BusinessDay 26 Feb 2018
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Diamond Bank reduces losses as oil rally aids bad loan recoveries ...Page 4<br />
NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I **MONDAY <strong>26</strong> FEBRUARY <strong>2018</strong> I VOL. 14, NO 553 I N300 @ g<br />
NASD moves<br />
to connect PE<br />
investors with<br />
growth enterprises<br />
IHEANYI NWACHUKWU<br />
NASD Over-The-<br />
Counter (OTC) Securities<br />
Exchange is<br />
making a bold move<br />
to connect Private Equity (PE)<br />
investors to growth-oriented<br />
enterprises in Nigeria.<br />
NASD Plc, which is the promoter<br />
of a Trading Network<br />
that eases secondary market<br />
trading of all securities of unquoted<br />
public companies, has<br />
just developed an Enterprise<br />
Continues on page 46<br />
2019: NASS raises<br />
Presidential campaign<br />
expenses by 400% to N5bn<br />
....Lawmakers insist amendment in<br />
tune with modern realities<br />
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja<br />
In the new Electoral Act<br />
(Amendment) Bill recently<br />
passed by both the Senate<br />
and House of Representatives,<br />
the National Assembly jerked up<br />
the maximum election expenses<br />
to be incurred by a presidential<br />
candidate to N5 billion from<br />
N1 billion, indicating some 400<br />
percent increase.<br />
Lawmakers also increased<br />
Continues on page 46<br />
Finally, FG confirms<br />
110 Dapchi schoolgirls<br />
missing<br />
P. A6<br />
L-R: Olaleye Adebiyi, managing partner, Andersen Tax Nigeria; Okechukwu Enelemah, minister for trade, investment and industry; Babatunde Fowler,<br />
chairman, FIRS; Dick Kramer, chairman, African Capital Alliance/former managing partner, Arthur Andersen Nigeria, and Emeka Onwuka, partner,<br />
Client and family Wealth, at official launch of Andersen Tax in Nigeria, held in Lagos, at the weekend.<br />
Pic by Pius Okeosisi<br />
Banks’ $1.3bn Eurobonds<br />
set to mature in 2 years<br />
Refinance risk seen with rising global interest rates<br />
BALA AUGIE<br />
Nigerian banks have<br />
some $1.3 billion<br />
out of a total<br />
of $3.72 billion in<br />
outstanding Euro<br />
bonds due in the next two years<br />
and a rising global interest rate<br />
environment expected for the<br />
period may lead to higher refinancing<br />
costs.<br />
Analysts are of the view that<br />
tighter monetary policy in the<br />
United States could potentially<br />
raise borrowing costs for banks<br />
that plan to tap the international<br />
bond markets in the future.<br />
But they add that the direction<br />
of oil price, external reserve<br />
and broad macroeconomic<br />
environment are also important<br />
determinants on pricing.<br />
The U.S 10-year Treasury<br />
yield slipped to 2.87 percent<br />
on Friday, roughly where it<br />
started the week as investors<br />
dissect the Fed’s semi-annual<br />
monetary policy report to<br />
Congress.<br />
Wale Okunrinboye, a fixed<br />
income and FX analyst at Ecobank<br />
says since benchmark U.S<br />
Treasury’s are trending up and<br />
there is the possibility of a rate<br />
hike, Nigerian banks may have<br />
to pay a higher risk premium<br />
to refinance maturing bonds<br />
because the market is becoming<br />
Continues on page 4
2 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong>
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 3
4 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
NEWS<br />
Netherlands pledges support for<br />
Nigeria’s agricultural growth<br />
... Quality of Nigerian food produce falls short of international standards – Dutch experts<br />
CALEB OJEWALE<br />
The Dutch government is<br />
committing to providing<br />
support for Nigeria’s<br />
agricultural development,<br />
aiming to facilitate<br />
the creation of new jobs to<br />
support the economy, and stimulate<br />
economic growth. The Dutch<br />
mission in Nigeria which says it<br />
wants to deepen bilateral relations<br />
with the country has identified agriculture<br />
as the best way to provide<br />
support, owing to the Dutch track<br />
record in high productivity, and<br />
being the world’s second largest<br />
exporter of food despite being one<br />
of the smallest countries by size at<br />
41,543 Km2.<br />
This commitment to find ways<br />
of helping Nigeria develop its<br />
agricultural potentials was demonstrated<br />
earlier this month when<br />
a Dutch delegation led by Robert<br />
Petri, Netherlands ambassador<br />
to Nigeria, in company of Michel<br />
Deleen, head of Netherlands<br />
Representation in Lagos, and<br />
Ilona Domanska, policy officer,<br />
West Africa Division, Netherlands<br />
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited<br />
the Wageningen University and<br />
Research (WUR) for series of strategic<br />
meetings on ways Nigeria’s<br />
agricultural development can be<br />
supported.<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> correspondent<br />
was in attendance at some of these<br />
meetings, where the Dutch delegation<br />
met with several experts<br />
who have had experience with<br />
agriculture in Nigeria, some for<br />
the past two decades, researching<br />
on different areas of the sector<br />
and developing programmes to<br />
support local growth.<br />
In an exclusive interview with<br />
Petri after the meetings in Wageningen,<br />
the Dutch Ambassador<br />
told <strong>BusinessDay</strong> his country<br />
“would like to intensify collaboration<br />
with Nigeria, particularly in<br />
the field of agriculture, and this<br />
is because agriculture (appears<br />
to be) a priority for the Nigerian<br />
government.”<br />
According to Petri, with high<br />
population growth, Nigeria will<br />
keep importing more food so<br />
local production has to go up,<br />
and “I think as a country, the<br />
Netherlands has something to<br />
offer Nigeria. We are capable of<br />
producing high yields in a small<br />
piece of land and we have a lot of<br />
expertise in practising agriculture<br />
in a sustainable way. We are also<br />
the second largest exporter of food<br />
in the world.<br />
“We are a small country (in<br />
landmass) but in the area of agriculture,<br />
we certainly have something<br />
to offer Nigeria,” said Petri<br />
The Dutch Ambassador also<br />
noted that “Nigeria is a very big<br />
Banks’ $1.3bn Eurobonds set to mature in...<br />
Continued from page 1<br />
more risk conscious.<br />
“GTBank has offered to redeem<br />
its loans while Fidelity<br />
Bank has already rolled over<br />
theirs last year. Diamond Bank<br />
may look to refinance theirs,”<br />
Okunrinboye said.<br />
“For Tier one lenders that are<br />
going to refinance, they will have<br />
to pay close to 9 percent while<br />
Tier 2 lenders will have to pay<br />
close to 10 percent given the rate<br />
at which they issued few years<br />
ago,” said Okunrubonye.<br />
Fidelity Bank a tier – two bank<br />
rated B- by S&P Global Ratings<br />
and Fitch Ratings, or six steps<br />
into junk territory, issued $400<br />
million of five-year securities<br />
with a 10.75 percent yield in<br />
October 2017.<br />
Proceeds from the new Eurobond<br />
were partly used to<br />
repurchase $256 million of the<br />
bank’s $300mn Eurobond due<br />
in May <strong>2018</strong> (coupon 6.875%),<br />
implying new cash of $144mn<br />
and outstanding value of $44.50<br />
million.<br />
“Fidelity was a beneficiary of<br />
the high interest rate environment<br />
that prevailed in FY17;<br />
however, we believe its Net Interest<br />
Income in 4Q17 will be pulled<br />
lower by the interest expense<br />
on its recently issued $400mn<br />
Eurobond (maturing in October<br />
2022, coupon 10.5%). The new<br />
cash introduced from the bond<br />
raise will be used to drive trade<br />
financing activities, according<br />
to management,” Renaissance<br />
Capital analysts led by Olamipo<br />
Ogunsanya said in a <strong>Feb</strong> 5 report<br />
on the sector.<br />
Guaranty Trust Bank (GT-<br />
Bank), the largest lender by market<br />
value, has $276.93 million in<br />
outstanding Eurobonds due November<br />
8 <strong>2018</strong> and Zenith Bank<br />
has $500 million in Eurobonds<br />
due April 22 2019.<br />
Diamond Bank has $200 million<br />
in 5 year unsubordinated<br />
unsecured Eurobonds maturing<br />
on May 21 2019 and First Bank of<br />
Nigeria Plc has $300 million in<br />
Eurobonds, maturing on August<br />
7 2020.<br />
“I think the need for dollar<br />
liquidity has reduced considerably<br />
compared to the last 2 years,<br />
due to improved FX availability<br />
in the domestic market. So banks<br />
are not necessarily under pressure<br />
to re-issue these bonds as<br />
they mature,” said Kayode Tinuoye<br />
Portfolio Manager/Head<br />
of Research at United Capital<br />
Limited.<br />
“The outlook appears positive<br />
at the moment, and should<br />
ease any pressure on pricing,<br />
especially as most of the banks<br />
have decent credit risk ratings,”<br />
summed Tinuoye.<br />
The Nigerian economy is<br />
recovering slowly from its worst<br />
slump in around 30 years, triggered<br />
by the 2014 collapse in<br />
crude prices.<br />
Ratings agencies also downgraded<br />
the Nigerian sovereign at<br />
the height of the oil shocks.<br />
However, a rebound in oil<br />
production on the back of relative<br />
peace in the Niger Delta<br />
region and the adoption of a<br />
flexible exchange rate policy<br />
that eased dollar shortages<br />
were responsible for the country<br />
existing a recession as GDP<br />
expanded by 0.55 percent and<br />
1.42 percent in the second and<br />
third quarter of 2017, accord-<br />
country and very important for<br />
not only West Africa but is an economic<br />
engine for the rest of Africa.<br />
If it goes well in Nigeria, it will go<br />
well in the rest of Africa and this<br />
will be to the benefit of Europe.<br />
“Employment will be my primary<br />
focus and that of the Netherlands,<br />
because we know that there<br />
are many job seekers that come to<br />
the market every year in search of<br />
employment, and now the oil sector<br />
and the oil age is slowly coming<br />
to an end.<br />
“As long as job seekers remain<br />
unable to secure employment,<br />
this will invariably lead to unrests<br />
and chaos which we do not want,”<br />
Petri said.<br />
The prospects of attracting<br />
more investors to Nigeria, is according<br />
to Petri, somewhat limited<br />
owing to the country’s less known<br />
potentials.<br />
“We have to explain very well,<br />
how beautiful your country is,<br />
what the potential of the country<br />
is, because there isn’t very much<br />
that is known, frankly speaking,”<br />
noted Petri, adding that “but you<br />
can start with big awareness campaigns,<br />
and it sometimes works<br />
better to focus on one sector; in<br />
this case agriculture, so people<br />
can see that it can work, and that<br />
will help companies in other sectors<br />
to also come in and make<br />
their decisions (whether or not to<br />
Diamond Bank<br />
reduces losses as<br />
oil rally aids bad<br />
loan recoveries<br />
LOLADE AKINMURELE & MICHEAL ANI<br />
The rebound in global oil<br />
prices and local production<br />
is helping Diamond<br />
bank, Nigeria’s sixth largest<br />
commercial bank; recover nonperforming<br />
loans (NPLs) that<br />
swelled in the thick of low oil<br />
prices in 2016 and militant attacks<br />
that cut oil production by<br />
a third.<br />
“In the past few months, we<br />
have had cash flows from at<br />
least three clients that had been<br />
docile since 2016 when the<br />
slump in oil prices and damages<br />
inflicted on the Forcados terminal<br />
constrained chances of loan<br />
servicing,” Caroline Anyanwu,<br />
the bank’s deputy managing<br />
director and chief risk officer<br />
told <strong>BusinessDay</strong> during an interview<br />
at its Lagos headquarters<br />
on Friday.<br />
She declined to name the oil<br />
companies in question.<br />
Thanks to the upswing in<br />
global prices and local production<br />
in Nigeria, oil exploration<br />
companies have now gone back<br />
to work and owners of rigs and<br />
vessels are getting new jobs, according<br />
to Anyanwu.<br />
That has breathed life into<br />
the bank’s NPLs which had a 36<br />
Continues on page 46<br />
L-R: Oluwatoyin Ashiru, director, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Group plc; Ibikunle Amosun, governor,<br />
Ogun State, and Adam Nuru, managing director, FCMB, during a courtesy visit by the management of the<br />
bank to the governor in his office at Abeokuta, Ogun State.<br />
stay in Nigeria).”<br />
“The country is known but not<br />
the investments opportunities,”<br />
said Petri, “I think it has to be explained<br />
better, and that will help in<br />
showing good examples. It is also<br />
important for companies coming<br />
into Nigeria to prepare to be in it<br />
for the long haul.”<br />
Other experts who attended<br />
the sessions with the Dutch delegation,<br />
mentioned several areas<br />
Nigeria needs to improve so as to<br />
record increased productivity, and<br />
also on quality of food, not only<br />
in targeting exports but to ensure<br />
Nigerians are not being ‘slowly<br />
poisoned’.<br />
Louise Fresco, president, Executive<br />
Board of Wageningen<br />
University & Research, noted<br />
that if Nigeria hopes to one day<br />
become an agricultural exporting<br />
country, there has to be a monitoring<br />
system in place.<br />
“Nigeria like other African<br />
countries needs to build up the<br />
expertise to effectively monitor<br />
quality and standards in food<br />
production,” said Fresco, also<br />
explaining that if this is not part of<br />
a national strategy, risk becomes<br />
imminent with changes in people<br />
or institutions, and building that<br />
national capacity is very essential.<br />
•Continues online at www.businessdayonline.com<br />
ing to the National Bureau of<br />
Statistics (NBS).<br />
Nigeria’s external reserves have<br />
hit a 4 year high of $42.50 billion,<br />
according to recent data from the<br />
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).<br />
Benchmark sovereign bond<br />
yields have fallen to 13.10 percent<br />
as at <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong> from<br />
17.10 percent high of 2015 as the<br />
economy continues to improve.<br />
Ayodeji Ebo, managing director<br />
and CEO of Afrinvest Securities<br />
Limited says based on the<br />
expected rate hike by the U.S<br />
Federal Reserve, they expect that<br />
any re-issuance by banks will be<br />
more expensive.<br />
“So banks will now have to<br />
decide whether to pay off the<br />
loans as at maturity or if they<br />
have the dollar lending opportunity,<br />
they may decide to reissue<br />
new ones at the prevailing<br />
rates,” said Ebo.<br />
Since the dollar is a global<br />
reserve currency, changes in<br />
its valuation can have a tremendous<br />
impact on everything<br />
from foreign reserves at global<br />
central banks to corporate balance<br />
sheets containing dollardenominated<br />
debt.<br />
“GTBank says it will only<br />
redeem and they may not issue<br />
new ones. But Diamond Bank is<br />
bit of a worry. Recently, they issued<br />
a $200 million Eurobond,”<br />
said Okunrubonye.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 5
6 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />
NEWS<br />
Need for maritime bank re-echoes<br />
at NIMASA, stakeholders confab<br />
… stakeholders worry if insurers can guarantee change from FoB to CIF<br />
IGNATIUS CHUKWU<br />
The need to set up<br />
a bank dedicated<br />
to the maritime<br />
economy where<br />
ship owners and<br />
other investors can borrow<br />
at cheap rates re-echoed in<br />
Warri, Delta State, when the<br />
Nigerian Maritime Administration<br />
and Safety Agency<br />
(NIMASA) hosted a day<br />
stakeholders’ conference to<br />
gather ideas to move the industry<br />
forward.<br />
This is as the ability of the<br />
insurance industry in Nigeria<br />
to cope with the mooted<br />
idea of transferring the sale<br />
of crude oil in Nigeria from<br />
Free on Board (FoB) basis to<br />
Cost Insurance and Freight<br />
(CIF) basis.<br />
The urgent need for a<br />
maritime bank has also<br />
found its way into the communiqué<br />
at the end of the<br />
conference. The conference<br />
at the instance of NIMASA<br />
with the Federal Ministry<br />
of Transportation focused<br />
on the executive order one<br />
signed by President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari on ‘Ease<br />
of Doing Business’ and local<br />
content push.<br />
The fresh call for a marine<br />
bank was led by the<br />
chairman, Ship Owners<br />
Forum, Margaret Onyema<br />
– Orakwusi, who spoke on:<br />
“Ease of doing business in a<br />
secured maritime environment”.<br />
Recommending such a<br />
bank to boost funding and<br />
help Nigerians compete in<br />
the maritime sector, she<br />
suggested a rate not more<br />
than three per cent, saying<br />
the commercial rates prevailing<br />
in the country would<br />
never allow huge capital<br />
input into the sector. She<br />
said this would continue to<br />
put the maritime economy<br />
in the hands of foreigners.<br />
The chairman further urged<br />
the Federal Government to<br />
improve security in the nation’s<br />
territorial water to restore<br />
investors’ confidence<br />
in the sector.<br />
She however wondered<br />
if the insurance sub-sector<br />
was ready for the push to<br />
move from FoB to CIF would<br />
be a success. Maritime experts<br />
began the fresh push<br />
to sell CIF in 2017 led by<br />
Chinedu Jideofo-Ogbuagu,<br />
one-time consultant to the<br />
United Nations Committee<br />
on Trade (UNCTAD, now<br />
the president of the Marine<br />
Club of Nigeria. Ogbuagu<br />
had argued thus; “The cargo,<br />
meaning the crude oil<br />
and the refined product,<br />
which are carried in vessels,<br />
must be sold CIF (Cost<br />
Insurance and Freight). By<br />
this, the person selling will<br />
now be able to nominate<br />
which vessel will carry either<br />
the crude or the refined<br />
product. As long as they are<br />
patriotic, why would they<br />
not nominate Nigerian vessels?<br />
But when you sell FoB<br />
(Free on Board), you lose 60<br />
per cent of the extra profit<br />
in the shipping or insurance<br />
that is involved.”<br />
The resolutions at the<br />
end of the conference at<br />
the KFT Centre in Warri<br />
also called on the Ministry<br />
and its Agencies to promote<br />
the automation of all shipping<br />
related administrative<br />
processes to reduce human<br />
subjectivity and corruption;<br />
to consider reviving NIMA-<br />
REX as a platform for bridging<br />
the gap between the<br />
Nigerian shipping industry<br />
and prospective international<br />
investors so as to<br />
provide impetus for growth<br />
and investment; and to also<br />
liaise with relevant Ministries<br />
and Agencies in Trade<br />
and investment sector with<br />
a view to reducing the tax<br />
burden and other ancillary<br />
costs borne by the indigenous<br />
shipping investor”.<br />
The report urged NI-<br />
MASA to take careful stock<br />
of available indigenous<br />
tonnage and their current<br />
state of health so as to be<br />
empirically guided in the<br />
determination of the lingering<br />
Cabotage waiver issues;<br />
and urged the Ministry to<br />
consider inviting the Finance<br />
and Trade Ministries<br />
alongside the Customs Service<br />
to subsequent Stakeholders<br />
Forum with a view<br />
to benefiting from their input<br />
on key issues”.<br />
Bayelsa gears up for <strong>2018</strong><br />
Africa SMEs Roundtable<br />
SAMUEL ESE, Yenagoa<br />
Bayelsa State government<br />
has concluded<br />
arrangements to<br />
host the <strong>2018</strong> Africa<br />
SMEs Roundtable with the<br />
theme: The Position of Africa<br />
SMEs Within the Global<br />
Economy: Unlocking Market<br />
Opportunities.<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> gathers that<br />
already 15 African countries<br />
have registered for the March<br />
1 to 3 event, while 20 African<br />
development institutions, 10<br />
global SME funding support<br />
institutions and many others<br />
have also indicated readiness<br />
to attend.<br />
The event is expected to<br />
provide a platform for business-to-business<br />
and government-to-business<br />
opportunities,<br />
promote bilateral<br />
trade and boost inter African<br />
trade as part of an African<br />
sister cities business fair/exposition.<br />
Director-general of<br />
Bayelsa Microfinance<br />
and Enterprise Development<br />
Agency (BYMEDA),<br />
Ebiekure Eradiri, described<br />
the roundtable as “apt in<br />
view of the global economic<br />
realities of recession and<br />
crude oil negative downward<br />
slide.”<br />
Eradiri called on African<br />
trade and finance ministers,<br />
government agencies, entrepreneurs,<br />
banks and the<br />
African Union among others<br />
to participate, as the roundtable<br />
will afford opportunities<br />
to examine “policies,<br />
strategies, best practices,<br />
solutions and programmes<br />
to upgrade African SMEs<br />
and launch them into new<br />
growth trajectories.”<br />
He said the programme<br />
would spotlight evolution<br />
of Africa SMEs marketplace,<br />
increase foreign direct investment<br />
and promote accelerated<br />
development of<br />
SMEs in the continent.<br />
According to Eradiri, the<br />
roundtable would also take<br />
stock of the implementation<br />
of the Consolidated Plan of<br />
Action, which would take<br />
into account emerging areas<br />
and contributions of Africa<br />
to the attainment of the<br />
Millennium Development<br />
Goals (MDGs).<br />
On the expected impact<br />
of the programme, Eradiri<br />
explained that the recommendations<br />
are expected<br />
to fit into the implementation<br />
plan path for the new<br />
umbrella group for SMEs<br />
advocacy, All Africa Association<br />
of Small and Medium<br />
Enterprises. The three-day<br />
programme would feature<br />
exhibitions in two major sectors<br />
and encourage exchange<br />
of business information,<br />
brands promotion and build<br />
prospect data and generate<br />
sales leads among others.<br />
Eradiri said expected<br />
results include synthesis of<br />
best practices, benchmarking<br />
tool for entrepreneurs,<br />
guidelines for mainstreaming<br />
SMEs into national development,<br />
incubation of<br />
newly identified entrepreneurs<br />
and procurement of<br />
loans and monitoring.<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
25,000 to benefit from<br />
<strong>2018</strong> Lagos ready-setwork<br />
training pack<br />
JOSHUA BASSEY<br />
Lagos State government<br />
has launched<br />
the third edition<br />
of its Ready-Set-<br />
Work (RSW) training programme<br />
targeting to train<br />
over 25,000 students of<br />
various tertiary institutions<br />
in the state.<br />
The RSW is an initiative<br />
of the state government<br />
that brings students<br />
of tertiary institutions in<br />
Lagos, especially those in<br />
the final year, together for<br />
a training programme that<br />
builds their confidence<br />
and prepares their minds<br />
towards the world of work<br />
and self-reliance upon<br />
graduation from school.<br />
The special adviser to<br />
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode<br />
on education, Obafela<br />
Bank-Olemoh, who spoke<br />
at the launch of the <strong>2018</strong><br />
edition of the programme,<br />
on Thursday, said the training<br />
would last for 13 weeks,<br />
adding that since the takeoff<br />
in 2016, thousands had<br />
benefitted from it.<br />
“What we are doing<br />
here is the official launch<br />
of The Ready-Set-Work<br />
faculty. We are building<br />
the largest volunteer faculty<br />
in Nigeria. Since the inception<br />
of the programme,<br />
we have engaged volunteers,<br />
who are professionals<br />
from various sectors of<br />
the economy to train and<br />
mentor the students in<br />
the 13-week training programme.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 7
8 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong>
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
9<br />
NEWS<br />
Niger Delta to blame for death of eastern ports<br />
IGNATIUS CHUKWU<br />
Minister of<br />
T r a n s -<br />
portation,<br />
Chibuike<br />
R o t i m i<br />
Amaechi, former of Rivers<br />
State, has asked the Niger<br />
Delta people to blame themselves,<br />
not anybody from<br />
Lagos or westerners, for the<br />
steady decline of ports in the<br />
east. He spoke in tense voice,<br />
saying the truth must be told.<br />
Amaechi spoke while in<br />
Warri, Delta State, at a day<br />
stakeholders’ conference organised<br />
by Nigerian Maritime<br />
Administration and Safety<br />
Agency (NIMASA) in conjunction<br />
with his ministry to<br />
harvest ideas and issues in the<br />
maritime economy.<br />
The minister said the accusation<br />
had been that west-<br />
TUC wants state<br />
of emergency<br />
in power sector<br />
JOSHUA BASSEY<br />
Saddened by the deteriorating<br />
power supply<br />
in Nigeria and<br />
resultant economic<br />
losses, the Trade Union<br />
Congress of Nigeria (TUC)<br />
has asked the Federal Government<br />
to declare a state<br />
of emergency in the power<br />
sector.<br />
The union, which rose<br />
from its National Executive<br />
Council (NEC) meeting in<br />
Lagos, wekend, said this had<br />
become absolutely necessary,<br />
“as no nation can develop<br />
without power.”<br />
The TUC also urged the<br />
Federal Government to be<br />
decisive in its bid to rebuild<br />
the confidence of the citizenry<br />
in the system, by arresting<br />
and prosecuting killers<br />
of innocent Nigerians,<br />
masquerading as herdsmen<br />
and militia in different parts<br />
of the country. The union in<br />
a communiqué issued after<br />
the meeting, expressed<br />
concern about the ceaseless<br />
killing by the Boko Haram<br />
sect, noting that it was time<br />
the insurgents were made to<br />
face the law.<br />
On the volatility of the<br />
political system, ahead of<br />
the 2019 general elections,<br />
the TUC in the communiqué<br />
signed by Bobboi Kaigama,<br />
president and Musa Lawal,<br />
secretary general, called<br />
on politicians and their followers<br />
to act in a manner<br />
that would guarantee peace<br />
within the polity.<br />
“Politicians should avoid<br />
hate speeches so that both<br />
the common man and workers<br />
can attain fulfilment.<br />
The NEC also called on governors<br />
owing workers to pay<br />
such monies and warned<br />
converting public funds and<br />
workers’ salaries for election<br />
purposes.<br />
The union also blamed<br />
the recurring fuel crisis on<br />
the Nigerian National Petroleum<br />
Corporation (NNPC)<br />
as the sole provider of fuel<br />
for the country and called on<br />
the government to, however,<br />
reimburse the corporation<br />
and marketers of money<br />
spent on subsidy.<br />
… ‘blame yourself, not Lagos’<br />
ern Nigeria did not want eastern<br />
ports to survive and thus<br />
waxed all manner of policies<br />
to achieve the plot, saying he<br />
too believed it. How however<br />
said the moment he took over<br />
as minister, he went into the<br />
issue and found that the issue<br />
was not true at all.<br />
Returning the blame to<br />
his people, Amaechi said the<br />
youths had taken to piracy<br />
and theft, turning the waters<br />
to the region unsafe. He said it<br />
was wrong for someone in the<br />
conference to call for military<br />
escort for ships sailing to the<br />
South South.<br />
Amaechi referred the<br />
stakeholders to the war insurance<br />
system, which made<br />
cost of taking goods to the<br />
Niger Delta water double the<br />
cost of Lagos. “I once called<br />
Peter Obi, former governor of<br />
Anambra State, to educate me<br />
on why importers in Onitsha<br />
and Aba shun Port Harcourt<br />
ports. He said they preferred<br />
paying to transport containers<br />
for eight hours from Lagos<br />
and pay bribe on the way to<br />
Onitsha and Aba than import<br />
through Port Harcourt that is<br />
mere 30 minutes drive.<br />
“He said it was still far<br />
cheaper to import from Lagos<br />
because of insecurity and<br />
the war insurance charged<br />
by international shippers to<br />
venture into risky waters,” the<br />
minister said.<br />
The minister urged the<br />
Niger Delta people to look<br />
at issues objectively instead<br />
of looking for who to blame<br />
always. “They say I am not a<br />
good politician. I could come<br />
here and speak good English<br />
and promise how we are going<br />
to make eastern ports to<br />
overtake Lagos, and you will<br />
clap, but it will be untrue. Instead,<br />
we must stop looking<br />
at outsiders, call ourselves<br />
in hall and tell ourselves the<br />
truth. That is where to start,”<br />
he said.<br />
He went on: “We are not<br />
the hungriest people in Nigeria.<br />
We are not poorer than<br />
those in Lagos or north. We<br />
must admit that violence<br />
and piracy do not help any<br />
economy.” He told the ship<br />
owners to consider protests<br />
and petition to the President<br />
because, as he put it, some<br />
saboteurs were frustrating<br />
moves by the Federal Government<br />
to protect Nigerian<br />
waters through the $195 million<br />
(about N70.2bn) contract<br />
signed a year ago. The fund is<br />
meant to acquire three helicopters,<br />
three aircrafts, three<br />
big battle-ready ships, 12 vessels<br />
and 20 amphibious cars<br />
to combat the menace of piracy<br />
in the Gulf of Guinea. The<br />
contract had been approved<br />
to an Israeli security firm, but<br />
it has rather become a mirage.<br />
Amaechi alleged that<br />
some government officials,<br />
and “People making money<br />
from water” were sabotaging<br />
government’s effort in restoring<br />
peace on the nation’s<br />
troubled waters.<br />
He said: “For ship owners,<br />
you need to do a petition<br />
to the President, you need to<br />
behave like an activist. The<br />
President approved a contract<br />
of $195 million and there are<br />
people in the system sabotaging<br />
that contract. The contract<br />
is to restore security in the nation’s<br />
waters.”<br />
He threatened to disclose<br />
the names of those behind<br />
the sabotage if pushed to the<br />
wall. “I won’t say who they<br />
are until it gets out of control.<br />
We are still battling for the<br />
contract to take place, but if it<br />
gets out of hand, we will name<br />
them, including the security<br />
people.<br />
“These are people who<br />
make billions of dollars from<br />
the waters so they don’t want<br />
security on the waters, because<br />
if we secure the waters,<br />
all this rubbish will go. We<br />
need to ask ourselves what<br />
happened to an approval that<br />
was given about two years ago<br />
by the President,” he said.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
10 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
COMMENT<br />
BASHORUN J.K RANDLE<br />
Randle is Chairman/Chief<br />
ExecutiveJK Randle Professional<br />
Services Chartered Accountants<br />
As Ambassador (Dr.) Olatokunbo<br />
Awolowo-Dosunmu<br />
gracefully glides into the<br />
platinum age of 70 years, it<br />
is tempting to overlook the<br />
fact that she is a doughty survivor and<br />
formidable combatant. Even if the scars<br />
are not visible, she has survived the<br />
loss of two brothers Barrister Olusegun<br />
Awolowo (who graduated from University<br />
of Cambridge) in 1963 and Chief<br />
Oluwole Awolowo as well as a sister, Mrs.<br />
Ayodele Soyode (mother of Mrs. Dolapo<br />
Osinbajo - the wife of the Vice-President<br />
of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo<br />
SAN). All these in addition to the demise<br />
of both parents – the sage Chief Obafemi<br />
Awolowo in 1987 and his jewel Chief<br />
(Mrs.) H.I.D. Awolowo in 2015.<br />
Rather than indulge in suffocating<br />
self-pity, Olatokunbo has opted to be a<br />
nimble combatant in the battle to rescue<br />
others by caring for the underprivileged;<br />
the aged; the homeless and most especially<br />
those who would otherwise<br />
be denied access to medical facilities<br />
(through the aegis of Obafemi Awolowo<br />
Foundation/Dideolu Hospital). It is selfevident<br />
that it is her caring disposition<br />
that influenced her choice of a career in<br />
medicine which was interrupted by her<br />
sojourn into diplomacy as our beloved<br />
nation’s Ambassador at The Hague, in<br />
The Netherlands, from 2000 to 2003.<br />
I commend her warmly for her<br />
granite steadfastness and exceptional<br />
faithfulness which she has consistently<br />
demonstrated in sustaining the inimitable<br />
legacy of selfless public service<br />
and indomitable spirit of her illustrious<br />
parents. Having regard to her tenacity of<br />
purpose, fierce determination and steely<br />
persistence, she is surely already on the<br />
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Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com<br />
Tribute to a survivor and combatant<br />
Indeed, she has restrained herself through reticence<br />
and circumspection from venturing into the vortex of<br />
controversy in the affairs of our nation. Not for her the<br />
temptation to throw her hat into the ring as a potential<br />
first female President or Vice-President of Nigeria<br />
gedness and force of personality.<br />
Meetings at Dr. Akerele’s residence<br />
would sometimes drag on till late at night.<br />
However, first thing the following morning,<br />
Awolowo would have distributed<br />
flawless minutes of the proceedings of the<br />
previous evening to the astonishment of<br />
other members.<br />
That in itself is a story for another day.<br />
It is sufficient to record that our celebrant’s<br />
father displayed uncommon leadership as<br />
well as sagacity combined with vision and<br />
discipline. The followership adored him. A<br />
special chapter would have to be devoted<br />
to how “Awo” charmed the post Victorianage<br />
elite of Lagos into rewarding him with<br />
unprecedented respect and deference.<br />
They adored “Awo” their former protégé<br />
who was now their charismatic leader with<br />
his signature fez “Awo” cap and round rim<br />
pebble glasses.<br />
In physical stature, both Dr. Nnamdi<br />
Azikiwe (Premier of the Eastern Region)<br />
and Sir Ahmadu Bello, (The Sardauna<br />
of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern<br />
Region) towered above Chief Obafemi<br />
Awolowo. However, in the political arena<br />
and strategic thinking he was more than<br />
their equal match.<br />
My late father Chief J.K. Randle was<br />
a friend of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as<br />
well as his rivals – Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe<br />
and Alhaji Ahmadu Bello. I am obliged<br />
to reveal the other side of “Awo” which is<br />
rarely ever mentioned – he had a terrific<br />
sense of humour, gaiety and great sense of<br />
fun which were only on display when he<br />
was amongst a very close circle of friends.<br />
It was there for all to see on the few occasions<br />
when he visited the Lagos Island<br />
Club or Lagos Race Club where my father<br />
was the Chairman of both premier clubs.<br />
Somewhere in the archives of the clubs<br />
are iconic photographs of Chief Obafemi<br />
Awolowo looking very relaxed, jovial<br />
and savouring the company of friends<br />
and foes alike.<br />
Regardless, the dominant trait and<br />
enduring legacy were his stern mien,<br />
seriousness of purpose and dedication<br />
to the pursuit of excellence as well as<br />
the upliftment of Nigeria. He made no<br />
excuses for being a thoroughbred Yoruba<br />
first and foremost but it did not preclude<br />
him from his duty to Nigeria and Africa.<br />
He was ever ready to work from the crack<br />
of dawn till late into the night. The free<br />
education policy which was launched<br />
in Western Nigeria in 1955 remains<br />
his most enduring legacy. Knowledge<br />
became the key to freedom and liberty<br />
for the many rather than the few – in the<br />
pursuit of his catchy slogan: “Life More<br />
Abundant.”<br />
He was never awed by intellectuals<br />
and scholars. On the contrary, he cultivated<br />
them. According to the World Bank<br />
report of 1963, under the leadership of<br />
Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Western<br />
Region of Nigeria was destined to surpass<br />
Singapore; South Korea; Indonesia and<br />
Hong Kong in economic and human<br />
capital development. The prediction is<br />
yet to manifest into reality.<br />
Time and space will not permit us<br />
to dwell on the irony of history when<br />
the feud between Chief Awolowo and<br />
his deputy Chief S. L. Akintola erupted<br />
at Mapo Hall in Ibadan in 1962 and<br />
changed the course of history as well as<br />
the destiny of Nigeria.<br />
Thankfully, the children of Chief<br />
S. O. Adebo (Head of Service, Western<br />
Region) are here to confirm that Chief<br />
Awolowo was fortunate to enjoy the support<br />
and loyalty of dedicated and incorruptible<br />
civil servants. Elder Statesman<br />
Chief Folarin Coker, former civil servant<br />
in the Western Region and Lagos State,<br />
is still with us at the age of 95 years. He is<br />
ever ready to remind us that there was a<br />
moral dimension to Chief Awolowo’s<br />
superlative performance. Mrs. Apinke<br />
Coker was Awo’s personal secretary but<br />
when she accompanied him on his trip<br />
to London to negotiate Nigeria’s Independence,<br />
Chief Awolowo as Premier<br />
of the Western Region personally paid<br />
the fare of Chief Coker so that he could<br />
accompany his wife.<br />
The celebrant was a teenager then.<br />
Here she is, fifty-five years later – still<br />
charming, vibrant, radiant and determined<br />
to keep the flag flying at full mast.<br />
She was previously the Co-Chairman<br />
of African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc,<br />
publishers of “The Tribune” group of<br />
newspapers. The mantle of leadership<br />
as the sole Chairman has fallen on her<br />
shoulders. At the time when the fortunes<br />
of the newspapers were dwindling it was<br />
the then Chairman, Chief (Mrs.) H.I.D<br />
Awolowo, the matriarch of the Awolowo<br />
dynasty who engaged the services of my<br />
firm, J.K. Randle Professional Services to<br />
provide consultancy services which we<br />
successfully executed. The company is<br />
evidently thriving and has been restored<br />
to the front rank of our nation’s media.<br />
At a time when the J.K. Randle family is<br />
under threat, assault, invasion and siege<br />
by the government (and its demolition<br />
squad which is on a rampage) we may<br />
have ignored the incisive observation of<br />
Chief (Mrs.) Awolowo which she shared<br />
with me – no matter the complexion<br />
of the government, you must replenish<br />
your wealth, your power and your<br />
prestige, otherwise you would be in<br />
peril. I remain eternally grateful to her<br />
well-grounded wisdom and profound<br />
knowledge. At close to 100 years old, she<br />
was still mentally alert and genuinely<br />
concerned about the future of Nigeria.<br />
As Olatokunbo steps into those<br />
mega-sized shoes of her parents, we have<br />
every reason to believe that she would<br />
rise up to the challenge. Happy birthday.<br />
Send reactions to:<br />
comment@businessdayonline.com<br />
EMMANUEL UNAEGBU<br />
Unaegbu, an Environmental Protection<br />
and Sustainable Energy Expert, works<br />
with CLIMATTERS and writes from Abuja.<br />
He Tweets @emmalysis<br />
Coal as a natural resource<br />
may havebeen the pillar<br />
upon which many countries<br />
generated wealthbut<br />
that was fifty years and not without<br />
consequences.Importantly, the use of<br />
coal for power was based on the level<br />
of knowledge at the time. As has been<br />
established beyond doubt, coal is the<br />
dirtiest of the fossil fuels. And it is not<br />
cheap as is usually described. The<br />
aftermath costs are often irreparable.<br />
The entire process from mining<br />
to coal cleaning, transportation to<br />
electricity generation and waste disposal,<br />
coal releases numerous toxic<br />
pollutants into the air, water and land.<br />
In a 2001 publication titled “cradle to<br />
the grave: the environmental impacts<br />
from coal” the author posited that coal<br />
causes cancer, damages the nervous<br />
and immune systems, and impedes<br />
reproduction and development. The<br />
Coal mines and a distorted future for host communities<br />
publication was based on evidence<br />
from coal mining sites and coal power<br />
plants in the United States. In essence,<br />
even with all the technical knowhow<br />
and efficient medical facilities coal<br />
processing portends ahealth threat.<br />
In fact, new conventional coal plants<br />
are described as “imprudent financial<br />
investments.”<br />
Few years after Nigeria’s renewed<br />
push for coal power development(a<br />
decision that takes Nigeria back to<br />
1906 when coal was first discovered<br />
in the country), it seems we are already<br />
witnessing the destructive and<br />
life threating impacts of coal mining<br />
inOkobo, Kogi state and Maiganga,<br />
Gombe state.<br />
According to Global Rights (a<br />
Nigerian NGO that advocates for<br />
sustainable justice), coal mining in<br />
these locations is by surface mining<br />
otherwise called opencast mining.<br />
This method of mining requires large<br />
expanse on land with the overlaying<br />
soil covering removed using explosives<br />
and heavy duty machinery.<br />
These sites form craters that scar the<br />
landscape irreparably, destroying entire<br />
ecosystem of plants and animals.<br />
Weathering and leaching of the host<br />
rock result in heavy metals dissolving<br />
into nearby water bodies making<br />
them highly toxic and acidic.<br />
It is more worrying considering<br />
that these mines are only a few years<br />
old. For example, the Okobo site is 6<br />
years old while in Maiganga, mining<br />
activities started in 2007.If current<br />
poor mining practices continue, these<br />
areas will be ruined beyond any use.<br />
Global Rights in the report titled<br />
“power at all cost: the opportunity cost”<br />
which was unveiled to the public on<br />
January 11, <strong>2018</strong> stated that in Maiganga,<br />
dust, smoke and fire are a normal. The<br />
inhalation of the hazardous coal dust<br />
and smoke from spontaneous combustion<br />
of coal in the mining site disrupts<br />
ambient air quality, causing respiratory<br />
diseases. This is exacerbated by the proximity<br />
of the community to the mine site.<br />
The community people say they<br />
have witnessed increased number of<br />
miscarriages in both humans and domestic<br />
animals since mining operations<br />
began. Thus to avoid being victims,<br />
pregnant women leave the community<br />
for some distant community until they<br />
put to bed. Child development defects<br />
have also be recorded. In particular is a<br />
4 years old girl, Bibi Saidu who suffers<br />
partial paralysis. The doctors diagnosed<br />
that her health condition is as a direct<br />
effect of consuming nitrate polluted<br />
water which comes from the on-going<br />
mining activities in Maiganga. Now, she<br />
can only move and play with one side<br />
of her body.<br />
Other predominant health complaints<br />
are gastrointestinal disease<br />
like unexplainable stomach ache,<br />
typhoid and appendicitis; ocular irritation<br />
and; blood urine especially<br />
during dry season.<br />
Beyond the health challenges, the<br />
community has also had to endure violent<br />
suppression. In March 2014, follow-<br />
march to greatness in her own right in<br />
addition to her devotion to the sustenance<br />
and reinforcement of the legend<br />
and legacy of her father and mother.<br />
In this endeavour, she has the benefit<br />
of the support of her only surviving<br />
sibling – Rev. (Mrs.) Tola Oyediran.<br />
Tokunbo deserves kudos for the resilience<br />
she has demonstrated in coping<br />
with the travails of the Awolowo family<br />
together with the triumphs. She is<br />
manifestly endowed with robust shock<br />
absorbers. At a very tender age, she<br />
went through the trauma of witnessing<br />
her beloved father in the dock for<br />
“treasonable felony”. The tragedy was<br />
further compounded by the betrayal<br />
and treachery of former allies particularly<br />
the son of a long standing family<br />
friend (Dr. Ladipo Maja) who turned<br />
out to be the “prosecution witness”.<br />
In politics, she has played her cards<br />
close to her chest, ever ready to welcome<br />
whoever wants to pay homage to<br />
the late sage and supplicate the blessings<br />
of the Awolowo family. Indeed, she<br />
has restrained herself through reticence<br />
and circumspection from venturing<br />
into the vortex of controversy in the<br />
affairs of our nation. Not for her the<br />
temptation to throw her hat into the ring<br />
as a potential first female President or<br />
Vice-President of Nigeria.<br />
She is of course entitled to conclude<br />
that the family has already over-sacrificed<br />
and overinvested in the pursuit<br />
of a vision which has been thoroughly<br />
savaged, bastardised, frustrated and<br />
compromised.<br />
At the age of 70, she is welcome to<br />
reflect on how her father gravitated<br />
from being the humble, assiduous and<br />
committed secretary of “Egbe Omo<br />
Oduduwa” (a Yoruba Cultural Organisation)<br />
with its secretariat at 51, Messina<br />
Avenue, West Hampstead, London (the<br />
home of Dr. Oni Akerele who was the<br />
President) to becoming the leader of<br />
the same group which had transformed<br />
from being a cultural organisation into<br />
the Action Group, as a fully-fledged<br />
political party in Nigeria. He did it by a<br />
combination of zeal, dedication, doging<br />
their frustration, the community<br />
staged a peaceful protest to the company.<br />
In response, the company used<br />
mobile police men to disperse the<br />
people with teargas. Several members<br />
of the community were later arrested,<br />
detained for a whole week without<br />
charges and were released with strict<br />
warning never to repeat same.<br />
Unfortunately, the people of<br />
Maiganga consented to the establishment<br />
of the mine but did so from<br />
an uninformed position. While the<br />
ECOWAS mining directive to which<br />
Nigeria is a signatory clearly proscribes<br />
‘Free, Prior and Informed<br />
Consent’, it was not the case for the<br />
people of Maiganga. In fact, they were<br />
not involved in the environmental impact<br />
assessment process. Till this day,<br />
a community development agreement<br />
which is a requisite has not been<br />
signed. Instead they were verbally<br />
promised schools, water boreholes,<br />
hospitals and jobs. So, they danced<br />
at the opportunity. But 10 years on, it<br />
is pain, tears and sorrow.<br />
These many troubles for the community<br />
has led to mistrust of the<br />
mining company and a feeling of<br />
abandonment by the government at<br />
both the state and federal levels.<br />
It leaves the querying mind with<br />
questions. Why will the company<br />
(with international repute) act with<br />
such irresponsibility? But even if the<br />
company has decided to be irresponsible,<br />
don’t our officials have a duty?<br />
Is it that there are no standards? It<br />
is that they don’t understand their<br />
mandated function of ensuring that<br />
mining operations are conducted in<br />
a manner that protects the environment<br />
and host communities?<br />
One thing is clear though, the<br />
Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel<br />
Development saddled with this responsibility<br />
have to wake up. Enough of<br />
the slumber; lifestyle, livelihoods and<br />
living conditions are being disrupted<br />
on a daily basis from coal mining.<br />
It is recommended that:<br />
• Government should as a matter of<br />
priority reevaluate its position on coal<br />
power generation. Beyond sending<br />
us hundred years behind, there are<br />
existential threats to human health as<br />
well as environmental cost.<br />
• Government should urgently<br />
investigate the human rights violation<br />
in coal mining communities and sanction<br />
offenders to forestall reoccurrence.<br />
• Operational mining companies<br />
should be made to deposit a determined<br />
clean-up amount which will<br />
be used to remediate the mining site<br />
as nature will have it.<br />
Finally, we have to ask the hard<br />
question. Do we really need coal power<br />
to develop? If there is any iota of doubt,<br />
then it is important we leave coal in<br />
the ground.<br />
Our future is at stake. We have the<br />
sun, water and natural gas. We cannot<br />
gamble with coal.<br />
Send reactions to:<br />
comment@businessdayonline.com
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
COMMENT<br />
DAN STEINBOCK<br />
Dr Dan Steinbock is the founder of<br />
Difference Group and has served as<br />
research director at the India, China<br />
and America Institute (USA) and visiting<br />
fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for<br />
International Studies (China) and the<br />
EU Center (Singapore). For more, see<br />
https://www.differencegroup.net/<br />
To avoid cost overruns,<br />
South Korea’s<br />
<strong>2018</strong> Winter Games<br />
was located in Pyeongchang,<br />
the smallest<br />
city to host the Olympics<br />
since Lillehammer 1994 in<br />
Norway. Nevertheless, South<br />
Korea is expected to spend $13<br />
billion on the games; nearly<br />
double the $7 billion originally<br />
projected, which has again<br />
ignited public debate about<br />
Olympic cost overruns.<br />
In 2022, Beijing will become<br />
the first city to host<br />
both Winter and Summer<br />
Olympics. Can the costs be<br />
contained?<br />
C002D5556<br />
In the Cost-Control Scenario, a track-record<br />
of successful planning, rigorous cost-control<br />
and ability to repurpose the Olympic facilities<br />
will play the key role<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
11<br />
comment is free<br />
Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com<br />
Ensuring Olympic success – after the games<br />
Rising economic costs<br />
Hefty price tags and cost overruns<br />
have become all too common<br />
in Olympic Games. The<br />
$15 billion costs of London<br />
2012 Summer Olympics (76%<br />
cost overruns) and the $22<br />
billion Sochi Winter Olympics<br />
(289% cost overrun) contributed<br />
to heavy indebtedness<br />
in the pre-Brexit UK and economic<br />
erosion in Russia.<br />
In Brazil 2016, costs were<br />
projected to be less than $5<br />
billion, yet reportedly more<br />
than doubled amid economic,<br />
political and security challenges.<br />
Moreover, the Olympic<br />
building frenzy has left too<br />
many cities with decaying<br />
stadiums and empty transit<br />
systems, as evidenced by<br />
Athens’s dilapidated venues<br />
and $11 billion in debt that<br />
contributed to the Greek<br />
debt crisis; and the recession<br />
that swept Nagano, Japan,<br />
after the 1998 Winter<br />
Olympics.<br />
Nevertheless, there are<br />
positive examples as well. In<br />
the Los Angeles 1984 Summer<br />
Olympics, budget awareness<br />
showed that the games can<br />
generate actual profit. Moreover,<br />
in summer games, only<br />
few hosts - including Beijing<br />
in 2008 – have managed to<br />
keep cost overruns reasonable.<br />
In the 2022 Winter Olympics,<br />
the estimated budget<br />
in Beijing will be $3.9 billion,<br />
less than one-tenth of<br />
the 2008 Summer Olympics<br />
financing. That illustrates the<br />
new objectives.<br />
Preconditions for success<br />
Cost control is the first economic<br />
precondition for Olympic<br />
success. In 1984, the L.A.<br />
Summer Olympics committee<br />
rejected the idea of new sporting<br />
structures and focused<br />
on modified and upgraded<br />
existing venues. Other success<br />
stories involve new structures<br />
that have been repurposed after<br />
the Olympics.<br />
The second precondition<br />
is environmental sustainability.<br />
In 2014, the International<br />
Olympic Committee (IOC) introduced<br />
the Olympic Agenda<br />
2020, which promotes sustainability<br />
and cost control to<br />
control economic and environmental<br />
damage. The quest<br />
for sustainability requires new<br />
competition venues to be built<br />
with renewable technologies,<br />
as well as energy saving and<br />
environmentally-friendly materials.<br />
The third precondition rests<br />
on successful media deals to<br />
finance the games. In 1984, the<br />
L.A. Olympics sought to make<br />
the games a global TV event;<br />
an objective that was supported<br />
not just by Hollywood<br />
and the industry mecca, but<br />
efforts to sprinkle more than<br />
40 venues throughout almost<br />
500 square kilometres. It was<br />
Olympic branding that fostered<br />
continuity across very different<br />
locations.<br />
Fourth, to promote sports<br />
economy, China is rolling out a<br />
national campaign to encourage<br />
300 million people to participate<br />
in winter sports by 2022. The ven-<br />
ues will be distributed in three<br />
zones which will foster winter<br />
sports in and around Beijing<br />
after the Olympics. If successful,<br />
this would be an important<br />
investment in long-term human<br />
capital: “Healthy mind in<br />
a healthy body,” as educators<br />
put it.<br />
Fifth, Olympics can provide<br />
critical “seed funding”<br />
to local tourism in need for<br />
sustained investment. Even<br />
though Brazil’s Olympics suffered<br />
from cost overruns, it<br />
did attract a record 6.6 million<br />
international tourists. To<br />
avoid waste of resources, local<br />
governments and property<br />
developers should consider<br />
a sustained focus on local<br />
tourism and infrastructure,<br />
accommodations and environmental<br />
protection.<br />
The final precondition involves<br />
a lasting legacy. Under<br />
a 1979 agreement, 40 percent<br />
of the surplus created in the<br />
1984 L.A. Olympics would stay<br />
in Southern California. As the<br />
surplus amounted to $233 million,<br />
the local share was $93<br />
million. Thanks to the great<br />
seed fund for the future, the<br />
LA84 Foundation has awarded<br />
more than $230 million in<br />
grants to youth organizations<br />
ever since 1984.<br />
Olympic scenarios for the<br />
future<br />
In the future, the probable<br />
scenarios for Olympic Games<br />
include three basic trajectories.<br />
In the Dead-End Scenario,<br />
the Olympics will continue as<br />
before in which case the historical<br />
pattern of soaring costs<br />
and cost overruns are likely to<br />
contribute to major economic<br />
losses, social divides and environmental<br />
damage.<br />
In the Cost-Control Scenario,<br />
a track-record of successful<br />
planning, rigorous cost-control<br />
and ability to repurpose the<br />
Olympic facilities will play the<br />
key role. Despite noble goals,<br />
Pyeongchang <strong>2018</strong> failed to<br />
achieve such cost-consciousness.<br />
Beijing 2022 seeks success<br />
in such efforts.<br />
The Regional Scenario<br />
could be an option for smaller<br />
emerging economies. Today,<br />
Olympics take place in several<br />
cities but one country. Why<br />
not organize the games in<br />
multiple cities across borders?<br />
If countries seek scale economies<br />
through regional trade<br />
agreements, why couldn’t they<br />
celebrate sports regionally as<br />
well?<br />
It is not the size of the stadium<br />
that matters but the<br />
audacity of our dreams in our<br />
quest for excellence.<br />
* The original, slightly shorter<br />
commentary was published by<br />
China Daily on <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 22,<br />
<strong>2018</strong><br />
Send reactions to:<br />
comment@businessdayonline.com<br />
BISI ADEYEMI<br />
Adeyemi is managing director, DCSL<br />
Corporate Services Limited<br />
badeyemi@dcsl.com.ng<br />
The effective director: Personal attributes<br />
It is acknowledged that the<br />
office of a Director is a “high<br />
calling”. It is oftentimes challenging<br />
and requires of the<br />
individual certain attributes to<br />
achieve effectiveness. Whilst each<br />
Board has its own peculiarities,<br />
being possessed of certain attributes<br />
will contribute to the<br />
effectiveness of a Director and<br />
by extension the effectiveness<br />
of the Board. These include the<br />
following:<br />
Strong Interpersonal and Communications<br />
Skills: This key attribute<br />
is relevant in and out of the<br />
Boardroom. An effective Director<br />
should be able to relate well with<br />
his/her peers, be approachable<br />
and communicate clearly. Striking<br />
an appropriate balance between<br />
talking too much and too little at<br />
Board meetings is also critical to<br />
achieving effectiveness. An effective<br />
Director will be able to clearly<br />
articulate the key issues and provide<br />
critical insight. He will speak<br />
to the issues before the Board<br />
rather than attack the persons<br />
involved. Furthermore, whilst Executive<br />
Directors are required to<br />
engage with third parties as part<br />
of their day job, Non-Executive<br />
Directors will occasionally have<br />
to represent the company at meetings<br />
and in discussions with third<br />
parties including the media. Thus<br />
the ability to clearly articulate the<br />
Company’s position even at short<br />
notice is desirable.<br />
Independent Judgement:<br />
Managers are expected to be<br />
“team-players” and sometimes<br />
get knocked when they criticize<br />
