergence from a recession, 

tax revenues are showing 

early signs of growth. VAT 

shows 18.97% year on year 

improvement. Over 800,000 

companies, including some 

Government contractors, 

that have never paid taxes 

have already been identified 

and are being audited. This 

is an unprecedented initiative 

that entails cooperation 

between Federal and State 

Governments. The Federal 

Ministry of Finance has also 

commenced a database project 

that combines data from 

the various arms of government 

including bank records, 

property and company ownership, 

and customs records 

to create accurate profiles 

of those liable to pay taxes. 

The Ministry has also placed 

one of the world’s premier 

private investigation agencies 

on retainership to trace 

overseas assets. 

Changing the Nigerian 

economic psyche is not an 

easy task. By its nature, tax 

mobilisation risks the popularity 

of any Government, but 

the present administration 

understands that the short 

term lure of political expediency, 

must give way to the 

long term best interests of 

Africa’s largest economy. Her 

energetic, young and growing 

population are deserving 

of the chance to experience 

a truly transformed, sustainable 

and growing economy. 

Send reactions to: 

comment@businessdayonline.com 

ZAYYAD I. MUHAMMAD 

Muhammad writes from Jimeta, 

Adamawa State 

zaymohd@yahoo.com, 

08036070980.www.zayyad.com.ng 

The emergence of Boss 

Gida Mustapha as the 

new Secretary to the 

Government of the 

Federation (SGF) is a product 

of providence and due to 

former SGF Babachir David 

Lawan’s avoidable ‘economic’ 

and ‘political’ blunders. The 

new SGF, Boss should learn 

from his predecessor’s mistakes 

and successes. Successes? Well, 

Buhari’s adversaries will argue 

Babachir recorded no successes 

as SGF. The truth is, Babachir 

made some remarkable contributions 

to the Buhari administration, 

but unfortunately, his 

political blunders overshadowed 

them. 

Boss should learn from Babachir’s mistakes 

The ousted SGF is an experienced 

man in his own right 

as well as a long-time confidante 

and loyalist of President 

Muhammadu Buhari. A man 

who stood with Buhari through 

thick and thin, and has overtime 

earned the president’s trust. 

But Babachir committed cheap 

surprising blunders. Babachir, 

as SGF pettily allowed his personal 

‘business’ to mingle with 

government business. The accusations 

were: he abused the use 

of funds meant for the Internally 

Displaced Persons in the North 

East; disrespected his own office 

as SGF, inflated contracts 

and was also complicit in 21 

bogus contracts awarded to 

families, friends, cronies and 

members of the then Presidential 

Initiative for the North East 

(PINE). 

Babachir’s second blunder 

was attitudinal – he is a poor 

politician who only sticks to 

people from his clan and hardly 

stretches his handshake to other 

people. He also lacked efficient 

image managers; furthermore, 

he was arrogant and talked 

more than he worked. 

The Office of SGF is a big 

national office that requires 

one to be smart politically, as 

well as watchful of one’s moves. 

Any person occupying the office 

of SGF has to be very careful, 

to avoid being caught in a tight 

web of political intrigues. More 

so, when one is an important 

member of a Buhari government, 

one some people are 

working tirelessly to paint as 

being corrupt, so as to rubbish 

the government’s fight against 

corruption. 

Public office in Nigeria comes 

with some privileges, authority 

and huge funds to spend, so if 

one does not apply measured 

restraint and discipline, he/ 

she can easily fall into the trap 

of corruption without even 

knowing. 

Boss Mustapha says he will 

work to ensure more cooperation 

between government 

ministries and departments. 

This is good. Babachir was arrogant 

and undiplomatic in his 

relationship with other arms 

of government, and his style 

of politics was considered pathetic 

that he failed to get any 

meaningful public sympathy 

or concrete defence from the 

political class. Even his primary 

constituency in the northeast 

and Adamawa state, gave him 

no backing. This is a big lesson 

for Boss; one cannot be the 

Secretary to the Government 

of the Federation of Nigeria and 

behave like the secretary of a 

hamlet’s cultural association. 

Boss should bring his political 

and administrative experiences, 

simplicity and humour 

to the SGF office. We do not 

want the SGF to always be in 

the news for the wrong reasons. 

However, one cannot isolate 

the SGF’s office from politics. 

Boss is a politician that has 

gone through the mill. So he 

must expect political punches 

from different angles, in fact he 

was already welcomed by a political 

tone- ‘Boss is Babachir’s 

cousin’- because he is Kilba by 

tribe, same as Babachir. Boss is 

more of a Jimetan (Yola-North 

LGA) than from Hong LGA, in 

fact, he represented Yola in the 

constituent assembly during 

the IBB era. 


comment@businessdayonline.com



C002D5556 

COMMENT 



Ease of doing business: Need for sustained efforts 

MAZI SAM OHUABUNWA OFR 

Ohuabunwa is chairman, African 

Centre for Business Development, 

Strategy 

Innovation (ACBDSI). 

Last week, we received 

the hearty news that Nigeria’s 

position on the 

Global ease of doing 

business index improved 

significantly. In the 2017 rankings 

released by the World Bank, Nigeria 

moved from the 169th position 

to the 145th position, thus gaining 

24 positions. This is a great feat 

that deserves commendation to all, 

put particularly we commend the 

recent efforts of the Presidential 

Ease of doing Business Council 

chaired by the Vice President. 

After achieving a peak of 120th 

position out of 181 countries surveyed 

in 2008, Nigeria remained on 

a roller-coaster since then, hitting 

the rocks at the 170th position in 

2014. Worried by the depressing 

descent, the Federal Government 

last year set up the Presidential 

Enabling Business Environment 

Council (PEBEC), which went to 

work to determine first, an action 

plan to address specific areas of 

business difficulties in Nigeria. 

This Committee which includes 

the Minister of Industry, Trade and 

Investment, Minister of Finance 

and 8 other Ministers also has 

the CBN Governor and the Head 

of Service (HOS) as members. It 

started with identifying certain 

criteria for the assessment, had 

consultations with players in the 

economy and got the then acting 

president to issue executive 

orders, perhaps for the first time 

in Nigeria, borrowing from the 

practice in the USA. Executive 

order 001 on Transparency and 

Ease of doing Business led to the 

60day National action plan that 

addressed issues such as business 

registration, construction permits 

and trans-border trade. 

The committee monitored 

to ensure that the orders were 

obeyed and then went on to take 

certain other aspects of the ease 

of doing business assessment 

criteria, setting fresh targets and 

determined new time lines for 

accomplishment. The reward is 

what we are now witnessing- the 

24 places jump. 

Around 2010, in an interactive 

meeting with Dr Olusegun 

Aganga who was first a Minister 

of Finance and later Minister of 

Trade & Industry, we had suggested 

that the Country needed 

to be methodical in addressing 

the issues that affected the ease 

of doing business in Nigeria, so 

as to improve our overall global 

competitiveness. We had reasoned 

that continued platitudes 

and expression of intention by 

government to improve our global 

competitiveness would yield little 

result and that focus was needed. 

This, especially since the government 

was getting frustrated by the 

lack of improvement in our ranking 

year after year. The minister 

agreed with us and went on to set 

up the National Competitiveness 

Council of Nigeria (NCCN), and 

It is certain that if many 

more states were included 

in the survey, the 

result would not have 

been this cheering. Second, 

we must be humble 

to admit that locating at 

the 145th position out of 

190 countries does not 

in any way put us in a 

competitive position even 

for African standards. We 

are much behind Angola, 

Ghana, Sierra Leone and 

several other smaller 

African countries 

I was invited to participate in some 

of the council’s work at some point. 

I am aware that the Chika Mordi led 

council has been working very hard. 

It has undertaken several initiatives 

and several studies and surveys, in 

addition to making several recommendations. 

But its achievements 

and successes have not been easily 

measured. 

This is what makes the Presidential 

council different. Whereas 

Mordi’s council essentially made 

recommendations with minimum 

power for execution and enforcement 

since it is mostly private sector 

driven, the Vice-President’s council 

has both execution and enforcement 

powers. Whereas Mordi’s council 

would be making effort to convince 

government officers on the need to 

take certain actions in line with 

its recommendations, the Vice- 

President’s had no such burden. 

Whatever they recommended, 

they went ahead to implement 

and if there was any obstacle, they 

issued executive orders to clear it, 

including dealing with recalcitrant 

public servants. Nevertheless it is 

certain that both councils have 

contributed to this improvement 

in both Ease of doing business and 

Global competitiveness. 

While we may be tempted to 

celebrate, it is important that we 

realize that we still have a very 

long way to go. First, the World 

Bank evaluation that gave us this 

jump was only done in Lagos and 

Kano. It is certain that if many more 

states were included in the survey, 

the result would not have been 

this cheering. Second, we must 

be humble to admit that locating 

at the 145th position out of 190 

countries does not in any way put 

us in a competitive position even 

for African standards. We are much 

behind Angola, Ghana, Sierra 

Leone and several other smaller 

African countries. So we really do 

not have the luxury to celebrate 

nor to begin to rest on our oars. 

Global investments follow the lines 

of least resistance. Therefore there 

are 144 countries with less resistance 

to investment than Nigeria. 

We recommend that we beam 

the searchlight on the sub national 

economies. The recent surveys 

conducted by NCCN have ranked 

the States in terms of ease of doing 

business and competitiveness. 

The Federal Economic council 

which co-incidentally the same VP 

chairs must put its focus on this 

and see that the efforts and initiatives 

by the Ease of Doing business 

council are adopted by all States 

of the federation. May be, some 

incentives or kind of competition 

must be instituted to motivate and 

reward States that show the most 

improvement every year. This must 

transcend politics, as Nigeria’s sustained 

economic well being firmly 

hinges on these matters. 

Let me also add that all efforts 

must be put in place to institutionalize 

the changes that helped 

move us up. Much relates to the 

public sector and as we all know, 

Nigeria’s Public sector is very resistant 

to sustained change. Many 

good initiatives are started with 

fanfare, but soon die out. Sometimes 

Nigeria’s primitive political 

culture stands in the way of sustainability. 

New Government, new 

policy, new program; new party 

in power relegates all good policies, 

programs and projects of the 

previous party in power. We must 

change this self-defeating political 

culture, and do what the Ministry 

of Industry, Trade and investment 

did by retaining the Industrial 

Revolution program of the previous 

government. 

My hope is that we can repeat 

this feat next year and sustain 

the improvement in subsequent 

years. Now that we know it is doable, 

we should be encouraged to 

aggressively pursue the changes 

that need to be made. We must set 

new targets for each year and hold 

ourselves accountable for achieving 

them. Leadership is critical as 

we have just seen. 


comment@businessdayonline. 

STRATEGY & POLICY 

MA JOHNSON 

Johnson is a marine project management 

consultant and Chartered Engineer. He is 

a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, 

Science and Technology, UK. 

With globalization, the 

world is increasingly 

interdependent and 

complex. Conventional 

threats of the past have given rise 

to new challenges that many times 

are not limited to regions and have 

no respect for international borders. 

Globally, sea piracy has gone 

haywire in the first three-quarters 

of 2017. Maritime nations are 

worried about the consequences 

of an ocean dominated by rising 

sea robbery and piracy. Modern 

definitions of piracy include illegal 

boarding, extortion, hostage taking 

and kidnapping of people for 

ransom. Others include murder, 

robbery, sabotage resulting in a 

ship sinking, and shipwrecking 

done intentionally to a ship. 

A few days ago, I got a report 

One world and an ocean of rising piracy incidents 

from the International Maritime 

Bureau (IMB) that within nine 

months of the year 2017, one hundred 

and twenty one piracy incidents 

were reported globally, out 

of which ninety-two vessels were 

boarded, five hijacked, eleven attempted 

attacks and thirteen vessels 

fired upon. This report is very 

frightening when one considers 

the importance of the oceans to 

global economic survival of nations. 

The report showed that Nigeria 

remains risky, having a total 

of twenty reports against all vessel 

types, sixteen of which occurred 

off the coast of Brass, Bonny, and 

Bayelsa. The report further affirms 

that guns were used in eighteen 

of the incidents and vessels were 

underway in seventeen out of 

twenty reports. 

Regrettably, thirty-nine out 

of the forty-nine crew members 

kidnapped globally occurred off 

Nigerian waters in seven separate 

incidents, according to the IMB 

report. An observer remarked 

that: “In general, all waters in 

and off Nigeria remain risky, despite 

intervention in some cases 

by the Nigerian Navy (NN)”. “We 

advise vessels to be vigilant. The 

numbers of attacks in the Gulf of 

Guinea could have been higher 

than our figures as many incidents 

continue to be unreported.” 

As if the remarks of the observer 

were not startling, BusinessDay 

in its edition of October 30, 2017 

reported that a fishing vessel donated 

by the Japanese Government to 

the Federal College of Fisheries and 

Marine Technology in Lagos, was 

stolen by pirates. Surprisingly, there 

was no hot pursuit by any maritime 

security agency. It was later that 

the Nigerian Maritime Administration 

and Safety Agency (NIMASA) 

was able to trace the 272-gt vessel 

named SARKIN BAKA to Cameroon. 

Anyway, report has it that “the vessel 

has now been returned to Nigerian 

authorities”. 

Piracy has existed for as long as 

the oceans were plied for commerce. 

The trend is observed to be cyclic in 

nature. Piracy is at the peak when 

there is global economic recession 

in which the perpetrators of this 

heinous crime enter the sea to steal. 

It is on land pirates plan, thereafter 

undertake acts of piracy and armed 

robbery at sea. Accordingly, when 

there is economic recession and 

political instability on land, pirates 

turn to the sea for survival. 

This situation is reversed when 

the nation’s economy is booming. 

while this viewpoint is arguable, it 

has been observed that a number of 

geographic and economic characteristics 

of the world often produce 

an environment practically necessitating 

piracy. 

So, the question is this: What is 

responsible for the current rise in 

sea piracy globally? Is it because 

the price of crude is increasing in 

the international market? At the 

time of writing, crude oil sells for 

about US$61/ barrel and as long as 

the economy of most nations is not 

stable, there is likely to be a rise in 

sea piracy. This is because shipping 

is vulnerable in two areas. First, 75 

percent of the world’s maritime 

trade and half of its daily oil consumption 

pass through a handful 

of international straits and canals, 

placing international commerce at 

risk in major trading hubs at a few 

strategic chokepoints. Secondly, 

the infrastructure and systems that 

span the maritime domain have 

increasingly become both targets 

of, and conveyances for dangerous 

and illicit activities. 

Talking about maritime crimes, 

it was observed that illegal exploitation 

of living marine resources 

has increased. Competition over 

non-living marine resources, maritime 

boundary disputes, resource 

degradation, and maritime crimes 

are potential areas. In justifying 

these observations, the United 

States Coast Guard Intelligence 

Coordination Centre in a book 

titled “Threats and Challenges to 

Maritime Security 2020,” revealed 

that piracy prone areas include 

the Caribbean, Central and South 

America, West and East Africa, 

South East and East Asia. 

Furthermore, “most incidents 

of maritime crime occur in coastal 

waters with nearly 80% of all reported 

piracy cases occurring in 

territorial waters.” Piracy denies 

some African nations of potential 

revenue for economic development. 

It was predicted more than 

a decade ago by a US Navy Admiral 

“that organised pirate gangs may 

emerge in the future that will either 

conduct multi- ship operations or 

use quasi-military tactics”. This is 

now a reality. 

The strategic importance of 

secure oceans to the well-being 

of people, places vast responsibility 

on navies and maritime security 

agencies to defeat the array of 

threats highlighted above. I hope 

that the step taken by the Federal 

Government, in outsourcing maritime 

security training to a private 

Israeli firm for three years, at a cost 

of US$ 195 million will reduce the 

security risks in Nigeria’s coastal 

waters. Most importantly, African 

navies must continuously share in 

the responsibility of maintaining 

global maritime security, particularly 

in regional waters. While African 

resources are limited, support 

for maritime cooperation with international 

navies will be stronger, 

by using other instruments of 

national power to address threats 

on land before they spill over into 

the global commons. 




COMMENT 

RAFIQ RAJI 

Dr Raji is chief economist at Macroafricaintel. 

He was previously an 

Africa economist at Standard Chartered 

Bank, London, UK. (Twitter: @ 

DrRafiqRaji) 

Muhammadu 

Buhari, the 

Nigerian 

president, is 

expected to 

present his 2018 budget estimates 

to the legislature on 

7 November. He reportedly 

wanted to do it in late October; 

to allow ample time for 

the spending proposals to 

be considered and passed by 

December. Some lawmakers 

have expressed reservations 

about this. BusinessDay, the 

newspaper which publishes 

this column, found out why. 

There are at least three executive 

proposals currently 

under consideration by the 

lawmakers. First is the 2018- 

2020 Medium Term Expenditure 

Framework (MTEF) and 

Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP). 

C002D5556 



2018 budget should be passed before year end 

Second is a N135.6 billion 

virement proposal. And third, 

a US$5.5 billion foreign borrowing 

request. My view is 

that the lawmakers can get 

them all done on or before 31 

December. And they should. 

Considering how much they 

get paid, it would not be too 

much to ask that they go into 

overdrive, consider and pass 

them all before heading for 

their Christmas break. 

More spending 

In the MTEF, the 2018 

spending estimate is put at 

N8.6 trillion, up by about 16 

percent relative to the 2017 

budget of N7.4 trillion. Oil 

production is assumed at 

2.3 million barrels per day 

(mbpd), which would probably 

be no more than 1.8 

mbpd if a likely OPEC production 

cap in November is sanctioned. 

But even this level of 

production may be weighed 

on by imminent militant attacks 

on oil and gas infrastructure 

by agitators in the 

Niger Delta region. Additional 

tax measures are planned. 

A 15 percent tax on luxury 

goods from 5 percent currently, 

for instance. An ongoing 

tax amnesty programme till 

March 2018 should also boost 

the government’s finances. 

Tax revenue performance this 

Oil production is assumed 

at 2.3 million barrels per 

day (mbpd), which would 

probably be no more than 

1.8 mbpd if a likely OPEC 

production cap in November 

is sanctioned 

year has been quite impressive, 

with respect to VAT at least; 

N797.5 billion was realised 

between January and October 

2017, up about 20 percent from 

the same period last year. 

Better narrative 

It is not news that the 2017 

budget was only partially implemented; 

never mind shortfalls 

here and there even for the 

parts that were. As the authorities 

likely plan to issue a US$5.5 

billion eurobond, it would help 

a great deal if investors are able 

to see how things are beginning 

to indeed change for the better. 

There have been some positive 

developments lately. The World 

Bank recently affirmed the 

authorities’ ease of doing business 

reforms are working, raising 

Nigeria’s ranking 24 places 

to 145th out of 190 countries. 

Central bank governor Godwin 

Emefiele was also recently conferred 

with an award by Forbes 

magazine. And in late October, 

Nigeria kept its place in the 

MSCI Frontier Markets Index 

(country weight of 8 percent); 

attributed to a rebound in the 

foreign exchange market. So, 

imagine how truly positive the 

Nigerian investment narrative 

would be if the authorities are 

able to also demonstrate they 

are succeeding with fiscal 

policy. 

Good plan 

Concerns have been raised 

about the supposedly planned 

US$5.5 billion eurobond. The 

country’s historical pains with 

indebtedness make Nigerians 

naturally wary. Public debt of 

N19.6 trillion (US$64.2 billion) 

in June, about 16 percent of 

2016 GDP of US$405 billion, 

should ordinarily not be concerning. 

But electioneering 

for the 2019 polls has started 

in earnest. And President Buhari, 

hitherto thought might 

not be seeking a second term 

in light of his fragile health, 

recently signalled he has decided 

otherwise. So there is 

the risk that new borrowings 

might not be spent wisely. In 

response, finance minister 

Kemi Adeosun is taking pains 

to explain the rationale behind 

the plan. Of the US$5.5 billion 

they plan to borrow, US$3 

billion would be used to refi- 

BUSINESS DAY 

11 

nance the authorities’ current 

debt portfolio. The remaining 

US$2.5 billion, which would be 

new borrowing, is intended to 

in part, fill a hole in the 2017 

budget; already appropriated 

for. It seems like a good plan, 

if you ask me. 

Be bold 

Feelers that came out initially 

were that the planned 

foreign borrowing would be 

done in two parts. I do not 

believe this to be wise. Interest 

rates are rising in the developed 

world, with the American 

Federal Reserve expected to 

hike rates again in December. 

Only last week, the Bank of 

England raised its benchmark 

rate by 25 basis points to 0.5 

percent, the first time since 

2007. What this portends for 

African sovereigns looking to 

issue eurobonds is that potential 

subscribers are going to 

insist on higher yields; albeit 

they would by far still not be as 

dear as those in their domestic 

debt markets. 


comment@businessdayonline.com 

SALIENT 

Exploring diversity: Dimensions of workplace diversity 

WEYINMI JEMIDE 

Jemide is a certified master coach and 

currently a doctoral candidate in applied 

leadership and coaching. He writes every 

Tuesday in BusinessDay 

In thinking of diversity, the 

tendency might be to limit it 

to gender and race. From the 

perspective of a modern organisation 

especially multinationals, 

diversity has other dimensions. 

Indeed, the dimensions of diversity 

are more today than they have 

ever been, and the likelihood is 

that these dimensions will increase 

as the future unfolds. This 

article highlights four dimensions 

of workplace diversity. 

Gender diversity 

Gender is the most common 

form of diversity. It features on 

almost every form that human 

beings have to compete from 

pre-school age to old age. Applications 

for school, passports, visas, 

employment all include requirements 

to specify gender. A job 

seeker’s default mode in preparing 

a resume will display gender. 

Although it might seem simplistic, 

gender diversity is an important 

element of organisational development. 

Questions about gender 

balance and ratios should not be 

taken as side considerations in 

building communities of diverse 

employees. If there are either too 

many women or too many men in 

a workplace, it might be an indicator 

of lack of diversity. 

Global statistics suggest that 

there are fewer women in employment 

and even less in top 

leadership positions. A 2015 

World Economic Forum Gender 

Gap report estimated that it will 

take 118 years to close the workplace 

gender pay gap, and bring 

women at par with men! The 

report also shows that while more 

women than men are enrolling at 

university in 97 countries, women 

make up the majority of skilled 

workers in only 68 countries and 

the majority of leaders in only 

four. Another report published 

by McKinsey Global Institute 

estimated that global growth can 

be increased by $12 trillion by 

advancing gender equality. Corporate 

entities should therefore 

be consistently assessing their 

gender gaps to create appropriate 

balance. 

Age diversity 

Age diversity in more than 

mere age differences or basic categorisations 

such as young, middle 

aged or elderly. Age groups 

in many parts of Africa, Asia and 

the Middle East possess cultural 

significance which include transition 

to manhood and womanhood. 

Age groups have also become 

relevant in the workplace, through 

the differences between three 

main generations. These generations, 

covering about a quarter of 

a century have been labelled Baby 

Boomers(1946 to mid 60s), Generation 

Xers (mid 1960’s to 1980) 

and Millenials (1980 onwards).The 

globe-trotting brand expert, Martin 

Lindstrom aptly captions the Millenials 

as Digital Natives who grew 

up into the Information Era. 

These groups reflect different 

philosophies about life, work, 

authority and relationships with 

each succeeding one growing more 

liberal in thinking. Age diversity is 

also related to the gap that emerges 

as one generation shifts to another 

– the generation gap. Generation 

gaps have to be acknowledged as a 

reality that affects how employees 

connect with employers, careers, 

authority and corporate culture. 

Psychoanalyst Michael Maccoby 

explains how the generation gap 

has raised people who have grown 

up with shared leadership, and 

view their parents as service providers 

instead of authority figures. 

Such people, he argues, are more 

comfortable with questioning authority. 

Consequently, to dismiss 

the significance of age diversity is 

to live in an unreal world. 

Racial and ethnic diversity 

There are current scientific 

arguments that racial differences 

are weak reflections of an individual’s 

actual genetic diversity. 

Nevertheless, we cannot discount 

the impact of race (by whatever 

definition) on diversity and how 

people respond to it. There are 

undebatable racial divides which 

have effects on individual rights, 

life expectancy, healthcare, justice, 

and a variety of other issues. 

Ethnic origin is as much a 

requirement in form filling as 

age and gender. In countries like 

Nigeria, state of origin is also built 

into official forms. In a bid to 

promote tribal or racial balance, 

governments prescribe employment 

quotas. Yet, people from 

different tribal and racial groups 

tend to defend their group interests 

more fiercely than national 

interests. All over the world, wars 

and genocides have often been 

accounted for by racial prejudices. 

These prejudices still directly and 

indirectly affect the corporate 

entities and recruitment policies 

albeit more negatively than positively. 

Organisations should be 

encouraged to be more diverse, 

as a McKinsey research indicates 

that companies with higher levels 

of racial and ethnic diversity 

are 35% more likely to generate 

above-average financial returns 

Religious diversity 

In one experiment (conducted 

in the US) researchers sent out 

9,600 job applications using CVs 

with similar narratives but for a 

single detail – experience with a 

religious or non-religious student 

group. The results of the research 

showed that the applications without 

reference to religion obtained 

20% more favourable responses 

from employers. Those with any 

mention of a Muslim student 

group received the lowest level of 

favourable responses. This experiment 

is a pointer to the depth of 

discrimination that religion generates 

in the workplace. 

Undoubtedly, with numerous 

belief systems and religions, it 

is almost impossible to fully accommodate 

the diversity. Yet, not 

recognising and accepting diversity 

produces more disadvantages 

than advantages. Obviously, the 

exceptions would be faith-based 

institutions that will deliberately 

search for employees with the 

same beliefs. For organisations 

that do not specify religion as a 

discriminatory factor, there is an 

implicit acceptance of diverse 

beliefs which has to be upheld and 

respected. 

More dimensions next week… 



12 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Tuesday 07 November 2017 

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ENQUIRIES 

The demystification of Buhari gradually reaches a crescendo 

I 

belong to everybody 

and I belong to nobody”, 

with these 

words during President 

Muhammadu 

Buhari’s inaugural speech, 

it appeared Nigeria finally 

got it right. In the months 

following his election, many 

Nigerians spoke of improved 

electricity supply, and like 

every other thing that appeared 

to be magically ‘turning 

out well’, all were attributed 

to the president’s body 

language. 

Two years later, and it appears 

the president’s body 

has either run out of language 

styles or those in the 

corridors of power have simply 

found it to be all ‘barks 

and no bite’. 

In the early months of 

the Buhari administration, 

it would have been unheard 

of that an alleged pension 

thief (now a fugitive on account 

of arrest warrants) 

will be smuggled into his 

former office, right under 

Buhari’s nose. Abdulrasheed 

Maina, former chairman of 

the Presidential Task Force 

on Pension Reforms, allegedly 

stole over N2 billion of 

pensioners funds and since 

2013, has been on the run. 

Interestingly, the saintly government 

of President Buhari 

- if accusations and counter 

accusations in the presidency 

are anything to go by – saw 

the Attorney General’s office, 

writing the Federal Civil Service 

Commission for Maina’s 

reinstatement. This is at least 

according to Winifred Oyo-Ita, 

Head of Service of the Federation. 

The now controversial reinstatement 

of Maina is however 

just one piece of the puzzle. 

The powers that be in the 

President’s inner caucus just 

didn’t develop the temerity to 

take such an audacious step 

overnight. No. It has been a 

gradual build up as it became 

increasingly clear that the 

Commander-in-Chief had 

even less control (and consciousness) 

of events going on 

around him. 

In April, Babachir Lawal, 

Secretary to the Government 

of the Federation (SGF) was 

suspended over alleged violations 

in the award of contracts 

under the Presidential Initiative 

on the North East (PINE). 

The suspension came after 

months of a baffled public, 

wondering how the presidency’s 

‘coordinating arm’ as 

it were, had lost the saintly 

credentials expected of Buhari’s 

cabinet members. The 

former SGF is by no means 

the only member of the Buhari 

administration who has been 

‘found wanting’, he simply got 

caught, at least by the report 

which indicted him. 

Like the former SGF, even 

Ayo Oke, former director 

general of the National Intelligence 

Agency, did not 

think being a saint was still 

required by the Buhari administration, 

at least not after two 

years of ‘initial bravado’. Oke 

thought it wise to run his own 

show with millions of dollars 

stashed away in at least one 

Ikoyi apartment that we know 

of. All was going well until 

EFCC’s Ibrahim Magu burst 

his bubble. Like the erstwhile 

SGF who once asked “who is 

the presidency”, Oke has also 

now been shown the door. In 

saner climes, one would expect 

their exit through the door to 

be definite. But recent turn of 

events almost suggest a person 

like Ayo Oke could even become 

a service chief ‘without 

the president knowing’, while 

Lawal could find himself back 

in office, courtesy of ‘memos 

from the Attorney General’s 

office.’ 

One is also tempted to ask, 

just like Lawal; who really is 

the presidency? We choose not 

to err on the side of conspiracy 

theorists who do not hesitate 

to mention certain names 

of the president’s supposed 

relatives, as those in charge 

of this government. This is for 

no reason other than the fact 

that it amounts to a complete 

mockery of over 15 million voters 

who put their faith in one 

man, Muhammadu Buhari, 

and not his nephew(s). 

The ‘action man’ many Nigerians 

thought was voted into 

power is today, at complete 

variance with the personality 

who currently occupies the 

seat of President, Federal Republic 

of Nigeria. 

We believe it is time for 

President Buhari to get involved 

in governance, not 

only when issues appear not 

in the interest of certain blocs, 

but at all times. President 

Buhari should take charge of 

all apparatus of government 

and if truly his body had any 

mythical language which on 

its own caused change, now 

will be a good time to regain 

that rhythm. 

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www.businessdayonline.com

Tuesday 07 November 2017 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 13 

COMPANIES 

& MARKETS 

Company news analysis and insight 

Okomu Oil’s 

wining sales streak 

continues on 

government policy 

P 14 

Wapic Insurance is efficient as 

underwriting profit surge 

…Insurer investor conference call holds today 

BALA AUGIE 

Wapic Insurance 

106.85 

percent 

growth in 

underwriting 

profit is an affirmation of 

improved efficiency of the 

insurer’s operation despite 

macroeconomic challenges. 

The insurer will hold a teleconference 

call for investors 

and analysts on Tuesday, November 

7, 2017 at 2pm Lagos 

Time (1pm London/ 3pm Johannesburg/ 

9am New York) 

with its senior management, 

to announce the unaudited 

financial results for the period 

ended September 2017. 

There will be an opportunity 

at the end of the call for 

management to take questions 

from investors and analysts. 

For the first nine months 

through November 2017, 

Wapic Insurance’s underwriting 

profit moved to N7.81 billion 

as against N6.40 billion the 

previous year. 

The Nigerian insurer is efficient 

as its combined ratio (CR) 

of 89.16 percent, lower than 

the 93.15 percent recorded 

last year, is less than the 100 

percent threshold. 

The CR is the combination 

of underwriting and claims 

expenses as a percentage of 

premium income. 

Wapic Insurance has surmounted 

the economic downturn 

brought on by lower oil 

price and a severe dollar shortage 

as premium income continues 

to grow. 

Gross premium written 

(GPW) spiked by 22.05 percent 

to N7.81 billion in the period 

under review from N6.40 billion 

as a September 2016. 

The growth in revenue was 

underpinned by a 91.47 percent 

increase in Motor Insurance 

to N1.79 billion. The 

company realized N1.34 billion 

from Group Life. 

Gross premium income 

and Net premium income increased 

by 31.15 percent and 

34.25 percent to N7.28 billion 

and N4.38 billion respectively. 

Wapic Insurance’s net 

claims expenses increased by 

13.58 percent to N2.09 billion 

in September 2017 compared 

to N1.84 billion as at September 

2016. 

Claims ratios declined to 

47.71 percent in the period 

under review as against 56.44 

percent the previous year. This 

means company spent N47 in 

claims to generate every N100 

in premium income. 

Wapic Insurance has urged 

players in the industry to play 

a major role in indemnifying 

losses in the oil and gas sector 

to prevent the industry from 

being handicapped financially 

after any major loss. 

Further analysis of the Nigerian 

insurer financial statement 

shows its cost control measures 

and technology optimization 

has paid off as total operating 

expenses reduced by 4.70 percent 

to N3.24 billion. 

