BusinessDay 23 Mar 2018

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NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I **FRIDAY 23 MARCH 2018 I VOL. 15, NO 17 I N300 @ g 

Regulatory 

environment, 

funding undermine 

Nigerian mining sector 

ODINAKA ANUDU 

Nigeria’s N400 billion mining 

sector is suboptimal 

compared to its African 

counterparts, largely due to the 

regulatory environment and 

Continues on page 34 

Business confidence to rise 

as Senate confirms three 

for MPC , rejects one 

... clears Aishah, Adamu as 

CBN deputy governors 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja & HOPE 

MOSES-ASHIKE, DIPO OLADEHINDE, Lagos 

The Senate on Thursday 

confirmed three nominees 

as members of the 

Monetary Policy Committee 


Inside 

Meet the business 

leader, Folashade 

Ambrose- 

Medebem P. 2 

Teleology details 

10-point plan to turn 

around 9mobile P. 4 

Brain drain: Nigeria loses highskill 

citizens to Canada, others 

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU 

The labour market has 

become borderless 

and financial institutions, 

healthcare, 

education and major 

consulting firms in Nigeria are 

losing high-skilled Nigerians to 

advanced economies, Canada 

in particular, leading to brain 

drain, BusinessDay investigations 

show. 

Human resource managers 

from across Nigeria’s economy 

have confirmed to BusinessDay 

on the condition of confidentiality 

that they are losing highskilled 

staff to Canada. 

Brain drain is the loss of 

skilled intellectual and technical 

labour through the movement of 

such labour to more favourable 

geographic, economic, or professional 

environ, depletion or 

loss of intellectual and technical 

personnel, a gradual depletion 

of energy or resources; a drain 

of young talent by emigration. 

This phenomenon is a major 

L-R: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Aliko Dangote, founder, Aliko Dangote Foundation, and Bill Gates, founder, Bill and Melinda 

Gates Foundation, during a Special and Expanded National Economic Council Meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, yesterday. 

constraint in terms of development 

opportunities and lost 

investment. 

It is different from low-skilled 

and migrant workers stealing 

their way to other lands. 

However both have similar 

results because in both cases 

excellently healthy and able 

bodied (those that could have 

been most useful in the workforce) 

are involved in the human 

flight. This is happening 

at a time when Africa’s largest 

economy needs to attract and 

keep high-skill personnel for its 

national development. This new 

wave of immigration is reversing 

the gains made since 1999 in attracting 

expat Nigerians back to 

the country. 

“I can confirm to you that 

there is a growing wave of highskilled 

Nigerians immigrating 

to Canada, such as medical 

doctors, financial analysts and 

lecturers. Canada’s immigration 

policy is consciously designed to 

attract top talents from everywhere 

in the world. They also 

have an aging population and 

need young skilled immigrants 

to fill in the gap,” said Orji Udemezue, 

CEO of Lagos-based 

Flame Academy and Consulting 

Limited, which caters to 

the training needs of financial 

institutions and multinationals. 

Nigeria currently has 35, 000 


BusinessDay interview with Chiedu Osakwe, Nigeria’s chief trade negotiator ...Page 33

Friday 23 March 2018 BUSINESS DAY 

WOMEN’S HUB 

Meet the 

business leader, 

FOLASHADE 

AMBROSE-MEDEBEM 

Celebrating 

International 

Women’s Month

Friday 23 March 2018 

2 BUSINESS DAY

Leading Woman 

7 BUSINESS DAY 

Friday 23 March 2018WOMEN’S HUB 

EDITOR’S NOTE 

It’s another intriguing edition of 

Women’s Hub and my LEADING 

WOMAN for this week is Folashade 

Ambrose-Medebem. With over 2 decades 

of experience in various fields, it truly 

helps to define her as a business leader. 

In our ENTREPRENEUR section for this 

week , the Lady Realtor, Trinita Akpan, 

takes us into the world of Real Estate, 

its ups and downs, what to look out for 

before buying a property and so much 

more. 

In WORKPLACE PALAVA, Stella became 

the capstone. Find out how and why. 

Odunayo Sanyo wears her scars confidently 

and has been an inspiration to 

many. Read about her story on page 3 

and let her life inspire you. 

On our FROM HER POINT OF VIEW 

SECTION, Osarennoma Ogbeide bids 

farewell to 100 level at Psychology Department 

in University of Ibadan. her 

story is worth reading. 

These and more are stories we have for 

your reading pleasure 

Enjoy! 

KEMI AJUMOBI 

kemi@businessdayonline.com 

Meet the business leader, 

FOLASHADE AMBROSE-MEDEBEM 

KEMI AJUMOBI 

Biography 

I 

am the Director Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainable 

Development at Lafarge Africa. With a deep sense 

of modesty, I would say I am a consummate multi-faceted 

and proven business leader with an extensive background 

in finance, strategy, project/change management, business 

development, thought leadership, sustainable development and 

management consulting across a wide industry spectrum across 

the UK, Nigeria and rest of Europe. 

With more than 23 years senior management experience delivering 

world class strategic business transformation solutions 

in a variety of global FSTE 100 multinationals including Lafarge- 

Holcim Plc., Diageo Plc. (Guinness Nigeria Plc.), PwC (Price 

Waterhouse Coopers), Ford Motor Company, Zurich Financial 

Services, Learning & Skills Council UK and the Nigeria Ministry 

of Finance (YouWin 1, 2 & 3) co- managed by the Department for 

International Development (DFID) UK. Throughout my career, 

I have an excellent record of bottom-line achievements in the 

deployment of large scale business solutions and in leading cross 

functional global teams at board level particularly addressing nonperformance 

challenges with sensitivity and a sense of urgency. 

My education includes a Bachelor of (Hons) Accounting degree 

from London Guildhall, a Masters of Business Administration 

(MBA) from the Open University Business School UK. I am also 

a certified Financial Management consultant with the Chartered 

Insurance Institute (Cii), UK amongst a plethora of other professional 

certifications inclusive of the Lagos Business School – AMP 

(Advanced Management Programme). 

In October 2016, I was appointed Director of Communications, 

Public Affairs & Sustainable Development, Lafarge Africa Plc. 

Before then, I worked as the Integration Business Transformation 

Management Consultant for LafargeHolcim (LH) (2015) focused 

on enabling a speedy integration of WAPCO, Ashaka and Unicem 

(following worldwide merger of LH) in order to deliver the country 

business ambition as one holistic organization with an additional 

to facilitate safe and high performance culture for the merged 

organisation. 

I currently serve on the NESG (Nigeria Economic Summit 

Group) 24 Executive Committee, I’m a board member of the UN 

SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) Nigeria – Private Sector 

Advisory Group (PSAG) - Cluster 8 Co-Lead and also serve on the 

EBO (European Business Organisation) Nigeria as a board member 

too. I am the leading catalyst driving Women in Manufacturing Africa 

(WimAfrica) initiative launched last December in partnership 

with Unilever and Access Bank. Lafarge Africa Plc. is a member of 

all aforementioned. 

In my spare time, I’m an avid lover of classical music and a latin 

enthusiast who enjoys coaching and mentoring teenagers and high 

potential managers. I love visiting museums whenever I travel. 

Married life 

I have been married for 25 years this October to my husband Iyke 

Ambrose-Medebem, wow! How time has flown. We have three 

beautiful daughters. Juggling my career and family life hasn’t 

been easy at all, but for the support of my dear husband and family. 

I took time out for each of them, leveraged our family in the 

beginning progressing to nannies then adapted to live-in au-pairs 

as they grew older. We even used technology! For the youngest 

one- nannycam! Personally, it’s been an enriching journey and I 

am pleased my girls have learned first-hand that they can have it 

all in their own ‘best’ way. 

Over 25 years in the communications industry, share your 

experiences 

Throughout my diverse career, I have always deliberately been 

able to leverage my experience across industries and disciplines 

to bring fresh perspectives. So far, this has been extremely effective 

and allowed me to add immediate value with impact further 

underpinned by my seeking constant feedback from my teams, 

which is a very insightful barometer for gauging leadership impact 

and learning as we all have blind spots. I also ensure that I always 

lead from a position of purpose (for me this is pivotal - clarity of 

Purpose- that is your raison d’etre – your what and why - which 

typically is often based on one’s values). I am driven by very strong 

values of integrity and an undying spirit of excellence. A common 

analogy I use to illustrate in simple compelling terms is that of a 

ship at sea drifting, at some point, the anchor will need to be released; 

the anchor is your values metaphorically. With an anchor, 

you can then navigate your leadership stand as well, the absence of 

both will cause you to drift and drift. My personal value statement 

is to treat others as I would like to be treated 

while my leadership stand is to inspire best 

in myself and others always. 

Lafarge Africa’s passion for women 

advancement and inclusion 

Yes and I am extremely proud to be part of 

Lafarge Africa family, under the leadership 

of our Chairman, Mobolaji Balogun and our 

CCEO, Michel Puchercos, the facts speak 

for themselves both women board and executive 

management make up 33% - on the 

board are three women while our executive 

leadership comprise of four women 

What would you say have been the 

successes and challenges? 

Both our chairman and CCEO of Lafarge 

Africa Plc. Leading by walking the talk is 

indeed a success as is the fact that Lafarge 

Africa consistently encourage , coach and 

mentor our women to lead and enhance 

their skillsets for instance, working on cross 

functional projects. We recently celebrated 

international women’s day achieving a 

considerable turnout across all our plant 

operations. We launched Women in Manufacturing 

Africa (WimAfrica) initiative; we 

consciously ensure the girl child agenda is 

inclusive across our literacy competition 

and other Corporate Social Responsibility 

(CSR) activities. In the north, our CSR activities 

focus on driving women economic 

empowerment. Lafarge Africa is certainly 

progressing in the right direction, I suppose 

from a critical lens, and as you have asked for 

the challenges, they frankly relate to the need 

for increasing pace and increasing equitable 

participation, the latter is WimAfrica’s vision 

and top of mind for Lafarge Africa too. 

Most professionals that work in Lafarge 

are men. How has Lafarge Africa Plc. 

encouraged more women? 

At Lafarge Africa, we are committed to 

gender inclusion and parity; we mirror our 

Group’s commitment to creating the right 

environment for women and families in our 

organisation. From a policy stand point, Lafarge 

Africa Plc clearly ensures that the interests 

of female employees are protected at all 

times. Some of the women friendly practices 

enshrined in our policy at Lafarge include 

supporting our new mothers by paying for 

crèche services, removal of annual leave from 

our maternity leave and creating opportunities 

for networking with other women professionals 

across our extensive LafargeHolcim 

group and externally. To further underscore, 

our facts speak for themselves. Lafarge Africa 

trailblazing success includes our first female 

engineer in Ashaka –Deborah Danladi, our 

qualified geologist –Funmi Taiwo from Ewekoro 

plant, our Board and CCEO recently 

promoted Adewunmi Alode as Company 

Secretary. Our Talent and Resources Manager 

is a woman. Even at the plant level, we 

have several women holding strategic positions. 

My team comprises seven women and 

I confidently say this is echoed across the 

entire organisation with my colleagues in 

the Executive Management team. We have 

a robust and inclusive succession and talent 

development plan being in place too. 

Do you see a woman heading this company 

in the next 5 years? 

Absolutely yes, absolutely on merit and 

absolutely across Nigeria and indeed Africa. 

Women have proven time and time again 

the world over, that we exceedingly lead 

and deliver well. We already have inspiring 

examples. At LafargeHolcim across the 

ninety markets in which we operate, we 

have a number of female CEO’s already, our 

past CEO in Nigeria was a woman Adepeju 

Adebajo with many other notable women 

CEO’s in Nigeria and beyond. 

Why are there fewer women on boards? 

Personally, women simply don’t network 

enough as much as our male peers do nor 

do we put ourselves forward enough, there 

is also a far to small talent pool from which 

executive boards can select from (although I 

must commend the impressive work Wimbiz 

is doing to redress this imbalance - needless 

to say I am a member) this is further compounded 

by women opting out for instance 

to have children and finding it difficult to 

opt back in at the same level seamlessly. I 

personally did, but I strategised at the onset 

and ensured while I was away I added 

a relevant new skill set hence my financial 

management qualifications demonstrating 

my commitment and ability to not just think 

out of the box but create a whole new one too! 

What can be done to increase the figures? 

Address the points I have made and deliberately 

with resolute intent, involve, educate, 

inform and engage our male peers/influential 

stakeholders more and those senior 

leading women currently sitting on boards to 

leave no woman behind and by that I mean 

not just effort but effort leading to results 

which invariably inspire others, a kind of 

domino effect. We also must collaborate with 

each other a whole lot more than we do now, 

seek out best practices adapt and implement; 

we have a lot of catching up to do in Nigeria. A 

Mckinsey report I read states gender diversity 

yields multiples benefits which helps motivate 

and attract talented employees, boards 

that represent the customer base have better 

intuition and a diverse board enhances better 

decision making. These are facts. 

What is your view on International 

Women’s Day? Is one day enough to 

celebrate women? 

The purpose of International Women’s 

Day for the past one hundred plus years 

is to bring attention to the social, political, 

economic, and cultural issues that women 

face, and to advocate for the advance of 

women across those parameters. For me, it 

really is a rhetorical question – I am a woman! 

This is an extremely worthy recognition for 

women underpinned overtime with remarkable 

headway. This year’s theme - Press for 

Progress certainly must be a daily habit and 

certainly will not be easy however, by striving 

to always be your best, imbibing the spirit of 

excellence and encouraging one another, you 

will not even see obstacles (changing your 

mind-set is a fundamental starting point – if 

you believe you can do it, you will. 

What are you doing in your own capacity 

to help women press for progress? 

Living my purpose purposefully – I coach 

and mentor women to be their best self here 

at work and outside of work too. I am intently 

walking the talk so by being credible i.e. by 

doing what I say speaks louder and with 

impact. WimAfrica is another platform I 

am involved alongside Access bank and 

Unilever. That said, I will accelerate and do a 

lot more partnering and networking. A wise 

African proverb says if you want to go fast 

go alone, if you want to go far go together. 

What day in your life is it that you can 

never forget? 

Becoming a wife and mum thrice. My 

family matters tremendously to me, I’m 

immensely thankful. 

Final words 

I say for me, women should speak up more. 

It is about speaking up. Speaking up has and 

is still at the core for women development. 

Kofi Annan (former secretary-general of the 

United Nations) articulated this very well 

by saying “There is no tool for development 

more effective than the empowerment of 

women”. In the beginning, it was about 

women’s suffrage- the right of women to 

vote in elections. Then it progressed to 

encouraging women to stand for elective 

offices. Senator Franka Afegbua blazed the 

trail in the second republic becoming the 

first elected senator. It certainly is not yet 

Uhuru in Nigeria. We have made significant 

progress as women but there’s more to be 

done. We must all continue speaking up, 

however, in order for us to speak up with 

IMPACT as women from the world over, 

there are critical components that simply must 

always prevail. The first component is Heartspecifically 

because when we feel it as women, 

we are able to empathise, we are able to connect, 

we are able to intuitively understand and 

we are able to win heart and minds. Sure we 

have all heard that saying before – winning 

hearts and minds. The second component 

is Purpose and Values- Now with this I am 

highlighting the importance of clarity of purpose, 

I alluded earlier. The third component 

is Trust and Self-Belief- ahhhh now this is the 

acid test. How strong is your conviction, your 

purpose, your values and your heart? Trust in 

your strength and indeed in yourself - your 

Self-Belief. Typically it is often always stronger 

than we think, proven time and time again. 

Ladies, I implore us all irrespective of your 

role and rank. Earnestly go forth emboldened 

to speak up for one and all every day.


BUSINESS DAY 

3

3 

BUSINESS DAY 


Odunayo Sanya, 

owning her scar 

KEMI AJUMOBI 

A 

Non-Governmental Organisation 

(NGO), the Shade of 

Women Foundation (TSWF), 

has unveiled a book entitled: “She 

Said So, and Other Stories”, which 

aims to enlighten Nigerians and 

other African countries on the influence 

of the girl-child and women in 

national development. 

Speaking at the event, which was 

held as part of its efforts to mark this 

year’s World International Women 

Day, on the topic: “The role of girlchild 

and nation-building”, the guest 

speaker, Raheemat Adabanija, highlighted 

the requisite knowledge of a 

girl-child to fit for nation-building, 

including formal or informal education 

and skills. 

She also charged governments 

across the three-tiers, organisations 

and institutions, to set-up more 

sensitisation programmes in order 

to reduce the problem facing the girl 

child in Nigeria. 

She said: “This book is part of 

one of the essential tools that will 

sensitise people, especially the females. 

I strongly recommend it for 

the academics, culture and tourism 

sector, because any country that desires 

absolute development will not 

take the issue of women carelessly. 

Odunayo Sanya is a versatile 

professional with more than 

20 years of postgraduate 

work experience in the Education, 

Financial Services and Telecommunication 

sectors of which 15 

years have been in management 

positions. She is currently a General 

Manager in a leading Telecommunication 

Company – with an active 

base of 57million subscribers (April 

2016), where she leads the Planning 

and Customer Management 

team. She is adept at conceptualizing 

and implementing innovative 

customer –centric practices and 

procedures to improve efficiency in 

an organization. An Alum of the Lagos 

Business School (SMP 27) and 

IMD with executive trainings from 

the Harvard Business School and 

Cornell University, she is a certified 

Professional Forecaster CPF) and 

a member of the Institute of Business 

Forecasting & Planning (New 

York). An international speaker, 

Odunayo has presented papers at 

the IIR Telecoms loyalty &Churn 

in Berlin (2009) and Nice, France 

(2010). A conference advisor at 

Fleming Gulf’s ‘Win Your Customer’ 

conference in South Africa (2011). 

She is also a volunteer mentor on 

the platform of WISCAR (Women 

in Successful Careers). Odunayo 

is a John Maxwell certified Coach, 

Speaker and Trainer. 

Sometime in 1997, she noticed 

a swelling on her chest, just below 

her collar bone. She thought nothing 

of it other than it being a pimple 

waiting for expiration. After a few 

months, she observed that it was 

growing and became very itchy. A 

visit to her doctor revealed it was a 

hypertrophic scar, in simple terms, a 

‘Keloid.’ She met with a dermatologist 

who let her know she must have 

scratched an assumed ‘pimple’ and 

this unconscious act had resulted 

in a keloid. The scar began to grow 

minimally – at first. “I was conscious 

of it and worried as to the possible 

alteration this may portend for my 

life. In 2002, I commenced treatment 

using injections. The keloid 

was injected with steroids and left 

in its wake so much pain that it was 

unbearable. The Keloid continued 

to grow; it was now about 2 inches 

in height and 4 inches in length.” She 

says and continues “It was thick and 

very itchy. I worried about it, not so 

much for my sanity but what others 

would think. I was asked questions 

around the cause, question to which 

NGO inaugurates book to fight girl-child exploitation 

ENDURANCE OKAFOR 

One of the book reviewers, Olutoyin 

Jegede, a professor said: “The 

125-page book was instrumental 

as it critically addressed the plights 

of the girl-child and women in the 

society. 

“It entails an anthology of poems 

and prose narratives (short 

stories and essays) and contains 43, 

nine short stories, and two essays. 

The anthology is rich in ideas as it 

touches on the existence of the girl 

child: gender, beauty, education, 

family, sexuality, and the role of the 

society. It depicts the girl child as 

unsecured and agitated girl. 

“The book also described issues 

of her biological set up, social experiences 

and psychological conditions. 

The creative work, however, 

urged to appreciate the girl child 

for her intellect and not her beauty. 

Also, some of the poems centred 

on the general objectification and 

sexuality of a girl child and sexual 

oppression, which include sexual 

exploitation, rape, child or forceful 

marriage and forceful prostitution. 

“Above all, the title of the book 

suggests the female audibility as it 

is significant to know that women 

are able to tell their stories and I 

discovered that these stories have 

depths as it described the situation 

of rape more rigorously and talks 

on the psychological implications 

of rape on the girl-child. 

“The poem titled: ‘Silence’ on 

Page 93, describes not only rape, 

but its aftermath; the culture of 

silence of women when rape happens. 

Keeping the secret of rape 

is a serious social issue. Though 

some of the writers celebrated the 

beauty and the nature of the female 

gender, some of the poems in prose 

will build the self-esteem of the girl 

child.” 

She noted that the title reflected 

hope of the safe return of the recently 

abducted schoolgirls in Dapchi, 

Yobe State. 

In his take, Gbemisola Adeoti, 

the Dean of Arts, Obafemi Awolowo 

University (OAU), said the book addressed 

the pains and pressures of 

being a female in Africa, while the 

Director, American Corner Ibadan, 

Adefemi Bucknor, said the book 

depicted the plights of the girl-child 

and women across the world. 

Speaking on behalf of the convener 

and founder of TSWF, Shakirat 

Oluwatosin Raji, the Programme 

Manager, Omobolanle Adedeji, 

restated the initiative was ready to 

protect the right of the girl-child 

and women across Africa as well 

as tackle any problem faced by the 

female gender. 

The event, held at United States 

Mission American Corner, Jericho, 

Ibadan, Oyo State, was graced by academic 

scholars from various institutions 

including, Olutoyin Jegede, 

Ramonu Sanusi, both professors 

from the faculty of Arts, University 

of Ibadan; Dean of Arts, Obafemi 

Awolowo University (OAU), Gbemisola 

Adeoti; Manager, Community 

and Social Development 

Programme, Oyo State, Raheemat 

Adabanjia. 

Others were the Director, American 

Corner Ibadan, Adefemi Bucknor; 

Director of Mother and Girlchild 

Protection Initiative (MAGI), 

I had no answer. With every pregnancy, 

the keloid got permission for 

growth.” She reveals. 

The itchy pain was unbearable. 

In 2009, Odunayo checked in for 

a Keloidectomy after consultation 

with a plastic surgeon. The surgery 

was successful; at least, the thick 

keloid had been taken off her chest. 

She still had follow up treatments. 

She had to take the injections again. 

Half way into the first post-surgery 

injection,Odunayo ordered her 

surgeon to stop with a loud shrill. In 

her words, “My reaction to the fluid 

was that of intense pain which hit 

my brain immediately. My doctor 

had to stop. At that point, I took the 

decision to prioritize my pain versus 

the result. A number of times I have 

had to answer questions from my 

children like ‘What happened to 

you here Mummy?’ They ask with 

so much love and run their hands 

over ‘My SCAR’” furthermore, she 

says “ I have owned it; it doesn’t 

own me. I make sure I answer every 

time I am asked. I answer with a lot 

of clarity and leave room for more 

questions. My family have never 

been afraid of My SCAR. I am not 

afraid of my SCAR. My decision? 

Though I was physically scarred on 

the chest, I was far from scarred in 

my mind and spirit.” 

“ I realized my SCAR is my seed 

of greatness. I understood (thanks 

to my mentors – John C. Maxwell, 

Paul Martinelli, Robin Sharma) my 

SCAR is a license to help others fulfil 

purpose. Rather than spend the rest 

of my days and faith expecting healing, 

I chose to spend the rest of my 

days and faith pursuing my dreams 

of impacting those I come across in 

my journey in life. For this purpose, 

I unveiled my SCAR.” 

Hear her share more on her scar. 

“ You see, my SCAR is a badge of 

honour and I am proud to wear it. 

It is an evidence that I have been 

through some rare experiences 

(respect me for that) and most important 

is that my SCAR has added 

strength to my beauty and confidence 

to my gait. What SCARs do 

you carry? They could be Physical or 

psychological. Your SCARs are real 

to the extent that you give them life. 

To learn how to unveil your SCAR 

and listen to the rest of my story, 

join me on the 24th of March at the 

Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel on 

Ozumba Mbadiwe for a Leadership 

Masterclass based on a true 

life story.” 

Adijat Malik; the chief launcher, 

Kunle Sanni and co-launcher, 

Mobolaji Ajayi; pupils from the 

Polytechnic High School, Abadina 

College and Glory of God Primary 

School, among others.


Friday 23 March 2018WOMEN’S HUB 5 

BUSINESS DAY 

Friday 23 March 2018WOMEN’S HUB


C002D5556 


NEWS 

Oil gains amid US crude inventories 

drop, Middle East tensions 

DIPO OLADEHINDE 

Drop in U.S crude inventories 

and growing 

Middle East 

tensions seems to 

bearing much fruit 

as Brent oil held above $68 as Organisation 

of Petroleum Exporting 

Countries supply cuts gain more 

momentum. 

The oil market extended its 

bullish run on Thursday after the 

Energy Information Administration 

(EIA) reported on Wednesday 

a drop in crude oil inventories of 

2.6 million barrels, which implies 

inventories in the U.S which is 

taking less of OPEC - produced oil 

than ever are below the five year 

average for the first time since 2014. 

“If inventories are coming down, 

it means oil producers will need to 

restock, leading to increase in demand 

which will obviously lead to 

the increase in price we are currently 

seeing,” Adeola Adenikinju, oil and 

gas analyst and professor of economics 

at University of Ibadan said. 

“The Saudi Arabia and Iran 

clash will create a transitory effect 

which is temporal because of 

the uncertainties in the market; 

however the fundamental factor 

is the OPEC and its ally’s agreement 

which is very important,” 

Adenikinju, a confirmed member 

of the Monetary Policy Committee 

of Central bank of Nigeria told 

BusinessDay by phone. 

Geopolitical threats to crude 

output also continue to support 

prices as both the U.S. and Saudi 

Arabia have criticized a 2015 international 

agreement to curb Iran’s 

nuclear ambitions. 

U.S President Donald Trump 

has threatened to pull out of the 

deal and re-impose economic 

sanctions on the Islamic Republic, 

a move analysts say would disrupt 

oil output of OPEC’s third-biggest 

producer as Venezuela’s production 

slides continues. 

“The present US government 

is currently showing the world 

that it’s not a country that honours 

agreement, so it won’t be a surprise 

if they don’t honour the agreement 

which will likely increase the price 

of oil,” Luqman Agboola, head of 

research at Sofidam Capital said. 

“The regional rivalries between 

Saudi Arabia and Iran have always 

being there; however the crises will 

go beyond the crude oil prices that 

might lead to a negative impact on 

the global economy if not properly 

handled,“ Agboola said. 

Brain drain: Nigeria loses high-skill... 

Continued from page 1 

medical doctors but needs no 

fewer than 237,000 to meet the 

World Health Organisation (WHO) 

benchmark of 1:600, that is, a medical 

doctor for every 600 persons, 

Folashade Ogunsola, a professor 

of medicine and chairman, Association 

of Colleges of Medicine of 

Nigeria, said. 

In 2016, 300 doctors left Nigeria 

to practise in foreign countries, 

according to the Nigerian Medical 

Association. 

A recent NOIPolls survey 

showed that the reasons for the 

looming brain drain in the health 

sector included challenges such 

as high taxes and deductions from 

salary (98 per cent), low work satisfaction 

(92 per cent), poor salaries 

and emoluments (91 per cent) and 

the huge knowledge gap that exists 

in the medical practice between 

those abroad and in Nigeria (47 per 

cent), among others. 

“All the doctors at the health 

clinic I go to are from Nigeria, they 

are polite, gentle, educated men 

and women with great sense of 

humour who are fitting into society 

well. But again, they are doctors, 

they have good careers. If you 

don’t have a good education and 

job prospects Canada is not the 

place for you,” Judy Riley, born and 

raised in Eastern Ontario, Canada 

said in response to questions about 

immigrating to Canada, on Quora, 

a website for professional exchange 

of ideas. 

Canada has a strong reputation 

for multiculturalism and presents 

many socio-economic opportunities 

for Nigerian immigrants. 

As one of the leading G-7 countries, 

it is highly developed and 

enjoys outstanding education 

and health care systems as well as 

excellent working conditions. A 

long life expectancy, 82 years as at 

2015, and relatively low crime rates 

also contribute to Canada’s high 

quality of life. 

Canada’s strong economic position 

could largely be attributed to 

the contributions of its immigrant 

workforce. 

To this end, the Canadian government 

has one of the most 

positive immigration policies in 

the world, with the government 

admitting over 200,000 immigrants 

each year. Canada also allows dual 

citizenship, allowing Nigerians to 

retain their national identity. 

Immigrants from Nigeria usually 

find employment opportunities 

in Canada in high-growth sectors 

through the Federal Skilled Trades 

Class. This programme allows 

workers with in-demand trades, 

such as welders, crane operations, 

and electricians, to obtain Canadian 

permanent residency. 

That Nigeria is losing its strong 

human capital that took enormous 

resources to nurture and produce 

represents a significant loss and a 

major shift of paradigm. 

As heir to the Saudi throne, 

Crown Prince Mohammed bin 

Salman has been on a three-week 

visit to the U.S and has met with 

President Donald Trump and 

administration officials at the 

White House and plans to meet 

with energy executives to discuss 

the country’s plans to build two 

nuclear reactors by year’s end 

and 14 more over the next quarter 

century, according to the non-governmental 

U.S. Energy Association. 

The Saudi prince is championing 

a new vision 2030 for the desert 

kingdom, one that is technologically 

savvy, religiously moderate 

and has a global influence beyond 

its oil prowess. 

Also, uncertainties about Venezuela’s 

falling production, whose 

output has been halved since 2005 

to below two million barrels per 

day due to an economic crisis, are 

also supporting the oil market. 

The International Energy Agen- 

Teleology details 

10-point plan to turn 

around 9mobile 

... Partners with East Africa’s 

telecom giant, Safaricom 

JUMOKE AKIYODE-LAWANSON 

Teleology holdings limited 

has revealed its proposed 

plan to revitalise the debt 

ridden 9mobile, after it finalised its 

takeover of the company by transferring 

a non-refundable completion 

deposit of $50 million to the 

Trustee for the bank syndicate 

which held ownership of 9mobile. 

The company which is still 

expected to pay the balance of its 

$500 million bid for 9mobile in the 

next 90 days, in order to take full 

possession of the telecoms firm is 

certain of ownership having signed 

Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) 

and other contractual documents 

pertaining to the acquisition. 

Teleology has therefore detailed 

an ambitious plan of action that 

will guide its rapid overhaul not 

only of the network but all aspects 

of the operations. 

Adrian Wood, Teleology’s Director 

and pioneer managing 

director of MTN Nigeria, says, 

“9mobile is transiting into a new 

phase that will be defined by optimal 

value delivery: value to our 

employees, value to our customers, 

value to local communities and 

indeed to all stakeholders.” 

He added that the new organisation 

to emerge would be “engineering 

led and brand driven.” 

In delivering service, “we will 

strive to ensure that 9Mobile operations 

deliver fulfilment to our 


L-R: Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, director of partnerships, Tony Elumelu Foundation; Alex Trotter, member, board of trustees, 

Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF); Tony Elumelu, founder, TEF; Parminder Vir, CEO, TEF, and Awele Elumelu, member, 

board of trustees and wife of the founder, during the selection announcement of 1250 entrepreneurs in the 4th cycle of 

The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s (TEF) 10-year, $100 million TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, held in Lagos, yesterday. 

cy said last week that Venezuela 

was “vulnerable to an accelerated 

decline” and said such a disruption 

could tip global markets into deficit. 

Oil prices are approaching the 

highs of January after a global equity 

market rout. While investors 

continue to deliberate on surging 

U.S. crude production, OPEC and its 

allies have resolved that the market 

will rebalance between the second 

and third quarter of the year. 

OPEC and 10 members outside 

the cartel, including Russia, have 

been holding back crude production 

by 1.8 million barrels a day 

since the start of last year, as part 

of an effort to rein a global supply 

glut and boost prices. 

Nigeria’s oil production on 

the other hand has recovered to 

1.8 million barrels as at February 

2018, according to latest OPEC 

data, from as low as 1.2 million 

barrels daily in the thick of militant 

disruptions. 

The price of Brent crude, Nigeria’s 

benchmark grade, fell 0.14 per 

cent to $69.37 per barrel Wednesday, 

according to Bloomberg data. 

“When crude price enters its 

volatiles stage Nigeria is expected 

to rely on Excess Crude Account 

(ECA) or Sovereign Wealth Fund 

(SWF) to fund its projects; however 

we have a situation where a lot of 

states cannot pay salaries putting 

a lot of pressure on this account 

which have poor decisional framework 

with zero legal backing,” 

Adenikinju concluded. 

•Continues online at www.businessdayonline.com 

Any country with outflow of 

emigrants loses critical human 

capital in which it has invested 

resources through education and 

specialised training and for which 

it is not compensated by the recipient 

country because there is no 

bilateral agreement on the transfer. 

“A number of reasons may account 

for brain to different countries. 

I can say that Canada has 

a skills based point system that 

eases the path to residency and 

eventual citizenship for qualified 

professionals and educated persons 

and their families from all over 

the world,” a talent manager, who 

pleaded for anonymity, said. 

Experts say it is cheaper for developed 

nations to encourage, by what- 

ever means including immigration 

policy orientation, the influx of the 

best brains from developing world. 

Unfortunately, poor governance 

systems in developing nations 

like Nigeria with their attendant 

poor planning and disregard 

for future generations are all too 

conducive for the maintenance of 

the status-quo.


Survey reveals how illegal fees, multiple checkpoints 

frustrate trade along Abijan-Lagos corridor 

AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE 

A 

survey conducted 

by Task 

Force on ECO- 

WAS Trade 

Liberalisation 

Scheme has identified collection 

of illegal fees by 

government agencies, existence 

of multiple government 

agencies and checkpoints 

as major factors 

inhibiting smooth trade 

across borders. 

According to the survey, 

the slowness of the 

procedure for getting the 

Standards Organisation of 

Nigeria (SON) and the National 

Food and Drug Administration 

and Control 

(NAFDAC) certifications, 

existence of prohibition 

list that contains some 

ETLS approved products 

as well as the existence 

of several standards with 

NAFDAC and SON, also 

frustrate across border 

trade along the corridor. 

The survey, presented 

in Lagos on Wednesday 

Edo partners NCC on job creation, broadband penetration 

Edo State governor, 

Godwin Obaseki, 

says his administration 

is ready to partner 

the Nigerian Communications 

Commission (NCC) 

on job creation for youths 

in the state. Obaseki said 

this during a courtesy visit 

to the NCC headquarters in 

the Federal Capital Territory 

(FCT), Abuja. 

The governor said, “My 

administration is also seeking 

collaboration with the 

NCC to boost broadband 

penetration in Edo State. 

We are expanding areas we 

can deploy Information and 

Communication Technology 

(ICT) to improve broadband 

penetration in the state.” 

He explained that his administration 

was ready to 

work with the NCC and other 

stakeholders in the telecoms 

industry to support service 

providers and other inves- 

tors in the state, noting, “This 

collaboration will assist service 

providers in Edo State to 

extend their services to the 

remotest towns and communities.” 

The governor said, “The 

key driver of our vision to 

transform Edo State is to deploy 

ICT infrastructure and 

knowledge to enhance economic 

growth and prosperity 

for Edo people. My administration 

is focused on the use 

of technology and provision 

of telecoms infrastructure to 

create jobs for youths. 

“Part of the vision is to 

engage youths in productive 

ventures and provide employment 

opportunities for 

them. We are also exploring 

ways to deploy the use of ICT 

to engage youths. Our aim 

is to discourage youths from 

engaging in human and drug 

trafficking.” 

According to Obaseki, the 

by Moustapha Gnankambary, 

permanent secretary 

of the ETLS Task Force at 

a day sensitisation workshop 

organised by the Nigerian 

Shippers’ Council 

(NCS) in collaboration 

with the Borderless Alliance, 

said the limitations 

reduce the ability of the 

national economies of the 

member countries to attract 

investment, create 

jobs and wealth and improve 

the standard of the 

living of the people. 

Gnankambary, who 

pointed to the fact that the 

factors have caused the 

intra-regional trade to remain 

poor at between 10 

and 20 percent, also said 

governments of member 

states also lose huge revenue 

to low trade growth. 

He disclosed that the 

survey had recommended 

the need for educating 

security agencies on the 

clear demarcation between 

trade facilitation 

and free movement as well 

as the security of persons 

and goods along the corridor. 

“There is need for the 

adoption and application 

of clear sanction mechanisms 

against member 

states and defaulting officers. 

There is also need for 

the removal of obstacles 

such as import bans as 

well as tariff and non-tariff 

barriers to cross border 

trade,” the survey noted. 

Gnankambary said 

there was need to promote 

the consumption of products 

and services produced 

in West African countries 

to boost job creation and 

further help to promote regional 

integration. 

“We need to harmonise 

the documentation used 

in intra-regional trade in 

three ECOWAS official languages. 

Apart from abolishing 

the abnormal practices 

and obstacles to cross 

border trade along the corridor, 

there was also need 

to accelerate the issuance 

of the ECOWAS biometric 

identity cards by member 

states,” he said. 

Justin Bayili, executive 

state government will work 

with the NCC to address the 

challenges faced by the telecoms 

industry in the state 

and assured, “My administration 

will work with the NCC 

to resolve several issues confronting 

stakeholders in the 

state, which include; the right 

of way for telecommunication 

infrastructure, multiple taxation 

and regulation.” 

The state government will 

work with telecoms operators 

in the state to resolve conflicts 

with members of local communities 

to allow operators 

access to infrastructure within 

safety and other regulations. 

Executive commissioner, 

stakeholder management, 

NCC, Sunday Dare, who represented 

the executive vice 

chairman, NCC, Umar Garba 

Danbatta, assured Obaseki of 

the commitment of the commission 

to partnering the Edo 

State government. 

secretary of Borderless 

Alliance, who said Nigeria 

must remove all nontariff 

barriers that frustrate 

smooth trade across borders, 

if the country must 

move from being an oil dependent 

country to opening 

up other sectors of the 

economy, added that more 

investments would be attracted 

and jobs as well as 

wealth created. 

Reacting to this, Taju 

Olanrewaju, chairman of 

the event, suggested the 

need for another engagement 

that would bring 

agencies like SON and 

NAFDAC as well as the 

Nigerian Customs Service 

(NCS) to come and tell the 

trading community of the 

efforts put in place to address 

the issues highlighted 

around their operations 

that hinder smooth trade 

across borders. 

He pointed out the urgent 

need for SON and 

NAFDAC to reduce the 

cumbersome procedures 

that slows the collection of 

their certifications. 

L-R: Bolanle 

Austen Peters, 

CEO, Terra Kulture/ 

keynote speaker; 

Ade Adefeko, vice 

president, corporate 

and government 

relations, Olam 

Nigeria; Tunji 

Olugbodi, executive 

vice chairman, 

Verdant Zeal 

Group; Ibilola 

Amao, principal 

consultant, Lonadek/ 

chairperson 7th 

Innovention Series, 

and Femi Oyewole, 

chairman, Verdant 

Zeal Board, at the 

7th Verdant Zeal 

Innovention Series 

with the theme “ 

Building Africa’s 

Reputation Through 

Mediatainment” in 

Lagos, yesterday. 

Pic by Olawale 

Amoo 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

5 

NEWS 

Religious leaders preach 

peace, endorse Ambode 

German agency trains 97,449 cocoa farmers in Nigeria 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin 

German International 

Cooperation (GIZ) 

says it has so far 

trained 97,449 smallholders 

cocoa farmers across 

the six focal states in Nigeria. 

Annemarie Mathess, regional 

programme director, 

Sustainable Smallholder 

Agri-business Programme, 

disclosed this at the sixth anniversary 

and flag off of 2018 

farming season by Edo State 

Forum of Farmer Business 

School Multipurpose Cooperative 

Union Limited in Benin 

City, the Edo State capital. 

Mathess, represented by 

Ayo Akinola, senior technical 

advisor of GIZ-SSAB, said 

out of the total 9,630 farmers 

were from Edo State. 

Mathess, who says the GIZ 

operates in more than 130 

countries in the world, noted 

that it annual turnover was 

JOSHUA BASSEY 

Leaders of various 

religious bodies 

under the aegis of 

Nigeria Inter-Religious 

Council (NIREC) 

have stressed the need to 

deepen religious harmony, 

as they endorsed Governor 

Akinwunmi Ambode for 

second term in office. 

This comes as Abul- 

Hakeem Abdul-Lateef, the 

state commissioner for 

home affairs, charged the 

religious leaders to use the 

pulpits to preach love and 

encourage their followers 

to support’s policy and 

programmes aimed at improving 

the welfare of all, 

as “Ambode means well for 

Lagos.” 

The clerics spoke at the 

first quarterly meeting of 

religious leaders and faithbased 

organisations, yesterday 

in Lagos, to further 

entrench religious harmony 

and strengthen the existing 

peace in the state. The NIREC 

is comprised of Christian and 

Islamic bodies. 

Speaking at the meeting, 

Tajudeen Yusuf, chairman 

of NIREC, Lagos chapter, 

said the endorsement 

was in recognition of the 

modest efforts of Ambode 

in infrastructural development 

and the maintenance 

of peace and religious harmony 

in Lagos. 

According to Yusuf, 

Ambode’s approval of the 

existence of NIREC, not 

only at state level, but also 

across the 20 local governments, 

and 37 local council 

development areas of the 

state, has ensured that issues 

capable of triggering 

religious crisis in Lagos are 

nib in the bud. 

The religious leader, 

who observed that the 

€2.1 billion, in development 

programmes raging from 

agriculture, economic development, 

renewable energy, 

social, health, finance, water, 

environment, among others. 

She said the sustainable 

smallholder agro-business 

(SSAB) programme was one 

of the programmes conducted 

in partnership with the Agricultural 

Development Programmes 

(ADPs) for cocoa 

farmers across six producing 

states of Abia, Cross River, 

Edo, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun. 

She also added that in enhancing 

the capacity of and 

livelihoods of smallholder 

cocoa farmers, SSAB deployed 

the Farmer Business 

School (FBS), Good Agricultural 

Practices (GAP) and 

the Cooperative Business 

Schools (CBS) as its three 

core training tools. 

Mathess, however, appealed 

to the Edo State gov- 

Boko Haram’s crisis and its 

attendant loss of lives and 

properties in the northern 

part of the country could 

have been avoided had 

NIREC at the national lived 

up to expectation, said 

peace and religious harmony 

was necessary to advancement 

development at 

any level, and assured that 

religious bodies would rally 

around Ambode to actualise 

his second term ambition, 

adding “one good 

term deserves another.” 

Also, Alexander Bamgbola, 

co-chairman of 

NIREC, Lagos chapter, 

who doubles as chairman, 

Christian Association of Nigeria 

(CAN), said, “Lagos is 

a state that enjoys the special 

grace of God.” The CAN 

chairman who described 

Ambode as a listening governor, 

called for the support 

of the citizens for the 

government to enable it do 

more, especially infrastructure 

development. 

Abdul-Lateef, the 

commissioner for home 

affairs, whose office supervises 

the activities of 

religious bodies in the 

state, said the meeting 

was a platform to making 

the two major religions 

see themselves as one. 

According to the Abdul- 

Lateef, while NIREC at the 

national level has been 

unable to function effectively, 

Lagos has continued 

to show example of how 

Christians, Moslems and 

other beliefs should co-exist. 

The commissioner, who 

thanked the religious leaders 

for endorsing Ambode 

for second term in office, 

assured that the state government 

would continue to 

all within its powers to ensured 

that Lagos continue 

to stand out. 

ernment to fund agricultural 

development programmes 

as well as the state forum of 

farmer business school multipurpose 

cooperative Union 

limited to scale-up and expand 

their services, resulting 

in competitive production, 

growth and employment. 

While opining that such 

impacts can also contribute 

to reduce migration, she 

stated that government’s 

assistance in funding and 

supporting farmers’ organisation’s 

can sustain their 

potentialities for growth and 

development. 

