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BusinessDay 13 April 2018

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usinessday market monitor<br />

Commodities<br />

Brent Oil<br />

$70.61<br />

Cocoa<br />

US $2,524.00<br />

NSE<br />

Biggest Gainer Biggest Loser<br />

Mobil<br />

Dangcem<br />

N200<br />

4.17pc N258 -0.77pc<br />

40,808.48<br />

Bitcoin<br />

2,426,498.59 +0.81pc<br />

Powered by<br />

Everdon Bureau De Change<br />

$-N<br />

£-N<br />

€-N<br />

BUY SELL<br />

360.00 363.00<br />

501.00 511.00<br />

435.00 445.00<br />

FOREIGN EXCHANGE TREASURY BILLS<br />

Market Spot $/N 3M 6M<br />

I&E FX Window 359.88 0.00 0.56<br />

CBN Official Rate 305.55 <strong>13</strong>.18 14.31<br />

FMDQ Close<br />

5 Years<br />

0.00%<br />

<strong>13</strong>.50%<br />

FGN BONDS<br />

10 Years<br />

-0.74%<br />

<strong>13</strong>.61%<br />

20 Years<br />

0.00%<br />

<strong>13</strong>.53%<br />

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I **FRIDAY <strong>13</strong> APRIL <strong>2018</strong> I VOL. 15, NO 32 I N300 @ g<br />

Oando shares appreciate by 10%<br />

as technical suspension lifted<br />

... 178m shares on bid<br />

BALA AUGIE<br />

suspension on the trading of the<br />

company’s shares was lifted for<br />

a second time by the Nigerian<br />

Stock Exchange (NSE).<br />

The shares of the company<br />

Inside<br />

Continues on page 33<br />

Wale Tinubu, CEO, Oando<br />

To the relief of Oando<br />

shareholders, investors<br />

and the general<br />

public, the technical<br />

Mobile ecosystem to be<br />

worth over $50bn to<br />

W/African economy by 2022<br />

... 50% of impact<br />

attributed to Nigeria<br />

KEMI AJUMOBI<br />

Recently, the GSMA released<br />

The Mobile Economy<br />

West Africa <strong>2018</strong> re-<br />

Continues on page 35<br />

Senate suspends pro-Buhari<br />

senator for 90 legislative days<br />

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja<br />

The Senate on Thursday<br />

suspended the senator<br />

representing Delta Central<br />

Continues on page 35<br />

Eagles brand soars on back<br />

of investor confidence<br />

The scarcity of Nigerian<br />

passports at<br />

immigration offices<br />

nationwide has worsened<br />

with resultant<br />

hardship for citizens intending<br />

to procure the document for<br />

overseas travel.<br />

A source close to the passport<br />

office who craved anonymity<br />

told <strong>BusinessDay</strong> that Nigerian<br />

L-R: Sina Alimi, deputy CEO, PanAfrican Capital Holdings; Obinna Anyanwu, CWEIC country head for Nigeria;<br />

Abdul Quadirr, CWEIC head of business development; Chris Oshiafi, CEO, PanAfrican Capital Holdings;<br />

Richard Burge, CWEIC chief executive, and Eric Okoruwa, managing director, PAC Capital, as PAC Holdings<br />

enters strategic partnership with CWEIC.<br />

Passport scarcity worsens as<br />

Immigration owes foreign printers<br />

Spends N24bn per annum on printing booklets abroad<br />

IFEOMA OKEKE<br />

BD INVESTIGATIVE SERIES<br />

international passports are currently<br />

scarce because the immigration<br />

service owes its foreign<br />

technical partners huge debts<br />

running into billions of naira.<br />

“We are at the mercy of these<br />

technical partners who have<br />

refused to produce and print out<br />

the passports booklets because<br />

the government owes them. They<br />

have insisted that until the government<br />

pays its debt, they will not<br />

produce passports for Nigeria.”<br />

<strong>BusinessDay</strong> checks show<br />

that the passport booklets are<br />

presently being produced by Iris<br />

Smart Technology Nigeria (ISTL)<br />

through its parent company, Iris<br />

Corporation, based in Malaysia.<br />

A company in Netherlands is<br />

responsible for the bio-metrics<br />

and security details inserted<br />

into the passports, while a South<br />

African firm provides the ink<br />

used for the printing done on<br />

the passports.<br />

The source explained that last<br />

Continues on page 4<br />

FOLUSO GBADAMOSI<br />

The technology<br />

advocate


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

2 BUSINESS DAY


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

3


4 BUSINESS DAY<br />

C002D5556<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

NEWS<br />

Nigeria Eurobond sales face<br />

higher refinancing risks – Fitch<br />

MICHEAL ANI<br />

Nigeria’s growing use<br />

of the international<br />

capital markets may<br />

increase refinancing<br />

risk as the amount<br />

of international debt coming due<br />

rises, US based rating agency,<br />

Fitch said .<br />

“Borrowing in foreign currency<br />

in international markets, exposes<br />

sovereigns to Foreign Exchange<br />

(FX) refinancing risk and a potentially<br />

higher debt service/GDP burden<br />

in the event of local currency<br />

depreciation,” it said.<br />

“Although it can appear cheaper<br />

if domestic interest rates are<br />

high, as in Nigeria, which used the<br />

proceeds of its February issue to<br />

refinance more expensive nairadenominated<br />

debt, it generally<br />

involves a net increase in risk,” The<br />

global rating agency added.<br />

Nigeria’s external debt as at<br />

December 31st 2017, touched<br />

$18.9 billion, according to data<br />

provided by its Debt Management<br />

Office (DMO).<br />

The federal Government<br />

through the ministry of finance<br />

in February <strong>2018</strong>, successfully<br />

sold $2.5 billion of Eurobonds to<br />

compliment the $3 billion it raised<br />

in November last year, as part of<br />

its on-going debt restructuring<br />

strategy aimed at increasing external<br />

debts from 23 percent to 60<br />

percent, and cutting down on domestic<br />

debts from 77 to 40 percent.<br />

Patience Oniha, Director General<br />

of Debt Management Office<br />

(DMO), said that “for government<br />

to plan execute its plan enunciated<br />

by the Economic and Recovery<br />

Growth Plan (ERGP), Medium<br />

Term Economic Framework<br />

(MTEF) and other associated fiscal<br />

strategies, it has to spend and borrowing<br />

is a mechanism to do that”.<br />

Also, the DMO said “borrowing<br />

has stimulated the economy<br />

and has helped lift it out of the<br />

recession”.<br />

More recently, sub Saharan<br />

African countries have shown<br />

increased appetite to tap from the<br />

Passport scarcity worsens as Immigration...<br />

Minister of Interior, had directed<br />

for the domestication of the production<br />

of the passport booklets.<br />

Dambazau said he had set<br />

up a committee, headed by the<br />

Comptroller-General of the Nigeria<br />

Immigration Service, to look<br />

into the local production of the<br />

document and resolve the challenge<br />

posed by its scarcity.<br />

He said the committee was<br />

also charged with the responsibility<br />

of exploring ways of starting<br />

the local production of the<br />

passport booklets, in view of the<br />

numerous advantages.<br />

A visit to passport offices in<br />

the Ikoyi and Festac suburbs of<br />

Lagos showed applicants on a<br />

long queue for passports.<br />

One of the applicants who<br />

identified herself as Mary said<br />

she had been coming to Ikoyi for<br />

the past two months and the im-<br />

Continued from page 1<br />

year, the government had promised<br />

to explore local production<br />

as part of plans to save cost and<br />

ease the lingering scarcity of<br />

the document but has failed to<br />

execute same.<br />

He added that with the scarcity,<br />

government may not be able<br />

to realise its set target for revenue<br />

generation as it did last year.<br />

For two months now, Nigerian<br />

Immigration Service (NIS) has<br />

been unable to issue passports<br />

nationwide.<br />

<strong>BusinessDay</strong> gathered that<br />

two days ago, a new batch of passports<br />

were provided at Ikoyi office<br />

but they likely will be exhausted<br />

by today.<br />

Recall that Sunday James,<br />

spokesperson for the Nigeria Immigration<br />

Service, last year said<br />

Abdulrahman Dambazau, the<br />

international Debt market finance.<br />

This also continued through<br />

in first quarter <strong>2018</strong>(1Q18), with<br />

issues from Kenya (USD2 billion),<br />

Cote d’Ivoire (EUR1.7 billion) and<br />

Nigeria (USD2.5 billion). Ghana’s<br />

parliament last month approved<br />

plans for a Eurobond issue.<br />

The International Monetary<br />

Fund recently warned that emerging<br />

economies face the mounting<br />

risk of a debt crisis, as their pace<br />

of borrowing in the international<br />

capital markets increases.<br />

Since 20<strong>13</strong>, the median ratio<br />

of public debt to gross domestic<br />

product in low-income countries<br />

has risen <strong>13</strong> percentage points to<br />

hit 47 per cent in 2017, according<br />

to new research by the IMF.<br />

The research found that 40 per<br />

cent of low-income developing<br />

countries face “significant debtrelated<br />

challenges”, up from 21 per<br />

cent just five years ago<br />

According the global agency,<br />

maturities of this debt might appear<br />

manageable in the near term,<br />

but public financial management<br />

(PFM) in the region is often weak,<br />

meaning that capacity to manage<br />

refinancing risk is an important<br />

factor in our SSA sovereign credit<br />

assessments.<br />

Tapping international capital<br />

markets can be an important<br />

financing option where liquidity<br />

in local funding markets is low.<br />

Long-dated international issuance<br />

can extend repayment schedules<br />

(Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire’s 1Q18<br />

deals both featured 30-year tranches).<br />

Market access that allows for<br />

opportunistic international debt<br />

issuance is therefore beneficial for<br />

SSA sovereigns.<br />

However, the rise in debt since<br />

2011, growing use of commercial<br />

funding, and in some cases currency<br />

depreciation have increased<br />

debt servicing costs in some countries.<br />

Seven of the 18 Fitch-rated<br />

SSA sovereigns had general government<br />

interest payments/revenues<br />

above 15 percent last year,<br />

the highest since at least 2000.<br />

Weak PFM could increase the<br />

challenge of transitioning from<br />

concessional to commercial fund-<br />

ing, and of managing the associated<br />

risks, such as exposure to<br />

tighter global monetary policy and<br />

the capacity to navigate interest<br />

rate and currency risks.<br />

It may also make Eurobond<br />

repayments and rollovers challenging,<br />

if market conditions were<br />

to deteriorate.<br />

World Bank data shows that<br />

Fitch-rated SSA sovereigns excluding<br />

South Africa will need to repay<br />

international public and publicly<br />

guaranteed bonds totalling USD6.5<br />

billion in 2019-2023, up from<br />

USD1.4 billion in 2014-<strong>2018</strong>.<br />

PFM in these regions have seen<br />

some improvement, and IMF programmes<br />

often include efforts to<br />

strengthen it. In Cote d’Ivoire, for<br />

example, improved PFM under the<br />

country’s 2016-2019 programmes<br />

has helped reinforce the sovereign’s<br />

financing flexibility.<br />

But PFM weaknesses in the region<br />

are still apparent, for example<br />

in the tendency to accumulate arrears<br />

and the use of state-owned<br />

enterprises for quasi-fiscal operations.<br />

In some cases, such as<br />

the Republic of Congo (CC) and<br />

Rene Awamberg, global head of client relations, Afrexim Bank (l), with Donald Duke, former governor, Cross River<br />

State, at the Afrexim Bank-Russian Export Centre’s road show to boost Africa’s aviation infrastructure, in Abuja. NAN<br />

migration officers kept saying the<br />

passports are currently scarce.<br />

“I was supposed to travel to<br />

England last week but I was unable<br />

to travel because I have not been<br />

issued my passport. It took me over<br />

two weeks to get captured and now<br />

it is taking me another one month<br />

and a week to get my passport.<br />

This is so frustrating and I wish the<br />

government can quickly look into<br />

this and help us,” Mary said.<br />

Another applicant who identified<br />

himself as Ifeanyi said his<br />

three children were supposed<br />

to go for vacation in the United<br />

States but couldn’t because their<br />

passports were not ready 5 weeks<br />

after applying.<br />

<strong>BusinessDay</strong> observed that<br />

touts are using the passport scarcity<br />

as an opportunity to exploit<br />

applicants by collecting as much<br />

as N20, 000 to N25, 000 from ignorant<br />

Nigerians who are desperate<br />

to get their passports.<br />

Mozambique (RD), PFM deficiencies<br />

have resulted in a lack of<br />

transparency in the public finances<br />

and contributed to recent defaults.<br />

SSA Eurobond maturities are<br />

spread out over the next decade,<br />

but weak PFM still means there are<br />

risks associated with them.<br />

Weak PFM also means that<br />

upward pressure on government<br />

debt will persist, as it limits the capacity<br />

to implement consolidation<br />

plans and to contain spending and<br />

mobilise domestic revenue sources<br />

more fully.<br />

“We expect median SSA general<br />

government debt to be broadly<br />

stable this year at 52.6 percent of<br />

GDP, following a rise of over 20pp<br />

in the preceding six years. This<br />

reflects improved commodity<br />

prices and fiscal consolidation in<br />

some countries, including those<br />

with IMF programmes. (The total<br />

agreed amount of the IMF’s<br />

outstanding arrangements with<br />

SSA countries rose nearly fivefold<br />

between end-2014 and end-2017,<br />

largely in response to the commodity<br />

price shock,” Fitch said.<br />

A source at the office also told<br />

Business that Nigerians who<br />

reside outside the country have<br />

had to reschedule their flights in<br />

order to secure their passports.<br />

While NIS still provides revenue<br />

for the government by collecting<br />

passport fees from people,<br />

they have failed to provide services<br />

to the people paying for it.<br />

<strong>BusinessDay</strong> calculates that<br />

Nigeria through the Nigeria Immigration<br />

Service (NIS) is paying<br />

over N24 billion to Malaysia,<br />

Netherlands and South African<br />

based firms for production of its<br />

international passports.<br />

For Lagos state, on a daily basis,<br />

Ikoyi which issues the highest<br />

amount of passport, gives out an<br />

average of 800passports but has<br />

over 1000 as demand while Festac<br />

and Ikeja issue 1000 passports<br />

daily with over 1,400 demanded.<br />

Abuja issues out an average of<br />

500passports daily, with over 800<br />

Base effect<br />

moderates<br />

inflation to<br />

<strong>13</strong>.34% in March<br />

… Analysts forecast single<br />

digit inflation rate in H2<br />

ENDURANCE OKAFOR<br />

Nigeria’s inflation eased<br />

to <strong>13</strong>.34 percent, yearon-year<br />

in March <strong>2018</strong>,<br />

amid base effect and declining<br />

petrol prices, which is the lowest<br />

inflation rate since March 2016.<br />

It is also the fourteenth consecutive<br />

disinflation since January<br />

2017, as compiled from the<br />

National Bureau of Statistics<br />

(NBS).<br />

The rate moderated by 0.99<br />

percentage points in March<br />

from 14.33 percent recorded in<br />

the previous month. Although,<br />

the <strong>13</strong>.34 percent inflation rate<br />

recorded in the period under<br />

review remains well above the<br />

6-9 percent preferred band.<br />

“The slowdown in inflation<br />

is as a result of a combination<br />

of factors; largely reflecting<br />

Continues on page 33<br />

demands. Kano, Asaba, Ogun<br />

and Ibadan which also ranks top<br />

in demand for passports issue<br />

out 500 passports altogether with<br />

almost 1000 demanded.<br />

Other states in Nigeria issue<br />

out an average of 2,000 passports<br />

daily with over 3,000 demanded.<br />

This implies that on a daily<br />

basis, passport offices across Nigeria<br />

issue out nothing less than<br />

4,800 passports daily.<br />

<strong>BusinessDay</strong>’s checks show<br />

that for five working days in a<br />

year, passport offices across Nigeria<br />

issue out about 1,248,000<br />

passports.<br />

Government spends about<br />

N19, 500 for the production of<br />

one passport.<br />

Last year, the NIS generated<br />

N38 billion as revenue locally.<br />

Sources close to NIS said the<br />

government can earn more than<br />

this amount if it produces passports<br />

locally.


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY<br />

5


6 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />

NEWS<br />

Airport-Oshodi road ready<br />

December - Lagos<br />

JOSHUA BASSEY<br />

Governor of Lagos<br />

State, Akinwunmi<br />

Ambode, says the<br />

ongoing reconstruction<br />

of the Murtala<br />

Muhammed International<br />

Airport road linking the Oshodi<br />

Transport Interchange<br />

will be completed by December<br />

<strong>2018</strong>.<br />

The state government<br />

flagged off the reconstruction<br />

of the airport road said<br />

to be accommodating at<br />

least 50,000 vehicles daily,<br />

in September 2017, with the<br />

aim to give motorists and<br />

foreign visitors a smooth<br />

drive.<br />

The design of the project<br />

include the reconstruction<br />

and expansion of the existing<br />

carriage to three-lane<br />

expressway on both directions,<br />

construction of twolane<br />

service road in both<br />

directions, construction of<br />

ramp bridge to provide a u-<br />

turn from Ajao Estate to the<br />

airport, construction of a<br />

flyover at NAHCO/toll gate<br />

and drainage works.<br />

Ambode, who was onthe-spot<br />

assessment of the<br />

project and other construction<br />

sites within the state<br />

metropolis, on Thursday,<br />

said everything was being<br />

done by his administration<br />

to ensure the projects were<br />

not delayed.<br />

According to Ambode,<br />

the strategic location of the<br />

airport road as entrance<br />

into the nation’s commercial<br />

city makes its quick<br />

completion a compelling<br />

obligation.<br />

“We have seen the progress<br />

of work being done on<br />

the airport road and I will<br />

like to appeal to all Lagos<br />

residents that they should<br />

bear with us. As much as<br />

possible, we will try to reduce<br />

the stress this might<br />

generate by completing it<br />

and the Oshodi Interchange<br />

by end of December. This,<br />

we hope to present to Lagos<br />

residents as Christmas<br />

gifts,” he said.<br />

The governor also assured<br />

of payment of compensations<br />

on properties<br />

with valid documents affected<br />

by the road expansion.<br />

<strong>BusinessDay</strong> gathered<br />

that compensation on properties<br />

demolished to allow<br />

right of way for the expansion<br />

of Airport-Oshodi road<br />

might cost the state government<br />

about N1 billion.<br />

At the flyover bridge in<br />

Agege, Pen Cinema, the<br />

governor commended the<br />

pace of work so far done<br />

and also promised its completion<br />

by December <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Nigeria: 7 states have<br />

their budget public<br />

BUNMI BAILEY<br />

Out of 36 states<br />

in Nigeria, only<br />

seven states<br />

have their <strong>2018</strong><br />

budgets made<br />

public, according to BudgiT,<br />

a civil organisation that deals<br />

in budget transparency and<br />

accountability.<br />

According to the BudgiT’s<br />

report compiled by <strong>BusinessDay</strong>,<br />

27 states have<br />

signed their <strong>2018</strong> budget into<br />

law, but only seven - Delta,<br />

Edo, Kaduna, Kastina, Kogi,<br />

Kwara, and Yobe - have their<br />

budget documents published<br />

online or are in public<br />

domain.<br />

Analysts attribute this to<br />

the poor transparency and<br />

accountability level, and lack<br />

of appreciation of technology<br />

of the state governments.<br />

“When we talk about<br />

budget, it is not a private<br />

document of the government<br />

but a public one, and since it<br />

is signed into law it should be<br />

made available to the public,”<br />

Ayodele Shittu, a lecturer in<br />

the Department of Economics,<br />

University of Lagos, said.<br />

According to a transparency<br />

index by International<br />

Budget Partnership (IBP)<br />

2017, released January 30,<br />

<strong>2018</strong>, Nigeria’s budget transparency<br />

level is ranked<br />

poorly compared with other<br />

African countries. The country<br />

is ranked 80 out of 115<br />

countries, notching 17 points<br />

out of a possible 100.<br />

“It is part of what may be<br />

responsible for the underdevelopment<br />

that we are seeing<br />

in the country. Also, with<br />

the level of non-transparency<br />

it gives a lot of opportunity<br />

for misappropriation,” Ayodeji<br />

Ebo, managing director<br />

of Afrinvest, said. Ibrahim<br />

Tajudeen, head of research,<br />

Chapel Hill Denham, said<br />

there was no law making the<br />

budget to be transparent, so<br />

the little they could show off<br />

was what they were showing,<br />

saying, “They are not<br />

mandated by law to show<br />

the budget information to<br />

the public.”<br />

Although, it is yet to be<br />

passed into law, states like<br />

Lagos, Cross River and Akwa<br />

Ibom, not only have the<br />

highest budget expenditure<br />

among the 36 states, but<br />

also there budgets have also<br />

not been published online;<br />

Cross River budget has the<br />

highest with N1.3 trillion<br />

followed by Lagos State and<br />

Akwa Ibom with N1.04 trillion<br />

and N646.7 billion, respectively.<br />

Wema Bank reports<br />

20.07% growth in<br />

gross earning<br />

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE<br />

Wema Bank plc<br />

has released<br />

its audited financial<br />

result<br />

for the year ended December<br />

31, 2017, confirming<br />

the growth of its gross earnings<br />

by 20.07 percent, from<br />

N54.36 billion in full year<br />

(FY) 2016 to N65.27 billion<br />

in FY2017.<br />

The growth was supported<br />

by the launch of ALAT<br />

– Nigeria’s first fully digital<br />

bank, enhancing Wema<br />

Bank’s already existing alternate<br />

platforms, which recorded<br />

a combined growth<br />

rate of 205.67 percent in<br />

transactions executed and<br />

with an estimated 30,000<br />

accounts opened monthly.<br />

Commenting on the<br />

results, Segun Oloketuyi,<br />

managing director/CEO of<br />

the bank, provided further<br />

insights into the performance<br />

of the bank during<br />

the period.<br />

“Despite the slow start<br />

to the year, 2017 recorded<br />

significant progress, highlighted<br />

by the introduction<br />

of the Investor & Exporters<br />

(I&E) window and recovery<br />

in oil prices,” Oloketuyi<br />

noted.<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

Investment One<br />

launches virtual<br />

trading platform<br />

A<br />

leading<br />

financial<br />

services group in<br />

Nigeria, Investment<br />

One Financial<br />

Services, has launched<br />

its All Stars League initiative,<br />

in an effort to heighten<br />

interest in stock trading in<br />

Nigeria.<br />

The All Stars League<br />

according to a statement<br />

made available by Investment<br />

One Services, is a<br />

gaming environment where<br />

individuals can interact<br />

with the Nigerian Stock Exchange<br />

(NSE) in near real<br />

time. It provides a platform<br />

for amateur traders to improve<br />

their skills and to<br />

compete for prizes, on a virtual<br />

investment simulator.<br />

During the League, each<br />

trader begins with N10,<br />

000,000 in virtual cash and<br />

has a trading limit of N2,<br />

000,000 per day. The top 3<br />

traders at the conclusion<br />

of the 3-month League will<br />

have their trading accounts<br />

funded with real money as a<br />

reward.<br />

The Investment One<br />

All Stars League begins on<br />

<strong>April</strong> 16 and ends on June<br />

30. Individuals can sign up<br />

at www.bit.ly/visgame.


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

NEWS<br />

LPG, NHK, PMS, AGO prices<br />

decrease in March - NBS<br />

KELVIN UMWENI<br />

Average price of a<br />

5kg and 12.5kg<br />

Liquefied Petroleum<br />

Gas (LPG),<br />

popularly known<br />

as cooking gas, declined<br />

month-on-month by 3.03 percent<br />

and 1.84 percent, respectively,<br />

in March <strong>2018</strong>, a report<br />

released by the National Bureau<br />

of Statistics (NBS) reveals.<br />

The average price of refilling<br />

a 5kg cylinder was<br />

N2,090.6 in the month of<br />

March. This represented a<br />

month-on-month decrease<br />

of 3.30 percent decline compared<br />

with N2,155.97 recorded<br />

in February, and a 16.6<br />

percent year-on-year contraction<br />

relative to the average<br />

price of N2,493.6 recorded in<br />

March 2017.<br />

A geographical decomposition<br />

reveals that the<br />

South-West has the lowest<br />

average price (at N2,019.15)<br />

of refilling a 5kg cylinder<br />

capacity, while the North-<br />

East with an average price<br />

of N2,256.25 emerged as the<br />

region with the highest average<br />

price. Others are North-<br />

West (N2,025), South-East<br />

(N2,065.87), North-Central<br />

(2,085.48) and South-South<br />

(N2,099.76).<br />

States with the lowest average<br />

price of refilling a 5kg<br />

included Abuja (N1,760),<br />

Ebonyi (N1,870) and Ekiti<br />

(N1,895). Conversely, the<br />

North-East states of Bauchi<br />

(N2,364.3), Yobe (N2,500),<br />

and Borno (N2,500) recorded<br />

the highest prices for March.<br />

In the same vein, the average<br />

price for refilling a 12.5kg<br />

cylinder stood at N4,253.7<br />

in March <strong>2018</strong>, representing<br />

a month-on-month decline<br />

of 1.84 percent from<br />

the N4,333.3 average price<br />

recorded in preceding month<br />

and a year-on-year decrease<br />

from the N4,923.5 average<br />

price recorded in March <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

South-West geographical<br />

region had the lowest average<br />

price of refilling a 12.5kg<br />

cylinder of cooking gas (recording<br />

N3,973.3). This was<br />

closely followed by the North<br />

East with an average price of<br />

N4,038.9. Others in successive<br />

order includes North-<br />

West (N4,212.4), South-East<br />

(N4,373.3), North-Central<br />

(N4,400.2) and South-South<br />

(N4,526.6); which recorded<br />

the highest average price in<br />

this cylinder capacity category.<br />

State-wide assessment<br />

shows that Bauchi<br />

(N3,400), Lagos (N3,768)<br />

and Oyo (N3,834.4) had the<br />

lowest average price of refilling<br />

a 12.5kg cylinder while<br />

Akwa Ibom (N4,650), Cross<br />

River (N4,730) and Benue<br />

(N4,966.7) tops the state with<br />

the highest average price.<br />

In another report by the<br />

NBS, the average price of National<br />

Household Kerosene<br />

(NHK) for the month of March<br />

decreased to N269 per litre.<br />

This denotes a month-onmonth<br />

decline of <strong>13</strong>.7 per cent<br />

from N288.6 per litre recorded<br />

in February and a year-onyear<br />

decline relative to N311.6<br />

per litre recorded in the corresponding<br />

period of 2017.<br />

C002D5556<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

7<br />

FOU Customs to enforce FG’s ban on importation of foreign rice<br />

AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE<br />

Nigeria Customs Service<br />

(NCS), Federal<br />

Operations Unit<br />

(FOU) Zone ‘A’, has<br />

vowed to continue to enforce<br />

the Federal Government’s rice<br />

policy that prohibits the importation<br />

of foreign parboiled rice.<br />

The policy, which was<br />

put in place to encourage local<br />

rice production, is aimed<br />

at making Nigeria self sufficient<br />

in rice production and<br />

creating more employment<br />

opportunities for the youths.<br />

Aside the ban on importation<br />

of rice from the land border,<br />

the Federal Government has<br />

technically ban import of rice<br />

through seaports as Customs<br />

vowed not to issue any Form<br />

‘M’ to rice importers.<br />

Also, the unit reported the<br />

interception of several contraband<br />

goods with duty paid<br />

value (DPV) of over N1.5 billion<br />

including an additional<br />

SESSPN seeks to catalyse dialogue for new governance, economic order<br />

South-East South-<br />

South Professionals<br />

of Nigeria (SESSPN)<br />

is a non-governmental<br />

platform involving socially-conscious<br />

businessmen<br />

and professionals who<br />

are keen on deploying their<br />

values, voices, perspectives,<br />

life experiences, skills and<br />

expertise to promote sustainable<br />

development and<br />

growth in the region with<br />

or without the much-clamoured<br />

restructuring.<br />

With this overlap between<br />

the SESSPN and<br />

the beneficial influence of<br />

the private sector, it is envisaged<br />

that a new impetus<br />

will be granted to the<br />

causes, which animate our<br />

members and fuel the fire<br />

N166.2 billion generated from<br />

duty payment and demand<br />

notices on general goods from<br />

seaports, airports and land<br />

borders, which had wrong<br />

classification, transfer of value<br />

and underpayment of duty.<br />

The seized items include Indian<br />

hemp, 64 exotic vehicles;<br />

6,003 bags of foreign parboiled<br />

rice equivalent to 10 trailers;<br />

963 cartons of frozen poultry<br />

products; 431 jerrycans of vegetable<br />

oil; 163 bales of used<br />

clothing; 569 pieces of used<br />

tyres; 69 bags of sugar and four<br />

containers of general goods.<br />

Speaking in Lagos on<br />

Wednesday, Mohammed<br />

Uba, area controller of the<br />

command, told newsmen<br />

that among the seizures was<br />

the interception of 570 parcels<br />

and 98 sacks of Indian hemp<br />

weighing 1,550kg along Olorunda<br />

axis of Ogun State. Intelligence<br />

gathering facilitated<br />

the seizure, which Uba rated<br />

as the highest seizure of hard<br />

drug in the history of the command.<br />

Uba disclosed that the<br />

command together with the<br />

help of Lagos Roving Team,<br />

also evacuated 2,672 bags of<br />

rice from a storage house in<br />

Ilogbo, Abeokuta.<br />

On the 64 impounded vehicles,<br />

Uba said <strong>13</strong> of the exotic<br />

vehicles including <strong>2018</strong> model<br />

of one Toyota Land Cruiser;<br />

one Escalades Cadillac; one<br />

Range Rover; three Toyota<br />

Camry; one Toyota Rav4; one<br />

Toyota Highlander; one Honda<br />

CRV; one Honda Accord;<br />

one BMW Salon; one Toyota<br />

Sienna and one Hyundai, were<br />

also intercepted while on patrol<br />

at various locations.<br />

He however disclosed that<br />

the vehicles were still under<br />

detention pending the grace<br />

period given to the importers<br />

to bring the relevant Customs<br />

document. “Additionally, four<br />

containers including three by<br />

40 foot containers.<br />

of our devotion to the enthronement<br />

of a new reality<br />

in the daily economic and<br />

social lives of our people.<br />

Subsequent to our recent<br />

election of a new EXCO<br />

for the SESSPN, members<br />

are optimistic about actualising<br />

the developmental<br />

agenda of the Association.<br />

This, however, will require<br />

the co-opting of the political<br />

leadership of the states<br />

in the region, with the ultimate<br />

goal of promoting the<br />

interests of the long-suffering<br />

people of the region,<br />

through the harnessing<br />

and marshalling of the civic<br />

and economic strength<br />

that ordinary people wield<br />

in their numbers.<br />

Our goal is an enlightened<br />

people, with eyes<br />

newly-open to the urgent<br />

need for change of the present<br />

order, and access to the<br />

information that empowers<br />

them to make the educated<br />

choices required to effect<br />

the much needed seismic<br />

shifts in our body-politic.<br />

SESSPN going forward<br />

will begin a quarterly business<br />

and professional conversation<br />

across the public<br />

and private sectors. The first<br />

of which is billed for the<br />

Prime Chinese Restaurant at<br />

Bishop Abayode Cole, Victoria<br />

Island - Lagos on Sunday,<br />

<strong>April</strong> 15, at 3pm with Sokonte<br />

Davies, executive director,<br />

Nigerian Ports Authority, as<br />

keynote speaker and guest<br />

of honour.


8 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />

NEWS<br />

Need to reduce investment risk in Africa​<br />

dominates 7th Gennext business conference<br />

DIPO OLADEHINDE​<br />

In a friendly yet exciting<br />

discussion, leading<br />

business professionals,<br />

presidents of industries,<br />

directors, CEOs, and lawyers<br />

from across the globe, especially<br />

Asia, discussed the<br />

need to reduce investment<br />

risk in Africa as well as tap<br />

into the huge opportunities<br />

in its diversity at the 7th Gennext<br />

Business Conference on<br />

the “Ease of Doing Business<br />

in Africa” at Mumbai, India.<br />

At the conference, there w​<br />

ere as many as 25 concurrent<br />

panels and plenaries over the<br />

course of the two days led by<br />

national and international<br />

speakers of renowned influential<br />

status.<br />

The African session panel<br />

at this year’s event was moderated<br />

by Osaro Eghobamien,<br />

a managing Partner at Nigeria<br />

based commercial law firm<br />

Perchstone & Graeys; other<br />

members of the panel session<br />

includes, R. Kannan of Hinduja<br />

Group; Emeka Offor, Director<br />

of Strategic Communication<br />

at Nigerian Investment<br />

Promotion Commission and<br />

Bukola Oyinlola-Anuwe the<br />

Head of Chambers at Perchstone<br />

& Graeys Abuja.<br />

The panel discussed not<br />

only the need to adopt strategies<br />

that would embrace<br />

the diversity of the 54 African<br />

Moody’s to review Nigeria economy at 4th annual summit<br />

ENDURANCE OKAFOR<br />

The credit rating<br />

agency, Moody’s<br />

will examine Nigeria’s<br />

economic<br />

performance in the forth<br />

coming Annual West Africa<br />

Summit tagged “Moody’s<br />

Emerging Markets Series.<br />

The US-based agency<br />

will be having its fourth<br />

Annual West Africa Summit<br />

in Lagos on May 9,<br />

<strong>2018</strong>.<br />

BudgIT demands transparency for N1.4trn fuel subsidy<br />

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE<br />

BudgIT has expressed<br />

dismay at the lack of<br />

accountability and<br />

transparency by the<br />

Federal Government and the<br />

Nigerian National Petroleum<br />

Corporation (NNPC) on the<br />

amount spent on subsidy in<br />

2016, 2017, and the first quarter<br />

of <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

In a statement signed by<br />

Abiola Afolabi, communications<br />

lead, it is in the interest<br />

of the public that detailed<br />

information of the amount<br />

spent on fuel subsidies such<br />

as the beneficiaries, the pricing<br />

template for arriving at<br />

the subsidy rates and the volume<br />

of petroleum products<br />

utilised should be made open<br />

and that these transactions<br />

are carried out transparently.<br />

Minister of state for petroleum<br />

resources, Ibe<br />

Kachikwu, recently disclosed<br />

a total of N1.4 trillion was<br />

being spent annually by the<br />

countries but also on the different<br />

risk in each of these<br />

countries and how to further<br />

reduce risk as well so as to tap<br />

into the huge opportunities in<br />

Africa where return on investment<br />

is hovering at 9 percent<br />

while other emerging markets<br />

at 8.5 percent and the rest of<br />

the world 7 percent.<br />

Osaro Eghobamien, a<br />

managing Partner at Perchstone<br />

& Graeys law firm<br />

stated the failure of Nigeria to<br />

participate in the signing of<br />

the Continental Free Trade<br />

Agreement which obviously<br />

created an awkward position<br />

maintaining that Nigeria<br />

simply suspended the signing<br />

for more informed consultation<br />

domestically.<br />

Eghobamien said, “As a<br />

Lawyer, and if I had the opportunity<br />

I would have advised<br />

the President to sign the<br />

treaty whilst there are wider<br />

consultation before such treaty<br />

is domesticated. It is important<br />

that a certain level of<br />

certainty be introduced into<br />

the African market.”<br />

“Nigeria having participated<br />

in negotiations for a<br />

number of years ought to<br />

have reinforced that participation<br />

by at least signing<br />

without any further commitments<br />

domestically, treaties<br />

are not enforceable until<br />

domesticated,​”​ ​Eghobamien​<br />

added.​<br />

Analyst from Moody’s<br />

will be in attendance to<br />

share insight into the<br />

credit implications of Nigeria’s<br />

gradual economic<br />

recovery and the rebound<br />

in oil prices. Africa’s largest<br />

economy exited its<br />

five-quarter recession in<br />

Q2 2017 following the increase<br />

in global oil prices<br />

and level production.<br />

Oil prices have however<br />

enjoyed a renaissance in<br />

2017, after output curbs by<br />

NNPC as the subsidy for Premium<br />

Motor Spirit (PMS).<br />

This amount is significantly<br />

more than what Nigeria intends<br />

to spend on Education<br />

in the proposed <strong>2018</strong> budget<br />

(N605.8bn).<br />

There is a growing deficit<br />

in trust due to lack of due<br />

process in the NNPC; in<br />

March <strong>2018</strong>, the corporation<br />

announced it spends N774<br />

million daily, roughly N23.99<br />

billion monthly as subsidy<br />

on 50 million litres of PMS<br />

consumed across the country.<br />

The public knows very<br />

little information on the beneficiaries<br />

of the subsidy payments<br />

and control process<br />

instituted to prevent theft of<br />

these funds.<br />

BudgIT notes that the subsidy<br />

payments have been a<br />

contentious issue for the last<br />

30 years. Analysts have called<br />

for its cancellation due to the<br />

lack of accountability and<br />

transparency in the administration<br />

of these funds.<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

R-L: R. Kannan of Hinduja Group, a multibillion company; Emeka Offor of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission;<br />

Bukola Oyinlola -Anuwe, head of Chambers (Abuja office), Perchstone & Graeys, and Osaro Eghobamien, managing partner<br />

at Perchstone & Graeys.<br />

Rural people gain as NCF partners UNOPS, GEF-SGP on communities’ forest<br />

CHUKA UROKO<br />

The Nigerian Conservation<br />

Foundation<br />

(NCF), together with<br />

the United Nations<br />

Office for Project Services<br />

(UNOPS) and Global Environment<br />

Facility, Small Grant<br />

Programme (GEF- SGP), has<br />

boosted sustainable livelihoods<br />

of rural people by helping<br />

their communities’ forest<br />

achieve reducing emissions<br />

from deforestation and forest<br />

degradation (REDD+) goals.<br />

By this action, NCF and<br />

its supporters are re-defining<br />

forest management, conser-<br />

members of the Organisation<br />

of Petroleum Exporting<br />

Countries (OPEC) and<br />

Russia rid the market of<br />

some 1.5 million barrels<br />

daily.<br />

Global benchmark,<br />

Brent crude has gained<br />

some 155 percent since<br />

hitting a decade-low of<br />

$28 per barrel in January<br />

2016, trading at $71.92 per<br />

barrel as of Wednesday,<br />

<strong>April</strong> 11 <strong>2018</strong>, according to<br />

Bloomberg data.<br />

Also, there are arguments<br />

that the subsidy regime constituted<br />

double taxation on<br />

the populace who pay the<br />

actual market price for PMS<br />

due to lack of adequate monitoring<br />

by the Department of<br />

Petroleum Resources (DPR).<br />

According to our Lead<br />

Partner, Oluseun Onigbinde,<br />

“Evidence shows that amount<br />

spent on subsidising PMS is<br />

always riddled with corruption.<br />

We noted this is 2011<br />

prior to the elections and we<br />

are worried this opacity is<br />

preceding the 2019 elections<br />

again. We are worried at the<br />

use of public resources without<br />

legislative appropriation<br />

or requisite transparency ”<br />

BudgIT understands that<br />

NNPC in recent times has<br />

initiated a couple of actions<br />

in trying to meet up with the<br />

global of standards of transparency<br />

and accountability including<br />

actions like publishing<br />

its monthly report on its financial<br />

and operational activities.<br />

vation of landscape and rural<br />

livelihoods in selected forestedge<br />

communities including<br />

Ebok, Kabakken and Ebranta<br />

in Boje, Boki Local Government<br />

Area of Cross River State.<br />

The foundation in a statement<br />

explained that community<br />

forest contributed to<br />

the sustainable livelihoods of<br />

millions of rural people living<br />

in developing nations, adding<br />

that community involvement<br />

had the potential to improve<br />

effectiveness, efficiency and<br />

provide more co-benefits<br />

from REDD+ project.<br />

In 2017, NCF, with the support<br />

of GEF-SGP set up the<br />

community-based REDD+<br />

programme (CBR+) to promote<br />

activities that boost poverty<br />

eradication, promotion of<br />

improved crop varieties and<br />

yields, gender empowerment,<br />

biodiversity conservation and<br />

climate change mitigation<br />

and adaptation.<br />

Through this funding,<br />

Ebok, Kabakken and Ebranta<br />

communities cultivated two<br />

acres of land respectively<br />

with improved cassava stem<br />

cuttings, set-up cassava processing<br />

mills, cultivation and<br />

domestication of Afang (Gnetum<br />

africanum) by community<br />

members and harvesting<br />

of non-timber forest products<br />

(NTFPs) such as bush mango<br />

(Irvingia gabonensis) as part<br />

of efforts to reduce forest loss<br />

through improved agricultural<br />

practices.<br />

Proceeds of the harvest<br />

were shared among women<br />

and youth in the communities<br />

to supplement their income.<br />

In addition to the cassava,<br />

vegetable and NTFPs<br />

cultivation, the three communities<br />

commenced the<br />

cultivation of cocoyam on two<br />

acres each using improved<br />

farming methods and multiplication<br />

of planting materials<br />

(mini-set technology).


