BusinessDay 06 April 2018

4 BUSINESS DAY
C002D5556
Friday 06 April 2018
NEWS
Lassa fever hits 20 states with 142
deaths, 400 confirmed cases
… NCDC confirms first case, fatality in Abia
... Two health workers affected with one death in a week
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
Lassa fever has continued
to spread in
Nigeria with 400 confirmed
cases and 142
deaths in 20 states,
according to latest figures released
yesterday by the Nigeria
Centre for Disease Control
(NCDC).
According to the agency, following
the increasing number of
Lassa fever cases in the reporting
week 14, six new confirmed
cases were recorded from five
States while two new healthcare
workers were affected with one
death and twenty-five health
care workers have been affected
since the onset of the outbreak
in eight states.
“From 1st January to 1st April
2018, a total of 1706 suspected
cases and 142 deaths have been
reported actively in Edo, Ondo,
Bauchi, Nasarawa, Ebonyi,
Anambra, Benue, Kogi, Imo,
Plateau, Lagos, Taraba, Delta,
Osun, Rivers, FCT, Gombe, Ekiti,
Kaduna and Abia makig twenty
states at least one confirmed
case across 57 Local Government
Areas,” says the report.
“This year 81 per cent of all
confirmed cases are from Edo
(42%) Ondo (23%) and Ebonyi
(16%) states.”
Lassa fever is an acute viral
haemorrhagic illness, transmitted
to humans through contact
with food or household items
contaminated by infected rodents.
Person-to-person transmission
can also occur, particularly
in hospital environment in
the absence of adequate infection
control measures.
The agency further stated
that since the onset of the 2018,
4,274 contacts have been identified
from 20 states and of these,
662 (15.0 per cent) are currently
being followed up, 3,605 (84.8
per cent) have completed 21
days follow up while 7(0.2 per
cent) were lost in follow up. 27
(40 per cent) of the 67 contacts
have tested positive in five states
(Edo-12, Ondo- seven, Ebonyithree,
Kogi -3 and Bauchi -one).
“World Health Organisation
(WHO) and NCDC have scaled
up response at national and
state levels,” it added.
9Mobile sale: NCC chairman’s letter to...
Continued from page 1
significantly more than the $300
million submitted by Smile Communications,
which was in turn
announced as the reserve bidder.
Teleology was then asked to
make a non-refundable deposit
of $50 million within 21 days from
the announcement. This payment
was made and acknowledged by
United Capital Trustees in a letter
dated 21st March 2018. The payment
was made two days earlier
than the deadline, and failure to
make this payment would have
meant that Smile, the reserve
bidder, would have been invited
to replace Teleology.
Teleology and United Capital
Trustees signed the Share
Purchase Agreement (SPA) and
Loan Purchase Agreement (LPA)
on 21st March 2018. The CBN
and NCC were present at the ceremony,
our sources say.
However, BusinessDay learnt
from sources watching the sale
process that the letter from the
Chairman of NCC’s board suggests
or implies that; “NCC will
only approve the transaction if
the company has telecom infrastructure
on the ground - in other
words, if the company is an existing
operator.”
As a result, issues were raised
suggesting that the regulator may
be sneakily trying to disqualify
Teleology and unethically bring
Smile in as the preferred bidder
through a back door. This is especially
as no such criteria were
included in the start of the bidding
process until this time.
According to BusinessDay
sources, “NCC and CBN were
constantly updated on the whole
process and had the opportunity
to raise any objections if any. No
such objection was raised by the
NCC at any time.”
Nigeria’s telecommunications
sector remains mired in recession
with the ICT sector contracting
by -1.5 percent in Q4, 2017, up
from the -4.5 percent contraction
recorded in Q3, 2017, according to
the most recent National Bureau
of Statistics (NBS), data.
Total number of active mobile
phone subscribers fell by
5.3 percent in the past year from
155.113 million in January 2017,
to 142 million active subscribers
in January 2018, according to the
most recent NCC data.
Analysts tell BusinessDay that
the NCC Chairman’s letter is like
trying to create a new goal post at
the end of a match, and is similar
to how Nigeria procrastinated
with the NITEL sale until it had
lost most of its value, by the time
it was sold.