a decision made by their peers or<br />
superiors. However, the Director’s<br />
role (whether as an Executive or<br />
Non-Executive) is to take a step<br />
back and critically assess the<br />
motivation and consequences of<br />
a decision, and where necessary,<br />
put forward a reasoned view –<br />
even if it is unpopular. A Director<br />
is expected to apply independent<br />
judgement to all issues before the<br />
Board. This requires the Director<br />
putting the overall interest of the<br />
Company at the forefront. Directors<br />
for the most part, find themselves<br />
being swayed by narrow or<br />
short-term considerations when<br />
faced with certain decisions. An<br />
independent mindset will enable<br />
the Director take a stand when<br />
he/she is of the view that the<br />
company’s long term future is not<br />
being prioritized, no matter the<br />
consequences.<br />
Analytical: Directors are often<br />
presented with problems that<br />
have a number of potential solu-<br />
tions, and the ability to analyze, sift<br />
through data and make sense of it to<br />
find the appropriate solution is an<br />
invaluable personality trait.<br />
Not Sweating the Small Things:<br />
Strategic thinking is a key attribute<br />
of an effective Director as Directors<br />
are not expected to waste time and<br />
effort on the small stuff. Sometimes<br />
in a bid to demonstrate their<br />
competence and area of expertise<br />
(show off) they tend to distract<br />
the Board’s attention and dwell<br />
on less critical issues. The ability<br />
to stay focused on those matters<br />
strictly within the Board’s purview<br />
is a desirable attribute. For<br />
Non-Executive Directors, this also<br />
means respecting the professional<br />
and technical competencies of the<br />
Executive Directors and not seeking<br />
to micro-manage.<br />
Staying Power: Companies are<br />
bound to face pressure from regulators,<br />
short-term focused shareholders,<br />
the media and competition,<br />
particularly during periods of<br />
perceived poor performance, or<br />
significant structural changes. An<br />
effective Director should have the<br />
strength of character to stay calm in<br />
the face of pressure to provide the<br />
much needed stability to the Board<br />
and the Company.<br />
Respect for Alternative Viewpoints:<br />
There are “many ways<br />
to skin a cat” or execute a given<br />
strategy. At the height of Board effectiveness<br />
is diversity of skill set,<br />
experience and perspectives. A<br />
Director should recognize that the<br />
overall interest of the organization<br />
will be better served if multiple<br />
perspectives are considered before<br />
arriving at a decision on any<br />
issue before the Board. The Director<br />
should not attempt to force<br />
his/her viewpoint on the Board on<br />
the oft wrong assumption that it is<br />
the way to go. This also requires<br />
appropriate listening skills – a<br />
sincere attempt to actually “hear”<br />
what another Director has to say<br />
as opposed to waiting to counter<br />
that position.<br />
Integrity: A significant attribute<br />
of an effective Director is integrity.<br />
Integrity connotes sound ethical<br />
values, transparency, accountability,<br />
consistency, commitment<br />
and courage to set an appropriate<br />
“tone at the top”. Transparency<br />
and accountability that ensure<br />
all actions pass the test of public<br />
scrutiny. Enough time and attention<br />
committed to making a good<br />
job of it and courage to ask the<br />
right questions – or to walk away<br />
if that becomes necessary.<br />
In addition to personal attributes,<br />
certain experiential factors<br />
also contribute to the effectiveness<br />
of a Director. These include:<br />
International Exposure: Companies<br />
have embraced regional<br />
and global expansion which come<br />
with unique challenges. A Director<br />
that brings to the Board an<br />
international perspective and<br />
exposure to global benchmarks is<br />
an asset to the Board. An effective<br />
Director is one who keeps abreast<br />
of global issues that would have<br />
direct or remote implications for<br />
the business.<br />
Industry Expertise: The Board<br />
is enriched by a Director that<br />
can contribute knowledge of the<br />
particular industry when evaluating<br />
issues and decisions before<br />
the Board. This need not be the<br />
industry in which the Company is<br />
operating as expertise in a sector<br />
in which the Company necessarily<br />
interfaces with is always desirable.<br />
Financial Knowledge: Whilst<br />
not required to be a financial expert<br />
or an Accountant, the ability<br />
to interpret financial reports and<br />
evaluate the financial implications<br />
of an action or decision is definitely<br />
an advantage. Directors should<br />
not shy away from seeking help in<br />
this regard.<br />
Bringing it all together, it is<br />
important for Directors to always<br />
be reminded that the leadership<br />
and direction they provide to the<br />
enterprise is invaluable and it behooves<br />
upon them to continuously<br />
self-develop to ensure impactful<br />
stewardship.<br />
Bisi Adeyemi is the Managing<br />
Director of DCSL Corporate<br />
Services Limited. Kindly send reactions<br />
and comments to badeyemi@dcsl.com.ng<br />
Send reactions to:<br />
comment@businessdayonline.com
12 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
EDITORIAL<br />
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Sabotaging the war against corruption<br />
The recall of the<br />
Executive Secretary<br />
of the National<br />
Health Insurance<br />
Scheme,<br />
Usman Yusuf, by president<br />
Buhari is troubling and may<br />
have effectively ended the<br />
administration’s so-called<br />
war on corruption. Yusuf,<br />
appointed to the position in<br />
2016, was suspended by the<br />
Minister of Health in July<br />
2017 following allegations<br />
of corruption and abuse of<br />
office. Specifically, Yusuf<br />
was alleged to have misappropriated<br />
the sum of N919<br />
million, being part of contributions<br />
by subscribers of<br />
the scheme.<br />
He was alleged to have<br />
diverted a huge part of the<br />
money under the pretext of<br />
training staff of the scheme,<br />
bought a Sport Utility Vehicle<br />
for N58 million, approved<br />
contracts to the tune of N1<br />
billion naira to cronies and<br />
turned the organisation to<br />
a family one, populating the<br />
place with his relatives. The<br />
Senate equally accused him<br />
of “corrupt expenditure of<br />
N292 million...without recourse<br />
to any appropriate<br />
approving authority.<br />
Following extant rules, the<br />
minister of health suspended<br />
Yusuf and set up an administrative<br />
panel to investigate<br />
him. The Economic and Financial<br />
Crimes Commission,<br />
EFCC, and the Independent<br />
and Corrupt Practices Commission,<br />
ICPC, also stepped<br />
into the matter and are investigating<br />
Yusuf. But Yusuf<br />
would not go quietly. He kept<br />
challenging the authority of the<br />
minister to suspend him. Yusuf,<br />
responding to the minister’s<br />
letter suspending him, said he<br />
was “unable to comply” with<br />
the directive because, according<br />
to him, only the president<br />
had the powers to suspend or<br />
sack him. But the minister insisted<br />
and the suspension was<br />
given effect.<br />
Still in a show of defiance,<br />
Yusuf refused to appear before<br />
the administrative panel<br />
investigating him. Regardless,<br />
he was found guilty of<br />
the panel set up to investigate<br />
him and the report of the<br />
panel had been submitted to<br />
the president since September<br />
last year.<br />
However, without taking action<br />
on the report of the panel<br />
or allowing the EFCC and ICPC<br />
conclude their investigation,<br />
the president via a letter from<br />
his chief of staff to the minister,<br />
reinstated Yusuf to his<br />
position. His only punishment<br />
was that he was “admonished<br />
to work harmoniously with the<br />
minister.”<br />
This is shocking and unprecedented.<br />
But we are not<br />
surprised. That was also how<br />
government reinstated, promoted<br />
and posted Abdulrasheed<br />
Maina, former Chairman<br />
of the Presidential Task<br />
Force on Pension Reform, an<br />
alleged criminal and fugitive<br />
from the law, to the Ministry<br />
of Interior. Despite the many<br />
denials by the government, it<br />
was confirmed that all senior<br />
government officials, beginning<br />
from the president, to the<br />
Attorney General and Minister<br />
of Justice, were all involved in<br />
the saga.<br />
This only makes a mockery<br />
of the so-much trumpeted<br />
war against corruption of<br />
the administration. Just like<br />
Senator Shehu Sani famously<br />
described the Buhari administration,<br />
it treats cases of<br />
corruption against opposition<br />
with insecticide but treats corruption<br />
cases against its party<br />
members and close associates<br />
with deodorant.<br />
This adds to the long list<br />
of weighty corruption allegations<br />
against close associates<br />
and aides of the president that<br />
have been swept under the carpet<br />
without investigation. We<br />
recall the allegations against<br />
General Tukur Burutai, Chief<br />
of Army Staff, General Abdulrahman<br />
Dambazau, Minister<br />
of Interior and former Chief<br />
of Army Staff, Abba Kyari, and<br />
Chief of Staff to the President,<br />
Babachir Lawal, former Secretary<br />
to the Government of<br />
the Federation (SGF). Interestingly<br />
also, the Presidential<br />
panel set up to probe arms<br />
procurement between 2007<br />
and 2015, and whose reports<br />
were being used to prosecute<br />
past military chiefs was hurriedly<br />
disbanded the moment<br />
it began moves to investigate<br />
the tenure of the Present National<br />
Security Adviser, Babagana<br />
Monguno as Chief of<br />
Defence Intelligence between<br />
July 2009 and September 2011.<br />
The curious reason given by<br />
the government for its dissolution<br />
was that it has outlived<br />
its usefulness. No wonder<br />
an analyst recently quipped<br />
that “Buhari’s so-called anticorruption<br />
fight is the most<br />
invidiously selective, the least<br />
transparent, the most brazenly<br />
unjust, and the silliest joke<br />
in Nigeria’s entire history.”<br />
Worse is the open clannishness<br />
and nepotism being displayed<br />
by the administration.<br />
It gives the impression that<br />
the government is not for all<br />
Nigerians and that some Nigerians<br />
are more favoured and<br />
are untouchable no matter the<br />
offence they allegedly commit.<br />
Perhaps, by the time the<br />
history of this administration<br />
is being written, it will go down<br />
in history as the most clannish<br />
and provincial and did<br />
the most to divide the country<br />
along ethnic and religious<br />
lines.<br />
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Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 13
14 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
In Association With<br />
Calling BS<br />
High-school pupils plan to protest against mad gun laws<br />
This might be the start of something<br />
A spanner in the works<br />
The Pimlico<br />
Plumbers case<br />
puts the gig<br />
economy on trial<br />
When does a self-employed worker<br />
become an employee?<br />
NOT since Super Mario has the<br />
public been so gripped by the<br />
fate of a plumber. On <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
20th the gallery of the Supreme<br />
Court was filled with academics, trade<br />
unionists and businesspeople who had<br />
come to watch a hearing concerning a<br />
dispute between Pimlico Plumbers, a<br />
big London company, and one of its<br />
former engineers, Gary Smith. The case<br />
centres on whether Pimlico correctly<br />
classed Mr Smith as self-employed,<br />
merely contracting his services to the<br />
firm, or whether, as he argues, his<br />
relationship with the company more<br />
THREE days after<br />
Nikolas Cruz walked<br />
into Marjory Stoneman<br />
Douglas High<br />
School in Florida<br />
and shot dead 14 students and<br />
three teachers, one of his former<br />
schoolmates addressed<br />
a gun-control rally. “They say<br />
that tougher gun laws do not<br />
prevent gun violence,” shouted<br />
18-year-old Emma Gonzales,<br />
barely pausing to wipe away the<br />
tears that were streaming down<br />
her face. “We call BS!” Her moving<br />
speech, in which that line<br />
became a refrain taken up by a<br />
chanting crowd, was broadcast<br />
around the world.<br />
The school shooting, on <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
14th, was America’s deadliest<br />
since 2012 when a gunman<br />
killed 20 children, six adults and<br />
himself at Sandy Hook Elementary<br />
School in Connecticut. But<br />
it has been the response of the<br />
surviving students, rather than<br />
its grim toll, that has kept the<br />
tragedy in the news a little longer<br />
than usual. The pupils, from Broward<br />
County, an affluent area<br />
north of Miami, have poured<br />
their grief and rage into a new<br />
campaign for gun control. In<br />
television interviews, speeches<br />
and social-media posts they<br />
have excoriated politicians who<br />
take cash from the National Rifle<br />
Association and argue against<br />
expanding gun controls. With<br />
other activists, they have announced<br />
plans for nationwide<br />
protests in March.<br />
Why has their response been<br />
so forceful? One reason is the<br />
age of the survivors. The pupils,<br />
in their late teens, started their<br />
education after a massacre at<br />
Columbine High School in Colorado<br />
in 1999, in which 13 were<br />
killed. That means they have<br />
been practising active-shooter<br />
drills in the classroom since<br />
kindergarten. Seeing a school<br />
shooting as an event to prepare<br />
for, rather than an awful aberration,<br />
seems to have fuelled the<br />
students’ anger. Though polling<br />
suggests that young people are<br />
only slightly more in favour of<br />
gun-control measures than their<br />
elders, those surveys focus on<br />
those aged 18 and above. There<br />
may be a pre- and post-Columbine<br />
divide within that group.<br />
The survivors of the latest<br />
school shooting have also grown<br />
up using social media, which has<br />
helped them channel their rage<br />
into a potent hashtag movement,<br />
#NeverAgain. And they have, at<br />
a formative age, witnessed the<br />
visual power of mass protest,<br />
thanks to the #MeToo movement<br />
and the women’s marches of<br />
the past two Januarys. Indeed,<br />
they have received help from<br />
its organisers, as well as other<br />
groups, for the “March for Our<br />
Lives” planned in Washington,<br />
DC, on March 24th.<br />
What will the teenagers’ impressive<br />
campaigning achieve?<br />
Some politicians seem to have<br />
taken note, at least. Marco Rubio,<br />
a Republican senator from<br />
Florida, has said he welcomes<br />
a Democratic bill in the state<br />
legislature that would allow<br />
Florida’s courts to temporarily<br />
prevent people from having guns<br />
if they are considered a threat to<br />
themselves or others.<br />
President Donald Trump,<br />
who waited 20 hours before addressing<br />
America about the tragedy<br />
but is unlikely to have missed<br />
the students on the Sunday talk<br />
shows, said he backed a bill to<br />
improve background checks on<br />
those who buy firearms. Then<br />
he said more teachers should<br />
be armed. The president has ordered<br />
the Department of Justice<br />
to propose regulations to ban<br />
bump-stocks, which can help<br />
convert semi-automatic firearms<br />
into automatic ones, and which<br />
were used by a gunman who<br />
killed 58 people in Las Vegas in<br />
October. Congress talked about<br />
banning them then, but did<br />
nothing. In any case, a bumpstock<br />
ban would have made no<br />
difference in the Marjory Stoneman<br />
Douglas shooting, which<br />
was carried out with a semiautomatic<br />
AR-15 rifle.<br />
More stringent gun controls, of<br />
the kind introduced by Australia<br />
and Britain after mass-shooting<br />
atrocities, are unlikely to come<br />
soon. But the national protests<br />
the students are planning for next<br />
month could gather momentum.<br />
A new poll by Quinnipiac University<br />
suggested that 67% of Americans<br />
back a nationwide ban on<br />
assault rifles—a higher percentage<br />
than after Sandy Hook. And in<br />
Florida, the issue could become<br />
prominent in the mid-term elections<br />
later this year, especially if,<br />
as seems likely, Rick Scott, the<br />
state’s gun-loving governor, runs<br />
for the Senate.<br />
closely approximated one of employment.<br />
The case matters because more and<br />
more Britons have working lives that<br />
resemble Mr Smith’s. Partly fuelled by<br />
technology, Britain’s “gig economy”<br />
has taken off in recent years. More<br />
workers are operating on short-term<br />
contracts or going freelance, rather<br />
than occupying full-time, permanent<br />
positions. Uber, a ride-hailing firm, has<br />
perhaps 50,000 drivers in Britain (and<br />
is fighting its own legal case similar to<br />
Pimlico’s). Overall, Britain has around<br />
1m gig workers.<br />
The gig economy has upsides for<br />
workers. An app can be downloaded in<br />
seconds, making it easier than ever to<br />
find a job. It has helped Britain’s working-age<br />
employment rate exceed 75%,<br />
almost reaching its highest ever. Many<br />
enjoy the flexibility that such work provides.<br />
And some employers are pretty<br />
good. At Pimlico’s office, plumbers can<br />
work out in a swanky gym, then load up<br />
on protein in the subsidised canteen.<br />
Some have six-figure incomes.<br />
Yet problems have emerged. Gig<br />
workers miss out on rights that employees<br />
have, such as sick pay and<br />
protection against unfair dismissal.<br />
They are not entitled to the hourly<br />
minimum wage of £7.50 ($10.50). Many<br />
earn far less. Frank Field, a Labour MP,<br />
has described the gig economy as “the<br />
vulnerable human underbelly of the<br />
labour market”. Earlier this month it<br />
was reported that a delivery driver<br />
Continues on page 15
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
15<br />
In Association With<br />
Administrative bipolar disorder<br />
One arm of the Trump administration thinks climate change is a security threat<br />
Another thinks it is a hoax<br />
UNTIL America gets<br />
a grand military parade,<br />
a drive along<br />
the wharf at Naval<br />
Station Norfolk, in<br />
Virginia, is the next-best thing.<br />
Destroyers, missile-cruisers,<br />
nuclear-powered submarines<br />
and, most fearsome of all, two<br />
333-metre (1,092-foot) Nimitzclass<br />
aircraft-carriers, are enough<br />
to make Americans’ spines tingle<br />
and enemies shudder. But the<br />
menace that most concerns Captain<br />
Dean VanderLey, the chief<br />
civil engineer for the navy in the<br />
mid-Atlantic region, is one that is<br />
undeterred by military might. In<br />
the 100 years since the base was<br />
first built, the sea level has risen<br />
by half a metre. In a major hurricane,<br />
he says, while surveying<br />
the piers and a road linking them<br />
to an airfield, “a lot of this would<br />
probably be flooded”.<br />
Captain VanderLey is not<br />
alone in fretting about the military<br />
consequences of climate<br />
change. A report published on<br />
January <strong>26</strong>th by the Department<br />
of Defence (DoD) found that more<br />
than half of the 3,500 sites surveyed<br />
are already reporting climate-related<br />
problems (see map). Droughts<br />
are leading to water shortages,<br />
heatwaves are causing some livefire<br />
exercises to be cancelled and<br />
shifting wind patterns are disrupting<br />
aircraft sorties.<br />
Then there is the flooding. On<br />
<strong>Feb</strong>ruary 18th scientists involved<br />
in the federal government’s National<br />
Climate Assessment, a<br />
four-yearly exercise mandated by<br />
Congress, presented an update to<br />
the last report from November,<br />
showing that sea levels are rising<br />
twice as fast as 25 years ago.<br />
In 2009 the DoD found that 128<br />
coastal installations, including 56<br />
naval ones, would be at risk if sea<br />
levels rose by a metre. The Navy’s<br />
sites alone were valued at $100bn.<br />
In 2016 the Union of Concerned<br />
Scientists found that nine strategically<br />
important bases, including<br />
several in the Hampton Roads<br />
region around Norfolk, could<br />
permanently lose half their land<br />
area by 2100 if waters rise by two<br />
metres.<br />
Critical outposts abroad are<br />
similarly vulnerable. Twenty<br />
years from now a new $1bn radar<br />
installed on the Marshall Islands,<br />
which helps to shield America<br />
and its allies from nuclear-tipped<br />
missiles launched by North Korea,<br />
could be under water. Diego<br />
Garcia, a staging post on an<br />
Indian Ocean atoll crucial for<br />
operations in the Persian Gulf,<br />
may be submerged too.<br />
President Donald Trump’s<br />
policies, which include pulling<br />
America out of the Paris climate<br />
agreement to limit global warming<br />
and championing coal, make<br />
all this more likely. In the past<br />
two months his administration<br />
has put his climate-sceptical<br />
stamp on the national-security<br />
and defence strategies. These<br />
documents, which each administration<br />
must draw up, lay out a<br />
high-level plan for keeping America<br />
safe. Under Barack Obama,<br />
they listed climate change as a<br />
strategic threat to be assessed and<br />
countered. Yet in a contradiction<br />
that is typical of this White House,<br />
other parts of the government are<br />
carrying on with planning for a<br />
warmer planet regardless.<br />
As global temperatures rise so<br />
does the likelihood of extreme<br />
weather, with calls for military<br />
assistance in disaster relief. Last<br />
September the USS Wasp helicopter-carrier<br />
was sailing from<br />
Norfolk to Japan when it was<br />
diverted to hurricane-struck US<br />
Virgin Islands, Dominica and<br />
Puerto Rico. Melting sea ice in<br />
the Arctic opens up a new theatre<br />
of operations, especially against<br />
a belligerent Russia. As it thaws,<br />
the Bering Strait could become<br />
another strategic choke-point<br />
like those of Hormuz (the gateway<br />
to the Gulf) or Malacca (which<br />
connects the Indian and Pacific<br />
Oceans). Some studies have<br />
linked global warming to unrest<br />
such as the Arab spring. James<br />
Mattis, the defence secretary, has<br />
called climate change “a driver of<br />
instability”.<br />
In December, days before he<br />
unveiled his climate-changeless<br />
national-security strategy, Mr<br />
Trump signed a defence bill that<br />
called climate change “a direct<br />
threat” and required the DoD to<br />
report which assets are at risk.<br />
He kept his chief climate envoy,<br />
George Banks, on the National<br />
Security Council. (Unable to gain<br />
a security clearance, Mr Banks<br />
resigned in <strong>Feb</strong>ruary.) The Pentagon<br />
betrays no intention of shredding<br />
Obama-era rules directing<br />
the armed services to assess and<br />
counter climate-related weaknesses.<br />
It helps that the military<br />
bureaucracy is more hulking<br />
Nimitz than nimble corvette,<br />
remarks Ann Phillips, a retired<br />
admiral formerly involved in the<br />
Navy’s climate-planning: “It takes<br />
time to turn around.”<br />
Bureaucratic inertia is not<br />
the only reason why reality has<br />
changed less than the rhetoric<br />
would imply. As David Titley,<br />
another retired admiral now<br />
at Pennsylvania State University,<br />
observes, Mr Trump is the<br />
mirror-image of Mr Obama, who<br />
stressed the security implications<br />
of climate change but did<br />
little to tackle them. Even before<br />
Mr Trump took office a year ago,<br />
Captain VanderLey’s construction<br />
budgets never included extra<br />
dollars earmarked for climate<br />
adaptation (or “resilience” as<br />
he prefers to call it, studiously<br />
avoiding talk of climate change).<br />
In practical terms, Mr Obama’s<br />
climate cheerleading can sometimes<br />
be hard to tell apart from<br />
Trumpian neglect.<br />
100,000 tonnes of floating<br />
diplomacy<br />
Former officials insist that<br />
during the last six years of Mr<br />
Obama’s presidency, Republican<br />
majorities in Congress would<br />
simply have blocked measures<br />
overtly aimed at combating global<br />
warming. Some money was (and<br />
still is) buried in the DOD’s notoriously<br />
opaque budget, they say.<br />
The White House and Congress<br />
leave the men in uniform lots of<br />
room to interpret what counts as a<br />
“threat”, notes Francesco Femia of<br />
the Centre for Climate and Security,<br />
a think-tank. Often, climate<br />
adaptation is a side-benefit of<br />
work motivated by other considerations.<br />
Norfolk’s four doubledecker<br />
piers erected since the<br />
mid-1990s for $60m apiece were<br />
chiefly designed to ease access<br />
to electricity, water and internet<br />
cables that could previously only<br />
be reached by boat, and to accommodate<br />
modern ships’ higher<br />
decks, explains Joe Bouchard, a<br />
former commander of the base. If<br />
they also guard against encroaching<br />
seas, all the better.<br />
Climate change is one among<br />
many threats facing American<br />
strategists. Others are more pressing,<br />
from North Korean nukes and<br />
Chinese island-building to wars<br />
in Afghanistan and Syria. But its<br />
importance is poised to grow as<br />
the Earth warms, so Mr Trump’s<br />
nonchalance looks myopic. For<br />
all its ponderous officialdom, the<br />
Pentagon also has an especially<br />
clear chain of command. What<br />
the man at the top considers<br />
important—or unimportant—<br />
therefore matters a great deal.<br />
Mr Trump might not hobble the<br />
armed forces’ efforts to deal with<br />
the consequences of climate<br />
change. But a more farsighted<br />
commander-in-chief would be<br />
adding to their armour.<br />
The Pimlico Plumbers case<br />
puts the gig economy...<br />
Continued from page 14<br />
had missed a medical appointment<br />
for fear of being fined by his firm, and<br />
subsequently died.<br />
Britain is grappling with these dilemmas<br />
more diligently than perhaps<br />
any country. Last July an official review<br />
of “modern employment practices”<br />
made over 50 recommendations, including<br />
removing some of the tax<br />
advantages that the self-employed<br />
currently enjoy. Employment lawyers<br />
are also busy. The past two years have<br />
seen a spate of challenges to improve<br />
workers’ rights.<br />
Broadly speaking, a working Briton<br />
can be one of three things: an employee,<br />
self-employed, or an intermediate<br />
category known as a “worker”, which<br />
comes with some rights, including a<br />
minimum wage. Gig-economy serfs are<br />
often deemed self-employed. But campaigners,<br />
including those backing the<br />
plumber in the Pimlico case, argue that<br />
firms often exert great control over their<br />
staff, forcing them to wear uniforms or<br />
controlling their hours. That may imply<br />
their staff are really “workers”.<br />
In many instances, people have<br />
been misclassified. In 2016 a tribunal<br />
ruled that Uber drivers were workers,<br />
not self-employed. Last year a cycle<br />
courier who worked for CitySprint, a<br />
delivery firm, won the right to paid<br />
holidays. This month a tribunal ruled<br />
that a former BBC newsreader had been<br />
wrongly classified as self-employed and<br />
was thus liable for a big tax bill. Some<br />
firms, however, have resisted legal challenges.<br />
Deliveroo, a takeaway service,<br />
has successfully argued that its staff<br />
are not workers, since they may send<br />
someone else to do a job in their place.<br />
The Supreme Court’s verdict on the<br />
Pimlico case could have a big impact<br />
on other businesses if the court rules<br />
against the firm and offers an expanded<br />
interpretation of worker status. That<br />
could make it difficult for arguments<br />
such as Deliveroo’s to succeed in the<br />
future, suggests Jason Moyer-Lee of<br />
the IWGB, a trade union. At the very<br />
least, better awareness of the pitfalls of<br />
misclassifying workers may make firms<br />
leerier of trying their luck. Yet with gig<br />
work so varied, it is impossible to devise<br />
a definition of employment status<br />
that firms cannot find a way around.<br />
Responding to last year’s review,<br />
the government rejected the recommendation<br />
on tax, but endorsed other<br />
proposals. It wants an online tool to<br />
allow Britons to check their employment<br />
status. It is considering granting<br />
a higher minimum wage to workers<br />
on insecure contracts. It has promised<br />
tougher enforcement of existing laws.
16 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
In Association With<br />
A bigger gig<br />
OPEC mulls a long-term alliance with Russia to keep oil prices stable<br />
One aim is to allay fears that a current pact will unravel<br />
OIL bears beware. On <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
20thSuhail al-Mazrouei,<br />
OPEC’s rotating president<br />
and energy minister of the United<br />
Arab Emirates, said the 14-member<br />
producers’ group is working on a<br />
plan for a formal alliance with ten<br />
other petrostates, including Russia,<br />
aimed at propping up oil prices for<br />
the foreseeable future. If it comes to<br />
anything, it could be OPEC’s most<br />
ambitious venture in decades.<br />
The result will not be, he insists,<br />
a “supergroup”. The notion of Saudi<br />
Arabia and Russia joining forces<br />
as the Traveling Wilburys of the oil<br />
world may be a bit jarring. It remains<br />
an idea in “draft” form. But whatever<br />
its chances, it attempts to shift a<br />
belief widely held by participants in<br />
oil markets: that non-American oil<br />
producers are helpless against the<br />
shale revolution.<br />
Get our daily newsletter<br />
That belief has strengthened because<br />
of a renewed flood of American<br />
shale production in the latter<br />
part of 2017 after prices of West<br />
Texas Intermediate climbed above<br />
$50 a barrel. The International Energy<br />
Agency (IEA), the industry’s<br />
forecaster-in-chief, says America<br />
could overtake the two biggest producers,<br />
Russia and Saudi Arabia,<br />
this year. Such countries, it added,<br />
faced the “sobering thought” that<br />
America’s rise to the super league<br />
was reminiscent of the first wave<br />
of shale growth that ended with an<br />
oil-price crash in 2014.<br />
The shale resurgence comes at a<br />
delicate time for OPEC, Russia and<br />
the rest. It is largely their actions that<br />
have pushed up prices. In 14 months<br />
they have come close to their goal of<br />
curtailing oil production in order<br />
to return the oversupply of global<br />
crude to its more manageable five-<br />
Go east, young founder<br />
Chinese cities are competing to woo overseas entrepreneurs<br />
The authorities are offering foreign founders office space, cash, advice, logistics services and even basic furniture<br />
WHEN Maria Veikhman,<br />
founder of SCORISTA, a<br />
Russian credit-scoring<br />
startup, was considering expansion<br />
abroad, China immediately came to<br />
mind. She believes the scope there is<br />
vast, for two-fifths of Chinese have no<br />
credit records. Ms Veikhman settled<br />
in Tianfu Software Park, a stateowned<br />
incubator in Chengdu, capital<br />
of Sichuan province where city authorities<br />
“offer almost everything for<br />
free”. Complementary facilities range<br />
from office space, basic furniture and<br />
logistics services to detailed guidance<br />
on entrepreneurial methods.<br />
Chengdu aims to catch up with<br />
Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen,<br />
which at present are in a different<br />
entrepreneurial league—together<br />
they have over a hundred unicorns,<br />
or private startups worth over $1bn.<br />
The south-western city allocated<br />
200m yuan ($30m) in 2016 to an<br />
innovation-and-startup fund for<br />
overseas founders, and hands out up<br />
to 1m yuan in cash to well-capitalised<br />
year average (see chart). They still<br />
have about 74m barrels to go. As yet,<br />
Mr Mazrouei says, there is no “exit<br />
strategy” for when the agreement is<br />
reviewed in June.<br />
Fareed Mohamedi, chief economist<br />
at Rapidan Energy Group, an<br />
American consultancy, likens their<br />
task to central bankers unwinding<br />
ultra-easy monetary policy.<br />
They risk spooking the markets if<br />
they send the wrong signal. So the<br />
proposal of a pact lasting into the<br />
foreseeable future is a way to reassure<br />
the market that the grown-ups<br />
will continue to regulate supply.<br />
“They’re saying, ‘Daddy is back’.”<br />
A shift is under way in relations<br />
between Saudi Arabia and Russia,<br />
the two leaders of the OPEC/non-<br />
OPEC cabal. They appear to have set<br />
aside a mistrust, bordering on enmity,<br />
that was exacerbated by their<br />
support for opposing sides in the<br />
Syrian civil war. “The Russia-Saudi<br />
foreign startups and joint ventures. If<br />
the founders are “top international<br />
talents”, such as Nobel laureates, the<br />
incentive soars to 100m yuan. Last<br />
March Chengdu’s Hi-Tech Zone<br />
opened an office to provide startup<br />
services for expats, including corporate<br />
registrations. Some 3,000<br />
foreigners now work there, many<br />
operating their own businesses.<br />
Other cities are making similar<br />
moves. Beijing and Zhejiang have<br />
opened well-funded centres for overseas<br />
entrepreneurs. The authorities<br />
may be particularly keen on attracting<br />
venturesome “sea turtles”, meaning<br />
foreign-educated or foreign-born<br />
Chinese, but they help non-ethnic<br />
Chinese too. Shanghai and Wuhan,<br />
the capital of Hubei province, are<br />
planning new facilities for winners<br />
of international startup competitions<br />
held in China. In at least ten provinces,<br />
new immigration policies are<br />
easing the visa process. Foreigners<br />
graduating from Chinese universities<br />
can apply for two- to five-year<br />
relationship is real. ‘Put a ring on<br />
it’, to quote Beyoncé,” says Helima<br />
Croft, an oil analyst at RBC Capital<br />
Markets. She says both countries<br />
need high prices to soothe tensions<br />
at home.<br />
Since King Salman of Saudi<br />
Arabia visited Moscow for the first<br />
time in October, the two countries’<br />
oil ministers have frequently<br />
popped over to each other’s capitals.<br />
Mr Mohamedi says Muhammad<br />
bin Salman, the Saudi crown<br />
prince, needs oil at $70-80 a barrel<br />
to keep the economy steady as<br />
he enacts reforms, in particular<br />
the partial privatisation of Saudi<br />
Aramco, the state oil company.<br />
He believes Russia can help with<br />
that. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s<br />
president, who faces elections in<br />
March, sees eye-to-eye with Prince<br />
Muhammad.<br />
Furthermore, the two countries<br />
are discussing unprecedented<br />
residence permits marked “startup”. If<br />
they meet certain criteria, expatriates<br />
working for young firms can apply<br />
for permanent residence. In Zhongguancun,<br />
a tech hub in Beijing, 353<br />
expatriates have been issued with<br />
“green cards” since 2016. A stateowned<br />
incubator there, Zhongguancun<br />
Inno Way, in 2017 incubated 878<br />
startups; 121 of them were founded<br />
by foreigners or by sea turtles.<br />
Three big hurdles still stand in the<br />
way of foreign entrepreneurs. Despite<br />
cities’ efforts to smooth immigration,<br />
for many founders visas are still hard<br />
to come by. Ms Veikhman has been<br />
refused a visa for months with little<br />
explanation, and has to shuttle between<br />
Moscow and Chengdu each<br />
month. Tight internet control also<br />
cuts the efficiency of starting a business.<br />
Overseas entrepreneurs must<br />
work hard to adapt to the internet environment<br />
inside the “great firewall”<br />
where Google, Twitter and many<br />
other services are blocked.<br />
Notwithstanding the cash on ofinvestments<br />
in each other’s oil<br />
industries. A Russian sovereign<br />
wealth fund is considering buying<br />
shares in the Aramco listing.<br />
Aramco is mulling a stake in a vast<br />
liquefied-natural-gas project in<br />
the Russian Arctic.<br />
The possibility of long-term<br />
co-operation between the two<br />
countries to support oil prices also<br />
has a defensive logic. Not only is<br />
rising American oil production a<br />
threat, but in the coming decades<br />
demand for oil is expected to wane<br />
as it is replaced by cleaner sources<br />
of energy. This could cause a race<br />
to the bottom as big producers try<br />
to sell their oil before it becomes<br />
worthless. Restraining production<br />
is a way to postpone such feral<br />
competition, at least until Russia<br />
and Saudi Arabia can wean their<br />
economies off oil.<br />
But the perils of such a strategy<br />
may outweigh its benefits. If<br />
fer from Chengdu and other cities,<br />
raising proper finance also remains<br />
problematic. Capital controls make<br />
it difficult for venture-capital firms<br />
that use yuan to invest in foreign entities;<br />
they usually have to enter a joint<br />
venture with a Chinese citizen. Local<br />
investors tend to prefer backing fully<br />
Chinese enterprises.<br />
Yet the country’s other attractions<br />
are potent. “Even a niche market<br />
in China is a huge one,” says Greig<br />
Charlton, a former British banker<br />
who has run 247tickets.com, a ticketpurchase<br />
website, in Shanghai since<br />
2014. Thanks to the promise of online<br />
ticket-booking in China, a relatively<br />
inexperienced entrepreneur like<br />
Mr Charlton has the opportunity to<br />
work with some of the world’s biggest<br />
concert-promoters.<br />
A deep pool of talent is another<br />
lure—the reason why, for example,<br />
App Annie, a market data and insights<br />
provider co-founded by a<br />
group of European entrepreneurs in<br />
Beijing, maintained its R&D centre in<br />
it works, and prices rise sharply<br />
above $70 a barrel, it will flush out<br />
yet more production in America<br />
and other big producing countries<br />
such as Brazil, as happened before<br />
2014. That would reinforce what the<br />
IEA calls the risk of history repeating<br />
itself. So OPEC and non-OPEC<br />
producers would need strategies<br />
to keep prices from rising too high<br />
as well as falling too low. Bassam<br />
Fattouh of the Oxford Institute for<br />
Energy Studies, a think-tank, says<br />
that might require joint investment<br />
approaches, which are “extremely<br />
difficult, if not impossible”.<br />
If prices tumble, countries would<br />
need to cut production further. In<br />
OPEC’s history Saudi Arabia has<br />
reluctantly played the role of swing<br />
producer, regulating its output<br />
to keep the market in balance. A<br />
successful long-term arrangement<br />
would need Russia and OPEC<br />
members to share more of the burden,<br />
which they have mostly been<br />
loth to do.<br />
A further concern is Saudi Arabia’s<br />
OPEC strategy once Aramco<br />
sells shares to investors. Mohamed<br />
Ramady, the author of a new e-<br />
book, “Saudi Aramco 2030”, says<br />
that relations between partially<br />
privatised oil companies and their<br />
governments become strained<br />
when the interests of governments<br />
clash with those of shareholders.<br />
“Privatising Aramco could then<br />
become a double-edged sword for<br />
the kingdom,” he writes.<br />
At present, Saudi Arabia’s rulers<br />
appear to believe that the risks are<br />
worth taking. They may have more<br />
to fear from a restive population at<br />
home than shale producers abroad.<br />
But they underestimate the risk of<br />
shale, and overestimate their own<br />
ability to manage the market, at<br />
their peril.<br />
Beijing even after it shifted its headquarters<br />
to San Francisco. When Stuart<br />
Oda, a Japanese entrepreneur, cofounded<br />
Alesca Life, a Beijing-based<br />
agricultural-technology company,<br />
he found young Chinese executives<br />
far more willing to take a risk with<br />
a startup than Japanese ones were.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 17
18 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong>
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 19<br />
COMPANIES<br />
& MARKETS<br />
Company news analysis and insight<br />
PENGASSAN proffers<br />
solutions to Nigeria’s<br />
lingering fuel crisis<br />
Pg. 21<br />
<strong>2018</strong>’s lists of dividend declared so far<br />
BALA AUGIE<br />
There are indications<br />
that financial<br />
results will start<br />
pouring from different<br />
corners into<br />
the website of the Nigerian<br />
Stock Exchange (NSE).<br />
Before those results start<br />
trickling in, we have decided<br />
to show the lists of firms that<br />
have paid dividend so far in<br />
2017.<br />
Dividend paying stocks<br />
are attractive to investors as<br />
they expect share appreciation.<br />
Nigerian Breweries Plc<br />
The board of directors<br />
of the Nigerian brewer has<br />
recommended a N33 billion<br />
dividend to shareholders for<br />
2017 financial year, which<br />
15.39 percent increase from<br />
the N28.13 billion distributed<br />
in 2016.<br />
The recommendation,<br />
which amounts to a total<br />
dividend of N4.13 per share<br />
for the 2017 operating year<br />
was part of the company’s<br />
filing to The Nigerian Stock<br />
Exchange on Thursday, 15th<br />
<strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
NB has been maintained a<br />
100 payout ratio as it distributed<br />
all of earnings as dividend,<br />
which is a manifestation of<br />
a consistent profit position<br />
while dividend yield stood at<br />
3 percent.<br />
While the company recorded<br />
a 16.18 percent increase<br />
in net income to end<br />
2017 financial year, profit<br />
margins have succumbed<br />
to higher production and<br />
material costs. Sales volumes<br />
have dropped 4-6 percent,<br />
according to parent company<br />
Heineken.<br />
Nigerian Breweries is<br />
trading at a price earnings<br />
ratio of 32x; this suggest the<br />
market expects the stock to<br />
grow its earnings every year.<br />
The stock is also trading<br />
at a price to book ratio of<br />
5.8x, meaning that its market<br />
value is nearly 6 times its Net<br />
Assets.<br />
The Nigerian Brewers’<br />
share price closed at N124 at<br />
the close of business on Friday,<br />
valuing it at N1.04 trillion.<br />
Transcorp Hotel Plc<br />
The board of Transcorp<br />
Hotels Plc has recommended<br />
to shareholders for approval<br />
of a dividend of 12.40 kobo<br />
per share to be paid on March<br />
2017. For the year ended<br />
December 2017, the company<br />
posted a profit after tax<br />
of N2.68 billion while sales<br />
stood at N13.84 billion in the<br />
period under review.<br />
The company has been<br />
grappling with the tough and<br />
unpredictable macroeconomic<br />
environment.<br />
Slow economy,<br />
financing<br />
costs hit Kenya<br />
Power’s firsthalf<br />
profit<br />
Kenya Power posted<br />
a 19 per cent drop<br />
in first-half pretax<br />
profit, mainly due<br />
to sluggish economic growth<br />
and higher financing costs.<br />
The firm, which is the<br />
main electricity distributor<br />
in the East African nation,<br />
suffered from lower demand<br />
due to a protracted presidential<br />
election, which hurt<br />
economic activity.<br />
Electricity sales increased<br />
2.3 per cent in the six months<br />
to end-December and revenue<br />
rose by a modest 2.5<br />
per cent, the company said<br />
on Friday. Pretax profit was<br />
4.6 billion shillings (45.21<br />
million dollars ).<br />
Financing costs jumped<br />
11 per cent to 3.2 billion shillings<br />
as the company raised<br />
its use of short-term debt<br />
during the period. Kenya<br />
Power said it would take<br />
advantage of the government’s<br />
plan to boost the<br />
manufacturing sector, to<br />
increase electricity demand<br />
in the second half. Kenya<br />
President Uhuru Kenyatta<br />
has set out manufacturing as<br />
one of his priority areas and<br />
he has directed officials to<br />
implement a new night-time<br />
electricity tariff for firms who<br />
wish to increase production<br />
Council of State okays $1bn to boost<br />
agriculture, economic diversification<br />
The Council of State<br />
on Thursday approved<br />
a fresh one<br />
billion dollars to<br />
further boost the nation’s<br />
agricultural sector, Gov. Ibikumle<br />
Amosun of Ogun, has<br />
disclosed.<br />
Amosun, briefing the<br />
State House Correspondents<br />
after the council’s meeting<br />
at the Presidential Villa,<br />
Abuja, expressed hope that<br />
the amount would enhance<br />
the Federal Government’s<br />
diversification programmes.<br />
However, the governor<br />
kept mum on how the funds<br />
will be sourced.<br />
The meeting which was<br />
presided over by President<br />
Muhammadu Buhari had<br />
in attendance, three former<br />
Heads of State, Gen.<br />
Yakubu Gowon, Gen. Abdulsalami<br />
Abubakar and<br />
former President Olusegun<br />
Obasanjo.<br />
According to him, an<br />
appreciable part of the one<br />
billion dollars is expected<br />
to be distributed around<br />
agricultural schemes, with<br />
conditions set out for the<br />
beneficiaries to meet before<br />
accessing the funds.<br />
“The Council deliberated<br />
extensively on our economy,<br />
how to diversify our<br />
economy and the efforts<br />
that were being made to pull<br />
Nigeria out of the doldrums.<br />
“The Council appreciated<br />
the efforts that had been<br />
in place to move Nigeria<br />
away from recession. Now,<br />
gradually we are getting it<br />
right and Council noted<br />
that what is being done is<br />
good.<br />
“Council also noted what<br />
was being done in the area<br />
of agriculture; how Nigeria<br />
moved from one monolithic<br />
economy to now a diversified<br />
economy.<br />
“Council noted that there<br />
is still more to be done. It<br />
was advised that we should<br />
improve on the funding and<br />
increase the funding on<br />
agriculture and it was paltry<br />
about 200 million dollars.<br />
“But, if you compare that<br />
side by side with what we<br />
are investing, what we are<br />
pumping into the area of<br />
oil, the monolithic economy<br />
that we have running, we<br />
noticed that it is just insignificant.<br />
“So, the Council recommended<br />
that at least about a<br />
billion dollar should now be<br />
pumped into agriculture,’’<br />
he added.<br />
Amosun said that the<br />
council noted how Nigeria<br />
moved the budget from<br />
about four trillion naira to<br />
now about eight trillion<br />
naira.<br />
He said: “It also noted<br />
that when President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari came<br />
in, he was jostling at a very<br />
deep because oil had nosedived<br />
from 112 dollars in<br />
2014 and in 2016 it was 30<br />
dollars.<br />
“Council also appreciated<br />
the efforts of the Ministers<br />
of Agriculture and<br />
that of Budget and National<br />
Planning after their briefings,<br />
on the efforts they are<br />
giving to Mr President and<br />
agreed they should continue<br />
in what they are doing.’’<br />
Fidelity Bank’s Corporate governance<br />
certification will boost investments – Ebi<br />
Fidelity Bank Plc has<br />
expressed optimism<br />
that the Corporate<br />
Governance Rating<br />
System (CGRS) certification<br />
of the bank and its directors<br />
will boost investors’ confidence<br />
and enhance business<br />
opportunities.<br />
Mr Ernest Ebi, the bank’s<br />
Chairman, stated this in an<br />
interview with the News<br />
Agency of Nigeria (NAN)<br />
in Lagos on the sidelines<br />
of CGRS certification ceremony<br />
by the Nigerian Stock<br />
Exchange (NSE) and the<br />
Convention on Business Integrity<br />
(CBI).<br />
Ebi said that the bank<br />
would leverage on the<br />
gains of the certification to<br />
strengthen business opportunities<br />
to ensure maximum<br />
returns to its stakeholders.<br />
According to him, the<br />
CGRS will open a lot of business<br />
opportunities for the<br />
bank.<br />
He said the bank would<br />
not rest on its oars.<br />
“You know the beautiful<br />
thing about this certification<br />
is that it boosts investors’<br />
confidence in the bank, because<br />
when they know that<br />
you have been through this<br />
process, there is a lot to gain.<br />
“Going through the test<br />
itself brings out a lot of issues<br />
about corporate governance,<br />
investor relations, among<br />
others. “So, for eleven directors<br />
to go through this process,<br />
it is going to be a great<br />
morale booster for us and<br />
will encourage a lot of investors<br />
to look to our direction,”<br />
Ebi said.<br />
He said that the bank<br />
would maximise all available<br />
business opportunities<br />
by engaging investors for<br />
desired growth and development.<br />
The chairman said that<br />
capital, risk management<br />
and corporate governance<br />
are three things upper most<br />
in the minds of the bank’s<br />
board and management.<br />
He explained that the<br />
bank would remain committed<br />
to good corporate<br />
governance practices for<br />
competitiveness.<br />
NAN reports that Fidelity<br />
Bank and its directors were<br />
among 35 companies and<br />
437 directors that made over<br />
the 70 per cent threshold for<br />
CGRS process.
20 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong>
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 21<br />
COMPANIES & MARKETS<br />
Business Event<br />
L-R: Chiedu Osakwe, representing the vice president; Abdullahi Mahmoud, former director, FBN<br />
Holdings Plc; Chidi Anya, director, FBN Holdings Plc; UK Eke, GMD, FBN Holdings Plc; Mallam<br />
Bello Maccido, chairman FBNQuest Merchant Bank, and Abimbola Ogunbanjo, president, Council of<br />
Nigeria Stock Exchange, at the Corporate Governance Rating System Certification Ceremony <strong>2018</strong><br />
L-R: Onome Umuze, relationship manager, corporate banking division, First City Monument Bank<br />
(FCMB); Elizabeth Ajibola, managing director, MT Olive Nigeria Limited; Mfon Ukpanah, manager<br />
distributive trade, FCMB, and Olusegun Oyewole, relationship manager, corporate banking division,<br />
FCMB, during the Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc Customer & Bankers Forum in Lagos.<br />
PENGASSAN proffers solutions to<br />
Nigeria’s lingering fuel crisis<br />
JOSHUA BASSEY<br />
Petroleum and Natural<br />
Gas Senior Staff Association<br />
of Nigeria<br />
(PENGASSAN) has<br />
listed total rehabilitation<br />
of the refineries, fuel depots<br />
and all oil/gas infrastructure as<br />
the solution to the lingering fuel<br />
crisis in the country.<br />
The union particularly expressed<br />
concern about the attendant<br />
man-hours being lost by<br />
Nigerians queuing up at station<br />
stations across the country and<br />
challenged the Federal Government<br />
to rise to the task of bringing<br />
an end to what it described<br />
as “an embarrassing situation”.<br />
According to PENGASSAN,<br />
it is time for the government to<br />
involve the Original Equipment<br />
Manufacturers (OEM) in the<br />
rehabilitation and repair of the<br />
four refineries.<br />
“Our refineries are due for a<br />
major expansion and ‘debottlenecking’,<br />
development of new<br />
strategies in ensuring adequate<br />
and sustainable crude supply<br />
to the refineries. Government<br />
should fast-track processes that<br />
will encourage private sector<br />
involvement in local refining,”<br />
said Francis Johnson, president<br />
of PENGASSAN, who led<br />
other unionists to talk with the<br />
Petroleum Products Pricing<br />
Regulatory Agency (PPPRA)<br />
and Petroleum and Pipelines<br />
marketing Company (PPMC).<br />
Addressing the managements<br />
of the agencies and some<br />
legislators during the visits,<br />
Johnson, however, praised their<br />
roles in ensuring that Nigerians<br />
were protected from feeling the<br />
pangs of the vagaries of global<br />
price regime of petroleum products,<br />
and prevented collusion<br />
and restrictive trade practices<br />
harmful in the sector.<br />
Johnson said, “We want sustainable<br />
steps to be taken to end<br />
the persistent fuel crisis that has<br />
inflicted undue hardship on<br />
Nigerians. Let me reinstate our<br />
call for increase local refining<br />
by ensuring that the nation’s<br />
refineries work at maximum<br />
capacity.<br />
“We are equally calling on<br />
the Federal Government to<br />
rehabilitate and upgrade all depots<br />
in the country, while there<br />
is need to carry out an overhaul<br />
of all pipeline networks to ease<br />
distribution and supply of petroleum<br />
products.”<br />
The union also advised the<br />
government to address the issue<br />
of surrounding the integrity<br />
of pipelines by repairing and<br />
replacing damaged pipelines<br />
to enhance supply of crudes to<br />
refineries and export terminals<br />
as well as distribution of refined<br />
products to all the depots.<br />
“We have to reinstate that<br />
unless there is increase in the<br />
government’s commitment<br />
not only to maintain but also to<br />
rehabilitate and repair as well<br />
as replace ageing and ruptured<br />
pipelines, there will continue<br />
to be challenges with the distribution<br />
and supply of petroleum<br />
products to all parts of the<br />
country.<br />
“This will also negatively<br />
impact on local refining due<br />
to inadequate supply of crude<br />
through the pipelines to the<br />
refineries. The dream of gas<br />
to power, and domestic and<br />
industrial gas development<br />
policies of the Government will<br />
be unrealised.<br />
“The NNPC and security<br />
agencies should ensure security<br />
of lives of staff of PPMC/NPSC/<br />
SML in oil and gas installations,<br />
as they are always at the frontline<br />
of repairing damaged pipelines<br />
and protect pipelines from<br />
being vandalised. There should<br />
be improved surveillance with<br />
the use of modern technology,<br />
adequate implementation of<br />
pipeline right of ways and location<br />
of security agencies’ offices<br />
in “black spots” along pipelines,”<br />
Johnson said.<br />
VFD Group records 175%<br />
oversubscription on Debt Note offer<br />
L-R: Olayide Bamidele, chairman, Association of Senior Civil Servant of Nigerian; Fiyinfoluwa<br />
Adenike Ogunbanke, permanent secretary, public service office; Olufunmilayo Balogun, permanent<br />
secretary, office of finance; Folashade Adesoye, head of service, Lagos State Government, and<br />
Dimeji Olona, general manager, life assurance, LASACO Plc, representing the GM LASACO, during<br />
the presentation of assurance death benefit to beneficiaries of deceased public servants in Lagos.<br />
L-R: Jean Phillipe Torres, managing director, Total Nigeria Plc Jay Jay Okocha, brand ambassador,<br />
Total Nigeria Plc; Umar Mohammed, winner of Total Lubricants Text & Win Promo; Stanislas<br />
Mittelman, chairman, Total Nigeria Plc, and Adewole Adesua, general manager, sales and<br />
marketing, Total Nigeria Plc, at the award ceremony of brand new car of Total Lubricants Text &<br />
Win Promo to the winner in Lagos.<br />
KELECHI EWUZIE<br />
VFD Group, a financial<br />
service focused<br />
investment group<br />
based in Lagos has<br />
recorded a 175% oversubscription<br />
on its Debt Note product<br />
offer.<br />
According to the group,<br />
it issued fixed rate unsubordinated<br />
secured Debt Notes<br />
of N1m only per note to sophisticated<br />
individual and<br />
corporate investors. The offer,<br />
designed to raise N300m in<br />
one week, closed on <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
16 at N525m representing a<br />
175% oversubscription.<br />
Adenrele Omolara, the<br />
Head of sales at VFD Group,<br />
said the group thoroughly<br />
researched the investment<br />
market and discovered the<br />
need for a retail-focused, high<br />
yield and tradeable financial<br />
instrument promoted and<br />
issued by a company with an<br />
impeccable reputation.<br />
According to her, “The<br />
excitement exhibited by investors<br />
towards the offer was<br />
an indication of the Group’s<br />
understanding of the market’s<br />
needs”.<br />
The Debt Notes are set<br />
at an interest rate of 19% per<br />
annum with a one-year tenor.<br />
They are backed by the issuer’s<br />
equity portfolio held by<br />
United Capital Trustees, thus<br />
giving the Debt Notes a 1:2<br />
cover ratio.<br />
Nonso Okpala, Group<br />
Managing Director (GMD)<br />
stated “VFD Group’s Debt<br />
Note affords retail investors<br />
an opportunity to earn a minimum<br />
interest of 19% with<br />
prospect of an enhanced yield<br />
as a result of the tradability of<br />
this financial instrument.”<br />
Based on the product’s<br />
term sheet, Anchoria Asset<br />
Management (AAM), will provide<br />
an Over the Counter<br />
(OTC) platform for the purpose<br />
of trading these notes.<br />
There are also plans to list the<br />
Debt Notes on FMDQ as this<br />
is an innovative pilot scheme<br />
aimed at establishing an active<br />
OTC market for Debt Notes.<br />
Okpala further said, “You<br />
can always count on VFD<br />
Group to provide leadership<br />
in product and service innovation<br />
in the financial sector.