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

9


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

10 BUSINESS DAY<br />

C002D5556<br />

COMMENT<br />

comment is free<br />

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com<br />

Women entrepreneurs in an emerging economy running a bankable business (I)<br />

OYINKAN ADEWALE<br />

Mrs. Adewale is Executive Director,<br />

Chief Financial Officer, Union<br />

Bank.<br />

Assessing the viability of your<br />

proposition<br />

While one cannot<br />

undermine the importance<br />

of passion<br />

and determination<br />

on the journey to<br />

success, it is important to assess the<br />

viability of the product or service the<br />

business is built around.<br />

To assess viability, a feasibility<br />

study should be conducted. A<br />

feasibility study is an in-depth examination<br />

of a project’s potential for<br />

success. The goal of the feasibility<br />

study is to determine whether the<br />

project is feasible, taking into consideration<br />

the company’s resources,<br />

the projected cash flow and sustainability<br />

in the long term. A feasibility<br />

study is particularly useful for a<br />

“Greenfield” project – a new project.<br />

However, if the business already exists,<br />

there might be no need for this.<br />

A feasibility study is the foundation<br />

of a business plan as it reviews opportunities<br />

and threats in key areas<br />

including market, organisational<br />

structure and financial projections.<br />

Following a positive result from<br />

the feasibility study, a Business Plan<br />

is required. This plan provides the<br />

communication link between interested<br />

investors and the owner/<br />

promoter of the business. It is a<br />

summary of the businesses direction<br />

and how exactly it intends to<br />

get there. A business plan is a tool<br />

used by business owners to set<br />

To make a business case<br />

attractive, the business<br />

plan should include<br />

details such as the scalability<br />

of the project;<br />

profitability, liquidity;<br />

technology and quality<br />

of management<br />

goals and objectives for the company’s<br />

performance and to communicate<br />

clearly with staff, directors, lenders<br />

and potential investors.<br />

As women entrepreneurs, what<br />

can we do to make our businesses<br />

bankable?<br />

A bankable project/proposal is one<br />

that lenders/investors are willing to<br />

finance. To create a bankable project,<br />

you need to run the numbers; Are<br />

future cash flows – (the net value of<br />

what you receive vs your expenses),<br />

sufficient to repay the loan on time?<br />

When will you break even? Is the<br />

business profitable? You need to<br />

have security; Security should be<br />

adequate/liquid collateral and you<br />

need to stay on the right side of the<br />

law; complying with industry regulations<br />

is key to avoiding fines and a<br />

possible business shutdown.<br />

In addition, it is important to note<br />

that you should separate your company’s<br />

financials from your personal<br />

finances. Personal lifestyles should<br />

not be funded using the capital/<br />

income of the company.<br />

To make a business case attractive,<br />

the business plan should include<br />

details such as the scalability<br />

of the project; profitability, liquidity;<br />

technology and quality of management.<br />

Other important aspects of the<br />

business plan are a clear description<br />

of the market and the value added<br />

proposition which clearly articulates<br />

the uniqueness of the project<br />

or service.<br />

There are several examples of<br />

Nigerian women who have successfully<br />

balanced passion and viability.<br />

These include Banke Meshida-<br />

Lawal, founder of BMPro and Tara<br />

Fela-Durotoye, the founder of House<br />

of Tara who have created a niche for<br />

their brands in the Nigerian fashion<br />

industry. Others are Yewande Zaccheaus<br />

and Funke Bucknor-Obruthe<br />

who also took advantage of the<br />

Lagos party scene to create successful<br />

event management businesses.<br />

These ladies have shown that if you<br />

can identify gaps in the market and<br />

create products to meet the needs of<br />

the customers, you can successfully<br />

turn your passion into a full-fledged<br />

business.<br />

Send reactions to:<br />

comment@businessdayonline.<br />

Expected benefits of debt restructuring, a clincher?<br />

GLENN UBOHMHE<br />

Glenn lives in Lagos<br />

The Federal government,<br />

through the Debt Management<br />

Office (DMO),<br />

recently signalled its intention<br />

and indeed commenced<br />

the restructuring of its total debt<br />

portfolio with a view to securing<br />

an “optimal” mix of local and foreign<br />

debt components. The scope<br />

of the exercise involves refinancing<br />

part of the existing local debt<br />

with proceeds of new Eurobond<br />

issue as well as preference for<br />

foreign currency loans in financing<br />

budget deficit up to a defined<br />

“optimal” threshold of about<br />

60/40 per cent share respectively<br />

from 73.36/26.64 percent as at<br />

December 2017.<br />

The economic rationale for a<br />

sizeable mix of foreign debt component<br />

in the total debt stock is<br />

quite tantalizing, not difficult to<br />

measure and seem to make a great<br />

deal of sense. One of the overarching<br />

objectives for embarking on<br />

debt restructuring, as outlined by<br />

the DMO, is to reduce the huge<br />

interest burden on debt servicing<br />

occasioned by high interest rates<br />

in the domestic market. An extraction<br />

debt service cost can easily<br />

be made from the <strong>2018</strong> budget<br />

in order to put the argument in<br />

perspective - N1.76 trillion was<br />

earmarked as interest payment on<br />

domestic public debt in addition<br />

to interest on external public debt<br />

of N254 billion. These are mind<br />

boggling sums for debt servicing<br />

alone. Other key extenuating<br />

factors for this policy direction<br />

centre on the need to taper the<br />

size of government participation<br />

in the domestic debt market for<br />

enhanced accessibility by the<br />

private sector, moderate heightened<br />

pressure on interest rates<br />

which government borrowing<br />

usually precipitates and also<br />

boost foreign reserves through<br />

capital account component.<br />

These are very compelling arguments,<br />

indeed.<br />

However, there are more<br />

forceful countervailing arguments<br />

why the decision to ramp<br />

up our foreign debt may be<br />

counter-productive as there are<br />

plausible reasons why the eventual<br />

policy outcome may veer<br />

off markedly from expectations.<br />

To start with, the assertion that<br />

a switch from local to foreign<br />

debt will reflect in reduced cost<br />

of debt servicing is somewhat<br />

tenuous. That assertion would<br />

be correct if the naira equivalent<br />

of total debt stock is not significantly<br />

higher, or even less, postrestructuring.<br />

True, government<br />

will appropriate the benefit of interest<br />

rate differentials between<br />

domestic and international debt<br />

markets debt on the substituted<br />

portion of local debt but as long<br />

as the total debt stock trends<br />

upwards, budget allocation for<br />

interest servicing may not reduce.<br />

Therefore, what is required<br />

to sustainably manage interest<br />

and overall debt burden is a<br />

more frontal strategy of reverence<br />

for fiscal discipline - 26%<br />

allocation for debt servicing as<br />

projected in the <strong>2018</strong> budget<br />

is inimical to growth (please<br />

reserve your comment on debt<br />

to GDP ratio). It is against this<br />

backdrop that the admonition<br />

by Abraham Lincoln on March<br />

4, 1843 to the people of Illinois<br />

fittingly finds expression - “the<br />

system of loans is but temporary in<br />

its nature and must soon explode.<br />

It is not only ruinous while it lasts,<br />

but one that must soon fail and<br />

leave us destitute. As an individual<br />

who undertakes to live by borrowing<br />

soon found his original means<br />

devoured by interest and next, no<br />

one left to borrow from, so must it<br />

be with government”.<br />

A perceptive appreciation of<br />

Lincoln’s statement should nudge<br />

us towards some sort of enlightened<br />

introspection. Rather than a<br />

blanket rebuttal of the crucial role<br />

that debt plays in financing critical<br />

infrastructure, Lincoln’s statement<br />

is more pointedly a rebuke of<br />

unbridled accumulation of debt.<br />

Debt-to-asset transformation is an<br />

ideal but sometimes such transformation<br />

is illusory especially in a<br />

jurisdiction where public accountability<br />

is in short supply and where<br />

consumerism takes precedence<br />

over labour-for-posterity.<br />

Again from another and crucially<br />

important perspective is<br />

the potential risk factor of excessive<br />

foreign currency exposure.<br />

Significant foreign currency loan<br />

exposes the economy to external<br />

shocks and creates vulnerabilities<br />

that could upend macroeconomic<br />

stability. Low interest rate has<br />

often underpinned excessive exposure<br />

to foreign currency borrowings<br />

(whether by the private<br />

or public sector) and constitutes<br />

a key trigger to most financial<br />

and macroeconomic crises – the<br />

Emerging Market Economic (EME)<br />

of 1997 and the more recent Greek<br />

debt crises are classic reference<br />

points. Therefore, the bias for<br />

foreign currency loan (and debt<br />

in general in this instance) may<br />

not be an optimal one, if there is<br />

no sustainable strategy around it<br />

and developmental outcome is by<br />

every stretch doubtful.<br />

Understandably, the size of<br />

government borrowing from the<br />

domestic debt market could potentially<br />

influence the direction<br />

of interest rates but it is by no<br />

means the only factor. The level<br />

of money supply in the economy,<br />

inflation, exchange rate, overall<br />

external stability and other macroeconomic<br />

factors feature prominently<br />

in determining interest<br />

rates trajectory. Substitution of<br />

local debt with foreign debt will<br />

not reduce money supply. In fact,<br />

foreign currency borrowing exerts<br />

more expansionary impact on the<br />

monetary base in this particular<br />

instance.<br />

Given this scenario, what will<br />

therefore be the likely policy response<br />

by the monetary authority<br />

to excess system liquidity induced<br />

by fiscal expansion as is currently<br />

the case? Other variables to bear<br />

in mind include economic imperatives<br />

and political expediency<br />

of maintaining stable exchange<br />

rate in or close to an election<br />

year, accentuation of demand for<br />

the greenback to oil the political<br />

machines, heightened political<br />

risk perception by investors as<br />

we approach the forthcoming<br />

elections, the possible reversals of<br />

foreign portfolio investments and<br />

ultimately the potential adverse<br />

impact on foreign reserves. It will<br />

be interesting to see the reaction<br />

of the monetary and macroprudential<br />

authority – the CBN.<br />

In my view, the monetary authority<br />

is most likely to maintain<br />

its liquidity sterilisation policy<br />

using both conventional and<br />

non-conventional tools based on<br />

aforementioned reasons and also<br />

sustain relatively attractive premium<br />

on yields to retain foreign<br />

investments and mop up excess<br />

system liquidity.<br />

Notably, the pervasive influence<br />

of international oil price<br />

will also weigh considerably in<br />

determining the direction of<br />

interest rates. This brings into<br />

sharp focus the immediate threat<br />

to crude oil price in the ensuing<br />

geo-economic tariff war between<br />

US and China. While the impact<br />

of the impending trade war (if<br />

elevated beyond rhetoric) on<br />

Nigeria’s non-oil trade balance<br />

is yet unclear, a depressed global<br />

trade arising from tariff war could<br />

have far reaching consequences<br />

on global output and by implication<br />

global oil demand and<br />

Nigeria’s external balance. In that<br />

event, policy intervention will<br />

be required to increase capital<br />

account buffer for improved reserves<br />

with recourse to attractive<br />

yield on domestic market instruments<br />

to spur foreign inflows in<br />

order to achieve external balance<br />

objective. In the final analysis,<br />

CBN’s response with respect to<br />

rates will largely depend on prioritisation<br />

of policy choices but<br />

my bet is that rates are not likely<br />

to trend down below the current<br />

corridor, in the short to medium<br />

term. Therefore, debt restructuring<br />

may not have the desired<br />

impact on domestic interest rate<br />

as envisaged.<br />

As matter of agreeable necessity,<br />

finding that optimal debt mix<br />

may become secondary if fiscal<br />

prudence takes centre stage in<br />

resource management. In conclusion,<br />

since there is no one-handed<br />

economist like Harry Truman<br />

(a former American president)<br />

famously quipped, I will also<br />

conclude this article by saying<br />

that debt restructuring may be<br />

beneficial on the one hand but on<br />

the other hand there are potential<br />

risks especially if there is the developmental<br />

impact is hazy. We<br />

may end up in another (foreign)<br />

debt trap without realising the<br />

much envisaged benefits of debt<br />

restructuring.<br />

Send reactions to:<br />

comment@businessdayonline.com


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

COMMENT<br />

SOJI APAMPA<br />

Olusoji Apampa is the CEO of The<br />

Convention on Business Integrity.<br />

Nigeria has grown her<br />

economy about 100<br />

times the size it was in<br />

1960. Thanks to the rebasing<br />

of the economy,<br />

from the US$4bn GDP in 1960, by<br />

2016 the GDP was some US$402bn.<br />

Has the “Giant of Africa” not done<br />

well? Before we pop the champagne<br />

though, let’s get a frame of reference.<br />

How well has her rival, South<br />

Africa, done? In 1960, South Africa’s<br />

GDP was US$7.2bn and by 2016 it<br />

had grown to some US$296bn. On<br />

the face of it therefore, Nigeria has<br />

done extremely well? But, if Nigeria<br />

has done so much better than South<br />

Africa, why do Nigerians feel so<br />

much poorer on average than South<br />

Africans?<br />

Let’s broaden the field a little<br />

more to add Singapore into the mix.<br />

Nigerian leaders admire Lee Kwan<br />

Yew and in his famous book, From<br />

Third World to First, he makes some<br />

reference to Nigeria in the 1960s and<br />

how well or not she has turned out on<br />

certain dimensions. So, where was<br />

Singapore in 1960? Her GDP was a<br />

mere US$0.7bn, which had grown<br />

impressively to US$296bn by 2016,<br />

on a par with South Africa’s GDP.<br />

So, if her GDP is less than Nigeria’s<br />

DAN STEINBOCK<br />

Dr Dan Steinbock is the founder of<br />

Difference Group and has served as<br />

research director at the India, China<br />

and America Institute (USA) and visiting<br />

fellow at the Shanghai Institutes<br />

for International Studies (China) and<br />

the EU Center (Singapore). For more,<br />

see http://www.differencegroup.net/<br />

For a year, President Trump<br />

has promoted global division<br />

and trade friction,<br />

while China has defended<br />

global trade and cooperation. It<br />

is time to defend the open, global<br />

economy.<br />

If President Xi Jinping’s speech<br />

was highly anticipated in the Boao<br />

Forum, it was even more eagerly<br />

waited in Washington and Wall<br />

Street, as trade tensions have begun<br />

to penalize US markets.<br />

In his keynote speech, Xi urged<br />

countries to “stay committed to<br />

openness, connectivity and mutual<br />

benefits, build an open global<br />

economy, and reinforce cooperation<br />

within the G-20, APEC and<br />

other multilateral frameworks.”<br />

The ultimate goal is to make economic<br />

globalization “more open,<br />

inclusive, balanced and beneficial<br />

to all.”<br />

Xi presented plans to further<br />

C002D5556<br />

Nigeria is turning a very gentle corner<br />

but equal to South Africa’s why are<br />

Singaporeans now “First World”,<br />

South Africans said to be living in an<br />

“Emerging Economy” and Nigerians<br />

classified as belonging to a “Frontier<br />

Market”?<br />

Definitions abound at the ‘University<br />

of Google:’First World economies<br />

are assumed to be capitalist,<br />

industrialised and developed,<br />

amongst other things. Emerging<br />

Economies are considered to be<br />

moving rapidly towards Frist World<br />

status by reason of steady growth,<br />

development and industrialization<br />

while Frontier Markets are described<br />

as a type of developing<br />

country that is more developed<br />

than the least developed, but still<br />

too small to be generally considered<br />

Emerging Economies. By now, it<br />

should be clear to us that raw GDP<br />

numbers often quoted at us, are not<br />

sufficient to describe how wealthy<br />

the citizens of a country should feel<br />

as a result. But having said that,<br />

South Korea with a GDP of US$4bn<br />

was perhaps the closer one to Nigeria’s<br />

in 1960 and should be a more<br />

acceptable frame of reference. By<br />

2016, the GDP of South Korea had<br />

grown to US$1.4tr and we should not<br />

have to debate whether or not South<br />

Koreans should feel much less poor<br />

than Nigerians.<br />

Perhaps a better measure is GDP<br />

per Capita (or per head of population).<br />

This is perhaps more telling. In<br />

1960, Nigeria’s GDP per capita was<br />

US$93, South Africa’s was US$435,<br />

Singapore’s US$428 and South Korea’s,<br />

US$158. By 2016 the figures<br />

were Nigeria US$2,200, South Africa<br />

US$5,300, Singapore US$53,000<br />

(competing with that of the United<br />

States) and South Korea, US$27,500.<br />

By this measure, it is clearer why Sin-<br />

Time to safeguard global free trade<br />

open up the Chinese economy,<br />

including lower import tariffs<br />

for autos and other products,<br />

enforcement of the legal intellectual<br />

property of foreign firms,<br />

and improving the investment<br />

environment for international<br />

companies.<br />

It was a balancing act that<br />

highlighted China’s goal to safeguard<br />

open global economy, even<br />

amid Trump’s trade wars.<br />

Trump’s trade war<br />

In early March, President<br />

Trump introduced a global tariff<br />

of 24 percent on steel imports,<br />

while launching a 10 percent duty<br />

on all aluminum entering the US.<br />

On March 22, Trump directed<br />

his administration to make a<br />

case against Chinese technology<br />

licensing in the WTO, launched<br />

a slate of tariffs at $50 billion on<br />

Chinese products and proposed<br />

to step up restrictions on Chinese<br />

investment in key US technologies.<br />

That’s when China, in response<br />

to US steel and aluminum<br />

tariffs, imposed tariffs on $3 billion<br />

worth of US goods.<br />

On <strong>April</strong> 2, China imposed tariffs<br />

of up to 25 percent on 128 US<br />

products, in response to steel and<br />

aluminum tariffs. The next day,<br />

the US proposed tariffs on $50<br />

billion worth of Chinese electronics.<br />

Afterwards, China launched<br />

$50 billion in tariffs on more US<br />

products, including soybeans,<br />

cars and chemicals. And on <strong>April</strong><br />

5, Trump said he was considering<br />

an additional $100 billion in tariffs<br />

Nigeria regularly gives the<br />

impression the success she<br />

is capable of is imminent,<br />

but onlookers are often<br />

frustrated by how long it<br />

appears to be taking for this<br />

success to materialise.<br />

gaporeans should feel First World. The<br />

difference comes when the raw GDP is<br />

spread over the population, which for<br />

Singapore with its 5.6 million people<br />

in 2016 (up from 1.6 million in 1960)<br />

gives a better impact per person than<br />

South Africa with the same GDP in<br />

2016 but a population of 56 million<br />

people. So, is population a main differentiator?<br />

Yes, but not the only one.<br />

Nigeria’s population has grown<br />

from 43 million in 1960 to 186 million<br />

in 2016 while South Korea grew from<br />

25 million to 51 million in the same<br />

period. It is tempting to conclude that<br />

once you limit the population growth,<br />

everyone would feel much wealthier.<br />

But South Korea and South Africa<br />

have similar population sizes today<br />

against China.<br />

With substantial geopolitical<br />

leeway, Trump is also playing<br />

targeted countries against each<br />

other. That’s why he has granted<br />

“initial exemptions” to US NAFTA<br />

partners, Mexico and Canada, and<br />

“temporary exemptions” to the EU,<br />

South Korea and others on steel<br />

and aluminum tariffs.<br />

Over a year ago at Davos, President<br />

Xi Jinping stressed the need<br />

for global cooperation to sustain<br />

global recovery. In a trade war,<br />

he said, “no one will emerge as a<br />

winner.”<br />

In the White House, that wisdom<br />

got lost in translation. Now<br />

the only question is how costly that<br />

policy mistake will prove.<br />

Costly consequences<br />

President Trump may be in for a<br />

cruel awakening. For now, the economic<br />

impact on Chinese companies<br />

and banks is still limited. The<br />

US accounts for only 15 percent of<br />

China’s goods exports, and China’s<br />

domestic activity - not net exports<br />

anymore - now fuels its economic<br />

growth. US economy will carry a<br />

substantial burden, however.<br />

Second, Trump’s unilateral<br />

tariffs will soon begin to hit hard<br />

the constituencies that were vital<br />

for his triumph in 2016 and who<br />

remain critical to Republicans in<br />

the fall mid-term elections. These<br />

farmers and blue-collar voters gave<br />

Trump a mandate to negotiate better<br />

terms with US trade partners,<br />

but not a carte blanche, and certainly<br />

not a license for a trade war.<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

11<br />

comment is free<br />

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com<br />

yet South Korea is much wealthier<br />

simply because it grew its economy<br />

many multiples faster than its population<br />

rose. At the end of the day, a<br />

large, wealthy population is an asset<br />

to countries like the US and China<br />

and had Nigeria kept pace with its<br />

1960 classmate, South Korea, and<br />

grown its economy similarly, its GDP<br />

per capita would have been between<br />

US$7,500 and US$8,000.<br />

In Global Competitiveness Rankings,<br />

Nigeria is believed to be challenged<br />

by inadequate infrastructure,<br />

corruption, poor access to financing,<br />

political instability and inefficient<br />

government bureaucracy not just a<br />

large population (which really ought<br />

to be an asset). Could this be why<br />

development and industrialization<br />

are severely challenged too? Nigeria<br />

grew on average by more than<br />

4% year-on-year between 2006 and<br />

2014 inclusive. This growth was not<br />

inclusive (code for not felt by the<br />

ordinary people) because to them<br />

it was nothing more than accounting<br />

entries on the basis of oil sales.<br />

Nigeria is now turning the corner by<br />

de-emphasizing oil and emphasizing<br />

other sectors like agriculture,<br />

mining, ICT, services and so on.<br />

Nigeria regularly gives the impression<br />

the success she is capable<br />

of is imminent, but onlookers are<br />

China is the largest customer<br />

for America’s farm surplus at<br />

over $20 billion per year. Since<br />

US farm groups have greatly benefited<br />

from the reduction of trade<br />

barriers over time, there is an<br />

unease across the US heartland<br />

that Trump’s tariffs could upend<br />

decades of progress. Even worse, if<br />

trade friction worsens with NAFTA<br />

and EU partners, US farmers<br />

would take hits from all directions.<br />

Third, as US sovereign debt<br />

now exceeds $20.7 trillion (107%<br />

of GDP) and Trump’s infrastructure<br />

initiative is fueled by recordhigh<br />

leverage, trade war is undermining<br />

America’s critical revenue<br />

sources.<br />

Fourth, Trump’s trade war is<br />

escalating at a time when even<br />

rising interest rates can no longer<br />

ensure a strong dollar, and petroyuan<br />

is on the ascend. Moreover,<br />

with $1.2 trillion of US debt, China<br />

remains the largest foreign holder<br />

of US Treasuries. And it also has<br />

$3.1 trillion of foreign exchange<br />

reserves.<br />

Fifth, if Trump proceeds in<br />

the trade war path, he would undermine<br />

US ties with its NAFTA<br />

partners, alienate EU allies while<br />

undercutting US alliances with<br />

the rest of its trade and security<br />

partners in Asia. Over time, that<br />

would undermine not just trade,<br />

but investment and finance with<br />

America’s biggest economic partners<br />

in North America, Western<br />

Europe and East Asia.<br />

Sixth, global growth prospects<br />

often frustrated by how long it appears<br />

to be taking for this success<br />

to materialise. At the just concluded<br />

Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, during<br />

the debate moderated by The Africa<br />

Report, the Executive Secretary of the<br />

Nigeria Investment Promotion Council,<br />

Ms. Yewande Sadiku was asked,<br />

“Has Nigeria turned a corner away<br />

from oil towards diversification of her<br />

economy?” It was a very memorable<br />

response she gave: “Nigeria is turning<br />

a very gentle corner away from oil,<br />

not a sharp corner. You won’t see the<br />

changes overnight but we’re on the<br />

right track.”<br />

Indications that we are on the<br />

right track could be characterized by<br />

greater investments in infrastructure<br />

(preferably by the private sector);<br />

greater effort to prevent corruption<br />

by strengthening business and public<br />

integrity; the consequent attractiveness<br />

of Nigerian firms/Nigeria to<br />

international capital (e.g. via private<br />

equity firms); smooth political transitions<br />

continuing in 2019 and beyond<br />

(preferably with governments having<br />

a higher ratio of professionals to<br />

politicians than we have had); and, a<br />

reduction in government red tape (e.g<br />

by further improving on our Ease of<br />

Doing Business rankings). If I were to<br />

sum this up in one indicator, it would<br />

be that the average citizen is enabled<br />

raise his/her income sustainably,<br />

year-on-year, regardless of what part<br />

of the country s/he operates in.<br />

What do you think? Has Nigeria<br />

turned a corner in the direction you<br />

are expecting?<br />

Send reactions to:<br />

comment@businessdayonline.com<br />

are not immune to the trade war.<br />

Before Trump’s tariffs, global<br />

investment flows remained well<br />

behind their peak a decade ago.<br />

World export volumes reached a<br />

plateau already in early 2015. In finance,<br />

global cross-border capital<br />

flows have declined by a 65 percent<br />

since 2007.<br />

Prohibitive lessons<br />

For now, the damage of the<br />

Trump tariffs is still reparable and<br />

reversible. However, the net effect<br />

of further escalation would result<br />

in critical erosion in global investment,<br />

trade, and finance. That has<br />

potential to derail the fragile global<br />

economic recovery and disrupt<br />

international supply chains.<br />

In that case, four decades of bilateral<br />

confidence-building could<br />

be undermined in four weeks and<br />

mistrust would soon spread to<br />

US relations with its partners in<br />

Americas, Western Europe and<br />

East Asia.<br />

In that path, there is a historical<br />

precedent. After the US economy<br />

drifted into the Great Depression<br />

in the 1930s, Washington<br />

enacted the Smoot-Hawley Tariff<br />

Act, which led the way to tit-for-tat<br />

retaliation, and ultimately paved<br />

the way to much worse.<br />

Trump’s unilateral tariff war is<br />

on the wrong side of history.<br />

•The original, slightly shorter<br />

version was published by China<br />

Daily on <strong>April</strong> 10, <strong>2018</strong><br />

Send reactions to:<br />

comment@businessdayonline.com


12 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

Editorial<br />

PUBLISHER/CEO<br />

Frank Aigbogun<br />

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF<br />

Prof. Onwuchekwa Jemie<br />

EDITOR<br />

Anthony Osae-Brown<br />

DEPUTY EDITORS<br />

John Osadolor, Abuja<br />

Bill Okonedo<br />

NEWS EDITOR<br />

Patrick Atuanya<br />

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,<br />

SALES AND MARKETING<br />

Kola Garuba<br />

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS<br />

Fabian Akagha<br />

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DIGITAL SERVICES<br />

Oghenevwoke Ighure<br />

ADVERT MANAGER<br />

Adeola Ajewole<br />

MANAGER, SYSTEMS & CONTROL<br />

Emeka Ifeanyi<br />

HEAD OF SALES, CONFERENCES<br />

Rerhe Idonije<br />

SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER<br />

Patrick Ijegbai<br />

CIRCULATION MANAGER<br />

John Okpaire<br />

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North)<br />

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan<br />

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South)<br />

Ignatius Chukwu<br />

HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES<br />

Adeola Obisesan<br />

$Ibn to fight insurgency: National Assembly must stand firm against<br />

Late December last<br />

year, the government<br />

announced that the<br />

National Economic<br />

Council has approved<br />

$1 billion to be spent by the<br />

federal government from the<br />

Excess Crude Account to fight<br />

Boko Haram insurgency in the<br />

Northeast region – the same<br />

Boko Haram the government<br />

and the army repeatedly assured<br />

it had defeated technically,<br />

had been dislodged from<br />

their stronghold of Sambisa<br />

forest and which no longer controls<br />

an inch of Nigeria’s territory<br />

but whose remnant and<br />

fleeing members could only<br />

attack soft targets. For added<br />

measure, the Chairman of the<br />

governor’s forum, Abdulaziz<br />

Yari, told the media the governors<br />

of the 36 states of Nigeria<br />

approved the withdrawal even<br />

though Ekiti state governor, Ayo<br />

Fayose denied ever agreeing to<br />

such plan.<br />

We queried the decision on<br />

the following grounds: First, the<br />

money in the Excess Crude Account<br />

belong to the three tiers of<br />

government (the federal, state<br />

and local governments) and by<br />

extension the entire citizenry.<br />

The federal and state governments<br />

or more appropriately,<br />

their executives alone cannot<br />

decide on what to do with it to<br />

the exclusion of the local governments<br />

and especially the<br />

representatives of the people.<br />

It is not some personal money;<br />

therefore the governors have no<br />

right to grant permission to the<br />

federal government to use it for<br />

whatever purpose without due<br />

process. Secondly, when have the<br />

National Economic Council and<br />

the Governor’s forum become<br />

a legislative institution with the<br />

power of the purse when there is<br />

a legitimate National Assembly<br />

in place and constitutionally assigned<br />

to perform that function?<br />

Three, the government has already<br />

proposed to spend another<br />

N422 billion (the second highest<br />

in the proposed budget) for Defence<br />

in the <strong>2018</strong> budget. Why<br />

another $1 billion for fighting an<br />

already defeated enemy? Fourth,<br />

if the government’s decision is to<br />

rebuild the region affected by the<br />

insurgency, there already exist<br />

several interventions being undertaken<br />

in the Northeast both by<br />

government and the private sector<br />

including the Presidential Initiative<br />

in the North East (PINE),<br />

whose money the sacked Secretary<br />

to the Federal Government<br />

helped himself and his associates<br />

generously to, the Northeast Development<br />

Agency, private sector<br />

led Northeast fund, interventions<br />

by national and international<br />

Non-Governmental Organisations,<br />

the dedicated focus by the<br />

World Bank as requested by the<br />

president; all targeted at rebuilding<br />

the region.<br />

We concluded that the decision<br />

was fraught with many irregularities<br />

and impunity and<br />

the National Assembly must not<br />

allow it to pass. We were therefore<br />

taken aback when, last week,<br />

the Minister of Defence informed<br />

the nation at the end of a meeting<br />

the president had with security<br />

chiefs at the Presidential Villa<br />

that the president has approved<br />

the release of $1 billion for the<br />

procurement of security equipment<br />

to fight insurgency in the<br />

country without recourse to<br />

the National Assembly. That<br />

unilateral action would have<br />

meant officially, Nigeria is no<br />

longer a democracy. Thankfully,<br />

the gravity of the situation<br />

was brought to the notice<br />

of the president who, through<br />

his Senior Special Assistant<br />

on National Assembly matters<br />

(Senate), Senator Ita Enang,<br />

denounced the news insisting<br />

that the president could not<br />

have unilaterally approved<br />

the sum, for spending, without<br />

appropriation by the National<br />

Assembly. Senator Enang said<br />

“the President said his administration<br />

was also conscious of<br />

the provision of Sections 4 and<br />

5 of the 2017 Appropriation<br />

Act (relating to Excess Crude<br />

Account). Therefore, the matter<br />

of the security fund is still<br />

undergoing standard processes<br />

for laying before the National<br />

Assembly for appropriation.”<br />

We are relieved that the presidency<br />

has retracted the story<br />

or has been forced to backtrack<br />

from the illegal action.<br />

Like we have argued before,<br />

the lack of clarity and accountability<br />

in the release and utilisation<br />

of funds to prosecute the<br />

war on insurgency is beginning<br />

to expose the farce that is the<br />

war on terror. It appears, like<br />

many informed analysts and<br />

watchers of events in Nigeria<br />

have been insinuating, that<br />

there’s a huge industry sustaining<br />

the war on Boko Haram and<br />

ensuring the war never ends.<br />

We still demand that the National<br />

Assembly should refuse<br />

and insist on the government<br />

not touching any funds from the<br />

Excess Crude Account without its<br />

approval. Before such approval<br />

is granted, the government must<br />

come clean on the state of the war<br />

on terror, the particular items and<br />

programmes it needs funds for<br />

and also exhaustively account for<br />

all previous funds approved for<br />

the war. Just like the government<br />

has been regaling us with tales of<br />

how the previous administration<br />

used the funds meant for buying<br />

weapons to prosecute the 2015<br />

elections, we may not be surprise<br />

to learn, after the tenure of this<br />

administration, that similar or<br />

worse practices were perpetrated<br />

under this administration.<br />

It is time the National Assembly<br />

act to prevent a few individuals<br />

from continually looting of the<br />

commonwealth in the name of<br />

fighting a non-existent war on<br />

terror.<br />

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD<br />

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Imo Itsueli<br />

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Funke Osibodu<br />

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Dayo Lawuyi<br />

Vincent Maduka<br />

Wole Obayomi<br />

Maneesh Garg<br />

Keith Richards<br />

Opeyemi Agbaje<br />

Amina Oyagbola<br />

Bolanle Onagoruwa<br />

Fola Laoye<br />

Chuka Mordi<br />

Sim Shagaya<br />

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Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

MoneyInsight<br />

C002D5556<br />

<strong>13</strong><br />

Personal Finance: Investing Retirement Taxes Credit Cards Home Buying Small Business Shopping Financing<br />

Facebook wants users to earn<br />

money exposing data abuses<br />

FRANK ELEANYA<br />

Users on Facebook<br />

can now<br />

earn a reward<br />

when they<br />

identify and<br />

report malicious platform<br />

apps collecting data and<br />

another person abusing it.<br />

Facebook is calling it the<br />

Data Abuse Bounty.<br />

“We want to protect our<br />

users’ data from malicious<br />

abuse of trust,” the company<br />

wrote in a blog post.<br />

“This means protecting it<br />

via finding and fixing security<br />

vulnerabilities, but also<br />

from third party companies<br />

or apps buying or collecting<br />

their data through other<br />

means barred by our terms.<br />

This program is to encourage<br />

and reward people for<br />

helping Facebook identify<br />

and stop anyone involved<br />

in this practice.”<br />

On Monday, Facebook<br />

revealed that about 271,469<br />

data belonging to Nigerians<br />

on Facebook, whose<br />

friends would have installed<br />

the ‘This is Your Digital<br />

Life’ app, were exposed to<br />

the Cambridge Analytica<br />

data breach. Meanwhile, 78<br />

Facebook users in Nigeria<br />

installed the app on their<br />

phone.<br />

In a statement Business-<br />

Day received, Facebook said<br />

the disclosure is to encourage<br />

people to manage the<br />

apps they use.<br />

“We already show people<br />

what apps their accounts<br />

are connected to and control<br />

what data they have<br />

permitted those apps to<br />

use through app settings,” a<br />

spokesperson for Facebook<br />

said. “We are putting a link<br />

at the top of people’s News<br />

Stakeholders advocate single digit franchise funding<br />

Franchise Business Development<br />

Services<br />

(FBDS) has made case<br />

for the creation of access to<br />

single digit franchise funding<br />

to enable the development<br />

and expansion of the critical<br />

sub-sector of the economy.<br />

This was a crucial takeaway<br />

from the recent Franchise<br />

Matchmaking Investment<br />

forum recently held in<br />

Lagos, the second of its kind<br />

by FBDS –the pioneer franchise<br />

consulting company in<br />

Nigeria.<br />

The event highlighted the<br />

nitty-gritty of franchise investment<br />

procedures, pointing<br />

to the fact, if properly harnessed;<br />

franchise businesses<br />

have the potentials to create<br />

Feeds to make sure that everyone<br />

sees it. Furthermore,<br />

it is important for us to tell<br />

people if and how their data<br />

may have been accessed via<br />

This is Your Digital Life.”<br />

Last week, the company<br />

had revealed that the data<br />

of about 87 million users on<br />

its platform were harvested<br />

without authorisation by<br />

Cambridge Analytica (CA).<br />

Users in the United States<br />

accounted for over 70 million<br />

(about 97 percent) of<br />

the data breach while 16<br />

million of the total number<br />

of users affected came<br />

from countries outside the<br />

United States. The countries<br />

listed were Philippines, UK,<br />

Indonesia, United Kingdom,<br />

Mexico, Canada, India,<br />

Brazil, Vietnam and<br />

Australia.<br />

The press release from<br />

Facebook does not say<br />

whether Nigeria is part of<br />

the remaining 16 million users<br />

outside the United States<br />

or that more than 87 million<br />

could have been affected.<br />

The company however<br />

said it is taking numerous<br />

measures.<br />

“One of those being that<br />

everyone globally on their<br />

Facebook page will see an<br />

alert leading them to the<br />

apps setting where they<br />

can review the apps they<br />

have allowed to access their<br />

data. Additionally, those<br />

potentially impacted by CA<br />

will also see the alert which<br />

will then take them to see<br />

what data might have been<br />

shared,” Facebook noted.<br />

Nigerians, who want to<br />

find out whether their data<br />

were shared by with Cambridge<br />

Analytica, can look<br />

out for a link named ‘protecting<br />

your information’<br />

link at the top of their news<br />

Tundun Adreribigbe, COO, House of Tara speaking at the event, held in Lagos, recently.<br />

over 500,000 new jobs in the<br />

next four years in Nigeria.<br />

The event featured sessions<br />

by experts from the<br />

industry who discussed exhaustively<br />

on how to manage<br />

a franchise and drive profit in<br />

feed. Following that link,<br />

users will be directed to a<br />

section where they can see<br />

which apps and websites<br />

they have used Facebook<br />

to log into, and remove any<br />

they no longer want connected<br />

to their account.<br />

Above the link, users<br />

who may have been affected<br />

by the data scandal will<br />

see the message: “We have<br />

banned the website ‘This<br />

is Your Digital Life,’ which<br />

one of your friends used<br />

Facebook to log into. We<br />

did this because the website<br />

may have misused some<br />

of your Facebook information<br />

by sharing it with a<br />

company called Cambridge<br />

Analytica.”<br />

In addition, Facebook<br />

has committed to inform<br />

ever user on the platform<br />

from 5pm on Monday,<br />

whether they are among<br />

the 87 million potential users<br />

whose data was shared<br />

with Cambridge Analytica.<br />

The company also<br />

suspended a data analytics<br />

firm called Cubeyou<br />

ahead of an investigation.<br />

Facebook plans to look<br />

into whether Cubeyou collected<br />

data for academic<br />

purposes and then used<br />

it commercially, following<br />

a very competitive business<br />

economy.<br />

Prospective corporate and<br />

individual investors were<br />

taken through the curriculum<br />

by both the organizers and<br />

the franchisors pitching for<br />

a partnership with Cambridge<br />

University in the<br />

UK.<br />

“We will review all legitimate<br />

reports and respond<br />

as quickly as possible<br />

when we identify a<br />

credible threat to people’s<br />

information,” Collin<br />

Greene, head of Product<br />

Security, Facebook. “If we<br />

confirm data abuse, we will<br />

shut down the offending<br />

app and take legal action<br />

against the company selling<br />

or buying the data,<br />

if necessary. We will pay<br />

the person who reported<br />

the issue, and we will also<br />

alert those we believe to be<br />

affected.”<br />

The company also said<br />

it will reward people with<br />

first-hand knowledge and<br />

proof of cases where a Facebook<br />

platform app collects<br />

and transfers people’s data<br />

to another party to be sold,<br />

stolen or used for scams or<br />

political influence.<br />

“Just like the bug bounty<br />

program, Facebook will reward<br />

based on the impact<br />

of each report. While there<br />

is no maximum, high impact<br />

bug reports have garnered<br />

as much as $40,000<br />

for people who bring them<br />

to Facebook’s attention,”<br />

prospective investors, on how<br />

they can own their franchised<br />

businesses at virtually no<br />

business failure risks, while<br />

gaining sufficient education<br />

through the sessions, on<br />

losses rather associated with<br />

venturing into new business.<br />

They pointed to such facts as<br />

that franchises have only 5%<br />

failure rate in South Africa,<br />

while start-up businesses record<br />

80% failure rate within<br />

few years in Nigeria.<br />

Chiagozie Nwizu, the<br />

forum’s convener, said it<br />

was part of FBDS’ measure,<br />

to facilitate risk free venturing,<br />

business sustainability,<br />

growth of the enterprise sector<br />

and attraction of Foreign<br />

Direct Investments (FDIs) to<br />

Only 17% customers intend buying<br />

from ecommerce site on first visit<br />

FRANK ELEANYA<br />

Every customer that<br />

visits an ecommerce<br />

website for the first<br />

time did not have buying as<br />

their primary purpose, says<br />

the <strong>2018</strong> Reimagining Commerce<br />

study from Episerver.<br />

The purpose of the first<br />

visit always varies. The report<br />

showed that only 17<br />

percent of customers say they<br />

planned to buy something<br />

the first time they visited the<br />

ecommerce website.<br />

Half of shoppers (50%) see<br />

a product they want to buy and<br />

immediately do so. The rest<br />

of the half start by browsing<br />

sections including sales items<br />

(19%), shipping information<br />

(payment information) (8%),<br />

payment information (6%),<br />

and featured product recommendations<br />

(5%).<br />

Ed Kennedy, director of<br />

Digital Commerce Strategy,<br />

Episerver explained<br />

that majority of consumers<br />

come for something other<br />

than buying a product.<br />

“They come to browse,<br />

look at prices and compare.<br />

There is all these other<br />

journeys that, as retailers,<br />

we have sort of forgotten<br />

about,” Kennedy said.<br />

Most people (95%) abandon<br />

an ecommerce website<br />

without completing their<br />

purchase because of weak<br />

product, store or brand information.<br />

Expensive shipping turned<br />

the economy, through the<br />

franchise business model.<br />

“Franchise Matchmaking<br />

Forum is a quarterly franchise<br />

investor’s forum creating<br />

opportunities where the<br />

franchisor finds qualified<br />

potential franchisees who<br />

meet his brand’s criteria,<br />

and the potential franchisee<br />

meets the franchisor with<br />

a suitable proposition for<br />

his investment interest,” he<br />

said.<br />

The forum also created<br />

a platform for participating<br />

investors to meet and interact<br />

with CEOs of successful<br />

franchise brands, with the<br />

CEOs and Executive representatives<br />

of over 40 local and<br />

foreign franchise brands in<br />

off as much as 60 percent customers<br />

while being unable to<br />

find the exact product on the<br />

online store put off 54 percent.<br />

Price concerns dissuaded 46<br />

percent of customers.<br />

Ed Kennedy also noted<br />

the strong correlation between<br />

the total amount<br />

of traffic to a site and the<br />

amount of traffic that gets to<br />

a product page.<br />

“If you are a retailer with<br />

a large product assortment,<br />

search is going to be key.<br />

How you set up search and<br />

how you set up navigation is<br />

going to be a very critical part<br />

of the buying journey,” Kennedy<br />

said.<br />

The report recommended<br />

that ecommerce owners need<br />

to focus more on personalisation.<br />

For instance, as many as<br />

22 percent of shoppers have<br />

received ads for products<br />

they would never purchase,<br />

while 16 percent have received<br />

similarly misguided<br />

product recommendations.<br />

“We are at the point where<br />

optimised recommendations<br />

are standard across<br />

most ecommerce websites,<br />

so those automated product<br />

recommendations are usually<br />

where the problem comes<br />

in. The algorithms are set up<br />

in a very rudimentary way,<br />

showing me what I recently<br />

viewed or what I recently<br />

purchased. Those are very<br />

basic algorithms that make<br />

a very poor customer experience,”<br />

Kennedy said.<br />

attendance.<br />

Some of the participating<br />

brands included: Meadow<br />

Foods, Chicken Republic,<br />

Rockin Jump, Bakaria, Avis,<br />

Studio24, Sweet Factory,<br />

Coffeeshop Company Tantalizers<br />

PLC; House Of Tara;<br />

Five Senses Schools, Best<br />

Choice, Tolaram Group,<br />

The Toy Store, Yogurt Frenzy<br />

and Innova Pharmacies<br />

to mention a few. While<br />

some of the supporting<br />

organizations included<br />

Lagos State Employment<br />

Trust Fund; Ciuci Consulting,<br />

Enterprise Development<br />

Center; Nigeria Investment<br />

Promotion Commission and<br />

Nigerian American Chamber<br />

of Commerce.