The regional programme 

director of the organization, 

who commended the Edo 

State government for the 

strides so far taken in the 

agricultural sector, observed 

that the farmers business 

school can be the government’s 

strong partner in internal 

revenue generation.

6 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 

NEWS 

‘Nigeria’s neglected cases of 

tuberculosis is as high as 50%’ 

ANTHONIA OBOKOH 

Ahead of the World 

Tuberculosis Day 

on March 24, the 

Nigerian Thoracic 

Society says neglected 

TB cases in the country 

are as high as 50 percent. 

This means infected persons 

are not receiving treatment, 

therefore increasing the 

spread of the disease in the affected 

communities. 

Nigeria ranks fourth in 

global TB infections and the 

highest in Africa. TB is the 

topmost infectious disease 

cause of death worldwide. 

There are estimated 10.4 million 

cases, 1.8 million deaths 

annually, representing the 

ninth leading cause of death 

globally. 

The Nigerian Thoracic 

Society is calling attention on 

the need to address treatment 

gaps, prevention and control 

of the disease as part of efforts 

to mark the 2018 World 

Tuberculosis Day, with the 

theme “Wanted: Leaders for a 

TB-free World! You can make 

history. End TB.” 

Peters Etete, president, 

Nigerian Thoracic Society, 

says World TB Day is commemorated 

across the globe 

with activities as diverse as 

the locations in which they 

are held. But more can be 

done to raise awareness 

about the effects of TB. 

“TB is a medical disease; 

it has a lot of socio-economic 

confounders, it affects the 

economically productive 

age group in the community, 

thereby affecting productivity. 

“More worrisome is the 

fact that about one in three 

people with TB are never diagnosed, 

and in Nigeria the 

proportion of missed cases 

India, Nigeria hold 

trade expo as bilateral 

trade declines 

Trade Promotion 

Council of India, 

in association 

with the ASSO- 

CHAM, CAPEXCIL and 

High Commission of India, 

has announced the 

largest ever Indian trade 

exhibition called Source 

India Nigeria. 

He event comes as India’s 

exports to Nigeria 

have declined from at 

$2.87 billion in 2014 to 

$2.29 billion in 2015, and 

further to $1.74 billion in 

2016, while Nigerian exports 

to India have also 

declined from $15.66 billion 

in 2014 to $10.33 billion 

in 2015, and further to 

$7.41 billion in 2016. The 

event is organised under 

the auspices of the Department 

of Commerce, 

Ministry of Commerce and 

Industry of Government of 

India, at Eko Hotel, Lagos, 

on March 27-29. 

is as high as 50 percent. This 

means they will not be treated 

and they will continue to 

transmit the disease in the 

community. 

“Nigerian has made some 

significant strides towards 

TB control, but we know we 

can do better and faster to 

achieve the End TB Goal. We 

recognise the efforts of Nigerian 

researchers in various aspects 

of TB, especially a new 

TB diagnostics, the Sweat TB 

Test, invented by a Nigerian 

researcher/physician. 

“Such innovations with 

global and public health relevance 

should be supported 

and brought to international 

reckoning by the government,” 

Etete says. 

Olufemi Adewole, secretary 

general, Nigerian Thoracic 

Society, says the day is 

an occasion to mobilise political 

and social commitment 

for further progress towards 

eliminating TB as a public 

health burden, which this 

year’s focus comes in line with 

the Sustainable Development 

Goals set by the End TB Strategy 

and the Global Plan to 

End TB, 2016-2020, aiming to 

eliminate TB by 2035. 

“It challenges us to look at 

the fight against TB in an entirely 

new way: that every step 

we take should be a step that 

counts for people and will lead 

us towards TB elimination. 

The Moscow TB declaration 

and the coming the United Nation 

High Level Meeting on TB 

are welcome developments 

that will put TB elimination 

and control in the front burner; 

gathering high level political 

will required to ensure a TB 

free world. We welcome all 

these global movements and 

hope that these should translate 

to positive action towards 

eliminating TB. 

Delta to spend over N30bn on storm 

drains construction to control flood 

MERCY ENOCH, Asaba 

Delta State government 

would 

spend more than 

N30 billion for the 

construction of storm drains 

to take care of eight storm 

drainage channels including 

their discharge points. 

This is to control the effects 

of floodwater on the people 

of the state. 

“We have taken the bull 

by the horns as regards the 

flood control in the state; 

we wanted to be sure that 

we were on the right path, 

we did not just want to start 

constructing drains all over 

again without bringing solutions 

to the flood issues 

in Asaba, so our consultants 

worked with the Nigerian 

Society of Engineers to provide 

us with eight options 

of drains,” the state governor, 

Ifeanyi Okowa, said at a 

quarterly media briefing in 

Asaba, Wednesday. 

“Storm drainages that we 

had to undertake as a state, 

which was put at a total cost 

of a little above N30 billion, 

and out of the eight strategic 

network of drains we 

chose to work with three as 

they were very critical and 

the total cost of the three is 

about N11 billion,” Okowa 

explained. 

He said, “The first one 

we started with was the one 

that is going to be within the 

area of DLA Road through 

Jesus Saves Road, the Agric 

Road area, and that is the 

construction that is ongoing 

straight from that area 

through the Nnebisi Road 

to the Amilimocha River,” 

saying the project had gone 

very far. 

“We have been promised 

that the project would be 

delivered by the end of May 

this year, and we are happy 

to announce that from my 

inspections, the project is 

going on very well and I am 

sure that a lot of us would 

have had the opportunity 

to see this construction. For 

those of us who may not 

have, I must appeal that for 

us to be able to do proper reporting, 

there is a need for us 

to visit projects to see what is 

ongoing,” he told the press. 

According to Okowa, 

there are two other projects, 

“one of them is the drainage 

project that will take us 

through Ambassador Ralph 

Uwechie Road to discharge 

to the Anwai Stream, and 

that project is already ongoing; 

the project was awarded 

about a month ago and work 

is ongoing and it will take 12 

months to complete. 

“So, we may not be getting 

all the relief within the 

Okpanam areas all through 

the rainy season, but it is our 

hope that before the next 

rainy season they would 

have completed the project. 

So, hopefully the project will 

be delivered by God’s grace 

by the end of February 2019, 

and once it is completed, it 

is going to drain the larger 

part of Okpanam, while part 

of the water coming from 

Okpanam will be drained 

through the project that has 

a discharge point at the Iyi- 

Abi Stream that is across the 

Asaba/Onitsha expressway,” 

he said. 

An elated Okowa said 

the company working on 

the Okpanam project had 

stepped up pace of work, 

adding that the third of the 

storm drainage projects 

was the one going to drain 

DBS area and the adjoining 

areas around the DBS, and 

that project was a 12-month 

project. 

Vehicles to attend to residential wastes 

are coming, Visionscape assures 

CHUKA UROKO 

The new waste management 

outfit in 

Lagos State, Visionscape 

Sanitation 

Solutions, has craved the 

understanding of residents 

on the mounting refuse 

heaps in the state, assuring 

that vehicles with which 

to address the residential 

wastes are underway. 

John Irvine, the company’s 

CEO, who gave that 

assurance, said their original 

brief from the state government 

was to handle the 

“waste in the market, public 

areas and schools, (but) the 

brief changed. 

“All the plans to attend 

to the residential waste has 

been re-configured, so the 

vehicles will be here; the 

services will be here, but 

you have to understand that 

there is a lot of waste being 

generated by entrepreneurs 

and we will clear that backlog.” 

Irvine said they were 

embracing waste collection 

operators (WCOs) who 

would help in the interim 

to tackle the daily collection 

and to allow them take 

the waste to Epe, where 

they were building an engineered 

landfill. 

Irvine, who spoke during 

a courtesy visit to Rilwanu 

Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos, 

also assured Lagosians 

that the engineered landfill 

being constructed in Epe 

would never experience a 

fire outbreak as was seen in 

the Olusosun dumpsite in 

Ojota recently. 

“There is no need to fear 

that a fire outbreak could 

happen at Epe just as it did 

recently at the Olusosun 

dumpsite. “It is (Olusosun 

fire incident) very unfor- 


tunate and we sympathise 

with the people involved. 

But just to make the record 

clear, Epe landfill is a totally 

different super-structure 

as it is the first engineered 

landfill in Lagos. 

“The incident that happened 

in Olusosun will never 

happen in Epe because 

of the safety measures and 

technology involved in the 

engineered landfill. What 

happens in a landfill is that 

we construct the waste in a 

certain way that doesn’t allow 

fire outbreaks to happen 

because we capture 

the leaking gas and we take 

away the leachate,” he said. 

Oba Akiolu had earlier 

commended Visionscape 

for its efforts at fulfilling its 

part in delivering a cleaner 

Lagos, acknowledging that 

Visionscape had a good 

reputation and an international 

pedigree. 

The Oba maintained 

that, though he was not an 

investor in the company, he 

had decided to give it 100 

percent support, noting that 

the company was not out to 

take the jobs of the PSPs. 

“I appeal to them; we are 

not taking their daily bread 

from them but teaching 

them how to manage waste 

better,” he said. 

The monarch implored 

all Lagosians to support 

Visionscape’s mission to 

ensure a cleaner Lagos, saying, 

“There is no successful 

organisation or initiative 

without the support of the 

people.” 

He disclosed that all 

traditional rulers in Lagos 

would meet at a conference 

in Epe to talk about 

the future of Lagos later in 

the month, and would subsequently 

address all Lagosians 

in April.


ENTREPRENEUR 

Trinita Akpan, the lady realtor 

meeting your property needs 

KEMI AJUMOBI 

Biography 

Trinita Akpan is a serial entrepreneur 

with interests in 

the Fashion and Real Estate 

Sector. A focused and result oriented 

professional, her personal 

philosophy is to create value and 

solve problems, by empowering 

minds to embrace positive and 

creative thinking, helping them 

achieve personal goals by establishing 

strategic relationships. Akpan is 

a trained professional with a First 

Degree in Marketing and an MBA 

from the Prestigious University 

of Ife. Also referred to as the Lady 

Realtor, Akpan has over 14years experience 

in high profile networking 

for both public and private sectors, 

spanning the Banking, IT and Real 

Estate Industries. Her Jewellery line, 

Stillmii Jewelries supplys quality 

and stylish items for high end and 

everyday use to suit the varied 

pockets of her esteemed clientele. 

This she delivers with exceptional 

customer service. She is also the 

Chief Executive Officer for Triakot 

Properties, a legitimate Real Estate 

Marketing firm in Lagos, Nigeria, 

that seeks to connect her clients to 

amazing, affordable and genuine 

properties. 

Early years 

I come from a middle class family 

and we were taught early the value 

of smart work. One saying that was 

our guideline was that quality input 

resulted in quality output. My 

Father was a disciplinarian while 

my mother showed us the value 

of prayer and relationships. We 

were taught contentment, to deal 

honestly with everyone, to value a 

good name over money and never 

be afraid of hard work for therein 

will you find success. 

Why the decision to go into 

real estate? 

I’ve always been people oriented 

and when I took the decision to 

launch out on my own after years 

in paid employment, it was clear to 

me that it had to be something that 

built relationships by contributing 

superior value to them. Being in 

the banking industry exposed me 

to various businesses but I was 

intrigued by proposals of real estate 

developers. That’s when I knew I 

would someday play in this field. It 

can be very satisfying to assist people 

with important decisions like 

choosing what property to invest 

in. And so Triakot Properties (A 

Real Estate Consulting & Marketing 

Firm) was birthed. 

Challenges on the job 

Well, much as it is satisfying to see 

successfully closed transactions 

on house purchases, it is also disheartening 

to be in the middle of 

an almost non-existence mortgage 

system. Where new home buyers 

yearn for an affordable payment 

plan spanning several years but are 

faced with high interest rates. As a 

country, we are still very far from 

achieving this. Secondly, most investors 

or home buyers are poorly 

informed on the statutory fees 

required to complete a purchase 

not just the price of the property, 

hence you see most people quibbling 

when these fees are requested. 

That is why at Triakot Properties, we 

don’t just sell you a property, we 

take time to educate you thoroughly 

on all the fees, processes, regulations 

and timelines regarding your 

property purchase. 

Playing in a male dominated 

sector 

For many years, men have dominated 

the Real Estate industry, maybe 

due to the way it was done before 

with ‘omo ni les’( meaning street 

boys laying claims to benefits from 

the land) and local land agents. The 

structure of real estate business has 

changed since then thanks to the 

leadership of Lagos State government 

which has resulted in a level 

playing field for honest and value 

driven realtors. It is very exciting and 

encouraging to see that in recent 

times, these valued individuals are 

Lady Realtors. Top Realtors like 

Nonso Onny-Ezeh of Assist2sell and 

Udo Maryanne Okonjo of Fine and 

Country who have put in well over 

10 years in the industry are stretching 

forth their arms and showing 

younger female realtors the ropes. 

I see clients trusting women more 

and more with their transactions, 

as it goes beyond just profit and loss. 

Is it easy to own properties in 

Lagos ? 

Yes! I firmly believe so. As long as 

you are realistic with your budget 

and desire. You may desire a Banana 

Island location for instance but cannot 

afford it. Go for an alternative location 

closest to Banana Island that 

you can easily afford even if it is in 

Ajah/Sangotedo axis. Lagos State is 

set to become the 3rd largest economy 

in Africa. Some key government 

projects are situated in Ibeju Lekki. 

Housing needs are on the rise in that 

area. Any smart investor is encouraged 

to get as much as he/she can. 

Your asset will always appreciate. 

There are spread payment options. 

However, you must follow the rules. 

Invest in titled lands, spread your 

investment across midterm and 

long term locations, employ the 

services of a trusted realtor and 

your lawyer to guide you. As a rule, 

my firm ensures thorough searches 

are carried out on both the property 

and developer. We like to be sure of 

what and who we are dealing with. 

We also help individuals confirm 

their land purchases for a token fee 

so that you can be confident of the 

purchase you are making. 

Price of houses increased or 

decreased? 

Real Estate is gold that never suffers 

depreciation. As long as population 

increases there will be more demand 

on land and as such, the value 

of Real Estate always appreciates. 

Even in the midst of the recession, 

activities slowed down on the high 

end property corridor but value 

never dropped. Instead, buyers 

sought out other cheaper locations 

towards the suburbs which in turn 


also increased the value of property 

in that axis. 

How do you help people who 

desire to own their own houses 

but do not have the complete 

funds at once? 

Property investment has evolved 

over the years. We see quite a number 

of developments with spread 

payment options. So even though 

you might not be able to afford a 

choice property in your preferred location, 

you can settle for the nearest 

location that fits into your budget. 

We also have a few organisations 

that offer mortgages to interested 

subscribers. If the investor works in 

a firm, we advise and package land 

purchase deals for staff cooperatives 

which ensures a spread package 

based on their salaries that makes 

it easier for them to purchase. 

Housing and proper documentation 

The need to get the documentation 

right from start cannot be 

over emphasized. I always advice 

buyers or investors to pick options 

with established titles, that way, the 

process of perfection is much easier 

and tidier. And if you must invest in 

a property whose title is not clear 

cut, be sure to fully understand the 

terms and conditions as well as 

history surrounding that property. 

Always involve a competent Realtor 

and lawyer in all dealings. 

In real estate business, where is 

the money? 

Billionaires all over the world 

have considerable investments in 

Real Estate. It has produced more 

wealth than any other industry in 

the history of time especially if you 

know what you are doing. Here are 

a few tips. Firstly, buy cheap lands in 

suburbs, wait a few years and resell 

at a good profit or buy undervalued 

homes, renovate and resell. Secondly, 

invest more in residential and 

commercial properties. They have 

lower volatility than stocks. Thirdly, 

invest in areas with high demand for 

short term leases. 

Career in real estate 

A career in Real Estate is very challenging 

yet rewarding. While some 

earn in 7 figures, others struggle with 

a few thousands. To develop a career 

and make money in real estate, you 

must set your own schedule and 

work strictly with it. You will also 

need to be organised and ambitious 

enough to actually work at your 

business every day. Organisation 

skills are important because you will 

be dealing with contract deadlines, 

client appointments and follow-ups 

with other professionals in the field. 

Trainings and relevant certifications 

are necessary. Another major 

thing to set straight is to be sure you 

have the right character trait to stay 

ambitious and motivated, to relate 

excellently with people across different 

strata. 

Projections for your business 

I would like to see Triakot Properties 

be the go to place for fast, cost effective 

Real Estate transactions in Nigeria. 

We aim to continuously explore 

new ideas and technology to make 

the selling and buying process easier. 

Executive Musings 

URSULA BURNS, 

Former CEO, Xerox 

“Believe that there are no 

limitations, no barriers to 

your success, you will be 

empowered and you will 

achieve.” 

“Find something that you 

love to do, and find a place 

that you really like to do it in. 

I found something I loved to 

do. I’m a mechanical engineer 

by training, and I loved it. I 

still do. My son is a nuclear 

engineer at MIT, a junior, and 

I get the same vibe from him. 

Your work has to be compelling. 

You spend a lot of time 

doing it.” 

“Dreams do come true, 

but not without the help of 

others, a good education, a 

strong work ethic, and the 

courage to lean in.” 

“The world is changing. We 

all know this. And as that 

world changes, if you don’t 

transform your company, 

you’re stuck.” 

“I’m a black lady from the 

Lower East Side of New York. 

Not a lot intimidates me.” 

I realized I was more convincing 

to myself and to the people 

who were listening when 

I actually said what I thought, 

versus what I thought people 

wanted to hear me say.


Analysts expect proactive deliberations 

from Senate confirmed MPC members 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE 

Expectations mounted 

yesterday from 

the confirmed two 

deputy governors of 

Nigeria’s Central Bank and 

members of the Monetary 

Policy Committee (MPC), as 

analysts look to proactive deliberations 

of monetary policies 

going forward. 

Nigeria’s Senate yesterday 

confirmed the appointment 

of two deputy central bank 

governors and three members 

of the MPC, while one 

was rejected. 

Those confirmed are: 

Aishah Ahmad and Edward 

Lametek Adamu, deputy 

CBN governors, three MPC 

members are Adeola Adenikinju; 

Aliyu Sanusi and Robert 

Asogwa, while Asheikh 

Maidugu was rejected. 

“It is great news that the 

National Assembly has finally 

confirmed the MPC members 

which will enable them 

to now meet and deliberate 

on monetary policy issues. 

Beyond their qualifications, 

the members must carry out 

their duties diligently and 

dispassionately ensuring that 

they put national interest first. 

“They also need to consult 

widely with other key 

stakeholders and be proactive 

rather than reactive,” Taiwo 

Oyedele, head of tax and regulatory 

services, PWC, said. 

The confirmation has giving 

the rate-setting panel sufficient 

numbers to meet for 

the first time this year, as the 

next MPC meeting is scheduled 

for April 3-4. 

The Senate had held up 

some of President Muhammadu 

Buhari’s nominations 

in a dispute that had left the 

MPC unable to form a quorum 

of six. 

Bill Gates calls for innovative funding to 

sustain vaccine financing in Nigeria 

HARRISON EDEH, Abuja 

Chairman of Bill and 

Melinda Gates Foundation, 

Bill Gates, has 

called for innovative 

funding to enable the Nigerian 

government sustain health programmes 

and policies that assist 

vaccine financing in Nigeria. 

Gates made the disclosure 

during a courtesy call on Nigeria’s 

minister of financing, 

Kemi Adeosun, as he seeks 

further support for his pet 

project on health projects and 

vaccine financing supports. 

According to Gates, innovative 

financing will assist 

the Nigerian government do 

proper mapping of health projects 

that require short to midterm 

and long-term financing. 

“We are doing over $1 billion 

programme in health and 

vaccine financing and we are 

determined to sustain such 

programme working with 

Dangote Foundation and address 

concerns of vaccine financing. 

“We are also looking at 

Responding to the confirmation, 

Ayodele Akinwunmi, 

head of research, FSDH Merchant 

Bank Limited, said, “I 

think the confirmation is positive 

for the Nigerian economy 

and the financial market. 

If you recall the non-confirmation 

of the nominees was 

one of the negative factors 

that FSDH Research identified 

in our monthly Economic 

and Financial Market Report 

for the month of March tiled 

“Growth Prospect with Rising 

Uncertainties. So, this has reduced 

the uncertainties in the 

country.” 

Akinwunmi has confidence 

in the abilities of the 

MPC members to deliver 

the mandates of the CBN, 

saying, “They are all distinguished 

professionals who 

have excelled in their various 

professional callings including 

the financial industry. I 

think where a specific skill is 

required, they can easily get 

special assistance to help out.” 

The CBN cancelled its first 

MPC meeting scheduled for 

January as a result of not being 

able to establish a quorum. 

Consequently, the regulators 

left interest rates on hold at 

14 percent, a level it has kept 

for over a year to support the 

naira and curb inflation. 

“The confirmation of the 

new members of the MPC is 

a positive development and 

would further boost both domestic 

and foreign investors’ 

confidence on the Nigerian 

economy. I believe the additional 

members based on 

their past experiences will 

inject fresher perspectives as 

well as consolidate of gains 

recorded so far,” Ayodeji Ebo, 

managing director, Afrinvest 

Securities Limited, said in an 

emailed response to BusinessDay. 

vaccine financing, while also 

lending our support to ensure 

that the government financing 

improve over time and targets 

health needs which invariably 

improves financial inclusion,” 

he said. In her response, Adeosun 

said innovative financial 

thinking being canvassed for 

by Gates’ Foundation was very 

important. 

She acknowledged that 

Nigeria’s transition from low 

income country to middle income 

country was a statistical 

issue, pointing out that there 

was need to upscale the standard 

of living of people through 

financial inclusion. 

“As a government, we are 

committed to solving our own 

problem and there is enough 

potential revenue to funding 

health and education priorities 

in the country,” she said. 

She acknowledged that tax 

to GDP ratio was low, noting 

that the Federal Government 

was determined to improve 

the revenue to meet government’s 

education and health 

priority needs. 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

7 

NEWS 

L-R: Austine Enajemo-Isire, IoD’s honorary treasurer; Emmanuel Ijewere, past president; Ije Jidenma, 2nd vice president; 

Oscar Onyema, CEO, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Ahmed Rufai, Mohammed president, Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria, 

performing the gong sounding/closing of the market rite on the floor of the NSE, Chris Okunowo, 1st vice president, IoD; Samuel 

Yemi Akeju, immediate past President, and Bola Adeeko, head shared services division, NSE. 

Nigeria lags behind South Africa, 

Kenya in eGovernemnt scores – UN 

ENDURANCE OKAFOR 

Nigeria is behind 

its peers 

of largest Africa 

economies in 

eGovernment 

scores by country, according 

to United Nations’ (UN) 2016 

E-Government survey. 

Africa’s most populous nation 

was ranked 143rd most 

digitalised country that had 

the implementation of eGovernment 

(electronic government) 

initiatives out of the 193 

countries that were survey by 

the UN, as compiled from UN 

E-government report aimed 

at supporting sustainability 

development. 

“A lot of institutions in Nigeria 

have not adopted the 

digital measures in their operations, 

and this could have led 

to a more efficient, time saving 

and transparent system in 

the Nigerian government, and 

corruption is the major reason 

why there is resistance in 

imbibing digitalisation,” Ayo 

Akinwumi, head of research 

at FSDH Merchant Bank, told 

BusinessDay on phone. 

Nigeria’s current ranking 

is two steps backward from 

its 2014 position of 141. South 

Africa was the best performing 

among its peers, leaving 

Kenya to follow at 119 position, 

while Nigeria came last 

in the category. 

“The most obvious benefits 

of eGovernment are 

boosting efficiency and saving 

money, but there is also 

huge potential to increase 

transparency and accountability, 

from the payment of 

civil servant salaries to the 

award of lucrative public 

contracts,” Ecobank Research 

said in a statement. 

The eGovernment is the 

use of information and communication 

technologies 

(ICTs) to improve the activities 

of public sector organisations. 

The UN assigns an eGoverment 

score to all countries, 

aggregating their average 

scores for e-participation, online 

service (web measure), 

human capital, and telecommunications 

infrastructure 

(with zero being the lowest 

and one being the highest 

score). 

Africa’s largest economy 

had the least score among its 

peers as it was assigned 0.32, 

Kenya got a higher score of 

0.41 and South Africa was 

the highest with 0.55. Nigeria 

scored around the average 

of its region, indicating that 

they are underperforming 

given the size of its population 

and resources, as it is also the 

highest exporter of crude oil 

in the Africa continent. 

“Nigeria has however 

made progress in digitalization 

of its operations, comparing 

the current state to its 

previous, as there has been 

introduction of BVN, e-passport, 

visa on arrival, etc. the 

government should invest in 

technology in the country, as 

the world is gradually heading 

in that direction and Africa’s 

largest economy cannot shy 

away from it,” Akinwumi said. 

South Africa on the other 

hand is the second largest 

economy and it was Sub- 

Sahara Africa’s top performer 

in the UN survey, this was 

due to its relatively high level 

of national development and 

digital infrastructure, Kenya 

(0.42) is also top performer, 

reflecting its success in rolling 

out mobile phone services 

and the growing role as 

regional Fintech and innovation 

hubs, all of which have 

helped drive eGovernment 

initiatives. 

The category however outperformed 

the sub-Sahara 

Africa region score of 0.28, this 

scoring system places the region 

at the bottom of world regional 

rankings, with regional 

scores ranging from 0.41 in 

Oceania to a high of 0.51 in 

Asia, 0.52 in Americas and Europe 

with the highest by 0.72. 

TEF, ICRC, UNDP, Indorama partner to support 1,250 beneficiaries for 2018 programme 

AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE 

Tony Elumelu Foundation 

(TEF) yesterday 

announced that 

it had completed 

the process of selecting the 

1,000 African entrepreneurs 

with the most innovative and 

high-potential business ideas, 

who will benefit from the 

2018 cohort of the TEF Entrepreneurship 

Programme. 

In addition, the Foundation 

entered into partnership 

with the International 

Committee of the Red Cross 

(ICRC) to support another 

200 entrepreneurs located 

in conflict and fragile zones 

in Nigeria; United Nations 

Development Programme 

(UNDP) to support another 

40 Pan-African entrepreneurs, 

and Indorama to 

support 10 Nigerian entrepreneurs, 

bringing the total 

beneficiaries of this year’s 

programme to 1,250 persons. 

Tony Elumelu, TEF 

founder, who made the announcement 

at an event in 

Lagos, said this year recorded 

close to 152,000 applicants 

but only 1,000 scaled through 

due to limited resources. 

According to Elumelu, 

the high number of applications 

and the partnership 

received to enlarge this year’s 

programme has shown that 

many people were beginning 

to embrace the TEF initiative 

as a model and way to bring 

economic development in 

Africa. 

“This is the beginning 

of a new phase in the lives 

of these successful applicants, 

who wants to become 

entrepreneurs that would 

help to develop Africa. The 

beneficiaries would undergo 

a training series from 

the Foundation, given networking 

opportunities after 

which, they would be given a 

seed capital of $5,000 each to 

enable them start their individual 

businesses,” Elumelu 

said. 

To ensure transparency 

in the selection process, he 

said the Foundation partnered 

Accenture to help in 

the selection process. “The 

partnership we have today 

will help to bring economic 

liberation, promote growth, 

eradicate poverty and eliminate 

existence of fragile communities,” 

he said. 

He, however, advised 

other applicants, who were 

not selected to be resilient 

in order to succeed because 

the road to entrepreneurship 

was very tough. 

In terms of monitoring 

and evaluation of prevision 

beneficiaries, Parminder Vir, 

Obe, CEO of TEF, disclosed 

that many of the beneficiaries 

from across Africa have 

been able to build sustainable 

businesses, confirming 

that they value the skills and 

mentoring opportunities received 

from the Foundation. 

She said that the previous 

beneficiaries have also been 

able to create jobs, generate 

revenue and delivered return 

on their investments, adding 

that over 30 percent of the 

beneficiaries are located in 

the rural areas because programme 

is not for only urban 

dwellers. 

Brian Veal, representative 

of ICRC, who described the 

partnership extended to TEF 

as being in line with the 30th 

anniversary of ICRC in Nigeria, 

said that Red Cross hope 

to scale up the partnership to 

further reach out to other 54 

countries in Africa.

BUSINESS DAY 

Workplace Palava 


…and Stella became the capstone 

KEMI AJUMOBI 

Stella comes from a humble 

background. She is 

the first child and has 

a younger brother. Her father 

is a retired soldier and her 

mum, a petty trader. Right from 

when Stella was in secondary 

school, she would do her best 

to support her family by joining 

her mother at the market 

and also helping people clean 

their homes and wash clothes 

at weekends to help in paying 

for her school fees, and also to 

support in providing needed 

items for the home. 

She did that throughout secondary 

school. She got into the 

university and had to find a way 

to support to pay her school 

fees. She would braid hair and 

fix weaves for ladies at weekends. 

She learnt contentment 

early, so she never lived beyond 

her means and nothing anyone 

did to entice her to be distracted 

worked. She had a plan for her 

future and she was determined 

to face it honourably. 

She studied Banking and 

Finance and did excellently well 

in school. In her first year, her 

GPA was a 4.0. When she was in 

her third year, her mother took 

ill so she was shuttling between 

school and home, to care for her 

mum and study at the same time. 

This affected her grades however, 

she graduated with a 2.1. 

On the day of her graduation, 

it was a time of tears and joy. 

Her parents were singing the 

words to her “You have made 

us proud”. 

She went for NYSC in Kaduna 

and was posted to a 

remote area where she had to 

teach Maths to primary school 

students. After a year, she returned 

back to her home. She 

began to look for job and it was 

quite difficult because she had 

no experience. 

One day, she walked into a 

nearby bank to ask if they needed 

the help of cleaners. As she 

walked towards the receptionist 

to ask, just as the receptionist 

was about to say no, she saw 

a man reporting a cleaner to 

a woman who Stella believed 

would surely be the HR manager. 

He was furious at the decision of 

the HR not to sack this particular 

cleaner who never cleaned his 

office well. Just as he was into 

his complain, another woman 

interjected “Oh sir, so you have 

noticed same. Ngozi doesn’t 

clean my office well too. The 

last time I spoke to her about 

it, she was very rude” then the 

man said “That is it, I won’t take 

this again. Fire her immediately 

and find a replacement in 1 day. 

I don’t know how you will do it 

but just do it” he told the HR 

manager. 

Stella felt it was a right time 

to speak, but she was afraid and 

began to ask herself, “how do 

you walk into a place for the first 

time and jump into a conversation 

where your opinion wasn’t 

sought after?”. She knew it was 

a rare opportunity and decided 

to take chances. She walked up 

to the man “Good afternoon sir, 

I would love to work here as a 

cleaner sir”. The man look at 

her, looked at the HR Manager 

and said “I guess your prayer 

has been answered. Employ her 

immediately” and he walked out 

of the office. 

That was how Stella got a job 

at the bank. After a year, the man 

(who Stella later realised was the 

branch manager), began to pick 

interest in her. He saw her as his 

child. She was the same age as 

his third daughter. He encouraged 

her to register for ICAN and 

sponsored her. 

Stella came out in flying colours. 

One day, he called her into 

his office and told her it was time 

for her to become a staff of the 

bank. “Me? Uhmm..sir, perhaps 

I should..” “Perhaps you should 

what? Stella, you are a graduate, 

you came out with a 2.1, you 

passed ICAN, what more?” he 

asked and she responded “Ok 

sir”. It wasn’t like Stella didn’t 

hear what he said; she just didn’t 

see herself working there. She 

was afraid she would not be ‘accepted’ 

by other core members 

who had longed seen her sweep 

and clean offices. However, it 

wasn’t about ‘acceptance’ for 

the branch manager, it was more 

about being qualified. 

A month after, she began to 

work at the Bank and not as 

a cleaner. Her fellow cleaners 

were happy for her. Stella never 

felt too big to say hello to them, 

as long as she was concerned, 

they were still her friends. 

There was a female assistant 

manager who did not like the 

idea and she did not fail to show 

Stella through her actions. Stella 

went through a horrible period 

reporting to her. Stella would 

go home and cry but never told 

her parents, she did not want 

to bother them. She would cry 

at night and prayed to God to 

help her. 

One day, during the management 

meeting, the assistant 

manager, Sola Adeniyi by name, 

got up to let everyone know she 

wasn’t okay with Stella becoming 

a staff and that it was not in 

the interest of the bank for people 

to be insinuating that something 

was going on between Stella and 

the branch manager. “Are you 

done Madam Sola?” the manager 

asked and she responded “Yes sir” 

then he continued “thank you for 

‘looking’ out for me and ‘protecting 

my image’ which is what I believed 

you did when the gossip was 

spreading” he said sarcastically 

and continued “Stella is a graduate 

of Banking and Finance. When 

she began working here she was 

already a graduate” at this time, 

the shock in Sola’s eyes said it 

all. “That’s not all, she wrote ICAN 

and passed excellently at a single 

try…she passed all the stages. If 

I remember clearly, some people 

have written stage 2 twice and still 

trusting God to help them pass” he 

said looking at Sola sternly, obviously, 

everyone in the room knew 

he was referring to her. “Please, 

tell me Madam Sola why a graduate 

of Banking and Finance with a 

2.1 grade and ICAN success story 

cannot have a job in this company? 

Obviously, you spend time with the 

HR Manager helping to ‘douse’ the 

rumours flying around about me 

and Stella but, the gist was too 

sweet she forgot to tell you how 

qualified Stella is since she has her 

updated CV as the HR Manager”. 

Sola was embarrassed. 

She blamed herself for speaking 

ill of Stella but was more 

upset with her friend the HR 

Manager who didn’t tell her 

of Stella’s qualifications. “If 

you had not brought this matter 

here Madam Sola, I would 

have enlightened you on why 

she was employed but you 

decided to bring it here during 

management meeting and 

I have no choice but to clear 

the air.” 

After that day, Madam Sola 

became nice to Stella. Stella 

didn’t understand the reason 

behind the sudden change 

but news spread fast of what 

happened however, Stella 

never changed her behaviour 

towards Madam Sola. She 

would greet her and remained 

respectful. 

Stella is having an amazing 

time at the bank. She won the 

award for best staff of the year 

twice and has risen to the position 

of a supervisor. She went 

through the hurdles of life and 

came out a success story, what 

an inspiration she is! 

From her point of view 

1st year... Done and Dusted 

Early 2017, the journey started. 

The journey of 4 years, 

8 semesters, months of 

higher education. The electricity 

of anticipation to resume was 

common among the ‘freshers’. 

Beginning from the clearance 

and registrations to fresher’s welcome 

here and there to medicals 

and eventually classes. 

The feeling of university life, 

hostel living and independence 

lingered pungently in the air. For 

me, it was a great deal acclimatising 

with the new environment. 

As my mother would say ‘university 

is a jungle’. One in which you 

meet different kinds of people 

and characters and sometimes 

people say your university friends 

are the ones you keep the longest. 

Hostel life indeed showed 

me different characters and the 

occasional drama never ceased 

to draw crowds. Although, some 

OSARENNOMA OGBEIDE 

Student of Psychology 

University of Ibadan 

people proved difficult to live with, I was 

always surrounded by friends turned sisters. 

The social activities were ever so abundant. 

Hall week this, department week that 

and to crown it all dinners. After all, all work 

and no play make Jack a dull boy. But let’s 

remember that Jack doesn’t play all day. A 

typical Nigerian parent would say “I sent 

you to school to read your books, not to be 

pressing phone”. Everyone should have a 

social life however; we should be able to 

balance between work and play. 

Truly it was tough choosing elective 

courses seeing that we were clueless of who 

the lecturers were or what the courses entailed. 

Our fate lied in our predecessors who 

were able to fill us in on what and what not 

to do. Gradually, we got used to the system 

and even got tired of being called ‘freshers’. 

As for independence, I learnt to discipline 

myself as regards spending, setting 

priorities and just being who I wanted to 

be and not what others wanted to see. So, 

working and living with others eventually 

became a norm. 

Final exams came and they’re gone. In 

our minds we were feeling fly and proud 

to move from the status of a fresher to a 

‘stallite’. Our predecessors decided to burst 

out bubble by telling us our first year was 

just baby steps and I kept wandering how 

my 7am classes, 10-15 pages term papers 

and jumping from one tutorial to another 

were baby steps. 

Although I still have 3 years ahead, I 

can’t but remember tailing on lecturers to 

sign course forms, meeting seniors to know 

which courses would favour our GPA, the 

fear of being locked or sent out of class for 

coming late, having classes back to back 

and the aroma of Klazz Restaurant never 

ceasing to remind our stomachs of their 

delicacies. 

Now that I actually think of it, it brings a 

smile to my face. As for the incoming ‘freshers’ 

(I guess I can say that now…lol), I’ll be 

ever ready to inform them about the ‘baby 

steps’ they are going to be taking. Walking 

into university now as a ‘stallite’ will still 

bring with it some changes but we’ll survive; 

I was born to survive. Done with the first 

year, on to the next.

BDOnline 



5 MOST READ STORIES OF THE WEEK 

PenCom fines PFAs for suboptimal 

investment returns 

A 

number of Pension Fund Administrators 

(PFAs) have been slammed 

with fines by the National Pension 

Commission (PenCom) for suboptimal 

investment returns in their fixed income 

portfolios in 2017 after an audit by the 

regulator. 

BusinessDay learnt that the affected 

PFAs were hit with fines ranging from N500 

million to N800 million, and that the funds 

will be taken from the PFA company funds 

and paid back into pension funds under 

management. 

Apapa: Navy under pressure 

to end restriction on truck 

movement 

Rear Admiral SAG Abbah, the Flag Officer 

Commanding (FOC), Western 

Naval Commanda of the Nigerian 

Navy is under pressure to end his good work 

of effectively managing the traffic and insecurity 

menace in Apapa and its environs. 

This intelligence came off from a meeting 

of stakeholders including truck drivers, 

oil marketers and top hierarchy of the Nigerian 

navy. The operators sought to negotiate 

a better way of managing truck movement 

without hindering business. 

FG says no ransom paid as 

militants free 101 abducted 

schoolgirls 

Boko Haram militants on Wednesday 

abruptly set free 101 of the 110 Nigerian 

schoolgirls kidnapped about a 

month ago from Dapchi, Yobe State. 

The captors gave no reason for their 

release, but Information Minister, Lai Mohammed 

denied that a ransom had been 

paid. Several of the girls said some of their 

friends had died in captivity and one was 

still being held, for refusing to convert to 

Islam. 

Presidential assent for PIGB 

possible this March 

There are strong indications that the 

petroleum industry governance 

bill (PIGB) will be assented to by 

President Muhammadu Buhari when the 

harmonised version is presented to him by 

the end of the month. 

A source in the technical committee 

reviewing the bill on behalf of government 

confirmed to BusinessDay that the president 

will not withhold assent on the bill 

when it reaches him this month. 

Teleology meets deadline to 

acquire 9Mobile 

Teleology Holdings Limited, preferred 

bidder for the 9Mobile 

sale has met up with its payment 

deadline set for today, March 22, 2018 

for the sum of $50 million as a nonrefundable 

deposit to acquire the fourth 

largest telecommunications network in 

Nigeria. 

Although the final decision on who 

emerges winner of 9Mobile lies in the 

hands of the Nigerian Communications 

Commission (NCC), Teleology has played 

its part by fulfilling all obligations as directed 

by Barclays Africa, the financial adviser 

to the owed banks. 

POLL 

TOP COMMENT OF THE WEEK 

Who should lead the 

delivery of digital? 

CARTOON OF THE WEEK 

Clueless as a yardstick – Asukwuo 

Folagbade Adeyemi: Hybrid solution 

will likely be the way to go but 

we won’t start getting traction on 

financial inclusion until it becomes a real 

front burner issue at the national level. Both 

telcos and banks need to see value in their 

independent business models. 

MOST TWEETED STORY 

Questions raised over 

insertion of Alpha Beta 

into Lagos Land Use Act 

Amid a brutal backlash from Lagos 

residents over a four hundred fold 

increase in land use charges in Nigeria’s 

commercial city, fresh questions are 

now being raised over the private company- 

Alpha Beta, exclusively named in the law 

to manage the revenue collection process. 

In the section of the law titled “Rules 

Governing the Distribution of the Lagos 

Land State Land Use Charge” section 2 

specifically states that; 

“Alpha Beta or any other designated 

person(s) or corporate body who has the 

responsibility of monitoring the incoming 

revenues of the State through the collecting 

banks, shall provide a report to the Accountant 

General of the State.”

2 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

Friday 23 March 2018



C002D5556 

COMMENT 

TALES FROM THE MAIN ROAD 

EUGENIA ABU 

07043185277 (Text only) 

myspace@eugeniaabu.com 

I 

am truly at my wits end 

this week. What with all 

the nasty news making 

the rounds across the 

world. One is frustrated, 

shocked amazed and even 

frightened. The Dapchi girls are 

not the only abductions going 

on in the North East, the papers 

are awash with unbelievable 

crimes across the nation and 

Internationally, Oh wow! So I 

woke up today to the very depressing 

tale of a couple living 

in London who are alleged to 

have killed their young French 

aupaire and you will not believe 

some of the reasons adduced. 

But first let’s get to what a London 

court is hearing as what 

took place in the couple’s London 

flat. They put the young girl 

through intensive and relentless 

interrogation, abused and tortured 

her, finally murdering her 

and burning her body and then 

The world today 

buried her charred remains 

behind their flat. Really? This 

is the nanny of their children 

whom they accused of spying 

on them and bringing persons 

to their house secretly and also 

abusing their children. The 

police describe the torture and 

interrogation as the couple’s 

way of getting the Nanny to 

confess to these “fantasy stories” 

the couple was spinning. 

The face of the mother of the 

young girl on her way to court 

in London on this case just 

tells me how tough and unbelievable 

things are everywhere. 

What exactly is going on in the 

world as we now know it. 

I have sat up all night sometimes 

wondering about wickedness, 

murder, emotional 

blackmail, distrust, love gone 

sour, cheats, pedophiles, mental 

health issues, self-esteem 

erosion, wars, depression and 

all the things that have affected 

the world adversely in spite of 

our new technology and can 

see how easy it is for people 

without sufficient resilience 

to give up on the world and lie 

down and die. But certainly 

this is not the answer. The 

answer is to trudge on and be 

the change you want to see. 

We can change the world one 

person at a time. We can con- 

Your online business is less 

than personal and you are sitting 

statistics for people to use 

psychology to target you… And 

you thought elections in the 

west were always free and fair. 

Someone somewhere is messing 

with brains in such a sophisticated 

manner 

quer our troubles, one piece at a 

time without allowing them overwhelm 

us. Psychologists and psychiatrists 

encourage everyone 

to do “journaling.” Write down 

your pain, then writer down your 

blessings. Putting them down 

can be cathartic and it helps to 

empty you of pent up emotions 

and gives a certain release. Those 

of us who write understand this. 

Practice journaling. Believe me it 

helps, it is like talk therapy, itself 

a useful device for combating 

anxiety and depression. 

I know we are all trying to 

conquer our fears and anxieties 

but I certainly cannot let the 

Cambridge Analytica case go by 

without my commenting. These 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com 

are perception consultants, 

image architects and persons 

who have affected the election 

process from Russia, to 

the United States and guess 

what even Nigeria. Prostitutes 

are sent to mess up with an 

opposition candidate in order 

to make their client look good 

by publishing the story of the 

prostitute’s involvement with 

this candidate to discredit him 

to favor their client. Dirty tricks 

department for elections at its 

most extreme and bizarre. Yet 

everything looks normal to the 

ordinary eye while so much is 

been choreographed. Add this 

to the fact that Facebook enabled 

Cambride Analytica access 

thousands of personal data on 

their platform which were now 

used to profile Facebook users 

in America for purposes of 

targeted advertising without 

user’s knowledge or permission. 