Going into the last quarter 

of the year, the insurer says 

it shall focus attention on 

emerging opportunities in 

the industry and the economy 

while consolidating on its 

technology optimization, cost 

reduction, retail deepening, 

branding and customer experience 

strategies. 

Wapic Insurance Plc. 

(“Wapic” or “the Company”) 

is a leading West African 

multi-line insurance company 

providing solutions covering 

life, general and special 

risks. Established in 1958 and 

listed on the Nigerian Stock 

Exchange since 1978, Wapic’s 

mission is to transform into a 

diversified financial services 

institution, delivering value 

in a sustainable manner to 

her customers and stakeholders 

while playing a lead role 

in the transformation of the 

industry. With headquarters 

in Lagos, Nigeria, Wapic is 

organized into two core business 

segments, General and 

Life Insurance. 

The Company has two 

wholly owned subsidiaries, 

Wapic Life Assurance Limited 

and Wapic Insurance (Ghana) 

Limited as well as an associated 

company, Coronation Merchant 

Bank Limited. Through 

a diverse portfolio of products 

and a commitment to 

providing the best customer 

experience possible, Wapic, 

with an AM Best Financial 

Strength rating of “C++” and 

an Issuer Credit rating of ‘b+”, 

has significantly enhanced its 

underwriting capacity placing 

it among the top five insurance 

companies in Nigeria by 

solvency and capital 

European energy groups push EU for tougher climate change goals 

Iberdrola, Enel and SSE among those wanting more aggressive targets for renewables 

Andrew Ward 

Energy Editor 

Some of Europe’s largest 

energy companies have 

accused the EU of lacking 

ambition in the fight 

against climate change and 

urged more aggressive targets 

for growth in renewable power. 

The declaration, by companies 

including Iberdrola of 

Spain, Enel of Italy and SSE of 

the UK, came as negotiators 

gathered in Bonn for the latest 

round of international talks on 

tackling global warming. 

A proposed target for renewables 

to meet 27 per cent 

of EU energy consumption by 

2030, up from 16.7 per cent 

in 2015, “lacks ambition and 

would slow down the current 

rate of renewables deployment” 

in Europe, the companies 

said. 

Their intervention shows 

the extent to which the energy 

industry — once seen as a roadblock 

to action against climate 

change — is embracing the 

transition away from fossil fuels. 

Most big western European 

utilities have, to varying degrees, 

been reducing dependence 

on coal and gas-fired 

power generation in favour of 

wind and solar power in response 

to subsidies and other 

political measures to promote 

green energy. But in some 

cases, companies are now moving 

more aggressively than 

policymakers as the falling cost 

of wind and solar increases economic 

incentives for the switch. 

The statement, by companies 

also including EnBW of 

Germany, EDP of Portugal and 

Orsted, the Danish group previously 

known as Dong Energy, 

called for an EU-wide binding 

target for 35 per cent renewable 

energy by 2030. 

Such a target was needed, 

the companies said, to “restore 

the EU’s global leadership” in 

green energy and to preserve 

efficiency gains, which had 

made renewables “the most 

competitive option for new 

power generation in Europe”. 

The proposed renewables 

target is part of a package of 

measures intended to help the 

EU meet its carbon reduction 

commitments under the Paris 

climate agreement. 

EU policymakers are struggling 

to reconcile support for 

more aggressive action in much 

of western Europe with resistance 

from central Europe 

where coal-fired power genera- 

tion remains dominant. 

The biggest flashpoint in 

talks has been over proposed 

reforms of the EU emissions 

trading system to increase the 

price paid by power stations 

and factories for the carbon 

dioxide they put into the atmosphere. 

Further talks are expected 

this week after an earlier round 

broke down over Polish opposition 

to measures that would 

prevent revenues from carbon 

trading to be used to modernise 

coal-fired power stations. 

The EU wants a deal to 

burnish its climate commitments 

during the Bonn talks, 

which start on Monday and 

run for two weeks with a focus 

on how to implement the Paris 

agreement. 

Ignacio Galán, chairman 

of Iberdrola, said a “transparent 

and predictable European 

policy framework” was essential 

to drive further investment 

in renewables. 

Dave Jones, analyst at Sandbag, 

the climate think-tank, said 

there was an increasing gulf between 

western European utilities, 

which were staking their 

futures on renewable power, 

and those in central and eastern 

Europe, which remained wedded 

to coal.

14 

BUSINESS DAY 

COMPANIES & MARKETS 

C002D5556 


Okomu Oil’s winning streak 

continues on government policy 

BALA AUGIE 

Okomu Oil Palm 

Plc has continued 

its sales winning 

streak as government 

policies gave 

the company edge over competitors 

who are grappling with 

a currency woe. 

The ban on importers of 

certain items in accessing the 

foreign exchange was an advantage 

to oil palm producers as the 

demand for local goods spiked. 

Profit at Okomu, a Benin 

City-based manufacturer of the 

edible oil, increased by 51.39 

percent in the nine month to 

September as sales jumped 

53.14 percent to N6.39 billion, 

according to results published 

in October. 

The oil palm producer’s 

shares have gained 61.81 percent 

since the start of the year 

while market capitalization 

stood at N62.0 billion as at November 

5. 

“In the aftermath of CBN 

policy pronouncement regarding 

CPO imports, domestic 

prices surged 144% over 2016 

to N661.4/kg a importers who 

account for 29% of local supply 

cutback on imports,” said 

analysts at ARM Research in a 

recent report. 

“CPO price was in an upward 

trajectory as it spiked to 

N650 per kilogram in December 

2016 from N273 as at December 

2015,” according to the ARM 

Research report. 

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous 

nation was once the largest 

exporter of CPO in the 60’s but 

the discoveries of black gold in 

the early seventies resulted in 

neglect of the palm sector. 

According to recent report 

by USAD, Indonesia’s total production 

for 2016 was 35 million 

metric tonnes, Malaysia; 19.50 

million metric tonnes, others; 

4.94 million, Thailand; 2.30 million 

metric tonnes, Columbia; 

1.14 million metric tonnes, and 

Nigeria, 970,000. 

“We continue to believe that 

local palm oil producers are in 

an advantageous position relative 

to importers (competitors) 

due to CBN policies which have 

encouraged local production 

and also translated to favorable 

pricing,” said analysts at FBN- 

Quest Limited. 

While the company’s sales 

and profit have continues to 

spike amid a volatile and unpredictable 

macroeconomic 

environment, margins dipped in 

the period under review. 

Gross margins fell to 85.04 

percent in the period under 

review from 88.44 percent as at 

September 2016. 

“The subsisting FX ban on 

imported CPO at the interbank 

market leaves importers 

subjected to the vagaries at the 

parallel market,” according to 

analysts at ARM Research 

Will markets listen to hawkish talk 

from the Bank of England? 

The fallout from the BoE rate decision and the health of the US economy will be in focus 

Roger Blitz and 

Michael Mackenzie 

Here are the major 

questions for markets 

as a new trading 

week begins. 

Will markets listen to hawkish 

talk from the Bank of England? 

The first UK interest rate 

rise in a decade is not a “one 

and done” move, the BoE 

insists, but that is precisely 

how the market viewed it. The 

pound fell and two-year gilt 

yields dropped, holding below 

the new base rate, as investors 

branded the quarter-point rise 

in overnight borrowing costs to 

0.5 per cent as a “dovish hike”. 

The BoE fightback began 

on Friday, with deputy governor 

Ben Broadbent taking to 

the airwaves to argue a couple 

more rate rises were needed 

to get inflation on track. More 

communication of this kind is 

likely to emerge in the coming 

weeks, but it is a sizeable 

boulder the BoE must try to 

push uphill. 

That is in part because of 

concern among some investors 

last week’s rise may turn 

out to be a policy mistake. 

John Wraith, a strategist at 

UBS, said a slowing economy, 

Brexit uncertainty and inflation 

retreating makes another rate 

rise hard to justify. 

The hike “may come to 

be seen as a mistake unless a 

range of important data indicators 

start to improve soon”, 

Mr Wraith said. However, data 

on Friday showing a surprise 

pick-up in services in October 

offered some hope, but the 

pound moved only marginally. 

“Data surprises are likely 

to have to be material and 

consistent to dramatically alter 

expectations for the probability 

of a near-term follow-up hike 

early in 2018,” said Sam Hill, 

an economist at RBC Capital 

Markets. 

Brexit talks are the more 

likely to shift sterling this week, 

along with dollar-related developments. 

Still Desperately seeking 

the Phillips Curve 

That is the upshot after 

Friday’s US employment report, 

for October, with wage growth 

flat even as the unemployment 

rate dropped. There is still one 

more jobs report before the December 

meeting of the Federal 

Reserve. For now bond traders 

expect another quarter percentage 

point rise from the Fed, 

but expect fewer than two rate 

rises next year. That lags the US 

central bank’s own projections. 

TD Securities analysts say: 

“While the pace of hikes next 

year is lower than implied by 

the Fed dot plot, a continued 

lack of inflation pressures 

should skew the market to pricing 

in fewer hikes.’’ 

But faith in a tighter jobs 

market finally spurring inflation 

does hold sway in some 

quarters. 

“Notwithstanding the low 

level of CPI inflation, stronger 

growth is causing markets to 

reprice US rate expectations 

to the upside. Yet expectations 

remain well below the dot 

plot,” caution analysts at Bank 

of America Merrill Lynch. “We 

think further adjustment is 

needed, pushing yields and 

the dollar higher into year end.” 

While this debate will keep 

running the upshot remains 

one of a very slow rate-tightening 

schedule from the Fed. Such 

an outcome stands to remain 

very supportive for markets. So 

long as money remains easy, 

already elevated valuations 

for credit and equities have 

room to rise further and only 

heighten concerns that asset 

prices are in bubble territory. 

Further gains for oil and 

metals? 

Industrial commodities 

from oil, copper and niche 

metals such as cobalt have been 

on a tear, buoyed partly by the 

improving global economy and 

efforts to limit production. 

L-R: Umoren Akpan, general manager, Audit, Intercontinental Distillers Limited; Patrick Anegbe, 

managing director, Intercontinental Distillers Limited, and Bola Obasanjo, wife of the former President 

of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, at the Company’s Distributors Award held in Abeokuta, recently. 

West African students honour First Bank 

manager on youths development 

SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin 

For its sustained investment 

in capacity 

building and human 

capacity development 

among the youths, the West 

African Students Union has 

lauded First Bank PLC for its 

continental roles and development, 

just as the Union 

honoured Egbodogo Festus 

Adesinbo, a Business Development 

Manager located in Ilorin, 

the Kwara state capital. 

The choice of Adesinbo 

and First Bank PLC was 

borne out of First Bank PLC 

investment in African youths 

development, its capacity to 

reduce unemployment in Nigeria 

and West Africa, which 

prompted the West African 

Students Union to honour 

the Manager and First Bank 

PLC with a deserved award, 

urging the management of 

First Bank PLC to continue 

to play a impactful roles in 

developing the capacity of 

youths in Nigeria. 

A delegation of the Sub- 

Regional Students Union led 

by Jimmy Kennedy and Dominique 

Kakou from the Republic 

of Benin and Cote D’ivoire 

respectively, identified with 

the key roles the continental 

bank is playing in the capacity 

building of the youths across 

the country. 

They noted that the Award 

of Excellence to Business Development 

Manager of Kwara 

State Office of First Bank PLC 

in Ilorin, Kwara state capital 

on Tuesday, asking other 

corporate organisations operating 

in the West African 

countries to toe the path of 

greatness that will make the 

lives of African youths better 

off.



Swift introduces remita for 

convenient payments 

BALA AUGIE 

To guarantee reliable 

and uninterrupted 

internet connection 

for its subscribers, 

Swift Networks, 

providers of state-of-the-art 

broadband internet service, 

has introduced Remita as a 

convenient and more efficient 

payment option which would 

enable its customers to easily 

top up their data, at any time 

of the day and from anywhere, 

using their most preferred payment 

channel. 

This revelation was made 

as a part of the agreement 

reached by Swift Networks and 

SystemSpecs, the owners of 

Remita, one of Africa’s leading 

electronic payment solutions. 

Now, with the customised 

invoicing service provided by 

Remita, Swift customers will 

now be able to easily renew 

their subscription by simply 

clicking a payment link contained 

in data renewal text 

message and email sent to 

them by the internet service 

provider. 

Once the customer clicks 

the link which is personalised 

for each subscriber, they arrive 

at a payment page where 

all their payment details have 

been automatically inputted. 

All they have to do would be to 

select their most preferred of 

the payment channels available 

on Remita. 

With Remita, payments 

can be made through multiple 

channels including 

debit and credit cards, PoS, 

Internet Banking and the 

Remita App. Subscribers can 

simply set up Standing Order 

to automate their payments 

periodically or explore the 

conventional method of 

walking into any commercial 

bank branch nationwide and 

one of more than 500 microfinance 

bank branches for 

this purpose. 

“At Swift, we are committed 

to continually improving 

customer experience. The 

introduction of Remita is to 

consolidate on our promise 

Unity Bank lifts 2017 CBN trophy 

Unity Bank Plc has 

lifted the trophy 

of the 31st edition 

of Central Bank of 

Nigeria (CBN) sponsored Financial 

Institutions Football 

League after beating Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(SEC) 1-0 at Lafia Stadium, 

Nasarawa State. 

For emerging tops at the 

competition, Unity Bank 

got N2million prize and a 

trophy as its reward for outperforming 

12 other teams 

that participated in this year’s 

tourney. 

Modestus Anaesoronye 

Stanbic IBTC provides 20 children with 

prosthetic limbs, education trust funds 

Stanbic IBTC Holdings 

PLC, a member of Standard 

Bank Group, has 

provided 20 children 

with limb deficiencies with 

prosthetic limbs and education 

trust funds under its signature 

corporate and investment 

initiative, ‘Together4 A Limb’. 

The provisions, the financial 

institution said, formed part 

of its commitment to see that 

every Nigerian child is given 

the opportunity to live a productive 

and fulfilled life. 

A 4-kilometre charity walk 

to raise public awareness of 

children without limbs or limb 

deficiencies was flagged off by 

the Guest of Honour, the Minister 

of Health, Isaac Adewole, 

who was represented by the 

Chief Medical Director of the 

Lagos State University Teaching 

Hospital, Chris Bode. 

The charity walk was immediately 

followed by the presentation 

of cheques for the 

education trust fund to each 

of the latest beneficiary children, 

who had been successfully 

fitted with artificial limbs. 

This year’s seven beneficiaries 

were presented cheques by 

Bode, Non-Executive Director, 

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, 

Ngozi Edozien, and Chairman, 

Stanbic IBTC Asset Management 

Limited, Ifeoma Esiri. In 

2015 five children and in 2016 

eight children benefitted from 

the initiative and received 

education trust funds and 

prostheses. 

According to the Chief Executive 

of Stanbic IBTC Holdings 

PLC, Yinka Sanni, the 

initiative is a key plank in the 

Group’s corporate social investment 

drive, which focuses 

on education, health and 

economic empowerment. 

He said the charity walk is an 

integral part of the initiative 

as it helps to draw attention 

to the plight of children with 

to deliver convenience that 

would guarantee a worthwhile 

broadband experience to our 

customers,” said Chukwuma 

Okoye, Chief Operating Officer. 

“It is our priority to ensure 

ease in payment for users of 

our solutions,” said David 

Okeme, SystemSpecs’ chief 

commercial officer. “And our 

collaboration with Swift Networks 

is yet another stride 

towards extending the frontiers 

of payment convenience 

for consumers in Nigeria and 

beyond.” 

Remita is one of Africa’s 

leading electronic payment solutions 

that helps individuals, 

businesses and governments to 

make and receive payment easily, 

through multiple channels 

and across diverse financial 

institutions. Remita powers 

the Federal Government of 

Nigeria’s Treasury Single Account 

(TSA) and manages the 

finances of thousands of individuals 

and businesses across 

the nation, especially with its 

recently launched innovative 

Remita Mobile App. 

A statement signed by the 

Head, Corporate Communications 

of Unity Bank Plc, Mr. 

Matthew Obiazikwor, commended 

the CBN and the 

Nigeria Football Federation 

for a seamless collaboration 

which resulted in high quality 

soccer artistry witnessed in the 

2017 tournament. 

“We are thrilled for clinching 

the highly coveted gold 

medal which indicates our 

leadership in the sport while 

also attesting to the resilience 

and fitness of our workforce; 

attributes that any organization 

should be proud of”, he 

stated. 

He also praised the excellent 

team spirit and discipline 

of the players that led 

to this successful outing and 

expressed optimism that the 

team would sustain its winning 

streak in the next year’s 

competition as the defending 

champion. 

It would be recalled that 

Unity Bank was drawn into 

Group A comprising two 

other teams from where it 

progressed to the final and 

eventual victory. 

limb losses. He said the prostheses 

and education trusts 

Stanbic IBTC is providing for 

the children will not only help 

integrate them into society 

by boosting their self esteem 

but will also help them make 

something out of their lives. 

“Stanbic IBTC contributes 

to society through our CSI 

initiatives and in several other 

ways. By providing prostheses 

and education trusts to 

indigent children with limb 

differences, we are assisting 

the children to live healthy and 

fruitful lives,” Sanni said. 

The beneficiaries commended 

Stanbic IBTC for the 

assistance and expressed joy 

for the great opportunity given 

to them with the prostheses 

and the education trust funds. 

One of the beneficiaries, who 

spoke on behalf of others, Chinasa 

Akuma, said: “Thank you 

Stanbic IBTC for providing me 

and the others with artificial 

limbs and also helping with our 

education. 

Business Event 

L-R: Yebeltal Getachew, director, customer & commercial leadership, West Africa Business Unit, The 

Coca-Cola Company; Bill Gray, marketing director, West Africa Business Unit; The Coca-Cola Company; 

Frank Momoh, winner of the men net; Olumide Ojutalayo, winner of the men gross; and Abiona Babrinde, 

general manager, marketing and corporate communications, Coscharis Group, at the Grand Finale of 

Coca-Cola 2017 Invitational Golf Tournament at the Ikoyi Club 1938, Ikoyi Lagos. 

L-R: Allison Alassan, print category manager- central Africa, HP; Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, media personality; 

Ifeyinwa Afe, managing director/district manager, central Africa; Tolulope Lawani retail and online sales 

manager, central Africa, Nigeria, English West Africa and Libya, at the launch of HP Sprocket in Lagos 

L-R: Victor Onanubi, Managing Director, Maxtech Limited; Mr. Dele Ajisebutu, general manager, special 

project and Mr. Odinaka Mbonu, brand and communications manager both of Alpha Mead Facilities 

(AMF), at the Real Estate Excellence Awards where AMF won the award for Facility Management 

Company of the Year. 

L-R: Sidhartha Samal, category head (Beverages, Noodles & Culinary), Olam Sanyo Foods; Ali Nuhu, 

brand ambassador, Cherie Noodles; Ayyub Khan, vice president & business manager, Olam Sanyo 

Foods; Bola Adeniji, marketing manager, Olam Sanyo Foods and Diwas Joshi, regional sales manager, 

Olam Sanyo Foods, during the brand launch and Unveiling of Cherie Noodles Egglicious Flavour at 

Bristol Palace hotel Kano.



C002D5556


Nigerian brands jostle to ride 

the wave of 2018 World Cup 

… Budget for event depends on economy, say experts 

Stories by Daniel Obi 

Media Business Editor 

Every four years, 

the Fifa-organized 

World Cup 

comes with emotion 

and enthusiastic 

feeling in different 

nations. The 2018 event, 

kicking off in Russia on June 

14 is no exception as it has 

started attracting attention 

among Nigerians and big 

brands and this is expected 

to reflect on the marketing 

budget of companies for 

next year. 

Already, brands like Emzor, 

Aiteo Group and others 

have joined the passion with 

congratulatory adverts for 

Nigeria stating that ‘Russia 

here we come’. The brands 

congratulated Nigeria on its 

qualification to the World 

Cup, an event that transcends 

religion, ethnicity, politics, 

language and age. According 

to analysts, this trend is expected 

to continue up to June 

2018. 

It is also expected that 

large chunk of the 2018 marketing 

budget by many companies 

would be devoted to 

In response to the growing 

need of data and internet 

usage for various purposes 

including official 

and family use, Coollink, a Nigerian 

ISP and system integrator 

with nationwide presence 

has launched Asta, a brand 

new service that is delivering 

satellite broadband internet to 

consumers in Nigeria. 

While unveiling the product 

in Lagos, the CEO of 

Coollink, Shahin Nouri said 

the new service is tailored to 

the needs of local consumers 

as it increases broadband 

penetration and offers seamless 

satellite broadband everywhere 

including rural areas 

in Nigeria. 

Also speaking, Abdurrahman 

Mubi, Senior Technical 

Manager at Coollink said that 

while there are other satellite 

internet services available in 

Nigeria, Asta stands apart for 

numerous reasons. 

the global event largely on 

account of Nigeria’s qualification 

as brands seek greater 

eye-balls. 

But Jenkins Alumona, the 

CEO of Strategic Outcomes, 

an integrated marketing 

communication firm based 

in Lagos and sports enthusiast 

agreed that companies 

would key in to the event, 

he however said that budget 

for it would depend on the 

economy. 

“Following Nigeria’s 

qualification and as football 

popularity grows, there 

would likely be an increase 

in the marketing budget next 

year on account of the global 

event but this depends on the 

performance of the economy”, 

he said. 

Jerry Oche, Chief Executive 

Officer of Zowasel, an 

eCommerce marketplace 

who also estimated that 

brands would largely key in to 

the event believed that most 

marketing platforms would 

be used by brands during the 

World Cup for consumer con- 

Coollink introduces Asta Satellite Broadband 

service for Nigerian internet users 

He said the service is highly 

available and specifically tailored 

to the needs and demands 

of Nigerian consumers; 

it is affordable, covers the 

majority of the Nigerian territory 

and offers features such as 

speeds of up to 20 Mbps, data 

rollover and free night zone. 

Asta was launched in September 

and fully launched 

on November 1 by Coollink, 

partner of Konnect Africa, a 

company set up by Eutelsat in 

2015 says Mubi. 

He said that Asta will continue 

this tradition with high 

speed Internet access available 

for consumers and enterprises 

across the Nigerian territory 

and beyond. “When it comes 

to enterprise applications, 

Asta will benefit companies 

in virtually every niche. With 

premier connectivity and infrastructure, 

clients will be 

able to use Asta for everything 

from small office home office 

and enterprise applications to 

complex Government solu- 

nection. 

In his view, John 

Ehiguese, the CEO of Media- 

Craft, a public relation agency 

believed that there would 

be a big rush by corporate 

to be part of the World Cup 

as the platform presents a 

brand mileage opportunity 

for them. “The 2018 World 

Cup would be the focus of 

most brands next year and 

we are expecting excitement 

in the media industry” 

The 2018 FIFA World Cup 

which would end on July 15, 

2018 would present opportunity 

not only to sponsor 

global brands but to many 

brand around the world who 

want to tap in to the opportunity. 

But according to experts, 

some advert messages would 

be lost during the one month 

event but the most creative 

messages would be remembered 

and make impact on 

the brands months after the 

World Cup. 

Reports indicate that 

the World Cup competition 

in Brazil in 2014 reached a 

global in-house TV audience 

of about 3.2 billion and 

this could increase for the 

Russia- hosted event as football 

population continues to 

increase 

tions”. 

He further said that Asta is 

also available for residential 

customers at affordable rates 

in areas where broadband 

service was inexistent. according 

to him, the service is 

delivered using antennas as 

small as 74 cm in diameter, 

which can be easily installed 

in the most difficult of terrains 

and in as little as two hours. 

With this move, Nigeria can 

expect an increase in broadband 

penetration which will 

generate employment, grant 

communities in remote and 

rural areas access to eLearning 

platforms and broaden 

SME’s customer base, among 

several other benefits. 

“We have registered nationwide 

and Africa-wide 

partners to ensure that Asta 

is available to consumers all 

over”, says Tayo Sadare, Service 

Delivery Manager at Coollink 

in a statement.“ 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

17 

MEDIABUSINESS 

MB 

Marketing: Ososo 

Carnival initiative signs 

MoU with Neomedia 

To properly harness 

the potentials and 

opportunities that 

the annual Ososo 

Festival in the Akoko-Edo 

area of Edo State, would offer, 

its organisers have signed 

a Memorandum of Understanding 

with a marketing 

and event agency –Neomedia 

and Marketing to give this 

year’s edition an international 

outlook. 

Commemorate the partnership 

in Lagos, CEO of the 

marketing agency, Ehi Braimah, 

said the appointment of 

his agency was strategic to further 

entrench the mission and 

vision of the organisers of the 

festival among stakeholders. 

He also added that his 

agency, with experience in 

marketing of international 

brands and events would not 

find it tough in galvanizing 

necessary support that would 

make the carnival appeal to 

the world. 

“As a carnival that has already 

taken the life of its own 

and has appealed to necessary 

stakeholders, our job is 

to help the organisers attract 

potential sponsors and guests 

that would make it a revered 

Former MTN Nigeria CFO joins Terragon 

Group’s Board of Directors 

Andrew Bing 

The Board of Directors 

of Terragon Group 

has announced the 

appointment of Andrew 

Bing, former Chief Financial 

Officer of MTN Nigeria, as 

an independent non-executive 

director (NED) . 

The appointment, according 

to a statement comes 

against the backdrop of the 

company’s recent transition 

into a data and marketing 

technology business, its pan- 

African expansion plans as 

well as its need for practical 

carnival that everybody will 

identify with. It gladdens my 

heart personally that the proactive 

government of Edo 

State, under the leadership of 

Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki, 

has not only bought into 

the carnival; the government 

has created a good platform 

for its growth. With what is on 

ground, 2017 edition will be a 

watershed,’’ he said. 

Also speaking at the event, 

the state’s Commissioner 

for Arts, Culture, Tourism 

and Diaspora Affairs, Osaze 

Osemwegie-Ero said the state 

government would harness 

the potentials of Ososo Carnival 

as part of its plans to boost 

the state’s economy through 

the development of 58 newly 

identified tourism sites across 

the state. 

Also corroborating 

the Commissioner, 

Chairman(BOT) of Ososo 

Carnival Initiative, Emmanuel 

Agbaje, harped on the 

need for governments at all 

levels to begin the process 

of de-emphasizing oil as the 

economic mainstay of the 

nation by focusing on the 

development of other growth 

areas such as tourism. 

and extensive experience to 

successfully scale across some 

of the largest markets on the 

continent. 

In the statement, Elo 

Umeh, Managing Director, 

Terragon Group, said “We are 

honoured and humbled to 

have Andrew Bing accept to 

join our Board of Directors. 

We welcome his wealth of 

experience and look forward 

to his contributions which 

will definitely strengthen the 

governance and oversight 

functions of the Board”. 

Currently an active member 

of the Institute of Directors 

IOD – UK, Bing is an independent 

NED on other Boards, 

one of which is Extra Care, a 

company based in Northern 

Ireland. He is a Telecommunications 

professional with a 

well-rounded profile in financial, 

business development 

and strategic planning having 

worked for 19+ years within 

the MTN Group, 8 of those 

years as CFO of MTN Nigeria, 

the statement said. 

Bing joins an existing board 

chaired by Nneka Nwobi, 

Head - B1 Strategic Partnership 

Africa, SAP and Executive 

Coach.


C002D5556 Tuesday 07 November 2017 

BRANDING 

Nation branding: Industry experts seek 

strong, positive narrative for Nigeria 

Daniel Obi 

Brandzone Consulting 

in collaboration with 

the Centre for Values 

in Leadership held 

the inaugural National 

Branding Conference 2017 recently 

in Lagos. This edition of the Brand 

Innovation Conference, with the 

theme “Branding: A Catalyst for 

Development and Growth, was 

flagged off with the objective of creating 

a strong and positive brand 

narrative for the nation. 

The conference which was 

broadly inclusive recorded attendance 

by prominent Nigerians 

from diverse backgrounds that cut 

across the public sector, private 

sector, corporations, enterprise 

owners, visionary Board Directors 

and policymakers from diverse 

sectors. The conference had a rich 

line up of speakers and resource 

persons that included some of 

the nations most accomplished 

thought leaders, subject matter experts, 

business trailblazers, policy 

makers, catalysts, entrepreneurs 

and investors. 

In her welcome address, the 

Managing Partner, Brandzone Consulting 

LLC and the Convener, National 

Branding Conference, Chizor 

Malize, stated that the conference 

was birthed out of a burning desire 

to stir the nation towards adopting 

a deliberate approach in promoting 

a positive national narrative. She 

noted that the National Branding 

Conference 2017, brings to the fore 

the need to be deliberate and strategic 

about building a strong, positive, 

unified public narrative for Nigeria 

that the citizens can own and be 

proud of. 

Malize said “This year’s National 

Branding Conference comes in recognition 

of the need to take ownership 

of and promote more positive 

narratives around our Nation’s 

brand. It is a strategic response to 

the need to consistently convey an 

appropriate and progressive public 

narrative that ensures our diversity, 

strengths and attributes as a nation 

are projected positively and consistently 

around the world” 

Speaking further Malize noted, 

“We must be systematic about 

building a strong national brand 

by seeking to promote the commonalities 

that unify us. We must 

evolve and embrace a uniformity 

of message as a nation, that projects 

our strengths, diversity and 

capabilities positively. We must 

play our roles as great citizens in 

our various capacities. As a people 

we must imbibe a positive mindset, 

develop and be driven by positive 

value systems, we must consistently 

demonstrate love for nation 

through our words and actions, we 

must be intentional about selling 

to the world our brand story rather 

than allow the world tell our stories 

as they find suitable. We need 

to collectively rise to the challenge 

and take ownership of our story”, 

she enthused. 

In his welcome address, Pat 

Utomi, Founder and Chief Executive 

Officer, Centre for Values in 

Leadership and Co-Convener, National 

Branding Conference 2017 

urged participants to take interest 

in the matters that affect the brand 

of our nation: “Every citizen of Nigeria 

must take keen interest in and 

participate actively in the national 

branding process by projecting 

a positive image of the nation in 

ways that attract tourism, foreign 

capital, and other investments that 

lead to growth and development 

of the economy. We must consistently 

promote the external image 

of the nation to the world and also 

the internal image to ourselves. Just 

the same way that businesses attempt 

to influence their customers’ 

perceptions of their brands through 

strategic brand positioning, we as 

a nation must attempt to influence 

the perception of both the internal 

and external stakeholders of this 

great nation”, he remarked. 

In her address, the Conference 

Chairperson and Keynote Speaker, 

Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, 

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, enjoined 

participants and Nigerians 

as a whole to embrace love for nation 

and demonstrate passion and 

commitment to building a Nigerian 

brand of high value and equity. According 

to Awosika, “Our citizens 

must play an active role in promoting 

the nation’s brand through our 

positive actions. Like products, 

countries should be deliberate and 

strategic about cultivating a strong 

and positive image because how 

they are perceived by both the citizens, 

visitors and the world at large 

can have impact on both the economy 

of the nation and the people of 

that nation. Visionary countries are 

transforming the way that people 

perceive them. They are deliberate 

about becoming points of destination 

for tourism, business hubs and 

foreign investment points. Nigeria 

is not an exception; as a nation we 

must purposefully work towards 

attracting economic value to our 

nation through nation branding” 

The highlight of the conference 

was the extensive knowledge 

exchange by the various speakers 

through the different plenary sessions 

and the highly interactive engagement 

by the delegates. 

Speakers at the first conference 

plenary session titled Beyond the 

age of Oil: Finding Growth Opportunities 

in Diversification were 

the Former Minister of Solid Mineral/ 

Education and Co-founder, 

Transparency International, Oby 

Ezekwesili; former Governor, 

Cross River State, Senator Liyel 

Imoke; FS Advisory Leader and 

Chief Economist, PwC West Africa, 

Andrew S. Nevin; Senior Special 

Assistant to the Minister of Mines 

and Steel Development, Akin 

Rotimi, representing Kayode Fayemi. 

Moderating the plenary was 

Executive Director, Sterling Bank 

PLC , Abubakar Suleiman,. The 

panel evaluated the potentials in 

the diversification of the nation’s 

economy across other key sectors 

beyond oil such as mining, agriculture, 

travel and tourism etc. It evaluated 

the impediments to growth 

and evaluated the key success factors 

inherent in the sectors as well 

as the opportunities in building 

positive national brand narrative 

leveraging the milestones achieved 

across the sectors. 