14 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

Policy Investments Market Insight Influencers<br />

INSIGHT<br />

Arnergy pushes for solar power for productive use<br />

ISAAC ANYAOGU<br />

Arnergy Solar Limited,<br />

a solar power<br />

firm providing<br />

solar home system<br />

says its recent<br />

acquisition of an Internet of<br />

Things enabled platform has<br />

put the company’s valuation<br />

at over $50m.<br />

According to a recent release<br />

by the company, the IoT<br />

technology developed along<br />

with its partners offers anyone<br />

who wants to play in the<br />

power sector an opportunity<br />

to do so.<br />

“What we are doing is new<br />

and revolutionary. We have<br />

built a platform to bring everybody<br />

who desires to play<br />

in the sector on board, this<br />

includes: existing solar players,<br />

be it an inverter supplier,<br />

solar panel manufacturers,<br />

even those in oil and gas, can<br />

come together to create a<br />

system that provides power<br />

to our people,” a co-founder<br />

of the firm, Femi Adeyemo.<br />

Adeyemo also said the<br />

opportunity in the off grid<br />

market to power Nigerians is<br />

bigger than what was experi-<br />

Offgrid solar in Nigeria: Enablers and hurdles<br />

Nigeria as a country<br />

is more populous<br />

than the entire<br />

economic bloc<br />

of East African Community<br />

(EAC). Relatedly, Nigeria’s<br />

GDP is 250% of EAC’s GDP<br />

(405 USD & 159 USD [2016<br />

values]). This data paints a<br />

nice portrait of the sheer size<br />

of the Nigerian market from a<br />

sector-agnostic perspective.<br />

But there is a consensus<br />

that Nigeria’s major hurdle<br />

to economic development is<br />

its very poor level of energy<br />

access. Nigeria was recently<br />

ranked as one of the countries<br />

with the worst electricity supply<br />

in the world, according<br />

to a 2017 report by Spectator<br />

Index.<br />

These statistics clearly<br />

outline the enormous potential<br />

and necessity of the energy<br />

investment opportunities<br />

in Nigeria. Especially off grid<br />

solar investment which has<br />

proved to be relatively easy,<br />

affordable and efficiently<br />

scalable.<br />

Consequently, Nigeria’s<br />

promising off grid solar market<br />

has attracted - and continues<br />

to attract - investments,<br />

although real hurdles remain.<br />

Macroeconomic problems,<br />

regulatory constraints and<br />

the typical challenges of a<br />

nascent market are still vis-<br />

enced in the Telecoms sector.<br />

“If the four big operators in<br />

the telecom space has spent<br />

billions and we still have a<br />

lot of places without mobile<br />

network, it means the amount<br />

of money and capacity of enterprises<br />

needed to power Nigeria<br />

is huge,” said Adeyemo.<br />

To achieve this objective,<br />

the company inviting partners<br />

as channel managers who<br />

may not have prior experience<br />

in providing power to become<br />

resellers after acquiring the<br />

system. Resellers can log on to<br />

the portal and monitor power<br />

consumption and connectivity<br />

in real time.<br />

“The good thing is that<br />

we have a platform that is<br />

ible. However, in spite of the<br />

hurdles, market players are<br />

making significant progress.<br />

Off grid solar developments<br />

will be one of the highlighted<br />

topics in this year’s<br />

edition of The Solar Future<br />

Nigeria, the largest solar PV<br />

focused industry event in<br />

Nigeria, which is hosted by<br />

global PV knowledge platform<br />

Solarplaza in Abuja on<br />

the 15th and 16th of May.<br />

Around the world, the<br />

off grid solar space is continuously<br />

being buoyed by<br />

adjacent developments in<br />

technology and consumer<br />

preferences. From the role<br />

of innovative Fintech solutions,<br />

to the progress witnessed<br />

in mobile penetration;<br />

market enablers are<br />

emerging in Nigeria, which<br />

continuously redefines its<br />

frontiers.<br />

One of the most bullish off<br />

grid solar brands in the Nigerian<br />

market is Azuri Technologies.<br />

Their market footprint<br />

perfectly juxtaposes the opportunities<br />

and challenges inherent<br />

in the Nigerian off grid<br />

solar market. Vera Nwanze,<br />

General Manager Azuri Technologies<br />

West Africa says that<br />

“Nigeria is a ready market for<br />

solar energy. On-grid energy<br />

by itself cannot produce and<br />

is not robust enough to sup-<br />

scalable as we see the next<br />

phase of the offgrid market<br />

is to develop solar power for<br />

productive uses,” says a cofounder<br />

of Arnergy Solar Ltd,<br />

Kunle Odebunmi, a trained<br />

accountant.<br />

The company says it has<br />

created flexible pricing options<br />

for different power<br />

needs ranging from 300 watts<br />

to 5KVA which vary depending<br />

on if one is leasing or<br />

paying for our right purchase.<br />

Lease facility for end users<br />

on 300watts is N3,300<br />

monthly, 1KVA system users<br />

pay N12,500 monthly, equivalent<br />

to paying N500 daily for a<br />

petrol generator. The lease for<br />

2KVA system is N18,000 per<br />

port the population growth”.<br />

Nigeria’s population is<br />

projected to reach 400 million<br />

by 2050 which directly<br />

increases the potential size<br />

of the market. Vera explains<br />

that “Government focus is to<br />

improve grid capacity, while<br />

supporting off-grid energy<br />

initiatives.<br />

With a population of about<br />

180 million and over 50%<br />

living without electricity,<br />

Nigeria is the biggest market<br />

in Africa for off-grid solutions.<br />

As a result, the renewable<br />

energy policy was drafted<br />

with an emphasis on diversifying<br />

the energy mix. This has<br />

seen increased interest in the<br />

sector, thereby precipitating<br />

increased investment and<br />

interest”<br />

With evident enablers and<br />

numerous risks as well, how<br />

are market players and current<br />

investors navigating the<br />

path towards profitability?<br />

Nigeria as a country is somewhat<br />

remarkable with policy<br />

ambivalence and even insensitivity<br />

in some cases. Some<br />

economic and non-economic<br />

incentives that off grid investors<br />

vie for (and which are<br />

already given in other African<br />

markets) appear elusive. For<br />

example, market operators<br />

are presently confronting<br />

the Nigerian authorities on a<br />

month, 3KVA goes for N36,000<br />

monthly while 5KVA systems<br />

goes for N69,000 monthly.<br />

End users do not pay additional<br />

cost for maintenance<br />

and replacement of defective<br />

parts. Those who want outright<br />

purchase pay higher for<br />

the system.<br />

“We guarantee between<br />

12-24 hours of power supply<br />

depending on usage, part<br />

of what we teach is energy<br />

efficiency, the era has gone<br />

where you use 60 watts incandescent<br />

bulb or you put on air<br />

conditioners when you are not<br />

around. When you conserve<br />

the power you can better utilse<br />

the system,” says Adeyemo.<br />

On the level of enthusiasm<br />

for the service, Adeymo<br />

said, “We have built a platform<br />

that can accommodate<br />

as much channel partners<br />

as possible. We understand<br />

that some of them may not<br />

have enough technical experience<br />

and we have in-house<br />

training team that trains<br />

channel partners on how to<br />

install and run the system.<br />

We currently have 25 channel<br />

partners in two months<br />

end users are projected to<br />

reach 3,000 in a few months.”<br />

recent increase in import duty<br />

and Value Added Tax (VAT)<br />

on imported solar components<br />

and accessories.<br />

Proponents of the new<br />

policy argue that it is geared<br />

towards encouraging local<br />

manufacturing of solar equipment<br />

while investors believe<br />

it’s a major distortion to current<br />

market prices and existing<br />

cost structures; given the<br />

heavy reliance on imported<br />

components by most off grid<br />

solar companies.<br />

On the key challenges in<br />

the Nigerian market, Azuri<br />

technologies listed “Mobile<br />

money challenges (as<br />

payment option); Lack of<br />

financial support from the<br />

banks; Lack of awareness;<br />

Non-clarity on duty charges<br />

and poor ease of doing business”<br />

as operator constraints.<br />

This is apparent. Since solar<br />

off grid operators began to<br />

leverage Fintech for reaching<br />

previously inaccessible communities<br />

– mainly rural – a<br />

new category of customers<br />

has opened up. But, in spite<br />

of the inherent promise of<br />

technologies such as mobile<br />

money, Nigeria is yet to attain<br />

universal access to mobile<br />

money and its usefulness is<br />

further constrained by limited<br />

user awareness, which<br />

in turn lowers their relevance<br />

Clean Tech Hub, Heinrich Boell Foundation<br />

holds workshop on used batteries<br />

ISAAC ANYAOGU<br />

Many say a downside to<br />

the current growth of<br />

the renewable energy<br />

industry, especially solar adoption<br />

in the country is the that<br />

danger of improper disposal of<br />

used lead acid batteries (ULA-<br />

Bs) constitute to the country.<br />

Nigeria generates over<br />

200,000 tonnes of used acid batteries<br />

every year according to a<br />

research by Reddin Recycling<br />

Industries and many of these<br />

are end up being recycled in the<br />

country by informal recyclers<br />

who seek to extract the lead for<br />

exports outside Nigeria.<br />

However the challenge is<br />

batteries are one of the most<br />

hazardous wastes and constitute<br />

to danger to humans and<br />

the environment.<br />

“The steady growth of the<br />

renewable energy industry in<br />

Nigeria has not only driven<br />

energy access to the unserved<br />

and underserved, but has contributed<br />

to the country’s economic<br />

growth and reduction<br />

in the use of polluting, costly,<br />

inefficient power alternatives<br />

such as petrol/diesel generators<br />

and kerosene lamps,” says<br />

a release by Clean Tech Hub<br />

and the Heinrich Boell Foundation<br />

who are organising a<br />

workshop to discuss ULABs<br />

and utility for scaling off grid<br />

solar operations.<br />

Innovation seems to be<br />

the key answer, and companies<br />

like Azuri are moving<br />

forward with that. The<br />

company says it’s addressing<br />

constraints “with an innovative<br />

product, [such as] an individual<br />

solar home plant via<br />

PayGo as an “instant relief”,<br />

with no need for infrastructure<br />

or centralised planning”<br />

Rightly said: a growing mobile<br />

penetration, aided by Fintech<br />

and Pay As You Go solutions,<br />

typically combine to solve<br />

major challenges for operators.<br />

Specifically problems of<br />

revenue collection and the<br />

operator’s ability to better<br />

structure payments (that are<br />

related to acquisition/usage<br />

of solar products).<br />

Proud of their footprints<br />

in Nigeria, Vera says “With<br />

about one year in Nigeria, in<br />

a strategic partnership with<br />

REA/NDPHC and ASPNL<br />

as our distributor, we can<br />

proudly say that we have<br />

recorded a transformative<br />

presence in 12 Nigerian<br />

states, with deployment of<br />

20,000 individual solar home<br />

systems and entrenching<br />

PayGo as an alternative<br />

which has impacted about<br />

100,000 people and created<br />

over 500 job opportunities,<br />

management.<br />

“However the growing<br />

waste stream of used lead-acid<br />

batteries (ULAB) in the industry<br />

most of which are improperly<br />

disposed of or end up with illegal<br />

smelters and recyclers has<br />

led to growing environmental,<br />

health and safety concerns<br />

threatening the image of the<br />

“clean” energy industry.<br />

“Local and international<br />

organizations, donor agencies,<br />

financiers, civil societies and<br />

stakeholders in the industry<br />

are increasing demanding that<br />

renewable energy companies<br />

show proper management of<br />

ULAB and other potentially<br />

hazardous components.<br />

Clean Tech Hub and the<br />

Heinrich Boell Foundation is<br />

inviting stakeholders to the<br />

Workshop on Standardizing<br />

Best Practices for the Life-Cycle<br />

Management of Used Lead<br />

Acid Batteries (ULAB) for Renewable<br />

Energy Companies.<br />

According to the organisers,<br />

the workshop will highlight<br />

the work of the Heinrich<br />

Boell Foundation over the<br />

past two years in developing<br />

proper ULAB management<br />

for the sector, and propose<br />

standard ULAB management<br />

practices particularly in<br />

disposal and recycling for the<br />

sector. It will be held on <strong>April</strong><br />

17, in Lagos.<br />

especially in the rural communities.”<br />

On the medium term<br />

Azuri hopes to leverage market<br />

enablers “to reach over 1<br />

million households that the<br />

grid can not, or will not, reach<br />

and as such compliment the<br />

grid gaps” and “On the long<br />

term; have a local presence in<br />

Nigeria with a manufacturing<br />

plant for export into the other<br />

West Africa countries.”<br />

With more than 80 million<br />

Nigerians living without<br />

electricity, according to a<br />

World Bank report, the opportunity<br />

for off grid solar<br />

investment is great. The market<br />

will surely gain greater<br />

traction if the government<br />

strives to improve the overall<br />

market conditions. It’s<br />

imperative that the progress<br />

made so far will be sustained<br />

through more friendly regulations<br />

that increase the<br />

ease of doing solar business<br />

in Nigeria. It’s also evident<br />

that consumer awareness<br />

will continue to expand as<br />

operators consistently apply<br />

innovative solutions for<br />

transforming market hurdles<br />

to key enablers.<br />

- Solarplaza, written ahead<br />

of its Solar Future Nigeria<br />

conference which will hold<br />

on May 15, 16, <strong>2018</strong> in Abuja.<br />

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


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 15<br />

FINTECH<br />

News Products Review Technology Review Personality Review Company Review<br />

PRODUCTS REVIEW<br />

Ecobank Mobile app sees 9m transactions in 18 months<br />

Stories by FRANK ELEANYA<br />

Customers in 33<br />

African countries<br />

have processed<br />

nine million<br />

transactions<br />

worth over $1 billion using the<br />

Ecobank Mobile Application.<br />

In an announcement sent<br />

to <strong>BusinessDay</strong> on Monday,<br />

9 <strong>April</strong>, Ecobank said the<br />

achievement is coming barely<br />

eighteen months of the unveiling<br />

of the app.<br />

According to the company,<br />

about 4 million Ecobank<br />

Xpress accounts has been<br />

opened across the Ecobank<br />

Mobile App and USSD platforms.<br />

The Ecobank Mobile App<br />

enables users to transfer money<br />

instantly within the bank<br />

locally or across Africa using a<br />

feature known as the Ecobank<br />

RapidTransfer.<br />

“Consumers may also<br />

make transfers to other local<br />

bank accounts, mobile wallets<br />

and to Visa cardholders using<br />

Visa Direct on the Ecobank<br />

Mobile App,” the bank statement<br />

noted. “The app offers<br />

easy payments using Ecobank<br />

Scan+Pay through Masterpass,<br />

mVisa and Mcash, and<br />

has options to pay utility bills,<br />

school fees, subscriptions,<br />

make donations, buy airtime<br />

instantly and generate payment<br />

tokens using Ecobank<br />

Xpress Cash to do cardless<br />

ATM withdrawals or at an<br />

Ecobank Xpress point.”<br />

<strong>BusinessDay</strong> study finds<br />

that the Ecobank Mobile App<br />

has been downloaded more<br />

than 1 million times and was<br />

last updated on March 10,<br />

<strong>2018</strong> on the Google Play Store.<br />

Ade Ayeyemi, CEO of Ecobank<br />

stated that the bank has<br />

processed almost as many<br />

transactions on the Ecobank<br />

Mobile App in the first few<br />

months of <strong>2018</strong> as they did in<br />

the second half of 2017.<br />

“We aim to be the leading<br />

consumer financial services<br />

franchise in Africa and have<br />

developed a range of products<br />

and services relevant to<br />

meeting the daily banking,<br />

financing, investment and<br />

transactional needs of our<br />

customers,” Patrick Akinwuntan,<br />

group executive, Consumer<br />

Banking of Ecobank<br />

said. “The Ecobank Mobile<br />

App provides easy access to<br />

these services anytime and<br />

anywhere.”<br />

Meanwhile, customer rating<br />

of the Ecobank Mobile App<br />

on the Google Play Store and<br />

Apple Store is 4.0. Majority of<br />

reviews highlighted slowness<br />

and crashing problems with<br />

the latest version of the app.<br />

COMPANY REVIEW<br />

Diamond Bank’s Tech Fest to create opportunities for start-ups<br />

Diamond Bank said it<br />

is organising a Tech<br />

Fest to showcase<br />

technological solutions<br />

for businesses, connect<br />

technology providers with<br />

new markets, provide accessto-market<br />

opportunities for<br />

tech start-ups in Nigeria.<br />

The bank’s CEO Uzoma<br />

Dozie disclosed this at the<br />

launch of the event that is<br />

set for 15 to 16 of May <strong>2018</strong> at<br />

the Landmark Event Center,<br />

Oniru, Lagos.<br />

“Tech Fest for me is a platform<br />

that we can share with<br />

our customers to help them<br />

get the best of technology and<br />

to partner together to run better<br />

businesses,” Uzoma said.<br />

“If there is one thing we have<br />

learned at Diamond, it is that<br />

you cannot do everything on<br />

your own and you need to<br />

collaborate if you are going<br />

to win and be the best at what<br />

you do.”<br />

Diamond is partnering<br />

with MTN, Visa, Microsoft,<br />

NIBSS, Deloitte and Touche,<br />

Interswitch and Beat FM for<br />

the Tech Fest.<br />

Emezino Afiegbe, country<br />

director, Visa, expressed his<br />

excitement at the partnership.<br />

According to him, Visa<br />

will provide support to retail<br />

customers and consumers to<br />

make payment seamlessly,<br />

securely and as quick as possible.<br />

“We believe that if they can<br />

make payment quickly and<br />

safely, we are sure that the<br />

GDP will grow for not just the<br />

country but also prosperity in<br />

the region,” Afiegbe said. “It all<br />

starts here and we are happy<br />

to be part of this journey. We<br />

go into the future.”<br />

Tech Fest is open to all who<br />

want to connect, collaborate<br />

and co-create new ideas that<br />

solve real problem for Nigeria.<br />

“I call it Tech Fest <strong>2018</strong> because<br />

we believe the conversation<br />

will be sustained. Essentially<br />

for us at Interswitch,<br />

it is about curiosity, collaboration,<br />

and co-creation,” Tomi<br />

Ogunlesi, corporate brand<br />

manager, Interswitch said.<br />

“We are happy to work with<br />

Diamond Bank and other<br />

partners to make this happen.”<br />

NEWS<br />

Social video audience in Africa,<br />

ME second-largest in the world<br />

Internet users in Africa and<br />

Middle East account for the<br />

second-largest consumers<br />

of social videos in the world.<br />

The top position goes to people in<br />

Latin America, according to a new<br />

report on Online TV consumption<br />

released by GlobalwebIndex<br />

on Tuesday, 10 <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

The report showed that 67<br />

percent of people in the two<br />

regions have watched a video on<br />

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or<br />

Snapchat in the month of March.<br />

Social TV consumption has<br />

also seen consistent growth in<br />

three years. In 2015 it grew by 38<br />

percent, 2016 by 51 percent and<br />

56 percent in 2017.<br />

While Latin America led the<br />

charts with 71 percent growth,<br />

Europe took the last position<br />

with 44 percent rise. Asia Pacific<br />

(excluding China) saw an increase<br />

of 56 percent, just behind North<br />

America at 57 percent.<br />

GlobalwebIndex predicts that,<br />

should the trend continue, mainstream<br />

TV could easily transfer<br />

over to the social platforms which<br />

many already use for watching<br />

videos.<br />

“Social TV will bring new<br />

opportunities for marketers –<br />

increased reach, more data and<br />

refined targeting,” the authors of<br />

the report noted.<br />

Generally, online TV audiences<br />

are increasing across the<br />

world further shrinking the monopoly<br />

of broadcast. The advent of<br />

online TV has increased flexibility<br />

in choices of TV people watch.<br />

The report found that almost<br />

90 percent of those who watch<br />

catch-up or TV subscription<br />

services also watch broadcast<br />

TV weekly. The number of people<br />

that prefer broadcast alone<br />

has declined to only 10 percent,<br />

whereas only 3 percent express<br />

preference for online TV only.


16 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

C002D5556<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

21<br />

Fighting Lassa: Five lessons from three special hospitals<br />

managing most cases of Lassa fever in Nigeria<br />

CHIBUIKE ALAGBOSO<br />

Nigeria is currently<br />

witnessing<br />

its largest Lassa<br />

Fever outbreak<br />

in history. Since<br />

the first case of the virus was<br />

identified in a missionary nurse<br />

working in the village of Lassa in<br />

Borno State in 1969, cases have<br />

continued to increase in Nigeria,<br />

mostly in the states of Edo,<br />

Ondo, and Ebonyi. The anxiety<br />

associated with cases has created<br />

panic in many parts of the<br />

country and affected hospital<br />

operations across the country.<br />

In tackling this Lassa fever<br />

outbreak, three specialist hospitals<br />

have emerged and grown<br />

in capacity and expertise to<br />

manage Lassa fever. These hospitals<br />

serve as examples to other<br />

health facilities in the country as<br />

many hospitals in Nigeria still<br />

struggle with managing cases<br />

of Lassa fever, often leading to<br />

panic. While there are plans to<br />

add to the number of specialist<br />

hospitals with the capacity to<br />

effectively manage Lassa fever<br />

cases, these three hospitals have<br />

shown that it is possible to grow<br />

in expertise in the management<br />

of Lassa fever in Nigeria through<br />

the sheer determination of their<br />

leaders, innovation of their staff<br />

and involvement of the entire<br />

co`mmunity.<br />

Irrua Specialist Teaching<br />

Hospital (ISTH), in Edo State,<br />

Federal Medical Center Owo<br />

(FMC), in Ondo State and the<br />

Federal Teaching Hospital in<br />

Abakaliki (FETHA), have been<br />

remarkable for various reasons.<br />

Most importantly, they provide<br />

care for over 80% of all Lassa<br />

fever cases in Nigeria. These<br />

three centres tell an unlikely<br />

story of how three hospitals<br />

in fairly rural locations have<br />

grown to become the frontline<br />

of Nigeria’s efforts to curb Lassa<br />

Fever. They have risen to the<br />

challenge, shown innovation<br />

despite limited resources, sustained<br />

momentum, created and<br />

nurtured new partnerships and<br />

risen to be trail blazers.<br />

The following are five lessons<br />

that can be learned and adapted<br />

from their efforts in controlling<br />

the current Lassa fever outbreak<br />

in the country and in leadership<br />

generally.<br />

Change requires the engagement<br />

of all stakeholders<br />

The Irrua Specialist Teaching<br />

Hospital ISTH is located 110<br />

km from the historical Benin<br />

City, a two-hour drive across<br />

the rainforest terrain. Over the<br />

past ten years, it has nurtured<br />

the development of the Institute<br />

of Lassa Fever Research and<br />

Control (ILFRC), which now<br />

oversees the management of<br />

Lassa fever cases. Before its<br />

establishment, the number of<br />

people that died from Lassa<br />

fever when sporadic outbreaks<br />

of Lassa fever occurred in the<br />

area was quite high, in some<br />

cases more than 70%. This was<br />

primarily due to late presentation,<br />

poor case identification<br />

and non-availability of the drug<br />

Ribavirin, which is effective in<br />

Lassa fever if administered early<br />

enough. The centre started as a<br />

proactive response to address<br />

these issues and over time, the<br />

figures have continued to improve<br />

remarkably, a reduction<br />

of deaths and an accompanying<br />

increase in confidence. While<br />

ISTH certainly cannot claim to<br />

have found all solutions to all<br />

the challenges, they have developed<br />

unique strengths in the<br />

management of Lassa fever and<br />

currently set the trail for other<br />

health facilities in Nigeria. Irrua<br />

Specialist Teaching Hospital<br />

will definitely be at the heart of<br />

any research planned on Lassa<br />

fever and the community will<br />

benefit from the innovation and<br />

determination of this facility.<br />

Purposeful leadership, systems<br />

and structures as drivers<br />

of sustainable change<br />

Speaking recently at a panel<br />

discussion organised by the<br />

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control<br />

(NCDC) in Abuja, CMD of<br />

ISTH, Okogbenin, a Professor,<br />

listed building sustainable systems,<br />

structures, and having<br />

the right people in place as<br />

some of the elements that facilitated<br />

the smooth transition<br />

of leadership from the time of<br />

his predecessors to the current<br />

administration that he leads.<br />

This has helped ensure that new<br />

administrations do not begin<br />

brand new projects to duplicate<br />

previous ones but focus<br />

on scaling up existing systems<br />

and interventions. This obvious<br />

example is a rare characteristic<br />

in our polity in Nigeria, as most<br />

new leaders want to gain recognition<br />

for new projects. In Irrua,<br />

various administrations have<br />

built on the Lassa fever control<br />

systems in place. What began as<br />

a Lassa Fever committee years<br />

ago has now grown to become<br />

the leading institute for Lassa<br />

fever management, detection<br />

and research in Nigeria and<br />

globally.<br />

Collaboration, collaboration,<br />

collaboration<br />

The impact of both local and<br />

international partnerships developed<br />

over time is evident<br />

at both Irrua Specialist Teaching<br />

Hospital, Federal Medical<br />

Centre Owo and the Virology<br />

Centre of the Federal Teaching<br />

Hospital Abakiliki, with partners<br />

contributing significantly<br />

in their areas of strength to help<br />

curb the outbreak. ISTH has a<br />

long-standing partnership with<br />

the Bernhard-Nocht Institute of<br />

Tropical Medicine, Hamburg,<br />

Germany. This has not only led<br />

to contribution of resources for<br />

Lassa fever diagnosis and treatment,<br />

but also capacity building<br />

of local staff who are continuously<br />

trained on global best<br />

practices. A remarkable feat<br />

from this strong collaboration<br />

is the ongoing establishment<br />

of a state-of-the-art molecular<br />

research and diagnostic laboratory<br />

within the Lassa fever<br />

Institute.<br />

Leaving no one behind<br />

Martha Okonofua, Matron at the Lassa fever isolation ward, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State. Photo credit: Nigeria Health Watch<br />

ANTHONIA OBOKOH<br />

SKG fetes trade partners, introduces Lumal Dispersible Malaria tablets for infants<br />

VICTOR OBAYAGBONA<br />

SKG Pharma Limited,<br />

makers of<br />

a wide range of<br />

pharmaceutical products,<br />

recently had its<br />

trade partner’s conference<br />

in Lagos. The conference<br />

is an annual<br />

event aimed at rewarding<br />

and engaging the<br />

company’s core trade<br />

partners across the<br />

nation on challenges<br />

and profitability in the<br />

pharmaceutical trading<br />

business.<br />

While there is still much that<br />

can be done at the Federal<br />

Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki,<br />

a resident doctor and epidemiologist<br />

working in the hospital<br />

said the hospital has taken proactive<br />

steps following the loss<br />

of some colleagues to Lassa in<br />

January <strong>2018</strong>. These include<br />

mandatory health education of<br />

all employees on Lassa Fever,<br />

revamping of the virology centre,<br />

strengthening the activities<br />

of the Lassa Fever committee,<br />

developing and conspicuously<br />

displaying case management<br />

protocols, effective collaborations<br />

with other treatment<br />

centres, State Ministry of Health and<br />

other state agencies. Ahmed Adeagbo<br />

Liasu, Chief Medical Director of FMC<br />

Owo, praised the commitment of<br />

his staff working on the Lassa Fever<br />

response. “These colleagues are not<br />

just government workers, because<br />

this is not their usual routine. They<br />

volunteered to be part of the Emergency<br />

Operations Centre, and they<br />

work even in the face of panic and<br />

limited resources.”<br />

Taking advantage of the opportunity<br />

in crisis situations<br />

In 2017, Nigeria had only three diagnostic<br />

centres with the capacity<br />

to test for Lassa fever- Lagos Univer-<br />

sity Teaching Hospital (LUTH), ISTH<br />

and the NCDC’s National Reference<br />

Laboratory, Gaduwa. In Abakaliki,<br />

a virology centre had been built but<br />

was yet to be operationalised. By the<br />

end of January <strong>2018</strong>, FETHA had<br />

faced a difficult situation as it had<br />

not only lost members of its host<br />

community to Lassa fever, but health<br />

workers had also been infected. The<br />

hospital had depended on ISTH, a<br />

three-hour drive from Ebonyi for diagnosis<br />

which affected early initiation<br />

of treatment.<br />

In retrospect, <strong>2018</strong> has seen one of<br />

the biggest outbreaks in the history of<br />

Lassa fever epidemics in Nigeria and<br />

globally.<br />

Okey Akpa, managing<br />

director of SKG Pharma<br />

Limited, said: “The essence<br />

of this trade conference is<br />

to encourage and get feedback<br />

on profitability and<br />

challenges faced in the last<br />

year and how we can help<br />

with those challenges in<br />

order to bring about profitability<br />

in business.<br />

It is my conviction this<br />

year will be better than<br />

last year, as we break new<br />

grounds in the industry.”<br />

The most outstanding<br />

HBL TEAM<br />

Cleaning, positive behavioural changes can prevent disease-ridden environments<br />

…as Hypo sensitise Lagos residents on environmental hygiene<br />

As Nigeria battles with<br />

outbreak of meningitis<br />

and Lassa fever, recording<br />

hundreds of deaths this year, a<br />

leading hygiene solution brand,<br />

HYPO has partnered with the<br />

Lagos State Government, to<br />

sensitise the public on household<br />

and environment hygiene<br />

as a preventive measure against<br />

diseases.<br />

The exercise, “Team Up to<br />

Clean Up” was part of activities<br />

to mark this year’s World<br />

Health Day, as residents of Ifelodun<br />

Community in Bariga,<br />

participated in the clean-up<br />

exercise clearing the streets and<br />

drainages in the community to<br />

enhance their wellbeing.<br />

Timothy Arowosegbe, marketing<br />

manager, Hypo said being<br />

the leading brand in the<br />

category of household cleaning.<br />

Sanitation is geared towards<br />

the protection and promotion<br />

of public health which meant<br />

the improvement of the environment<br />

and we recognize our<br />

responsibility to the society<br />

through this, therefore deemed<br />

it right to make contributions<br />

to the betterment of the society.<br />

“The initiative is aimed at<br />

cleaning, sensitising and influencing<br />

positive behavioural<br />

changes towards good hygiene<br />

and sanitation habits in the people<br />

in order to maintain environmental<br />

hygiene so as to prevent<br />

disease-ridden environments.<br />

“Hypo has become a phenomena<br />

household brand and<br />

there are no better ways to give<br />

back to its consumers than<br />

through this initiative of influencing<br />

a positive behaviour for<br />

trade partners from every<br />

state and region of<br />

the country were recognised<br />

and appreciated<br />

with awards plaques<br />

and gifts. The top three<br />

trade partners for 2017<br />

were Onuachu Chijioke<br />

of Jaymor Pharmacy,<br />

Chizoba Okeke of Jonaco<br />

Pharmacy, and<br />

Ignatus Onah of New<br />

Health Pharmacy, respectively.<br />

The event also witnessed<br />

the unveiling of<br />

KEMI AJUMOBI, Editor - kemi@businessdayonline.com<br />

L- R: Marketing Manager, Hypo, Timothy Arowosegbe; Ifelodun CDA Chairman, Bariga Lagos, Babatunde Hakeem Musa; Hypo<br />

Special Appearance Celebrity, Fatiah Williams and Hypo Brand Representative, Aderinto Adetunji during the Hypo Team Up to Clean<br />

Up World Health Day Sanitation and enlightenment exercise in Bariga, Lagos.<br />

hygiene in the residents of communities,”<br />

said Arowosegbe.<br />

He further disclosed that<br />

poor sanitation kills around<br />

5,250,000 children (under five)<br />

every year around the world.<br />

“Sadly, Nigeria is one of<br />

the contributors to the most<br />

number of child deaths due to<br />

poor sanitation disease globally.<br />

Statistics by World Health Organization<br />

(WHO) and UNICEF in<br />

2015, approximately 2.4 billion<br />

people live in poor sanitation<br />

conditions.<br />

“Cleanliness is not a choice;<br />

to stay healthy; cleanliness must<br />

be imbibed as an essential way of<br />

life. If we have a cleaner environment,<br />

there is a good chance that<br />

most of the avoidable diseases<br />

tormenting us like malaria, typhoid,<br />

dysentery and Lassa fever<br />

would be far away and this can<br />

the latest product from<br />

the stable of SKG Pharma:<br />

Lumal Dispersible<br />

Malaria Tablets. Specifically<br />

formulated to<br />

address the treatment<br />

needs of children within<br />

the age group of 0-5.<br />

Lumal is pleasant tasting<br />

disperses easily in<br />

small amount of water<br />

and has the accurate<br />

dosage of 20/120ml.<br />

Marketing manager,<br />

SKG Pharma Limited,<br />

Victoria Okon, while<br />

only be achieved through individual<br />

responsibility to manage<br />

the waste generate on a daily<br />

basis by disposing them the right<br />

way,” said Arowosegbe.<br />

Also speaking at the event,<br />

Babatunde Musa, Ifelodun local<br />

Council Development Area<br />

(LCDA) Bariga Chairman, explained<br />

that the decision to partner<br />

with Hypo was to collaborate<br />

with a health inclined brand that<br />

has the wellbeing of the community<br />

as their number one desire<br />

through the realisation of a clean<br />

and healthy nation.<br />

“We believe that Hypo has<br />

started with the introduction<br />

of affordable bleach for all and<br />

also affirmed that this would<br />

definitely not be the last partnership<br />

between the company and<br />

the community,” he said.<br />

The clean-up exercise led<br />

presenting the new<br />

product, said, “For a<br />

while there has been<br />

a dearth in acquiring<br />

and administering the<br />

accurate malaria drug<br />

for infants in this part<br />

of the world. Malaria<br />

tablets are forcefully<br />

given to kids because<br />

of the unpleasant taste.<br />

This has the most unsatisfactory<br />

result as most<br />

times, the dosage is not<br />

right and children will<br />

naturally spill it out of<br />

ANTHONIA OBOKOH, ANI MICHAEL, Reporters I David Ogar, Graphics<br />

by popular Nollywood actress<br />

Fathia Williams gained huge<br />

participation by immediate residents<br />

as everyone joined hands<br />

using Hypo products to clear<br />

the gutters with unprecedented<br />

enthusiasm.<br />

While appealing to parents,<br />

women and guardians as a<br />

mother, Fathia places an emphasis<br />

on the importance of<br />

healthy living through good<br />

public health practices that<br />

influences and impact on the<br />

physical environment and sanitation<br />

of the community.<br />

Hypo, a division of Tolaram<br />

Africa Enterprises Ltd provided<br />

clean-up tools such as latex hand<br />

gloves rakes, nose mask, shovels,<br />

stick brushes, bowls, buckets,<br />

brooms, parkers, and sanitary<br />

waste bags and doled out hypo<br />

bleach products to residents.<br />

their mouths.<br />

With Lumal dispersible<br />

malaria tablets,<br />

administration will be<br />

easier, resulting to effective<br />

treatment of the<br />

malaria fever in kids.”<br />

Managing director of<br />

SKG Pharma Limited,<br />

Akpa, urged trade partners<br />

to patronise quality<br />

products made in Nigeria,<br />

as it was one way to<br />

create job opportunities<br />

and improve the wellbeing<br />

of the economy.


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

Harvard<br />

Business<br />

Review<br />

ManagementDigest<br />

Diversity and Authenticity<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

17<br />

Minorities hesitate to share<br />

information about themselves<br />

at work. That’s a problem for<br />

everyone.<br />

When Marcus joined a<br />

leading international<br />

bank right out of college,<br />

he believed that success<br />

would come from delivering solid<br />

numbers. But despite earning<br />

the best performance ratings in<br />

his group, he kept getting passed<br />

over for promotion. One day he<br />

worked up the nerve to ask his<br />

boss why. “You are really good at<br />

your job, but the problem is that<br />

the partners feel they don’t really<br />

know you,” his manager told him.<br />

Marcus acknowledged the criticism.<br />

“I was afraid to open up,” he<br />

says. So he worked to overcome<br />

that fear. He began talking more<br />

openly about his life outside the<br />

office — a key to building relationships.<br />

“Once I did that, things<br />

started to turn around,” he says.<br />

Today Marcus is a managing<br />

partner.<br />

Nothing in that series of<br />

events makes it obvious that Marcus<br />

is African American. He is,<br />

and in our experience (backed<br />

up by our research), his ethnicity<br />

played a role in his discomfort<br />

with “opening up” at work. Just<br />

like Marcus, many other minority<br />

members fail to understand<br />

that their career mobility can be<br />

affected by their colleagues’ feelings<br />

of familiarity or closeness<br />

with them. And even for those<br />

who do understand this, building<br />

workplace relationships across<br />

racial boundaries can be difficult.<br />

Decades’ worth of studies<br />

have shown that similarity attracts<br />

— a phenomenon known<br />

as homophily. Our research<br />

focuses on a specific aspect of<br />

this: That being one’s true self,<br />

disclosing elements of one’s personal<br />

life and forming social connections<br />

are easier within one’s<br />

own group than they are across a<br />

demographic boundary such as<br />

one’s racial background. This is<br />

crucial to keep in mind as companies<br />

aspire to become more<br />

diverse. Simply hiring members<br />

of a minority group won’t ensure<br />

that they feel comfortable<br />

or equipped to build the relationships<br />

necessary for advancement.<br />

Social events can create a<br />

strain<br />

Out-of-the-office social events<br />

are an important venue for<br />

building relationships with colleagues.<br />

We surveyed more than<br />

300 employees from many racial<br />

backgrounds — half of them employed<br />

full-time in a wide variety<br />

of industries, half of them MBA<br />

students — about their participation<br />

in such events. They reported<br />

engaging in three distinct kinds of<br />

work-related social activities: (1)<br />

official company events, which<br />

are typically organized by the human<br />

resources department and<br />

open to all employees; (2) informal<br />

get-togethers orchestrated by<br />

small groups of staffers; (3) professional<br />

development activities.<br />

The problem is not that minorities<br />

fail to show up for such outings.<br />

In fact, our research reveals<br />

that their attendance rates are<br />

similar to those of other demographic<br />

groups. However, in our<br />

surveys, minorities are more likely<br />

than others to report attending<br />

out of a sense of obligation or a<br />

fear of negative career consequences<br />

if they don’t appear.<br />

One reason these gatherings<br />

fail to help minorities bond with<br />

co-workers is the difficulty people<br />

have making small talk across<br />

racial lines.<br />

In a second set of studies<br />

aimed at understanding the obstacles<br />

to self-disclosure, we<br />

surveyed more than 300 young<br />

African-American, Hispanic and<br />

other racial-minority professionals<br />

who were seeking admittance<br />

to an elite MBA program.<br />

Asked how likely they would be<br />

to disclose personal information<br />

to either a white or an African-<br />

American co-worker at a company<br />

social event, these highly<br />

educated people reported that<br />

they’d be more uncomfortable<br />

opening up to a white co-worker<br />

than to a black one, especially if<br />

they felt their work performance<br />

was average (as opposed to high).<br />

Their responses reflected fear<br />

that personal information highlighting<br />

their race (termed statusconfirming<br />

disclosure) might reinforce<br />

the stereotypes that can<br />

undermine performance reviews<br />

and prevent progress toward<br />

leadership roles.<br />

Strategies to reduce the<br />

stress<br />

Organizations that hope to<br />

increase diversity and promote<br />

the careers of racial minorities<br />

can benefit from being aware<br />

of these challenges, and taking<br />

steps to make employees from<br />

varied demographic groups feel<br />

comfortable engaging with one<br />

another. So how can we ensure<br />

that racial minorities and majority<br />

members do feel that way,<br />

both socially and professionally?<br />

Drawing on the research of others,<br />

we suggest several strategies<br />

that may help.<br />

STRUCTURE. First, recognize<br />

the role that structure can play<br />

in easing the discomfort created<br />

by free-form socializing. Instead<br />

of the typical cocktail party, consider<br />

a different approach. Some<br />

companies use formal icebreaker<br />

games that create orderliness<br />

and purpose, reducing that need<br />

to navigate — just as structured<br />

speed-dating events can make<br />

it less stressful to meet many<br />

people quickly. Remember that<br />

no matter how diverse the work<br />

group, all its members have one<br />

thing in common: the work. That<br />

means events that celebrate a win<br />

or otherwise highlight the collective<br />

work itself will help group<br />

members relate more easily.<br />

LEARNING. Pay attention to<br />

diversity research showing the<br />

advantages of adopting a learning<br />

orientation: Organizations<br />

and individuals benefit when<br />

exposed to differences. Although<br />

this orientation is typically established<br />

at the organizational level,<br />

modeled and reinforced by leaders,<br />

individuals can speak and act<br />

in ways that mirror it.<br />

MENTORSHIP. Organizations<br />

should recognize that racial<br />

boundaries can be a real impediment<br />

to socializing, and that the<br />

impediment isn’t going to disappear<br />

overnight. They might consider<br />

creating a buddy system of<br />

informal mentorship, in which<br />

more-experienced employees<br />

help facilitate social relationships<br />

for new hires, particularly mi-<br />

norities who may feel marginalized<br />

in the organization. Assigning<br />

coaches, mentors or sponsors<br />

levels the playing field and helps<br />

people connect across differences.<br />

The role should also involve<br />

feedback.<br />

COLOR BLINDNESS is not<br />

an effective strategy for dealing<br />

with racial differences in the<br />

workplace. Rather, our research<br />

suggests that acknowledging<br />

and highlighting such differences,<br />

along with the related<br />

challenges, can go a long way<br />

toward kindling relationships.<br />

People don’t need to be “best<br />

friends” to work effectively together,<br />

but friendships tend<br />

to create happier workers and<br />

more effective teams. Bonding<br />

around the work itself is powerful,<br />

especially for those who<br />

are collaborating across racial<br />

boundaries. But over time,<br />

deeper relationships depend on<br />

people’s opening up about their<br />

personal lives. For that to happen,<br />

colleagues must be intentional<br />

about getting out of their<br />

comfort zones and connecting<br />

with people who are different.<br />

That may feel like a risk, but it’s<br />

one worth taking.<br />

(By Katherine W. Phillips<br />

is the Paul Calello professor<br />

of leadership and ethics and<br />

the senior vice dean at the Columbia<br />

Business School. Her<br />

research focuses on the areas of<br />

diversity, stereotyping, status,<br />

identity management, information<br />

sharing, minority influence,<br />

decision making and performance<br />

in work groups. Tracy L.<br />

Dumas is an associate professor<br />

of management and human resources<br />

at the Ohio State University’s<br />

Fisher College of Business.<br />

Her research primarily considers<br />

how employees’ personal, nonwork<br />

related roles and identities<br />

shape their experiences in the<br />

workplace.<br />

Nancy P. Rothbard is the David<br />

Pottruck professor of management<br />

at the Wharton School,<br />

University of Pennsylvania.)<br />

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


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

18 BUSINESS DAY


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

19


18<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

BUSINESS DAY Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

BUSINESS DAY 19


20<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

C002D5556<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong>


22<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

COMPANIES<br />

& MARKETS<br />

Company news analysis and insight<br />

C002D5556<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

FBNInsurance maintains<br />

strong performance with<br />

37% growth in PBT<br />

Pg. 23<br />

These charts validate CCNN’s stock rally<br />

…Profit hits five year high of N3.22bn<br />

BALA AUGIE<br />

The Cement Company<br />

of Northern Nigeria<br />

(CCNN) Plc’s profit<br />

after tax stood at N3.22<br />

billion as at December<br />

2017, representing a 106.50 percent<br />

surge from the N1.56 billion<br />

recorded five years ago.<br />

Revenue followed the same<br />

growth trajectory, hitting N19.58<br />

billion in December 2017. This represented<br />

a 29.83 percent increase<br />

from the N15.31 billion recorded<br />

in December 20<strong>13</strong>.<br />

The company’s shares have<br />

gained 71.31 percent since January<br />

2, 2015, to close at N17.80 percent<br />

at close of trading day on Wednesday<br />

<strong>April</strong> 6, <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

The relative peace in the northern<br />

part of the country and low<br />

competition where the company<br />

supplies cement were major drivers<br />

of utilisation rates for the company.<br />

The cement maker is efficient in<br />

deploying shareholders’ resources<br />

in generating higher profit as net<br />

profit margins hit 16.25 percent<br />

in the period under review, a 0.60<br />

point increase from 10.23 percent<br />

recorded five years ago.<br />

CCNN’s energy mix has yielded<br />

fruit as cost of sales ratio fell to<br />

61.25 percent in the period under<br />

review, from 69.25 percent reported<br />

in December 2016.<br />

This means the company has<br />

spent less to produce each unit of<br />

product.<br />

A price increase across products<br />

that helped to outdo the rise in<br />

per tonne production underpinned<br />

margins. CCNN is lowly geared,<br />

which means it is not beleaguered<br />

by debt as debt-to-equity ratio<br />

stood at <strong>13</strong> percent as at Decem-<br />

ber 2017, as against five percent<br />

recorded in December 20<strong>13</strong>.<br />

With the positive economic<br />

outlook and government plans to<br />

spend on infrastructure, cement<br />

makers’ sales volume could get a<br />

boost.<br />

The International Monetary<br />

Fund (IMF) has projected that<br />

Nigeria’s economy will grow by 2.1<br />

percent in <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

The forecast which represents<br />

0.2 percent from the 1.9 percent<br />

projected in October 2017.<br />

President Muhammadu Buhari<br />

has presented a record budget of<br />

N8.60 trillion to the National Assembly<br />

for <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Out of the total budget figure,<br />

N2.4 trillion has been earmarked<br />

for capital spending.<br />

Nigeria has infrastructure deficit<br />

of $2 trillion, according to the Africa<br />

Finance Corporation.<br />

The 17 million housing deficit is<br />

a low hanging fruit for cement makers<br />

to grow sales volume.<br />

“We estimate that an additional<br />

two million housing units by 2020e<br />

from the public sector alone (as<br />

highlighted in the economic recovery<br />

plan), will unlock about<br />

20-24 million tonnes (mt) of cement<br />

over <strong>2018</strong>e-2020e,” said analysts at<br />

RMBNS, in a recent report on Nigeria’s<br />

cement industry.<br />

Fidelity Bank flags off digital banking awareness campaign<br />

Hope Moses-Ashike<br />

Fidelity Bank Plc on Monday<br />

flagged off a Digital<br />

Banking Awareness Campaign<br />

Week, as part of<br />

concerted efforts to make financial<br />

services easy and accessible to its<br />

customers.<br />

Organised by the Bank’s South-<br />

West Directorate, the week-long<br />

campaign aptly dubbed “Go Digital”<br />

seeks to create awareness on<br />

its electronic banking products<br />

and services.<br />

Speaking at the opening ceremony<br />

at the Corporate Head<br />

Office in Lagos, Regional Bank<br />

Head (RBH), Ikeja, Ken Opara said<br />

the campaign is aimed primarily<br />

at sensitizing customers on the<br />

attendant benefits of using the<br />

Bank’s e-products.<br />

He harped on the need for<br />

banks to leverage digital technologies<br />

and platforms to provide<br />

greater convenient banking solutions<br />

for customers and according<br />

to him one bank that is the<br />

vanguard of this is Fidelity Bank.<br />

“The Bank has continued to invest<br />

significant resources on technology<br />

thus enabling it to digitize<br />

and offer easy to use e-banking<br />

products and services” he said.<br />

Some of the flagship products and<br />

services the staff would be creating<br />

awareness for include the recently<br />

upgraded Fidelity Online Banking<br />

platform. “The new look and<br />

more advanced and user-friendly<br />

online banking platform comes<br />

with additional functionalities<br />

thus making financial service<br />

activities easier and faster for an<br />

unmatched customer experience”,<br />

Opara stated.<br />

Motivated by the desire to<br />

continuously improve customer<br />

experience on its services, Fidelity<br />

Bank recently introduced a<br />

personalized self-service feedback<br />

system on its flagship Instant<br />

Banking Service *770#. With all of<br />

these significant strides in technology<br />

deployment, Opara noted<br />

that there was a need to enlighten<br />

the Bank’s customers on some of<br />

its latest offerings.