“Why change the rules in the
middle of the game, that is inappropriate,”
Bismarck Rewane,
CEO of Fianancial Derivatives told
BusinessDay on phone.
“It will erode the country’s
credibility and ability to attract foreign
direct investments (FDI) as
such will increase the stereotype
of the bad reputation the country
already has.”
Foreign Direct Investments
into Nigeria slumped to a fouryear
low of $981 million in 2017.
The first decline in FDI since
BusinessDay started compiling
data in 2013.
By comparison, Egypt attracted
$8.7 billion in the fiscal year ended
June 2017, while South Africa
attracted $3.2 billion, according
to data from the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD).
Kenya attracted $394 million
in 2016, according to most recent
data by UNCTAD, while Ghana
attracted $4.19 billion of FDI in
2017, according to data by the
Bank of Ghana.
The NCC on its part told BusinessDay
that the regulators are
still expecting Teleology’s $450
million balance of its committed
bid (due in 3 months) in-order to
finalise the sale process.
Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive
Vice Chairman of the
NCC told BusinessDay yesterday
that there was no cause for
alarm, as the Commission has
been involved in the 9mobile sale
L-R: Ikenna Ikeme, general manager, regulatory affairs, MTN Nigeria; Ladi Barnabas Banka, wife of the deputy governor,
Kaduna State; Danladi Mohammed, director, MTN Foundation, and Cecilia Musa, representing Jema’a Local
Government Area, Kaduna, during the launch of the MTN Foundation, Yellow heart Initiative in Kaduna, yesterday.
process from the onset, and has
clearly identified Teleology as the
preferred bidder.
“Teleology emerged as preferred
bidder and paid the $50
million non-refundable deposit
which was a condition for the process
and that was not contested.
However, Smile Communications
was named reserve bidder, so it is
only in the event that Teleology
fails to pay the balance of $450
million in the next three months,
that is when the offer will go to
the reserve bidder,” Danbatta told
BusinessDay.
When asked if the commission
is in anyway inclined to favoring
Smile Communications to allow
for some sort of consolidation,
since the company has technical
infrastructure and expertise
on ground and more than three
years operational history in Nigeria,
which meets up with the new
criteria stated in the Board Chairman’s
letter to the CBN, Danbatta
said the decision for consolidation
is not up to the NCC.
“Consolidation in the industry
will come from the operators
themselves. The NCC will not
stand in the way of the operators
if they want to consolidate. We will
wait, and if it happens then we will
comment on it,” Danbatta said.
Olusola Teniola, President, Association
of Telecommunications
Operators of Nigeria (ATCON)
told BusinessDay in a telephone
interview that the process cannot
be concluded until the full payment
of Teleology’s bid commitment
has been received.
“The purchase has to be in full
before we can start talking about
any transfer of shares, and the
regulatory approval for license can
only be done after payment. That
is how it is done everywhere in the
world. A company cannot just be
handed over to another company
for takeover after only a deposit
has been paid. Teleology needs
to balance its initial payment and
also re-assure the NCC that they
can turn around 9mobile.
A regulator would always want
to ensure that the Telco is in
capable hands and that the new
owners will not run down the
company,” Teniola said.
Sources however tell BusinessDay
that the final leg in the
process is for the NCC as the telecom
Industry Regulator to give a
formal approval to the transfer of
United Capital Trustees interest
to Teleology. Teleology is then to
make payment of its committed
sum within 90 days and take over
running 9Mobile.
“This new criteria of “technical
expertise” and “at least 3 years
operational history” is strange and
probably an illegal, unethical and
dis-ingenious way to disqualify
Teleology and bring Smile in as
the preferred bidder through a
back door. No such criteria was
included in the bid process until
this time,” an insider with knowledge
of the transaction, speaking
to BusinessDay anonymously
because of the sensitivity of the
matter said.
Sources say the CBN Governor
and NCC EVC were constantly
abreast of the 9mobilebid process
with the CBN presenting updates
to the Board of the NCC.
The NCC was also represented
at critical events in the 9mobile
sale process including the stage of
presentation of technical bids and
the final bids held on 4 Dec 2017.
The NCC was present at the
signing of the SPA between Teleology
and United Capital Trustees
and no objection was raised
throughout the process by the
NCC.