BusinessDay 16 Apr 2018

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I **MONDAY 16 APRIL 2018 I VOL. 15, NO 33 I N300 @ g 

Cement makers’ profits drop to 

5-year low as tax credits expire 

BALA AUGIE 

A 

curious thing is happening 

to Nigerian 

Cement makers. 

While revenues 

are surging, profits 

are dropping, signalling falling 

margins and higher tax 

expenses. 

The firms analysed by BusinessDay 

are Dangote Cement 

Plc, Cement Company of Northern 

Nigeria (CCNN) Plc and 

Lafarge Africa Plc, which control 

about 90 percent of the Nigerian 

cement market. 

Cement maker’s revenues 

surged to a five year high in 2017, 

however profits (net income) 

are down from the highs of 2013 

largely as a result of a dominant 

player in the sector (Lafarge 

Africa) recording a loss, and 

expiration of pioneer tax credits. 

Lafarge Africa profits were 

juiced in 2016 by an income tax 

credit of N39.7 billion, while 

Dangote Cement received tax 

credits of N5.69 billion the same 

year (2016) and N10.43 billion in 

tax credits for 2013. 

The cumulative combined 

sales of the three largest producers 

of the building material hit 

N1.12 trillion in December 2017 

as against N607.56 billion recorded 

in 2013 as they leveraged 

a hike in the price of products and 

Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit. 

However, combined profits 

for the firms fell to an all-time 

low of N172.87 billion as at 

December 2017 from a profit of 

N263.71 billion recorded in 2013. 

Combined profits for the 3 

firms was N196.08 billion in 

2014, N209.52 billion in 2015 and 

N204.77 billion in 2016. 

Investors and shareholders 

will be bemused at industry 

performance in spite of the fact 

that the market is largely an 

oligopoly. 

Dangote Cement with a mar- 

Continues on page 4 

L-R Adaora Umeoji, deputy managing director; Peter Amangbo, GMD/CEO; Jim Ovia, chairman, and Ebenezer Onyeagwu, deputy managing 

director, all of Zenith Bank plc, at the 27th annual general meeting of the bank in Abuja, at the weekend. 

Adeosun reassigns 

portfolios in SEC, 

Mary Uduk takes 

over as acting DG 

... demands explanation from 

SEC on communications with 

NSE on Oando 

ONYINYE NWACHUKWU, Abuja 

The Minister of Finance, 

Kemi Adeosun, on Friday 

approved the reassignment 

of portfolios in the Securities and 

Exchange Commission (SEC). 

Mary Uduk will assume the 


Lagos-Badagry 2019 

rail completion 

doubtful as hoodlums 

take over tracks 

MIKE OCHONMA 

There are very strong indications 

that the 2019 

delivery timeline for the 

on-going road expansion that 

provides for the rail mass transit 


Inside 

I&E window success snaps 

Nigeria’s dependence on 

CBN dollar supply P. A2

Monday 16 April 2018 

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Azura IPP deploys 450mw full capacity to national grid 

... as generation loss hits 1940mw 

OLUSOLA BELLO 

The country’s yearning 

for improved electricity 

generation 

inched closer to reality 

at the weekend 

as Azura Independent Power 

project (IPP) successfully deployed 

all it three turbines with 

combined generating capacities 

of 450 megawatts on the national 

grid. 

This is expected to improve 

power generation a great deal 

and subsequently impact positively 

on electricity supply generally 

across the country. 

This happened a day after the 

power sector suffered partial 

system collapsed and a severe 

generation drop by 606 megawatts 

hour (MWh/h) leading 

to all the generating stations 

sending out on the average 

3,370602MWh/hour last week 

Thursday. 

There was nothing to suggest 

that the situation was much better 

on Friday even after Azura 

had deployed its 450 mw to the 

national grid, as power supply 

to Lagos and its environs has 

been poor in the last few days. 

According to a presidency 

source 1325.5MW was not generated 

due to unavailability of 

gas while lack of transmission 

infrastructure was responsible 

for 40MW not generated. 

Another 485MW was not 

generated due to high frequency 

resulting from unavailability 

of distribution infrastructure 

just as reduced water level at 

the hydro at power stations 

also caused the loss of 190 MW, 

thereby indicating that there is 

a shortfall of 1940mw in generation. 