22<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
COMPANIES & MARKETS<br />
Marginal field exercise put on hold as Politics of<br />
second term for the president Buhari hits up<br />
Olusola Bello<br />
Investors are worried<br />
about lack of information<br />
on the marginal<br />
fields bid round which<br />
they said should have<br />
been nearing the final stage<br />
of completion by now, given<br />
the level of seriousness the<br />
government attached to the<br />
exercise mid last year.<br />
They are more disturbed<br />
by the fact that activities<br />
relating to the exercise have<br />
been relegated to the background<br />
because of the politics<br />
of second term for President<br />
Muhammadu Buhari to<br />
the detriment of the nation’s<br />
economy.<br />
Some of the stakeholders<br />
that spoke to Business-<br />
Day lamented that the lack of<br />
schedule programme for the<br />
exercise has left prospective<br />
investors more confused now<br />
than before as they are not getting<br />
any information even from<br />
the Department of Petroleum<br />
Resources (DPR).<br />
An officer of the Department<br />
of Petroleum Resources<br />
(DPR) who however spoke to<br />
BusinesssDay unofficially said<br />
the agency has completed all<br />
the processes that needed to<br />
be done and ready to conduct<br />
the exercise anytime the government<br />
so give the directive<br />
to do so.<br />
“We are waiting for the minister<br />
of petroleum resources<br />
to tell to go ahead and conduct<br />
the bid round and until<br />
that happens we cannot do<br />
anything. But one thing i can<br />
assure you is that we ready for<br />
the exercise,” he said.<br />
The federal government<br />
through the Department of Petroleum<br />
Resources (DPR) had<br />
last year set the guidelines for<br />
the marginal oil field bid round<br />
for 46 oil acreages which was to<br />
either take place late last year or<br />
early this year .<br />
Some of the stakeholders<br />
are however skeptical about<br />
the viability of the exercise if<br />
the Petroleum Industry Bill<br />
(PIB) is not passed as the fiscal<br />
regime that would guide the<br />
operations of marginal fields<br />
operation are embedded in the<br />
bill and failure to pass it before<br />
the licensing round takes<br />
place could create uncertainty<br />
regarding how investors could<br />
operate.<br />
The prospective investors<br />
are to pay $300,000 signature<br />
bonus.<br />
Abiodun Adesanya, former<br />
President of Nigerian Association<br />
of Petroleum Explorationists<br />
(NAPE ), while reacting to<br />
this development, said: “We<br />
have been hearing stories of<br />
an imminent marginal field<br />
licensing round, the delay in<br />
the announcement may not be<br />
unconnected with the ongoing<br />
work on the PIB.<br />
“My guess is that the fiscal<br />
regime for the new marginal<br />
field licensing round may not<br />
be widely different from the<br />
one used in the last exercise<br />
and that may have formed the<br />
basis for what is contained under<br />
marginal fields in the draft<br />
PIB presently with the legislators,”<br />
he said.<br />
“Therefore to avoid an<br />
uncertain situation of being<br />
awarded these fields with the<br />
fiscal frame work susceptible<br />
to modification when the bill is<br />
finally passed, some discretion<br />
would naturally be expected by<br />
would-be participants if they<br />
know what they are doing. A<br />
way around this is to request<br />
for some stabilisation clauses<br />
for protection if the award is<br />
made before the passage of the<br />
bill”, he said.<br />
On whether the financial<br />
institutions in the country<br />
would support the exercise,<br />
Abiopdun Adesanya who is<br />
also the Managing Consultant<br />
of Degeconek Nigeria limited<br />
said he can imagine that some<br />
financial institutions would still<br />
participate but it is going to be<br />
tough to get Nigerian banks<br />
to fully embrace the funding<br />
of the development of these<br />
round of marginal fields in the<br />
way and manner they did with<br />
the earlier ones more so if the<br />
current liquidity in the banking<br />
sector persist.<br />
C002D5556<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong>
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY<br />
23<br />
Live @ The Stock Exchange<br />
Top Gainers/Losers as at Friday 23 <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong> Market Statistics as at Friday 23 <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
GAINERS<br />
Company Opening Closing Change<br />
NB N122.9 N130 7.1<br />
CAP N35 N38 3<br />
INTBREW N55.95 N57 1.05<br />
GUARANTY N48 N48.6 0.6<br />
DANGSUGAR N21.35 N21.7 0.35<br />
LOSERS<br />
Company Opening Closing Change<br />
CCNN N17.7 N16.85 -0.85<br />
CAVERTON N2.52 N2.4 -0.12<br />
CONTINSURE N1.58 N1.51 -0.07<br />
UBA N13 N12.95 -0.05<br />
TRANSCORP N2.15 N2.11 -0.04<br />
ASI (Points) 42,570.89<br />
DEALS (Numbers) 4,356.00<br />
VOLUME (Numbers) 308,429,272.00<br />
VALUE (N billion) 6.402<br />
MARKET CAP (N Trn 15.277<br />
Shareholders fault CBN on banks’ eligibility for dividend payments<br />
Stories by<br />
Iheanyi Nwachukwu<br />
Shareholders in Nigeria’s<br />
capital market<br />
under the umbrella<br />
of Pragmatic Shareholders<br />
Association<br />
of Nigeria (PSAN) faulted the<br />
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)<br />
recent directive to banks on<br />
eligibility for dividend payments.<br />
Early last week, stakeholders<br />
and investors in the Nigerian<br />
financial market woke to a<br />
frenzy following the release of<br />
a circular by the Central Bank<br />
of Nigeria (CBN) titled “Re:<br />
Internal Capital Generation<br />
and Dividend Payout Ratio”.<br />
CBN in the circular to<br />
banks updated its policy on<br />
internal capital generation<br />
and retention policy for Nigerian<br />
banks. In addition to<br />
the existing guidelines, an<br />
additional clause was set for<br />
banks’ eligibility for dividend<br />
payments.<br />
Rising from an emergency<br />
meeting last Friday at its Ogun<br />
State headquarters, the shareholders<br />
who discussed the<br />
development among other<br />
things issued a communiqué<br />
saying that “the policy<br />
directive of CBN which shortcircuits<br />
domestic investors’<br />
paltry returns on their investments<br />
remains a major<br />
setback and disincentive<br />
towards sustainable internal<br />
economic growth.”<br />
Meanwhile, in the communiqué<br />
signed by its<br />
national coordinator, Bisi<br />
Bakare, the shareholders<br />
accused CBN of “playing<br />
the class game in most of<br />
their policies”, stressing that<br />
“outright barring of challenged<br />
banks from paying<br />
dividends amounts to shifting<br />
the blames to minority<br />
shareholders”.<br />
Not only that the shareholders<br />
urged the National<br />
Assembly to intervene and<br />
protect the domestic investing<br />
public by calling CBN<br />
to order in what they called<br />
“kill joy policy directive”, the<br />
shareholders also threatened<br />
to challenge the action of the<br />
CBN in the nation’s courts “if<br />
the apex bank refuse to rescind<br />
the policy directive barring<br />
challenged banks from paying<br />
dividends”.<br />
“The contentious banks’<br />
bad loans are failure pointers<br />
and collapsing state of the<br />
national financial regulatory<br />
institutions in the proactive<br />
management of the economy”,<br />
the shareholders said. They<br />
also blamed the Securities and<br />
Exchange Commission (SEC)<br />
“for abandoning and reneging<br />
in their corporate responsibilities<br />
towards investors.”<br />
“The current focus on<br />
shareholders dividend toward<br />
bridging bank bad loans will<br />
not only impact negatively in<br />
the nation’s capital market<br />
but create an added impetus<br />
for individuals and corporate<br />
concerns to consciously default<br />
in their loan obligations”,<br />
the shareholders said .<br />
Eagle Global Markets naira platform pushes competitors into catch-up mood<br />
The revolution Nigerians<br />
expected in<br />
trading global markets<br />
is finally in place<br />
through the Naira Platform<br />
provided by one of Africa’s<br />
most innovative Financial<br />
Technology (FINTECH) Companies,<br />
Eagle Global Markets<br />
(EGM).<br />
EGM, which added the<br />
Naira Cloudtrade Platform<br />
to its existing US Dollar MT4<br />
platform has succeeded in<br />
enabling traders access to<br />
over 1000 global markets financial<br />
products using our<br />
local currency.<br />
As a leading pan African<br />
brand, EGM provides opportunity<br />
for its clients to access<br />
global financial markets. The<br />
Naira Platform of this multiasset<br />
derivative firm is the<br />
latest of its game changers<br />
seen to force its competitors<br />
into a catch-up mood.<br />
“We have two platforms:<br />
the Naira Cloudtrade and<br />
then the US Dollar MT4 which<br />
is the only one other players<br />
in the industry offer to<br />
their clients,” Gbite Oduneye,<br />
Co-Founder, Eagle Global<br />
Markets said while taking<br />
some investment journalists<br />
through the rudiments of<br />
trading global markets.<br />
Ranging from interna-<br />
tional equities, commodities,<br />
indices and currency<br />
pairs, traders can through<br />
EGM naira platform access<br />
over 1000 financial products<br />
across the world. This<br />
includes derivatives of companies<br />
such as Facebook,<br />
Google and Snapchat; as<br />
well as commodities such as<br />
Crude Oil, Gold and Silver.<br />
Global market watchers<br />
had two weeks ago seen one<br />
of largest drops in the history<br />
of the Dow Jones as well as<br />
a rise followed by a drop in<br />
Gbite Oduneye, co-founder (L) and Temitayo Sanusi,<br />
director, operations, all of Eagle Global Markets (EGM)<br />
during the press briefing on trading global markets by EGM.<br />
The Nigerian Stock<br />
Exchange (NSE)<br />
and The Convention<br />
on Business<br />
Integrity (CBi) held a certification<br />
ceremony for 35<br />
companies and 437 directors<br />
that made it over the<br />
70percent threshold for the<br />
Corporate Governance Rating<br />
System (CGRS) process.<br />
The companies were<br />
awarded the CGRS certification<br />
while the directors<br />
were awarded certificates<br />
for success in the Fiduciary<br />
Awareness Certification<br />
Test (FACT), which is a key<br />
component of the CGRS.<br />
Yemi Osinbajo, Vice<br />
President, Federal Republic<br />
of Nigeria who was represented<br />
by Chiedu Osakwe,<br />
an ambassador who is also<br />
the Nigeria Chief Trade Negotiator/Director<br />
General<br />
Office of Trade Negotiation<br />
delivered the closing remarks.<br />
The event saw the successful<br />
companies and<br />
directors presented with<br />
certificates confirming their<br />
CGRS certifications.<br />
Speaking at the event,<br />
Soji Apampa, Co-Founder<br />
oil prices.<br />
“In times gone by, this will<br />
constitute engaging conversation<br />
but now one could<br />
generate an income from taking<br />
advantage of these moves<br />
from the comfort of your mobile<br />
phone with Naira. EGM<br />
makes the investing World a<br />
much smaller place by breaking<br />
down barriers, making it<br />
possible for Nigerians to trade<br />
1000s of financial products<br />
with Naira”, he said.<br />
As one of Africa’s most<br />
innovative financial technology<br />
companies, providing<br />
opportunities for<br />
its clients to make money<br />
from trading 1000s of financial<br />
products with<br />
Naira, no doubt EGM has<br />
now become preferred<br />
global local broker.<br />
Oduneye said, “We have<br />
experienced account managers<br />
who guide our clients.<br />
We are one of the most innovative<br />
financial technology<br />
(Fintech) companies in<br />
Africa. We offer tight spreads,<br />
Mobile apps: Android and<br />
Apple; and Fast Trade Execution.<br />
Our clients are at the<br />
heart of our business and we<br />
provide the best client management<br />
in the industry”.<br />
“In less than two years<br />
we have grown our clientelle<br />
base considerably from a<br />
mere 500 to 5000 and still<br />
counting. This is driven by<br />
our commitment to professionally<br />
advise and educate<br />
of our clients. Education is<br />
at the heart of our business,<br />
we offer free seminars in<br />
our Ikoyi office as well as<br />
our EGM Academy in Ikeja.<br />
We are looking to open in<br />
Ibadan in the next quarter<br />
of this year,” Oduneye said.<br />
“We enable clients diversify<br />
their portfolios by taking<br />
advantage of opportunities<br />
NSE, CBI recognise 437 individuals, 35 companies for<br />
passing corporate governance rating assessment<br />
and Chief Executive Officer,<br />
CBi said “this is a triumph<br />
for collective action in the<br />
fight against corruption and<br />
unethical practices. I congratulate<br />
the companies and<br />
directors being honoured<br />
and I urge them not to relent<br />
in their efforts to sustain the<br />
high level of corporate governance<br />
that has brought<br />
them thus far”.<br />
He noted that the celebration<br />
was not a destination<br />
but a continuous process<br />
that should be consistently<br />
maintained and further improved<br />
upon. “I encourage<br />
other listed companies still<br />
on this evolutionary process<br />
to keep at it and conclude<br />
the process during this new<br />
review period which is now<br />
open,” he added.<br />
Another highlight of the<br />
event was the launch of the<br />
Corporate Governance Index<br />
of the NSE. The Index will<br />
track the performance of the<br />
35 CGRS rated companies<br />
using their market capitalization,<br />
free float and corporate<br />
that exist in Global Markets.<br />
We enable Nigerians earn<br />
extra income and provide<br />
jobs for our Introductory<br />
brokers. We offer the highest<br />
level of compliance with our<br />
Financial Conduct Authority<br />
(FCA) regulated Technology<br />
partners. We hold all clients<br />
funds in segregated accounts”,<br />
he further said.<br />
“Our plan is to revolutionize<br />
the sector so that<br />
global market traders get<br />
value in what they are doing.<br />
Now they have seen that it<br />
is possible to invest or trade<br />
any of the tradable 1000<br />
financial instruments across<br />
the world with our local<br />
currency,” Oduneye noted.<br />
Eagle Global Markets not<br />
only makes trading global<br />
markets more accessible but<br />
also address issues such as a<br />
local currency risk and having<br />
to contract with foreign<br />
entities. EGM sets out to<br />
ensure that online trading<br />
becomes Nigerian run for<br />
the Nigerian people. EGM<br />
educates and nurtures its<br />
clients into confident selfdirected<br />
traders who want<br />
the freedom the company’s<br />
multi asset, multi device<br />
trading platform delivers.<br />
Also speaking at the event,<br />
Temitayo Sanusi, Director<br />
governance rating scores.<br />
The Index will be reviewed<br />
on a bi-annual basis<br />
at which point other companies<br />
that have become<br />
CGRS rated in the interim<br />
may be added to the Index<br />
or companies that have had<br />
their ratings suspended or<br />
withdrawn may be removed.<br />
The Index is expected to be<br />
an important tool for investors<br />
keen on investing in well<br />
governed companies as well<br />
as corporates eager to distinguish<br />
themselves on the<br />
ground of governance.<br />
Speaking on the newly<br />
introduced Index, Oscar<br />
N. Onyema, CEO, Nigerian<br />
Stock Exchange said, “The<br />
launch of the CG Index is<br />
an important milestone to<br />
strengthening listed companies<br />
by tracking their<br />
corporate governance practices.<br />
This index will increase<br />
transparency in our market<br />
and provide investors additional<br />
data points upon<br />
which to make sound decisions.”<br />
Operations, at EGM said,<br />
“We are constantly working<br />
towards the highest level of<br />
compliance possible, ensuring<br />
proper due diligence is<br />
always carried out and Know<br />
Your Customers (KYCs) is<br />
adhered to”.<br />
Barbara Awodu Aleshe,<br />
Sales Manager, EGM said,<br />
“We guide our clients through<br />
the market by providing the<br />
highest level of customer care<br />
and back office support.”<br />
Education is very important<br />
in trading global markets.<br />
The emotions, sensations or<br />
psychology of trading are very<br />
important and go a long way<br />
in determining success.<br />
In trading global markets,<br />
trading psychology and training<br />
are what most brokers do<br />
not impact on their clients.<br />
“We have one of the best<br />
education facilities in the<br />
country. Education is at the<br />
heart of what we do, we offer<br />
free courses at our office in<br />
Ikoyi and Trading academy<br />
in Ikeja to all levels of traders.<br />
From clients that have<br />
never traded before to expert<br />
traders.<br />
We equipped them so<br />
they can earn from global<br />
markets whilst they sleep”,<br />
said Yetunde Shogo, another<br />
sales manager at EGM.
24 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
CEO<br />
INTERVIEW<br />
Interview with Private Sector Leaders<br />
‘Additional investment capital will flow into Nigerian power<br />
market if right policies and enabling environment are in place’<br />
RUSSELL STOKES is the President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Power and a Senior Vice President of GE as of June 2017. In this interview with<br />
FRANK UZUEGBUNAM, Editor, West Africa Energy Intelligence, he spoke about the company’s strategy on technology, solutions and services across the<br />
entire energy value chain from the point of generation to consumption and GE’s aspirations for Nigeria’s power sector amongst other issues. Excerpts:<br />
This is your first visit to Nigeria<br />
as newly appointed global CEO<br />
of GE Power Division. Why you<br />
here, and what are your key<br />
interests in the region?<br />
I have been coming to Africa for many<br />
years now while I was leading various other<br />
businesses within GE, so Nigeria is not new to<br />
me and I am very excited to be back. As the<br />
CEO of the GE Power business, my interests<br />
are primarily to mobilize GE’s support for the<br />
growth of the power sector around the globe.<br />
I took up this role in the middle of 2017 but<br />
before that I was leading the Energy Connections<br />
business which we have now merged<br />
into one consolidated power business to<br />
ensure we address the full scope of the electricity<br />
value network (EVN). All this has also<br />
given me perspective, not just around power<br />
generation that comes along with the power<br />
business, but also trying to understand how<br />
we transmit and distribute this power so that<br />
it gets to people.<br />
We often talk about how a billion people<br />
around the globe do not have access to<br />
power; well, 600 million of these people are<br />
here on this continent. Our goal is to have<br />
a better understanding of what we can do;<br />
to work with partners - public and private<br />
partners - to be able to give power to more<br />
and more people. This is something we focus<br />
on a lot. I started out this trip in Ghana and<br />
we are now in Nigeria. We will go on to visit<br />
Angola and South Africa to spend time with<br />
our partners and customers in these respective<br />
countries.<br />
So far, what is your key take-away when<br />
you look at the region and basically<br />
Nigeria on these services?<br />
It is quite a different scenario because as I<br />
go around the globe, country by country, my<br />
context and observations differ even though<br />
the aspirations for universal access to power<br />
is the same everywhere. Developing countries<br />
are embracing innovative technologies<br />
that will guarantee faster, more efficient and<br />
sustainable solutions to energy challenges. A<br />
good example is how GE’s trailer-mounted<br />
power solutions are enabling speed in the<br />
deployment of power plants in a matter of<br />
months rather than years. There are now a<br />
growing number of references on the continent<br />
that we are extremely proud of. This<br />
is one example of how GE is powering the<br />
future.<br />
There is a significant amount of generation<br />
capacity available in Nigeria that is just<br />
stranded. It has become very important,<br />
from my perspective, that there is a lot more<br />
attention and more investment needed in<br />
the transmission networks and distribution<br />
infrastructure in the country. There is an urgent<br />
need to look at solutions to evacuate the<br />
power that is available so that more people<br />
can access it.<br />
What do you see as the challenges and<br />
the potentials that we have in Nigeria’s<br />
power sector and how does that impact<br />
on the current state of power infrastructure?<br />
Let me start with the potential of the sector.<br />
According to the World Bank, approximately<br />
80 million Nigerians are yet to be connected<br />
to the grid. This means that demand for<br />
electricity will undoubtedly increase as the<br />
population rises and the economy expands.<br />
Secondly, privatisation of the power sector<br />
in Nigeria, though incomplete, as well as the<br />
on-going reforms in the country are critical<br />
steps in the right direction and deserve<br />
praise because these have really opened the<br />
market.<br />
Nonetheless, over the last few years, we<br />
have also seen that the sector has continued<br />
to struggle with acute liquidity challenges.<br />
Operators inclusive of Generation companies,<br />
Gas suppliers, and Distribution companies<br />
are facing a lot of challenges around<br />
liquidity, under-utilized capacity, underinvestment<br />
in critical CAPEX, and pending<br />
regulatory issues yet to be addressed<br />
around tariffs and payment consistency.<br />
Investments for growth in the sector cannot<br />
rely on government solely. These need to be<br />
mobilized and sourced from a broader set of<br />
partners, developers, and financiers to drive<br />
projects forward. I think it is going to be absolutely<br />
what is needed here in Nigeria based<br />
on what we have seen over the past couple of<br />
years and what I see on this trip now.<br />
There is also the capacity of the transmission<br />
network to evacuate the existing power. I<br />
have seen across many countries in the continent,<br />
that there has been historical under-investment in<br />
transmission and distribution networks. Weak and<br />
aging grid infrastructure will only lead to blackouts<br />
and load shedding. Developed countries have invested<br />
in a full suite of solutions including generation<br />
solutions covering Electrical balance of Plant,<br />
Energy management, Turnkey systems, Automation<br />
and Control, Asset management, Distribution<br />
Automation and digital solutions that have helped<br />
them optimize their infrastructure and Nigeria<br />
and many other countries on the continent need
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
25<br />
RUSSELL STOKES<br />
President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Power and<br />
Senior Vice President of GE as of June 2017<br />
to do the same to guarantee availability of power.<br />
You mentioned something that is of interest to<br />
me, that is power evacuation. We all know that Nigeria<br />
has the capacity to generate 10,000 megawatts<br />
but we hardly evacuate up to 5,000 megawatts, so<br />
how can GE Power support Nigeria in its bid to<br />
optimally evacuate at least what we generate?<br />
GE’s Grid solutions business is really focused<br />
on transmission and distribution capabilities. We<br />
enable utilities and industry to efficiently manage<br />
electricity from the point of generation to the point<br />
of consumption with low, medium, high and ultrahigh<br />
voltage electrical equipment and systems that<br />
turn the world on.<br />
Our teams integrate leading technology products<br />
and solutions to solve customer problems,<br />
making energy safer and more reliable through<br />
our ability to generate, transmit, and distribute<br />
electricity. We provide not just hardware but a<br />
wide range of software platforms, energy management<br />
systems and distribution management<br />
systems that enable the flow of electrons. We also<br />
continue to invest in distributed energy resource<br />
management systems that allow people to better<br />
integrate different sources of power generation in<br />
to the grid. So, we have all these solutions that we<br />
can provide to help solve some of the transmission<br />
and distribution challenges.<br />
In other words, you have technology that can<br />
help Nigeria mitigate technical loses?<br />
Absolutely. You are aware that GE has had a longstanding<br />
country to company collaboration with<br />
the government which translated into an MOU on<br />
power. In recent times, we have adopted the “endto-end<br />
approach” with regards to dealing with the<br />
challenges of the entire power value-chain. This<br />
holistic approach consists of identifying where<br />
the bottlenecks are in each segment of the power<br />
value chain and targeting sustainable interventions<br />
to those segments. This covers generation,<br />
transmission, distribution, software and even<br />
capacity building.<br />
We all know that dealing with bottlenecks<br />
involves investments. What are the critical<br />
factors that can help sustain a high level of<br />
investment in Nigeria’s power sector?<br />
Contrary to general opinion, there is a lot of financial<br />
interest in Nigeria’s power sector. Most of the<br />
development agencies have indicated significant<br />
interest and commitment to the sector. There are<br />
specific processes to deploy that capital. I think<br />
what needs to happen is for an acceleration of the<br />
process, regardless of whether it is through a public<br />
tender or bilateral government-to-government<br />
agreement.<br />
So do you think that it is the government<br />
or the private sector that should take the<br />
driving seat in pushing the investment in<br />
Nigeria?<br />
No, I do not believe it is a question of drivers<br />
and passengers. The role of government is very<br />
critical because as you know, this is a very regulated<br />
industry. Not only from the point of setting<br />
policies but in being the primary mobilizers of<br />
capital into the sector based upon some of the<br />
policies and actions that government needs to<br />
take to enhance investment climate. The scale of<br />
the opportunities and challenges goes beyond<br />
the resources of government alone. As you know,<br />
the sector was partially privatised a few years ago<br />
and all that investment was from private capital.<br />
The additional investment capital will flow into<br />
the Nigerian power market if the right policies<br />
and enabling environment are in place. Private<br />
sector players are intent on mobilising, investing<br />
and modernising their infrastructure for more<br />
efficient and reliable supply of power to Nigeria.<br />
What are the other ways that GE can help<br />
to optimise assets and reduce downtime of<br />
systems?<br />
Let me give some context here. The current<br />
installed base of power in Nigeria is not being<br />
made available as they are limited by very clear<br />
technical bottlenecks. As part of the end-to-end<br />
solution we spoke about earlier, GE’s total plant<br />
management solutions portfolio demonstrates<br />
our strength as a single service provider that understands<br />
the full “plant-as-a-system” impact. We<br />
can offer installation, maintenance, repair<br />
and upgrade activities and our excellent<br />
services capabilities enables us to optimize<br />
the performance and long-term value of the<br />
power plant to ensure high efficiency for the<br />
units throughout the plant’s life cycle.<br />
Today, our Power services team is offering<br />
total plant management solutions and<br />
guaranteeing the flexibility and availability<br />
of over 100 GE units across the country and<br />
have just signed an agreement with SPDC for<br />
the Afam VI power plant. The local team has<br />
also successfully carried out their first flange<br />
to flange installation in the region at the<br />
Transcorp power plant adding a significant<br />
115MW of power to the grid.<br />
Every day we engage with the government<br />
and relevant stakeholders in the sector to<br />
drive understanding around this end to end<br />
approach.<br />
Is that part of the MOU that GE signed<br />
with the Federal Government committing<br />
to generate additional 10,000 MW<br />
over the next 10 years?<br />
This is a clear demonstration of our followthrough<br />
to that commitment and we are very<br />
proud of the fact that in terms of commitment<br />
to this country even in times like these,<br />
which are quite challenging, we have been<br />
unwavering. As we focus on stranded generation<br />
and incremental power, we can talk to<br />
you about any number of projects in various<br />
stages of development. So, we are all in.<br />
What do you think should be the best<br />
approach for Nigeria to solve its power<br />
problem?<br />
Here are a couple of thoughts - I think there<br />
should be an appreciation for the role that<br />
public-private partners can play. It would<br />
mean that the Federal Government ensures<br />
that projects are executed and delivered. I<br />
think there should be an appreciation that beyond<br />
the additional investment in generation<br />
in Nigeria, one must be thinking about how<br />
to evacuate the electrons to people that need<br />
them. This means that transmission and distribution<br />
must be part of the overall strategy.<br />
I think that there is a clear set of ideas and<br />
actions that the sector believes GE can bring<br />
but which we do not believe by any stretch of<br />
the imagination that we can do on our own,<br />
which is why we are here. We are talking to<br />
customers and our partners, to understand<br />
how we can collaborate better and how<br />
together we can continue to move the vision<br />
forward; bringing power to as many<br />
people as do not have access to power here<br />
in Nigeria.<br />
Do you see any place for renewable in<br />
all this?<br />
Yes, I do. I see around the globe, everyone<br />
is working through what is the appropriate<br />
energy mix and a lot of that is predicated on<br />
how countries set up overall policy around<br />
emissions. The GE Power business provides<br />
key equipment for solar installations so we<br />
recognize the place of renewables and how<br />
it is growing in the energy mix of countries<br />
around the world.<br />
What is the update on the MOU signed<br />
with the Northern Governors on solar<br />
project?<br />
We signed the MOU with the Northern State<br />
Governors, five governors all together and<br />
that is a good example of our flexibility and<br />
resourcefulness. We have two active projects,<br />
Niger and Borno States around 100MW each.<br />
What we tried to do is to bring in developers<br />
that would support them as technical partners<br />
and some of the technical assessment<br />
is underway both in Niger and Borno. That<br />
is one example of how we are meeting the<br />
requirements of the country from the renewable<br />
perspective.<br />
You may recall that in December, we<br />
signed with Mainstream for the rehabilitation<br />
of the biggest hydro power plant in the<br />
country. We are very proud that we are going<br />
to be helping them deliver 80MW to the grid<br />
by rehabilitating that site. We have localized<br />
some of GE’s global capabilities right here<br />
in Nigeria. We have built the supply chain<br />
and GE’s footprint in Nigeria continues to<br />
grow. I think it is clear that GE’s continuous<br />
commitment to Nigeria has never wavered.<br />
What could be the deal breaker, what<br />
could make GE not actualise these<br />
MOUs?<br />
We know we must stay in partnership with<br />
government as this is very important. They<br />
have been very supportive. I do not see anything<br />
to worry about in terms of our ability<br />
to continue with the partnership we have<br />
with Nigeria. Of course, there is a need to accelerate.<br />
Everyone knows funding is another<br />
issue and we have spoken extensively about<br />
it. And of course, we will do our part where<br />
possible to help mobilise the capital that is<br />
required for Nigeria.<br />
Five years from now, where do you<br />
see Nigeria’s power sector and GE in<br />
Nigeria?<br />
I am an eternal optimist when it comes to<br />
Nigeria. You must remember that this is one<br />
of the biggest economies and markets for GE<br />
in the continent. GE has nearly 800 people<br />
here. We have invested heavily in our supplychain<br />
and we have the fullest portfolio of GE<br />
businesses in Nigeria. With respect to power,<br />
we are confident that this is a market we are<br />
going to be actively participating in for many<br />
years because the opportunity is huge. We<br />
share in the aspirations of Nigerians in terms<br />
of increasing access to power. I think the<br />
country needs companies like GE to really<br />
get it done. And I think it has been a very<br />
positive relationship in terms of how we can<br />
work together.<br />
From the global perspective, where do<br />
you see the place of Nigeria in GE’s<br />
operations?<br />
This year, I have travelled to two regions only;<br />
Africa is the second one I have visited, so it<br />
is obvious that I believe in the potential of<br />
Nigeria. Of course, being one of the largest<br />
economies, the potential is enormous. Access<br />
to electricity is important for a growing<br />
economy to be able to unleash the potential<br />
of businesses, families, and industries and<br />
you must really believe in it. Therefore, we<br />
continue to invest in the team, as well as<br />
continuing to work with various partners to<br />
deliver the desired energy outcomes for the<br />
country. GE will stay committed.<br />
Profile:<br />
Russell Stokes is the President and Chief<br />
Executive Officer of GE Power and a Senior<br />
Vice President of GE as of June 2017.<br />
In this role, he is responsible for leading<br />
the company’s strategy on technology,<br />
solutions and services across the entire<br />
energy value chain from the point of<br />
generation to consumption.<br />
Russell joined GE in 1997 in the Financial<br />
Management Program.<br />
Prior to leading Power, Russell was the<br />
President and Chief Executive Officer of<br />
GE Energy Connections, the electrification,<br />
grid and controls business of GE.<br />
Before that, he served as the President<br />
and Chief Executive Officer of GE Transportation,<br />
a global leader in rail, mining<br />
and marine industries. Russell has also<br />
held numerous leadership positions in<br />
finance, operations and services within<br />
GE Transportation, GE Aviation and GE<br />
Lighting.<br />
Russell plays an active role in the Atlanta<br />
community. He is a member of the Metro<br />
Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Executive<br />
Committee, the Atlanta Committee for<br />
Progress, Usher’s New Look Board, the<br />
Atlanta Junior Achievement Executive<br />
Committee, and the board of The Commerce<br />
Club, Atlanta, GA. Russell graduated<br />
from Cleveland State University with<br />
a degree in finance and completed GE’s<br />
Financial Management Program.
24 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
CEO<br />
INTERVIEW<br />
Interview with Private Sector Leaders<br />
‘Additional investment capital will flow into Nigerian power<br />
market if right policies and enabling environment are in place’<br />
RUSSELL STOKES is the President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Power and a Senior Vice President of GE as of June 2017. In this interview with<br />
FRANK UZUEGBUNAM, Editor, West Africa Energy Intelligence, he spoke about the company’s strategy on technology, solutions and services across the<br />
entire energy value chain from the point of generation to consumption and GE’s aspirations for Nigeria’s power sector amongst other issues. Excerpts:<br />
This is your first visit to Nigeria<br />
as newly appointed global CEO<br />
of GE Power Division. Why you<br />
here, and what are your key<br />
interests in the region?<br />
I have been coming to Africa for many<br />
years now while I was leading various other<br />
businesses within GE, so Nigeria is not new to<br />
me and I am very excited to be back. As the<br />
CEO of the GE Power business, my interests<br />
are primarily to mobilize GE’s support for the<br />
growth of the power sector around the globe.<br />
I took up this role in the middle of 2017 but<br />
before that I was leading the Energy Connections<br />
business which we have now merged<br />
into one consolidated power business to<br />
ensure we address the full scope of the electricity<br />
value network (EVN). All this has also<br />
given me perspective, not just around power<br />
generation that comes along with the power<br />
business, but also trying to understand how<br />
we transmit and distribute this power so that<br />
it gets to people.<br />
We often talk about how a billion people<br />
around the globe do not have access to<br />
power; well, 600 million of these people are<br />
here on this continent. Our goal is to have<br />
a better understanding of what we can do;<br />
to work with partners - public and private<br />
partners - to be able to give power to more<br />
and more people. This is something we focus<br />
on a lot. I started out this trip in Ghana and<br />
we are now in Nigeria. We will go on to visit<br />
Angola and South Africa to spend time with<br />
our partners and customers in these respective<br />
countries.<br />
So far, what is your key take-away when<br />
you look at the region and basically<br />
Nigeria on these services?<br />
It is quite a different scenario because as I<br />
go around the globe, country by country, my<br />
context and observations differ even though<br />
the aspirations for universal access to power<br />
is the same everywhere. Developing countries<br />
are embracing innovative technologies<br />
that will guarantee faster, more efficient and<br />
sustainable solutions to energy challenges. A<br />
good example is how GE’s trailer-mounted<br />
power solutions are enabling speed in the<br />
deployment of power plants in a matter of<br />
months rather than years. There are now a<br />
growing number of references on the continent<br />
that we are extremely proud of. This<br />
is one example of how GE is powering the<br />
future.<br />
There is a significant amount of generation<br />
capacity available in Nigeria that is just<br />
stranded. It has become very important,<br />
from my perspective, that there is a lot more<br />
attention and more investment needed in<br />
the transmission networks and distribution<br />
infrastructure in the country. There is an urgent<br />
need to look at solutions to evacuate the<br />
power that is available so that more people<br />
can access it.<br />
What do you see as the challenges and<br />
the potentials that we have in Nigeria’s<br />
power sector and how does that impact<br />
on the current state of power infrastructure?<br />
Let me start with the potential of the sector.<br />
According to the World Bank, approximately<br />
80 million Nigerians are yet to be connected<br />
to the grid. This means that demand for<br />
electricity will undoubtedly increase as the<br />
population rises and the economy expands.<br />
Secondly, privatisation of the power sector<br />
in Nigeria, though incomplete, as well as the<br />
on-going reforms in the country are critical<br />
steps in the right direction and deserve<br />
praise because these have really opened the<br />
market.<br />
Nonetheless, over the last few years, we<br />
have also seen that the sector has continued<br />
to struggle with acute liquidity challenges.<br />
Operators inclusive of Generation companies,<br />
Gas suppliers, and Distribution companies<br />
are facing a lot of challenges around<br />
liquidity, under-utilized capacity, underinvestment<br />
in critical CAPEX, and pending<br />
regulatory issues yet to be addressed<br />
around tariffs and payment consistency.<br />
Investments for growth in the sector cannot<br />
rely on government solely. These need to be<br />
mobilized and sourced from a broader set of<br />
partners, developers, and financiers to drive<br />
projects forward. I think it is going to be absolutely<br />
what is needed here in Nigeria based<br />
on what we have seen over the past couple of<br />
years and what I see on this trip now.<br />
There is also the capacity of the transmission<br />
network to evacuate the existing power. I<br />
have seen across many countries in the continent,<br />
that there has been historical under-investment in<br />
transmission and distribution networks. Weak and<br />
aging grid infrastructure will only lead to blackouts<br />
and load shedding. Developed countries have invested<br />
in a full suite of solutions including generation<br />
solutions covering Electrical balance of Plant,<br />
Energy management, Turnkey systems, Automation<br />
and Control, Asset management, Distribution<br />
Automation and digital solutions that have helped<br />
them optimize their infrastructure and Nigeria<br />
and many other countries on the continent need<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
to do the same to guarantee availability of power.<br />
You mentioned something that is of interest to<br />
me, that is power evacuation. We all know that Nigeria<br />
has the capacity to generate 10,000 megawatts<br />
but we hardly evacuate up to 5,000 megawatts, so<br />
how can GE Power support Nigeria in its bid to<br />
optimally evacuate at least what we generate?<br />
GE’s Grid solutions business is really focused<br />
on transmission and distribution capabilities. We<br />
enable utilities and industry to efficiently manage<br />
electricity from the point of generation to the point<br />
of consumption with low, medium, high and ultrahigh<br />
voltage electrical equipment and systems that<br />
turn the world on.<br />
Our teams integrate leading technology products<br />
and solutions to solve customer problems,<br />
making energy safer and more reliable through<br />
our ability to generate, transmit, and distribute<br />
electricity. We provide not just hardware but a<br />
wide range of software platforms, energy management<br />
systems and distribution management<br />
systems that enable the flow of electrons. We also<br />
continue to invest in distributed energy resource<br />
management systems that allow people to better<br />
integrate different sources of power generation in<br />
to the grid. So, we have all these solutions that we<br />
can provide to help solve some of the transmission<br />
and distribution challenges.<br />
In other words, you have technology that can<br />
help Nigeria mitigate technical loses?<br />
Absolutely. You are aware that GE has had a longstanding<br />
country to company collaboration with<br />
the government which translated into an MOU on<br />
power. In recent times, we have adopted the “endto-end<br />
approach” with regards to dealing with the<br />
challenges of the entire power value-chain. This<br />
holistic approach consists of identifying where<br />
the bottlenecks are in each segment of the power<br />
value chain and targeting sustainable interventions<br />
to those segments. This covers generation,<br />
transmission, distribution, software and even<br />
capacity building.<br />
We all know that dealing with bottlenecks<br />
involves investments. What are the critical<br />
factors that can help sustain a high level of<br />
investment in Nigeria’s power sector?<br />
Contrary to general opinion, there is a lot of financial<br />
interest in Nigeria’s power sector. Most of the<br />
development agencies have indicated significant<br />
interest and commitment to the sector. There are<br />
specific processes to deploy that capital. I think<br />
what needs to happen is for an acceleration of the<br />
process, regardless of whether it is through a public<br />
tender or bilateral government-to-government<br />
agreement.<br />
So do you think that it is the government<br />
or the private sector that should take the<br />
driving seat in pushing the investment in<br />
Nigeria?<br />
No, I do not believe it is a question of drivers<br />
and passengers. The role of government is very<br />
critical because as you know, this is a very regulated<br />
industry. Not only from the point of setting<br />
policies but in being the primary mobilizers of<br />
capital into the sector based upon some of the<br />
policies and actions that government needs to<br />
take to enhance investment climate. The scale of<br />
the opportunities and challenges goes beyond<br />
the resources of government alone. As you know,<br />
the sector was partially privatised a few years ago<br />
and all that investment was from private capital.<br />
The additional investment capital will flow into<br />
the Nigerian power market if the right policies<br />
and enabling environment are in place. Private<br />
sector players are intent on mobilising, investing<br />
and modernising their infrastructure for more<br />
efficient and reliable supply of power to Nigeria.<br />
What are the other ways that GE can help<br />
to optimise assets and reduce downtime of<br />
systems?<br />
Let me give some context here. The current<br />
installed base of power in Nigeria is not being<br />
made available as they are limited by very clear<br />
technical bottlenecks. As part of the end-to-end<br />
solution we spoke about earlier, GE’s total plant<br />
management solutions portfolio demonstrates<br />
our strength as a single service provider that understands<br />
the full “plant-as-a-system” impact. We<br />
can offer installation, maintenance, repair<br />
and upgrade activities and our excellent<br />
services capabilities enables us to optimize<br />
the performance and long-term value of the<br />
power plant to ensure high efficiency for the<br />
units throughout the plant’s life cycle.<br />
Today, our Power services team is offering<br />
total plant management solutions and<br />
guaranteeing the flexibility and availability<br />
of over 100 GE units across the country and<br />
have just signed an agreement with SPDC for<br />
the Afam VI power plant. The local team has<br />
also successfully carried out their first flange<br />
to flange installation in the region at the<br />
Transcorp power plant adding a significant<br />
115MW of power to the grid.<br />
Every day we engage with the government<br />
and relevant stakeholders in the sector to<br />
drive understanding around this end to end<br />
approach.<br />
Is that part of the MOU that GE signed<br />
with the Federal Government committing<br />
to generate additional 10,000 MW<br />
over the next 10 years?<br />
This is a clear demonstration of our followthrough<br />
to that commitment and we are very<br />
proud of the fact that in terms of commitment<br />
to this country even in times like these,<br />
which are quite challenging, we have been<br />
unwavering. As we focus on stranded generation<br />
and incremental power, we can talk to<br />
you about any number of projects in various<br />
stages of development. So, we are all in.<br />
What do you think should be the best<br />
approach for Nigeria to solve its power<br />
problem?<br />
Here are a couple of thoughts - I think there<br />
should be an appreciation for the role that<br />
public-private partners can play. It would<br />
mean that the Federal Government ensures<br />
that projects are executed and delivered. I<br />
think there should be an appreciation that beyond<br />
the additional investment in generation<br />
in Nigeria, one must be thinking about how<br />
to evacuate the electrons to people that need<br />
them. This means that transmission and distribution<br />
must be part of the overall strategy.<br />
I think that there is a clear set of ideas and<br />
actions that the sector believes GE can bring<br />
but which we do not believe by any stretch of<br />
the imagination that we can do on our own,<br />
C002D5556<br />
RUSSELL STOKES<br />
President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Power and<br />
Senior Vice President of GE as of June 2017<br />
which is why we are here. We are talking to<br />
customers and our partners, to understand<br />
how we can collaborate better and how<br />
together we can continue to move the vision<br />
forward; bringing power to as many<br />
people as do not have access to power here<br />
in Nigeria.<br />
Do you see any place for renewable in<br />
all this?<br />
Yes, I do. I see around the globe, everyone<br />
is working through what is the appropriate<br />
energy mix and a lot of that is predicated on<br />
how countries set up overall policy around<br />
emissions. The GE Power business provides<br />
key equipment for solar installations so we<br />
recognize the place of renewables and how<br />
it is growing in the energy mix of countries<br />
around the world.<br />
What is the update on the MOU signed<br />
with the Northern Governors on solar<br />
project?<br />
We signed the MOU with the Northern State<br />
Governors, five governors all together and<br />
that is a good example of our flexibility and<br />
resourcefulness. We have two active projects,<br />
Niger and Borno States around 100MW each.<br />
What we tried to do is to bring in developers<br />
that would support them as technical partners<br />
and some of the technical assessment<br />
is underway both in Niger and Borno. That<br />
is one example of how we are meeting the<br />
requirements of the country from the renewable<br />
perspective.<br />
You may recall that in December, we<br />
signed with Mainstream for the rehabilitation<br />
of the biggest hydro power plant in the<br />
country. We are very proud that we are going<br />
to be helping them deliver 80MW to the grid<br />
by rehabilitating that site. We have localized<br />
some of GE’s global capabilities right here<br />
in Nigeria. We have built the supply chain<br />
and GE’s footprint in Nigeria continues to<br />
grow. I think it is clear that GE’s continuous<br />
commitment to Nigeria has never wavered.<br />
What could be the deal breaker, what<br />
could make GE not actualise these<br />
MOUs?<br />
We know we must stay in partnership with<br />
government as this is very important. They<br />
have been very supportive. I do not see anything<br />
to worry about in terms of our ability<br />
to continue with the partnership we have<br />
with Nigeria. Of course, there is a need to accelerate.<br />
Everyone knows funding is another<br />
issue and we have spoken extensively about<br />
it. And of course, we will do our part where<br />
possible to help mobilise the capital that is<br />
required for Nigeria.<br />
Five years from now, where do you<br />
see Nigeria’s power sector and GE in<br />
Nigeria?<br />
I am an eternal optimist when it comes to<br />
Nigeria. You must remember that this is one<br />
of the biggest economies and markets for GE<br />
in the continent. GE has nearly 800 people<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
25<br />
here. We have invested heavily in our supplychain<br />
and we have the fullest portfolio of GE<br />
businesses in Nigeria. With respect to power,<br />
we are confident that this is a market we are<br />
going to be actively participating in for many<br />
years because the opportunity is huge. We<br />
share in the aspirations of Nigerians in terms<br />
of increasing access to power. I think the<br />
country needs companies like GE to really<br />
get it done. And I think it has been a very<br />
positive relationship in terms of how we can<br />
work together.<br />
From the global perspective, where do<br />
you see the place of Nigeria in GE’s<br />
operations?<br />
This year, I have travelled to two regions only;<br />
Africa is the second one I have visited, so it<br />
is obvious that I believe in the potential of<br />
Nigeria. Of course, being one of the largest<br />
economies, the potential is enormous. Access<br />
to electricity is important for a growing<br />
economy to be able to unleash the potential<br />
of businesses, families, and industries and<br />
you must really believe in it. Therefore, we<br />
continue to invest in the team, as well as<br />
continuing to work with various partners to<br />
deliver the desired energy outcomes for the<br />
country. GE will stay committed.<br />
Profile:<br />
Russell Stokes is the President and Chief<br />
Executive Officer of GE Power and a Senior<br />
Vice President of GE as of June 2017.<br />
In this role, he is responsible for leading<br />
the company’s strategy on technology,<br />
solutions and services across the entire<br />
energy value chain from the point of<br />
generation to consumption.<br />
Russell joined GE in 1997 in the Financial<br />
Management Program.<br />
Prior to leading Power, Russell was the<br />
President and Chief Executive Officer of<br />
GE Energy Connections, the electrification,<br />
grid and controls business of GE.<br />
Before that, he served as the President<br />
and Chief Executive Officer of GE Transportation,<br />
a global leader in rail, mining<br />
and marine industries. Russell has also<br />
held numerous leadership positions in<br />
finance, operations and services within<br />
GE Transportation, GE Aviation and GE<br />
Lighting.<br />
Russell plays an active role in the Atlanta<br />
community. He is a member of the Metro<br />
Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Executive<br />
Committee, the Atlanta Committee for<br />
Progress, Usher’s New Look Board, the<br />
Atlanta Junior Achievement Executive<br />
Committee, and the board of The Commerce<br />
Club, Atlanta, GA. Russell graduated<br />
from Cleveland State University with<br />
a degree in finance and completed GE’s<br />
Financial Management Program.
<strong>26</strong> BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556 Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
REAL SECTOR WATCH<br />
Manufacturers make N4trn<br />
investment in 54 months<br />
...as inventory of unsold goods stands at N160bn<br />
L-R: Toki Mabogunje, deputy president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI); Babatunde Paul Ruwase, president of LCCI; Yemi Osinbajo, vice president<br />
of Nigeria; Michael Olawale-Cole, vice president of LCCI; and Agnes Shobajo, vice president of LCCI, during LCCI’s courtesy visit to the vice president in Abuja recently<br />
ODINAKA ANUDU<br />
Manufacturing<br />
investments from<br />
January 2013 to<br />
June 2017 stood<br />
at N4.12 trillion,<br />
according to data coming from<br />
the Manufacturers Association of<br />
Nigeria (MAN).<br />
The cumulative investments<br />
in the 54-month period indicate<br />
the level of contributions made<br />
by Nigerian manufacturers to the<br />
economy.<br />
Meanwhile, inventory of unsold<br />
finished goods in the manufacturing<br />
sector rose in the first half (HI) of 2017<br />
to N159.59 billion, from 54.93 billion<br />
recorded in the corresponding<br />
period of 2016, indicating N104.66<br />
billion or 190.5 percent increase<br />
over the period.<br />
This also signifies N124.17<br />
billion or 350.6 percent jump when<br />
compared with N35.42 reported in<br />
the second half of 2016.<br />
“The increase in inventory of<br />
manufactured finished products<br />
was attributed to poor sales<br />
particularly in food, beverage and<br />
tobacco, non-metallic mineral<br />
products, and motor vehicle and<br />
miscellaneous assembly,” MAN’s<br />
report says.<br />
Sectoral analysis shows that 30.8<br />
percent of total inventory (N159.59<br />
billion), that is N49.13 billion, was<br />
recorded in the food, beverage<br />
and tobacco group. Also, 22.3<br />
percent was reported in the nonmetallic<br />
mineral products, while<br />
17.05 percent was observed in<br />
motor vehicle and miscellaneous<br />
assembly group in the review<br />
period.<br />
Inventory of unsold finished<br />
goods in food, beverage & tobacco<br />
sector increased to N49.13 billion<br />
in H1 of 2017, from N4.01 billion<br />
recorded in the corresponding<br />
period of 2016, indicating a N45.12<br />
billion increase over the period.<br />
It also increased by N43.12 billion<br />
when compared with N6.01 billion<br />
recorded in the preceding half.<br />
Inter-zonal analysis shows<br />
that 41.6 percent (N66.36 billion)<br />
inventory of unsold manufactured<br />
products was recorded in Ogun<br />
zone. Thirty-six percent (N57.39<br />
billion) was reported in Ikeja, while<br />
9.6 percent (N15.<strong>26</strong> billion) was<br />
noted in Apapa zone. These three<br />
zones (Ogun, Ikeja and Apapa) also<br />
recorded the highest production<br />
value in the period under review.<br />
Inventory in Ogun stood at N66.36<br />
billion in the period under review,<br />
from N10.87 billion recorded in the<br />
corresponding period of 2016. This<br />
indicates a N55.49 billion increase<br />
over the period. It also increased<br />
by N60.29 billion when compared<br />
with N6.07 billion recorded in the<br />
preceding half.<br />
In order to reduce inventory of<br />
unfinished goods, MAN wants the<br />
Federal Government to monitor<br />
and enforce the recent Executive<br />
Order 003 on patronage of madein-Nigerian<br />
products in ministries,<br />
departments and agencies (MDAs).<br />
The association wants further<br />
construct a margin of preference<br />
(preferably 30 percent), which<br />
will be applied by MDAs in their<br />
procurement processes.<br />
It urges the state and local<br />
governments to embrace patronage<br />
of made-in-Nigeria products by<br />
toeing the footsteps of the Federal<br />
Government.<br />
“It is important to sustain,<br />
monitor and enforce that the<br />
Executive Order on micro, small<br />
and medium enterprises. There<br />
is a need to create a sustainable<br />
platform through which Nigeria’s<br />
general public will be continuously<br />
educated on the need to jettison the<br />
current penchant for foreign goods<br />
and patronize locally manufactured<br />
products,” MAN advises.<br />
The association calls for<br />
close monitoring of smuggling,<br />
adulteration and counterfeiting<br />
activities in the country with stricter<br />
penalty on those found culpable of<br />
the offences.<br />
MAN pledges support for SON’s fight against fake products<br />
The Manufacturers Association<br />
of Nigeria (MAN) says<br />
it will continue to support<br />
the Standards Organisation<br />
of Nigeria (SON)’s fight against<br />
fake and sub-standard products.<br />
Similarly, the SON has read riot<br />
act on adulterators of lubricants,<br />
warning them to desist from such<br />
unscrupulous activity to avoid<br />
prosecution.<br />
Speaking at a sensitisation<br />
workshop organised by SON in<br />
Yola, Adamawa State capital recently,<br />
Ahmed Jarma, chairman,<br />
North- East zone of MAN, said<br />
there was a need for collaboration<br />
between MAN and SON to tackle<br />
the influx of substandard products<br />
into the country.<br />
According to Jarma, the effects<br />
of substandard products in the<br />
country could be so devastating<br />
that only mutual collaborations<br />
could stop it.<br />
“Substandard products are<br />
everybody’s enemy, yet people<br />
engage in peddling them for selfish<br />
economic gains at the expense of<br />
national and individual economic<br />
interest.<br />
“It is only all of us as patriotic<br />
Nigerians that can collectively put<br />
a halt to this trend on both domestic<br />
and imported substandard<br />
..as SON reads riot act on faking of lubricants<br />
products,” he said.<br />
Jarma noted that the objectives<br />
of MAN and the functions of<br />
SON indicated that both had the<br />
common goal of formulating and<br />
promoting policies that specifically<br />
promoted a healthy industrial development<br />
in the country for stable<br />
economic growth.<br />
Commending SON ACT 2015,<br />
the manufacturer said: “The Act<br />
sets out to sanitise the nation’s<br />
industrial, commercial, business<br />
and market place of substandard<br />
products. It is in tandem with the<br />
economic diversification, economic<br />
growth and recovery, industrial<br />
and agricultural revolution<br />
programme of the federal government.<br />
Therefore, using the instrumentality<br />
of the ACT, Nigeria could<br />
attain economic development via<br />
standardisation, quality assurance<br />
and control as well as monitoring<br />
and compliance”.<br />
Speaking earlier at the forum,<br />
Osita Aboloma, SON’s directorgeneral,<br />
represented by Sunday<br />
Galadima, Adamawa State’s coordinator<br />
of SON, assured stakeholders<br />
that the regulatory agency<br />
remained unrelenting in the antisubstandard<br />
products battle.<br />
“Within the last few months,<br />
we have confiscated fake and substandard<br />
products worth over N300<br />
billion across the country. We have<br />
since embarked on arraignment<br />
and trial at the various courts- of<br />
some of the suspects linked with<br />
the impounded goods”.<br />
Meanwhile at another meeting<br />
with the Lubricant Producers Association<br />
of Nigeria last Wednesday<br />
in Lagos, Aboloma charged<br />
lubricant dealers to leverage the<br />
growing auto industry, pointing<br />
out that the industry was critical<br />
to Nigeria’s industrialisation drive.<br />
He read riot act to unscrupulous<br />
dealers faking genuine products<br />
and deceiving unsuspecting consumers<br />
to desist from that, as the<br />
SON had given the agency prosecutorial<br />
powers.<br />
“SON will not sit back and<br />
watch some unscrupulous people<br />
threaten the life of the industry. We<br />
will not sit back and watch these<br />
people pull down the investment of<br />
established brands. As long as you<br />
are law abiding, we will be there to<br />
protect you,” he said.<br />
He urged all stakeholders to<br />
always consult SON for minimum<br />
requirements of the Nigerian Industrial<br />
Standards (NIS) in order<br />
to produce in line with global<br />
standards.<br />
“We cannot do it alone and we<br />
need your assistance. The standards<br />
are there and they have been<br />
brought at par with international<br />
best practice. We will sit down and<br />
critically look at challenges you<br />
have now and fashion out a way<br />
to deal with them collectively and<br />
decisively,” Aboloma told lubricant<br />
makers.<br />
Mustapha Ado, chairman/CEO<br />
of Ammasco International Limited,<br />
said the industry was faced with<br />
a number of challenges, ranging<br />
from adulteration to faking of established<br />
brands, tasking SON to<br />
address the issue head-on.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 27<br />
REAL SECTOR WATCH<br />
R-L:Wale Adegbite, chairman, Ogun State branch of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN); Bimbola Ashiru, Ogun State<br />
commissioner for commerce and industry; Babi Subair, special adviser on One-Stop-Shop and Jonathan Onajobi, permanent secretary<br />
of the Ministry of Trade at the 12th quarterly meeting of MAN and Ogun State government in Abeokuta weekend. Pic by Razaq Ayinla<br />
UK targets bigger real sector<br />
investments in Nigeria<br />
David Ibemere<br />
Exciting days<br />
lie ahead, as<br />
the British<br />
government says<br />
Nigeria remains<br />
a top priority on its push<br />
to increase more direct<br />
investment into Africa,<br />
and talks have already<br />
begun with the Ministry<br />
of Industry, Trade and<br />
Investment to achieve the<br />
target.<br />
The UK is interested in<br />
all sectors of the economy,<br />
but more importantly in<br />
Nigeria’s burgeoning real<br />
sector.<br />
Laure Beaufils, deputy<br />
British high commissioner<br />
said weekend, at an<br />
advocacy roundtable<br />
organised in Lagos by the<br />
Nigerian-British Chamber<br />
of Commerce(NBCC),<br />
entitled ‘The Ease of Doing<br />
Business in Nigeria’, that the<br />
government was starting a<br />
…puts Nigeria top on investments into Africa<br />
new project called ‘Overseas<br />
Direct Investment(ODI)’,<br />
specifically driven to<br />
promote more British-<br />
Nigeria trade.<br />
“The United Kingdom,<br />
the UK Trade & Investment,<br />
in collaboration, is working<br />
closely with Nigerian<br />
Investment Promotion<br />
Commission and other<br />
bodies to increase UK<br />
investment in Nigeria,”<br />
Beaufils said.<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> checks<br />
on UK Office of National<br />
Statistics show that as of<br />
third quarter (Q3) of 2017,<br />
Nigeria exported goods<br />
valued at £17 million to the<br />
UK, while the import from<br />
the UK to Nigeria stood<br />
at £134 million. However,<br />
Beaufils stated top British<br />
companies already had<br />
deep footprints in Nigeria,<br />
importing and exporting<br />
various products.<br />
“In the coming years<br />
there will be positive growth<br />
figures on trade volume<br />
between Nigeria and the<br />
UK, as the commission is<br />
ready to champion various<br />
programs that will lead to a<br />
free, fair and inclusive trade<br />
with mutual benefit.<br />
“We are very ready<br />
to improve on trade<br />
relationship with Nigeria,<br />
and help attract U.K<br />
investors into Nigeria’s<br />
capital market, Nigerian<br />
Stock Exchange.”<br />
Beaufils recalled that<br />
the British Government<br />
on <strong>Feb</strong>. 9, through its<br />
export credit agency,<br />
UK Export Finance<br />
(UKEF), said it would<br />
accept naira payments<br />
from Nigerian business<br />
owners trading with the<br />
UK. She said the initiative<br />
was a monumental step<br />
that would deepen trade,<br />
open more opportunities,<br />
expand patronage and<br />
market scope of products<br />
from both countries.<br />
Commenting on Nigeria<br />
perception in the UK, she<br />
said Nigeria had more<br />
role to play in making the<br />
narrative change.<br />
“Nigeria must make it<br />
easy for investors to predict<br />
what to expect when they<br />
come into the country with<br />
their investment.”<br />
Okechukwu Enelamah,<br />
minister for trade<br />
and investment, in his<br />
presentation on ‘Ease of<br />
Doing Business in Nigeria’<br />
reiterated government’s<br />
commitment to making<br />
Nigeria an attractive<br />
business destination.<br />
“The objective we are<br />
looking at is how we can<br />
make life easier for people,<br />
remove the bottlenecks and<br />
roadblocks and things that<br />
get in the way of people<br />
running their businesses<br />
efficiently, but this will need<br />
a collective responsibility<br />
both from the government<br />
and the private sector,” he<br />
remarked.<br />
He revealed that<br />
the government had<br />
earmarked airport<br />
concessioning, single<br />
window ports operation,<br />
deployment of scanners,<br />
and communication system<br />
to promote efficiency<br />
in the ports as some of<br />
the priority for <strong>2018</strong>. For<br />
Akinola Olawore, president<br />
of the chamber, there was a<br />
need to continually sustain<br />
relationship in building<br />
sustainable plan to enable<br />
a more business-friendly<br />
environment.<br />
He noted that the<br />
forum was created to<br />
design, highlight and also<br />
propose direction to ensure<br />
sustained economic ties<br />
between the UK and Nigeria.<br />
70 manufacturers expected at<br />
Waste Water Technology expo<br />
ANGEL JAMES<br />
Ov e r 7 0<br />
manufacturers<br />
and water<br />
packagers are<br />
expected at this year’s<br />
West Africa Waste Water<br />
Technology expo and<br />
exhibition (Elan Expo)<br />
billed to take place between<br />
July 10 and 12 this year.<br />
According to Jude<br />
Chime, project coordinator<br />
of Elan Expo Nigeria, the<br />
event promises to rally all<br />
stakeholders in the water<br />
and waste management<br />
sector to see how they can<br />
increase participation in<br />
the areas of water supply,<br />
distribution, sanitation, and<br />
recent technologies in the<br />
waste water sector.<br />
“Seventy manufacturers<br />
and investors from other<br />
parts of the world and West<br />
Africa are expected. Lagos<br />
State Water Corporation,<br />
which is a key stakeholder,<br />
will tell us about the<br />
experience of water supply<br />
in the state so that other<br />
states can learn from that,”<br />
Chime said.<br />
He said some<br />
stakeholders from different<br />
parts of the world are<br />
aware of the event already<br />
and some have confirmed<br />
attendance.<br />
“We have heard from<br />
the embassies and they are<br />
all willing to cooperate and<br />
participate in this exhibition.<br />
We also have strong support<br />
from institutions related<br />
to water like the Nigerian<br />
Institution of Mechanical<br />
Engineers, and others. This<br />
RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta<br />
As a response to the<br />
complaints coming<br />
from investors and<br />
manufacturers that<br />
are based in Igbesa-Agbara as<br />
well as other industrial areas<br />
across the state, Ogun State<br />
government has requested<br />
investors and entrepreneurs<br />
to put down 30 percent<br />
cost, while government<br />
contributes 70percent to fix<br />
decaying infrastructure such<br />
as roads within industrial<br />
estate.<br />
The request was borne out<br />
complaints and criticisms<br />
from investors which were<br />
published by some national<br />
newspapers, including<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong>, on the need<br />
for government to quickly<br />
fix decaying roads and<br />
infrastructure in order to<br />
sustain the tempo at which<br />
industries expand and locate<br />
their factories and businesses<br />
to Ogun state in recent times.<br />
Speaking at 12th Quarterly<br />
meeting of MAN, Ogun<br />
State branch, with the state<br />
government in Abeokuta<br />
weekend, Bimbo Ashiru,<br />
commissioner for commerce<br />
and industry, said the level<br />
is an exhibition that can<br />
provide solutions for 2020.<br />
It is a continuous process<br />
until we get all the aspects<br />
in the water sector right,”<br />
Chime stated.<br />
Muminu Badmus,<br />
managing director of the<br />
Lagos Water Corporation,<br />
stated the expo is important<br />
as it is difficult to separate<br />
water from waste water.<br />
“It is from water you get<br />
the waste water. It will be<br />
an opportunity for us to<br />
learn, innovative ideas and<br />
equipment out there and<br />
see how we can incorporate<br />
them into the service we<br />
are providing locally. It is<br />
something we need to take<br />
advantage of. We would love<br />
to partner with them and<br />
provide field trip to some of<br />
our facilities.”<br />
“We have gone a<br />
long way, so it will be an<br />
opportunity to showcase<br />
what we have done. This<br />
expo is an opportunity to<br />
talk to investors so we can<br />
bridge the gap and supply<br />
more safe water. We will<br />
continue to do our best to<br />
ensure that by 2020, every<br />
household is connected to<br />
water,” Badmus said.<br />
The organisers say there<br />
has been a lot of support<br />
from many government<br />
ministries, including the<br />
Federal Ministry of Water<br />
Resources, which is also<br />
willing to support the event,<br />
adding that various states<br />
water corporations have<br />
been visited, including<br />
those in the south-west and<br />
about 10 in the northern<br />
part of the country.<br />
Ogun partners MAN to fix decaying<br />
infrastructure in Agbara, other industrial areas<br />
of decaying infrastructure,<br />
especially roads, is worrisome<br />
and there must be urgent and<br />
cogent solutions to this ugly<br />
scenario, which must be<br />
initiated by both investors<br />
and government.<br />
He said although<br />
efforts were ongoing to<br />
fix Atan-Igbesa-Agbara<br />
roads to Badagry end with<br />
concrete road solutions,<br />
compensations are being<br />
paid to those whose<br />
properties were demolished.<br />
He said the fact remains that<br />
investors and government<br />
should use public -private<br />
partnership arrangements<br />
to fix and find solutions to<br />
perceived challenges that<br />
could inhibit production and<br />
distribution of goods.<br />
Ashiru also disclosed<br />
that 304 companies and<br />
225,000 enterprises had<br />
opened for business in the<br />
state in the last seven years<br />
and cogent efforts must be<br />
done to sustain the tempo<br />
at which industries establish<br />
in Ogun through the fixing<br />
of decaying infrastructure,<br />
harmonisation of multiple<br />
taxation, among other things,<br />
which could improve ease of<br />
doing business in the state.
