BusinessDay 28 Feb 2018

34 BUSINESS DAY
C002D5556
Wednesday 28 February 2018
NEWS
China Development Bank, UBA sign $100m
loan deal to support SMEs in Africa
IHEANYI NWACHUKWU
United Bank for Africa
(UBA) Plc, a pan-African
banking group
and China Development
Bank (CDB),
the world’s largest development
finance institution, on February
27, 2018 announced the signing
of a $100 million seven-year loan
agreement to finance the development
of small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) in Africa.
The $100 million loan will enhance
UBA’s capacity to provide
access to finance to small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) across
the 19 African countries where
UBA currently operates.
“We are excited to partner with
China Development Bank (CDB),
the Development Financial Institution
of the Chinese Government,
on this historic transaction, as we
strongly believe that the facility will
serve as a catalyst to the sustainable
development of commerce
and industry in Africa through
provision of critical financial interventions
to SMEs across our
presence countries,” said Group
Managing Director/CEO, UBA Plc,
Kennedy Uzoka.
Uzoka noted that this line of
credit is timely, as it should complement
the recovery of economic
activities. It will also further encourage
African entrepreneurship
particularly as the funds will be
applied to SMEs, which are important
for inclusive growth on the
continent.
Speaking during the signing
ceremony, Chairman of UBA Plc,
Tony Elumelu said that the fund
will boost small and medium scale
enterprises across Africa, noting
that CDB’s interest in supporting
SMEs aligns with UBA’s vision in
growing business across Africa.
“In UBA, CDB would have an
enduring partner in reaching out to
Africans as UBA provides banking
services to over 14 million people
across 20 African countries, and
like CDB, UBA funds critical infrastructural
projects on the continent
“ Elumelu said. He expressed that
he would like to see an even stronger
relationship grow with CDB
and UBA as well as with China and
Nigeria.
Also commenting, the President
of CDB, Zheng Zhijie, said
the agreement is the beginning
of cooperation between UBA and
CDB that would translate into an
enduring business relationship
between China and Africa and
Nigeria in particular.
“UBA is a leading and dependable
bank not only in Nigeria but
Africa, and this partnership will
help our Bank to accelerate its
business objectives in Africa, more
importantly as we deepen our investment
in energy, road and rail
constructions, infrastructure in
Africa,” Zhije said.
UBA, Africa’s global bank, is
one of the largest commercial
banks in Nigeria incorporated
which operates in 19 African
countries whilst providing a wide
range of products and services.
UBA is a leading bank in infrastructure
financing particularly in
the Power, Telecoms and Transport
sectors. UBA leads in social
infrastructure such as hospital
and education facilities to various
countries in Africa. In Nigeria, the
bank operates in each of the country’s
36 states, helping to deepen
financial inclusion through its
brick and mortar network as well
as through its cutting edge digital
platforms. Globally, UBA has over
1,000 branches and customer
touch points, serving over 14 million
customers.
Adesola Adeduntan (m), MD/CEO, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, receiving the African Banker of the Year
Award from Joseph Beasley (2nd r), chairman, African Leadership Advisory Board; Lalao Ravalomanana (r),
Mayor of Antananarivo; Seyi Oyefeso (l), group executive, commercial banking group, FirstBank, and Abdullahi
Ibrahim (2nd l), executive director, public sector directorate, FirstBank, at the African Leadership Magazine
Persons of the Year Award in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Visionscape issuing N4bn bond priced at...
Continued from page 1
waste dumps marring its street
corners.
The offer which opened on
February 26 and closes today is
being priced at 15.75 percent and
has a 4.5 year tenor, according to
sources familiar with the matter.
Dubai based Visionscape undertook
the Series 1 of the debt
programme last year, raising
a five-year N27 billion note at
around 17 percent.
The first coupon for the N27
billion bond falls due March 5, the
same day Visionscape is asking
investors interested in series 2 to
fund the debt.
That timing is probably a coincidence
rather than a case of Visionscape
borrowing to make coupon
payments for previous debt, one
source told BusinessDay.
An email to an address available
on Visionscape’s website
seeking comment went un-replied.
“I suspect the bond offer is to
manage their liquidity position
rather than fund debt servicing,
after all they didn’t raise the full
amount they wanted last year;
opting instead to do it in tranches,”
a source who invested in last year’s
bond told BusinessDay.
“Perhaps, they will be in a tight
position after paying the coupons
and are not up for that,” the source
added. “Revenues are probably
low and they need to buy more
trucks. Moreover, it’s just N4bn
which can be raised in two days
given they have the backing of
Lagos state.”
The first series last year was
backed by an Irrevocable Standing
Payment Order by the Lagos state
government.
Visionscape, whose workers
spot lemon overalls with boots to
go, popped up the scene last year
after contracts with the indigenous
Private Sector Operators
then under the management of
Lagos Waste Management Authority
(LAWMA) broke down.
The Lagos State Government
launched the Clean Lagos Initiative
(CLI), backed by Environmental
Management and Protection
Law, last September to protect the
environment, human health, and
social living standards of Lagos
residents.
The initiative led to the introduction
of a Public Utility Levy
and the establishment of an enforcement
task force, the Lagos
State Environmental Sanitation
Corps (LAGESC), to facilitate
enforcement.