The Second plenary session 

entitled ‘From Local to Global: 

Harnessing growth opportunities 

through brand export’ had thought 

leaders and subject matter experts 

cutting across the public sector, corporations 

and brand strategists who 

shared insights on the opportunities 

in creating positive national engagements 

abroad through brands 

exported out of Nigeria. This plenary 

was led by Chizor Malize, Managing 

Partner, Brandzone Consulting 

and Converner, National Brand 

Conference. 

Ndidi Nwuneli, Co-Founder 

of AACE Foods led the discussion 

on the the third plenary titled: 

Breaking New Grounds: SMEs as 

Economic Growth Engine. She 

provided insight on the challenges 

faced by SMEs in the Nigerian environment, 

the growth opportunities 

and key steps for maximizing 

SME growth. The plenary explored 

the contribution of the SMEs to 

national growth and development 

through job creation, brand export 

and economic progression. Other 

speakers on the plenary included 

Tara Fela-Durotoye, Founder 

& CEO House of Tara, Seyi Abolaji, 

Co-Founder, Wilson’s Juice 

Company, Toyosi Kolawole, CEO, 

AUDEO Clothing Line, Mike Oye, 

Head, SME Funds, Bank of Industry. 

The moderator for the SME-focused 

plenary was Laoye Jaiyeola, 

Managing Director, Nigeria Economic 

Summit Group (NESG). 

The fourth plenary session focused 

on the Entertainment, Media 

and Arts sector. The plenary topic 

was The Business of Entertainment: 

Maximizing Opportunities in Entertainment, 

Media, Fashion and 

Lifestyle. The plenary examined 

these sub-sectors as key opportunity 

areas for economic growth, brand 

export and positive public and national 

narrative. 

The speakers on this plenary 

included Obi Asika, Atunyota Akpobome 

(Alibaba) and Henry Bassey, 

Chief Marketing Officer, Sterling 

Bank Plc. The plenary session 

was led by Femi Osinubi, Partner 

& Head, ICT and Entertainment 

Group, PwC West Africa and the 

plenary was moderated by Biola 

Alabi, Founder/Managing Director, 

Biola Alabi Media. 

Speaking on the conference, 

Lampe Omoleye, Chief Executive 

Officer, 141 Worldwide Agency and 

Member, Brand Innovation Conference 

Advisory Board, said “The National 

Branding Conference 2017 

exceeded expectations. The Speakers 

line up was broad and made 

up of individuals of good pedigree, 

strong track records and repute. 

L-R: Fela Dorutoye, chief executive officer, Gemstone Group, Chizor Malize, managing Partner, Brandzone Consulting 

LLC and Convener, National Branding Conference; Seun Onigbunde, co-founder & CEO, BudgIT; Aisha Waziri Umar, 

founder, The Revive Nigeria Group, and Ugo Obi-Chukwu, chief executive officer, Nairametrics, during the launch of the 

#ReThinkNigeria/IAmTheBrand campaign for Nigeria by Nigerians Launched by Brandzone Consulting LLC at the National 

Branding Conference recently in Lagos. 

Elo Umeh 

Elo Umeh emerges 

one of IESE Business 

School’s 40 under40 

Elo Umeh, Terragon Group’s 

Founder and Managing Director, 

has made the 40under40 

list of entrepreneurs 

by IESE Business School from over 

46,000 alumni across 129 countries, 

according to a statement. 

Through its Entrepreneurship 

and Innovation Center (EIC), IESE 

launched the “IESE 40under40” 

programme, selecting the 40 former 

students under 40 who have excelled 

in the development of new business 

projects. This selection was made 

among the over 46,000 students 

who have participated in some of 

the training programmes taught by 

the School. 

These 40 projects have allowed 

the creation of 2,197 jobs in 12 countries, 

from 4 continents, receiving € 

544 million in external investment, 

and generating € 251 million in annual 

revenue for the economy. Half 

of these start-ups were born during 

the last 5 years, and 17% of them began 

their activity by bootstrapping, 

without using external investment, 

the statement said. 

The selection of the “IESE 40under40” 

was done by a jury of international 

experts, based on a rigorous 

analysis of the projects, especially 

their impact on society in terms of 

social contribution and job creation, 

in addition to the growth and 

the level of innovation, among other 

criteria. 

The jury is composed of national 

and international experts in the development 

of new business projects, 

such as Lucas Carné, Co-Founder 

of Privalia; Brian Cohen, Founding 

Partner and President of New York 

Venture Angels; Jonathan Moules, 

Journalist specialized in entrepreneurship 

at the Financial Times; 

Pedro Nueno, Emeritus Professor 

of Entrepreneurship at IESE; Raimundo 

Sala, General Manager of 

PayPal and Ignasi Salvador, Director 

of Innovation of Celsa Group. 

Commenting on this achievement, 

Umeh in the statement commended 

the initiative stating that 

it will inspire new entrepreneurs 

in their ventures and will foster the 

growth of the community of IESE 

entrepreneurs globally. “I am both 

excited and humbled at this feat and 

would like to thank my colleagues, 

clients, partners and all who have 

been with me on this journey. I 

would never have been able to make 

this list without their tremendous 

support and cooperation” he said.


Data shortage stalling $3.2bn private 

education investment opportunity 

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU 

businessday 

EDUCATION 

Weekly insight on current and future trends in education Higher Primary/Secondary Human Capital 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

19 

Old students urge Osun govt 

to return mission schools 

to prevent poor running of 

education sector 

BOLA BAMIGBOLA, Osogbo 

Lack of reliable data on 

learning outcomes, critical 

mass, scalability and 

long-term planning are 

preventing private sector 

investors from harnessing opportunities 

in Lagos state education market, 

says Developing Effective Private 

Education Nigeria (DEEPEN), a 

programme funded by UKAID, 

applicable to other markets across 

Nigeria. 

According to the results of a recent 

survey conducted by DEEPEN, 

private education market in Lagos is 

valued at $3.2 billion but commercial 

investors a keeping away from it because 

there is lack of clarity. 

“Investors in general and financial 

institutions in particular shy away 

from investing in education because 

they have a hard time measuring return 

on investment. Bankers do not 

understand what schools are doing 

and schools seem not to understand 

the language of investors” said 

Bunmi Lawson, Managing Director/ 

CEO Accion Microfinance Bank Ltd 

on Thursday at the launch of Business 

of Education in Africa Report, 

sponsored by Caerus Capital and 

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU 

Ever wondered why Coventry 

University is among top 

United Kingdom education 

destination for Nigerians? 

Well, Coventry University, ranked 

as the number 12 University in the 

United Kingdom, according to the 

Guardian University league table, and 

the number 1 Top New University in 

the Complete University Guide 2018, 

recently held its Open Day session for 

prospective students who might wish 

to enlist for the tertiary institution’s 

courses. 

The Open Day session, which held 

in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt 

respectively, was an avenue for the 

representatives of the prestigious 

university to highlight the benefits 

of studying at Coventry University as 

well as steps to take in pursuing admission 

into the university, amongst 

other issues. It also offered prospective 

participants the opportunity of 

making enquiries about issues such 

as courses of study and scholarship 

opportunities. 

On hand to address the students 

were Babatunde Anifowoshe, a Senior 

Lecturer in Petroleum & Environmental 

Technology programme and Ada 

Kelechi Ahuche, Head of Operations, 

West and Central Africa, Coventry 

University. 

Speaking on why Coventry University 

remains top choice for students 

seeking university education 

in the UK, Anifowoshe said: “The 

teaching style at Coventry University 

United Kingdom Department for 

International Development (DFID). 

Recent trends around the world 

show that private sector driven education 

is the new normal and the way 

forward. This brings market principles 

to bear on how curriculum 

is designed and what skill sets are 

embedded in the education system. 

The World Bank is launching a fund 

of over $600 million for results based 

learning outcomes next year, proof 

of recent bent towards measurable 

educational outcomes, which government 

funded schools might not 

be in a position to deliver. 

“There are about 40 percent of 

children in private schools today in 

Why Coventry is on top list choice for Nigerians 

seeking UK university education 

is dynamic. We have courses in specific 

areas which are geared towards 

ensuring that the graduates will be 

able to adapt to the ever-changing dynamics 

of both local and global economies. 

We also have a programme 

called Faculty on the Factory Floor. 

“This enables students studying 

specific courses to have a first-hand 

experience of putting what they are 

learning in the classrooms to test, 

in real- life working scenarios. With 

this practical experience, they are 

more enlightened. For a small fee, 

the undergraduates also have the 

opportunity of learning a foreign 

language. The city of Coventry is also 

a relatively affordable town to reside 

in, hence this is a cost advantage for 

Nigerian students.” 

He added that Coventry University 

was investing 100 million pounds in 

research while the institution also 

has a one million pound scholarship 

grantfor prospective Nigerian 

students, if they meet the set criteria 

for access to the funds. 

Anifowoshe further said that 

Coventry University students have a 

high job placement rate upon graduation. 

According to him, many of the 

university’s graduates have secured 

employment in both public and private 

organisations; with some starting 

their own consultancies. 

Further alluding to Coventry 

University’s prowess in academic excellence, 

he stated that the institution 

was awarded a Teaching Excellence 

Framework (TEF) Gold Award by 

the UK government for outstanding 

teaching and learning. 

Nigeria because parents are voting 

with their feet. There are over 18, 

000 private schools and about 2, 

000 public schools in Lagos, a sign 

that the private sector has become 

dominant in the education space. 

Efforts should be geared towards 

leveraging private sector competencies 

in delivering low-cost, market 

relevant education” said Pauline 

Seenan, the Team Leader of Human 

Development Team at DFID Nigeria. 

“This is the most reliable way to grow 

the human capital needed to grow 

Nigeria’s economy.” 

Private sector interest in the education 

sector is not new. Half year 

into 2017, AfricInvest, a US$1 billion 

Tension grips varsities as ASUU meets to 

review FG’s implementation of MoA 

AKINREMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan 

Palpable strike tension has 

gripped most University 

Campuses as the Academic 

Staff Union of Universities 

(ASUU) holds its National Executive 

Council (NEC) meeting this week. 

The NEC, which is the highest decision 

making body of the academic 

union is to review Federal government 

implementation of the Memorandum 

of Action (MoA) it signed 

with the union before it suspended 

its strike a few months ago. 

Both government and ASUU had 

agreed to a MoA which stipulated that 

the federal government would have 

implemented its agreed contents latest 

by October, 2017. 

The federal government according 

to investigation however was yet 

to implement issuance of license for 

the registration of Nigerian University 

Pension Company (NUPEMCO) 

which it promised to do within two 

weeks of strike suspension. 

The FG is also defaulting in payment 

of Earned Academic Allowances 

and revatilisation funds for public 

universities. 

While both students were seeing 

asking questions about possibility of 

ASUU going back on strike based on 

information that FG was yet to pay 

the Earned Academic Allowances 

of lecturers which was supposed to 

have been paid in October, lecturers 

are agitated over the silence on the 

part of government and its leadership. 

A good number of lecturers who 

asset, mid-market private equity firm 

backed International Community 

School, a private school in Ghana, in 

a preferential share deal. The investment 

was the sixth for AfricInvest’s 

third private equity fund, which is 

now 50 percent deployed. The capital 

will be used to upgrade the school’s 

facilities and help support its expansion 

plans within Ghana as well as 

the broader West African region. 

Similarly, ABO Capital, an Angolan 

investment firm acquired 

Complexo Escolar Privado Internacional 

in Luanda, Angola’s capital 

city reinforcing. Terms of the deal 

for the 768-pupil facility remain 

undisclosed. 

spoke at UI on condition of anonymity 

noted that it was unfortunate that 

the government had not paid as 

promised by end of October. 

They said they had asked their 

leadership not to suspend the strike 

until the government pays the money 

as promised but were persuaded to 

test the government. 

Based on the tension generated on 

campuses, ASUU President Biodun 

Ogunyemi, a professor sent a mail 

on all members to douse the tension 

over the payment of earned academic 

allowances 

“Dear Comrades, the leadership 

of the Union is aware of the palpable 

tensions on our campuses over the 

delay in the payment of Earned 

Academic Allowances (EAA). It is 

therefore not a surprise that for the 

past three days, a circular dated 24 

October, 2017 related to EAA is already 

trending on some social media 

network/platforms. 

The leadership of the Union can 

say categorically that the gaps/omissions 

in the said circular were addressed 

at a meeting with the Minister 

of Education last recently. We have 

gone far on the matter and there 

should be results in a matter of days. 

Thank you” 

It was learnt gathered that the Federal 

Government audit teams have 

visited campuses and concluded the 

auditing of staff as agreed but was yet 

to pay the 23billion Naira promised 

by the end of October as payment 

for the 2009/2010 Earned Academic 

Allowances of lecturers in public 

universities in Nigeria. 

Alumni Association of 

St.John’s Grammar School, 

Oke-Atan, Ile-Ife, Osun 

state, has urged Osun state 

government to consider returning 

schools taken over from the missionaries 

and other private owners back to 

them, to solve some of the challenges 

facing education sector. 

St. John’s Grammar School, Ile-Ife, 

founded in 1962 as a boys’ school by 

a Catholic Church priest, Reverend 

Father Fabian Cloutier, has produced 

several successful men and national 

figures in the Nigerian society like 

Publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele 

Momodu. 

Others include Gbenga Adefaye, 

Managing Director of Vanguard 

Newspapers and former President Nigerian 

Guild of Editors; Dele Agekameh, 

a renowned journalist; Senator 

Iyiola Omisore; Wale Oladipo, Former 

National Secretary of PDP; Kehinde 

Bamigbetan two term Chairman of 

Ejigbo LCDA in Lagos and currently 

a Special Adviser to the Lagos State 

Governor, and a host of others. 

The old students, who passed 

through the school between 1977 

and 1981, disclosed this during the 

handover of some renovated blocks 

of classrooms and a symposium 

themed: “Renaissance of Quality Education: 

Stakeholders’ Perspectives”. 

While delivering his paper, an 

old student of the school, Olatunde 

Arayela, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, 

Federal University of Technology 

Akure (FUTA), frowned at the level 

of indiscipline among present day 

students, lamenting that discipline 

which used to be the core values of 

learning in their time has been regrettably 

eroded. 

Arayela expressed delight at the 

quality of personalities earlier produced 

by the school especially the 

1977/1981 set and attributed success 

stories of these old students to the 

painstaking quality education given 

to them by the Catholic missionary, 

Reverend Father Fabian Cloutier, who 

he said instilled morality, values and 

diligence in the then students. 

“What we are today is as a result of 

what we learned here under Rev. Fr. 

Fabian Cloutier of blessed memory 

who inculcated morals, values and 

diligence in us.” 

“I’m proud today because our 

set of 1977-1981 has produced distinguished 

people who have reach 

the zenith of their professions and 

are still moving upwards,” Professor 

Arayela said. 

Stephen Onyekwelu 

Content producer 

Fifen Eyemisanre Famous 

Graphics 

For comments and 

contribution write to: 

stephen.onyekwelu@ 

businessdayonline.com

23 

C002D5556 



businessday 

EDUCATION 

human capital 

15 Ways To Improve Employee Productivity – Part 3 

Orji Udemezue 

11. Resolve Conflicts 

Promptly: Conflicts are common 

with every human system. 

Due to the divergent interests, 

goals, and demands 

by different teams, people 

and groups in an organization, 

conflicts are bound to 

occur. Differences in values, 

beliefs, and culture; work intensity; 

scarcity of resources; 

high stress levels; uncertainties; 

inconsistent leadership; 

and poor communication 

are among a few other factors 

that escalate conflicts 

in organizations. 

While conflicts may have 

some positive effects, in an 

organization’s work dynamics, 

improperly resolved 

conflicts can result in reduced 

productivity, among 

other negative effects. It is 

therefore important for team 

conflicts (intra and inter) 

are resolved promptly and 

properly in order to eliminate 

the negative effects on 

productivity. 

Whether corporate 

leaders choose to resolve 

a conflict by competing, 

collaboration, compromising, 

avoiding or accommodating, 

it is important 

to separate people from 

the problems, and also to 

focus on interests, and not 

on positions. Promptness in 

resolving conflicts helps improve 

their positive effects 

in building organizational 

capabilities. 

12. Make Meetings 

Effective: One of the key 

challenges faced by many 

organizations in managing 

their time and improving 

effectiveness is in the management 

of meetings – especially 

team and companywide 

internal meetings. 

Many organizations spend 

a lot in organizing meetings 

- travel costs, travel time, 

meeting hours, entertainment 

cost, etc. And while 

some of these meetings may 

be necessary for driving 

performance, many times, 

people who are not necessary 

in meetings are invited. 

Not to talk about the unnecessary 

long hours spent 

in internal “rantings”. Many 

companies spend time “engaging” 

themselves instead 

of the customers, and yet 

expect to build customer 

intimacy and improved 

business outcome. 

Smart companies and 

leaders must ensure meetings 

are necessary, and that 

only important personnel 

are invited to relevant meetings. 

Prepare and circulate 

an agenda for meetings, 

and stick to these agenda. 

Encourage active participation 

of all invitees, and close 

meetings timely to enable 

employees get on the real 

job of serving customers 

and getting things done. 

Where necessary, adopt 

virtual meetings through 

tele/video-conferencing 

or via other technologyenabled 

meeting platforms. 

13. Encourage New 

Ideas: Many organizations 

spend a lot of money in acquiring 

key talents but unfortunately 

these talents are 

not encouraged to bring up 

new ideas. When employees 

are not allowed to share 

their ideas freely – perhaps, 

due to fear of being victimized 

or rejected – innovation 

and creativity take the 

back seat while mediocrity 

and backwardness prevail. 

Without injection of fresh 

ideas and solutions in an 

organization, productivity 

suffers. 

Business leaders must 

foster an environment 

where employees are encouraged 

to speak up at 

meetings or strategy sessions 

– especially on issues 

that affect the work they do. 

14. Enable Technology: 

In today’s business 

environment, technology 

has continued to be a major 

driver of productivity and 

process improvements in 

organizations. From information 

systems, data 

mining and analytics, big 

data, automations/robotics, 

simulations, systems networking, 

digital platforms, 

and a host of others, smart 

companies or organizations 

are deploying technology in 

assisting their employees 

to achieve much more with 

less efforts. 

15. Provide Great 

Leadership: Everything 

rises and falls on leadership 

(John Maxwell). Many 

organizations fail due to 

ineffective management 

of people and resources 

occasioned by bad leadership. 

Leadership challenges 

include: developing a vision; 

motivating others; setting 

agendas and timetables; 

securing resources; and the 

need to follow-through; etc 

Leadership development 

and the institution of 

management best practices 

are critical to enabling employees 

perform better and 

become more productive in 

their work. Great leadership 

inspires people to do more, 

achieve more and become 

more. 

Overall, no organization 

can be at its best without 

improving employee productivity. 

While productivity 

improvement depends on 

several intrinsic and extrinsic 

factors, I strongly believe 

that the ideas shared in this 

article, when properly applied 

in any organization, 

would surely lead to improved 

productivity, and the 

achievement of the firms’ 

overall business objectives. 

Orji Udemezue is the CEO of 

Flame Academy & Consulting 

Limited, a foremost training 

and consulting firm based in 

Lagos, Nigeria. You can reach 

him on flameconsultinglimited@gmail.com. 

Parenting, family, love and discipline 

OYIN EGBEYEMI 

Getting a full understanding 

of 

these four words 

may be a little 

challenging. The truth is that 

approach to parenting has 

evolved vastly over recent 

generations and there is 

actually no rulebook that 

gives us the perfect instructions 

to build a perfect family 

and groom our children 

appropriately. However, 

there are some very basic 

concepts, which we should 

recognise as essential for 

our loved ones. One of them 

is discipline. 

In previous generations 

in Nigeria, the expression, 

“Spare the rod and spoil the 

child” was taken almost literally 

in many households. 

The fear of the parent was 

the beginning of the child’s 

wisdom. That fear was what 

drove most children then 

to behave themselves, as 

disobedience in even the 

slightest form would be met 

with either a slap on the face 

or the impact of another 

form of weapon (such as 

a belt or cane) against any 

another part of the child’s 

body. 

Many argue that parents 

of past generations were 

wicked and that their relationships 

with their children 

were devoid of any form of 

emotional connection. Well, 

it does turn out that this 

holds true to some extent. 

However, as a result of this, 

children of that generation 

who have now become parents 

strongly desire to alter 

their approach to parenting 

from what they had experienced. 

When asked, they 

often say that they want to 

give their children a better 

childhood than what they 

had. 

So, this raises the question, 

“What is a better childhood?” 

And this is a very 

complex question because 

there are numerous factors 

(e.g. religion, family structure, 

location, social class, 

education etcetera), which 

influence the way we are 

brought up and therefore 

the methods we apply to 

bringing up our children. 

We are products of our environments, 

so it is difficult 

to fully define what the right 

or wrong approaches are. 

However, there seems to be 

a trend, which is beginning 

to emerge amongst millennials 

(ages 18 – 35). This is a 

generation of young people 

who were/are brought up 

by parents who went tough 

the “spare the rod and spoil 

the child” parenting method 

described above. 

While some of parents of 

millenials may have gotten 

it right, and have produced 

adults who, to a large extent 

are well behaved, independent 

and responsible; 

some others have produced 

some who are entitled and 

somewhat spoilt. These 

parents may have neglected 

the need for discipline in 

their parenting method, 

thereby giving their children 

far too much leeway, 

or maybe they attempt to 

overcompensate for what 

they did not get when they 

themselves were children. 

It could also be a combination 

of both, as well as many 

other factors. 

What seems to be happening 

now, especially 

amongst the wealthy in our 

society is that children are 

now living the lifestyle that 

they cannot afford because 

they get away with so much, 

with very little restrictive 

efforts coming from their 

parents e.g. regular luxurious 

trips abroad (some of 

which are unsupervised), 

late night outings, purchase 

of designer wear, driving 

luxury cars etc. Parents by 

default want to give their 

children the best, which is 

great and is also dependent 

on what they can afford 

to do. However, discipline 

still plays a huge role in the 

approach that parents take 

towards this. 

It is important that children 

are brought up with a 

strong values system, discipline 

and realistic expectations 

of their lifestyles, such 

that they take a progressive 

approach. However, these 

days, we find millenials 

who want everything in full 

and NOW: a senior position 

at work, a certain type of 

car, living in a certain area, 

going on holiday a certain 

minimum number of times 

a year…. BUT they are not 

willing or ready to work to 

fulfil all their desires. 

When our children end 

up like this, we should question 

whether or not we really 

love them. If we loved them 

enough we should be able 

take a more disciplined 

approach towards teaching 

them the realities of life and 

the important role that hard 

work, and not entitlement, 

plays towards getting the life 

that they desire. If we do not 

start to do this right, should 

we not be worried about our 

future generations? 

Oyin Egbeyemi is an executive 

administrator at The 

Foreshore School, Ikoyi, Lagos. 

Opportunity 

Holland Scholarships 

Erasmus University for Non- 

EEA Students, 2018 

The Erasmus University 

is inviting applications 

for Holland Scholarships 

financed by the Dutch Ministry 

of Education, Culture, and 

Science and Dutch research 

universities and universities 

of applied sciences. These 

scholarships are open to Non- 

EEA students to pursue the 

bachelors as well as master 

degree programme. 

The scholarship is meant 

for international students 

from outside the European 

Economic Area (EEA) who 

want to do their Master’s in 

Holland. The EEA consists of 

the EU countries and Iceland, 

Liechtenstein and Norway. 

In order to study at Erasmus 

School of Law, all students 

must be able to listen, read, 

speak and write fluently in 

English from the start of their 

studies at ESL. 

Course Level: Scholarships 

are available to pursue 

bachelors as well as master 

degree programme. 

Study Subject: Scholarships 

are awarded for the following 

programs: 

Must be selected for one 

of the following programmes: 

Bachelor International 

Econometrics and 

Operational Research Bachelor 

International Economics and 

Business Economics 

Bachelor BSc² 

Econometrics/Economics 

Or admitted for one of the 

following programmes: 

Master Accounting, 

Auditing, and Control 

Master Econometrics and 

Management Science 

Master Economics and 

Business 

Scholarship Award: The 

scholarship amount of € 5,000 

will be received by the student 

in their first year of studies 

in two separate payments: 

November 2018 and February 

2019. The Holland Scholarship 

cannot be used as a reduction 

on tuition fee but can be used 

as part of the required money 

deposit for the visa procedure 

(living costs). 

Scholarship can be taken in 

the Holland, Netherlands. 

Eligibility: The following 

criteria must be met in order 

for applicants to be eligible for 

the scholarship: The applicant’s 

nationality is non-EEA 

The applicant has never 

before studied at an educational 

institution in the Netherlands 

Must be selected for one 

of the following programmes: 

Bachelor International 

Econometrics and 

Operational ResearchBachelor 

International Economics and 

Business Economics 

Bachelor BSc² 

Econometrics/Economics 

Or admitted for one of the 

following programmes: 

Master Accounting, 

Auditing, and Control 

Master Econometrics and 

Management Science 

Master Economics and 

Business 

Must have achieved 

excellent study results during 

his/her prior education. This 

means an average final result 

of at least grade 8.5 (or the 

equivalent) on a grading scale 

of 1-10, during their prior 

education. For these purposes, 

prior education means: 

for prospective bachelor 

students: secondary education 

for prospective master 

students: the previous bachelor 

study


BDTECH 

In association with 

BUSINESS DAY 

21 

Truecaller enters Nigerian market 

…offers opportunities to local app developers 

JUMOKE AKIYODE LAWANSON 

Truecaller has announced 

its plans to set up its office 

in Nigeria and hire 

local talents as key personals 

for its operations 

in the region. 

The company held an Africa 

Launch Event at the CcHUB in Yaba 

last week Thursday, where it also 

launched its Developer Program 

with Truecaller SDK, its mobile 

identity product for digital start-ups 

and app developers. 

Truecaller SDK enables 3rd 

party app developers, digital businesses 

and startups to verify end 

users quickly and without friction 

by utilizing their Truecaller profile 

with a one-touch and password free 

experience. 

In an interview with Business- 

Day, Ted Nelson, Chief Commercial 

Officer at Truecaller said; “In Africa, 

Truecaller has 50 million registered 

users which is about 20 percent of 

the total global number of Truecaller 

users, so Africa has become very 

important to us, and we want to establish 

a relationship with the market, 

because obviously we need that 

to understand the market and help 

us to grow even faster and build our 

brand in Africa. 

That can only be done by making 

As the real estate market 

drives towards infrastructure 

transformation, Cisco in collaboration 

with Siemon are 

offering stakeholders digital 

and cabling solutions as key influencers 

of the market, a better network platform 

on how today’s building systems can be 

more efficient. 

In a partnership meeting held at the Cisco 

head office in Lagos recently, the companies 

introduced a ‘ConvergedIT’ as a holistic 

approach for building installations. 

The network as a converged network 

according to a Cisco representative enables 

the sharing of information among different 

systems in a building environment. 

IP network solves the problem of 

interconnection and interoperation of 

building systems as real estate market 

shift towards digital transformation. 

“The network is designed to solve the 

problem of cost reduction and complexity 

and Cisco as a global leader in IT solutions 

and networking is widely known 

to be acquainted with proffering digital 

solutions to buildings”, said Olakunle 

Oloruntimehin, General Manager Cisco 

Nigeria Ltd. 

Oloruntimehin said the vision of the 

company is to leverage core technology 

assets and install base to provide a set of 

infra-solution and cloud applications to 

help customers deliver next generation 

building and workspace environments, 

with a focus on improved experience 

including meeting room experience and 

cided to kick-off our tour here. After 

engaging with some of the top tech 

startups and digital businesses in 

the country, we are even more convinced 

that Truecaller SDK – mobile 

identity solution - will help solve 

many of their challenges when onboarding 

and verifying new users.” 

According to Bose, Truecaller 

Cisco, Siemon introduce new intelligent solutions for real estate 

CHETACHUKWU UMEREMADU 

sure that we have representatives in 

Nigeria and South Africa,” Nelson 

said. 

Speaking at the event, Priyam 

Bose, Director and Head of Worldwide 

Developer Relations at Truecaller 

said; “We see Nigeria as one 

of the most promising eco-systems 

in Africa, that’s why we have deimproved 

building operation efficiency, 

better visibility of space planning, and 

building asset management. 

“That is why we have decided to partner 

with Siemon in providing a smart 

and connected building solutions to all 

our stakeholders”, he said 

Speaking further, Oloruntimehin 

said the IP network is of benefit to all 

stakeholders in the design, construction, 

and real estate industries as well as the 

occupants of the built infrastructure. 

Jide Olagbenro, regional account 

manager, West Africa, Siemon Company 

said; “Siemon ConvergedIT provides intelligent 

building (IB) cabling solutions 

for intelligent buildings that support the 

convergence of low-voltage systems. 

Siemon’s ConvergedIT is a proven 

cabling solution with advanced copper 

has become one of the fastest growing 

consumer apps in Africa, and 

has consistently been topping the 

App Store Charts across the continent 

in the last 2 years. 

The Truecaller app, which allows 

people to identify unsaved contacts 

and filter out spam calls and SMS, 

has already more than 50 million 

users in Africa. The service is helping 

users block more than half a billion 

spam calls on a monthly basis 

in the region, and more than 50 percent 

of all messages being filtered is 

considered as spam. 

The company also revealed that 

it has more than 6.2 million users 

in Nigeria, where the user base has 

grown with over 80 percent the past 

year. 

Truecaller is helping Nigerian 

users block more than 13 million 

calls, and 25 million spam SMS on 

a monthly basis. In a recent study 

conducted by Truecaller, South Africa, 

Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt rank 

among the top 20 countries in the 

world being plagued by unwanted 

spam calls. 

The Truecaller SDK is available 

on Android, iOS and web platforms 

and can be used by any app or a 

website to instantly onboard, autofill 

user information, or verify the 

user’s phone number based identity 

through the users’ consent. 

and fiber cabling technology to create 

a structured cabling system, converging 

critical data, voice, video and lowvoltage 

building systems onto a single 

unified physical infrastructure and 

providing significant cost savings and 

sustainability over the life of the facility, 

Olagbenro added. 

According to him, “this is to ensure 

that there are better, greener buildings 

in Nigeria. 

Siemons says it sees Cisco as the best 

company to partner with, and “as a partner, 

we coming with both means; that is 

hardware and software, Olagbenro said. 

Real estate stakeholders are beacon 

on to be beneficiaries of this innovative 

technology as they become a part of the 

digital transformation of buildings in Nigeria. 

NetAcad focuses on up-skilling 

Nigerian youths in IT development 

CHETACHUKWU UMEREMADU 

Cisco Systems, a leading Information 

Communication Technology 

(ICT) and Networking solutions 

company, is celebrating 20 years of upskilling 

millions of young people through 

its flagship Corporate Social Responsibility 

(CSR) program, the Cisco Networking 

Academy (NetAcad) in Nigeria. 

The NetAcad is an academic platform, 

designed to inculcate Information Technology 

(IT) knowledge in members of the 

society; basically the youths who are the 

future of any society. 

Speaking at an event organised to 

highlight the successes of Cisco’s Net 

Academy, Alfie Hamid, Cisco’s Regional 

Manager, Corporate Affairs, Sub-Saharan 

Africa, said; “the world is going digital and 

Cisco as a leading company in IT and 

Networking has decided to impact on our 

environment through digitalisation.” 

Hamid said; “Since the inception of 

NetAcad in 1997, it has recorded much 

success and has contributed immensely 

to the growth of the Nigerian society.” 

Speaking further on the success of 

NetAcad in Nigeria, he said the platform 

has been in existence since 1997 but was introduced 

into Nigeria in the year 2000 and 

has since then produced over 100 students, 

with 41 percent of them being female. 

Hamid said; it is a pipeline to develop 

the IT talents in every individual 

in Nigeria who has interest in IT, as a 

way of supporting digitisation in the 

country. 