28 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
INTERVIEW<br />
The 2019 election presents opportunities to<br />
take a look atassets with good valuations<br />
Nigeria exited its first full-year economic recession in a quarter of a century in the second quarter of 2017, with the IMF and World Bank forecasting<br />
growth of around 2 percent this year. IKE ONYIA, the chief executive officer of Lagos-based FBNQuest Asset Management, in this interview with<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong>’s PATRICK ATUANYA, LOLADE AKINMURELE and DIPO OLADEHINDE, shared his views on investment opportunities in Nigeria post-recession.<br />
What investment<br />
opportunities<br />
are emerging in<br />
Nigeria, post-recession?<br />
Last year, Nigeria provided investors<br />
with relatively strong returns<br />
across money, fixed-income and<br />
public equity markets. Post-recession<br />
and with improving economic<br />
fundamentals driven by<br />
oil prices, stable output, growing<br />
foreign currency reserves and appropriate<br />
policies, we anticipate<br />
that businesses in Nigeria will do<br />
much better. With inflation trending<br />
downwards, money market<br />
and fixed income securities may<br />
provide short to medium-term<br />
investor’s with real rates of return.<br />
Long-term investors, with varying<br />
degrees of risk tolerance, will find<br />
viable investment opportunities<br />
in both public and private equity<br />
markets. The key consideration<br />
for investors after risk, will be the<br />
adoption of a suitable asset allocation<br />
strategy, which if optimal, will<br />
take advantage of investment opportunities<br />
across several sectors<br />
in Nigeria. Are there alternatives<br />
to Treasury Bills as yields slide?<br />
Treasury Bills are short-term<br />
money market securities with<br />
maturities of one year or less and<br />
are suitable for investors seeking<br />
liquidity and capital preservation<br />
objectives. Investors with these<br />
objectives should still consider<br />
exposure to treasury bills an appropriate<br />
strategy, in spite of a<br />
decline in yields from between<br />
18 per cent and 22 per cent last<br />
year to between 12 per cent and<br />
15 per cent, thus far, in <strong>2018</strong>. It<br />
might be inaccurate to develop<br />
expectations around an absolute<br />
number and seek a perfect substitute<br />
with the same level risk<br />
tolerance threshold. Indeed, while<br />
yields looked attractive on the face<br />
of it, when you factor in average<br />
inflation of approximately 17 per<br />
cent in 2017, the real rate of return<br />
was between 1 per cent and 5 per<br />
cent. So last year’s yields may look<br />
attractive on an absolute basis,<br />
but much less so when adjusted<br />
for inflation. Investors can consider<br />
other opportunities within<br />
money markets include Bankers<br />
Acceptances and Commercial<br />
Paper but those with higher risk<br />
appetite and longer investment<br />
horizons may consider additional<br />
exposure to other asset classes<br />
such as bonds and public equities.<br />
In 2017, a portfolio diversified<br />
across money market, bonds and<br />
equity securities will have outperformed<br />
yields achieved from<br />
a money market only portfolio. In<br />
other words, investors should still<br />
consider including treasury bills in<br />
their portfolio but seek alternatives<br />
for higher yields through a carefully<br />
advised allocation strategy to<br />
include other asset classes. Stocks<br />
have rallied to a near 3-year high,<br />
do you expect the bullish momentum<br />
to be sustained especially on<br />
the back of impending elections?<br />
The NSE All-Shares Index<br />
achieved strong growth of 43 per<br />
cent in 2017, making it one of the<br />
top three performing stock mar-<br />
Ike Onyia<br />
kets in the world. This growth was<br />
spurred by rising commodity prices<br />
and the introduction of the Investors<br />
and Exporters (I&E) window by<br />
the Central Bank of Nigeria, which<br />
ensured foreign exchange stability<br />
and liquidity. Oil price trends and<br />
Nigeria’s economy are closely correlated<br />
and at the moment, prices<br />
and output are relatively stable.<br />
Following five quarters of negative<br />
growth, Nigeria has just exited a<br />
recession and is expected to grow<br />
at more than twice its growth rate in<br />
2017. Also, tight liquidity management<br />
and stable foreign currency<br />
markets have led to a decline in<br />
inflation and interest rates. All of<br />
these elements and more, support<br />
positive growth for businesses and<br />
the stock market over the course of<br />
<strong>2018</strong>, however, valuations are high<br />
following the bull run in 2017 and<br />
investors have to be selective and<br />
cautious in constructing their equities<br />
portfolio. What does the impending<br />
election hold for investors?<br />
Since 1999, Nigeria has witnessed<br />
four election cycles and<br />
as is usually the case, politics<br />
takes centre stage. Investors with<br />
a long-term mind set and appetite<br />
for exposure to one of the largest<br />
economies in Africa should stay the<br />
course. Indeed, while the run-up to<br />
the election will lead some investor<br />
segments to exercise caution, this<br />
could in itself present others with<br />
the opportunity to pick up investment<br />
assets at good valuations.<br />
How has the Investors and<br />
Exporters (I&E) window affected<br />
or had an impact on you?<br />
The I & E window effect was<br />
positive and provided liquidity in<br />
the foreign currency market, which<br />
in turn spurred investment activity<br />
in stocks, amongst others.<br />
How are your funds performing?<br />
Across board all our funds performed<br />
strongly and clients were<br />
well served as a result of our investment<br />
strategies, which outperformed<br />
relevant benchmark<br />
indices. Our FBN Money Market<br />
Fund achieved returns in excess of<br />
17 per cent the FBN Fixed Income<br />
Fund achieved 19.14 per cent while<br />
the FBN Eurobond (USD) Fund<br />
achieved in US$ returns of 12.17<br />
percent,.<br />
The funds’ performance is down<br />
to our strong and highly experienced<br />
investment management<br />
and research team.<br />
Expectation for <strong>2018</strong>?<br />
With a fairly stable forecast oil<br />
price trading range, the macroeconomic<br />
story will be positive<br />
and we should witness strong<br />
growth relative to the recessionary<br />
environment that just passed. As<br />
expected, there will be a surge in<br />
political activities, which will most<br />
certainly attract a lot of attention.<br />
However, financial markets will<br />
present viable investment opportunities<br />
for consideration. In money<br />
markets, yields are expected to be<br />
less than last year as the Federal<br />
Government refinances its local<br />
debt book. The public equity market<br />
may witness a correction given<br />
current valuations of select stocks<br />
but will most likely end the year<br />
positive. Private equity markets<br />
continue to provide a pipeline of<br />
interesting value propositions focused<br />
on several sectors including<br />
consumer, financial services, agribusiness,<br />
broad-based technology,<br />
education, healthcare and more<br />
evident in the number of successful<br />
capital raises and exits.<br />
Forecast for <strong>2018</strong>?<br />
IMF and World Bank forecast<br />
growth in Africa at over 3 per cent<br />
and over 2 per cent for Nigeria..<br />
FBNQuest Capital Research has<br />
forecast a growth of 2 per cent in<br />
<strong>2018</strong>, which is over double the pace<br />
of growth of 0.8 per cent in 2017.<br />
In <strong>2018</strong>, I think that we will<br />
see improved growth over 2017,<br />
although it will be fragile.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
29<br />
Access Bank Rateswatch<br />
KEY MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS<br />
Indicators Current Figures Comments<br />
GDP Growth (%) 1.40 Q3 2017 — higher by 0.68% compared to 0.72% in Q2 2017<br />
Broad Money Supply (M2) (N’ trillion) 24.00 Increased by 7.04% in Dec’ 2017 from N22.31 trillion in Nov 2017<br />
Credit to Private Sector (N’ trillion) 22.29 Increased by 1.50% in Dec’ 2017 from N21.96 trillion in Nov 2017<br />
Currency in Circulation (N’ trillion) 2.15 Increased by 13.15% in Dec’ 2017 from N1.90 trillion in Nov 2017<br />
Inflation rate (%) (y-o-y) 15.13 Declined to 15.13% in Jan’<strong>2018</strong> from 15.37% in Dec’2017<br />
Monetary Policy Rate (%) 14 Raised to 14% in July ’2016 from 12%<br />
Interest Rate (Corridor) 14 (+2/-5) Lending rate changed to 16% & Deposit rate 9%<br />
External Reserves (US$ million) 41.42 <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 21, <strong>2018</strong> figure — an increase of 1.62% from <strong>Feb</strong> start<br />
Oil Price (US$/Barrel) 65.71 <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 23, <strong>2018</strong> figure - an increase of 4.35% in one week<br />
Oil Production mbpd (OPEC) 1.82 Jan’ <strong>2018</strong> figure — a decrease of 0.55% from Dec’2017 figure<br />
STOCK MARKET<br />
Indicators Friday Friday Change(%)<br />
23/02/18 16/02/18<br />
NSE ASI 42,570.89 42,638.83 (0.16)<br />
Market Cap(N’tr) 15.28 15.30 (0.16)<br />
Volume (bn) 0.31 0.82 (62.20)<br />
Value (N’bn) 6.40 8.06 (20.60)<br />
MONEY MARKET<br />
NIBOR<br />
Tenor Friday Rate Friday Rate Change<br />
(%) (%) (Basis Point)<br />
23/02/18 16/02/18<br />
OBB 11.50 18.17 (667.0)<br />
O/N 12.42 19.50 (708)<br />
CALL 9.71 8.10 160.8<br />
30 Days 14.87 14.71 16<br />
90 Days 15.92 15.05 86.4<br />
FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET<br />
Market Friday Friday<br />
1 Month<br />
(N/$) (N/$) Rate (N/$)<br />
23/02/18 16/02/18 23/01/18<br />
Official (N) 305.95 305.95 305.65<br />
Inter-Bank (N) 334.81 334.71 332.37<br />
BDC (N) 360.87 360.50 360.00<br />
Parallel (N) 362.00 363.00 365.00<br />
BOND MARKET<br />
AVERAGE YIELDS<br />
Tenor Friday Friday<br />
Change<br />
(%) (%) (Basis Point)<br />
23/02/18 16/02/18<br />
3-Year 0.00 0.00 0.0<br />
5-Year 13.87 13.77 9.3<br />
7-Year 13.89 14.00 (10.3)<br />
10-Year 13.73 13.70 3.1<br />
20-Year 13.55 13.45 9.9<br />
Disclaimer<br />
This report is based on information obtained from various sources believed to be<br />
reliable and no representation is made that it is accurate or complete. Reasonable care<br />
has been taken in preparing this document. Access Bank Plc shall not take responsibility<br />
or liability for errors or fact or for any opinion expressed herein .This document is for<br />
information purposes and private circulation only and may not be reproduced,<br />
distributed or published by any recipient for any purpose without prior express consent<br />
of Access Bank Plc.<br />
Sources: CBN, Financial Market Dealers Association of Nigeria, NSE and<br />
Access Bank Economic Intelligence Group computation.<br />
COMMODITIES MARKET<br />
Indicators 23/02/18 1-week YTD<br />
Change Change<br />
(%) (%)<br />
Energy<br />
Crude Oil $/bbl) 65.71 4.35 1.94<br />
Natural Gas ($/MMBtu) 2.56 0.00 (16.23)<br />
Agriculture<br />
Cocoa ($/MT) 2155.00 0.98 11.31<br />
Coffee ($/lb.) 120.85 (2.38) (7.18)<br />
Cotton ($/lb.) 79.60 3.92 2.71<br />
Sugar ($/lb.) 13.52 0.82 (11.81)<br />
Wheat ($/bu.) 467.75 (0.53)<br />
7.90<br />
Metals<br />
Gold ($/t oz.) 1329.46 (1.95)<br />
0.90<br />
Silver ($/t oz.) 16.57 (1.49) (3.61)<br />
Copper ($/lb.) 322.45 (1.36) (1.63)<br />
NIGERIAN INTERBANK TREASURY BILLS TRUE YIELDS<br />
Tenor Friday Friday Change<br />
(%) (%) (Basis Point)<br />
23/02/18 16/02/18<br />
1 Mnth 13.61 14.91 (130)<br />
3 Mnths 14.53 12.82 171<br />
6 Mnths 15.30 15.17 14<br />
9 Mnths 15.36 15.48 (12)<br />
12 Mnths 15.39 15.66 (27)<br />
ACCESS BANK NIGERIAN GOV’T BOND INDEX<br />
Indicators Friday Friday Change<br />
(%) (%) (Basis Point)<br />
23/02/18 16/02/18<br />
Index 2,600.25 2,602.54 (0.09)<br />
Mkt Cap Gross (N'tr) 8.56 8.57 (0.09)<br />
Mkt Cap Net (N'tr) 5.61 5.63 (0.34)<br />
YTD return (%) 5.85 5.95 (0.10)<br />
YTD return (%)(US $) -49.45 -49.36 (0.09)<br />
TREASURY BILLS (MATURITIES)<br />
Tenor Amount Rate (%) Date<br />
(N' million)<br />
91 Day 6,000.00 11.95 14-<strong>Feb</strong>-<strong>2018</strong><br />
182 Day 30,000.00 13.65 14-<strong>Feb</strong>-<strong>2018</strong><br />
364 Day 140,000.00 13.7 14-<strong>Feb</strong>-<strong>2018</strong><br />
Market Analysis and Outlook: <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 23 - March 2, <strong>2018</strong><br />
Global Economy<br />
In the US, the Federal Reserve left its target<br />
range for the federal funds the same rate at 1.25-<br />
1.5% following the release of the minutes of its<br />
last meeting held on the 31st January <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
Gains in employment, household spending, and<br />
business fixed investment have been solid and<br />
near-term risks to the economic outlook appear<br />
roughly balanced lending weight to policy<br />
makers decision to keep the target rate<br />
unchanged. The policy makers however hinted at<br />
further rates hike in the coming months on the<br />
basis of improving economic fundamentals. In a<br />
separate development, the Office of National<br />
Statistics (ONS) reported that the UK economy<br />
expanded at a slower pace by 1.4% year-on-year<br />
in Q4 2017 compared to an upwardly revised<br />
1.8% growth in the prior period. Household<br />
consumption and government spending rose at<br />
a slower pace while fixed investment and<br />
business investment surged. Net trade was also<br />
a positive contributor as exports rose at a much<br />
faster pace than imports. Gross Domestic<br />
Product (GDP) for full year 2017 was reported at<br />
1.7% lower than its 2016 growth rate of 1.9%, its<br />
weakest growth rate since 2012. Elsewhere in<br />
Japan, the inflation rate rose by 1.4% year-onyear<br />
in January <strong>2018</strong>, an increase of 0.4%<br />
compared to the previous month. According to<br />
the Statistics Bureau of Japan, it is the highest<br />
inflation rate since March 2015. This was mainly<br />
driven by the jump in cost of food, followed by<br />
increases seen in clothes and foot wear. Monthon-month,<br />
consumer prices went up by 0.4%.<br />
Local Economy<br />
The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee<br />
(FAAC) disbursed the sum of N655.18 billion<br />
among Federal, States and Local Governments<br />
in January <strong>2018</strong> from the revenue generated in<br />
December 2017. The amount distributed was<br />
from the statutory account and value added tax<br />
(VAT) comprising of N538.51 billion and N83.96<br />
billion respectively. Also N14.713bn and<br />
N16.055bn were distributed as FOREX<br />
Equalisation while excess bank charges of<br />
N1.938bn recovered was also distributed. A<br />
breakdown of the sum of N655.18 billion<br />
disbursed among the three tiers, revealed that<br />
the Federal Government received N278.73<br />
billion, states received N175.55 billion and the<br />
local governments received N132.48 billion. The<br />
oil producing states received N51.74 billion as<br />
the 13% derivation fund. Revenue generating<br />
agencies such Nigeria Customs Service (NCS),<br />
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and<br />
Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR)<br />
received N4.12 billion, N7.44 billion and N3.10<br />
billion respectively as cost of revenue<br />
collections. In a separate development, the<br />
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks<br />
and other financial institutions to settle<br />
customers’ complaints on issues of overcharge,<br />
unauthorised deductions and other matters<br />
within two weeks. CBN, Head of Complaints<br />
Management Division, revealed this in an<br />
interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.<br />
According to him the CBN has since issued a<br />
circular on its website showing all legitimate bank<br />
charges. He also advised irate bank customers to<br />
visit any branch of the CBN closest to them to lay<br />
their complaints.<br />
Stock Market<br />
Trading at the local bourse was volatile for the<br />
third consecutive week due to the Central bank’s<br />
directive on non-payment of dividends for banks<br />
with high Non-performing loans (NPLs) and low<br />
Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR). Market indicators<br />
closed in the red on stocks in the banking and<br />
industrial goods sectors. The All Share Index<br />
(ASI) extended its losses by 0.2% or 67.94 points<br />
to close at 42,570.89 points from 42,638.83<br />
points the previous week. Similarly, market<br />
capitalization fell by 0.2% to close at N15.28<br />
trillion from N15.30 trillion the previous week.<br />
This week, we expect the market to remain<br />
volatile due to the CBN’s directive on nonpayment<br />
of dividends by banks with high NPLs<br />
and low CAR.<br />
Money Market<br />
Market rates moderated for the second<br />
consecutive week due to an inflow of N56 billion<br />
from Open Market Operations (OMO) maturity<br />
as well as a lack of activity by the Central Bank of<br />
Nigeria (CBN) to mop up excess liquidity. Shortdated<br />
placements such as Open Buy Back (OBB)<br />
and Over Night (O/N) rates declined to 11.50%<br />
a n d 1 2 . 4 2 % f r o m 1 8 . 1 7 % a n d 1 9 . 5 %<br />
respectively the previous week. However, longer<br />
dated placements edged up. The 30-day and 90-<br />
day NIBOR closed higher at 14.87% and 15.92%<br />
from 14.71% and 15.05% the prior week. This<br />
week, liquidity is expected to tighten as a result<br />
o f e x p e c t e d R e t a i l S e c o n d a r y M a r k e t<br />
Intervention Sales (SMIS).<br />
Foreign Exchange Market<br />
Last week, the naira exchange rate to the dollar<br />
appreciated marginally at the parallel market by<br />
N1 to N362/$ from N363/$ the previous week. In<br />
contrast, at the interbank window the naira<br />
depreciated slightly by 0.03% to close at<br />
N334.81/$ from N334.71/$ the previous week.<br />
The local currency however remained stable at<br />
the official market at N305.95/$. The relative<br />
stability of the local currency continues to be<br />
supported by the Central Bank’s intervention.<br />
This week, the naira is expected to remain around<br />
current levels due to the apex bank’s continuous<br />
market intervention.<br />
Bond Market<br />
Average bond yields accelerated in the week<br />
ended <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 23, <strong>2018</strong> due to sell-offs on most<br />
tenors which may be attributed to positioning for<br />
the new 10-year bond by investors. Yields on the<br />
five-, ten- and twenty-year debt papers settled<br />
higher at 13.87%, 13.73% and 13.55% from<br />
13.77%, 13.70% and 13.45% respectively the<br />
previous week. The Access Bank Bond index fell<br />
marginally by 2.29 points to close at 2,600.25<br />
points from 2,602.54 points the previous week.<br />
This week, yields may further trend upwards due<br />
to a quiet week.<br />
Commodities Market<br />
Oil prices rebounded last week due to a surprise<br />
U.S. crude oil inventory draw. The Energy<br />
Information Administration (EIA) reported that<br />
inventories fell by 1.6 million barrels. Bonny light,<br />
Nigeria’s benchmark crude rose by 4.4% to<br />
$65.71 per barrel from $62.97 per barrel the<br />
previous week. Precious metals prices retreated<br />
as yields kicked up and the dollar strengthened<br />
after the Federal Reserve’s minutes at their<br />
January meeting heightened expectations for a<br />
quickened pace of rate increases. Gold price<br />
declined by 1.9% to $1,329.46 an ounce from<br />
$1,355.84 an ounce the previous week. Silver<br />
followed, falling by 1.5% to $16.57 from $16.82<br />
an ounce the previous week. Oil prices may be<br />
pressured by the increasingly rising U.S. shale<br />
production which offsets OPEC cuts. For<br />
precious metals, higher inflation can be<br />
supportive as safe haven assets are often viewed<br />
as a hedge against rising prices.<br />
MONTHLY MACRO ECONOMIC FORECASTS<br />
Variables <strong>Feb</strong>’18 Mar’18 Apr’18<br />
Exchange Rate<br />
(Official) (N/$) 331.33 331.12 332.93<br />
Inflation Rate (%) 15.10 15.05 15.00<br />
Crude Oil Price<br />
(US$/Barrel) 67 68 69<br />
For enquiries, contact: Rotimi Peters (Team Lead, Economic Intelligence) (01) 2712123 rotimi.peters@accessbankplc.com
30<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
ANALYSIS<br />
Link between payment systems and Financial Inclusion<br />
PATRICK ATUANYA<br />
The World Bank Group<br />
and the Committee on<br />
Payments and Markets<br />
Infrastructures (CPMI)<br />
of the Bank for International<br />
Settlements recently convened<br />
a task force on Payment Aspects<br />
of Financial Inclusion (PAFI)<br />
to comprehensively examine how<br />
payment systems and services affect<br />
financial inclusion efforts.<br />
The PAFI task force, brought together<br />
experts from central banks,<br />
development banks and international<br />
organizations to examine<br />
this issue in a comprehensive<br />
manner.<br />
Its mandate was to examine<br />
demand- and supply-side factors<br />
affecting financial inclusion in<br />
the context of payment systems<br />
and services, and to suggest what<br />
measures could be taken to address<br />
these issues.<br />
The demand side is comprised<br />
by payment service users, like<br />
consumers, businesses, and government<br />
agencies and the supply<br />
side are payment service providers,<br />
like banks and authorized and/or<br />
regulated non-banks, as well as<br />
payment system operators.<br />
In September 2015, the PAFI<br />
task force released a consultative<br />
BALA AUGIE<br />
In Nigeria, millions of low<br />
incomes household face an<br />
extra difficulty when looking<br />
for financial products, especially<br />
finding a loan that compiles<br />
with Islamic laws or Sharia.<br />
In order to surmount the<br />
aforementioned challenges, the<br />
country is gradually opening up<br />
to Islamic finance, a strategy that<br />
could bring non-interest banking<br />
to 50 percent of the Nigerian<br />
population who are Muslims.<br />
Rates of financial exclusion<br />
are generally higher in the North<br />
Fig 1: Financial infrastructure for efficient payments system<br />
report on Payment Aspects of<br />
Financial Inclusion, for a threemonth<br />
public consultation process<br />
which ended in December 2015. As<br />
a result of the comments received<br />
the report was updated to strengthen<br />
the analysis and sharpen the<br />
message and the final report was<br />
issued last year.<br />
The report analyzed how payment<br />
systems and services promote<br />
access to and use of financial<br />
services and what elements of retail<br />
payments are critical to financial<br />
inclusion and how improving the<br />
payments infrastructure and services<br />
could accelerate access to and<br />
use of transaction accounts.<br />
It also discusses the relevance<br />
and importance of measuring the<br />
effectiveness of financial inclusion<br />
efforts from a payments perspective.<br />
Some of the conclusions<br />
reached was that safe and efficient<br />
payment services are important<br />
for the well-being of individuals,<br />
households and businesses, as well<br />
as a gateway to a broader range of<br />
financial services<br />
They also advance market efficiency,<br />
flexibility, integrity and<br />
competitiveness to support financial<br />
inclusion and stability.<br />
The PAFI task force also found<br />
that certain financial and other<br />
How banks are finding innovate ways to lend to Nigerian Muslims<br />
of the country, which has large<br />
muslim populations making it<br />
imperative for financial institutions<br />
and regulators to design<br />
products that would bring those<br />
citizens into the country’s formal<br />
financial system.<br />
In 2011, the Central Bank of<br />
Nigeria (CBN) granted licence<br />
to Stanbic IBTC Plc to carry out<br />
Islamic banking, which forbids<br />
paying and receiving interest on<br />
loans, enabling the bank to churn<br />
out Islamic banking products.<br />
The lender has brought Islamic<br />
banking to the door step of<br />
many Muslims that hitherto do<br />
not own bank accounts or were<br />
unable to access loans due to the<br />
fret of huge interest bearing loans.<br />
Jaiz Bank Plc, Nigeria’s first<br />
full-fledged non-interest bank,<br />
founded with a view to bridging<br />
financial exclusion and tapping<br />
the existing opportunities in the<br />
system, has been offering non<br />
interest financial services.<br />
The bank currently operates<br />
in six states and has about 18<br />
branches across the country after<br />
receiving licence from the CBN.<br />
Part of the banks products<br />
includes, Shirkat (Partnership),<br />
Ijarah (Rental), Kafalah Wakalah<br />
relevant infrastructures that are<br />
necessary for an efficient national<br />
payment system also form one of<br />
the basic foundations for financial<br />
inclusion.<br />
They include:A large-value<br />
interbank settlement system, an<br />
interbank system for retail payments,<br />
in specific electronic funds<br />
transfers, a payment card processing<br />
platform or platforms and an<br />
effective and efficient identification<br />
infrastructure, credit reporting<br />
and other data-sharing platforms<br />
also play an important role and<br />
finally, a robust communications<br />
infrastructure and power supply<br />
system are essential.<br />
Without these financial infrastructures,<br />
the efficient provision of<br />
various transaction accounts and<br />
electronic would be very difficult<br />
(see Fig 1).<br />
The Central Bank of Nigeria<br />
(CBN) has enthusiastically embraced<br />
its cashless policy push<br />
because having an efficient, accessible<br />
and safe retail payment<br />
systems and services is necessary<br />
to be able to extend access<br />
to transaction accounts for the<br />
millions of Nigerians who are still<br />
underserved by regulated financial<br />
service providers or at worst<br />
financially excluded.<br />
The CBN has been able to mostly<br />
put in place the relevant infrastructure<br />
for a national payments<br />
system with critical help from the<br />
private sector.<br />
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement<br />
System (NIBSS) Plc, provides<br />
the infrastructure for automated<br />
processing, settlement of payments<br />
and fund transfer instructions between<br />
Banks and Card Companies<br />
in Nigeria.<br />
NIBSS is owned equally by all<br />
licensed banks in Nigeria, and the<br />
Central Bank of Nigeria.<br />
The CBN has also licensed 3<br />
credit bureaus to provide credit<br />
reporting and other data-sharing<br />
platforms while the liberalisation<br />
of the telecommunications<br />
space in 2001 led to a robust<br />
communications infrastructure<br />
with investments north of $50<br />
billion by all operators between<br />
2001 and 2015.<br />
The PAFI work is part of a<br />
worldwide financial inclusion effort,<br />
particularly from the World<br />
Bank Group’s UFA2020 initiative.<br />
Its goal is to ensure that all<br />
working-age individuals and businesses<br />
can have access to at least<br />
one transaction account operated<br />
by an authorized and/or regulated<br />
payment service provider<br />
to:perform most, if not all, of their<br />
payment needs, safely store some<br />
value and serve as a gateway to<br />
other financial services.<br />
based Guarantee, and Qard (Benevolent<br />
Loan).<br />
The bank plans to operate in<br />
all 36 states by upgrading and<br />
obtaining a national operating<br />
license and increasing the share<br />
capital base to N15 billion (USD<br />
$78 million).<br />
Another form of Islamic banking<br />
fast deepening financial inclusion<br />
in Africa’s most populous<br />
nation is the Takaful Insurance<br />
System, where members contribute<br />
money into a pooling system<br />
in order to guarantee each other<br />
against loss or damage.<br />
At present, takaful is growing<br />
at 20 to 25 percent per annum<br />
compared to world average<br />
growth of conventional insurance<br />
at five to six percent.<br />
A number of Insurance companies<br />
have embraced the Takaful<br />
system as a way of extending<br />
package to Muslims. The product<br />
has also helped bolster top lines<br />
of insurers due to high patronage<br />
from customers.<br />
Africa Alliance Insurance,<br />
Nigeria’s oldest life insurer was<br />
issued a licence by NAICOM, the<br />
body that regulates insurance<br />
business, to market the Takaful<br />
product.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
Cowry Weekly Financial Markets Review & Outlook<br />
31<br />
ECONOMY: FG Plans Tax Relief, Custom Duty Waivers to<br />
Investors in Modular Refineries…<br />
EQUITIES MARKET: Nigerian Equities Market Tanks by 16<br />
Bps to Eclipse Renewed Bargain Hunting…<br />
At the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) in Abuja, on Wednesday,<br />
<strong>Feb</strong>ruary 21, <strong>2018</strong>, the Federal Government as part of its policy to revive the country’s<br />
oil sector, announced plans to incentivize the construction of modular refineries in<br />
the Niger Delta region. According to the Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister of<br />
State for Petroluem Resources, Rabiu Suleiman, some of the programmes/incentives<br />
include the granting of tax relief, custom duties waivers as well as guaranteeing<br />
regular crude oil supply to investors in modular refineries in the region. He also<br />
mentioned that the Federal Government had engaged potential financiers like the<br />
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Nigerian<br />
Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) towards making contributory finance with<br />
the possibility of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) picking up<br />
equity stake in at least one of the refineries. Elsewhere, the National Bureau of<br />
Statistics (NBS) released the sectoral report for Value Added Tax revenue for the<br />
2017 fiscal period which showed that the country generated a grand total amount<br />
of N972.35 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT) in 2017, a 25% year-on-year increase<br />
(from N777.50 billion recorded in 2016). Further breakdown revealed that N510.65<br />
billion was generated as Non-import (local) VAT, while N259.70 billion and N202<br />
billion were generated as Non-import (foreign) VAT and Nigeria Customs Service<br />
(NCS) import VAT respectively in 2017. Of the three classifications, the nonimport<br />
(foreign) VAT grew the most by 100% y-o-y to N259.70 billion in 2017 (from<br />
N125.63 billion in 2016) while NCS import VAT and non-import (local) VAT only<br />
grew by 7.43% and 2.77% respectively. Amongst the 28 sub-sectoral activities that<br />
generated the non-import VAT revenue locally, “manufacturing sector” generated<br />
the highest amount of N119.6 billion, closely followed by the “professional services<br />
sector” with N87.5 billion, while “commercial and trading sector” generated N49.5<br />
billion. Further Analysis based on y-o-y performance by growth rate showed<br />
that “building and construction sector” topped other sectors with a growth rate<br />
of 94.3% to contribute N13.3 billion in 2017 while “offshore operations” and<br />
“stevedoring, clearing and forwarding” sectors followed suit with a growth rate of<br />
83.9% and 43.0% to contribute N2.3 billion and N3.7 billion respctively. However,<br />
FOREX MARKET: Naira Appreciates against USD<br />
in Most Market Segments…<br />
In the week under review, the local currency appreciated week-on-week<br />
(w-o-w) against the U.S. dollar in most foreign exchange market segments amid<br />
weekly injections by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) worth USD210 million into<br />
the foreign exchange market of which USD 100 million was allocated to Wholesale<br />
(SMIS), USD55 million was allocated to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and<br />
USD55 million was sold for invisibles. The Naira appreciated at the Bureau De<br />
Change and the parallel (‘black’) market segments by 0.28% each to close at N359.00/<br />
USD and N362.00/USD respectively while it closed flat against the U.S. dollar at<br />
the interbank foreign exchange market at N330/USD on sucessfully raised USD2.5<br />
billion Eurobond. However, at the Investors & Exporters Forex Window (I&E FXW)<br />
segment the Naira depreciated by 0.09% to close at N360.70. Meanwhile, most dated<br />
forward contracts at the interbank over-the-counter (OTC) segment depreciated – 1<br />
month, 2 months, 3 months and 6 months contracts depreciated by 0.13%, 0.20%,<br />
0.31% and 0.34% to close at N364.82/USD, N369.14/USD, N373.60/USD and 389.04/<br />
MONEY MARKET: NITTY Falls for Most Maturities on<br />
Bargain Hunting…<br />
In the just concluded week, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold treasury bills<br />
worth N67.7 billion via the secondary market. The outflows were partly offset<br />
by inflows worth N56.30 billion in matured treasury bills, resulting in liquidity<br />
strain. Hence, NIBOR for 1 month, 3 months and 6 months tenor buckets rose<br />
w-o-w to 15.56% (from 15.11%), 16.55% (from 15.58%) and 18.30% (from 17.69%)<br />
respectively. However NIBOR for overnight tenor bucket fell w-o-w to 13.30%<br />
(from 22.63%). Elsewhere, NITTY fell for most maturities tracked amid buy<br />
pressure: yields on the 1 month, 6 months and 12 months maturities moderated<br />
to 13.81% (from 14.83%), 15.37% (from 15.60%) and 15.35% (from 15.61%)<br />
respectively. However, yield on 3 months maturity rose to 14.49% (from 13.52%).<br />
This week, Central Bank of Nigeria will auction treasury bills worth N259.97<br />
billion, viz: 91-day bills worth N7.89 billion, 182-day bills worth N30 billion and<br />
N364-day bills worth N222.08 billion while treasury bills worth N369.35 billion<br />
will mature via both primary and secondary market which will more than offset<br />
BOND MARKET: FGN Bond Prices Fall for Most<br />
Maturities amid Higher-Yielding Issues …<br />
In the week under review, Federal Government auctioned bonds worth<br />
N79.62 billion, viz: 5-year, 14.50% FGN JUL 2021 (re-opening) worth N27.18<br />
billion and 10-year bonds worth N52.44 billion. The stop rate for the 5-year<br />
re-opening rose to 13.70% (from 13.38%) while the 10-year new issue had a<br />
stop rate of 13.98% respectively. Following the auctions, the prices of FGN bond<br />
traded at the over-the-counter (OTC) segment depreciated for most maturities<br />
tracked – the 20-year, 10% FGN JULY 2030 debt, the 10-year 16.39% FGN JAN<br />
2022 debt and the 5-year, 14.50% FGN JUL 2021 debt decreased in value by<br />
N0.56, N0.17 and N0.79 respectively; their corresponding yields rose to 13.62%<br />
(from 13.50%), 13.52% (from 13.48%), and 13.73% (from 13.45%); however, the<br />
7-year 16.00% FGN JUN 2019 debt price appreciated in value by N0.09 and its<br />
corresponding yield fell to 13.89% (from 14.00%). Meanwhile, FGN Eurobonds<br />
traded on the London Stock Exchange depreciated in value for most maturities<br />
amid sell pressure – the 10-year, 6.75% JAN 28, 2021 and the 5-year, 5.13% JUL<br />
12, <strong>2018</strong> decreased by USD0.09 (yield rose to 4.89% from 4.87%) and USD0.11<br />
(yield rose to 4.52% from 4.38%) respectively; however, the 10-year, 6.38% JUL<br />
“pharmaceutical,soaps and toileteries sector” led the least y-o-y performance with<br />
80.04% decline in VAT revenue contributing N837.4 million, while “petro-chemical<br />
and petroleum refineries” and “automobiles and assemblies” sectors were next<br />
in line, each revenue declined by 48.31% and 44.35% to contribute N4.9 billion<br />
and N1.8 billion respectively to the non-import (local) VAT revenue in 2017. In<br />
the United States, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits<br />
(jobless claims) fell week-on-week by 3.06% (or 7,000 claims) to 222,000 in the week<br />
ended <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 17th <strong>2018</strong>, below market expectations of 230,000. The decline in<br />
jobless claims was faster than the preceding week’s fall of 0.43% (or 1,000 claims)<br />
to 229,000 from 230,000. The 4-week moving average was 2<strong>26</strong>,000 claims, a decline<br />
of 0.99% (or 2,250) from the previous week’s revised average of 228,250 claims. The<br />
sustained decline in this leading economic indicator could present the case for a<br />
gradual hike in short term interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserves; given current<br />
economic growth trend as well as the impact of an increase in employment rate<br />
on general price levels. Meanwhile, U.S. private sector companies (manufacturing<br />
and services) experienced significant expansion in business activity in <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
as Flash U.S. Composite Output Index stood at 55.9 (higher than 53.8 in January).<br />
The increase in index reading underpinned stronger demand, the fastest rate of<br />
job creation since August 2017, increased input costs and higher backlogs of work.<br />
USD respectively. However, spot rate was flattish at 305.95. This week, we expect<br />
stability in the Naira as global crude oil prices retains its upbeat which should result<br />
in further build-up in foreign reserve.<br />
the auctioned treasury bills. In addition to the anticipated FAAC disbursements,<br />
we expect moderation in interbank lending rates amid expected ease in financial<br />
system liquidity.<br />
12, 2023 appreciated by USD0.67 (yield fell to 5.36% from 5.50%). We anticipate<br />
likely bargain hunting at the OTC market with resultant price increase amid<br />
expectation of boost in financial system liquidity.<br />
Cowry Weekly Stock Recommendations As At Friday 23 <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
In the just concluded week, the Nigerian Stock Market fell by 0.16%, dragging<br />
the twin market performance measures, NSE ASI and market capitalisation, lower to<br />
close at 42,570.89 points and N15.28 trillion respectively on profit taking activity. The<br />
fall however, overshadowed four consecutive days in the green – as the bourse closed<br />
positively from Tuesday to Friday. Most sectored guages closed in the red territory:<br />
the NSE Consumer Goods Index, NSE Oil/Gas Index and NSE Industrial Index fell<br />
by 1.06%, 1.81% and 0.49% to close at 973.58 points, 348.67 points, 2,287.62 points<br />
respectively. However, the NSE Banking index and NSE Insurance index rose by<br />
1.52% and 1.24% to close at 576.95 points and 156.16 points respectively. Elsewhere,<br />
Naira vote and transacted volumes declined w-o-w by 22.15% and 31.35% to N21.74<br />
billion and 2.02 billion shares respectively. This week, we opine that the direction of<br />
the market will largely be determined by the corporate results.<br />
POLITICS: Disagreement in Corruption War as AGF<br />
Queries Magu over CCT Chairman’s Prosecution...<br />
The President Muhammadu Buhari’s war against corruption took another<br />
twist in the week when it was reported on Monday, <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 19, <strong>2018</strong> that the<br />
Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar<br />
Malami (SAN), issued query to the acting chairman of the Economic and<br />
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, asking him to explain,<br />
in 48 hours, his decision to file corruption charges against the Chairman of<br />
the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Mr. Danladi Umar. The letter reportedly<br />
revealed that the query was issued because the same agency, EFCC, had on<br />
two occasions, cleared the CCT boss of complicity in the N10 million bribery<br />
allegations upon which the charge was based. Also, the AGF had requested<br />
for clarification from the EFCC boss as to whether there are new facts, which<br />
were contrary to the Commission’s position in the March 2015 investigation<br />
report addressed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF),<br />
which showed that the allegations against Justice Umar were mere suspicion<br />
and will not be sufficient to successfully prosecute him. The seeming face-off<br />
between the agencies of the Federal Government signaled discord within the<br />
camp of the President Buhari’s anti-corruption crusaders. Meanwhile, Mr.<br />
Abubakar Malami (SAN) justified his letter to President Muhammadu Buhari<br />
to terminate the charges instituted by EFCC against the immediate-past<br />
AGF, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), and others, in respect of USD1.1 billion<br />
Malabu oil scam, based on the fact that he had evaluated the case and seen<br />
that investigations which led to filling of the charges were weak and could<br />
not earn conviction. We opine that continuous controversies surrounding the<br />
anti-corruption charges are not helpful to the government in power as its oftengenerated<br />
discordant tunes suggest a lack of policy coherence, thus watering<br />
down the government’s fight against corruption, and eroding its political capital.<br />
Disclaimer<br />
This report is produced by the Research Desk of Cowry Asset Management<br />
Limited (COWRY) as a guideline for Clients that intend to invest in<br />
securities on the basis of their own investment decision without relying<br />
completely on the information contained herein. The opinion contained<br />
herein is for information purposes only and does not constitute any offer<br />
or solicitation to enter into any trading transaction. While care has been<br />
taken in preparing this document, no responsibility or liability whatsoever<br />
is accepted by any member of COWRY for errors, omission of facts, and any<br />
direct or consequential loss arising from the use of this report or its contents.<br />
Cowry Asset Management Limited (Member of the Nigeria Stock Exchange)<br />
Plot 1319 Karimu Kotun, Victoria Island Lagos Tel: +234-1-2715008-9; +234-1-2716614-5 www.cowryasset.com
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
32 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
FEATURE<br />
Investigation: Nigeria’s solar energy revolution<br />
stirs toxic battery waste management concern<br />
How to manage toxic used lead acid battery waste appears to be a downside to the current momentum solar<br />
energy is gathering in Nigeria, unless operators commit to responsible behaviour, writes ISAAC ANYAOGU.<br />
Every year, Blue Camel Energy, one of<br />
the biggest solar operators in Nigeria<br />
generates over 6,000 units of used<br />
lead acid batteries (ULABs). Many<br />
of these end up in the hands of local<br />
recyclers in Apo market, Abuja who break it<br />
open to extract lead inglots for exports.<br />
There are over a dozen serious solar companies<br />
in Nigeria handling big ticket projects<br />
including bank ATMs, solar street lights, mini<br />
grids in rural areas and solar home systems in<br />
major cities. While there are two kinds of batteries:<br />
lithium and lead acid batteries, the latter,<br />
more toxic, is also the most commonly used by<br />
these operators.<br />
Over 70 million Nigerians do not have access<br />
to grid power; this means that for many<br />
living in off-grid communities, renewable<br />
energy, mostly solar, would be their only hope<br />
for power.<br />
Operators are rising to the challenge according<br />
to my discovery in recent visit to states<br />
in Kaduna, Abuja, Anambra and Ogun states.<br />
Thousands of people living in communities<br />
where the national grid has not reached are<br />
enjoying between five and ten hours of electricity<br />
daily mostly through solar solutions<br />
including mini grids and solar home systems.<br />
Even in major cities of Lagos and Abuja, companies<br />
like Lumos and Arnergy Solar Ltd are<br />
providing solar home system solution which<br />
is helping underserved communities augment<br />
grid power.<br />
The United Nations Sustainable Development<br />
goal 7 ‘Affordable and Clean Energy’<br />
encourages the adoption of renewables mostly<br />
solar PVs and mini grids as the quickest route to<br />
clean energy access for over 1.2 billion people<br />
without access to electricity globally, of which<br />
over 600million are from Sub Saharan Africa.<br />
Organisations like United States Africa<br />
Development Foundation (USADF) and Shellseeded,<br />
All On, are providing seed capital and<br />
grants for development of mini grids in Nigeria.<br />
In Lagos, Asteven has opened an academy to<br />
train installers and in Abuja, the distribution<br />
company Abuja Electric, is even powering an<br />
office in Gwarinpa with solar PVs. True, Nigeria’s<br />
solar energy market has not approached<br />
the size and sophistication of the East African<br />
markets, but it is roaring to go. A viable mobile<br />
money solution keeps getting in the way.<br />
However, batteries are one of the most<br />
important components of this revolution but<br />
not many operators consider the end-of-life<br />
issues for these batteries, which is regarded as<br />
hazardous waste.<br />
The quantity of used lead acid batteries<br />
currently generated in Nigeria is massive. A<br />
2016 study by Recycling and Economic Development<br />
Initiative of Nigeria (REDDIN), a<br />
non-governmental organisation (NGO), found<br />
that approximately 110,300 tons of used lead<br />
acid batteries are generated in Nigeria annually.<br />
When the figures for solar operators are<br />
included, it comes to over 500,000 tons annually,<br />
says Terseer Ugbo, who leads the NGO,<br />
citing research by other institutions.<br />
Environmental-wise, this is a ticking timebomb<br />
unless operators commit to responsible<br />
management. This is important because, UL-<br />
ABs projected to be generated from solar energy<br />
will triple those from the transport sector. Solar<br />
energy is the future, and Nigeria’s ambition to<br />
generate 30% of its power from renewables by<br />
2030 is projected to further increase the volume<br />
of used batteries that would be generated in<br />
the country.<br />
However, I found serious gaps in the knowledge<br />
of responsible management of ULABs by<br />
solar operators in Nigeria during a month-long<br />
investigation on the issue. The Extended Producer<br />
Responsibility (EPR) concept, a guide to<br />
sound environmental management of ULABs,<br />
has also not caught on.<br />
Traditionally, the bulk of ULABs generated<br />
in Nigeria largely come from passenger cars,<br />
motorcycles and trucks. There is a crude collection<br />
system in place that involves auto mechanics,<br />
scrap engine dealers paying between<br />
N5-N7,000 each for a used lead acid battery in<br />
Lagos, Oyo, Anambra, Ogun, Kano, Kaduna and<br />
Abuja. These batteries are moved in trucks and<br />
containers to Lagos where they are exported to<br />
China and India after the used batteries have<br />
been drained of acid and the lead extracted in<br />
crude recycling processes.<br />
Major ULABs dealers collect over 1,200 tons<br />
monthly in their respective regions. In Lagos<br />
where the market is the most active, itinerant<br />
collectors rely on local battery retail outlets who<br />
buy from individuals who wish to exchange<br />
their old batteries for new ones. They also buy<br />
from scrap yards dealers and mechanic villages.<br />
Like Ndubuisi Umeh, the managing director<br />
of Endy Henry Nigeria Ltd based in a scrap<br />
market in Obosi Anambra state, visited during<br />
the investigation for this story. Umeh, the biggest<br />
operator in the market, has informal networks<br />
in mechanic workshops around Enugu,<br />
Anambra, Abia and Imo states that bring him<br />
condemned batteries.<br />
“I have boys who go out and collect these<br />
batteries for me from shops that sell new batteries,”<br />
he said sitting in a tawdry shop in Obosi<br />
scrap market, heavy with the pungent smell of<br />
batteries shorn of acid, surrounded by workers<br />
stacking batteries in a heap.<br />
Though volumes are still low, solar operators<br />
in Nigeria dispose of their batteries<br />
following this pattern. “We don’t generate<br />
much battery because they basically belong<br />
to our clients that we have installed for,” says<br />
Bolade Soremekun, CEO of Rubitec Solar who<br />
just commissioned a N200m solar hybrid mini<br />
grid in Ogun state<br />
Soremekun further said, “We sell them to<br />
people who buy used batteries and we think<br />
they sell locally or by export to recyclers. We<br />
don’t worry about this much, that is why we<br />
sell to these people.”<br />
Ernest Akale, CEO of Electric City Energy<br />
Ltd, who recently handled a solar street project for the<br />
Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) said, “What<br />
we generated on a monthly rate of 10-15 pieces of UL-<br />
ABs, sometimes we have some recycling companies<br />
who pick them up and sometimes our engineers sell<br />
to local vendors for between N12,000 and N15,000. In<br />
terms of what they do with it, I don’t know.”<br />
This is the current, standard practice for many<br />
operators in the sector.<br />
The danger<br />
Lead-acid batteries contain sulphuric acid and<br />
large amounts of lead. The acid is extremely corrosive,<br />
and a good carrier for soluble lead and lead<br />
particulate. Lead is a highly toxic metal that produces<br />
a range of adverse health effects particularly in young<br />
children, including cardiovascular, neurological and<br />
gastrointestinal diseases like anaemia, and mental<br />
retardation.<br />
Experts say long term exposure can result in<br />
cancer, brain and kidney damage in human. Further<br />
dangers include hearing impairment and it can affect<br />
children’s cognitive development. I cannot be sure if<br />
that is why I had practically scream at battery dealers<br />
in Onitsha before they can hear me – but then again<br />
it could easily have been the result of the organised<br />
chaos in the rowdy market.<br />
The danger this time is not solely from poorly<br />
equipped primary battery recycling sites, as a clampdown<br />
by the Lagos state government is sending many<br />
out of the business of crude recycling, it is from collectors<br />
draining acid into the ground which can contaminate<br />
water sources, endangering human health.<br />
The market is moving towards collection of used<br />
battery rather than recycling and the growth of the<br />
solar energy industry means that operators will<br />
generate more ULABs, which would constitute more<br />
environmental challenges.<br />
ULABs from the bourgeoning solar industry are<br />
projected to eclipse the automobile sector. For every<br />
6 kW solar PV installations about 8 units of batteries<br />
(400 Amp, 48 V) are needed. For urban apartments<br />
about 24 batteries are needed, for rural households<br />
about 1-4, depending on the energy consumption
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
33<br />
FEATURE<br />
needs, according to solar operators.<br />
Nigeria’s solar PV target of 30,000 MW according<br />
to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs),<br />
would require a dizzying amount of lead-acid batteries.<br />
Currently, for every 6 kilowatts of installed solar PV<br />
about 8 units of batteries (400 Amp, 48 V) are needed.<br />
A quick calculation indicates that to generate the<br />
30,000 megawatts (MW) about 40 million batteries will<br />
need to be installed initially. The typical lifetime of a<br />
battery is only about three years, compared to 20-25<br />
years average lifespan of the PV panels. For 30,000 MW<br />
solar PV capacity this would mean over the lifetime<br />
about 280 million batteries will have to be installed,<br />
replaced, recovered and then recycled.<br />
Over 80 percent of the batteries used in solar energy<br />
generation are imported from China and there was<br />
no operator who confirmed that they were not using<br />
lead acid batteries. The alternative, lithium batteries<br />
is yet to gain a foothold in the Nigerian off-grid market<br />
because it cost twice as much to purchase. Margins<br />
are low and many projects are financed by debt which<br />
can’t be recouped in 5 years, hence operators prefer<br />
lead acid battery to meet their bottom-line.<br />
Lithium batteries deliver longer life cycles, shorter<br />
recharge period, but it has very low economic viability<br />
of recycling hence disposal in landfills which also<br />
results in environmental hazards.<br />
“The environmental impact of batteries as the off<br />
grid energy sector scales in Nigeria is a big concern<br />
to All On and something we consider in our investment<br />
decisions,” says Wiebe Boer, CEO of All On,<br />
who recently signed a funding agreement with some<br />
operators.<br />
Poor knowledge of EPR<br />
Many of the solar operators interviewed for this story<br />
have not heard of the EPR hence asking them about<br />
their level of compliance is the equivalent of asking a<br />
man born blind to describe a rainbow.<br />
The EPR shifts the responsibility for waste management<br />
from government to private industry, obliging<br />
producers, importers and/or sellers to internalise<br />
waste management costs in their product prices and<br />
ensuring the safe handling of their products.<br />
According to the National Environmental Standards<br />
and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA),<br />
a government agency that regulates hazardous waste,<br />
a properly implemented EPR is a driving force in<br />
waste avoidance and effective pollution prevention<br />
and reduction in many industrial sectors towards the<br />
promotion of green economy. It offers a framework for<br />
a partnership approach between Government, business,<br />
and the community to work towards zero waste.<br />
The EPR is the gold standard for managing ULABs<br />
in Germany, China, United States, Netherlands and<br />
South Africa among others.<br />
Understandably, recyclers and collectors bear<br />
the primary responsibility in the EPR. Recyclers are<br />
required to mandatorily subscribe to the concept,<br />
ensure safe management of waste, design and implement<br />
appropriate EPR programme and administer<br />
recovery and recycling programmes, register with a<br />
Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO), who<br />
monitors design of EPR, renew registration annually<br />
and keep proper inventory of products.<br />
Collectors on the other hand, are required to<br />
register with a collection Centre, work closely with<br />
operators of collection centres and consumers, use<br />
approved transportation system/carts, ensure the use<br />
of appropriate PPE, receive compensation from major<br />
collectors or operators of collection centres, provide<br />
Astevens Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Academy trains installers<br />
Batteries used to power an off grid house in Abuja by Blue Carmel Energy Ltd<br />
compensation or payment for consumers; and<br />
promote any other actions towards the successful<br />
implementation of the EPR Programme.<br />
Solar energy operators as importers/<br />
consumers of lead acid battery are required<br />
to dispose them through legal or appropriate<br />
means and promote any other actions towards<br />
the successful implementation of the EPR Programme<br />
which includes ensuring that informal<br />
collectors adhere to best practices. They have<br />
the obligation too to find reputable, formal<br />
operators to sell their used batteries.<br />
“We are currently discussing with Union<br />
Autoparts and are in the process of reaching a<br />
formal agreement with them on disposal of our<br />
batteries,” says Femi Adeyemo, a co-founder of<br />
Arnergy Solar Ltd, whose operation will start<br />
generating thousands of ULABs in three years.<br />
However, Union Autoparts Manufacturing<br />
Company, based in Nnewi has a weird problem.<br />
The company has Africa’s biggest recycling<br />
plant, equipped with topnotch recycling<br />
facilities installed at a cost of over N3billion<br />
but the company’s workers are seen milling<br />
around during my visit to the plant due to an<br />
inability to secure used batteries for recycling.<br />
However, some operators say their charges are<br />
not competitive.<br />
Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the Federal Government<br />
has developed a National Environmental<br />
Regulations with provision for the EPR. The<br />
NESREA developed operational guidelines<br />
that explore the use of economic instrument<br />
to ramp up compliance but enforcement as<br />
regards ULABs has not received the kind of<br />
attention e-waste has received.<br />
The battery producer is tasked with monitoring<br />
of their products from cradle to cradle<br />
and administer recovery and recycling programmes<br />
through the PRO. On the other hand,<br />
the government would monitor compliance,<br />
ban designated hazardous materials from use<br />
in products and/or disposal, establish relevant<br />
environmental standards, register and accredit<br />
recyclers as Authorised Treatment Facilities<br />
(ATF), and issue permits.<br />
But this is yet to have desired impact. “The<br />
Agency (NESREA) is awaiting the sector players<br />
to organise themselves and bring up a plan for<br />
EPR implementation and submit to NESREA<br />
for review and approval,” Miranda Amachree,<br />
director, Inspection and Enforcement Department<br />
of NESREA said in a presentation at a<br />
workshop on the subject last year.<br />
Not much progress seems to have been<br />
made on this front. Lawrence Anukam, director<br />
general of the NESREA in an interview on<br />
<strong>Feb</strong>ruary 21, in his office in Abuja, said the sector<br />
players have now nominated a PRO and his<br />
parastatal was ramping up enforcement, calling<br />
on states to partner with the organisation. But<br />
the next day, when the NESREA met with the<br />
group, it was discovered that operators are yet<br />
to fully agree on the modalities for setting up<br />
the PRO.<br />
Operators agree reforms are necessary,<br />
“There is need for a formal regulation of the<br />
sector, because it is growing beyond the volume<br />
anticipated,” says Yusuf Sulaiman, MD/<br />
Key stakeholders in Nigeria’s EPR programme<br />
Source: NESREA<br />
CEO of Blue Carmel Energy in a presentation<br />
at a workshop on ULABs last year. His ULABs<br />
annual generation of 6,000 units is worth over<br />
N600million.<br />
Boer thinks so too, “The industry needs to<br />
establish strict industry standards and enforce<br />
them. We are interested in investing in companies<br />
with a recycling solution as well as in<br />
supporting efforts to set to set the standards.<br />
We have to get this right now that the industry<br />
is still nascent.”<br />
A model that works<br />
For solar energy operators, the example of<br />
Mobisol provides a teaching lesson for proper<br />
management of ULABs. Mobisol, a leading<br />
provider of decentralized solar solutions, has<br />
joined hands with e-waste and battery recyclers<br />
in all operational countries.<br />
The company is partnering with Phenix<br />
Recycling in Tanzania, Enviroserve in Rwanda,<br />
and Associated Battery Manufacturers (ABM)<br />
in Kenya. All three recycling partners have<br />
demonstrated a strong commitment to establishing<br />
a comprehensive recycling network for<br />
off-grid solar components, such as waste from<br />
solar products, consumer electronics and leadbased<br />
batteries.<br />
This milestone comes at a time where the<br />
off-grid solar industry increasingly acknowledges<br />
the importance of finding end-of-life<br />
solutions for its products. In order to steer this<br />
urgent issue with clarity and transparency, Mobisol<br />
positions itself as one of the first market<br />
players to openly communicate its recycling<br />
infrastructure.<br />
E-waste recycling was one of the emerging<br />
topics of discussion at the Off-Grid Solar Forum<br />
in Hong Kong last month. At the event, attended<br />
by over 600 sector representatives, the importance<br />
of collaboration and exchange in order to<br />
improve existing methods for safe disposal of<br />
e-waste and batteries was strongly emphasized.<br />
Facing the immense challenge of the informal<br />
recycling sector that uses practices which<br />
do not meet acceptable, sustainable standards,<br />
Mobisol is pushing for recyclers and off-grid<br />
companies to work together to focus on so-<br />
cial and environmental standards and create<br />
awareness for sound waste management in<br />
countries they work in.<br />
“ABM is very content to have found an<br />
ambitious, environmentally conscious partner<br />
in Mobisol. The decentralized solar industry<br />
is one that will face further challenges with<br />
regards to recycling in the future; experienced,<br />
long-standing recyclers like ABM have the<br />
responsibility to provide clear and transparent<br />
end-of-life solutions to those who are willing<br />
to tackle the challenge of informal and inappropriate<br />
practices sustainably,” says Guy Jack,<br />
managing director of ABM.<br />
The solar energy industry in Nigeria is only<br />
beginning to take off and operators are still<br />
reporting minimal volumes of ULABs, but this<br />
will grow over time, making this the best time<br />
to begin to put in place strategies to manage<br />
the toxic waste. As they say in Zambia, it is too<br />
late to fatten the cow on a market day, therefore<br />
it seems wise to bale this water now, that it is<br />
only ankle deep.<br />
According to the communiqué released at<br />
Heinrich Boll Stiftung Nigeria workshop on<br />
ULABs management last year, stakeholders<br />
resolved that renewable energy companies<br />
must be encouraged to deliver ULABs to recognised<br />
and authorised ULABs collectors and<br />
recyclers. Many say they would commit to this<br />
but it remains to be seen how much commitment<br />
they would give.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
34 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
FEATURE<br />
New CBN directive to affect<br />
dividend payouts of some banks<br />
… Policy is in the right direction – analysts say<br />
UMWENI KELVIN AND<br />
BALIKEES ROTINWA<br />
Some banks in the country<br />
are likely going to be affected<br />
by the new CBN directive<br />
which bars deposit<br />