Your online business is 

less than personal and you are 

sitting statistics for people to 

use psychology to target you. 

Wow! And you thought elections 

in the west were always free and 

fair. Someone somewhere is 

messing with brains in such a 

sophisticated manner, it’s hard 

to tell. As all of this unravels we 

watch and see where all of this 

will take us. And those of you 

who believe your life should 

be lived on social media, well 

another reason to be wary. The 

fact that you like chicken and 

your favorite color is red could 

be used to get you in a targeted 

advert. Interesting times. 

As the world turns on its 

axis and Syria is raging, while 

the Rohingyas are permanent 

refugees, with Kidnaps and 

abductions in Nigeria, parents 

please speak softly to your children. 

Monsters do not happen 

in one day. They are made from 

disgruntled children, physically 

and emotionally abused 

children, mean parents, bad 

company, terrible ideologies 

and the absence of love. That 

child of yours who you are 

now afraid of, who is today a 

terrorist started sliding when 

he/she was young. Never tell 

a child he/she will amount 

to nothing, let your criticism 

be constructive. Be open to 

learning from your children. 

They may not always be polite, 

discerning, caring, grateful or 

kind but love conquers all. Let 

us be more welcoming, more 

tolerant, less abusive, lest we 

contribute to the broken world 

we now live in. 

Send reactions to: 

comment@businessdayonline. 

Is commitment negotiable or non-negotiable in your organization? 

‘UJU ONWUZULIKE’ 

Uju Onwuzulike is Nigeria’s leading authority 

on Systems Thinking and Strategic 

Management. He was a Steve 

Haines trained strategy and systems 

thinking expert and a former global 

partner of Haines Centre for Strategic 

Management, California, USA. He is 

the founder and Chief Results Officer 

of MCL – a strategy and outstanding 

performance specialist firm. He can 

be reached on 09091142093 or uju. 

onwuzulike@mclgroup.net. 

In today’s changing business 

world, it is no more 

enough to spend so much 

in training employees 

without having them fully committed 

to doing whatever they 

have learnt. Without seeing 

the need to be committed to 

one’s job, training may not bring 

about the expected returns – 

and this is why so many people 

think training does not yield 

results. 

Something very important is 

lacking in today’s employees. 

Just one thing! Could it be any 

of the following: lack of skills, 

lack of expertise, lack of experience, 

lack of education, lack 

of communication skills, and 

lack of customer service skills? 

Surprisingly, it is none of all 

these things. The number one 

key thing that is lacking in our 

workplace of today is COM- 

MITMENT. The bad news is 

that it is getting worse by day. 

Let us take lack of experience 

as an example. The solution 

to not having experience is to 

work and gain as much experience 

as possible, but having 

fifteen years cognate experience 

without a corresponding 

high level of commitment 

could be suicidal. More so, one 

can have all the experience in 

this world, all the skills and 

competence, and even adept 

with strategy matters but without 

commitment, one might 

end up sub-optimally. 

Now, many people give so 

many reasons and justifications 

for their failures. In the 

last 5 years employee’s productivity 

has gone down and 

may likely become worse in 

the future. When you listen to 

some employees excuses and 

reasons for non-performance, 

it would be very easy to pick 

out the fact that the main cause 

of their non-performance is 

simply lack of commitment to 

their jobs. Let’s look at it, when 

one is not committed, he/she 

will never go the extra mile 

for his/her organization, like 

Blanchard said, such a person 

will only do what is convenient 

to do. With the current situation 

of businesses today, no 

organization can achieve sustainable 

results working with 

employees that will only do 

what is convenient for them. 

Every organization needs staff 

members who are committed 

and are ready to deliver results 

regardless of any circumstance. 

During one of my programs, 

a staff of an engineering firm 

raised up a point that over the 

years has created a false impression 

on employees. He believed 

that without adequate resources, 

employees might not deliver 

expected results. This has been 

the thinking of so many people 

till today. The truth of the matter 

is that resources can never 

be enough. Employees must 

learn to make the most out of 

the available resources. Budgets 

can be reduced or cut down, but 

nobody can ever succeed in cutting 

down or reducing the flow of 

someone’s attitude. 

The commitment gap in many 

organizations is continuously 

increasing. Many people are 

just earning salaries without 

justifying their pay. “Presenteeism” 

is now the order of the day. 

Presenteeism is really difficult to 

discover as opposed to absenteeism. 

It exists when employees 

are fully present in the office, 

but they are not working, not 

adding value, and not committed 

to their jobs. Someone might 

ask, is it possible for one to be 

in the office and not working? 

Yes, when one is present but not 

adding value to the organization. 

A committed staff member is always 

adding value and will keep 

doing things differently in order 

to achieve a better result. 

Points to ponder: 

•It is very important to know 

that, people do not do what you 

expect but what you inspect. 

If you want better results, be 

ready to inspect. Do not assume 

that results will naturally comeyou 

might be disappointed. 

•Leaders and managers 

should show commitments 

first. People do what they see 

others doing. Leaders and managers 

are expected to set the 

examples. It is much easier to 

lead others when you are committed. 

•Employees should focus 

less on things that are nice to 

do, but instead should focus 

more on things that matter most 

to the company. 

•For your business to grow, 

you need staff members who 

are committed. Without commitment, 

there would be no 

growth. 

Final note: 

The reality is that no employee 

can go the extra mile without 

a high sense of commitment in 

him or her. Interestingly, CEOs 

and managers have a major part 

to play in lubricating the oil of 

commitment in their organizations. 

Based on the experience I 

have training leaders and managers 

in various sectors, I have 

come to realize that employees 

will never be deeply committed 

to a CEO or a manager who is 

not trustworthy, who also lacks 

commitment as a leader, who 

does not radiate honesty, openness, 

transparency and who 

does not have their genuine 

interest at heart. 

So, now, we must ensure we 

close up the growing commitment 

gap in our organizations. 

Growth, progress, increased 

PAT/PBT and business sustainability 

may be farfetched with 

non-committed workforce who 

is not productive on a daily 

basis. Leaders should not focus 

more on compliance in this age 

and time; they should preach 

more of commitment, because 

an employee who is committed 

will naturally comply to 

set rules. 

What is your organization 

doing to consistently have 

people who are committed and 

ready to do all they can to ensure 

your organization thrives 

even in difficult times? 

Remember, lack of commitment 

is every organization’s 

biggest undoing, get help today 

and let commitment become 

non-negotiable in your organization. 

Feel free and ask me how 

your organization can become 

“commitment advantaged” and 

reap all the benefits thereof. 


comment@businessdayonline.com


COMMENT 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

11 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com 

Opportunities in Africa’s aviation industry 

SALEH DUNOMA 

Engr. Dunoma, is MD/CEO FAAN and 

President, ACI-Africa 

Africa’s aviation industry 

has immense 

opportunities. In the 

next 20 years, population 

growth in Africa 

and Asia is expected to have an 

impact on the future of the airline 

industry. India, Nigeria, Pakistan, 

Democratic Republic of Congo, 

Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia and 

Uganda are expected to contribute 

half of the expected increase in the 

population of travellers. Forecasts 

show that rapid urbanisation in 

African cities will drive demand 

for domestic and regional air 

travel. 

These factors will add more 

jobs to those the aviation industry 

already generates across the continent. 

From direct jobs in airport 

operations to indirect jobs in retail 

outlets, transport, restaurants and 

hotels. 

The reality, however, is that 

over the years, African airports 

have been run mainly as government 

entities without the drive 

for profitable management. This 

has resulted in many airports being 

classified as non-viable and 

unable to meet their operational 

costs. This has posed a major 

problem in the efficient running 

of airports that are unable to cater 

for their maintenance and opera- 

tional needs thereby leading to 

stakeholder and customer service 

dissatisfaction. 

All around the world airports 

rely on non-aeronautical revenues 

(NAR) such as retail concessions, 

car parking, property 

and real estate to maintain their 

facilities and provide high quality 

service. Global NAR accounts for 

40% of airports income. In Africa, 

less than 20% of airports’ revenues 

generated is commercial. 

African airports must transform 

to unlock its potentials. 

Hence, the theme: Business 

Transformation for Sustainable 

Development of African Airports, 

of the 59th ACI Africa Board and 

Regional Committees Meetings & 

Regional Conference and Exhibition 

is timely. 

Airports Council International 

(ACI), a not–for–profit organization, 

represents commercial 

airports worldwide. As the voice 

of the world’s airports, ACI advances 

the collective interests of 

the communities it serves and 

promotes professional excellence 

in airport management 

and operations. In Africa, ACI is 

composed of 62 members from 47 

countries managing 250 airports. 

For six days Nigeria will host 

over 300 airport professionals 

from all over the world. I am 

confident that the wealth of experience 

of these professionals will 

provide ideas and action plans 

that will contribute to the ease of 

doing airport business in Nigeria 

and Africa. 

African airports must position 

for increased passenger volume, 

The advent of Public-private 

partnership (PPP) in Africa 

has caused a shift in the 

transformation of airports 

into sustainable business 

entities and Nigeria is not 

left behind. In recent years, 

Nigeria has engaged in the 

PPP practice and has witness 

good success. 

particularly business travellers and 

tourists. Last year, the continent 

saw a 9% increase in tourism, the 

highest increase in any region. 

Among other things, the conference 

will push for a change 

in the perception of business in 

African airports. A change in how 

the business of African airports 

is viewed is necessary to realise 

the vaunted benefits of the Single 

African Air Transport Market 

(SAATM). Last January, 23 African 

countries signed SAATM in Addis 

Ababa. SAATM has the potential to 

transform aviation business on the 

continent. Jobs for the continent’s 

burgeoning youth population, enhanced 

intra-Africa trade, convenient 

regional travel, contribution to 

GDP, and especially tourism are 

some of the expected benefits of 

the agreement. 

According to IATA, an open 

skies agreement among Africa’s 

12 biggest economies could see 

passenger traffic soar by 81% to 

about 11 million. It could generate 

155,000 new jobs, adding $1.3 

billion to GDP. It is estimated 

that it could provide 17,400 jobs 

in Nigeria and contribute $128m 

to our GDP. 

Alongside the meetings and 

conference, airports, service providers 

and aviation companies 

will exhibit their products and 

services at a large-scale exhibition. 

Conference sessions will 

feature industry experts who will 

share their experience of technologies, 

innovations, strategies, 

mindset and business models 

(e.g. public-private partnerships) 

to improve operations and boost 

revenue. An entire session will 

dwell on the challenges and future 

of tax-free retail shopping, a 

major source of non-aeronautical 

revenue (NAR). 

The advent of Public-private 

partnership (PPP) in Africa has 

caused a shift in the transformation 

of airports into sustainable 

business entities and Nigeria is 

not left behind. In recent years, 

Nigeria has engaged in the PPP 

practice and has witness good 

success. We are working tirelessly 

to ensure that our airports are 

viable and self-sustaining hence 

this is the perfect time for Nigeria 

to host this prestigious event. 

One challenge African airports 

have tackled lately is safety. This 

has led to the initiation of the 

globally acknowledged Airport 

Excellence (APEX) in safety programme. 

This has recorded great 

achievements with a drastic decrease 

in the number of incidents 

and accidents in Africa. 

In Nigeria, ACI has been of 

tremendous assistance in the certification 

process of the Lagos and 

Abuja airports through the APEX 

in safety programme which helped 

us identify safety gaps in our aerodromes. 

In recognition of the role 

played by ACI and in FAAN’s bid 

to ensure safety in our airports, 

we have commenced the APEX in 

safety programme in other of our 

international airports—Port Harcourt, 

Kano, Enugu and Kaduna. 

In addition, Nigeria is currently 

seeking investments in the 

various industries especially in the 

aviation industry. This conference 

will afford investors first-hand 

information about the needs and 

opportunities in the Nigerian aviation 

sector. 

Part of the aim of the conference 

is to allow our guests experience 

Nigeria, our beautiful culture, 

people, arts and crafts and all that 

we have to offer. A social day has 

been planned for the delegates 

which involves visits to unique 

tourist sites in Lagos state. 

Hosting such a world class 

event will showcase Nigeria to the 

world. We at FAAN are delighted to 

host global and regional aviation 

experts and giants of the industry 

where knowledge and experiences 

will be shared, strategies developed, 

networks formed, and investments 

opportunities achieved. 


comment@businessdayonline.com 

The water crisis can’t wait! 

IJEOMA NWAGWU 

Dr. Nwagwu, is a Faculty member of 

the Lagos Business School 

The issues we face are so 

big and the targets are so 

challenging that we cannot 

do it alone. When you look 

at any issue, such as food or water 

scarcity, it is very clear that no individual 

institution, government or 

company can provide the solution. 

Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever 

Today, 22 March, is World Water 

Day on the United Nations calendar. 

This year’s theme, ‘Nature for 

Water’ aims to drive nature-based 

solutions to water crisis especially 

in areas where grey infrastructure 

is impractical or costly. Today, 36% 

(2.5 billion) of the world’s population 

is affected by water scarcity; 

2 billion people globally are compelled 

to drink unsafe water, 700 

million people worldwide face the 

risk of displacement by intense water 

scarcity by 2030, and by 2050. In 

Nigeria alone, UNICEF reports that 

over 70 million people do not have 

access to safe drinking water. The 

National Bureau of Statistics reports 

that 42.1% of households in Kano 

lack access to safe drinking water. 

In Lagos, only 8.9% have improved 

water sources. And across the country, 

less than 61% of the population 

have access to running water. 

The water crisis is a business risk 

extraordinaire, water scarcity and 

pollution impacts the capacity of 

individuals and whole communities 

to create and subscribe to value. 

In response to this crisis business 

must join hands with other sectors 

to ensure water is managed sustainably 

and as a shared and public 

resource. As we witness in Cape 

Town, South Africa, severe drought 

combines with trends of industrialization 

and urbanization serve to 

produce a massive water crisis. This 

picturesque city of 4 million people 

is to become the first major modern 

city to completely run dry. 

How can we better manage 

water? 

Approaches to water management 

require understanding of 

the resource issue from various 

perspectives. African water basins 

are trans-boundary in nature, but 

laws are too weak to foster efficient 

water management.Interestingly, 

water waste is highest where water 

is scarce! In the remote villages, 

where there arewater basins, water 

is used less efficiently; water pollution 

and related disease outbreak 

are common. In the growing cities, 

demand for safe water is rising to 

among rapidly expanding urban 

populationsdrifting in from the 

countryside. From the industry 

perspective, efficiency implies reduction 

in water wastage and efforts to 

sustainably provide clean water and 

sanitation facilities to communities 

through corporate social responsibility 

(CSR). Given these multiple 

scenes of action there is an urgent 

need for collaboration on water 

governance:corporations, governments 

and business have to not only 

look in toenhance water stewardship 

in their operations but join hands 

ensuresustainable water management 

based on three principles: 

social equity, economic efficiency, 

and ecological sustainability. 

What is business doing? 

Industrial activities put strain 

on water reserves in at least two 

simple ways: competition for water 

resource and external effects of grey 

water disposal. Some industries have 

developed internal targets to reduce 

water use in production e.g. Nigerian 

Breweries by 25% and Guinness by 

50%. Some adoptforward integration 

in bottled water production as an 

additional businessoff their core production 

process. Examples include 

Coca-Cola with Eva water, PepsiCo 

with Aquafina and Nestlé with Pure- 

life. Still others, clustered in the 

trade zones are trying integrated 

methods by sharing ancillary services 

and management of utilities, 

exchange of water bye-products for 

cleaning, agriculture, irrigation, fireextinguishing 

etc. These integrated 

approachescould reduce wastewater 

disposal into the environment 

and also optimize post-industrial 

usage. It is important to go further 

to invest systemically in recycling 

plastic packaging and bottles which 

pollute natural landscapes and waterways. 

Water can also be reused 

in other production processes, depending 

on the initial use. 

Corporate social responsibility 

Awareness campaigns and water 

provision is communities are other 

ways business can address the water 

crisis. A number of businesses have 

embarked on water campaigns in local 

communities across Nigeria to educate 

about the values and management of 

water. In Nigeria, Nestlé’s WET (Water 

Education for Teachers) is one example. 

In addition to awareness campaigns, 

there are also CSR projects on water 

provision in communities e.g. Nigeria 

Breweries’ solar-powered boreholes 

project, TGI Group’s water treatment 

plants, Guinness Water Health Centre 

and ‘Water of Life’ Scheme etc. Some 

of these businesses also have internal 

policies targeted at reducing water consumption 

in their production processes 

so as to reduce pressure on water due 

to urbanization and industrialization. 

The next sequent step of engagement 

is increasing collaboration between 

businesses, communities, civil society 

actors and government to ensure that 

water solutions are sufficiently joined-up 

and sustainable. 

In conclusion, the status quo 

shows individual business efforts 

and progress. There is need for 

greater harmony in the approach to 

water management. At a higher level, 

it is important to establish effective 

domestic water governance initiatives 

to manage water infrastructure, 

track water data, develop rules, and 

ensure compliance to water policies. 

There is also room for funding for 

innovation and technology in water 

management,to address the gap in 

service delivery and improve access 

to safe water. A decentralized system 

of wastewater treatment, an integrated 

approach to water management 

in communities, mass education 

for efficient use of water at source, 

creating enabling environment for 

investment in water, are key business 

initiatives to ensure clean and 

safe water for a sustainable world. 

We must join hands towards this 

common cause recognizing, as late 

Afrobeat Legend Fela Anikulapo- 

Kuti sang, “Water no get enemy.” 


comment@businessdayonline.com

12 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Friday 23 March 2018 

EDITORIAL 

PUBLISHER/CEO 

Frank Aigbogun 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

Prof. Onwuchekwa Jemie 

EDITOR 

Anthony Osae-Brown 

DEPUTY EDITORS 

John Osadolor, Abuja 

Bill Okonedo 

NEWS EDITOR 

Patrick Atuanya 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

SALES AND MARKETING 

Kola Garuba 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS 

Fabian Akagha 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DIGITAL SERVICES 

Oghenevwoke Ighure 

ADVERT MANAGER 

Adeola Ajewole 

MANAGER, SYSTEMS & CONTROL 

Emeka Ifeanyi 

HEAD OF SALES, CONFERENCES 

Rerhe Idonije 

SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER 

Patrick Ijegbai 

CIRCULATION MANAGER 

John Okpaire 

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North) 

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan 

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) 

Ignatius Chukwu 

HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES 

Adeola Obisesan 

Drama and joy over Dapchi girls 

Joy returned to Dapchi 

town, Yobe State on 

Wednesday, 21 March 

2018. Boko Haram returned105 

of the 110 girls 

abducted from the Government 

Girls Science and Technical College 

on February 19. There is as 

yet no clear explanation on what 

happened to the remainder, 

even as the freed students said 

five of their mates died in the 

course of the abduction. 

We rejoice with the Dapchi 

community on this good news. 

We are happy that it did not 

take long for them to enjoy once 

again the comfort of the girls in 

their families. We pray for the 

return of the remainder of the 

missing girls. 

The Dapchi abduction and 

return are full of drama and lessons. 

It is a narrative that Nigeria 

and the international community 

will interrogate deeply for many 

seasons to come. We also hope 

that it would be the last of its kind. 

The return of the abducted 

girls happened following 

three significant events. First, 

President Muhammadu Buhari 

finally visited the school on 

Wednesday, March 14. Buhari 

said he had directed the Nigerian 

Army and the Airforce to carry 

out full-scale aerial and ground 

surveillance of the vicinity to 

ensure the return of the girls. 

The president said Nigeria had 

chosen “negotiations” rather 

than the use of force to assure the 

safe return of the girls. 

Before then, Mama Boko Haram, 

Aisha Wakil, stepped forward 

to confirm the seizure of the girls 

by the Barnawi faction of Boko 

Haram and their willingness to 

negotiate and return them. Aisha 

Wakil served in the Dialogue and 

Peaceful Resolution of Security 

Challenges Committee set up by 

the last Government to tackle 

aspects of the Boko Haram challenge. 

Her announcement and 

offer came as the Federal Government 

reportedly extended the 

search for the girls to neighbouring 

Chad and Niger as well as 

Cameroun. 

Some 48 hours before the return, 

international civil liberties 

organisation Amnesty International 

stepped into the matter 

by accusing the Nigerian Army 

of negligence and dereliction of 

duty in the case of the abduction. 

Amnesty pointedly accused the Nigerian 

Army and the Nigerian Police 

Force of deliberately ignoring 

the warning of the plans of Boko 

Haram to visit the community. The 

Army instead moved away a few 

days before the abduction. 

Amnesty International’s Nigeria 

Office stated in a report of 

March 19that the military failed 

to respond when it was alerted to 

a convoy of Boko Haram heading 

towards Government Girls Science 

and Technical College in Dapchi, 

Yobe State, in the afternoon of February 

19. It said testimonies from 

credible sources indicated that the 

army and the police received multiple 

emergency calls up to four 

hours before the attackers reached 

Dapchi, but did not respond. 

“Evidence available to Amnesty 

International suggests that there 

are insufficient troops deployed 

in the area and that an absence of 

patrols and the failure to respond 

to warnings and engage with Boko 

Haram contributed to this tragedy, 

said OsaiOjigho, head of Amnesty 

International in Nigeria. 

The Nigerian Army reacted with 

injured pride and considerable 

anger. Director of Army Public 

Relations Brig General John Agim 

denied the allegation and accused 

Amnesty International of deliberate 

falsehood and incitement of 

citizens against the Army. “It is 

pertinent to state that most of their 

narratives are outright falsehood 

and a calculated attempt to whip 

up sentiments and mislead unsuspecting 

Nigerians. To demoralise 

friendly nations and people collaborating 

with security forces to 

end the forces of evil in the North- 

East. For the avoidance of doubts, 

no security force was informed of 

Dapchi schoolgirls abduction as 

alleged by Amnesty International.” 

Nigerians recall that at the time 

of the abduction, the Army and 

the Police engaged in a claim and 

counter-claim: the Army said it 

handed over to the Nigerian Police 

before leaving Dapchi in January 

and the Police said there was no 

such information or exchange. 

Twenty four hours after the 

exchange between Amnesty International 

and the Nigerian Army, 

the Dapchi girls returned to their 

parents in a manner as dramatic 

as their abduction. Early photographs 

from the scene show each 

of the girls had luggage while the 

residents waved flags to the departing 

abductors. 

Information Minister Lai Mohammed 

has claimed that the return 

of the girls was unconditional 

while other reports say Nigeria 

returned their soldiers to Boko 

Haram in return for the girls. 

There are lessons in better management 

of the security of schools 

and public spaces in the North East. 

With so much money budgeted, Nigeria 

needs to ensure that schools 

are safe and enabling.UNICEF 

claims that since 2009 when Boko 

Haram insurgency started, “over 

2,295 teachers have been killed and 

19,000 displaced, and almost 1,400 

schools destroyed.” Boko Haram 

seems to be winning the psychological 

war on the education of girls 

in the North East. 

The Federal Government needs 

to do more to erase lingering 

doubts about the Boko Haram 

matter and these abductions. Too 

many aspects of the narrative do 

not add up. Even so, we rejoice 

with the Dapchi community and 

all Nigerians as the Dapchi Girls 

resettle into their communities. 

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD 

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Mezuo Nwuneli 

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BUSINESS DAY 

13 

CITYFile 

Charles Aigbe, divisional head, 

brand and communications, 

Fidelity Bank plc, lecturing 

students of Government Day 

Secondary School Adankolo, 

Lokoja, Kogi State on “Money 

matters matter” during the 

Financial Literacy Day. 

Why communities must join fight 

against pipeline vandalism – FG 

JOSHUA BASSEY 

The Federal Government says the 

involvement of local communities 

in its Disaster Risk Reduction 

(DRR) project is required 

to successfully tackle pipeline 

vandalism and its socio-economic consequences. 

Pipeline vandalism, a willful act of 

damaging petroleum pipelines mostly 

with the motive to steal crude oil and associated 

petroleum products, is a regular 

occurrence in Nigeria. 

Pipeline vandalism with associated oil 

spillage is seen as one of the major contributors 

to pollution and environmental 

degradation in oil rich Niger Delta areas of 

the country. The illegal practice has over 

the years destroyed arable land for agriculture 

and caused huge economic losses in 

terms of revenue to the government 

Peter Idabor, the director-general of 

National Oil Spill Detection and Response 

Agency (NOSDRA), at a public sentisation 

campaign on dangers of pipeline vandalism, 

which held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, 

recently, said there was the need for an 

effective collaboration between oil bearing 

communities and government to check 

the negative effects of pipeline vandalism. 

Idabor, represented by Simon Ugbe, a director 

at NOSDRA, said that the agency planned 

Police nab 4 suspected rustlers, recover 176 cows 

The police have arrested four suspected 

rustlers, recovered 176 cows 

and 64 sheep at Bakoro village in 

Nasarawa local government area of 

Nasarawa State. 

Kennedy Idirisu, police public relations officer, 

in Nasarawa, disclosed this to newsmen, 

Wednesday in Lafia, the state capital. Idirisu 

said the arrest followed a joint operation by 

the counter-terrorism unit of the police with 

the federal and state anti-robbery squad. 

According to him, the operation was 

necessitated by increased reports of cattle 

rustling and armed robbery along Nasarawa- 

Toto axis of the state. Investigations, he said, 

revealed that most of the cows recovered 

to expand the scope of the DRR project to all 

communities in the Niger Delta region. 

According to him, the pilot scheme of 

the DRR plan, which was carried out in 

Rivers and Bayelsa between 2014 and 2015 

by NOSDRA, recorded a huge success. 

Idabor said government was ready to 

sustain the sensitisation, engagement and 

empowerment of all stakeholders in the efforts 

to curb vandalism. He called on stakeholders 

in oil-producing communities to 

see oil pipelines in their communities as 

their project and be willing to protect such 

facilities and the environment. 

“The agency is dedicated to expanding 

the scope of the DRR project to all the communities 

of the Niger Delta and driving it 

through a strategy, which is the continuous 

sensitisation, engagement and empowerment 

of all stakeholders. 

“I, therefore, urge you to cooperate 

with the government to make this project 

more successful and memorable. It must 

be stressed that the mitigation of disasters 

by promoting collaboration with our local 

communities will enhance sustainable 

development and reduce level of poverty 

in the Niger Delta region,” he said. 

He emphasised that the DRR would 

be a community-driven, communityimplemented, 

community-monitored and 

community-evaluated project. 

According to him, the DRR plan was 

from the suspects were rustled from Zamfara, 

Sokoto and Niger. 

The spokesperson said that the leader 

of the gang, Sani Tawani, had confessed to 

the crime, saying that he usually stopped 

at major towns after each operation to sell 

some of the animals at cheap prices. 

“Sani confessed that majority of the cattle 

were stolen from Zamfara through Birningwari 

and down to his camp in Bakoro village 

in Nasarawa.” 

He said the police was investigating to 

ascertain the level of involvement of the 

suspects in other cases of rustling in parts 

of Niger and Zamfara. He also said that the 

police was on the trail of other suspects, 

developed by NOSDRA to create and 

sustain an interface with stakeholders in 

efforts to curb pipeline vandalism across 

the country. 

“While it is true that crude oil is spilled 

into the environment due to equipment 

failure or pipeline vandalism by unscrupulous 

elements; it also contributes largely to 

the menace that results in adverse socioeconomic, 

health and environmental 

conditions.” 

Iniobong Essien, commissioner for 

environment and mineral resources, Akwa 

Ibom, said that environmental pollution 

and ecosystem damage by oil spills should 

be discouraged by communities. 

Essien noted that the communitybased 

disaster risk management approach 

would strengthen stakeholders’ engagement 

and facilitate peaceful co-existence 

between the host communities and oilproducing 

companies. 

The DRR project, he said, was a departure 

from the past where communities affected 

by oil spills were not allowed to participate 

in the remediation programmes. 

Essien called on the communities to 

embrace the DRR plan, adding that the 

plan would help to unite the communities 

in understanding the risks as well as 

engender their input in preparedness, 

instigation and preventive actions against 

pipeline vandalism. 

who escaped with bullet wounds during 

the operation. 

“The suspects engaged the police during 

the operation, but due to superior fire power, 

the police was able to subdue them and 

arrest four. We also recovered some empty 

shell of 7.62mm ammunition purely meant 

for AK 47 and AK 49 riffles,” Idirisu added. 

The police spokesman said that a locally 

made gun and seven motorcycles were also 

recovered from the suspects. 

Audu Balingo, owner of some of the cows, 

who is from Zamfara, said he could only 

identify five among those recovered. He said 

that 50 of his cows were stolen from his base 

in December 2017. 

Buhari to chair 10th Bola 

Tinubu colloquium 

JOSHUA BASSEY 

President Muhammadu Buhari is 

expected to other Nigerians to Lagos 

next Thursday as chairman of the 10th 

Bola Tinubu colloquium to commemorate 

the 66th birthday of the former governor of 

Lagos. 

According a statement signed by Tunji 

Bello, secretary to the Lagos State government, 

this year’s event, with the theme: “investing 

in people” holds at the Eko Convention 

Centre, Victoria Island, and is expected 

to bring together stakeholders including 

policy makers, academics and members of 

the civil society groups. 

It is expected that the gathering at which 

Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode 

would be the chief host would provide a talk 

shop for attendees to tell the unique Nigerian 

story of what it means for the government 

to act as a social investor in the affairs of its 

people. 

According to the state, the colloquium 

will ascertain whether the quest for the 

government to act as a social investor can be 

regarded as campaign slogan or a mere ideology 

with no incremental/socio-economic 

benefits. 

The gathering will also debate whether 

such decision by government should be 

regarded as a necessary policy action which 

the nation must embrace if she must witness 

any real development. 

The yearly event has become a veritable 

ground for sharing knowledge, experiences 

and information around socioeconomic 

issues and addressing the common governance 

challenges confronting Nigeria. 

Last year, the topic was “make it in Nigeria” 

and it provided avenue to examine critically 

how Nigerians can look inwards and 

use what they produce while also ensuring 

that they produce what they use. 

At the 8th edition which took place in 

Abuja in 2016, the theme was “agriculture: 

action, work, revolution while in 2015 at 

the seventh edition, the organisers chose 

change: how it will work”. 

Ready-Set-Work: Lagos begins 

training of 25,000 undergraduates 

Lagos government has begun the sensitisation 

of 25,000 undergraduates 

selected for its graduate employment 

training scheme tagged ‘Ready-Set-Work. 

The state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, 

at the commencement of the sensitisation 

programme held at Lagos State University 

(LASU), Ojo campus, said that his administration 

decided to upscale the scheme to 

accommodate 25, 000 students, higher than 

12, 000 trained in 2017. 

Represented by Obafela Bank-Olemoh, 

his special adviser on education, Ambode 

said that the expansion of the programme 

was a reflection of his administration’s allinclusive 

policy and aimed at preparing the 

undergraduates for the world of work. 

“You can change your own life because 

the Ready-Set-Work scheme offers you a lot 

of opportunity. There is case of visually impaired 

who participated in the programme. 

Today, she has been employed. This programme 

is a demonstration of government’s 

commitment to ensure that our graduates 

meet the need of the labour market. 

“I can assure you your life will never 

remain the same after the 13 weeks of the 

training. During the training, attendance is 

a must and you must be seated by 8:45am. 

At least you must attend the class for a 

minimum of 11 Weeks otherwise you can’t 

proceed with your colleagues. All these are 

to prepare you for the challenges of labour 

market,” the governor said.



MoneyInsight 

Personal Finance: Investing Retirement Taxes Credit Cards Home Buying Small Business Shopping Financing 

Five things to consider when 

choosing data centre in Nigeria 

FRANK ELEANYA 

The data centre 

market in Nigeria 

is picking up as 

more businesses 

embrace the culture 

of outsourcing storage of 

their information against the 

former practice of housing 

them in their servers. Nigeria 

currently boasts of data centre 

companies have emerged 

as the leaders of the market 

both within the country and 

across the African continent 

in terms of the quality of data 

infrastructure they posses. 

For a definition, a data 

centre refers to a facility that 

centralises an organisation’s 

information technology (IT) 

operations and equipment, 

as well as where it stores, 

manages, and disseminates 

its data. 

They have existed in 

one form or another since 

the coming of computers. 

From the days of room-sized 

computers to when the 

equipment got smaller and 

cheaper, and data processing 

needs began to expand, data 

storage have always been 

integral to the success of a 

business. In the early days, 

data was stored in clustered 

Coscharis’ rice production secures investment through Sahel capital 

CALEB OJEWALE 

The rice production 

arm of Cosharis 

Group which has a 

2,500 ha farm in Anambra 

state is getting a boost as 

Sahel Capital concludes 

funding arrangements 

with the company, to 

boost capacity and output 

in local rice production. 

Though the actual sum 

involved in the deal remains 

undisclosed, Sahel 

Capital, which manages 

the Fund for Agricultural 

Finance in Nigeria (“FA- 

FIN”), with $66million 

in investable capital, disclosed 

in a statement made 

available to BusinessDay 

that “definitive agreements 

have been executed for an 

investment in Coscharis 

Farms Limited, a subsidiary 

of Coscharis Group.” 

Coscharis Farms is an 

integrated rice processor 

that started operations in 

2014, targeting Nigeria’s 

estimated 6.3 million MT 

annual rice demand. The 

farm is said to currently 

servers and related equipment 

housed in a room. 

Most companies still have 

some of these servers. But 

a significant number of organisations 

are beginning to 

realise the need to outsource 

their data storage needs to 

a more qualified entity that 

will ensure safety, reliability 

and availability. 

As a business, choosing 

the right data centre can 

and should be an important 

decision. Hence, we have 

selected five tips that will 

help you make the decision 

process easier. 

Location 

One thing you will learn real 

fast when hunting for the 

best suitable data centre is 

that where it is located is 

very important. The facility 

location goes a long way 

to determine how safe the 

data you are importing will 

be. One of the major promises 

of outsourcing your data 

storage needs is for peace of 

mind in your business. You 

do not want a place that is 

prone to manmade or natural 

disasters. Choose data 

centres with risk mitigation 

from disasters. 

There is also cost implication 

and proximity to put in 

have 2,500ha of land for 

rice cultivation, and is in 

the process of installing a 

40,000 MT per year rice 

mill and an irrigation system 

on its farm to enable 

multi-cycle rice cultivation. 

Both are expected to 

be completed by the fourth 

quarter of 2018. Coscharis 

Farms also plans to incorporate 

a robust farmer 

out-grower development 

programme within Ayamelum, 

Anambra State, and 

neighbouring communities 

to reach 2,000 farmers 

that could provide rice 

paddy to its mill when 

completed. 

Cosmas Maduka, president/CEO, 

Coscharis 

Group and chairman of 

Coscharis Farms said of 

the investment that, “We 

are excited to welcome 

Sahel Capital and FAFIN 

into our fold. We have set 

out to build a company 

that is not only an industry 

leader, but one that will 

also provide economic opportunities 

for smallholder 

farmers and young people 

mind with regards to location. 

Many organisations in 

the financial sector cannot 

function without fast access 

to their core applications. 

Apps may not mind 

where they are but they do 

care about latency – close 

proximity to the end-user. 

For most banks and other 

financial companies, their 

head of offices are located 

in Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki 

and environs, locations 

which form the main business 

and financial centre of 

Lagos State, and extension, 

Nigeria. The data centre to 

serve this critical sector must 

thus reside within the same 

location, to mitigate latency 

issues, network and data 

security concerns and fibre 

in Anambra State. The Sahel 

Capital team have already 

demonstrated their 

ability to add value to our 

operations over the past 

12 months, and we look 

forward to their support as 

we continue to expand our 

operations.” 

Mezuo Nwuneli, managing 

partner, Sahel Capital, 

also commenting on 

the investment, said, “The 

investment in Coscharis 

Farms allows us to invest 

in an integrated rice platform 

which can be scaled 

up to meet the staple food 

requirements of Nigerians. 

FAFIN’s investment will 

provide the Company with 

the resources it needs to 

invest in critical infrastructure 

for both its farming 

and milling operations as 

it further expands over the 

next two years.” 

Godwin Umeaka, managing 

director, Coscharis 

Farms said “FAFIN’s investment 

has come at a time 

when we are ready to scale 

up our operations quite 

significantly.” 

connectivity constraints. 

Reliability 

Nigeria is notorious for is 

electricity failure problems, 

especially at the distribution/ 

lastmile level, which causes 

downtime in power generation. 

You do not want that 

for your business. Although 

around the world, Tier IV 

data centres has the most 

robust option and overall 

less prone to fires, Nigeria 

however has a few Tier III 

data centres that has the 

same capabilities. These Tier 

III facilities have capacities to 

guarantee 100 percent reliability 

and uptime of all critical 

resources. Some data centres 

in Nigeria have invested 

into direct grid connections, 

Earlier in 2016 during a 

visit to the farm, Umeaka, 

had told BusinessDay that 

the farm is projected to expand 

into 10, 000 hectares 

as part of its future plans, 

which also included the establishment 

of a rice milling 

and processing facility. 

The joint statement by 

Sahel and Coscharis also 

stated that; with the investment 

in Coscharis Farms, 

coupled with multiple power 

options which ensure 100% 

uptime. 

Scalability 

Before you sign the dotted 

lines, consider that your business 

is growing, hence do you 

think the data centre you are 

aligning with will grow with 

you? Be sure to settle for a 

data centre that offers different 

levels of flexibility to 

meet your changing needs 

– from additional space to 

power and even connectivity. 

A couple of data centre 

businesses in Nigeria are 

currently carrying out expansion 

projects. For instance, 

MainOne’s Data Centre subsidiary, 

MDXI has committed 

significant amount of funds 

to expanding their facilities 

and presence in other parts 

of the country such as Lagos, 

Sagamu and other parts of 

West Africa. Your data Centre 

should also be able to host 

your infrastructure without 

having to invest in new 

hardware. 

the Board of Directors is 

being reconstituted to include 

two independent 

directors: HRM Igwe Nnaemeka 

Alfred Achebe, Agbogidi, 

the Obi of Onitsha, 

and Kanayo Nwanze, the 

immediate former President 

of the International 

Fund for Agricultural Development 

(IFAD). Mezuo 

Nwuneli will also join the 

Board, along with a second 

Connectivity 

When choosing a data centre, 

it is important to align with 

one that is carrier-neutral, 

that way you are not limited 

to one or a few network carriers. 

A carrier-neutral facility 

gives your business access to 

multiple global carriers. They 

also enable you to have direct 

connection to the network 

provider that best suits your 

business operation. Additionally, 

a facility with a diverse 

network or submarine 

cables can open up the doors 

for increased connectivity for 

a business, as well as delivery 

of a broader variety of available 

services from network 

providers. 

Industry best practice and 

high security standards 

Recognition of global standards 

is often a good point to 

note when deciding on a data 

centre. There standards such 

as the PCI-DSS (Payment 

Card Industry Data Security), 

ISO27001:2013 (Information 

Security Management 

System) and ISO 9001:2008 

(Quality Management System), 

Tier III and TIA 942 

standards. If you are in the 

financial and payment sector, 

you have no business putting 

your critical information in a 

data center without PCI DSS 

as such data centres cannot 

protect consumer security 

for your clients processing 

transactions using credit 

cards. 

Sahel Capital representative; 

and Cosmas Maduka 

(Chairman of the Board), 

Charity Maduka, and Okey 

Nwuke would represent 

Coscharis Group on the 

board. Godwin Umeaka, 

the managing director, and 

Rotimi Alashe who recently 

joined the company as 

chief financial officer will 

also be Executive Directors 

on the Board. 

L-R: Olabanjo Alimi, Sales & Marketing Lead Enyo Retail & supply, Samuel Ochonma, Corporate Communications 

Lead, Celebrity Guest Judge Bez, Bosun Tijani CEO CcHub, Abayomi Awobokun CEO Enyo 

Retail & Supply, Emeka Okoye CEO Cymantiks Sqauting L-R, David Voke Enyo Pay, Job Oyebisi Enyo 

SCP and Kenechukwu Ukachukwu Awoof9ja during the Enyo CcHub Hackerthon in Lagos.


COMPANIES 

& MARKETS 

Company news analysis and insight 

BUSINESS 

DAY 

15 

Trojan introduces Solar 

batteries into Nigerian 

market 

Pg. 16 

NIPC says fresh $5.4bn investments coming 

to Ogun as focus shifts to solid minerals 

RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta 

Executive secretary of Nigeria 

Investment Promotion 

Commission (NIPC), 

Yewande Sadiku, has disclosed 

that some new 

foreign investors have shown interest 

to inject $5.4 billion in various 

sectors of Ogun state economy in 

the next few years, saying the investments 

are part of new foreign direct 

investments recently tracked by the 

Commission. 

Sadiku explained that NIPC 

whose core objectives are to attract, 

promote and co-ordinate investments 

in the country, both local 

and foreign, has tracked $5.4 billion 

fresh investments which are still at 

the announcement stage and could 

only be translated into real investments 

in few years if required critical 

infrastructures were put in place by 

government. 

The Executive Secretary of NIPC, 

who moderated at one of the discourses 

held in Abeokuta during 

the concluding part of 2018 Ogun 

State Investors’ Forum, tagged, “Industrial 

Hub: From No.1 in Nigeria 

to No.1 in Africa” on Wednesday, 

noted that the fresh investments 

announced by NIPC would be based 

on petrol-chemical, agriculture, 

solid minerals, oil and gas, manufacturing, 

technology, among other 

areas. 

She however warned that though 

several billions of dollars’ worth 

of investments had already been 

established in Ogun state in the last 

seven years, government should not 

be complacent in providing needed 

critical infrastructures that will con- 

vince the prospective investors not 

to look elsewhere as they may be 

tempted to divert the investments 

to other states if what they want is 

not met. 

“A total of $5.4 billion fresh investments 

announcement had been 

made by NIPC about Ogun state, 

and that can as well be translated 

into real investments if necessary 

steps are taken to practically domesticate 

the investments in the State as 

the prospective investors might be 

tempted to divert the investments if 

necessary infrastructures are not on 

ground”, she said. 

Corroborating Sadiku’s position 

on new investments which are coming 

to Ogun state, George Nassar, 

managing director of Procter and 

Gamble, said although the state government 

had fought various bureaucratic 

bottlenecks that could have 

affected the growth of investments 

in the state, he however pointed out 

that Ogun State could beat Lagos in 

terms of investments and commerce 

if infrastructures such as ports and 

rails were developed. 

George, who was represented 

by Temitope Iluyemi, said, “Our 

experiences here have been positive, 

there is no time we visit any state officials 

and His Excellency (Governor 

Ibikunle Amosun) for small or big 

problems, they always solve them 

for us, but I think they need to do 

more in the policy making, taxation 

and infrastructures. 

“You (Ogun) can still get some 

business from Lagos and beat Lagos. 

You only need to develop ports in 

Ogun state and other infrastructures 

that attract more investments. You 

have ability to develop ports, airport, 

L-R: Cletus Ibeto, group managing director, Ibeto Group Limited; Emeka Emuwa, chief executive officer, Union 

Bank; Oseloka Obaze, renowned diplomat, politician and author, and Emeka Okonkwo, executive director, 

corporate and investment banking, Union Bank, at a forum organised for Union Bank Customers and stakeholders 

in Onitsha. 

seaport and even rail that make 

business easier.” 