On the whole the power 

sector lost an estimated 

N979,000,000 on April 12, 2018 

due to insufficient gas supply, 

distribution and transmission 

infrastructure as well as water 

reserves. 

The Federal Government 

through the Nigerian Bulk Electricity 

Trading Plc (NBET) recently 

paid Azura Power the 

sum of N8m being twelve percent 

of about N66 million for 

test power sent to the national 

grid in January, sources with 

knowledge about the transaction 

told BusinessDay. 

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s other 

generating companies (Gen- 

Cos) will today hear judgement 

on a suit they filed against the 

Federal Government for prioritising 

settlement of its commitment 

to Azura Power in the 

N701billion power guarantee 

instituted to assuage DisCos 

failure to settle market invoices. 

The rest of the GenCos have 

received settlement up till October 

2017 and since then their 

invoices have remained unsettled 

according to Joy Ogaji, 

the executive secretary of Association 

of Power Generation 

Companies (APGN). 

“The situation remains the 

same, we still have not received 

payment for our invoices since 

October last year,” she told BusinessDay 

by phone. 

Ogaji said that the legacy 

power plants which have 

the capacity to generate over 

7,000MW of electricity were denied 

a sovereign risk guarantee 

only for the Federal Government 

to give Azura the same 

guarantee including a partial 

risk guarantee from the World 

Bank even when it has capacity 

to generate only 450MW. 

But Jubril Kareem, energy 

analyst at EcoBank does not 

agree with this view. 

“Part of the reason the Azura 

project was able to get funding 

and construction started was 

because the government committed 

to it and it has a very 

solid power purchase agreement 

based on the realities on 

ground. 

“Nigeria is one of the most 

expensive places to generate 

power and if they are being 

paid according to the terms of 

the power purchase agreement, 

there is nothing wrong with that. 

Kareem further said, “The 

agreement with Azura was so 

tight that if government defaulted 

on payment it has serious 

implications. This is unlike 

the other power plants which 

were mostly acquired from the 

government, it was built brand 

new and they had the time to 

mitigate all risk about not being 

paid.” 

Azura Power is the first Nigerian 

power project to benefit 

from both the World Bank’s 

“Partial Risk Guarantee” structure 

($237 million of debt used 

to build the plant) and the political 

risk insurance supplied 

by the Multilateral Investment 

Guarantee Agency. 

Azura delivered on budget 

ahead of schedule by 7 months 

and could increase Nigeria’s 

peak generation from 5,155MW 

to over 5,500MW. 

However, analysts are concerned 

about the ability of the 

Federal Government to sustain 

payment for Azura Power considering 

the huge cost involved 

in settling the test power for one 

month.. 

Azura secured a $900m debt 

financing from a consortium 

of 15 banks from 9 different 

countries, including most of the 

European development finance 

institutions to build a 450MW 

Open Cycle Gas Turbine in Benin 

City, Edo State, 

Last month, it sent NBET, the 

market bill for test power from a 

single turbine of 153MW delivered 

to the grid on December 

20, 2017. 

L-R: Ladi Balogun, group chief executive, FCMB Group plc; Tinuade Awe, executive director, regulations, Nigerian 

Stock Exchange (NSE); Oladipupo Jadesimi, chairman, FCMB Group plc; Olusegun Odubogun, non-executive 

director, FCMB Group plc, and Olutola Mobolurin, non-executive director, during the closing gong ceremony in 

commemoration of the newly appointed chairman of FCMB Group plc, at the Exchange in Lagos. 

Cement makers see profits drop to 5 year... 

Continued from page 1 

ket capitalisation of N4.4 trillion 

has gained 13 percent year to date 

and trades at a price to book ratio 

of 5.4xs, according to Bloomberg 

data. 

Lafarge Africa has a market 

capitalisation of N385.96 billion, 

has returned -0.87 percent ytd, 

and trades at a price to sales ratio 

of 0.87Xs. 

Data gleaned by BusinessDay 

shows the major drag on industry 

profit growth is Large Africa Plc, 

a company grappling with rising 

costs and leverage that eroded 

margins. 

For the year ended December 

2017, Lafarge Africa posted a loss 

after tax of (N34.60 billion) from 

a profit position of N16.89 billion 

the previous year, the lowest in five 

years since BusinessDay started 

compiling data. 