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

FBNInsurance maintains strong<br />

performance with 37% growth in PBT<br />

COMPANIES & MARKETS<br />

Business Event<br />

BUSINESS DAY 23<br />

Modestus Anaesoronye<br />

FBNInsurance, fast<br />

growing life insurance<br />

firm has released<br />

its financial<br />

report for the year<br />

ended 2017 with strong growth<br />

in key indices.<br />

Figures obtained from<br />

the published financial<br />

statements as approved<br />

by the National Insurance<br />

Commission show that profit<br />

before tax (PBT) grew by 37<br />

percent from N3.11 billion in<br />

2016 to N4.26 billion in 2017,<br />

while the gross premium<br />

written (GPW) grew from<br />

N9.9 billion in 2016 to N19.6<br />

billion in 2017, a massive 98<br />

percent increase.<br />

While commenting on<br />

the financial statement, Val<br />

Ojumah, managing director/<br />

CEO, FBNInsurance, credited<br />

the strong performance to a<br />

combination of factors including<br />

continued penetration<br />

of the retail insurance space,<br />

strong cost optimisation culture,<br />

consistent and efficient<br />

service delivery across available<br />

touch point, exploitation<br />

of new service channels, disciplined<br />

risk management, and<br />

a well-motivated staff.<br />

“Our overall performance<br />

once again reinforces<br />

our strong earning capacity<br />

and robust capital base,<br />

which have put us in better<br />

stead to accommodate and<br />

sustain future growth. Our<br />

Return on Equity (RoE) rose<br />

to 34 percent, up from 29<br />

percent in 2016 and also<br />

achieved a post-tax return<br />

on assets (RoA )of 6 percent,”<br />

he concluded.<br />

It will be recalled that FB-<br />

NInsurance was last year recognised<br />

–for the third time<br />

in four years- as the Best Life<br />

Insurer in Nigeria by World<br />

Finance, while Sanlam Emerging<br />

Markets (SEM) awarded<br />

her the prestigious Nations<br />

Cup for a glowing performance<br />

all round amongst<br />

SEM companies.<br />

At the home front, the<br />

beat association of Insurance<br />

journalists, National Association<br />

of Insurance and Pension<br />

Correspondents (NAIPCO),<br />

awarded the company as the<br />

fastest growing insurance<br />

company in Nigeria.<br />

An FBNHoldings company<br />

associated with the Sanlam<br />

Group SA, FBNInsurance was<br />

incorporated in 2010 to transact<br />

life insurance business in<br />

Nigeria and currently operates<br />

out of 42 sales outlets and three<br />

branches nationwide.<br />

L-R: Olumayowa Ogunwemimo, managing director, FSDH Asset Management Limited; Motadeni<br />

Balogun, chairman of the meeting/ head, collective investment scheme, United Capital Group;<br />

Aidevo Odu-Thomas, company secretary, FSDH Asset Management Limited; and Ahmed Nakwada,<br />

manager, Securities and Exchange Commission ;at the extraordinary general meeting of FSDH<br />

Coral Funds managed by FSDH Asset Management Limited in Lagos. Pic by Pius Okeosisi<br />

Nigerian Breweries 100% packaging materials sourced in Nigeria-MD<br />

Nigerian Breweries<br />

Plc says that 100 per<br />

cent of its packaging<br />

materials are<br />

sourced locally to boost the<br />

nation’s growth and development.<br />

Jordi Borrut Bel, the company’s<br />

Managing Director, said<br />

this at its pre-Annual General<br />

Meeting (AGM) media conference<br />

in Lagos on Wednesday.<br />

Bel said that some of the<br />

company’s packaging materials<br />

sourced locally were bottles,<br />

cans, corks and labels, among<br />

others.<br />

He said that 47 per cent of<br />

agricultural raw materials such<br />

as sorghum, cassava were now<br />

sourced within Nigeria.<br />

The managing director said<br />

that the company was committed<br />

to the 60 per cent direct<br />

target of locally sourced raw<br />

materials by 2020.<br />

On the stable growth of the<br />

company in spite of economic<br />

headwinds, Bel said that its<br />

ability to cut down on operational<br />

cost made the company<br />

to remain afloat.<br />

He said the company deployed<br />

cost leadership to fuel<br />

the fight for market leadership<br />

as well as used it to drive scale<br />

for cost leadership.<br />

According to him, the sustenance<br />

will enable the company<br />

to emerge the best cost<br />

performing breweries in Africa.<br />

Reviewing the beverage industry<br />

in 2017 financial year, he<br />

said the industry had changed<br />

significantly over the last three<br />

years.<br />

Bel said that with signs of<br />

improvements in the economy,<br />

2017 bear market was relatively<br />

stable.<br />

He said that the company<br />

invested about 710,000 Euros<br />

in social projects across the<br />

country in 2017 financial year.<br />

The managing director,<br />

however, said that operating<br />

environment would remain<br />

challenging in <strong>2018</strong>, noting<br />

that the brewer was well<br />

placed with its leadership<br />

brands as well as people to<br />

weather the storm.<br />

Bel said that the company<br />

for the financial year ended<br />

Dec. 31, 2017 recommended<br />

a dividend of N33 billion for<br />

its shareholders for the 2017<br />

financial year, a 100 per cent<br />

pay-out ratio.<br />

He said that the company<br />

had given out 100 per cent<br />

dividend payout as part of its<br />

dividend policy which was consistent<br />

with the firm’s robust<br />

balance sheet.<br />

L-R: Ore Onile-Ere, On Air Personality (OAP), Uchenna Agbo (Co-Founder,Cloud Cover, Afua<br />

Osei; Co-Founder, She Leads Africa and Eleanor Potter,Chief Operating Officer, Cloud Cover,at<br />

the Women In Business conference which held at Browns cafe, Victoria Island, Lagos<br />

Confusion trails NSE’s lifting, reversal of technical suspension<br />

The Nigerian Stock<br />

Exchange (NSE) on<br />

Wednesday lifted the<br />

technical suspension<br />

placed on Oando shares with<br />

the Securities and Exchange<br />

Commission (SEC), ordering a<br />

reversal three hours later.<br />

The News Agency of Nigeria<br />

(NAN) reports that confusion<br />

trailed the action of the<br />

exchange and SEC with market<br />

operators and shareholders<br />

calling on the Federal Government<br />

to intervene in the<br />

matter.<br />

NAN reports that the exchange,<br />

in a letter entitled:<br />

“Notification of Lifting of Technical<br />

Suspension on the Shares<br />

of Oando,’’ said SEC on <strong>April</strong><br />

9, directed it to lift the suspension.<br />

“We refer to our bulletins<br />

of 18, 20 and 23 October, 2017<br />

regarding the directive of the<br />

SEC to the Nigerian Stock<br />

Exchange to place the shares<br />

of Oando Plc on Technical<br />

Suspension.<br />

“Please be informed that<br />

on <strong>April</strong> 9, <strong>2018</strong>, the commission<br />

directed the Exchange to<br />

lift the technical suspension<br />

placed on the shares of Oando.<br />

“On receipt of the commission’s<br />

directive, the Exchange<br />

put the process in place to<br />

lift the technical suspension,<br />

including testing on its trading<br />

system.<br />

“Further to the commission’s<br />

directive of <strong>April</strong> 9,<br />

please be advised that effective<br />

today, <strong>April</strong> 11, <strong>2018</strong>, the<br />

Exchange lifted the technical<br />

suspension placed on the<br />

shares of Oando.<br />

“Consequently, there is<br />

no longer any impediment<br />

to price movement in Oando<br />

shares.<br />

“The above is for your information<br />

and records update<br />

please,” said the Exchange.<br />

However, three hours after<br />

lifting the technical suspension<br />

on Oando’s shares, the<br />

suspension was reversed by<br />

the NSE.<br />

All efforts by NAN to get<br />

the reasons for the reversal<br />

proved abortive as the Corporate<br />

Communications Officers<br />

of both the NSE and SEC<br />

declined to pick their calls or<br />

respond to inquiries.<br />

Commenting on the issue,<br />

Mr Ambrose Omordion, the<br />

Chief Operating Officer, InvestData<br />

Ltd. described both<br />

regulators’ actions as unprofessional.<br />

Omordion said SEC and<br />

NSE needed to correct the<br />

impression on time in order<br />

not to dampen investors’ confidence.<br />

L-R: Iniobong Udoh, Chaplain Victory Chapel, University of Uyo and President, Association of<br />

Nigerian University Chaplains, ANUC; Toyin Ogundipe, vice chancellor, University of Lagos; Azuka<br />

Ogbolumani, host and chaplain, Chapel of Christ Our Light, University of Lagos; Taiwo Adeniyi,<br />

chairman, Chapel Committee, and Taiwo Ipaye, registrar, University of Lagos, at the opening<br />

ceremony of the 20th anniversary celebration of the Association of Nigerian University Chaplains<br />

in Lagos which held at the Unilag Chapel<br />

L-R: Johnson Odesola, assistant general overseer of Redeemed Christian Church Of God, Admin.<br />

And Personnel; Ajibola Ponnle, registrar/CEO Of Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of<br />

Nigeria (CIPM); Olurotimi Adegborioye, director, Admin and Personnel, RCCG; Chidima Obiejesi,<br />

Lagos State Chairperson of CIPM, and Udom Inoyo, president/chairman of Council, CIPM, during<br />

the Inauguration of RCCG Personnel Practitional Consultative Association PPCA, @ Redemption<br />

Camp.


24<br />

Muhammed Uba, Controller of Customs, Federal Operation Unit, Zone A, (l), showing to newsmen some of the 6,003 smuggled bags of<br />

foreign rice, equivalent to 10 trailer loads, which were intercepted by the unit in Ikeja, Lagos State. NAN<br />

Oyo to establish gemstone centre<br />

AKINREMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan<br />

Oyo State is establishing<br />

an international gemstone<br />

processing centre and market<br />

where precious stones<br />

would be processed and<br />

polished before shipment to international<br />

markets.<br />

Governor Abiola Ajimobi disclosed<br />

this at a two-day strategic engagement<br />

and sensitisation workshop for stakeholders<br />

in the southwest geo-political<br />

zone, held in Ibadan, Wednesday. He<br />

said with large deposits of high quality<br />

marble and other solid minerals<br />

like aquamarine, tantalite, tourmaline,<br />

granite, talc and the recently discovered<br />

gold deposits in Oyo, the state was establishing<br />

the centre to market the mineral<br />

resources.<br />

Represented by Gbade Ojo, his chief of<br />

staff, Ajimobi said the state was exploring<br />

the benefits in agriculture and solid min-<br />

C’ River CP assures investors of security in CFTZ<br />

MIKE ABANG, Calabar<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

CITYFile<br />

The Commissioner of Police (CP)<br />

in charge of Cross River State<br />

Command, Hatiz Mohammed<br />

Inuwa, has assured investors in<br />

the Calabar Free Trade Zone (CFTZ) of<br />

adequate security.<br />

Inuwa gave the assurance when he led<br />

a delegation of top police officers to the<br />

trade zone.<br />

The police boss said the zone which<br />

harbours foreign and local investors, plays<br />

a vital role in stimulating the economy of<br />

the state in particular and the country in<br />

general, saying every was being done to<br />

guarantee the lives of the investors and<br />

their investments.<br />

While calling on the zone management<br />

to corporate with security agencies, he<br />

... decries shortage of police personnel in state<br />

charged officers and men of the command<br />

to ensure regular surveillance in the zone.<br />

He, however, decried inadequate police<br />

personnel in the state and sought the collaboration<br />

of other security agencies in the<br />

deployment of personnel to sensitive areas<br />

to combat crime.<br />

Godwin Ekpe, head, Calabar Free trade<br />

Zone (CFTZ), who represented the managing<br />

director of Nigerian Export Processing<br />

Zones Authority (NEPZA), Emmanuel<br />

Jime, expressed delight for the visit.<br />

EKpe disclosed that the zone has so far<br />

licensed about 77 companies out of which<br />

42 are operational with over 11,000 skilled<br />

and unskilled workers engaged by these<br />

companies.<br />

“The free trade zone scheme has attracted<br />

over 11,000 direct and indirect<br />

employments from inception date and still<br />

erals to wean itself from dependence on<br />

the dwindling oil revenue coming from<br />

the centre.<br />

This, he said, informed the decision<br />

by his administration to establish the<br />

Mineral Development Agency, which<br />

is responsible for the creation of wealth<br />

from mineral resources for the benefit<br />

of the citizens and to attract local and<br />

foreign investors.<br />

Ajimobi said that the government’s<br />

decision to invest in the solid minerals<br />

development sector had caused an increase<br />

in the state’s internally generated<br />

revenue, as well as the collection of <strong>13</strong><br />

per cent derivation from the mineral<br />

resources from the Federal Government.<br />

He said that the effort had also resulted<br />

in the discovery of gold deposits, which<br />

had earned the state a license for the exploration<br />

of talc and gold in Kajola local<br />

government area of the state<br />

He explained that the Solid Minerals<br />

Development Fund (SMDF) was a strategic<br />

intervention by the Federal Government,<br />

capable of propelling the country’s<br />

economic growth.<br />

He, however, advocated the assemblage<br />

of stakeholders in the industry<br />

to brainstorm and map out strategies<br />

towards attaining the objectives of the<br />

SMDF, which was established in 2017 to<br />

administer accruing funds meant for solid<br />

minerals development.<br />

The governor said: “There is no debating<br />

the fact that for Nigeria to achieve her<br />

desired growth, particularly in the solid<br />

minerals sub-sector, there is need for an<br />

intervention like the SMFD.<br />

The governor therefore appealed to the<br />

SMDF to use the opportunity of the workshop<br />

to further enlighten and empower<br />

those in the mining sector by exposing<br />

them to the necessary steps that would<br />

facilitate access to the fund.<br />

Fatima Shinkafi, the executive secretary,<br />

SMDF, said that the workshop was<br />

aimed at exposing the stakeholders to the<br />

opportunities and benefits in the mining<br />

sector as an alternative revenue earner.<br />

attracting. Technology transfer and skill<br />

acquisition from Foreign Direct Investment<br />

(FDI) and other companies located<br />

in the zone such as Skyrum International,<br />

M-salah Engineering Agrim International,<br />

Combination Industries, Bao Yao Iron and<br />

Steel Group and General Electric FZE” .<br />

He, however, said that the major challenge<br />

facing the CFTZ Divisional Police<br />

Station was shortage of staff and as a result,<br />

“the personnel are constantly drifted to<br />

other duties in town, considered to be hot<br />

spots of crime.”<br />

We sincerely appeal to the CP to use his<br />

high offices to post more security personnel<br />

to the division for efficient security<br />

coverage.<br />

The CFTZ which was initially known as<br />

Calabar Export Processing Zone (CEPZ)<br />

came into existence in 1992, after the<br />

promulgation of the NEPZ Act No. 63 0f<br />

1992.<br />

Police uncover another<br />

illegal brewery in Lagos<br />

JOSHUA BASSEY<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

The police have uncovered an illegal<br />

brewery at Egbe-Afa in Igbogbo area<br />

of Ikorodu and arrested five suspects<br />

in connection with it. This is coming barely<br />

a week after a similar illegal wine brewery<br />

factory was uncovered in Mushin area of<br />

the state.<br />

Edgal Imohimi, the Commissioner of<br />

Police, in charge of Lagos, who led newsmen<br />

to the scene, said that the suspects would be<br />

subjected to further interrogation to know<br />

where the drinks were bottled and sold.<br />

The illegal brewery was producing<br />

Malt drinks, stout and ethanol which they<br />

pumped into trucks to bottle at another<br />

location.<br />

The CP said that the illegal brewery had<br />

been sealed and samples of the drinks would<br />

be sent to the laboratory for test. He attributed<br />

discovery to the efforts of community<br />

policing and partnership.<br />

According to him, the people of Lagos<br />

are showing increasing confidence in the<br />

police. Imohimi urged residents to know<br />

their neighbours, saying that vigilance is the<br />

only way to have a crime-free society.<br />

“This success story of the police is an evidence<br />

that community policing and partnership<br />

is working in the state. This is an illegal<br />

distillery where malt, stout and ethanol are<br />

being produced in an unhygienic environment<br />

thereby feeding poison to the people.<br />

You will recall that a fake wine factory<br />

was also discovered at Mushin recently. This<br />

is as a result of vigilance. I encourage the<br />

people to do more. This is an information<br />

which should have got to the police earlier,<br />

but I commend the people for sharing this<br />

information with the police.<br />

He said the people must be deeply involved<br />

in crime fighting, adding that “Lagosians<br />

can only give credible information to<br />

the people when they are healthy; so I will<br />

encourage you to say something when you<br />

see something,” he said.<br />

The illegal brewery has more than 1,000<br />

drums of brewed malt and 100 tanks where<br />

the drinks are pumped before supplying<br />

tankers.<br />

A building where operational items of the<br />

suspects were kept was also located close to<br />

the illegal brewery.<br />

Drug abuse: NAFDAC wants parents<br />

to check your children’s bags<br />

The National Drug Law Enforcement<br />

Agency (NDLEA) has challenged<br />

parents and communities to step up<br />

monitoring of youths against drug abuse.<br />

Stella Ngwoke, a director in NDLEA in<br />

charge of Drug Abuse Preventive Education<br />

(DAPE) stated this during a community<br />

awareness campaign on drug abuse<br />

and misuse, in Lagos State, recently. The<br />

campaign was organised by the West African<br />

Postgraduate College of Pharmacists.<br />

Ngwoke spoke on “the role of NDLEA in<br />

combating drug abuse in the country.’’ She<br />

described drugs as any substance, legal<br />

or not, that could transform the central<br />

nervous system and affect the person’s<br />

behaviour or thought.<br />

“Parents need to face the challenges<br />

their children are experiencing as regards<br />

drug abuse by checking their activities.<br />

“Denial of drug abuse by their children<br />

is a problem that must also be faced by<br />

parents if they want this menace to be<br />

eradicated easily.<br />

“Parents should not be too tired to listen<br />

and pay attention to their needs because<br />

once they lose faith in you, they can never<br />

confide in you,’’ the official said.


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

Hotels<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

25<br />

Looking for a blend of<br />

hospitality, polo…<br />

OBINNA EMELIKE<br />

In 2006, John Campbell,<br />

the ambassador<br />

of the United States<br />

of America to Nigeria,<br />

stated on a DSTV<br />

interview that Fifth Chukker<br />

in Kaduna was the best<br />

recreational facility he had<br />

seen in all of Africa after he<br />

attended the maiden World<br />

Military Polo tournament at<br />

the ranch where the United<br />

States also participated<br />

along with United Kingdom,<br />

South Africa, Egypt,<br />

India and Nigeria, the host<br />

country.<br />

The Abuja diplomatic<br />

community naturally<br />

lapped up the good tidings<br />

and followed in his footsteps,<br />

subsequently making<br />

the Kaduna resort the top<br />

diplomatic and expat haven<br />

in Nigeria in a very short<br />

period. The continuous<br />

stream has also conferred<br />

Fifth Chukker the enviable<br />

status of hosting the largest<br />

gatherings of ambassadors<br />

and diplomats at any one<br />

event outside Abuja. Not<br />

even the very dark days of<br />

Boko Haram could stem<br />

the traffic.<br />

The Fifth Chukker story<br />

began in 2000 when Adamu<br />

Atta, an entrepreneur, legendry<br />

polo promoter and<br />

player, ventured to establish<br />

a private polo facility where<br />

he could stable his rapidly<br />

growing strings of Argentine<br />

horses and practice the<br />

game with his friends. The<br />

gates were to be opened<br />

to the public with periodic<br />

tournaments to entertain<br />

the polo-loving Kaduna<br />

citizens. When Ahmed Makarfi,<br />

then governor of Kaduna<br />

State, accompanied<br />

Atiku Abubakar, then vice<br />

president, to attend one<br />

such polo event in 2004, he<br />

steadfastly encouraged Atta<br />

to upgrade the facility to an<br />

all-purpose resort, which<br />

Kaduna was lacking.<br />

Today, Fifth Chukker is<br />

an upscale lifestyle oasis<br />

of family fun, recreation,<br />

polo and culture spread<br />

across 2000 hectares in the<br />

outskirts of Kaduna, offering<br />

visitors the essentials to<br />

revive their spirit as much<br />

as their body all within easy<br />

reach of the city centre<br />

So far, the resort has 100<br />

rooms, comprising of 3-bedroom<br />

duplexes, 2- bedroom<br />

villas and 1- bedroom lodges.<br />

There are conference<br />

halls for meetings and retreats,<br />

and restaurants for<br />

fine dining. Spas and gyms,<br />

naturally, are in the pipeline.<br />

Last year, Fifth Chukker<br />

kicked off the year- long Kaduna<br />

centenary celebration<br />

with a critically acclaimed<br />

photo exhibition at its newly<br />

minted Kaduna hall conference<br />

and exhibition centre.<br />

Fifth Chukker’s worldclass<br />

Polo and Country club<br />

prides itself on its highly<br />

exquisite facilities. With<br />

three championship pitches<br />

and stabling for 1000<br />

horses, it continues to set<br />

the benchmark for polo in<br />

Africa. Headlined by its two<br />

major polo tournaments,<br />

the club’s polo calendar is<br />

one of the crown jewels in<br />

the Nigerian diary of elite<br />

events, providing a polo<br />

experience comparable to<br />

the most celebrated clubs<br />

around the world.<br />

Beyond polo and facility<br />

convenience, lifestyle<br />

trends at Fifth Chukker are<br />

becoming more active and<br />

dynamic. Participating in<br />

many sports and outdoor<br />

activities provides both an<br />

escape and a relief from<br />

the high-paced and highpressure<br />

work or even home<br />

environment. Families can<br />

relax and share memories,<br />

and introduce the kids to<br />

lots of outdoor experiences<br />

whereas everyone can also<br />

feel refreshed and get close<br />

to nature.<br />

The resort include several<br />

kilometers of walking and<br />

hiking trails that meander<br />

through the savannah and<br />

the edge of a l5- hectare lake<br />

which is perfect for both<br />

motorized and non motorized<br />

water sport. Other recreational<br />

activities available<br />

include camping, cycling,<br />

pottery, quad bike, basket<br />

ball, lawn tennis, football<br />

and swimming. Security<br />

is managed at the highest<br />

level, fostering a sense of<br />

personal safety and freedom<br />

for residents.<br />

Significantly, Atta has<br />

been very proactive when<br />

it comes to corporate social<br />

responsibility and environmental<br />

sustainability.<br />

Because of the enormous<br />

scope of the development,<br />

he has effectively breathed<br />

new life into the rustic communities<br />

that surround Fifth<br />

Chukker through job creation<br />

and local employment<br />

opportunities. This has been<br />

one of the key areas of focus<br />

for him.<br />

Additionally, all Fifth<br />

Chukker polo tournaments<br />

are aligned with CSR projects.<br />

The UNICEF Charity<br />

Shield sponsored by Access<br />

Bank promotes child education<br />

and health while the African<br />

Patrons Cup espouses<br />

breast cancer awareness<br />

with the active endorsement<br />

and patronage of Northern<br />

Nigeria first ladies. “These<br />

charitable initiatives and<br />

community enrichment<br />

programmes are very central<br />

to the mission of Fifth<br />

Chukker’’, Atta reiterated.<br />

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Gombe Jewel Hotel, 22, Njamena<br />

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Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

26 BUSINESS DAY<br />

C002D5556<br />

The stage is set for another Runway Jazz<br />

OBINNA EMELIKE<br />

Yes, the stage is truly set<br />

for another superlative<br />

show at this year’s edition<br />

of the annual Runway<br />

Jazz in Lagos.<br />

The show, which is a harmonic<br />

fusion of Jazz, fashion and fine<br />

dining on a single platform, is the<br />

Nigerian celebration of the United<br />

Nations Educational Scientific and<br />

Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO)<br />

International Jazz Day on <strong>April</strong> 30th<br />

of every year.<br />

For two days, <strong>April</strong> 28-29, <strong>2018</strong>,<br />

lovers of jazz music genre, culture<br />

and fashion aficionados will gather<br />

at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria,<br />

Island, Lagos to delight in several<br />

thrilling performances by international,<br />

indigenous jazz artistes, and<br />

fashion models.<br />

Aside celebrating jazz and haute<br />

couture, the two-day event hopes to<br />

further showcase the rich culture of<br />

Lagos State, while featuring master<br />

classes on music and business.<br />

“The UNESCO International Jazz<br />

Day is about celebrating Jazz. It is<br />

about celebrating its root, future and<br />

impact. We want to raise awareness<br />

of the need for intercultural dialogue<br />

and mutual understanding. It is<br />

also about reinforcing international<br />

cooperation and communication<br />

which are the core principles of<br />

UNESCO”, Afolabi Oke, founder,<br />

Runway Jazz and group leader,<br />

Sweet Sound Production, organisers<br />

of the show, said on the rationale for<br />

the celebration of jazz by UNESCO.<br />

In this year’s edition, Oke is<br />

promising jazz with an African<br />

sound, as well as, new edgy fashion<br />

with African touch.<br />

“For us, Runway Jazz is beyond<br />

a show. “It is an experience that<br />

defines the impact of music on<br />

everyday life. It allows us to express<br />

our culture in such a way that we<br />

encourage peace and unity, first<br />

among ourselves as a people and<br />

then between Nigeria and the rest<br />

of the world. It speaks to the minds<br />

of artistes to challenge and channel<br />

their creativity into a great cause”,<br />

Oke explained.<br />

One of the highlights of the 2017<br />

edition of the show was the partnership<br />

of Lagos State government<br />

in the show to commemorate the<br />

Lagos at 50 years celebration. This<br />

year, Runway Jazz is taking another<br />

turn, especially with the partnership<br />

Universal Music Group.<br />

Speaking on the MoU singed<br />

recently between the organisers<br />

and Universal Music Group, Sipho<br />

Dlamini, managing director, Universal<br />

Music, South and Sub-Saharan<br />

African, said it is a huge honour<br />

working with Runway Jazz, adding<br />

that the group is excited to be given<br />

the opportunity to partner with such<br />

a prestigious jazz event.<br />

“We believe this will be the flagship<br />

event in Africa. This year will<br />

be very different. It is a two-day<br />

event; day one will be for the master<br />

class — fashion master class and a<br />

music master class, which will be<br />

hosted by Universal Music Group.<br />

This year, we will be having jazz<br />

aficionado and Grammy award<br />

winner, Gerald Albright; Tiwa<br />

Salvage and Kayode Ajayi, both<br />

Berklee College of Music alumni<br />

taking sessions at the music master<br />

class,” he explained.<br />

Dlamini also stated that Universal<br />

Music as the number one<br />

entertainment company in the<br />

world, is partnering the event on the<br />

principle of the various activities the<br />

group oversee and implement in the<br />

areas and places they operate not<br />

just as a leading record label but<br />

as the number one entertainment<br />

company in the world.<br />

While Lagos State government<br />

has reinstated its commitment to the<br />

event this year, the organisers noted<br />

that Dolapo Osibajo, wife of the Vice<br />

President, will be gracing the event<br />

alongside her Step-Up Initiative that<br />

encourages and supports young<br />

people to use the Nigeria prints to<br />

make bags and shoes.<br />

Aside Gerald Albright, the artistes<br />

line up include; Sweet Sound<br />

as the host band, Tiwa Savage and<br />

other R&B singers as alternative<br />

genre expose, Heavy wind, and Beyond<br />

Vocal, a South African powerful<br />

vocal quintet under the Universal<br />

Music discovery . As well, there will<br />

be stage dance performance by<br />

the Society for Performing Arts in<br />

Nigeria, SPAN and fashion runways<br />

by AvantGarde.<br />

“In the fashion Masterclass, notable<br />

names like Oke Maduewesi,<br />

MD, Zaron Cosmetics; Opeyemi<br />

Oke, MD, Studio 54; and Ibidunni<br />

Ighodalo, MD, AvantGarde, will<br />

engage participants and it will be<br />

headed by Her Excellency, Dolapo<br />

Osinbajo. Also, in the musical Masterclass,<br />

Gerald Albright will lead,<br />

alongside Sipho Dlamini, Kayode<br />

Ajayi and Tiwa Savage”. Oke said.<br />

He also noted that there are expectations<br />

that the next year’s edition<br />

will be held in Lagos with the Lagos<br />

State Governor’s support. According<br />

to him, the partnership is coming at<br />

the right time being that as a country,<br />

Nigeria is hoping to bid to host the<br />

global jazz festival by 2020.<br />

However, the organisers expressed<br />

optimism that this year’s<br />

jazz festival, which will be dedicated<br />

to the memory of Hugh Ramapolo<br />

Masekela, an African pride, famous<br />

South African Jazz exponent, will be<br />

a worthwhile experience.<br />

Lagos Beauty Summit to hold in July<br />

Concerted efforts to<br />

streamline the Nigeria<br />

beauty business by the<br />

industry players, in order<br />

to make the venture more lucrative<br />

and profitable, will come to<br />

fore when stakeholders gather for a<br />

summit from July 23-24, <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Tagged: “Lagos Beauty Summit,<br />

<strong>2018</strong>”, the maiden event, which has<br />

the theme: ‘’The Power of More’’,<br />

will address the prevailing challenges<br />

facing consumers, retail<br />

and forces that are changing the<br />

industry. Over 250 beauty enthusiasts<br />

will be present at the summit<br />

as more than 20 speakers will share<br />

their perspective on: how consumer<br />

dynamics of wanting more<br />

is resetting business strategy, the<br />

power of collaboration and how<br />

retailers are reinventing the shopping<br />

experience.<br />

Activities to feature at the summit<br />

include: industry legend roundtable,<br />

tea time with beauty business<br />

moguls, trade shows, award session<br />

and performances by top music<br />

stars.<br />

The industry round-table would<br />

be a gathering of the industry best<br />

and highly respected names to discuss<br />

the industry challenges in the<br />

presence of prospective investors.<br />

The tea time with beauty business<br />

moguls is a platform where beauty<br />

enthusiasts and expert will gather<br />

for mentorship and the session will<br />

be facilitated by business moguls.<br />

Big brand names in beauty business<br />

such as Tara, Zara, among others<br />

will grace the summit.<br />

The award session, will feature<br />

industry experts who have distinguished<br />

themselves over the years<br />

with meritorious services to the<br />

industry will be celebrated and<br />

presented a ‘Lifetime achievement’<br />

plaque. As well, star performance<br />

by top names in the music industry<br />

will spice up the summit.<br />

Speaking at a media parley heralding<br />

the summit, which held recently<br />

in Lagos, Tope Sadi, said that<br />

having been in the beauty industry<br />

for a decade with experience, she<br />

has the obligation to leave legacies<br />

that would turn-around the<br />

industry for the players and young<br />

people who want to make a career<br />

to market its potential to both national<br />

and international investors”,<br />

she explained.<br />

Also speaking at the media parley,<br />

Yomi Olaniwun, CEO, BB Buzz,<br />

a PR/digital marketing agency,<br />

which is partnering in the summit,<br />

said the event aims to introduce<br />

international brands of cosmetics<br />

into the Nigerian market, while proin<br />

beauty business.<br />

“I have been in the beauty industry<br />

for ten years now. Looking at<br />

the industry, I feel that something<br />

needs to be done to turn it around<br />

economically to make it lucrative<br />

and profitable for players and<br />

young people who want to make<br />

a career in beauty business. The<br />

beauty business needs promotions<br />

viding an opportunity for the young<br />

people in beauty business to showcase<br />

their potentials and learn from<br />

the established brands like Zara,<br />

Zaron among others.<br />

He noted that there are so many<br />

successful people in the beauty industry<br />

whose efforts have not been<br />

spotted and rewarded in terms of<br />

recognition of competence, hence<br />

the summit will spot and give them<br />

the recognition.<br />

Jude Ugboaja, a member of the<br />

summit planning committee, and a<br />

business development consultant,<br />

said the summit wants, ‘’people<br />

from the international market to<br />

have a voice in the Nigerian market<br />

and network with the local consumers<br />

in order to expand their<br />

business frontiers.<br />

Ugbaja further explained that<br />

the summit would allow international<br />

beauty products come<br />

into the country and also get local<br />

consumers meet with them<br />

to exchange ideas, adding that at<br />

the end of the event, participants<br />

would go home with big business<br />

opportunities.


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

C002D5556<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

27<br />

Show Review – Fela and the Kalakuta Queens,<br />

bringing the Nigerian story to the world<br />

If you are a lover of stag<br />

plays and drama, then<br />

you would totally love<br />

the epic Fela and the<br />

Kalakuta Queens show<br />

brought to you by Terrakulture.<br />

Although I had heard<br />

a lot about the show from<br />

those who attended last year,<br />

there briefing did no justice<br />

to seeing it in person. I must<br />

confess that I totally enjoyed<br />

every bit of the show and I<br />

am writing about it to encourage<br />

people to also make<br />

out time to go see this wonderful<br />

show, which will be<br />

taking place every weekend<br />

in <strong>April</strong> at Terrakulture. The<br />

shows have 2 showing times<br />

daily and we went on to see<br />

the one at 3pm, they were<br />

so organized and timely and<br />

they started a few minutes<br />

past 3. The show was on till<br />

about 6pm and we had a 10<br />

minutes break in between<br />

the 3 hours journey of amazing<br />

dance steps and musicals.<br />

The Fela and the Kalakuta<br />

Queen Show was totally<br />

amazing, it was directed by<br />

Bolanle Austine Peters and<br />

produced by Joseph Umoibom.<br />

I must confess that this<br />

show was a well thought out<br />

and planned show from start<br />

to finish, there was absolutely<br />

no dull moment, and<br />

when it was about coming to<br />

an end, I really didn’t want to<br />

leave again, it felt like I could<br />

go on for another show and<br />

still not get bored. There was<br />

a perfect blend between the<br />

cast and the roles played,<br />

each one fitted in perfectly,<br />

at point almost looking so<br />

real. The young man who<br />

played the role of “Fela”<br />

himself was totally amazing<br />

and on point, Patrick Diabua<br />

he proved to us that he had<br />

done his due diligence thoroughly<br />

and studied Fela for<br />

a very long time, his walking<br />

steps, tone of voice, intonation,<br />

dance steps and attitude<br />

reminded everyone so<br />

much about our legendary<br />

man “Fela Anikulapo Ransome<br />

Kuti”. The concubines<br />

and back up artist, he later<br />

turned to his wives were all<br />

amazing and awesome, they<br />

played each role perfectly<br />

well, making the stage play<br />

so real, it felt like they were<br />

leaving the life again. There<br />

was also one lovely act, you<br />

need to look out for “Malika”<br />

the foreign lady who came to<br />

visit the shrine and later also<br />

got converted as one of his<br />

latest wives. She was totally<br />

amazing during the show,<br />

and everyone wanted to see<br />

her on stage as she carried<br />

all the African features of a<br />

beautiful Nigerian Girl.<br />

Before the play started<br />

we were given the rules of<br />

the show, in order to avoid<br />

distracting the actors with<br />

our cameras and phones,<br />

the lights were dimed and<br />

the show began. First there<br />

was an introduction of all<br />

the acts that would appear<br />

on stage, the introduction<br />

was beautiful to usher in the<br />

Cast: Patrick Diabua, Laitan Adeniji Fela, Joseph Umoibom,<br />

Inna Eriza Funmilayo, Uru Eke Alake, Osas Ighodaro<br />

Ajibade, Bunmi Olunloyo, Titilayo Itiku, Dolapo<br />

Phillips etc<br />

Executive Director: Bolanle Austine Peters<br />

Associate Producer: Joseph Umoibom<br />

Script: Kesiena C Obue, Bolanle Austine Peters, Cornelius<br />

Best Onyekaba, Kunle Dada<br />

Choreographer: Paolo Siaiano, Yeni Kuti, Justine Ezirim<br />

Lightening and Set Designer: Yemi Lights<br />

Sound Designer: Emmanuel Otunjinri<br />

Animation/Motion Graphic/Set Design: Ice Nweke<br />

Social Media/ Communication Consultant: Ayo Rotimi<br />

Stage Manager: Ikenna Jude Okpala<br />

Production Coordinator: Sola Oyebade<br />

Production Accountant: Fatai Omotunde, Temitope<br />

Sanya<br />

Costume Designer: TIFE, Kareema Mak,<br />

Wardrobe Designer: Juliana Dede, Itunu Bamidele<br />

Casting: 2hrs 30mins<br />

show, at that point I knew we<br />

were in for a very good show.<br />

They took us through all the<br />

heat songs of “Fela” from<br />

Democracy “Demonstration<br />

of Craze” till they ended<br />

up with the best of them all,<br />

“Water no get enemy” which<br />

is still a legendary song till<br />

date. The show was awesome<br />

because there was no<br />

hinge or break between any<br />

song, there was a smooth sail<br />

between each song to the<br />

other, making it so difficult<br />

to know that it was a stage<br />

play, it looked so much like<br />

a movie, the quick transition<br />

and twist of the stage<br />

and the background screen<br />

made it so hard to remember<br />

that it was just a show. There<br />

was this perfect movement<br />

and blend between the acts,<br />

as they sang, danced and<br />

played their acting role at the<br />

same time. At some points<br />

they had to jump, sing, cry,<br />

roll and still not miss their<br />

steps at the same time. The<br />

synchronization between all<br />

the dancers was unbelievably<br />

awesome.<br />

Although I had heard that<br />

the shows were awesome like<br />

the last one in Eko hotel last<br />

year, with some foreign acts,<br />

this one was totally different<br />

as they all Nigerian dancers,<br />

producers, directors, makeup<br />

artists and players, it was<br />

a show by us strictly and for<br />

us. What made it even better<br />

was the drama in between<br />

every song, making it a musical<br />

dance drama, which<br />

should actually be taken to<br />

every stage around the world<br />

to tell our African Legendary<br />

story. One major thing<br />

that blew my mind was that<br />

the play depicted the honest<br />

truth of what things were like<br />

then, and even till this age<br />

and time. It looked like nothing<br />

had changed the same<br />

old problems of those days<br />

were even worse now, the<br />

same leaders who ruled us<br />

then, are still the same rulers<br />

in power and the same<br />

mistakes we made then,<br />

we are still making now. A<br />

sad case of the rich getting<br />

richer, while the poor getting<br />

poorer, a heart breaking facts<br />

of small thieves who steal at<br />

the market menial items going<br />

to jails for years and the<br />

great politician who stole<br />

with pens, being hailed on<br />

the streets with no punishment<br />

or accusations? Watching<br />

this play just opened my<br />

eyes to the hidden truths<br />

that have being buried for<br />

years and are still buried,<br />

one question lingered in my<br />

heart all through and as I left<br />

that play, who would actually<br />

safe us from this black crisis<br />

we have found our self in,<br />

who will redeem Africa from<br />

this reoccurring problems,<br />

we have face for decades<br />

now since independence?<br />

This will be a question for all<br />

of us to look into, and work to<br />

fight for a brighter future for<br />

the next generation, or else<br />

there would be no legacy left<br />

of us to pass on to them.<br />

Feel free to review any<br />

movie of your choice in not<br />

more than 200 words, please<br />

send us a mail to linda@<br />

businessdayonline.com and<br />

stand a chance to win a free<br />

movie ticket.<br />

Linda Ochugbua<br />

@lindaochugbua<br />

Business Etiquette<br />

with Janet Adetu<br />

Let us Rise<br />

for a Toast<br />

‘Toasting Etiquette’<br />

The toast at a function<br />

is commonly<br />

practiced today,<br />

to celebrate a person,<br />

a couple or<br />

an event. At times this can be<br />

skipped only because either<br />

it was accidentally omitted<br />

or because the celebrants did<br />

not know the procedure for<br />

toasting, in other words they<br />

did not have the correct savvy<br />

skills to carry it out. The whole<br />

process of toasting is used to<br />

add glamour to an occasion.<br />

During my training sessions<br />

when I ask participants<br />

to practice proposing a toast,<br />

I notice that many are lost for<br />

words. They simply have no<br />

idea what is the right thing<br />

to say, whether the toast is at<br />

the beginning or at the end of<br />

the event. Interestingly even<br />

though this is round about a<br />

five minute exercise, there is<br />

a lot of protocol that goes into<br />

it. Enjoy your read.<br />

Toast Protocol Facts<br />

Are you the honored guest/<br />

celebrant:<br />

As the celebrant or guest of<br />

honor, you should always remain<br />

seated when celebrated.<br />

You cannot really celebrate<br />

yourself. The same applies to<br />

newlyweds at their wedding,<br />

they both remain seated.<br />

Which glass, which drink:<br />

When it is time to give a<br />

toast, the presenter makes a<br />

speech then suddenly says,<br />

“Please lift your glasses and<br />

let’s toast to the occasion”.<br />

Ideally champagne is the<br />

preferred drink for toasting<br />

served inside a champagne<br />

glass. This is not to say that<br />

the toast cannot be done with<br />

something else. For those<br />

who do not drink alcohol or<br />

champagne, today you may<br />

fill your glasses with juice,<br />

soda or at times we have<br />

seen water.<br />

Most people are never<br />

prepared for a toast so may<br />

not have no drink on hand;<br />

they tend to raise an empty<br />

glass. A toast should include a<br />

glass filled with liquid content<br />

before raising to complete the<br />

procedure.<br />

When and where:<br />

Interestingly a toast is not only<br />

done at the end of an event or<br />

occasion. There is an opening<br />

toast and a closing toast depending<br />

on the circumstance<br />

as well as program.<br />

The opening toast is all<br />

about welcoming guests,<br />

cknowledging their presence<br />

and wishing them a time of<br />

fun and friendship.<br />

The closing toast is to<br />

serenade the celebrant with<br />

good wishes for the future.<br />

The opening toast is usually<br />

announced during the<br />

cocktail session right before<br />

the guest proceeds to dinner.<br />

The closing toast is towards<br />

the end of the program while<br />

the guests are still seated,<br />

after they have eaten dinner.<br />

Timing:<br />

The key to toasting is in the<br />

timing ensuring that it is<br />

presented at the right time.<br />

If it is an opening toast, most<br />

guests will be standing for the<br />

cocktail with a few seated.<br />

When the cocktail has commenced<br />

for about one hour<br />

or so, it is time to present the<br />

welcome toast. For the closing<br />

toast, this is usually before<br />

the vote of thanks. The host of<br />

the event will choose who will<br />

give the toast in honor of the<br />

celebrant.<br />

Essentially open your meal<br />

with a toast to wet appetites<br />

and close the event with a<br />

toast to acknowledge the<br />

guest of honor. The opening<br />

toast should not be more than<br />

3 minutes, while a closing<br />

toast is slightly longer.<br />

What to say:<br />

Your toast should not be a<br />

roast that is too long. You may<br />

have great words to say about<br />

the celebrant or occasion but<br />

make them meaningful, the<br />

toast should be kept short<br />

and simple.<br />

If you have not presented<br />

a toast before, practice a few<br />

lines or exactly what you wish<br />

to say and commit to memory;<br />

Depending on the occasion,<br />

if it is a formal or a<br />

business setting keep it busi-<br />

ness like. Say that thing that<br />

creates a bit of humor that<br />

is authentic. Remember it is<br />

not about you but the guest<br />

of honor celebrant. Keep<br />

your audience authentic at<br />

once and make what you say<br />

worth listening to.<br />

Click, Clonk, or raise in the<br />

Air:<br />

Today it is not important<br />

or necessary to clink your<br />

glasses especially if you are<br />

far from the celebrant. We<br />

encourage raising of glasses<br />

to toast, this is known as an<br />

air kiss.<br />

The importance of the<br />

toast is to have the right eye<br />

contact while lifting the glass.<br />

When it comes to clinking<br />

glasses, this should be done<br />

with caution. Clink glasses<br />

with care to avoid breaking<br />

accidents. I have seen this<br />

happen before.<br />

Avoid stretching over the<br />

table to toast. The clink involves<br />

touching f main body<br />

of the glass not the base, some<br />

people clink the rim to rim.<br />

Toast Protocol<br />

1) Commence your occasion<br />

with a welcome or<br />

opening toast.<br />

2) Round up your occasion<br />

with a closing toast with<br />

all the guest standing.<br />

3) The guest of honor or<br />

celebrant reciprocate the<br />

toast to the host<br />

4) The guest of honor<br />

does not sip but smiles and<br />

says thank you.<br />

5) All other guest responds<br />

to the toast by clinking<br />

glasses still standing up.<br />

6) Drinking is followed<br />

by sipping the content in<br />

the glass.<br />

7) All guest are seated.