Responding to the issues raised, 

Bimbo Ashiru, Commissioner for 

Commerce and Industry, pledged 

to start contacting the prospective 

investors announced by the NIPC, 

saying the choices and interests of 

both existing and would-be investors 

would be adequately considered 

before government embarks on 

any infrastructural projects. 

He also declared that government 

was shifting focus to solid 

minerals and mining as next point 

of investments in the state, explaining 

that Ogun state has 12 industrial 

solid minerals that anybody can 

consider in the non-oil sector as the 

state produces largest tons of solid 

minerals in the comity of states in 

the country. 

He added that the state hosts 

35 steel rolling mills and produces 

over 20 metric tons of cement annually 

going by what Lafarge Africa 

PLC, Dangote Cement, Purechem 

Industries and some other cement 

factories produce, saying the state 

produced 16.3 million tons out of 

the total 43.4 million tons of solid 

minerals, which Nigeria produced 

in 2016, representing 37.65 percent. 

SystemSpecs’ Remita cleaned up fraud in Benue’s payroll - commissioner 

Amaka Anagor-Ewuzie 

Benue State Commissioner 

for Finance and 

Economic Planning, David 

Olofu has said that 

the engagement of SystemSpecs’ 

Remita in managing the state’s 

salary payment has helped rid the 

payroll of fraud. 

He also apologised to workers 

in the state for the shortfalls 

witnessed in the payment of their 

January salaries. 

Olofu made the statement 

while speaking with journalists in 

the state capital, Makurdi. 

He said that the decision to 

engage SystemSpecs, the consultancy 

firm that provided the 

platform for the salary payment, 

was to enable the state clean up 

its payroll of fraud. 

Recall that about N3.5 billion 

salary fraud was uncovered on the 

Benue State Civil Service payroll 

following a verification exercise 

to ascertain the over bloated wage 

of the state. 

Earlier in the month, during 

a hearing at the states’ House of 

Assembly, the consultants, Sys- 

temSpecs also revealed that 500 

duplicate names and over 20 duplicate 

Bank Verification Numbers 

(BVN) were uncovered through 

their robust software. 

Olofu said: “It is painful to me 

as commissioner for Finance to 

start something that I think will 

bring relief to us as a state. To me, 

it is important to look at what we 

have as against the solution we are 

presenting and to also look at the 

agreement and see if there is any 

shady deal. SystemSpecs did not 

come from heaven, they have been 

recommended.” 

He said that the Federal Government 

was presently using its 

platform, Remita for the payment 

of its workers’ salaries. 

Olofu insisted that the payment 

of salaries needed a platform regardless 

of whether the payroll was 

prepared by civil servants or not. 

“We must always use a platform 

for the payment of workers’ salaries, 

before this time, we were using 

the U-pay platform from UBA. 

“When we came in, we discovered 

that salaries were paid 

through the UBA platform but the 

system had many problems, which 

included duplication of names 

and we wanted to find out where 

the problems were coming from. 

“We agreed in the ministry to 

do a trial with Zenith Bank to see 

if the challenges were as a result 

of normal banking problems or 

were caused by civil servants, 

that trial exposed a lot of issues 

including duplication of names 

on the payroll.” 

The software has made enormous 

impact on the Nigerian 

economy in a relatively short time, 

and has attracted a global recognition 

for its role in engendering 

accountability and transparency 

in both private and public sectors. 

A total of six states including Kano, 

Zamfara, and Benue have adopted 

Remita in their payroll management 

strategy. At the federal level, 

the smooth running of the Treasury 

Singly Account (TSA) is also 

facilitated by the Remita platform.

16 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 


COMPANIES & MARKETS 

Trojan introduces Solar 

batteries into Nigerian market 


Respites might 

be on the way 

for many Power 

consumers in Nigeria, 

as Trojan 

Battery Company Limited, 

world’s leading manufacturer 

of deep-cycle batteries, 

introduces a new range of 

Solar batteries into the Nigerian 

market. A move believed 

to boost the current Power 

supply in the country. 

Among the new products 

are the SAGM 06 315 and 

SAGM 12 205, coming in collaboration 

with its Nigerian 

partners, Eauxwell Nigeria 

After 10 years of successful 

food business, 

promoting Nigerian 

made dishes and 

culture, Natives Hospitality 

and Service Limited is planning 

a market expansion that 

will internalize its flourishing 

heritage to different parts of 

the Country. 

Operating under the name 

Ark of XNatives, the one-stop 

hospitality company with over 

85 staff currently, is an ecofriendly 

community that brings 

you close to nature and reminiscent 

of the beauty of African 

heritage.The Ark of XNatives, a 

class hospitality and catering 

company wholly owned and 

managed by Nigerians is located 

at 5b, Oju Olobun Close, 

Off Idejo Street, VI, Lagos. 

Ikenna Eze Uzoamaka, a 

chartered accountant and exbanker, 

is the Managing Director/CEO 

of the company, driving 

a vision he said was borne 

out of his passion to make good 

food and see people eat his 

food with joy. 

He said his mission is to 

Limited. 

These batteries are 

available in sizes that are 

most commonly used for 

alternative power sources 

in Nigeria, ranging from 

6V to 12V models and are 

suitable for use in several 

applications. 

The new line of batteries 

is engineered with advanced 

technologies for high cycle 

life, optimum performance 

and rugged durability, which 

is a necessity in the Nigerian 

power landscape. It delivers 

reliable power, and maintains 

high capacity throughout 

its cycle-life, unlike typical 

VRLA batteries. 

Speaking at the official 

become a household name 

in Nigeria and to become first 

to take Nigerian best natives 

dishes and culture to the rest 

of the world. 

“Our vision is to constantly 

take our dear customers unto 

a culinary and cultural journey 

back to their roots by providing 

them with splendid African and 

Continental Cuisines with great 

emphasis on Nigeria Native 

Dishes in an ambience that 

is uniquely and refreshingly 

African.” 

Ikenna who could not hide 

his excitement on the success 

of what he started 10 years ago 

in a sitting room, cooking for 

friends who admired his kind 

of food, said he had all the opportunity 

to live and work in the 

UK where majority of his family 

members stay, but resisted the 

temptation just to promote 

what is made in Nigeria to the 

rest of the world. 

Speaking on his passion 

for the country, Ikenna said 

“I noticed that in Nigeria we 

have good foods, but we don’t 

promote them that much and 

you go to other places they 

make so much noise about 

unveiling of the products, 

Edwin Enwegbara, managing 

director assured the 

public that Trojan Solar 

AGM batteries have been 

tested over the years and 

that Eauxwell remains 

committed to providing 

technical support in the 

region. 

Eauxwell Nigeria Limited 

distributes the products in 

Nigeria, a leading alternate 

energy company with the vision 

to ensure that constant 

energy is delivered in Nigerian 

homes and companies 

nationwide. Eauxwell is the 

official West African master 

distributors of Trojan Battery 

Company. 

Natives Hospitality plans expansion after 10 

years of promoting Nigerian food, culture 

Modestus Anaesoronye 

FG saves N68bn on personnel cost, 

captures 511 MDAs under IPPIS 

The Minister of Finance, 

Kemi Adeosun has disclosed 

that the Federal 

Government saved 

N68 billion on personnel cost 

in 2017. 

According to her, this brings 

the aggregate savings by the 

government on personnel cost 

since 2007 till date to N288 

billion. Adeosun said this in a 

statement issued by her Special 

Adviser on Media and Communication, 

Oluyinka Akintundeon 

Wednesday in Abuja. 

Akintunde said the minister 

disclosed the figures in a presentation 

to the Federal Executive 

Council. Adeosun said the 

money were funds that would 

have gone unaccounted for that 

were now free for the government 

to fund capital projects. 

She said the savings were 

their food, so, our focus is to 

take the best of Nigeria dishes 

to the rest of the world. We want 

to put Nigeria in the scheme 

of things, on the Map. I travel 

around the country to get my 

cooking staffs, if you go to my 

kitchen you will see different 

tribes, and over 500 people 

have passed through our training 

and majority of them have 

become successful in their 

catering careers.” 

“In view of our name, The 

Ark of XNatives, our Vision is 

to continuously take our dear 

customers unto a culinary and 

cultural journey back to their 

roots; we choose to use the 

above periods to promote some 

of the rich ancestral heritages 

of the 4 major ethnical and 

regional settlements in the 

country with major emphasis 

on some dishes, drinks, fashion 

and music peculiar to these 

tribes. First weekend of the 

month is the Hausa/Fulani 

Day, second weekend is Yoruba 

day, third weekend is the Niger 

Delta Day and fourth weekend 

is the Igbo Day while fifth 

weekend is The Ark of XNatives 

Variety Days” 

achieved despite increase in 

personnel, including the employment 

of 10,000 officers by 

the Nigerian Police. 

In addition, the minister 

said a total of 511 Ministries, 

Departments and Agencies 

(MDAs) had been captured 

under the Integrated Payroll 

and Personnel Information 

System (IPPIS), with staff count 

of 607,843. 

L-R: Okhidievbie Oamien Roy, group CEO, August Eye Group Limited; Adebayo Abegunde, 

director , virtual technology and new markets, Halogen Security Company and Martin Gill, founder, 

Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs), while presenting the Outstanding Contract 

Security Company (Guarding) Award 2018 to the Halogen during the 2nd edition of Securex 

West Africa 2018 in Lagos. 

FIRS records 4m new taxpayers, 

N700m revenue increase in 2017 

The Chairman, Federal 

Inland Revenue 

Service (FIRS), 

Tunde Fowler, said 

the Service recorded four million 

new taxpayers, including 

companies and individuals, 

resulting in N700 billion increase 

in revenue in 2017. 

Fowler said this at the 13th 

General Assembly of the West 

African Tax Administration 

Forum (WATAF) with the 

theme: “Enhancing the Revenue 

Potential of West Africa” 

held on Wednesday in Abuja. 

The chairman said in the 

past two years, the Service 

had increased its use of ICT 

to facilitate taxpayers’ compliance. 

He also said the service 

introduced initiatives to improve 

inter-agency collaboration 

with a view to enhancing 

tax administration and reducing 

tax revenue leakages. 

“Our efforts in this regard 

have made an impact and 

contributed to an increase in 

Respite is finally here 

for passengers as Arik 

Air, Nigeria’s biggest 

carrier has launched 

its Lagos-Port Harcourt flight 

services from the Murtala Muhammed 

Airport Terminal two 

(MMA2), terminal amidst commendations 

from stakeholders. 

BusinessDay’s checks 

show that for over ten years, 

Bi-Courtney Aviation Services 

Limitrd, (BASL) and Arik Air 

had dissagreed over relocation 

of operations to the terminal 

but events took a new turn 

since the Assets Management 

Corporation of Nigeria (AM- 

CON) took over the operations 

of the airline, as both parties 

have resolved to partner in a bit 

the number of taxpayers by 

an additional four million, 

including companies and 

individuals. 

“We recorded an increase 

of over N700 billion in tax revenues 

in 2017, above the taxes 

collected in 2016,” Fowler 

said. 

He said the launch of 

WATAF marked its formal 

entry into the ranks of similar 

organisations focused on 

international collaboration 

in tax matters, having attained 

the statutory requirements 

spelt out in the WATAF Agreement. 

Fowler said this marked 

a new dawn in the consolidation 

of WATAF collective 

aspiration to improve the 

standard of living of its people 

through effective mobilisation 

of available domestic tax 

revenue. 

“Now, West Africa has a 

platform for countries to collaborate 

in tax matters supported 

by their governments 

to satisfy passengers. 

Speaking during a brief ceremony 

to mark the operations, 

Steve Omolale, representative 

of BASL, who is also the public 

relations manager at MMA2, 

said the commencement of 

Arik Air operations from the 

terminal is one of the greatest 

achievements of BASL this year. 

While assuring travellers 

and the airline of safety in all 

operations, Omolale said the 

terminal has all the facilities 

to accommodate all domestic 

airlines, adding that already, 

six are operating from the terminal. 

“This is a facility that will 

make your passengers feel safe 

and secure, this is a terminal 

where you have modern facilities, 

we spend millions of naira 

in maintaining the terminal ev- 

and a forum to articulate and 

project West African perspective 

in tax administration in 

the global tax arena. 

“We all are aware that the 

business community is setting 

up processes and structures 

which our legal and tax 

regimes did not contemplate 

and are struggling to keep 

up with. 

“Nowadays, trade and 

commerce have become 

borderless, especially with 

the advent of e-commerce, 

hybrid financial instruments 

coupled with the sophistication 

and ingenuity of the army 

of tax advisors. 

“At the receiving end are 

the host country and its nationals, 

whose governments 

are losing revenues that ought 

to have been put to use for 

development. 

“This further brings about 

stagnated growth, under development 

and other attendant 

ills in our countries,’’ 

he said. 

Respite for passengers as Arik Air commences 

P/Harcourt flights from MMA2 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

ery month and we say we have 

the facilities to accommodate 

more airlines. 

“We assure you of the best 

services you can ever think of 

and of the sustenance of the 

high standards in this facility”, 

he said. 

Also speaking Murat Ozcan, 

Vice President, Arik Air ground 

operations, commended the 

efforts of BASL at putting such 

edifice in pace, adding that the 

airline is happy to commence 

part of its operations from the 

terminal. 

Abdullahi Mahmoud Chief 

Pilot of Arik Air, who also commended 

the ambiance and 

facilities at MMA2, said the terminal 

has facilities that is up to 

international standards, adding 

that as a pilot that has travelled 

widely, MMA2 is superb.

Friday 23 March 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 17 


Business Event 

L-R: Okhidievbie Oamien Roy, group CEO, August Eye Group Limited; Adebayo Abegunde, 

director , virtual technology and new markets, Halogen Security Company and Martin Gill, founder, 

Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs), while presenting the Outstanding Contract 

Security Company (Guarding) Award 2018 to the Halogen during the 2nd edition of Securex 

West Africa 2018 in Lagos. 

Fed signals extra rate rises 

as growth accelerates 

Central bank projections point to further increase in 2019 

Sam Fleming in Washington 

The Federal Reserve 

lifted short-term 

interest rates by a 

quarter-point and 

forecast that rates 

will rise higher than expected 

in the coming years as its new 

chairman Jay Powell responds 

to strengthening growth at 

home and abroad. 

The US central bank raised 

the target range for the federal 

funds rate by a quarter point 

to 1.5-1.75 per cent as it predicted 

inflation would accelerate 

in the coming months. 

The Fed’s median forecast 

for interest rates at the end of 

2018 was left unchanged, but 

its projections pointed to an 

extra increase in 2019. 

“The economic outlook 

has strengthened in recent 

months,” the Fed said in a 

statement following its latest 

two-day meeting. “The 

Committee expects that, with 

further gradual adjustments in 

the stance of monetary policy, 

economic activity will expand 

at a moderate pace in the medium 

term and labour market 

conditions will remain strong.” 

Shortly after he took over 

the Fed in February Mr Powell 

signalled the US had hit an 

important turning point, as 

previous drags, including fiscal 

policy, reverse direction 

and provide a lift to growth. 

Republican tax cuts and a deal 

on Capitol Hill to boost limits 

on spending are set to deliver 

a major short-term stimulus; 

the $1.5tn tax cuts should on 

their own add half a percentage 

point to growth this year 

and next, according to Fed 

governor Lael Brainard. 

The S&P 500 was up 0.6 

per cent on the statement, 

having been up 0.4 per cent 

beforehand. The 10-year yield 

was 2.8 basis points higher 

at 2.9088 per cent, up from 

2.8941 per cent immediately 

before the rates outcome. That 

brought it back above the 2.9 

per cent mark, where it had 

been earlier in the day. 

The yield on the more policy 

sensitive two-year note was 

flat at 2.3366 per cent, slightly 

trimming earlier gains. 

The dollar index, which 

tracks the greenback against 

a weighted basket of global 

peers, was down 0.3 per cent 

90.119, roughly the same level 

as before the policy decision. 

Wednesday’s increase in 

the Fed’s target rate was widely 

expected by the financial 

markets. While some traders 

expected the Fed to pencil in a 

total of four rate rises this year, 

the median forecast in Fed officials’ 

rate outlook remained 

unchanged at three. 

However, the median prediction 

is now for three increases 

in 2019, more than 

previously expected. 

- Culled from FT 

Abimbola Ogunbanjo, president of the council, Nigerian Stock Exchange, ( r) with president 

George Weah of Liberia after a closed door meeting to discuss Nigerian private sector investment 

opportunities in Liberia. 

L-R: Misbahu Yola, managing director, Legacy Pension Managers Limited; Ladi Balogun, chairman 

of the company, and Margaret Targema-Takema, company secretary/legal adviser, during the 1oth 

Annual General Meeting of Legacy Pension Managers in Lagos, recently 

Okezie Ikpeazu, executive governor, Abia State (l), and Okey Ezeala, regional director, South-east/ 

South-south of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), during a courtesy visit by the Management of 

FCMB to Governor Ikpeazu at the State House, Umuahia, Abia State

18 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 


IMPACT INVESTING 

In Association With 

Impact investing is importan 

What we invest in today will determine the world we live in tomorrow - GIIN 

INNOCENT UNAH AND 

SANDRA OKOUGBEGUN 

Understanding impact 

investing 

In a world where government 

resources 

and charitable donations 

can never be sufficient 

to meet social 

and environmental needs, 

it becomes imperative to 

evolve a plausible alternative 

for directing capital to 

meet these needs; impacting 

investing may be this 

alternative. 

The term impact investing 

was invented in 2007 by 

the Rockefeller Foundation 

at the Bellagio Conference 

held in Italy. 

According to the Global 

Impact Investing Network 

(GIIN), impact investing can 

be defined as investments 

aimed at generating positive 

social and environmental 

impact alongside financial 

returns. It has the singular 

objective of unlocking 

private investment capital 

to complement public resources 

and philanthropy in 

addressing pressing global 

challenges. 

Thus, impact investments 

are those investments made 

in companies, organisations 

and funds with the intention 

to make various social 

and environmental impacts, 

while deriving financial returns 

in the process. Impact 

investing can simply be seen 

as investing to create positive 

impact. While impact investing 

might be a new term, it is 

certainly an old idea. 

The GIIN and some philanthropic 

organisations such 

as the Ford Foundation have 

been playing vanguard roles 

in growing the impact investing 

space. 

An initiative of the Rockefeller 

Foundation, and established 

in 2009, GIIN is a 

network of impact investing 

stakeholders around the 

globe, who aim to change the 

way the world thinks of using 

investment capital to create 

positive social and environmental 

benefits. 

These stakeholders are 

constantly seeking to develop 

the impact investing space. 

Impact investing challenges 

the long held view of social 

and environmental issues being 

addressed only by philanthropists 

and governments. 

As the impact investing 

market continues to grow, it 

has unlocked capital to solve 

many of the world’s most 

pressing problems in such 

sectors as sustainable agriculture, 


conservation, and microfinance. 

It has also addressed 

issues bordering on affordable 

and accessible basic 

services such as housing, 

healthcare, and education, 

advancing the push towards 

achieving the sustainable 

development goals (SDGs). 

A survey conducted by 

the GIIN in 2017 revealed 

that close to USD 114 billion 

of impact investing assets 

is currently being managed 

across the world. 

For many years, investing 

for social and financial gains 

has been seen as two dichotomous 

disciplines. Philanthropists 

and those seeking social 

gains make it their sole focus 

while traditional investors 

seek to make financial gains. 

However, the two ideas can 

be unified as one, and they 

complement each other for 

sustainability – that is what 

impact investing does. 

Impact investing versus 

social responsibility in- 

For many years, 

investing for social 

and financial gains 

has been seen as 

two dichotomous 

disciplines 

vesting 

Some people may misconstrue 

impact investing as 

Social Responsible Investing 

(SRI), but these are not 

concepts to be used interchangeably. 

They don’t mean 

the same thing even though 

they are both mission-driven 

approaches to generating 

positive outcomes through 

investment vehicles. 

While SRI integrates social 

and environmental factors 

within investment analysis to 

avoid investing in companies 

that have negative impacts 

on the environment and/ 

or society, impact investing 

deliberately looks for investments 

that will positively impact 

the environment and/or 

society. So positive/negative 

screening is the key difference 

between SRI and impact 

investing as they indicate 

an investor’s level of activity 

in pursuing positive impact 

through investments. 

The GIIN further defined 

Impact investing to include 

four core criteria. These include: 

• Intentionality: Investors 

usually have diverse 

investment objectives. The 

intention to create positive 

social or environmental impact 

is a key element of impact 

investing. Impact investors 

should always think of 

solution-oriented ideas that 

will create problem-solving 

approaches in tackling challenges 

in areas such as poverty, 

clean energy, health, 

education, etc. The intention 

to make such impact is indispensable 

to impact investing. 

• Investment with 

return expectation: Impact 

investments have financial 

returns and the level of returns 

varies from one investor 

to the other. Investments are 

expected to generate return 

on capital either at minimum 

rate, or at the market rate. 

• Range of return 

expectation and asset classes: 

The rate of returns from 

impact investment ranges 

from below market rate to 

risk-adjusted market rate, 

and can be made across asset 

classes such as fixed income, 

equities, venture capital and 

cash equivalents. 

• Impact measurement: 

The impact created 

from such investment should 

be measured. The various 

social or environmental objectives 

should be identified 

and measured against results 

in order to track performance. 

The social and environmental 

performance should be 

reported together with the 

progress of the investment, 

ensuring transparency and 

accountability. 

Who are those involved 

in the impact investing ecosystem? 

The impact investing ecosystem 

involves actors from 

both the supply and demand 

side. It has attracted a wide 

variety of investors including 

high net worth individuals, 

foundations, asset managers, 

impact organisations, and 

non-governmental organisations 

(NGOs). 

Banks, pension funds, 

financial advisors, and wealth 

managers can provide client 

investment opportunities to 

both individuals and institutions 

with an interest in general 

or specific social and/or 

environmental causes. Moreover, 

institutional and family 

foundations can leverage 

significantly greater assets 

to advance their core social 

and/or environmental goals, 

while maintaining or growing 

their overall endowment. 

The various government and 

development finance institutions 

can provide proof 

of financial viability for private-sector 

investors while 

targeting specific social and 

environmental goals. 

The supply side of the impact 

investing ecosystem provides 

the impact capital. This 

comprises the foundations, 


governments, companies, retail 

investors, and employees, 

asset managers, etc. On the 

other hand, the demand side 

of the impact investing use impact 

capital and includes the 

development banks, microfinance 

banks, consulting firms, 

government programs, etc. 

Why do we need impact 

investing? 

A number of factors drive 

the need for impact investing 

across the globe. According to 

the United Nations Development 

Programme (UNDP) 

report on impact investing 

in Africa, a number of trends 

contributed to the initial 

interest in, and momentum 

behind impact investing. We 

discuss a number of these 

trends in the paragraphs 

below. 

• The growing recognition 

of the need for 

responsible finance: Impact


t to Africa, but what is it? 

investment aims at generating 


impact and such 

investments are seen as financially 

responsible. Impact 

investing can also be viewed 

as one manifestation of the 

drive towards the incorporating 

broader considerations 

beyond the financial bottom 

line into investment decisions. 


of the need for private 

capitals potential to supplement 

philanthropic funding 

and goals: In solving socioeconomic 

problems and 

creating social and environmental 

impact, government 

and philanthropic resources 

can never be sufficient. As a 

result, the need for private 

capital flows is inevitable. 

• Public sector need 

to more efficiently deliver 

In solving socioeconomic 

problems and creating 


impact, government and 

philanthropic resources can 

never be sufficient 

products and services: There 

is a growing need for the government 

to deliver efficient 

products and services and to 

do so they need to devote time 

and resources in providing 

such needs. Impact investment 

presents an opportunity 

for governments to save more 

and deliver quality products 

and services to the people. 

• The need to solve 

the myriad of social, economic 

and environmental 

problems: As poverty, terrorism 

and other social issues 

ravages the world, the need 

for capital to tackle them 

has heightened. Impacting 

investing has been demonstrated 

to have the capacity 

to supply the capital that can 

be used to combat these 

challenges and achieve the 

sustainable development 

goals.

18 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 



IMPACT INVESTING 

In Association With 

Impact investing is important to Africa, but what is it? 

What we invest in today will determine the world we live in tomorrow - GIIN 

INNOCENT UNAH AND 

SANDRA OKOUGBEGUN 

Understanding impact 

investing 

In a world where government 

resources 

and charitable donations 

can never be sufficient 

to meet social 

and environmental needs, 

it becomes imperative to 

evolve a plausible alternative 

for directing capital to 

meet these needs; impacting 

investing may be this 

alternative. 

The term impact investing 

was invented in 2007 by 

the Rockefeller Foundation 

at the Bellagio Conference 

held in Italy. 

According to the Global 

Impact Investing Network 

(GIIN), impact investing can 

be defined as investments 

aimed at generating positive 


impact alongside financial 

returns. It has the singular 

objective of unlocking 

private investment capital 

to complement public resources 

and philanthropy in 

addressing pressing global 

challenges. 

Thus, impact investments 

are those investments made 

in companies, organisations 

and funds with the intention 

to make various social 

and environmental impacts, 

while deriving financial returns 

in the process. Impact 

investing can simply be seen 

as investing to create positive 

impact. While impact investing 

might be a new term, it is 

certainly an old idea. 

The GIIN and some philanthropic 

organisations such 

as the Ford Foundation have 

been playing vanguard roles 

in growing the impact investing 

space. 

An initiative of the Rockefeller 

Foundation, and established 

in 2009, GIIN is a 

network of impact investing 

stakeholders around the 

globe, who aim to change the 

way the world thinks of using 

investment capital to create 


benefits. 

These stakeholders are 

constantly seeking to develop 

the impact investing space. 

Impact investing challenges 

the long held view of social 

and environmental issues being 

addressed only by philanthropists 

and governments. 

As the impact investing 

market continues to grow, it 

has unlocked capital to solve 

many of the world’s most 

pressing problems in such 

sectors as sustainable agriculture, 


conservation, and microfinance. 

It has also addressed 

issues bordering on affordable 

and accessible basic 

services such as housing, 

healthcare, and education, 

advancing the push towards 

achieving the sustainable 

development goals (SDGs). 

A survey conducted by 

the GIIN in 2017 revealed 

that close to USD 114 billion 

of impact investing assets 

is currently being managed 

across the world. 

For many years, investing 

for social and financial gains 

has been seen as two dichotomous 

disciplines. Philanthropists 

and those seeking social 

gains make it their sole focus 

while traditional investors 

seek to make financial gains. 

However, the two ideas can 

be unified as one, and they 

complement each other for 

sustainability – that is what 

impact investing does. 

Impact investing versus 

social responsibility in- 

For many years, 

investing for social 

and financial gains 

has been seen as 

two dichotomous 

disciplines 

vesting 

Some people may misconstrue 

impact investing as 

Social Responsible Investing 

(SRI), but these are not 

concepts to be used interchangeably. 

They don’t mean 

the same thing even though 

they are both mission-driven 

approaches to generating 

positive outcomes through 

investment vehicles. 

While SRI integrates social 

and environmental factors 

within investment analysis to 

avoid investing in companies 

that have negative impacts 

on the environment and/ 

or society, impact investing 

deliberately looks for investments 

that will positively impact 

the environment and/or 

society. So positive/negative 

screening is the key difference 

between SRI and impact 

investing as they indicate 

an investor’s level of activity 

in pursuing positive impact 

through investments. 

The GIIN further defined 

Impact investing to include 

four core criteria. These include: 

• Intentionality: Investors 

usually have diverse 

investment objectives. The 

intention to create positive 

social or environmental impact 

is a key element of impact 

investing. Impact investors 

should always think of 

solution-oriented ideas that 

will create problem-solving 

approaches in tackling challenges 

in areas such as poverty, 

clean energy, health, 

education, etc. The intention 

to make such impact is indispensable 

to impact investing. 

• Investment with 

return expectation: Impact 

investments have financial 

returns and the level of returns 

varies from one investor 

to the other. Investments are 

expected to generate return 

on capital either at minimum 

rate, or at the market rate. 

• Range of return 

expectation and asset classes: 

The rate of returns from 

impact investment ranges 

from below market rate to 

risk-adjusted market rate, 

and can be made across asset 

classes such as fixed income, 

equities, venture capital and 

cash equivalents. 

• Impact measurement: 

The impact created 

from such investment should 

be measured. The various 

social or environmental objectives 

should be identified 

and measured against results 

in order to track performance. 

The social and environmental 

performance should be 

reported together with the 

progress of the investment, 

ensuring transparency and 

accountability. 

Who are those involved 

in the impact investing ecosystem? 

The impact investing ecosystem 

involves actors from 

both the supply and demand 

side. It has attracted a wide 

variety of investors including 


foundations, asset managers, 

impact organisations, and 

non-governmental organisations 

(NGOs). 

Banks, pension funds, 

financial advisors, and wealth 

managers can provide client 

investment opportunities to 

both individuals and institutions 

with an interest in general 

or specific social and/or 

environmental causes. Moreover, 

institutional and family 

foundations can leverage 

significantly greater assets 

to advance their core social 

and/or environmental goals, 

while maintaining or growing 

their overall endowment. 

The various government and 

development finance institutions 

can provide proof 

of financial viability for private-sector 

investors while 

targeting specific social and 

environmental goals. 

The supply side of the impact 

investing ecosystem provides 

the impact capital. This 

comprises the foundations, 


governments, companies, retail 

investors, and employees, 

asset managers, etc. On the 

other hand, the demand side 

of the impact investing use impact 

capital and includes the 

development banks, microfinance 

banks, consulting firms, 

government programs, etc. 

Why do we need impact 

investing? 

A number of factors drive 

the need for impact investing 

across the globe. According to 

the United Nations Development 

Programme (UNDP) 

report on impact investing 

in Africa, a number of trends 

contributed to the initial 

interest in, and momentum 

behind impact investing. We 

discuss a number of these 

trends in the paragraphs 

below. 


of the need for 

responsible finance: Impact 

investment aims at generating 


impact and such 

investments are seen as financially 

responsible. Impact 

investing can also be viewed 

as one manifestation of the 

drive towards the incorporating 

broader considerations 

beyond the financial bottom 

line into investment decisions. 


of the need for private 

capitals potential to supplement 

philanthropic funding 

and goals: In solving socioeconomic 

problems and 

creating social and environmental 

impact, government 

and philanthropic resources 

can never be sufficient. As a 

result, the need for private 

capital flows is inevitable. 

• Public sector need 

to more efficiently deliver 

In solving socioeconomic 

problems and creating 


impact, government and 

philanthropic resources can 

never be sufficient 

products and services: There 

is a growing need for the government 

to deliver efficient 

products and services and to 

do so they need to devote time 

and resources in providing 

such needs. Impact investment 

presents an opportunity 

for governments to save more 

and deliver quality products 

and services to the people. 

• The need to solve 

the myriad of social, economic 

and environmental 

problems: As poverty, terrorism 

and other social issues 

ravages the world, the need 

for capital to tackle them 

has heightened. Impacting 

investing has been demonstrated 

to have the capacity 

to supply the capital that can 

be used to combat these 

challenges and achieve the 

sustainable development 

goals.



Quality, affordable healthcare are 

objectives of Lagos state – Jide 

The Lagos State Health Scheme Bill w signed into law in May, 2015 is a compulsory health insurance bill established by the enabling law of the state 

to ensure all residents of the state have access to affordable and quality healthcare. JIDE IDRIS, commissioner for health tells BusinessDay’s ANTHONIA 

OBOKOH that through this scheme, people living in Lagos can be protected from financial distress resulting from huge medical bills. Excerpts: 

What is Lagos health insurance 

scheme all about? 

Lagos health insurance 

is a healthcare 

financing scheme for 

the state; it is a way of 

mobilising fund for 

the sector, look at the sources 

of funds and how you channel 

the funds to do what you want 

to do. The sector is very huge 

and resource demanding. The 

law created a fund that is the 

insurance fund; it is just a pool 

of fund to which contributions 

are made. Every residence of 

Lagos is expected to contribute 

something into this fund by law. 

The state government will contribute 

its own bit into the fund 

in terms of equity fund, local 

government too will contribute, 

philanthropist who wants to 

support or anyone who is willing 

can contribute. And if things 

go right at the National level, we 

also stand to benefit from some 

contributions based on their 

law the National Health Act. 

How is Lagos state planning 

to achieve this feat? 

We are achieving this feat by 

creating a pool of funds which 

will be managed by the agency 

and the fund is used to pay for 

services provided by accredited 

providers and because people 

are contributing, they have a 

choice of who their provider 

will be. They can choose from 

any of the facilities either from 

the public or private. If you are 

not happy with any provider, 

you have liberty to make complains 

to the agency and if your 

complaint is genuine and well 

investigated, you are free to 

change your provider. For those 

people who are poor and cannot 

genuinely afford the cost of 

care, the state government will 

take care of it. That is why under 

the law, 1% of the consolidated 

revenue will go into that fund 

every year to take care of the 

poor and the vulnerable. But 

we need to determine who is 

poor because once people feel 

the money is there, everybody 

becomes poor. 

Why the slow pace of implementation? 

We are not starting the scheme 

100 per cent complete because 

we cannot do that in one vessel; 

people need to understand the 

scheme and be explained to. 

But it is going to be a gradual 

process, as people see it progress, 

more people will enroll. So 

that is where we are. 

But the key thing again is 

that, when we were doing the 

actuarial studies, one of the 

major challenges is that we do 

not have data in this environment. 

It is not the problem of 

Lagos state; it is the problem 

of the country. We thought of 

sourcing data from the national 

level, so that we do not have 

delay, but we realized they do 

not have and that was part of 

time wastage for us. So we have 

to start from the scratch. So 

when we are starting, it was not 

perfect because of the dearth 

of data. But we took a decision 

that we must warehouse our 

data, hold our data that is why 

we are deploying a robust ICT 

system which is going to link the 

enrollees, the providers and the 

Health Maintenance Organisation 

(HMOs) we are going to 

use. The information will collect 

which include demographic, financial 

and medical history will 

be analysed to plan, so it is very 

essential we get the ICT platform 

right. So what we are also doing 

is that we are talking to different 

stakeholders but it is a continuous 

thing and we are also engaging 

the media through media 

briefs. The HMOs we are using, 

contrary to what is happening 

at the national level, has been 

well with us because they have 

the institution and the structure 

although they needs to be monitored 

and controlled, We have 

shortlisted about 7 to start with 

after the advertisement and they 

will be part of the enrollment 

process because we are going 

to assign them to different local 

government. 

Is the scheme mandatory for 

all Lagos residents? 

Unlike the federal level, it is 

mandatory and compulsory 

for every resident of Lagos state 

by law, everybody must contribute. 

For those on the NHIS 

scheme, we cannot force them 

to stop, it will create unnecessary 

problem, and our focus is 

on those who do not have at all. 

In Lagos state, for civil servant, 

the government takes care of 

75% contribution for the staff 

while the staff takes care of the 

remaining 25%. 

How is Lagos state government 

going to address the 

issue of easy and quality 

access to care for enrollees 

on the scheme? 

If you look at the totality whether 

in primary care, secondary care, 

tertiary care owned by the government, 

I do not think they 

are up to four hundred. And 

in these state, if you look at all 

the private practitioner they are 

over four thousand. So, our focus 

is to effectively bring the two 

together so that the people will 

benefit, that is the issue of access. 

You also know that people 

have been complaining that if 

you go to the general hospitals, 

it is always over crowded, long 

queue waiting and at the end of 

the day some people feel they 

are not properly treated or issue 

of quackery, which is part of the 

fundamental problem within 

the system. What we are trying to 

do with this scheme is to reorder 

that system to address all those 

key problems. 

How much are the different 

health plans for enrollee under 

the scheme? 

After all the actuarial studies, 

government settles to 40,000 for 

a family of 6 annually which is 

for the basic plan, anybody who 

needs extra will pay for extra. If 

70 per cent of the population is 

covered under this basic care 

plan, sickness will go down. 

The idea is to maintain wellness 

of the people not merely to 

treat them; it is a total reorientation. 

We want to have these 

schemes so that people do not 

fall ill, giving them health education, 

specific protection, children 

who require immunization 

are easily provided, quality care 

for pregnant women so they can 

be monitored, delivery via normal 

or caesarean section. These 

are the little things that can be 

handled at the primary healthcare 

level. Lagos state wants to 

deal with the basic plan first 

and then primary health care is 

the picking point, we have two 

other plans. Private sector plan 

and formal sector plan. There are 

other people in the private sector 

who already have one plan or 

the other, but if you look at the 

totality they are less than 5 per 

cent of the population covered. 

Are there plans for people 

especially those in the informal 

sector to pay in installments? 

Yes we are flexible, we have 

plans but not in pieces, there 

are provisions for people to pay 

quarterly and monthly but we 

need to make sure they have 

means of paying to avoid cheating 

on others, so there is an open 

window you have once you 

enroll to start paying to forestall 

cheating, because if we break it 

down, it is 500 naira per person 

but you can only access care with 

providers in Lagos.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

21 

Cross River partners MTN Foundation 

on Yellow Heart Initiative 

MIKE ABANG, Calabar 

The Cross River State 

government and 

the MTN Foundation, 

alongside other 

relevant healthcare 

agencies, have pledged to work 

collaboratively to tackle the 

menace of infant and maternal 

mortality in the state. 

The partnership, which was 

announced recently at MTNF 

Yellow Heart Health Forum in 

Calabar, is a demonstration of 

MTN Foundation’s commitment 

to reduce maternal and child 

mortality by increasing awareness 

of the phenomenon in Nigeria 

and aligning with global efforts 

to meet the health targets of 

Sustainable Development Goals. 

Speaking on the Foundation’s 

decision to support the 

Cross River State government 

on this initiative, Dennis Okoro, 

director, MTN Foundation, said, 

“We are very sensitive to challenges 

within our society and it 

is against this backdrop that the 

Foundation created a mandate 

to spend towards improving the 

state of healthcare, education 

and economic empowerment. 

“We hope to use the Yellow 

Heart initiative to address 

predominant issues such as 

attitudes and cultural practices 

that hinder women and children 

from accessing healthcare services 

in the society.” 

Expressing appreciation on 

behalf of the state government, 

Full house of nurses, mothers, children and representatives of the health ministry at the MTN Foundation #yellowheart 

health forum in Calabar. 

UBTH board seeks UNIBEN’s partnership for medical productivity, service delivery 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin 

The management board of the 

University of Benin Teaching 

Hospital (UBTH) has 

called for partnership between 

the University of Benin (UNIBEN) 

to enhance the hospitals productivity 

and service delivery. 

Bashorun Adedoja Adewolu, 

chairman, board of management 

of the hospital made the call during 

a courtesy visit to the vice 

chancellor of the University of 

Benin, Osasere Faraday Orumwense 

at the Ugbowo campus in 

Benin-City on Tuesday. 

Adewolu, also urged the authorities 

of the institutions to 

embark on research and training 

to address challenges in the health 

sector. 

According to him, the university 

community is a worthy partner 

in progress with the teaching 

hospital. I want to urge the vice 

chancellor to partner with the 

hospital in the area of research 

and training. 

wife of the governor of Cross 

River State, Linda Ayade, commended 

the Foundation for 

the Yellow Heart Initiative and 

other impactful projects commissioned 

by the Foundation in 

the state. 

“The MTN Foundation deserves 

to be commended for 

initiating several interventions 

in the state, particularly in the 

area of health. The donation of 

the Y’ello Doctor mobile clinic 

and a haemodialysis centre, and 

the renovation of the post-natal 

“To make the teaching hospital 

meaningful, we need your cooperation 

and that is why the decree 

that set up to make provision for 

the University representative to be 

a member of the Board. There cannot 

be a teaching hospital without 

a University”, he said. 

The chairman, who eulogized 

the contributions of the founding 

fathers of the hospital, said there 

was need to sustain the legacies of 

late Samuel Ogbemudia. 

He noted that such can only be 

achieved by pursuing aggressive 

research and educational training 

of medical personnel. 

In his remark, the vice chancellor 

of the University of Benin, who 

assured the UBTH Board Chairman 

of the necessary support to 

the teaching hospital noted “that 

there is no gap between UBTH and 

UNIBEN.” 

The newly inaugurated Board 

Members of the University of 

Benin Teaching Hospital are 

Bashorun Adedoja Adewolu, 

chairman, Temitope Fabanwo, 

Onyemelukwe John Paul, Aliyu 

ward at the general hospital are 

among the several impactful initiatives 

of the MTN Foundation 

in the state and we are sincerely 

grateful,” she said. 

The first lady further disclosed 

that the Yellow heart initiative 

aligned with actions of the 

state government in improving 

healthcare in the state. 

“We founded the Mediatrix 

Development Foundation 

(MDF) to channel health and 

development interventions that 

will address the needs of the 

Oroji Wammako, Chief Medical 

Director of UBTH, Darlington 

Obaseki, Chairman Medical Advisory 

Committee (CMAC, UBTH), 

Casmir Omuemu, Director of Administration 

(UBTH), Philomena 

vulnerable and less privileged 

in the state. 1000 persons have 

received dental and eye care 

including drugs and laboratory 

services, we have provided 219 

free surgeries, 280 women have 

received breast and cervical 

cancer screening, among others,” 

she said. 

Commenting on what the 

partnership means for the state, 

Inyang Asibong, Cross River 

commissioner for health, said 

the initiative would immensely 

improve the health and survival 

Omoregie. 

Others are Representative of 

the Federal Ministry of Health, 

N. Ezeigwe, Representative of the 

University of Benin, Jacob Ehiorobo, 

Provost College of Medicine 

rate of women and children in 

Cross River State. 

“This is a welcome development, 

as we continue to ensure 

sustainable development for all 

Cross Riverians through sustainable 

healthcare, especially 

for our mothers and children; 

we invite the MTN Foundation 

to continue to partner with us 

in various other aspects of our 

healthcare delivery system. 

“In Cross River State, especially 

the Health sector, maternal, 

newborn and child health 

issues are paramount, this is 

evident in the huge reduction 

of maternal mortality indices 

from 1,500 to 576, far below the 

national average,” she said. 

Other Yellow Heart activities, 

which took place in the 

state, include a panel discussion 

on maternal and child health, 

ante natal and post-natal sensitization 

for pregnant women, 

distribution of delivery kits for 

pregnant women around the 

state, and an awareness walk 

tagged “Walk for Life.” 

The MTN Foundation has 

partnered with the Ministry of 

Health on multiple projects related 

to this cause. This includes 

the Maternal Ward Support 

project which has facilitated the 

renovation of 24 maternal wards 

across the country, and the 

‘Y’ello Doctor’ project which has 

seen Mobile clinics supporting 

the medical needs of mothers 

and children commissioned in 

six states. 

UNIBEN, Efosa Oviasu, Representative 

of Senate UNIBEN, John 

Akerele, Woghiren Emmanuel, 

Innocent Ujah and representative 

of other Health Professionals 

(JOHESU), Philip Owolabi Salu. 

HBL TEAM 

KEMI AJUMOBI, Editor - kemi@businessdayonline.com 

ANTHONIA OBOKOH, ANI MICHAEL, Reporters I David Ogar, Graphics

22 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Friday 23 March 2018 

FINTECH 

News Products Review Technology Review Personality Review Company Review 

COMPANY REVIEW 

Why 8 million Paga users’ milestone is good for fintech 

Stories by FRANK ELEANYA 

Paga, one of Nigeria’s 

leading financial 

technology (Fintech) 

companies 

has announced a 

new userbase milestone. The 

company now have more than 

8 million customers that are 

using its platform for mobile 

money transactions. 