money banks and discount<br />
houses with high non-performing<br />
loans and poor capital adequacy<br />
ratio from paying dividends to<br />
shareholders, a report from Cowry<br />
Asset Management reveals.<br />
Earlier in the year, the Central<br />
Bank of Nigeria in its circular<br />
dated 31st January <strong>2018</strong> asserted<br />
that most financial institutions<br />
in the country do not consider<br />
their risk exposure and the need<br />
to strengthen their capital base<br />
before dividend disbursement to<br />
shareholders noting that all over<br />
the world, retained earnings is an<br />
important source of fund in building<br />
institutions.<br />
According to the apex monetary<br />
authority, banks whose NPL and<br />
CAR is within regulatory threshold<br />
of 5 per cent and 15 per cent respectively<br />
have unrestricted DPR.<br />
Banks with CAR at least 3 % but<br />
above the regulatory minimum of<br />
15 per cent and NPL ratio greater<br />
than 5 per cent but not more<br />
than 10 per cent is restricted to a<br />
dividend payout ratio of not more<br />
than 75 per cent of profit after tax<br />
(PAT). Lastly, banks with CAR within<br />
the regulatory threshold and NPL<br />
ratio greater than 5 per cent but<br />
less than 10 per cent is restricted<br />
to a DPR of not more than 30 per<br />
cent of PAT.<br />
“In order to facilitate sufficient<br />
and adequate capital build up for<br />
banks in tandem with their risk<br />
appetite, any Deposit Money Bank<br />
(DMB) or Discount House (DH)<br />
that does not meet the minimum<br />
capital adequacy ratio shall not<br />
be allowed to pay dividend. DMBs<br />
and DHs that have a Composite<br />
Risk Rating (CRR) of “High” or a<br />
Non Performing Loan (NPL) ratio<br />
of above 10% shall not be allowed<br />
to pay dividend” the circular stated.<br />
“DMBs and DHs that meet the<br />
minimum capital adequacy ratio<br />
but have a CRR of “Above Average”<br />
or an NPL ratio of more than 5% but<br />
less than 10% shall have dividend<br />
payout ratio of not more than 30%.<br />
DMBs and DHs that have capital adequacy<br />
ratios of at least 3% above<br />
the minimum requirement, CRR of<br />
“Low” and NPL ratio of more than<br />
5% but less than 10%, shall have<br />
dividend pay-out ratio of not more<br />
than 75% of profit after tax”.<br />
According to the report by<br />
Cowry Asset Management titled<br />
“Banking Sector Dividend Outlook”,<br />
FBN Holding alongside two other<br />
banks – Skye bank and Unity bank<br />
- will be unable to pay dividend to<br />
shareholders based on the analysis<br />
of their Q3, 2017 financial statements.<br />
FBN Holdings with the highest<br />
NPL ratio in the banking industry<br />
of 20.10%, (though down from<br />
2016’s ratio of 24.90 per cent) and<br />
a CAR of 20.50 per cent (up by 0.50<br />
per cent from 20 per cent in 2016)<br />
surpassed the regulatory minimum<br />
NPL and CAR of 5 per cent and 15<br />
per cent respectively compared to<br />
NPL ratios of other tier one banks:<br />
Zenith (4.2 per cent), GT bank (3.9<br />
per cent), Access Bank (2.5 per<br />
cent) and UBA (4.2 per cent). This<br />
indicates that FBN Holdings quality<br />
of loan portfolio is quite poor<br />
compared to other tier one bank.<br />
In an exclusive interview with<br />
the News Editor of Businessday<br />
recently, the Group Managing<br />
Director of FBN Holdings, Mr U.K<br />
Eke stated that the bank is targeting<br />
NPL ratio of below 5 per cent<br />
by the end of 2019. “We will see a<br />
normalisation of NPLs by 2019 and<br />
it will be sub 5 per cent, we are very<br />
confident about that,” Eke said.<br />
Though the circular was issued<br />
to all DMBs in the country, the prospect<br />
of affecting FBN Holding’s dividend<br />
payout is rather reduced as it<br />
is a financial holding company with<br />
other subsidiaries that could shore<br />
up earnings and buffer capital.<br />
Looking at the risk management<br />
culture of the Tier 1 banks in the<br />
third quarter of 2017, Guaranty<br />
Trust Bank has the lowest cost of<br />
risk ratio of 0.53%, about 86 per<br />
cent decline in the previous year’s<br />
value. Access bank of Nigeria PLC<br />
on the other hand retained its cost<br />
of risk at 0.9 per cent, in Q’3 of 2016<br />
and 2017.<br />
The level of exposure of United<br />
Bank of Africa is also quite low due<br />
to the value of the bank’s cost of<br />
risk of 1.1 per cent, 2 bpts difference<br />
from the same quarter of the<br />
previous year. An increase of about<br />
108 per cent was however recorded<br />
by Zenith Bank PLC, as the cost of<br />
risk increased from 1.3 per cent in<br />
Q’3 of 2016 to 2.7 per cent for the<br />
9 months period of 2017.<br />
Out of the tier 1 banks, First Bank<br />
of Nigeria Holdings has the highest<br />
cost of risk of 6.9 per cent in Q’3 of<br />
2016, tumbling to 5.6 per cent in<br />
September, 2017.<br />
The wide margin between FBN<br />
Holdings’ cost of risk and the other<br />
banks in the tier 1 group is as a<br />
result of the significant impairment<br />
charge on their loan books<br />
of N114.7 billion and N97.6 billion<br />
in 2016 and 2017 respectively.<br />
Impairment charge is the cost incurred<br />
for loan losses.<br />
Nevertheless, the GMD of FBN<br />
Holdings noted that they are targeting<br />
a cost of risk of 2 per cent<br />
by 2019.<br />
FBN Holdings 9M 2017 financial<br />
report reveals that the total loan<br />
to oil and gas sector (encompassing<br />
the downstream, upstream<br />
and services subsectors) stood at<br />
N702.3 billion compared to N844<br />
billion in the corresponding quarter<br />
of 2016. Other sectors that gained<br />
from increased credit inflow from<br />
the bank includes Manufacturing<br />
(12.8%), construction (4.3 per cent),<br />
general (4.3 per cent), real estate<br />
(7.9 per cent) and power and energy<br />
(5.1 per cent).<br />
Though the NPL risk exposure<br />
for the oil and gas sector in the<br />
quarter under review was down<br />
by 11.2 percentage points from<br />
75.1 per cent (N398 billion) in Q3,<br />
2016 to 63.9 per cent (215 billion)<br />
in Q3 2017, the risk exposure in FBN<br />
Holdings’ balance sheet could be<br />
attributed to volatilities in oil prices<br />
which had a monumental effect on<br />
the oil sector.<br />
While Access, Zenith, UBA and<br />
Guaranty Trust banks have unrestricted<br />
payout ratio, Diamond,<br />
Fidelity and Sterling banks are eligible<br />
to a payout ratio of 30 per cent.<br />
Stanbic IBTC, Ecobank Transnational<br />
and Union bank Plc) are<br />
eligible to a payout of not more<br />
than 75 per cent. On account of<br />
their negative retained earnings/<br />
accumulated deficit positions, Union<br />
Bank (N244 billion), Unity Bank<br />
(N276 billion) and Wema Bank (N38<br />
billion) are not expected to pay<br />
dividend, the report stated.<br />
Omotola Abimbola, an analyst<br />
at Afrinvest via a telephone call<br />
opined that “when you compare<br />
the dividend history of the banks,<br />
the new policy has no consequential<br />
impact at least in the short term<br />
because most of the banks have<br />
hitherto not surpassed the new<br />
regulatory dividend payout ratio<br />
in the past three to four years”. He<br />
stressed that most Nigeria investors<br />
are income investors and they<br />
value dividends a lot so they can<br />
punish banks if they do not receive<br />
dividend.<br />
Looking at the underlined reasoning<br />
behind the CBN policy,<br />
we think it is in the right direction<br />
because it is going to stimulate the<br />
effort by the apex bank to keep the<br />
NPL within check and encourage<br />
appropriate behaviours by banks”<br />
he said.<br />
Emakhu Adomi, Managing Director<br />
of 3A Capital on his part said<br />
that there is likely going to be a shift<br />
from banking stocks to stocks of<br />
sectors that pays higher dividend.<br />
“Due to the fact that investors<br />
in the NSE places high premium<br />
on dividend paying stocks, it is<br />
expected that there will be a shift<br />
from banking stocks to other sectors<br />
like industrial and consumer<br />
goods that are not so highly regulated”<br />
Adomi said.<br />
Analysts are of the opinion that<br />
banks that are contemplating paying<br />
dividends to shareholders to<br />
make their shares more attractive<br />
ahead of potential capital raising<br />
will be forced to rethink their strategy<br />
and possibly also consider using<br />
accumulated profits over time<br />
to shore up capital.<br />
Basically what has happened<br />
is that the CBN in exercising is<br />
oversight regulatory function has<br />
deemed it necessary to restrict<br />
certain banks who do not meet<br />
certain financial ratios from paying<br />
dividends until they meet these<br />
requirements, Adomi noted.<br />
“These banks who do not meet<br />
the new requirements can grow and<br />
shore up capital through the normal<br />
process of retained earnings. Overall,<br />
this policy is good for the banking<br />
industry and for the economy”.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY 35<br />
Stocks Currencies Commodities Rates + Bonds Economics Funds Week Ahead Watchlist P.E<br />
Nigerian Insurers’ share price<br />
Year-to-Date on NSE<br />
Page 36 Page 36<br />
9 Mobile remains viable investment<br />
amid uncertainties<br />
ECONOMY<br />
NPF Pensions Ltd is one of the<br />
best performing PFAs in 2017<br />
ENDURANCE OKAFOR<br />
NPF Pensions<br />
Limited was<br />
incorporated<br />
on 21st<br />
October<br />
2013 with a fully paid<br />
share capital of N1 billion.<br />
The two major shareholders<br />
are; Nigeria Police<br />
Welfare Insurance Cooperative<br />
Society Ltd and Nigeria<br />
Police Multipurpose<br />
Cooperative Society Ltd.<br />
The NPF Pensions Limited<br />
operates 2 funds, the<br />
Retiree Fund and the RSA<br />
active fund.<br />
The Retiree Fund of<br />
NPF Pensions Ltd was one<br />
of the best-performing<br />
among the Retirement<br />
Savings Account (RSA)<br />
category of funds in 2017.<br />
The Retiree Fund which<br />
commenced in May 11,<br />
2017, generated one of<br />
the highest returns in the<br />
industry with an annual<br />
return of 20.32 percent.<br />
A retirement fund invests<br />
funds for retirement<br />
benefits and from where<br />
funds are paid.<br />
The RSA Retiree Fund<br />
component comprised of<br />
asset class of equity, Money<br />
Market, T-Bills, Corporate<br />
Bonds and Federal<br />
Government Bond.<br />
The total market value<br />
of the fund stood at<br />
N15.8 billion, out of which<br />
N132.3 million (0.84%)<br />
was invested in equities,<br />
N2.6 billion (16.53%) in<br />
money market funds,<br />
N12.9 billion (81.64%) in<br />
Treasury-Bills and N156.5<br />
million (0.99%) in Federal<br />
Government bonds.<br />
For the RSA active fund,<br />
the equity asset class portfolio<br />
return was 17.76<br />
percent, which was above<br />
the average return for the<br />
Fund of 14.09 percent,<br />
but below the NSE ASI for<br />
2017 of 42.30 percent.<br />
The portfolio comprises<br />
17 carefully selected<br />
fundamental stocks out of<br />
the 40 stocks in the Pension<br />
Stocks Index (PSI).<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> learnt that<br />
since the commencement<br />
of the investment operations<br />
in December 2014,<br />
it had been NPF Pension<br />
Ltd deliberate strategy to<br />
remain below 5 percent<br />
in this asset class, so as to<br />
build up profit and subject<br />
the fund to less volatility.<br />
In 2015 and 2016, the<br />
Nigerian Stock Exchange<br />
(NSE) All Share Index<br />
(ASI) performed badly, a<br />
reflection of the recession<br />
and weak macros, thus the<br />
strategy paid off in both<br />
years when compared to<br />
other PFAs that had larger<br />
exposure to the equity<br />
class.<br />
In 2017, the NSE ASI<br />
closed the year at its best<br />
for the past four years<br />
and the Fund benefited<br />
from this rally as it saw<br />
opportunities from the<br />
economic and stock analysis<br />
in Q4-2017, and thus<br />
grew this portfolio to 9.03<br />
percent by close of 2017.<br />
In the RSA money<br />
market asset class, the<br />
return was above the return<br />
benchmark set in its<br />
policy and is a reflection<br />
of its quest to extract the<br />
best rates available from<br />
Deposit Money Banks of<br />
investment grade, within<br />
the tenors that were optimal<br />
for the fund.<br />
While in the Treasury-<br />
Bills asset class, the Fund<br />
generated 16.85 percent<br />
return which was also<br />
above the Fund’s performance<br />
and also above the<br />
benchmark of the Investment<br />
policy as well as the<br />
class’s all-year performance<br />
in the market.<br />
The Fund’s portfolio of<br />
Corporate Bonds in 2017<br />
did not change and thus<br />
remained at 2016 levels.<br />
The return for the fund<br />
was above the global market<br />
performance.<br />
The RSA FGN Bonds<br />
portfolio, which constituted<br />
over 50 percent of the<br />
portfolio (on moving average<br />
in 2017), comprise<br />
sub-optimal bonds, which<br />
were transferred by other<br />
PFAs to NPF Pensions.<br />
Data seen by Business-<br />
Day show that these suboptimal<br />
bonds constituted<br />
46 percent of entire<br />
portfolio as at December<br />
31 2017 and were transferred<br />
at book values rather<br />
than mark-to-market.<br />
The relative belowindustry<br />
performance is<br />
largely attributed to the<br />
sub-optimal bonds in the<br />
portfolio, which are held<br />
at book value and being<br />
amortized.<br />
The RSA active Fund<br />
has a market value of<br />
N334 billion, out of which<br />
equity accounts for N 30.1<br />
billion, Money Market<br />
is N72.3 billion, T-Bill is<br />
N50.3 billion, Corporate<br />
Bond of N30.2billion and<br />
FGN Bond of 150.9 billion.<br />
The Equity has a return<br />
rate of 17.76 percent, Money<br />
Market returns is 19.81<br />
percent , T bill returns<br />
is 16.85 percent, Corporate<br />
Bond returns is 14.65<br />
percent, while FGN Bond<br />
returns is 9.59 percent.<br />
“We are watching the<br />
portfolio closely ‘round<br />
the clock’ to ensure that<br />
the Fund’s performance<br />
improves significantly<br />
despite the impact of the<br />
sub-optimal bonds,” the<br />
Fund said.<br />
The Fund is optimistic<br />
that in <strong>2018</strong>, the fortunes<br />
of the RSA fund will be<br />
much better.<br />
SHORT TAKES<br />
$486 million<br />
The World Bank has approved a $486<br />
million credit facility to Nigeria for<br />
electricity grid improvements, the<br />
lender said on Friday.<br />
The investments under the Nigeria<br />
Electricity Transmission Project<br />
aim at increasing the power transfer<br />
capacity of the transmission network<br />
and to enable distribution companies<br />
to supply consumers with<br />
additional power.<br />
Nigeria’s dilapidated power sector<br />
is often criticised by economists<br />
for holding back the country’s<br />
economic growth. Businesses and<br />
households are subject to frequent<br />
blackouts, and many depend on<br />
their own generators that are expensive<br />
to run.<br />
S&P Global Ratings<br />
S&P Global Ratings said on<br />
<strong>Feb</strong>ruary 15, <strong>2018</strong> that it has<br />
assigned its ‘B’ long-term<br />
issue rating to the proposed<br />
U.S. dollar-denominated<br />
Eurobond to be issued by the<br />
Federal Republic of Nigeria.<br />
The amount and interest rate,<br />
among other details of the<br />
bond, will be determined during<br />
the placement.<br />
US$2.5 billion<br />
Nigeria announced on <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
15, <strong>2018</strong> that it has priced<br />
its offering of US$2.5 billion<br />
aggregate principal amount of<br />
dual series notes (the “Notes”)<br />
under its Global Medium<br />
Term Note Programme, according<br />
to a statement from<br />
the Federal Ministry of<br />
Finance.<br />
The Notes comprise a US$1.25<br />
billion 12-year series and<br />
a US$1.25 billion 20-year<br />
series. The 12-year series will<br />
bear interest at a rate of 7.143<br />
percent, while the 20-year<br />
series will bear interest at a<br />
rate of 7.696percent, and, in<br />
each case, will be repayable<br />
with a bullet repayment of<br />
the principal on maturity. The<br />
offering is expected to close<br />
on or about 23 <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong>,<br />
subject to the satisfaction of<br />
various customary closing<br />
conditions.<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> MARKETS INTELLIGENCE (Team lead: BALA AUGIE - Analyst: DIPO OLADEHINDE, ENDURANCE OKAFOR, BUNMI BAILEY Graphics: DAVID OGAR )<br />
BMI provides in-depth analysis and data on industries, companies, stocks, currencies, fixed income/credit, economics, regulation and factors that influence investor’s decision-making<br />
Email the BMI team patrick.atuanya@businessdayonline.com
36 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
COMPANIES<br />
ENDURANCE OKAFOR<br />
Markets Intelligence<br />
Nigerian Insurers’ share price Year-to-Date on NSE<br />
… Aiico, Mansard, Linkage, N.E.M Insurance shares lead on return<br />
Nigerian quoted insurance<br />
firms with<br />
stock price less than<br />
N0.50 are the worst<br />
performers on the<br />
Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)<br />
so far in <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
A stock is said to underperform<br />
if it produces a worse return<br />
than an index or the overall<br />
stock market<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> analysis revealed<br />
eleven of the listed insurance<br />
firms had their Year-to-<br />
Date return not just less than the<br />
NSE All Share Index (ASI) of 11.32<br />
percent but was at the negative<br />
trajectory, as at the close of market<br />
for as at Friday last week.<br />
The insurance companies that<br />
were surveyed includes; Cornerstone<br />
Insurance Plc with a share<br />
price of N0.43 and YTD return of<br />
-14 percent, Equity Assurance<br />
Plc share price was N0.40 with<br />
YtD return of -20 percent.<br />
Also, Lasaco Insurance Plc,<br />
Standard Alliance Plc, Regency<br />
Alliance Plc, Mutual Benefits Assurance<br />
Plc, Niger Insurance Plc,<br />
Prestige Assurance Plc, Africa Alliance<br />
Plc, Soveriegn Trust Plc and<br />
Unity Kapital Assurance Plc had<br />
both share price and YtD return<br />
of N0.33 & -34 percent, N0.48 &<br />
-4 percent, N0.48 &-4percent,<br />
9 Mobile remains viable investment amid uncertainties<br />
DIPO OLADEHINDE<br />
9Mobile remains viable for<br />
investors as the mobile network<br />
company continues to<br />
attract subscribers according to<br />
data from the fourth quarter (Q4)<br />
of 2017 National Bureau of Statistics’<br />
(NBS) telecom report.<br />
9Mobile attracted the highest<br />
number of incoming porters from<br />
other networks despite the challenges<br />
it faced during the period<br />
under review.<br />
Total Numbers Ported Incoming<br />
from Other Networks to 9mobile<br />
was at 5,177 followed by MTN<br />
at 1,538, while Airtel and Glo had<br />
1,173 and 740 incoming porters<br />
respectively.<br />
“Provision of good quality<br />
service by the telecom network to<br />
its subscribers led to the increase<br />
in the in-porting customers”, Boye<br />
Olusanya, CEO 9Mobile told <strong>BusinessDay</strong><br />
on phone.<br />
In the fourth quarter of 2017,<br />
total number of incoming and<br />
outgoing porting activities stood<br />
at 8,628 and 8,830, representing<br />
a decrease of 48.67 per cent and<br />
47.14 per cent respectively over<br />
the previous quarter of Q3 2017.<br />
BussinessDay investigations<br />
however revealed there was a 55<br />
per cent decrease from 11,517<br />
incoming porters in Q3 compared<br />
to 5,177 in Q4 2017.<br />
9mobile also accounted for the<br />
least total numbers outgoing subscribers<br />
to other Networks with<br />
1,447, followed by Glo with 1,848<br />
while Airtel and Mtn recorded<br />
the highest number of outgoing<br />
customers at 2,760 and 2,775 respectively.<br />
Notwithstanding the tremendous<br />
increase in the subscribers<br />
N0.48 &-4percent, 0.46 &-8percent,<br />
N0.47 & -6 percent, N0.42K<br />
& -16percent, N0.48 & -4 percent,<br />
and N0.37 & -<strong>26</strong>percent respectively<br />
.<br />
that ported into the network in<br />
Q4 of 2017, the embattled company<br />
ranked the lowest in the total<br />
number of network subscribers<br />
among its peers.<br />
In the fourth quarter, the four<br />
largest voice communication<br />
providers were MTN, Globacom,<br />
Airtel and 9Mobile contributed<br />
to 36.14 per cent, <strong>26</strong>.39per cent,<br />
25.74per cent and 11.72per cent<br />
of the total telecom communication<br />
subscriptions respectively.<br />
Total Active Voice Subscriptions<br />
in the fourth quarter of 2017<br />
decreased by 6.12 per cent when<br />
compared with the same quarter<br />
of 2016, from to 154,529,780 in<br />
2016 Q4 to 145,065,953 in Q4,<br />
2017. The figure also indicates a<br />
3.69 per cent increase from the<br />
number reported in the third<br />
quarter of 2017.<br />
Among the top four network<br />
providers, Airtel, 9mobile (EMTS)<br />
and MTN only specialise in GSM<br />
technology, while Globacom operates<br />
both in the GSM and Fixed/<br />
Fixed Wireless Telecommunication<br />
technology space.<br />
South West states recorded the<br />
highest active voice subscriptions<br />
with a total subscription of44, 465,<br />
508 active voice subscriptions.<br />
Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo states<br />
were the top three states and<br />
jointly accounted for 25.06 per<br />
cent of the total voice subscription<br />
of the country. Lagos led<br />
the pack with 19,417,181 total<br />
active voice subscriptions and<br />
19,118,767 GSM users by the end<br />
of the fourth quarter, equalling<br />
13.18 per cent of the total nationwide<br />
subscriptions.<br />
Following the top three states<br />
were Kano with 7,382,805;Kaduna<br />
with 6,642,801 and Rivers<br />
Before now, a stock could not<br />
drop below its N050 par value,<br />
even if the owner was willing to<br />
sell below that price just to cash<br />
out. However, stocks became<br />
with 5,456,860. Bayelsa state accounted<br />
for the lowest number<br />
of active voice subscriptions in<br />
the quarter under review, with<br />
954,353.<br />
The telecom company failed to<br />
reach an agreement on possible<br />
repayment plans with 13 Nigerian<br />
banks, where it took out a $1.2billion<br />
medium term syndicated<br />
loan facility in May of 2013, with<br />
the hope to refinance the existing<br />
commercial medium term debt of<br />
$650 million, but missed payment<br />
in <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 2017, due to an economic<br />
downturn and scarcity of<br />
foreign exchange in the country.<br />
exposed to low valuation when<br />
NSE removed the decades-old par<br />
value price floor of 50K.<br />
The NSE introduced new<br />
pricing methodology and par<br />
value rule, which was approved<br />
by the Securities and Exchange<br />
Commission (SEC) and it became<br />
effective from Monday, January<br />
29 <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
The policy specifies that the<br />
price of every share listed on<br />
The Exchange shall be determined<br />
by the market forces and<br />
equities may now trade below<br />
the erstwhile price floor of fifty<br />
Kobo (N0.50) per unit and as<br />
such, the removal of price floor<br />
is expected that investors have<br />
better opportunities to dispose<br />
of stocks that they have held<br />
for far too long because of the<br />
price floor.<br />
Meanwhile, other insurance<br />
companies like AIICO Insurance<br />
Plc, Mansard Insurance<br />
Plc (formerly known as GTAssure),<br />
Linkage Assurance Plc and<br />
N.E.M Insurance Plc had their<br />
share price above 50K and also<br />
their YtD return outperforming<br />
the NSE All-Share index of 11.32<br />
percent.<br />
AIICO Insurance Plc had its<br />
share price at 75K and a YtD return<br />
of 44.23 percent, Mansard<br />
Insurance Plc, Linkage Assurance<br />
Plc and N.E.M Insurance Plc had<br />
both their share price and YtD<br />
return of 2.75K &42.49 percent,<br />
92K & 39.39 percent and 1.9K &<br />
14.46 percent respectively, as at<br />
market close Friday 23 <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
<strong>2018</strong>.<br />
This forced the Etisalat group to<br />
terminate a management agreement<br />
with its Nigerian arm, given<br />
the business time to phase out the<br />
Etisalat brand in Nigeria after its<br />
appointment of a new management<br />
board to run operations.<br />
As a result, the telecom had<br />
to select a new brand name and<br />
identity, which it says is not a<br />
product of chance, but was carefully<br />
thought out and deliberated<br />
to represent its ‘Nigerianess’<br />
(Naija-centricity) from the 0809ja<br />
heritage and the fact that it has<br />
operated in Nigeria for nine years.<br />
Last week, BussinessDay reported<br />
Barclays Africa has officially<br />
written to Teleology holding<br />
limited, informing the company<br />
that it is the preferred bidder for<br />
the 9mobile sale.<br />
In the letter sent to Teleology<br />
holdings, Barclays Africa, the financial<br />
adviser to the consortium<br />
of banks owed $1.2billion dollars<br />
by 9mobile (formerly Etisalat) said<br />
they had reviewed all bids submitted<br />
and recommends Teleology as<br />
the preferred bidder. The company<br />
was then asked to make a nonrefundable<br />
financial deposit of $50<br />
million dollars within the next 21<br />
days to seal the deal.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
Start-Up Digest<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
37<br />
Meet Akintunde Oyebode, the<br />
man who funds Lagos SMEs<br />
ODINAKA ANUDU<br />
If you are running a micro,<br />
small or medium business in<br />
Lagos and you need money<br />
for expansion, ask Akintunde<br />
Oyebode.<br />
Oyebode is the chief executive<br />
officer and executive secretary of<br />
the Lagos State Employment Trust<br />
Fund (LSETF), which was set up<br />
by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode<br />
to lift businesses and unemployed<br />
residents of the state.<br />
Two years into the office, Oyebode<br />
has shown that state of origin,<br />
tribe or race does not matter to him.<br />
As long as you have a business in<br />
Lagos and meet the loan requirements,<br />
Oyebode and his team will<br />
ensure you get funding.<br />
So far, 5,800 businesses have got<br />
approximately N4.9 billion from<br />
LSETF. He believes that by end of<br />
March this year, the number of<br />
businesses that have accessed loans<br />
will have been raised to 8,000. This<br />
number will have hit 15,000 by the<br />
end of the year.<br />
How does it feel to superintend<br />
such revolution in Lagos?<br />
“It is incredibly fulfilling for me<br />
to see small businesses get access<br />
to funding without bias, without<br />
nepotism, without nepotism.<br />
“It has been superb and exciting.<br />
We have been able to support<br />
thousands of businesses, so it is<br />
rewarding and fulfilling to see a lot<br />
of our work starting to show signs<br />
of delivering some value,” he tells<br />
Start-Up Digest in an exclusive<br />
interview.<br />
What exactly are Oyebode and<br />
his team looking for in a loan applicant?<br />
“We are looking for credibility.<br />
We are looking for those who have<br />
not misrepresented their performance.<br />
We are looking for clarity;<br />
people who know exactly what they<br />
are using the loan for, without inflating<br />
the cost of goods or services they<br />
want to pay for,” he explains.<br />
“We are looking for people who<br />
can repay their loans; people who<br />
can show that if they get the loans,<br />
they have a clear way of paying<br />
back. We are looking for people<br />
who, when we go and do credit<br />
checks, they have not been owing<br />
banks without repaying; they have<br />
not issued bounced cheques or lied<br />
about where they live or the size of<br />
their businesses. If you are selling<br />
20 loaves of bread a day, you have<br />
not told us you sell 200 loaves,” he<br />
further explains.<br />
The executive secretary says the<br />
LSETF verifies all the claims of applicants<br />
and does not necessarily<br />
make impossible demands.<br />
“We are not asking anybody to<br />
bring their grandmother’s hair or<br />
for a collateral, but we are asking for<br />
integrity. This is tax payers’ funded<br />
project, so we need to show we are<br />
looking at the right things to ensure<br />
we get value from it,” he says.<br />
The LSETF does not just give out<br />
loans without providing capacity<br />
development.<br />
In affiliation with the United<br />
Nations Development Programme<br />
(UNDP), the LSETF trains 10,000<br />
Lagosians under the Employability<br />
Support Project.<br />
The agency has already trained<br />
600 people and will add 10,000 more<br />
Akintunde Oyebode<br />
by the end of <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
It has also launched Lagos Innovate,<br />
which is designed to support<br />
innovation and tech start-ups in<br />
Lagos. Two programmes have also<br />
been launched and another—an<br />
accelerator programme—will be<br />
launched in April this year.<br />
“For the loan programme, we<br />
train you after we give you an offer<br />
letter. And that is a compulsory<br />
bootcamp to ensure you know how<br />
to run a business. But for our employability<br />
programme, we are<br />
training and placing people in jobs.<br />
We have gone to the industry and<br />
asked, ‘What jobs do you have skillsgap<br />
and struggling to fill?’ We are<br />
training people and placing them<br />
on those jobs. We are also giving<br />
people the opportunity of getting<br />
jobs. It is not a guarantee that you<br />
will get jobs but we try to provide<br />
jobs for them at the completion of<br />
training,” he elucidates.<br />
The LSETF is targeted at creating<br />
more and more jobs. The institution<br />
monitors, evaluates and<br />
periodically tracks job creation.<br />
But how does it ensure that people<br />
who get loans actually create jobs?<br />
“We track how they are putting<br />
people in the tax register. So it is not<br />
just enough for you to say you are<br />
employing people. Are they paying<br />
taxes? What kind of jobs are they<br />
doing? So we have an independent<br />
business development partner who<br />
will go in there to understand what<br />
is going on. But we also have the<br />
tax register to validate what we get.<br />
Monitoring and evaluation are critical<br />
parts of our programme. Without<br />
it, it is difficult to understand what is<br />
working, what is not working, what<br />
should be stopped” he says.<br />
Already loan beneficiaries have<br />
created 8,000 jobs and there will<br />
have been more by April/May when<br />
the majority of the loans will have<br />
been returned.<br />
Oyebode says that the LSETF<br />
also supports start-ups but pays<br />
more attention to existing businesses,<br />
which are the mainstay of<br />
the economy.<br />
He advises that when starting<br />
a business, it is not proper to get a<br />
loan because it has conditions and<br />
commitment of repayment, pointing<br />
out that the best bet is equity.<br />
“But we still support start-ups<br />
but not in excess of N250,000. That<br />
is the maximum loan and that just<br />
reflects the risk nature of start-up<br />
businesses. But if you then succeed<br />
with the N250,000 and you pay that<br />
back as and when due, we can them<br />
move you up to a higher loan of<br />
up to N500,000 or N5 million,” he<br />
discloses.<br />
He says that trade and service<br />
players are topping the chart of loan<br />
beneficiaries due to the nature of<br />
the Lagos economy.<br />
However, he adds that his agency<br />
has funded schools, film makers,<br />
DJs, photographers, beauty and ICT<br />
payers, among many others.<br />
Oyeode hopes to increase the<br />
loan book from N4.9 billion today<br />
to N10 billion by the end of <strong>2018</strong>,<br />
but he says that the funding is insufficient<br />
in relation to demands.<br />
“We can do more if we receive<br />
donations from well-meaning institutions<br />
and individuals. The numbers<br />
I am giving you is based on the<br />
funding we expect to receive from<br />
the state. We call on well-meaning<br />
institutions and individuals who<br />
want to solve the job situation in<br />
Lagos to partner with us. With our<br />
funding and yours, we can go a<br />
little bit further than if we are in this<br />
journey alone,” he says.<br />
Compare the number of people<br />
seeking loans with number who get<br />
loans and you get 25 percent.<br />
This is a function of the capital<br />
the agency has available and a<br />
reflection of the readiness of busi-<br />
nesses, he says.<br />
“To be fair, of the businesses we<br />
say ‘no’ to, half of them are not in<br />
any way ready to take loans. They<br />
haven’t shown the required readiness;<br />
their documentation does not<br />
suggest that they can pay back their<br />
loans,” he reveals.<br />
The good news is that those who<br />
are taking loans are repaying them,<br />
which is why repayment rate today<br />
is over 90 percent.<br />
The LSETF is N25 billion over<br />
a four-year period. The executive<br />
director believes that with what is<br />
being put on ground, the funding<br />
would outlive the Ambode-led administration.<br />
He further says that the twoyear<br />
journey of the LSETF has been<br />
outstanding.<br />
“I think it is a great start and a<br />
reminder that there is a lot more to<br />
do. It is a reminder of what possibilities<br />
are if we do things correctly.<br />
Even in such a short period, we are<br />
getting some very good testimonies<br />
about how these funds have helped<br />
them. If we do 10 times what we<br />
are doing today, the impact on the<br />
Lagos economy will be tremendous.<br />
That is what I always share with my<br />
team, that if we have done this little<br />
and got some feedback, imagine if<br />
we do five, 10 times, what the impact<br />
on Lagos economy will be.”<br />
Oyebode was head of SMEs at<br />
Stanbic IBTC. Start-Up Digest asks<br />
him to compare his experience then<br />
and now.<br />
“They are both rewarding experiences.<br />
When I was working in Stanbic<br />
IBTC, we pioneered unsecured<br />
lending in the SME space, and I<br />
found it rewarding going round the<br />
country, listening to people tell me<br />
how the funding we were giving<br />
them were making them significantly<br />
grow their businesses. I am<br />
now working for the government.<br />
It is also incredibly rewarding to<br />
hear people across Lagos tell us<br />
how these funds have changed<br />
their lives. I think the big difference<br />
between my previous job and now<br />
is that in this role, we are allowed<br />
to finance start-ups and we provide<br />
the loans at the concessionary rate<br />
of five percent, which means that it<br />
is likely to be more impactful,” he<br />
explains.<br />
The executive secretary feels<br />
that the challenge he faces at the<br />
moment is normal.<br />
“I think the biggest challenge we<br />
have faced is just the normal challenge<br />
of setting up a new enterprise,<br />
ensuring that we could hire the<br />
right people and ensuring we get<br />
the word out there, that this loan is<br />
available. It has been very fulfilling,<br />
but it has fewer challenges than I<br />
had earlier expected. It is a testament<br />
of the work of the board led by<br />
Ifueko Omoigui Okaru, who helped<br />
us set the exceptional governance<br />
framework, and also to the praise of<br />
the governor who followed through<br />
this vision of setting up this funding<br />
it appropriately. Despite a difficult<br />
economic condition, even when<br />
the economy was in recession, the<br />
governor was able to find funding<br />
for us. I think he deserves some<br />
credit,” he states.<br />
He likewise commends the<br />
work of the Presidential Enabling<br />
Business Environment Council<br />
(PEBEC), whose landmark has<br />
impacted Lagos. Oyebode believes<br />
that funding is a big challenge facing<br />
entrepreneurs, but not necessarily<br />
the biggest.<br />
“It is one of the biggest problems<br />
because they are also trying to solve<br />
other problems. They are also trying<br />
to get new markets, and expand access<br />
to markets. It is one thing to get<br />
capital but another thing to sell your<br />
goods and services,” he says.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
38 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Start-Up Digest<br />
Nigerian entrepreneurs redefine<br />
furniture-making, interior decoration<br />
ODINAKA ANUDU<br />
Nigerian entrepreneurs<br />
are increasingly<br />
showing that<br />
opportunities in<br />
the country are<br />
only being scratched. Many of<br />
them are introducing innovations,<br />
redefining the sector that<br />
was once known as ‘old men’s<br />
industry’.<br />
In the furniture-making industry,<br />
which is a critical part<br />
of interior decoration, Blessing<br />
Ohikhena Sule has proved that<br />
a woman can do whatever a<br />
man can.<br />
Sule is the chief executive<br />
of the Lagos-based AASIS Resources<br />
Nigeria Limited and<br />
is not ashamed to be called a<br />
‘carpenter’.<br />
A graduate of Computer Science<br />
from the University of<br />
Benin, Blessing also holds an Ordinary<br />
National Diploma (OND)<br />
in Accounting from the Federal<br />
Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State.<br />
The Edo State-born entrepreneur<br />
started with just N2000. She<br />
was motivated to set up her own<br />
business few years ago because<br />
she always wanted to force herself<br />
out of poverty.<br />
“I have always wanted to be<br />
my own boss. I grew up with all<br />
men and have always wanted to<br />
better my life to kill poverty. One<br />
thing I know, for sure, is that if<br />
you don’t build your business,<br />
someone will employ you to<br />
build theirs,” she tells Start-Up<br />
Digest.<br />
The entrepreneur says that<br />
there is a lot of money to make<br />
from furniture-making. She gets<br />
international models from the<br />
Internet and designs them.<br />
Through her work, Blessing<br />
has courted customers from<br />
various spheres of life, including<br />
bank workers, civil servants,<br />
friends and family.<br />
Many low-income Nigerians<br />
are asking<br />
repeatedly about<br />
businesses they can<br />
start with N100,000 or less. We<br />
will try to present three of these<br />
businesses and why they do<br />
not necessarily need so much<br />
money to start.<br />
Fashion and design<br />
What is basically needed<br />
before starting this business<br />
is training. You need six to 12<br />
months’ training and you must<br />
constantly look out for new designs<br />
on the Internet. You can<br />
start this business at home. All<br />
you need is a sewing machine,<br />
which costs less than N40, 000<br />
now. It is, however, important to<br />
note that you can start this business<br />
with less than N100,000,<br />
but someone with deep-pocket<br />
can also start with N5 or N10<br />
million. It all depends on how<br />
much you have. Yejide Elugbaju,<br />
founder and CEO of Rivah<br />
Beauty Limited, told Start-Up<br />
Digest that she started her outfit<br />
Blessing Ohikhena Sule<br />
The social media has also<br />
greatly helped her, having been<br />
marketing her furniture products<br />
via Facebook and other<br />
platforms, while also putting her<br />
handbills on church bulletins.<br />
In terms of what is trending in<br />
the furniture industry, Blessing<br />
says it is what is called ‘Strictly<br />
Antique’. She states that patronage<br />
of locally made furniture is<br />
slow owing to consumer preferences<br />
and petty considerations.<br />
On where she wants to be in<br />
five years’ time, Blessing says she<br />
sees herself owning a big factory.<br />
Next is Marvis Marshal Idio,<br />
chief executive of the Port Harcourt-based<br />
Jacmavis, which<br />
deals in interior design, furniture-making<br />
and construction<br />
in general.<br />
Though the Imo State-born<br />
entrepreneur has been in the industry<br />
for a few years, she came<br />
into prominence in December<br />
of 2016 after winning Season 3<br />
of The Next Titan organised by<br />
Heritage Bank.<br />
A graduate of Architecture<br />
from University of Uyo, and<br />
with second degree in Interior<br />
Designs from Florence Designs<br />
Academy, Italy, Idio walked off<br />
from that competition with N5<br />
million, and a brand new Ford<br />
Ecosport from Coscharis Motors.<br />
One major reason why she<br />
won the prize was her capacity<br />
to turn what is commonly called<br />
‘trash’ into raw materials for<br />
her interior designs and artistic<br />
works. Hence she converts waste<br />
products into goods that are<br />
sought-after.<br />
Her target is to create an African<br />
interior decoration brand<br />
that will be affordable and environmentally<br />
friendly.<br />
She wants to always create<br />
value for the environment and<br />
support others to manage wastes.<br />
By so doing, the country will have<br />
fewer wastes and jobs will be<br />
created along the collection and<br />
conversion value chains.<br />
Her plan is to turn wastes to<br />
wealth, which is when the commonest<br />
things anyone sees in her<br />
factory in Port Harcourt, Rivers<br />
State, are used tyres, cardboard<br />
sheets, pet bottles and old furniture<br />
pieces, among others.<br />
Another entrepreneur that<br />
is making waves in the interior<br />
decoration industry is Mimi<br />
Shodeinde, chief executive of<br />
Minimat Designs.<br />
Shodeinde holds a degree in<br />
Interior Architecture at Heriot<br />
Watt University in Edinburgh,<br />
the UK.<br />
She is based in the UK but is<br />
truly Nigerian. Her artistic work<br />
is not only meant for those in the<br />
UK but also people in Nigeria<br />
and other parts of the world.<br />
She started as an artist and<br />
interior designer and her firm<br />
specialises in furniture and<br />
product design for commercial<br />
and residential projects in the<br />
UK and globally.<br />
“My hope is that Miminat<br />
will have a global platform with<br />
stakes in the commercial, hospitality<br />
sector, government spaces,<br />
art spaces, private spaces<br />
and residential projects. I want<br />
people to recognise my designs<br />
from their distinctive style. Given<br />
the wide breadth of the design<br />
industry, it would be a shame<br />
to limit it to any one particular<br />
industry or sector,” she tells lionessesofafrica.com,<br />
which profiles<br />
African female entrepreneurs.<br />
“Exclusivity is synonymous<br />
with design, but this is something<br />
I want to challenge. I want<br />
anyone who is interested in my<br />
designs, the stories behind the<br />
designs, to be able to have one<br />
of my products in their home.<br />
Personal and financial status<br />
should not prevent anyone from<br />
buying one of my designs; I want<br />
to break the mould on the concept<br />
of exclusive design for high<br />
society.”<br />
Interior design is not exclusive<br />
to female entrepreneurs.<br />
Chukwubuike Nnoli, chief executive<br />
of Zubnol Investment<br />
Limited, is also making waves in<br />
the industry.<br />
Nnoli manufactures interior<br />
decoration products and supplies<br />
them to retail stores, open<br />
markets and several outlets.<br />
Zubnol produces ‘throw pillows’,<br />
bed sheets, baby duvets<br />
and embroidery products. His<br />
basic business is to buy raw<br />
materials, which can be in unfinished<br />
or semi-finished forms,<br />
and turn them into finished pillows,<br />
bed sheets and duvets used<br />
in homes, offices and hospitals.<br />
Based in Awka, Anambra<br />
State, Nnoli’s products are supplied<br />
to distributors and several<br />
outlets that, in turn, sell to final<br />
consumers. Zubnol Investment<br />
Limited started in 2011 with<br />
N190,000 as Zubnol Ventures.<br />
The fund was used to acquire<br />
materials.<br />
From N190, 000, the business<br />
has now grown to over N3<br />
million, supplying products to<br />
over 10 outlets located across<br />
the country.<br />
“Our target is to capture the<br />
local market and the West African<br />
market,” the entrepreneur<br />
tells Start-Up Digest.<br />
“One of the key feedbacks we<br />
get is that our products are well<br />
designed and durable,” he says.<br />
“We are in many stores already<br />
and demand is already<br />
overshooting supply,” he discloses.<br />
“Our target is to satisfy the<br />
burgeoning local demand and<br />
then export to earn foreign exchange.<br />
This, with God, will<br />
happen soon,” he says.<br />
3 businesses you can start with N100,000 or less<br />
ODINAKA ANUDU<br />
in January of 2016 with N50,000.<br />
Laundry<br />
You can start by servicing<br />
the needs of family and friends.<br />
Here is a testimony of the Kwara<br />
State-born Abubakar Sodeek<br />
Arekemashe, a 27- year- old<br />
student, who is now the chief<br />
executive officer of a laundry<br />
outfit called Sky Limit.<br />
“When the idea came to my<br />
mind, I discussed it with my<br />
friends. I told them I wanted<br />
to start a laundry business.<br />
They called it an inferior business.<br />
But I let them realise<br />
that it was nothing to me and<br />
I started it on 24th <strong>Feb</strong>ruary,<br />
2017 with just N200.00. It was<br />
easy for me because I had iron,<br />
laundry basket, regular water<br />
supply and electricity. Out of<br />
the money, I bought soap and<br />
starch, then started with three<br />
clothes. Today, I am getting a<br />
number of people who patronise<br />
me,” Arekemashe told Start-Up<br />
Digest.<br />
Online Business<br />
Many digital businesses that<br />
you find in Europe, China, India<br />
and USA are still not here. A<br />
lot of Nigerians are raking in<br />
millions through online sales,<br />
and payment platforms, among<br />
others.<br />
Bamidele Onibalusi is the<br />
founder of Deloni Enterprise,<br />
an online business. Onibalusi<br />
started the business with N15,<br />
000, which he used to register<br />
his website and purchase hosting.<br />
Hear his testimony to Start-<br />
Up Digest:<br />
“I mainly deal with clients<br />
and customers in Europe, America<br />
and other parts of the world.<br />
I also earn my income in dollars<br />
and convert at the current exchange<br />
rate. This ensures that<br />
the recession in Nigeria has little<br />
or no impact on me.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
Omowaire Oluwatosin<br />
Sanni Sheriff<br />
Oluwatosin and Sanni: Tapping<br />
opportunities in catering industry<br />
JOSEPHINE OKOJIE ed her business with 10,000 problems around and turn in 2015.<br />
last year and was able to get them into value that could Sanni started his business<br />
with just N10, 000,<br />
Planning an event a startup fund from Women<br />
in Business and Public “The food industry is an amount he spent on<br />
be exchanged for income.<br />
can be extremely<br />
stressful. This is Service (WIMBIZ) in 2016 wide with so many prospects.<br />
One of the untapped name, printing banners<br />
registering his business<br />
why many people to embark on a studentfocused<br />
food project. parts is the making of natu-<br />
and invoice. With referral<br />
have resorted to<br />
outsourcing some aspects Currently, the business rally sourced food seasoning<br />
and herbals, which can he was able to break even.<br />
from family and friends,<br />
of it.<br />
has grown remarkably and<br />
But a lot of people are is worth about N750, 000. be exported to earn foreign “I was also inspired by<br />
very skeptical when it This feat was achieved seven exchange,” Oluwatosin said. my dad who operates a marine<br />
engineering services<br />
comes to hiring catering months after registration. Sanni Sheriff<br />
companies as many have She has three full-time staff Sanni Sheriff is the firm. He always wanted to<br />
ruined their events with members and hires parttime<br />
workers at times deen<br />
Limited. He is a caterer more value to the brand<br />
founder of Sannikayz Kitch-<br />
grow his business and add<br />
poor delivery and creativity.<br />
To change all that for pending on the projects she with vast experience in and himself. This also<br />
clients and event planners, is handling.<br />
event services and currently drove my passion for rendering<br />
services to people,”<br />
Oluwatosin and Sanni, two When asked about the runs a mobile restaurant<br />
young entrepreneurs in the challenge confronting her and event catering services he said.<br />
catering and service industry,<br />
have stepped up their Start-up Digest that lack An engineering graduate staff members working<br />
business, Oluwatosin told in Lagos.<br />
He currently has three<br />
game through the power of of finance was the greatest of the University of Lagos, with him and over 20 parttime<br />
workers who also<br />
creativity, providing relief challenge.<br />
Sanni started his journey<br />
for customers.<br />
She urged the Federal as an entrepreneur in 2011 work with him, especially<br />
Omowaire Oluwatosin Government to provide when he began his mobile at weekends when demand<br />
Omowaire Oluwatosin adequate grants and loan restaurant business on campus<br />
as an undergraduate. The engineer turned ca-<br />
for his services are high.<br />
is the founder and chief executive<br />
officer of My Dinner entrepreneurship mindsets. The demand for his serterer<br />
has not had it all rosy<br />
opportunities to youths with<br />
Hub, a catering and event Oluwatosin also said that vices was very high and after as he contends with high<br />
management firm focused high cost of food items and the undergraduate study, prices of food items in the<br />
on food delivery, event and inadequate power supply he established Sannikayz country and low purchasing<br />
power of consumers.<br />
personal catering services. were also key issues.<br />
Kitchen in 2014.<br />
Oluwatosin, a 500 level She sources her raw materials<br />
from local markets so many awards, including leptic power supply in<br />
Sanni is a recipient of He also said the epi-<br />
Crop, Soil and Pest Management<br />
undergraduate of across the country.<br />
the Under-30 Achievers the country was a very big<br />
the Federal University of The caterer, who is also Awards in 2013, and Creative<br />
Man of the Year by the business as it had shot up<br />
challenge confronting his<br />
Technology, Akure (FUTA), a farmer, stated that her<br />
started trade at the age of 10. business had been able to University of Lagos Engineering<br />
Society Awards. He “Our business has grown<br />
his cost of production.<br />
She went into trade when grow because it brought local<br />
cuisines in an attractive is the Best Entrepreneur in tremendously since we<br />
he mother could not earn<br />
enough money to provide style, guaranteeing customer<br />
satisfaction through ton Entrepreneur of the opened another brand of<br />
2014, nominated as Shera-<br />
started and we have even<br />
for her siblings after the<br />
demise of her father.<br />
excellent service delivery. year at the African Youth business. Our target client<br />
In a bid to help herself The entrepreneur also Choice Awards in 2014 is corporate bodies and everybody<br />
who is interested in<br />
and assist her siblings, Oluwatosin<br />
started cooking she would tell her younger Enterprising Youth at the our services,” he said.<br />
told Start-up Digest that and the Most Promising<br />
food for people. After few self to be open to identify Nigerian Achievers Awards “We have been serving<br />
years of doing this, Oluwatosin<br />
was able to save<br />
January and it has really<br />
the corporate class since<br />
enough to pursue her undergraduate<br />
degree. Our business has grown tremen-<br />
customers in Access Bank,<br />
been adventurous. We have<br />
At the university, she<br />
Stanbic IBTC, Investment<br />
went into cooking for dously since we started and we<br />
One, Integrated Supply<br />
birthdays, get-together and<br />
have even opened another brand Chain, Akintola Deloitte,<br />
events. After making encouraging<br />
profits for years, of business. Our target client is We have also acquired more<br />
PWC , just to mention a few.<br />
Oluwatosin decided to establish<br />
her business in 2016, corporate bodies and everybody family, friends and inves-<br />
assets. With support from<br />
giving it the name ‘My Dinner<br />
Hub.’<br />
who is interested in our services<br />
tors, the business is now<br />
worth about N5 million,”<br />
The undergraduate start-<br />
he added.<br />
Start-Up Digest<br />
Rosemary’s fusion<br />
showcase opens in Abuja<br />
Rosemary, an award<br />
winning interior<br />
design company,<br />
has announced<br />
the opening of its <strong>2018</strong><br />
fusion showcase in Abuja.<br />
According to Ezinne<br />
Kufre-Ekanem, group<br />
managing director/CEO,<br />
in a press statement made<br />
available to <strong>BusinessDay</strong>,<br />
the <strong>2018</strong> fusion showcase<br />
is a way through which the<br />
organisation bonds with its<br />
discerning clientele while<br />
celebrating the Ultra Violet,<br />
the colour of the year.<br />
“Ultra violet is a dramatically<br />
provocative and<br />
thoughtful shade of purple.<br />
It inspires creativity and<br />
invites us to think outside<br />
the box. These characteristics<br />
of Ultra Violet, the <strong>2018</strong><br />
Colour of the Year, further<br />
reinforce the five elements<br />
of our core values at Rosemary:<br />
creativity, accountability,<br />
newness, drive and<br />
openness,” Ezinne said.<br />
“They communicate<br />
originality, ingenuity and<br />
visionary thinking that<br />
point us towards the future.<br />
And where there is a<br />
Investment opportunity<br />
Livestock feeds production<br />
OLUMAKINDE ONI<br />
Seventy percent of<br />
the cost of producing<br />
proteins of animal<br />
sources can be attributed<br />
to animal feeds. Investment<br />
in animal feedstuff<br />
preparation will therefore<br />
contribute greatly to the development<br />
of animal protein<br />
supply in the country.<br />
The viability of any<br />
project is a function of raw<br />
materials availability, market<br />
potential and management.<br />
Raw materials for<br />
animal feeds ingredients<br />
are abound in Nigeria. These<br />
include among others maize,<br />
whole wheat, oyster shells,<br />
bone meal, maize, soya cake,<br />
groundnut cake, palm kernel<br />
cake and a host of others.<br />
Market for animal feeds is<br />
also limitless. Animal feeds<br />
requirement in Nigeria (both<br />
low and high) nutritional<br />
planes are not less than 4<br />
million metric tons on annual<br />
basis. Not only this,<br />
animals feedstuff can be<br />
exported for a good price.<br />
In this regard, anything that<br />
is produced is automatically<br />
consumed. The requirement<br />
in terms of manpower is not<br />
demanding. This is because<br />
the production process involved<br />
in the preparation<br />
of feedstuff is very simple.<br />
The project can easily be<br />
managed by middle level<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
39<br />
future, then there is hope.<br />
All of these and more will<br />
be on display through our<br />
items and hospitality during<br />
the two-day <strong>2018</strong> Fusion<br />
Showcase,” she further<br />
said.<br />
Also speaking, Doosuur<br />
Okorie, operations manager,<br />
Rosemary’s Abuja<br />
office said, “We are happy<br />
to host the first ever Rosemary’s<br />
fusion showcase in<br />
the Abuja outlet.”<br />
“Being the latest Rosemary’s<br />
community, it is<br />
a privilege for us and we<br />
look forward to receiving<br />
our clientele with the true<br />
essence of Rosemary’s and<br />
the values of Ultra Violet. It<br />
will be a two-day walk-in<br />
program flexible enough<br />
to accommodate the busy<br />
and diverse schedules of<br />
our customers, from corporates,<br />
hotels to individuals<br />
and families,” Okorie<br />
added.<br />
The fusion showcase<br />
is scheduled to hold from<br />
Friday, <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 23rd to<br />
Saturday, <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 24th,<br />
<strong>2018</strong> in Abuja.<br />
manpower.<br />
The profitability of the<br />
project is not in doubt, substantial<br />
returns on investment<br />
are guaranteed.<br />
In view of the above, this<br />
project is strongly recommended<br />
to serious minded<br />
investors who are desirous<br />
of capitalising on viable investment<br />
opening and at<br />
the same time contributing<br />
positively to Nigeria’s<br />
economic development by<br />
creating real investments,<br />
job opportunities and more<br />
food to feed Nigerians.<br />
Technical information<br />
The feeds ingredients in<br />
mind are bone meal, oyster<br />
shells, soya cake and cassava<br />
meals, maize, wheat offal’s<br />
groundnut cake, etc. Their<br />
preparation involves installation<br />
of feed mill equipment<br />
and the materials are<br />
subsequently processed to<br />
be sold to livestock farmers.<br />
Such as poultry farmers, piggery<br />
farmers, cattle farmers,<br />
fish farmers, sheep and goat<br />
farmers.<br />
To establish the project,<br />
the first step is the preparation<br />
of comprehensive<br />
feasibility report showing<br />
technical, financial and market<br />
details of the project. It<br />
is also a guide in the course<br />
of project implementation.<br />
This is followed by procurement<br />
of appropriate site and<br />
machines. On installation<br />
of machines, appropriate<br />
personnel are recruited. This<br />
is followed by procurement<br />
of raw materials for onward<br />
processing. Serious minded<br />
investors can be guided accordingly<br />
to successfully<br />
establish the project.<br />
Contact: 08023058045,<br />
08152596985, 08033660177,<br />
olumakindeoni@yahoo.com
40 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556 Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
MondayMorning<br />
In association with<br />
Harvard<br />
Business<br />
Review<br />
We need to approach artificial intelligence<br />
risks like we do natural disasters<br />
PRASHANTH GANGU<br />
The risks posed by<br />
intelligent devices<br />
will soon surpass<br />
the magnitude of risks<br />
associated with natural<br />
disasters. Tens of billions<br />
of connected sensors are<br />
being embedded in everything<br />
ranging from industrial<br />
robots and safety<br />
systems to self-driving<br />
cars and refrigerators.<br />
Our growing reliance on<br />
so many intelligent, connected<br />
devices is opening<br />
up the possibility of global-scale<br />
shutdowns.<br />
INTELLIGENT DEVICE<br />
RECOVERY PLANS:<br />
As with the risks associated<br />
with natural disasters,<br />
companies cannot completely<br />
protect against<br />
smart-device risks by buying<br />
insurance; they must<br />
have worst-case scenario<br />
recovery plans. Managers<br />
have to figure out their<br />
higher and lower risk intelligent<br />
device vulnerabilities,<br />
add in redundant<br />
systems and potentially<br />
set up the A.I. equivalent<br />
of tsunami early-warning<br />
systems. In addition, they<br />
need the ability to switch<br />
to manually controlled<br />
environments in case artificially<br />
intelligent systems<br />
have to be shut down,<br />
and to recall faulty smart<br />
products.<br />
INSURANCE PRODUCTS<br />
AND SERVICES:<br />
Insurers should quantify<br />
their exposure to a global<br />
intelligent device meltdown,<br />
offer new products<br />
and advise companies<br />
and governments.<br />
As they have for natural<br />
catastrophes, insurers<br />
can also encourage<br />
public sector safeguards.<br />
Since insurers cannot<br />
completely mitigate the<br />
outsized risks posed by<br />
extreme weather events,<br />
governments of many<br />
developed countries and<br />
international organizations<br />
provide natural ca-<br />
tastrophe relief through<br />
government agencies.<br />
Insurers need to help mo-<br />
bilize similar public sector<br />
resources to help the<br />
potential victims of an<br />
Are the most innovative companies just the ones with the most data?<br />
A.I.-enabled smart device<br />
disaster.<br />
INTERNATIONAL PRO-<br />
TOCOLS:<br />
Finally, policymakers<br />
should establish international<br />
trust and ethics<br />
guidelines to govern the<br />
development and implementation<br />
of ever more<br />
advanced A.I. products<br />
and systems. To reduce<br />
the future impact from<br />
natural disasters, governments<br />
and international<br />
organizations like the Red<br />
Cross and the World Bank<br />
collect and share data concerning<br />
the destructive<br />
ramifications and the support<br />
required to help victims.<br />
Similar intelligence<br />
will be critical to curb the<br />
impact of potential smart<br />
device shocks as artificial<br />
intelligence evolves.<br />
(Prashanth Gangu is a<br />
partner in the insurance<br />
and digital practices at<br />
Oliver Wyman.)<br />
VIKTOR MAYER-<br />
SCHÖNBERGER AND<br />
THOMAS RAMGE<br />
The cases of startups<br />
with superior ideas<br />
dethroning well-established<br />
incumbents are<br />
legion. For decades, “creative<br />
destruction” ensured<br />
competitive markets and a<br />
constant stream of new innovation.<br />
But what if that is<br />
no longer the case?<br />
The trouble is that the<br />
source of innovation is shifting<br />
from human ingenuity<br />
to data-driven machine<br />
learning. Of course, it takes<br />
plenty of talented, creative<br />
people to build these products.<br />
But their improvement<br />
is driven less by human “a<br />
ha” moments than by data,<br />
and improvements in how<br />
machines learn from it.<br />
Sometimes companies<br />
have to go out and collect a<br />
specific kind of data; think<br />
of Google’s cars roaming<br />
the streets of Silicon Valley.<br />
And sometimes companies<br />
pay for access to data so that<br />
their systems can learn. But<br />