It is unclear if the levy is being
paid duly by Lagos residents.
Visionscape is said to have
requested a guarantee from the
Lagos state government, because
it the firm was unsure when the
Public Utilities Levy would be paid.
Visionscape’s revenues come
from these levies and if Lagos state
doesn’t start collecting the levies,
the latter doesn’t want to be left
with the short end of the stick, a
source told BusinessDay, explaining
why Visionscape demanded
a guarantee from Lagos- whose
domestic debt stood at N312 billion
and foreign debt of $1.5 billion
as of June 2017, according to data
by the Debt Management Office
(DMO).
There have been a lot of speculations
about the ownership
structure of Visionscape and why
Lagos state Governor Akinwumi
Ambode decided to dump an arrangement
which had, to a large
extent, helped Lagos rid itself of
its unenviable status of ‘filth capital
of world,’ for a new, untested
model of waste evacuation.
Since Visionscape began operations,
the heaps of refuse on
Lagos streets have taken a turn
for worse, indicating a regression
in waste management that has
irked most.
Lagos state residents complain
on social media, using snapshots
of mounting refuse dumps in their
areas, that Visionscape usually
allow refuse to pile up for days
before sending their trucks and
workers to evacuate them
Abiodun Bamigboye, the Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry
of Environment, said last month
that the levy would be handled
by a unit in the ministry known as
the Public Utility Monitoring and
Assurance Unit and that the levy
will start being charged when “we
start the full activity of Visionscape
packing the wastes on the roads.”
With refuse taking over major
roads, highways and inner streets
in the state, threatening epidemic
across the state, concerns have
grown among the populace over
a probable outbreak of cholera
and other diseases in the state as
a result of the improper disposal of
waste in the last couple of months.
MTN sticks to June listing for Nigeria...
Continued from page 1
provals for the listing including
that of the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) and
Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
MTN Group agreed to list the
Nigerian unit on the Nigerian Stock
Exchange this year as part of a June
2016 agreement to pay a $1 billion
fine for missing a deadline to disconnect
unregistered subscribers
amid a security crackdown.
An insider with knowledge of
the MTN Nigeria listing said, “We
are sticking to the June date for
coming to the market.”
BusinessDay reported earlier
that new highs of 10.61percent return
seen this year at the Nigerian
stock market forced the advisors
to proposed MTN Nigeria shares
listing to renter their boardrooms
for proper pricing of their shares.
Standard Bank Group Limited
and Citigroup Incorporated
have been advising Africa’s largest
mobile-phone company on the
disposal of as much as 30 percent
of the Lagos-based unit on the
Nigerian Stock Exchange.
The Nigerian stock market rose
by 42percent last year. MTN group
announced in November that it
had commenced processes for the
proposed listing of its Nigerian unit
on the NSE in 2018.
MTN crossed major huddles
to the Nigeria unit listing after
three different Emergency General
Meetings (EGMs), the latest
of which was held on Thursday
last week.
At the latest Emergency General
Meeting, issues of complaints by
different categories of shareholders
and that of LATE shares managed
by IBTC, among others were
resolved.
Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive
Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange
told BusinessDay on the sideline
of the 2017 market recap and 2018
outlook that the Nigerian bourse is
hopeful MTN Group will fulfil its
statement on listing the shares of
its Nigerian units this year.
“We have always said the Nigeria
listing is obviously subject
to market conditions but it would
seem at this stage more likely a
2018 event,” Ralph Mupita, CFO,
MTN Group had said while presenting
the group’s third-quarter
(Q3) results.
He said that the group feels
pretty confident that it is seeing
value share increase off the back
of the investment that they have
made in Nigeria. “So a very pleasing
growth in service revenue level
in Nigeria”.
Top on the assignment of the
advisers is to reach an acceptable
pricing (valuation) of the shares to
be listed.
MTN is also preparing to raise
as much as 2 billion cedis ($447
million) through listing 35 percent
of the subsidiary on the Ghana
Stock Exchange in what will be the
largest share sale in the country’s
history.
Nigeria and other sub-Saharan
African governments are trying
to gain more from international
mobile-phone operators taking
advantage of rising smartphone
use and faster data speeds.
Nigeria’s $2.5bn Eurobond could trigger...
Continued from page 4
borrowing is $20.9bn, narrowing
the NGN-USD debt mix to 66:34
(compared to 73:27 in Sept-2017),
according to data compiled by
research house United Capital
Limited.
“This indicates that the FGN is
one step closer to its fiscal desire
to adjust the debt mix to 60:40
by 2019,” said analysts at United
Capital.
Ayodeji Ebo, managing director
and CEO of Afrivest Securities
Limited argued that while an
increase in Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) in 2017 after shrinking
by 1.58 percent in 2016 presents
an opportunity to raise cheaper
funds, the expected hike in interest
rates by the United States Federal
Reserve (Feds) may negate this opportunity.
The U.S 10-year Treasury yield
spiked and held above 2.9 percent
on Federal Reserve Chairman
Jerome Powell’s assessment that
the central bank won’t rush to raise
rates even though he expects the
economy to pick up steam.