According to the company’s 

founder and CEO, Tayo 

Oviosu, while it took Paga 989 

days to achieve one million 

users, it took only 174 days to 

go from 7 to 8 million people. 

“We are working hard to 

make it easy to send money 

to anyone and get access to 

financial services,” he tweeted 

on Sunday, 18 March 2018. 

The company’s services 

include ability to send as N500 

to N1 million to anyone, anywhere 

in the country using 

their phone number, electricity 

bills payment, airtime 

recharge, bank deposits, and 

shopping with their Paga account. 

Customers can also 

make money for themselves 

when they become Paga 

agents. The company recently 

announced that it was in partnership 

with the Rural Electrification 

Agency in its initiative 

to provide clean and sustainable 

energy to 12,000 shops 

in Sabon Gari Market in Kano. 

Aside from offering a diverse 

portfolio of payment solutions, 

Paga’s journey to eight 

million userbase is seen as 

significant for the Nigerian Fintech 

space for many reasons. 

First it signifies how far 

the industry has come and 

the potential for businesses 

in the space. 

Tayo Oviosu and co-founder, 

Jay Alabraba, established 

the company in 2009, a period 

when little was known about 

mobile money and its relevance 

for ordinary Nigerians, 

even M-Pesa, Africa’s most 

successful mobile money 

product, was barely two years 

at the time. 

Although from the beginning, 

Paga was clear about its 

vision of being at the forefront 

of Nigeria’s financial inclusion 

drive and seem focused on 

it; customers’ insistence on 

cash transaction has been very 

pervasive. 

Cash is still loved by many 

people today; about 70 percent 

of Nigerians are yet to do 

away with their preference for 

paying in cash. 

With players like Paga 

making significant inroads 

on the e-economy map, it 

is probably a matter of time 

before the cashless population 

overtakes the cash population. 

In 2017, when it reached 1 

million, Oviosu assured that 

“We will not rest until the 

day when any Nigerian wants 

to pay for anything or gives 

someone money and the first 

solution is “Just Page it”. 

An eight million users 

milestone is not an ordinary 

feat as it trumps the customer 

base of many established Tier 

I commercial banks. 

Importantly, Paga’s 

achievement is a reminder 

that the mobile money potential 

in Nigeria is real and 

should be taken seriously by 

every financial services firm, 

the investment community 

and government. Hence, it 

reinforces the point that it is 

going to take collaboration 

for any fintech service to hit 

the big times. 

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW 

Bitcoin vs regulation: Who eats humble pie? 

Many bitcoin enthusiasts 

will remember 

2017 differently; 

characterised 

by several “Aha” moments that 

left early investors in the digital 

currency richer than their wildest 

infant dreams. Nearly every 

prediction – from $10,000, 

$15,000 to $20,000 - for bitcoin 

in 2017 was blown to smithereens. 

Bitcoin billionaires were 

no longer a rarity as many laid 

claim. Nigeria even emerged the 

second country in the world with 

the most peer-to-peer bitcoin 

transactions, according to a data 

from LocalBitcoins.com. 

Buoyed by the new wealth, 

many evangelists took to prophesying 

untold fresh prosperity 

levels for bitcoin in 2018. 

At a cryptocurrency community 

conference that held in 

Osun State, Nigeria, in January 

2018, some of the investors that 

sat on the panel forecasted that 

prices will reach at least $100,000 

before the end of the year – the 

perfect eureka for any investor. 

They were so sure that regulatory 

efforts will have little impact on 

the value of the crypto. 

“How do you regulate what 

you cannot see?” One of the investors 

asked the audience. 

To be fair, bitcoin without 

regulatory hassles has enjoyed 

an amazing run since 2010 when 

it surged from $1 to $997 at the 

start of 2017, and soared to nearly 

$20,000 by the end of that year. 

A number of analysts have 

predicted that regulatory bodies 

will get tired of failing repeatedly 

to regulate bitcoin by the end of 

first quarter, hence, will find a 

new sport to occupy their time. 

Well, the first quarter of 2018 

is almost winding down and 

so far, regulatory activities have 

only increased rather than slow 

down. The market impact has 

been significant as well, which 

also means the regulatory barricade 

could be getting the desired 

results. 

The US Securities and Exchange 

Commission (SEC) 

and Japan’s Financial Services 

Agency expanded scrutiny to 

cryptocurrency exchanges on 

Wednesday, which sent the 

whole cryptocurrency market 

down the red zone. To be specific, 

in Japan two relatively small 

exchanges, Bit Station and FSHO 

had their operations suspended 

for one month. 

Meanwhile, a senior official 

at the US Securities and 

Exchange Commission (SEC), 

Stephanie Avakian disclosed 

on Thursday to Bloomberg, that 

the exchange has planned numerous 

investigations into ICO 

campaigns. 

Avakian noted that the agency 

had dozens of investigations 

that relate to cryptocurrency and 

ICOs. Additionally, the Internal 

Revenue Service (IRS) said it is 

likely that cryptocurrency investors 

would be facing hefty tax bills 

very soon. 

It may be too early to call, as 

most stakeholders have noted, 

but one thing that may not be 

going away anytime soon is 

regulatory scrutiny. 

It should be noted that it is 

not all negative with regulatory 

activities, as some experts 

have rightly pointed out. If 

anything, regulation is needed 

to bring some form of sanity 

to the bitcoin market and also 

ensure that investors’ funds are 

protected. 

“I believe that asides the 

need for governments to find 

ways to ensure the security 

of these systems; there is 

also need to address the issue 

of user confidence as a 

fundamental element for any 

payment system,” Enyioma 

Madubuike, a cryptocurrency 

analyst and founder of Legitng 

told BusinessDay in a chat. 

The first week of March, 2018, 

saw the volume of bitcoin trade 

in Nigeria drop to N1.331 billion 

from a brief recovery of N1.476 

billion the previous week. The 

best it has done in 2018 was when 

volumes soared to N1.843 billion 

on the last week of January. 

“I think cryptocurrencies in 

their nature do not want to be 

regulated, but as long as value 

is still tied to fiat currencies, 

regulation is inevitable,” Timi Ajiboye 

co-founder of Bitkoin and 

recently Buycoins, both based 

in Nigeria told BusinessDay via 

mail. “I am not sure how it will affect 

Nigeria; I just hope that when 

the time comes, there will be 

people who understand the potential 

of the technology among 

those who make the rules.”


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

23 

Policy Investments Market Insight Influencers 

PROFILE 

Ajima farms success shows biogas as important as solar 

Stories by ISAAC ANYAOGU 

In many farming settlements 

around Nigeria, 

access to electricity is a 

major problem next to 

waste disposal. The most 

economical method is to burn 

or bury waste but both options 

come with their own hazards. 

This causes pollutants like carbon 

dioxide, mercury and acid 

into the atmosphere adding to 

carbon emissions and causing 

respiratory problems. 

Ajima Farms found a way 

around this problem by turning 

the waste into power. 

Through a $150,000 grant 

from the United States African 

Development Foundation, US- 

ADF, the project, called Ajima 

Farms Biogas Digester Off- 

Grid, commissioned in June 

2016, converts huge volumes 

of wastes generated from poultry 

farms around into power 

Fatima Ademoh, founder 

& CEO, Ajima Youth Empow- 

Fatima Ademoh, receiving award for her waste-2-watt initiative 

erment Foundation, Nigeria, 

who built the plant, is also 

developing a similar project, 

a 10 watt Biogas Digester offgrid 

power project at Kuwizhi 

village of Kuje Area. She led the 

preparation of funding proposal 

that secured US$150,000 

grant in the USADF Power Africa 

Off-Grid Energy Challenge 

to fund the project. 

While she was not around 

when BusinessDay visited, 

she told BusinessDay that the 

project is powering Rije village 

in Kuje Area Council of 

the Federal Capital Territory, 

FCT, Abuja, with 20 kilowatts 

of biogas from generators. 

She however, mandated her 

staff, Danladi to assist with 

inquiries. 

“Poultry, human and vegetables 

wastes are collected 

in a biogas digester, which 

generates gas and in turn powers 

a biogas generator and 

electricity generated from the 

generator is distributed by 

a minigrid system to power 

over five hundred people in 

the community,” Danladi, who 

mans the plant tells Business- 

Day during a recent visit. He 

is one of the 10 locals trained 

by the company who help in 

running the facility. 

Ajima’s poultry section produces 

over 3 tonnes of waste. 

“We profiled over 260 Off grid 

communities in kuje alone and 

we partner with Eco-Watt to 

create an innovative solution 

to our problem and the idea 

of Waste to watts was formed,” 

Ademoh to Gridless Africa in 

an interview. 

A largely agrarian community 

with about a hundred 

houses, a quarter being 

mud house, residents enjoy 

between 12 and 15 hours of 

power supply every day and 

pay less than N2,000 monthly. 

This would indicate that for 

similar project to scale, longterm 

funding at low interest 

rates is important. 

“The light has been a 

blessing to my business,” says 

Augustine Iliah, who runs a 

sparsely stocked local pharmacy 

in the community. “I 

can open my place till 10pm, 

there is security with street 

lights and people come in to 

buy at night,” 

The minigrid project is all 

inclusive, with all the components 

including generation, 

distribution and transmission 

represented. All the houses 

are metered, there are power 

lines that deliver power to the 

houses, users are on a prepaid 

network and there are even 

street lights. 

A key challenge the project 

had was financing but 

with support from development 

partners it is proceeding 

accordingly. Lagos with 

its waste problem can draw 

a lesson from the success 

of the project. Attitudes 

towards waste are changing 

globally and it should too. 

Huge refuse dumpsites rather 

than bother are sources of 

energy. 

A more efficient management 

model is to look at 

wastes, sludge and water from 

a “circular economy” point of 

view. Water can be reused after 

it washes down the drain both 

industrial and domestic wastewater 

can serve as a valuable 

resource. This can be applied 

to other resources. 

“One estimate is that Americans 

flush 350 billion kilowatthours 

of energy into the sewers 

each year—roughly enough to 

power 30 million U.S. homes. 

Cities are taking notice, and 

taking steps to install sewage 

heat recovery systems to get a 

piece of that energy resource,” 

says an article on National 

Geographic. 

In a sewage heat recovery 

system, a heat pump is 

used to capture the warmth 

of wastewater and transfer 

it to the clean water stream 

that is entering homes and 

businesses. It all operates as 

a closed-loop system, meaning 

that the dirty water never 

touches the clean water. But 

the warmth of the sewage 

water helps heat the water that 

is then used in showers, washing 

machines, dishwashers, or 

even in radiators to help heat 

buildings, says the article. 

This initiative should be 

private sector led to succeed 

with progressive regulations by 

the government. The concept 

of a circular economy is here 

to stay and nations embracing 

it are seeing value. 

Roadmap for cost-effective minigrid market out May 1 

Rocky Mountain Institute 

(RMI) and 

the Rural Electrification 

Agency (REA) 

will release a first-of-its-kind, 

three-year roadmap for Africa 

on May 1, 2018, that outlines 

how to achieve $0.20/ 

kWh from electric minigrid 

technology by 2020. 

US-based RMIan is independent 

nonprofit founded 

in 1982—transforms global 

energy use to create a clean, 

prosperous, and secure lowcarbon 

future. It engages 

businesses, communities, institutions, 

and entrepreneurs 

to accelerate the adoption of 

market-based solutions that 

cost-effectively shift from 

fossil fuels to efficiency and 

renewables. REA was set up 

by the Federal Government 

to increase electricity access 

to rural and underserved 

communities. REA has developed 

an off-grid electrification 

strategy to support 

minigrids and other off-grid 

solutions to support FGN’s 

policy of incremental growth. 

The roadmap will outline 

how much capital is required 

and a plan for transitioning 

funding from grants and 

high-risk concessional and 

government sources to venture 

capital and private equity, 

according to a release 

from the organisation. 

This follows the recent 

minigrid charrette RMI cohosted 

recently REA to chart 

the path to unlocking the 

minigrid market in Nigeria. 

It would provide energy access 

to millions and tap into 

a multibillion-dollar opportunity. 

More than 50 industry 

leaders and experts attended 

the interactive work session 

focused on delivering a profitable 

and scalable minigrid 

market business model. 

Attendees included Cross- 

Boundary, Global Environment 

Facility, IHS Towers, 

McKinsey & Company, Nayo 

Technologies, PowerGen, 

Rensource Distributed Energy, 

Rubitec Solar, SBM Intelligence, 

Shell and many others. 

At the workshop, market 

solutions centered on six key 

opportunity areas: grid-ina-box 

hardware, better load 

management, effective customer 

engagement, efficient 

project development and 

operations and maintenance, 

affordable finance and supportive 

policy were unveiled. 

“Nigeria has all the right 

drivers to become a leader in 

the minigrid market in Africa: 

great entrepreneurial tradition, 

a large self-employed 

population and market size. 

I’m looking forward to seeing 

how entrepreneurs in Nigeria 

leverage this opportunity 

over the next few years,” Richard 

Branson, founder of the 

Virgin Group and an RMI 

donor said. 

With a population of more 

than 180 million, Nigeria has 

the largest population and 

gross domestic product in 

Africa, with significant rural 

economic activity. Currently 

85 million people do not have 

reliable access to electricity 

or are not connected to the 

grid. Minigrids provide an 

enormous investment opportunity 

as Nigerians already 

spend $14 billion annually on 

off-grid power from small 14 

Group participants the at the REA/ RMI Global Minigrid Design Charette focused on reducing minigrid 

development costs for off grid Electrification held in Lagos on Friday, March 9th 

gigawatt gas generators, according 

to materials prepared 

for the workshop by RMI. 

“The electricity market 

for off-grid energy in Nigeria 

is huge and profitable for 

developers. Installing 1,000 

minigrids each year for the 

next 10 years would provide 

power to millions of Nigerians 

currently off-grid,” said 

Damilola Ogunbiyi, managing 

director and CEO of the 

Rural Electrification Agency.” 

“I am excited and optimistic 

about cracking the 

minigrid challenge in Nigeria. 

Nigeria is blessed with 

some of the region’s most 

amazing entrepreneurs. 

We urge venture capitalists 

and impact investors from 

around the world to get involved 

with us,” said Jules 

Kortenhorst, chief executive 

officer of Rocky Mountain 

Institute. 

RMI’s Sustainable Energy 

for Economic Development 

(SEED) program had the 

support of the Rockefeller 

Foundation and Virgin Unite. 

Schneider Electric sponsored 

the workshop. 

Isaac Anyaogu, Email: isaac.anyaogu@businessdayonline.com, 07037817378, Graphics: Joel Samson



C002D5556 

Hotels 

Ibom Hotel &Golf Resort, still a 

delight to tourists, golfers 

Top BusinessDay Partner Hotels 

Stories by 

OBINNA EMELIKE 

It is no longer news that 

the Le Meridien brand 

has left Akwa Ibom 

State after branding 

its premier hospitality 

outfit for a decade. The reality 

is that since the exit of Le 

Meridien, a brand under 

Marriot International, on 

December 31, 2017, new 

vista of experience for the 

guests, golfers and opportunities 

for the locals have 

opened. 

Now rebranded as Ibom 

Hotel & Golf Resort and 

under a new management, 

the premier golf resort in the 

South South region of Nigeria 

is still golfers’ delight and 

an escape worth the while of 

tourists any day. 

For the skeptics, what has 

changed is the management 

company, the standard, staff 

and facilities are still much 

intact and even improved. 

Few months down the line, 

the resort is still very much 

in a good shape; the world 

class facilities combine with 

fascinating lush landscape 

and enchanting nature to 

woo guests to feasts. 

Of course, in its determination 

to keep the high standard 

and reputation of the 

hotel, the Akwa Ibom State 

government, the owner of the 

golf resort, appointed Ronald 

Stilting, a reputable hotelier 

with international profile, as 

the general manager. 

Stilting, in the other hand, 

is very familiar with the Nigerian 

and African hotel 

markets. From opening and 

managing Lilly Gate Hotel in 

Lekki Phase 1, to managing 

Golden Tulip Essential on 

Airport Road, both in Lagos, 

Stilting is not a novice in 

the Nigerian hotel market. 

However, he is bringing to 

bear his over two decades 

of experience in the global 

hospitality industry in the 

management of Ibom Hotel 

& Golf Resort. 

The good thing is that it 

is no longer a brand name 

that is at stake, rather Stilting’s 

name and if the Dutch 

national fails to deliver, that 

may cost him further hotel 

management jobs on the 

African continent. 

‘‘The facility has not 

changed. I am the only one 

that has changed as the new 

general manager. But I am 

here to improve on what I 

met on ground”, Stilting says. 

The Stilting-led management 

is starting on a right 

note, first by taking stock of 

why the former manager left, 

engaging the stakeholders 

and aggressive marketing 

and media campaign. 

Some of the stakeholders 

he engaged recently were 

tour operators, travel agents 

and the travel media. The 

mix was necessarily in order 

to present the resort afresh 

to them, seek collaboration 

in marketing and creating 

awareness of the facilities 

and services to would-be 

guests, and target market. 

Taking stock of the facilities 

and services, the new 

general manager noted that 

the resort features of an 18 – 

hole golf course, including 

the Marina Club, 163 wellappointed 

rooms, seven 

chalets, fitness centre, bars 

and restaurants, conference 

facilities and most importantly, 

well-motivated staff 

who ensure personalised 

and value for money offerings 

for every guest. 

For him, one of the reasons 

to visit is the golf course 

with an enchanting and undulating 

landscape, hilly 

ranges and water courses. 

Describing the golf course, 

he says that it is highly regarded 

as one of the best 

and challenging courses in 

Nigeria and a professional 

golfer’s delight. 

Barely three months on, 

the Duct hospitality expert 

says his team’s efforts are 

yielding the expected results. 

“Presently, we are pretty 

much on course. We have 

not lost ground in the market, 

rather our clientele base 

has improved since January 

1, 2018 when the new 

management commenced 

operation”. 

He also highlights his 

areas of focus saying, ‘‘We are 

on course and will sustain 

our feats but now we want to 

push it beyond this level and 

that is one of the reasons that 

you are here’’. 

Going specific, the general 

manager says, ‘‘We want 

be very strong in golf and 

also improve on our efforts at 

capturing more conferences”. 

As well, he thinks the local 

market holds huge potential; 

hence effort is also made to 

capture it with sales trip to 

cities such as Lagos, Port 

Harcourt and neighouring 

cities to Uyo. 

To capture the local market 

and other guests, the 

hotel is improving on its 

facilities alongside with the 

offering of new products. 

From a strong focus on increasing 

golf and leisure offerings, 

which really has not 

been marketed that much, 

Stilting says the resort is also 

focusing more on family and 

children. 

To do this, the new management 

is planning to improve 

on the existing facilities 

with additions such 

as soccer pitch, themed park, 

swim and dine and Sunday 

brunch. While the product 

and service offerings 

are looked after, the new 

management is also keen 

on improving the physical 

look of the entire property 

with planned upgrade of the 

facilities, which according to 

the general manager, is due 

after 10 years. 

The upgrade will be carried 

out in phases with the 

lobby area, restaurant, bar, 

and rooms getting a face lift 

to enhance guest experience, 

he further notes. 

Stilting and his team insist 

that they have a great facility, 

there is no change rather 

improvement and all you 

need do is visit for a great 

experience, especially this 

Easter holiday. 

Four Point Hotels 

(Oniru Chiefatancy 

Estate,Lekki) 

The Wheatbaker 

#4 Onitolo(Lawrence Road), 

Ikoyi, Lagos. 

InterContinental Lagos 

Plot 52, Kofo Abayomi St, 

Lagos 

Tel: 01 236 6666 

Best Western Hotel 

Hotels 12, Allen Avenue 

C/O Funmi (Front Office Manager) 

Transcorp Hilton Abuja 

1 Aguiyi Ironsi Street Maitama, 

Abuja 

Tel: +234-708-060-3000 

Hawthorn Suites by 

Wyndham Abuja 

1 Uke St, Garki, Abuja. 

Tel: +234 9 4603900, +234 

805 7522500 

Renaissance Lagos Ikeja 

Hotel 

#38/40 Isaac John St, Ikeja 

GRA100271, Ikeja 

Tel: +234-908-780 5555 

Southern Sun Ikoyi beckons for Easter treat 

Protea Hotel (GRA Ikeja) 

GRA Ikeja 

Southern Sun Ikoyi is 

inviting discerning 

guests to an enjoyable 

Easter celebration 

at its luxury hotel located 

in the prime Ikoyi environs. 

Promising delightful treats 

for guests and their loved 

ones, this season at the hotel 

is packed with worthy offers 

including a mouthwatering 

Easter special Sunday 

Brunch. Famed for its exquisite 

hospitality, culinary 

delights and cozy ambience, 

Southern Sun Ikoyi is indeed 

the preferred choice for fine 

dining and a well-deserved 

break this season. 

Pegged at N17, 000 only, 

per person and an a la cart 

menu available on request, 

this special Easter Sunday 

Brunch is not to be missed. 

The special brunch is accompanied 

with choice champagne, 

exotic cocktail mixes 

and fine wines all aimed at 

tickling even the most selective 

taste buds. There are 

also specially rated accommodation 

offers at N45, 000 

only for standard rooms and 

N53, 750 only for executive 

rooms all per room and per 

night. The offers are inclusive 

of full breakfast for two, 

children under four years old 

get to stay and eat for free and 

children aged 5 to 9 years old 

pay a 50 percent discount. 

The exciting discount offer 

is valid from March 29 until 

April 3, 2018. 

The hotel, which is hugely 

admired by business and 

leisure travelers alike boasts 

a beautifully designed contemporary 

lounge, a wellstocked 

bar and a pool with 

serene terrace area, all ideal 

for a perfect and memorable 

stay. The hotel also offers 

sufficient WiFi connectivity 

and is equipped with a 

gym, trained instructor and 

up-to-date facilities all for 

the comfort of fitness enthusiasts 

including a relaxation 

sauna. 

A day at the hotel is truly 

unforgettable as the warm 

staff and the award winning 

head chef provide a scrumptious 

array of savoury dishes 

and desserts all made from 

the freshest ingredients that 

simply melt away with every 

bite. The hotel restaurant 

also caters to guests with particular 

dietary concerns. The 

general manager invites you 

to come and experience the 

real Southern Sun comfort 

this Easter with your friends 

and loved ones. 

Protea Hotel (V/Island) 

Off Ajose Adeogun Street, V/ 

Island 

Radisson Blu Anchorage 

Hotel 

1A,Ozumba Mbadiwe,Victoria 

Island.

Friday 23 March 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 

25 

INTERVIEW 

‘All that we do are geared towards 

helping the real estate industry’ 

The size of the Nigerian real estate market which offers compelling opportunities is, increasingly, attracting more foreign 

real estate service providers that are adding value to investors’ offerings. One of the newest of such firms in the market 

today is the International Real Estate Partners (IREP). In this interview, EREJUWA GBADEBO, the company’s CEO, offers 

insights into what the company is in Nigeria to do differently. She also speaks on germane real estate issues including the 

Lagos Land Use Charge Law 2018. He speaks with CHUKA UROKO, Property Editor. Excerpts: 

As a new entrant into the Nigerian 

real estate market, tell us who 

you are and what you have come 

to do differently in this crowded 

market? 

In a nutshell, IREP, which 

stands for International Real 

Estate Partnership, is essentially 

a real estate services 

company. What we are doing 

is providing real estate services that 

are of the same quality with what 

you find anywhere else in the world. 

We are trying to do it differently 

because we are a member of a consortium 

of partnering companies 

which are all around the world with 

different specialties. The idea is that 

an investor who wants the services 

of any of these partnering firms will 

come to us and we will fish around 

for our partners and that will add 

value to the investor. We want 

to bring a plethora of specialties 

around the world that can add value 

to what the investors offer. We serve 

as a one-stop shop for clients. 

For purposes of information 

and reference by potential investors 

and clients, may we have a few 

examples of the foreign companies 

that are your partners? 

Our partners, as I said earlier, 

are all over the world. We have a 

leading financial services partner 

in China whose specialty is in real 

estate. They are in Beijing, Shanghai, 

Hong Kong, Moscow, etc. If, for 

instance, you have an investment in 

any of these countries and you need 

financial services, we can link you 

up to this partner to provide you 

with the services. 

We have another company in 

America called Global Expansion 

Associate and their specialty is in 

providing turn-key developments 

across financial services. So, if you 

have need for any turnkey financial 

solutions, they are the ones to go to, 

but you will be dealing with IREP. 

We also have a multi-disciplinary 

interior architectural services 

company who are in South East 

Asia. If you have land to do office 

development or you want to do 

feasibility studies here in Nigeria, 

or you need funding, you just meet 

us and we help you access their 

services. 

Also we have Alpha Mead Group 

here in Nigeria which consists of 

a number of subsidiaries that are 

into facilities management, real 

estate development, security and 

healthcare management. They are 

trying to go across regional West Africa. 

We have another partner that 

has branches in Europe, Africa and 

Asia. They are a real estate advisory 

firm and if you want a mixed-bag 

Erejuwa Gbadebo 

or mixed portfolio here in Nigeria 

or anywhere in the world, they are 

there for you. 

We have got another interesting 

partner specialized in verification, 

testing and certification. So, any 

one that has a building and wants 

it tested or certified, they can help 

him to get certified to ISO. We 

also have what I can call real estate 

transnational service company. If 

you want to bring in foreign investors 

and you don’t understand their 

language, this is where you bring in 

this company to help you out. They 

understand the language of real 

estate and can put together your 

contract in such a way that you are 

not short-changed. 

From what you have said so 

far, it can be deduced that you 

are a multi-disciplinary company. 

But what is your core area 

of competence in terms of service 

delivery? 

Well, we are a small company 

and we are effectively starting 

afresh in terms of our branding. 

But in terms of the services we 

provide, we provide all the key real 

estate services including advisory, 

research, marketing, property management 

and others. 

Predominantly, where we add 

value is in market research and 

advisory. We are trying to gather all 

the necessary data so that anybody 

who wants information can come to 

us. Depending on what the client 

wants, we can do market research 

or be the leasing agent for him. All 

these are geared towards reducing 

cost for the client. 

In providing advisory services, 

to what extent do you influence 

client’s design and decision? 

All that we do are geared towards 

helping the real estate industry. You 

can work hard on a building that 

has nothing to offer the industry 

and so nobody wants to touch it. 

There is a typical example of such 

building in Victoria Island. It is a 

commercial building and nobody 

has event stepped into it. A little 

bit of market research before the 

building was started could have 

helped the developers to create a 

I believe there won’t 

be a reduction in 

the population of 

Lagos, but there is 

certainly going to be 

a reduction in the 

number of those who 

would pay the tax, 

leading to millions of 

citizens that would be 

out of job 

better solution. 

On the contrary, everybody 

would like to work on skyline buildings 

like Heritage Place and The 

Wings Towers which have been 

completed, and the Desiderata 

Tower on Banana Island which is 

still ongoing. There is another one 

we are involved in and we have 

influenced a lot of things in the 

building. It is a naira-lease project 

and this means there are no worries 

about fluctuation in exchange rate. 

The point I am trying to make 

is that upfront information is very 

vital and people generally ignore 

them to their own detriment in the 

long run. If you put up a gigantic 

building that is difficult to maintain, 

nobody will go there. And when the 

mistakes are made, it is difficult to 

correct them in the long run. 

After a few months of coming 

into the Nigerian market, what 

has been your experience; what 

impression of the market do you 

have? 

IREP is new in Nigeria but all 

of us who work here have been 

around a long while. The market is 

difficult, and my challenge is the assumption 

that because the oil price 

has gone up, everything in Nigeria 

is appearing to be out of recession. 

Actually, the recession in real 

estate is different. The sector has 

been in negative growth for eight 

consecutive quarters and in this 

last quarter of 2017, the growth was 

-5.09 percent. This was lower by -1.8 

percent than the previous quarter. 

That quarter was less traumatic but 

it was that bad. Year-on-year, the 

sector’s growth was -3. 25 percent 

lower. All these impact on pipeline 

projects. As a result of this too, 

construction cost has gone up and 

so has real estate services. 

What in your view is wrong in 

the real estate sector that is limiting 

its growth? 

I think there is something we are 

not telling ourselves and that is annoying 

for me. There is a huge gap 

between where we are and where 

we are supposed to be. In my view, 

real estate is not growing because 

we have the most difficult transactional 

laws in the real estate market. 

You cannot tell me that someone 

who owns a property cannot sell to 

whomsoever he likes at whatever 

price he wants. Here, you have to 

go back to the government that did 

not help you to build the house for 

permission to sell the property. This 

is why our land is expensive and 

registration is difficult and takes so 

long such that transactions cannot 

happen at the kind of speed they 

are needed to. 

Lagos State government recently 

announced a new land use 

charge that has seen charge rates 

jump 400 percent in most cases. 

What is your view on this new law? 

The Lagos State government has 

made matters worse by changing 

the land use act which had started 

making life easier for Lagosians. 

Before now, we had rates which 

the landlord and the tenants had 

their respective responsibilities to 

pay. Now, they have made it punitive 

and it is coming at a time when 

people are running away from real 

estate sector and the market. 

What they have done has the 

capacity to scare people away from 

Lagos to neighbouring Ogun State. 

Recall that during the time of the 

crisis in the Niger Delta, foreign 

workers or investors who had 

business in Nigeria chose to stay 

in Ghana and flew from there to 

Nigeria and back after transacting 

their business. We did not learn 

from that and it means those who 

have property in Ogun should start 

thinking of moving to such areas 

and have their peace. 

For me, the law is ill-timed 

and there is no need for it. If you 

want to increase your tax, create a 

conducive environment to make 

that happen. This is going to 

impact negatively on real estate 

and small companies like mine 

that is predominantly Lagos and 

Abuja-based. Imagine a situation 

where I move and some other 

companies follow suit to other 

locations outside Lagos. The 

state will lose much revenue from 

company and employee taxes. I 

believe there won’t be a reduction 

in the population of Lagos, 

but there is certainly going to be a 

reduction in the number of those 

who would pay the tax, leading to 

millions of citizens that would be 

out of job. 

If you were to rate yourself in 

terms of those things you do in 

this market, where do you think 

you would be? 

To be honest with you, we cannot 

compete in terms of geographical 

spread with indigenous companies. 

We are much smaller than the 

likes of Broll which has been here 

awhile. We also have big names 

like Jones Long LaSale (JLL). We 

don’t do as much work as they do 

in terms of numbers. But in terms 

of the quality of the work that we do, 

it is at par with any of them. In the 

area that we operate and the quality 

of work that we do, we always see 

ourselves at the top. The only challenge 

is that we just don’t have the 

numbers and spread that they have.



C002D5556 

‘You need at least a budget of about 

N30m to stage a musical in Nigeria’ 

From being a beneficiary of the MTN Foundation MUSON scholarship a few years ago to directing some of the best musical-theater performances 

across the country today, AYO AJAYI, executive director of Declassical Arts & Entertainment, has proven himself. At the recently held Love 

Colours Valentine Concert organised by MUSON School of Music Alumni and MTN Foundation, OBINNA EMELIKE caught up with him. 

Can you tell us bit about yourself? 

am Ayodeji Mayowa Oluwatosin 

Ajayi widely known as Ayo Ajayi. 

I am an MTNF/MUSON scholar, 

a theater/music producer and 

director. I am the executive director 

of Declassical Arts & Entertainment, 

the producer of Ununcha the Musical 

for the Face of Okija 2017, GULA and 

Fela: Arrest the Music. As well, I am the 

president of MUSON School Alumni 

Association, musical director of Voices 

& Chords and the assistant organist at 

Christ Apostolic Church, Yaba, Lagos. 

How did you get to know about MTN 

Foundation/MUSON Scholarship 

opportunity? 

I have attended some institutions before 

the MUSON Diploma programme 

started but I did not find fulfillment. I 

was offering music classes to people 

in my church and people invited me to 

teach them theory of music or train their 

choir. I met late Stephen Olarinde, a 

choirmaster of a Catholic church then. I 

was training him and his members and 

also preparing them for MUSON certificate 

examinations. He heard about 

the MTNF scholarship first and notified 

me and I applied. Agatha Ibeazor, 

our famous PHD holder in view, was a 

member of that choir I was training and 

she also came in for the programme but 

a year after us. 

What has been your most memorable 

Valentine concert? 

There are two notable events that happened 

last year. I was listening to Perpie; 

our celebrity soulful Saxophonist, play 

‘I’ll always love you’ during her rehearsals. 

But the sound did not come across 

the way I am used to hear her sound, so 

I knew something was wrong. I called 

her to replace the tenor saxophone with 

the more sonorous soprano saxophone 

that I know she had gotten used to. She 

objected at first. She reluctantly had to 

drive all the way home to get her soprano 

sax and her performance became 

the highlight of the event as her sound 

transported people to realms beyond 

where love is inherent. The second 

is at MUSON where we are more at 

home with our conservative concerts, 

but last year we did a total revamp of 

the concert, from aesthetic value to the 

nature of content which now includes 

performances like the spoken word and 

dance. We thought we were being radi- 

cal but the MUSON Board commended 

us for the initiative. Thanks to my team, 

which include Raphael Francis, Perpetual 

Atife and Joshua David. 

What are some of the activities you 

engage in as alumni? 

We started a programme for schools 

called Concert for Stars. The programme 

brings students from all the 

schools in a certain locality to converge 

at one venue and perform together with 

members of the alumni. We believe in 

the future of these children and the 

right exposure from a young age. This 

informed generation will help correct 

the anomalies in the music industry. 

We have done three editions at Pinefield 

School, Kings College and Halifield College. 

But like every other good innovation, 

the project requires sponsorship. 

How did you become the music director 

at Wakaa and Saro The Musical? 

SARO the Musical is a big project. A 

big thank you goes to Bolanle Austen- 

Peters for having me on this project. 

While trying to create this fan favourite 

musical, we had no Nigerian template 

to replicate. I remember we were watching 

Les Miserables, Phantom of the 

Opera and some other musicals just 

to get a much needed structure. As the 

musical director, I had to research and 

find or write songs that are suitable for 

each of the scenes, arrange the scores to 

blend seamlessly into the scenes which 

are not easy tasks to perform. The work 

The Eve goes to cinema on March 29th 

Cut24 Productions is set 

to release a new Nollywood 

blockbuster titled 

“The Eve”. The new romantic 

comedy, which chronicles 

the days leading up to a supposed 

“happy couple’s” wedding day 

features a stellar cast and is directed 

by Tosin Igho, a rapper turned 

director. 

Ayo Ajayi 

Currently slated to hit cinemas 

nationwide on March 29, 2018, 

“The Eve” comes hot on the heels 

of other successful productions 

from Cut24 including the critically 

acclaimed Gidi Blues & 4th Estate. 

The Eve follows a young couple, 

Funsho and Yewande who 

have shockingly varying personalities, 

and are set to get married 

of a musical director in Nigeria is broad. 

Most producers do not understand that 

they need song writers, orchestrators 

and so on. The Nigerian musical director 

is responsible for all these complex 

duties. Same it was with SARO. I am glad 

I did all that because the experience 

from it has really helped in my personal 

productions. 

How challenging is the job of a musical 

director? 

The first hurdle I had to cross being 

a musical director was organising a 

team of musicians who will give life 

to the theater performance. I set to 

do this by inviting friends who would 

share in the vision of the producer 

and who have enough expertise to 

transport their musical knowledge 

into the theatre sphere. At first, 

many of them struggled to adapt 

to the rigours of theatre being men 

who got paid by the hour. Another 

challenge was trying to interpret and 

express what you play in relation to a 

scene playing out in front of you. This 

requires great mental coordination 

and a high level proficiency on the 

instrument. Unfortunately, these are 

just the two major things that most 

Nigerian musicians lack but I was 

able to gather a team of professionals 

who adapted in very little time. 

So, we put together the best crop of 

musicians well suited to theatre in 

the country and they have been irreplaceable 

till date. 

What major productions have you 

been involved with? 

Aside directing music for theater, I 

have three productions to my credit. 

They are Fela: Arrest the Music, this 

showed at the MUSON festival 2016 

and African International Film Festival 

(AFRIFF) same year, GULA that I jointly 

produced with Tunde Oduwole in 2017 

and Ununcha the Musical, which I produced 

for the Obijackson Foundation 

at the Face of Okija 2017 in Anambra 

State. Ununcha the Musical and GULA 

will be coming back on stage later in 

the year. At the preview of SARO the 

musical, I remember one of the invited 

celebrities was just so thrilled about the 

theme music. I was home one morning 

when I received Mrs. Austen-Peters’ 

call telling me how everyone including 

her husband and daughter seem to be 

exhilarated at the sensational SARO 

theme song. I think aside that, I have 

directed music in many productions. 

My greatest joy is that I have been able 

to leave an indelible mark in this space. 

I hear many lovely theme songs in the 

style of film scores today and I look back 

at when we started, there was practically 

nothing like it. 

You studied Computer Science, has 

it in any way enhanced your interest 

in music? 

When we started working on SARO 

the Musical, we had to think about 

new possibilities of getting clean, 

crisp sound for the production unlike 

the regular theater speech amplifications. 

It was really challenging as 

many of the things we were taught in 

school were more of theoretical than 

practical. However, this was a new 

job and a vacuum needed to be filled, 

not just by anybody but someone 

who had in-depth knowledge. The 

responsibility automatically fell on 

me and my understanding helped 

a lot because I was able to communicate 

effectively the desires and 

expectations of the production crew 

in the right language to the technical 

crew. This kick-started the era of good 

sound for theater productions at 

Bolanle Austen-Peters Productions 

and other production companies 

who embraced the new order. So, for 

me, choosing the science was not a 

mistake. I still apply the knowledge 

to date in my recording studio and 

productions. 

in a few days. Just before the wedding, 

Funsho and his three childhood 

friends set out to treat the 

groom to one blissful getaway and 

a Bachelor’s eve. Things quickly go 

south and the events and revelations 

that unfold ultimately raise 

more questions than answers for 

the couple. 

The movie will explore various 

themes and genres through 

its under two hours runtime and 

the audience is set to be treated 

to various musical numbers as the 

movie has been compared to Nollywood’s 

response to modern Disney 

classics. 

The movie will also become the 

first Nollywood movie to tackle 

homophobia as part of its subplot. 

How can youths be encouraged to 

make career out of music and theatre? 

You need at least a budget of about 

N30,000,000 (thirty million naira) to 

stage a musical in Nigeria. Where would 

that come from? There are many beautiful 

productions rotting in the minds of 

the carriers for lack of funds. The politicians 

have failed to put the necessary infrastructures 

in place for the promotion 

of arts and theatre. I went to the Theater 

of her Royal Majesty at the Westend to 

see the Phantom of the Opera and some 

other musical shows. I was not only sad 

but I was angry in my spirit at the same 

time. We do not have proper theaters in 

the country, we lack infrastructure and 

these things cannot be put together by 

an individual because they are really 

expensive. I think the government and 

private investors need to invest in infrastructure 

in order to make theatre more 

appealing and believable. Beside the 

government, I also think many corporate 

organisations can also contribute 

a great deal. Musical theatre is the real 

deal. Invest in it and help both big and 

evolving production companies grow. 

Nigerians are talented and theater is 

a space that will employ many youths. 

How was your experience while undergoing 

the diploma programme 

at MUSON? 

After my entrance examination at 

MUSON Diploma School as a pioneer 

student, I had passed excellently 

in my theory, failed woefully in my 

history like all others anyways, and 

soared through my practical auditions 

like an eagle. There was then a 

moment of silence, no communication. 

I assumed even the school was 

scared of telling us how much we 

were to pay as tuition, so 25 of us 

were back to square one thinking 

that the Diploma course was just a 

mirage. Later on that same month, 

news started spreading that the 

course would go on because MTN 

Foundation has decided to pay for 

the programme. It seemed too good 

to be true at first because I thought 

who would just wake up in our society 

and pay other people’s children 

school fees? To cut the long story 

short, it happened and we got the 

best tutelage ever without travelling 

aboard, we also got study materials 

for free. Isn’t that just a miracle? 

The cast features some of Nollywood’s 

leading women including; 

Beverly Naya, Meg Otanwa, Ronke 

Oshodi and Hauwa Allahbura. 

According to Femi Odugbemi, 

the executive producer, “Passion, 

longing and heartbreak are familiar 

themes to viewers all around 

the world, but “The Eve” comes 

with fresh perspective.”


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

27 

Movie Review - GRINGO 

The title of this 

movie did no 

justice to the 

movie because 

it was absolutely 

amazing and interesting; 

the blend with the 

Nollywood and Hollywood 

was beautiful. Most people 

wouldn’t want to go watch 

this movie, based on the 

title and it not being clear, 

but it was a very good 

movie with a lovely storyline. 

One that people could 

recon with, a hardworking 

man who worked for 

a friend and then he finds 

out he had being the fool in 

his marriage and at work. 

Harold Soyinka the lead actor 

was a good man, who 

did what was always right, 

according to the teachings 

of his father, he is Nigerian 

who was taken to the US 

when he was little, grew up 

and still had the upbringing 

of his Nigerian parents, he 

was taught to never cheat 

and defeat the boss, which 

he always did, but then the 

tables turned around negatively, 

when he became the 

victim of his boss. There 

was this story that was being 

used or passed across 

about the gorilla, banana, 

passing of the ball, Harold 

had no clue he was the ball 

being tossed, all along he 

thought he was in control, 

little did he know that his 

boss and loving wife were 

lying to him. 

Movie director Nash 

Edgerton had a well 

thought out storyline and 

wanted to explain a few issues 

that were going on in 

Mexico, disclosing what 

transpired in the drug cartel 

and how bad kidnapping 

was. The writers Matthew 

Stone and Anthony 

Tambakis were quiet detailed 

thereby giving the 

movie a good twist. The 

blend of both worlds was 

really good, the addiction 

of the Nigerian accent, 

and “Yoruba words and 

prayers” in the movie made 

us really like it’s our movie. 

I enjoyed the chase back 

and forth, and his arranged 

kidnap on several occasion, 

which later turned 

out to be real. 

“Gringo” as the title entailed 

meant “foreigner”, it 

was a word used for Americans 

or anyone who wasn’t 

Mexican, Harold Soyinka 

a Nigerian American, was 

called to work for his old 

time classmate Richard. 

Richard owned a pharmaceutical 

company, who 

wanted to expand their 

product line, and needed 

to set up in Mexico, so he 

called on Harold to help 

him set up there. Little did 

Cast: David Oyelowo, Amanda Seyfried, Yul Vazquez, 

Diego Catano, Rodrigo Corea, Thandie Newton, Bashir 

Salahunddin, Carlos Corona, Joel Edgerton, Sharlto Copley, 

Harry Treadaway, Theo Taplitz & Charlize Theron 

Genre: Action, Adventure, Commedy & Drama 

Director: Nash Edgerton 

Ratings: R (for Violence, sexual content, language 

throughout) 

Written by: Matthew stone, Anthony Tambakis 

Runtime: 110 mins 

Studio: Amazon Studios and STX Entertainment 

Harold know that, Richard 

and his senior partner 

Elaine had other ulterior 

motives. They actually 

wanted to set up a company 

that would make illegal 

drugs, so they needed 

someone to help them run 

and manage it our side the 

shores of America. Harold 

worked so hard to make 

sure they were successful 

and at the tail end, Richard 

and Elaine wanted to 

kick Harold out. He got a 

hang of their little secret 

and decided to act fast. So 

he arranged his kidnap so 

he could ask for a ransom 

of $5m dollars, which they 

refused to pay, at a point 

they even wanted him 

dead, so that the insurance 

company could pay the 

company the life insurance 

policy originally set up for 

employees who died in the 

cause of work in a foreign 

land, Harold actually didn’t 

know of this policy. It was a 

very funny movie, but yet 

informative at the extent 

some companies could go 

to just have their way even 

at the detriment of their 

employees and to make 

profits. 