Also speaking, Olakunle Oloruntimehin, 

General Manager, Cisco Nigeria 

Ltd said the Networking Academy 

is much more than an IT skill training 

platform. Oloruntimehin said; “it is a 

community whose members are the 

students, educators, and business leaders 

shaping the future.” 

According to Oloruntimehin, the 

portfolio includes basic mitigation 

of security threats, introduction to 

wireless networking concepts and 

terminology, and performance-based 

skills among others. The NetAcad offers 

Certified Network Associate Curriculum 

(CCNA) as its certification. 

“The curriculum can be a gateway 

to a number of careers like network 

support engineers, network technicians, 

network designer, network engineers 

and a lot more,” Oloruntimehin added. 

Speaking to members of the Press, 

Alfie Hamid disclosed plans for the 

non-profit platform, saying that the 

academy partnering with over 20,000 

educators and has over 200 instructors 

in 167 academies, seven Academy Support 

Center (ASCs), and nine Instructor 

Training Center (ITCs). 

“The program has come to stay 

and we are proud that Networking 

Academy has contributed and is still 

contributing to the growth of Nigerian 

economy, he said.

22 

BUSINESS DAY Tuesday 07 November 2017 

BDTECH 

E-mail: technologybusiness@businessday.com 

Why cyber security awareness programs 

are important in Nigerian universities 

Jumoke Akiyode Lawanson 

The increasing 

usage of the internet 

is at an 

all-time high 

particularly 

among the academia ever 

since e-learning, Bring Your 

Own Device (BYOD) initiatives 

and free Wi-Fi access 

on campuses sprung up 

into the education system. 

This evolution however 

makes users vulnerable to 

large scale data breaches, 

ransomware attacks, uncertainties 

about the use of 

research data, cybercrimes, 

surveillance and other cyber 

threats these all waver 

the trust of users and in 

turn affects the way they 

use the internet. 

The need to provide 

awareness and education 

on cybersecurity to academia 

who are potential 

targets for exploitation 

formed the basis of ESET 

‘Secure School Initiative’. 

ESET Secure School Initiative 

(ESSI) is designed to 

sensitize over 70 percent of 

the academia in Cybersecurity 

and the need for proactive 

protection of data, solution 

and devices. 

L-R: Chukwuemeka Nwakanma, Founder, HackCess Cybersecurity Conference; Greg Henley Global 

Safety & Security Director, Frontier Risk Management; Jim Imonde, Director of Finance, Frontier 

Risk Management; and Tobechi Ndubuaku Consultant, Tobeit Consulting at the recently concluded 

HackCess Cyber security Conference 2017 held in Lagos. 

HP launches innovative pocket-sized photo printer in Nigeria 


HP recently 

launched its 

new Sprocket 

Photo Printer, 

a small pocket-sized 

printing device, designed 

to bring back the 

fun and memories of 

printed photos. 

During the official 

launch of the Sprocket 

Photo Printer in Lagos, 

HP revealed that this 

innovation became top 

priority, especially in Nigeria, 

a country regarded 

as a mobile first nation. 

“With the rise in 

smartphone ownership 

and social media participation, 

people are taking 

so many pictures with 

their mobile phones and 

tablets, but how do we 

keep these memories for 

a long time when your 

phone can crash anytime 

and you might not 

have backed up your 

device. This innovative 

pocket- sized printer 

University of Lagos was 

the first academic institution 

to take full advantage 

of the scheme where thousands 

of students and lecturers 

already have access 

to premium and total protection 

through the awardwinning 

cybersecurity 

product of the year, ESET 

Internet Security which 

comes with great features 

such as internet and data 

protection, web control, antivirus, 

anti-phishing, antitheft, 

private WiFi protection, 

internet banking and 

online shopping protection 

and ransomware protection. 

The initiative was greatly 

applauded and Adekunbi 

Adenike, a corps member 

presently serving in the 

school said this initiative 

resolved all her fear about 

using her devices with free 

internet, accepting external 

drives or loss of device and 

sensitive data. 

Olufemi Ake, the country 

manager, ESET Nigeria 

and Ghana, during his 

visit to University of Lagos, 

encouraged the academic 

stakeholders to be IT security 

cautious. 

He added that the turnallows 

users to print 

photos directly from a 

smartphone or tablet 

on the go,” the company 

said. 

HP Sprocket, is 

now available in Nigeria 

at a recommended 

retail price (RRP) of 

N45,999.00. 

“HP Sprocket is porout 

was massive and it 

shows how important the 

initiative is to the academic 

community at this time. 

When asked if the initiative 

is only meant for individuals, 

Ake said that ESET 

Secure School Initiative is 

structured to deliver endto-end 

protection for the 

IT environment of schools, 

which covers Servers, networked 

endpoint/workstations 

and mobile devices. 

table and small enough 

to fit in a pocket. The 5 

x 7.6 cm snaps are instantly 

shareable, colourful 

and can even be 

personalised with filters, 

frames, emojis, text and 

more.” Says Allison Alassan, 

Print Category 

Manager- Central Africa 

for HP. 

He also used the opportunity 

to encourage all 

academic institution in Nigeria 

to participate in this 

scheme as what they stand 

to enjoy is much more than 

special pricing but free IT 

security training for their IT 

administrators. 

On his part, Olabanji 

Soledayo, Manager, Marketing 

and Sales, ESET Nigeria 

and Ghana, further 

explained that initiative of- 

The HP Sprocket App 

can be downloaded for 

free on iOS and Android. 

This lets users easily 

customise their favourite 

smartphone and social 

media photos with 

colourful frames, text, 

stickers, filters and more. 

Sprocket brings favourite 

memories to life 

fers special and discounted 

pricing for networked IT infrastructure 

(Business Solution); 

free ESET internet security 

for desktop, laptop or 

smartphone users; unlimited 

access to IT security and 

device maintenance tips 

from ESET experts; special 

discount on all other ESET 

products at lowest possible 

price and free training on IT 

Security with certificate of 

participation. 

with vibrant 5 x 7.6 cm 

smudge-proof, water-resistant 

and tear-resistant 

photos to share, or peeland-stick 

to decorate 

bedroom walls, backpacks 

or create collages 

and art projects. 

Its on-the-go feature 

allows the portable 

printer to be used virtually 

anywhere, and with 

Bluetooth connectivity, 

users and all their 

friends can connect to 

Sprocket with via their 

smartphones and tablets 

and print and share their 

favourite pictures. 

Sprocket is available 

in white with rose 

gold accents, and black 

with silver accents, and 

comes with a 10-pack of 

HP ZINK Photo Paper 

and Packs of HP ZINK 

Photo Paper (20 sheets 

per pack). 

HP says users can 

find both the printer 

and paper on its website, 

HP.com, and select 

iStores’. 

StartZone partners 

Bramo digi to host 

the Social Good 

Summit 


StartZone, an indigenous 

innovation hub, focused 

on solving Africa’s biggest 

challenges by supporting 

the digital ecosystem 

partnered with Bramo digi 

to host the 2017 Social Good 

Summit. 

The Social Good Summit 

examines the impact of 

technology and new media on 

social good initiatives around 

the world and is held annually 

during United Nations General 

Assembly (UNGA) Week. 

The Summit which unites 

a dynamic community of 

global leaders and grassroots 

activists to discuss solutions 

for the greatest challenges 

of our time had at this year’s 

session; entrepreneurs and 

social innovators discussing 

how social media and (new) 

technologies can be used 

to achieve the Sustainable 

Development Goal. 

The panel session consisted 

of Victoria Ibiwoye from 

the United Nations and Dayo 

Samuel who is the Lead Consultant 

for ‘Audacity to Lead’. 

The panellists spoke about 

the way technology is assisting 

in the achievement of the 

millennium development 

goals, lots of success stories 

were shared and the audience 

was given actionable advice. 

The social good summit 

was one of the events that 

StartZone hosted during 

the Lagos StartUp Week. 

Other events included the 

Girl Meets Tech; an event 

designed to inspire and 

empower young women in 

technology and the android 

community; an event for 

android programmers around 

Nigeria. 

StartZone also hosted the 

for loop community event 

which is the largest community 

of software developers in 

sub Saharan Africa; the event 

helps showcase best practices 

in software development. 

According to StartZone, its 

mission is to “build Africa one 

start-up at a time, this also 

extends to building communities 

of founders, designers 

and venture capitalists.” 

The Social Good Summit 

had over one hundred delegates 

comprising of entrepreneurs, 

technology experts and 

enthusiasts and was held at 

the mini conference hall of the 

Zone center in Gbagada, Lagos. 

StartZone has been assisting 

the development of communities 

of skill, knowledge 

and putting in place the right 

environment to build communities 

of capital in Nigeria.


BD 

Markets + Finance 

‘Providing proprietary research, commentary, analysis and financial news coverage unmatched in today’s 

market. Published twice weekly, Markets & Finance provides all the key intelligence you need.’ 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

23 

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc: Growth in income 

and non income revenue drives profit 

BALA AUGIE 

Stanbic IBTC 

Holdings Nigeria 

Plc recorded 

double digit 

growth at both 

the top line (Revenue) 

and bottom line (profit) 

as the lender continues 

to intensify its aggressive 

expansion plans. 

Stanbic IBTC’s priceto-book 

ratio appreciated 

on account of 

increased share price 

resulting from the renewed 

investor confidence 

in the Bank following 

the release of the 

third quarter results Q3 

(2017) and first quarter 

(Q1) as well as the bullish 

stock market. 

The lender’s shares 

have gained 183.25 percent 

since the start of 

the year, outperforming 

the Nigerian Stock 

Exchange (NSE) and All 

Share Index (ASI). 

Little wonder Stanbic 

IBTC Holdings’ market 

capitalization of 

N425.20 billion as at 

November 6 is more 

than the N291.88 billion 

N338.25 and N253.06 

billion market cap of 

Tier 1 lenders: Access 

Bank, United Bank for 

Africa (UBA) and First 

Bank Nigeria Holdings. 

Stanbic IBTC is a financial 

Institution in 

Nigeria that offers endto-end 

financial services 

through a three-pronged 

structure; Corporate 

and investment banking, 

Personal and business 

banking and wealth 

management. 

Stanbic IBTC is 53.2% 

owned by Standard Bank 

Group and draws on the 

deep resources within 

the Standard Bank 

Group. 

Stanbic IBTC emerged 

from the merger of Stanbic 

Bank Nigeria Limited 

with IBTC Chartered 

Bank Plc in 2007. 

Stanbic IBTC is the 

leading investment 

banking franchise in 

Nigeria with excellent 

Peter Amangbo - group managing director/CEO, Zenith Bank plc 

Yinka Sanni, Group Managing Director Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc 

capabilities in advisory 

and capital markets and 

is the only local bank 

with a Fitch AAA rating. 

Stanbic IBTC Holdings’ 

gross earnings 

spiked by 35 percent to 

N154.22 billion in September 

2017 compared 

to N114.62 billion as at 

September 2016. The 

growth in gross earnings 

was driven by the 

immense contribution 

from interest and non 

interest income. 

Interest income 

surged by 47 percent to 

N61.18 billion in the period 

under review from 

N28.50 billion as at September 

2016; driven by 

income from securities 

and income from loans 

and advances. 


income from 

Treasury Bills (T-bills) 

surged by 123.68 percent 

to N43.46 billion in the 

period under review as 

against N19.31 billion 

the previous year. 

Trading income increased 

by 64.54 percent 

to N20.19 billion 

in September 2017 as 

against N12.27 billion 

Stanbic IBTC is 

the leading investment 

banking 

franchise in 

Nigeria with excellent 

capabilities 

in advisory 

and capital markets 

and is the 

only local bank 

with a Fitch AAA 

rating 

as at September 2016. 

The growth in trading 

revenue was driven 

by increased income 

from foreign exchange 

transactions and fixed 

income, both growing 

strongly following the 

Central Bank of Nigeria’s 

continued introduction 

of initiatives to increase 

Foreign exchange (FX) 

liquidity and customer 

activity. 

Non-interest revenue 

grew by 22 percent to 

N64.28 billion in the period 

under review from 

N52.89 billion the previous 

year. 


profit after tax 

surged by 87 percent 

to N37.67 billion in the 

period under review, the 

largest increase among 

12 lenders tracked by 

BusinessDay. 

Profit Before Tax 

(PBT) spiked by 78 percent 

to N45.65 billion in 

the period under review 

as against N25.68 billion 

as at September 2016.Total 

operating profit 35.28 

percent to N127.22 billion 

in the period under 

review as against N91.98 

billion as at September 

2016. 

Cost to income ratio 

improved to 50.20 percent 

in the period under 

review from 51.90 percent 

the previous year. 

Reduction in CIR was 

as a result of improved 

operational efficiencies 

and the excellent growth 

recorded in total income. 

Total operating expenses 

were up 20.05 

percent to N61.24 billion 

in September 2017 from 

N51.01 billion as at September 

2016. 

Staff costs increased 

by 21 percent due to 

increase in accrued performance 

reward and 

increase in staff salaries 

to adjust for inflation. 

Average headcount also 

increased to ensure adequate 

manpower to 

drive our strategy. 

Other operating expenses 

increased by 19 

percent mainly as a result 

of growth in AMCON 

expenses and deposit 

insurance premium following 

the growth in 

customers’ deposits. 

Gross loans portfolio 

increased by 4 percent 

to N384.95 billion in 

September 2017 from 

N368.23 billion as at 

December 2016; due to 

renewed lending.Customer 

deposits grew by 

14.12 percent to close 

at N696.53 billion from 

N560.96 billion in 2016. 

BD MARKETS + FINANCE (Business Team lead: PATRICK ATUANYA - Analysts: BALA AUGIE and LOLADE AKINMURELE)



C002D5556 

THE BIG HEART DIGEST 

In association with Delta State Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Developement Agency (DEMSMA) 

Difference between FG’s 

GEEP and Delta State’s GEEP 

Herdsmen attacks, flood: 

Lifeline comes to Delta State 

farmers, business men, who ran 

huge losses after borrowings 

MERCY ENOCH, ASABA 

The federal government 

has 

an intervention 

scheme called 

GEEP. The Delta 

State government also has 

its own scheme called GEEP. 

This has caused some confusion. 

Though a state led by a 

different party (the Peoples’ 

Democratic Party, PDP), 

Delta State under the leadership 

of the Governor Ifeanyi 

Okowa is seen to be having 

similar vision with the 

government at the centre 

led by the All Progressives 

Congress (APC). This vision 

is to empower citizens socioeconomically 

and otherwise, 

hence this is shown in the 

GEEP, an acronym but not 

same meaning. 

Most people wonder why 

two GEEPs exist in the state. 

Deltans who are aware of the 

GEEP of the federal government 

and are benefitting 

from it may not know that 

Delta State has its own GEEP 

and that some other people 

are also benefitting from it. 

Shimite Bello, the Executive 

Secretary, Delta State 

Micro, Small and Medium 

Enterprises Development 

Agency (DEMSMA) in explaining 

the difference, said 

the GEEP of Delta State is the 

state’s initiative and it is under 

the office of the Chief Job 

Creation Officer of the state. 

The programme is called 

Graduate Empowerment Enhancement 

Programme. The 

programme is for graduates; 

to enable them follow their 

career path. 

On the other hand, the 

GEEP (Graduate Employment 

Enhancement Programme) 

is one of the federal 

In Delta State, those 

who took loans for 

farming and other 

purposes but met 

disasters and unexplainable 

losses have a reason 

to live after all. The 

state government through 

DEMSMA is encouraging 

government’s programmes 

under its special intervention 

project and Bello is 

the federal government’s 

focal person in Delta State. 

Other programmes in the 

FG project include N-Power, 

Home-Grown School Feeding 

Programme (HGSFP), 

and Cash Transfers (NASSP). 

They are all implemented at 

the state level. 

“The GEEP of the federal 

government is done 

with the Bank of Industry 

(BOI), to give out microcredit. 

It is called Market 

Money and it is given to 

especially traders, enterprising 

youths and a few 

farmers though the loan 

is not a farming loan. She 

explained that in Market 

Money, a beneficiary could 

be given between N20,000 

and N100,000. According to 

her, most of the loans that 

have been given out are 

in the N50,000 category. 

“In Delta State, we have 

given out loans to almost 

16,000 beneficiaries”, she 

disclosed. 

Editorial coordinator’s corner: 

She explained that the 

GEEP of Job Creation Office 

“is a graduate empowerment 

scheme. It is a Graduate Empowerment 

Enhancement 

Programme (GEEP). It is for 

people that are specialized 

in professional courses, for 

instance, doctors, engineers, 

lawyers and those in Information 

Communication 

Technology (ICT) etc. 

“What is done in the 

GEEP of Job Creation Office 

is to create a sort of empowerment 

in form of training 

to enable the beneficiary 

succeed in his/her chosen 

career. This GEEP helps you 

in the line of what you studied 

if you are so inclined. So, 

they look for where you can 

do internships and support 

you with little stipends. Under 

Job Creation, there are 

other programmes like Skills 

Training and Entrepreneurship 

Programme (STEP) and 

Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs 

Programme (YAGEP) 

which enables the beneficiary 

to acquire skills, that 

is, even though he/she is 

a graduate of a particular 

course, he/she could look 

for a different thing to do”, 

she said. 

Why does the state empower 

professionals? “The 

state empowers them because 

we still need them in 

the society”, she said. 

Why the same acronym 

GEEP? Who copied from 

whom? “It came differently. 

Nobody borrowed from anybody. 

One person was doing 

his own in Abuja and another 

person was in Delta State doing 

his own, and the names 

came out same” 

On how far the agency 

had gone with the GEEP 

of Job Creation Office, she 

explained thus, ”We only 

give out micro-credit where 

need be but GEEP is the only 

intervention that has not 

come to us for micro-credit. 

Maybe, going by the mode of 

that particular intervention 

at the point they are in, they 

haven’t needed our own intervention. 

So, we have only 

intervened for YAGEP and 

STEP”, she disclosed. 

Economic benevolence in Delta State 

IGNATIUS CHUKWU 

Governor Okowa 

them not to commit suicide. 

The executive secretary 

(Shimite Bello) said 

they would investigate the 

matter thoroughly and use 

some insurance clauses to 

help out. This seems to be 

a great initiative and sign 

of a brother’s keeper, a 

benevolent administration 

that cares for the people. 

President Buhari 

Delta State also has 

several schemes such as 

YAGEP (Youth Agricultural 

Entrepreneurs Programme 

); STEP (Skills Training 

and Entrepreneurs Programme); 

GEEP (Graduate Empowerment 

and Employment 

Programme); and 

GEEP (Government Enterprise 

and Empowerment 

Programme). These are 

used in helping the down 

trodden and to bolster the 

ability of the economically 

active poor to rise and 

make a living too. In years 

to come, most poor people 

in that state would climb 

out of poverty valley and 

join in active economic life. 

MERCY ENOCH, ASABA 

Like the biblical 

injunction through 

the prophet, Ezekiel, 

which states that “The 

bone shall rise again”, the 

Delta State Micro, Small 

and Medium Enterprise 

Agency Development 

(DEMSMA) says there is 

hope through lifeline for 

Deltans who might have 

thought of committing 

suicide over unexpected 

huge losses they encountered 

as a result of herdsmen 

attack, flooding or 

even robbery attack etc. 

The agency wants them to 

know that the loan granted 

them by the government is 

not for high blood pressure 

neither is it to make 

them consider suicide as 

an option. 

According to DEMSMA, 

those who took loans and 

invested them in farming 

or business but encountered 

loss could rise above 

their predicament. 

Farmers in most local 

government areas of the 

state had decried massive 

loss as result of herdsmen 

activities that affected their 

farms as well as flooding 

that swept off even their 

fishponds. In their pathetic 

cries, most of them said 

they had borrowed money 

and sunk it in the venture 

and had to appeal for government’s 

intervention to 

help them bounce back to 

business. The losses were 

said to have had negative 

effects on the health of 

the loan beneficiaries who 

thought the calamity that 

befell them was the end of 

their lives. 

Speaking to The 

Big Heart Digest, the 

DEMSMA’s Executive 

Secretary, Shimite Bello, 

gave a message of hope to 

the victims, saying, “We 

have small portfolio that 

is in our annual budget 

for micro-insurance. We 

do this with the Nigeria 

Agricultural Insurance 

Commission (NAIC). We 

do some pay-outs and we 

have a way we can recover 

our money back.” 

Continuing, she said, 

“When we have those 

losses, we have to investigate. 

We have a team 

that goes out. If we find 

out that flood affected 

you or that thieves really 

stole your chicken; there 

are many stories people 

usually tell; it’s not just 

about herdsmen. We are a 

government and the aim 

of government is not to 

make profit but to ensure 

development”, 

Continuing, she said 

“Some people even come 

to us to ask for extension; 

nothing happened to them 

but they are not ready to 

pay their loan. We make 

them write a letter for the 

extension. Usually, in a 

bank you should be able 

to get it but it is difficult 

to get. With us, we can 

give. We have given many 

people leeway, mainly 

extension. There are people 

whose loans were due 

since 2016 and they would 

be paying us in 2018. 

That’s when their hand 

will reach.” 

She explained that the 

government gives those 

concessions to ensure the 

people’s hands are busy. 

She added: “We didn’t 

give them the loan so that 

they can have high blood 

pressure. We gave them 

the loans so that they can 

have a bit of money in case 

there is poverty everywhere, 

to help them move 

forward.” 

To them, she says they 

should not commit suicide 

o! It’s not that serious 

because as long as there is 

life there is hope. “Every 

position you are in is a 

temporary bus stop. It’s 

not the final bus stop. Nobody 

is going to kill you. 

They (banks) are going to 

harass you but they won’t 

kill you, to ensure that 

they get what it is, because 

the banks go out; sometimes 

we go out with the 

bank, we go out with CBN 

to go and get funds.” 

She however said “If 

you loot the funds through 

Zenith Bank they would 

come and ask us about their 

money. So, while somebody 

is asking us, we are asking 

the bank, the bank would 

ask beneficiaries.” 

She recalled an incident 

where a bank wrote 

that the beneficiaries 

believe that the loans they 

got were political settlement. 

“We like those 

kinds of letters because 

we can work with it. We 

had to write beneficiaries 

ourselves informing them 

that the loans were not for 

political settlement”, she 

concluded.

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

25 


HOMES&PROPERTY 

In Association 

Land prices in UK, as in Nigeria, 

rising faster than property prices 

The similarity is 

so apt that it is 

curious. In Nigeria, 

demand 

for land is much 

higher than that for homes, 

and that is what obtains in 

the UK too where land for 

building houses in urban areas 

has risen by 4.7 percent 

year on year, more than the 

prices of homes. Again, as in 

Nigeria, developer-demand 

for large sites is pushing up 

values in the UK. 

In the highbrow places 

like Ikoyi in Lagos and 

Maitama in Abuja, the fall 

in the price of expensive 

homes has led to the fall 

in the price of prime land. 

Similarly, the latest analysis 

report from a real estate 

firm, Savills, says land values 

in central London have 

fallen in line with a fall in 

prices in the prime property 

market in particular. 

This is good news for 

Nigerian off-shore investors 

whose investments have 

concentrated in the city 

centre. Time is now to make 

the switch, by exploring opportunities 

in the suburbs. 

The congestion in the 

city centres is, increasingly, 

pushing development 

to the suburbs, pushing 

demand for land to the 

fringes. Developers are 

expanding and exploring 

new areas for development. 

In the UK, national and 

regional house builders are 

expanding and diversifying 

with some moving into new 

regions to take advantage of 

house price growth in areas 

such as the Midlands and 

north of England, the report 

points out. 

“Manchester and Birmingham 

continue to 

outperform the UK average 

and are now joined 

by smaller locations such 

as Luton, Coventry and 

Chelmsford in seeing 

double digit annual price 

growth for urban land,” said 

Lucy Greenwood, Savills 

research analyst. 

“This quarter’s indices 

are further evidence of 

growing demand for land 

in London’s outer commuter 

belt and beyond, with 

increased caution in the 

capital,” she added. 

The report explained that 

growing house builder confidence 

and appetite for 

larger sites is reflected in 

the rate at which green-field 

land values have begun to 

rise, up 1.1 percent in the 

third quarter, as much as in 

the first six months of the 

year, taking annual growth 

to 2.2 pe3rcent. 

While land values have 

risen at a UK level, they 

have continued to fall across 

central London, following 

the pattern of house price 

growth in the capital’s prime 

central housing market. The 

value of land for housing 

fell by 2 percent in the last 

six months, in line with a 

2.1 percent fall in prime 

London house prices in the 

same period. 

A succession of stamp 

duty and other tax increases 

have left house prices in 

these high value markets 

down by a total of 15 percent 

from their 2014 peak, albeit 

they now appear to be finding 

a level. Residential land 

values have fallen by around 

12 percent over the same 

period. 

The report points out 

that in August 2017, the 

London Mayor’s Affordable 

Housing and Viability 

Supplementary Guidance 

(SPG) was adopted but, so 

far, this does not appear 

to be affecting land values 

for consented sites in the 

capital. But Greenwood 

said it has added to buyer 

caution. “The rate of absorption 

of new build stock and 

the availability and cost of 

labour will be key determinants 

of future land values”, 

she added. 

National house builders 

including Barratt, Persimmon, 

Crest Nicholson 

and Miller, plus regional 

house builders such as Wain 

Homes in the Bristol area 

and Story Homes in the 

Manchester area, have either 

opened or are planning to 

open offices in new regions. 

For some, this means 

reopening offices in areas 

where they closed operations 

post global financial 

crisis, while others are 

branching into new territory 

to diversify and mitigate 

against regional fluctuations 

in house prices and 

demand. 

Business Trade responds to market 

demand with affordable luxury 

...offers ‘low-priced’ 3-bedroom apartments at Lakeside Court 

Stories by CHUKA UROKO 

Though Nigerian 

economy is still 

in early recovery 

from a 13-month 

recession, there 

are signs from macro-economic 

performance that the 

country is on growth path 

again, encouraging investors 

to develop and put products 

on the market. 

One of the latest arrivals 

to the market is Lakeside 

Court being developed and 

promoted by Business Trade 

Enterprises, a new generation 

real estate investment 

and development company 

in Lagos. 

Lakeside Court is a 15-unit 

development comprising 

3–bedroom flats arranged 

in 2 x 2 blocks of six flats and 

one block of three flats. The 

estate is located within the 

Lakeview Estate in Amuwo 

Odofin area of Lagos. 

The high-point of this estate 

is its location. Amuwo 

Odofin is a fast-developing 

middle-class settlement 

whose growth trajectory is 

driven chiefly by the well laidout 

and quality roads network 

and infrastructure that 

empty into the Apapa-Oshodi 

Expressway and the Lagos- 

Badagry Expressway being 

expanded into 10 lanes with 

a light rail line in-between. 

“Amuwo Odofin is suitably 

located by Apapa-Oshodi 

Expressway/Mile 2 intersection 

of the new Lagos – Badagry 

10-lane Expressway 

(under construction). Mile 2 

is planned to be a Main Station 

of the Lagos Light Rail 

Service also under construction”, 

explained Yinka Mecca, 

Building Trade Enterprises’ 

Genneral Manager, during a 

tour of the estate by Business- 

Day at the weekend. 

Continuing, Mecca noted, 

“Amuwo Odofin is fast developing 

into a fashionable 

middle class suburb. It boasts 

a 4-Star Golden Tulip Hotel, 

The Festival Mall (Shoprite) 

and the prestigious Conference 

Centre of the Institute 

of Chartered Accountants of 

Nigeria (ICAN)”. 

He pointed out that Lakeside 

Court was well located 

in terms of transportation 

around Lagos metropolis 

and for all the shopping 

and recreational amenities 

in Festac Town. According 

to him, the estate is about 

30 minutes drive to Lagos 

Island, Victoria Island and 

Muritala Mohammed International 

Airport. 

Added to its excellent 

location are the estate’s topnotch 

features and facilities, 

including good sewage system, 

equality estate lightings, 

ample parking space, dedicated 

transformer, borehole 

and water treatment plant, 

gated estate with good security 

arrangement, exotic 

landscape, neighbourhood 

shopping and recreational 

amenities. 

The apartments are quite 

spacious with king-size master-bedrooms, 

masterfully 

created balconies and two 

relaxed staircases leading to 

each flat. The site engineer 

explained that the apartments 

are designed in such 

a way that residents don’t 

need to come and start breaking 

the walls for fixtures and 

fittings. 

“We have done all the connections; 

residents will only 

come and plug-in, whether 

it is their air-conditioning 

systems, television sets, refrigerators 

or any other home 

appliances”, the engineer 

assured. 

To truly demonstrate that 

the estate is a response to 

market realities, the price of 

the units is not only affordable 

to its target audience, 

but also pocket friendly. 

“What we are offering the 

buyers is pocket friendly 

and it is in tune with market 

realities. We are not unmindful 

of the fact that purchasing 

power is still not 

strong after the crippling 

impact of an economic 

recession. 

“This is why we are coming 

to the market with an 

introductory selling price 

of N20 million for each of 

the flats with all the three 

rooms ensuite. For us, this 

is a fair market price taking 

into consideration the location 

and opportunities which 

the estate affords prospective 

residents”, Mecca said. 

For those who may be 

buying for investment purposes, 

Mecca assured that 

the estate has an excellent potential 

for increase in capital 

value (capital appreciation) 

in the short term, pointing 

out that the rental yield, given 

what obtains in the neighbourhood, 

is in the region 

of 10-15 percent per annum. 

Buyers wishing to go 

through mortgage financing 

are assured of the availability 

of that option from their 

partner mortgage–finance 

institutions. But substantial 

discounts will be given for full 

payments received between 

now and January 31, 2018. 

Deposit or part-payment of 

not less than 30 percent of the 

delivery price is acceptable 

on a first come, first served 

basis. 

“Already, interesting is 

growing in the estate, but that 

is to be expected in an estate 

that enjoys the kind of quality 

and refined neighbourhood 

that Lakeside Court enjoys. 

This estate which is just a few 

metres off the newly reconstructed 

and well interlocked 

Okota-Ago Palace Way, is also 

a shouting distance away 

from the popular and historic 

Festac Town”, Mecca 

enthused. 

Those who will buying 

from this estate have nothing 

to fear. Apart from the 

air-tight security in the estate, 

the title deed is good. A Deed 

of Assignment, deriving from 

a registered title on the estate, 

granted by the Lagos State 

government, will be issued to 

buyers. The deed is available 

for inspection.



HOMES&PROPERTY 

Research institute faults 17m 

housing deficit on back of 

population shift 

For over a decade 

now, Nigeria and 

stakeholders in the 

housing sector have been 

estimating the country’s 

housing deficit at 17 million 

units. But the Nigerian 

building and roads 

research institute (NBRRI) 

has faulted this figure, saying 

it is no longer tenable. 

The research institute 

contends that the population 

of the country has 

shifted. Quoting findings 

by Worldometer, 2017, the 

institute notes that from 

2012 to date, Nigeria’s population 

has increased from 

168,240,403 to 191,835,936, 

representing 23,595,533 

additional people to the 

population. 

“The housing deficiency 

has, therefore, climbed 

and is likely to worsen in 

the nearest future if urgent 

steps are not taken by the 

government in conjunction 

with all stakeholders to 

address the problem”, said 

Danladi Matawal, DG/CEO 

of the institute at a housing 

conference in Abuja. 

Matawal noted that almost 

every dispensation 

since the colonial era has 

formulated policies to contain 

the housing situations, 

but while some yielded 

success, some have failed 

to make any significant 

impact in the housing and 

real estate sector or the 

country. 

The World Bank in 2013 

stated that in order for 

Nigeria to keep up with 

the demand for housing, 

700,000 houses need to 

be developed annually to 

match growing population 

and urban migration, but 

less than 100,000 houses 

are being built in the country 

on yearly basis. 

The director general, 

therefore, canvassed a paradigm 

shift in approach to 

providing housing in Nigeria 

from a conventional 

process-based approach to 

more compartmentalised 

Economy loses as govt, 

concessionaire bicker over Enugu 

Stories CHUKA UROKO 

Real estate czar, Njie, named African Entrepreneur 

Real estate investment and 

development giant, Mustapha 

Njie, emerged tops as African 

Entrepreneur at a highly sophisticated 

and elite award ceremony 

organised in Lagos at the weekend 

by All Africa Business Leaders 

Awards (AABLA) in collaboration 

with CNBC Africa. 