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

28 BUSINESS DAY<br />

FEATURE<br />

Promoting infrastructure maintenance<br />

in Nigeria through ‘ownership culture’<br />

Poorly maintained infrastructure depresses the quality of lives and contributes to anti-social<br />

behaviour that threatens the socio-political environment. Eliezer Workplace Management, a<br />

leading facility management firm in Africa aims to change this, writes ENDURANCE OKAFOR.<br />

It was a Saturday evening and<br />

hundreds of Lagosians are attending<br />

a wedding reception<br />

at the Tafawa Balewa Square.<br />

It was a gathering of the bourgeoisie<br />

mixed with the proletariat.<br />

There was much merry, eating and<br />

drinking. It is said that nothing is<br />

free but there were free food and<br />

drinks in this occasion to go round.<br />

The only problem was that there<br />

were no toilets anywhere in the<br />

complex where these Lagosians who<br />

had so much to eat and drink would<br />

go. Due to lack of a comfort station,<br />

the guests turned the complex into<br />

a huge public toilet.<br />

The putrid smell polluted the<br />

environment and made it uncomfortable<br />

for anyone hanging around<br />

for long period of time.<br />

This reflects how Nigerians treat<br />

public facilities and infrastructure.<br />

In many countries of the world,<br />

including South Africa, citizens<br />

imbibe what is generally known as<br />

‘ownership culture’ in infrastructure<br />

maintenance and management.<br />

Ownership culture in this context<br />

alludes to a situation where citizens<br />

and government treat public infrastructure<br />

and facilities exactly the<br />

same way they handle their private<br />

property.<br />

Few years ago in South Africa, a<br />

national fought another compatriot<br />

for throwing a plastic can outside a<br />

public bus. The attitude of South Africans<br />

to public infrastructure is that<br />

it is theirs and they must guard it.<br />

However, this is not the case with<br />

Nigerians, especially in Lagos.<br />

According to experts, ownership<br />

culture is beneficial not just to the<br />

citizens but also to the government.<br />

“To participate effectively and<br />

actively in management and maintenance<br />

of infrastructures, we need<br />

to take ownership of those in our<br />

communities,” David Korede, the<br />

Executive Director of Eliezer Workplace<br />

Management, told Business-<br />

Day by mail.<br />

Apart from making cities attractive<br />

to visitors, it reduces the<br />

number of communicable diseases<br />

in the country and elongates the<br />

people’s lifespan.<br />

Experts say Nigeria needs to<br />

spend three to four percent of its<br />

gross domestic product on infrastructure<br />

building and maintenance.<br />

Much of the expenditure<br />

goes to maintaining existing infrastructure<br />

stock.<br />

Ownership culture helps to reduce<br />

maintenance spend on the<br />

part of the governments at the<br />

three tiers of government, enabling<br />

to concentrate on developing new<br />

infrastructure.<br />

Experts in the facility management<br />

sector, such as Eliezer Workplace<br />

Management recommend<br />

the concept of ownership culture,<br />

as ownership does not only have to<br />

do with rights, liberties and powers<br />

but also carries with it corresponding<br />

burdens in the nature of duties,<br />

liabilities and disabilities which<br />

prescribe and regulate how an<br />

owner should utilise his property or<br />

infrastructure for their own benefit<br />

and also that of others.<br />

The exponential growth of the<br />

population in Lagos State brings<br />

with it a unique challenge of inadequate<br />

infrastructure and a maintenance<br />

plan that is grossly insufficient<br />

for the sheer number of people<br />

who utilise public infrastructure.<br />

A large flock of people migrate<br />

to Lagos on a daily basis in the<br />

hopes of getting opportunities and<br />

scarce white collar jobs. Akinwumi<br />

Ambode, Governor of Lagos state at<br />

a public function said that on average,<br />

about 123,000 people migrate<br />

to Lagos daily from different parts<br />

of Nigeria.<br />

If half that number truly migrates<br />

to Lagos every day then there is truly<br />

magnificent nightmare in terms of<br />

infrastructural sufficiency in relations<br />

to the population.<br />

Meanwhile, the Lagos State<br />

Waste Management disclosed that<br />

the centre of excellence generates<br />

between 12,000 metric tons to<br />

<strong>13</strong>,000 metric tons of waste daily.<br />

This is generated by an estimated<br />

20 million population which are<br />

said to be inhabitants of the most<br />

populous city in Africa.<br />

Lagos population in 1871 stood<br />

at 28,000 and grew to about 252,000<br />

in the 1970’s, today, Lagos population<br />

is one of the highest around<br />

the world, and it almost same as the<br />

population of Ghana.<br />

Considering these numbers,<br />

it is necessary therefore to have<br />

appropriate Assets and Facilities<br />

Management plan in the state, as<br />

effectively managed facilities in line<br />

with modern ways of organizing and<br />

structuring maintenance, will bring<br />

about the tendency for increase in<br />

life expectancy and sustainability<br />

of values.<br />

Maintenance of public properties<br />

is described as the combination<br />

of any continuous actions carried<br />

out to retain properties and infrastructure<br />

or restore it to an acceptable<br />

condition. Maintenance culture<br />

is concerned with the planning and<br />

control of construction resources to<br />

ensure that they are necessary take<br />

care of or repaired and renewal is<br />

also carried out with maximum efficiency<br />

and economy to enhance<br />

the quality of the property.<br />

Recent survey by Eliezer Workplace<br />

Management shows that<br />

adoption of ownership concept will<br />

have a positive effect on growth,<br />

economic stability and reduce cost<br />

of maintenance. Individual attitude,<br />

lack of proper maintenance culture<br />

has major influence on the present<br />

condition of the existing infrastructures.<br />

The idea of ‘Ownership Culture’<br />

To participate<br />

effectively<br />

and actively in<br />

management and<br />

maintenance of<br />

infrastructures,<br />

we need to take<br />

ownership of those<br />

in our communities<br />

is encompassing; it involves accepting<br />

responsibility, personal<br />

accountability, creativity and innovation<br />

especially using ownership<br />

judgment and making independent<br />

but learned decisions in promoting<br />

growth and development.<br />

This sounds simple and straightforward,<br />

but taking ownership<br />

actually has a cultural dimension.<br />

In some cultures, it is expected and<br />

often times rewarded when people<br />

take ownership of tasks while it is<br />

punished and ridiculed in some<br />

cultures.<br />

In Nigeria, the culture does not<br />

support or reward independent<br />

and innovative thinking especially<br />

when the risks of failure are<br />

considered too high or when the<br />

consequences of failure may be too<br />

steep to bear.<br />

This leads therefore to the premise<br />

of adopting ownership culture to<br />

management of Lagos State Assets,<br />

Infrastructure & Environment and<br />

also to the country at large.<br />

The Lagos-based, leading facility<br />

Management, Eliezer Workplace<br />

Management, introduced an initiative<br />

tagged “My Lagos, Our Lagos,”<br />

this was derived from finding a balance<br />

between Policies that government<br />

can create, to how every day<br />

Lagosian engage the policies and its<br />

interaction with the infrastructures<br />

and environment.<br />

Maintenance culture in Nigeria is<br />

one of the lowest around the world,<br />

especially, in principal towns and<br />

cities like Lagos where the majority<br />

of public properties and infrastructures<br />

are located.<br />

In the rural areas, the story is<br />

different and pleasant to hear. The<br />

traditional practice of communal<br />

clearing of community owned<br />

places such as market playground<br />

is in almost every village and in<br />

private homes. Also, it is customary<br />

to refurbish building interiors with<br />

mixtures of cow dung or natural red<br />

clay. The end result is attractive and<br />

totally indigenous.<br />

While on the other hand, low<br />

priority is accorded to property<br />

management in the urban areas<br />

which leads to neglect of public infrastructures.<br />

There are also little or<br />

no maintenance policies and therefore<br />

no such culture exists. Neglect<br />

of maintenance has accumulated<br />

consequences in rapid increase in<br />

the deterioration of the fabric and<br />

finishes of public infrastructure,<br />

accompanied by a harmful effect<br />

on the contents users (the residents<br />

and beneficiaries of the infrastructures).<br />

Due to poor maintenance culture<br />

on one hand and partly due<br />

to the absence of an appropriate<br />

benchmark, the life of these public<br />

infrastructural development do not<br />

last before reaching the total obsolescence<br />

state.<br />

When this happens, it becomes<br />

a big problem for both the government<br />

and the inhabitants of<br />

the state, and as such there is the<br />

need for both parties to treat such<br />

infrastructure as though they were<br />

their private investment, in order<br />

to get the best of the development<br />

through proper maintenance policy<br />

and habits.<br />

Knowing that only knowledgeable<br />

citizens make informed decision,<br />

Eliezer Workplace Management,<br />

director, Korede said “the<br />

company is committed to taking<br />

the practice of Facilities Management<br />

in Africa to International<br />

best practice through education,<br />

technology, and information using<br />

Nigeria as a pilot.”<br />

All Lagosian who works and reside<br />

in Lagos will eventually arrive at<br />

a crucial intersection, also with the<br />

government involvement in both<br />

maintenance and infrastructural<br />

development, this initiative believes<br />

at some point, the residents of Lagos<br />

state will turn right and buy-in to<br />

attitude of ownership management<br />

style regardless of status, tribe gender<br />

and ethnicity.<br />

Turning this direction means<br />

that every resident will be ready to<br />

work in same direction and put a<br />

stop into improper utilization and<br />

management of state infrastructure<br />

or facilities.<br />

The Lagos State and Nigeria<br />

government by extension are also<br />

to play their part by engaging its citizenry<br />

on ownership concept awareness<br />

across the length and breadth<br />

of the state by establishing a social<br />

group to re-engineer the society.<br />

Sensitization of the populace to<br />

achieving positive waste management<br />

culture towards proper waste<br />

handling and disposal cannot be<br />

overemphasized.


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY<br />

29<br />

INTERVIEW<br />

‘At CWG, our business model puts<br />

us ahead of competition’<br />

Technology no doubt has redefined the business environment and service delivery to customers. Adewale Adeyipo, vice president, Sales<br />

& Marketing, CWG in this interview with Modestus Anaesoronye explains how businesses are riding on technology for value creation.<br />

How will you assess the Nigerian<br />

business environment?<br />

Business on its own<br />

cannot function without<br />

the environment,<br />

and that is why there<br />

is interdependence<br />

between them. Business activities<br />

can only do well in favorable and<br />

viable environment. Oftentimes,<br />

such environment is influenced<br />

by major government policies,<br />

and the availability of infrastructure<br />

in any society largely affects<br />

the ease of doing business in that<br />

environment. Nigeria’s business<br />

environment in the recent years<br />

hasn’t been the best for an average<br />

entrepreneur and SMEs. It<br />

is characterized with fear and so<br />

much uncertainty. Fear on its own<br />

is a feeling induced by perceived<br />

danger, and this has a way of<br />

affecting business decisions because<br />

you have little or no power<br />

to control the consequence. One<br />

however can create measures and<br />

processes to navigate business<br />

dealings around it of course with<br />

some level of caution. Uncertainty<br />

is extremely bad for business, and<br />

so leaves you with no boundaries.<br />

Businesses don’t like to be in such<br />

situation where possible outcomes<br />

(good or bad) will be difficult to<br />

predict.<br />

Business environment like<br />

the social, political, cultural and<br />

economic factors greatly influence<br />

the level of FDI, and Nigeria is not<br />

immune to this. In Nigeria, several<br />

factors affect the advancement<br />

of businesses, and these factors<br />

make Nigeria’s business environment<br />

unfriendly and unsafe for<br />

investment.<br />

How will you assess Nigeria’s<br />

competitive brands and marketing<br />

landscape over the years?<br />

The unpredictable consumer<br />

behavior has largely influenced<br />

and also contributed positively<br />

to the remarkable yet competitive<br />

brand positioning we have<br />

witnessed in recent years. The<br />

production of goods and services<br />

has shifted from what we think it’s<br />

appropriate and ideal to produce,<br />

to understanding the target audience<br />

and the entire ecosystems of<br />

such products and services. The<br />

intelligence and quality of data<br />

required is huge and must be reliable.<br />

The population in Nigeria<br />

will continue to be strength for the<br />

country and the same has become<br />

the major driving force for major<br />

multinationals coming into the<br />

country despite the unconducive<br />

business environment. However,<br />

due to the lack of economic growth<br />

(increase in purchasing power) of<br />

the lower class and medium class,<br />

most of these organisations are recycling<br />

the same customers especially<br />

for premium goods. This has<br />

resulted to the highly competitive<br />

Adewale Adeyipo<br />

environment for major brands.<br />

The key asks are: What does the<br />

consumer want, how best can we<br />

produce it and offer the same,<br />

what competitors does best and<br />

what our brand is great at?. Major<br />

concentration will be on what the<br />

brand is great at. Again, the use of<br />

social media has also become a<br />

perfect marketing tool for building<br />

brand awareness.<br />

What is the future of the business<br />

and why do you think your<br />

services will continue to remain<br />

relevant?<br />

We are enabling growth using<br />

technology. We are a platform<br />

service provider leveraging technology<br />

to enable growth. The truth<br />

is, technology is vital to the success<br />

of almost every company in every<br />

industry. Whether it’s healthcare,<br />

retail, or any other industry, they<br />

all need technology for various<br />

reasons. From optimisation, automation,<br />

cost savings, creating<br />

new revenue channel etc. The<br />

good news is that technology is<br />

perceived to be a ‘problem solver’<br />

hence the need for it is on the rise.<br />

Share with us your core values<br />

and operational philosophy<br />

that drives the operation of CWG<br />

‘Can do Spirit’, despite challenges<br />

in the environment?<br />

Customer first, that is why you<br />

will find CWG CEO in a customer’s<br />

office for support issues, that is the<br />

core of our operati<br />

At CWG, how do you intend to<br />

deploy creativity to further boost<br />

Returns on Investment (ROI)?<br />

We understand the business<br />

of technology, where technology<br />

by itself is a means to an end. We<br />

are simplifying the application<br />

of technology to enable growth.<br />

Technology is an enabler but can<br />

also be a problem and overwhelming<br />

if not properly managed.<br />

Organisations tend to forget and<br />

neglect their core operations;<br />

battling with the same business<br />

enabler they have deployed to<br />

enhance growth.<br />

At CWG Plc, we are deploying<br />

solutions to address these challenges.<br />

We are focusing on the<br />

expected outcome for these organisations<br />

taking away the complexity<br />

of IT deployment. A bank is<br />

deploying ATMs to enhance its operations,<br />

discourage the inflow of<br />

customers in the bank branches;<br />

but the challenges encountered<br />

deploying and maintaining these<br />

ATMs is more than the problem<br />

they were trying to address in the<br />

first place. From I.T staff cost, huge<br />

capex budget, service availability,<br />

staying abreast of technology solutions,<br />

new inventions/ roadmaps<br />

etc. can be quite burdensome.<br />

Today we are deploying ATM<br />

as a service to the financial institutions,<br />

where the expected end<br />

result which is customer’s accessibility<br />

to financial services is the<br />

focus. Absorbing the financial<br />

institutions of all the IT concerns<br />

is one of our key roles. Financial<br />

institutions can focus on their<br />

core operations, while we enable<br />

growth deploying solution in line<br />

with their business objectives. We<br />

create solutions for SMEs to grow<br />

their business with less concern<br />

on the technology that drive the<br />

business. Today we have tailored<br />

ERP platforms for various sectors<br />

of the economy. Our solution<br />

enables SMEs to keep track of<br />

their business accounts, record<br />

sales, create and send invoices<br />

to customers, track expenditures<br />

and generate reports, which ultimately<br />

can be used to make better<br />

business decisions. All these are<br />

done without the complexity of<br />

deploying a huge IT infrastructure<br />

or IT budget. Same for Insurance,<br />

Cooperatives, Health, Transportation.<br />

We are playing in all the<br />

major segments of the economy<br />

enabling business and co-creating<br />

with relevant stakeholders.<br />

Access competition in the<br />

market, and share with us your<br />

unique selling proposition?<br />

Competition is about creativity.<br />

Your brilliant innovation is as<br />

good and valid as the minute it was<br />

launched. Anyone can create an<br />

add-on from where you stopped or<br />

create a new product or services to<br />

address the gaps in your product.<br />

The answer to this is that you have<br />

to keep thinking. Getting better at<br />

what you do. To stay ahead always<br />

requires a lot of brain power and<br />

intuitive ability. In CWG, we leverage<br />

on the knowledge and trust<br />

earned over the years from our<br />

‘over 150 corporate clients in all<br />

sectors of the economy. We have<br />

transited from the ‘what question’<br />

to the ‘why’. Understanding the<br />

customers’ business and providing<br />

the solution that answers the<br />

why? We say ‘Why do you need<br />

this technology/ solution and not<br />

necessarily what technology do<br />

you need’. With this in mind, we<br />

have been able to create value and<br />

longtime strategic partners.<br />

In the area of growth projection,<br />

where do you see CWG in<br />

the next 5years?<br />

CWG will be one of the leading<br />

service platform provides out<br />

of Africa in 4-5 years. We are well<br />

positioned for that. The company<br />

has repositioned itself, reengineered<br />

its operations, people and<br />

process to harness the opportunities<br />

before us. After 25 years<br />

of doing business and providing<br />

services to major corporations<br />

in Nigeria and west-Africa, being<br />

strategic partners to major<br />

multinationals, you can be sure<br />

we understand the market trend<br />

and we are responding appropriately.<br />

We understand the new<br />

definition of customer service<br />

as regards deployment of IT and<br />

value creation. We understand<br />

the season we are in; going by<br />

our knowledge of the Nigeria IT<br />

world and supported by events in<br />

other similar economy like ours;<br />

we made a paradigm shift using<br />

the learning’s of 25 years which is<br />

a lot of sacrifice for the company,<br />

so that we can remain relevant for<br />

a long time. CWG will be around<br />

for a long time creating incredible<br />

and innovative services in and<br />

out of Africa.<br />

How do you maximise this<br />

target position to take the brand<br />

to the next level in <strong>2018</strong>?<br />

Today, in CWG, I’m responsible<br />

for sales, marketing and<br />

product management. Our people<br />

are the first major asset we have<br />

and we will continue to leverage<br />

on this.<br />

We have created and still creating<br />

a lot of campaigns and<br />

road shows on brand awareness<br />

especially on some of our products<br />

and services. We have some<br />

unique services/ products that will<br />

position the organisation as one<br />

of the top minds in innovation in<br />

this country. Our smart metering<br />

solution, our ERP platform (built<br />

purposely for this market), our<br />

solution on mobile financial services<br />

to mention a few. We have a<br />

dedicated team in product management<br />

that keep abreast of happenings<br />

in the technology world<br />

and advise the organisation on the<br />

next big things to focus on. We do<br />

a detailed market survey and we<br />

prioritize these activities based on<br />

market needs/ demands, trends<br />

and identified gaps especially in<br />

our immediate world.<br />

Manpower development is<br />

key to the growth of every organisation,<br />

what is your approach to<br />

training?<br />

Training is one of the basic<br />

policies in the organisation. Going<br />

by the customer base and the rate<br />

in which we churn out solutions,<br />

we have to continuously train our<br />

resources. Today, we have other<br />

30 high end software developers<br />

and testers that cannot be static in<br />

their knowledge. We have over 400<br />

outsourced enterprise technical<br />

resources/ consultants working<br />

with major multinationals in Nigeria<br />

and West Africa; we support a<br />

large percentage of ATMs across 36<br />

states in Nigeria, managing, supporting<br />

and doing customisation<br />

and over 10 commercial banks on<br />

their core banking application. All<br />

these could have only been done<br />

through intensive trainings and<br />

retraining of our staff.<br />

We also leverage our partnerships<br />

with major technology<br />

providers and OEMs across the<br />

globe to enhance the skills sets<br />

of our employees. We have structured<br />

and exchange programs for<br />

skills acquisition and knowledge<br />

transfer. To support our business<br />

and customers, we started a<br />

training academy in 2010, where<br />

we train and engage fresh graduates<br />

in our training facilities. We<br />

provide classroom and practical<br />

knowledge on all our solutions for<br />

3 months. The most qualified ones<br />

after the 3 months program are<br />

often employed by the company.<br />

These are measures we are taking<br />

to ensure adequate empowerment<br />

for our people.


30 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

BUSINESS SOUTH-SOUTH<br />

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SOUTH-SOUTH / SOUTH-EAST<br />

Cross River CP assures of adequate<br />

security to investors in CFTZ<br />

…as free zone faces power hiccups<br />

BEN EGUZOZIE & MIKE ABANG,<br />

Calabar<br />

The Cross River State Commissioner<br />

of Police, Hafiz<br />

Mohammed Inuwa, has<br />

assured investor in the<br />

Calabar Free Trade Zone<br />

(CFTZ) of adequate security in the<br />

Zone. Inuwa gave the assurance<br />

recently in Calabar when he led a<br />

delegation of top Police officers to the<br />

premier free trade zone.<br />

The Police Commissioner, who<br />

stressed the need for adequate security<br />

at the free trade zone at all times,<br />

noted that the zone plays a vital role<br />

in stimulating economic activities<br />

with the presence of foreign and local<br />

investors.<br />

Meanwhile, the CFTZ faces grave<br />

electricity supply to the enterprises<br />

operating there. The zone was to have<br />

largely benefitted from the Calabar<br />

Integrated Power Plant (CIPP), sited<br />

at Odukpani. But that has yet to happen.<br />

In 2016, a Senate committee on<br />

Trade and Investments led by Fetimat<br />

Raji-Rasaki, took an oversight function<br />

visit to the free zone, where the<br />

general manager, Business Development<br />

of Nigerian Export Processing<br />

Zones Authority (NEPZA), Terhembe<br />

David Nongo gave an assurance of<br />

building alternative source of power<br />

for the CFTZ.<br />

At a stakeholders’ meeting Nongo,<br />

who represented the managing<br />

director of NEPZA to receive the<br />

Senate committee members to CFTZ,<br />

informed that the greatest problem<br />

which the management of CFTZ was<br />

grappling with was that of power supply,<br />

which was to have been captured<br />

in the 2017 Federal Government budget.<br />

But that was not addressed. This<br />

year, <strong>2018</strong> budget was yet to passed<br />

SABY ELEMBA, Owerri<br />

An Agro-economist and<br />

governorship aspirant<br />

in Imo State for 2019<br />

governorship election,<br />

Jude Ejike Njoku has said that the<br />

massive smuggling and the unrestrained<br />

importation of crude<br />

palm oil (CPO) would only be<br />

stopped if the Federal Government<br />

puts measures and programmes<br />

in place to increase the<br />

production of palm oil locally.<br />

Njoku, a professor of Agricultural<br />

Economics and former Vice<br />

Chancellor of Federal University<br />

of Technology (FUT), Owerri,<br />

said the annual smuggling and<br />

the unrestrained importation of<br />

crude palm oil of about 400,000<br />

metric tons (MT) was to fill the<br />

annual supply gap of about<br />

into law by the National Assembly.<br />

According to the NEPZA boss,<br />

a new independent power supply<br />

source was being worked on, as the<br />

old one was no longer reliable.<br />

The Cross River Police boss has<br />

called on the CFTZ management to<br />

cooperate with security agencies to<br />

prevent theft and provide security<br />

in the zone. He charged officers and<br />

men of the command to ensure regular<br />

surveillance in the zone.<br />

Meanwhile, there is shortage of<br />

Police personnel to man the Divisional<br />

station at the FCTZ, which<br />

prompted the head of the free zone,<br />

Godwin Ekpe, to appeal to the Police<br />

Commissioner to assist in order to<br />

raise crime fighting at the free zone<br />

Ekpe represented the Managing<br />

Director of NEPZA, Emmanuel Jime,<br />

expressed delight for the visit.<br />

He was accompanied by the General<br />

Manager of Tinapa, Binta Sa’eed<br />

and other management staff of the<br />

zone. He said the CFTZ was initially<br />

known as Calabar Export Processing<br />

Zone (CEPZ), coming into existence<br />

in 1992, after the promulgation of the<br />

Establish measures to bridle palm oil<br />

smuggling, Agro-economist urges FG<br />

800,000 MT.<br />

He said huge importation of<br />

CPO was not healthy for local<br />

producers and investors in the<br />

palm oil production subsector<br />

of the economy.<br />

Nigeria is the world’s fifth<br />

largest producer of crude palm<br />

oil, with a total official output of<br />

about 930,000 MT annually.<br />

“The situation now is that we<br />

are not able to produce enough<br />

palm oil to meet domestic consumption<br />

and manufacturing<br />

needs. So, we have to import<br />

large quantities of palm oil to<br />

meet the supply deficiency,” said<br />

Njoku.<br />

He warned that importation<br />

depresses the economy as it<br />

leads to capital flight, as well<br />

hurting the price of locally produced<br />

commodities; and that<br />

Nigeria Export Processing Zones Act<br />

63 of 1992.<br />

The CFTZ head disclosed that<br />

the zone has so far licensed about 77<br />

companies, out of which 42 are operational,<br />

employing over 11,000 skilled<br />

and unskilled workers engaged by<br />

these companies.<br />

“We have seen technology transfer<br />

and skill acquisition as well as foreign<br />

direct investment (FDI) from companies<br />

located in the CFTZ such as<br />

Skyrun International FZE, M-Saleh<br />

Engineering FZE, Agrim International<br />

FZE, Combination Industries<br />

FZE, Bao Yao Iron and Steel group<br />

and General Electric FZE,” the CFTZ<br />

head said.<br />

​On the challenges of the Zone, he<br />

told the Police Commissioner that the<br />

Zone was expanding in size, and the<br />

value of activities was equally expected<br />

to increase with the presence of<br />

General Electric and its subsidiaries.<br />

Ekpe appealed to the Cross River<br />

Police Commissioner to patronize the<br />

products of Golden Giant Industries<br />

FZE which produces camouflage for<br />

security operatives.<br />

becomes a disincentive to production<br />

and investment.<br />

According to him the Federal<br />

Government should put in place<br />

“programs and measures in the<br />

next couple of years to increase<br />

palm oil production, to the extent<br />

that it meets local consumption<br />

requirements.<br />

The professor of Agriculture<br />

Economics said if the Federal<br />

Government can boost local<br />

palm production, the current<br />

massive importation could be<br />

eliminated.<br />

Meanwhile, he has said that<br />

he would use his vast wealth<br />

of knowledge and experience<br />

to bring in the desired change,<br />

prosperity and development in<br />

Imo State, if elected governor in<br />

2019; as well as restore sanity and<br />

the dignity of the Imo people.<br />

FG trains 28 ex-Niger Delta<br />

militants on fish farming<br />

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin<br />

In line with the policies<br />

of the Presidential<br />

Amnesty Programme,<br />

28 ex-militants drawn from<br />

the nine oil producing<br />

states in the Niger Delta are<br />

undergoing one-week fish<br />

farming training in Benin-<br />

City, Edo State.<br />

The programme entails<br />

training the beneficiaries<br />

on fish farming, empowerment<br />

with all the equipment<br />

and tools needed<br />

for the business, open an<br />

account as well as monitoring<br />

and mentoring for three<br />

months to know their challenges<br />

and ensure success.<br />

Charles Odemwingie<br />

Aibangbee, the programme<br />

facilitator, said the programme<br />

was geared towards<br />

the re-integration of<br />

the ex-militants back into<br />

the society.<br />

Aibangbee, who is also,<br />

the managing director of<br />

REGIS ANUKWUOJI, Enugu<br />

Nigerian trado-medical<br />

practitioners<br />

have challenged<br />

governments at all<br />

levels to give them at least<br />

30% attention of what they<br />

give to conventional health<br />

practitioners to enable them<br />

promote primary health care<br />

and reposition Nigerian health<br />

sector.<br />

They said that a lot of<br />

health challenges and sicknesses<br />

could be handled and<br />

treated in the country by<br />

natural medicine if they are<br />

supported, instead of taking<br />

the cure of certain sicknesses<br />

outside the country.<br />

Godwin Enweoru of Goddy<br />

Natural Health Center, who<br />

spoke to <strong>BusinessDay</strong> on<br />

the efficacy of herbal medicine<br />

at the just concluded<br />

Enugu International trade<br />

fair, explained that the major<br />

challenge faced by the practitioners<br />

is funding to enable<br />

traditional medicine practitioners<br />

establish hospitals and<br />

botanical gardens.<br />

Enweoru therefore, appealed<br />

to governments at all<br />

levels to support and encourage<br />

them financially to enable<br />

them develop their botanical<br />

Nolia Consult Limited,<br />

noted that the training was<br />

in line with the presidential<br />

directive to integrate<br />

restive youths in the Niger-<br />

Delta region into the society<br />

through the Presidential<br />

Amnesty Programme.<br />

He explained that to<br />

ensure the success of the<br />

programme, the Federal<br />

Government allows the<br />

trainees to choose what<br />

business they want to<br />

go into; adding that the<br />

trainees chose fish farming<br />

on their own. He charged<br />

the participants to take<br />

the training seriously, as<br />

government cannot employ<br />

everybody; assuring that<br />

they will be empowered to<br />

start their business.<br />

One of the trainers,<br />

Patricia Danyil, said the<br />

training would equip the<br />

participants with the key<br />

qualities, knowledge and<br />

skills needed to grow their<br />

business.<br />

Nigerian trado-medical practitioners<br />

say can reposition health sector<br />

gardens and hospitals.<br />

He said that people with<br />

serious ailments that have the<br />

courage to approach practitioners<br />

of trado-medicine get<br />

cured with little amount of<br />

money; saying that all they are<br />

asking for is encouragement<br />

and assistance to change the<br />

health situation of the nation.<br />

“God has, through me,<br />

cured a lot of people with<br />

different aliments such as<br />

eye challenges, skin diseases,<br />

diabetes, pile, among others,”<br />

he said.<br />

Eye problem, he said,<br />

ranges from cataract, glaucoma,<br />

myopia, itching, retinal<br />

detachment, to short and long<br />

sight, where many people are<br />

subjected to using glasses<br />

before they could see tiny<br />

characters of words.<br />

Enweoru said there are<br />

some natural herbs that could<br />

be taken like tea to boost<br />

one’s vision, cleanse the eye<br />

without the use of eye glass.<br />

He also attributed some<br />

vision challenges to the eating<br />

habit of some people. that is<br />

why some aged people do not<br />

have vision challenges.<br />

Goddy natural center<br />

claimed to be doing well in<br />

other sicknesses like diabetes,<br />

pile, hemorrhage and general<br />

cough.


Friday<strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

31


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

32 BUSINESS DAY<br />

C002D5556<br />

Sports<br />

Spanish football league LaLiga unveils Nigerian office<br />

Stories by<br />

Anthony Nlebem<br />

Liga Nacional De<br />

Fútbol Profesional,<br />

more commonly<br />

known as<br />

“LaLiga” on Sunday<br />

<strong>April</strong> 8, hosted its first official<br />

“LaLiga in Naija” media<br />

event in Lagos. The event was<br />

aimed at officially unveiling<br />

the LaLiga Nigerian office<br />

and highlighting the various<br />

projects it has undertaken<br />

since its inception in the<br />

country.<br />

The LaLiga office in Nigeria<br />

was launched in Abuja in<br />

2016, in a signed partnership<br />

with Legacy Sports, but there<br />

was no official launch event<br />

at the time. This was the first<br />

official ‘corporate’ event for<br />

the brand in Nigeria. The<br />

launch was designed to bring<br />

LaLiga closer to its Nigerian<br />

fans, and to generate more<br />

awareness around the other<br />

clubs in LaLiga.<br />

Ex-internationals Emmanuel Amunike, Finidi George and Mutiu Adepoju at the LaLiga in Naija media event held on<br />

Sunday, <strong>April</strong> 8 in Ikeja, Lagos.<br />

LaLiga delegate in Nigeria,<br />

Javier Del Rio, who<br />

spoke during the event,<br />

said; “We (LaLiga) are very<br />

proud to be in Nigeria, and<br />

to be much closer to the<br />

fans. We believe Nigeria is<br />

a significant market for the<br />

growth of our brand, and<br />

we are highly committed to<br />

the development of football<br />

in this country, paying close<br />

attention to its grassroots<br />

football as demonstrated<br />

through the 5-day LaLiga-<br />

NPFL Coaching Clinic for<br />

Nigerian youth coaches earlier<br />

this year at the National<br />

Stadium in Abuja. We plan<br />

to host more of these types<br />

of activation, and this is just<br />

the beginning of greater<br />

things to come between<br />

LaLiga and Nigeria.”<br />

Present at the event were<br />

former Nigerian LaLiga stars<br />

Finidi George, and Emmanuel<br />

Amunike. The Nigerian<br />

players from Las Palmas,<br />

Malaga, Deportivo La Coruna,<br />

Nastic Tarragona, and<br />

Lugo were also present to<br />

represent their respective<br />

clubs.<br />

Also speaking during<br />

the event, was LaLiga ambassador,<br />

and former La-<br />

Liga star, Mutiu Adepoju,<br />

who said, “As the LaLiga<br />

ambassador, growing the<br />

LaLiga brand in Nigeria has<br />

always been my primary<br />

objective. I am excited<br />

about the prospect of Nigerian<br />

fans being closer to La-<br />

Liga and its clubs, as there<br />

is an array of Nigerian<br />

talent plying their trade in<br />

the Spanish top flight. I believe<br />

that LaLiga’s presence<br />

in Nigeria will ultimately<br />

further strengthen ties between<br />

Nigeria and LaLiga”.<br />

Sports and broadcast<br />

media personnel from the<br />

top media publications and<br />

online blogs in Nigeria were<br />

present at the event, and<br />

were treated to a pulsating<br />

experience with the Magic<br />

of LaLiga, in a private viewing<br />

of the Madrid Derby<br />

between Real Madrid & Atlético<br />

Madrid, with the former<br />

Nigerian LaLiga stars acting<br />

as commentators during the<br />

match.<br />

LaLiga is continuously<br />

committed to the development<br />

of football in Nigeria<br />

at all levels, and will stop at<br />

nothing to better the footballing<br />

culture here through<br />

the best league in the world,<br />

LaLiga’s methodology.<br />

South African ex-international star Ntini<br />

partners NCF as technical consultant<br />

The (NCF) has contracted<br />

the services of<br />

South African Cricket<br />

legend, Makhaya Ntini<br />

as the Technical Consultant<br />

to the Nigerian national team<br />

ahead of the International<br />

Cricket Council sub-regional<br />

T20 qualifier and African<br />

Cricket Association (ACA)<br />

Tournament, this month.<br />

Vice-President of NCF and<br />

Chairman, Local Organizing<br />

Committee of the T20 qualifier,<br />

Uyi Akpata, disclosed this in<br />

Lagos and said that the coming<br />

of Ntini would give the NCF<br />

technical bench a depth that<br />

is necessary to compliment<br />

the effort of the coaching crew<br />

ahead of busy schedules in the<br />

coming months.<br />

“We have a number of<br />

things going well for Cricket<br />

now and the inclusion of Ntini<br />

to our technical team would be<br />

a big boost to those developments.<br />

A good outing at ICC<br />

sub-regional T20 qualifier that<br />

we are hosting from <strong>April</strong> 14th<br />

to 21stis also a key deliverable<br />

that his coming will help our<br />

team with.”<br />

Ntini, a former South African<br />

fast bowler, and a former<br />

Zambian coach has said he is<br />

happy to work with the Nigeria<br />

Cricket Federation to realise<br />

their vision.<br />

“I want to appreciate the<br />

Nigerian Cricket Federation<br />

who invited me and based on<br />

what I have seen in the last few<br />

days, I am impressed with the<br />

talents I met on ground”.<br />

Ntini will also be expected<br />

to run a 2-day Fast Bowling<br />

Academy for young fast bowling<br />

talents in Nigeria.<br />

Coach of the national<br />

team, Uthe Ogbimi, on his<br />

part is full of praises for the<br />

NCF for bringing in Makhaya<br />

Ntini, the first black player to<br />

play for the South African national<br />

cricket team. According<br />

to him this will not only<br />

enhance the performance of<br />

the national team players but<br />

also help develop the game at<br />

the grassroot level.<br />

“<strong>April</strong> is a very crucial<br />

month for us as host of the<br />

International Cricket Council<br />

sub-regional T20 qualifiers<br />

and ACA T20 Tournament. We<br />

have made a pledge to give our<br />

best and then come out tops at<br />

the two tournaments Nigeria<br />

will be hosting”.<br />

The Nigerian Cricket Federation<br />

(NCF) under the leadership<br />

of Professor Yahaya<br />

Adam Ukwenya had promised<br />

to return the National Team to<br />

global reckoning when it was<br />

inaugurated a year ago, with<br />

Ukwenya adding that;<br />

“We had a roadmap when<br />

we came on Board and we<br />

are keeping strictly to the developmental<br />

plans we have<br />

outlined. We are most grateful<br />

to the ICC and the ACA for<br />

granting us hosting rights for<br />

2 international tournaments,<br />

back-to-back. With their support<br />

and that of our growing<br />

number of corporate sponsors,<br />

we are confident of a brighter<br />

future for Nigerian cricket.”<br />

Nigerians to enjoy World Cup Live in<br />

HD at a subsidized rate – StarTimes<br />

As the countdown to<br />

the most anticipated<br />

sporting event<br />

in the world commences,<br />

leading pay-TV<br />

provider, StarTimes Nigeria<br />

says it has concluded plans<br />

to ensure that Nigerians<br />

enjoy all the 64 matches of<br />

the World Cup live, and in<br />

HD at a subsidized rate.<br />

Speaking on this development,<br />

the company’s<br />

Brand & Marketing Director,<br />

Qasim Elegbede hinted that<br />

all StarTimes subscribers<br />

will enjoy the matches irrespective<br />

of their bouquet.<br />

“We are working to ensure<br />

that every StarTimes<br />

subscriber enjoys the thrilling<br />

moments of the World<br />

Cup in HD right in the comfort<br />

of their home. As part<br />

of our promise to deliver<br />

affordable entertainment to<br />

every African home, we will<br />

ensure that watching the<br />

World Cup live and in HD<br />

no longer puts a hole in the<br />

pocket of Nigerians as it has<br />

been over the years”<br />

He added, “ All our bouquets<br />

will be showing the<br />

World Cup for the general<br />

entertainment of our subscribers.<br />

Non StarTimes<br />

subscribers will not be left<br />

out of the World Cup frenzy<br />

as all 64 matches are also<br />

available live and in HD on<br />

the StarTimes mobile app<br />

available for download from<br />

the app store”<br />

StarTimes is the leading<br />

digital TV operator in<br />

Africa, serving nearly 10<br />

million subscribers with a<br />

signal covering the whole<br />

continent and a massive<br />

distribution network of 200<br />

brand halls, 3,000 convenience<br />

stores and 5,000<br />

distributors. The company<br />

also owns a featured content<br />

platform, with 480 authorized<br />

channels consisting of<br />

news, movies, series, sports,<br />

entertainment, children’s<br />

programs etc.