Lafarge profits for 2014, 2015 

and 2016 were N34.66 billion, 

N26.98 billion and N16.89 billion 

respectively. 

Lafarge had finance costs or 

interest expense of N43.02 billion 

for the period, the highest in 7 

years, brought on by interest on 

borrowing incurred while paying 

the loans of subsidiary company, 

UNICEM. 

A breakdown of the combined 

profit in the period under review 

(2017) showed Dangote Cement Plc, 

the largest producer of the building 

material recorded net income of 

N204.24 billion, flat from the N201.19 

billion recorded in 2013. 

Dangote’s 2014, 2015 and 

2016 profits were N159.50 billion, 

N181.52 billion and N186.62 billion 

respectively. 

CCNN’s profit after tax stood 

at N3.22 billion as at December 

2017, representing a 106.50 percent 

surge from the N1.56 billion 

recorded five years ago. 

Industry experts are upbeat 

that economic growth underpinned 

by an increase in crude 

oil price and production and the 

introduction of foreign exchange 

system that help curb the crippling 

dollar shortage will boost 

future earnings of firms operating 

in the sector as they expect an 

uptick in the demand for building 

materials. 

The gross domestic product of 

Africa’s largest oil producer expanded 

for three straight quarters 

last year after a 1.6 percent contraction 

in 2016, with year-on-year 

growth reaching 1.9 percent in the 

final three months of 2017. 

The International Monetary 

Fund (IMF) has projected that 

Nigeria’s economy will grow by 2.1 

percent in 2018. 

The forecast which represents 

0.2 percent increase from the 

1.9 percent projected in October 

2017. 

“We expect revenue growth 

to be sustained amid a faster 

recovery in Nigeria, thanks to 

increased government infrastructure 

spending ahead of the 2019 

general election notwithstanding 

stiff competition,” said analysts at 

United Capital. 

President Muhammadu Buhari 

has presented a record budget 

of N8.60 trillion to the National 

Assembly for 2018. 

Out of the total budget figure, 

N2.4 trillion has been earmarked 

for capital spending. 

Nigeria has infrastructure deficit 

of $2 trillion, according to the 

Africa Finance Corporation. 

Also, the 17 million housing 

deficit is a low hanging fruit for cement 

makers to grow sales volume. 

“We estimate that an additional 

two million housing units 

by 2020e from the public sector 

alone (as highlighted in the economic 

recovery plan), will unlock 

about 20-24 million tonnes (mt) of 

cement over 2018e-2020e,” said 

analysts at RMBNS, in a recent report 

on Nigeria’s cement industry. 

Lafarge Africa is spending 

more to produce each unit of 

product as cost to income ratio 

increased to 83.03 percent, the 

highest in 5 years; driven by the 

construction of Mfamsong evacuation 

road at UNICEM in Calabar 

which failed as well as a full impairment 

taken on a Pre-heater 

project in ASHAKACEM which 

the cement maker hinted it has 

discontinued. 

The company is working to 

reduce energy and transportation 

costs as part of a turnaround plan, 

according to Michel Puchercos, 

the Chief Executive Officer of 

Lafarge Holcim Plc.


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C002D5556 

COMMENT 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com 

Severe head injuries (trust, deception and good neighbours) 

BASHORUN J.K RANDLE 

Randle is Chairman/Chief 

ExecutiveJK Randle Professional 

Services Chartered Accountants 

While we may differ 

over the coup 

d’état of 15th January 

1966 and the 

counter coup of 

29thJuly, 1966, forensic auditors 

have submitted their cryptic report: 

“The Nation Was Left With Severe 

Head Injuries” 

That is what prompted Bill 

Gates, the second richest man in 

the world who was at the Special 

Session of the National Economic 

Council held at the Presidential 

Villa on Thursday March 22, 2018, 

to declare as follows: 

“Nigeria is one of the most dangerous 

places in the world to give 

birth, with the fourth worst maternal 

mortality rate in the world, 

ahead of only Sierra Leone, Central 

African Republic, and Chad. One in 

three Nigerian children is chronically 

malnourished.” 

“The Nigerian government’s 

Economic Recovery and Growth 

Plan identifies “investing in our 

people” as one of three “strategic 

objectives.” But the “execution priorities” 

don’t fully reflect people’s 

needs, prioritizing physical capital 

over human capital.” 