The highlight of this 

movie was when Harold 

found out he had being 

played all along and that 

his dearly beloved wife who 

had now made him bankrupt 

actually was sleeping 

with his boss, how painful 

could it get, in all he felt it 

would be better to take his 

own life as he had nothing 

to live, the twist at the end 

was really unpredictable. 

To my verdict, I would 

say an 7/10, I did enjoy the 

movie and the suspense 

that came along,I actually 

couldn’t tell the end, because 

I didn’t see the twist 

coming. Although there 

were not a lot of casts and 

scenes, I felt it was okay 

and was idle for the movie. 

A good blend between Nollywood 

and Hollywood 

and the movie gave me a 

very good laugh. A good 

recommendation for the 

comedy lovers, this will 

sure keep you entertained. 

Feel free to review any 

movie of your choice in 

not more than 200 words, 

please send us a mail to 

linda@businessdayonline. 

com and stand a chance to 

win a free movie ticket 

Linda Ochugbua 

@lindaochugbua 

Business Etiquette 

with Janet Adetu 

Your Facial expression 

“A tool for networking” 

Your power point is 

your face a major 

part of whether 

someone would 

like to associate 

with you or not. Imagine 

being at a networking event 

standing waiting for someone 

to say hello, no expression 

on your face that is warm or 

welcoming, no smile and no 

willingness to engage with 

others. By the close of the 

event you may have wasted 

your time, the essence of 

your attendance is defeated. 

Your facial expression at any 

networking event creates that 

perception which may indeed 

be reality. 

During a particular workshop 

I engaged the crowd 

with necessary steps to outclass 

competition and position 

themselves for leadership 

growth and success. I 

tend to occasionally look out 

for attentiveness and participation 

during my sessions. 

As the workshop continued 

I could not help but notice 

one of the ladies wearing a 

very stern and fierce look on 

her face. I interpreted her 

body language to mean “do 

not come near me” or “do 

not speak to me”. Amazingly 

during the question 

and answer session, this lady 

was one of the first to raise 

her hand to ask a question. 

To my surprise the first thing 

she asked was quite strange, 

her comment was as follows: 

“every time I attend events I 

notice that other women do 

not like greeting me why?” 

My response was a deep 

thought at first trying to make 

the most of her facial expression. 

I then asked her if she 

was aware of the message 

she was sending with her 

everyday discouraging look. 

Apparently as expected she 

was unaware of how she 

came across and the perception 

she was leaving in the 

minds of those who saw her. 

I then proceeded to ask her 

to relax her facial expression 

by calming her eyes, mouth 

and jaw. Instantly she appeared 

a different person. It 

was not rocket science her 

emotions were all let out in 

her one look. Simply this 

lady lacked that simple smile 

that changed her entire look 

once she wore it. Fast forward 

several years this lady is now 

a good time friend of mine; 

she eventually turns out to be 

a very warm hearted person 

full of life, full of fun, who 

actually loves cracking jokes. 

This is how easy it is to 

create the wrong impression 

of yourself in the minds of 

others. Your facial expression 

can add or sabotage 

your look of credibility, integrity, 

approachability and 

authority. Your facial expression 

is generally based on 

how you position your face 

for others to see. It is a form 

of saying so much without 

saying a single word. Your 

facial expressions are actions 

that speak louder than 

words. Your facial expression 

does not deceive others. The 

micro expressions you give 

off happen in a split second; 

many times before you blink 

or bat your eyelid. Your face 

simply attaches emotion to 

it that cannot go unnoticed. 

In an office setting you will 

need to leave all your worries, 

inhibitions, feelings, 

thoughts and issues behind 

or at home. and wear a stern 

authoritative in control look 

to be perceived the leader 

hidden in you. 

What does your face look 

like or on a regular basis? 

-Happy Sad Suspired 

Afraid 

- Excited Content Angry 

Disgusted 

The whole idea of a facial 

expressions is for the person 

reading the face to believe or 

even trust what you are saying. 

What affects your facial 

expression on a daily basis? 

Your EYES. 

How do you position your 

eyes when you speak as well 

as when you are being spoken 

to? Do you stare at someone 

or something while taking? 

Do you frown by raising 

or lowering your eyebrows to 

express your true thoughts? 

Are you one to constantly 

blink at everything almost in 

a habitual way. 

Your Mouth 

How often do you wear a 

smile? 

Do you need to be in the 

mood before you smile? 

Does your expression of 

anger include the tightening 

of your lips? 

Your JAWLINE 

Your jawline is impacted by 

your lips or mouth positioning 

we see this in some styles of 

smiling with the exaggerated 

jawline. 

How do you express disappointment? 

Do you lower the face, 

eyes, mouth and jawline too? 

It is quite easy to think that 

your facial expression may 

not mean anything, I have a 

few steps of mine to help you 

control your facial expression. 

Steps to controlling your 

facial expression. 

1. Be conscious of how you 

come across to other people. 

2. Determine what perception 

you want to leave in the minds 

of others. 

3. Study your normal facial 

expression or ask someone 

for their feedback. 

4. Relax your face all the time. 

5. Wear a smile, a genuine 

smile. 

6. Avoid frowning while 

speaking, listen and engaging 

with others. 

7. Look positive. 

8. Look honest, sincere and 

trustworthy. 

9. Look interesting. 

10. Look professional. 

11. Watch your gesture 

12. Reduce the look of fear 

or anxiety it takes away and 

sabotages your image. 

13. Remember that perception 

is reality 

14. You are as good as you 

look. 

15. Open up to build your 

acquaintances and relationships 

through positive expressions. 

16. You will look as good as 

you feel 

Goodluck 

Janet.adetu@gmail.com

28 BUSINESS DAY Friday 23 March 2018 

Socially responsible business can only succeed if it becomes a movement 

RICHARD STRAUB 

Harvard 

Business 

Review 

What does it take 

to cause something 

big about 

a community to 

change, something 

that no one individually 

has much power over, even 

something as big as a prevailing 

mindset? We know what it 

takes: a social movement. And 

social movements aren’t only 

the domain of community organizers 

and college students. 

Business people can set them 

in motion, too, as we are seeing 

right now. 

Currently gaining force is a 

movement to focus for-profit 

enterprises more on the essential 

work of enriching societies, 

that is, benefiting not only those 

humans who are their owners as 

publicly traded companies but 

also those who work in them 

and who stand to benefit from 

more purpose-driven innovation. 

Like any social movement, 

this one has started with many 

people starting small fires. Look 

around and you will see them: 

— INDIVIDUAL CEOS AND 

THEIR BOARDS DELIBER- 

ATELY DECIDING TO TAKE A 

STAND.Note, for example, the 

spirited defense by Paul Polman 

of Unilever of his long-term, 

sustainable business philosophy 

in the wake of a takeover 

attempt. Note the far-reaching 

production changes Jean-Dominique 

Senard has made at Michelin 

to empower and engage 

workers. In China, look at the 

unique organization of entrepreneurial 

cells Zhang Ruimin 

has created at Haier, and in 

France look at Vinci Group’s 

success, under Xavier Huillard, 

with a radically decentralized 

model designed to foster entrepreneurial 

creativity in its three 

thousand constituent companies. 

See also Rick Goings’s 

commitment at Tupperware 

Brands to increasing women’s 

economic empowerment in 

emerging economies as well as 

mature ones. 

— NETWORKS AND COM- 

MUNITIES SPREADING NEW 

NORMS AND NEW FORMS OF 

CAPITALISM. From the Coalition 

for Inclusive Capitalism to 

ManagementDigest 

the Conscious Capitalism organization, 

groups are forming 

with a mission (in the words of 

the latter) to “inspire, educate 

and empower companies to 

elevate humanity through business.” 

Some are designing new 

governance forms for enterprises, 

such as B-corps and cooperatives. 

Note especially the 

brave, innovative management 

reflected in social enterprises 

such as the Sampark Foundation, 

where Vineet Nayar, former 

CEO of HCL Technologies, 

is on a mission to inspire kids in 

rural India to learn how to think 

and invent like frugal innovators. 

— MANAGEMENT THINK- 

ERS FRAMING THE GREATEST 

CHALLENGES OF OUR TIME 

AS HUMAN ONES. Witness the 

shift that is taking place in the 

global conversation about artificial 

intelligence and other advanced 

digital technologies. Increasingly 

there is an insistence 

that these powerful forces must 

leverage human creativity, not 

marginalize it. Smart machines 

can help us find answers more 

quickly, but cannot frame the 

questions to address. We must 

use these technologies to unleash 

human potential — undoubtedly 

the most underused 

resource on the planet — and 

bring greater purpose, meaning 

and values to work. 

All these sparks of activity 

are generating heat and light. 

But how can the many small 

flames be fanned into a blazing 

fire? One key is for all these firestarters 

to recognize that they 

are part of a bigger movement, 

not just individually acting on 

their own values but collectively 

working to change expectations 

and behaviors. Often this happens 

when people who would 

otherwise sit on the sidelines 

perceive a real threat in not acting, 

and are galvanized to join 

the movement. 

This is part of why Larry 

Fink’s open letter to CEOs, sent 

on his investment company 

BlackRock’s 30th anniversary, 

has generated such acclaim. 

In it, he points to the growing 

threat posed by activist investors 

who push for short-term 

share-boosting tactics without 

regard for firms’ long-term viability. 

Management teams 

set themselves up for these assaults, 

he claims, when they fail 

to articulate compelling longterm 

strategies — visions of the 

future informed by “a sense of 

purpose.” Purpose, moreover, 

means for him social purpose. 

‘The public expectations of 

your company have never been 

greater,” Fink writes. “Society 

is demanding that companies, 

both public and private, serve 

a social purpose. To prosper 

over time, every company must 

not only deliver financial performance 

but also show how it 

makes a positive contribution 

to society. Companies must 

benefit all of their stakeholders, 

including shareholders, 

employees, customers, and the 

communities in which they operate.” 

Of course, the ideas that 

corporations must earn their 

“license to operate” and serve 

stakeholders that go far beyond 

shareholders are not new. 

But, as Judy Samuelsen puts it, 

“When the head of BlackRock, 

the largest investor in the world, 

says that companies must produce 

not only profits, but contributions 

to society, it sends a 

powerful message.” It kindles 

new interest and fans existing 

flames. 

Management educators and 

researchers can add their own 

fuel to the fire, if they will step 

toward it. Lately our formal institutions 

of management education 

have been outstripped 

by thinkers outside the academy 

in terms of coming up with 

new frameworks and methods. 

Much of the welcome recent in- 

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

novation in management practice 

has come from the fringes; 

new communities and groups 

developing approaches such as 

the agile (or Scrum) movement, 

design thinking, lean-startup 

methodologies and beyondbudgeting 

approaches, among 

others. 

But as Harvard’s Clay Christensen 

has noted, management 

thinking lacks a common language 

and foundational theories; 

it badly needs a durable 

base for researchers and practices 

to build on and progress 

forward. This can be the major 

contribution of universities, 

along with a broad commitment 

to teaching management 

as a liberal art, a way of thinking 

outlined by Peter Drucker. The 

core tension for management 

hasn’t changed since Drucker 

wrote his first books: to establish 

a systematic approach for 

achieving collective performance 

in organizations without 

killing the entrepreneurial, creative 

and community-creating 

human center. In recent years 

the balance between the two 

poles has increasingly tilted 

towards the technocratic and 

financial-logic-driven side. 

Is it possible for a social 

movement to achieve a different 

kind of capitalism, with a 

human face? No one has all the 

levers to change organizations 

and society over night. But collectively 

we have all we need 

to do this over time. The great 

management theorist and storyteller 

Charles Handy expressed 

this well in Vienna last fall, at 

his closing address to the 2017 

Global Peter Drucker Forum. He 

urged managers to be inspired 

by their enterprises’ power to 

make a difference. “Let us just 

spark small fires in the darkness,” 

he said, “until they spread 

and the world is alight.” 

(Richard Straub founded 

the nonprofit Peter Drucker 

Society Europe after a 32-year 

career at IBM. This article is 

one in a series related to the 

10th Global Peter Drucker 

Forum, with the theme “Management. 

The Human Dimension.” 

taking place in November 

2018 in Vienna.)


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

29 

BUSINESS SOUTH-SOUTH 

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SOUTH-SOUTH / SOUTH-EAST 

$28trn global GDP: Don tasks Nigerian women 

entrepreneurs to play deep in global economy 

…but should begin from home 

BEN EGUZOZIE, Port Harcourt 

Steve Azaiki, a Nigerian 

professor, who serves in the 

Conflict and Crisis Management 

& International 

Relations at the Ukrainian 

Academy of Personnel Management 

and International Relations has called 

on particularly aspiring Nigerian 

women entrepreneurs, to prepare 

themselves to play deep in contributing 

to the global economy, estimated 

to hit $28 trillion in gross domestic 

product (GDP) by 2025. 

It is recalled that the World Economic 

Forum (WEF) annual meeting 

in Davos, Switzerland in January 

this year, observed that “women are 

poised to participate in economic 

activity,” and that empowering them 

to participate equally in the global 

economy could add $28 trillion in 

GDP growth by 2025. 

Azaiki, therefore, while speaking 

at the graduation of 20 women out of 

25 graduands from Quantum Business 

School and Entrepreneurial 

Centre, Port Harcourt, urged the upcoming 

women entrepreneurs to first 

begin their business trade in Nigeria. 

Azaiki, who is also a visiting scholar/fellow 

of the Institute of Petroleum 

Studies (IPS), University of Port Harcourt, 

said it was evident that Nigerian 

women were actually poised to play 

greater role in economic activity, going 

by the number of participants at 

the business-related trainings at QBS. 

The 20 women graduated from 

a six-week entrepreneurship development 

programme (EDP) of the 

Quantum Business School and Entrepreneurship 

Centre, Port Harcourt, 

Rivers State. 

He said going by the number of 

women (20 out of 25 graduands) in 

the intensive business training programme, 

shows that Nigerian women 

were actually poised to become 

owners of many future small and 

medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in 

the country. 

The professor and administrator, 

whose achievements cut across 

academics, environmentalism, consultancy 

and public service, spoke 

on the theme: “Igniting/ Equipping & 

Accelerating Global Entrepreneurs,” 

stating that it conveys a message of 

continuity. 

“The implication here is building 

in the present with the view of 

preparing for the future,” Azaiki said; 

adding that “the groundwork that 

you (the graduands) have laid (by 

attending a business school), is not 

only operationalized in the local and 

national settings, but also in regional 

and international environments.” 

He quickly reminded them that: 

“It is only when you can successfully 

transfer all the knowledge and 

skills that you have acquired (at the 

business school) to an inclusive 

worldwide milieu that you can truly 

be numbered as global entrepreneur.” 

He encouraged the ladies to “see 

your graduation day as just a pause 

in preparation for the challenges and 

exciting times ahead.” 

On how entrepreneurship can be 

an engine for economic growth in 

Nigeria, Azaiki, who had served as 

a lecturer, Department of Phytopathology, 

Faculty of Plant Protection, 

Ukaraine Agriculture Academy; state 

coordinator, National Directorate 

of Employment (NDE), Oyo State; 

commissioner for Agricultural and 

Natural Resources, Bayelsa State; state 

director, NDE, Rivers State; Secretary 

to Bayelsa State Government, said, if 

entrepreneurs work hard they would 

find themselves in a position to bring 

about positive economic change in 

Nigeria. 

Export group 

focuses on Nigeria 

export ecosystem 

…to proffer way forward on challenges 

to export trade 

BEN EGUZOZIE, Port Harcourt 

Foremost export outfit in 

the country, the Institute 

of Export Operations and 

Management (IEOM) Nigeria, 

is holding a maiden breakfast 

meeting tomorrow Saturday in 

Port Harcourt, where it would 

disseminate relevant information 

on Nigeria’s export 

ecosystem. 

The meeting which holds 

at Landmark Hotels, in the 

D-Line area of Port Harcourt, 

would draw participants from 

exporters in the country, and 

those willing to engage in export 

trade. 

According to Ofon Udofia, 

the executive secretary and 

chief executive of IEOM, “our 

focus is to disseminate relevant 

information on the export 

ecosystem of Nigeria.” 

He informed that the 

breakfast meeting would also 

critically analyze the various 

challenges faced by exporters, 

and proffer the way forward for 

them. 

All this would be expertly 

carried out by Princewill 

Utchay, an internationally 

acclaimed exporter and the 

Managing Director/ CEO of 

Prime group, Prime Seafoods 

International Limited. 

NEPC targets 200,000 Nigerian women 

entrepreneurs for Shetrade Initiative 

REGIS ANUKWUOJI, Enugu 

To support the diversification 

and growth of the 

nation’s economy, the 

Nigerian Export Promotions 

Council has promised to 

connect about 200,000 Nigerian 

women entrepreneurs to international 

market, through Shetrade 

Initiative, which was launched by 

the International trade center in 

Abuja in 2016. 

The chief executive officer 

of Nigerian Export Promotions 

Council (NEPC), Olusegun 

Awolowo, who stated the council’s 

intentions at a one-day regional 

stakeholders’ workshop 

on implementation of Shetrade 

Initiative in Enugu, said the time 

has come for Nigeria to move 

away from dependence on oil, 

to unlock other potentials, particularly 

the captive ability of the 

women who dominate the nonoil 

export sectors. 

Shetrade, he said, is a global 

initiative call-to-action aimed at 

connecting one million women 

entrepreneurs to global market 

by 2020. 

Awolowo, who was represented 

by Leticia Onu, the head 

of Women in Export division of 

NEPC, Abuja, explained that the 

workshop was to sensitize and 

educate women entrepreneurs 

from the South-East region, to key 

into the initiative. 

“We must join other countries 

by working together to boldly 

make women business enterprises 

a significant contributor 

to the country’s economy and 

revenue, he said. 

According to the NEPC chief 

executive, about 120 Nigerian 

women entrepreneurs have already 

been registered, but NEPC 

was expecting to take in at least 

200,000 women out of the one million 

women entrepreneurs to the 

international market before 2020. 

He lamented that many people 

were still not aware of the Shetrade 

Initiative; and that was the 

reason why NEPC was taking it 

regionally by trying to sensitize 

women before the end of 2020 

when the initiative will elapse. 

The director said that in the 

South East, they were doing both 

sensitization and mapping of 

women entrepreneurs because 

NEPC has an MoU with the International 

Trade Center (ITC) 

to map out 4,000 women entrepreneurs, 

which the ITC would 

like to know the challenges facing 

them, to enable them design 

intervention measures of capacity 

building that will help them build 

their businesses. 

The initiative, she said, was a 

wide range that calls on womenowned 

business to project their 

businesses on the platform. 

ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo 

Policy Alert, a Non-Government 

Organization (NGO) 

has urged beneficiaries of the 

Niger Delta Development Commission 

(NDDC) projects to engage 

with the agency in the selection of 

programmes that would reflect the 

needs of the people. 

The commission which was set 

up to address the development 

challenges in the oil producing 

Niger Delta region of the country, 

Akwa Ibom to become electricity hub for power tourism 

ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo 

Akwa Ibom State says it is set to 

become an electricity hub for 

power tourism in the country 

when the numerous energy 

projects being executed by the state 

government are completed. 

Meyen Etukudo, the managing 

director of Ibom Power Company, an 

electricity generating company, wholly 

owned by the state government, stated 

this in an address at the 25th monthly 

power sector meeting in Uyo, the state 

capital. 

Etukudo, who thanked the state 

government for investing in the power 

sector as part of a deliberate effort to 

facilitate its industrial development 

scheme, said, Akwa Ibom will become 

the first state to be “ringed on 132KV 

circuit when the proposed 132KV 

double circuit transmission lines from 

Ikot Abasi – Ekparakwa – Ikot Ekpene – 

Uyo are completed to join the existing 

132KV transmission line from Uyo – 

Eket – Ekim – Ikot Abasi.” 

According to him, the state is also 

hosting the “biggest 330KV Substation 

at Ikot Ekpene with 12 330KV circuits;” 

adding that the state government, 

in collaboration with the Transmission 

Company of Nigeria (TCN), is 

constructing the Ekim, 132/33KV, 2 x 

60MVA substation, while TCN has it in 

its future proposal to construct 132 KV 

double circuit (DC) transmission line 

(TC) from Eket, 132/33KV substation 

to Oron, with an associated 2 x 60MVA, 

132/33KV substation at Oron. 

NGO wants NDDC communities to participate in project selection for execution 

has come under severe criticism for 

alleged lack of transparency in the 

award of contracts and poor quality 

of jobs. 

Tijah Bolton Akpan, acting executive 

director of Policy Alert, who 

stated this during a forum for the 

commission’s benefitting communities 

and stakeholders’ dialogue, 

said, there was an urgent need for 

the citizens of the region to have 

a strong voice in the affairs of the 

commission, to enable them identify 

their priorities. 

Akpan, who criticized the NDDC 

for over-centralization of its affairs, 

said, it has made it difficult for people 

in the Niger Delta region to carry 

out any form of business transaction 

without having to travel to the head 

office in Port Harcourt. 

He noted that the development 

needs of the oil-bearing communities 

predate the commission. He 

called on the people to ask critical 

questions that would help in defining 

the new paradigm for the development 

of the region.



Live @ The Stock Exchange 

Top Gainers/Losers as at Thursday 22 March 2018 2018 Market Statistics as at Thursday 22 March 2018 

GAINERS 

Company Opening Closing Change 

MOBIL N176.3 N184 7.7 

GLAXOSMITH N22.05 N24.3 2.25 

NB N126 N127.9 1.9 

CADBURY N12.65 N13.25 0.6 

PZ N22.4 N23 0.6 

LOSERS 

Company Opening Closing Change 

ACCESS N11.75 N11.1 -0.65 

DANGSUGAR N20.8 N20.5 -0.3 

AFRIPRUD N4.32 N4.12 -0.2 

HONYFLOUR N2.5 N2.38 -0.12 

CILEASING N2 N1.9 -0.1 

ASI (Points) 41,633.79 

DEALS (Numbers) 5,039.00 

VOLUME (Numbers) 542,347,061.00 

VALUE (N billion) 7.347 

MARKET CAP (N Trn 15.040 

Ecobank Transnational 

Incorporated 

Plc surprised 

investors with a 

record 362percent 

growth in its full year 

2017 profit before tax (PBT) 

which in naira terms stood at 

N88.309billion. 

Ecobank audited results 

for the full year ended December 

31, 2017 released at 

the Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE) show gross earnings 

increased by 15percent 

to N763.6 billion. The pan 

African bank’s operating 

profit before impairment 

losses increased by 14percent 

to N214.3billion. The 

bank’s share price declined 

by 90kobo (4.77percent) to 

close Thursday at N17.95. 

Further details of the result 

show it total assets also 

increased by 10percent to 

N6.864trillion; loans and advances 

to customers rose by 

1percent to N2.863trillion; 

deposits from customers 

went up by 13percent to 

N4.652trillion; while total equity 

increased by 24percent 

to N664.7 billion. 

“Our 2017 financial performance 

was an encouraging 

improvement on 2016. 

Our customers showed their 

confidence in the firm’s value 

proposition by giving us 

more of their deposits, which 

grew by 13”, said Ade Ayeyemi, 

Group Chief Executive 

Officer, Ecobank. 

“Also, our actions to improve 

the firm’s efficiency 

were productive as will be 

our progressive moves to 

Ecobank throws surprises with 

362% pretax profit growth 

Stories by 

Iheanyi Nwachukwu 

right-size and simplify our 

businesses, which have 

been designed to allow 

us to serve our customers 

better and create more 

sustainable value generation. 

We have reduced our 

efficiency ratio to 61.8percent 

which evidences the 

effectiveness of these actions 

and we will continue 

to drive this ratio down”, Ayeyemi 

added. 

“2017 also marked 2 years 

into our 5-year ‘Roadmap to 

Leadership’ and digitisation 

strategy through which we 

have made real strides in fixing 

the foundations on which 

our businesses can grow. 

Among other things, we have 

reorganised our businesses, 

overhauled our risk management, 

improved our controls 

and systems, adopted technology 

to drive efficiency, 

and we are addressing capital 

allocation. In 2018 and 

beyond our focus will be on 

one thing: relentless execution. 

We will use all our resources 

to support our mission 

to serve our customers 

better, run our businesses 

more efficiently, and generate 

returns that meet and 

exceed the cost of equity,” 

Ecobank group CEO said. 

L-R: Bola Adeeko, head, Shared Services Division, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); 

Charl Bruyns, group head of Investor Services & Financial Institutions, Transactional Products 

& Services, Standard Bank Group; Oscar N. Onyema, chief executive officer, NSE; 

Hasan Khan, group head of Transactional Products & Services, Standard Bank Group; 

Akeem Oyewale, chief executive, Stanbic IBTC Nominees Limited and Babatunde Majiyagbe, 

executive director, Stanbic IBTC Nominees Limited during a Closing Gong Ceremony at 

the Exchange Yesterday. 

Crusadersterling Pensions delights customers 

with superior investment returns 

The CrusaderSterling 

Pensions 

Retiree fund 

achieved total annual 

returns of 21.69percent 

as at December 31, 

2017. The highest for the 

year in the retiree segment 

of the market. 

The National Pension 

Commission (PENCOM) 

last December released 

the framework for the 

enhancement of the 

monthly pension payout 

to existing Retirees who 

chose Programmed Withdrawal 

(PW) offered by 

PFAs as against Annuity 

product offered by Insurance 

companies.The objective 

of the Framework 

is to provide modalities 

for the implementation 

of periodic pension enhancement 

for retirees on 

Programmed Withdrawal 

under the Contributory 

Pension Scheme (CPS) 

by utilizing the surpluses 

generated from Return on 

Investment (ROI). 

It is this fund management 

superlative performance 

that has given 

advantage to over 2,000 

retirees currently enjoying 

enhanced monthly pension 

payments under the 

CrusaderSterling Pension 

Management. Specifically, 

the CrusaderSterling Pensions 

RSA fund, had maintained 

a leading position 

over the last eight years. 

In 2017, the RSA Fund returned 

the industry highest 

at 19.82percent and a 

cumulative of 290.99percent 

from inception as at 

26th February, 2018, giving 

it a clear leading edge 

over other Pension fund 

managers. Next in terms of 

performance are Premium 

Pension Fund with a return 

of 280.10percent and 

ARM Pension fund with 

a return of 279.7percent 

from inception. 

Globally, Returns on 

Investments are often 

benchmarked against inflation 

within an economy. 

The National Bureau of 

Statistics (NBS) says inflation 

rate, measured by 

the Consumer Price Index 

(CPI), has further dropped 

to 15.37 percent in December 

2017 from 15.90 per 

cent recorded in November 

of the same year. 

PENCOM investment 

regulations strictly prescribe 

asset classes that 

PFAs could invest, with the 

twin objective of achieving 

Safety & Security of 

Pension Funds. The onus 

of monitoring returns on 

investments resides more 

with the fund contributors 

than PENCOM, disappointedly, 

most contributors 

are passive and rarely 

follow up on performances 

of their PFAs & fund 

which is reflected through 

the fund prices. 

Access Bank Plc has 

released its audited 

results for the full 

year ended December 

31, 2017 which shows 

resilient growth in total income.The 

Group reasserted 

its capacity to deliver steady 

earnings despite a tighter operating 

environment. 

In the audited financial 

results released to the Nigerian 

Stock Exchange (NSE) on 

Wednesday, March 21, Access 

Bank Plc reported group 

earnings of N459.1billion, 

representing an increase of 

20 percent over N381.3 billion 

recorded in the same 

period in 2016. 

Growth in gross earnings 

was boosted by a 29 percent 

increase in interest income 

to N319.9 billion in 2017, 

from N247.2 billion in Full 

Year (FY) 2016 whilst net interest 

income grew by 17 percent 

from N163.452 billion 

in FY 2017, from N139.148 

Access Bank grows earnings by 20% to N459.1bn 

…proposes final dividend of 40 kobo 

billion in the comparative 

period of 2016. Similarly, 

Non-Interest Income grew 

4 percent to N139.1billion, 

in FY 2017 from N133.4 billion 

in 2016, leading to an 

11 percent increase in the 

Group’s operating income to 

N302.596 billion in FY 2017, 

from N272.605 billion in FY 

2016. 

The growth in the Group’s 

earnings is underlined by an 

expansion in its core business, 

on the back of an enhanced 

asset book. 

Loans and advances 

grew 11 percent to N2.064 

trillion in 2017, from N1.855 

trillion in December 2016. 

Total assets grew 18 percent 

to N4.102 trillion in December 

2017, from N3.484 trillion 

in the corresponding 


Additionally, the Group 

recorded an increase of 13 

percent in Shareholder returns 

of N515 billion in December 

2017, from N454 

billion in the corresponding 


Although the Group 

posted significant growth in 

earnings, the adverse lingering 

effects of the macro on 

asset quality in the industry 

led to the Bank taking prudent 

provisions in the course 

of the year, thereby dampening 

profitability, as Profit before 

tax declined 11 percent 

to N80.1 billion in FY 2017 

from N90.3 billion in FY 2016. 

Nonetheless, Access Bank’s 

fundamentals remain strong 

and the Group remains 

poised for sustainable growth 

in the coming periods. 

The Group proposes a 

final dividend of 40kobo per 

share to its shareholders, 

in addition to 25kobo interim 

dividend paid during 

the period, making a total 

of 65Kobo for the financial 

year. The dividend is subject 

to approval at the Annual 

General Meeting. 

“Our operating performance 

in 2017 was impacted 

by the residual effects 

of macro-economic 

conditions of 2016, characterised 

by slow economic 

expansion and adverse 

credit conditions, which resulted 

in making conservative 

provisions on our loan 

book. Despite the macro 

and regulatory headwinds, 

our underlying business 

remained strong as reflected 

in the gross earnings growth 

of 20 percent to N459 billion 

in 2017. We grew our 

loan book to position it for 

improved earnings, whilst 

driving deposit mobilization 

from targeted segments to 

diversify our funding base,” 

said Herbert Wigwe, Group 

Managing Director, Access 

Bank Plc while commenting 

on the results. 

According to Wigwe, the 

year 2017 was pivotal for 

the bank, as it concluded its 

2013-2017 corporate strategic 

plan. “Its successful implementation 

was hinged on 

discipline, hard work, and an 

unwavering commitment 

to our set objectives. I am 

particularly excited about 

the next phase of the Bank’s 

evolution centred on an integrated 

global franchise. The 

execution of the 2018-2022 

strategy commences with 

focus on deepening our retail 

offerings, underpinned 

by strong digital and payment 

solutions. Throughout 

the next phase, we will continue 

to invest in technology 

as we establish a universal 

payments gateway with an 

ecosystem of local and international 

partnerships,” he 

added. 

Access Bank’s capital 

and liquidity levels of 22.5 

percent and 47.3 percent respectfully 

remained robust, 

well above the required regulatory 

minimum, providing 

a strong buffer against the 

macro challenges and room 

to expand its business.


BUSINESS DAY 

31

21 



C002D5556 

BD 

Markets + Finance 

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

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

Africa Prudential: Efficient investment 

management bolsters earnings 

BALA AUGIE 

Africa Prudential Plc 

in its audited financial 

statement for the 

full year 2017 recently 

released showed an 

impressive performance, as it 

was able to grow profitability and 

other key financial indicators despite 

operational challenges arising 

as a result of macroeconomic 

headwinds. 

The Company delivered an 

annualized Earnings Per Share 

of 86 Kobo and declared a Dividend 

of 40 Kobo per Share, while 

a dividend payment of forty (40) 

Kobo per Ordinary Share has been 

proposed. 

Brief Historical Background 

UBA Registrar Department 

was created in 1970, which is 

the phase 1a of the company’s 

history. While transactions were 

done manually, accounts/clients 

increased from 15 to 17 while the 

company had an asset book of 

over N1.40 billion with N63.40 

million gross earnings. 

UBA Registrar was incorporated 

in 2006, which is the phase 

1b of its history. 

From 2006-2012, the period of 

innovation and capacity building, 

accounts/clients increased from 

17 to 50 while gross earnings rose 

to N1.9billion and asset book rose 

to N14.1billion. 

The second phase (2013-2017), 

formed the bed rock of the major 

milestone in the history of Africa 

Prudential. In 2013, the company 

changed its name from United 

Bank for Africa (UBA) Registrar 

Limited to Africa Prudential Registrar 

Limited. 

In addition to that, the company’s 

client base in the period 

under consideration (2013-2017) 

increased from 50 to over 70 that 

it currently has today. 

Also, the company’s book assets 

increased to N18 billion while 

gross earnings increased to N3.30 

billion from the N1.90billion it 

had at the end of 2012. 

Africa Prudential Plc got listed 

precisely on January 11 2013; 

Source: Company Financials 

making it the first registrar outfit 

in Nigeria to achieve such feat. 

Shareholders base continued to 

garner momentum as total number 

of shareholders increased to 

over 280,000 today. 

In 2013, the company concluded 

the strategic acquisition 

of UAC Registrars Limited, a 

subsidiary of the conglomerate 

company, UAC Group. 

In 2017, the company got 

approval from shareholders to 

change its name from Africa Prudential 

Registrar Plc to now Africa 

Prudential Plc. 

Phase 3 (2018-2025) company 

tells investors and shareholders 

where it wants to be in the next 

4 years in terms of earnings and 

profit growth. 

Africa Prudential Plc has projected 

gross earnings of N10billion 

and it will kick start the 

Implementation of Strategic 

Business Segmentation. 

According to the company, 

there shall be total separation of 

registrar business and total separation 

of E-Solutions Business. 

The company is also planning 

an aggressive entrance into the 

African market. 

Gross earnings gets boost 

from diversified product base 

Gross earnings for the year 

ended December 2017 increased 

by 39.14 percent to N3.31 billion 

from N2.41 billion as at December 

2016. 

Over the last 4 years, Africa 

Prudential grew earnings by 15 

percent CAGR, leveraging on enhanced 

innovative offerings and 

efficient management of investment 

activities. 

Net interest income spiked by 

67.60 percent to N2.38 billion in 

December 2017 as against N1.42 

billion as at December 2016; 

driven largely by efficient man- 

agement of investment activities. 

Operational Expenses increased 

by 29.58 percent to N1.29 

billion in December 2017 from N1 

billion as at December 2016. This 

was largely due to technological 

advancement, business expansion, 

product development and 

other promotional activities. 

Africa Prudential’s profit before 

tax increased by 43.05 percent 

to N2.06 billion in the period 

under review from N1.44billion 

the previous year. 

Profit Before Tax also grew 17 

percent CAGR over the last 4 years 

representing a strong profitability 

standing. 

Profit after tax (PAT) spiked by 

68.25 percent to N1.71billion percent 

in the period under review, 

representing the highest profit in 

the 4-year period. 

“Despite the challenging operating 

environment in 2017, the 

company ended the year with 

an impressive performance. The 

company recorded a turnover of 

N3.36 billion—a growth of 38% 

over the previous fiscal financial 

year—and a Profit Before Tax of 

N2.06 billion which represent an 

increase of 43% over the previous 

year” said Peter Ashade, the 

Managing Director/CEO of Africa 

Prudential. 

“In 2017, we emphasized the 

need for diversification of our 

business portfolio to achieve long 

term sustainability and viability 

of our business which necessitated 

the change of name that was 

approved at the last Annual General 

Meeting. I am happy to report 

that the change of Name from 

Africa Prudential Registrars Plc 

to Africa Prudential Plc was duly 

completed in 2017 and we have 

commenced implementation of 

our diversification strategy” said 

Ashade. 

The Nigerian registrar has 

turned each naira of sales into 

higher profit as net margins increased 

to 51.12 percent in the 

period under review from 42.25 

percent the previous year. 

Return on Equity (ROE) increased 

to 30.21 percent in December 

2017 from 22.12 percent 

the previous year while return 

on assets (ROA) moved to 8.15 

percent in December 2017 from 

6.15 percent as at December 2016: 

In other words, the company has 

been able to utilize the resources 

of shareholders in generating 

higher profit. 

Earnings per share also increased 

to 85 Kobo in 2017 as a 

result of the strong profitability 

standing of the company. 

In spite of the economic recession 

in Nigeria, Africa Prudential’s 

total assets grew by 30.39 

percent to N21.93 billion in December 

2017 from N16.81 billion 

the previous year. 

The growth in total assets 

was driven by a 42.76 percent 

and 96.67 percent increase in 

financial assets available for sales 

and cash, and cash equivalent to 

N4.40 billion and N9.19 billion in 

the period under review. 

Total shareholders’ funds grew 

by 52.5 percent to N6.94 billion in 

December 2017 as against N4.55 

billion as at December 2016; driven 

by 29.44 percent increase in 

retained earnings to N3.77 billion. 

Total liability increased marginally 

by 1 percent CAGR over 

the last 4 years representing effective 

liability management. 

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


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

33 

INTERVIEW 

‘Most of the international relations today in terms 

of economic power is really about trade policy’ 

BusinessDay had a telephone interview with CHIEDU OSAKWE, Director General of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations, who also heads 

Nigerian negotiating team for the CFTA. This was shortly before he departed for Kigali for the botched agreement signing last Friday. 

Talk us through the 

CFTA, why is Nigeria 

spearheading this 

deal? 

We work on the basics on the mandate 

that was decided by President 

Buhari, the president wanted us to 

have an enlarged market opportunity 

for Nigerian producers of goods 

and services suppliers. 

Speaking about opportunities 

that are inherent in the Africa continental 

free trade agreement, the 

number one principle is the enlargement 

of the market beyond Nigeria 

of a 190 million people, beyond 

Ecowas of 390 million people into 

the larger Africa market which is 

approximately 1.2 billion African 

population at this time, but for 

more years down the road, this will 

double to about 4 billion by 2050 

accounting for 36 percent of African 

population. Therefore, never, ever 

underestimate the market power 

and the size of the market for growth 

and modernization. 

Number two is, many Nigeria 

businessmen and women are not 

being properly treated in many 

African countries, they are being 

harassed, and they suffer discrimination. 

The second directive from 

President Buhari is to make sure that 

the instrumentality of the African 

continental free trade area must 

stop the harassment of Nigerians 

who are engaged legitimately in 

business in other African countries. 

We were able to put that into the 

agreement that will be signed on the 

21st of March in Kigali on the basis of 

the rule of trade law that we have in 

the continent. 

Number three is, Nigerian businesses, 

a lot of them are doing well, 

but we need to expand and optimize 

their capacity businesses to connect 

to regional and global value chain. 

The bigger the size of businesses, the 

better for our producers, so one of the 

things that the CFTA does is to create 

a platform for the creation of value 

chains, bigger, better, stronger, more 

resilient and build a firm Nigerian 

economy. 

The next thing is, as you know 

Nigeria is currently the number one 

economy in the continent, by GDP, 

size of the market and 26th largest 

economy in the world, but we don’t 

have to think this on fixed terms. 

Number one position is a variable 

not a constant, so one of the things 

we want to do is to make sure that 

we use the African continental free 

trade area to consolidate and augment 

Nigeria’s position in Africa as 

Chiedu Osakwe 

the number economy, meaning that 

we are using the CFTA to ensure our 

competitiveness on the continent, to 

consolidate and augment our position 

as the number one economy 

and to improve on our ranking on 

the global economy. 

Couple of things that I need to 

mention, most of the international 

relations today in terms of economic 

power is really about trade policy, in 

other words there is a geo-political 

content to the African continental 

free trade area and if you look around 

the global economy whether in terms 

of trade and investment partnership 

or the Public Private Partnership, it 

is really about building correlation 

and partnership, using our individual 

power as an economy to leverage 

partnership and relationships. So 

there is a geo political concept which 

is also a major deliverable from the 

CFTA. 

I am very optimistic and confident 

about this, what we need to do 

that we have not done really well is to 

embark on national sensitization to 

improve the level of consciousness 

among Nigerians so they will know 

the level of opportunities that will 

emanate from the integration into the 

liberalized market for trade of goods 

and services in some of the African 

free trade area. 

There are also questions around 

protectionism, is there anything 

in the agreement that protects 

individual members? 

Protectionism is a bad idea economically, 

it undermines the economy. We 

need to be strategic as well tactical as 

to what are the differences in some 

areas. So back to your question, 

it is not about protection is about 

providing appropriate safeguards in 

strategic area of the Nigeria economy 

where we need industrial policy to be 

able to grow our domestic industries, 

strengthen our manufacturers and 

providers of goods and services. 

This is the right thing to do, other 

economies do it and we will do it, it 

is not about protectionism but about 

providing appropriate safeguard for 

our strategic industries and sector 

priorities so they can have space to 

strengthen themselves to be more 

competitive and to produce not just 

champions in Nigeria but produce 

champions in the entire Africa region 

and other continent. 

We have safeguards specifically in 

the protocols, and on the global use 

of safeguard will stop the external 

counterparts who are cheating by 

dumping and selling their products 

in the Nigeria economy below market 

price. So we have trade remedies in 

the agreement to deal with that. 

We also have specific process to 

safeguard infant industries; we have 

the balance of payment provision 

that will help our economic policy 

makers and implementing authorities 

to take restrictive measures to 

So we are hoping 

that the AFCFTA 

will have a radical 

increase in our economic 

growth prospects 

and provide 

that momentum 

that will provide job 

opportunities in 

Nigeria 

safeguard our external financial 

position and our balance of payment 

to ensure that they remain healthy, 

sustainable and predictable. So we 

have all these provisions. 

In addition, on the internal security 

basically under which our economic 

policy makers can do anything 

to safeguard the economy, we have a 

discrete settlement mechanism, the 

discrete settlement of the WTO on 

the basis on which we have a rule of 

trade law and the discrete settlement 

mechanism on which we can take all 

those who cheat Nigeria to court. We 

are confident that when we do on this 

basis we shall win. 

Can you also bring some insight 

into what the agreement holds 

in terms of integrating regional 

blocks? 

One of the decision surrounding the 

CFTA conception in 2012 is that the 

Africa continental free trade area 

will be constructed on the valuable 

experiences and the experiences of 

the regional economic communities 

and the blocks we have in Africa, so 

that we have COMESA, east Africa 

community, we have ECOWAS, central 

African area, and so on, we are 

building on them. 

Let me start with the implementation, 

after the adoption and signing 

of the Africa continental free trade 

area and we begin with the implementation 

process, there will be a 

transitional period in which we are 

trying to work things up. Remember 

that one of the biggest benefits of the 

Africa continental free trade area at 

the continental level will be to reverse 

the neo-colonial inheritance 

of fragmented market in the Africa 

continent, so it going to require us 

seeing our way forward and proceeding 

gently, because we have never 

had a better time on the continent 

till we reverse the colonial inheritance. 

This is the good time for unity; 

simply on the way of strengthening 

Africa, this is what I mean by unity 

to strengthen Africa to be able to 

deal with challenges of population 

pressures, the massive problems of 

unemployment in Nigeria. We will 

have in the next 3 years, 2 million 

people entering the labour market 

every year, going to Africa, the latest 

statistics from IMF is that 18 to 20 

million people will be entering the 

African labour market, 20 million 

is approximately the population of 

either Niger or Mali. We need to be 

ready to deal with the challenge of 

this continent in a very realistic way. 

Solutions with political audacity on 

the part of our leaders, East to West, 

North to South, this is my answer to 

that question. 