Njie, a Gambian national and the 

CEO, Taf Africa Homes, was selected 

from a nominee-list of other African 

entrepreneurs and business leaders, 

including Nigeria’s Cosmas Maduka, 

the MD/CEO of Coscharis Motors 

Limited. 

The annual AABLA award sets 

to honour business excellence and 

leaders who have made considerable 

impact on their industry and 

the community. Alexander Leibner 

of AABLA said the event marked 

the start of what is set to be another 

memorable AABLA season, honour- 

and adaptable strategies. 

Reasons for poor housing 

situation in Nigeria, 

he said, include access to 

finance, legal processes 

surrounding property and 

land procurement, access 

to affordable high quality 

building materials as building 

in Nigeria is relatively 

expensive which, in turn, 

reflects on high cost paid 

by end users. 

“Conscious and timely 

efforts are required to 

adopt strategies that will 

significantly reduce the 

cost of building houses and 

I recommend the provision 

of affordable housing by 

harnessing and integrating 

alternative building 

technologies and building 

materials to reduce the 

cost of building houses in 

Nigeria”, he said. 

Continuing, he said, 

“building houses are highly 

capital intensive projects 

and a bulk of this capital 

is gulped up in procuring 

building materials which 

alone have been estimated 

to constitute 60 percent of 

the cost of constructing a 

building”. 

According to him, besides 

the cost implications 

of undertaking high volumes 

of construction projects, 

there is also the sustainability 

issue, hence the 

need to consider alternative 

building materials and 

technologies that would 

be substitutes or complimentary 

to conventional 

building materials. 

He listed conventional 

building materials as concrete, 

steel, glass, timber, 

etc which take a lot of time 

to produce and assemble 

and may pose a time 

challenge. These could be 

replaced with basic alternative 

materials which are 

predominantly traditional 

such as thatch, mud/clay, 

laterite, gravel, straw, azara 

and raffia palm that have 

been in local production 

from historic times. 

ing business excellence across the 

continent. 

He said that this award celebrates 

individuals who exemplify the best in 

African leadership as well as African 

business leaders who epitomize the 

core values of a successful leader, 

strength, innovation, ingenuity, 

knowledge and foresight. 

Reacting to his recognition, Njie 

said, “I feel honoured and dignified 

that all we have been doing over the 

years is recognized; it gives me great 

joy and I dedicate this award to all 

my staff, family, friends and business 

partners who have supported 

us all the way. It is a challenge for us 

to do more”. 

Taf Africa Homes is an ambitious 

developer with presence in eight 

African countries including Nigeria, 

Cameroon, Rwanda, Togo, Senegal, 

Cote D’voire and Gambia. Its largest 

developments so far are the 

The economy of 

Enugu State is 

the ultimate loser 

as the government 

of the state 

and the concessionaire on 

the Enugu Hotel Presidential 

bicker over the ownership 

of that facility which 

used to be an economic and 

cultural monument in the 

Coal City state. 

This facility, which was 

the pride of the entire Eastern 

Region as a hospitality 

and cultural gravitational 

centre, has all the potential 

for revenue earning 

that could help to grow the 

economy of the state if its 

affairs are well managed 

and put to immediate economic 

use. 

In its bid to resuscitate 

this moribund facility, 

the state government, in 

2013, concessioned it to 

Primeview Hotels Limited 

(PHL) and by virtue of the 

Joint Venture Agreement 

signed between the management 

of the hotel, E. 

Hospitality Services Limited 

and PHL coupled with the 

Deed of Assignment dated 

February 6, 2014 between 

Hotel Presidential Limited 

and PHL, the legal title on 

the property was vested on 

PHL for 35 years, beginning 

from October 1, 2013. 

But, since then, the concessionaire 

has been having 

challenges in its efforts 

at redeveloping the hotel 

which has suffered long 

period of neglect and infrastructure 

decay. Besides 

funding challenges, the 

concessionaire has also had 

to contend with litigation by 

a claimant to the ownership 

of the hotel. 

A statement by the management 

of PHL obtained 

by BusinessDay at the week- 

end, alleges an attempt at 

forceful takeover of the hotel 

by people it further alleges 

to be agents of Enugu State 

government. 

“Recently, a group of 

armed soldiers, policemen 

and Civil Defence Corps/ 

Legionnaires forced their 

way into the Hotel Presidential, 

Enugu, manhandled 

our security personnel and 

attempted to take over the 

property”, the statement alleged, 

adding, “since they 

presented no letter authorising 

them to take that action 

or a valid court order, our 

security personnel naturally 

resisted but had to back 

down when their lives were 

threatened”. 

The invaders, according 

to the statement, claimed 

to have been instructed to 

“take over the hotel” by an 

official of the Enugu State 

government who later came 

to the site in company of 

some other persons who, it 

was learnt, were “prospective 

investors” and declared 

she was discharging “government 

directive”. 

RivTaf Golf Estate in Port Harcourt, 

Nigeria and The Brufut Garden in 

The Gambia. 

“We are very active in Nigeria 

because the housing deficit here is 

about 17 million. We have been here 

for a long time and we are finding it 

hard to get out the country. We have 

projects already in three states of the 

country”, Njie disclosed. 

Continuing, he said, “our ambition 

is to deliver one million housing 

units in the next 20 years. And in doing 

this, we want to make houses affordable 

to the people and we are doing 

it region by region and country by 

country. Right now, we are registered 

in eight African countries including 

Nigeria, Cameroon, Rwanda, Togo, 

Senegal, Cote D’voire and Gambia”. 

RivTaf Golf Estate, a joint venture 

project between the Taf Nigeria 

Homes and the Rivers State government, 

is an ambitious project that 

“PHL has been in uninterrupted 

possession of the 

property since 2013 and has 

carried out extensive work 

onsite and offsite with a view 

to redeveloping and transforming 

the hotel to a world 

class hospitality facility; unfortunately, 

we have experienced 

a number of setbacks the 

latest of which is a pending 

law suit by an entity which 

claimed to have had previous 

interest in the property. 

“To the extent that PHL 

were joined as co-defendants 

in the suit together with 

the officials of the Enugu 

State government, we advised 

the government to resolve 

the matter as the facts 

relating to the dispute arose 

prior to our engagement”, the 

statement recalled. 

It recalled too that, since 

2015, PHL has met with the 

government team including 

the governor, his deputy, 

members of the State Privatisation 

Council and the 

Commissioner of Culture 

and Tourism and has kept 

them apprised of its challenges 

and suggested ways 

has delivered 750 housing units in its 

first phase. The second phase which 

has a 9-hole Golf Course Resort and 

a natural lake, promises about 250 

affordable housing units targeted at 

middle-class home buyers. 

in which they could move 

forward. 

“At the last of such meetings 

held in June this year, 

it was agreed that efforts 

would be made to reach out 

to Status Symbol Limited, 

the litigant in the aforesaid 

suit, with a view to arriving 

at an amicable resolution 

so that we could all move 

forward without further hindrance”, 

the company said. 

PHL has continued to 

work with its consultants 

to fine tune plans for the 

redevelopment of the Hotel, 

including making funding 

arrangements which have 

altered significantly given 

the foreign exchange situation 

and level of inflation in 

the country. 

“This new development 

is, therefore, a rude shock 

and disappointment that the 

state government has decided, 

against good reason and 

disregard for the provisions 

of a legally binding agreement, 

taken matters this far 

with the attempted violent 

takeover of the Hotel from 

us”, the company posited. 

L-R: Bismarck Rewane, CEO, Financial Derivatives Company; Mustapha Njie, CEO, Taf Africa 

Homes and his business partner at the award ceremony in Lagos at the weekend. 

The Brufut Garden in The Gambia 

is a 650-housing-unit estate 

located in the heart of Banjul, the 

country’s federal capital. The estate 

has a sizeable number of housing 

units sold to Nigerian investors.


27 

BUSINESS DAY 

Energy Report 

C002D5556 

Oil & Gas Power Renewables Environment 

China’s bottom-up approach to electrification holds lessons for Nigeria 

ISAAC ANYAOGU 

In its 2017 State of 

Electricity Access Report, 

the World Bank 

reports that China’s 

bottom-up approach 

to electrification has succeeded 

in providing access 

to electricity to 900 million 

people—with 165 million 

people gaining access between 

2000 and 2014 within 

50 years according to the 

International Energy Association 

and the World Bank. 

The big push began in 

1979, driven by economic 

reforms in rural areas, and 

by 1997, the country was 

providing electricity to over 

95 percent of households. 

Electricity access increased 

further, reaching 99 percent 

in 2009, driven by the 

modernization of rural infrastructure 

and the harmonization 

of rural/urban 

consumer tariffs. 

As a result, in 2009, the 

deficit was down to 8 million 

people, out of a total 

population of 1.3 billion. 

Nonetheless, rural electricity 

consumption per capita 

in 2008 was just 30 percent 

of China’s average electricity 

consumption, suggesting 

that the rural electricity 

market has not reached 

saturation. 

China’s critical success 

factors 

China has relied on a 

bottom-up approach to 

electrification, with local 

administration responsible 

for the local solution. Each 

county created a rural electrification 

committee (led 

by the county governor), 

which made decisions on 

rural electrification investments 

and operation, while 

overall program planning 

was kept at the central level. 

Some of the solutions 

have involved a mix of grid 

extension and off-grid options—with 

rural electrification 

relying on three 

modes of delivery: local 

grids, central grid, and a 

hybrid system. 

Even though the central 

grid remained the main 

mode of supply, local grids 

played a key role in areas 

with large hydro potential, 

with county water bureaus 

or small hydropower companies, 

responsible for electricity 

supply. 

To get investors on 

board, incentives targeting 

small hydropower, such 

as a reduced VAT rate and 

state investment funds as- 

sisted. The country distributed 

stand-alone systems 

through distribution 

companies that procure 

major components from 

manufacturers directly, 

small assembly shops selling 

directly to installers, and 

retailers selling directly to 

end users. 

China has electrified 

remote areas through a 

phased approach, based on 

pilot projects and capacity 

building. 

Nigeria’s energy sector 

seems since privatisation 

in 2013 has failed to deliver 

value from the exercise. 

Several factors have been 

blamed including selling 

assets to incompetent financial 

and technical administrators, 

weak regulatory 

agencies, failing transmission 

grids and politicisation 

of the process. 

Experts have called for 

a variant of the Chinese 

model, in decentralisation 

the transmission network 

and creating regionally 

managed grids. Similar incentives 

such as tax waivers 

granted to operators in 

China are now required by 

the government to stimulate 

investments especially in 

renewable energies. 

Domestic supply obligation compliance to reduce Nigeria’s 12% Gas flare rate- Operators 

KELECHI EWUZIE 

Operators in the oil 

and gas industry 

are upbeat that 

compliance by 

gas producers to the domestic 

supply obligation 

(DSO) is a step in the right 

direction to further reduce 

the 12 percent gas flare rate 

in Nigeria. 

Nigerian National Petroleum 

Corporation (NNPC) 

Monthly Financial and Operations 

Report in August 

indicated that the Gas flare 

rate in Nigeria stands at 

12.00 per cent. 

According to the report, 

the 12.00 per cent 

gas flare rate translates to 

919.73mmscfd in August 

2017 compared to 10.03 

per cent for the preceding 

month of July 2017. 

Nigeria was among 

countries with highest gas 

flare rates, but a number of 

Clean Development Mechanism 

(CDM) projects aimed 

at appropriate gas utilisation 

have improved the 

country’s standing in this 

the regard. 

The country produces 

an estimated 7 billion scf 

per day and account for an 

estimated 182 trillion scf 

of gas reserve. Among this 

figures, only 13.3 percent is 

consumed locally of which 

8.9 percent is allocated to 

gas-to-power. 

Statistics indicates that 

Gas penetration out of the 

major cities in Nigeria is 

only 1 percent in a nation 

with a population of over 

180 million people this concerned 

industry analysts 

says does not speaks well for 

the prospect of domestic gas 

utilisation. 

Analysts observed that 

the Nigerian gas MasterPlan 

was set up to among other 

things address the delivery 

of gas-to-power targeted at 

ensuring about threefold 

increase in generation capacity; 

to achieve a reasonable 

level of gas-based industrialisation 

and thereby 

positioning Nigeria as the 

undisputed regional hub 

for industries such as fertilizer, 

petrochemicals and 

methanol which require 

Natural Gas as feedstock; 

and of course to ensure we 

deepen our export gas market 

making it more robust 

and profitable. 

The NNPC monthly report 

further showed that 

despite enormous challenges 

facing the downstream 

sub-sector of the Petroleum 

Industry, the company has 

continued to maintain adequate 

products supply 

nationwide. 

Industry operators 

pointed out that increasing 

vandalism of oil and gas 

facilities in the Niger Delta 

have considerable reduce 

Nigeria Gas Company ability 

to deliver required gas in 

the downstream. 

Ayodele Oni, an energy 

expert opine that funding 

remains a major hinderance 

towards building the require 

infrastructure in the gas to 

power value chain to grow 

the economy. 

He observed that if the 

issues around credible and 

enforceable gas contracts 

coupled with a price regime 

are not tackled, willing local 

investors will continue to 

shy away from putting their 

money into production of 

gas for local use. 

Dada Thomas, president 

of the Nigerian Gas 

Associated said that Gas 

projects will become more 

profitable if indigenous 

companies are given access, 

stressing that it will 

be easier for local companies 

with proven track 

records to attract investors 

to execute projects that 

can unlock gas for Nigeria. 

The NNPC informed that 

Products pipeline breaches 

stood at 70 points for the 

month of August 2017 out 

of which 62 pipelines were 

vandalised. 

The strategic Port Harcourt-Aba 

pipeline was singled 

out as a major culprit, 

accounting for 46 vandalized 

points (or 74 per cent of 

total recorded cases). 

To tackle the challenge, 

the Corporation in collaboration 

with Federal Government 

has continued to 

engage members of various 

host communities to stem 

incidences of pipeline infractionsinfractions. 

Olusola Bello, Team lead, Analysts: Kelechi Ewuzie, Isaac Anyaogu, Graphics: Fifen Famous. Email: energyreport@businessdayonline.com, Tel: +234-8023020011; +234-7037817378; +234-8036534708



C002D5556 

Energy Report 

‘Operate Nigeria refineries as 

businesses for it to be efficient’ 

KELECHI EWUZIE 

Stakeholders in the downstream 

sector of Nigeria 

oil and gas industry have 

insisted that the four refineries 

in Nigeria must 

be operated as a business concern 

if the federal government ever wants 

to solve the current low capacity 

utilisation. 

They insisted that despite the 

work being done at the Nigerian 

National Petroleum Corporation 

(NNPC), to get the refineries operational 

at the level government is 

planning, it would need some good 

private equity participation. 

Reginald Stanley, Chair, OTL 

African Downstream Advisory board 

while speaking at a panel discussion 

at the just concluded Oil Trading and 

Logistics Expo in Lagos observed 

that Nigeria must have refineries that 

are very efficient. 

According to him, “If we put 

our house in order by way of the 

right investment, Nigeria will automatically 

belong among top refining 

countries and what that means is 

that we instantly become net export 

of petroleum products. 

Stanley observed that with NNPC 

supplying 445 thousand barrel per 

day, and Dangote refineries coming 

on stream with 650 thousand per 

day, Nigeria will be able to meet her 

petroleum demand needs. 

He urged government through 

the NNPC to address the issue of 

regulatory environment saying that 

if we don’t get that right, you can talk 

to all the financiers in this world, 

they would not come to invest. 

Godswill Ihetu, former Managing 

Director and Chief Executive Officer 

of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas 

(NLNG) Limited andNigerian Gas 

Company (NGC) on his part said the 

issue of cleaner fuel needs to be addressed 

for the future when talking 

about Nigeria refineries. 

He opined that the issue of clean- 

er fuel becomes critical particularly 

for Nigeria own refineries which 

were build more than three decades 

ago. 

Ihetu insists that Nigeria refineries 

would need substantial upgrading 

to be able to get to the point of 

getting cleaner fuel which will be in 

demand in the future or are already 

in demand. 

He further observed that petroleum 

pipeline infrastructure need 

to be replaced if the country wants to 

operate an efficient refinery adding 

that this has major capital requirement 

to be able to replace them 

because the current pipelines has 

long gone beyond their good use. 

According to him, “We also need 

private sector involvement in equity 

for pipelines infrastructure because 

to leave that to the government will 

be a mistake because the government 

resources are stretch”. 

“Government needs to invite the 

private sector go into the pipeline 

logistics. What we have now at the 

NNPC refineries will need a lot 

of work. I hope we can get a good 

model that will make us move forward 

and not talk about the refineries 

every year”. 

Ihetu further called on managers 

of the economy to consider adopting 

the NLNG model, where 49 per 

cent NNPC participation 51 percent 

private sector in the operation of the 

petroleum adding that in this model, 

there is no political interference. 

“It is the best way to go that way 

because private partners bring in 

their expertise and these are high 

expenditure projects. They can bring 

in the finance for part of the equity 

which will solve problems”, he said. 

Ikeja Electric commences 

customer data capture exercise 

…Customers to get real-time alerts on completion of exercise 

Olusola Bello 

Ikeja Electric Plc (IE) , Nigeria’s 

has commenced a data capture 

exercise of customers across its 

network. 

The exercise, which entails capturing 

the phone numbers, contact 

details and e-mails of customers 

within her network seeks to ensure 

that customers begin to receive 

records/data of their energy consumption 

and monthly bills on 

a real-time basis, via e-mail/sms 

immediately the data is processed 

and generated. 

The company said that on 

completion of the exercise, customers 

will also be able to receive 

sms alerts for any payments made 

against their accounts and information 

concerning outages, maintenance 

and network upgrade on 

real-time basis. 

Speaking on the exercise, Felix 

Ofolue, head, corporate communications, 

Felix, said the exercise was 

put in place to enable customers 

better manage energy costs and bill 

payments, thereby improving overall 

efficiency of the billing process on 

both sides. 

Ofulue urged customers to visit 

Ikeja Electric’s website (www.ikeja to 

register their e-mail and GSM numbers. 

Speaking further, he encouraged 

customers to cooperate with its 

payment agents who are also part of 

the data capturing team, saying that, 

“Customers who make payments 

via Pawakad or Baxibox payment 

channels, will also be required to 

register before any transaction can 

take place. 

He further advised that customers 

should ensure that the details 

captured in the exercise are that of 

the payer and not a third party who 

has been sent to make the payment 

so that all related information can 

get to the intended recipient. 

The exercise, designed to allow 

customers receive information 

quickly and empower decision 

making, will however not stop the 

distribution of paper bills which is a 

NERC requirement. 

OpenOil launch report on how 

African governments manage 

extractive resources 

ISAAC ANYAOGU 

The African Development 

Bank (AfDB) and 

OpenOil, a Berlin-based 

financial analysis firm, 

have jointly produced a report 

on how African governments use 

financial models to manage oil & 

gas and mining projects. 

Titled ‘Running the Numbers: 

How African Governments 

Model Extractive Projects,’ analyses 

the capacity of 19 African 

resource-rich countries to use 

financial models, which simulate 

a simplified version of a 

real-world project in order to 

determine their financial benefits 

to the countries. AfDB and 

OpenOil conducted a survey of 

nearly 50 government officials 

to illustrate not only how widespread 

use of financial models 

is, but also how their results are 

utilised to inform policy. 

“Financial models are essential 

throughout the life-cycle of extractive 

projects,” said Johnny West, 

director of OpenOil. “They are not 

just important during the development 

of the fiscal regime, but 

also for the negotiation of fiscal 

terms with companies, for revenue 

forecasting, and for auditing and 

tax-gap analysis. 

This report not only stresses 

the need for African Governments 

to make efforts to close the 

information gap with extractive 

companies, but also shows where 

there are capacity gaps and how 

those gaps could be addressed, 

said the AfDB, urging development 

partners to invest more in 

capacity building. 

Also, there is a substantial 

gap in access to data that are key 

inputs for financial models in 

African countries, with the largest 

gaps in assessing information on 

capital costs and operating costs 

of projects. 

In addition to the need to build 

in-house financial modelling 

capacity, the report suggests that 

governments need to improve internal 

business processes and address 

the large gap that the report 

shows exist between information 

available to different agencies, 

departments and ministries. 

This study forms a crucial part 

of the Center’s support to African 

countries in realising the full po- 

tential of their natural resources, 

how are countries supposed to enter 

into negotiations with extraction 

companies that use financial 

models if the governments of such 

countries are not in possession 

of the latest and best models to 

calculate what a potential project 

is worth?” asked the AfDB. 

The report also encourages 

development partners to make 

capacity building in financial 

modelling a more significant part 

of their support to the management 

of extractive resources. 

Partners doing so already were 

encouraged to not just supply financial 

models as part of isolated 

technical assistance, but to also 

invest in equipping government 

officials with skills to create and 

use models. 

The report was launched at 

the 13th Annual General Meeting 

of the Intergovernmental Forum 

on Mining, Minerals, Metals and 

Sustainable Development (IGF) 

in Geneva, Switzerland. Over 

150 experts and representatives 

of international development 

institutions, governments, civil 

society and extractives companies 

attended the launch.


Harvard 

Business 

Review 

Tips 

& 

Talking Points 

TIPS & TALKING POINTS 

Billions on Content 

$8 billion: Netflix announced in October 

that it planned to spend up to $8 billion 

next year on content, including new 

movies and original programs, for its 

streaming platform. 

+ 

More Spending, Worse Outcomes 

40%: In a study of the 13 high-income 

countries in the Organization for Economic 

Cooperation and Development, 

researchers found that the U.S. spent 

40% per patient on health, but still had 

the poor outcomes, like a decreased life 

expectancy. 

+ 

Intelligence and Multitasking 

5-15 points: A person’s IQ goes drops 

anywhere from 5-15 points when he or 

she is multitasking, according to University 

of London researchers. 

+ 

A Vast Global Economy 

$12 trillion: In 2016, the 2,000 biggest 

companies in the world spent about $12 

trillion on goods and services. 

+ 

Workers’ Emotional Health 

80%: According to the results of a global 

study of employee assistance programs, 

80% of all cases of emotional health 

issues among workers involved stress, 

anxiety and depression in 2014. Two 

years before that, the number was 55%. 

Praise someone the way they 

want to be praised 

When leading a change effort, get reluctant 

employees on board first 

Change is hard. Most people have an 

inherent bias toward maintaining the 

status quo. If you’re leading 

a change effort, identify 

the employees most 

likely to undermine it, and 

help them get on board 

first. Plan two face-to-face 

conversations with each 

reluctant employee. 

— Your goal in the first 

conversation is to listen 

and understand why your 

colleague is holding out. 

— Your goal in the second 

is to show you have 

reflected on their input 

and to explain how and 

why your approach to organizational 

change will 

(or won’t) be different as 

a result. 

Have these conversations two to seven 

days apart, so your employee feels 

you’ve given their ideas thoughtful consideration. 

And give each talk enough 

Recognition is one of the 

most powerful tools a manager 

has, but not everyone 

wants their good work to 

be called out in the same 

way. Acknowledging someone’s 

work is meant to make 

them feel special — and 

it’s hard to feel special if a 

corporate procedure treats 

everyone the same way. 

One person might appreciate 

public praise in front 

of their colleagues, whereas 

another might prize a 

professional or technical 

award. A person who prioritizes 

customer feedback 

might treasure a letter from 

a customer — or a photo 

of the employee and customer 

together, framed for 

their office wall. Tailor your 

approach to each employee’s 

preferences. And if you aren’t 

sure what those are, ask. 

(Adapted from the HBR Guide 

to Performance Management.) 

c 

Encourage your team to draw during 

brainstorming meetings 

Brainstorming often involves 

sitting in a room and talking, 

which pushes people toward 

solutions that are easy to talk 

about. To expand the scope 

of your team’s thinking, try a 

different approach: ask your 

team to draw their ideas. 

There are several reasons why 

drawing is helpful. 

— First, it’s hard for people to 

describe spatial relationships, 

so any solution that requires 

a spatial layout is better described 

with pictures than 

with words. 

— Second, a large amount 

of the brain is devoted to visual 

processing, so sketching 

and interpreting drawings 

involves those brain regions 

in idea generation. 

time — your 

discussion 

should be 

unhurried 

and allow you to focus on the person who’s 

resisting the change. 

(Adapted from “Overcome Resistance to 

Change with Two Conversations,” by Sally 

Blount and Shana Carroll.) 

— Third, it is often difficult to 

describe processes purely in 

words, so diagrams are helpful. 

Don’t worry if you lack artistic 

talent: Studies have shown 

that a misinterpreted drawing 

can serendipitously lead to 

new ideas. 

(Adapted from “Your Team Is 

Brainstorming All Wrong,” by 

Art Markman.) 

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

It’s not a good idea to go into 

a tense conversation when 

you’re full of negative emotions. 

Before you get into the 

room, find a trusted colleague 

or friend who can listen to you 

complain. Say everything you 

feel about the situation — the 

good, the bad and the ugly. 

Don’t hold back. It’s important 

to get this out so that 

you’re not suppressing your 

emotions, which could make 

the conversation even trickier. 

When you bottle up your 

feelings, you’re more likely to 

express them in unintended 

ways. Prevent your emotions 

from seeping out by voicing 

your frustrations ahead of 

time. Doing so will help you 

feel calm and centered when 

Connect the dots 

between the job title 

you Have and the job 

Our job titles don’t always reflect 

what we really do. So how do you 

make a career move — either to a 

new job or maybe to an entirely 

new field — if you’re worried 

that your current title might 

give a hiring manager the wrong 

idea? The key is to showcase 

how your skills and experience 

are relevant to the new job. Start 

by making a list of the five or six 

most important responsibilities 

in the job posting, and jot down 

your accomplishments in those 

areas. Based on these notes, write 

a brief description of yourself 

that shows you have the experience 

the new job requires. Add 

this summary to the top of your 

résumé — but don’t simply call 

the section “Summary.” That 

overused term won’t grab anyone’s 

attention or distinguish you 

from other candidates. Instead, 

give the section a headline that 

really captures the breadth of 

your experience. 

(Adapted from “Writing Your 

Résumé When Your Job Title 

Doesn’t Reflect Your Responsibilities,” 

by Jane Heifetz.) 

Before a difficult conversation, 

vent a little 

you’re having the discussion. 

(Adapted from the HBR Guide 

to Dealing with Conflict, by Amy 

Gallo.)


30 BUSINESS DAY


BUSINESS DAY 

31



BUSINESS DAY 

T R A I N I N G 

A HUMAN CAPITAL AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT COMPANY 

BusinessInsights 

ADVISOR 

BRIAN REUBEN 

KEYNOTE SPEAKER AUTHOR 

Andrew Carnegie is famed 

as the ‘King of Steel’ because 

he mastered the 2nd 

industrial revolution and 

used it to his advantage. 

Andrew Carnegie arrived in the US in 

1848 with barely a dollar in his pocket. 

By 1901, he was the head of a steel empire 

and the richest man in the world. 

How was that possible? A lot of factors 

but the summary is that he mastered 

the principles of business success of 

the second industrial revolution. He 

engaged the technology of his time 

to his ultimate advantage. 

A new revolution has dawned 

upon us today and has ushered us into 

a period of unprecedented change. 

It has overthrown age long business 

models, sapped power from business 

leaders and handed it over to the 

consumers. It has brought new possibilities 

to improve business processes, 

provide more value and improve customer 

experience based on the digital 

technologies that has been unleased 

upon us and which would be much 

more unleased. 

Leading organisations are today 

leveraging the possibilities of digital 

technologies to out perform their 

competition. For these digital masters, 

these new technologies are not 

goals to attain or signals to send to 

investors. Instead, the technologies 

are tools that can be combined to get 

closer to customers. Mastering digital 

technology goes well beyond websites 

and mobile apps to truly transform the 

customer experience and how you 

steer customers effortlessly through 

it. Effectively delivered, an engaging 

customer experience creates value 

for both customers and the company. 

Runner Rewards Program is a 

loyalty management program of 

coffee giant, Starbucks. The program 

was a result of a suggestion made by 

a member of the company’s social 

media community to make it easier 

for customers to manage multiple 

orders—especially useful for people 

going on midday Starbucks runs for 

their coworkers. In less than a month, 

Top Innovation - October 2017 

Sonic Soak 

Sonic Soak is set to usher in a new 

standard in dirt removal including 

grime, and bacteria. This new innovation 

is an ultrasonic cleaning tool 

that promises to clean deeply, all while 

Starbucks introduced its Runner Reward 

program. The program provides 

runners with a convenient form to 

manage orders and offers them a fifth 

drink (their own drink) free of charge. 

That’s an example of how companies 

that has attained digital mastery uses 

digital technology to fuel customerdriven 

innovation 

Starbucks has a leading presence 

in social media. As at October 2017, 

the company has 37, 144 982 Facebook 

fans on its US page alone, 11.9 

million Twitter followers, and 15.6 

million followers on Instagram earning 

Starbucks a number one ranking 

among socially engaged companies. 

In 2008 Starbucks launched its 

crowdsourcing platform called My 

Starbucks Idea, which at the time may 

have been viewed as something of a 

novelty. The result is some of the most 

successful products the company has 

launched, including ‘Runner Rewards’. 

At the tme Starbucks launched 

My Starbucks Idea, the company was 

in pretty bad shape, announcing it 

would be closing 600 stores across 

the US alone. This was the challenge 

that created ‘My Starbucks Idea’, an 

initiative driven by digital technology. 

In fact My Starbucks Idea was the 

company’s first social media venture, 

with the platform launching before 

even their corporate Facebook page, 

or Twitter feed. 

Through the platform Starbucks 

gives its customers the chance to co 

create value with them. The customers 

get to tell the company exactly what 

they want from them. Starbucks has 

collected over 150,000 customersubmitted 

ideas since 2008 to improve 

its products, customer experience, 

and corporate initiatives. Once an 

idea has been submitted, the site’s 

customer community can vote the 

idea up or down, helping Starbucks 

identify and implement the best ideas. 

The company closes the loop with its 

‘Ideas in Action’ blog, where employees 

respond to ideas personally, and lets 

customers know when they can expect 

to see their ideas realized in stores 

Starbucks like other firms that 

has attained digital mastery do not 

just invest smartly in technology and 

channels. They maximize these investments 

by optimizing their marketing 

media mix. They don’t focus on digital 

technologies per say, rather they focus 

on the fundamental drivers of business 

growth. The idea is not to have 

a website or be in the clouds, rather 

IDEAS THAT POWERS HIGHT PERFORMANCE 

Co-creating with your customers: 

The Starbucks example 

saving time, water, and energy. The 

palm-sized device can be conveniently 

carried anywhere to clean just about 

anything. All you do is place it in a bowl 

of water, alongside whatever needs to 

be sanitized, and the rest will be history. 

Using modulated ultrasonic waves, 

the Sonic Soak promises to “disintegrate 

dirt and bacteria at a microscopic 

level.” Sonic Soak sends 50,000 modulated 

ultrasonic waves per second into 

its surrounding liquid environment, 

it’s rethinking your service model, 

recreating your customer experience, 

evaluating your value proposition. 

Adam Brotman, Starbuck’s chief 

digital officer puts it this way, ‘Everything 

we are doing in digital is about 

enhancing and strengthening those 

connections [with our customers] in 

only the way that digital can and only 

the way that Starbucks can.’ 

creating microscopic cavitation bubbles. 

These bubbles hit the surface of 

what needs to be cleaned (your glasses, 

your clothes, or even a piece of fruit or a 

vegetable), and implode. The resulting 

pressure is said to wash out dirt, grime, 

This Page Is Open For Sponsorship, for details call 0808 726 4420. 

Brian Reuben, Managing Partner, 

D•Seven Associates is an advisor in 

leadership and strategy. He heads 

BusinessDay Training. Send feedback 

to trainings@businessdayonline.com 

oil, and bacteria. 

The Sonic Soak’s inventors have 

already surpassed its original $10,000 

goal by upwards of $400,000 — and 

there’s still a month left to contribute. 

Source: Internet sources.


market Report 

Nigerian stock market opens 

week on negative footing 

…Index dips by 0.02%, market cap loses N3bn 

Awaking the Giant 

Nigeria has embarked on an ambitious business climate reform initiative 

which is getting noticed by Nigerians and by the world 

FOCUS 

Stories by 

Iheanyi Nwachukwu 

The Nigerian stock 

market showed 

a weak start this 

week following record 

0.02percent 

decline at the close of Monday’s 

trading. 