more often than not the data<br />
that fuels innovation is being<br />
generated by users interacting<br />
with an existing digital<br />
service. When we accept Siri’s<br />
suggestion, it’s feedback<br />
to Siri that she got it right.<br />
If innovation is founded<br />
on data rather than human<br />
ideas, the firms that benefit<br />
are the ones that have access<br />
to the most data. Therefore,<br />
in many instances, innovation<br />
will no longer be a<br />
countervailing force to market<br />
concentration and scale.<br />
Instead, innovation will be a<br />
force that furthers them.<br />
The specter of companies<br />
with access to data becoming<br />
data-driven innovation<br />
leaders, leaving smaller<br />
competitors and startups<br />
behind in the dust, should<br />
concern policymakers intent<br />
on ensuring that markets<br />
stay dynamic and competitive.<br />
Their challenge is less to<br />
realize the problem than to<br />
devise a solution that keeps<br />
markets competitive without<br />
stifling data-driven innovation<br />
on the whole.<br />
For many innovative<br />
companies, the next few<br />
years will be a time of reck-<br />
oning: As the power of datadriven<br />
innovation increases,<br />
these more conventional innovators<br />
will have to find access<br />
to data to continue to innovate.<br />
That necessitates at<br />
least two huge adjustments.<br />
First, they need to reposition<br />
themselves in the data value<br />
chain to gain and secure data<br />
access. Second, as innovation<br />
moves from human insight<br />
to data-driven machine<br />
learning, firms need to reorganize<br />
their internal innovation<br />
culture, emphasizing<br />
machine learning opportunities<br />
and putting in place<br />
data exploitation processes.<br />
(Viktor Mayer-Schönberger<br />
is professor at Oxford.<br />
Thomas Ramge is technology<br />
correspondent for brand<br />
eins and also writes for the<br />
Economist.)<br />
(C) (2017) Harvard Business Review. Distributed by New York Times Syndicate
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
This is M NEY<br />
A daily guide to your Personal Finance<br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
• Savings<br />
• Travel<br />
• Debt & Borrowing<br />
• Utilities<br />
• Managing your Tax<br />
41<br />
Do you still carry wads<br />
of bank notes around?<br />
Do you still<br />
carry wads of<br />
naira notes<br />
in your wallet<br />
or under<br />
your mattress at home or<br />
have you embraced technology?<br />
The Central Bank<br />
of Nigerias (CBN) cashless<br />
policy commenced on<br />
January 1, 2012 in a phased<br />
approach that featured<br />
Lagos as the pilot state<br />
because of its financial<br />
sophistication, the presence<br />
of an enabling infrastructure,<br />
volume of cash<br />
transactions and exposure<br />
of residents to alternative<br />
payment channels. Phase<br />
two followed on July 1,<br />
2013 in the Federal Capital<br />
Territory, Abia, Anambra,<br />
Kano, Ogun and Rivers<br />
States.<br />
The planned nationwide<br />
implementation was<br />
postponed in 2017, to allow<br />
for the deployment<br />
of infrastructure needed<br />
to support the policy and<br />
accelerate the process of<br />
migrating towards electronic<br />
cards and mobile<br />
payments in the remaining<br />
states. This will also<br />
allow some more time to<br />
further sensitize the public<br />
and change attitudes in<br />
a society that has a prevailing<br />
cash culture.<br />
All over the world, the<br />
trend has been for governments<br />
and financial<br />
institutions to pursue policies<br />
to reduce the volume<br />
of cash in the system. In<br />
some developed countries<br />
one can do almost entirely<br />
without the use of hard<br />
cash and electronic means<br />
of payments far outstrip<br />
cash transactions in much<br />
of the industrialized world<br />
today; indeed when you<br />
are abroad, it can be quite<br />
embarrassing and you<br />
may be regarded with<br />
consternation, if you wish<br />
to make a purchase with<br />
large amounts of cash. Nigeria<br />
cannot afford to be<br />
left behind in this trend.<br />
As we inch closer towards<br />
cashless Nigeria<br />
where digital or electronic<br />
money will eventually take<br />
precedence over physical<br />
money, how prepared are<br />
you? How would you feel<br />
if you were told that you<br />
would no longer be able<br />
to use paper money and<br />
would have to rely on electronic<br />
technology for all<br />
your transactions? We all<br />
like the speed and convenience<br />
of e-commerce, who<br />
doesn’t like the look and<br />
feel of hard cash in our<br />
hands and wallets; particularly<br />
new bank notes! It is<br />
tangible, it feels real and it<br />
gives one a sense of really<br />
possessing something!<br />
Technology has<br />
changed so much in our<br />
lives, the greatest impact<br />
being the actual way that<br />
transactions take place.<br />
The world of banking and<br />
finance has been one of<br />
the greatest beneficiaries<br />
of technological innovations<br />
and advancements<br />
in global payment systems.<br />
It is exciting to see<br />
how millions of Nigerians<br />
transact business<br />
now; gone are the days<br />
when we would queue for<br />
hours at the bank waiting<br />
to withdraw some cash. A<br />
visit to the bank took half<br />
your day! The emergence<br />
of a Financial Technology<br />
Companies FinTechs<br />
has played a critical role<br />
in transforming our payments<br />
systems through<br />
the innovative use of technology.<br />
We should all be deliberate<br />
about becoming<br />
familiar with some of the<br />
great apps that our banks<br />
have developed, internet<br />
banking, digital payments,<br />
agency banking; all these<br />
innovative solutions seek<br />
to address the biggest<br />
challenge of inclusion and<br />
reach ensuring that everyone<br />
has access to banking<br />
services without necessarily<br />
having brick and mortar<br />
banks in every corner<br />
of our vast nation.<br />
There are many benefits<br />
from doing away with<br />
old fashioned cash. It is a<br />
means of curbing corruption,<br />
money laundering<br />
and other cash related<br />
financial crimes, global<br />
terrorism and cross-border<br />
crimes. It also helps<br />
to address the enormous<br />
security challenges and<br />
the exorbitant cost of cash<br />
management to the banking<br />
industry.<br />
Businesses embrace<br />
technology as a means<br />
of receiving instant payments,<br />
cutting their expenses<br />
and institutionalizing<br />
operational efficiency,<br />
thereby increasing their<br />
revenues. As individuals,<br />
we should embrace electronic,<br />
internet and mobile<br />
banking for the speed,<br />
convenience, security, and<br />
the efficiency that they<br />
provide.<br />
The internet has revolutionized<br />
banking and<br />
personal financial management<br />
in many ways.<br />
Nowadays, we are all so<br />
busy in our work lives, that<br />
there often isnt the time to<br />
visit the bank. If you have<br />
not yet embraced your<br />
banks internet banking<br />
service, there are some<br />
compelling reasons to<br />
do so. With internet connectivity,<br />
you have unlimited<br />
access to your bank<br />
accounts and can carry<br />
out most of your routine<br />
banking transactions at<br />
your convenience; you<br />
can check your account<br />
balances, pay bills, make<br />
transfers, and manage<br />
your various accounts<br />
with a few simple clicks<br />
from your laptop or computer,<br />
your I-pad, or your<br />
cell phone.<br />
Do you use your banks<br />
electronic banking services,<br />
which automate<br />
processes relating to your<br />
financial transactions<br />
for convenience, and efficiency?<br />
The most common<br />
forms of electronic<br />
payments are telephone<br />
There are so many<br />
alternatives to<br />
cash; explore<br />
and become<br />
familiar with<br />
the alternative<br />
electronic payment<br />
channels available<br />
to you and decide<br />
which will best<br />
suit your personal<br />
financial habits<br />
and circumstances<br />
banking, internet-banking<br />
and plastic cards; credit<br />
cards, debit cards and automatic<br />
teller machine<br />
(ATM) cards, instead of<br />
currency.<br />
Debit and credit cards,<br />
have transformed our financial<br />
lives; one can effect<br />
a host of transactions<br />
without ever having to<br />
visit a bank. Whether it<br />
is from a Point of Service<br />
(POS) portal at your nearest<br />
grocery shop, an increasing<br />
number of merchants,<br />
including shops,<br />
restaurants, clubs, hotels<br />
etc will accept your card.<br />
Most of the ATM cards<br />
issued by Nigerian banks<br />
are usually from one of<br />
these three companies;<br />
Interswitchs Verve, VISA<br />
and Mastercard. The Naira<br />
Visa and Mastercard<br />
debit cards allow you to<br />
access foreign exchange<br />
from your Naira account<br />
while abroad and local<br />
currency while in Nigeria.<br />
Denominations in Naira,<br />
they can be used at ATMs<br />
or point of sale (POS) terminals<br />
globally where the<br />
Visa or Mastercard signs<br />
are displayed to either pay<br />
for goods and services or<br />
access foreign exchange.<br />
Linked to your current or<br />
savings account, all transactions<br />
reflect instantly.<br />
On Tuesday 27th <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
<strong>2018</strong>, Bestman Games<br />
in its mission to engage,<br />
entertain and educate<br />
through play, will launch<br />
The City of Lagos Electronic<br />
Banking Edition<br />
of Monopoly. Lagos, Africas<br />
fastest growing metropolis<br />
and an emerging<br />
mega city, was an obvious<br />
choice to reflect its cashless”<br />
policy on Hasbros<br />
iconic board game as it<br />
was the first Nigerian City<br />
for the implementation of<br />
the Central Bank of Nigerias<br />
Cashless Nigeria.<br />
The Monopoly Electronic<br />
Banking game is the<br />
modern spin on the classic<br />
Monopoly game; this<br />
edition reflects changes<br />
in how the real world uses<br />
money: transactions are<br />
conducted with Monopolys<br />
new banking card<br />
system instead of cash.<br />
As we inch closer towards<br />
a cashless economy, this<br />
educational board game<br />
shares the same philosophy:<br />
buy, trade, win, the<br />
electronic way.<br />
How prepared are you<br />
for practical improvements<br />
in your financial<br />
life? Do you still risk carrying<br />
wads of bank notes<br />
on you and in cupboards<br />
at home? There are so<br />
many alternatives to cash;<br />
explore and become familiar<br />
with the alternative<br />
electronic payment channels<br />
available to you and<br />
decide which will best suit<br />
your personal financial<br />
habits and circumstances.<br />
You cant afford to be<br />
left behind. Embrace technology,<br />
and reduce your<br />
dependence on cash.<br />
Instagram and Twitter: @<br />
mmwithnimi,<br />
Facebook and Google+:<br />
‘Money Matters with<br />
Nimi’.<br />
www.<br />
moneymatterswithnimi.<br />
com, or send us<br />
an email info@<br />
moneymatterswithnimi.<br />
com<br />
Nimi Akinkugbe has<br />
extensive experience<br />
in private wealth<br />
management. She seeks to<br />
empower people regarding<br />
their finances and offers<br />
frank, practical insights to<br />
create a greater awareness<br />
and understanding of<br />
personal finance.<br />
For more personal finance<br />
tips, contact Nimi:<br />
Email: info@<br />
moneymatterswithnimi<br />
Website: www.<br />
moneymatterswithnimi.<br />
com<br />
Twitter: @MMWITHNIMI<br />
Instagram: @<br />
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Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
42 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Kaduna creates transport sector framework<br />
to fast track private investment<br />
PETER IBRAHIM<br />
Kaduna state is uniquely positioned<br />
to serve as a gateway between<br />
the north, Federal Capital Territory<br />
(FCT) Abuja and the western part of<br />
the state, thus making it the logistics<br />
and transportation hub of the north.<br />
The state’s transport sector is a high<br />
potential sector that could help transform<br />
the state’s economy as regional<br />
flow of goods and persons is increasing<br />
over years.<br />
As the administration of Mallam<br />
Nasir El-Rufai seeks private investors<br />
towards achieving industrialisation,<br />
economic growth and diversification,<br />
the administration took the required<br />
step to create a sectorial and legal<br />
framework, which was absent for<br />
decades. There is now in place a clear<br />
framework for the transport sector,<br />
thus clearing the road for the development<br />
of mass transit system that is<br />
private sector driven.<br />
The development and regulation<br />
of transportation is now under the supervision<br />
of Kaduna State Transport<br />
Regulatory Agency (KADSTRA), a<br />
new agency created by law to regulate<br />
the sector, unlike what obtained in the<br />
past where eight MDAs played various<br />
and conflicting roles in regulating<br />
transport.<br />
Ai’sha Sai’du Bala is the Pioneer<br />
Director General of KADSTRA. In this<br />
interview, she disclosed that the stage<br />
is now set for private sector players to<br />
come into the state. She said Kaduna’s<br />
transportation sector “is viable and<br />
opened for the private investors”. She<br />
speaks on what the state government<br />
to develop a modern and effective<br />
mass transit system in the state.<br />
Excerpts:<br />
Transport if a key player in every<br />
economy. We will like to know<br />
what has been done to develop<br />
the sector since the coming of this<br />
administration.<br />
The first thing we need to point out is<br />
that although when this government<br />
came in they have a rostrum of what<br />
it wanted to do with transport, what<br />
we realised was that the institutional<br />
framework of transportation in<br />
Kaduna was very flawed. So the first<br />
thing that we did was to go back<br />
and reorganised the transport sector<br />
which was in complete disarray<br />
and has not been touched for several<br />
decades.<br />
Fortunately for us DFID and the<br />
World Bank had done some work<br />
with us in the sector to assist with<br />
our reforms. That has taken us about<br />
three years which you will appreciate<br />
because of the history of the total<br />
absence of structure and regulation<br />
in the transport sector. It took us<br />
quite a while to go back to where we<br />
were before to try to sort the sector<br />
out and produce reforms as it were.<br />
And I am happy to report that we<br />
have passed a transport policy which<br />
has never existed in the state and we<br />
have cleaned up the sector because<br />
when this administration came up<br />
Ai’sha Sa’idu Bala, Pioneer DG of Kaduna State Transportation Regulatory Agency-KADSTRA.<br />
we actually had eight different MDs<br />
that were handling transportation<br />
matters. But we are able to clean it up<br />
so that the Ministry of Works, Housing<br />
and Transport now has created<br />
KADSTRA, Kaduna State Transport<br />
Regulatory Agency, which is new<br />
agency created to run the affairs of<br />
transportation sector<br />
What will the State Transport<br />
Regulatory Agency (KADSTRA) do<br />
in the state?<br />
Historically transport in Nigeria has<br />
been unregulated. As you know,<br />
if you own a car, a tricycles or any<br />
vehicle you will just register them as<br />
normal vehicle and just start plying<br />
the roads. There are no requirements<br />
as to what you can do with your car,<br />
what you as a driver can do, what<br />
routes you can ply what is legal and<br />
what is illegal for you to do? We have<br />
now sorted all these out. I think in Nigeria,<br />
Kaduna is the third state after<br />
Lagos and Kano that actually started<br />
these transports reforms with DFID.<br />
So what we are now going into<br />
as regulatory agency is to sanitise<br />
the sector and start regulating the<br />
practitioners out there. Whether it<br />
is a tricycle, a bus, a taxi, a train, or<br />
even water ways, we want to develop<br />
a system of regulation to sanitise the<br />
services that we got out there.<br />
The reason why we have chaos<br />
in Kaduna city is not because we<br />
have a lot of people driving. It is<br />
the way that we use the road; it is<br />
the way that the people are driving,<br />
where they are driving and<br />
what time they are driving. That is<br />
what KADSTRA is going to do to<br />
sanitise the mass transit sector for<br />
the peopleand for the practitioners.<br />
This is a sector that employs<br />
thousands of people so we need<br />
to regulate it so that we can have a<br />
conducive environment for those<br />
working in the sector. Also for the<br />
personages, we need to regulate<br />
the standards of safety, customer<br />
service and also pricing. This is<br />
where KADSTRA comes in to<br />
ensure that both personages and<br />
Ai’sha Sai’du Bala, DG KADSTRA, unveiling the Kaduna Light Rail<br />
corridors prototype to Governor Nasir El-Rufai and other members of<br />
Kaduna State Executive Council.<br />
practitioners are regulated.<br />
What is the situation of the Kaduna<br />
State Transport Authority<br />
(KSTA) which has fleets of vehicles<br />
operating in the state?.<br />
What we found was that the fundamental<br />
structure of KSTA was<br />
flawed from the start. So there is<br />
nothing much we can do with it.<br />
The Government started probably<br />
what suited it in the 70s. So what<br />
happens to KSTA is that the law establishing<br />
KSTA has been repealed<br />
and the government is now going<br />
to establish Kaduna line.<br />
The government is now making<br />
arrangements to have a Public<br />
Private Partnership (PPP) for the<br />
transport sector to be private<br />
driven. Historically, PPP arrangement<br />
works better in the transport<br />
sector and you will find that across<br />
the world. That is what the Kaduna<br />
state government is trying to do to<br />
establish a relationship with the<br />
private sector to so that we would<br />
not have to use public money to<br />
buy the buses constantly and loos<br />
the money and all the troubles<br />
we had before. So KSTA is being<br />
converted into Kaduna line and<br />
we are going into a PPP with the<br />
private sector.<br />
That brings me to the question;<br />
Can we now say the transport sector<br />
has potential for investors and<br />
are there investors now interested<br />
in coming to invest in this sector?<br />
I think now the sector is more attractive<br />
than before because we now<br />
have a framework that supports this.<br />
Three years ago we would not have<br />
attracted any private investment<br />
because we were in a position to do<br />
so. As an investor you want certainty<br />
about anything you are investing<br />
into; we did not know about our<br />
ridership, we did not know who went<br />
where, but we have seen some travel<br />
demand manifests and we have fair<br />
knowledge of who travels where in<br />
Kaduna and if you come to us as<br />
an investor we can tell you what is<br />
a lucrative route and what route is<br />
not lucrative.<br />
We have this new agency KADS-<br />
TRA that investors can have relationship<br />
with depending on what area<br />
of mass transit you are coming into.<br />
So have got the support and we got<br />
the framework. So it is a lot easier<br />
now for investors. We are absolutely<br />
ready, and opened for investments<br />
in this sector.<br />
So let us now talk about the light<br />
rail projects the Kaduna State Government<br />
is pursuing. Where are we<br />
now in realising this?<br />
As you know Kaduna has a population<br />
of some 3 million people and is<br />
also a growing city. It is a thoroughfair<br />
for so many cities in northern<br />
Nigeria especially. So we are looking<br />
into the future, where Kaduna<br />
will be in 20, 30 to 50 years. So we<br />
are looking to establish a plan with<br />
regard to infrastructure that would<br />
take Kaduna that far forward which<br />
is one of the reasons we look into the<br />
light rail project.<br />
As you know it is a very complex<br />
and costly venture but we are looking<br />
into starting at least a priority<br />
project which is starting with a corridor.<br />
In future starting light rail<br />
across the city is what is going to<br />
work but we are looking into starting<br />
a preliminary corridor on the rail<br />
line which is Ahmadu Bello Way,<br />
which is the busiest road in Kaduna<br />
and also in the north. That is where<br />
our concentration is. There is also<br />
an option of BRT.<br />
At the moment we are in talks<br />
with a private company to see<br />
about developing that system. And<br />
because you are putting that infrastructure<br />
into an established city,<br />
there is a lot that needs to be taken<br />
into consideration. The preliminary<br />
studies have taken place and we are<br />
still meeting with the company that<br />
is going to do this.<br />
We saw some positive developments<br />
in the sector in the state<br />
recently. Train services, the first<br />
Inland Dry Port and international<br />
flights services have are now operating<br />
in Kaduna. How does the<br />
state see these developments?<br />
We are very proud that this development<br />
came to Kaduna and we<br />
are very privileged. We are taking<br />
it very seriously and we will ensure<br />
that whatever plans or policies we<br />
are going to take in the future actually<br />
take these into consideration.<br />
You know if you want to develop<br />
transport you have to make it as<br />
integrative as possible. So we are<br />
trying to see that every step we take<br />
from now actually take all these<br />
into consideration and also make<br />
the most of it really to complement<br />
the services that are here. These developments<br />
will make a significant<br />
economic and social impact on the<br />
citizens of the state.<br />
Something that we are trying<br />
to do is to use Kaduna as a springboard<br />
of mass transits. As you know<br />
Kaduna state has three large cities;<br />
Kaduna Zaria and Kafanchan. So<br />
what we are doing is to use Kaduna<br />
as a springboard of mass transit<br />
development and from here then<br />
transfer them to places like Zaria<br />
and Kafanchan.<br />
Obviously whatever system we<br />
are developing has to suit the local<br />
situation as it stands but we are using<br />
Kaduna as a springboard.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY 43<br />
ABUJACITYBUSINESS<br />
COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF NATION’S CAPITAL<br />
Cost of services, power shortage hindering<br />
multi-billion Japanese investments into Nigeria – Envoy<br />
LAIDE AKINBOADE-ORIERE, Abuja<br />
Cost of services,<br />
power shortage,<br />
fake and<br />
counterfeit<br />
goods are key<br />
issues hindering Japanese<br />
investors from exploring<br />
opportunities in Africa’s<br />
largest economy, Deputy<br />
Head of Mission/Counselor,<br />
Embassy of Japan, in<br />
Nigeria, Shigeru Umetsu<br />
told <strong>BusinessDay</strong>.<br />
In 2017, Japanese government<br />
had announced<br />
the country’s commitment<br />
of $30bn to a number of investment<br />
projects in Nigeria<br />
and African countries.<br />
The Director-General,<br />
Japan External Trade Organisation,<br />
Susumu Kataoka,<br />
had said that more<br />
Japanese companies were<br />
getting more interested<br />
in doing new business in<br />
Nigeria.<br />
Also in 2017, twelve<br />
Japanese companies, including<br />
trading houses,<br />
manufacturers, banks,<br />
insurance and relevant<br />
companies from all development<br />
sectors who<br />
visited Nigeria last year<br />
indicated strong interest<br />
in Nigeria, on the back<br />
of the considerable size<br />
of the Nigerian Market<br />
and the country’s huge<br />
potential.<br />
Umetsu who spoke exclusively<br />
with Business-<br />
Day, said despite huge<br />
resources and potential of<br />
Nigeria, political instability,<br />
terrorism and conflicts,<br />
are limiting investment<br />
inflows into the country<br />
and urged the federal government<br />
to address these<br />
challenges.<br />
He also harped on the<br />
need for the Federal Government<br />
to ensure unity<br />
in the country, adding that<br />
this would help in socioeconomic<br />
development<br />
of Nigeria.<br />
According to him: “naturally<br />
Japanese companies<br />
are very industrious<br />
in this country, with lot<br />
of potential. Nigeria has<br />
natural resources and the<br />
potential is so huge but<br />
there are lots of problems<br />
because of political instability,<br />
terrorism, conflicts.<br />
Some Japanese companies<br />
want improvement in cost<br />
of services, power shortage,<br />
fake and counterfeit<br />
goods.”<br />
He said Nigeria will be a<br />
model if the nation is able<br />
to unite and manage its<br />
complex and Nigeria diverse<br />
culture and people.<br />
“I think that is something<br />
the international<br />
community and the world<br />
would like to see,” he said.<br />
“I think the challenge<br />
Nigeria faces also presents<br />
a chance for her to develop<br />
and become a model for<br />
other African countries.”<br />
According to him, the<br />
Japanese government<br />
will in <strong>2018</strong> increase its<br />
exchange programs between<br />
the two countries<br />
and bring more investors<br />
into Nigeria.<br />
“For example in 2019<br />
we are going to have Tokyo<br />
international conference<br />
on Agriculture in<br />
Africa Development, and<br />
we expect high ranking<br />
government officials to<br />
participate, particularly<br />
President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari.<br />
He further disclosed of<br />
their effort to get more Japanese<br />
businesses to come<br />
to Nigeria, adding that last<br />
week, Japanese parliamentarians<br />
visited Nigeria<br />
and exchanged views on<br />
what Japan businesses are<br />
doing in Nigeria.<br />
Benue disburses N100m to Cooperative Societies<br />
JAMES KWEN, Makurdi<br />
Benue State Government<br />
has<br />
commenced the<br />
disbursement of<br />
N100 million loan to cooperative<br />
societies registered<br />
under the Workman Network<br />
organization.<br />
Governor Samuel Ortom<br />
of Benue State made the<br />
symbolic presentation of<br />
dummy checks to 3 out of<br />
the 100 benefiting cooperative<br />
societies across the state<br />
at Lovemethuselah Microfinance<br />
Bank, Makurdi.<br />
Ortom called on people<br />
of the state to take advantage<br />
of the credit facilities<br />
available in Central Bank<br />
of Nigeria (CBN), NEXIM<br />
Bank and Bank of Industry<br />
to invest in business activities<br />
that would develop<br />
Benue economy.<br />
He said government<br />
would continue to provide<br />
level playing ground<br />
through sound regulations<br />
and policies that would<br />
promote businesses and<br />
urged the people, particularly<br />
youths to develop<br />
entrepreneurship spirit.<br />
The Benue State Governor<br />
stated that his administration<br />
is ready to<br />
partner with individuals,<br />
groups and institutions<br />
that have creative ideas to<br />
boost the economy especially<br />
in agriculture where<br />
the state has comparative<br />
Samuel Ortom, governor, Benue State<br />
advantage.<br />
Ortom told the management<br />
of Lovemethuselah<br />
Microfinance Bank<br />
where the loan is warehoused,<br />
that if the funds<br />
are properly managed,<br />
government would channel<br />
other schemes to it<br />
and warned beneficiaries<br />
not to misappropriate the<br />
money but invest it wisely<br />
in useful ventures.<br />
Speaking earlier, Abraham<br />
Ayuba, President of<br />
Workman Network said<br />
the loan was obtained<br />
from CBN with the support<br />
of Benue State Government<br />
to assist cooperative<br />
societies under the group<br />
to go into business activities<br />
to be self reliant.<br />
Ayuba noted that the<br />
Network has over 1,000 cooperative<br />
societies under<br />
it but only 100 can benefit<br />
from the available N100<br />
million and appealed to<br />
government to make arrangement<br />
for more funds<br />
to be released so that the<br />
remaining 900 societies<br />
would also benefit.<br />
On his part, Vincent<br />
Tortsugh, Legal Adviser,<br />
Lovemethuselah Microfinance<br />
Bank, pledged Bank’s<br />
support for Benue State’s investment<br />
policies to tackle<br />
poverty in the state.<br />
Tortsugh appealed to<br />
Benue State Government<br />
to invest in the Bank which<br />
is already contributing<br />
meaningfully to the development<br />
of the state<br />
economy and Nigeria at<br />
large through provision of<br />
jobs, soft loans and other<br />
financial services.<br />
16 UK Universities offer Nigerian<br />
Students Scholarships<br />
...as Nigerian IFY Centre wins Global award for the second time<br />
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja<br />
No fewer than 16<br />
Universities in<br />
the United Kingdom<br />
under the<br />
umbrella of the Northern<br />
Consortium of United Kingdom<br />
Universities (NCUK)<br />
stormed Abuja last week to<br />
express their willingness to<br />
continue assisting Nigerian<br />
Students acquire qualitative<br />
education in the United<br />
Kingdom and beyond.<br />
Members of the consortium<br />
including: Universities<br />
of Aston, Birmingham, Bradford,<br />
Bristol, Huddersfield,<br />
Kent, Kingston, Leeds and<br />
Manchester, Salford and<br />
Sheffield amongst others,<br />
gave the assurance at the<br />
<strong>2018</strong> Brookstone/NCUK Education<br />
Fair, held in Abuja.<br />
They offered various<br />
types of scholarships and<br />
cut their fees by half in a bid<br />
to fulfill the continuation of<br />
their over 5-year partnership<br />
with Brookstone Schools<br />
which had culminated in the<br />
Brookstone International<br />
Foundation Centres in both<br />
Port Harcourt and Abuja.<br />
Present at the event was<br />
the Chairman House of<br />
Representatives Committee<br />
on Education, Zakari<br />
Mohammed and officials<br />
Microsoft 365 Education unveils cloud<br />
services to aid learning in Nigeria<br />
LAIDE AKINBOADE-ORIERE<br />
Microsoft has<br />
launched its<br />
affordable<br />
technology solution<br />
built for education<br />
sector, called ‘Microsoft 365<br />
Education’ in Nigeria.<br />
The solution brings together<br />
Office 365, Windows<br />
10, Intune for Education,<br />
Minecraft: Education Edition<br />
and Enterprise Mobility<br />
+ Security, in a single cloudbased<br />
package.<br />
This was revealed at the<br />
Microsoft ‘Windows in the<br />
Classroom’ event, in partnership<br />
with Sidmach, in<br />
Abuja,<br />
Jordan Alyse Belmonte,<br />
Education Programs Manager,<br />
Microsoft Nigeria, at<br />
the occasion said this solution<br />
can help teachers to<br />
connect to other teachers all<br />
over the world.<br />
She said the solution<br />
would help educational institutions<br />
to continually improve<br />
student achievement<br />
and prepare them with skills<br />
they’ll need when they enter<br />
the workforce, the aim of<br />
of Federal Ministry of Education’s<br />
Quality Assurance<br />
Department.<br />
In his remarks, Mohammed<br />
noted that the collaboration<br />
between the NCUK<br />
and Brookstone had given<br />
unprecedented opportunities<br />
to Nigerian students to<br />
study in various schools in<br />
the United Kingdom and<br />
beyond.<br />
According to him, the<br />
information that NCUK collaborates<br />
with some university<br />
in Ireland, Australia<br />
and North America and<br />
gives exclusive scholarships<br />
for Abuja Students is good<br />
news for parents wanting<br />
qualitative education for<br />
their children.<br />
He however said the fact<br />
that Brookstone has won<br />
the global awards as the<br />
best International Foundation<br />
Year Centre twice in a<br />
row shows that contrary to<br />
the touted believe that the<br />
quality of education is on the<br />
decline in Nigeria, educational<br />
pacesetters abound in<br />
the country if given the right<br />
incentives and facilities.<br />
Mohammed described<br />
the awards by Brookstone<br />
as a pride to Nigeria, adding<br />
that it has put the country<br />
on the world educational<br />
spotlight.<br />
Microsoft 365 Education is to<br />
get schools up and running<br />
faster through simplified<br />
acquisition and deployment.<br />
This eliminates wasted time<br />
and delivers new capabilities<br />
to teachers and students to<br />
help them learn and work<br />
in new ways.<br />
According to Belmonte:<br />
“Microsoft 365 is able to connect<br />
all the teachers in the<br />
world. Some of the features<br />
embedded like One Note aids<br />
multiple language learning<br />
and has features suitable for<br />
special needs children. With<br />
Skype, for instance, teachers<br />
can also connect their classrooms<br />
to other classrooms<br />
around the world, making for<br />
an immersive and interactive<br />
learning.”<br />
In his remarks, Mark East,<br />
Microsoft Regional Leader<br />
for Education in Europe,<br />
Middle East and Africa, said<br />
this solution will prepare<br />
students for the future, “We<br />
know that schools want simple<br />
to purchase, simple to<br />
manage, secure and efficient<br />
systems. Microsoft 365 Education<br />
is designed to deliver<br />
on that need.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
44 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
NEWS<br />
Supreme Court directs INEC to delineate Bakassai LGA<br />
FELIX OMOHOMHION, Abuja<br />
The Supreme Court<br />
has directed the Independent<br />
National<br />
Electoral Commission<br />
(INEC) to delineate<br />
wards in Bakassi Local Government<br />
Area of Cross River<br />
State.<br />
The apex court gave this<br />
order weekend while delivering<br />
a judgment on an appeal<br />
brought by the election<br />
umpire against representatives<br />
of Bakassi LGA, who<br />
were displaced from the Republic<br />
of Cameroon.<br />
The people of Bakassi<br />
had gone to court to compel<br />
INEC to recognise and<br />
conduct elections in the<br />
boundaries adjustment by<br />
the Cross River State House<br />
of Assembly, which was in<br />
line with Law No 7 of Cross<br />
River State 2007.<br />
It would be recalled that<br />
the lower court had earlier<br />
passed judgment ordering<br />
the INEC to conduct elections<br />
in the 10 new wards<br />
of Bakassi that were created<br />
from the old three Ikanga<br />
wards in Akpabuyo Local<br />
Government Area of the<br />
state. But INEC had disagreed<br />
with the judgment<br />
and went to the court of appeal,<br />
which it also lost. This<br />
necessitated approaching<br />
the apex court for interpretation<br />
of the relevant sections<br />
of the Constitution.<br />
However, the apex court<br />
Concerned Edo citizens urge SSS, EFCC to invite Orbih to prove IDP rice allegation<br />
Members of Concerned<br />
Citizens<br />
of Edo State<br />
(CCES), a nongovernmental<br />
organisation,<br />
have called on the Nigeria<br />
Police, the Economic and<br />
Financial Crimes Commission<br />
(EFCC) and the State<br />
Security Service (SSS) to<br />
invite Dan Orbih, chairman,<br />
Edo State People’s<br />
Democratic Party (PDP) for<br />
proof of his allegation that<br />
the Edo State government<br />
diverted bags of rice meant<br />
for Internally Displaced<br />
Persons (IDPs).<br />
President of the association,<br />
Ogbewi Aghedo, said,<br />
“There are several dimensions<br />
to this allegation.<br />
The credibility of the Edo<br />
State government has been<br />
called to question by the allegation.<br />
The Edo State PDP<br />
chairman has also by that<br />
comment, accused the state<br />
held on Friday that the people<br />
of Bakassi had suffered<br />
enough and urged the electoral<br />
umpire to “do the needful”<br />
in ameliorating their<br />
plight by delineating areas in<br />
the council.<br />
The respondents in the<br />
appeal: Muri Asuquo, Antigha<br />
Cobham, Bassey Ekpenyong<br />
Etim and Effiong<br />
Iyam, who had instituted the<br />
case at the lower courts for<br />
themselves and on behalf<br />
of Ikanga, Esighi, Antigha<br />
Ene Eyo and Edihi Idim Ikot<br />
Eyi clans of Bakassi LGA, respectively,<br />
in their brief of<br />
argument, had urged the Supreme<br />
Court to uphold the<br />
<strong>Feb</strong>ruary 2012 judgments of<br />
a Federal High Court and a<br />
Court of Appeal that were<br />
in their favour, and dismiss<br />
INEC appeal.<br />
In the lead judgment,<br />
which was prepared and<br />
delivered by Justice John<br />
Inyang Okoro, the Supreme<br />
Court said: “All we are saying<br />
in this judgment is that<br />
INEC should take steps to<br />
do the needful.<br />
“The people of Bakassi<br />
have suffered more than<br />
enough, and that their own<br />
representation should not<br />
be tampered with. INEC<br />
should do something as<br />
soon as possible at least to<br />
make them feel that they<br />
(Bakassi) belong.”<br />
The Supreme Court further<br />
held that the Cross River<br />
State House of Assembly<br />
government of criminal diversion<br />
of the relief materials<br />
approved for internally<br />
displaced persons and yet<br />
another diversion is the indictment<br />
of a senator from<br />
Ondo State, whose name<br />
was not given by Orbih.<br />
“You will agree with me<br />
that these are weighty allegations<br />
and cannot be<br />
equated with mere politicking.<br />
These alleged crimes<br />
fall within the purview of<br />
the police, the EFCC and<br />
the SSS, and the recorded<br />
audio interview of Dan Orbih<br />
on Independent Radio<br />
is sufficient material for<br />
preliminary investigation<br />
by these security agencies.”<br />
Aghedo said its members<br />
were aware that the<br />
state government had petitioned<br />
the state commissioner<br />
of police, “This a<br />
step in the right direction.<br />
The allegation is an attack<br />
“has powers to make laws to<br />
adjust boundaries of local<br />
governments as it deemed<br />
fit” in line with Law No 7 of<br />
the state, adding that the law<br />
did not create any constituency,<br />
but adjusted boundaries<br />
of Akpabuyo LGA in order<br />
to accommodate Bakassi.<br />
It agreed with the appellant<br />
(INEC) that the umpire<br />
had the sole powers to create<br />
constituencies.<br />
Presenting their arguments<br />
before the Supreme<br />
Court, the respondents<br />
(Bakassi representatives) submitted<br />
that the state assembly<br />
had powers having enacted<br />
Law No 7 as a legal compass<br />
to locate Ikanga North, Ikanga<br />
Central and Ikanga South<br />
as Wards in Bakassi LGA, in<br />
view of the current realities<br />
on ground occasioned by the<br />
cession of Bakassi to Cameroon,<br />
saying, INEC ought to<br />
have effected a consequential<br />
amendment in its directory of<br />
wards and constituencies in<br />
Cross River State.<br />
Reacting to the judgment,<br />
the Cross River State<br />
commissioner for transport,<br />
Nyong Saviour Okon, expressed<br />
delight at the decision<br />
of the apex court, saying,<br />
“On behalf of the government<br />
of Cross River State, we<br />
have received this judgment<br />
with delight. As a law-abiding<br />
people, we will go with the<br />
dictates of the judgment. We<br />
will try to get INEC to do the<br />
needful.”<br />
L-R: Adetukunbo Adekunbi, director of flight operations, Arik Air; Roy Ilegbodu, chief executive officer, Arik<br />
Air ; Jones Chukwudi Onyereri, chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency,<br />
and his deputy, Zakari Ningi, during the House Committee’s visit to Arik Air in Lagos, at the weekend.<br />
on the integrity of the state<br />
government and it is only<br />
proper for the state to rise<br />
up to the occasion and demand<br />
proof.”<br />
The allegation, according<br />
to Aghedo, “is equivalent<br />
to whistle blowing and<br />
as you are aware, when you<br />
have your facts and proof,<br />
the Federal Government<br />
will reward you for blowing<br />
the whistle, but if you blow<br />
a false whistle, we all know<br />
the implication.”<br />
He added that as a<br />
stakeholder in the nation’s<br />
democracy project, its activities<br />
includes identifying<br />
actions and inactions that<br />
pose threat to the lives of<br />
the ordinary Edo people<br />
and Nigerians alike, defend<br />
them against obnoxious<br />
policies and laws and defend<br />
pro-people policies<br />
and programmes, among<br />
others.<br />
Ikpeazu rehabilitates Aba General<br />
Hospital, 7 years after it was abandoned<br />
GODFREY OFURUM<br />
In line with its policy<br />
to improve healthcare<br />
in Abia State, Governor<br />
Okezie Ikpeazu on<br />
Wednesday, <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 21,<br />
<strong>2018</strong>, commissioned the<br />
newly rehabilitated Aba<br />
General Hospital, a secondary<br />
healthcare facility<br />
that had been moribund<br />
for seven years.<br />
The new Aba General<br />
Hospital, equipped with<br />
modern facilities, is to<br />
serve as a referral health<br />
facility for the primary<br />
healthcare centres established<br />
in all communities<br />
in Aba and its environs.<br />
The Aba General Hospital,<br />
which is regarded as<br />
the sole of Aba, apart from<br />
providing healthcare for<br />
residents and visitors to<br />
the city, also trains nurses.<br />
It also served as a take-off<br />
point for the state teaching<br />
hospital - Abia State University<br />
Teaching Hospital<br />
(ABSUTH).<br />
The story of the hospital<br />
began to nosedive when<br />
ABSUTH moved to its permanent<br />
site at Abayi area<br />
of Aba, and all attention<br />
moved to the new facility,<br />
leaving the general hospital<br />
to rot.<br />
The re-opening of the<br />
hospital holds a lot of nostalgia<br />
for the residents.<br />
According to Governor<br />
Okezie Ikpeazu, “This hospital<br />
is associated with all<br />
kinds of relief, for pregnant<br />
women, children, from 0-5<br />
years, the elderly, the aged,<br />
victims of road traffic accidents,<br />
victims of industrial<br />
accidents and people with<br />
all kinds of illnesses, the<br />
place to go to as it where<br />
was Aba General Hospital.<br />
“It was safe, secured and<br />
renowned for best medical<br />
practices.<br />
“However, a few years<br />
ago, the story changed,<br />
what we saw 10 years ago<br />
was that we have backlog of<br />
students, who have come<br />
here to train as nurses in<br />
their general nursing programme<br />
and probably<br />
midwives in the midwifery<br />
programme, abandoned<br />
for 10 years without being<br />
licensed to practice.<br />
“What it meant was that<br />
a little girl, who entered<br />
school here, hopping that<br />
after three years, she will<br />
become a nurse, ended up<br />
celebrating her 28th birthday,<br />
without a certificate of<br />
a licensing authority.<br />
“But to the glory of God,<br />
within the first 18 months<br />
of this administration, we<br />
were able to return and<br />
restore the capacity and<br />
credibility of this nursing<br />
school to the status that we<br />
have cleared the backlog of<br />
those waiting for their licensing<br />
and has continued<br />
to train nurses.”<br />
Governor Ikpeazu wondered<br />
what Aba residents<br />
would do, if the General<br />
Hospital was out of service,<br />
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu<br />
and applauded Dr. Ijeoma<br />
Nduka, chief executive,<br />
Health Management, and<br />
her team for their resilience,<br />
which he observed<br />
led to the rehabilitation of<br />
the hospital.<br />
“So, it is more to their<br />
credit that we are commissioning<br />
this hospital today.<br />
But I see a tomorrow for<br />
this place, better than what<br />
we have ever seen before. I<br />
see a tomorrow where people<br />
will run into this place<br />
and God will heal them, I<br />
see a day when pregnant<br />
women will not have to<br />
pay so much to give birth<br />
to their children, safe and<br />
healthy.<br />
“I look forward to a day<br />
when aged men and women<br />
will come here to access<br />
healthcare and get well<br />
again. I look forward to a<br />
day when a trader, who has<br />
headache, will rush to the<br />
General Hospital, access<br />
medicare and go back to<br />
his/her shop, healthy,” the<br />
Governor said.<br />
The Governor continued,<br />
“I look forward to<br />
a day, when this facility<br />
will have the best medical<br />
equipment you can find<br />
anywhere in the world and<br />
handled by our citizens in<br />
diaspora, who are desirous<br />
of coming back home to<br />
serve their people.<br />
“This is our desire and<br />
we will not rest until we<br />
achieve it.”<br />
For Dr. John Akukanna,<br />
the state’s commissioner<br />
for health, the Governor’s<br />
vision is to ensure that secondary<br />
healthcare system<br />
in Abia State is strengthened.<br />
“He wants to make<br />
secondary health system<br />
strengthened, such that<br />
primary healthcare centres<br />
have proper referral<br />
healthcare centres. And<br />
today, Aba is the first to be<br />
given such attention,” the<br />
commissioner said.<br />
The Abia health commissioner<br />
also revealed<br />
that the same facility<br />
would be replicated in the<br />
three senatorial zones of<br />
the state.<br />
According to Akukanna,<br />
“Aba residents and<br />
environs yawned that this<br />
hospital should be opened<br />
for you and now you have<br />
it. So, Aba as it is now has<br />
full complements of primary<br />
healthcare, secondary<br />
and tertiary healthcare<br />
systems.”<br />
He urged Aba residents<br />
to patronise the hospital<br />
and complain where<br />
things were not working<br />
properly.<br />
To strengthen healthcare<br />
delivery in Abia State,<br />
the current administration<br />
in the State has recruited<br />
medical personnel and is<br />
partnering with organizations<br />
to provide medical<br />
equipment in the state<br />
owned hospitals.<br />
The State Government<br />
has taken delivery of some<br />
medical equipment from<br />
Project CURE, a United<br />
States of America (USA)<br />
based organisation.<br />
Project CURE donates<br />
medical supplies and<br />
equipment to developing<br />
countries.<br />
Governor Ikpeazu, on<br />
tour general hospitals in<br />
the state, explained that<br />
the exercise was aimed<br />
at identifying the various<br />
needs of each General<br />
Hospital in the state.<br />
Accompanied by Bev<br />
Sloan, Project CURE representative,<br />
Ikpeazu stated<br />
that all the general hospitals<br />
need attention in<br />
terms of manpower, medical<br />
equipment, and furniture,<br />
among others.<br />
The Abia State Governor<br />
disclosed that the state<br />
government had plans to<br />
recruit medical personnel<br />
that would be deployed to<br />
various general hospitals<br />
in the state.<br />
He disclosed that the<br />
state was partnering Project<br />
CURE for the supply<br />
of medical equipment<br />
and consumables, and<br />
thanked the Hospital Management<br />
Board for their<br />
commitment in spite of<br />
the numerous challenges<br />
and encouraged them to<br />
continue.<br />
Bev said she was in Abia<br />
State to see things for herself<br />
to enable her make recommendations<br />
for the right<br />
equipment needed in the<br />
general hospitals in the state.<br />
She stressed that her<br />
organisation supplies<br />
medical consumables and<br />
equipment, and informed<br />
that the hospitals visited<br />
were hopeful, as she would<br />
make recommendations<br />
for the supply of the needs<br />
identified.<br />
Nelson Ogboh, medical<br />
director, General Hospital,<br />
Arochukwu, commended<br />
the efforts of the Governor<br />
Ikpeazu-led administration<br />
in fixing and upgrading<br />
the general hospitals,<br />
describing the action as a<br />
welcome development.<br />
Hospitals visited include,<br />
Arochukwu General<br />
Hospital, Abia State University<br />
Teaching Hospital<br />
(ABSUTH), Aba, Abia Specialist<br />
Hospital, Amachara,<br />
Health Management Board<br />
(HMB) Dental Centre, Aba,<br />
and Mgboko General Hospital<br />
in Obingwa Local<br />
Government Area of the<br />
state.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
Activation of Warri, Koko ports will end<br />
restiveness, create jobs, Olu of Warri tells Buhari<br />
ONYINYE NWACHUKWU, Abuja<br />
The Federal Government<br />
must<br />
activate the utilisation<br />
of Warri<br />
and Koko ports in<br />
order to reduce the restiveness<br />
in the area, but also create<br />
jobs for the youths, Olu<br />
of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwole,<br />
told President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari at a meeting in Abuja,<br />
weekend.<br />
The Olu also called for<br />
the actualisation of the<br />
planned gas industrial park<br />
(gas city), valued at $20 billion,<br />
through a Public-Private<br />
Partnership model.<br />
The Olu, who led a delegation<br />
including the immediate<br />
past governor of Delta<br />
State, Emmanuel Uduaghan,<br />
to meet with President Buhari<br />
at the Presidential Villa,<br />
Abuja, decried the fact that<br />
Warri and Koko ports had<br />
been under utilised while<br />
others in the country were<br />
active and contributing to<br />
the economic activities in<br />
their states.<br />
Government dependence on foreign professionals worries ACEN<br />
Government’s much<br />
reliance on foreign<br />
consultants to execute<br />
engineering<br />
jobs in the country is a concern<br />
to the Association for<br />
Consulting Engineers in Nigeria<br />
(ACEN).<br />
To the association, lack of<br />
significant jobs from government<br />
is a big challenge confronting<br />
it, but the new president<br />
of the body, Charles<br />
Akindayomi, believes that<br />
the development can be due<br />
to the conditions tied to foreign-funded<br />
projects.<br />
He also complained that<br />
the association members<br />
also struggle for their fees<br />
when they get any jobs from<br />
government.<br />
At his investiture in Lagos<br />
recently as the 17th president<br />
of the 46 years old body, Akindayomi<br />
however called on<br />
the government to increase<br />
patronage of local consulting<br />
Tagged the Gas Revolution<br />
Industrial Park, GRIP,<br />
Ogidigben, and envisaged<br />
to be a regional hub for all<br />
gas-based industries, the<br />
project will cover 2,700 hectares<br />
of land with fertilizer,<br />
methanol, petrochemicals<br />
and aluminium plants located<br />
in the park that has<br />
already been designated as a<br />
Tax Free Zone by the Federal<br />
Government.<br />
Proposed to gulp some<br />
$16 billion, the groundbreaking<br />
ceremony was<br />
done by the administration<br />
of ex-President Goodluck<br />
Jonathan.<br />
The gas city initiative,<br />
involves the Federal government,<br />
petroleum ministry<br />
and the state government.<br />
The site located at<br />
the swampy community of<br />
Igidigbien was reclaimed<br />
through excavation and<br />
sand filling before the<br />
groundbreaking event.<br />
The monarch said their<br />
concerns include rising insecurity,<br />
challenges in the<br />
Niger Delta area, ecological<br />
engineering firms.<br />
President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari recently signed Executive<br />
Order 5, which gives<br />
preference to Nigerians for<br />
procurement in science, engineering<br />
and technology<br />
sector. It is believed that the<br />
Order, which has been clamoured<br />
for by various local<br />
bodies if fully implemented,<br />
will calm some nerves.<br />
Akindayomi suggested<br />
that such preferential treatment<br />
to locals could be<br />
alone or in collaboration<br />
with foreign consultants in<br />
the effort to build Nigeria’s<br />
infrastructure needs.<br />
Another area of concern,<br />
he pointed out, is that some<br />
private sector clients insist<br />
on using the out-dated Federal<br />
Government scale of<br />
fees issued in 1996, rather<br />
than the COREN’s recommended<br />
hourly rates issued<br />
in 2015, which are charges<br />
for various cadre of engineering<br />
personnel.<br />
problems, infrastructure development,<br />
as well as lack of<br />
access to ports in the state,<br />
which they also presented to<br />
the President.<br />
Speaking with State<br />
House Correspondents at<br />
the end of the meeting, the<br />
monarch said, “We presented<br />
some issues that<br />
affects our area most especially<br />
our ports. Our ports<br />
are not working; Warri Port<br />
and Koko Port are very good<br />
and solid ports that are not<br />
working. While other ports<br />
in other areas are working,<br />
ours are just left unutilised.<br />
“So we want the ports to<br />
be activated so that there can<br />
start working, and that will<br />
mop up a lot of youths from<br />
the streets. When the ports<br />
were working there were no<br />
restiveness in the area.<br />
“Apart from that there is<br />
also the gas city, it is a fantastic<br />
project. The last president<br />
did the groundbreaking<br />
before he left but since then<br />
nothing has been happening.<br />
We want the federal government<br />
to hasten action on<br />
He therefore said his focus<br />
would be to have ACEN to<br />
be an adviser to government<br />
on projects, saying, “We shall<br />
partner ministries, departments<br />
and agencies to get our<br />
input during selection of consulting<br />
engineers for government<br />
projects procurement.<br />
“We shall advocate for<br />
strong government support<br />
for our consulting engineering<br />
firms, while ensuring that<br />
only ACEN registered consultants<br />
are used through the<br />
enforcement of the regulatory<br />
policies of the COREN Act.”<br />
He also said the body under<br />
his management should<br />
motivate the state governments<br />
to minimise the use of<br />
their in-house government<br />
engineering units, by contracting<br />
out project works to<br />
independently-owned consulting<br />
engineering firms.<br />
The body would also continue<br />
its collaboration with<br />
other relevant bodies and<br />
agencies, he said.<br />
it because that will mop up<br />
over 300,000 unemployed<br />
youths from the streets. So<br />
when all of our youths are<br />
engaged the restiveness will<br />
be minimised.”<br />
The monarch also called<br />
for some roads in the area<br />
to be fixed, saying it would<br />
expand economic activities<br />
of the area.<br />
“We have the Koko road<br />
that needs to be fixed. That<br />
road will open up the area,<br />
allow economic activities to<br />
expand. We have the Escravos<br />
road that also needs to be<br />
fixed. We also want the railway<br />
that is going on now, we<br />
want it to come to the area, by<br />
that the economic activities<br />
will thrive better and Nigerians<br />
will be happy for it.”<br />
Asked that the President’s<br />
response was? The<br />
monarch said, “He assured<br />
us that they will do their<br />
best. His hands are tied because<br />
everybody demands<br />
his attention, but that he will<br />
follow through our requests<br />
to ensure that the things are<br />
done.”<br />
L-R: Inmaculada Soto Riba, loan officer, European Investment Bank (EIB); Tony Okpanachi, MD/CEO, Development Bank of<br />
Nigeria (DBN); Sanja Blatt, monitoring officer, EIB, and Ijeoma Ozulumba, chief financial officer, DBN, during a working visit of<br />
EIB to DBN in Abuja.<br />
Pic by Tunde Adeniyi<br />
DANIEL OBI<br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
45<br />
NEWS<br />
BBC World News Komla Dumor Award seeks<br />
next rising star in African journalism<br />
The BBC has begun<br />
the search for Africa’s<br />
next journalism star<br />
- launching the <strong>2018</strong><br />
BBC World News Komla Dumor<br />
Award from his homeland<br />
in Accra, Ghana. Journalists<br />
from across the continent<br />
are invited to apply for the<br />
prestigious prize, which aims<br />
to promote fresh journalism<br />
talent from Africa.<br />
The award was set up to<br />
honour the memory of Komla<br />
Dumor, an exceptional<br />
Ghanaian broadcaster who<br />
died unexpectedly at the age<br />
of 41 in 2014. In his short life,<br />
Komla made an extraordinary<br />
impact – in Ghana, in<br />
Africa and across the world<br />
– on Joy FM and at the BBC.<br />
Through his tenacious<br />
journalism and compelling<br />
storytelling, he worked<br />
tirelessly to bring a more<br />
sophisticated African narrative<br />
to the world. The BBC<br />
El-Rufai, Adeosun meet Kaduna<br />
business leaders, taxpayers over VAIDS<br />
HARRISON EDEH, Abuja<br />
Governor Nasir el-<br />
Rufai of Kaduna<br />
State and Kemi<br />
Adeosun, minister<br />
of finance, will Thursday,<br />
meet with business leaders,<br />
business owners and<br />
taxpayers in Kaduna over<br />
the Voluntary Assets and Income<br />
Declaration Scheme<br />
(VAIDS).<br />
The Kaduna State government<br />
is hosting the VAIDS<br />
stakeholders’ symposium,<br />
expected to have in attendance<br />
executive chairman of<br />
the Federal Inland Revenue<br />
Service (FIRS), Babatunde<br />
Fowler, members of the state<br />
executive council, members<br />
of the Kaduna State House<br />
of Assembly and traditional<br />
rulers.<br />
Adeosun made this know<br />
in a statement as she identified<br />
regular tax payment by<br />
Nigerians as fundamental to<br />
Underage voters: PDP rejects<br />
INEC’s 8-man committee<br />
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja<br />
The People’s Democratic<br />
Party (PDP)<br />
has rejected the<br />
composition of the<br />
eight-man in-house committee<br />
set up by the chairman<br />
of the Independent<br />
National Electoral Commission<br />
(INEC), Mahmood<br />
Yakubu, to investigate the<br />
existence of underage voters<br />
in Kano State.<br />
The party also rejected<br />
the scope of the inquest,<br />
particularly the exclusion<br />
of Katsina State from the<br />
probe, despite vast evidence<br />
of underage voters<br />
in that state.<br />
The PDP noted that the<br />
fact that the All Progressives<br />
Congress (APC) rose<br />
in staunch defense of INEC<br />
over the existence of the<br />
underage voters had further<br />
confirmed that the<br />
ruling party had more than<br />
vested interests in the illegality.<br />
The main opposition<br />
is committed to continuing<br />
Komla’s legacy and, through<br />
this award, aims to empower<br />
a new generation of journalists<br />
from Africa to tell African<br />
stories to global audiences.<br />
Previous winners of the<br />
BBC World News Komla<br />
Dumor Award are Nancy Kacungira<br />
from Uganda, Didi<br />
Akinyelure from Nigeria, and<br />
Amina Yuguda also from<br />
Nigeria. All three winners<br />
used their time at the BBC to<br />
hone their journalism skills<br />
through training, workshops<br />
and mentorship. Working<br />
closely with leading talent<br />
within the BBC, the winners<br />
undertake a final project,<br />
travelling to Africa to report<br />
on a story that they have researched.<br />
During her placement,<br />
Nancy Kacungira travelled to<br />
Ghana to report on Diaspora<br />
Ghanaians who had decided<br />
to return to their roots. The<br />
the growth and development<br />
of the country.<br />
She noted that predictable<br />
tax revenue inflow would<br />
lead to more investment by<br />
the federal and state governments<br />
in infrastructure<br />
and job and wealth creation<br />
across the nation.<br />
“Payment of taxes is a fundamental<br />
requirement for<br />
our growth story. Nigeria has<br />
a very poor scorecard in tax<br />
payment. When oil came, we<br />
abandoned the old systems<br />
of tax collection that provided<br />
most of our infrastructure<br />
since colonial days.<br />
“Currently, we have just<br />
14 million tax payers out of<br />
70 million who are economically<br />
active. So, many people<br />
who should be paying are not<br />
paying anything. It is the development<br />
of taxes that will<br />
help the states and the Federal<br />
Government to achieve<br />
their true potentials,” the<br />
minister said.<br />
party stated these in a<br />
statement by its national<br />
publicity secretary, Kola<br />
Ologbondiyan, on Sunday.<br />
According to the party,<br />
the panel constituted by<br />
INEC lacks credibility as it<br />
comprises of members of<br />
the same indicted INEC,<br />
and have been detailed to<br />
arrive at predetermined<br />
findings and recommendations<br />
aimed at exonerating<br />
the Yakubu-led commission<br />
and play down on the<br />
electoral implications of<br />
the existence of underage<br />
voters.<br />
“Nigerians have been<br />
wondering why INEC is<br />
afraid of looking at its register<br />
in Katsina State. Is it because<br />
Katsina is the home<br />
state of President Muhammodu<br />
Buhari and a probe<br />
is likely to expose cans of<br />
worms? Is INEC afraid that<br />
a sanitised register would<br />
lead to a massive drop in<br />
the voting population in the<br />
state and cripple APC’s rigging<br />
plan?<br />
following year, Didi Akinyelure<br />
went to the Ivory Coast<br />
to investigate new opportunities<br />
for the local chocolate<br />
manufacturing industry. Last<br />
year’s winner, Amina Yuguda,<br />
reported from Uganda<br />
about why Lake Victoria is<br />
under threat of dying.<br />
Amina said: “Being the<br />
winner of the 2017 BBC<br />
World News Komla Dumor<br />
Award felt like the beginning<br />
of my career. Getting<br />
an international platform, to<br />
be recognised at an international<br />
level, it’s like I arrived.<br />
“During my placement,<br />
I learned the importance of<br />
truth, balance and fairness,<br />
and gained invaluable insights<br />
into how to give African<br />
stories a global appeal.<br />
We are proud of how Komla<br />
represented the continent<br />
to the world, and I feel honoured<br />
to be helping continue<br />
that legacy.”