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

C002D5556<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

33<br />

NEWS<br />

Base effect moderates inflation pressure to...<br />

Continued from page 4<br />

base effect with stable currency<br />

backdrop and sliding gasoline<br />

prices,” Wale Okunrinboye, a<br />

Lagos-based Fixed Income and<br />

Research Analyst told Business-<br />

Day on phone.<br />

The steady supply of Premium<br />

Motor Spirit (PMS),<br />

normally referred to as petrol,<br />

was said to have been a<br />

catalyst to the moderation in<br />

inflation rate.<br />

“The relative stability in<br />

crude supply due to the tackled<br />

challenges of fuel importation<br />

and distribution experienced<br />

few month ago, led to reduction<br />

in petrol prices in March.<br />

This reflected in the prices of<br />

transportation and cost of moving<br />

goods around the country. It<br />

however then led to decline in<br />

inflation rate,” Ayo Akinwumi,<br />

Head of Research FSDH Merchant<br />

Bank said.<br />

“It is a major positive surprise,<br />

although the base effect<br />

also played a role, considering<br />

the high rate recorded last year,”<br />

Oando shares appreciate...<br />

Continued from page 1<br />

Tajudeen Ibrahim, Head of Research<br />

at Chapel Hill Denham<br />

Securities said.<br />

According to a previous NBS<br />

report on Wednesday 11 <strong>2018</strong>,<br />

there was -5.3 percent decline<br />

in the price of petrol on monthon-month<br />

comparison.<br />

Nigerian consumers paid<br />

an average of N163.4 per litre<br />

for the product in March, N9.1<br />

less than the N172.5 in February<br />

<strong>2018</strong>. This is however,<br />

against the official government<br />

pump price of N145 per litre. Although,<br />

there was a 9.4 percent<br />

increase, year-on-year, as seen<br />

in NBS figures.<br />

The Consumer Price Index<br />

(CPI) measures the average<br />

change over time in prices of<br />

goods and services consumed<br />

by people for day- to- day living<br />

and as such, the CPI measures<br />

inflation.<br />

Inflation on the other hand<br />

is the rate at which the prices of<br />

goods and services are rising.<br />

Expectations of two analysts<br />

polled in a <strong>BusinessDay</strong> survey<br />

L-R: Ike Ekweremmadu, deputy Senate president; George Obiazor, chairman of the occasion, and Ken Imasuangbon,<br />

discussant, at the inaugural annual distinguished lecture of Prof. J. Isawa Elaigwu Foundation in Abuja, yesterday. NAN<br />

commenced trading on the<br />

capital market on the morning of<br />

Thursday <strong>April</strong> 12, <strong>2018</strong> following<br />

a directive by the Securities<br />

and Exchange Commission<br />

(SEC).<br />

The 176 days technical suspension<br />

was hitherto lifted on<br />

the morning of <strong>April</strong> 11, <strong>2018</strong><br />

following an <strong>April</strong> 9, <strong>2018</strong> directive<br />

by the SEC.<br />

However, three hours into<br />

trading, the NSE reinstated the<br />

technical suspension.<br />

In a statement released by<br />

the NSE, on the evening of<br />

<strong>April</strong> 11, <strong>2018</strong> the Exchange explained<br />

that they reinstated the<br />

technical suspension based on<br />

a new directive from the SEC,<br />

throwing the financial market<br />

into chaos.<br />

The share price rose to<br />

N6.30, a 5.8 percent increase<br />

from N5.99 within three hours<br />

of trading on Wednesday morning,<br />

<strong>April</strong> 11.<br />

The regulator briefly reimposed<br />

the suspension on<br />

the same day, citing SEC directives<br />

but then lifted it again by<br />

Thursday, <strong>April</strong> 12.<br />

The NSE’s statement went<br />

further to say: “In the overall<br />

interest of investors in Nigeria’s<br />

capital markets, and following<br />

consultation with the Commission<br />

please be advised that<br />

at the start of trading, 12 <strong>April</strong>,<br />

<strong>2018</strong>, trading in Oando’s shares<br />

will resume without any impediment<br />

in price movement<br />

consistent with the NSE’s market<br />

structure.”<br />

On its first full day of trading,<br />

Oando’s shares were highly<br />

sought after with 178 million<br />

Oando shares on bid with only<br />

5.5 million available for sale.<br />

According to the Chief Compliance<br />

Officer and Company<br />

Secretary, Ayotola Jagun;<br />

“On day one, the Company’s<br />

share price hit the NSE daily<br />

price ceiling of 10 percent by<br />

10.45am; further evidence that<br />

there is a lot of interest in Oando<br />

shares and that the general<br />

mood around the market and<br />

our shares is positive.”<br />

The technical suspension<br />

which lasted 176 days reflected<br />

negatively on the credibility<br />

and competence of the country’s<br />

capital market regulators.<br />

It has also hit hard Oando’s<br />

over 270,000 shareholders,<br />

investors, partners, management,<br />

staff and everyone who<br />

owes their livelihood directly<br />

or indirectly to the company.<br />

Analysts say the true beneficiaries<br />

of the technical suspension<br />

were large investors<br />

with substantial shareholdings<br />

who have the deep pockets and<br />

were able to take advantage of<br />

the state of affairs to buy-out<br />

the minority shareholders at a<br />

expect the rate to hit a single<br />

digit in the Full Year of <strong>2018</strong> on<br />

the benchmark of declining fuel<br />

prices.<br />

“Petrol prices do not seem to<br />

be a thing to worry about again,<br />

therefore, the inflation rate is<br />

likely going to be at a single digit<br />

in Full year of <strong>2018</strong>,” Okunrinboye<br />

said.<br />

“Inflation will come to a single<br />

digit in full year of <strong>2018</strong>,”<br />

Tajudeen added.<br />

The Monetary Policy Committee<br />

(MPC), in its first meeting<br />

of the year held in <strong>April</strong> 3-4 <strong>2018</strong>,<br />

left its key interest rate at a record<br />

high of 14 percent to fight inflation<br />

as its awaits confirmation<br />

from data of deceleration in the<br />

headline CPI in Africa’s largest<br />

economy.<br />

The CBN governor Godwin<br />

Emefiele said the decision to<br />

retain the policy rates was geared<br />

at fighting inflation.<br />

Meanwhile, inflation rate at<br />

<strong>13</strong>.34 percent is now lower than<br />

the benchmark rate of 14 percent.<br />

This means the real interest<br />

rate has taken a positive trajectory<br />

by 0.66 percentage points.<br />

discount to the true value of the<br />

shares, whilst also creating a<br />

black market for the company’s<br />

shares.<br />

Shareholders were denied<br />

the opportunity of benefitting<br />

from Oando’s performance and<br />

gains spurred by higher crude<br />

prices over the last months six<br />

months.<br />

In Q3 2017, 9 days after<br />

the technical suspension was<br />

placed, Oando declared a profit<br />

after tax of N7.1 billion in its<br />

year-end September 30, 2017<br />

results.<br />

The company, prior to this<br />

result declared three profits in a<br />

row, FYE 2016, N3.5 billon PAT;<br />

Q1 2017, N1.7 billion; and H1<br />

2017, N4.6 billion PAT.<br />

The company started <strong>2018</strong><br />

on a positive note, by reaching<br />

an agreement with Dahiru<br />

Mangal after adequately addressing<br />

the concerns he raised<br />

in his petition to the SEC; this<br />

was shortly after the price of<br />

“This means that the CBN will<br />

likely be able to cut interest rate<br />

by say 100 to 200 basis points<br />

over the second or third quarter<br />

of <strong>2018</strong>,” Okunrinboye said.<br />

A further break down of the<br />

inflation report released Thursday,<br />

shows the Composite Food<br />

Index rose by 16.08 percent (year<br />

on year) in March <strong>2018</strong>, down<br />

from the rate recorded in February<br />

(17.59 percent).<br />

On a month-on-month basis,<br />

the Food sub-index increased by<br />

0.90 percent in March <strong>2018</strong>, up<br />

by 0.05 percent points from 0.85<br />

percent recorded in February.<br />

The average annual rate of<br />

change of the Food sub-index for<br />

the twelve-month period ending<br />

March <strong>2018</strong> over the previous<br />

twelve month average was 19.29<br />

percent, 0.23 percent points<br />

from the average annual rate of<br />

change recorded in February<br />

(19.52) percent.<br />

The rise in the food index was<br />

caused by increases in prices of<br />

Bread and cereals, Fish, Oil and<br />

fats, Vegetables, Fruits, Coffee,<br />

tea and cocoa, Meat, milk,<br />

cheese and eggs.<br />

Brent Crude hit $71, its highest<br />

since December 2014.<br />

The company recently commissioned<br />

its new office building,<br />

the Wings Office Complex,<br />

a two 12-story building which<br />

also offers a world-class indoor<br />

event space, a one-of-a-kind<br />

space that can hold up to 300<br />

people and an outdoor waterfront<br />

area with a hosting capacity<br />

of 200 people and overlooks<br />

Lagos waterway.<br />

The building will not only<br />

act as the company’s new head<br />

office but will also be an additional<br />

revenue generator from<br />

its 27,000m2 worth of lettable<br />

office space.<br />

Recently, the Nigerian National<br />

Petroleum Corporation<br />

(NNPC) announced that a consortium<br />

consisting of Oando<br />

PLC and OilServe Limited have<br />

been awarded the Engineering,<br />

Procurement, Construction<br />

(EPC) mandate for the<br />

construction of gas pipelines<br />

The ‘’All Items less Farm Produce’’<br />

or Core inflation, which<br />

excludes the prices of volatile<br />

agricultural produce, rose by<br />

11.2 percent in March <strong>2018</strong>,<br />

down by 0.5 percent points from<br />

the rate recorded in February<br />

(11.7) percent.<br />

On a month-on-month basis,<br />

the Core sub-index increased<br />

by 0.84 percent in March <strong>2018</strong>,<br />

higher by 0.09 percent when<br />

compared with 0.75 percent<br />

recorded in February.<br />

The average 12-month annual<br />

rate of change of the index<br />

was 12.33 percent for the<br />

twelve-month period ending<br />

March <strong>2018</strong>; this is 0.34 percent<br />

points lower than 12.67 percent<br />

recorded in February.<br />

In March <strong>2018</strong>, all items inflation<br />

on a year on year basis was<br />

highest in Bauchi, Kebbi and<br />

Nassarawa states with 16.38 percent<br />

16.36 percent and 16.33 percent<br />

respectively, while Kwara<br />

with 10.30 percent, Kogi with<br />

10.87 percent and Delta with<br />

11.17 percent recorded the slowest<br />

rise in headline Year on Year<br />

inflation.<br />

stretching from Ajaokuta to<br />

Abuja as part of the Ajaokuta-<br />

Kaduna-Kano Pipeline.<br />

The pipeline is a section of<br />

the Trans-Nigerian Gas Pipeline<br />

under the gas infrastructure<br />

blueprint designed to<br />

enable the industrialisation<br />

of the Eastern and Northern<br />

parts of Nigeria and also enable<br />

connectivity between the<br />

East, West and North, which is<br />

currently non-existent.<br />

Speaking on the lifting of<br />

the technical suspension, Bismarck<br />

Rewane the CEO of<br />

economic consulting firm Financial<br />

Derivatives said: “The<br />

way we handle these matters<br />

also sends a clear signal to<br />

potential, existing and international<br />

investors that this market<br />

is transparent, accountable and<br />

is there to protect all interests<br />

and not to be used for punitive<br />

purposes.”<br />

Rewane advised market<br />

regulators to learn from their<br />

mistakes on the handling of<br />

Oando’s issue and ensure it is<br />

not repeated in the future.<br />

A statement from Oando indicated<br />

that the forensic audit<br />

into the affairs of the company<br />

is currently underway by Deloitte<br />

Nigeria (Deloitte), the<br />

SEC appointed forensic team<br />

lead.<br />

“To date, the Company has<br />

been fully cooperative with both<br />

the SEC and Deloitte. In the<br />

spirit of goodwill, transparency<br />

and full disclosure, we will continue<br />

to cooperate with the SEC<br />

and its nominated parties in the<br />

discharge of their duties as the<br />

Capital Markets regulator during<br />

this exercise,” Oando said.<br />

Rewane further advised that<br />

the commission should commit<br />

the resources needed to<br />

conclude the forensic audit on<br />

Oando as the market cannot<br />

wait indefinitely.


34 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556<br />

NEWS<br />

Good Governance Committee assesses<br />

states ahead of <strong>2018</strong> Governors’ Awards<br />

TELIAT SULE<br />

The <strong>2018</strong> Award Committee<br />

for the States<br />

Competitiveness and<br />

Good Governance<br />

Awards and <strong>BusinessDay</strong> Research<br />

and Intelligence Unit<br />

(BRIU), working in coordination<br />

with the field teams, have<br />

begun the compilation and<br />

assessment of the achievements<br />

of the 36 state governments<br />

in Nigeria ahead of<br />

the <strong>2018</strong> States Competitiveness<br />

and Good Governance<br />

Awards, as state governments’<br />

officials begin to send in their<br />

entries in response to notices<br />

earlier sent out by the Committee.<br />

In this year’s awards, the<br />

chief executive officers of the<br />

36 states of the federation<br />

will be appraised on different<br />

award categories, which include<br />

the awards for the Fastest<br />

Growing State Economy;<br />

Best State in Tourism; Transparency<br />

in Governance; the<br />

most improved in Rural and<br />

Urban Infrastructure Devel-<br />

FG commences wider consultations on CFTA in six weeks<br />

KEHINDE AKINTOLA, HARRISON EDEH & CYNTHIA EGBOBOH<br />

Federal Government on<br />

Thursday said it would<br />

continue wider consultations<br />

with economic<br />

stakeholders in the country’s<br />

six geo-political zones on<br />

the African Continental Free<br />

Trade Agreement (AFCTA) to<br />

ensure long-term benefits and<br />

consolidation of the Nigerian<br />

economy.<br />

The government also informed<br />

that wider consultations<br />

with the Nigerian Labour<br />

Congress (NLC), and the<br />

Manufacturers Association of<br />

Nigeria (MAN) and other key<br />

players in the organised private<br />

sector was already yield-<br />

opment; the most improved<br />

in Ease of Doing Business; the<br />

most improved in Healthcare<br />

Development and the Best<br />

State in Agriculture Development.<br />

Others are the most<br />

improved state in Housing<br />

Development, Education Development,<br />

Security, IT/ICT<br />

and the state at the forefront<br />

of promoting Made in Nigeria<br />

Goods.<br />

In an era of diversification,<br />

the list of the award categories<br />

will not be complete without<br />

a consideration for the state<br />

promotion the development<br />

of solid minerals. The climax<br />

of it is that the most outstanding<br />

governors will emerge as<br />

the governor(s) of the year.<br />

The Award Committee<br />

and BRIU employed a number<br />

of metrics to evaluate the<br />

36 sub national governments<br />

with the sole aim of ensuring<br />

a level playing field and<br />

objectivity. Quantitative parameters<br />

include growth in<br />

internally generated revenue<br />

(IGR), education reforms,<br />

budgetary allocations to critiing<br />

the desired results as concerns<br />

being raised by various<br />

groups were being adequately<br />

addressed. Briefing newsmen<br />

while he played host to<br />

representative of the National<br />

Association of Small Scale Enterprises,<br />

NASME who came<br />

to pledge their support to government’s<br />

effort towards signing<br />

the AFCTA, Chiedu Osakwe,<br />

who heads Nigeria Office<br />

for Trade Negotiations said the<br />

consultations with key economic<br />

stakeholders will assist<br />

Nigeria harvest the full benefits<br />

of becoming a signatory<br />

to the AFCTA. Osakwe said,<br />

“The government’s consultations<br />

is ensuring that strategic<br />

priorities such as safeguarding<br />

BBC News Africa appoints Larry Madowo as business editor<br />

Larry Madowo joins<br />

the BBC from<br />

Wednesday, <strong>April</strong><br />

11, leading its new<br />

Business Unit. The appointment<br />

is part of the BBC<br />

World Service’s continuing<br />

expansion in TV and Digital<br />

Video content for audiences<br />

in Africa, including new<br />

business programmes.<br />

Larry is a well-known<br />

Kenyan journalist and<br />

has previously hosted his<br />

own radio show, written<br />

a weekly newspaper column<br />

and fronted many<br />

popular TV programmes.<br />

Larry has a vast experience<br />

in broadcasting, having<br />

worked with various<br />

well-established local and<br />

CHANGE OF NAME<br />

I, formerly known and addressed<br />

as Frank Nwabueze<br />

Tunim-Eke now wish to be<br />

known and addressed as Frank<br />

Nwanbueze Tunim-Eke. All former<br />

documents remain valid.<br />

General Public please take note.<br />

international media organisations,<br />

and has made<br />

many appearances previously<br />

on the BBC. He is<br />

also a pioneering digital<br />

journalist on the continent<br />

with an impressive following<br />

of over 3 million on social<br />

media.<br />

Madowo, says: “I’m<br />

thrilled to be joining the<br />

BBC and look forward to<br />

amplifying stories about<br />

CONFIRMATION OF NAME<br />

This is to inform the general<br />

public that Echefu Ikenna<br />

Azubuike and Onwunabonze<br />

Ikenna Azubuike refers to<br />

same and one person. All former<br />

documents bearing any<br />

of the two names remain valid.<br />

General public please take note.<br />

CHANGE OF NAME<br />

I, formerly known and addressed<br />

as Adamu Usman<br />

now wish to be known and<br />

addressed as Adamu Usman<br />

Mohammed. All former documents<br />

remain valid. General<br />

Public please take note.<br />

cal sectors such as health, education<br />

and agriculture; capital<br />

importation, foreign direct<br />

investment and openness in<br />

the budgetary processes.<br />

Fourteen states emerged<br />

as the winners in the 2017 edition.<br />

Dignitaries at that event<br />

include Abdulsalami Abubakar,<br />

former head of state;<br />

Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia State<br />

governor; Nasiru el-Rufai, Kaduna<br />

State governor; Abdullahi<br />

Umar Ganduje, Kano State<br />

governor, Simon Lalong, Plateau<br />

State governor; Samuel<br />

Ortom Benue State governor;<br />

Acho Nwaakanma, former<br />

deputy governor, Abia State;<br />

Jacob Buba, Gbomgwom Jos;<br />

Babafemi Ojodu, SA to Vice<br />

President on Political Matters;<br />

Adeyemi Dipeolu, SA to<br />

the President on Economic<br />

Matters; Letep Dabang, chairman,<br />

APC Plataeu State; Vincent<br />

Ogbulafor, former PDP<br />

chairman; Austin Akobundu,<br />

former minister of state, Defense,<br />

and Pauline Tallen, former<br />

deputy governor, Plataeu<br />

State, among others.<br />

infant industries, comprising<br />

of rice, poultry, sugar and even<br />

fertilizer movements are well<br />

managed in such a way that<br />

the activities benefit Nigerian<br />

industries. In that regard, appropriate<br />

safeguards are in<br />

place to address concerns in<br />

these areas.<br />

Also, he said, “The consultations<br />

is assisting us in area<br />

of coordinated economic approach<br />

in addressing concerns<br />

of cost reflective benefit analysis<br />

of the AFCTA, more reflective<br />

border management and<br />

policing, as well as improving<br />

trade logistics which is key in<br />

delivering goods and services,<br />

which is key in growing intra-<br />

African Trade.<br />

entrepreneurship, ingenuity<br />

and innovation that<br />

I’ve witnessed as I have<br />

travelled all over Africa.<br />

I grew up admiring the<br />

quality of journalism the<br />

BBC produces around the<br />

world, and it is an honour<br />

to be a part of a bold new<br />

team that will tell authentic<br />

African stories for audiences<br />

across multiple<br />

platforms.”<br />

CHANGE OF NAME<br />

I, formerly known and addressed<br />

as John Stephen Ibakwu now<br />

wish to be known and addressed<br />

as John Emmanuel Ebakwu. All<br />

former documents remain valid.<br />

First bank,unity bank ,UBA,Agatu<br />

local gov’t & General Public<br />

please take note.<br />

CHANGE OF NAME<br />

I, formerly known and addressed<br />

as Ogu Joy<br />

Nkechinyere now wish to<br />

be known and addressed as<br />

Ajugwe Joy Nkechinyere. All<br />

former documents remain valid.<br />

General Public please take note.<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong>


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

Mobile ecosystem to be...<br />

Continued from page 1<br />

Until his suspension, Omo-<br />

Agege was Secretary of the<br />

group.<br />

Although he apologised for<br />

insinuating that the Electoral<br />

Act Amendment Bill, which reordered<br />

sequence of elections,<br />

was targeted at the President,<br />

he, however, approached a law<br />

court to get a restraining order<br />

against any move to suspend<br />

him.<br />

Consequently, this angered<br />

the panel, which observed that<br />

as a member of the Ethics Committee,<br />

the senator should have<br />

known better than to drag the<br />

institution to court.<br />

“After the Distinguished Senator<br />

had apologised, he and<br />

Senator Abdullahi Adamu published<br />

an advert in the Vanguard<br />

Newspaper with the heading,<br />

Parliamentary Support Group<br />

(Senate) for President Muhammadu<br />

Buhari, suggesting that<br />

the Senate was polarised.<br />

“The Committee is of the<br />

opinion that the action by Senaport.<br />

According to the report, the<br />

mobile industry in West Africa<br />

is forecast to contribute more<br />

than $50 billion annually to the<br />

region’s economy by 2022.<br />

GSMA represents the interests<br />

of mobile operators worldwide,<br />

uniting nearly 800 operators with<br />

more than 300 companies in<br />

the broader mobile ecosystem,<br />

including handset and device<br />

makers, software companies,<br />

equipment providers and internet<br />

companies, as well as organisations<br />

in adjacent industry sectors.<br />

The report evaluates that the<br />

region’s mobile ecosystem contributed<br />

$37 billion in worth<br />

in 2017 which is equivalent to<br />

6.5 per cent of GDP, and will<br />

grow to $51 billion (7.7 per cent<br />

of GDP) within five years. The<br />

report shows that the economic<br />

influence over this period will be<br />

stimulated by durable subscriber<br />

progression and the move to<br />

mobile broadband networks and<br />

services.<br />

Also, the report states that at<br />

the end of 2017, there were 176<br />

million unique mobile subscribers<br />

across the West Africa subregion,<br />

which comprises the 15<br />

members of the Economic Community<br />

of West African States<br />

(ECOWAS).<br />

This growth in subscribers is<br />

motivated by the region’s huge<br />

youthful inhabitants and is projected<br />

to grow to 72 million subscribers<br />

by 2025 as more than<br />

40 per cent of the population in<br />

many countries across Sub-Saharan<br />

Africa are below the age of 16.<br />

“This report demonstrates the<br />

vital role West Africa’s mobile<br />

ecosystem is playing in driving<br />

economic growth and empowering<br />

citizens across the region,<br />

as well as in delivering against<br />

many of the targets of the UN’s<br />

Sustainable Development Goals,”<br />

said John Giusti, Chief Regulatory<br />

Officer at the GSMA. “However,<br />

further work is required as more<br />

than half of West Africa’s citizens<br />

are not yet connected to a mobile<br />

Senate suspends pro-Buhari senator for...<br />

Continued from page 1<br />

Senatorial District, Ovie Omo-<br />

Agege, for 90 legislative days.<br />

The All Progressives Congress<br />

(APC) lawmaker is one of<br />

the Pro-Buhari senators who<br />

walked out of the Senate following<br />

the adoption of the Electoral<br />

Act (Amendment) Bill, which<br />

they alleged was targeted at<br />

President Muhammadu Buhari.<br />

Although the Samuel Anyanwu-led<br />

Committee on Ethics,<br />

Privileges and Public Petitions<br />

recommended his suspension<br />

for 181 legislative days, Senate<br />

President Bukola Saraki, however,<br />

pleaded for leniency and<br />

asked his colleagues to reduce it<br />

to 90 days, which was adopted.<br />

The upper legislative chamber<br />

also disbanded the Parliamentary<br />

Support Group (Senate)<br />

for President Muhammadu<br />

Buhari and asked the embattled<br />

lawmaker to withdraw the lawsuit<br />

already instituted against<br />

the Senate.<br />

C002D5556<br />

L-R: Andy Halford, group chief finance officer, Standard Chartered Bank; Aishah Ahmad, deputy governor, Financial<br />

System Stability, CBN; Okwu Joseph Nnanna, deputy governor, Economy Policy, CBN, and Bola Adesola, MD/CEO,<br />

Standard Chartered Bank, during a courtesy visit to CBN in Abuja.<br />

Pic by Tunde Adeniyi<br />

service, excluding them from the<br />

socio-economic benefits that<br />

mobile delivers.”<br />

In the report, it was stated that<br />

the transition to mobile broadband<br />

in West Africa is being driven<br />

by the expansion of 3G and 4G<br />

networks, lower data tariffs and<br />

the increasing affordability of<br />

smartphones. 3G networks now<br />

cover two-thirds of the regions<br />

population and 4G adoption is<br />

also rising rapidly.<br />

As of March <strong>2018</strong>, there were<br />

29 live 4G (LTE) networks in nine<br />

countries across West Africa, six<br />

of which have launched in the<br />

last year. 3G and 4G together accounted<br />

for 36 per cent of West<br />

African mobile connections in<br />

2017 and are forecast to rise to<br />

94 per cent of the total by 2025.<br />

Local operators are expected to<br />

spend $8 billion (capex) over the<br />

next two years building out and<br />

upgrading their networks.<br />

Speaking exclusively to <strong>BusinessDay</strong><br />

on Nigeria’s involvement<br />

in the $50 billion projection,<br />

Head of Sub-Saharan Africa,<br />

GSMA, Akinwale Goodluck said<br />

“Given the size of the Nigerian<br />

economy and the revenues of the<br />

Nigerian operators, we estimate<br />

that approximately over 50% of<br />

the impacts calculated for West<br />

Africa are attributed to Nigeria.”<br />

Speaking further on how they<br />

arrived at the figures, Akinwale<br />

said “Three elements contribute<br />

to the overall economic impact<br />

of the mobile industry: direct, indirect<br />

and productivity impacts.<br />

Direct impact considers the contribution<br />

of the mobile ecosystem<br />

to the economy. Indirect effect is<br />

generated, producing sales and<br />

value added in other sectors and<br />

industries. The third, productivity,<br />

refers to businesses allowing<br />

more efficient ways to access<br />

information, accelerate processes<br />

tor Ovie Omo-Agege of going to<br />

court after apologising to the<br />

Senate was totally unacceptable,<br />

especially as an experienced<br />

lawyer and member of<br />

the Committee who is conversant<br />

with the modus operandi<br />

of same, and therefore, must be<br />

punished to serve as deterrent<br />

to others who might contemplate<br />

taking the Senate to court<br />

over its internal matters,” the<br />

report read.<br />

With this development,<br />

he becomes the second lawmaker<br />

to be suspended in the<br />

Eighth Senate; the first being<br />

the sacked Senate Leader, Ali<br />

Ndume who was suspended in<br />

March 2017.<br />

The committee said Omo-<br />

Agege’s suspension will serve as<br />

deterrent to other senators who<br />

might contemplate taking the<br />

Senate to court over its power<br />

to regulate its internal matters.<br />

Coincidentally, Omo-Agege<br />

is a member of the committee.<br />

Eight out of <strong>13</strong> members<br />

of the committee signed the<br />

report.<br />

and communications, thereby<br />

allowing greater productivity and<br />

boosting GDP,” he said.<br />

Akinwale identified three<br />

ways in which the earlier listed<br />

three elements take effect. In his<br />

words, “The first is the use of basic<br />

mobile voice and text services,<br />

which allows workers and firms<br />

to communicate more efficiently<br />

and effectively. The second is the<br />

use of 3G and 4G technology,<br />

which allows workers and firms<br />

to use mobile data and internet<br />

services and the third is the next<br />

generation of mobile services, in<br />

particular M2M and the ‘Internet<br />

of Things’.<br />

This will allow firms to improve<br />

equipment maintenance<br />

and operations (e.g. using sensors<br />

to monitor the health of<br />

machinery), optimise inventory<br />

(e.g. tracking real-time inventory<br />

so it can be replenished when<br />

needed) and save on energy<br />

costs (e.g. using intelligent energy<br />

management systems to reduce<br />

unnecessary energy use). It also<br />

has the potential to improve public<br />

services such as health and<br />

utilities,” he revealed.<br />

Given that such services are<br />

still in the early stages of development,<br />

this impact was limited in<br />

2017 but it is expected to grow in<br />

the coming years.<br />

Speaking Exclusively to <strong>BusinessDay</strong>,<br />

Director, Business Process<br />

and Technology, Prime<br />

Atlantic Group and Co-Founder,<br />

8191 Solutions, Foluso Gbadamosi,<br />

shared her view on how<br />

the Nigerian market will be part<br />

of the projected $50 billion, being<br />

the largest country by population<br />

in W/Africa and Africa as a whole.<br />

Giving her opinion, Foluso<br />

said “The mobile ecosystem<br />

consists of the devices (phones,<br />

tablets etc...), Networks, Operators,<br />

Services, Operating<br />

Systems, Platforms, Applications<br />

and so on. Mobile Internet<br />

is a key driver in the Nigerian<br />

market and the Mobile Internet<br />

Subscribers are expected to<br />

grow from 19.4 million in 2015<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

35<br />

NEWS<br />

to 75.9 million by 2020.<br />

According to the 7th Annual<br />

Edition of the PWC report on<br />

Entertainment & Media Outlook<br />

(2016 – 2020) in Africa, ‘Nigeria<br />

will have the fastest growth<br />

in Internet access revenue in<br />

the world. Nigeria’s CAGR of<br />

16.1% for Internet access revenue<br />

means that it is the world’s fastest-growing<br />

country for that area,<br />

making Nigeria a very appealing<br />

growth market,” She stated.<br />

Furthermore, Foluso added<br />

that “Nigeria will be a huge contributor<br />

in various ways. A major<br />

one will be in the development of<br />

apps, software applications and<br />

platforms. With the likes of Andela<br />

who are churning out developers,<br />

Google’s support of developers<br />

and the huge growth in the Mobile<br />

industry, it is clear that Nigeria will<br />

be the largest contributor to the<br />

Mobile Ecosystem. I expect that<br />

we will see more operators, more<br />

payment platforms, a lot more<br />

investors focusing on Nigeria because<br />

we are the fastest growing<br />

market!” Foluso said.<br />

Giusti, is of the view that<br />

“Connecting a new generation<br />

of mobile subscribers across West<br />

Africa requires a new era of collaboration<br />

between industry and<br />

governments in order to implement<br />

policies that encourage<br />

network expansion, innovation<br />

and affordability,”.<br />

Bringing it down to Nigeria,<br />

Akinwale believes the mobile<br />

industry and government can<br />

collaborate to implement policies<br />

that encourage expansion, innovation<br />

and affordability. According<br />

to him, “Affordability is crucial<br />

if we must connect everyone and<br />

everything ultimately in Africa.<br />

Low purchasing power coupled<br />

with high total cost of mobile<br />

ownership presents a challenge<br />

for all players and an opportunity<br />

for innovation, a paradigm shift<br />

by all stakeholders and a commitment<br />

to universal access and<br />

mobile broadband services”.<br />

In addition, for Akinwale,<br />

“Infrastructure cost is driven by<br />

high spectrum prices, prohibitive<br />

excise duty, significant import<br />

taxes on devices and telecommunications<br />

equipment, expensive<br />

bureaucratic permitting regimes<br />

and a skewed front loaded cost<br />

structure for roll out of services<br />

which is further accelerated in<br />

the rural areas.<br />

There is therefore a need for<br />

governments in Africa to make<br />

spectrum but most importantly,<br />

the lower bands (700Mz and<br />

800MHz) available to MNOs at a<br />

fair cost and with less restrictions<br />

regarding how or what technology<br />

it employs. This is the trade-off<br />

between treasury receivables /<br />

budget deficits and the overarching<br />

objective to connect everyone.<br />

Spectrum must be made available<br />

on time, in a predictable manner<br />

and artificial scarcity must be<br />

avoided. ” He said.<br />

In some countries, the compounded<br />

tax burden on the mobile<br />

industry exceeds 50% and<br />

reaches 35% of the cost of owning<br />

a mobile phone and using<br />

internet when every 10% more<br />

of mobile broadband penetration<br />

today just under 30% across<br />

Africa on average raises from 1<br />

to 2% national productivity and<br />

adds 0.1 to 0.2% of growth.


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

FT FINANCIAL TIMES<br />

C002D5556<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

A1<br />

World Business Newspaper<br />

Trump’s new tough line<br />

on Russia raises risks<br />

Experts say president’s Twitter threats are the wrong way to deal with Putin<br />

COURTNEY WEAVER, KATRINA<br />

MANSON AND KATHRIN HILLE<br />

A<br />

US administration long<br />

accused of being obsequious<br />

towards Russia is now<br />

facing warnings that its new<br />

tougher tone is pushing the<br />

country towards a possible conflict<br />

with Moscow.<br />

After spending the first 15 months<br />

of his administration facing criticism<br />

for being too fond of Russian leader<br />

Vladimir Putin, President Donald<br />

Trump has dramatically changed tack<br />

following the poisoning of an ex-Russia<br />

spy in the UK and the alleged use of<br />

chemical weapons by Syria.<br />

Last week, the White House announced<br />

its toughest sanctions against<br />

Russia — a move Mr Trump did not<br />

block. This week, Mr Trump turned to<br />

Twitter to attack Mr Putin for his support<br />

of Bashar al-Assad and to advise<br />

Russian forces in Syria to be “ready”<br />

for US missiles.<br />

Mr Trump’s rhetoric might earn<br />

him points at home, where he continues<br />

to be hounded with questions over<br />

his 2016 campaign’s connections to<br />

Russia. Yet some Russia experts warn<br />

the president is playing a dangerous<br />

game by risking a military confrontation<br />

between the countries.<br />

Daniel Fried, a former ambassador<br />

who co-ordinated sanctions policy for<br />

the US government during the Obama<br />

administration, said Mr Trump’s tweets<br />

had put the US “in [the] same chestthumping<br />

rhetorical space with Putin”.<br />

“Never thought we’d go full Khrushchev-table<br />

pounding, but here we are<br />

and it could hurt us,” said Mr Fried,<br />

referring to Mr Khrushchev’s 1960<br />

shoe-banging protest at the UN.<br />

Andrew Weiss, a Russia expert at<br />

the Carnegie Endowment for International<br />

Peace, said Mr Trump’s language<br />

was dangerous from a foreign policy<br />

perspective.<br />

“The comments about ‘Russia:<br />

beware my missiles are coming’, are<br />

exactly the wrong way to talk about the<br />

use of force, particularly the wrong way<br />

OPCW confirms Britain’s scientific analysis of toxic agent used in Salisbury attack<br />

The Organisation for the Prohibition<br />

of Chemical Weapons has<br />

confirmed Britain’s scientific<br />

analysis of the nerve agent used in last<br />

month’s Salisbury attack.<br />

The international watchdog said<br />

on Thursday that its team could<br />

“confirm the findings of the United<br />

Kingdom relating to the identity of<br />

the toxic chemical that was used in<br />

Salisbury and severely injured three<br />

people”.<br />

Former Russian double agent Sergei<br />

Skripal, his daughter Yulia Skripal<br />

and a policeman, Nick Bailey, were<br />

to talk to a foreign government which<br />

has a huge military presence in Syria,”<br />

Mr Weiss said.<br />

Mr Trump has recently moderated<br />

his rhetoric somewhat. On Thursday,<br />

he tweeted: “Never said when an attack<br />

on Syria would take place. Could be<br />

very soon or not so soon at all!”<br />

A day earlier he tweeted that all nations<br />

needed to work together: “Stop<br />

the arms race?”<br />

The US will try to avoid a direct confrontation<br />

with Russia in Syria in much<br />

the same way it gave Moscow advanced<br />

notice before it conducted a limited air<br />

strike in Syria last year.<br />

However, the US and Russia have<br />

already clashed in Syria once this year<br />

when an Assad-backed group, that<br />

included Russian contractors, fired at<br />

a US base near Deir al-Zour, prompting<br />

the US to fire back.<br />

James Jeffrey, a former ambassador<br />

to the Middle East who served as<br />

George Bush’s deputy national security<br />

adviser, said Mr Trump’s tweets risked<br />

“painting Putin into a corner”. If any<br />

Russians are hurt, even by accident,<br />

Moscow could respond.<br />

“If you are not careful, you will bring<br />

in the Russians,” he warned.<br />

Dimitri Simes, president of the<br />

Center for the National Interest in<br />

Washington, said Mr Putin would<br />

probably face increased pressure to<br />

respond more aggressively to the US.<br />

US-Russian relations, he argued, were<br />

the worst they had been since either<br />

the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 or the<br />

Berlin crisis in 1961.<br />

“I think we’re dealing with a very<br />

serious situation,” he said. “I’m sure<br />

neither side wants a major nuclear<br />

confrontation, but we know from history<br />

that once you start a war it may<br />

be very difficult to control escalation.”<br />

In Moscow, Mr Putin’s hopes for<br />

improved relations appeared to be<br />

fading even before the recent tension.<br />

Last month, he devoted almost half of<br />

a two-hour state-of-the-nation address<br />

to bragging about new nuclear weapons<br />

which he claimed would make<br />

Russia invincible.<br />

Chemical weapons agency backs UK<br />

findings on Skripal nerve agent<br />

HENRY MANCE AND<br />

KATHRIN HILLE<br />

Stocks gain ground<br />

as Middle East jitters<br />

ebb<br />

Page A3<br />

all hospitalised after the poisoning<br />

on March 4.<br />

Mr Bailey was discharged last<br />

month, while Ms Skripal was released<br />

from hospital on Monday. On<br />

Wednesday, she issued a statement<br />

through the Metropolitan Police<br />

rejecting overtures from Russian officials<br />

who wanted to speak to her.<br />

The OPCW’s summary report did<br />

not name the compound, which Britain<br />

has said is a military grade nerve<br />

agent from the novichok family that<br />

was developed in Russia.<br />

However, it named the chemical<br />

in its “full classified report”, which was<br />

Continues on page A2<br />

Saudi Arabia jumps ahead of rival Qatar with $11bn bond sale<br />

Gulf kingdom says geopolitics did not play a role in its decision to move ahead of Qatar<br />

KATE ALLEN<br />

Saudi Arabia has rejected<br />

suggestions that geopolitics<br />

played a part in its decision<br />

to bring a bumper bond deal<br />

to market just days before<br />

regional rival Qatar attempts to sell<br />

debt, but said the “supply pipeline”<br />

was a factor.<br />

The Gulf kingdom raised $11bn<br />

on Tuesday in a quick-fire sale that<br />

drew $52bn of orders. It comes weeks<br />

after Saudi Arabia raised an extra $6bn<br />

of capital by refinancing a loan, and<br />

means the country has completed<br />

its capital-raising from international<br />

investors this year.<br />

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and<br />

Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar last<br />

June, claiming that its regional policies<br />

fuelled extremism and terrorism.<br />

SoftBank teams with investors for $25bn Fifa shake-up plan<br />

China, Saudi Arabia, US and UAE investors envisage expanded Club World Cup<br />

ARASH MASSOUDI AND<br />

MURAD AHMED<br />

Japan’s SoftBank is part of an international<br />

consortium behind a<br />

radical $25bn plan to create global<br />

football tournaments for Fifa, the international<br />

governing body of the sport.<br />

The group includes investors from<br />

China, Saudi Arabia, the US and the<br />

United Arab Emirates, according to<br />

people with knowledge of the offer,<br />

which is designed to reshape the<br />

world’s most popular sport. The identity<br />

of those investors could not be learnt.<br />

The move comes as Fifa seeks to<br />

secure its financial future in the wake<br />

of corruption and bribery scandal<br />

that has plunged it into crisis in recent<br />

years.<br />

SoftBank, led by its chairman, Masayoshi<br />

Son, has been rapidly pushing<br />

into investments in varied industries<br />

from technology to renewable energy<br />

and financial services.<br />

Some of the people said the consortium<br />

was being assembled by<br />

Centricus, a UK-based group whose<br />

founders helped SoftBank raise funds<br />

to create its $100bn Vision Fund.<br />

The consortium’s proposal, which<br />

remains under discussion, envisages<br />

the expansion of the “Club World Cup”,<br />

How a volatility<br />

virus infected Wall<br />

Street<br />

Page A4<br />

US President Donald Trump, right, spent months facing criticism for being too fond of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, left,<br />

but he has changed tack dramatically © AP<br />

On Friday, Qatar announced a<br />

series of investor meetings to pitch its<br />

first foray into the debt markets since<br />

the blockade. The emirate launched<br />

the finance-raising bid on Thursday;<br />

if the multi-tranche bond deal succeeds,<br />

it will be its first dollar debt sale<br />

since 2016.<br />

“The decision to embark on the<br />

deal [on Tuesday] was specifically<br />

related to the market conditions and<br />

supply pipeline . . . we do not take<br />

geopolitics into consideration,” Fahad<br />

Al Saif, president of Saudi Arabia’s debt<br />

management office, told the Financial<br />

Times.<br />

Mr Al Saif said that Saudi Arabia<br />

had been seeking to bring a deal to<br />

market in recent weeks but the bout of<br />

volatility meant it had to wait.<br />

“We had been ready to go since<br />

earlier in the year but we wanted to<br />

a tournament currently played with<br />

seven top teams from across the globe.<br />

Also proposed is a new international<br />

league competition for national teams,<br />

said people with knowledge of the<br />

plans.<br />

Those people said the Club World<br />

Cup would be played every four years<br />

by the top 24 club-level teams, starting<br />

in 2021. A new national team competition<br />

would take place every two years.<br />

Fifa will have a 51 per cent stake in a<br />

joint venture with the consortium,<br />

with the investors guaranteeing revenues<br />

of at least $25bn.<br />

“This whole idea is that world<br />

football is not just about Europe,” said<br />

a person with knowledge of the offer.<br />

“Football is the biggest social event<br />

in the world with 3bn followers, but<br />

it doesn’t have a global community<br />

besides the World Cup.”<br />

Gianni Infantino, Fifa’s president,<br />

told the governing body’s ruling council<br />

in Bogotá, Colombia, last month<br />

that a group of investors was willing to<br />

spend billions of dollars to acquire an<br />

expanded version of the Club World<br />

Cup, but did not reveal the identity of<br />

the consortium.<br />

Uefa, European football’s governing<br />

body, said: “We can confirm that<br />

the Fifa president mentioned an al-<br />

complete the loan financing first and<br />

not do both fundings at the same time,”<br />

he said. “Our international funding is<br />

concluded for the year.”<br />

One person involved in Qatar’s deal<br />

said on Tuesday that the meetings with<br />

investors were “progressing well”.<br />

Saudi Arabia’s three-tranche sale<br />

raised $4.5bn in seven-year debt paying<br />

a coupon of 4 per cent, $3bn in 12-year<br />

debt paying 4.5 per cent and $3.5bn in<br />

31-year debt at 5 per cent. The maturities<br />

fill gaps in the country’s yield curve,<br />

Mr Al Saif said.<br />

The kingdom has turned to the<br />

international financial markets as part<br />

of a bid to reshape its economy after<br />

the oil price plunged between 2014<br />

and 2016. Although crude’s recent rise<br />

has eased pressure on the country’s<br />

budget, its deficit is still forecast to be<br />

$52bn this year.<br />

leged offer to buy some rights at the<br />

Fifa council meeting in Bogotá. As<br />

Gianni Infantino did not provide any<br />

concrete details on what such an offer<br />

would entail and which entity would<br />

have been behind it, we have no comment<br />

to make on the topic.”<br />

Mr Infantino’s comments were first<br />

reported by the New York Times, with<br />

further details on the proposed tournaments<br />

and joint venture reported<br />

by the Associated Press.<br />

Fifa, SoftBank and Centricus declined<br />

to comment.<br />

Mr Infantino was elected in 2016<br />

and has promised governance reform<br />

designed to clean up the organisation,<br />

following the arrest and prosecution<br />

of former Fifa executives related to<br />

bribery.<br />

But he has also been under pressure<br />

to restore profits at the organisation<br />

and was elected on the back of a<br />

promise to increase significantly the<br />

so-called development funds for more<br />

than 200 member nations.<br />

Under his tenure, Fifa has approved<br />

an expansion of the World Cup<br />

from 32 teams to 48, which is expected<br />

to generate more in broadcasting,<br />

ticketing and sponsorship revenues.<br />

He is up for re-election when his term<br />

ends next year.


