BusinessDay 11 Apr 2018

42 BUSINESS DAY
C002D5556
Wednesday 11 April 2018
NEWS
Belemaoil makes case for US presence in...
Continued from page 4
with the backing of the Rivers
State government, to make the case
for heavy US presence in Port Harcourt
by setting up a ‘US Business
Liaison Office’ in Port Harcourt.
The US government however
says such consideration could only
gain traction if Rivers State could
have free, fair and peaceful elections
that are now around the corner in
2019 with primaries starting this year.
The founder/president of
Belemaoil, Jack-Rich Tein Jr, who
led a team of investors to hand in the
appeal at the corporate headquarters
of the indigenous oil company
on Odili Road in Port Harcourt on
Tuesday, April 10, 2018, said Port
Harcourt remained the hub of Nigeria’s
oil and gas industry.
Saying there was urgent need
to rescue the oil city and save the
bulging youth population to avoid
political instability in Africa’s largest
population, Tein said the US has
much to do to help some few courageous
investors like Belemaoil
pumping huge funds to prove that
Port Harcourt can rise again.
He unveiled the Belema Model
that shows intricate designs and
schemes to integrate the oil host
communities in oil operations as a
way to restore the once-cherished
love and trust between the oil industry
and host communities, saying
the presence of the US in Port
Harcourt would simply complete
the rebuilding process and cause
DMO embarks on...
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of Finance and Office of the
Accountant-General of the Federation
have started the inspection of
the roads being financed with the
Sovereign Sukuk issued in 2017.
The proceeds of the N100 billion
Sukuk were designated for
the financing of 25 road projects
across the six geopolitical zones of
the country.
From the list of Road Projects
made available to the public when
the Sukuk was issued, these were
major roads that will facilitate the
movement of people, goods and
services, thereby contributing to
economic growth and development.
It would be recalled that the
current Muhammadu Buhari administration
had prioritised investment
in infrastructure as a major
focus in its plans for the growth of
the economy and job creation.
The Sukuk represents a promise
kept and a step forward in Nigeria’s
drive for the development
of infrastructure, which is in line
with the Economic Recovery and
Growth Plan (ERGP) launched by
the Government in 2017.
The team visited the Abuja-
Abaji-Lokoja Road, the Obajana-
Okene Road, the Suleja-Minna
Road and the Kaduna Eastern
Bypass Road.
During the Inspection, the
Team assessed progress on the
work that had been done as well
as ongoing rehabilitation and
construction works on the roads.
The Team interacted with the
various contractors handling the
projects. The inspection revealed
that significant amount of work
had been done and the contractors
expressed their appreciation
for the Sukuk which assured them
of prompt payment for work done.
The Sukuk has incentivised the
contractors to accelerate work on
a mass return of investors to the
Garden City, the acclaimed hub of
the Gulf of Guinea.
Explaining the model for peace
and prosperity in the Niger Delta so
as to make case for US presence in
the oil region, the founder talked
about creating wealth both for the
company and the communities.
He pointed to the employment of
3,000 youths by Belemaoil from the
communities; and award of 374
scholarships at a go to indigenes
with beneficiaries going home
same day with their cheques.
He also talked about certified
water from water projects to places
that never saw good water in over 600
years of existence; roads built by USmade
bulldozers; and the building of
what he called the Technology Centre
to groom technically sound youths.
On the medium and long term, the
Belema president mentioned mouthwatering
figures including 36,000 jobs
to be created in three years and 60,000
in 10 years with plans to create $1.4bn
value in over 240,000 homes.
To achieve this, he said Belema
must increase value and production
to 2000 per cent in the next
10 years from the present 12,000
bpd from OML 55 acquired from
Chevron in 2013. He added that
the company would need to work
with at least 240 vendors.
The benefits would go to all in
terms of peace, increase in oil output,
more investors and stability in
the Niger Delta again with business
More details of MTN Nigeria IPO coming in...
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by 42percent last year, and is up 5.9
percent year to date.
MTN crossed major huddles
to the Nigeria unit listing after
three different Emergency General
Meetings (EGMs), BusinessDay
gathered.
At the meetings, the group got
the nod of different categories of
shareholders to proceed for the
listing on the NSE.
At the latest Emergency General
Meeting, issues of complaints by
different categories of shareholders
and that of shares managed by
IBTC, among others were resolved.
MTN said last month in a
note preceding its financials for
the year ended December 31,
2017, that Nigerian operations
maintained positive momentum
during the year, with the overall
macroeconomic environment
stabilising and the increased oil
price and production offering
some relief, with data revenue
increasing by 86.6percent.
The Nigerian operations had
revenues of R36 billion, while
EBITDA margin (excluding the
impact of the regulatory fine) declined
to 38.9 percent.
Shuter said MTN has struck
an agreement with pan-African
lender Ecobank to offer mobile
banking across Africa, enabling
both companies to leverage each
other’s assets.
The move comes as telecoms
Jack-Rich Tein Jr (l), founder/president, Belemaoil, hosting F. John Bray, US Consuler-General, in Port Harcourt.
the selected roads because of the
confidence that the Government
had dedicated funds already in
place to pay them upon completion
of milestones.
Of particular significance was
the fact that the funds from the
Sukuk had made it possible to
construct the Okene Bypass, a new
road which would ensure a safer
and more convenient journey for
travellers and residents by moving
traffic away from the township
and reducing congestion on the
roads within the town. Similarly,
the Kaduna Eastern Bypass, whose
construction had been delayed by
inadequate funding, will ease traffic
within the Kaduna metropolis,
while also improving the travel
experience for persons transiting
through Kaduna to other towns.