Here you can see Nigeria’s per 

capita GDP growth from 2000 until 

today. If current education and 

health trends continue—if you 

spend the same amount in these 

areas and get the same results—per 

capita GDP flatlines, with economic 

growth just barely keeping 

up with population growth. 

In 1978, Dr. OlikoyeRansome- 

Kuti, who later became the Nigerian 

minister of health, helped 

establish primary health care as 

the global standard.Tragically, 

40 years after Dr. Ransome-Kuti 

helped other countries set a 

course for the future, the Nigerian 

primary health care system is broken. 

The evidence for this can be 

found in the epidemic of chronic 

malnutrition, or stunting.” 

We also have the following 

front page report from “The Nigerian 

Tribune” newspaper of 26th 

March, 2018: 

Headline: “How CBN moved 

over N100 billion to Jonathan’s 

residence ahead of 2015 poll” – 

Presidency Sources 

This is nothing but desperation 

– Jonathan’s aide 

“Few days after Vice-President 

Yemi Osinbajo alleged that billions 

of naira were withdrawn 

by former President Goodluck 

Jonathan-led government and 

shared a few days before the 2015 

elections, more details are emerging, 

showing how several tranches 

of funds were illegally removed. 

According to a Presidency 

source, some new but dramatic 

details of how some of the funds 

were illegally transported from the 

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to 

the private residence of the former 

President Jonathan had now 

emerged. 

In that particular case, the 

former NSA [National Security 

Adviser] personally supervised 

the physical transfer of the money 

from the CBN vaults to the private 

residence of the former president. 

“In one particular instance, 

over N70 billion was released in 

parts from the national treasury 

between January 8 and February 

25, 2015. The over $289 millionwhich 

was also referenced last 

week by the vice president is said 

to be included in this particular 

“Nigeria is one of the most 

dangerous places in the 

world to give birth, with 

the fourth worst maternal 

mortality rate in the world, 

ahead of only Sierra Leone, 

Central African Republic, 

and Chad. One in three 

Nigerian children is 

chronically malnourished.” 

series of illegal transactions,” the 

source stated. 

The Presidency source also said 

minutes of the CBN board meeting of 

August 25, 2014 indicated the board’s 

approval of another N60 billion 

requested by the former president 

and released later by the apex bank. 

A Presidency source said the 

sum, which was okayed by the CBN 

board, was not tied to any project 

or procurement and was meant and 

disbursed purely for campaign purposes, 

through the office of the then 

NSA and the State Security Services 

(SSS) leadership at the time. 

Specifically that N6o billion that 

was okayed by the CBN on August 

25, 2014was said to have been shared 

between the two security agencies 

thus: N40 billionwent to the NSA 

while N20billion was released to the 

SSS,” it added. 

While some of these newly 

emerging fund disbursements have 

been traced to the former NSA, 

there were indications that some of 

the funds were unconnected to the 

ongoing defence contract trials of 

the former NSA. 

The $289 million mentioned 

by the vice president last week at 

the seventh Presidential Quarterly 

Business Forum for private sector 

stakeholders was released on February 

25, 2015. 

“Documents, including 

cash vouchers, indicate that 

$289,202,382 was released in cash 

to the NIA by the Central Bank of 

Nigeria from the Joint Venture (JV) 

Cash Call Account No. 000-0000- 

11658-366 of the NNPC/NAPIMS 

with JP Morgan Chase Bank, New 

York, USA. 

At the exchange rate then of 

N199 to a dollar, $289 million is 

equivalent to about N60 billion. But 

had the money not been stolen, it 

would be at today’s rate over N104 

billion,” it added. 

According to the Presidency 

source, another set of illegal fund 

was withdrawn under one week 

between January 8 and 16, 2015. 

It said the sum of N1.5 billion 

was released in three tranches of 

N300 million, N400 million and 

N800 million. 

“This money was released from 

the MEA Research Library Account 

to the Join-trust Dimension,” an official 

source with knowledge of the 

transaction disclosed. 

The source further said the sum 

was transferred to their various political 

associates, which included a 

former minister. 

Further findings showed that 

N350 million was allegedly transferred 

to one of President Goodluck 

Jonathan’s ministers on February 

2, 2015 and another N250 million 

was allegedly transferred to him on 

February 19, 2015. 

A document further showed 

that yet another N10 billion was 

released to the Office of the NSA 

by the CBN on September 15, 2015. 