A2 BUSINESS DAY<br />

C002D5556 Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

FT<br />

Chemical weapons agency<br />

backs UK findings...<br />

NATIONAL<br />

US futures tip higher open for Wall Street<br />

PETER WELLS<br />

US stocks look set to follow<br />

European peers higher at<br />

the open on Thursday as<br />

investors continue to assess the<br />

potential for conflict between the<br />

US and Russia over the weekend’s<br />

alleged chemical weapons attack<br />

Continued from page A1<br />

made available to 192 state parties,<br />

including Russia.<br />

The OPCW said the toxic chemical<br />

“was of high purity” — lending credence<br />

to the UK’s argument that only<br />

a state with a sophisticated laboratory<br />

could realistically have deployed the<br />

chemical.<br />

In response, the Russian government<br />

repeated its assertion that<br />

Moscow had neither produced nor<br />

stored any chemical weapons, except<br />

those reported to the OPCW and subsequently<br />

destroyed under the body’s<br />

supervision.<br />

Georgy Kalamanov, Russia’s deputy<br />

minister of trade and industry,<br />

told Interfax: “Russia did not produce<br />

any poisonous substances other than<br />

those that were reported by Russia under<br />

the Convention for the Prohibition<br />

of Chemical Weapons in 1997. Therefore<br />

there are none in the stocks.”<br />

Moscow asked to be part of the<br />

OPCW’s investigation, but lost a vote<br />

among member states last week.<br />

Moscow also seized on comments<br />

last week by the head of Porton Down,<br />

Britain’s military laboratory, who said<br />

his team had not identified the precise<br />

source of the novichok used in the<br />

Salisbury attack.<br />

The British government responded<br />

that its tracing was based on<br />

intelligence showing that Russia has<br />

produced novichok in the past decade<br />

and experimented with its use for assassination.<br />

A key member of the Soviet research<br />

team that developed novichok<br />

in the 1970s and 1980s has also sided<br />

with the British government in its<br />

dispute with Moscow. Vladimir Uglev<br />

said he was sure the compound used<br />

was one of those his team had first developed<br />

in 1975, but cautioned that it<br />

would be impossible to prove beyond<br />

doubt where the Salisbury nerve agent<br />

had originated.<br />

The survival of the Skripals has<br />

been used to raise doubts about<br />

whether novichok could have been<br />

used in the poisoning. However, experts<br />

have said that the effect of the<br />

nerve agent would have depended<br />

on how they came into contact with<br />

it and in what form.<br />

The OPCW said it took “blood<br />

samples from the three affected<br />

individuals”, conducted “on-site sampling<br />

of environmental samples” at<br />

places where the chemical might<br />

have remained, and received splits<br />

of samples taken by the British authorities.<br />

It was also briefed by the UK<br />

government.<br />

Following the publication of the<br />

OPCW report on Thursday, Boris<br />

Johnson, UK foreign secretary, said:<br />

“There can be no doubt what was used<br />

and there remains no alternative explanation<br />

about who was responsible<br />

— only Russia has the means, motive<br />

and record.”<br />

“We will now work tirelessly with<br />

our partners to help stamp out the grotesque<br />

use of weapons of this kind and<br />

we have called a session of the OPCW<br />

executive council next Wednesday to<br />

discuss next steps,” he added. “The<br />

Kremlin must give answers.”<br />

in Syria.<br />

Futures for the S&P 500 are up<br />

0.5 per cent, while those for the<br />

Dow Jones Industrial Average and<br />

Nasdaq 100 are 0.6 per cent higher.<br />

Treasuries have retreated<br />

slightly alongside the slightlyimproved<br />

sentiment in markets,<br />

with the yield on the benchmark<br />

10-year US Treasury up 0.5 basis<br />

points to 2.7954 per cent. Yields<br />

move in the opposite direction to<br />

bond prices.<br />

Investors have been weighing<br />

the potential impact should the<br />

US proceed with a military strike<br />

on Syria after an alleged chemical<br />

weapons attack took place near<br />

Damascus on the weekend.<br />

Day-to-day reactions by investors<br />

have varied this week, but Wall<br />

Street spent most of Wednesday<br />

in the red after Donald Trump’s<br />

warning to Russia, which supports<br />

Syria’s government, to “get ready”<br />

for a military strike on the Middle<br />

Eastern country heightened the<br />

St Marylebone sixth formers (from left) Bryony Jones, Sophia Hood-Sargent, Kawthar Msrar, Zaira Khanzada and<br />

Emily Lee-Williams © Charlie Bibby/FT<br />

Where are all the female economists?<br />

Few women reach senior positions — and the root of the problem lies in education<br />

GEMMA TETLOW<br />

Economics affects everyone and<br />

people need to know more<br />

about it, says 18-year-old Emily<br />

Lee-Williams, who is studying the<br />

subject at St Marylebone, an inner-<br />

London state school. “But it seems<br />

quite intimidating in the media. . . If<br />

you think of an economist, you think<br />

of a rich man in a business suit who<br />

is so much higher up than you are.”<br />

Many in the profession are worried<br />

that too few women work in economics<br />

at senior level. But only recently<br />

has the source of much of the problem<br />

been identified: women are far less<br />

likely than men to study economics,<br />

let alone pursue a career in it.<br />

Just over a third of undergraduate<br />

economics students in the UK are<br />

women (overall, 57 per cent of undergraduates<br />

are women). The picture is<br />

similar in Australia and the US.<br />

“My initial thinking was that for<br />

some reason female economists<br />

were out there but not applying to the<br />

Government Economic Service,” said<br />

Osama Rahman, who jointly leads<br />

a team trying to boost the number<br />

of women among the ranks of UK<br />

civil service economists. “It was only<br />

later I realised there was a problem<br />

with women not choosing to study<br />

economics.”<br />

The subject was once at the forefront<br />

of women’s educational emancipation.<br />

The first coeducational university<br />

lecture in the UK was conducted<br />

by a professor of political economy<br />

at University College London in 1871.<br />

But, while other traditionally male<br />

subjects such as engineering have<br />

made progress in attracting women,<br />

economics has struggled.<br />

Image problem<br />

One explanation frequently given<br />

for why so few women study economics<br />

is that the mathematical nature of<br />

the subject puts them off. This does<br />

not stand up to scrutiny, as the share<br />

of women among maths undergraduates<br />

exceeds that in economics.<br />

But economics does have an image<br />

problem. Kawthar Msrar at St<br />

Marylebone school says: “It is still<br />

seen as a very male-oriented job;<br />

there is not a widespread realisation<br />

yet that girls can do it, too.” Her<br />

classmate Bryony Jones agrees: “As a<br />

mixed race woman, I don’t see anyone<br />

who looks like me doing economics.”<br />

Elinor Ostrom (1933-2012) remains<br />

the only woman to have been<br />

awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics.<br />

Rachel Griffith, professor of economics<br />

at Manchester University, will<br />

next year become only the second female<br />

president of the Royal Economic<br />

Society since its creation in 1890. The<br />

American Economic Association has<br />

gone only one better during its <strong>13</strong>3-<br />

year history.<br />

Another issue is the mistaken<br />

belief that economics is about money<br />

and forecasting. Claudia Goldin, a<br />

professor of economics at Harvard,<br />

plays the “Uber game”: “take an Uber,<br />

tell the driver you’re an economist,<br />

and nine times out of 10 they will ask<br />

you to predict the economy or the<br />

stock market.”<br />

In fact, economists work in a<br />

wide range of areas, from designing<br />

policies to improve child nutrition<br />

to examining the balance of power<br />

between employers and employees<br />

and the rise of “deaths of despair”<br />

among white working-class Americans.<br />

Economic practice — focusing<br />

on social policy issues — is another<br />

little-known field.<br />

The Australian, UK and US central<br />

banks have campaigns to encourage<br />

women to take up economics. And<br />

having just missed its targets for<br />

increasing the number of women in<br />

management positions, the European<br />

Central Bank is thinking about how<br />

it can encourage women to study the<br />

subject.<br />

In the UK, economics graduates<br />

rank second — behind graduates<br />

in medicine — in average earnings,<br />

according to data from the Institute<br />

for Fiscal Studies. Female economics<br />

graduates earned on average £20,000<br />

more a year a decade after graduation<br />

than creative arts graduates. But<br />

typically, women place less weight<br />

than men on financial return when<br />

choosing which subject to study.<br />

Economics majors were also more<br />

likely than those in any other subject<br />

to head an S&P500 company. Differences<br />

in career choice are an important<br />

factor driving the gender pay gap.<br />

Economists are influential in<br />

public policymaking, from setting<br />

monetary policy to designing systems<br />

to allocate donor organs. Here, “the<br />

under-representation of women matters<br />

because it affects what questions<br />

economists look at”, says Sarah Smith,<br />

a professor of economics at Bristol<br />

university and chair of the RES’s<br />

women’s committee. “Ultimately it<br />

affects the advice given on public<br />

policy issues.”<br />

There is no single explanation for<br />

the under-representation of women<br />

in economics. “Social norms that go<br />

back a long time may dictate who<br />

studies what,” says Homa Zarghamee<br />

of Barnard College in New York.<br />

Even when economics undergraduates<br />

do not pursue a career<br />

in the field, an understanding of<br />

the basics has benefits. “Everyone<br />

should be able to pick up and read a<br />

great newspaper,” says Prof Goldin.<br />

“If one of the goals of education is<br />

to be able to read and understand<br />

what’s in it and to be able to question<br />

economics critically, taking an<br />

elementary course in economics is<br />

extremely important.”<br />

That has been the experience of<br />

17-year-old Zaira Khanzada at St<br />

Marylebone school. “Since I was young,<br />

I would watch BBC News with my dad,<br />

and there would be so many things I<br />

did not understand,” says Ms Khanzada.<br />

“But studying economics has really<br />

helped; everything has clicked.”<br />

What works<br />

Many campaigns have sprung<br />

up to try to encourage women to<br />

study economics. Prof Goldin is<br />

co-ordinating a series of experiments<br />

across 20 US universities and<br />

colleges, including mentoring and<br />

improving knowledge of career paths<br />

for economists.<br />

tension.<br />

This morning, the US president<br />

tweeted he “never said when an<br />

attack on Syria would take place”<br />

adding it “could be very soon or<br />

not at all!”<br />

Germany’s Dax was up 0.7 per<br />

cent in afternoon trade, while London’s<br />

FTSE 100 was trading flat.<br />

Macron says<br />

there is proof<br />

chemicals used in<br />

Douma attack<br />

French president waits for more information<br />

before deciding on launching strikes<br />

ANNE-SYLVAINE CHASSANY,<br />

KATHRIN HILLE AND<br />

REBECCA COLLARD<br />

Emmanuel Macron said that<br />

France has proof that chemical<br />

weapons were used by the<br />

Syrian regime in an attack on a rebel<br />

holdout near Damascus that has<br />

triggered threats of western military<br />

action against the Arab state.<br />

But the French president added<br />

that Paris would only decide whether<br />

to launch strikes against Syria when<br />

it had received more information.<br />

“We will make decisions in due<br />

time,” Mr Macron said in an interview<br />

with French television on<br />

Thursday.<br />

Both France and the UK have<br />

suggested that they are poised to<br />

support any military action taken by<br />

the US in response to the suspected<br />

gas attack in Douma, which killed<br />

more than 40 people. On Thursday,<br />

the UK will hold an emergency<br />

cabinet meeting to formulate its<br />

response.<br />

Donald Trump on Wednesday<br />

warned Russia, which intervened<br />

militarily in the Syrian conflict to<br />

back President Bashar al-Assad, to<br />

“get ready” for a missile attack. At the<br />

start of the week, the US president<br />

said he would make a decision on<br />

whether to take military action in<br />

24 to 48 hours.<br />

But on Thursday, Mr Trump appeared<br />

to backtrack on the timing<br />

of any attack. “Never said when an<br />

attack on Syria would take place.<br />

Could be very soon or not so soon<br />

at all!” he said in a tweet.<br />

Mr Macron, who has had at least<br />

two telephone conversations with<br />

Mr Trump since the attack in Douma<br />

on Saturday, has previously said that<br />

the use of chemical weapons would<br />

be a “red line” that would prompt an<br />

“immediate response from France”.<br />

He said on Thursday that he would<br />

do everything to “avoid military<br />

escalation in the region”.<br />

The prospect of western military<br />

action in Syria had raised concerns<br />

about the risk of a direct confrontation<br />

between Russia and the US. But<br />

the Kremlin said on Thursday that a<br />

hotline set up with the US to avoid<br />

accidental clashes over Syria was<br />

still active despite the rising tension.<br />

Dmitry Peskov, president Vladimir<br />

Putin’s spokesman, told reporters<br />

that the so-called de-confliction<br />

mechanism was “being used by<br />

both sides”. Mr Peskov reiterated an<br />

appeal to the US to “avoid any steps<br />

that could lead to increased tension<br />

in Syria”.<br />

“We believe that this would have<br />

an extremely destructive effect on<br />

the entire Syrian settlement process,”<br />

he said.


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

FINANCIAL TIMES<br />

COMPANIES & MARKETS<br />

@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED<br />

Stocks gain ground as<br />

Middle East jitters ebb<br />

Oil prices retreat in choppy trading, gold slides<br />

STEPHEN SMITH AND KATE ALLEN<br />

What you need to know<br />

• Wall Street opens positively<br />

and European markets<br />

also moving higher<br />

• Oil prices choppy amid Middle<br />

East tension<br />

• Dollar firmer as investors digest<br />

Fed minutes, euro slides<br />

• Rouble strengthens after sanctions-driven<br />

slide<br />

• Bourses down in Asia after weak<br />

lead overnight from US<br />

“Markets are moving from the<br />

relief that the trade war rhetoric has<br />

stepped back for now to a realisation<br />

that the Middle East rhetoric<br />

is stepping up,” said Jim Reid of<br />

Deutsche Bank.<br />

“The short-term geopolitical<br />

fear has been the dominant theme<br />

over the last 24 hours, overshadowing<br />

an in-line US CPI [inflation]<br />

print and a slightly hawkish set of<br />

Fed minutes.”<br />

Hot topic<br />

Wall Street stocks are higher and<br />

European markets are folding on<br />

to early gains after Asian bourses<br />

followed Wednesday’s dip lower<br />

amid continued rumblings of geopolitical<br />

tension in the Middle East.<br />

The benchmark S&P 500 is up<br />

1 per cent at 2,669 while the Dow<br />

Jones Industrial Average is 1.3 per<br />

cent higher.<br />

The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 is 0.7<br />

per cent stronger while Germany’s<br />

Xetra Dax is up 1.1 per cent and<br />

London’s FTSE 100 is 0.1 per cent<br />

firmer.<br />

Russian equities are rallying after<br />

a tumultuous start to the week.<br />

But the dollar-denominated RTS<br />

stock gauge is off 10.4 per cent over<br />

the course of the week against a 4<br />

per cent fall for the rouble-denominated<br />

Moex.<br />

Overnight on Wall Street, the<br />

S&P 500 shed 0.6 per cent amid<br />

the heightened geopolitical tension<br />

and after the minutes from US<br />

policymakers’ latest meeting indi-<br />

ANDREW EDGECLIFFE-JOHNSON<br />

Hearst has agreed to pay<br />

$2.8bn to buy out its French<br />

partner in Fitch Group, the<br />

privately owned US media group<br />

said on Thursday, increasing its<br />

focus on credit ratings and other<br />

financial information services.<br />

The all-cash purchase, for which<br />

Hearst has not had to raise new<br />

financing, makes Fitch Hearst’s largest<br />

wholly-owned business.<br />

“Fitch CEO Paul Taylor has built<br />

a great team that has delivered impressive<br />

growth in the ratings and<br />

information services businesses,”<br />

Steven Swartz, chief executive officer<br />

of the New York group, said in<br />

a statement.<br />

The deal brings to an end what<br />

Mr Swartz called “an excellent partnership”<br />

with Fimalac, the holding<br />

cated that Federal Reserve officials<br />

were considering the possibility of<br />

steeper interest rate rises.<br />

Asian equities staged an early<br />

climb that later crumbled, leaving<br />

the Hang Seng benchmark 0.2 per<br />

cent lower on the day. Shares in Chinese<br />

state-owned oil firms rose but<br />

that was more than offset by a fall<br />

in tech stocks. The Shanghai Composite<br />

closed 0.9 per cent lower. In<br />

Tokyo, the Topix index finished off<br />

0.4 per cent.<br />

New Zealand stocks on the<br />

NZX 50 closed 0.6 per cent lower<br />

after the country’s prime minister<br />

announced it would ban future offshore<br />

oil and gas exploration.<br />

Commodities<br />

Oil benchmarks are lower again<br />

after bouncing off earlier dips.<br />

International benchmark Brent<br />

crude briefly rose above $73 a barrel<br />

on Wednesday to its highest<br />

level for nearly four years after US<br />

president Donald Trump warned<br />

Russia to “get ready” for US missiles<br />

to be fired at Syria and reports that<br />

Saudi Arabia’s air defences had intercepted<br />

a “rocket” above Riyadh.<br />

Brent then pulled back later in<br />

the Wednesday session from a peak<br />

of $73 a barrel to dip below $72.<br />

Trading on Thursday has seen the<br />

global benchmark move between<br />

gains and losses, currently down<br />

1 per cent on the session at $71.36<br />

a barrel.<br />

US marker West Texas Intermediate<br />

is 0.9 per cent lower on the<br />

day at $66.20.<br />

Gold is down 1.1 per cent, or $14,<br />

at $1,338 an ounce after touching<br />

$1,365 on Wednesday.<br />

Forex and fixed income<br />

The dollar index, which measures<br />

the greenback against a basket<br />

of other currencies, is up 0.4<br />

per cent. Sterling is 0.1 per cent<br />

higher against the dollar at $1.4193<br />

while the euro is down 0.5 per cent<br />

at $1.2302 — unsettled by some<br />

disappointing eurozone industrial<br />

production data.<br />

Hearst pays $2.8bn to take full<br />

control of Fitch Group<br />

company for French billionaire Marc<br />

Ladreit de Lacharrière.<br />

Hearst bought its first 20 per cent<br />

stake in Fitch from Fimalac in 2006<br />

for $592m, and spent another $2.6bn<br />

increasing its holding to 80 per cent<br />

between 2009 and 2014.<br />

The company noted that Fitch<br />

had diversified in recent years, and<br />

now derived more than 20 per cent<br />

of its revenues from data products<br />

unrelated to its core ratings business,<br />

where it competes with the larger<br />

Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.<br />

Hearst is still best known for<br />

newspapers such as the Houston<br />

Chronicle and magazines such as<br />

Cosmopolitan but has stakes in television<br />

networks from A&E to ESPN,<br />

television stations from Boston to<br />

Sacramento, and investments in<br />

digital media companies including<br />

BuzzFeed and Vice.<br />

C002D5556<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

S&P warns of risks in leveraged loan market as deals surge<br />

A3<br />

Limited investor security in debt agreements seen ending badly as credit cycle peaks<br />

ERIC PLATT<br />

and Europe, and that companies and rower friendly terms, setting the<br />

private equity firms were willing to stage for lower recovery values if<br />

pay more to clinch deals than at any companies subsequently default.<br />

S&P Global has warned investors<br />

in the $1tn leveraged loan Paul Draffin, analyst at S&P said: tections in a bond or loan document<br />

time since at least 2003 in the US. The quality of covenants — the pro-<br />

market that weak lending terms “History shows us that the worst debt that can limit the amount of debt a<br />

pose a risk as the credit cycle approaches<br />

a peak and deal making has times . . . Now is the perfect time to it can pay its equity investors in<br />

transactions are done at the best of borrower can take on or how much<br />

surged in recent months.<br />

be cautious.”<br />

dividends — has steadily weakened<br />

While a number of high-profile Scott Roberts, the head of high in recent years.<br />

investors have warned of the risks yield at Invesco, said the recent “We’ve already seen weaker<br />

of leverage in the $8.8tn US corporate<br />

bond market, money continues could spark additional M&A activ-<br />

[over] the last couple of years,” Beth<br />

declines in the US stock market terms continuously deteriorating<br />

pouring into the US loan market, ity, coaxing private equity buyers MacLean, a bank loan portfolio<br />

where interest rates are floating and who had been sidelined by the high manager with Pimco, said of covenant<br />

packages. “I’m not sure the<br />

adjust higher as the Federal Reserve equity valuations back to the market.<br />

tightens policy. Bank loan funds have PE firms are sitting on record “drypowder”<br />

of $1.7tn, money they have However, Rob Cignarella, who<br />

market can tolerate much worse.”<br />

attracted more than $3bn of money<br />

this year, following 2017’s $15bn raised to fund takeovers, according heads global leveraged finance in<br />

haul, according to EPFR.<br />

to data provider Preqin.<br />

asset manager PGIM’s fixed-income<br />

That has bolstered confidence “Despite the equity volatility, business, noted that the market had<br />

among dealmakers that they can the high yield and leveraged loan yet to see the kind of leveraged buyout<br />

activity that occurred between<br />

finance mergers and acquisitions. markets are still open to finance<br />

Takeovers worth more than $1.2tn these deals,” said Mr Roberts. “There 2006 and 2007, when a string of<br />

have been announced so far this is a ton of [private equity] capital $10bn-plus private-equity backed<br />

year, up more than 45 per cent from chomping at the bit and a leveraged takeovers were struck. Even with a<br />

a year prior, Dealogic data shows. loan market still looking for paper.” recent uptick in volatility, he said it<br />

The New York-based rating agency<br />

warned that leverage was ap-<br />

raised the risk that a flurry of deals to risk assets. One warning sign he<br />

That kind of backdrop S&P said was “hard” to reduce his exposure<br />

proaching or exceeding levels seen could be financed with limited would look for though: over-leveraged,<br />

PE-backed before the financial crisis in the US investor security packages and bor-<br />

LBOs.<br />

UK consumer credit drops ‘significantly’<br />

Changing appetite to risk and a lending squeeze cools market in first quarter<br />

GAVIN JACKSON<br />

The availability of consumer<br />

credit dropped “significantly”<br />

in the first quarter<br />

of <strong>2018</strong>, according to a survey of<br />

credit conditions published on<br />

Thursday by the Bank of England.<br />

A net 38.7 per cent of lenders<br />

reported that the availability of<br />

unsecured consumer credit —<br />

such as credit card lending and<br />

overdrafts — fell during the three<br />

months to the end of March, compared<br />

with the previous quarter.<br />

“The availability of unsecured<br />

credit to households was reported<br />

to have decreased significantly in<br />

Q1,” the BoE wrote in its report.<br />

“This was largely driven by a<br />

changing appetite to risk, with<br />

lenders also reporting that the<br />

credit scoring criteria for granting<br />

both credit card and other unsecured<br />

loan applications tightened<br />

significantly in Q1.”<br />

Consumer borrowing has<br />

helped to keep the UK economy<br />

growing following the June 2016<br />

EU referendum, as households<br />

have borrowed or dipped into<br />

savings in order to maintain their<br />

living standards as prices have<br />

risen faster than incomes.<br />

However, the increase in borrowing<br />

has also worried economists<br />

and regulators.<br />

“The credit conditions survey<br />

for the first quarter of <strong>2018</strong> should<br />

go down pretty well at the Bank of<br />

England given its view that recent<br />

rapid growth in consumer credit<br />

has created a ‘pocket of risk’,” said<br />

Howard Archer, chief economic<br />

adviser to the EY ITEM Club.<br />

“The Bank of England has also<br />

warned that banks risk becoming<br />

complacent in their lending<br />

behaviour so it should take some<br />

comfort from banks reportedly<br />

tightening their lending standards<br />

for granting unsecured consumer<br />

credit,” he added.<br />

Previous studies by the BoE and<br />

others have found that much of<br />

the rise in borrowing over the past<br />

year has been by those on higher<br />

incomes using credit cards or buying<br />

new cars on credit.<br />

The BoE interviewed banks and<br />

building societies between February<br />

19 and March 9 to compile the<br />

report. The central bank weighted<br />

their responses to reflect their<br />

market share.<br />

Recommended<br />

Analysis High yield bonds<br />

UK’s high-yield high street<br />

struggles under hefty debt load<br />

The lenders said they expected<br />

the availability of consumer credit<br />

to remain virtually unchanged<br />

over the second quarter of the<br />

year. It was the first time respondents<br />

to the survey had not expected<br />

unsecured credit to become<br />

less available over the next three<br />

months since late 2016.<br />

Lenders also reported defaults<br />

on unsecured credit had increased<br />

during the first quarter of the year,<br />

and said they were expected to<br />

increase again during the second<br />

quarter. Defaults were increasing<br />

slower on credit cards than on<br />

other kinds of loans.<br />

Separate figures published on<br />

Thursday by the Office for National<br />

Statistics said that the proportion<br />

of cash saved by households had<br />

fallen to 0.9 per cent in 2017, the<br />

lowest cash savings ratio since<br />

2009.


A4 BUSINESS DAY<br />

C002D5556 Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

FT<br />

ANALYSIS<br />

How a volatility virus infected Wall Street<br />

The collapse of a few small funds in February helped fuel a terrifying stock-market slide. Why?<br />

ROBIN WIGGLESWORTH<br />

Music teacher Chris<br />

Pomrink was driving<br />

between two lessons<br />

outside Philadelphia,<br />

when a friend<br />

called with some distressing news:<br />

“Hey Chris, XIV is in trouble.”<br />

Pomrink, 30, checked his trading<br />

account. It was February 2 and<br />

XIV — an arcane, fiendishly complex<br />

financial security that he had sunk<br />

$2,500 into earlier that week — had<br />

indeed taken a beating. The “exchange-traded<br />

note”, or ETN, which<br />

allowed traders to bet on the US stock<br />

market remaining tranquil, had made<br />

Pomrink a bundle of money after he<br />

stumbled across it on a site for traders<br />

back in 2015, so he decided to keep<br />

the faith. But worse was to come after<br />

the weekend.<br />

On February 5, the mounting<br />

bout of market volatility suddenly<br />

shredded XIV, in a day so torrid<br />

that traders have since dubbed it<br />

“vol-mageddon”. This can’t be real,<br />

Pomrink recalls thinking. By the time<br />

he woke up the next morning, the<br />

ETN had lost 94 per cent of its value<br />

and its manager announced plans<br />

to shutter the fund entirely. “I just<br />

couldn’t decipher it,” Pomrink says.<br />

“It was pretty brutal.”<br />

Ruing the mishap, he enlisted his<br />

friend Zubair Latib — a fellow daytrading<br />

musician who had cashed<br />

out his $6,000 from XIV just four days<br />

before its implosion — and wrote<br />

a lament, set to the melody of Tom<br />

Petty’s “Free Fallin’”.<br />

“It’s a long day, watching a correction,<br />

the S&P crashing through<br />

the floor. I bought the XIV, ’cause I’ll<br />

make my money back. I’m a bad boy,<br />

’cause I bought even more. Now XIV<br />

is free falling. Yeah, XIV is free falling,”<br />

they sang mournfully on a video they<br />

quickly uploaded to YouTube.<br />

For Pomrink, the blow was surviv-<br />

able, merely wiping out the gains he<br />

had made trading XIV in 2017. But<br />

for markets, it was more serious. The<br />

collapse of XIV and two other similar<br />

funds exacerbated the turmoil, turning<br />

what could have been a normal,<br />

even healthy reversal into a terrifying<br />

slide. The US stock market suffered<br />

one of the swiftest 10 per cent slumps<br />

in history, and global equities lost<br />

$4.2tn that week. In terms of dollars,<br />

that is more than the total losses suffered<br />

by the Nasdaq index when the<br />

dotcom bubble burst.<br />

Volatility is an inevitable part<br />

of financial markets. But XIV and a<br />

handful of similar funds held only<br />

$3bn ahead of that fateful Monday.<br />

Why did the collapse of such small,<br />

little-known funds help to fuel the<br />

wider carnage?<br />

At its heart, this is an eerily familiar<br />

tale of Wall Street innovation,<br />

greed and hubris. It is a story of a good<br />

idea overdone, of financial engineers<br />

creating something new, lucrative<br />

and potentially dangerous for hedge<br />

funds, insurers, banks and ordinary<br />

investors to trade — arguably making<br />

the global financial system more<br />

fragile in the process.<br />

Over the past six decades, volatility<br />

has come to dominate risk-management<br />

models across the finance<br />

industry. At the same time, a motley<br />

crew of academics and investment<br />

bankers have turned volatility itself<br />

into something that can be sliced<br />

and diced, bought and sold, just like<br />

any bond, stock or barrel of oil. This<br />

has arguably created a potentially<br />

dangerous feedback loop, one that<br />

makes markets even more prone to<br />

booms and busts.<br />

Eric Lonergan, a fund manager<br />

at M&G Investments, compares the<br />

use of volatility as a proxy for risk to<br />

a “virus” that has infected the entire<br />

finance industry and gradually “corrupted”<br />

its behaviour. “It is absolutely<br />

everywhere now,” he says. “It makes<br />

intelligent people make clearly stupid<br />

decisions.”<br />

The tale of how volatility conquered<br />

Wall Street features multiple<br />

Nobel laureates, a plethora of investment<br />

bankers and Mark Cuban,<br />

the billionaire owner of the Dallas<br />

Mavericks basketball team. But the<br />

genesis was arguably the intellectual<br />

ferment of the University of Chicago’s<br />

famed economics department six<br />

decades ago.<br />

Growing up in Chicago in the<br />

1930s and 1940s, Harry Markowitz<br />

enjoyed baseball and football, playing<br />

the violin and reading philosophy,<br />

especially David Hume and René<br />

Descartes. The bookish son of two<br />

grocers had little interest in the world<br />

of money.<br />

Yet after his undergraduate degree<br />

at the University of Chicago,<br />

Markowitz decided to stay on and<br />

pursue a graduate degree in economics,<br />

studying under legends such as<br />

Milton Friedman. “Descartes was<br />

a big inspiration, so when I went<br />

into economics I naturally gradually<br />

gravitated towards the economics<br />

of uncertainty,” he recalls. “It was a<br />

wonderful time.”<br />

In 1950, a chance meeting set<br />

Markowitz on the path towards<br />

revolutionising how the investment<br />

industry functioned. For a long time,<br />

fund managers had been judged<br />

largely by their performance. People<br />

intuitively understood that riskier<br />

investments should generate higher<br />

returns to compensate for the dangers<br />

of losing their money, but there<br />

was little rigour to it. Then, while<br />

waiting for his university supervisor,<br />

Markowitz struck up a conversation<br />

with a visiting stockbroker, and<br />

realised he could apply some of his<br />

economic thinking to markets.<br />

The 25-year-old wrote a groundbreaking<br />

paper entitled “Portfolio<br />

Selection”. Published in the Journal<br />

of Finance in 1952, it argued that<br />

returns should be judged against,<br />

and optimised for, the amount of<br />

risk taken. Since risk can be a vague<br />

concept, Markowitz used “variance”,<br />

or volatility, as a handy proxy. For<br />

example, stocks are more volatile<br />

than bonds, so investors should<br />

expect better returns to justify the<br />

increased risk.<br />

While Markowitz was not the<br />

first to use volatility as a shorthand<br />

for risk, he was the first to put it in<br />

a rigorous framework, according to<br />

Richard Bookstaber, a former risk<br />

manager and adviser to the US Treasury<br />

who now works for the University<br />

of California. “What Markowitz<br />

did was to put it in the context of<br />

optimising for risk,” he says. “When<br />

I went to school in the 1970s, [his<br />

work] was ingrained into everything<br />

we did. It became self-evident that<br />

this was the way to look at the world.”<br />

Together with other insights<br />

— such as the importance of diversification,<br />

famously the only “free<br />

lunch” in markets — this became<br />

known as “modern portfolio theory”.<br />

Today it underpins much of the<br />

modern investing world. It also won<br />

Harry Markowitz, father of modern portfolio theory © Alamy<br />

Markowitz a Nobel prize in economics<br />

in 1990.<br />

“It happened in the twinkle of<br />

an eye,” he says. “People ask me if I<br />

knew I’d get a Nobel prize. I always<br />

say no, but I knew I’d get a PhD.”<br />

It was another Nobel prize-winning<br />

economist — and a disciple of<br />

Markowitz — who would ultimately<br />

inject volatility as a proxy for risk into<br />

the bloodstream of the investment<br />

industry. William Sharpe dropped<br />

out of Berkeley, where he was planning<br />

to study medicine, and pursued<br />

a degree in business administration<br />

at the University of California Los<br />

Angeles. Finding accounting a bore,<br />

he decided to major in economics,<br />

and was fascinated by Markowitz’s<br />

work, eventually pursuing a doctorate<br />

in which the older economist<br />

served as an informal adviser.<br />

Sharpe later taught at the University<br />

of Washington, and it was there,<br />

in 1966, that he published a seminal<br />

paper entitled “Mutual Fund Performance”.<br />

This introduced a rule that is<br />

still measured and cited by virtually<br />

every money manager as a yardstick<br />

for their skill. What became known<br />

as the “Sharpe ratio” was just a simple<br />

mathematical measure of what<br />

Sharpe called “reward to variability”.<br />

In other words, directly comparing<br />

the returns of a fund manager<br />

to the volatility of his performance,<br />

and subtracting the returns of a<br />

risk-free asset such as cash. Its simplicity<br />

means that almost every fund<br />

manager in the world still includes<br />

the Sharpe ratio in their investor<br />

prospectus.<br />

Despite the acclaim surrounding<br />

this academic work, it took some<br />

time before volatility-as-risk started<br />

to infect markets. Back in the 1960s<br />

and 1970s, accurate financial data<br />

were hard to get, and the rudimentary<br />

computers that were popping up on<br />

Wall Street were inadequate to the<br />

task of calculating the volatility of<br />

various markets or stocks. But all that<br />

began to change in the 1980s.<br />

Today, Till Guldimann runs a<br />

small, picturesque vineyard in Saratoga,<br />

California, where he grows a<br />

mix of Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux<br />

grapes. Born in Switzerland,<br />

Guldimann dreamt of becoming a<br />

neurologist but decided he wouldn’t<br />

be very good at it and switched to<br />

electrical engineering. When he then<br />

thought he wouldn’t make a very<br />

good electrical engineer either, he<br />

took an MBA at Harvard and started<br />

working at JPMorgan.<br />

There he constructed a computer<br />

system to monitor major currency<br />

exchange rates minute by minute.<br />

This may seem humdrum in a world<br />

where a Google search can reveal<br />

instantaneous information for most<br />

currencies across the world, but at<br />

the time it was a huge leap. JPMorgan<br />

summoned him to New York<br />

and put him in charge of monitoring<br />

the bank’s exposure to the whims of<br />

markets. Fittingly for a vintner, he<br />

describes the job in agrarian terms.<br />

“Risk management relied on<br />

limits. So you told traders how many<br />

pigs or horses they could buy [to<br />

control their risk],” he says. “But it<br />

was hard to gauge the overall exposure<br />

. . . because we had to measure<br />

the relationship between pigs and<br />

horses. If you had $100 worth of<br />

horses on our books, and $50 of pigs,<br />

then the overall exposure might not<br />

be $150.”<br />

In other words, a bank had to<br />

know the “correlation” between<br />

bonds and stocks — or pigs and<br />

horses. Because bonds typically rally<br />

when stocks sell off, $150 worth of<br />

bond and equity exposure in practice<br />

tends to add up to less actual market<br />

exposure than the sums might imply.


