BusinessDay 11 Dec 2017

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Monday 11 December 2017 NEWS Yuletide rush boosts port business as importers struggle to take delivery … naira stability, regular forex supply responsible for high volume AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE As Christians get set to mark this year’s Christmas and New Year celebrations, the nation’s seaports have started experiencing beehive of activities, as importers and other business owners struggle to take delivery of their imported consignments ahead of the season. Yuletide, usually characterised by lots of social events such as weddings, parties and other forms of celebrations, has helped in increasing the demand for imported finished and semi-finished goods as well as raw materials for the local industrials. Tony Anakebe, managing director of Gold-Link Investment Limited, a Lagos-based clearing and forwarding company, who confirmed that the volume of goods coming into the country had increased, especially in preparation to the festive and New Year celebrations, said congestion had already started building up at the ports due to beehive of activities and inability of importers to take delivery on time. Access Bank upgrades mobile, internet banking platforms Access Bank Plc has upgraded its Mobile and Internet banking platforms to provide an Omnichannel experience alongside a range of new and exciting features. The Omnichannel experience simply means customers of the 2017 Karlsruhe Outstanding Business Sustainability Award winner would enjoy a seamless and consistent interaction with the Bank across multiple channels. With this new upgrade, customers can now sign-in to the mobile and internet banking platform with the same user details. Also beneficiaries and “The environment around Apapa port city is no longer conducive for seamless port operation. There is increasing volume at the ports but the man-hour lost on the roads by port users, container carrying trucks and operators, has been quiet disheartening,” he said. Anakebe, who attributed the growing volume of imports to naira stability and improved foreign exchange supply by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), also said the bad road was hindering free movement of cleared consignments out of the ports. Currently, he said the rate at which conventional goods such as rice, textile, building materials like tiles were coming into the ports had drastically reduced by over 80 percent. He listed the goods coming into the ports in large quantity to include vehicles spare parts, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment as well as industrial chemicals for Nigeria’s upcoming manufacturing sector. A source close to a terminal in Lagos said volume of business in Nigeria’s seaports, especially in the first half of the year, did not have other information stored on one channel are available for use on the other channels. Furthermore, additional features have been added with the aim of making banking convenient as ever for the Bank’s customers. Some of these features include: standing orders for recurrent transactions like bill payments , top up, fund transfer and lots more. It also enables customers to purchase airtime directly for a friend from the phone contact list, manage cheque, receive targeted product campaigns, as well as analysis and tracking of monthly any significant different from what happed all through the previous year of 2016. He said though statistics showing volume of import in the third quarter of the year was yet to be released by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), but throughput started growing from July 2017 till date. The source projected that Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports, the two major seaports in Nigeria that handle over 85 percent of the imports, would likely achieve over 1.2 million twenty equivalent units (TEUs) of import and export containers by year end. The source further said both ports, which handled close to 1.6 million TEUs of import and export containers in 2014, when business was at its peak, handled about 1.1 million TEUs of containers in 2016, volume was down. “The recovery of oil price including the rebounded volume of oil production in Nigeria, especially since the Niger-Delta Avengers declared ceased fire in the oil rich-region, has helped in growing the volume of economic activities in Nigeria,” Emma Nwabunwanne, a Lagos-based importer, said. ‘Private sector investment in infrastructure key for manpower development’ KELECHI EWUZIE Lagos State government says the continuous investment by private sector in educational infrastructure represents the needed resolve to ensure the development of skilled manpower in the state and Nigeria. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, deputy governor of Lagos State, while speaking when the Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund donated a newly built block of six classrooms and conveniences to St. Patrick Grammar School, Epe, commended the company for its commitment to the development of education. The deputy governor, who was represented by Adebunmi Adekanye, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education, said the state government was committed to providing new structures and rehabilitating existing ones across educational institutions in the state to ensure that quality education was accessible to all students, irrespective of their locations. She described Nigerian Breweries as a responsible corporate entity of repute. According to Adebule, “That Nigerian Breweries plc is a responsible corporate entity is not a subject of debate. Her intervention in this school with the provision of a block of six classrooms, five toilets, 24 fans complemented by the supply of 150 dual students’ furniture and six sets of teachers’ furniture speaks volume about her passion for the development of education and production of skilled manpower to help the growth of the economy of Lagos State and Nigeria.” Kufre Ekanem, corporate affairs adviser of Nigerian Breweries in his remark, said the donation was a demonstration of its unwavering commitment to the developmental aspirations of the people of the state. Ekanem explained that “the company’s interests in the state and Nigeria goes beyond doing business and making profits to adding value and touching lives in critical sectors of the economy. “As a responsible corporate citizen, our interest in Lagos State and Nigeria goes beyond the pursuit of business or profit. We believe that the right investment in the education of our children will secure a bright future for our nation.” spend and use of MVisa. Speaking on the development, Maryann Ezechukwu, Group head, Channel Services said the upgrade revalidates Access Bank’s focus in creating disruptive innovation that creates value. “As a bank, we appreciate our customers and we recognize the importance of convenience and ease of use to them hence our continuous engagement with customers and creation of value which results in regular updates of the mobile and internet banking platforms premised on our customers speaking and us listening”, she added. C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY A1
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BusinessDay 11 Dec 2017

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