The money was said to have 

been released in tranches of foreign 

exchange of $47 million, $5 

million, 4 million euros and 1.6 

million euros. 

A letter from the Office of the 

NSA in November 2014 further 

showed that the money was released 

by the CBN as ‘funds for 

special services’. 

Findings also showed that this 

particular CBN release of N10 billion 

was sourced in November 2014 

from a N40 billion CBN released 

funds meant for Corporate Social 

Responsibility (CSR). 

It was this N10 billion that the 

source claimed former President 

Jonathan instructed the CBN governor 

and the then NSA to deliver 

to him personally in a private residence 

in Abuja. 

Sources said the money was illegally 

transferred using CBN van 

for the use of “PDP presidential 

primaries.” 

Responding to the allegations, 

special assistant on new media 

to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Reno 

Omokri, said “this is nothing 

but the desperate last throes of a 

government that came in through 

propaganda and is about to go out 

because of a lack of proper agenda.” 

In a statement on Sunday night, 

Omokori said the allegation was 

false, adding that the former administration 

was acknowledged 

globally for its anti-corruption 

drive. 

“President Jonathan’s administration 

has the enviable record of 

advancing Nigeria’s anti-corruption 

war and delivered results to 

the point where we made our best 

ever improvement in Transparency 

International’s CPI in 2014, when 

we moved eight places forward 

from 144 to 136,” he said. 

He said there was nobody involved 

in ensuring the emergence 

of President Muhammadu Buhari 

who had not secretly or openly regretted 

it, adding that “even his 

own wife, Aisha, is full of regrets 

and has not hidden it.” 

Send reactions to: 

comment@businessdayonline.com 

BISI ADEYEMI 

Bisi Adeyemi is the Managing Director of 

DCSL Corporate Services Limited. For 

comments and reactions, kindly contact 

badeyemi@dcsl.com.ng. 

Executives inevitably see 

themselves as responsible 

for the success of 

their organizations - and 

perhaps blame the microeconomic 

environment and other 

factors when they fail. This sense 

of accomplishment oftentimes 

comes with a surreal feeling 

of invincibility and executives 

sometimes have a sense that with 

all the responsibility on their 

shoulders, Non-Executive Directors 

should not question their 

proposals as that would only distract 

them.Thus, they sometimes 

tend to take excessive risks which 

could put shareholders value at 

risk. Where these pay off, they 

feel justified to “extract” excessive 

Preventing ethical misconduct 

compensation. 

However, there is a thin line 

between excessive risk taking 

and unethical conduct. In 

the continuous effort to align 

shareholder value with those of 

Managers, the Board seeks ways 

of linking executive compensation 

to corporate performance. 

Performance bonuses based on 

profit and other metrics, share 

options and grants are incentives 

that seek to achieve this 

alignment. For the most part, 

these are effective. However, 

where the Board has not hired 

executives with high ethical 

values, these tend to engender 

bad behavior- performance at 

all cost. 

This is not to say that all that 

is required is seeking and hiring 

“honest, morally upright 

and good people”. Executives 

with a track record of “moral 

uprightness” have been known 

to “turn coat” or “succumb to 

temptation”. In the same vein, 

formulating a detailed written 

statement of ethics or specific 

documented policies do not 

necessarily prevent ethical misconduct. 

The 65-page Enron 

Corporate Code of Ethics was intended 

to help guide employees in 

“conducting the business affairs… 

in accordance with all applicable 

laws and in a moral and honest 

manner.” Things didn’t quite pan 

out as envisaged. 

What then should the Board do? 

Typically, the start point is for the 

Board to define the culture of the 

organization. This is a major responsibility 

of the Board which it cannot 

delegate to Management. Clearly, 

drilling down across the organization 

will be the responsibility of Management 

and monitored periodically by 

the Board. What values do we want 

to espouse? What kind pf people do 

we want to be? How do we want to 

do business? Once the Board has 

clarity on this, it needs to have this 

documented in the form of a Code of 

Ethics, which provides guidance on 

compliance expectations. As much 

as possible, the Code should provide 

examplesto guide employees and 

clarify expectations. A Whistle Blowing 

Policy and appropriatemechanism 

for implementation should also 

be put in place. 

The Board then needs to set the 

appropriate “tone at the top” by 

demonstrating a commitment to 

the ethical values it has defined. 