Despite that 23 stocks 

gained 20 losers, the market 

was unable to close in the 

positive territory as large cap 

stocks occupied the losers 

table. 

The Year-to-Date (ytd) 

return stood at 37.42percent, 

while the All Share Index 

closed at 36,930.83 points 

against the preceding day 

close of 36,939.59 points. 

The Market Capitalisation 

lost circa N3billion to close at 

N12.782 trillion against preceding 

day close of N12.785 

trillion. 

Total Nigeria Plc recorded 

the highest loss of N11, from 

N236 to N225; 7Up Bottling 

Company Plc lost N2, from 

N90 to N88; International 

Breweries Plc declined by 

N1.65, from N46.85 to N45.2; 

Flourmills of Nigeria Plc declined 

from N 35.47 to N34.5, 

down by 97kobo; while UAC 

of Nigeria Plc lost 62kobo, 

Lafarge Africa shareholders approve 

merger with Atlas Cement, UniCem 

At a court-ordered 

extraordinary general 

meeting (EGM) 

held Monday November 

6, the shareholders 

of Lafarge Africa Plc unanimously 

voted and approved 

the merger of the company 

with Atlas Cement and 

United Cement Company 

(UniCem), wholly-owned 

subsidiaries of the building 

solutions provider. 

Following this approval, 

both companies will transfer 

their assets, liabilities and 

undertakings including real 

and intellectual property 

rights to Lafarge Africa Plc. 

The board of Lafarge Africa 

assured that there will be 

no significant impact on the 

employees of UniCem and 

Atlas and on their terms and 

conditions of employment. 

Atlas Cement, based in 

Port-Harcourt, has moved 

from supplying Ordinary 

Portland Cement to providing 

cement solutions to the 

oil and gas sector. It serves 

as the hub for Lafarge Africa’s 

ready-mix operations in the 

South-South and South- 

East markets. Production 

capacity at Calabar-based 

UniCem was doubled in 

2016 to 5 million metric tons 

consolidating the cement 

from N19 to N18.38. 

Guinness Nigeria Plc 

gained N2, from N100 to 

N102; GTBank Plc gained 

54kobo, from N41.21 to 

N41.75; United Capital Plc 

also gained 22kobo, from 

N3.16 to N3.38. Eterna Oil Plc 

gained 20kobo, from N4.15 to 

N4.35; while Cadbury Nigeria 

Plc stock price advanced 

by 17kobo, from N10.11 to 

N10.28. 

Volume of stocks traded 

increased by 29.21percent 

from 361.05million to 

466.52million, while the total 

value of stocks traded 

decreased by 21.17percent, 

from N3.68billion to N2.903 

billion in 4,274 deals. 

Actively traded stocks 

on the bourse yesterday 

include Jaizbank as equity 

traders exchanged 

226,773,326 units valued at 

N133.814million; FBN Holdings 

Plc’s 43,477,220 units 

valued at N304.954million; 

and Transcorp Plc’s 

27,230,576 units valued at 

N40.562million. 

The Financial Services 

sector led the activity chart 

with 398.25 million shares 

exchanged for N1.403 billion; 

followed by Conglomerates 

with 29.79 million shares 

traded for N88million. 

maker’s leading position in 

the region. 

Michel Pucherchos, CEO 

of Lafarge Africa said, “The 

merger is part of the asset 

consolidation we began in 

June 2014. It will solidify our 

market position in Nigeria 

particularly our presence in 

the South-South and South- 

East regions. We have seen 

our installed cement production 

capacity grow from 

4.5 to over 10 million metric 

tons per year with a diversified 

product range.” 

Total industry installed 

Cement production capacity 

in Nigeria has 

grown rapidly from 4.3 in 

2004 to 37 million metric 

tons in 2014, due to government 

policies which 

banned importation of 

bulk cement in favour of 

local production in 2012. 

However, cement consumption 

in the largest 

cement economy in Africa 

still lags behind its peers. 

Investors in the sector remain 

very optimistic based 

on favourable demographics, 

a rising middle class, 

rapid urbanisation and a 

significant housing and 

infrastructural deficit which 

should all combine to support 

increased demand. 

Jumoke Oduwole 

The news is out that 

in the Doing Business 

2018 Report, 

the World Bank 

Group’s flagship publication 

launched on October 

31, 2017, Nigeria shocked 

the world by improving an 

unprecedented 24 ranks 

in the global ease of doing 

business index and entered 

the global elite group of the 

top ten reforming countries 

in the world this year. Those 

are two firsts for our country, 

and may have come as a 

surprise to many Nigerians 

as well, but there is enough 

reason to celebrate the results, 

and this progress is an 

early sign of more and better 

to come. 

Nigeria’s private sector is 

known across the world for 

being dynamic and innovative. 

Yet, our courageous 

entrepreneurs face cumbersome, 

often opaque regulations, 

and bear heavy costs 

that expose them to rent 

seeking behaviour while 

trying to access basic services 

needed for any Micro, 

Small or Medium Enterprise 

(MSME) to function and to 

thrive. The Buhari administration 

is determined to fix 

precisely that. If Nigeria is 

to become an internationally 

competitive investment 

destination, it has to be first 

be an easier place to do 

business for its domestic enterprises. 

This is our agenda 

– we want to Make Business 

Work in Nigeria! 

The Presidential Enabling 

Business Environment 

Council (PEBEC) was 

established by His Excellency, 

the President in July 

2016, with a mandate to 

sustainably and progressively 

make Nigeria an easier 

place to do business. 

The PEBEC, is chaired by 

His Excellency, the Vice 

President, with the Hon 

Minister of Industry, Trade 

& Investment as Vice Chair. 

Its other members include 

ten ministers, the Head 

of the Civil Service of the 

Federation, Governor of the 

Central Bank, as well as representatives 

of the National 

Assembly, Lagos and Kano 

States and the private sector. 

The Enabling Business 

Environment Secretariat 

(EBES) supports the PEBEC 

in implementing its reform 

mandate. 

On February 21, 2016, 

PEBEC approved a 60-Day 

National Action Plan on 

the Ease of Doing Business 

with clear deliverables 

and timelines for the 

Ministries, Departments 

and Agencies (MDAs) responsible 

for implementing 

each line item in the 

Plan. The goal of the NAP 

60 was to make it easier for 

MSMEs to do business in 

Nigeria. For us, developing 

a national plan along 

the lines of 7 out of the 

10 indicators measured 

by Doing Business in addition 

to 1 home-grown 

one was a good starting 

point on our journey to 

make Nigeria’s environment 

more transparent, 

faster, more affordable 

and convenient. In fewer 

words - more competitive. 

Surely enough, we 

started seeing results of 

our work and we were 

proud to note the following 

achievements: 

- Business registration 

can now be done online, 

and completed within 24 

hours; 

- Time to obtain a construction 

permit has been 

halved from 42 to 20 days; 

- Fewer days – 44 instead 

of 145 – are now required 

for a new electricity 

connection; 

- Property transfer is 

now twice as fast as it used 

to be – 30 days instead 

of 77; 

- MSMEs have better 

access to credit, thanks to 

the collateral registry and 

stronger credit reports; 

- E-filing and e-payment 

are broadening the 

tax base; 

- Export/import procedures 

are now taking 50% 

less time then before; and 

- Visa-on-arrival can 

now be processed within 

48 hours. 

The encouraging results 

in the latest edition 

of the Doing Business 

Report, which are based 

on the testimonies of the 

private sector operating 

in Lagos and Kano, reflect 

all this hard work. Yet, 

a lot still remains to be 

done to bring our business 

environment at par 

with global best practice, 

and this continues in our 

ongoing second 60-day 

national action plan (NAP 

2.0) which commenced 

on October 3 and ends 

on December 1, 2017. 

Building on the positive 

news, we are doubling our 

efforts to keep our reform 

momentum high and improve 

indicator by indicator, 

year after year. This is 

a herculean task, but it is 

not an insurmountable 

one. Several countries in 

Sub Saharan Africa are 

succeeding in reforming 

to make their business 

environments more attractive. 

Mauritius is 25th globally 

in the ease of doing 

business measurement, 

better than France, Japan, 

Italy or Belgium. Rwanda 

is 41st on this index, while 

Kenya is 80th, Botswana 

81st, South Africa 82nd 

and Zambia 85th. If these 

countries can do it, Nigeria 

can surely do much more! 

There is no magic 

formula to successfully 

reform any economy. 

Strong reforming countries 

display recurring traits. 

There is leadership and 

championing of reforms 

from the highest levels 

of government. There is 

also constant dialogue 

with private sector – the 

beneficiary of reforms – to 

ensure reforms carried out 

are actually implemented 

on the ground. Then reform 

communication and 

outreach are key to ensure 

private sector knows about 

the reforms carried out, 

understands how they can 

benefit from them and actually 

supports the implementation, 

not undermine 

the reforms. 

This is best practice 

anywhere, and is what 

produced the results we 

received last week as we 

applied it in our Nigerian 

context. Importantly, for 

the first time, coordinated 

efforts are underway to 

make it easier to do business 

in Nigeria. Through 

systemic changes, we are 

repositioning regulators 

as facilitators of business, 

and are steadily improving 

transparency and efficiency 

of service delivery 

by the public sector. 

The PEBEC gives strong 

political leadership to a 

highly collaborative reform 

exercise cutting 

across different levels of 

government. Within the 

federal government over 

40 MDAs worked together 

to deliver this quantum 

leap, not to mention our 

highly successful partnership 

with the National 

Assembly, and with Lagos 

and Kano State Governments. 

Furthermore, the 

supportive role played 

by the private sector and 

other stakeholders cannot 

be quantified. This experiment 

has definitely taught 

us that everyone pulling in 

the same direction to Make 

Business Work in Nigeria 

clearly pays off! 

In spite of the economic 

headwinds that we are now 

emerging from, Nigeria’s 

story still remains a remarkable 

one. Inflows from 

all the investment types 

grew in the second quarter 

of 2017, with the biggest 

growth from portfolio investors. 

Second quarter inflows 

of $1.8bn almost double 

$908m imported in the 

first quarter. Investor interest 

remains strong, with 

announced investments of 

$22.42bn from January to 

August 2017, in 41 projects 

across 22 states. As noted 

in the Economic Recovery 

and Growth Plan (ERGP), 

sustainably reforming our 

business environment to 

make it more conducive is 

a safe building block to enable 

competitiveness and 

to reinforce Nigeria’s status 

as a preferred investment 

destination. 

We’re not there yet. 

It’s a marathon and not a 

sprint, but we are clearly 

moving in the right direction 

of making Nigeria a 

progressively easier place 

in which to do business. I 

am confident that the best 

is certainly yet to come, 

but even as we journey 

together, please allow me 

pause to say - Congratulations 

Nigeria!!! 

Dr. Jumoke Oduwole is 

Senior Special Assistant to 

the President on Industry, 

Trade, and Investment in 

the Office of the Vice President 

and secretary to the 

Presidential Enabling Business 

Environment Council 

(PEBEC). She writes from


C002D5556 


NEWS 

Banks shun real estate as lending rates... 


the high percentage of nonperforming 

loans (NPLs) within 

the banking system that have 

left the banks with considerable 

quantities of property that were 

used as collateral to secure a lot 

of the historical borrowing that 

took place prior to the recession,” 

Okoye said. 

Okoye says banks are now seeking 

to off-load these distressed 

assets which will worsen the situation 

in a market struggling with 

falling prices and rising number 

of empty properties. 

In the commercial office space 

market, the new prime Ikoyi and 

Victoria Island space commands 

rent as high as $750 p sqm, but 

rents for Class B space formerly 

classified as A space have fallen 

from a high of up to $900 per 

square metres a couple of years 

ago to as low of $450 p sqm in order 

Rail freight traffic down 49% in... 


C&I Leasing, Fidson, May & Baker lead NSE... 


ies Plc achieved 144.3 percent 

gain ytd to N45.2; while Dangote 

Sugar Refinery Plc recorded 151.2 

percent growth to N15.30. 

As at September 30, analysis 

of transactions on the Nigerian 

bourse shows a record high of 

N1.65 trillion with foreign investors 

accounting for N783.34 billion 

or 47.4 percent. 

While the market rallies Pension 

fund administrators (PFAs) 

in the country are largely underweight 

in exposure following the 

allocation of just 8.7 percent of 

their assets to listed stocks at the 

end of September. 

A new National Pension Commission 

(PenCom) regulation prescribing 

a new multi-fund structure 

to remain competitive, representing 

about 50 percent drop in rental 

values. 

David Mbah, Sales Consultant 

at Fine and Country, recalls that 

“in 2015, the asking rent at the big 

shopping malls was between $900 

and $1,200 per square metre; in 

2016, it dropped to between $700 

and $800 per square metre; now, 

it is as low as $600-$750 per square 

metre,” predicting that this may go 

down further as more spaces may 

be coming to the market in the 

short term. 

The retail sector is not spared 

as asking rents have also dropped 

significantly. 

Besides the big malls which 

have seen upwards of 40 percent 

vacancy rates, Apapa Mall, Circle 

Mall and Silverbird Mall have also 

taken a hit with vacancy rates at 35 

percent, 27 percent and 31 percent 

respectively. 

But The Palms has continued 

corresponding period, the actual 

freight traffic dropped by 33.25 percent 

from 24,209 in Q2, 2016. 

Ayodeji Ebo, managing director, 

Afrinvest Securities limited, attributed 

this to the volatility of foreign 

exchange experience during the 

period before the introduction 

of exporter and investors forex 

window. 

He told BusinessDay by phone 

that although there has been an 

improvement in FX availability, 

it may not translate to immediate 

resolution of business. 

The NBS report revealed that 

Fertiliser led the freight traffic as 

the volume stood at 7,059 tons in 

second quarter 2017, an increase of 

179.78 percent compared to 2,523 

tons in the corresponding period of 

2016. It increased by 96.08 percent 

from 3,600 in the preceding period 

(Q1 2017). 

This was followed by cement as 

actual ton freight traffic for cement 

stood at 5,400 in second quarter of 

2017 from 5,320 tons in first quarter 

of 2017. There was no figure for 

corresponding period of 2016. In 

actual trip freight traffic, cement 

led by 8 trips in second quarter of 

2017 from 7 trips in the preceding 

period. 

Johnson Chukwu, managing 

director/CEO, Cowry Asset Management 

limited told BusinessDay 

by phone that Nigeria still has a 

grossly inefficient rail system, adding 

that the only reliable corridor is 

the Abuja – Kaduna gate. 

Chukwu said for the country 

to reduce cost of business and 

improve competiveness it needs 

multi-modal transport system. He 

said the government should consider 

public private partnership 

and identify commercially viable 

corridor as option to improve the 

transport system. 

The number of passengers who 

travelled via the rail system stood at 

L-R: Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, Nigerian franchise public affairs and communications manager, Coca-Cola Nigeria; Kola 

Garuba, executive director, sales and marketing, BusinessDay; Clem Ugorji, public affairs and communications director, 

West Africa business unit, Coca-Cola Nigeria; Adeola Ajewole, advert manager, BusinessDay; Oghenevwoke Ighure, 

executive director, digital services, BusinessDay, and Linda Okondo, communications manager, business unit Coca-Cola 

West Africa, during BusinessDay team visit to the company’s head office in Lagos. 

Pic by Pius Okeosisi 

for Retirement Savings Account that 

encourages greater equity exposure 

allows a maximum of 30 percent 

exposure to equities for Fund I, up 

from a 25 percent cap under the old 

structure. 

Pension Funds had gross assets 

of N7.16 trillion as at September 

2017. In 2007, when equity prices 

were rising rapidly, about 30 percent 

of pension fund assets were 

in equities. 

The fall in equity markets in late 

2008 and into 2009 caused a rotation 

from stocks to bonds as PFAs 

became extremely risk averse. 

“Unlike pension fund managers 

in other emerging markets, 

Nigerian PFAs’ allocation to equities 

remains very shy at less than 

10 percent which suggests that 

pension assets may have missed 

596,792 in second quarter of 2017. 

This show a 22.30 decrease compared 

to 768,093 in first quarter, 

according to data from the NBS. 

When compared with the corresponding 

period of second quarter 

2016, it dropped by 19.66 percent 

from 742,826 (Q2 2016) passengers. 

The Lagos Mass Transit Train 

service from Iddo/Apapa to Ijoko 

recorded the highest number 

with 427,760 passengers while the 

Minna to Kaduna Train Service 

recorded the least with 573 passengers. 

Similarly, a total of 1,866 trips 

the 37 percent year to date rally in 

the equities market. Tier-1 bank 

stocks like UBA, Zenith and GTB 

have seen stronger growth in price 

appreciation. The shy allocation 

to equities perhaps explains why 

the average return on pension 

assets has been in early teens of 

14 percent despite the sterling 

performance of the market and 

relatively high yield environment,” 

said Abiola Rasaq, head investor 

relations, the United Bank for 

Africa (UBA). 

In the third-quarter (Q3) to 

September 30, 2017, the Nigerian 

Stock Exchange (NSE) achieved 

about 130.33 percent increase 

in average daily value of stocks 

traded on its platform. 

This was valued at N5.72billion 

($18.71) million compared to 

N2.48 billion in the corresponding 

period of 2016, according to the 

its 0 percent vacancy streak with a 

client-friendly pricing. It has also 

welcomed global clothiers, Tommy 

Hilfiger, which has given shoppers 

more variety. 

Okoye noted that demand for 

prime land did not change in the 

third quarter of the year, pointing 

out that prices have remained 

stable over the last year, showing a 

growth rate of only one per cent in 

both Naira and USD terms. 

At the moment, prime land 

average sales prices in Eko Atlantic 

City is N524,000 / $1,700 per square 

metre, Banana Island, N385,000 / 

$1,261 per square metre, Victoria 

Island, N380,000 / $1,250 per 

square metre, Ikoyi, N369,000 

/ $1,210 per square metre, Lekki 

Phase 1, N195,000/ $640 per 

square metre, and Oniru, N168,000 

/ $550 per square metre. 

Eko Atlantic remains the most 

expensive of the locations with a 

37 per cent premium above neighbouring 

Victoria Island. 

“Many properties remain unoccupied 

and vacancy factor has 

gone up 4.7 percent to 174 in 

the third quarter of this year, up 

from 172 in Q2’17,”said Bismarck 

Rewane, CEO, Financial Derivatives 

Company in his monthly 

economic review. 

Vacancy factor index (VFIX) is 

an indicator of the state of the real 

estate markets in the upper class 

neighbourhoods such as Lekki, 

Victoria Island and Ikoyi in Lagos 

which are close to the central business 

districts (CBD) or downtown 

areas of the metropolis. VFIX is 

used to show the rate of increase 

in the number of vacant properties 

based on the housing stock in 

a given area. 

Though Rewane expects demand 

for prime properties to pick 

up as inflation gradually declines, 

and also expects a significant 

turnaround in the market at the 

end of the first quarter of 2018, 

the developers still have the challenge 

of declining lending to the 

construction and real estate sector. 

were embarked on via the rail 

system in Q2 2017 as against 1,755 

trips recorded in Q1 2017 and 1,588 

in Q2 2016 respectively. The Lagos 

Mass Transit Train service from 

Iddo/Apapa to Ijoko recorded the 

highest number with 1,002 trips 

while the Port Harcourt to Kano 

Train Service recorded the least 

with 2 trips. 

Rail transportation actual passenger 

from Kaduna (Rigasa) to 

Abuja (Idu) Train Service was 

76,820 in second quarter of 2017, 

reflecting a decline from 86,966 in 

first quarter 2017. 

NSE Q3 fact sheet. In the 52-week 

period to September 2017, the 

average daily transactions at 3,999 

rose by 13.43percent against 3,525 

in Q3’16. 

Gains in the equity market 

saw the NSE All Share Index (ASI) 

reach a three-year high, while 

the total market capitalisation 

climbed to N19.62 trillion ($64.16 

billion), representing an 18.73 percent 

increase from N16.52 trillion 

($54.04 billion) in Q3 2016. 

The equities market witnessed 

increased inflows as investors 

took position in value stocks 

ahead of the third-quarter (Q3) 

earnings releases as well as end 

of the month rebalancing of portfolios 

by fund managers. 

Third-quarter earnings season 

brought some strong results from 

leading banks and non-banks. 

Also, United Capital analysts 

Saudi turmoil drives... 


US dollar at the newly created Investors’ 

and Exporters’ window 

on Monday, while it continue to 

tared tightly at N306 per dollar 

at the CBN window. 

The country’s external reserves 

currently sit at a twoyear 

high of $33 billion, according 

to CBN data. 

At a Nov. 30 gathering, Saudi 

Arabia, Iraq and other major 

suppliers are expected to make 

the case for extending the limits 

beyond their March expiration. 

The purge in Saudi Arabia 

(under the guise of an anticorruption 

push) eliminated 

potential rivals to Crown Prince 

Mohammed bin Salman and 

included a member of the royal 

council overseeing state oil 

producer Saudi Aramco and 

one of its directors. 

The arrests of princes, government 

ministers and billionaires 

may cast a shadow 

over the Nov. 30 OPEC meeting, 

analysts say. 

Meanwhile, the minister 

for Nigeria’s oil-producing 

Delta region said on Monday 

the government was ready to 

meet militants days after they 

called off a year-long ceasefire 

on Friday. 

Usani Uguru Usani asked the 

Niger Delta Avengers to be patient 

and said the government 

was pushing through development 

schemes in the southern 

territory where rights groups 

have long complained about 

poverty and pollution. 

Nigeria pumped some 1.861 

million barrels of crude oil per 

day in August, according to 

most recent data from OPEC, as 

production recovers from militant 

attacks last year. That’s 8 

percent higher than it pumped 

in July and 20 percent higher 

than the 1.557 million barrels 

daily pumped in 2016. 

“I wouldn’t expect a change 

of strategy for Saudi Arabia” in 

terms of production and OPEC 

policy, Rupert Harrison, chief 

macro strategist at BlackRock 

International Ltd., said in a 

Bloomberg television interview 

monitored by Businessday. 

“But clearly the risk is always 

from disruption, and that’s the 

uncertainty that hangs over this 

and is always very hard to call.” 

expect the equity market to stay 

upbeat “as economic fundamentals 

continue to improve on the 

backdrop of the recent oil rally.” 

While the equity market is 

poised to sustain the recent rally, 

analysts have called for a better 

understanding of the investment 

environment so that pension contributors 

could get more value on 

their savings. 

“Even as PFAs’ conservative appetite 

which is aimed at preserving 

value for contributors is appreciated, 

return on assets may become a 

major benchmark for competition 

as contributors seek real positive 

return on their pension savings to 

accommodate the inflationary environment. 

And should the transfer 

window eventually happen, pressure 

may mount on PFAs to deliver 

competitive return on investment,” 

Rasaq added.


Obaseki projects 

N250m monthly 

revenue for Oredo LGA 

The Governor of Edo 

State, Mr Godwin 

Obaseki, has said the 

improved method of 

revenue collection initiated by 

his administration will ensure 

Oredo Local Government 

Council generate as much as 

N250 million monthly from 

2018. 

The governor stated this 

on Sunday at Urhokpota Hall, 

during his thank-you-visit 

at Oredo Local Government 

Area, Benin city. 

He noted that, in the last 

one year, revenue generation 

in the council has improved 

from N4 million on a monthly 

to N37 million as at October 

2017. He added that such increase 

would translate to more 

development and opportunities 

for the people of the 

council and the state at large. 

Obaseki commended the 

council for keying into the 

‘Keep Edo Clean Project’, noting 

that Oredo is the heart of 

the state and would be supported 

to attract more investments. 

He urged the council to 

be receptive to change, which 

has become necessary, given 

the current economic situation 

in the country. 

He noted that the reconstruction 

of Benin Science 

and Technical College, will 

be ready by May 2018, and 

explained that several ongoing 

projects in Benin City will impact 

on the council positively. 

Earlier in his opening remarks, 

the All Progressives 

Congress (APC) Chairman 

in Oredo, Godwin Alabi, 

welcomed the governor and 

thanked him for his several 

transformational programmes, 

which impact are 

being felt within the city. 

Also present at the event 

were the Deputy Governor, Rt. 

Hon. Philip Shaibu, Secretary 

to Edo State Government, 

Osarodion Ogie Esq., Edo State 

APC Chairman, Mr Anselm 

Ojezua, Special Adviser to 

the Governor on Political and 

Community Matters, Chief 

Osaro Idah, party leaders, 

among others. 

A 

British national, 

Ian Squire, 57, has 

been pronounced 

dead by the British 

Foreign Office, 

three weeks after he was kidnapped 

at Enekorogha town 

in Delta State with three other 

British nationals, who have now 

returned home safely. 

This is coming barely 72 

hours after Militant group 

the Niger Delta Avengers announced 

it is to resume hostility 

on oil installations in the region. 

Squire an Optician had previously 

visited Nigeria three 

times to carry out work for 

his self-founded charity; Mission 

for Vision was abducted 

alongside David and Shirley 

Donovan and Alanna Carson 

from their homes in the early 

hours of October 13. 

Squire was reportedly in 

Delta to support the David and 

Shirley Donovan foundation, 

to train, support and pay community 

healthcare workers “in 

regions of extreme need and 

lack of infrastructure,” with a 

focus on the Niger Delta. 

A British Foreign Office 

spokesman in the statement 

said Squire had been travelling 

to Nigeria since 2013, when he 

joined forces with the Donovan’s’ 

New Foundations, a 

Christian health charity where 

they set up an eye clinic, with 

facilities for sight testing, dispensing 

and spectacle glazing. 

“This has clearly been a 

traumatic time for all concerned, 

and our staff will continue 

to do all we can to support 

the families. We are grateful to 

the Nigerian authorities, and 

are unable to comment given 

the ongoing nature of their 

investigations,” said the British 

office Spokesman who was 

not named. A check at the UK 

Charity Commission website, 

describe the charity squire 

is supporting as evangelical. 

“All the work of the charity 

is to declare the love of God, 

Jesus Christ without prejudice, 

NiMet, IFAD seal pact on climate change 

adaptation to boost food production 

The Nigerian Meteorological 

Agency, 

NiMet, has signed 

a Memorandum of 

Understanding with the International 

Fund for Agricultural 

Development on 

Climate Change Adaptation 

and Agri-Business Support 

Programme, IFAD-CASP. 

A statement by Muntari 

Ibrahim, General Manager, 

Public Relations Unit, on 

Monday in Abuja, said the 

MoU had a renewable life 

span of four years. 

The statement noted that 

Prof. Sani Mashi, Director- 

General, NiMet, said the MoU 

was aimed at improving yields, 

mitigating the vagaries associated 

with climate change, and 

DAVID IBEMERE 

reducing the risk of crop failure. 

“The key components of 

the MoU include prediction of 

rainfall establishment, rainfall 

variability, dry spells and length 

of raining season for sustainable 

agriculture 

“Another component, is 

the installation of NiMet 

applications to CASP smart 

phones for real-time climate 

and weather information in 

the designated programme 

areas,’’ the statement said. 

Mashi added that the 

MoU would also cover the 

development of crop calendars 

in line with the value 

chain crops adopted by the 

selected communities. 

“It also included training 

of Extension Workers, Cli- 

C002D5556 

Babatunde Fashola, minister of Power, Works & Housing, (right) being presented copies of the Eligible Customers 

Regulations 2017 from Sanusi Garba, vice chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (left) during a brief 

presentation event at the Ministry of Power, Works & Housing Headquarters, Abuja yesterday. 

British charity worker dies in 

Nigeria’s restive oil region 

mate Change Officers and 

Community development associations 

in the analysis and 

interpretation of the Seasonal 

Rainfall Prediction (SRP) in 

selected CASP states. 

“The programmes of IFAD 

are in tandem with NiMet’s 

core mandate, which are 

geared toward poverty reduction, 

increase in food security 

and accelerated economic 

growth on a sustainable basis,” 

Mashi said. 

Mashi said that the collaboration 

was designed to improve 

crop yields and farming 

systems through adaptation to 

climate change in core northern 

savannah states adjudged 

to be most vulnerable to the 

effects of climate change. 

treatment and ministering to 

all without precondition or 

discrimination.” 

Among the achievements 

noted in the 2016 filing in the 

website was the setting up of 

an eye clinic in Enekorogha, the 

town where the three Britons 

were abducted. 

The filing said: “Training 

continued with three workers 

and Mission for Vision CEO Ian 

Squire again visited with a team 

to begin trial for a bespoke lens 

grinder and upscale the refractive 

and lens-making skills of 

the small eye team.” 

A statement, released by the 

David and Shirley family who 

survived the abduction said 

that they are grateful for the 

support received by the British 

high commission and help 

from the Nigerian authorities in 

negotiating their release. 

“We are delighted and relieved 

that we have returned 

home safely. Our thoughts are 

now with the family and friends 

of Ian as we come to terms with 

his sad death.” 

The Governor of Edo 

State, Mr. Godwin 

Obaseki, has assured 

the old students of the 

state’s premier secondary school, 

Edo College Benin City, that 

their alma-mater will be re-built. 

Obaseki gave the assurance on 

Monday when members of Edo 

College Old Boys Association 

(ECOBA) led by their president 

worldwide, Dr. Reuben Osahon, 

paid him a courtesy visit at Government 

House, Benin City, the 

Edo State capital. 

He assured that his administration 

would play its part 

as proprietor of the school, by 

reviewing its masterplan to 

determine the infrastructural 

requirement of the school. 

The governor acknowledged 

the impact the school 

has made on the lives of Edo 

Singapore ranked 

world’s priciest city for 

4th consecutive year 

Singapore has been 

ranked the most expensive 

city in the world for 

expatriates for the fourth 

consecutive year, according to 

a report published on Monday 

by the Economic Intelligence 

Unit (EIU). 

The Worldwide Cost of Living 

2017 report saw Asian cities 

take five of the top 10 spots, 

thanks to a sustained recovery in 

the strength of the Japanese yen 

that propelled Tokyo and Osaka 

back into the top 10, alongside 

Singapore and Seoul. 

Western Europe accounted 

for a further four cities, with 

stalwarts Zurich and Geneva 

in third and seventh position 

respectively. Paris, the only 

Eurozone city, came in eighth 

position and the Danish capital 

Copenhagen, which pegs its 

currency to the Euro, rounded 

off the top ten. New York was the 

lone North American representative, 

falling to ninth position 

owing to a slight weakening 

of the U.S. dollar, which also 

affected the position of other 

US cities. 

BUSINESS DAY 

35 

NEWS 

Ethiopian airlines 

brings B787-9 to 

Nigeria, increases 

flight to Libreville 

Rural mobile connectivity 

made profitable 

for operators. 

With 100 percent 

coverage in urban areas 

across the continent, competition 

to retain and grow 

user bases is fierce for mobile 

operators. At the same 

time however, more than 50 

percent of the continent´s 

population remains unconnected, 

because they live in 

rural areas that lack access 

to voice, internet and digital 

services that include mobile 

finance, eEducation, eGovernment 

and eAgriculture. 

For mobile operators that 

are exploring rural rollout 

strategies, the cost constraints 

are currently quite 

inhibitive. It is estimated 

that the average cost per 

rural site is upwards of $100 

000 in capital expenditure 

and an estimated $9 000 

operational expenditure per 

year. This, coupled with low 

population density, (2000 

to 5000 people per site) and 

lower than ARPUs, results in 

longer return on investment 

(ROI) cycles that extend to 10 

years (and beyond). 

Huawei’s RuralStar solution 

leverages cutting edge 

technology innovation by 

removing the requirement 

for 30 - 60 metre towers with 

12 - 18 metre iron poles. 

These are not only easier to 

transport, but reduce passive 

infrastructure cost by 

approximately 80 percent. 

In addition, instead of using 

microwave transmission 

(as you would in a traditional 

deployment); Relay, which 

uses LTE spectrum, is utilising 

non-line of sight (LOS), 

which saves on expensive 

satellite costs and lowers 

tower height requirements. 

And finally, as half of total 

cost site spends on equipment 

power consumption 

due to lack of reliable power 

grid forcing to use diesel, the 

solution makes use of solar 

power to reduce OPEX to 

almost zero. 