What possible improvement will 

the signing bring to our GDP? 

The AFCFTA will spur growth through 

the reduction of barriers to trade or 

terms to trade, and as a consequence 

expansion of job opportunities. The 

faster the growth together, the better, 

there is no magic wand to any problem 

facing the economy either individually 

or collectively as a continent 

but there is one thing we are certain 

about when we are able to accelerate 

growth and the quality of growth is 

high and this is complemented by 

good domestic purchases, then we 

will have increased opportunities for 

job creation and more people will be 

employed. 

So we are hoping that the AFCFTA 

will have a radical increase in our 

economic growth prospects and 

provide that momentum that will 

provide job opportunities in Nigeria. 

We don’t have number of expected 

projects yet but we are working on 

that after we make some of the specific 

proposals we have to make in the 

area of goods and services.


C002D5556 


NEWS 

Regulatory environment, funding undermines... 


poor access to funding in the 

sector, experts and players say. 

The Ministry of Mines and Steel 

Development recently created 

the Investment Promotion and 

Mineral Trading (IPMT) department 

mandating pre-shipment 

inspection agents (PIAs) to have 

access to confidential and private 

trade agreements entered into by 

mineral exporters and their buyers. 

Key players believe this is a 

breach of the fundamental right 

to confidentiality and against the 

spirit of entrepreneurship. 

Major stakeholders say that the 

Ministry of Mines and Steel Development 

is slow to give approvals 

and make decisions, citing nonapproval 

of coal fields to interested 

investors as a case in hand. 

One steel firm located in Ogun 

State told BusinessDay that it applied 

to take over coal mines in 

Enugu State two years ago but is 

yet to make any headway till today, 

saying that the mines are still lying 

fallow in Enugu when they could 

have been put into better use. 

Players also cite the ministry’s 

inability to find an investor for 

Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited 

as evidence of sluggishness. 

The Federal Government 

launched a N30 billion mining 

fund last May and another N5 

billion in August managed by 

the Bank of Industry (BoI) for 

artisanal and small –scale miners, 

but players have not been able to 

access the funds due to the stringent 

conditions attached to them, 

which involve presenting liquidity 

assurances, players say. 

They accuse Ebonyi and Lagos 

of demanding more money from 

miners and hurting sand miners, 

thereby frustrating investments 

made over the years by the players. 

Business confidence to rise as Senate... 


(MPC) of the Central Bank of 

Nigeria (CBN), even as it rejected 

a nominee. 

Those confirmed are: Adeola 

Adenikinju; Aliyu Sanusi and 

Robert Asogwa, while Asheikh 

Maidugu was rejected. 

This followed the presentation 

and consideration of the Committee 

on Banking, Insurance and 

other Financial Institutions, which 

screened the four nominees. 

Chairman of the committee, 

Rafiu Ibrahim (APC, Kwara State) 

noted that while Adenikinju, Sanusi 

and Asogwa showed enough 

knowledge and competence for 

the job, Maidugu was rejected on 

grounds of incompetence. 

The upper legislative chamber 

also confirmed the nomination 

of Aishah Ahmad and Edward 

Adamu as Deputy Governorship 

nominees of the apex bank. 

In his report, Ibrahim described 

the three confirmed nominees as 

“very resourceful, diligent, articulate, 

competent and would add the needed 

value in the operations of the MPC.” 

According to him, the three 

nominees possessed “vast knowledge 

that facilitate the attainment 

of the objectives of the price stability 

and the formulation of monetary 

and credit policies of the CBN”. 

The lawmaker said the trio 

displayed adequate knowledge of 

the operations of the CBN Act, 2007 

and the Banks and other Financial 

Institutions Act, 1990. 

L-R: Abdulkadir Mu’azu, permanent secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development; Taiwo Lakanu, representing inspector general 

of Police; Abubakar Bawa Bwari, minister of state for mines and steel development; Kayode Fayemi, minister of mines and steel 

development, and Kelechi Madu, deputy commandant general, NCDC, at the commissioning of 50 operation vehicles for the Mines 

Surveillance Task Force and State Mineral Resources and Environmental Management Committee (MIREMCO) in Abuja, yesterday. 

The report revealed that Maidugu 

was rejected because he may 

not be able to carry out his duties 

independently as a member of 

MPC. 

The document disclosed that 

the nominee, who hails from Yobe 

State, has been a Director of Planning, 

Research and Statistics Department 

at the Federal Inland 

Revenue Service (FIRS), Abuja 

since 2015 till date. 

“The nominee was interviewed 

by the Committee and he responded 

to the questions asked by 

the Members but the Committee 

was dissatisfied with his response 

to the independence required for 

each Member of the MPC and 

concerned that a regular Civil Servant 

burdened with bureaucracy 

and red-tapism may not be independent 

in his judgment on each 

crucial decision of the MPC that 

affect directly the whole economy,” 

the committee submitted. 

In his remarks, Senate President 

Bukola Saraki, who presided over 

the session, urged the Executive 

to present another nominee to 

replace the rejected MPC nominee. 

He assured that the nominated 

CBN Board members would also 

be looked into next week. 

Speaking with BusinessDay 

after plenary, Ibrahim explained 

that with the confirmation of the 

two CBN Deputy Governors and 

three MPC members, this brings 

to eight the members of the MPC. 

He said with the confirmation, 

“The proposed participation by 

state governments in the roadmap 

as investors whilst retaining the 

environmental regulatory function 

needs to be reviewed. Global best 

industry practice holds that no 

party should serve as operator and 

regulator simultaneously. Thus, 

we call for a review of the environmental 

regulatory framework as 

presently crafted in the Roadmap,” 

Babatunde Alatise, chairman of 

Mining and Solid Minerals Group 

of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce 

and Industry (LCCI), said 

in Lagos on Thursday. 

Alatise said the industry lacks 

bankable data, which is preventing 

investments, stating that presentation 

of the data by the Nigerian 

Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) 

in readily usable formats by exploration 

companies is a matter 

requiring urgent attention. 

Nigeria has 44 minerals but 38 

of them are in viable deposits in 

sustainable export quantity, including 

iron ore, tin, and tantalite. 

The sector contributes 0.4 percent 

to GDP. 

The country earned N69.2 billion 

from the solid minerals sector 

in 2015 and $9.733 million from 

the export of solid minerals the 

same year. 

Tony Nwakalor, CEO of Sound 

Core, a player in the mining sector, 

said as oil prices are close to 

$70 per barrel today, tantalite 

is $159 per kilo and Nasarawa, 

Kwara and Osun have it in minable 

quantity. 

“If you watch what is happening 

from outside as a foreigner, 

you won’t put your money in the 

sector. Local investors are ignored 

the country’s first Monetary Policy 

Committee meeting for the year, 

billed for April 3 to 4, will now hold. 

It would be recalled that on 

Tuesday last week, the Senate reversed 

itself over its resolution not 

to confirm members of the Monetary 

Policy Committee (MPC) of 

the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). 

It therefore mandated its Committee 

on Banking, Insurance and 

other Financial Institutions to immediately 

confirm the two CBN 

deputy governorship nominees 

and four members of the MPC to 

pave the way for the meeting. 

“It is great news that the National 

Assembly has finally confirmed the 

MPC members which will enable 

them to now meet and deliberate 

on monetary policy issues. Beyond 

their qualifications, the members 

must carry out their duties diligently 

and dispassionately ensuring that 

they put national interest first. They 

also need to consult widely with 

other key stakeholders and be proactive 

rather than reactive,” Taiwo 

Oyedele, head of tax and regulatory 

services, PWC, said. 

Responding to the confirmation, 

Ayodele Akinwunmi, head 

of research, FSDH Merchant Bank 

Limited said “I think the confirmation 

is positive for the Nigerian 

economy and the financial market. 

If you recall the non-confirmation 

of the nominees was one of the 

negative factors that FSDH Research 

identified in our monthly 

Economic and Financial Market 

Report for the month of March 

tiled ‘Growth Prospect with Rising 

and there are lots of square pegs 

in round holes directing the policy 

framework,” Nwakalor said. 

Seun Olatunji, president, Association 

of Metal Exporters of 

Nigeria, said the policy guideline 

states that exporters of mineral 

commodities must beneficiate 

and/or process all mineral ores 

before it is eligible for inspection by 

the Federal Mines Officer (FMO) of 

the relevant state of origin. 

His concern is that the FMOs 

lack capacity to evaluate (assay, 

weight and seal) production volume 

especially in locations with 

high number of active mines and 

high production budget. 

“Nigeria prefers to provide 

funds to those that will return it 

three months after. They do not 

understand mining because the 

money can take up to five years,” 

said Oyewola Owou a geologist. 

Teleology details... 


customers, empowerment to local 

communities, protection to the 

vulnerable and excellent rewards 

not only to our shareholders but 

to all stakeholders.” 

In its 10-point plan of action, that 

aggregates its mission and how it 

intends to run 9mobile, Teleology confirms 

its partnership with Safaricom, 

the largest network operator in East Africa 

and popularly known for the huge 

success of the Mpesa mobile money 

financial service system in Kenya. 

Teleology intends to double the 

9Mobile network with new 3G/4G 

specific cell sites as well as several 

thousands of kilometers of fiber 

optic cable across the country and 

also drive a special program of 

rural internet coverage, focusing 

on 4G with broadband access 

planned for all of Nigeria’s 774 Local 

Government Areas. 

Youth engagement and employment 

programs are also planned with 

all build contractors, distributors and 

consultants, Wood said, while investment 

in broadband internet access 

technologies which are completely 

new to Nigeria, are also planned. 

Very importantly, he added that 

the 9Mobile network will be optimised 

for high speed and high 

capacity data including imaging, 

video, games, music, IPTV and more. 

“Any 3-point plan or 3-dimension 

idea is naïve and completely 

missing the scope and complexity 

of the urgent Nigerian need to 

be brought into the 21st century 

broadband era,” Wood said. 

Teleology projects a 50 percent 

increase in direct employment in 

the new 9Mobile. There is also an 

active plan to introduce within the 

first year, several million 4G-capable 

premium quality smartphones, at 

affordable pricing. 

•Continues online at www.businessdayonline.com 

Uncertainties,’ so this has reduced 

the uncertainties in the country.” 

The MPC has kept the key rate at 

a record high of 14 percent since July 

2016, trying to balance bringing down 

inflation and boosting an economy 

that exited recession last year. 

Back to back declines in portfolio 

inflows in 2015 and 2016 

contributed to the country’s first 

recession in 25 years and put pressure 

on the naira- which would 

go on to plunge over 50 percent 

against the dollar after a devaluation 

in June 2016. 

Nigeria’s inflation eased to 

14.33, year-on-year in February 

2018, making it the 13th consecutive 

disinflation (slowdown in the 

inflation rate though still positive) 

since January 2017. 

Meet the confirmed MPC 

members 

The MPC the highest policymaking 

committee of the CBN; 

consists of the governor of the bank 

as chairman, the four deputy governors 

of the bank, two members of 

the board of directors of the bank, 

three members appointed by the 

president, and two members appointed 

by the governor. 

Here are brief profiles of the 

confirmed nominees: 

Edward Adamu 

Adamu has several postgraduate 

professional certifications from 

the Institute of Credit Administration 

of Nigeria, Wharton School, 

USA, INSEAD France, Chicago 

Booth & IMD Switzerland. 

He is a member of several professional 

bodies, namely the Nigerian 

Institute of Quantity Surveyors; 

Project Management Institute, 

USA; International Knowledge 

Management Institute, USA; International 

Society for Performance 

Improvement, USA; and the Association 

of Project Managers, UK. 

Adamu was employed by the 

CBN in June 1992, between 1992 

and 2003; Adamu served in several 

offices of the Engineering Services 

Department of the CBN handling 

Project Conception, Evaluation, 

Contract Documentation, Cost 

Planning & Control, Project Implementation 

and Closure of several 

projects of the Bank, including the 

current CBN Head Office Abuja. 

He rose from the position of a 

Manager to an Assistant Director. 

In 2012, he was appointed Director 

of the Strategy Management Department 

responsible for the articulation 

of strategy to deliver the mandate 

of the bank, as director of strategy; 

he was a member of the Monetary 

Policy Implementation Committee 

and the Financial Services Regulatory 

Coordination Committee as well as 

an observer at the MPC. 

In 2016, Adamu was appointed 

Director, Human Resources Department 

in charge of developing the 

human capital assets of the bank. 

He is a member of several Board 

and Project Steering Committees 

of the Bank, including Budget; Staff 

Matters; Pension Fund Management; 

Establishment, Enterprise 

Learning, Assets Disposal and 

REAL SPARC Project. 

•Continues online at www.businessdayonline.com


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

35 

Sports 

World Cup: Over 350,000 Fan-IDs requested in Russia 

...Russia, Argentina, Peru, Germany, Brazil and Egypt top list of ten countries with highest applications 

...25% applications received from female football fans 

Stories by 

Anthony Nlebem 

As the date for the 

biggest football 

fiesta on planet, 

the FIFA World 

Cup, date draws 

closer, the number of requested 

Fan-IDs, which are 

required along with tickets 

for attending matches of 

the 2018 FIFA World Cup 

in Russia, has exceeded the 

number of 350,000, a statement 

from Russian Ministry 

of Communications and 

Mass Media revealed on 

Wednesday, March 21st. 

According to the ministry, 

half of the requests 

for Fan-IDs were filed from 

abroad and the top ten countries, 

where the applications 

were submitted are Russia, 

the United States, China, 

Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, 

Peru, Germany, Brazil 

and Egypt. 

The prevailing age of 

people requesting Fan- 

NCF signs sponsorship 

deal with Eroton 

exploration 

...Eroton to brand new national teams’ Jerseys 

The Board of the Nigeria 

Cricket Federation 

(NCF) has 

made good on it’s 

promise to seek partnerships 

with the organized 

private sector for its activities, 

events and teams in 

2018 and beyond. The NCF 

hereby announces a sponsorship 

agreement with 

one of Nigeria’s leading, 

indigenous oil companies 

– Eroton Exploration and 

Production Company Ltd. 

Under the terms of the 

sponsorship agreement, 

Eroton has acquired branding 

rights on the match and 

training kits and jerseys 

of the Nigerian Men and 

Women senior national 

cricket teams. 

“Our corporate strategy 

is leveraged on a very 

engaging operations and 

CSR platform that sees 

us play an active role in 

the transformation of the 

communities where we do 

business. There is a synergy 

in our corporate values 

and those of Cricket that 

gives us a confidence to 

enter into this partnership” 

– said Ebiaho Emafo, 

MD/CEO, Eroton E&P. 

“We kick-started the 

relationship with Eroton 

E&P in the last quarter 

of 2017 when Eroton was 

kind enough to sponsor 

the Nigeria Cricket 

Awards. We are always on 

the look-out for companies 

like Eroton who have 

a deep-rooted love for 

Nigeria and her people, 

especially the youth; companies 

with a penchant for 

striving for excellence in 

planning and execution 

under strict corporate governance 

guidelines. 

In exposing our young 

people to the sport, we 

also believe there is much 

more to give to them when 

they imbibe the values of 

cricket, citizenship and 

sportsmanship” – Uyi Akpata, 

Vice-President, NCF. 

The NCF and Eroton E&P 

look forward to a long and 

fruitful relationship that will 

start with the ICC Twenty20 

West Africa qualifiers that 

comes up from the 12th to 

22nd April 2018. The Nigerian 

Men’s team will take 

to the TBS Oval, Lagos in 

their new jerseys proudly 

branded by Eroton Exploration 

and Production Co. Ltd. 

IDs is between 25 and 34, 

which accounts for 37% of 

applications, while nine 

percent of requests came 

from football fans under 

the age of 17, according to 

the ministry. 

About a quarter of applications 

(25%) for Fan-IDs 

issuance were received from 

female football fans, the ministry 

added. 

Russia came up for this 

FIFA World Cup with an 

innovation, which is the 

so-called Fan-ID and it is 

required for all ticketholders. 

This innovation was 

successfully tested during 

the 2017 FIFA Confederations 

Cup in Russia and 

earned high marks from 

the world’s governing football 

body. 

The Fan-ID plays an important 

security role during 

the major football tournament 

in Russia as it grants 

admittance to the stadiums 

and also serves as visa for 

foreign visitors to enter the 

country. 

A Fan-ID holder is allowed 

to enter the country 

without having a Russian 

visa and stay for the duration 

of the global football 

tournament. Fan-IDs are 

obligatory, in addition to 

purchased tickets, in order 

to attend matches of the 

2018 World Cup tournament 

in Russia. They were 

available free of charge at 

designated areas located 

in all hosting cities across 

Russia as well as via e-mails 

and postal services during 

the 2017 FIFA Confederations 

Cup. 

According to FIFA’s statement 

earlier in March, over 

1.6 million tickets had been 

already allocated worldwide 

for the football championship 

in Russia. 

The FIFA announced last 

week on Monday that an 

aggregate sum of 1,303,616 

tickets had been allocated 

after both periods of Phase 1 

and the first period of Phase 

2 of ticket sales. 

The organization announced 

two days later that 

a total of 356,700 tickets for 

matches of the 2018 FIFA 

World Cup in Russia were 

sold in one day after the 

launch of the second period 

of Phase 2. 

Last October, the Russian 

Ministry of Communications 

and Mass Media announced 

the launch of a registration 

process for obtaining new 

Fan-IDs required for the 2018 

FIFA World Cup. 

Russia selected 11 host 

cities to be the venues for 

the matches of the 2018 

World Cup and they are 

Moscow, St. Petersburg, 

Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, 

Kaliningrad, Volgograd, 

Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny 

Novgorod, Yekaterinburg 

and Samara. 

The matches of the 2018 

World Cup will be held between 

June 14 and July 15 at 

12 stadiums located in the 

11 mentioned above cities 

across Russia. Two of the 

stadiums are located in the 

Russian capital. 

Arts Council launches 3 million friendly 

supporters’ drive for Super Eagles 

The National Council 

for Arts and Culture 

on Wednesday, March 

21, in Abuja publicly 

presented a drive to raise three 

million, culture –friendly football 

lovers to passionately support 

the Super Eagles during 

the matches of the 2018 FIFA 

World Cup finals taking place 

in Russia this summer. 

Director –General, National 

Council for Arts and 

Culture , Otunba Olusegun 

Runsewe (OON) affirmed that 

it was time that Nigeria used 

the tool of football and its abiding 

passion to promote and 

celebrate Nigeria’s rich culture 

internationally. 

“For far too long, we have 

under –employed the power 

of football and sports generally 

in promoting our culture, 

in promoting our arts, and in 

promoting our heroes. The 

Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, Director –General, National Council for Arts and 

Culture, (3rd right); Olusegun Odegbami, (2nd right), Rafiu Oladipo, President 

–General of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club (3rd left), Ademola Olajire, Director 

of Communications, NFF, (2nd left) and Kunle Adeniyi, Secretary General, 

Nigeria Football Supporters Club) at the launching held in Abuja on Wednesday. 

time to start doing this, and in 

a big way, is now. 

“Nobody will celebrate us 

for us; we have to do it ourselves. 

We must re- awaken 

the spirit of promoting and 

projecting our arts and cultural 

items in such a way that 

even domestic football will 

benefit. I have strong faith 

that we will raise even more 

than three million Nigerians 

who are ready to project our 

culture and wear the greenwhite-green 

anytime Nigeria is 

playing. We will also distribute 

miniature Nigerian flags to all 

these supporters. ” 

Chairman of the occasion, 

Chief Olusegun Odegbami 

(MON) lauded Runsewe for 

“opening a window to allow 

us to see that football is much 

more than playing a 90 –minute 

match,” adding that just 

like education, religion, politics 

and the economy, culture 

is one of the most potent instruments 

to dominate the 

world. 

“Our human capacity tells 

us that we can do it; our quality 

of population, given the 

number of Nigerians doing 

very well in different areas of 

endeavour globally, tells us 

that we can do it. 

“We need to start to have 

a full appreciation of who 

we are, and this concept has 

come at the right time with the 

FIFA World Cup – the biggest 

football showpiece in the universe 

– just by the corner. We 

need to take Nigeria’s arts and 

culture to the world the same 

way we are the second highest 

exporter of football talents to 

Europe after Brazil.” 

The 1980 Africa Cup of Nations 

winner recommended 

that in every hotel that the 

Super Eagles will stay during 

the FIFA World Cup in Russia, 

a stand should be allocated to 

conspicuously display Nigeria’s 

arts and cultural materials. 

Odegbami, Runsewe, Dr. 

Rafiu Oladipo (President – 

General of the Nigeria Football 

Supporters Club who was 

special guest of honour of the 

occasion), Ademola Olajire 

(Director of Communications, 

NFF) and Alhaji Rabo Kareem 

(President of Federation of 

Tourism Associations of Nigeria) 

later launched the cultural 

materials that would be 

used in supporting the Super 

Eagles at the World Cup and 

thereafter. 

Kwesé TV to 

broadcast 

international 

friendly 

matches 

Leading up to the 

2018 FIFA World 

Cup Russia, Kwesé 

TV has released a 

schedule of international 

friendly matches to be aired 

on its Kwesé Sports channels 

from Friday 23 March. 

In the line-up are matches 

featuring fan-favourites 

including; Argentina, Brazil, 

England and Italy. 

Kwesé TV will kick-off its 

broadcast of the friendlies 

with the clash between Brazil 

and the 2018 FIFA World 

Cup host nation Russia. 

Brazil is the only nation 

to have played in all world 

cup tournaments since 1930 

and have won the tournament 

five times while Russia 

has had ten World Cup outings 

reaching fourth place 

in 1966 as the Soviet Union. 

The match is scheduled for 

Friday 23 March at 5pm and 

it will air live on Kwesé Free 

Sports, channel 285. 

Dele Alli of Tottenham 

Hotspur, Manchester 

United’s Jesse Lingard and 

Marcus Rashford, Danny 

Welbeck and Jack Wilshere 

both of Arsenal are among 

players named in England’s 

squad to face the 

Netherlands and Italy in 

friendlies. 

Kwesé Sports 1, will 

bring the encounter between 

England and Netherlands 

live on Friday 23 

March at 8.45pm. And although 

England have not 

won the World Cup since 

1966, the frills and thrills 

that come with the English 

team makes this tie an exciting 

one as fans will be 

looking to see their favourite 

Premier League players. 

Barcelona forward Lionel 

Messi and Manchester 

City striker, Sergio Aguero 

have been named in the 

squad that will play against 

Italy on Friday 23 March. 

This match will air live on 

ESPN, Kwesé TV channel 

310 from 8.45pm. 

Other fixtures include; 

Northern Ireland v South 

Korea on Saturday 24 March 

at 3pm, Peru v Croatia 

on Monday 26 March at 

11.30pm and Denmark v 

Chile on Tuesday 27 March 

at 8.45pm. 

Kwesé Sports is Econet 

Media’s exclusive sports 

content platform available 

on the Kwesé TV network. 

It holds pay-TV rights for the 

2018 FIFA World Cup Russia 

and it will broadcast all 64 

matches LIVE from 14 June 

to 15 July 2018.


FT FINANCIAL TIMES 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

A1 

World Business Newspaper 

Jay Powell plays 

it safe in Federal 

Reserve debut 

New chair sticks to steady course as US central bank 

enters perilous political waters 

SAM FLEMING 

Equity sell-off gathers 

pace as trade war 

worries mount 

Showing all the deliberation of 

a trained lawyer, Jay Powell 

on Wednesday gave a cautious 

presentation following 

his first meeting as Federal 

Reserve chairman that avoided startling 

financial markets or setting off 

political bushfires. 

Even as he unveiled upgrades to 

the Fed’s growth and interest rate 

forecasts, the new chairman avoided 

suggestion that the US central bank 

wanted to clamp down aggressively 

on the economy. Instead, he played 

down the importance of the Fed’s 

higher median interest rate forecasts, 

stressing the uncertainties surrounding 

the outlook. 

“We are trying to take the middle 

ground,” Mr Powell said when asked 

about his rates strategy, insisting that 

future moves would continue to follow 

the gradual path set by his predecessor, 

Janet Yellen. “There is no sense in the 

data that we are on the cusp of an acceleration 

in inflation,” he said. 

Markets were left largely unmoved 

by the Fed decision and Mr Powell had 

every incentive to avoid excitement. 

This was, after all, the first time he has 

presided over a meeting of the Federal 

Open Market Committee, and a 

market sell-off triggered by an unduly 

hawkish new chairman would be an 

inauspicious way to kick off his reign. 

The Fed is journeying into perilous 

political waters. While Mr Powell insisted 

the risk of White House hostility 

to higher rates did not cause him to lose 

any sleep, political blowback remains a 

hazard. The US central bank is set to lift 

rates at a quicker pace in part because 

of a huge, and in some analysts’ view 

ill-advised, fiscal stimulus being hurled 

by the Republican-led congress. 

That will potentially put the central 

Chief’s comments after Cambridge Analytica scandal meet mixed response 

It took five days for Mark Zuckerberg, 

Facebook’s founder 

and chief executive, to publicly 

respond to reports that data 

from 50m users had been leaked 

to Cambridge Analytica, the data 

analytics company that worked for 

the Trump campaign. 

When he finally spoke, many believed 

his response was not enough 

to ease the political pressure on the 

social network. Mr Zuckerberg admitted 

making mistakes but he was 

seen as dispassionate, and did not 

say “sorry”. Critics felt he did not go 

far enough in his response. 

bank into opposition with politicians 

who have no desire to see the recovery 

reined in. “He played his cards close to 

his vest, which was the right move to 

make,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist 

at Grant Thornton. “He succeeded 

in not roiling the markets, but he also 

didn’t say a lot.” 

Mr Powell’s style provided a number 

of notable breaks from that of Ms 

Yellen. He was less detailed and informative 

in his analysis of the economy 

than the former chair, offering relatively 

brief responses on topics such 

as the neutral rate of interest in a press 

conference that lasted just 45 minutes. 

Mr Powell repeatedly went out of 

his way to play down the significance 

of Fed policymakers’ median rate forecasts 

in their Summary of Economic 

Projections (SEP). The only decision 

the Federal Open Market Committee 

had made on Wednesday, he stressed, 

was to lift rates by a quarter point. 

Fed forecasts were simply a collection 

of individual views, he said, and 

the FOMC could easily change its mind 

about the economic prospects. The 

upshot, analysts say, is that investors 

may be forced to make do with foggier 

guidance as to where policy is headed 

— even though Mr Powell hinted that 

he may be willing to speak to the media 

at more regular press conferences. 

While it is too early to draw conclusions, 

this could also point to a 

chairman who places less emphasis on 

forecasts emanating from theoretical 

economic models and more on actual 

data and market movements. 

“The new chair played down the 

significance of the SEP median rate 

trajectory in a manner that was neither 

hawkish nor dovish, without providing 

any replacement guidance on 

the path beyond a reaffirmation of a 

‘gradual’ pace,” said Krishna Guha of 

Evercore ISI. 

Facebook’s Zuckerberg finally speaks 

but not everyone is satisfied 

HANNAH KUCHLER 

Page A3 

The 33-year-old laid out a sixstep 

plan to improve privacy protection 

for users, but he did not explain 

why Facebook had failed to do more 

when it was originally told about the 

leak in 2015. 

In an interview with CNN, Mr 

Zuckerberg also said that he regretted 

not telling affected users 

at the time. 

“It is the minimum, necessary 

thing at this particular moment 

but it does nothing to allay all the 

concerns,” said Brian Wieser, an 

analyst at Pivotal Research. “I think 

they will be hauled in front of politi- 

Continues on page A2 

Ethical concerns grow over Kimberley Process diamond charter 

The mining process insufficiently protects human rights, campaigners say 

There might seem to be a great 

distance between the diamond 

mines of Africa and the English 

county of Hertfordshire, but the 

connection between the two is on 

Harriet Kelsall’s mind. Customers 

are starting to ask Ms Kelsall, the 

owner of Bespoke Jewellery, to reassure 

them about the provenance of 

their gems. 

In early February, Ms Kelsall and 

four other jewellers agreed to consider 

sourcing the stones she puts 

into her clients’ pieces from a handful 

of identified mines in developing 

countries. That way she could tell 

her customers exactly where their 

diamonds came from. 

“What is it going to take for us to 

find a diamond that is traceable that’s 

not from the developed world?” asks 

Ms Kelsall, who sells from Hertfordshire, 

Cambridge and Primrose Hill 

in London. “There’s no mechanisms 

and nobody seems to be looking at 

this. The big companies need to lead 

the way on this but I don’t think they 

Forty African nations sign continental free trade deal 

Nigeria one of 11 countries that refused agreement, saying it would devastate economy 

More than 40 African governments 

signed a continentwide 

free trade agreement 

on Wednesday under which they 

committed to cut tariffs on 90 per cent 

of goods to bolster intra-African trade 

and boost growth. 

But Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy 

and most populous nation, was 

among 11 countries that refused to 

join the African Continental Free 

Trade Area (AfCFTA), underlining the 

challenges the initiative faces. 

Echoing many of the holdouts, 

Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian 

president, tweeted on Wednesday: 

“Our continental aspirations must 

complement our national interests”. 

In recent days the influential Nigeria 

Labour Congress has come out 

strongly against the plan, reportedly 

warning that it would devastate the 

Dimon pay day 

means a year’s 

wages for typical 

JPMorgan staff 

Jay Powell: ‘We are trying to take the middle ground’ © Bloomberg 

HENRY SANDERSON 

JOHN AGLIONBY 

Page A6 

really are.” 

Ms Kelsall’s complaint gets to 

the heart of a matter afflicting the 

diamond industry. Governments, industry 

and civil society groups established 

the Kimberley Process in 2003 

to address concerns that diamonds 

were being used to fund a series 

of brutal civil wars that erupted in 

Africa in the 1990s. However, jewellers 

and non-governmental organisations 

are becoming worried that 

even Kimberley Process-certified 

jewellery might still be linked to human 

rights abuses, corruption and 

the perpetuation of poverty. The 

credibility of the process is eroding. 

Dissatisfaction broke out into 

the open when the Canadian nongovernmental 

organisation Impact, 

which monitors the management of 

natural resources in Africa, pulled 

out of the Kimberley Process in 

December 2017. Impact, a founding 

member, said the process provided 

a false assurance to consumers and 

did not ensure a “clean, conflict-free 

and legal diamond supply chain”. 

“Consumers have been given a 

false confidence about where their 

country’s economy. 

The aim of the free trade area, 

which 44 nations signed up to, is to 

cut tariffs from their current average 

of 6.1 per cent to eventually zero and 

address myriad non-tariff barriers 

such as poor infrastructure and inefficient 

border posts. Twenty-seven 

countries also signed a separate 

agreement to allow the free movement 

of people across borders. 

Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president 

and chair of the African Union, 

described the AfCFTA as a “new 

chapter in African unity”. 

“The Africa we want is clearly visible 

on the horizon. And today, more 

than ever before, so too is the road 

we will travel together to get there,” 

he said on the eve of the signing 

ceremony at a summit in Kigali, the 

Rwandan capital. “As we trade more 

among ourselves, African firms will 

become bigger, more specialised, and 

diamonds come from,” said Joanne 

Lebert, Impact’s executive director. 

The Kimberley Process requires 

its 81 member countries to control 

the import and export of diamonds 

and include a certificate with shipments 

to certify the country of origin. 

But it defines a “conflict diamond” 

only as a gem that is used to fund 

rebel groups. That means it does not 

cover broader human rights abuses, 

cases of state violence against 

diamond miners or poor working 

conditions. 

As a result, the KP has endorsed 

exports of diamonds from Angola 

and Zimbabwe “despite their being 

mined under highly abusive conditions”, 

according to New York-based 

Human Rights Watch. 

“It’s a guarantee the diamonds 

are only free of a very narrow set of 

abuses,” says Michael Gibb, a campaign 

leader for conflict resources at 

NGO Global Witness, which left the 

KP in 2011. “If consumers think a 

Kimberley Process certificate means 

they are free of conflict financing or 

human rights abuses, they would 

be wrong.” 

more competitive internationally.” 

Free trade advocates argue that 

lower barriers to trade will make it 

easier for African countries to develop 

regional supply chains and export 

more finished goods rather than raw 

materials, as is the case at present. 

The UN’s economic commission on 

Africa forecasts that if the largest African 

economies joined the free trade 

area, intra-African trade would grow 

50 per cent in the following five years. 

Intra-African trade, which was 

about $170bn in 2017, accounts for 

about 15 per cent of the continent’s 

trade, according to the African Export-Import 

Bank (Afrexim). This 

compares with 67 per cent in the EU 

and 58 per cent in Asia. More than 

60 per cent of African exports to the 

EU are primary products while about 

70 per cent of goods imported to the 

continent from the EU are manufactured.

A2 BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 


FT 

Facebook’s Zuckerberg 

finally speaks but not... 

NATIONAL 

Tap creative industries to boost Africa’s economic growth 

The continent has long been ripe with talent and cultural riches 

AUBREY HRUBY 

The African continent is home to 

approximately 1.3bn people and 

by the end of the century that 

number is expected to jump to 4.2bn. 

The continent will probably overtake 

Asia and be home to the world’s largest 

labour force as early as 2040. 

Not only is the continent’s unemployment 

rate well above the 

global average, but up to 70 per cent 

of employed Africans are trapped in 

Continued from page A1 

vulnerable, low paying jobs, with all 

too many living in outright poverty. 

To maintain stability and advance 

prosperity, African governments face 

the tremendously daunting challenge 

of tackling unemployment and creating 

millions of new jobs for a booming 

working age population. 

To do so, they will need to add nontraditional 

strategies to their national 

development plans. 

The creative and cultural industries 

are an increasingly important 

piece of the puzzle. These industries 

— design, fashion, film, television, 

radio, music and much more — have 

all too often been overlooked as legitimate 

avenues for jobs and gross 

domestic product. But that is starting 

to change. African governments 

should embrace and support the 

creative industries in their efforts to 

drive sustainable development and 

create jobs. 

Zambia, Nigeria, Uganda and others 

place a strong focus on agriculture 

in their latest development plans, 

while countries such as Ethiopia prioritise 

industrial growth. The creative 

industries should be an added layer 

in constructing more diverse and 

economically viable markets. 

Jobs in the creative and cultural 

economy have proved resilient to the 

economic shocks that consistently 

hurt core sectors in many African 

economies. In 2016, the Nigerian 

economy fell into recession, but while 

the oil sector struggled, the creative 

industries saw impressive growth. 

The music industry alone is expected 

to double present-day revenue 

by 2020 to approximately $86m. In 

Nigeria, Nollywood film production 

generated between $500m and $800m 

annually. The industry directly employs 

300,000 people and indirectly 

more than a million. 

Boko Haram releases girls 

with ominous warning 

Extremists tell residents of Nigerian town 

not to put their daughters in school 

cians and they will have to take it. 

And there will be more bad press.” 

Mr Wieser, who has a “sell” rating 

on Facebook, said there was 

evidence of systemic mismanagement 

at the social media company 

including violating political advertising 

laws, failing to take down 

illegal content and providing false 

metrics to advertisers — on top of 

the reported leak. 

“If this were one operational 

failure, you’d say, ‘Oh that happens 

to all of us’,” he said. 

Daniel Ives, head of technology 

research at GBH insights, was 

hopeful that Mr Zuckerberg’s move 

to break his silence would reassure 

users, advertisers and investors that 

the company was getting on top of 

the issue and beginning to put the 

“PR nightmare” behind them. 

How Facebook ‘likes’ can be 

weaponised for political gain 

“There is still more work to be 

done for Facebook to restore confidence 

and make sure regulatory 

crosshairs do not meddle with its 

business both in the beltway and 

EU, however we continue to be 

buyers on weakness in shares of 

Facebook as we believe a lot of this 

bad news is now priced into the 

name,” he said. 

Other analysts were pleased 

that the Facebook boss did not go 

further. 

Ben Schachter, an analyst at 

Macquarie, said Mr Zuckerberg 

allayed most of his fears that 

Facebook would “propose radical 

changes that would impact the 

business model”. 

“Our worry was that Facebook, 

at Zuckerberg’s direction, could 

take more radical actions than it has 

in the past to limit the use of audience 

segmenting, ad targeting, data 

sharing, and other privacy-related 

issues that could lower the monetisation 

of Facebook data,” he said. 

Facebook appeared to have 

made a PR shift. Earlier in the week, 

a Facebook spokesperson said the 

company was “outraged” that it was 

“deceived” by Cambridge Analytica. 

The UK data company had said in 

2015 that it had deleted the Facebook 

data it had obtained without 

users’ awareness, a position it 

maintained in the light of the most 

recent scandal. 

But on Wednesday, Mr Zuckerberg 

said Facebook took ownership 

of protecting its users’ data, adding 

that he was personally responsible 

for everything that happens on the 

social network. “I started Facebook, 

and at the end of the day I’m responsible 

for what happens on our 

platform,” he said. 

A rally in central Bratislava, Slovakia, last week, held to protest against corruption and to pay tribute to a murdered 

journalist © AFP 

Unrest hits central and eastern 

Europe as post-Soviet hopes fade 

Slovak protests part of growing anger in region over failure to deal with communist legacy 

JAMES SHOTTER 

Thirty years ago, Martin Korman 

joined the protests that 

ousted Czechoslovakia’s communist 

regime. Last week he was 

on the streets again among tens of 

thousands of Slovaks who rallied in 

outrage at the murder of an investigative 

journalist. 

“I was here in 1989, thinking we 

will change something. But there’s 

not been enough change,” he said in 

the wake of a protest that swamped 

Bratislava’s Slovak National Uprising 

Square. 

“I hope this change will be the 

final one. [The communists] have altered 

their faces and their behaviour, 

but they are still here.” 

The protests, which last week 

forced the resignation of Robert Fico, 

Slovakia’s prime minister, are the latest 

manifestation of the discontent 

that has flared in several central and 

eastern European states this winter. 

Last week, Lithuania saw its 

largest demonstrations since the financial 

crisis following the failed impeachment 

of an MP. A week earlier, 

thousands of Czechs protested over 

the appointment of a communistera 

police officer to a parliamentary 

committee on law enforcement. And 

in January, Romania notched up its 

third prime minister in a year after 

huge protests against legal changes 

that critics fear could stifle the pursuit 

of corruption. 

The demonstrations have varied 

in size, had different triggers and are 

not unprecedented in a region with 

a proud tradition of protest. But analysts 

say they reflect the fact that, for 

all the rapid growth of the past three 

decades, some of the hopes spawned 

by the fall of communism have not 

been fulfilled. 

“In 1989 we really believed that 

once our societies were ‘western’ 

in a normative sense — once they 

were liberal, open-minded, and full 

of solidarity — they would be prosperous 

too,” says Michal Vasecka, a 

sociologist at Masaryk University in 

Brno. “Now we are becoming prosperous, 

but we are not western. This 

is the problem: the ideals are clashing 

too dramatically with reality.” 

In the years after the collapse 

of communism EU countries invested 

huge sums in central Europe’s 

economies and also sought to build 

institutions that would embed the 

rule of law in the former communist 

bloc. The consequent economic 

gains have been strong, But the 

institution-building has often been 

shallow. 

Some countries, such as Poland, 

have been relatively successful in 

avoiding problems with cronyism. 

But in others, such as Romania, Slovakia 

and Hungary, during the often 

chaotic transition from communism 

to capitalism an emerging class of 

oligarchs has taken a disproportionate 

share of the economic gains and 

is seen by many as beyond the law. 

“The political parties that were 

created were very weak, because 

they didn’t grow out of civil society, 

but were created from above,” says 

Jiri Pehe, director of the New York 

University in Prague. 

“At least in the Czech Republic, 

these weak parties presided over an 

unprecedented process of privatisation 

in which hundreds of billions of 

crowns changed hands. And as they 

were doing this [the parties] were 

themselves sort of privatised into the 

hands of the new economic actors 

they created. As a result, we have a 

lot of clientelism.” 

The Slovak protests are a response 

to this blurring of business 

and politics and the absence of the 

rule of law, says Mr Vasecka. “The 

oligarchs and other powerful people 

have so many chances to stop investigations,” 

he says. “If you asked me 

whether I trust the Slovak judiciary, 

the answer is no. Not at all. I would 

be scared to death if I ended up in 

court.” 

Similar concerns are echoed 

elsewhere in the region. “In Romania 

we have had a civil war for the 

last decade and a half over efforts 

to introduce the rule of law,” says 

Sorin Ionita from Expert Forum, a 

Bucharest think-tank. “The main 

explanatory factor of what has happened 

here for the last 15 years is the 

question of whether to continue on 

this path, or whether to rein in the 

prosecutors.” 

The region’s incomplete reckoning 

with the legacy of communism 

has also played a role. Last year in 

Poland, huge protests were sparked 

over judicial reform, which the 

government justified as a necessary 

purge of officials with links to the 

communist era. Mr Pehe says the 

recent demonstrations in the Czech 

Republic were a response to the provocative 

symbolism of appointing a 

former communist-era police officer 

to oversee the police. 

ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Boko Haram militants have returned 

most of the 110 girls abducted from 

their boarding school in Nigeria a 

month ago with an ominous warning. 

The fighters left the girls in the 

centre of Dapchi, a town in northeast 

Nigeria, at around 2am on 

Wednesday. 

Ba’ana Musa, a resident of Dapchi, 

said the extremists told them 

that “this is a warning to you all. We 

did it out of pity. And don’t ever put 

your daughters in school again.” 

Boko Haram means “western 

education is forbidden” in the Hausa 

language. 

Nigeria’s information minister 

said 76 of the 110 schoolgirls had 

been confirmed freed and indicated 

that the number would rise as the 

release was “ongoing”. 

“No ransoms were paid,” said 

Lai Mohammed, the minister, in a 

statement. The girls were released 

“through back-channel efforts and 

with the help of some friends of the 

country, and it was unconditional”. 

Family members were en route to 

the town on Wednesday. 

“When I get there we will do a 

headcount to see if all of them have 

been released,” said Bashir Manzo, 

whose 16-year-old daughter was 

among those kidnapped during the 

February 19 attack. 

Mr Manzo confirmed that his 

daughter was among those freed. 

“As I speak to you there is jubilation 

in Dapchi,” he said. 

The mass abduction and the 

government response brought back 

painful memories of the 2014 attack 

on a boarding school in Chibok. 

Boko Haram militants abducted 

276 girls, and about 100 of them have 

not been returned. Some girls were 

forced to marry their captors, and 

many had children fathered by the 

militants. 

Many residents in Dapchi ran 

away on Wednesday morning when 

they heard that Boko Haram vehicles 

were headed towards the town. 

“We fled but, from our hiding 

[place], we could see them and surprisingly, 

we saw our girls getting out 

of the vehicles,” said Umar Hassan. 

“They assembled the girls and talked 

to them for some few minutes and 

left without any confrontation,” said 

another resident, Kachallah Musa. 

Their release came a day after 

an Amnesty International report 

accused the Nigerian military of 

failing to heed several warnings of 

the imminent attack last month. 

The military has called the report an 

“outright falsehood”.


FINANCIAL TIMES 


@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED 

Equity sell-off gathers 

pace as trade war 

worries mount 

Treasuries rise sharply while early gains for sterling evaporate 

MICHAEL HUNTER, DAVE 

SHELLOCK AND 

ALICE WOODHOUSE 

What you need to know 

• S&P 500 down 1.7%, techs 

and industrials lead fallers 

• Trump to announce $50bn of tariffs 

on Chinese imports 

• European bourses soft after declines 

in much of Asia 

• Markets continue to digest Fed policy 

statement 

• Dollar mixed as Treasury yields fall 

sharply 

• Sterling fades despite UK rate expectations 

“President Trump’s trade barriers 

are causing concerns for the Fed, where 

policymakers believe [such measures] 

will put a brake on growth and the 

market seems to agree,” says Paul Flood, 

portfolio manager of the Newton Multi- 

Asset Income Fund. 