Designating a corporate ethics 

officer of sufficient seniority, reporting 

to the Board (this is critical) 

and an ethics management 

team to manage Corporate Ethical 

Culture is an indication of the 

Board’s commitment and sends a 

message that the Code of Ethics 

and related policies are not perfunctory. 

In addition,hiring and 

firing decisions must incorporate 

the organization’s values. The 

performance appraisal process 

must tie reward systems to indicators 

of integrity as well as to other 

measurements of productivity. 

Furthermore, it is important to 

consistently reward integrity and 

to make sure that these instances 

are publicized throughout the 

organization. It is also important 

that a transparent disciplinary 

process is in place to deal with 

violations.There should be no 

“sacred cows” and decisive action 

should be taken where violation 

is established – at whatever level. 

The Board should ensure that 

there is on-goingethicaltraining, 

not just for employees, but for 

third parties the organization 

deals with – vendors, suppliers, 

consultants, regulators, etc. As 

much as possible, practical sessions 

should beincorporated into 

the training programs to ensure 

clarity. 

Having set out the ground 

rules, the appropriate tone, there 

should be asystem in place to 

monitoremployee conduct to 

ensure there is alignment with 

expectations. A periodic review 

of the various decision-making 

systems and critical points where 

the organization may be vulnerable 

should be undertaken. The 

Board should ensure that the 

Whistle Blowing Mechanism 

continues to be effective and that 

whistle blowers are adequately 

protected. It is good practice to 

outsource the whistle blowing 

mechanism to ensure confidentiality 

and encourage employees 

to use it. To ensure that it is not 

perceived as a “feel good” or 

“nice to have”, it is imperative that 

decisive action is taken against 

ethical misconduct – no matter 

who the culprit is. 


comment@businessdayonline.com


COMMENT 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

11 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline.com 

Buhari’s insincerity on corruption portends future failure 

OLADIRAN OLA BELLO 

Dr. Bello, holds MPhil and PhD 

degrees from Cambridge University 

and is the Executive Director of Good 

Governance Africa (GGA). 

Analysts are likely to 

look back in a decade 

from now and 

adjudge President 

Buhari’s floundering 

anti-graft efforts as a case-study in 

how not to fight corruption. This is 

given all the challenges – many endemic, 

some recently self-inflicted 

– that Nigeria continues to grapple 

with. Issues that have hampered 

the ongoing attempts to tackle 

theft and wilful mismanagement 

of the country’s resources are legion. 

They range from operational 

lapses including institutional 

gaps, wrong tooling, a proclivity 

for media spectacle instead of 

serious investigative work, and a 

counter-productive tendency to 

disregard due process. This is not 

mentioning the political failings 

evident in the government’s lack 

of political will, balance, sincerity, 

and the naked politicisation that 

has created sacred cows to the detriment 

of Buhari’s very credibility. 

Whilst the above needlessly 

hobble government efforts to rein 

in corruption, the absence of an 

informed and engaged citizenry 

has also not helped. We must be 

more willing to transcend the ethnic 

and the other distractions better 

to maintain effective vigilance 

over our public functionaries. The 

immediate spur for this article is 

the N1.4tn, which according to 

the junior oil minister, is now being 

spent annually on oil subsidy 

outside the regular budget. Essentially, 

the difference between the 

N171 cost of importing petrol per 

litre and the regulated N145 pump 

price is being funded from the accounts 

of the Nigerian National 

Petroleum Company (NNPC) as 

“under recovery”. 

We have simply moved from 

a not very transparent subsidy 

system under the previous administration 

to an extremely opaque 

one in the current dispensation. 

The NNPC spends what is effectively 

billions of dollars on petrol 

subsidy, without any detailed 

account being rendered publicly 

or the underlying mechanisms 

transparently explained. Little 

wonder that the NNPC has quietly 

stepped away from its widely commended 

move in 2016 towards the 

monthly publication of its detailed 

financial position. With much of 

the earmarked subsidy disappearing 

into private pockets in years 

past, Nigeria now has even less of a 

chance at ensuring accountability 

with the present arrangement. The 

extant NNPC subsidy programme 

and the obfuscation over how it 

is financed away from legislative 

oversight is the biggest economic 

corruption scandal that Nigeria 

has seen in the past three years. 