46 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
NEWS<br />
Diamond Bank pares loses as oil rally aids...<br />
Continued from page 4<br />
percent exposure to the oil and<br />
gas sector in 2016, as deduced<br />
from the company’s financial<br />
statements.<br />
“The improved oil NPLs will<br />
reflect in our full-year 2017 financial<br />
result,” Anyanwu added.<br />
The bank’s full-year 2017 financial<br />
report is expected to hit<br />
the market by March.<br />
The bank’s share price jumped<br />
2 percent to N2.55 Friday, according<br />
to data from Bloomberg.<br />
The lengthy collapse in oil<br />
prices which began in mid-2014<br />
led to a corresponding decline in<br />
the revenues of Nigerian oil and<br />
gas corporates, making it more<br />
difficult for them to service their<br />
predominantly foreign-currency<br />
borrowings.<br />
Nigerian lenders who were<br />
heavily exposed to the troubled<br />
oil and gas sector had to restructure<br />
loans extended to mostly<br />
indigenous oil firms last year.<br />
The restructuring has mainly<br />
been by increasing loan tenors,<br />
allowing struggling clients to pay,<br />
based on their cash flow capacity<br />
and converting some amortising<br />
loans into bullet loans.<br />
Sixty to 70 percent of loans<br />
in the oil and gas sector were<br />
restructured with prodding<br />
from the Central Bank of Nigeria<br />
(CBN), according to global<br />
credit rating agency, Moody’s<br />
Investors Service.<br />
Nigerian banks’ balance<br />
sheets are highly dollarised, with<br />
foreign-currency-denominated<br />
loans constituting around 50<br />
percent of total as of the end of<br />
June 2016.<br />
The banks’ exposure to the oil<br />
and gas industry is substantial, at<br />
around 30 percent of total loans,<br />
of which about one-third is to the<br />
upstream segment.<br />
Things have however taken a<br />
dramatic turn since the rally in oil<br />
prices made possible by OPEC’s<br />
move to drain a supply glut in<br />
the market by shaving some 1.2<br />
million barrels daily off global<br />
supply.<br />
Oil prices have more than<br />
doubled to $69 per barrel on<br />
average this year, from as low as<br />
$29 dollars per barrel in January<br />
2016. Nigeria’s benchmark, Brent<br />
crude, rose 0.8 percent to $66.9<br />
per barrel Friday, according to<br />
Bloomberg data.<br />
Local production has also<br />
recovered some lost grounds<br />
inflicted by militant attacks in the<br />
better part of 2016.<br />
According to OPEC data, Nigeria’s<br />
production surged 50 percent<br />
to 1.8 million barrels daily in<br />
January <strong>2018</strong>, from as low as 1.2<br />
million in January 2016.<br />
The loss of Forcados barrels,<br />
which pumped an average of<br />
200,000 barrels in 2015 before<br />
militancy escalated, had the single<br />
biggest impact on oil production<br />
out of any grade the country<br />
produces. Just as its resumption<br />
after a 15-month halt has also<br />
had a telling impact on overall<br />
production.<br />
This has helped Africa’s largest<br />
oil producer put the worst of<br />
its first economic recession in a<br />
quarter of a century.<br />
The economy expanded 1.4<br />
percent in the third quarter of 2017,<br />
according to data by state-funded<br />
National Bureau of Statistics.<br />
Buoyed by stronger quarterly<br />
average production of 2.03<br />
million barrels daily (mb/pd)<br />
(Q3’16: 1.61 mb/d), the oil sector<br />
expanded <strong>26</strong> percent year on<br />
year in the quarter to lift Nigeria’s<br />
GDP.<br />
The recovery has translated<br />
to an improving asset quality<br />
outlook for the Nigerian<br />
banks, given their exposure to<br />
the sector.<br />
“We think sector NPLs are<br />
close to their peak, and we expect<br />
higher oil prices will have<br />
direct implications on loan performance,”<br />
analysts at Moscowbased<br />
investment firm, Renaissance<br />
Capital said in a note to<br />
clients this month.<br />
L-R: UK Eke, group managing director, FBN Holdings plc; Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, chairman, Wapic Insurance<br />
plc/former president, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Soji Apampa, co-founder and CEO, Convention On<br />
Business Integrity (CBI); Chiedu Osakwe, director-general, NOTN/Nigerian Chief Trade Negotiator; Abimbola<br />
Ogunbanjo, president, NSE; Oscar Onyema, CEO, NSE, and ABC Orjiakor, chairman, Seplat Petroleum Development<br />
Company plc, during the NSE launching of Corporate Governance Index and honouring companies<br />
and directors for Passing Corporate Governance Rating System Assessment dinner in Lagos.<br />
2019: NASS raises Presidential campaign...<br />
Continued from page 1<br />
the campaign expenditure by<br />
candidates of political parties in<br />
governorship, National Assembly<br />
seats, area councils as well as donations<br />
to candidates of political<br />
parties by individuals and entities.<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> findings revealed<br />
that some of the campaign expenditures<br />
consist of cost of organising<br />
political rallies, printing of campaign<br />
posters, leaflets, t-shirts and fez caps,<br />
purchase and branding of campaign<br />
vehicles as well as television, radio,<br />
newspaper, magazine, online and<br />
billboard advertisements.<br />
For instance, the current law puts<br />
the campaign limits of presidential,<br />
governorship and senatorial candidates<br />
at N1 billion, N200 million and<br />
N40 million respectively.<br />
This indicates that some of the<br />
elections spending limits were<br />
increased from between 150 to 900<br />
percent in the new amendment.<br />
The law makers claim that increase<br />
in the ceiling was informed<br />
by the need to make it conform to<br />
modern realities.<br />
Ironically, the amendment is<br />
coming at a time that the National<br />
Assembly is awaiting the #NotTooYoungToRun<br />
Bill, currently before the<br />
36 state houses of assembly, which<br />
seeks to reduce the age limit for<br />
running for elected offices in Nigeria.<br />
Apart from reducing the age limit, the<br />
bill also seeks to encourage younger<br />
people who will likely not be as rich<br />
as their older contemporaries to seek<br />
election positions.<br />
But some analysts are opposed<br />
to the review, saying lawmakers<br />
are supposed to focus on how to<br />
checkmate the activities of moneybag<br />
politicians. According to them,<br />
monetisation of politics is capable<br />
muzzling the nation’s political<br />
system if left unchecked.<br />
In an interview with Business-<br />
Day, Nwagwu Ezenwa, Chairman,<br />
Partners for Electoral Reform said<br />
the move will massively discourage<br />
prospective candidates.<br />
“The continued monetization<br />
of our politics will ostensibly push<br />
away self-respecting people. Even<br />
if you do not have the resources to<br />
contest, you will depend on people<br />
who have either put their hands<br />
in public purse or only those who<br />
have had access to public funds will<br />
be recycling themselves in politics.”<br />
Ezenwa lamented that moneypolitics<br />
had eroded the core values of<br />
politics which is to serve the people.<br />
“Even if a professor saves all<br />
his salary for all the time he will be<br />
teaching in the University, he will<br />
not be able to save N5 billion. In<br />
fact, he can’t save N1 billion.<br />
“In terms of lawmaking, what<br />
they (lawmakers) have done is to<br />
say let’s make a law that is close to<br />
reality. But as a keen watcher and<br />
observer of electoral process in<br />
Nigeria, it subverts the aspiration of<br />
self-respecting people. Except you<br />
are in big business or have access to<br />
public money, election is no longer<br />
for you,” he stated.<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> gathered that the<br />
clean copy of the new electoral act<br />
is about to be transmitted from the<br />
office of the Clerk to the National<br />
Assembly (CNA) to the President<br />
for assent.<br />
There are, however, strong signals<br />
that the President will likely<br />
veto the Bill, even as the National<br />
Assembly is squaring up to override<br />
the President’s veto.<br />
The Bill provides a timeline for<br />
submission of list of candidate,<br />
sequence of elections, guidelines<br />
for political parties’ primaries, use<br />
of technological devices, and limit<br />
of campaign expenses, omission<br />
of names of candidates or logos<br />
of political parties among others.<br />
Checks on the amended Electoral<br />
Act obtained by <strong>BusinessDay</strong><br />
revealed that the proposal also<br />
placed a campaign ceiling of N100<br />
million (representing 150 percent<br />
increase) and N70 million (250<br />
percent increase) respectively for<br />
senatorial and House of Representatives<br />
candidates. Currently,<br />
the 2010 Electoral Act pegs the<br />
amounts at N40, 000,000 and<br />
N20,000,000 for both positions.<br />
In the case of State Assembly,<br />
chairmanship and Councillor<br />
candidates of area council elections,<br />
candidates are not to spend<br />
above N30 million for both state<br />
assembly and chairmanship candidates<br />
(representing 200 percent<br />
increase) and N5 million (representing<br />
400 percent increase) for<br />
Councillor standard bearers.<br />
The Bill also fixed donations to<br />
candidates of political parties by individuals<br />
and entities at N10 million<br />
as against N1 million prescribed in<br />
the 2010 Electoral Act (representing<br />
900 percent increase).<br />
“A candidate who knowingly<br />
acts in contravention of this section,<br />
commits an offense and is<br />
liable on conviction to a maximum<br />
fine of 1 percent of the amount<br />
permitted as the limit of campaign<br />
expenditure under this Act or imprisonment<br />
for a term not exceeding<br />
12 months or both,” Section 87<br />
of the proposal states.<br />
•Continues online at www.businessdayonline.com<br />
NASD moves to connect PE investors with...<br />
Continued from page 1<br />
Portal called “NASDeP” which it<br />
limits to only Private Equity (PE)<br />
investors to enable them access<br />
information on these enterprises.<br />
Interestingly, <strong>BusinessDay</strong> is<br />
the first news medium to see the<br />
specimen of the Enterprise Portal<br />
preparatory to its official public<br />
launch on March 22, <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
Currently, there are many Nigerian<br />
early growth-enterprises looking<br />
for private equity, especially<br />
considering the high interest rate<br />
they would pay if they go borrowing<br />
from banks.<br />
Bola Ajomale, Managing Director/CEO,<br />
NASD Plc who spoke to<br />
<strong>BusinessDay</strong> in his Lagos office<br />
said that NASDeP collates standardised<br />
information on growthoriented<br />
enterprises and presents<br />
such information to pre-screened<br />
investors.<br />
Enterprises in different markets<br />
with growth opportunities require<br />
long-term capital to finance their<br />
operations. Weak support from the<br />
formal capital market forces such<br />
companies to borrow from commercial<br />
banks at expensive rates.<br />
Banks double digit interest<br />
rates on short-term loans are not<br />
sustainable, though the companies<br />
that are willing to give up the equity<br />
usually look for just an investment,<br />
not partners.<br />
This remains one of the main<br />
challenges for businesses to attract<br />
needed Private Equity (PE) funds.<br />
NASDeP bridges this gap by<br />
showcasing qualified enterprises<br />
to venture capital, private equity<br />
and other accredited investors who<br />
are seeking investment opportunities.<br />
It will be an information hub<br />
for enterprises, investors, business<br />
incubators and sponsors as well as<br />
analysts.<br />
Nigeria recorded $7.8 billion<br />
worth of Private Equity (PE) deals<br />
in five year period of 2012 and 2017,<br />
outshining other African countries<br />
like South Africa and Kenya, according<br />
to data from Africa Private<br />
Equity and Venture Capital Association<br />
(AVCA).<br />
“The greatest explosion in private<br />
equity, if it is going to occur<br />
anywhere around the world in the<br />
next couple of years, is going to be<br />
in Africa, particularly sub-Saharan<br />
Africa, where the penetration rate<br />
is about one-twelfth or so of what<br />
it is in the United States,” according<br />
to David Rubenstein, a billionaire<br />
co-CEO of a US based PE firm The<br />
Carlyle Group.<br />
Private Equity investment in<br />
Nigeria takes place in both start-up<br />
and established businesses; but the<br />
common investment strategies include<br />
venture capital, buyouts and<br />
restructuring (provision of growth<br />
capital).<br />
Bertrams Lukstins, Co-Founder,<br />
CEO at London-based market<br />
research firm, AfricaLinked.com<br />
noted that “deals and Private Equity<br />
is happening in Africa, the<br />
challenge is finding these deals.”<br />
“Even big funds have to do small<br />
deals. There have been instances<br />
where a $3billion-fund invested<br />
as little as $10million in a company,”<br />
he noted, adding that till<br />
2020, there remains a great opportunity<br />
for small and mid-sized<br />
investments into companies that<br />
require $5million-$100million per<br />
transaction.<br />
“While capital is highly demanded<br />
in Nigeria and there is a lot<br />
of capital available for deals, there<br />
is a lack of good deals available.<br />
The main reason for this is people’s<br />
attitudes to ownership, companies<br />
prefer to borrow than give up equity.<br />
Many entrepreneurs rather<br />
have the whole business than a<br />
small piece of a huge pie. There is<br />
also a level of emotional ties to the<br />
business – many companies are<br />
family run and owned”, Lukstins<br />
noted.<br />
The NASDeP provides a platform<br />
where accredited investors<br />
can discover new investment<br />
opportunities; the platform also<br />
provides well-functioning enterprises<br />
with crucial access to patient<br />
capital and strategic partnerships.<br />
Ajomale said “the platform<br />
makes information handy for private<br />
equity investors” and others<br />
to ameliorate the rigors or going<br />
to research on growth-enterprises.<br />
It also aims to create a repository<br />
of information on viable growthoriented<br />
enterprises as well as an<br />
efficient, accessible and transparent<br />
information exchange, he said.<br />
“Such investors may range<br />
from casual, financial and strategic<br />
investors, to institutional<br />
firms who will provide operational<br />
enterprises with crucial access to<br />
capital and guidance from the best<br />
managers in the industry,” Ajomale<br />
told <strong>BusinessDay</strong>.<br />
The private equity (PE) and<br />
venture capital industry in Africa<br />
continues to witness strong performance<br />
across diverse sectors.<br />
Returns to investors are expected<br />
to remain strong with considerable<br />
growth in robust asset classes such<br />
as infrastructure, which provides<br />
stable, long-term cash flows.<br />
“Despite the prevalence of<br />
lucrative deals, investors in Africa<br />
face high transaction costs stemming<br />
from unique risk factors, such<br />
as exposure to market volatility, as<br />
well as political and credit risk,”<br />
said Lade Araba, Africa Region<br />
Representative, Convergence, a<br />
global network for blended finance<br />
that generates blended finance<br />
data, intelligence, and deal flow to<br />
increase private sector investment<br />
in developing countries.<br />
•Continues online at www.businessdayonline.com
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
L-R: Helen Avery,<br />
private banking<br />
editor, Euromoney;<br />
Aminat<br />
Adedipe, head,<br />
currency trading,<br />
Access Bank plc;<br />
Herbert Wigwe,<br />
GMD/CEO, Access<br />
Bank plc,<br />
and Miles Jupp,<br />
English comedian<br />
and actor at<br />
the Euromoney<br />
private banking<br />
awards where<br />
Access Bank<br />
won the ‘best<br />
private bank<br />
for commercial<br />
banking capabilities<br />
in Nigeria’<br />
at Landmark<br />
in Marylebone,<br />
London.<br />
Nigeria primary, secondary students<br />
enrolment shrunk 4.3m in 2016<br />
ENDURANCE OKAFOR<br />
The number of<br />
primary and<br />
secondary students<br />
enrolled in<br />
both public and<br />
private schools in Nigeria<br />
dropped by over 4.3 million<br />
pupils/students in 2016, as<br />
compiled from the most<br />
recent education statistics<br />
report released <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
16, by the National Bureau<br />
of Statistics (NBS).<br />
The public Early Child<br />
Care Development Education<br />
had a reduction of over<br />
1.9 million in the number<br />
of enrolled pupils from 4.67<br />
million in 2015 to 2.69 million<br />
in 2016. 1.36 million<br />
of the children were male<br />
while 1. 33 million were female,<br />
as compiled from the<br />
statistics report.<br />
Similarly, 1.46 million<br />
enrolled for private<br />
Early Child Care Development<br />
Education in 2016 as<br />
against 2.08 million in 2015,<br />
accounting for 618,959 de-<br />
‘Horn your employability skills now to be competitive’<br />
KELECHI EWUZIE<br />
Against the backdrop<br />
of the continuous<br />
rise in<br />
unemployment<br />
rate, Nigerian Bottling<br />
Company Limited (NBC)<br />
has reiterated the need for<br />
students and graduates to<br />
deliberately seek to develop<br />
skills, which can give<br />
them an edge in today’s<br />
competitive marketplace.<br />
Olumide Sholanke, director<br />
of human resources<br />
at NBC, while delivering a<br />
speech at a career fair organised<br />
by Pan-Atlantic<br />
University, stressed on<br />
the need for students to<br />
embrace teamwork, collaboration,<br />
volunteering<br />
opportunities and internships<br />
as these provide<br />
valuable experience that<br />
companies seek when hiring.<br />
“Volunteering is a very<br />
cline in the number of enrolled<br />
pupils. 734,7<strong>26</strong> of the<br />
children were male while<br />
722,735 were female.<br />
The private primary<br />
school also had a reduction<br />
in the number of pupils<br />
that were enrolled in<br />
the period under review,<br />
as over 1.42 million decline<br />
was recorded from 4.65<br />
million in 2015 to 3.24 million<br />
in 2016. Out of which,<br />
1.63 million pupils were<br />
male and 1.61 million female.<br />
The junior secondary<br />
school was not any different<br />
from the primary<br />
school, as it recorded a decline<br />
of 351,304 students,<br />
from 6.18 million in 2015<br />
to 5.84 million students enrolled<br />
in 2016. 4.79 million<br />
of such students enrolled<br />
in public junior secondary<br />
schools while the remaining<br />
1.05 enrolled in private<br />
junior secondary schools.<br />
Classroom teachers<br />
were not left out in number<br />
reduction, as there<br />
vital part of your journey,<br />
as it portrays you as an individual<br />
who has mastered<br />
his/her time and can appropriate<br />
it wisely. This is<br />
very key for a company like<br />
ours where volunteering<br />
is an integral part of our<br />
DNA,” he said.<br />
According to Sholanke,<br />
the future is one in which<br />
teamwork and collaboration<br />
are at the heart of<br />
business, working on projects<br />
with people you may<br />
never meet, this is a social<br />
skill that must be naturally<br />
learned.<br />
He explained further<br />
the importance of internships:<br />
“Internships are a<br />
continuous learning experience-<br />
an extension of the<br />
classroom where you are<br />
empowered with a clear<br />
responsibility but also with<br />
a support network and all<br />
the learning strategies.<br />
Applying for and securing<br />
was a decline of primary<br />
school teachers by 24,847,<br />
from 567,380 employed in<br />
2015 to total of 542,533 primary<br />
school teachers employed<br />
in 2016. Meanwhile,<br />
283,051 of such teachers<br />
were male while 259,482<br />
were female.<br />
Although, there was a<br />
record of increase in both<br />
public primary schools<br />
and the senior secondary<br />
school.<br />
The public primary<br />
school was up by 1.57 million,<br />
from 20.79 million<br />
in 2015 to 22.35 million in<br />
2016. But, again the male<br />
pupils were higher than the<br />
female as the male stood<br />
at 11.80 million while the<br />
female at 10.55 million pupils.<br />
Similarly, 4.48 million<br />
students enrolled in senior<br />
secondary schools in 2016<br />
as against 4.15 in 2015, a<br />
325,956 students increase<br />
in the comparable period.<br />
3.56 of such students<br />
enrolled in public senior<br />
internships equip you with<br />
necessary work experience<br />
and puts you in good stead<br />
for available, full-time jobs<br />
in the organisation.”<br />
With universities, polytechnics<br />
and colleges<br />
of education graduates<br />
churned out daily with little<br />
or no hope of securing<br />
their desired jobs, a massive<br />
dearth exists between<br />
this number of graduates<br />
and those deemed employable<br />
by organisations.<br />
This gulf in employability<br />
necessitated the career fair<br />
organised by Pan-Atlantic<br />
University, geared at providing<br />
clarity on graduate<br />
expectation and company<br />
required skill.<br />
The career fair with<br />
the theme “Bridging the<br />
Gap” was put together to<br />
encourage and contribute<br />
to nurturing the future of<br />
the country, providing a<br />
platform where the best<br />
secondary schools while<br />
the remaining 911,561 enrolled<br />
in private senior secondary<br />
schools.<br />
Africa’s most populous<br />
nation, home to about 186<br />
million inhabitants, is the<br />
largest exporter of crude in<br />
the continent and it is the<br />
largest economy in the region.<br />
The nation emerged<br />
from its worst economic<br />
contraction that led the<br />
country deep into five consecutive<br />
quarters of negative<br />
economic growth.<br />
It had since experienced<br />
a positive economic trajectory<br />
in the second quarter<br />
of last year resulting from a<br />
global increase in the price<br />
of crude oil and the relative<br />
peace in the oil-rich Niger<br />
Delta, also led to the increase<br />
in production of its<br />
main exporting product.<br />
Although the question<br />
that needs urgent attention<br />
is how this growth has<br />
impacted on the general<br />
economy and of course the<br />
nation’s education sector.<br />
talents can be engaged<br />
and absorbed into the job<br />
market.<br />
NBC with over 3,000<br />
employees has constantly<br />
demonstrated the ability<br />
to attract the best talent<br />
and is leaving no stone<br />
unturned in its bid to support<br />
youth development.<br />
With programmes such<br />
as “Youth Empowered”<br />
where it provides useful<br />
training for youths in business<br />
and life skills, to its<br />
training academies, where<br />
technical requirements of<br />
its operations are taught,<br />
the company continues to<br />
forge ahead in developing<br />
tomorrow’s leaders.<br />
The event served as a<br />
meeting point for industry<br />
and talent with an array<br />
of other human resource<br />
experts present to engage<br />
the new graduates as they<br />
prepare for the next steps<br />
in their career journey.<br />
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NEWS<br />
Innoson commences training<br />
of 200 Niger Delta youths<br />
EMMANUEL NDUKUBA<br />
Innoson Kiara Academy<br />
has commenced training<br />
of 200 Niger Delta<br />
youths in automobile<br />
fitting to meet the needs of<br />
the country’s labour market.<br />
The exercise was flagged<br />
off at the factory auditorium<br />
in Nnewi, Anambra State at<br />
the weekend, with an induction<br />
programme for the<br />
participants drawn from<br />
different states.<br />
Endi Ezengwa, CEO of<br />
Innoson Kiara Academy,<br />
while addressing the participants,<br />
said the Academy<br />
was a citadel for youth empowerment<br />
with technical<br />
and vocational skills’ acquisition.<br />
“We facilitate training<br />
that enables trainees to understand<br />
the need for total<br />
rehabilitation in education<br />
for empowerment in automobile<br />
industry,” he said.<br />
According to Ezengwa,<br />
the trainees are expected<br />
to undergo training in<br />
auto mechanicals, electrical/electronics,<br />
fabrication,<br />
welding, painting and<br />
spraying.<br />
“At the end of the exer-<br />
Capital market to bridge investment gap in Nigeria<br />
ANTHONIA OBOKOH<br />
A<br />
proper functioning<br />
capital market is capable<br />
of attracting<br />
sufficient long-term<br />
funds to bridge Nigeria’s ballooning<br />
infrastructural deficit,<br />
according to Institute of<br />
Chartered Secretaries and<br />
Administrators of Nigeria<br />
(ICSAN).<br />
“The necessity for critical<br />
long-term investment by<br />
both public and private players<br />
to boost the productive<br />
capacity of the country becomes<br />
essential. To achieve<br />
this, the capital market has<br />
a critical role to play,” Peter<br />
Ashade, managing director,<br />
Africa Prudential plc, represented<br />
by Catherine Nwogu.<br />
Speaking at the ICSAN<br />
company secretaries and<br />
registrars’ forum with the<br />
theme “company secretaries<br />
and registrars: a functional<br />
partnership for capital market<br />
development” held in Lagos<br />
on Wednesday, Ashade<br />
said, capital market played<br />
the crucial role of mobilising<br />
fund for long-term investment<br />
in infrastructure,<br />
manufacturing, services and<br />
other critical sectors of the<br />
economy.<br />
“Development of the<br />
capital market is critical to<br />
bridging the investment gap<br />
in the country and highlights<br />
the importance of the 10<br />
years Capital Market Master<br />
plan being implemented by<br />
the Securities and Exchange<br />
Commission which is aimed<br />
at deepening the capacity of<br />
the Nigerian capital market.<br />
“To build a robust capital<br />
market capable of supporting<br />
the economy for sustainable<br />
growth, Company<br />
secretaries and registrars<br />
have important roles to play;<br />
these seemingly inter-related<br />
functions are vital to improving<br />
investors’ confidence in<br />
the Nigerian capital market,”<br />
cise, they will develop their<br />
capabilities and independence<br />
toward becoming full<br />
participants in creating successful<br />
future.<br />
“Through our shared efforts,<br />
we will nurture and<br />
empower the trainees and<br />
staff of the academy to actively<br />
apply their talents<br />
and knowledge in the world<br />
of today and tomorrow,” Ezengwa<br />
said.<br />
The coordinator, Jamub<br />
Global Services Limited,<br />
Abuja, Sunny Wachir Kelek,<br />
said 600 youths were being<br />
trained in partnership with<br />
Innoson Kiara Academy.<br />
He noted that the amnesty<br />
programme had impacted<br />
positively on many<br />
lives in the course of the<br />
training, as they looked forward<br />
to better days, calling<br />
for more empowerment opportunity<br />
for youths.<br />
Some beneficiaries,<br />
Sunny Akpignovwu from<br />
Delta State, Gloria Horsefall<br />
(Rivers), Sunray Emmanuel<br />
Oluwadaesi (Ondo), Opuofoni<br />
Clarkson (Bayelsa),<br />
urged others to be patient,<br />
while appealing to Federal<br />
Government to make the<br />
scheme “continuous lifechanging<br />
programme for all<br />
Niger Delta Youths.”<br />
Ashade said.<br />
Samuel Kolawole, president,<br />
governing council of<br />
ICSAN, said over the years,<br />
the institution had consistently<br />
promoted the ideals<br />
of corporate governance<br />
through periodic issuance of<br />
policy paper and guidance<br />
material on corporate and<br />
public administration.<br />
“Back to <strong>2018</strong>, this is a<br />
very apt theme that underscores<br />
the overlapping function<br />
of the corporate secretaries<br />
and registrars and<br />
the imperative for synergy<br />
between these two classes<br />
of professional and who play<br />
positive and remarkable role<br />
in the economic life of the<br />
nation,” Kolawole said.<br />
According to chairman of<br />
the occasion, Asue Ighodalo,<br />
founding partner, Banwo &<br />
Ighodalo, an effective and<br />
well-developed capital market<br />
catalyses the growth of a<br />
nation’s economy.<br />
“It assures efficient capital<br />
formation and mobilisation,<br />
and optimal resource allocation.<br />
A market will only properly<br />
develop where you have<br />
well governed participants,<br />
well-structured instruments,<br />
reliable and free information<br />
flow and an appropriately<br />
regulated environment.<br />
“I would like to appeal to<br />
all our economic Regulators<br />
especially those who regulate<br />
the capital market, industrial<br />
sectors and the flow<br />
of investments, to see themselves<br />
as market enablers,<br />
enhancers and developers<br />
and not as gate keepers,” Ighodalo<br />
said.<br />
Nkechi Onyenso, registrar,<br />
governing council of<br />
ICSAN, said the forum was<br />
a programme conceived as<br />
an avenue to expose participants<br />
to modern-day practices<br />
and practical solution<br />
to problems on company<br />
secretarial practices and related<br />
issues.
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C002D5556 Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
NEWS<br />
Finally, FG confirms 110<br />
Dapchi schoolgirls missing<br />
ONYINYE NWACHUKWU, Abuja<br />
Federal Government<br />
has finally<br />
confirmed that 110<br />
Dapchi schoolgirls<br />
remain unaccounted<br />
for, following an attack on<br />
their school in Yobe State,<br />
about a week ago.<br />
Minister of information<br />
and culture, Lai Mohammed,<br />
announced the figure after a<br />
meeting between a Federal<br />
Government delegation and<br />
representatives of key stakeholders,<br />
including the state<br />
government, the college, the<br />
parents, security agencies and<br />
Bursari Local Government,<br />
where Dapchi is situated, in<br />
Damaturu on Sunday.<br />
“The Federal Government<br />
has confirmed that 110 students<br />
of the Government Science<br />
and Technical College in<br />
Dapchi, Yobe State, are so far<br />
unaccounted for, after insurgents<br />
believed to be from a<br />
faction of Boko Haram invaded<br />
their school on Monday<br />
(19 <strong>Feb</strong>. <strong>2018</strong>),” read a statement<br />
from Mohammed’s office<br />
Sunday evening.<br />
The minister said, based<br />
on the briefings from the principal<br />
of the college, Adama<br />
Abdulkarim, and the state<br />
commissioner for education,<br />
Mohammed Lamin, 906 students<br />
- out of whom 110 have<br />
not been accounted for - were<br />
in the school on the day of the<br />
attack.<br />
Mohammed also announced<br />
that the Federal<br />
Government had directed<br />
the police and civil defence<br />
authorities in Yobe State to<br />
immediately deploy their personnel<br />
to all the schools in the<br />
state in order to ensure the<br />
security and safety of the students<br />
and their staffers.<br />
The minister, however,<br />
assured that the Federal<br />
Government, had stepped<br />
up efforts to rescue the girls<br />
and return them safely to<br />
their parents, saying the security<br />
agencies are working<br />
on many leads regarding the<br />
whereabouts of the girls.<br />
‘’This is the second time in<br />
four days that a Federal Government<br />
delegation would<br />
visit Yobe State since the unfortunate<br />
incident. This is a<br />
measure of the seriousness<br />
with which we are addressing<br />
the issue. The security forces<br />
are leaving no stone unturned<br />
in their search for the girls.<br />
‘’We are back here in Yobe<br />
as part of efforts to provide<br />
some succour to the parents<br />
of the girls, to let them know<br />
that they are not alone and<br />
also to reassure them that<br />
we will not rest until we have<br />
found the girls. We will carry<br />
the parents along on the efforts<br />
we are making,” he said.<br />
For a few years now, Nigeria’s<br />
North East region has<br />
come under heavy attack by<br />
the Boko Haram, an extremist,<br />
Islamic, terrorist organiza-<br />
Nigeria’s tax base rises 35% to 17m<br />
DAVID IBEMERE<br />
Nigeria’s plan to<br />
grow its taxpayers<br />
base has<br />
recorded a 35<br />
percent increase in both<br />
corporate and individual<br />
to 17 million, up from the<br />
previous 14 million taxpayers,<br />
as government<br />
targets N6.747 trillion<br />
from tax in <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
The highest new registered<br />
tax payers came<br />
from Kano, 921,000 out of<br />
the 4 million increased recorded<br />
since 2016.<br />
Tunde Fowler, executive<br />
chairman, Federal Inland<br />
Revenue Services (FIRS),<br />
who disclosed this while<br />
speaking with journalist<br />
weekend, said the government<br />
had no plans yet to<br />
extend Voluntary Assets<br />
and Income Declaration<br />
Scheme (VAIDS), ending<br />
March 31, calling on individuals,<br />
corporate organisations<br />
to regularise their<br />
tax status or face the law.<br />
With a tax to GDP ratio<br />
of only 6 percent, Fowler<br />
said, “The country cannot<br />
develop unless everyone<br />
sees tax as a compulsory<br />
duty.<br />
“I was at the United Nations,<br />
and experts came<br />
up with a formula warning<br />
that if a country tax to GDP<br />
ratio is below 15 percent<br />
it is unlikely that they can<br />
expect economic development<br />
in that country<br />
or any infrastructure. In<br />
2016, Nigeria was about 16<br />
percent; we are still working<br />
on the 2017 Nigerian<br />
figures.<br />
“If Nigerians want to<br />
feel the impact of the government<br />
they must begin<br />
to see themselves as part<br />
of the process of development<br />
and pay their tax. Nigeria<br />
has no business being<br />
under 15 percent.”<br />
According to Fowler,<br />
VAIDS is not only for the<br />
wealthy but for every individuals<br />
and organisations<br />
that have defaulted in their<br />
tax payment.<br />
tion, which President Buhari’s<br />
government claims to have<br />
decimated and dislodged.<br />
The attack on Dapchi<br />
schoolgirls is coming almost<br />
four years after about 276<br />
female students were kidnapped<br />
from the Government<br />
Secondary School in<br />
the Chibok town in Borno<br />
State.<br />
Buhari last Wednesday<br />
directed the ministers of defence,<br />
Mansur Dan-Ali; information,<br />
Lai Mohammed; and<br />
foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama,<br />
to visit Dapchi village<br />
in Yobe to assess the reported<br />
abduction of schoolgirls.<br />
According to the statement,<br />
the Federal Government<br />
delegation, which<br />
comprised the Ministers of<br />
Information and Culture<br />
as well as that of Interior,<br />
Abdulrahman Dambazau,<br />
held an enlarged meeting<br />
that was attended by<br />
Governor Ibrahim Geidam<br />
of Yobe State; members of<br />
the state cabinet, the principal<br />
and vice principal of<br />
the school, representatives<br />
of the parents of the missing<br />
girls and security agencies,<br />
among others.<br />
Dambazau, minister<br />
of interior, also speaking<br />
after the meeting said the<br />
delegation embarked on<br />
the trip in order to get the<br />
facts right ‘’so that the approach<br />
to the solution can<br />
be correct.<br />
“Every economically active<br />
individual must have a<br />
tax clearance. We are consolidating<br />
a database that<br />
will ensure everyone gets<br />
to know their tax payment<br />
records, and every individual,<br />
companies must<br />
remit. Our consultants are<br />
currently designing a VAT<br />
forms certificate that will<br />
display every business; no<br />
one can be exempted from<br />
the tax payment system. As<br />
far there is need to spend<br />
money, we will evaluate<br />
them and tax them on<br />
that,” he said.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
FT<br />
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A7<br />
Crunch Brexit talks hint<br />
at compromise within<br />
Conservative factions<br />
EU leaders push Theresa May to provide more<br />
clarity on Britain’s approach to Brexit<br />
GEORGE PARKER<br />
Theresa May’s Brexit inner cabinet<br />
ended eight hours of talks<br />
on Thursday night with signs<br />
that the factions in her top team have<br />
stitched together a fragile compromise<br />
on a plan for Britain’s future EU<br />
relationship.<br />
But the prime minister’s respite<br />
over Brexit was brief after it emerged<br />
that Jeremy Corbyn will shift Labour’s<br />
position on Brexit on Monday, arguing<br />
that — if the party were in government<br />
— it would seek to keep the UK in a<br />
customs union with the EU.<br />
If Labour sides with pro-European<br />
Conservatives, Mrs May could be<br />
forced by the House of Commons to<br />
negotiate to stay in the customs union,<br />
a move that she has rejected and which<br />
would outrage Tory Eurosceptics.<br />
The talks at Mrs May’s Chequers<br />
country retreat ended with Brexiters<br />
proclaiming that Britain was on<br />
course to make a clean break with the<br />
EU. “Divergence has won the day,”<br />
said one cabinet source.<br />
But pro-Europeans also insisted<br />
that the talks had gone well. One<br />
person in the room said it would be<br />
wrong to say that divergence had<br />
“prevailed”, adding: “It was genuinely<br />
positive and substantial.”<br />
Another person at the Chequers<br />
meeting said: “It all finished rather<br />
positively. It seems like everyone<br />
thinks they got what they wanted.”<br />
Asked about the Chequers meeting<br />
on Friday, Jean-Claude Juncker,<br />
EU commission president, said he<br />
would not comment until he knew<br />
the “exact outcome”of UK ministers’<br />
talks.<br />
“I know that there was a meeting<br />
Latvia’s embattled central<br />
bank governor Ilmars Rimsevics<br />
has claimed that he is the<br />
victim of a concerted campaign<br />
by several banks to have him removed<br />
from his position.<br />
Mr Rimsevics suggested that<br />
the bribery accusations against<br />
him had been manufactured by<br />
banks unhappy with his moves<br />
to improve transparency in the<br />
country’s 2m-strong outsized nonresident<br />
banking sector.<br />
“I just vehemently deny [these<br />
allegations],” the member of the<br />
European Central Bank’s governing<br />
council said in an interview<br />
with the Financial Times.<br />
“I could only guess that I have<br />
been a very inconvenient public<br />
figure for several financial institutions<br />
in this country, thus making<br />
them for an extended period of<br />
time try to gather some evidence<br />
or [organise] provocations in order<br />
with Theresa May in Chequers last<br />
night. I haven’t seen the results so I<br />
can’t comment on it,” he told reporters<br />
in Brussels, adding: “I am not a British<br />
prime minister, it would be good for<br />
Britain if I was.”<br />
Mark Rutte, prime minister of the<br />
Netherlands, also remained tightlipped<br />
but promised to keep bringing<br />
“difficult messages” to the UK prime<br />
minister, saying he would ask Mrs May<br />
“to be as clear as possible on what she<br />
wants to achieve on the second phase<br />
of negotiations”.<br />
Mrs May will give a public exposition<br />
on her approach to Brexit in a<br />
speech next week, although there are<br />
already signs that Brussels is likely to<br />
reject outright her vision of a future<br />
trading relationship.<br />
The 11-member Brexit cabinet<br />
committee was said by those at the<br />
Chequers meeting to have endorsed<br />
a proposal dubbed “Canada plus<br />
plus plus” by David Davis, the Brexit<br />
secretary.<br />
Under the plan, Britain would seek<br />
to negotiate a free trade agreement<br />
similar to the EU-Canada deal, but then<br />
try to embellish it by securing better<br />
access to the single market for goods<br />
and services through close regulatory<br />
co-operation.<br />
Brexiters seized on the broad agreement<br />
at Chequers that Britain should<br />
be able to set its own rules and regulations,<br />
allowing an “ambitious managed<br />
divergence” with the EU over time.<br />
But Remainers, led by Philip Hammond,<br />
the chancellor, insisted that the<br />
starting point should be that Britain<br />
and the EU would have high levels of<br />
alignment, with some sectors such as<br />
automotive and chemicals likely to be<br />
fully aligned with EU rules.<br />
Latvian central bank governor accuses<br />
banks of trying to oust him<br />
Ilmars Rimsevics tells FT that bribery allegations are ‘totally ridiculous’<br />
NEIL BUCKLEY<br />
Berkshire Hathaway<br />
gains $29bn on back<br />
of US tax reforms<br />
World Business Newspaper<br />
Page A9<br />
to remove me.”<br />
He added: “It is a well-orchestrated<br />
action in concert among<br />
several individuals and banks who<br />
have served non-resident clients<br />
at various times . . . to whom I have<br />
become a burden.”<br />
In events that have rocked the<br />
Baltic republic, Mr Rimsevics was<br />
detained by police last weekend<br />
before being released on bail on<br />
Monday.<br />
The country’s corruption prevention<br />
bureau said he was suspected<br />
of soliciting and receiving<br />
a bribe of at least €100,000, from a<br />
financial institution not currently<br />
functioning in Latvia.<br />
Separately, Grigory Guselnikov,<br />
main shareholder and chairman<br />
of Norvik Bank, Latvia’s eighthbiggest<br />
lender, alleged in an interview<br />
with the Associated Press<br />
on Monday that Mr Rimsevics had<br />
personally, or through intermediaries,<br />
tried to extort bribes from<br />
Continues on page A8<br />
Theresa May’s inner Brexit cabinet gathered at Chequers on Thursday to hammer out a strategy for future ties with the EU<br />
European leaders deny link to Manafort in Mueller investigation<br />
Former Italian prime minister, Polish president and Austrian chancellor reject allegations<br />
SHAWN DONNAN, DEMETRI<br />
SEVASTOPULO, JAMES POLITI<br />
Three prominent former European<br />
leaders have denied they<br />
were paid to lobby on behalf of<br />
Ukraine by former Trump campaign<br />
chairman Paul Manafort after US<br />
prosecutors said he had funneled<br />
more than €2m to a group of European<br />
politicians in a secret campaign to<br />
soften Kiev’s image in the west. Romano<br />
Prodi, the former Italian prime<br />
minister and European Commission<br />
president, Alfred Gusenbauer, the<br />
former Austrian chancellor, and Aleksander<br />
Kwasniewski, Poland’s former<br />
president, all said on Saturday that<br />
they had been big backers of stronger<br />
EU-Ukraine ties in 2012 and 2013<br />
when Mr Manafort’s secret lobbying<br />
campaign was allegedly underway.<br />
But all three denied that they had<br />
received any funds from Mr Manafort,<br />
who has been accused by US special<br />
counsel Robert Mueller of stashing<br />
millions of dollars offshore to avoid<br />
taxes and finance a secret lobbying<br />
campaign that targeted both US and<br />
European policymakers. As part of<br />
that lobbying campaign, Mr Manafort<br />
is accused of financing the creation of<br />
a secret group of senior former European<br />
leaders known as the “Hapsburg<br />
Group” that was led by an unnamed<br />
former European chancellor, according<br />
to court documents filed on Friday.<br />
Disclosures filed with the US justice<br />
department show that Mr Gusenbauer,<br />
who served as Austria’s chancellor from<br />
2007 to 2008, Mr Kwasniewski and Mr<br />
Prodi all took part in meetings with<br />
members of the US Congress in 2013<br />
on behalf of the European Centre for<br />
a Modern Ukraine, a Brussels-based<br />
group that US prosecutors allege was<br />
at the centre of Mr Manafort’s secret<br />
lobbying scheme.<br />
Those meetings were organised by<br />
two lobbying groups that were working<br />
with Mr Manafort and Richard<br />
Gates, one of his top associates, at<br />
the time.<br />
Mr Gates, who served as Mr<br />
Trump’s deputy campaign chair,<br />
on Friday pleaded guilty to conspiracy<br />
charges related to his and Mr<br />
Manafort’s work with Ukraine as part<br />
of a plea deal that increases the pressure<br />
on Mr Manafort to cooperate with<br />
the Mueller investigation into Russian<br />
meddling in the 2016 election.<br />
In a statement, Mr Prodi said he<br />
Trump’s protection<br />
plan to keep ‘competitor’<br />
China at bay<br />
Page A10<br />
backed a campaign in 2012-13 for the<br />
EU to sign an “association agreement”<br />
with the then pro-Russian government<br />
in Kiev of Viktor Yanukovych.<br />
“Such a commitment translated<br />
into numerous meetings and public<br />
speeches (some of them regularly<br />
paid), which took place in a variety of<br />
European capitals. These are serious<br />
and perfectly consistent initiatives for<br />
a former president of the European<br />
Commission,” his office said in the<br />
statement.<br />
“President Prodi denies both to<br />
have played a role in any lobbying<br />
effort and to be part of a secret lobby.<br />
Thus, he did not receive any money for<br />
these activities,” the statement added.<br />
Mr Gusenbauer told the Austrian<br />
Press Agency that he had never<br />
worked for Mr Yanukovych or his Party<br />
of Regions, which Mr Manafort was<br />
long associated with.<br />
His work in 2012 and 2013 included<br />
meetings and events across Europe<br />
and in the US and was only intended<br />
to bring Ukraine closer to Europe, he<br />
said. He stopped that work in 2013<br />
when it became clear it was futile.<br />
In interviews with Austria’s Die<br />
Presse newspaper and the BBC published<br />
on Saturday he also said he had<br />
only met Mr Manafort a few times for<br />
coffee.<br />
“I was not aware of the fact Mr<br />
Manafort was financing this activity<br />
and of course I was also not connected<br />
to his activities within the Ukraine,” Mr<br />
Gusenbauer told the BBC.<br />
Mr Kwasniewski told Onet, Polands’<br />
largest web portal, that he had<br />
known Mr Manafort since 2012. But<br />
he said: “No money was in play. I had<br />
no financial or political agreements<br />
with him. This is some sort of misunderstanding.”<br />
“In the years 2012 and 2013 many<br />
debates and conferences were arranged<br />
on the topic of Ukraine,” he<br />
said. “I took part in them, sometimes<br />
with Prodi, sometimes with<br />
Gusenbauer. Of course, we received<br />
fees. Maybe Manafort paid for them<br />
through his firms? But these were<br />
public, open debates.”<br />
Also identified in disclosures filed<br />
last year with the US justice department<br />
by two lobbying firms – the Podesta<br />
Group and Mercury Public Affairs – was<br />
former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko.<br />
But Mr Yushchenko could not<br />
immediately be reached for comment.<br />
In a statement, Mercury said it<br />
was cooperating with Mr Mueller’s<br />
investigation.<br />
“While [Mr Gates] and others<br />
involved with this matter may have<br />
acted criminally and tried to hide it,<br />
we have acted appropriately, following<br />
our counsel’s advice from the start,”<br />
the group said.<br />
Tony Podesta, the founder of the<br />
Podesta Group, did not immediately<br />
respond to a request for comment.<br />
According to the indictment filed<br />
on Friday by Mr Mueller’s prosecutors,<br />
Mr Manafort’s lobbying scheme<br />
led him to use four offshore accounts<br />
to wire more than €2m to pay a “super<br />
VIP” group of former European<br />
leaders.<br />
The goal was for the group, managed<br />
by a “former European chancellor”<br />
working with Mr Manafort to be<br />
“politically credible friends who can<br />
act informally and without any visible<br />
relationship with the Government of<br />
Ukraine”, the indictment charges.<br />
“The plan was for the former politicians,<br />
informally called the ‘[Hapsburg]<br />
group’, to appear to be providing<br />
their independent assessments of<br />
Government of Ukraine actions, when<br />
in fact they were paid lobbyists for<br />
Ukraine,” prosecutors wrote.<br />
Paying the European politicians to<br />
lobby is not a crime under US law. But<br />
the indictment alleges Mr Manafort<br />
and Mr Gates illegally hid their lobbying<br />
scheme for years and failed<br />
to report they were working for the<br />
Ukrainian government. Mr Manafort<br />
also faces conspiracy and money<br />
laundering charges as well as charges<br />
of lying to investigators.<br />
Among the things Mr Gates acknowledged<br />
with his guilty plea on<br />
Friday was that he and Mr Manafort<br />
sought to hide their work with Mr<br />
Yanukovych’s government when they<br />
were first approached by investigators<br />
in August 2016 following news stories<br />
out of Ukraine disclosing payments to<br />
Mr Manafort.<br />
But Mr Manafort has insisted all<br />
along that he has done nothing wrong.<br />
“I continue to maintain my innocence,”<br />
Mr Manafort said in a<br />
statement issued on Friday. “I had<br />
hoped and expected my business<br />
colleague would have had the strength<br />
to continue the battle to prove our<br />
innocence. For reasons yet to surface<br />
he chose to do otherwise. This does<br />
not alter my commitment to defend<br />
myself against the untrue, piled-up<br />
charges contained in the indictments<br />
against me.”