Hot topics 

Stock markets are under pressure as 

participants remain unsettled by the 

prospect of a deepening international 

trade dispute, with losses of over 1 per 

cent for major indices across the world. 

The Trump administration plans to 

impose new tariffs on $50bn in annual 

imports from China, targeting products 

such as robots and high-speed trains as 

it also ramps up efforts to block Chinese 

investment in strategic sectors, according 

to the White House. 

In New York, the S&P 500 is down 

1.3 per cent at 2,677 at midday, with the 

tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite 1.8 per 

cent lower and the Dow Jones Industrial 

Average off 1.6 per cent. 

The S&P’s decline puts it on course 

for its lowest close since February 13. . 

Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax — home to a 

number of leading German exporters 

When Heather Holland, a primary 

school teacher, went to 

collect her flu medicine at a 

local drugstore in Texas in January, she 

balked at the price. The pharmacist said 

she would have to pay $116 out of her 

own pocket, so she left empty-handed. 

Her husband returned to the pharmacy 

the next day to pay for the medicine, 

a generic version of Tamiflu, 

and Mrs Holland starting taking the 

drugs. But her condition continued to 

deteriorate. A few days later she died in 

hospital. She was 38. 

There is no way of knowing whether 

Mrs Holland, who was in otherwise 

good health, would have survived if 

she had taken the medicine sooner, 

although the delay cannot have helped. 

A Financial Times analysis of confidential 

and public pricing data has 

found that Mrs Holland should have 

paid much less for her flu medication. 

Her story captured the attention of a 

US public already outraged by the soaring 

cost of healthcare, and prompted 

many to ask the same question: how is 

it that a common flu drug — which is on 

the world’s list of essential medicines — 

can end up costing so much in America? 

— is down 2 per cent, while the FTSE 

100 in London is 1.4 per cent lower. The 

pan-European Stoxx 600 index is off 1.7 

per cent. 

In China, the CSI 300 index of Shenzhen 

and Shanghai stocks fell 1 per cent 

as the latest threats of trade curbs from 

the Trump administration were said to 

be designed to stop China from stealing 

the intellectual property of American 

businesses. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 

1.1 per cent. 

Investors are also absorbing the implications 

of the latest policy meeting of 

the Federal Reserve. 

The dollar is mixed after the US central 

bank stuck by forecasts that it will lift 

interest rates by a total of three times in 

2018, while the pound is higher after two 

out of nine Bank of England policymakers 

voted for an immediate rate rise. 

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury 

is falling as investors buy into the debt, 

which enjoys haven appeal at times of 

international turbulence. It is down 8 

basis points at 2.83 per cent. That on 

the 2-year Treasury is 3bp lower at 2.28 

per cent. 

The Fed statement left the dollar 

looking exposed, and the index tracking 

it against a basket of rival fell to a 

10-session low on Thursday, before 

recovering to stand 0.2 per cent higher 

on the day. The euro is down 0.2 per cent 

at $1.2311 while the greenback is 0.4 per 

cent weaker versus the yen at ¥105.64. 

As expected, the US central bank 

lifted the target range for the federal 

funds rate by 25 basis points to 1.5-1.75 

per cent. Policymakers’ projections 

pointed to an extra rate increase in 2019 

and further tightening in 2020, and the 

Fed said inflation would accelerate. 

Nonetheless, talk that the central bank 

would signal a total of four rises for this 

year proved wrong. 

Death of Texas teacher highlights 

true cost of US drugs 

Flu victim should have paid much less for her medication, data show 

DAVID CROW 

The answer lies in part in the miserly 

health insurance policies now held by 

millions of Americans, but also in the 

way that access to drugs is managed 

by for-profit “middlemen” such as CVS 

Health’s Caremark, Express Scripts and 

UnitedHealth’s Optum. 

These middlemen, officially known 

as pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs, 

are unique to the private US healthcare 

system. Their business model involves 

amassing millions of patients from different 

health insurance plans, before 

using the combined heft to demand big 

discounts from drugmakers. 

Pharmaceutical companies that 

refuse to discount their medicines can 

find themselves frozen off the lists of 

drugs that PBMs are willing to pay for, 

which can have a chilling effect on their 

sales. More often than not they agree to 

the price cuts. 

But critics allege that PBMs have 

opaque business models that boost 

their profits while pushing up costs for 

patients. 

If Mrs Holland had not used her insurance 

card and instead paid outright 

herself, she would have been charged 

roughly $107 for 10 tablets of generic 

Tamiflu, according to several pharmacies 

contacted by the Financial Times. 

A decade after the financial crisis, the quality of the investment grade market is deteriorating 

ALEX SCAGGS 

Before Campbell Soup sold $5bn of 

debt this month to fund its purchase 

of US snack-food maker 

Snyder’s-Lance, its chief financial officer 

told analysts that the company’s 

prized investment-grade status was 

safe. But it is only just. 

The deal prompted rating agencies 

to downgrade Campbell to the tier 

above junk. While New Jersey-based 

Campbell is more indebted than most 

of its peers, the era of ultra-low interest 

rates has left it plenty of company in 

the riskiest segment of the investment 

grade market as corporate America’s 

borrowings have ballooned. 

The chunk of the market rated at 

triple B — the group of ratings just 

above junk — now accounts for 48 per 

cent of the investment-grade market, 

according to data from ICE BofAML 

Indices. What is more, these corporate 

borrowers have piled on debt. triple B- 

rated issuers were slightly below 3 times 

levered in 2017, according to Citigroup, 

up from just about 2.5 times in 2015. 

“There’s been an overall creditquality 

degradation taking place within 

the investment grade market,” said Jon 

Duensing, a senior portfolio manager 

C002D5556 

with Amundi Pioneer Asset Management. 

“And we have seen more willingness 

from investment-grade companies 

— particularly non-financials — to 

take more leverage on to their balance 

sheet.” 

With the US economy in its tenth 

year of expansion since the financial 

crisis, the danger is that indiscriminate 

buyers of the lower tiers of investmentgrade 

debt may not be compensated 

enough for the risks of rising leverage. 

Low interest rates have kept borrowing 

costs low and bond-purchase 

programmes of central banks have 

compressed risk premiums, or the 

extra yield offered over US government 

bonds, thereby cutting the cost to 

companies of issuing lower-rated debt. 

In the six months to the end of February, 

the spread between triple B-rated 

debt and benchmark Treasury yields 

was an average 48 basis points wider 

than the A-rated spread, according to 

data from Bloomberg Barclays indices. 

Over the past 15 years, the gap has averaged 

59 basis points. 

“You’ve got to believe in the credibility 

of the management team, and 

you also have to believe the music keeps 

playing. If the music stops and companies 

just levered up, well, that’s why 

BUSINESS DAY 

Triple B risks lurking in the US credit market 

A3 

Donald Trump’s trade tariffs have seen the premium for buying physical aluminium in the US rise to its highest 

level in three years © FT montage; Getty Images; Bloomberg 

credit cycles reverse,” said Matt Brill, a 

portfolio manager with Invesco. “When 

the economy starts to slow and corporations 

are overlevered, that’s your 

biggest fear. That’s what a fixed-income 

investor is constantly protecting their 

portfolio against.” 

The M&A boom has been a contributor 

to the erosion in credit quality 

within investment grade. The sale this 

month by CVS Health of $40bn in bonds 

to pay for its acquisition of insurer 

Aetna, nabbed triple B and Baa2 ratings 

from S&P and Moody’s, respectively. It 

was the third-largest corporate bond 

sale in history, leaving the combined 

company with an adjusted debt to ebitda 

of 4.6 times, according to Moody’s. 

CVS insisted it would reduce its leverage 

to about 3.5 times in the first two 

years after the deal, echoing promises 

made by other companies that have 

increased the number of debt-funded 

M&A deals that earn investmentgrade 

ratings. Campbell, for example, 

promised to cut its leverage ratio below 

three times in roughly 3.5 years. And 

after Sherwin-Williams acquired paint 

manufacturer Valspar last year, funded 

by $6bn of triple B bonds, Moody’s 

forecast leverage will fall below 3 times 

from 4.5 times within two years. 

Sceptical Peruvians prepare for a new president 

Martín Vizcarra expected to be sworn in following resignation of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski 

GIDEON LONG 

Martín Vizcarra, Peru’s vicepresident, 

is likely to be 

sworn in on Friday as the 

leader of a nation in which his four 

immediate predecessors are either 

in jail, have served prison sentences, 

are under investigation for corruption 

or on the run from the law. 

The 55-year-old engineerturned-politician 

will take charge 

following the resignation of Pedro 

Pablo Kuczynski on Wednesday 

after a long fight with the opposition 

over his alleged involvement in the 

Odebrecht corruption scandal that 

has rocked Latin America. 

The resignation came after Mr 

Kuczynski’s opponents released secretly 

recorded videos that they said 

proved his government had tried to 

buy votes in the national congress 

to ensure he survived impeachment 

proceedings. 

His replacement faces daunting 

challenges. In just three weeks he 

will host the Summit of the Americas 

in Lima — one of the biggest 

gatherings of political leaders in 

the hemisphere. President Donald 

Trump of the US will attend and 

Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro has 

threatened to crash the party even 

though his invitation has been 

withdrawn. 

Corruption, as well as the Venezuelan 

meltdown, will be top of 

the agenda. 

Mr Kuczynski had been in office 

less than two years. A 79-year-old 

former Wall Street banker, he came 

to power promising to boost investment 

and stamp out corruption, but 

from the outset was hampered by 

his lack of support in congress. 

Just like Mr Kuczynski, Mr Vizcarra 

has a miserable minority in 

congress. His party holds just 15 of 

the 130 seats while the main opposition 

party, led by Keiko Fujimori, 

has 59. Ms Fujimori made life difficult 

for Mr Kuczynski during his 20 

months in government and nothing 

suggests she will be more lenient 

with Mr Vizcarra. 

“We believe Vizcarra is more 

likely to be a transition figure than 

to serve out the rest of the current 

term to 2021,” said Eileen Gavin, senior 

Latin America analyst at Verisk 

Maplecroft in London, describing 

Keiko’s opposition as “wilfully obstructive”. 

Some opposition politicians 

are already pushing for fresh 

elections, less than two years after 

Peruvians went to the polls. 

Mr Vizcarra will have to work 

with a deeply sceptical public, fed 

up with the failure of their politicians 

to deliver on their promises. In 

a poll conducted by LatinoBarométro, 

just 7.5 per cent of Peruvians had 

faith in their political parties and 91 

per cent felt that at least half of their 

politicians were corrupt. 

While the fact that Mr Vizcarra 

is a relative outsider in Lima could 

work to his advantage — he does 

not appear to be tainted by corruption 

scandals — it could also mean 

he will struggle to broker deals in 

Lima’s corridors of power.


A4 BUSINESS DAY


BUSINESS DAY 

A5




BUSINESS DAY 

A5


C002D5556 Friday 23 March 2018 

FT 

ANALYSIS 

Trump to slap tariffs on $50bn 

of imports from China 

White House ramps up efforts to block Chinese investment in strategic sectors 

Jamie Dimon was second only to Citigroup’s Mike Corbat © Bloomberg 

Dimon pay day means a year’s 

wages for typical JPMorgan staff 

JPMorgan chief received $28.3m last year, 364 times more than median worker 

BEN MCLANNAHA 

JPMorgan Chase chief executive 

Jamie Dimon earned as much in 

a day as the typical employee at 

his bank took home in the whole of 

last year, putting him near the top of 

an emerging league table of big bank 

CEO pay. 

In an annual proxy filing after 

the market close on Wednesday, the 

biggest US bank by assets said that its 

chairman and CEO was paid $28.3m 

last year, or 364 times the median 

employee, who received $77,799, including 

firm-paid benefits. 

Mr Dimon’s pay ratio of 364 times 

the median worker puts him second 

in the list for the big banks, according 

to Autonomous Research, behind 

Citigroup chief Mike Corbat, whose 

pay of $17.8m last year was 369 times 

the median worker. Charlie Scharf of 

Bank of New York Mellon, a protégé 

of Mr Dimon who arrived at BNY in 

the summer of last year, ranks third, 

with a $20m package 354 times the 

average worker. 

The median ratio for the listed US 

banks to have reported so far is 135 

US banks in ‘arms race’ for deposits as rates rise 

Big banks face online competition after offering rock-bottom yields to retail customers 

BEN MCLANNAHAN 

Some of the biggest brick-andmortar 

banks in the US are 

pouring resources into developing 

new online banking arms, as 

rising interest rates intensify an “arms 

race” for consumer deposits. 

Since the Federal Reserve embarked 

on its rate-hiking cycle in 

December 2015 the big US banks 

have passed on just a fraction of the 

increases to depositors, pumping 

up their profits by widening the gap 

between the yield on their assets and 

the cost of their funds. 

But the steady hikes from the 

Fed — Wednesday’s was the sixth 

increase at 0.25 per cent to a target 

rate of between 1.5 per cent and 1.75 

per cent — have sparked concerns 

among the banks about how much 

longer they will be able to offer rockbottom 

rates to retail depositors. 

In recent months average deposit 

rates tracked by the Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation have begun to 

creep higher, led by big online banks 

such as Ally Financial and Synchrony, 

times, according to Autonomous. 

JPMorgan declined to comment. 

The disclosures of pay multiples, 

mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act of 

2010, finally came into effect for all 

listed US companies this year. Critics 

say such figures are a crude metric, 

telling investors very little about the 

composition of a company’s workforce 

or the particular ways in which it has 

identified the “median” worker. But 

advocates say the tool is necessary as 

a way to restrain pay for top executives, 

which has consistently outpaced gains 

for lower-ranked workers. 

To arrive at a median pay number 

JPMorgan included its top 10 most 

populous countries, representing 

about 97 per cent of its 253,500 staff. 

The bank annualised the salary portion 

of pay for employees who were 

hired during 2017; but did not make 

any full-time equivalent adjustments 

to part-time, temporary and seasonal 

workers. 

Mr Dimon’s total award of $28.3m 

included perks such as personal use of 

corporate aircraft ($73,921), personal 

use of cars ($29,848) and the cost of 

“residential and related security” 

prompting branch-based banks to 

consider ways to respond. 

Citigroup said this month it hoped 

to launch a “national digital bank” 

within the next couple of years, while 

PNC chief Bill Demchak told analysts 

in December that the Pittsburghbased 

bank was planning a similar 

venture to “gather clients, grow 

deposits and augment what we’re 

doing on a national basis.” 

The banks have given no details 

about deposit pricing strategy, saying 

plans are at an early stage. But 

analysts said the pair could look to 

emulate new online ventures from 

Barclays and MUFG Union Bank, 

the San Francisco-based lender 

owned by Japan’s biggest bank, both 

of which are trying to lure savers 

with near top-of-the-market rates. 

Banks are in an “arms race” to 

boost rates, said Greg McBride, 

chief financial analyst at Bankrate. 

com, which surveys thousands of 

banks and credit unions across 

America. 

Jason Goldberg, analyst at Barclays, 

said that the lower overheads 

($48,259). But the bulk of his pay came 

in stock awards ($21.5m), bumped up 

after a year of record annual net income 

of $26.5bn, excluding the effects 

of the tax reform, on record revenues 

of $104bn. 

JPMorgan made a switch to using 

so-called performance share units as 

part of variable pay for top managers 

in 2016, in response to a challenge by 

investor groups at its annual meeting 

a year earlier. At the time, more than a 

billion votes — a record 38 per cent — 

were cast against the bank’s pay policy 

after ISS and Glass Lewis, the proxy 

advisory firms, called for stronger ties 

between pay and performance. 

Still, the bank’s new formulation 

has prompted some grumbling 

among shareholders, said Brian Foran, 

analyst at Autonomous. For Mr 

Dimon to get the maximum payout, 

he noted, JPMorgan needs to hit a 17 

per cent return on tangible common 

equity. But a near-maximum payout 

can be achieved as long as the bank 

is above 6 per cent and in the second 

quartile of its peer group, which includes 

several struggling European 

banks. 

associated with a branchless business 

would allow Citi and PNC, on 

paper, to offer more attractive rates to 

depositors. That could spur inflows, 

while helping to retain existing customers. 

“As rates back up, money gets 

less lazy,” he said. “Once rates really 

start to move, money tends to follow.” 

Since the US central bank began 

to raise rates big banks have offered 

better terms to institutional depositors 

but have not done the same for 

ordinary savers, who tend to have 

much smaller balances. 

Annual interest rates on instantaccess 

savings accounts at the top 

four US banks by deposits, for example 

— JPMorgan Chase, Bank 

of America, Wells Fargo and Citi — 

presently average less than four basis 

points, or four hundredths of one per 

cent, according to Informa data cited 

by Goldman Sachs. 

That compares with 1.5 per cent at 

Marcus, Goldman’s online bank; 1.5 

per cent at Barclays; and 1.6 per cent 

at PurePoint Financial, the predominantly 

online business launched by 

MUFG Union just over a year ago. 

SHAWN DONNAN 

The Trump administration 

plans to impose new tariffs on 

$50bn in annual imports from 

China, targeting products such as robots 

and high-speed trains as it also 

ramps up efforts to block Chinese 

investment in strategic sectors. 

In what White House officials 

billed as a historic move against 

Chinese “economic aggression”, 

President Donald Trump on Thursday 

was set to order US officials to 

levy tariffs against China in response 

to a finding that Beijing has for decades 

pursued a strategy of unfairly 

acquiring US intellectual property. 

US officials said they would release 

a detailed list within 15 days 

Police release video of Uber fatal collision 

Footage seems to show car heading straight into woman walking bicycle across road 

TIM BRADSHAW 

Police investigating the collision 

between an autonomous 

Uber vehicle and a 

pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, 

have released video footage of the 

incident, which appears to show 

the sensor-laden Volvo heading 

straight into a woman walking her 

bicycle across the road without 

braking or swerving. 

A second video of the car’s interior 

seems to show the Uber driver 

behind the wheel looking down 

rather than at the road until the 

moment of impact. A driver’s role 

in the vehicle during Uber’s testing 

in Arizona is to take control if the 

autonomous systems fail. 

In an interview this week, 

Tempe’s chief of police said after 

viewing the video that preliminary 

investigations suggested neither 

Uber’s autonomous systems nor 

the driver would have been able to 

avoid Sunday night’s collision, in 

which 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg 

was killed. 

However, some legal and technological 

experts said the footage 

suggested that there should have 

been time to stop if the technology 

was functioning properly or the 

driver was paying attention. 

The case is seen as setting a 

potential precedent in the fastdeveloping 

industry of self-driving 

cars. Ms Herzberg is believed to be 

the first pedestrian to be killed in 

a collision with an autonomous 

vehicle. 

Following the incident, Uber 

has suspended its testing across 

North America. Toyota has also 

paused its pilot project, but others 

in the industry, including Zoox and 

Drive.ai, have continued to test 

their self-driving cars on public 

roads this week. 

“It’s very clear it would have 

been difficult to avoid this collision 

in any kind of mode [autonomous 

or human driven] based on how 

she came from the shadows right 

into the roadway,” Tempe’s police 

chief Sylvia Moir told the San Francisco 

Chronicle in an interview on 

but planned to specifically target 10 

strategic sectors identified by Beijing 

as part of a “Made in China 2025” 

strategic plan pushed by Xi Jinping. 

Those sectors included robotics, 

aerospace, maritime and modern 

rail equipment as well as electric 

vehicles, and biopharma products. 

Likewise, Mr Trump on Thursday 

was set to order the US Treasury to 

come up with a plan to impose new 

restrictions on Chinese investment 

in areas like those within 60 days, 

officials said. Such a regime would 

be parallel to the Committee on 

Foreign Investment in the US, which 

now examines foreign investments 

for potential threats to US national 

security and has in recent years 

taking an increasingly dim view of 

Chinese acquisitions. 

Monday. 

“I suspect preliminarily it appears 

that Uber would likely not 

be at fault in this accident either.” 

A police spokesperson later 

said the interview had been mischaracterised, 

but did not dispute 

the accuracy of the chief’s reported 

comments. 

But Ryan Calo, a professor at 

the University of Washington’s 

law school, who writes regularly 

on robotics and cyber law, said in 

a tweet: “I watched the video of 

the driverless car collide with Ms 

Herzberg and I simply disagree 

that it absolves Uber.” 

Both Prof Calo and Bryant 

Walker Smith, assistant professor 

at the University of South Carolina’s 

law school and an expert on 

autonomous vehicles, said that 

the Uber vehicle’s array of sensors 

and camera equipment, which 

include a Lidar system that sends 

out laser pulses to “see” its surroundings, 

should have detected 

Ms Herzberg, given her position 

on the street. 

“Although this appalling video 

isn’t the full picture, it strongly suggests 

a failure by Uber’s automated 

driving system and a lack of due 

care by Uber’s driver, as well as by 

the victim,” he said. 

“The victim is obscured by 

darkness — but she is moving on 

an open road. Lidar and radar absolutely 

should have detected her 

and classified her as something 

other than a stationary object.” 

Uber said: “The video is disturbing 

and heartbreaking to watch, 

and our thoughts continue to be 

with Elaine’s loved ones. Our cars 

remain grounded, and we’re assisting 

local, state and federal authorities 

in any way we can.” 

Tempe police have said that any 

final judgment on liability would 

fall to the local county’s attorney. 

The Tempe police investigation 

is continuing. Federal agencies, 

including the National Highway 

Traffic Safety Administration and 

the National Transportation Safety 

Board, are also investigating the 

incident.


Daily Trust at 20: Aigbogun, others point 

way forward for journalism in Nigeria 

HARRISON EDEH, Abuja 

Publisher of BusinessDay 

Media 

Limited, Frank 

Aigbogun, and 

other panel of discussants 

at the Media Trust 

Limited event commemorating 

its 20th anniversary, said 

journalism profession in Nigeria 

must constantly innovate 

and update in line with 

the requirements of modern 

trends in order to sustain the 

profession. 

Some of the requirements, 

the discussants pointed 

out while discussing the 

theme: ‘Journalism as Business: 

News, Views and Advertising,’ 

yesterday in Abuja, 

were that there was an economic 

side of journalism that 

must be highlighted, noting 

that the profession was not 

just a social entrepreneurial 

job. 

According to Aigbogun, 

“One of the greatest disservice 

we could do to journal- 

Ibori launches appeal against UK corruption conviction 

Nigerian politician, 

James 

Ibori, who 

spent years 

in UK jails after pleading 

guilty to laundering 

a stolen fortune in Britain, 

launched an appeal 

against his conviction on 

Wednesday, alleging corruption 

in the ranks of 

British police. 

At stake are about 90 

million pounds ($130m) 

of Ibori’s assets, which 

have been frozen for 

years. The British authorities 

aim to confiscate 

them and return 

them to the Nigerian 

state, but if Ibori’s conviction 

were overturned 

he would regain control 

of them. 

As governor of oilproducing 

Delta State 

from 1999 to 2007, Ibori 

became one of Nigeria’s 

most powerful men and 

enjoyed a millionaire 

lifestyle, with properties 

and luxury cars in several 

countries. At the time 

of his arrest he was in the 

process of buying a $20 

million private jet. 

His conviction in 

2012, after he admitted 

10 counts of fraud 

and money-laundering, 

was a rare example of a 

big player in Nigerian 

politics being held to account 

for the corruption 

that has blighted Africa’s 

most populous nation. 

But Ibori’s lawyers allege 

that one of the British 

police officers who 

investigated him took 

bribes in 2007 from a private 

detective, hired by 

a British law firm working 

for Ibori, in return for 

ism is to present journalism 

as an orphan. That is to suggest 

that journalism could 

only be sustained with money 

being made elsewhere. 

“By way of the future, I 

take comfort in the recent 

reporting of the New York 

Times in the United States. 

At the end of December last 

year, the New York Times 

earned digital sales revenue 

of $1 billion. The share price 

of New York Times today is at 

11-year high.” 

Pointing the way forward, 

Aigbogun noted that the content 

of journalism and operations 

of the business were 

key, remarking also that people 

identify good journalism 

and pay for it. 

He suggested further by 

saying media businesses 

could prioritise strategically 

their premium content, 

while enjoining their target 

audience to pay for it as a way 

of sustaining their brand, and 

being in business. 

He said, “The last quarter 

of last year the New York 

Times added paid digital 

subscription of 157,000 people. 

By implication, the New 

York Times is gaining subscription 

of 50,000 paid subscription 

a month. What that 

tells me is that good journalism 

can pay for itself. There 

is absolutely no way of doing 

good journalism without 

thinking of the commercial 

imperatives.” 

Chris Anyanwu, proprietor 

of Hot Frequency Modulated 

station, and one the 

panellists, said, “Journalism 

is practised within an environment 

and we have to 

watch what the consumer 

is leaning and shifting towards, 

and the behavioural 

pattern of the masses which 

would enable the audience 

be served better.” 

On the constitutional role 

of the journalism profession, 

Anyanwu said, “You have to 

watch dog in line with what 

the demands of your audience 

are. If your audience are 

inside information about 

the police investigation. 

They also allege that 

British anti-corruption 

police who were supposed 

to investigate the 

alleged bribery instead 

covered it up to avoid 

scuppering Ibori’s trial 

and tarnishing the reputation 

of the police. 

All the people against 

whom allegations of corruption 

or bad faith have 

been made have denied 

them. The appeal hearing, 

being held before 

three judges at London’s 

Court of Appeal, is due to 

last three days. 

Ibori was released 

from jail in December 

2016 after serving half of 

his 13-year sentence, as 

is normal in Britain, and 

he returned to Nigeria in 

February 2017. He has 

going in a direction and you 

insist you are being on an 

outdated format, you are going 

to be stuck there.” 

“We must invest greatly 

in technology, data, to help 

us compete in line with the 

demands of the time,” Dapo 

Olorunyomi, managing director 

of Premium Times 

(online), said. 

Also in his submission, 

Manir Dan Ali, editor-inchief 

of the Media Trust Limited, 

said, “Our strategy is 

digital, but at the same time, 

we are mindful of where we 

are and are determined to 

serve that ecology according 

to their requirements. What 

we are doing is constantly secure 

the future, whether it is 

digital or print.” 

In his earlier remarks, 

Rabiu Garba, the director, 

Media Trust Limited, said 

the media outfit would keep 

ensuring that it sustained the 

professional ethics of the job 

however challenging the job 

was in the country. 

L-R: Olisa 

Agbakoba, cochairman, 

Nigeria Intervention 

Movement 

(NIM)/chairman 

of the occasion; 

Abdujhalii 

Tafawa Balewa, 

chairman of the 

occasion; Kayode 

Ajulo, former 

secretary Labour 

Party, and 

Olawale 

Okuniyi, direc- 

tor general, 

NIM, during the 

grand national 

Summit and 

official launch of 

Grand Political 

Coalition on the 

Future of Nigeria 

held in Abuja. 

Pic by Tunde 

Adeniyi 

re-emerged in public life 

there and been feted at 

various events. 

He was due to give evidence 

on Wednesday via 

video-link from Nigeria, 

and he appeared briefly 

on a screen in court, 

but the connection was 

lost and could not be 

restored. The court was 

told a power cut in Nigeria 

was the reason for the 

glitch. 

Despite being a major 

oil and gas producer, Nigeria 

has daily electricity 

cuts - a result of decades 

of corruption and mismanagement 

in the power 

sector. 

The judges instructed 

that a new attempt 

be made to establish a 

video-link to Ibori on 

Thursday. 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

Access Bank result shows earnings 

growth by 20% to N459.1bn 


Access Bank plc has 

released its audited 

results for the fullyear 

ended December 

31, 2017, showing growth 

in total income. 

The Group reasserted its 

capacity to deliver steady earnings 

despite a tighter operating 

environment. In the audited 

financial results released to 

the Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE) on March 21, the bank 

recorded a total income of 

N459.1 billion, representing 

an increase of 20 percent over 

N381.3 billion recorded in the 

same period in 2016. 

Growth in gross earnings 

was boosted by a 29 percent 

increase in interest income to 

N319.9 billion in 2017, from 

N247.2 billion in Full Year (FY) 

2016 whilst net interest income 

grew by 17 percent from 

N163,452 billion in FY 2017, 

from N139,148 billion in the 

comparative period of 2016. 

Similarly, Non-Interest 

Income grew 4 percent to 

N139.1billion, in FY 2017 

from N133.4 billion in 2016, 

leading to an 11 percent increase 

in the Group’s operating 

income to N302,596 

billion in FY 2017, from 

N272,605 billion in FY 2016. 

The growth in the Group’s 

earnings is underlined by an 

expansion in its core business, 

on the back of an enhanced 

asset book. Loans and 

advances grew 11 percent to 

N2,064 trillion in 2017, from 

N1,855 trillion in December 

2016. Total assets grew 18 

A7 

NEWS 

JBN gets awards for quality, best 

international engineering standards 

Julius Berger Nigeria plc, 

an engineering construction 

firm, has had 

a season of commendation 

and celebration of 

technical competence and 

best engineering quality and 

standards. 

Since the year began, 

from the Third Observers, 

where Priscilla Kuye is 

Board chairman, to the Nigerian 

Institute of Building 

(NIOB) and the Nigerian Institution 

of Estate Surveyors 

and Valuers (NIESV), it has 

been appreciation, recognition 

and commendation for 

Julius Berger Nigeria (JBN). 

The substance of the 

awards has revolved around 

the company’s widely acknowledged 

commitment 

to engineering construction 

integrity as well as for its 

delivery of quality and best 

international standards 

within contractual timelines 

in all its obligations to 

its clients. 

As a quoted company 

on the Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE), the firm recently 

got a Commemorative 

Award. The award was 

given by the independent 

Third Observers, who obpercent 

to N4,102 trillion in 

December 2017, from N3,484 

trillion in the corresponding 


Additionally, the Group 

recorded an increase of 13 

percent in Shareholder returns 

of N515 billion in December 

2017, from N454 billion in the 

corresponding period in 2016. 

Although the Group 

posted significant growth in 

earnings, the adverse lingering 

effects of the macro on 

asset quality in the industry 

led to the bank taking prudent 

provisions in the course 

of the year, thereby dampening 

profitability, as Profit before 

tax declined 11 percent 

to N80.1 billion in FY 2017 

from N90.3 billion in FY 2016. 

Nonetheless, the bank’s fundamentals 

remain strong and 

the Group remains poised 

for sustainable growth in the 

coming periods. 

The Group proposes a final 

dividend of 40 Kobo per share 

to its shareholders, in addition 

to 25Kobo interim dividend 

paid during the period, making 

a total of 65 Kobo for the 

financial year. The dividend is 

subject to approval at the annual 

general meeting. 

Commenting on the results, 

Herbert Wigwe, group 

managing director, said, “Our 

operating performance in 

2017 was impacted by the 

residual effects of macroeconomic 

conditions of 2016, 

characterised by slow economic 

expansion and adverse 

credit conditions, which resulted 

in making conservative 

provisions on our loan book. 

served that the honour was 

to highlight JBN’s positive 

and consistent 20 years of 

dividend payments as a 

quoted company. 

Within the same week, 

the NIESV also presented 

the company with an Award 

of Excellence. The NIESV 

whose motto proudly speaks 

to “Honesty and Devotion” 

gave the award “in appreciation 

of their tremendous 

support towards the growth 

of the Institution.” 

It would be recalled that 

on December 12, 2017, the 

chief regulating body for 

the building construction 

industry, the Nigerian Institute 

of Building (NIOB), 

also presented to JBN’s 

Board and Management a 

Plaque of Appreciation. 

The Plaque of Appreciation 

award to JBN, according 

to the NIOB, was based on 

the “the commendable performances 

of Julius Berger 

in Health and Safety, Good 

Quality Construction, Projects 

delivery and Responsive 

deeds of Corporate Social 

Responsibility towards 

the growth and development 

of professional organisations 

in the Nigerian built 

Environment Industry.”

A8 

NEWS 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

Establish worldview, repeal Land Use Act, 

scrape NNPC, Moghalu tells Nigeria 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE, ENDURANCE OKAFOR 

For Nigeria to move 

forward in terms of 

overcoming poverty 

and creating wealth, 

it needs to establish 

a clear worldview, institution, 

reduce economic complexity 

as well as focusing on science, 

technology and innovation as 

the driver of the economy. 

This was the submission of 

Kingsley Moghalu, 2019 presidential 

aspirant/former deputy 

governor of the Central 

Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who 

recommended the establishment 

and consistent application 

of a clear economic philosophy 

of entrepreneurial 

capitalism in the context of a 

developmental state, as the 

guiding framework for the Nigerian 

economy. 

According to Moghalu, 

having a worldview also matters 

for Nigeria because it 

will enable it to assess from 

a comparative and competitive 

standpoint the distance 

between West Africa’s biggest 

oil producer and other more 

successful countries. 

“A solid worldview can 

drive us to catch up with and 

possible overtake countries 

that, at our independence 

from colonial rule in 1960, had 

less economical or technological 

prospects than Nigeria 

but today are advanced industrial 

economics, countries 

such as Malaysia, Indonesia, 

Thailand and even South Korea 

fall into this bracket,” the 

presidential aspirant said. 

A look into Nigeria agriculture 

showed Kingsley Moghalu 

was right, palm oil, which 

used to be one of the nation’s 

major sources of foreign exchange 

in the early 1960s, is 

massively imported from Malaysia 

and Indonesia. 

Statistically, Nigeria currently 

has a global share of 

2.9 percent, with Indonesia 

leading by 33 million metric 

tonnes, Malaysia – 19.8 million 

metric tons, Thailand – 2 

million tons and Colombia 

-1.1 million metric tons. 

Moghalu also recommended 

the constitutional repeal 

of the Land Use Act that 

traps the wealth of Nigeria’s 

citizens in the hands choking 

grip of state bureaucracy, 

scraping the Nigerian National 

Petroleum Corporation 

(NNPC) and reforming it as a 

partially privatised company, 

deregulating the downstream 

petroleum sector, and avoid 

further foreign borrowing 

which has put the country 

back into debt trap that will 

weigh down the future generations 

of Nigeria. 

He said Nigeria revenue to 

debt service ratio is very high 

at about 66 percent, that is 

not sustainable, that implies 

that the total of that amount 

are used to service debt, and 

as such there is no room to 

finance developmental activi- 

Outstanding athletes in focus on Glo-sponsored African Voices 

Some of Africa’s outstanding 

athletes will 

this week on CNN 

African Voices share 

with viewers how their 

desire to excel fuels their 

passion to keep breaking 

new records in sports. The 

programme, which goes on 

air at 9.30am on Fridays, is 

sponsored by Globacom. 

The repeat editions 

come up at 3.30am and 

1.30pm on Saturday and 

at 11.30am and 6.30pm on 

Sunday. Further repeats will 

be broadcast at 10.30am on 

Monday and 4.30am on 

Tuesday. 

To bring the story of the 

‘No plan to sell Edo Broadcasting Service, The Observer’ 

There is no plan to 

sell the state-owned 

radio and television 

station, Edo 

Broadcasting Service (EBS) 

and the Nigerian Observer 

Newspaper to an individual. 

This was disclosed yesterday 

by Crusoe Osagie, 

special adviser on media 

and communication strategy 

to Edo State governor, 

in response to the allegation 

by the Edo PDP that the 

governor was about selling 

the outfits to individuals. 

“The falsehood being 

peddled by the Edo State 

chapter of People’s Democratic 

Party (PDP) is a figdrive 

and unwavering dedication 

to passion that propel 

African athletes to overcome 

daunting obstacles 

home to viewers, the programme 

will feature three 

exceptional athletes. 

They include 28-yearold 

South African professional 

baseball player and 

second baseman for the 

Toronto Blue Jays in the 

Major League Baseball, Gift 

Ngoepe. The athlete will 

brief viewers about how he 

made history as the first African 

born player in the Major 

League and what drives 

his passion for the game. 

Moroccan adventurer, 

environmentalist and inment 

of their imagination. 

Understandably, the Edo 

PDP has all the time in the 

world to imagine the unimaginable. 

There is no plan, 

whether now or in the future 

to sell government enterprises 

to any individual,” 

he said. 

Speaking with the media 

in Benin City yesterday, 

he explained, “Recall that 

Governor Obaseki paid unscheduled 

visits to the two 

media houses last year and 

was appalled by what he 

saw at the media houses; 

outdated equipment and a 

disenchanted workforce. 

“The stories of the visits 

ties. 

“And even if the government 

is currently borrowing 

at a low interest rate, they never 

can tell what will happen in 

the nearest future,” he said. 

And as such, he urged the 

Nigerian government to look 

at alternative areas of generating 

revenue locally, other 

than sourcing from fund 

through borrowing. 

The government can ensure 

more people are encouraged 

to pay tax, not necessarily 

to increase the tax but to 

increase the people that are 

paying tax, of which the major 

challenge is the fact that the 

people do not have trust in the 

government, he said. 

He said Nigeria has failed 

to achieve high-quality economic 

growth because the 

country’s economy is managed 

mostly on an ad-hoc, 

reactive basis. 

“Nigeria’s citizens must 

now elect a new kind of leadership 

that offers something 

radically different by virtue 

of possessing the insights 

we have discussed here today, 

and having the political 

will to take the economic 

management of Nigeria in a 

new direction of soundness, 

quality and results,” he said 

while speaking on ‘Overcoming 

Poverty: The Secret of the 

Wealth of Nations’, at the 2018 

bullion lecture organised by 

Centre for Financial Journalism 

in Lagos. 

spirational speaker, Saad 

Abid, is the second guest on 

the programme. He is a successful 

surfer whose love for 

the outdoors has transited 

into a desire to protect the 

environment. 

Next is South African 

trail runner, Ryan Nicholas 

Sanders, who is widely 

known as “Hedgie”. He was 

the first competitor to win 

all the four desert races, 

each a 6/7 day, 250 kilometer 

self-supported footrace 

through the Atacama Desert 

in Chile, the Gobi Desert in 

China, the Sahara Desert in 

Egypt and lastly the Antartica 

in the South Pole. 

were widely reported in the 

media and the governor has 

vowed to reposition the media 

houses for optimal performance, 

and play a major 

role in the educational sector. 

“For emphasis, the Edo 

State government led by 

Godwin Obaseki is too sophisticated 

to indulge in acts 

that the Edo PDP members 

either went to jail for or are 

still visiting the offices of the 

anti-economic and financial 

crimes agencies, for.” 

He will not sell assets 

owned by the good and loving 

people of Edo State to 

any individual, he said categorically. 

Friday 23 March 2018

BUSINESS DAY 

Fact Check 

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I FRIDAY 23 MARCH 2018 C002D5556 

Is the United States of America 

without private primary schools? 

Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state on March 17 tweeted: “It’s striking to me that, United States of America, 

one of the most capitalist countries in the world, has no private primary schools. This makes us more determined 

to restore the quality of primary education in Kaduna. BusinessDay fact-checked this and found the statement is 

misleading. 

Early history of education 

in the USA was 

private 

In the infancy of the 

United States of 

America, schooling 

for young people, 

such as it was, 

was provided by small, 

private schools, not public 

schools. Education in 

colonial days was quite 

stratified. Boys learned 

core subjects such as 

reading and math. Girls 

learned the domestic 

arts. Only white children 

received an education 

until slavery was 

abolished. Very often 

teachers were wellintentioned 

men who 

themselves did not have 

much formal education. 

Yes, back then, most 

teachers were men. 

The first private 

schools were established 

by the religious missionaries 

of the Roman Catholic 

Church in Florida 

and Louisiana. By all accounts 

education in the 

north-eastern colonies 

was better organised in 

the 18th century than 

its counterpart in the 

southern states. Schools 

such as Boston Latin 

School were founded in 

order to teach the classical 

languages of Latin 

and Greek. 

In Manhattan, Collegiate 

School was established 

by the Dutch West 

India Company and the 

Classis of Amsterdam, 

the parent ecclesiastical 

body of the Dutch 

Reformed Church for 

the colonists of New Amsterdam. 

In Washington, 

DC, Georgetown Preparatory 

School was founded 

in 1789 by America’s 

first Catholic bishop, 

Prep is the nation’s 

oldest Jesuit school and 

the only Jesuit boarding 

school. In the early part 

of the 18th century English 

grammar schools 

taught more subjects as 

the need for a more educated 

populace grew. 

The latter part of the 

Source: Statista 

18th century saw the development 

of the genre 

known as the Academy. 

Visionaries such as William 

Penn guided the 

educational thinking of 

the time. 

In the 19th century a 

uniform, organised system 

of public education 

did not take shape until 

the 1840s. Leading the 

push for better education 

in the north-eastern 

colonies were leaders 

such as Horace Mann 

and Henry Barnard. 

They were the architects 

of the concept of public 

funding for schools at 

the local level, a model 

which still flourishes in 

the 21st century. 

No different back then 

than in the 21st century 

there were parents who 

wanted a better education 

for their children. 

And there were civicminded 

leaders who understood 

how a rigorous 

academic education was 

essential to ensuring 

the solid growth of the 

new nation. The Phillips 

family, for example, 

Essentially then, private 

education in the colonies 

came before public 

education. As public 

education took hold, 

private schools sprang up 

in order to fill a need not 

provided for in the public 

sector 

founded Exeter and Andover 

Academies with 

serious, high-minded 

purposes. 

The Deed of Gift 

which established Exeter 

states that the Academy 

should teach its 

students not only in the 

English and Latin grammar, 

writing, arithmetic, 

and those sciences 

wherein they are commonly 

taught, but more 

especially to teach them 

the great end and real 

business of living. Ando- 

ver’s 1778 Constitution 

charges the Academy 

to prepare “Youth from 

every quarter to understand 

that “goodness 

without knowledge is 

weak, yet knowledge 

without goodness is 

dangerous.” 

Into the 19th century 

philanthropists such as 

Stephen Girard (1750- 

1831) played a pivotal 

role in establishing private 

schools to educate 

children from poor families. 

The altruistic thread 

permeates the late 18th 

and 19th centuries as 

wealthy businessmen 

understood the social 

and economic implications 

of a good education 

for every quarter of 

society. 

Source: U.S Department of Education 

Milton Hershey 

(1857-1945) and Princess 

Bernice (1831- 

1884) came from quite 

different backgrounds 

but shared a common 

goal of educating young 

people at no cost to their 

families. The schools 

which they established 

are some of the grandest 

examples of educational 

philanthropy to 

be found anywhere in 

the world. 

Essentially then, private 

education in the 

colonies came before 

public education. As 

public education took 

hold, private schools 

sprang up in order to fill 

a need not provided for 

in the public sector. Parents 

who felt that they 

wanted more for their 

children had options 

even back in the early 

days of the nation. That 

concept of options has 

not changed in the 21st 

century. A parent who 

desires a particular type 

of education has a wide 

variety of options available 

to him. 80 percent 

of American children are 

educated in the public 

system. The other 20 

percent find what their 

parents are looking for 

in a private school. 

Given the high cost, 

children from richer 

families are far more 

likely to go to private 

school than children 

from poorer families. 

Only 6 percent of kids 

in households with incomes 

under $50,000 

attend private schools, 

compared with 26 percent 

of kids in households 

with incomes of 

$200,000 or more. 

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Ghana Office: BusinessDay Ghana Ltd; ABC Junction, near Guinness Ghana Limited, Achimota – Accra, Ghana. 

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

BusinessDay 23 Mar 2018

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