Edo Govt to rebuild college, reclaim land 

people and hailed various 

stakeholders that have contributed 

to its growth, as it celebrates 

80 years of existence. 

To address the challenges 

facing the school, he said that 

officials of the state ministries of 

education, physical planning and 

urban development, would work 

with other stakeholders to review 

the design and master plan of the 

school and refresh it. On the encroachment 

on the college land, 

Obaseki said the survey plan of the 

school need to be re-established 

as encroachers will have themselves 

to blame as all the school’s 

land will be re-claimed. 

“Government paid compensation 

on that land when it was 

acquired years ago, no community 

or individual has the right 

to violate government interest 

in that land. We are going to reclaim 

the land belonging to Edo 

College and it will be fenced,” he 

stressed. He urged the old students 

to assist the government 

in the area of human resources 

and curriculum development 

for the school. Earlier, ECOBA 

president worldwide, Dr. Reuben 

Osahon, commended the 

governor for his achievements 

in less than a year, his leadership 

style and creativity in dealing 

with different problems confronting 

the state. 

He informed the governor 

that their visit was to intimate 

him of plans to celebrate 80 

years of the school’s existence, 

saying: “The College is the product 

of the vision of Oba Eweka II, 

although it was followed up by 

Oba Akenzua II during whose 

reign it was established on 1st 

of February 1937.


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Ethiopian Airlines brings B787-9 to 

Nigeria, increases flight to Libreville 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

Ethiopian Airlines, 

has disclosed plans 

to bring its newest 

plane tagged the Big 

Brother to Abuja on Tuesday. 

The airline said the B787- 

9 is part of its commitment to 

deliver exceptional level of 

service to the African market 

by operating the latest technologically 

advanced aircraft 

in the market. 

The airline said it has always 

services Abuja with its 

newest Aircraft. It brought 

the Dreamliner B787 to 

Abuja in 2012 and Reopened 

the Abuja Airport this year 

with the A350 when the 

Airport was reopened after 

6 weeks closure. 

Ethiopian Airlines has 

been operating into Nigeria 

since 1960 and currently 

flies to 5 cities in Nigeria. It 

was the only international 

Airline that flew to Kaduna 

Airport when Abuja Airport 

was shut down for repairs. 

Ethiopian becomes the 

first carrier in Africa to operate 

the 787-9 and extends 

a tradition of setting aviation 

milestones. Ethiopian 

became Africa’s first carrier 

to fly the 787-8 in 2012, and 

similarly introduced the 

777-200LR (Longer Range), 

777-300ER (Extended 

Range) and 777 Freighter. 

The 787 Dreamliner is 

the most innovative and 

efficient airplane family flying 

today. Since 2011, more 

than 600 Dreamliners have 

entered commercial services, 

flying almost 200 million 

people on more than 

560 unique routes around 

the world, saving an estimated 

19 billion pounds 

of fuel. This comes as ET 

announced that it will add 

a 6th weekly service to and 

from Yaoundé & Libreville 

effective November 3, 2017. 

Bi-Courtney seeks approval to 

commence regional flight operations 

…says terminal is utilising only 50 per cent of its capacity 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

Bi- Courtney Aviation 

Services 

Limited (BASL) 

on Monday challenged 

the Nigerian 

Civil Aviation Authority 

( NCAA) to restore its approval 

for commencement 

of regional flights from the 

Murtala Muhammed Airport 

Terminal Two ( MMA2). 

The terminal operator explained 

that the NCAA had 

approved it twice to commence 

regional flight operations, 

but wondered why 

the same regulatory agency 

cancelled the approval. 

Speaking at the terminal 

during the tour of the facilities, 

Jari Williams, the Chief 

Executive Officer (CEO), 

BASL, emphasised that the 

organisation had expended 

several millions of naira 

to acquire state-of-the-art 

facilities in preparation of regional 

flight operations, but 

decried that the inconsistency 

in government policy 

despite the approval had 

prevented it from using the 

facilities. 

On the recommendation 

of the International 

Civil Aviation Organisation 

(ICAO) that prevented local 

and international passengers 

from mixing in the same 

terminal, Williams said that 

several countries around the 

world had improved on the 

recommendation and today 

operate both flights from 

same terminal. 

He specifically mentioned 

Nnamdi Azikiwe 

Airport and Port Harcourt 

Airports in Abuja and Port 

Harcourt respectively as 

two of the airports local and 

international passengers are 

processed from the same 

terminal. 

Apart from this, he also 

mentioned Heathrow Airport 

in London, Kotoka International 

Airport, Accra, 

Ghana and Benin Republic 

Airport as some of the 

countries where local and 

international passengers 

are still processed from the 

same terminal, stressing 

that Nigeria could not be an 

exception. 

FUNAI student wins Vision Africa Icon award 

Theodore A Orji, The 

Senator representing 

Abia Central at upper 

Legislative Chamber 

of the National Assembly, has 

promised a special tertiary 

scholarship to a 300-level music 

student Christian Okechukwu 

C. of Federal University Ndufe 

Alike, Ikwo, Ebonyi Ebonyi 

State, who won the 2017 edition 

of Vision Africa Icon Award. 

Speaking during the Radio 

Icons and Personality Award 

which took place at the Michael 

Okpara auditorium, 

Umuahia, Governor Okezie 

Ikpeazu who was represented 

by his Deputy, Ude Oko 

Chukwu, promised that the 

Abia State government would 

partner more with Vision 

Africa Radio station on talent 

development. 

The governor commended 

the station for doing well in its 

corporate social responsibility 

and also thanked Bishop Sunday 

Onuoha, the President of 

Vision Africa for his idea to organize 

the music competition. 

He said the station had 

done well in the moral upbringing 

and the gospel of 

God, adding that it had equally 

gone a long way to changing 

the lives of many in Abia. 

The governor appreciated 

all the awardees and urged 

them not to depart from the 

efforts that earned them the 

award. 


Infrastructure upgrade in Lagos threatened by rising tax default cases 

JOSHUA BASSEY 

The Lagos government 

said on 

Monday that its 

infrastructure 

upgrade drive 

could be threatened by 

inadequate funding arising 

from growing cases of tax 

default by taxation persons 

and business organisations. 

The state governor, 

Akinwunmi Ambode had 

recently decried that only 

600,000 Lagosians were up 

to date in tax payment. 

The population of Lagos 

is estimated at 21 million 

out of which about 10 million 

are said to be taxable. 

The state in the last one 

decade has relied more 

on Internally Generated 

Revenue (IGR) and loans 

to fund its annual budgets 

unlike most of the other 

36 states which depend 

…as stats orders full enforcement against defaulters 

on allocations from the 

federation account. Lagos 

currently earns about N300 

billion annually from IGR, 

making it the richest state 

in the country. 

Meanwhile, the state 

government has directed 

its relevant agencies to 

immediately commence 

comprehensive enforcement 

against tax defaulters 

in the state. 

Steve Ayorinde, the 

commissioner for information 

and strategy, in a statement 

made available to the 

media on Monday, decried 

the unwillingness of taxable 

persons and organisations 

to fulfill their civic 

obligations to the state, 

saying the situation, if not 

checked, would adversely 

affect the infrastructural 

renewal drive of the state 

government. 

Ayorinde said that government 

has therefore concluded 

plans to go all out to 

enforce the tax laws so as to 

bring more people into the 

tax net. 

Ayorinde said government 

remained committed 

to completing all ongoing 

projects on schedule, but 

that it was largely dependent 

on prompt payment of taxes 

by residents in the State. 

He listed some of the 

major ongoing projects to include 

the Oshodi Transport 

Interchange, reconstruction 

of the Oshodi International 

Airport Road, network of 

roads in Epe to link Ijebu 

Ode, construction of Bus 

Rapid Transit (BRT) Lane 

from Abule Egba to Oshodi 

as well as the construction 

of the Pen Cinema flyover. 

L-R: Michel 

Puchercos, 

GMD/CEO, 

Lafarge 

Africa Plc; 

Mobolaji 

Balogun, 

chairman; 

Edith Onwuchekwa, 

acting company 

secretary, 

and 

Adebode 

Adefioye, 

director, at 

the Lafarge 

Africa extra 

ordinary 

general 

meeting in 

Lagos, yesterday. 

Pic by Olawale 

Amoo 

He said the government 

has also commenced the construction 

of over 20 network of 

roads within the boundaries 

of Lagos and Ogun States to 

ease movement and enhance 

business activities between 

the two states. 

Ayorinde listed the 20 

roads to include Ikola Road 

with Odo Obasanjo Bridge 

– 6.4km (from Ipaja/Command 

to Ilo River); Ogunseye 

Road – 1.75km (from Ajasa/ 

Command to Ikola Road); 

Oko Filling Road – 1.5km 

(from AIT to Ilo River); Osenatu 

Ilo road – 620m (from 

Ibari Road to Ilo River); Amikanle 

road – 3.1km (from AIT 

to Ogunseye Road); Aina Aladi 

road – 1.9km (from AIT to 

Ilo River) and Aiyetoro Road 

with a bridge– 1.4km (from 

New Market/Ishefun Road 

intersection to Ilo River). 

Party supporters demand ‘stomach infrastructure’ from Obaseki 

IDRIS MOMOH, Benin 

As Edo State Governor, 

Godwin 

Obaseki concluded 

his “thank you” visit 

to all the 18 local government 

areas 11 months after the September 

28, 2016 governorship 

election in the state, members 

of the All Progressives Congress 

(APC) in the state, have 

called on the governor to fulfill 

his “stomach infrastructure” 

promises. 

Godwin Alabi, the Oredo 

local government area chairman 

of the party, made the 

call in his welcome address 

on Sunday during the “thank 

you” visit by the governor 

to the local government at 

Urhokpota hall in Benin-City. 

“I want to thank the Governor 

for all that he has been doing 

in the state. But one thing 

i will not forget to talk about 

is stomach infrastructure for 

members. This is part of your 

electioneering promises to the 

members of the party in the 

state. I know with your able 

lieutenants and advisers that 

will be a thing of the past.


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FT FINANCIAL TIMES 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

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World Business Newspaper 

Eight important days 

for world trade 

Federal Reserve gains 

a plumber-in-chief 

with Jay Powell 

Central bank chair nominee’s knowledge on 

structure of markets will probably be tested 

JOE RENNISON AND ROBIN 

WIGGLESWORTH 

On the eve of his official 

nomination as the next 

chair of the Federal Reserve, 

Jay Powell was 

addressing an industry 

roundtable on the efforts to move the financial 

system away from Libor, the disgraced 

global interest rate benchmark. 

Although the 64-year-old’s remarks 

to the New York Fed were prerecorded, 

his willingness to dive into the minutiae 

of interest rates illustrates how the policymaker 

has embraced the nitty-gritty 

of financial market structure more than 

most since he joined the Fed board in 

2012. 

At some point during his stint at the 

helm of the Fed, Mr Powell will probably 

find the experience and knowledge he 

has accumulated in the plumbing of 

financial markets tested. Under the 

former private equity executive, the Fed 

will face the task of managing a turning 

point in policy as officials shrink a $4.5tn 

balance the US central bank amassed 

fighting the financial crisis and shielding 

the economy from its fallout. 

While Janet Yellen has gingerly begun 

this task, Mr Powell will continue 

the retreat with US corporate bond markets 

trading near record highs and stocks 

reaching new peaks. The big concern 

for investors is that as the Fed — and 

other central banks — retreat from QE, 

changes in how securities are traded, 

namely how capital-constrained banks 

are reluctant to act as market makers 

in bonds and credit, raise the risk of a 

major shock in financial markets. 

“In the environment that we are in 

now, having someone who understands 

the plumbing of financial markets is very 

positive,” says Nathan Sheets, now chief 

economist at PGIM Fixed Income after 

a stint at the Treasury, where he worked 

closely with the central bank official. 

“Governor Powell certainly fits that bill.” 

Mr Powell, who will also have a slew 

The outlook for US monetary 

policy in 2018 has been 

thrown into further uncertainty 

with the early retirement of 

Bill Dudley, the influential president 

of the Federal Reserve Bank of New 

York. 

Mr Dudley was expected to leave 

at the start of 2019, but he will now 

retire in the middle of 2018, the bank 

said on Monday. 

of fresh governors, including a new head 

of the New York Fed after Bill Dudley 

said on Monday that he would be leaving 

next year, has voiced optimism that 

a gradual reduction in the Fed’s holdings 

of Treasuries and mortgage-backed 

securities will be orderly. However, he 

has also warned that the fragility of an 

outdated market structure — yet to fully 

adjust to a new breed of tech-savvy traders 

that have become more prominent in 

the $14tn US government bond market 

— may spell problems. 

“Most of the time in most markets 

liquidity is OK. But it may be more fragile, 

and more prone to disappearing in 

stress situations,” he told the FT last year. 

“There hasn’t been a liquidity-related 

incident that has had a significant effect 

on the real economy. That doesn’t mean 

it won’t happen.” 

As a Fed governor, his interest derives 

from the central bank’s responsibility 

to ensure stability of the financial 

system, where Treasuries are the chief 

source of collateral for many institutions 

and clearing houses which back 

vast amounts of derivatives trading. US 

government debt also plays a key role 

in portfolios for domestic and foreign 

investors. He has voiced support for 

central clearing of “repo” trades that are 

integral to the functioning of the broader 

Treasury market. 

“He has shown a strong interest 

in this part of the market and so we 

are optimistic and confident that will 

continue,” says Paul Hamill, global 

head of fixed income trading at Citadel 

Securities. “We feel strongly that there 

are some sensible things that should be 

implemented.” 

But it is an interest that is also rooted 

in his experiences as an undersecretary 

in the US Treasury in the early 1990s, 

when he sat on a committee probing 

Salomon Brothers after the investment 

bank sought to rig Treasury auctions and 

was fined for infractions of the rules. The 

episode “still gives me nightmares”, Mr 

Powell said last month. 

Bill Dudley’s early retirement 

adds to Fed uncertainty 

Change in NY Fed departure follows Fischer exit 

and Powell nomination at central bank 

SAM FLEMING 

Page A4 

His move follows the announcement 

last week that Jay Powell will 

replace Janet Yellen as the chair of 

the US Federal Reserve’s board of 

governors from February. In October 

Stanley Fischer, the Fed’s vice-chair 

of the board of governors, retired 

early for personal reasons. 

That move means that by the second 

half of next year the three most 

influential positions in US monetary 

policy are likely to be occupied by 

Continues on page A4 

May and Corbyn woo 

business in face of Brexit 

warnings 

Page A5 

Jay Powell, the incoming Fed chair, is known for embracing the nitty-gritty of financial markets © FT montage / Dreamstime / AFP / Bloomberg 

Centre-right fends off Five Star to win Sicily presidency 

Win for Berlusconi-led coalition rings alarm bell for Renzi ahead of general election 

confidence, whereas it was once 

JAMES POLITI to 2016. 

problematic for him to do so. The Although Mr Renzi, who 

Italy’s centre-right led by former centre-right can now say they are stepped down as prime minister 

prime minister Silvio Berlusconi 

has fended off a strong challeft 

which has governed us for endum, was re-elected PD leader 

the real alternative to the centre- 

after losing last December’s referlenge 

from the populist Five Star the past five years,” said Daniele in May, he faces sceptics in the 

Movement to win the presidency Albertazzi, a senior lecturer in party who believe he has become 

of Sicily, ringing alarm bells for European politics at the University too divisive and that his policies 

Matteo Renzi and his centre-left of Birmingham in the UK. 

are too centrist to win the next 

Democratic party (PD) in a poll Mr Berlusconi said in a tweet election. 

seen as the final test ahead of Italy’s on Monday evening: “Sicily has “We are back to asking the same 

next general election. 

chosen the path of true, serious, question: ‘Will Renzi change now?’ 

With more than half the ballots 

counted on Monday, Nello honesty, competence and experi- 

solution, but Renzi keeps going his 

constructive change, based on Everything points to that being the 

Musumeci, the candidate from ence.” 

own way,” Massimo Giannini, a 

the octogenarian former prime Five Star has always considered columnist at La Repubblica, said 

minister’s coalition, was leading Sicily one of its main centres of on Monday. 

Giancarlo Cancelleri, the Five Star support, because of widespread Mr Renzi had been due to debate 

with Luigi Di Maio, Five Star’s 

candidate, by 39.2 per cent to 35 disappointment there with traditional 

politics and backing for its candidate to be prime minister in 

per cent. 

Fabrizio Micari, representing promise to root out corruption and 2018, on television on Tuesday 

Italy’s ruling PD, was a distant third introduce a guaranteed income for night. 

with just 18.8 per cent. 

the poor. 

But Mr Di Maio pulled out 

The poll on the economically But the poll’s outcome for the abruptly on Monday, citing uncertainty 

over his opponent’s leader- 

distressed Mediterranean island party was mixed. It emerged as 

of more than 5m people adds to the strongest single party on the ship. “The PD is politically defunct: 

signs that with the general election island but failed to gain control of we don’t even know if Renzi will be 

due as early as March 2018, Italy’s the regional government, one of its a candidate to be prime minister 

political mood is shifting towards longstanding goals. 

any more for the centre-left,” Mr Di 

the Eurosceptic right. 

However, the biggest soulsearching 

was likely to unfold Mr Renzi, who did not oth- 

Maio wrote in a blog post. 

It also suggests that Five Star 

remains a powerful force but is no within the PD, with Sicily the latest erwise comment on the Sicilian 

longer in the ascendant and that example — after Mr Renzi’s failure result, attacked Mr Di Maio for 

Mr Renzi and the PD could be in last December to win a flagship “running away”. 

trouble. 

constitutional referendum — of “I’m sorry for my kids when I 

Turnout was low, at just under its difficulty in connecting with think that Italians risk being led 

47 per cent, suggesting that many Italian voters. 

by someone who has no courage. 

voters were not enthused by the In June, the centre-right also Who is scared of a challenge. Who 

political offering. 

performed strongly in municipal 

races, including winning the wrote on Facebook. 

invents ridiculous excuses,” he 

The centre-right victory came 

after Mr Berlusconi, Matteo Salvini 

of the Northern League and leftwing stronghold. 

Renzi may be that Mr Berlusconi’s 

mayoralty in Genoa, a traditional The deeper problem for Mr 

Giorgia Meloni of the hard-right The PD’s problems come despite 

some favourable trends PD to find votes among centrist 

return will make it harder for the 

Brothers of Italy, set aside their differences 

and campaigned aggressively 

on behalf of Mr Musumeci accelerating and stronger-thantant 

to reaching a coalition deal 

in recent months, including an Italians, while the left is still resis- 

in the final weeks. 

expected economic recovery and a that would put it in a stronger position 

in the 2018 “Berlusconi can now show drop in migrant arrivals compared 

election.



C002D5556

Wednesday 07 November 2017 


C002D5556 

FT 

Bill Dudley’s early retirement... 

NATIONAL NEWS 

Legal challenge to Kenyatta’s victory prolongs uncertainty in Kenya 

JOHN AGLIONBY 

Continued from page A3 

new officials. Mr Dudley has worked 

closely with Ms Yellen in formulating 

the gradual and relatively 

predictable approach to reducing 

stimulus in recent years, and has 

been integral to strategy for reducing 

the Fed’s $4.5tn balance sheet. 

“It reduces the visibility on the 

policy outlook for the next year,” 

said Michael Feroli, US economist at 

JPMorgan Chase in New York. “The 

board plus the New York Fed could 

get tilted one way or other depending 

on how these things play out.” 

The New York Fed president 

votes at every meeting of the Federal 

Open Market Committee, and 

by tradition is the vice-chair of that 

rate-setting body. The NY Fed is also 

a central player in financial regulation, 

given that it sits at the heart 

of the US and global markets. US 

financial regulation is already facing 

a change of direction with the arrival 

of Randal Quarles as the Fed’s new 

vice-chair for financial supervision. 

The hunt for the next chief of the 

New York Fed has already begun in 

earnest. Among the possible internal 

candidates is Simon Potter, the current 

executive vice-president and 

head of the New York Fed’s markets 

group. In this role he occupies the 

position that Mr Dudley held before 

becoming president. 

Brian Sack, chief economist at 

hedge fund DE Shaw and another 

former head of the markets group 

at the New York Fed, is seen by 

others on Wall Street as a possible 

candidate. 

“The list of candidates for the 

position will likely grow before it 

declines,” said Michael Gapen, 

economist at Barclays. “This will be 

the second most important nomination 

within the Federal Reserve 

system after Powell’s nomination 

for chair last week.” 

The New York Fed said the eligible 

members of its board of directors 

— those without bank affiliations 

— had already begun the process 

for finding Mr Dudley’s successor. 

The co-chairs of the search committee 

are Sara Horowitz, the chair 

of the New York Fed’s board of 

directors and founder of the Freelancers 

Union, and Glenn Hutchins, 

co-founder of North Island and of 

Silver Lake. 

The committee also includes 

David Cote, chairman of Honeywell 

International, and Denise Scott, executive 

vice-president of the Local Initiatives 

Support Corporation. The bank 

said it was using executive search 

firms Spencer Stuart and Bridge Partners 

to work on the process. 

“I have deeply appreciated Bill 

Dudley’s enormous contributions 

to the FOMC, his wise counsel and 

warm friendship throughout the 

years of the financial crisis and 

its aftermath,” said Ms Yellen in a 

statement. 

A 

former MP has filed a petition 

with Kenya’s supreme 

court challenging President 

Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory in last 

month’s repeat presidential election, 

prolonging the political crisis 

in east Africa’s dominant economy. 

Harun Mwau is seeking to have 

Mr Kenyatta’s victory in the October 

26 ballot nullified because he 

claims the electoral commission 

conducted the poll in violation 

of the constitution, particularly 

with regard to the nomination 

process following the voiding of 

the result of the initial poll. 

The repeat election was held 

after the supreme court nullified 

the result of the original vote, 

in August. The judges cited “irregularities” 

and illegalities” in 

the tallying of the results 

Mr Kenyatta won 98 per cent 

of the vote in the repeat election 

after his main challenger, 

veteran opposition leader Raila 

Odinga, withdrew and urged 

his supporters not to vote in 

protest at what he claimed was 

a process rigged in favour of the 

incumbent. 

Donald Trump is greeted by Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, on Sunday © Bloomberg 

If the supreme court accepts 

the case, hearings are expected 

to start around November 13 

and last less than a week. Legal 

analysts expect more petitions 

to be filed before the deadline, 

which is midnight on Monday. 

Mr Odinga has said he will not 

file an appeal and is demanding 

a fresh election overseen by 

a reformed electoral commission 

Eight important days for world trade 

The events of the coming week are likely to have a major influence on global relationships 

SHAWN DONNAN 

This has been a busy year for 

anyone trying to keep up with 

the turmoil in world trade 

and the efforts being waged by everyone 

from Donald Trump to the 

UK government of Theresa May to 

try to rewrite rules and economic 

relationships. 

But brace yourself. The next eight 

days are going to be important, and 

there are three reasons for that. 

1. Trump goes to China 

The first is Mr Trump’s trip to Asia. 

Much of it will be consumed with talk 

of North Korea. There are likely to be 

commercial deals announced and 

plenty of diplomatic niceties But this 

may be where we get the first real 

taste of just what the Trump China 

policy is going to look like, and trade 

is an important component. 

Mr Trump made that clear just 

before he departed last week, again 

singling out the US trade deficit with 

China: 

“We have trade deficits with China 

that are through the roof,” Mr Trump 

told reporters. “They’re so big and 

so bad that it’s embarrassing saying 

what the number is.” 

According to numbers out on 

Friday, the US ran a $274bn goods 

deficit with China in the first nine 

months of this year and that was the 

biggest of all the US bilateral trade 

deficits, making up almost half the 

US’s $596bn trade deficit in goods 

in the same period. 

But while Mr Trump has promised 

to tackle that deficit ever since he 

declared his candidacy for the presidency 

in 2015, the reality is that, after 

10 months in office, just how he really 

plans to do that remains unclear. 

Investigations into US steel and 

aluminium imports have been 

announced, launched and put on 

pause. So has another probe into 

China’s alleged theft of intellectual 

property and practices that force 

multinational companies doing 

business in China to hand over key 

technologies. There have been antidumping 

decisions on imports from 

China of products such as aluminium 

foil. The Commerce Department 

has also affirmed existing US policy 

and decided that China is still a nonmarket 

economy for the purposes of 

its anti-dumping investigations. 

Yet we still don’t really know what 

Mr Trump is going to do with all that. 

He is said to want tariffs. Some 

around him in the White House are 

arguing for a more cautious path. 

But many administration officials 

are declaring their impatience with 

China and what they see as its unwillingness 

to play ball with the new 

players in Washington. 

2. The Trans-Pacific Partnership 

With his decision to pull the US 

out of the TPP Mr Trump ostensibly 

killed what had been the biggest, 

boldest trade deal successfully 

negotiated since the 1990s. Except 

it turns out that he may not have. 

One big event to watch for this 

week is an expected announcement 

on the sidelines of the Apec 

summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, that 

the 11 remaining countries in the 

TPP — led by Japan — are going to 

go ahead. 

Negotiators have been working 

feverishly to iron out a few wrinkles 

in recent days so that leaders of the 

“TPP 11” gathered in Da Nang can 

declare victory. New Zealand’s new 

government doesn’t want to be 

subject to a controversial investorstate 

dispute settlement system. 

Vietnam has been grumbling about 

“yarn forward” textile rules of origin. 

But the countries involved believe 

they are part of a bigger — and important 

— project. And Japan, by all accounts, 

has been leading the charge. 

Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s 

prime minister, declared at the weekend 

that “what was previously impossible 

is now achievable” with regard 

to the TPP, according to The Australian’s 

Paul Kelly. 

The 16 countries in the China-led 

rival to the TPP, the Regional Comprehensive 

Economic Partnership, 

have been working towards their own 

announcement. But the real news 

won’t come until the Association of 

Southeast Asian Nations summit this 

weekend and the East Asia Summit 

that follows. And it may not be the 

victory announcement some had 

hoped. 

Though Beijing is now leading the 

charge, RCEP is an Asean project. It 

began its life as an effort to bring all 

of Asean’s trade agreements with 

countries such as China and India 

under one umbrella. 

The negotiations have been accelerating 

and are nearing their 

end-game, according to people who 

monitor them closely. But there are 

still big differences on a number of 

important issues. 

The most important, according to 

Deborah Elms, executive director of 

the Asian Trade Centre in Singapore, 

is still over questions of market access. 

And the big clue in the coming 

days as to whether RCEP has any 

chance of succeeding will come when 

leaders announce the state of play. 

Anything including a declaration 

that all countries are committed to reducing 

90 per cent of their tariff lines 

to zero should be taken as a sign India 

is willing to play ball, says Ms Elms. 

Anything below that should raise 

questions about whether an RCEP 

with India is possible. And will be a 

big blow to China’s hopes for closing 

its own mega-regional trade deal. 

by the end of January. He has also 

called for a boycott of companies 

involved in the election, like Safaricom, 

the country’s dominant 

mobile phone operator, and businesses 

linked to the Kenyatta 

family. 

Lawyers for Mr Kenyatta said 

before the repeat poll that they 

were expecting a petition and have 

been preparing for it. 

Wilbur Ross fights back over 

links to Russian company 

Commerce secretary holds stake in group with ties 

to company owned by Putin’s son-in-law 

MARK ODELL AND BARNEY JOPSON 

Wilbur Ross, the US commerce 

secretary, insisted 

there was nothing wrong 

with owning a stake in a shipping 

group that does business with a company 

linked to the family of Russian 

president Vladimir Putin. 

The billionaire investor was 

forced on to the defensive after the 

connection was revealed in a leak of 

millions of documents, dubbed the 

Paradise Papers, that were shared 

with the International Consortium 

of Investigative Journalists. 

Mr Ross owns shares through 

several offshore entities in Navigator 

Holdings, a shipping group listed on 

the New York Stock Exchange. The 

documents showed that Navigator’s 

clients include Sibur, a Russian 

gas producer, which is part-owned 

by Kirill Shamalov, son-in-law of 

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president. 

Mr Shamalov is also a director of 

the company. 

After the revelations over the 

weekend, Richard Blumenthal, a 

Democratic senator on the senate 

committee that backed Mr Ross’s 

nomination, accused the commerce 

secretary of “concealing” his interests 

in those companies as well as 

his “ongoing financial relationship 

with Russian oligarchs”. 

Speaking to CNBC on Monday, 

Mr Ross said he had disclosed his 

holdings in Navigator during the 

nomination process and said he 

“had nothing to do with the negotiation 

of the charter arrangement” 

with Sibur. 

Asked whether he was concerned 

about public perception given that 

the leaks connecting Navigator 

with Sibur had come just after the 

first charges had been brought by 

Robert Mueller in his investigation 

into Russian links to Donald Trump’s 

election team, Mr Ross replied: “But 

that’s not true, the Sibur relationship 

was known before. There’s nothing 

in the Paradise Papers that’s unique 

about the charter arrangement with 

Sibur.” 

He told CNBC: “My obligation is 

to disclose companies in which I’m 

an officer, a director or an investor. I 

am neither an officer, nor a director 

nor an investor in Sibur. Fact, I’ve 

never met them, don’t know the 

people, have nothing to do with the 

negotiation of the charter agreement. 

The only commercial arrangement 

between Navigator and Sibur 

is a charter arrangement.” 

Mr Ross, Mr Trump’s point man 

on trade, was confirmed in his role 

by the commerce committee in 

February after being questioned at 

a congressional hearing and submitting 

financial disclosures required by 

government ethics rules.

Wednesday 07 November 2017 

FINANCIAL TIMES 


@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED 2015 

Oil market rally spurs talk 

of $70 before year end 

Crude hits two-year peak, having risen 

more than 40 per cent since June 

DAVID SHEPPARD 

The oil industry has started 

to whisper of a prospect that 

seemed unthinkable even 

a few weeks ago: the prospect of 

crude trading above $70 a barrel 

before the end of 2017. 

Brent crude hit a two-year high 

of $64.05 a barrel on Monday, taking 

gains since June to more than 

40 per cent and defying those who 

argued oil would be capped below 

$60 this year by higher output from 

the US shale industry. 

The rising price of crude reflects 

the success of Opec’s output cuts to 

booming demand as the world enjoys 

near-synchronised economic 

growth. 

Saudi Arabia — the largest producer 

in Opec — is also in focus, 

with the arrests of at least 11 Saudi 

Arabian princes and dozens of 

senior officials and businessmen 

at the weekend raising tensions in 

a country responsible for roughly 

one in every nine crude barrels 

pumped globally. 

In the US, shale producers — 

whose soaring output helped end 

the $100 oil era in 2014 — appear to 

have throttled back, with the number 

of rigs drilling for crude tailing 

off in recent months, as companies 

focus on boosting profitability. 

The rally in crude has inevitably 

led to talk of just how much further 

oil can rise, with analysts at Bank 

of America Merrill Lynch saying 

on Monday it was possible Brent 

could see a “cyclical peak” of $75 

a barrel in the near future. 

Others have said that $70 a barrel 

has become a real possibility, 

with Opec’s members happy to 

Qualcomm is set to dismiss 

a $130bn unsolicited bid 

from rival US chipmaker 

Broadcom, setting up one of the 

largest ever takeover battles with 

both sides preparing for a long and 

vicious campaign. 

The bid, which Broadcom unveiled 

on Monday, marks the culmination 

of a ferocious consolidation 

spree in the chip industry by 

Hock Tan, chief executive of the 

California-based company. 

Qualcomm confirmed that it 

had received the “unsolicited proposal” 

and said its directors would 

assess it. However, the company is 

not prepared to engage with Broadcom, 

several people informed on 

the matter told the Financial Times. 

One person close to Qualcomm 

said the $70-a-share offer was significantly 

below what the board 

would consider seriously. Another 

person described the offer as opportunistic, 

given Qualcomm’s 

share price has been depressed 

reap higher short-term revenues 

after oil’s painful three-year downturn, 

despite the threat of rising 

prices encouraging a new wave of 

competing supply. 

“We think both fundamental 

data and an improvement in trader 

sentiment act as strong support for 

a continued test of the upside for 

oil prices,” said Paul Horsnell at 

Standard Chartered. 