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
A8 BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
FT<br />
Robert Mueller files new charges against former Trump associates<br />
Indictment includes accusations Paul Manafort and Richard Gates filed false tax returns<br />
SHAWN DONNAN AND<br />
Robert Mueller, US special<br />
counsel, has filed new fraud<br />
and tax charges against Donald<br />
Trump’s former campaign manager<br />
and an associate, increasing<br />
pressure on two important figures in<br />
his investigation into Russia’s meddling<br />
in the 2016 election.<br />
In a grand jury indictment unsealed<br />
on Thursday, Mr Mueller’s<br />
team accused Paul Manafort and<br />
Richard Gates of not reporting tens<br />
of millions of dollars in income<br />
from their political work in Ukraine<br />
over more than a decade to US tax<br />
authorities and of hiding it in a web<br />
of companies in Cyprus and other<br />
offshore jurisdictions.<br />
Prosecutors charge that Mr<br />
Manafort, with Mr Gates’ help, then<br />
NATIONAL NEWS<br />
used properties he bought with<br />
those funds as collateral to fraudulently<br />
obtain a series of mortgages<br />
worth millions, lying about his income<br />
and debts to overcome questions<br />
from banks.<br />
Altogether, the indictment charges,<br />
some $75m moved through<br />
the offshore companies involved,<br />
including $30m in income for Mr<br />
Manafort alone. The pair, prosecutors<br />
charge, also fraudulently secured<br />
more than $20m in bank loans.<br />
The 32-count indictment accuses<br />
the pair of filing false tax returns and<br />
failing to report overseas bank accounts.<br />
Each is also accused of bank<br />
fraud related to loans taken out by<br />
Mr Manafort against properties he<br />
owned in New York.<br />
None of the charges relate to either<br />
man’s work for the Trump campaign<br />
in 2016. But they stretch from<br />
2006 to the present and include the<br />
period during which Mr Manafort<br />
was leading the campaign with Mr<br />
Gates’ assistance.<br />
The charges are the latest allegations<br />
that the Mueller team has<br />
levelled against Mr Manafort, who<br />
has previously pleaded not guilty to<br />
others that include tax evasion and<br />
money laundering.<br />
Latvian central bank...<br />
Continued from page A7<br />
him several times.<br />
Mr Guselnikov has made similar<br />
allegations against an unnamed<br />
senior Latvian official in a<br />
complaint with an arbitration arm<br />
of the World Bank.<br />
The claims came days after<br />
ABLV, the country’s third-biggest<br />
bank, was accused by the US Treasury<br />
of “institutionalised money<br />
laundering”, including handling<br />
transfers to entities linked to North<br />
Korea’s nuclear programme.<br />
Mr Rimsevics said he had no<br />
idea which banks and how many<br />
were involved in a campaign<br />
against him. But he suggested that<br />
it was a response to initiatives to<br />
make banks undergo audits by US<br />
law firms in 2016 and 2017, reduce<br />
deposits held by those not resident<br />
in Latvia and “open their books to<br />
the US regulator”.<br />
This had “reduced the income<br />
and profit” and led to the closure<br />
of some banks’ US dollar clearing<br />
accounts with US commercial<br />
banks.<br />
Latvian banks have been implicated<br />
in a series of money laundering<br />
scandals involving funds from<br />
former Soviet republics. Under<br />
international pressure, Riga has<br />
been seen as making more concerted<br />
efforts to clamp down on<br />
such activities since 2016.<br />
Mr Rimsevics said claims that<br />
he solicited bribes from Mr Guselnikov<br />
or Norvik Bank were “totally,<br />
totally ridiculous”, though could<br />
not exclude that his name had<br />
been used improperly by third<br />
parties. He said some meetings<br />
described by the Norvik owner<br />
never took place.<br />
The central bank governor<br />
confirmed that a 2010 photo published<br />
this week of him sitting beside<br />
Dmitry Pilshchikov, then head<br />
of a Russian military technology<br />
company later sanctioned by the<br />
US, was genuine. But he said he<br />
was seated by chance next to the<br />
Russian businessman, with whom<br />
he was not acquainted, during a<br />
salmon fishing holiday in Siberia.<br />
“This picture is very well known<br />
to Latvian internal security officers,”<br />
Mr Rimsevics added, saying<br />
that its publication was “another<br />
attempt by people to defame me<br />
and screw up my reputation”.<br />
Addressing a Norvik arbitration<br />
complaint that accuses Latvian<br />
authorities of damaging the bank<br />
through unfair regulatory actions,<br />
Mr Rimsevics said the complaint<br />
had no foundation.<br />
Oliver Bramwell, the Norvik<br />
chief executive, told the FT this<br />
week that the bank had informed<br />
the UK’s Serious Fraud Office last<br />
August of its concerns; Mr Guselnikov<br />
has British citizenship.<br />
But after the SFO did not act<br />
during a three-month period,<br />
Norvik’s owner took his complaint<br />
to Latvian police and arbitration.<br />
Mr Rimsevics said that clearing<br />
his name would be “very, very<br />
difficult”.<br />
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants reform but is determined to allow only guest workers © AP<br />
Japan plans to ease visa rules for skilled workers<br />
Abe addresses labour shortages but stands firm against permanent immigration<br />
ROBIN HARDING<br />
Japan plans a review of visa rules<br />
by the summer as it seeks more<br />
skilled foreign workers to overcome<br />
increasingly severe labour<br />
shortages.<br />
The government says it will consider<br />
an expansion of visa categories<br />
and easing of rules. The main target<br />
is technology professionals but it will<br />
also look at sectors with severe labour<br />
shortages such as care, construction,<br />
transport and agriculture.<br />
The review shows how ageing Japan’s<br />
urgent need for workers is forcing<br />
it to rethink longstanding taboos.<br />
However, Shinzo Abe, prime minister,<br />
is determined to allow only guest<br />
workers, not permanent immigrants.<br />
That will limit the potential economic<br />
impact and raises questions<br />
about Japan’s desirability as a destination<br />
for the highly skilled. “My government<br />
has no intention of adopting<br />
a so-called immigration policy. We<br />
are sticking to that point,” Mr Abe said<br />
as he launched the review.<br />
Allegations of a massive fraud<br />
that rocked the UK tech scene<br />
in 2012 are finally about to<br />
get a full public airing, as the former<br />
chief financial officer of UK software<br />
company Autonomy goes on trial in<br />
San Francisco on Monday.<br />
Sushovan Hussain is facing charges<br />
that he falsified Autonomy’s accounts<br />
and made bogus statements<br />
to investors and regulators to inflate<br />
the company’s performance. The 15<br />
counts of conspiracy and wire fraud<br />
carry a potential penalty of 20 years’<br />
imprisonment. Mr Hussain denies<br />
the charges. John Keker, his lawyer,<br />
has said that the former executive<br />
acted “with the highest standards of<br />
“The preconditions are an upper<br />
limit on the duration of a stay and a<br />
basic refusal to let family members accompany<br />
a worker. With that, we want<br />
to come up with concrete proposals<br />
for reform by this summer, focusing on<br />
the sectors with greatest need.”<br />
The number of foreign workers in<br />
Japan has surged during the past five<br />
years as a strong economic recovery<br />
boosts demand for labour and an<br />
ageing native workforce reduces<br />
supply. Japan’s unemployment rate<br />
is down to 2.8 per cent and the ratio<br />
of open jobs to applicant is 1.59, the<br />
highest since the early 1970s.<br />
There were 682,450 foreign workers<br />
in Japan in 2012, the year Mr<br />
Abe was elected to his second stint<br />
as prime minister, according to the<br />
justice ministry. By 2017 the number<br />
had almost doubled to 1,278,670.<br />
About a fifth of the expansion in<br />
Japan’s labour force under Mr Abe is<br />
foreign workers.<br />
However, more than half of the<br />
growth in numbers came from loopholes<br />
in the visa system, notably<br />
honesty, integrity and competence”,<br />
and that the case “does not belong in<br />
a US criminal court”.<br />
Autonomy was at the centre of a<br />
barrage of claims and counter-claims<br />
after Hewlett-Packard, the US tech<br />
conglomerate, wrote down about<br />
$5bn of the $11.1bn it paid for Autonomy<br />
only a year after the acquisition.<br />
Meg Whitman, HP’s former chief<br />
executive officer, blamed Autonomy’s<br />
management for creating false transactions<br />
to overstate the company’s<br />
performance.<br />
Mike Lynch, the UK company’s<br />
founder and former chief executive,<br />
has maintained that HP levelled the<br />
fraud claims to cover up its own later<br />
mismanagement of the business. Autonomy’s<br />
remaining operations were<br />
students working part-time and socalled<br />
“technical interns”, who are<br />
theoretically in Japan for training<br />
but more often doing low-skilled<br />
factory work.<br />
Neither category provides a stable<br />
source of labour for shortage sectors<br />
such as construction and nursing<br />
homes. Business groups, under growing<br />
pressure to raise wages to attract native<br />
workers, have been lobbying the Abe<br />
government to offer more work visas.<br />
“Basically we are looking at revising<br />
the system for specialist and<br />
skilled workers,” said Toshimitsu<br />
Motegi, minister of state for economic<br />
and fiscal policy. He said that would<br />
include looking sector-by-sector at<br />
the minimum necessary skill levels.<br />
Japan has struggled to attract<br />
highly skilled foreign workers given<br />
steep barriers of language and culture<br />
as well as a difficult path to permanent<br />
residency or citizenship. Only<br />
5,494 workers have arrived under a<br />
points scheme aimed at scientists<br />
and business executives since it began<br />
in 2015.<br />
Autonomy CFO trial to shine light on HP deal<br />
Criminal case comes ahead of UK civil suit claiming $5.1bn damages<br />
RICHARD WATERS<br />
eventually shed last year by Hewlett<br />
Packard Enterprise, a successor company<br />
to HP, and are now part of<br />
MicroFocus, which has taken over as<br />
the UK’s largest listed tech company.<br />
The criminal trial is a prelude to<br />
a civil suit that HP has lodged in the<br />
UK against Mr Lynch and Mr Hussain<br />
claiming $5.1bn in damages. Mr Lynch<br />
has counter-sued, seeking $160m for<br />
what he claims were lost investment<br />
opportunities due to reputational<br />
damage caused by the fraud allegations.<br />
The US trial, taking place in Federal<br />
Court, is set to turn on transactions<br />
Autonomy booked in the US that prosecutors<br />
claim were designed to make<br />
up for persistent shortfalls in its sales<br />
at the end of each quarter.<br />
US lawmakers push<br />
for crackdown on<br />
foreign companies<br />
Multinationals face being forced to divulge<br />
sensitive information about contacts<br />
BARNEY JOPSON AND<br />
DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO<br />
US lawmakers are pushing<br />
legislation that would force<br />
foreign business leaders to<br />
divulge sensitive information about<br />
their contacts with US government<br />
officials in a crackdown on lobbying<br />
spurred by concern about Russian<br />
political meddling.<br />
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s<br />
probe into Russian interference has<br />
injected new life into a bill causing<br />
concern among non-US multinationals<br />
because it could class their<br />
employees as “foreign agents” subject<br />
to stringent American disclosure requirements<br />
that could put them at a<br />
disadvantage to US rivals..<br />
The bill would strengthen an<br />
obscure 1930s law aimed at Nazi<br />
propagandists that was thrust into<br />
the spotlight by Mr Mueller’s October<br />
indictment of Paul Manafort, US<br />
President Donald Trump’s former<br />
campaign manager accused of failing<br />
to register as a foreign agent lobbying<br />
for a Ukrainian political party.<br />
Lawyers say the legislation, which<br />
would modify the 1938 Foreign Agents<br />
Registration Act, would heap new disclosure<br />
requirements on the staff of<br />
any non-US company meeting federal<br />
officials; on American lobbyists providing<br />
services to foreign companies;<br />
and on US businesses lobbying for<br />
their own foreign affiliates.<br />
Its effect would be “chilling”, according<br />
to a Washington-based executive<br />
at one European company.<br />
“Your competitors would have extraordinary<br />
transparency into what<br />
you are doing in the US.”<br />
Multinationals with big US operations<br />
— including the likes of engine<br />
maker Rolls-Royce and German manufacturers<br />
Bayer and Siemens — have<br />
sent staff to Capitol Hill to express<br />
their concerns about the legislation in<br />
its current form, according to people<br />
familiar with the bill.<br />
Nancy McLernon, president of OFII<br />
(the Organisation for International<br />
Investment), a trade group for non-US<br />
companies lobbying for changes to the<br />
bill, said it would “lump US employees<br />
of a Canadian auto-parts company or<br />
Germany-based grocery chain in with<br />
agents of foreign governments”.<br />
The Republican-backed bill, which<br />
passed a hurried committee vote in<br />
the House of Representatives in January,<br />
is sponsored by congressman<br />
Mike Johnson and the senator Chuck<br />
Grassley, who have said it would close<br />
“loopholes exploited by lobbyists of<br />
foreign entities to conceal their work”.<br />
While the bill’s progress is making<br />
business nervous, its chances of being<br />
put to a full vote are uncertain. One<br />
person close to House Republican<br />
leaders said it would not be brought<br />
up in the near future, while Mitch Mc-<br />
Connell, the Senate majority leader,<br />
has not taken a position on the bill.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED 2015<br />
C002D5556<br />
FINANCIAL TIMES<br />
COMPANIES & MARKETS<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
A9<br />
Stocks to watch: Blue Buffalo,<br />
Hewlett-Packard, Phoenix<br />
Premium pet food maker is snapped up while RBS costs disappoint<br />
BRYCE ELDER<br />
Blue Buffalo Pet Products<br />
rose 17 per cent in US<br />
pre-market trading after<br />
General Mills agreed to<br />
buy the upscale pet food<br />
maker at an enterprise valuation of<br />
$8bn. The price tag is equivalent to<br />
25 times Blue Buffalo’s 2017 ebitda<br />
and more than 6 times sales.<br />
Openheimer called the premium<br />
paid by General Mills “fair”,<br />
adding: “Although we see strategic<br />
rationale for other players such as<br />
Colgate-Palmolive, we do not see<br />
another bid emerging.”<br />
Hewlett-Packard Enterprise<br />
gained around 12 per cent after its<br />
first-quarter results beat forecasts<br />
and nudged full-year guidance<br />
higher, thanks in part to tax cuts.<br />
The computer maker also set out a<br />
$7bn cash return to shareholders<br />
via buybacks and lifted its dividend<br />
by 50 per cent.<br />
“Despite the solid first quarter,<br />
organic top-line growth, expectations<br />
remain muted while operating<br />
leverage seems largely driven<br />
by restructuring,” noted analysts<br />
at Berenberg, which repeated a<br />
“hold” rating. “We see increasing<br />
operational risk from both the latest<br />
restructuring and the management<br />
transition, and so believe it is<br />
too early to be more constructive.”<br />
In London, hedge fund manager<br />
Man Group slipped after analysts<br />
cut estimates to reflect a weak<br />
performance through <strong>Feb</strong>ruary for<br />
its flagship AHL funds, which will<br />
reduce performance fees. Merrill<br />
Lynch lowered its <strong>2018</strong> earnings<br />
forecast by 21 per cent.<br />
General Mills is making a foray<br />
into the fast-growing market<br />
for natural pet foods after announcing<br />
it will buy luxury dog food<br />
maker Blue Buffalo Pet Products in a<br />
deal worth about $8bn.<br />
Described around the time of<br />
its 2015 initial public offering as the<br />
“Whole Foods of dog food”, Blue Buffalo<br />
is one of the fastest-growing major<br />
companies making natural pet treats<br />
for dogs and cats within the $30bn US<br />
pet food industry.<br />
The Minneapolis-based company,<br />
best known as the maker of Cheerios<br />
and Lucky Charms cereals and Häagen-Dazs<br />
ice cream, will acquire Blue<br />
for $40 a share in cash, representing a<br />
17.2 per cent premium to the target’s<br />
closing price on Thursday of $34.12.<br />
That gives the target an enterprise<br />
value of about $8bn, taking into account<br />
the total debt of $471m and<br />
cash of $283m the company had on<br />
its balance sheet as of December 31.<br />
In pre-market trading on the<br />
Nasdaq on Friday, Blue shares were<br />
17.4 per cent higher to $40.05 while<br />
General Mills was down 0.4 per cent at<br />
$54.75. General Mills’ offer is double<br />
Blue’s 2015 initial public offering<br />
price of $20.<br />
General Mills Chairman and Chief<br />
Executive Officer, Jeff Harmening said<br />
Phoenix was in demand after<br />
announcing the £2.9bn acquisition<br />
of Standard Life Aberdeen’s<br />
insurance business, part funded<br />
by £950m rights issue and £1bn of<br />
vendor finance from Standard Life.<br />
The deal will triple Phoenix’s assets<br />
under administration.<br />
Analysts at Barclays said Phoenix<br />
has “acquired a material book<br />
of business on attractive terms<br />
that supports the current attractive<br />
dividend yield of 6.5 per cent. The<br />
question will be whether the deal<br />
will allow the stock to be re-rated,<br />
with the yield moving closer to its<br />
UK life peers yields of Legal and<br />
General and Aviva.”<br />
British Airways owner IAG<br />
was the FTSE 100’s sharpest faller<br />
after its full-year earnings came in<br />
slightly below consensus expectations.<br />
BT Group jumped after regulator<br />
Ofcom watered down broadband<br />
price regulations, with BT’s<br />
Openreach wholesale division allowed<br />
to charge operators such as<br />
TalkTalk higher prices than under a<br />
September 2017 consultation.<br />
Separately, Berenberg upgraded<br />
BT to “buy” from “hold” with a 310p<br />
target.<br />
It told clients: “BT has been a<br />
noisy, complicated story that we<br />
believe many investors have found<br />
easiest to ignore and avoid. We<br />
believe the current share price now<br />
represents an opportunity. In the<br />
coming months, we will have more<br />
clarity on many of the key aspects<br />
of the investment case (regulation,<br />
pension, capital expenditure risk),<br />
after which newsflow should quieten<br />
considerably.”<br />
General Mills offers $8bn for luxury pet<br />
food maker Blue Buffalo<br />
Fast-growing market for pet pampering<br />
PETER WELLS<br />
in a statement on Friday the acquisition<br />
of Blue represented a “significant<br />
milestone” as the company reshaped<br />
its portfolio in an effort to drive growth<br />
and shareholder returns.<br />
“In pet food, as in human food,<br />
consumers are seeking more natural<br />
and premium products and we have<br />
tremendous respect for how attentive<br />
Blue Buffalo has been to the needs<br />
of their consumers, pet parents and<br />
pets, as they have built their brand,”<br />
Mr Harmening said.<br />
“[W]e expect to help Blue Buffalo<br />
by leveraging our extensive supply<br />
chain, R&D and sales & marketing<br />
resources. We will in turn benefit<br />
from their experience building one of<br />
the strongest pull brands in the CPG<br />
world,” he added.<br />
Blue on Friday announced a 10.9<br />
per cent increase in annual sales to<br />
$1.28bn in the 12 months ended December<br />
31 and 24.3 per cent jump in<br />
adjusted net income to $195m.<br />
Analysts at Susquehanna said the<br />
deal made sense for General Mills and<br />
was not unexpected. “We think there<br />
is potential for counter bids, either<br />
from companies like [J M Smucker]<br />
(trying to bulk up their pet food portfolio),<br />
Nestle (pet food is a priority),<br />
or from [consumer packaged goods]<br />
companies not in pet food at present<br />
trying to diversify into faster growth<br />
categories,” they wrote in a note on<br />
Friday morning.<br />
Berkshire Hathaway gains $29bn on back of US tax reforms<br />
Earnings rise by 87% even as Warren Buffett’s group steered away from mega-acquisitions<br />
ERIC PLATT<br />
Berkshire Hathaway, the sprawling<br />
conglomerate headed by Warren<br />
Buffett, on Saturday reported a<br />
$29bn gain relating to changes to the<br />
US tax code that were signed into law by<br />
US president Donald Trump last year.<br />
The tax reforms helped increase the<br />
company’s net earnings by roughly 87<br />
per cent from a year earlier to $44.9bn,<br />
even as it shied away from the types<br />
of mega-acquisitions for which it is<br />
known and its insurance business faced<br />
a string of catastrophes, including hurricanes<br />
in the US and Puerto Rico and<br />
wildfires in California. Berkshire’s net<br />
worth increased by more than $65bn<br />
in 2017.<br />
Mr Buffett wrote in his annual letter<br />
to shareholders that “2017 was far from<br />
standard: A large portion of our gain did<br />
not come from anything we accomplished<br />
at Berkshire. The $65bn gain is<br />
nonetheless real — rest assured of that.<br />
But only $36bn came from Berkshire’s<br />
operations. The remaining $29bn was<br />
delivered to us in December when Congress<br />
rewrote the US tax code.”<br />
The $29bn bonus stems from the<br />
billions of unrealised gains Berkshire<br />
has accumulated over the years on its<br />
enormous portfolio of stocks and for<br />
which it had estimated potential taxes<br />
on. The reduction in the corporate tax<br />
rate to 21 per cent from 35 per cent cuts<br />
the group’s tax liabilities.<br />
While the US tax reform has led<br />
to a flurry of mergers at the year’s<br />
start — with multibillion-dollar tie ups<br />
agreed by Blackstone and Thomson<br />
Reuters and JAB Holding and Dr Pepper<br />
Snapple — Berkshire has been<br />
conspicuously absent. On Saturday, Mr<br />
Wall Street rebounded and<br />
Treasury yields slipped<br />
on Friday as markets eye<br />
a string of speeches from Federal<br />
Reserve officials.<br />
After finishing mixed on Thursday,<br />
US stocks regained their footing<br />
with the S&P 500 rising as much<br />
as 0.7 pe r cent to 2,722.64, while<br />
the Nasdaq Composite and Dow<br />
also advanced.<br />
Attention remains on the bond<br />
market however amid a string of<br />
stronger-than-expected inflation<br />
Buffett assailed the dealmaking spree,<br />
warning of the use of “extraordinarily<br />
cheap debt” to finance acquisitions<br />
and the lack of rational valuations.<br />
“In our search for new standalone<br />
businesses, the key qualities we seek<br />
are durable competitive strengths;<br />
able and high-grade management;<br />
good returns on the net tangible assets<br />
required to operate the business;<br />
opportunities for internal growth at<br />
attractive returns; and, finally, a sensible<br />
purchase price,” he wrote. “That<br />
last requirement proved a barrier to<br />
virtually all deals we reviewed in 2017,<br />
as prices for decent, but far from spectacular,<br />
businesses hit an all-time high.<br />
Indeed, price seemed almost irrelevant<br />
to an army of optimistic purchasers.”<br />
Mr Buffett, who will host shareholders<br />
in Omaha in May for the company’s<br />
annual meeting, added that investment<br />
bankers “smelling huge fees” and executives<br />
envisioning higher remuneration<br />
often cheer such transactions that<br />
Berkshire avoids.<br />
Dealmaking is running at its fastest<br />
pace since the Dotcom boom of 2000,<br />
with more than $550bn of mergers and<br />
acquisitions proposed so far this year,<br />
according to Dealogic. And companies<br />
and private equity firms have been willing<br />
to pony up for targets. The average<br />
price to earnings multiple on deals this<br />
year is at a record high.<br />
“The CEO job self-selects for ‘cando’<br />
types,” he wrote. “If Wall Street<br />
analysts or board members urge that<br />
brand of CEO to consider possible<br />
acquisitions, it’s a bit like telling your<br />
ripening teenager to be sure to have a<br />
normal sex life. Once a CEO hungers<br />
for a deal, he or she will never lack for<br />
forecasts that justify the purchase.”<br />
readings, expectations of stronger<br />
real economic growth, and debate<br />
on whether the Federal Reserve<br />
needs to accelerate the pace of rate<br />
rises and if it risks falling behind<br />
the curve on tightening.<br />
Treasuries were rallying once<br />
again with the yield on the US 10-<br />
year down 2.9 basis points to 2.88<br />
per cent, having nearly hit the 3 per<br />
cent level earlier this week.<br />
With little economic data of<br />
note investors will instead tune<br />
into remarks from a handful of<br />
Fed officials. New York Fed president<br />
Bill Dudley and Cleveland<br />
Investors and analysts have awaited<br />
a large deal from Mr Buffett ever since<br />
Berkshire and Brazilian private equity<br />
group 3G Capital failed to secure a<br />
$143bn agreement with Unilever, the<br />
consumer goods giant, last year. Berkshire<br />
has amassed more than $114bn of<br />
so-called float, a pool of capital grown<br />
out of the insurance premiums it collects<br />
that the company then uses to<br />
fund equity purchases and corporate<br />
takeovers.<br />
On Saturday, Mr Buffett said that<br />
Berkshire “will need to make one or<br />
more huge acquisitions”. In the company’s<br />
annual report, released on the<br />
same day, Berkshire reiterated that it<br />
was after acquisitions between $5bn<br />
and $20bn in size, although Mr Buffett<br />
and Charlie Munger, the company’s<br />
vice-chairman, have said in the past<br />
that a deal could stretch far beyond<br />
that.<br />
While responsibility for takeovers<br />
still falls to Messrs Buffett and Munger,<br />
Berkshire has lined up two heir apparents.<br />
In January Mr Buffett promoted<br />
two of his top lieutenants to vice-chair<br />
roles. The ascent of Greg Abel, the<br />
chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway<br />
Energy, and Ajit Jain, the Omaha-based<br />
group’s reinsurance chief, was interpreted<br />
by investors as an endorsement<br />
of a future leader of the $500bn group<br />
that includes Fruit of the Loom, Geico,<br />
NetJets and Lubrizol.<br />
Succession questions had long<br />
swirled at the company, among the 10<br />
largest publicly traded groups in the<br />
US, and news on Friday that Mr Buffett<br />
would retire from the Kraft Heinz<br />
board confirmed that the billionaire<br />
investor would continue to reduce his<br />
non-Berkshire responsibilities.<br />
Wall Street rebounds as markets await Fed speakers<br />
Investors shrug off possibly messy election in March<br />
MAMTA BADKAR<br />
Fed head Loretta Mester — both<br />
voting members of the monetary<br />
policy setting Federal Open Market<br />
Committee — and Boston Fed<br />
head Eric Rosengren are slated to<br />
speak at the <strong>2018</strong> US Monetary<br />
Policy Forum Annual Conference<br />
in New York.<br />
Meanwhile, San Francisco Fed<br />
president John Williams, also a<br />
voting member, will speak in Los<br />
Angeles.<br />
Elsewhere in markets the dollar<br />
index, a gauge of the buck against<br />
a weighted average of six global<br />
peers, was up 0.2 per cent to 89.87.
A10<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong>
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY A11<br />
NEWS<br />
New report shows how Nigeria can<br />
Lagos waste: Your position in bad taste,<br />
plug $300bn infrastructure gap<br />
… identifies weak regulatory framework as biggest constraint<br />
ISAAC ANYAOGU<br />
A<br />
new report by the<br />
Africa Finance Corporation<br />
(AFC), a<br />
pan-African finance<br />
institution, and the Boston<br />
Consulting Group, a global<br />
consulting firm, says developing<br />
a solid legal and regulatory<br />
framework is crucial in<br />
attracting private capital for<br />
infrastructure projects in Nigeria<br />
and other sub-Saharan<br />
African (SSA) countries.<br />
The report titled ‘Infrastructure<br />
financing in sub-<br />
Saharan Africa, best practices<br />
from ten years in the field,’<br />
draws on the experience and<br />
best-practice advice of experts<br />
from both the private<br />
sector and the public sector<br />
and found that most African<br />
countries’ regulatory frameworks<br />
remain limited and<br />
piecemeal.<br />
As a result, SSA has attracted<br />
only $77 billion in<br />
PPP projects, compared to<br />
$124 billion in Turkey alone,<br />
or $658 billion in South<br />
America (with Brazil alone<br />
representing $433bn). In<br />
SSA, private investment in<br />
core power and transport infrastructure<br />
has been limited<br />
to only $51 billion over the<br />
last 25 years, the report said.<br />
“These numbers highlight<br />
Africa’s enormous potential<br />
for growth going forward,”<br />
the report avers. “Infrastruc-<br />
ture investment in Africa<br />
has the potential to be highly<br />
profitable. Returns there, on<br />
average, are likely to be significantly<br />
higher than in Europe,<br />
for example,” the report<br />
says.<br />
According to the African<br />
Development Bank (AfDB),<br />
Nigeria’s core stock of infrastructure<br />
is estimated at only<br />
20-25 percent of GDP, compared<br />
with 70 percent for<br />
other middle income countries<br />
of its size, leaving an<br />
infrastructure deficit of $300<br />
billion. Only South Africa has<br />
completed more public-private<br />
partnership (PPP) infrastructure<br />
deals over the past<br />
25 years than Nigeria has.<br />
African governments with<br />
shoestring infrastructure<br />
budgets need to clarify regulation,<br />
develop fiscal incentives,<br />
and facilitate provisions<br />
that promote dispute settlement<br />
and licensing. This is<br />
because increased private<br />
investor involvement in the<br />
infrastructure space is the<br />
best way to achieve intensive<br />
job creation and incentivise<br />
funding and skill transfer.<br />
The report further said<br />
that while projects have prospect<br />
of generating higher return<br />
on investment than similar<br />
projects in other regions,<br />
investors walk a minefield<br />
of government and financial<br />
markets challenges.<br />
Complications could<br />
arise from limited publicsector<br />
capabilities to develop<br />
strategic foresight and planning,<br />
insufficient political<br />
will, policy uncertainty, weak<br />
regulatory environments,<br />
shoddy law enforcement,<br />
and dearth of technical skills.<br />
Financial markets in<br />
many African countries are<br />
narrow with higher actual<br />
and provisional risks; longer<br />
project durations, significant<br />
cost overruns, and currency<br />
mismatches make financing<br />
issues more complex.<br />
“African governments<br />
are attempting to address<br />
these deficiencies. Of the<br />
49 SSA, 42 now have enacted<br />
legislation to provide<br />
a regulatory framework for<br />
private investment in infrastructure.<br />
South Africa,<br />
Rwanda, Botswana, and<br />
Mauritius offer good examples<br />
of advanced and robust<br />
regulatory contexts,” the report<br />
says.<br />
Last year, lawmakers<br />
in Nigeria passed the Federal<br />
Roads Authority Bill<br />
which establishes the Federal<br />
Roads Authority (FRA)<br />
under the purview of the<br />
Ministry of Works, to sustain<br />
the construction, rehabilitation<br />
and connectivity of<br />
roads between states in the<br />
country. The National Road<br />
Funds Bill (the NRF Bill) was<br />
also introduced in 2017 to<br />
assist in financing the development,<br />
renewal and maintenance<br />
of national roads.<br />
VAIDS: FIRS<br />
targets<br />
N6.747trn tax<br />
revenue<br />
SEYI JOHN SALAU<br />
As the March 31 amnesty<br />
for tax evaders’<br />
deadline under<br />
the Voluntary Assets<br />
and Income Declaration<br />
Scheme (VAIDS) draws near,<br />
the Federal Inland Revenue<br />
Service (FIRS) says it target to<br />
raise N6.747 trillion tax revenue<br />
for <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
Babatunde Fowler, executive<br />
chairman, FIRS, speaking<br />
at the Institute of Directors<br />
(IoD) Nigeria, Members’<br />
Evening held in Lagos recently,<br />
said VAIDS provided<br />
an opportunity to increase<br />
general tax awareness and<br />
compliance among the general<br />
public.<br />
According to Fowler, FIRS<br />
tax revenue target for the year<br />
is based on a N3.776 trillion<br />
expected from the non-oil<br />
sector and N2.666 trillion<br />
from the oil sector, which<br />
represents 58.62 percent and<br />
41.38 percent, respectively.<br />
Fowler opined that, “Taxpayer<br />
makes financial savings<br />
that can be deployed to<br />
other productive activities<br />
while being tax compliant.<br />
Government has more resources<br />
to provide a conducive<br />
business environment<br />
(infrastructure and security).<br />
“The interplay of gains by<br />
taxpayers and the government<br />
makes an adequate<br />
canvas for economic growth<br />
and development.”<br />
PSP operators tell aggrieved members<br />
... insist resolve to work with state,<br />
Visionscape in best interest of Lagosians<br />
DAVIID IBEMERE<br />
Concerned stakeholders<br />
of Association of<br />
Waste Managers of<br />
Nigeria (AWMN) on<br />
Sunday condemned a statement<br />
credited to an aggrieved<br />
group within the association<br />
faulting the resolve to work<br />
with the Lagos State government<br />
and an environmental<br />
utility group, Visionscape<br />
Sanitation Solutions to ensure<br />
cleaner environment.<br />
The aggrieved group, in<br />
a statement by its chairman,<br />
Oladipo Egbeyemi, had distanced<br />
itself from the agreement<br />
to work with the state to<br />
rid it of filth adorning major<br />
streets and highways, describing<br />
the resolution as misleading<br />
and untrue.<br />
Responding, the concerned<br />
stakeholders, in a statement<br />
signed on their behalf by<br />
Kasumu Afis Olasehinde of<br />
Gafista Concepts Limited, said<br />
the statement by the aggrieved<br />
stakeholders was not only in<br />
bad taste but had shown them<br />
to care less about the interest<br />
of Lagosians.<br />
The stakeholders, comprising<br />
of 48 Private Sector<br />
Participant (PSP) operators in<br />
waste management, said their<br />
resolve to work with the state<br />
to ensure the success of the<br />
Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI)<br />
was borne out of genuine<br />
desire to protect the environment<br />
and prevent outbreak of<br />
any epidemic.<br />
According to the statement,<br />
“This kind gesture was warmly<br />
received and accepted by the<br />
government, but to the surprise<br />
of many, a group believed<br />
to be aggrieved from AWMN,<br />
has come out to disown us for<br />
offering a helping hand, you<br />
must ask why? Are they angry<br />
with progress? Are they peopleoriented<br />
at all? Is this challenge<br />
a thing of pride and ego to them<br />
or service to the people?<br />
“We have been rendering<br />
unequalled outstanding<br />
waste management service<br />
to Lagosians for decades, and<br />
it is the state of things that<br />
necessitated our group’s initiative<br />
to offer help and also<br />
collaborate with Visionscape.<br />
The Visionscape group sees<br />
us as partners who will learn<br />
a lot from each other and they<br />
are willing to collaborate with<br />
us to make Lagos clean.<br />
“We also state that the<br />
wellbeing of Lagosians is utmost<br />
in our mind, and as we<br />
approach the raining season,<br />
we cannot just watch but also<br />
intervene to avoid epidemic,<br />
which is what the aggrieved<br />
group does not care about.<br />
“We can’t afford to let the<br />
CLI fail, because if it does,<br />
we will also be considered as<br />
failure, hence a need to take<br />
responsibility as a peopleoriented<br />
group to render service<br />
whether paid or unpaid;<br />
laudable to say the least and<br />
quite commendable and any<br />
progressive would agree with<br />
my group,” Olasehinde said.
A12<br />
Remains of the clinic and<br />
an ambulance belonging<br />
to Plateau State College of<br />
Education, Gindiri, which<br />
was burnt during students’<br />
protest over school identification<br />
cards, in Gindiri,<br />
Mangu Local Government<br />
Area of Plateau State, on<br />
Friday.<br />
NAN<br />
I lived in ‘second hell’ in<br />
Libya - returnee<br />
EMMANUEL NDUKUBA<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
CITYFile<br />
One of the returnees from Libya,<br />
Victor Ndukwe, an indigene of<br />
Awka South local government<br />
area, in Anambra State, has<br />
described his experience in<br />
the foreign country as “living in second hell”.<br />
He spoke with journalists after being<br />
received by the officials of Anambra State<br />
Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).<br />
According to Ndukwe, he was in prison<br />
Court sentences 3 herders for open grazing in Benue<br />
A<br />
Makurdi Magistrate Court has sentenced<br />
three herders, Iliya Garba,<br />
Hassan Abdullahi, and Lanshak<br />
Lonfalk, to a year imprison each, for<br />
violating the State Benue Anti-Open Grazing<br />
Law, 2017.<br />
The convicts were charged with criminal<br />
conspiracy and open nomadic livestock<br />
rearing and grazing. The offences are punishable<br />
under sections 97 of the Penal Code<br />
and 19 (2) of the Open Grazing Prohibition<br />
Ranches Establishment Law of Benue, 2017.<br />
The prosecutor, Michael Iorundu, told the<br />
Oyo sinks boreholes in major markets<br />
Oyo State government through the<br />
Sustainable Development Goals<br />
(SDG) office has constructed 15<br />
motorised boreholes in some<br />
major markets as part of measures improve<br />
water supply in the state.<br />
Abimbola Adekanmbi, the state commissioner<br />
for finance and budget, speaking at<br />
the commissioning of one of the boreholes<br />
at Bodija Market, Ibadan, explained that the<br />
project was completed through the conditional<br />
grants scheme. According to him, the<br />
project is aimed at achieving goals 3 and 6 of<br />
the SDG programme, targeting good health<br />
for about four months, with little or no food,<br />
where he faced severe torture, an experience<br />
he said has taught him hard lesson about life.<br />
Ndukwe was among the forth batch of<br />
Anambra returnees from Libya, received by<br />
SEMA officials at the Port Harcourt Airport<br />
through the National Emergency Management<br />
Agency (NEMA) and other security<br />
agencies, on Friday.<br />
The team leader of SEMA, Emmanuel<br />
Izuchukwu, told newsmen in Awka, the<br />
Anambra State capital, that the returnees<br />
…as convicts claim ignorance of anti-open grazing law<br />
AKINREMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan<br />
court that the joint patrol team of ‘Operation<br />
Zenda,’ led by Edward Shinyi, arrested the<br />
herders on <strong>Feb</strong>ruary, 18 <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
Iorundu said that the accused were<br />
brought to the State Criminal and Investigation<br />
Department, Makurdi.<br />
“The team reported that the three herders<br />
and others now at large, were openly grazing<br />
their cattle along Yeluwata Road in Guma local<br />
government area of Benue. When the case<br />
came up for mention, the herders pleaded<br />
guilty to the charge against them, saying that<br />
they were not aware that open grazing had<br />
and clean water sanitation.<br />
Adekanmbi, who is the also the chairman<br />
of the Conditional Grants Scheme, said that<br />
the boreholes tagged ‘Ajumose Water Points’<br />
have been provided with a standby generator,<br />
stating that Bola Ige International Gbagi,<br />
Ibadan, Bembo market, Apata, Ibadan,<br />
Eleeka market, Oyo, Bodija market, Ibadan<br />
Saasa market, Ibadan and Towobowo market,<br />
Igboora, the largest market in Ibarapa<br />
zone of the state, were some of the beneficiaries<br />
of the project.<br />
He said that two of the boreholes were<br />
located at Sabo market, Ibadan, while Omi<br />
Adio market, Apata, Ibadan, Obanisunwa<br />
market, Ayete, Aaraada market, Ogbomoso,<br />
would be taken to skills acquisition centre,<br />
at Abagana.<br />
Another returnee, David Eze from Nnewi<br />
said he was a businessman dealing in electrical<br />
parts before he left for Libya. He said that<br />
he was misinformed about his prospects in<br />
Libya; as his intention was to crossover to<br />
Europe through Libya.<br />
Eze in appreciation thanked the federal<br />
and state governments for saving their lives<br />
and called on others nursing the ambition<br />
of travelling through Libya to have a rethink.<br />
been prohibited in Benue,’’ he said.<br />
The magistrate, Lillian Tsumba said that<br />
the herders were first offenders who were<br />
also illiterates and not even aware that<br />
open grazing has been prohibited in Benue.<br />
Tsumba said that a law such as open grazing<br />
prohibition required massive exposure and<br />
education of persons at the grassroots.<br />
She, however, said “law is law and must<br />
be obeyed in spite ignorance”. The magistrate<br />
sentenced the herders to a year imprison<br />
each, with N500,000 option of fine each.<br />
(NAN)<br />
Odo-Oba market, Odo-Oba, Ogo-Oluwa,<br />
Oja Agbe market, Iseyin, Olorunda market,<br />
Iganna and Owode market, Igboho have<br />
one each.<br />
Toye Arulogun, commissioner for information,<br />
culture and tourism, said that market<br />
men and women were integral part of<br />
government, assuring that the state government<br />
would provide more social amenities<br />
for the people.<br />
He noted that the informal sector was key<br />
to increased internal revenue of the state.<br />
Tope Fajana, the special adviser to Governor<br />
Abiola Ajimobi on SDG, assured that<br />
the Ajumose Water Points would go round<br />
all markets in the state.<br />
Ambode urges civil servants to<br />
acquire problem-solving skills<br />
JOSHUA BASSEY<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi<br />
Ambode, has urged<br />
civil servants in the state to take<br />
advantage of the numerous training<br />
programmes being packaged for them,<br />
to acquire problem-solving skills.<br />
Ambode spoke at a training session<br />
for select senior civil servants in the<br />
state public service, with the theme<br />
“Coaching as a vehicle for realising<br />
the potentials of the Lagos State public<br />
service”.<br />
According to the governor, who<br />
was represented by Benson Akintola,<br />
the commissioner for establishments,<br />
training and pensions, every officer in<br />
the state public service aspiring to lead<br />
must develop, possess and maintain<br />
problem-solving skills.<br />
He explained that “developing the<br />
mind frame for deploying these skills<br />
is one of the essential soft skills that is<br />
mandatory for success in the today’s<br />
rapidly changing world.”<br />
The governor explained that the various<br />
training programmes were aimed<br />
at charting a new path and attaining an<br />
optimal state of performance and service<br />
delivery, which would ultimately<br />
re-energise the economy of Lagos in<br />
particularly and the country in general.<br />
“As I have indicated at several other<br />
for a, once the Lagos State public service<br />
is able to attain that optimal state of<br />
effectiveness and productivity through<br />
aid of coaching, no problem will be too<br />
complicated, no task too herculean,<br />
no challenge too huge, and no task<br />
too complicated for it to confront,” the<br />
governor said.<br />
He said these were the reasons why<br />
the state was constantly equipping its<br />
officers with skills and tools as the vehicle<br />
for attaining the goals.<br />
Thus, we will continue to invest in<br />
every public officer by designing and<br />
delivering coaching instructions that<br />
would increase the knowledge and skills<br />
of every officer such that multiplier<br />
effect on the public service would be<br />
dynamism, responsiveness, effectiveness,<br />
machine-like precision, and exponential<br />
productivity,” Ambode said.<br />
Policeman charged with<br />
murder of naval officer<br />
An Ebute Meta Magistrate Court,<br />
in Lagos, has remanded 36-year<br />
policeman, Ismaila Aladuge in<br />
custody for his alleged role in the death<br />
of Daniel Dukur, a naval officer.<br />
Aladuge, who appeared on a charge for<br />
murder, is to remain behind bars pending<br />
the outcome of legal advice from the<br />
Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions<br />
(DPP).<br />
Chinalu Uwadione, the prosecutor,<br />
told the court, on Friday, that the offence<br />
was committed on July 17, 2017 at N0.<br />
11, Idowu Martins Street, Victoria Island,<br />
Lagos.<br />
He said that the accused had accidentally<br />
shot Dukur, 34, on his abdomen with<br />
his service riffle while trying to disperse a<br />
mob, which led to Dukur’s death.<br />
The offences contravened Section 223<br />
of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.<br />
The magistrate, A.S. Okubule, has adjourned<br />
the case till March 30, pending<br />
the legal advice.
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
C002D5556<br />
BUSINESS DAY<br />
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BUSINESS DAY<br />
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Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong>
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong><br />
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BUSINESS DAY<br />
C002D5556<br />
Monday <strong>26</strong> <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>2018</strong>
BUSINESS DAY<br />
Insight<br />
FDC Bi-Monthly update<br />
Nigeria Macroeconomic Indicators<br />
POWER SECTOR<br />
Power output<br />
on <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
14th was<br />
4,138MWh/h,<br />
increasing by<br />
36.88% from 3,023MWh/h<br />
on <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 1st. Average<br />
power output from the national<br />
grid was 3,918MWh/h<br />
between <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 1st – <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
14th. Increased output<br />
was largely due to reduced<br />
gas constraints.<br />
NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I MONDAY <strong>26</strong> FEBRUARY <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556<br />
fivethings<br />
for your new week<br />
Fascinating business facts<br />
27.8m<br />
Google Play apps and games store has started accepting<br />
payments through Kenya’s highly successful mobile<br />
money service M-Pesa in a market where many<br />
people do not have a credit card. M-Pesa, which<br />
enables Kenyans to transfer money and pay bills via<br />
mobile phone, has 27.8 million users in the nation of<br />
45 million people where Google’s Android platform<br />
dominates. Safariom started M-Pesa in 2007, offering<br />
money transfer services between users.<br />
MONEY MARKET<br />
Average opening position<br />
of the interbank market was<br />
N111.02bn long between<br />
<strong>Feb</strong>ruary 1st -15th compared<br />
to N284.08bn long in the<br />
corresponding period in<br />
January. The DMO issued a<br />
sum of N176bn in T/bills in<br />
the first auction of <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
com- pared to the first auction<br />
in January of N161.55bn<br />
. The stop rates for the 182<br />
and 364 - day tenors were<br />
unchanged at 13.65% pa and<br />
13.7% pa while the 91-day<br />
tenor declined further to<br />
11.95% pa from the last auction<br />
conducted in January.<br />
In the secondary market, T/<br />
bills yields for the 182-day<br />
tenor remained unchanged<br />
while it declined for the 91-<br />
day and 364-day tenors during<br />
the review period. The<br />
91-day, 182-day and 364-day<br />
closed at 12.38%, 14.58% and<br />
13.55% from 13.12%, 13.42%<br />
and 13.75% on <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 1st<br />
respectively.<br />
Average NIBOR (OBB,<br />
O/N) was 24.17% pa during<br />
the re- view period, compared<br />
to 11.05% pa in the<br />
corresponding period in<br />
January. Short term interest<br />
rates reached a high of over<br />
50%, due to reduced market<br />
liquidity before retreating<br />
to close at 6.80% on <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
15th (average OBB/<br />
ON). The total OMO sales<br />
in the first half of <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
was N249.5bn compared to<br />
N344.48bn sold in the corresponding<br />
period in January.<br />
FOREX MARKET<br />
Exchange Rate<br />
The naira appreciated marginally<br />
by 0.27% at the parallel<br />
market to close at N363/$<br />
between <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 1st –<strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
15th. The IEFX rate<br />
appreciated marginally by<br />
0.12% to N360.13/$ from<br />
N360.57. Total turnover during<br />
the review period at the<br />
IEFX window was $2.01bn<br />
com- pared to $2.14bn in<br />
the corresponding period<br />
in January. Year to date, a<br />
total of $8.04bn has been<br />
sold as at <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 15th. The<br />
IFEM rate traded within a<br />
tight band of N305.8/$ and<br />
N305.9/$.<br />
EXTERNAL RESERVES<br />
External reserves hit $41.47bn<br />
as at <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 13th, a 3-year<br />
high. This represents a YTD<br />
increase of 6.58%. This positive<br />
trend continues to be<br />
supported by strong oil and<br />
Euro- bond proceeds.<br />
COMMODITIES MARKET -<br />
EXPORTS<br />
Oil Prices<br />
Oil prices closed at $69.65pb<br />
at the start of the review<br />
period after hitting a peak of<br />
$71pb in January. However,<br />
the rally was shortlived as<br />
crude prices started trending<br />
lower to a 1-month low<br />
of $62.59 in the early days<br />
of <strong>Feb</strong>ruary before recovering<br />
to close at $64.33pb on<br />
<strong>Feb</strong>ruary 15th. The bearish<br />
sentiment is supported by<br />
increasing U.S. Shale production<br />
and a weak dollar.<br />
The average price during the<br />
period was $69.65pb. This is<br />
48.19% above the <strong>2018</strong> budget’s<br />
benchmark of $47pb and<br />
28.98% above 2017’s average<br />
price of $54pb.<br />
Oil Production<br />
Nigeria’s oil production declined<br />
marginally by 0.55%<br />
from 1.83mbpd in December<br />
to 1.82mbpd in January.<br />
Production remains<br />
higher than the OPEC cap<br />
of 1.8mbpd.<br />
Natural Gas<br />
Natural gas declined by<br />
9.66% during the review<br />
period to close at $2.580/<br />
mmbtu on <strong>Feb</strong>ruary 15th<br />
amidst expectations of increased<br />
production by Saudi<br />
Arabia.<br />
Cocoa<br />
Cocoa prices advanced 5.8%<br />
to $2,134/mt on <strong>Feb</strong>ruary<br />
15th, from $2,017/mt on<br />
<strong>Feb</strong>ruary 1st. The uptick in<br />
cocoa prices is due to increased<br />
seasonal demand.<br />
IMPORTS<br />
Wheat<br />
Wheat prices gained 5.31%<br />
to close at $4.75/bushel<br />
despite increasing Russian<br />
output.<br />
Corn<br />
Corn prices declined by<br />
3.87% to $3.78/bushel from<br />
$3.62/bushel during the review<br />
period. This was driven<br />
by improving U.S weather<br />
conditions.<br />
- Financial Derivatives Company<br />
11.1%<br />
Namibia will open its second iron ore mine after interest<br />
shown by an Indian-controlled company called<br />
Blake Trading, documents seen by Reuters on Friday<br />
show. The planned mine east of the capital Windhoek<br />
could have a potential lifespan of 40 years in a market<br />
where mining is an important as an contributor added<br />
11.1 percent to the country’s GDP during 2016, the Namibian<br />
Statistics Agency says.<br />
$14bn<br />
Nairobi shrugged off a ratings downgrade and loss<br />
of access to an IMF standby credit facility to raise a $2<br />
billion bond with yield starved investors accumulating<br />
bids in excess of $14bn for the offer.<br />
The bond offer added impetus to recent concerns over<br />
the rate at which Kenya is accumulating debt.<br />
The Eurobond, the second in a span of four years, will<br />
cost taxpayers a total of $3.2 billion in interest payments<br />
during its lifetime of up to 30 years, according to early<br />
calculations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)<br />
said Kenya needs a credible plan to tackle its fiscal deficit,<br />
which is the main driver of borrowing.<br />
377<br />
Although politically troubled, Ethiopia is pressing<br />
ahead with its aggressive privatisation policy with data<br />
showing that since its establishment two decades ago,<br />
Kenya has privatised a total of 377 public companies<br />
with 96% of the payment fully settled. Out of the total<br />
companies, 87% were transferred to local buyers. The<br />
government plans privatise all state-owned enterprises<br />
step by step as a strategy, says Wondarfash Assefa a<br />
spokesman for the government.<br />
90,000bd<br />
Libya’s oil exports from the Mellitah terminal will slow<br />
down after protests disrupted production at the key<br />
El-Feel deposit for the first time in two months, putting<br />
the OPEC nation’s crude production at risk of a decline<br />
again and sending oil prices higher. The field has<br />
production capacity of 90,000 barrels a day but it’s not<br />
clear what output was before the outage.<br />
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