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY<br />

A5


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

A6 BUSINESS DAY<br />

Live @ the Stock exchange<br />

Prices for Securities Traded as of Thursday 12 <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

Company<br />

Company<br />

Market cap(nm) Price (N) Change Trades Volume Market cap(nm) Price (N) Change Trades Volume<br />

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES (Equities)


Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

C002D5556<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

A7<br />

BD<br />

Markets + Finance<br />

‘Providing proprietary research, commentary, analysis and financial news coverage unmatched in<br />

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

Dangote Flour Mills enhances value<br />

of investment as earnings spike<br />

BALA AUGIE<br />

Historical Background<br />

Dangote Flour<br />

Mills Plc commenced<br />

penetrations<br />

in<br />

1999, as a division<br />

of fastest growing conglomerates.<br />

Following 8the<br />

strategic decision of Dangote<br />

Industries Limited to unbundle<br />

its various operators,<br />

whereas Dangote Flour Mills<br />

Plc was incorporated in 2003.<br />

The rethinking was completed<br />

in January 2006 when<br />

the Federal High Court sanctioned<br />

a scheme of arrangement<br />

where in all the assets,<br />

liabilities and undertakings<br />

of the erstwhile flour division<br />

of Dangote Industries was<br />

transferred to Dangote Flour<br />

MillsPlc .<br />

From an installed capacity<br />

of 500 metric tonnes<br />

per day, at its Apapa mill,<br />

the company has expanded<br />

rapidly by opening in quick<br />

successions, three flour mills<br />

in Kano, Calabar and Ilorin.<br />

The Apapa Mill in Lagos,<br />

was commissioned in September<br />

1999, while the Kano<br />

Mill in June 2001. The Calabar<br />

Flour Mill was commissioned<br />

in July2002.<br />

The company currently<br />

has twelve million shares<br />

valued at N12.0 billion, with a<br />

fully paid up capital of N2.50<br />

billion while total shareholders’<br />

fund stood at N37.45<br />

billion as at December 2017.<br />

The mills are ideally located<br />

for the servicing of<br />

the various and diverse geographical<br />

markets, with the<br />

Lagos (Apapa) and the Calabar<br />

located within ports for<br />

easy facilitation of wheat<br />

imports through state-of-art<br />

ship off- loading equipment .<br />

The company recently<br />

released its audited results for<br />

the year ended December 31,<br />

2017; showing in created revenue<br />

when compared with<br />

the corresponding period of<br />

2016. There was an increase<br />

in gross profit, which means<br />

the company has effectively<br />

managed direct costs attributable<br />

to projects.<br />

Dangote Flour Mills has<br />

been recording stellar performance<br />

after re-acquiring the<br />

company from South Africa<br />

consumer goods giant, Tiger<br />

Brand Plc. Capital injection<br />

Aliko Dangote<br />

from the owner of the business<br />

help spur the consumer<br />

goods giant to growth.<br />

With this impressive performance,<br />

investors should<br />

expect to make good returns<br />

from Dangote Flour Mills.<br />

Increase in gross profit<br />

bouye by revenue growth<br />

The company recorded<br />

an increase of 18.60 percent<br />

in revenue to N125.44 billion<br />

in December 2017 from<br />

N105.70 billion as at December<br />

2016; driven by 31.97<br />

percent increase in revenue<br />

from flour to N107.81 billion.<br />

The growth at the top<br />

line can also be attributed<br />

to the company’s marketing<br />

and distribution strategies<br />

and its ability to harness the<br />

resources at its disposal.<br />

Cost of sales was up 18.31<br />

percent to N96.01 billion<br />

in the period under review<br />

from N81.15 billion as at<br />

December 2016. The higher<br />

production costs were due to<br />

volatility in the price of wheat<br />

at the international market,<br />

surging energy costs and the<br />

devaluation of the currency.<br />

Gross profit increased by<br />

9.20 percent to 29.43 percent<br />

to N29.46 billon in the period<br />

under review from N26.93<br />

billion the previous year. In<br />

other words, the company is<br />

efficient in managing direct<br />

costs attributable to projects.<br />

Increase in profits,<br />

thanks to gains from sale<br />

of assets<br />

For the year ended December<br />

2017, profit before tax<br />

increased by 17.80 percent to<br />

N22.43 billion from N19.04<br />

billion the previous year.<br />

The company realised<br />

N3.56 billion from the sale of<br />

assets, which helped underpin<br />

pre-tax profit.<br />

Profit after tax spiked by<br />

43.16 percent to N15.12 billion<br />

in December 2017 from<br />

N10.56 billion the previous<br />

year. Distribution and administrative<br />

expenses were<br />

up 28.73 percent to N12.05<br />

billion in the period under<br />

review from N9.36 billion the<br />

previous year.<br />

Finance costs were up<br />

1.42 percent to N2.84 billion<br />

in December 2017 from<br />

N2.80 billion as at December<br />

2016. Short term borrowings<br />

declined by 79.04 percent to<br />

N544.90 million in December<br />

2017 from N2.60 billion as at<br />

December 2016.<br />

Times interest coverage<br />

ratio stood at 15.33 times<br />

of operating profit, which<br />

means the consumer goods<br />

giant can pay interest expense.<br />

Inventories surged<br />

by 162.89 percent to N28.34<br />

billion in the period under<br />

review as against N10.78<br />

billion as at December 2016.<br />

Trade and other receivables<br />

reduced slightly by<br />

4.20 percent to N9 billion<br />

in the period under review<br />

from N9.40 billion the previous<br />

year.<br />

Trade and other payable<br />

increased slightly by 3.34<br />

percent to N16.78 billion in<br />

December 2017 from N16.24<br />

billion as at December 2016.<br />

Total borrowings were up<br />

92.16 percent to N69.62 billion<br />

in December 2017 from<br />

N36.23 billion the previous<br />

year. DFM has turned each<br />

of invested cash in sales in<br />

generating higher profit as<br />

net profit margins increased<br />

to 12.11 percent in December<br />

2017 from 11.61 percent as at<br />

December 2016.<br />

Dangote Flour Mills, others<br />

donate N70m threshers<br />

to wheat farmers<br />

Dangote Flour Mills and<br />

other flour millers donated<br />

50 units of multi-crop<br />

thresher machine worth N70<br />

million to wheat farmers to<br />

underpin Nigeria’s self-sufficiency<br />

in wheat production.<br />

Thabo Mabe, Managing<br />

Director and Chief Executive<br />

Director of Dangote Flour<br />

Mills of Nigeria, made the<br />

disclosure at the presentation<br />

of the equipment in<br />

Lagos.<br />

Mabe said that the new<br />

machine will help reduce<br />

costs and improve yields,<br />

hence increasing the amount<br />

of yields farmers get per hectare<br />

of land. He added that the<br />

yields will go up and costs will<br />

come down.<br />

“We are working assiduously<br />

to ensure that Nigeria<br />

attains self-sufficiency<br />

in wheat production. Our<br />

company has bought about<br />

3000 tonnes of wheat from<br />

local farmers. We need to<br />

make sure that we get local<br />

wheat for bread spaghetti and<br />

bread,” said Mabe.<br />

John Coumantaros,<br />

the Chairman, Flour Milling<br />

Association of Nigeria<br />

(FMAN), represented<br />

by Paul Gbededo, Group<br />

Managing Director, Flour<br />

Mills Nigeria Ltd., said<br />

that the presentation was<br />

a demonstration of the association’s<br />

commitment<br />

to continuously support<br />

wheat farmers and Federal<br />

Government’s agriculture<br />

promotion agenda.<br />

“There is no gainsaying<br />

that self-sufficiency in<br />

the production of wheat<br />

in Nigeria will have an unprecedented<br />

impact on the<br />

Nigerian economy through<br />

attainment of food security,<br />

poverty reduction and of<br />

course, save much needed<br />

foreign exchange,” he said.<br />

Coumantaros said that the<br />

association signed an MoU<br />

with Wheat Farmers Association<br />

of Nigeria in 2016 to<br />

purchase all available wheat<br />

grain produced by farmers<br />

in line with agreed quality<br />

parameters and prevailing<br />

market prices.<br />

“In 2017, FMAN fulfilled<br />

its promise by purchasing<br />

over 2,400 metric tons of<br />

wheat valued at N469 million.<br />

“In <strong>2018</strong>, even before<br />

the start of harvest, we have<br />

purchased over 1600 metric<br />

tons of wheat valued at N237<br />

million.<br />

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


A8<br />

BUSINESS DAY<br />

C002D5556<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong>


WOMEN’S<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong> BUSINESS DAY<br />

HUB<br />

‘‘<br />

With<br />

technology,<br />

there are no<br />

limitations<br />

of career<br />

options and<br />

possibilities<br />

‘‘<br />

FOLUSO GBADAMOSI<br />

The technology<br />

advocate


EDITOR’S NOTE<br />

Leading Woman<br />

7 BUSINESS DAY<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

WOMEN’S HUB<br />

Welcome to another edition of<br />

Women’s Hub.<br />

This week, our cover personality<br />

and LEADING WOMAN is Foluso<br />

Gbadamosi and she is passionate<br />

about technology, humanity, succession<br />

and more. Her story is indeed<br />

mind stirring.<br />

FOLUSO GBADAMOSI, the technology advocate<br />

FOLUSO GBADAMOSI is the Director, Business Process<br />

& Technology, Prime Atlantic Group and Co-Founder<br />

at 8191 Solutions which provides technology solutions<br />

to SMEs. Her career spans over <strong>13</strong> years in the<br />

Telecommunications, IT and FMCG industries. She<br />

shares with KEMI AJUMOBI on her passion for technology,<br />

improving the welfare of humanity, succession<br />

in African businesses and more. Excerpts.<br />

Vanessa Cole was among the production<br />

team at the recently concluded<br />

Arise Fashion Week. She<br />

shares her experience in our FROM<br />

HER POINT OF VIEW SECTION.<br />

Tosin Ogundeji came second in Nigeria<br />

under her age category after<br />

participating in the Toyota Dream<br />

Car Art Contest, a Corporate Social<br />

Responsibility initiative of Toyota<br />

Motor Corporation. She writes a letter<br />

to express her gratitude.<br />

In our AGIANST ALL ODDS section,<br />

Catherine Kahr survives depression.<br />

Read her story and be inspired on<br />

being positive about life.<br />

These and more we have for you this<br />

week.<br />

Enjoy!<br />

KEMI AJUMOBI<br />

kemi@businessdayonline.com<br />

Growing up<br />

I<br />

am the first of four children. I grew up in a home with<br />

open doors to everyone and parents who expected the<br />

best. My parents instilled humility and love for people<br />

in ways I find hard to describe. I learnt a lot about being<br />

responsible, loving people, the importance of family and<br />

so much more from my parents. The truth is, children learn<br />

from our actions more than our words, most of the values<br />

I have today are from seeing my parents in action. Gender<br />

was never a limiting factor in our home and I was raised to<br />

know that nothing is impossible.<br />

Why the passion for technology?<br />

I am passionate about technology because it’s a huge catalyst<br />

for social development. Ironically, my late father always<br />

bought me ‘tech’ toys as a child. I loved fixing electronic<br />

items around the house as well. So if the VCR broke, I would<br />

take it apart and attempt to fix it. I also love the fact that<br />

technology is a tool for solving almost every problem we<br />

experience in the world today. Most of the organisations I am<br />

affiliated with use technology as a tool for transformation.<br />

Why the decision to move back to Nigeria? Any regrets?<br />

I always intended to move to back to Nigeria. I never intended<br />

to live abroad and thankfully, everything fell into<br />

place when I was ready to move back. I believe in Nigeria<br />

so much! I don’t believe anyone is the citizen of the country<br />

they are from by accident, there is a reason God made me a<br />

Nigerian and I intend to do my best to solve as many problems<br />

as I can. I have no regrets.<br />

The need for succession in businesses<br />

In every organisation I find myself, I’m constantly thinking<br />

about whether enough has been done to ensure that the<br />

business stands the test of time. Many African businesses are<br />

not structured for succession, there is no sustainability and<br />

this has contributed to most business and poverty problems<br />

that plague the African continent. Many pioneer Africans<br />

who started great movements, dreams and organisations<br />

died with all their breakthrough ideas and everything lies<br />

6 feet beneath the ground. Instead of continuing where<br />

someone left off, we find that people have to start afresh,<br />

struggle afresh and rebuild.<br />

Being Director of Operations, Monarch Communications<br />

Ltd and restructuring the organisation, preparing<br />

it for the sale of its 3.5GHz spectrum to Swift<br />

Networks Ltd.<br />

For Monacom, it made business sense to sell the license to<br />

Swift because the Industry was so fragmented. The Telecoms<br />

industry is heavily capital intensive, you can’t break even<br />

without scale. At that time, most of the companies with our<br />

type of license did not have enough to scale up, so selling<br />

our license to Swift helped them become larger as opposed<br />

to all of us operating in little silos – a setting that was in no<br />

way sustainable.<br />

Serving With Love<br />

I am very passionate about being the change I want to see!<br />

There are lots of problems around us, many of which only<br />

need simple solutions. Serving With Love (SWL) was setup<br />

to solve a very basic problem - provision of essential needs<br />

to indigent families. Over time, we have evolved<br />

and now handle more than just those needs.<br />

We have an education fund, health fund and<br />

general fund which takes care of the basic needs.<br />

We have plans to build a Technology Centre for<br />

underprivileged children where they can learn<br />

how to code and so much more. SWL also intends<br />

to build a Cancer Centre for children as we<br />

have been working with Dorcas Foundation – a<br />

foundation that provides healthcare for children<br />

with cancer.<br />

You wear different caps, how are you able<br />

to juggle all without neglecting one or giving<br />

one more attention than the other?<br />

By creating efficient structures and recently, by<br />

being very militant with my time. Honestly, this<br />

is still evolving; I have learnt that purpose needs<br />

to be the anchor behind everything I do. It is<br />

what determines how I manage my time and<br />

run my life. I say no to whatever is not in line<br />

with my purpose and assignment to make time<br />

for things that are.<br />

Can women truly have it all?<br />

Having it all means different things to different<br />

people. Based on the definition of ‘have it all’, I<br />

believe that through the management of life’s different<br />

seasons, we can have ‘all’ for that season. For example,<br />

if you are in a season where you are physically pregnant<br />

– having it all could be a healthy pregnancy and doing<br />

the things God created you to do within the limitations<br />

of being pregnant. You would be in serious self-denial if<br />

you think you can speed up the pregnancy period or do<br />

all the same things you could physically do when you<br />

were not pregnant. I think having it all would be less<br />

of a sore topic for many if we would just embrace life’s<br />

seasons! There is also the instant mindset nowadays<br />

because of how much quicker we are getting things<br />

done – many refer to this generation as a Microwave<br />

Generation. Truth is, there are still many things you<br />

cannot get done instantly and it is something we must<br />

accept and handle with wisdom and maturity. Being<br />

teachable and open to learning during these seasons<br />

is also very important.<br />

What is your view on the need for women to support<br />

each other?<br />

I am all for women supporting each other. This is one<br />

of the reasons I love Women in Management Business<br />

& Public Service (WIMBIZ) so much because it is a<br />

powerful platform that supports women in different<br />

seasons and stages of life. Men have been supporting<br />

each other for years and we all see the fruits of that. The<br />

women I see supporting each other break<br />

barriers and achieve more sooner than<br />

those who do not.<br />

What is currently in your front burner?<br />

What are you looking forward to?<br />

I look forward to providing more solutions<br />

and structures to solve social and business<br />

problems in Nigeria. I also look forward<br />

to Serving With Love , developing the IT<br />

Training School for underprivileged kids<br />

and also the Cancer Centre for kids. When<br />

I see what liberation and freedom is gotten<br />

from being able to do something as ‘simple’<br />

as coding these days, it truly excites<br />

me. I recently met a lady who taught herself<br />

to code, graduated OAU recently and<br />

has a job with a company abroad while<br />

living in Nigeria because she can code!<br />

With technology, there are no limitations<br />

of career options and possibilities. In fact,<br />

there are careers that do not exist now that<br />

will be created because of technology.<br />

Careers like Blogging and Social Media<br />

Management did not exist a few years ago.<br />

I look forward to a future where succession<br />

planning is actually happening and is integral<br />

to Nigerian and African businesses.<br />

I can just imagine how much quicker we<br />

will get things done if we can sustain businesses,<br />

create wealth, transfer and share<br />

knowledge from generation to generation.<br />

Final words<br />

Your purpose is bigger than you – it is not<br />

a career, a business, marital status, having<br />

kids and all that. Those are all assignments<br />

from God and while they are important,<br />

your purpose is bigger than you, way bigger<br />

than your wildest imagination. You<br />

were created for dominion and to create<br />

solutions. Whatever you were created to<br />

do, you are specially graced for and it is so<br />

important to accept that and not try to operate<br />

in anyone else’s calling! Stay in your lane<br />

because that is where you will create value,<br />

find fulfilment, make a difference in the<br />

world and be successful. One of my most<br />

recent favourite quotes is from TD Jakes –<br />

“God doesn’t make chairs, He makes trees!”<br />

God gives us natural resources; a major part<br />

of our purpose is to create solutions that<br />

improve the world we live in.


3 BUSINESS DAY<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong> WOMEN’S HUB<br />

From Her Point Of View<br />

Against All Odds<br />

MY EXPERIENCE @<br />

Arise Fashion Week <strong>2018</strong><br />

VANESSA COLE<br />

My Easter break was fast<br />

approaching, and being<br />

in London, I was<br />

looking for a reason to come<br />

home to Lagos for the Easter<br />

break. University was becoming<br />

overbearing and usually being<br />

an independent and thriving<br />

individual, feeling homesick was<br />

almost alien to me.<br />

Scrolling through Instagram, I<br />

noticed some publicity for Arise<br />

Fashion Week and saw that the<br />

dates aligned with when I wanted<br />

to come to Lagos. I then gave<br />

myself an objective; ‘Get yourself<br />

into the Fashion week team!’<br />

I decided to just dive into<br />

it and emailed the Publisher/<br />

CEO of ThisDay and convener<br />

of Arise Fashion Week, Nduka<br />

Obaigbena and I passionately<br />

wrote why I would like to join<br />

the team regardless of the short<br />

notice I gave him (1.5 weeks).<br />

Within 2 weeks, I got a response<br />

to join the team.<br />

In the next few days, I flew to<br />

Lagos to meet with the team and<br />

it was exciting to get an email<br />

from a previous employer of<br />

mine that I’d be under her team,<br />

Desiree Ejoh, who leaded me in<br />

my first major internship job in<br />

London for Naomi Campbell’s<br />

Fashion for Relief team. To much<br />

anticipation, I was going to be<br />

working with her again, but with<br />

a more interactive and fulfilling<br />

role.<br />

From the day of meeting the<br />

team, the preparation for the<br />

fashion shows became a sprinted<br />

race-course! With around<br />

57 designers to fit into a 3-day<br />

schedule, fittings and model<br />

castings were fully underway.<br />

Of course, we are in Nigeria so<br />

timing was a major factor that<br />

we constantly battled with, but<br />

by thriving and staying productive<br />

even in unfathomable hours,<br />

the lead up to the shows began<br />

to come together. However, I<br />

would have to admit that up to<br />

the day before the show, we were<br />

wondering how the show would<br />

happen! But through God’s guidance<br />

and the drive of the leaders,<br />

the show started with a bang.<br />

Having a role of ensuring<br />

the designers knew their fitting<br />

times, were punctual and were<br />

ready for their show time was a<br />

challenging yet motivating job.<br />

It tested my ability to work under<br />

pressured time and almost<br />

impossible deadlines. If not for<br />

the support of the team and the<br />

energy we gave each other, the<br />

show would not be what it was!<br />

Again, I give God all the glory!<br />

The 3 days were successful,<br />

beautiful and exceeded all expectations.<br />

Filled with so much<br />

adrenaline, it is so sad to see<br />

such a production over. I cannot<br />

wait for next year and to take<br />

Africa by storm once again! Next<br />

year will be avant-garde and due<br />

to the success of this edition, I<br />

know we will be in the spotlight<br />

of many internationals. Arise is<br />

really the pillar of the future of<br />

African fashion.<br />

Surviving Depression<br />

Catherine Kahr was 18<br />

and was severely depressed<br />

and suicidal,<br />

but I didn’t know what that<br />

meant. I contacted a suicide<br />

hotline. The police came to my<br />

house and took me straight to<br />

the hospital. Why did I call?<br />

I wanted to die so badly. But<br />

subconsciously, my survival instinct<br />

wanted me to live. I knew<br />

there was something wrong.<br />

Still, I didn’t know what to do<br />

or how to get help. I was only a<br />

junior in high school.<br />

That was a defining moment.<br />

Being taken from my<br />

home to a very adult situation<br />

was traumatizing, to say the<br />

least. The hospital was a place<br />

to be safe. I saw psychiatrists,<br />

and there was group therapy<br />

that is supposed to help you.<br />

Still, it was more of a filler of<br />

time in the hospital. They don’t<br />

want you lying in bed all day.<br />

I was out of the hospital only<br />

briefly before being committed<br />

again, and I wasn’t comfortable<br />

around other people.<br />

The stigma of mental illness<br />

only made it worse. You feel it<br />

from other people. You don’t<br />

want anybody to know you<br />

have a mental illness. You don’t<br />

feel part of the community.<br />

People don’t realize depression<br />

is a real disease. They think it’s<br />

all in your head and you just<br />

need to get over it. You can’t see<br />

it, you can’t touch it, but it’s an<br />

illness, a mental illness.<br />

The worst of all are the<br />

doctors and nurses. You are already<br />

prejudged by your medical<br />

records. You are your illness,<br />

not a person. The staff are<br />

careless about callous things<br />

they say within earshot of the<br />

patients, or worse, they are just<br />

flat-out rude or accusatory. A<br />

doctor told me that I should<br />

be well aware of what the street<br />

value of my medications was.<br />

He knew nothing about me<br />

but assumed I was selling my<br />

medications.<br />

I was hospitalised four times<br />

in a period of two months, and<br />

because my suicidal impulses<br />

continued, the courts ordered<br />

that I be confined to a state mental<br />

institution. After 28 months, I<br />

was sent to transitional housing<br />

to begin the process of re-joining<br />

society. I had my own room with a<br />

bed, a sink, and some other furniture.<br />

It was finally a place I could<br />

call home.<br />

Later, I met my husband. We<br />

were married in 1993. He has been<br />

there for me all along. I told him<br />

fairly quickly about my depression<br />

because I believe that he needed<br />

to know what kind of person he<br />

was getting involved with. He<br />

would have figured it out anyway;<br />

I have scars on my arms from selfmutilation.<br />

That’s how I dealt with<br />

emotional pain.<br />

I am on medication now. I have<br />

been through a huge array of medications,<br />

trying to find what works.<br />

I have pretty severe episodes if<br />

I don’t take medication consistently.<br />

I’ve had shock therapy (ECT,<br />

or Electro Convulsive Therapy)<br />

too. Still, the depression did not<br />

go away. My depression always<br />

hovered in the background. But<br />

it really didn’t return in full force<br />

until I suffered from postpartum<br />

depression after the birth of my<br />

second daughter.<br />

My husband supported me,<br />

and I went through years of therapy.<br />

However, my turning point<br />

was with a breakthrough therapy<br />

called DBT (Dialectical Behavioral<br />

Therapy). The Portland Dialectical<br />

Behavior Therapy Program really<br />

helped me work through a lot of<br />

my issues and helped me finally<br />

recover from my crippling depression<br />

and post-traumatic stress<br />

disorder.<br />

I am a stay-at-home mom now.<br />

I attend school; I want to be a<br />

psychologist. My daughters know<br />

about my depression. They call it<br />

Sad Sick. It’s how my husband explains<br />

it to them. I don’t go around<br />

advertising my past, but I am very<br />

comfortable with my story and<br />

my life. It made me who I am. I<br />

am a very strong person. Without<br />

that learning experience, I would<br />

not have evolved into the person<br />

I am. I wanted to be happy, and<br />

I knew it was something I had to<br />

work for. It’s wonderful to be out<br />

of that darkness.


C M Y K<br />

Imposition Studio 5.1.1


6 BUSINESS DAY<br />

Women In Focus<br />

Susan Reid, Morgan<br />

Stanley’s Global Head of<br />

Diversity and Inclusion,<br />

recognizes that the world isn’t<br />

perfect. And when life gets<br />

tough, you have to talk about it.<br />

That’s why Reid organized<br />

a panel discussion at Morgan<br />

Stanley on diversity and race<br />

in the wake of tense police<br />

interactions across the country.<br />

Reid knew a memo from<br />

executives wouldn’t suffice;<br />

she wanted Morgan Stanley<br />

employees to come together for<br />

a conversation. Around 1,500<br />

employees participated, which<br />

Reid says “was one of the most<br />

powerful things we’ve done”<br />

because it opened the door for<br />

more conversations.<br />

“To create diversity, you<br />

have to get people talking about<br />

difficult topics, and over time<br />

create more awareness and understanding<br />

of the perspectives<br />

of others,” Reid says.<br />

Reid knows a thing or two<br />

about diversity. She emigrated<br />

from Jamaica to the U.S. with<br />

her family when she was <strong>13</strong><br />

years old. The move was a<br />

major adjustment and required<br />

her to cultivate a new life for<br />

herself.<br />

Reid, who still has family in<br />

Jamaica, moved to Brooklyn,<br />

where she found Caribbean<br />

ibly strong. “It used to be that<br />

women and people of colour<br />

were a minority on college campuses,<br />

but now their numbers<br />

have increased,” Reid says.<br />

“We will continue to see a shift.<br />

If you don’t have leaders who<br />

understand the needs of and<br />

for a diverse workforce, you<br />

won’t be as successful.”<br />

When Reid isn’t guiding the<br />

firm’s diversity and inclusion<br />

strategy, she might be speaking<br />

with participants in the<br />

Morgan Stanley Return to Work<br />

program, which reintroduces<br />

experienced professionals to<br />

the workplace after an extended<br />

absence. Another day, you<br />

might find Reid mentoring an<br />

employee. She also serves<br />

on the board of the Storefront<br />

Academy, a Morgan Stanley<br />

community partner.<br />

“I realized from the beginning<br />

I had a tremendous opportunity<br />

to make a difference<br />

in this role,” she says. “I felt<br />

like I had unfinished business<br />

because I had worked in diversity<br />

before, and I felt like I had a<br />

chance to try new things.”<br />

The Morgan Stanley diversity<br />

panel discussion on race<br />

was one of them. Tried and true<br />

measures, such as networking<br />

groups, are also equally important<br />

because they bring people<br />

Young and Bright<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

WOMEN’S HUB<br />

Tosin Ogundeji appreciates TOYOTA Nigeria<br />

SUSAN REID<br />

Morgan Stanley’s Global Head of<br />

Diversity and Inclusion<br />

culture and a community that<br />

was welcoming to people from<br />

all over the world, with families<br />

from all different backgrounds.<br />

“The things that were very<br />

familiar to me in Jamaica were<br />

close by,” she says. “It was a<br />

great way to transition to the<br />

U.S. Brooklyn is very diverse.”<br />

She loved New York so much<br />

that she stayed for school. She<br />

attended New York University<br />

and earned degrees in economics<br />

and political science.<br />

She contemplated becoming a<br />

doctor but realized “that was<br />

not going to happen” when she<br />

took physics.<br />

She discovered her passion<br />

for diversity while working in<br />

human resources at New York<br />

University after graduating. She<br />

came to Morgan Stanley after a<br />

friend referred her for a human<br />

resources position in Investment<br />

Management.<br />

It was 2008, the height of the<br />

financial crisis. “I don’t think I<br />

had a full appreciation for what<br />

was to come, but I wouldn’t<br />

trade it for anything. I learned<br />

so much in those first few<br />

years,” says Reid. “I had to get<br />

up to speed quickly.”<br />

Reid says her job is never<br />

boring. The world is changing<br />

quickly, which makes the business<br />

case for diversity incredtogether<br />

and generate ideas.<br />

Reid, who now lives in Harlem,<br />

says that even small differences<br />

can add up to something<br />

powerful.<br />

“Diversity is a long game—it<br />

doesn’t change overnight, and<br />

you can’t flip a switch,” Reid<br />

says. “But if you have the fortitude<br />

to keep at it, you can make<br />

a difference.”<br />

Reid leads diversity efforts<br />

for the Firm globally.<br />

She develops and executes<br />

on strategies to diversify their<br />

workforce and create a more<br />

inclusive culture. She works<br />

closely with key stakeholders<br />

including the Firm’s leadership<br />

team, diversity councils,<br />

employee resource groups and<br />

HR partners to develop their<br />

strategy. She also partners with<br />

key external organisations and<br />

thought leaders in support of<br />

their efforts, and to amplify<br />

and position their brand in the<br />

external market. She also helps<br />

to leverage expertise to inform<br />

internal groups on diversity and<br />

inclusion, and serve as speaker<br />

at external conferences. Reid<br />

manages a global team of<br />

professionals. She is a member<br />

of the Human Resources<br />

Operating Committee, and<br />

board member, Morgan Stanley<br />

Foundation.<br />

TOSIN SHIKE DEBORAH OGUNDEJI<br />

Deeper Life School Kado, Abuja<br />

2nd, Overall in Nigeria, in the (12-15 years Category)<br />

Toyota Dream Car Art Contest <strong>2018</strong><br />

Toyota Dream Car Art Contest is a Corporate<br />

Social Responsibility initiative<br />

of Toyota Motor Corporation to develop<br />

the innate artistic talent in children and<br />

cultivate an enduring relationship with them.<br />

The formal award of prize and certificate<br />

ceremony of the winners of the Toyota Dream<br />

Car Art Contest Nigeria, was held on Saturday,<br />

March 17th in Lagos.<br />

The ceremony celebrated winners of the<br />

Under 8 Category, Lana Racheal Jaber (Greater<br />

Scholars International School, Lagos), Erela<br />

Naomi Oju (Chokhmah International Academy,<br />

PH) & Emmanuel Damilare Sanni (Shepherd<br />

Field Private School, Lagos), winners of<br />

the 8-11 years Category, Israel Amejimaobari<br />

Nke (Graceland International School, PH),<br />

Olamide Olakunle Olaleye (Emerald High<br />

School, Lagos) & Chibueze Timothy Isreal<br />

(Aaresther Divine School, Lagos) as well as<br />

winners of the 12-15 years Category, Nanribet<br />

Isah Francis (Redeemed People’s Academy,<br />

Jos), Tosin Shike Deborah Ogundeji (Deeper<br />

Life High School kado, Abuja) & Eunjo Lee<br />

(Avi-Cenna International School, Lagos).


BUSINESS DAY<br />

Workplace Palaver<br />

Friday <strong>13</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

WOMEN’S HUB<br />

Steal? No I can’t…Never!<br />

But mummy must survive<br />

KEMI AJUMOBI<br />

Ada works with a company<br />

that sells precious stones.<br />

She had access to almost all<br />

of them and this was based on the<br />

trust the management had in her.<br />

Ada is a staff that an organisation<br />

will have and they would not need<br />

to worry about the security of any<br />

item especially if you have more<br />

than one of her type.<br />

There was never a moment she<br />

felt tempted to take even the ones<br />

that were not documented, not<br />

because cameras are everywhere<br />

but simply because on the principle<br />

she has always lived by “never<br />

covet what is not yours”.<br />

Over the years, because she had<br />

consistently proven herself worthy,<br />

her loyalty and trustworthiness<br />

had earned her promotions and<br />

salary raise.<br />

Early in the year, her mother<br />

was diagnosed of stage 3 cancer.<br />

She believed her mum had the<br />

chance to survive. At the initial<br />

stage of her treatment, her funds<br />

could carry the bills but as treatment<br />

progressed, the bills were<br />

escalating. She did not want to<br />

talk to the management about it<br />

because she did not want them to<br />

think she was taking advantage of<br />

access to certain information about<br />

the organisation.<br />

A senior colleague, who took<br />

interest in her because of her<br />

diligence, had been observing her<br />

and worried about her behaviour in<br />

recent times. One day, he called her<br />

into his office to ask if she was okay<br />

and she said she was fine. When<br />

she left his office, she went to her<br />

own office, locked the door and<br />

cried woefully. “God where are<br />

you in all these? Please help me, I<br />

don’t want to lose my mum, she is<br />

all I have”. She heard a knock at her<br />

door; she got up swiftly and tried<br />

to clean her eyes. She got to the<br />

door and asked without opening<br />

it “Who is there?” and the voice<br />

that responded was that of her<br />

colleague, Chinwe “Hi Ada, I heard<br />

a sound so I thought to check up on<br />

you” so Ada responded, trying her<br />

best to ensure her voice didn’t give<br />

her away that she had been crying<br />

“I am fine, I hit my leg on the chair<br />

and the sound you heard was just<br />

me expressing the pain” “Ok then,<br />

take care” the Chinwe said and left.<br />

Though her boss wasn’t convinced<br />

she was ok, he decided to<br />

keep watch on her to try to find<br />

out what she was trying her best to<br />

cover up for. He wasn’t convinced<br />

she was ok as she claimed.<br />

At about 7pm, she got out of her<br />

office, checked around to be sure<br />

no one was around. She walked<br />

calmly into one of the rooms where<br />

the precious stones were kept. She<br />

began to cry intensely, “God, I am<br />

not a thief and you know. I have<br />

access to this yet I have chosen not<br />

to take anything, even the littlest,<br />

please make a way for me.” Her boss<br />

tiptoed to where she was. She had<br />

no idea anyone was in the office.<br />

She continued sharing her heart<br />

and crying. She walked up to the<br />

stones, kept looking at them and<br />

having conflicting ideas…she suddenly<br />

spoke out “No I can’t, I just<br />

can’t, I never have …” she said and<br />

a voice interjected saying “…and<br />

you never will”. She turned in shock<br />

to find her boss; she ran to him and<br />

began to cry. He held her and said<br />

“I knew something was wrong Ada,<br />

I knew it…what is going on? Why<br />

are you here? What is making you<br />

even give in to the thought of theft,<br />

this is not you. Speak to me Ada”<br />

he requested.<br />

He took her out of the room,<br />

gave her a seat and extended his<br />

handkerchief to her “Now you<br />

know you have to tell me the truth<br />

Ada.” She sobbed for a while and<br />

then she began to share with him<br />

how she discovered her mum had<br />

stage 3 cancer, how she had tried<br />

to keep up with paying the bills and<br />

she could not handle it any more.<br />

“What!” he exclaimed and continued<br />

“You kept such a thing from<br />

us? Come on Ada, you should<br />

have at least asked and let us be<br />

the ones to decide whether we<br />

can give you or not.” And she responded,<br />

“I’m sorry sir, I just never<br />

wanted to be a burden to the<br />

organisation, neither did I want to<br />

abuse access.” He then said “Listen,<br />

what I saw here never happened.<br />

I am glad you kept telling yourself<br />

you could never do such a thing like<br />

stealing. I will speak to the MD about<br />

this and I will get back to you. Let’s<br />

remain positive and keep praying,<br />

God will surely make a way.” “Thank<br />

you sir, I am so grateful” she said.<br />

The next day, he spoke to the MD<br />

about it. He was also shocked she<br />

kept it away from everyone “It shows<br />

the state of her heart, I am sure she<br />

did not want to feel like a bother to<br />

us. He immediately sent for her and<br />

informed her that her mum would be<br />

taken to a private hospital and if not<br />

sorted, she would be flown out. Ada<br />

went on her knees, crying and saying<br />

thank you “Get up Ada, you have<br />

been a blessing to us here and you<br />

deserve our assistance”. The MD said.<br />

Her mum was taken to the private<br />

hospital and the care continued<br />

from where the previous hospital<br />

she visited stopped.<br />

Though the cancer had extended<br />

beyond the immediate region of the<br />

tumour and invaded nearby lymph<br />

nodes and muscles, however, it<br />

had not spread to distant organs.<br />

After surgery and radiation therapy,<br />

along with chemo and other drug<br />

therapies, Ada’s mum made it. It’s<br />

been two years after surgery and<br />

she is doing just fine.<br />

The Joke’s On Her<br />

Young Son: “Is it true, Dad,<br />

I heard that in some parts<br />

of Africa a man doesn’t<br />

know his wife until he marries<br />

her?”<br />

Dad: “That happens in every<br />

country, son.”<br />

A man inserted an advertisement<br />

in the classifieds:<br />

“Wife Wanted.”<br />

The next day he received a<br />

hundred letters.<br />

They all said the same thing:<br />

“You can have mine.”<br />

The most effective<br />

way to remember your<br />

wife’s birthday is to<br />

forget it once.<br />

How do you know when a woman<br />

is about to say something smart?<br />

When she starts her sentence<br />

with, “A man once told me....”<br />

I married Miss Right. I<br />

just didn’t know her first<br />

name was “Always.”<br />

I haven’t spoken to my wife for<br />

18 months: I don’t like to interrupt<br />

her.


BUSINESS DAY<br />

Insight<br />

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I FRIDAY <strong>13</strong> APRIL <strong>2018</strong><br />

C002D5556<br />

Operating in a VUCA Environment<br />

I<br />

have been asked to say a few<br />

words about the challenges<br />

and opportunities of operating<br />

in a volatile, uncertain, complex<br />

and ambiguous (VUCA)<br />

environment. I think the first thing<br />

when you are managing a business<br />

in a VUCA environment is that you<br />

have to face the reality that VUCA is<br />

not just a conceptual expression, it is<br />

real, by which I mean, the volatility<br />

of which you speak manifests itself<br />

every day, every week, every month.<br />

Volatility by definition means you<br />

cannot be certain what will happen<br />

today, tomorrow, or the day after.<br />

The first thing I do in managing<br />

in such an environment is that I aim<br />

to build an organisation equipped<br />

to interpret the risks surrounding it.<br />

Always scanning the horizon, facing<br />

reality, asking yourself: ‘what are our<br />

current risks?’ Ask yourself – ‘were<br />

these risks to surface, is our business<br />

ready to deal with them?’ I find that, a<br />

lot of time, people talk about working<br />

in a volatile environment, but with<br />

the first sign of volatility, the business<br />

cracks. We talk about it, but do not<br />

plan for it. If you do not prepare for tomorrow,<br />

tomorrow overwhelms you.<br />

Face the reality of the environment<br />

The first thing is to face the reality<br />

of the environment and deal with it.<br />

When you face the reality, you will<br />

build more resilient models. Models<br />

that can cope with shocks and enable<br />

us to thrive in highly volatile<br />

circumstances. Take the volatility of<br />

our telco networks as an example:<br />

some people do not understand the<br />

tendency of others to carry more than<br />

one phone. I believe this is their individual<br />

response to the fragility of the<br />

networks and their frustration at the<br />

companies. They know there will be<br />

places where one network doesn’t<br />

work, so they carry another back-up<br />

network to make a phone-call if one<br />

fails them.<br />

If you apply the same thinking<br />

to business, you should always in a<br />

volatile environment, think about<br />

back-up plans and what changes<br />

you can make in the short term.<br />

For example, having multiple vendors<br />

for a particular service, which<br />

means that when shocks surface,<br />

you are better prepared. You can<br />

move from supplier A to supplier<br />

B or both can give you half your<br />

requirement.<br />

Therefore, the economic cycle<br />

and the evaluation criteria of what<br />

is right in business in volatile environments<br />

must now be viewed<br />

through a long-term lens. Planning<br />

cycles are shorter and you plan during<br />

these shorter cycles, because<br />

every month, every quarter, things<br />

change. Review, change, review.<br />

But evaluation of economic benefits<br />

must be done with a longer-term<br />

horizon in mind. In tangible terms,<br />

that means you may carry high inventory<br />

levels and in the short term,<br />

that comes with huge constraints on<br />

working capital, interest payments<br />

and so on. If you look at it in the medium<br />

to long term, you realise that<br />

by having more reserved for times<br />

of adversity, volatility will reduce.<br />

For example – if ports go down or a<br />

road route is clogged, your delivery<br />

trucks won’t get through, but you<br />

however will be better prepared<br />

with inventory and your revenues<br />

will therefore grow faster. You may<br />

even gain market share and brand<br />

loyalty because of your ability to<br />

serve consumers and shoppers<br />

at a time your competitors could<br />

not. On a medium-term cycle,<br />

therefore, it becomes a benefit not<br />

a hindrance.<br />

Immerse in your Environment<br />

In any environment, be it volatile<br />

or not, there is a cultural conversation<br />

within which brands<br />

must express themselves. In times<br />

of adversity, people develop a certain<br />

sense of humour about things<br />

such as poor infrastructure and<br />

implication on services, so brands<br />

seeking to serve people purposefully<br />

must immerse themselves in<br />

that environment and speak their<br />

language. It is not for nothing that<br />

people wake up in markets like<br />

Nigeria and Ghana and talk about<br />

‘E go better’ or if you go to the<br />

Caribbean, they say ‘better a go<br />

come’ (these expressions mean;<br />

things will get better). A sense of<br />

hopelessness is counteracted with<br />

a sense of humour.<br />

Brands should not ignore the<br />

tendency for people to try and<br />

soothe themselves. They must<br />

embrace and understand it in the<br />

context of the unpredictable times<br />

in which we live, the news culture of<br />

their people and the role their brand<br />

can play in the day-to-day conversation<br />

in communities. Whether<br />

things are good or bad, brands have<br />

a responsibility – because they are<br />

part of the fabric of life.<br />

Flexibility<br />

When it comes to your business<br />

model – and I have touched on this<br />

already – but in summary: it must<br />

have flexibility and resilience combined<br />

with the ability to adapt rapidly<br />

to new and changing circumstances<br />

which is critical for survival during<br />

volatile periods. It is true always, but<br />

particularly in the VUCA world, because<br />

of the tendency of people to say<br />

that the environment is so difficult,<br />

that excellence at world-class levels<br />

is impossible. Business leaders must<br />

be curious and go out of their way to<br />

seek best practice wherever they can<br />

find it. Through this quest they will be<br />

able to demolish the pervading tendencies<br />

of people to think we cannot<br />

aspire to world-class in this environment.<br />

I can tell people about what<br />

happens in Singapore, Germany or<br />

Scandinavia, and they hear me, but<br />

many are cynical about their ability<br />

to bring it to market in a country like<br />

Nigeria. If however, I find examples<br />

of the same high quality as those<br />

markets, here in Nigeria – someone<br />

deploying it in a manner from which<br />

we can observe and learn – it tends<br />

we face and see it as an opportunity<br />

to grow. Existing recruitment criteria<br />

can sometimes favour extremely<br />

cerebral people who, at the first sign<br />

of trouble, find a reason why they will<br />

not be able to deliver. It is therefore<br />

no surprise when global organisations<br />

using such criteria then struggle<br />

to sustain results in extremely volatile<br />

environments.<br />

Reduce Hierarchy<br />

I believe that particularly in our<br />

current environment, we must empower<br />

the frontline. For example, our<br />

sales person in Maiduguri should be<br />

able to wake up, understand the local<br />

dynamics of the company inside<br />

and out, and have the knowledge,<br />

confidence and support to succeed<br />

there. My task as a leader of<br />

this organisation must be to build a<br />

system: a management information<br />

system. I want to build a culture of<br />

empowerment that strips away layers<br />

of hierarchy, so that when that<br />

guy speaks to the organisation, his<br />

voice is taken seriously, he knows he<br />

has my backing, the backing of the<br />

leadership team and will therefore<br />

feedback what he observes. I call it<br />

‘the inverted pyramid’, particularly<br />

in volatile times, you do not have<br />

the time and luxury to ask for information<br />

to reach you through layer<br />

after layer. You have to put in place<br />

mechanisms and you have to disrupt<br />

the system, otherwise the layers of<br />

the ordinary pyramid will resist you.<br />

When you cross layers and go right<br />

to the frontline, there will be many<br />

who feel that they’ve been left out of<br />

the process, but you must persevere<br />

as a leader and create that culture so<br />

the organisation is speaking to itself<br />

My task as a leader of this organisation<br />

must be to build a system: a management<br />

information system. I want to build a culture<br />

of empowerment that strips away layers of<br />

hierarchy, so that when that guy speaks to<br />

the organisation, his voice is taken seriously,<br />

he knows he has my backing, the backing<br />

of the leadership team and will therefore<br />

feedback what he observes<br />

to have a much more motivating<br />

influence on people and their ability<br />

to let barriers drop and aspire to<br />

it themselves.<br />

So, it is critical, particularly in<br />

volatile markets, to be on the continual<br />

look-out for people doing things<br />

better than you, and benchmarking<br />

as a culture in every part of your<br />

business: always looking for areas<br />

to improve and putting in place appropriate<br />

plans, delivered with speed<br />

and agility.<br />

Team Selection<br />

The talent base of the organisation<br />

is vital to survive and thrive as a<br />

business under usual circumstances.<br />

It is even more acutely important<br />

during volatile times. I always suggest<br />

that you have to find people, who,<br />

when they wake up in the morning,<br />

are not overwhelmed by volatility but<br />

instead appreciate that it’s the reality<br />

about what it learns in real time and<br />

acting on it, so every employee realises<br />

how you can march faster toward<br />

your goal and is willing to express it.<br />

Segment Markets<br />

There is nothing like a one-Nigerian<br />

market or one market anywhere,<br />

and so you will come up with<br />

your own segment descriptors, but<br />

you must be close enough to the<br />

markets to understand different<br />

characteristics, so you can meaningfully<br />

segment. Then, with the correct<br />

segmentation, cater for those markets<br />

and serve them in a meaningful way<br />

for which they will reward you.<br />

Organisation<br />

In all organisations, particularly<br />

during a volatile era, where there are<br />

many external distractions, leaders<br />

must focus the organisation on key<br />

objectives. In particular, try establishing<br />

a growth mindset, because it’s a<br />

growth mindset that enables people<br />

to overcome obstacles, see opportunities<br />

and keep the organisation<br />

resolutely focused on its objectives<br />

and goals. Clarity on what we are all<br />

trying to achieve, especially in turbulent<br />

circumstances, is critical.<br />

Ecosystem Consideration<br />

What I mean by this is that no<br />

business is standalone. You have<br />

suppliers, customers, employees,<br />

shareholders. So, the leadership<br />

must be constantly considering how<br />

to create value for all. We call it a<br />

‘multi-stakeholder approach’. If you<br />

create value for all stakeholders in<br />

your ecosystem, you are much more<br />

likely to win.<br />

The multi-stakeholder approach,<br />

particularly in volatile markets, is<br />

crucial. Map them out: who are they?<br />

Are you giving back to the community<br />

in meaningful ways that advance the<br />

business? Is your supplier and customer<br />

base strong? Do your financial<br />

partners understand exactly what<br />

success looks like, and are you are<br />

working with them to achieve this?<br />

If you get all that, correct, the fallout<br />

is positive: your business and ecosystem<br />

is strengthened. Your ability<br />

to win in the market place improves.<br />

Your ecosystem becomes so strong<br />

that your business has end-to-end<br />

resilience and is able to withstand<br />

sudden shocks.<br />

Cultivate a Culture of Humility<br />

My final point and I believe this is<br />

true of all business, but particularly<br />

in a volatile environment, is that a<br />

culture of humility and curiosity<br />

must be established. Why humility?<br />

Because you must be willing to learn<br />

from anywhere and anyone. Organisation<br />

must put learning at its heart:<br />

willing to learn from competitors,<br />

(bigger or smaller), other players<br />

(not necessarily in its industry space),<br />

anybody doing anything better. We<br />

must be willing to learn continuously,<br />

together.<br />

If you can do that, then you are<br />

much more likely to succeed sustainably.<br />

So, to summarise:<br />

•Read reality, face it, plan for it,<br />

map risk and build a resilience model.<br />

•Benchmark religiously.<br />

•Select a team that can cope in the<br />

environment we describe as volatile.<br />

•Reduce hierarchy, so the frontline<br />

is able to speak - and the entire organisation<br />

takes it seriously.<br />

•Take the ecosystem into consideration<br />

all the time and do things to<br />

succeed long-term.<br />

•And the last point, be humble.<br />

Learn! Learn! Learn!<br />

YAW NSARKOH<br />

Yaw Nsarkoh in Executive Vice President,<br />

Unilever Ghana and Nigeria.<br />

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Ghana Office: Business Day Ghana Ltd; ABC Junction, near Guinness Ghana Limited, Achimota – Accra, Ghana.<br />

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