Hedge funds raised outright 

bets on higher Brent prices to a 

record last week, holding paper 

contracts equivalent to almost 

600m barrels. 

The shift in short-term sentiment 

has been remarkable. At a 

major oil conference in London 

three weeks ago not one panellist 

or major attendee was seriously focused 

on oil reaching $70 a barrel. 

Francisco Blanch at BofA said 

that while markets may overshoot 

in the short run, prices for oil contracts 

for delivery far in the future 

remained firmly rooted closer to 

$55 a barrel, suggesting the market 

was not yet prepared to buy into the 

rally outright. 

“The rally in oil prices has coincided 

with a cyclical upturn in the 

global economy,” Mr Blanch said. 

“[But] higher crude prices at the 

prompt have not been matched by 

a similar run up in longer dated 

prices . . . The reality of this global 

oil market is that US shale producers 

are charged with providing the 

marginal barrel.” 

He said if longer-dated prices 

reached even $60 he expected US 

oil output to start growing again at 

an annual rate of more than 1m barrels 

a day — more than 50 per cent 

higher than they currently forecast. 

Qualcomm set to reject $130bn 

bid from Broadcom 

Chipmaker’s offer for rival would be biggest ever tech takeover 

JAMES FONTANELLA-KHAN, ARASH 

MASSOUDI AND TIM BRADSHAW 

following a licensing dispute with 

Apple. 

Both companies have a significant 

role in providing technology 

to manufacture smartphones, including 

Apple’s iPhone, which has 

also raised concerns over antitrust 

objections to the deal. A deal would 

create a company with a combined 

market capitalisation of more than 

$200bn and would be the largest 

ever in the technology industry. 

Broadcom said it was offering 

$60 in cash and $10 worth of Broadcom 

shares for each Qualcomm 

share. The deal, which includes 

$25bn of net debt, has been made 

at a 28 per cent premium to Qualcomm’s 

stock price on November 

2, the day before it emerged that 

Broadcom was preparing a bid. 

Shares in Qualcomm rose 4 per 

cent in pre-market New York trading 

to $64, giving it a market value 

of close to $93bn and adding to 

its gains from Friday when news 

of Broadcom’s planned approach 

leaked. Broadcom’s shares climbed 

2 per cent to $279, reflecting a market 

value of around $113bn. 

May and Corbyn woo business in face of Brexit warnings 

Prime minister calls for ‘strategic, long-term partnership’ at CBI annual conference 

SARAH GORDON 

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn 

both struck a conciliatory 

tone towards corporate Britain 

at the CBI’s annual conference on 

Monday, as business leaders warned 

they needed certainty on a Brexit 

transition deal by the end of the year. 

Speaking to the business lobby 

group at London’s O2 centre, the 

prime minister called for a “strategic, 

long-term partnership” with business, 

and said she was determined to 

give “as much certainty as possible” 

on the Brexit transition period. 

“The government I lead is determined 

to support British business,” 

she said, laying out the government’s 

strategy for a “stronger, fairer, betterbalanced 

economy”. 

Mrs May’s stance towards business 

has see-sawed since she became 

prime minister. She originally 

promised to promote better behaviour 

by companies, but then backed 

off from proposals such as introducing 

workers on British boards. Since 

the departure of advisers Nick Timothy 

and Fiona Hill, No 10 has made 

efforts to re-engage with business 

leaders and their concerns. 

Mr Corbyn said in a well-received 

speech to the 1,300 delegates that 

there was “common ground” between 

business and the Labour party 

on the threat a “no deal” on Brexit 

posed to the economy. 

“Many of you feel no closer to 

having the clarity about the direction 

of travel you so desperately need 

Brent climbs above $64 a barrel after Saudi weekend graft crackdown 

ANJLI RAVAL 

Oil surged to a fresh two 

year high in late afternoon 

trading, with international 

benchmark Brent crude 

moving above $64 a barrel. 

Prices were already on an 

upward trend before Saudi Arabia’s 

crown prince Mohammed 

bin Salman issued a crackdown 

this weekend on corruption with 

dozens of princes, royals and 

C002D5556 

Jeremy Corbyn speaking at the CBI’s annual conference in London on Monday © Reuters 

[than a year ago],” the Labour leader 

said, blaming “chaos and confusion 

at the heart of government”. 

“Time is running out,” he said. 

“Guarantees are needed now to stop 

firms cutting the UK out of their business 

models.” 

He said a transitional arrangement 

needed to be agreed immediately, 

and added that EU citizens 

working in the UK should be unilaterally 

guaranteed full rights to 

remain. “We agree on the need to 

signal that the UK remains open to 

the rest of the world, that Europe is 

not the enemy,” he said. 

Delegates at the conference appeared 

impressed, albeit somewhat 

surprised, by Mr Corbyn’s probusiness 

tone. 

After Paul Drechsler, the CBI 

president, compared the approach 

to Brexit to a soap opera, 

consultant Dina Medland said on 

Twitter that watching Mr Corbyn 

address the conference was like 

“switching from a soap suddenly 

to a hard news story about human 

issues — extraordinary delivery”. 

Others applauded the confidence 

of his delivery. 

Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI director-general, 

said: “Labour are right 

that agreeing a transition deal as 

soon as possible is mission critical 

to maintain business confidence. 

There is cross party agreement on 

this now and so this is the time for 

urgent action.” 

Within his generally conciliatory 

message, Mr Corbyn repeated 

business tycoons under arrest. 

Brent rose to a high of $64.05 

a barrel, the highest since June 

2015, before paring gains to 

$63.78 a barrel – up $1.70. 

The US marker West Texas 

Intermediate broke above $56 a 

barrel for the first time in more 

than two years. It rose $1.46 a 

barrel to $57.09 a barrel. 

Traders and analysts said 

that increased tensions within 

the kingdom had compounded 

BUSINESS DAY 

A5 

calls for employers to give British 

workers a pay rise, and said a 

Labour government would raise 

taxes and nationalise utility companies. 

Ms Fairbairn responded: “Industrial 

strategy and Brexit must 

be focused on building a fair, 

innovative and productive UK 

economy where society benefits,” 

she said, but added: “there are 

fundamental differences on the 

ways to get there. 

“It is clear that competitive markets 

are the best way to improve 

people’s lives. Abandoning this 

model will hurt those who need help 

most and make the UK a laggard in 

the global race for investment. 

Mrs May promised an industrial 

strategy that would set the 

“right frameworks” for business 

investment, without making a plan 

“for every corner of our economy”. 

Her pledge was welcomed by 

the CBI but Ms Fairbairn said: 

“These welcome words must be 

followed through: clarity on industrial 

strategy and Brexit ambitions 

must be matched with urgent 

delivery,” she said. “Firms will do 

all they can to make this happen.” 

Gavin Patterson, chief executive 

of BT, had told the conference 

that BT was dependent on attracting 

workers from the EU and that 

it was “very urgent” to get clarity 

on the transition arrangements. 

“From the beginning of next calendar 

year the value of a deal would 

begin to deteriorate,” he warned. 

with fundamental factors to 

boost prices. 

Demand has been robust 

while supply cuts by global 

oil producers have worked in 

shrinking excess stockpiles 

around the world. 

Countries inside and outside 

the Opec cartel are expected to 

extend supply curbs of around 

1.8m barrels a day throughout 

the whole of 2018 when oil ministers 

meet later this month.


C002D5556 

Limited entrance, exit points of new 

car park cause gridlock at MMIA2 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

Crisis is brewing at the 

Murtala Muhammed 

International Airport 

(MMIA) over limited 

exit and entrance points for 

the six-storey car park facility, 

which is causing gridlock 

at the airport. A visit to the 

facility yesterday showed that 

passengers who arrived and 

those departing to various 

destinations had to join a long 

queue to access the facility. 

Passengers who complained 

to BusinessDay about 

the airport vehicular traffic 

management of the Federal 

Airports Authority of Nigeria 

(FAAN) said they also had to 

walk a very long distance from 

the airport terminal to access 

the facility. 

“I have been in this cue for a 

while now. What I expected the 

management of the airport to 

do when setting up this facility 

is to provide at least three or 

four entrance or exit points 

to avoid the kind of gridlock 

we are currently experiencing,” 

a traveller who identified 

himself as Chukwuemeka told 

BusinessDay. 

Chukwuemeka also expressed 

concern that the situation 

may worsen as Christmas 

approach because a lot of 

travellers may be stuck trying 

to park their cars or take their 

cars out of the facility. 

“This arrangement, notice, 

information or instruction is 

not coming from FAAN; who 

then is in control of airport 

vehicular traffic management? 

Again crisis is brewing at the 

MMIA terminal, the type we 

once saw at MMA2 between 

Arik and BI-COURTNEY. This 

time it will be between the carpark 

operator and the public; 

FAAN and the police may not 

be able to contain it. 

“I have never seen a traffic 

management like this in any 

airport; it is a chaotic way and 

a tinderbox for violent occurrences 

in the airport. NCAA 

had better find solution to this 

before we start getting disasters 

in our hands,” John Ojikutu, 

member of aviation industry 

think tank group, Aviation 

Round Table (ART) and chief 

executive of centurion securities 

told BusinessDay. 

BUSINESS DAY 

A5 

NEWS 

Obaseki shops for 

new investor for Ava 

Cement Factory 

The governor of Edo 

State, Godwin Obaseki, 

has said the state is 

negotiating with the 

Assets Management Corporation 

of Nigeria (AMCON) to get 

a new investor for Ava Cement 

Factory located in the state. 

Obaseki announced this at 

Igarra, headquarters of Akoko 

Edo Local Government Area, 

during his Thank- You-Tour 

across the state. The governor 

said the factory, which is located 

in the local government, 

incurred debts and was seized 

by AMCON. 

He said “Ava cement factory 

is in debt. That is why AMCON 

seized it. We are negotiating 

with AMCON to get new investor 

to take it over and bring it 

back to life.” The governor also 

promised to upgrade Igarra 

Technical College and improve 

infrastructural development in 

the council. 

“I have received the Report 

on the Technical College and 

by the grace of God, work will 

start at the college by January 

2018.”



C002D5556 

NEWS 

Nigeria’s economic slide worrisome - Reps 

...as Dogara, Tambuwal harp on devolution of power, poverty alleviation 

KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja 

Stakeholders who 

converged at the 

legislative summit 

on economic 

recovery and sustainable 

development organized 

by the House of 

Representatives on Monday 

underscored the need for deliberate 

action plan towards 

tackling corruption and poverty 

alleviation across the 

country. 

Bode Ayorinde, chairman, 

House of Representatives’ 

Tactical Ad-hoc 

committee on economic 

recession who conveyed the 

summit in Abuja, expressed 

grave concern over Nigeria’s 

inability to actualize its developmental 

plan of making 

Nigeria one of the 20 leading 

economies in the world by 

year 2020. 

“We are concerned that 

Nigeria is the 7th most populous 

country’s in the world, 

only behind China, India, 

USA, Indonesia, Brazil and 

Pakistan, whereas it is 27th 

on the ladder of economic 

strength of nations. Having 

lost grip with the Vision 

20:2020, we are obviously 

not among the 15 countries 

in the world known as the 

trillion dollar economies, reputed 

to be in control of over 

75% of the global wealth,” 

he said. 

According to him, out of 

the 11 most populous nations 

in the world, 8 most 

populous countries namely: 

China with 1.4 billion population 

(2nd); India with 1.3 

billion population (7th); USA 

with 324 million population 

(1st); Indonesia with 206 

million population (16th); 

Brazil with 207 million population 

(9th); Russia with 142 

million population (12th); 

have achieved their targets 

of being amongst the 20 

strong economies except 

Nigeria with 185 million 

population (27th), Pakistan 


(42nd) and Bangladesh 


(46th). 

In the bid to address the 

menace, Ayorinde called for 

synergy among Nigerians in 

tackling corruption, stressing 

that “whatever gains 

recorded through strategic 

planning and legislative 

reform would be rubbished 

by the economic virus called 

corruption. 

“This is why Nigerians 

must be united to prayerfully 

support APC government 

in confronting the hydraheaded 

monster called corruption 

in order to save our 

economy, save our country, 

save and protect the present 

and future generations of 

Nigeria and reposition our 

country amongst the comity 

of nations with higher quality 

of life,” he urged. 

On his part, Speaker 

Yakubu Dogara emphasised 

the need for collaboration 

between government, private 

sector and democratic 

institutions towards tackling 

extreme poverty and 

expanding economic opportunities 

for Nigerians 

across board. 

Dogara who pledged the 

House resolve towards providing 

all needed legislative 

interventions and measures 

that will exit Nigeria permanently 

out of recession, 

applauded President Muhammadu 

Buhari over the 

launch of Economic Recovery 

and Growth Plan (EGRP) 

targeted at improving agriculture, 

infrastructure, energy, 

transportation to serve 

as the needed foundation 

for industrialization and 

productivity. 

“For most of our families, 

the situation has been pathetic. 

They have endured 

the economic downturn 

with grace; suffering quietl 

y as they deal with recession 

by trying to dig their way out 

of a pit defined by unrelenting 

economic bleakness”.



C002D5556


Lagos to experience 

God like never before, 

says Bonnke 

… calls for spiritual revival 

SEYI JOHN SALAU 

As the farewell 

Gospel Crusade 

of the German 

evangelist, Reinhard 

Bonnke, commences 

tomorrow, November 8, 

participants have been told 

to expect God’s work in a 

way like never before. 

Bonnke, founder, Christ 

for All Nation (CfaN), in a 

statement, calls for spiritual 

revival amongst christians 

just as he urges them to believe 

the gospel. “The gospel 

is true today because it was 

true at the beginning. I believe 

with all my heart we’re 

going to see in Lagos this 

week what we have never 

seen before,” he said. 

According to Bonnke, the 

ripple effects of the farewell 

gospel crusade will be felt 

across the world because 

God is ahead of the ministry 

in deciding to use Lagos, Nigeria 

as a contact point for 

other African countries. “I 

have not seen in other African 

countries what God has 

done here, Nigeria is my 

preferred place,” he stated. 

The 77 years old evangelist, 

who is calling time off 

his missionary tour across 

the world due to his age, 

however said he is committed 

to other works of 

the ministry in the United 

States for the rest of the 

year. “I will continue to 

preach as the Lord helps 

me,” Bonnke said. 

Nevertheless, Bonnke 

in response to questions 

on the up and low moment 

of his 35 years ministration 

to Africa opined that he 

never measures the effect 

of the success or failure 

while he ministers across 

the world. “The Holy Spirit 

comes in full strength not 

in percentages. I will never 

measure effects of success, 

or failure,” he stated. 

John Darku, DG, CfaN 

in his welcome remarks 

said he believes God has a 

reason for asking Bonnke 

to come to Nigeria for the 

farewell gospel crusade 

instead of his own home 

country of Ghana. 

However, Alexander 

Bamgbola, Chairman, 

Central Working Committee 

(CWC) for the Farewell 

Gospel Crusade said 

prayers has been going 

on for the forthcoming 

crusade, and believes God 

has already answered those 

prayers. “We are so excited 

over the forthcoming crusade, 

and heaven can feel 

the excitement,” he concludes. 

The crusade scheduled 

to hold on Wednesday 8 

November to Sunday 12 

November beside the Sparklight 

Estate, opposite OPIC 

Events Centre, Isheri, after 

Berger Bus Stop along the 

Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

A7 

NEWS 

Ease of doing business: Nigeria must do more, Elumelu insists 

TONY AILEMEN 

Recent gains recorded 

by the country on the 

‘Ease of Doing Business’ 

rating notwithstanding, 

the country needs to 

do more if it must continue to 

attract both local and foreign 

investors. 

Chairman, Heirs Holdings, 

Tony Elumelu, while 

assessing the recent World 

Bank rating that put Nigeria 

as one of 10 most improved 

nations on the ease of doing 

business scale, commended 

the giant strides recorded by 

the country. 

The business mogul said 

Nigeria needs to enter into tax 

treaties with other countries 

so that local investors who go 

out to invest in other countries 

are not subjected to double 

taxation, and the need to pay 

attention to the rule of law. 

Speaking after a private 

meeting with the Chief of 

Staff to the President at the 

Presidential Villa, Abuja Elumelu 

also said the country 

must streamline tax policies, 

avoid double taxation and 

guarantee rule of law, as well 

as pay more attention to infrastructure 

development if the 

country must move further 

up on the ease of doing business 

rating. 

“Everything that is done 

is good, but I think we need 

to streamline our taxes; avoid 

multiple taxation. We need 

to have double taxation treaties 

with other countries so 

that Nigerian investors who 

go out to invest don’t pay 

double taxes and those who 

come here to invest don’t pay 

multiple taxes” 

“I think it’s good to make 

sure that our infrastructure 

works. I think the rule of law 

is extremely important, strong 

governance, contract accessibility, 

sanctity of contracts, 

property rights. These are 

things that drive where investors 

go to invest” 

He commended the Central 

Bank of Nigeria for addressing 

the foreign exchange 

challenges adding that “ It was 

very high but now it’s predictable; 

it’s available, so to speak 

for in market is improving” 

Nigeria’s recent rating by 

the World Bank has received 

commendations from the organized 

business community, 

including top government 

officials and leaders of the 

National Assembly. 

Elumelu who said he was 

very impressed with what is 

happening in our country, 

said the ease of doing business 

ranking by the World 

Bank that moved Nigeria up 

in 24 places was very impressive, 

“ not just that and as top 

ten reforming country in the 

world” 

“Counting Nigeria as one 

of the top ten reforming countries 

in the world is very impressive. 

So, I think things are 

getting better. I think we’re 

turning corners and things are 

getting better” 

The rating has been seen 

as a major plus in the country’s 

efforts to create employment, 

while attracting global 

investors to Nigeria, especially 

as investors see the country as 

a safe place to invest. 

“ Global investors are looking 

for a place where the rule 

of law is strong; a place where 

there is sanctity of contracts; 

a place where tax reforms 

regime is good will come to 

invest in Nigeria.” he said.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

A7



C002D5556 

NEWS 

Demand for short-let apartments 

gains traction as interest rises 

CHUKA UROKO 

Demand for serviced 

short-let 

apartments is, increasingly, 

rising at 

highbrow neighbourhoods in 

Nigeria’s big cities, particularly 

Lagos, where young professionals 

seeking luxury living 

are taking advantage of rising 

vacancy rate in residential 

houses to rent the apartments. 

Besides the quest for luxury 

living, demand for these apartments 

is also driven by security 

concerns as well as decision 

by developers to earn income 

from their investment. “Security 

concerns are a major 

driver of this growing trend”, 

Yemi Madamidola, an Estate 

manager, confirmed to BusinessDay. 

“Some people have apathy 

towards branded hotels for 

security reasons and would 

therefore opt for serviced 

short-let apartments which 

offer them all the luxury, comfort, 

convenience and flexibility 

of residence”, he added. 

Most of these apartments 

are found in places like Ikeja 

GRA, Victoris Island, Ikoyi, 

Osborne Foreshore, Lekki, 

Festac Town, etc all in Lagos. 

In Abuja, they could be found 

in such expensive locations as 

Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse, etc 

while in Port Harcour they are 

found in Old GRA and Trans- 

Amadi. 

“These are locations where 

house prices are quite high 

and these young professionals 

who cannot afford such prices 

yet they want to have a feel of 

such locations go for shortlet 

apartments”, explained 

Azubuilke Unigwe, Managing 

Partner, Unigwe and Co, a firm 

of estate surveyors and valuers. 

Some investors are already 

taking this growing trend to 

a new level by incorporating 

such apartments into their 

major developments. One of 

such investors is Grenadine 

Homes, developers of The 

Coral in Lagos. The Coral is a 

12-floor residential development 

with a hotel component 

which will be short-let and not 

the regular hotels where there 

is everything going. 

“The short-let apartments 

are meant for people who 

want to stay there as if in their 

homes for three-four months. 

They are not going to be paying 

the daily room rates, but 

the rooms will have all the 

necessary facilities needed 

to make the occupants comfortable”, 

Francisca Dyegh, 

GM, Sales and Marketing at 

Grenadine Homes, told BusinessDay 

in an interview. 

Though the room rate per 

night for the short-let apartments 

was not disclosed to 

this reporter, the price of 

a two-bedroom apartment 

at The Coral, according to 

Dyegh, starts from N78 million. 

Most expatriates, top 

executives and consultants 

to blue chip companies who 

wish to stay in town for a week 

or more prefer these serviced 

apartments because of the 

comfy ambience which most 

hotels lack. These apartments 

also offer some level of privacy 

which some hotel brands 

don’t give. 

“Another reason for the 

growth of shot-let market 

is the flexibility enjoyed by 

guests when compared to 

hotel rooms”, Madamidola 

said, explaining that it accommodates 

client’s guests, relatives, 

friends which are not be 

allowed in some hotel rooms. 

BusinessDay checks revealed 

that the apartments 

are also cheaper compared 

to hotel room rates. A two 

bedroom serviced apartment, 

for instance, at 1,004 Estate in 

Victoria island, Lagos costs 

N35,000 per night on short let, 

while a standard hotel room 

costs an average of N60,000 per 

night within the same neighbourhood. 

A two-bedroom 

apartment at the estate sells 

for N45 million to N50 million. 

Swissgolden Africa empowers 170,000 Nigerians 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE 

Swissgolden Africa, an 

investment and education 

company, has 

empowered 170,000 

Nigerians in its investment 

network as it opens office in 

Lagos. The company, which 

runs an online gold shop, 

has successfully operated for 

five years in Nigeria. 

“Swissgolden is a very 

stable business with bright 

prospects. So, what we are 

offering members of the 

public is very stable income. 

It is a good opportunity for 

career development. Any 

person can join the team 

to have an opportunity for 

wealth creation”, said Elena 

Boychuk, director, company 

development, Swissgolden. 

Speaking with journalists 

in Lagos, she said, “Gold is 

used to exchange for anything 

of value to earn money, 

so it has a universal value. 

It sells everywhere. Swiss 

Golden is not just an investment 

company; it is not 

where you just put in money, 

sit and wait for people to 

work for you”. 

She said the has several 

plans in the company, 

starting from the minimum 

amount, which means that 

a person with even little in- 

come can get in and develop 

his own business. 

Max Lawrence, marketing 

director, Swissgolden, 

said “the less you invest, the 

less your returns, but you can 

start from lower level and 

grow up. We are an investment 

and educational company. 

We educate people; 

teach them how to invest 

properly and how to build 

team. It is your life-long investment 

opportunity into 

the future”. 

Swissgolden Africa Director, 

Dickson Onuchukwu, 

said, “we have raised 

170,000 millionaires in Nigeria 

through Swiss Golden”. 

He explained that the business 

is an online gold shop 

that trades on 24-karat gold 

and that it is not a Ponzi 

scheme. 

“In this business, once 

you become an investor of 

Swiss Golden, you must put 

in the work. The essence 

of the bonus programme 

which started in 2014 is to 

increase the sales volume 

of the business opportunity. 

Ponzi Schemes have maximum 

lifespan of one year, 

but Swiss Golden is five year 

now and the most exciting 

thing about this business is 

not just about you gaining, it 

is about how many lives you 

have touched”. 

“If you are coming on 

board, you are expected to 

purchase a table of order and 

these levels of order have different 

cells. When you invest, 

you are coming on the first 

level that has a single cell. We 

have several tables of orders. 

It is a multilevel marketing 

company. So, you have to 

work your way to the top”, 

Onuchukwu said. 

Also speaking, Emenike 

Augustine, director for Nigeria, 

Swissgolden, Today, we 

have about 226,000 Nigerians 

in our structure and we 

have made close to 170 million 

millionaires in Nigeria 

and Africa. The business is 

still growing and we have set 

a target to get to five million 

Nigerians millionaires. 

“The dream is to make the 

young people realise their 

dreams. For you to attain 

success in life, you have to 

be focused and persistent. 

“Our target is to get across 

every corner in Africa. Now, 

we are close to 16 countries 

and we are still growing. 

“The actual reason we 

opened an office is to clear 

doubts on the mind of Nigerians. 

This is not a platform 

for the get-rich-quick. Our 

target is to open more offices 

in the 36 states of the federation 

so that we can be easily 

accessible”.

BUSINESS DAY 

Quick-Takes 

a different look at business &market news 

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I TUESDAY 07 NOVEMBER 2017 

C002D5556 

The oil price rally 

One brave Soldier-Abu Ali 

It is already a year 

since Colonel Muhammed 

Abu Ali 

died during an attack 

by Boko Haram 

on the 272 Task force 

Battalion in Borno, which 

is at the heart of the current 

insurgency against 

the ‘evil’ terrorist sect. 

Abu Ali, before his death 

had enjoyed accelerated 

promotion from the rank 

of Major to Lieutenant 

Colonel in the Nigerian 

army, not because of his 

state of origin but simply 

for exceptional bravery 

displayed in the war front 

in the fight against Boko 

Haram. Chief of Army 

Staff, Tukur Buratai, while 

decorating Abu Ali with 

his new ranks described 

him as a man of “courage, 

bravery and exceptional 

performance in the fight 

against Boko Haram.” 

Abu Ali lived a brave 

soldier and died a brave 

soldier fighting to defend 

his fatherland against 

ravaging evil forces. He 

led the fight that resulted 

in the recapture of Baga in 

Borno from Boko Haram. 

He was reputed to have 

told his soldiers, ahead 

of the move to recapture 

Baga, not to worry. He 

Nigeria’s improvement on the ease of doing business ranking 

It is exactly a week since the 

World Bank delivered the 

good news on November 7 

that the country has moved up 

24 places on the World Bank 

ease of doing business ranking. 

The country has moved 

up from its 169 position to a 

current position of 145. Even 

though, still relatively low considering 

that we are still ranked 

very low on several key indices, 

it is gladdening to note that 

we progressed upwards rather 

than deteriorated. At 145, we 

still remain one of the worst 

places to do business on earth 

and that is something that must 

be changed urgently. 

But the good news from 

the ranking is the fact that 

it once more affirms the fact 

that when we put our mind 

on achieving something as 

a country, we often do. In 

October 2016, President Muhammadu 

Buhari approved 

the Presidential Council on 

Ease of Doing Business with a 

clear mandate to “remove red 

tapes and other impediments 

associated with investment 

in the country.” Located in 

the Vice President’s office 

and led by Jumoke Oduwole, 

the council has been clearly 

promised that with his 

tank, he would do 95 percent 

of the job. They are 

to do the remaining five 

percent. And he lived up 

to his words as he sent the 

enemy parking, almost 

alone. He repeated the 

same feat with Monguno, 

another Boko Haram 

stronghold. 

Abu Ali was so effective 

that the demand for 

his accelerated promotion 

did not come from 

army headquarters. It 

came from the soldiers 

on the field, who saw in 

focused on achieving its 

mandate. It has had strong 

support from the Presidency 

and this has translated into 

actual gains on the ground. 

Even though, removing red 

tapes and bureaucracy is 

not the easiest of things, 

breakthroughs have been 

made especially in the areas 

of business registration, 

transparency on government 

charges and service delivery 

as well as in access to credit, 

where Nigeria now ranks 

number six globally. 

The National Assembly has 

also been largely supportive 

Late Col. Abu Ali 

him an effective leader 

who led from the front 

rather than from the back. 

His style of leadership 

inspired so much confidence 

that soldiers were 

ready to follow him where 

ever he was posted to 

in the war front. He was 

described on the field as 

a man “who knows his 

job.” Abu Ali earned the 

confidence of his men 

and was the pride of every 

soldier on and off the war 

front. He was a man destined 

for the very top of 

the Nigerian army. Sadly, 

identifying 12 economic bills 

which they want to pass to 

unlock economic growth in 

the country. It is the passage 

of the Secured Transactions in 

Movable Assets Act (otherwise 

known as Collateral Registry 

Act) and Credit Reporting Act, 

that essentially pushed up the 

country’s ranking in access to 

credit. This indicates that if the 

legislature and the Presidency 

can put aside their differences 

and work together, Nigeria can 

achieve even far more. 

Credit must also go to the 

Lagos and Kano state governments 

who cooperated with the 

that was not to be. On 

November 4, 2016, Abu 

Ali died in action as any 

brave soldier would want 

to. He died fighting the 

evil he would not tolerate 

living. 

One year on, we remember 

this brave soldier 

and the many other 

unknown soldiers who 

have stood their ground 

against the evil called 

Boko Haram. They have 

paid the supreme sacrifice 

to make us safe as a 

nation and to them we 

are eternally grateful. 

It is important that the 

army shows the gratitude 

of the nation by ensuring 

that the families of these 

brave soldiers are not 

left stranded. Everything 

should be done to reduce 

the pain that comes with 

such irreplaceable loss. 

It is sad to hear of the 

families of these soldiers 

struggling to get the allowances 

due to them. It 

should not be the case. 

But it is even more important 

that those still in the 

war front are adequately 

taken care of. The stories 

we have heard of soldiers 

begging for food and their 

allowances should never 

be. 

ease of doing business council 

to ensure that they removed 

several of the red tapes in their 

government to make it easier to 

do businesses in their state. It 

is also great that a sub-national 

ranking of states on the ease 

of doing business has commenced 

and we are sure that 

this will create competition 

among states and enhance 

the business environment in 

the country. 

It is important the governments 

at all levels realize that 

the most important reason 

for their existence is to create 

jobs for their people. This can 

only be done by having a great 

business environment. When 

there are jobs, wealth is created 

and when wealth is created, tax 

revenues for the government 

is enhanced and when tax revenues 

are enhanced, it puts the 

government in a better position 

to build the infrastructure that 

enables businesses to thrive 

and create more jobs. So now 

that we have moved up the 

ranking, the next challenge is to 

ensure we sustain the upward 

momentum. There is no reason 

that Nigeria should not be the 

place on earth to do business. 

It can be done. 

For Nigeria, 

the good 

times are here 

again. Brent crude, 

equivalent of Nigeria’s 

Bonny light, 

touched a new high 

of US$62.59 on 6 

November fuelled 

by turbulence in the 

Saudi Arabia and increased 

compliance 

by OPEC members 

with self-imposed 

production cuts. Already, 

OPEC is talking 

about the possibility 

of crude oil 

prices hitting US$70 

per barrel before 

the end of the year. 

Monday’s crude oil 

price is the highest 

seen since July 2015. 

Basically, the President 

Muhammadu 

Buhari administration 

is experiencing 

its highest crude oil 

price since it came 

to power in May of 

2015. 

With the 2018 

budget prepared on 

a crude oil price of 

US$45 per barrel, 

the new oil price is 

beginning to look 

like a windfall for the 

Buhari administration 

that could significantly 

change the 

outlook of the 2018 

budget. The government 

could easily see 

its revenue projections 

from crude oil 

double if the current 

prices are sustained 

into 2018. 

This oil windfall 

could not have come 

at a better time for 

the government. It 

is just a year before 

elections. It is the 

time of life of the 

administration that it 

would want to spend 

to make an impact. 

This has been largely 

constrained so far by 

the revenue challenge 

due to low oil 

prices which contributes 

an average 

of 70 percent of 

Nigeria’s revenues 

in times of high oil 

prices. 

But the high oil 

prices could also 

make us easily 

forget some of the 

good habits that 

we have been picking 

up in the period 

low oil prices. Cash 

strapped states have 

in the last two years 

been aggressively 

doing all they can 

to boost internally 

generated revenues. 

Most states have for 

the first time taken 

the promotion of 

agriculture and the 

tapping of solid minerals 

in their states 

as serious business. 

The federal government 

has been forced 

to offer a tax amnesty 

in order to boost 

non-oil revenues. 

In the facing of 

rising oil prices and 

a boost in revenues 

collectable from 

monthly FAAC trips 

to Abuja, it would not 

be surprising if states 

return to their lip 

service commitment 

to boosting internally 

generated revenues. 

The ideal situation 

would have been for 

the government to 

“pretend” that crude 

prices have remained 

at US$45 for the rest 

of 2018 and save 

every penny of dollar 

earned above that 

amount. But we all 

know that is not going 

to happen. Governance 

in Nigeria is 

all about sharing in 

good and bad times 

and it is not going to 

“change” now. 

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. 

Tel: +233243226596: email: mail@businessdayonline.com Advert Hotline: 08116759801, 08082496194. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08022238495 

Editor: Anthony Osae-Brown. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.

BusinessDay 07 Nov 2017

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