According to information made
available, the Government delegation
will inspect all the Sukukfinanced
Roads to confirm that the
Sukuk funds have been utilised as
planned.
operators choosing the oil region
once more.
Placing a definite appeal, the oil
magnate said: “We cannot do it alone.
We appeal to the US to establish presence
here in the form of Business
Liaison Centre in Port Harcourt.”
The Rivers State Commissioner
of Commerce and Industry, Nancy
Nwankwo, who added a push, described
the founder of Belemaoil
as a highly respected investor who
garnished his business process with
high dose of philanthropy. “He is
very passionate for local communities.
He has done so well in the state.”
She said Gov Nyesom Wike has
so far done so much in the area
of security and infrastructure to
boost investments. “The region
was neglected for long and it was
about importation of contractors
and marginalisation of the local
people. Rivers State is a business
hub, blessed with so much in terms
of assets and natural resources. Our
hands are open for investors.’
In his response, the Consul-General,
F. John Bray, urged the people
and government of Rivers State to
work on the image of the state in terms
of security to attract businesses. He
regretted that the state tended to post
the worst electoral violence during
the 2015 elections (which went into
endless re-runs and court disputes
with more violence each time).
He hinged any attempt to consider
the plea of the business group
and the state government on posting
a positive image of free, fair and
peaceful elections next year.
Analysts believe that this debut
Sukuk has breathed new life into
old projects and provided funding
for new ones. It is, therefore, a
financing instrument that is very
appropriate for the development
of infrastructure.
The N100 billion “7-Year 16.47
percent Ijarah Sukuk due 2024”
was listed at The Nigerian Stock
Exchange and the FMDQ OTC
Securities Exchange yesterday April
10, 2018 for better secondary market
trading and liquidity for investors.
The Sukuk Bond admission on
FMDQ platform demonstrates
Federal Government of Nigeria
unrelenting commitment to the
development of Nigeria’s infrastructure
sectors through the Nigerian
debt capital markets (DCM).
To formally welcome the listing
of the pioneer Sukuk to its platform,
the OTC exchange held a memorable
ceremony to commemorate
and honor the issuer, the FGN,
represented by the Director General
of the DMO, Patience Oniha,
along with key representatives
from the DMO.
Also present at the Ceremony
were the co-sponsors to the issue
on FMDQ and Registration
Members of the OTC Exchange,
FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited,
represented by its Managing
Director/CEO, Kayode Akinkugbe
and Lotus Financial Services Limited,
represented by Hajara Adeola,
Managing Director/CEO, and
other parties to the issue.
Welcoming the guests to the
Ceremony, Emmanuel Etaderhi,
Senior Vice President, Economic
Development Division, FMDQ,
congratulated the issuer and cosponsors
to the issue.
He reiterated the OTC Exchange’s
commitment to continue
to support the initiatives of the
DMO towards the development
of a highly liquid, deep and welldeveloped
DCM in Nigeria.
Patience Oniha, Director-General
of the DMO, during the issuer’s
special address, stated: “the DMO
operators are expanding mobile
services to boost margins and access
new revenue streams.
The two entities, with an extensive
footprint on the continent,
have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding to develop their
partnership agreement, which
will allow them to innovate and
enhance access to affordable financial
services via MTN Mobile
Money and Ecobank Banking
services.
Shuter said the South African
telecoms group was targeting
60 million customers via mobile
services over the next three years,
up from 23 million now across the
14 markets where it has launched
the product.
“Ecobank has very similar aspirations
to us,” he said.
Ecobank, which operates in 36
African countries, has said it expects
its digital banking platform to
boost its customers to 100 million
from 13 million by 2020 and that
it will focus expansion on existing
markets via low cost mobile
services to tap customers on lower
incomes.
Ade Ayeyemi, CEO of Ecobank
said: “Combining Ecobank’s innovative
digital banking range with
MTN’s enormous subscriber base
means that virtually every African
can now have an instant bank account,
savings accounts, loans and
make instant remittances on their
mobile phone.”
in pursuit of its objectives to diversify
the sources of government
funding and deepen the domestic
capital market successfully issued
the debut N100.00bn 7-Year Sovereign
Sukuk on September 26,
2017. The purpose of the Sukuk is
to integrate ethical investors into
the domestic securities market,
establish benchmark for pricing
of Sukuk by other domestic issuers
and offer investors the opportunity
to earn returns while contributing
to the infrastructure development
of the country.”
Delivering the Registration
Member (Listings) remarks, Kayode
Akinkugbe, highlighted, “we
are pleased to have advised the
FGN on its N100.00bn debut Sukuk
issuance, and despite fairly volatile
market conditions, we leveraged
FBNQuest Merchant Bank’s superb
distribution platform to successfully
distribute about 65percent
of the offer. The N100billion
Sukuk issuance is the first attempt
by the Federal Government to
raise funds through non-interest
instrument in the capital markets
for infrastructure development.”
Similarly, co-sponsor and Registration
Member (Listings), Lotus
Financial Services Limited, represented
by Hajara Adeola, during
her remarks stated, “The FGN
N100billion Sukuk has been instrumental
in financing road projects,
while ensuring socio-economic
development and financial inclusion.
With this listing, the Sukuk
will trade like other FGN securities
through registered brokers and
dealers on the Exchanges.”
Tumi Sekoni, Associate Executive
Director, Capital Markets,
FMDQ, whilst giving the closing
remarks, applauded the issuer for
achieving this milestone, stating
that this was another highly laudable
step by the Sovereign, through
the DMO towards supporting the
growth and development of the
nation’s DCM.