And that is leaving aside the currency 

subsidy in the form of the 

N285 concessional rate at which 

the NNPC accesses dollars from 

the central bank for fuel importation. 

Faulty foundation 

Evidence of the logical and 

procedural flaws in Nigeria’s 

battle against graft are littered 

all around us and threatening 

to drown the nation. The Buhari 

government’s lack of consistent 

attention to strengthening procedural 

accountability remains 

all-too-central to the difficulty 

dogging fiscal administration and 

reform. Changing this will be vital 

to improve our perception in the 

Transparency International ranking. 

For a government that prides 

itself on its anticorruption stance, 

the “invisible” subsidy represents 

a regrettable step backwards in 

terms of embedding transparency 

in the workings of government. 

What is most pressing is not loot 

recovery or naming and shaming 

perpetrators. It is the reshaping 

of institutions and fine-tuning 

of processes throughout government 

to make it difficult to divert 

or intentionally mismanage public 

funds in the first place. 

Just this week, a call went out 

from the administration for the 

EFCC and ICPC to investigate violations 

of the Public Procurement 

Act of 2007. Many observers doubt 

the sincerity or even the political 

neutrality of this sudden show of 

interest in regularising procurement. 

It normally should be a 

routine, institutionalised process 

overseen by empowered bodies 

such as the Auditor-General’s 

office. The latter though remains 

of marginal relevance even as 

Nigerians agitate unsuccessfully 

for the public disclosure of the 

emolument package of national 

lawmakers. Neither the demand 

side petitions using Nigeria’s 

Freedom of Information Act of 

2011 nor the supply side relying 

on the discretion of the Auditor- 

General’s office have led to this 

information being published. 

The Public Complaints Commission 

(the Ombudsman) remains 

moribund, which arguably suits 

errant functionaries. 

Meanwhile, the limitations of 

the Revenue Mobilisation and 

Fiscal Allocation Commission 

Board have been exposed with 

the March2018 revelation by 

Senator Shehu Sanni of the unappropriated 

“running expenses” 

of N13.5m paid to each Nigerian 

senator monthly and a slightly 

lesser sum given to those in the 

lower legislative house. This was 

just one in a series of revelations 

that should normally cause outrage 

among Nigerians. Citizens 

though have failed consistently 

to leverage the sort of opportunity 

for mass action for change that 

such occasions present. The bar 

for anti-corruption has been set 

so low in Nigeria that citizens 

Why didn’t the squabbling 

political actors save face by 

requesting the secondment 

of a suitably qualified anticorruption 

technocrat from 

the UK to replace Magu?... 

Nothing is more injurious to 

Nigeria’s bid to instil discipline, 

probity and accountability 

than a government 

which undermines the law 

in its ill-conceived and incompetent 

pursuit of justice 

willingly credit Buhari’s mediocre 

achievement on graft. 

The dominant incentive pattern 

determines the morality of a 

society. Alleged mismanagement 

of Nigeria’s treasury is left unpunished. 

From the outgone president, 

Goodluck Jonathan, to his 

predecessors, all remain immune. 

It is inconceivable that we could 

deter would-be offenders when 

current and past misdeeds are papered 

over. A bold anti-corruption 

leader would take risks in seeking 

exemplary prosecutions that touch 

errant public office holders from all 

of Nigeria’s geopolitical zones. 

That surely would give the lie 

to politicians who have always 

exploited our dysfunctionality 

and ethnic and religious fractiousness 

to allege that anti-corruption 

prosecutions are sectional or biased. 

Brazil’s former president 

Lula began a twelve year jail term 

this week after being convicted 

for corruption. Jacob Zuma, South 

Africa’s immediate past president, 

is being swiftly brought to justice. 

In Nigeria, meanwhile, those who 

pocketed multiples of Zuma’s corruption 

proceeds still walk free. 

Stuck in a rot 

The false foundations and procedural 

weaknesses in President 

Buhari’s anti-corruption war have 

been glaring from his first weeks 

in office. He started well by implementing 

the treasury single 

account initiative began by his 

predecessors. Buhari’s government 

then controversially introduced 

multiple windows for foreign exchange. 

This remains one of the 

biggest opportunities for unearned 

income and large-scale financial 

transfers ever seen in Nigeria. The 

damage is only being partly mitigated 

by the recently introduced 

and more transparent investors and 

exporters segment. In legislative 

terms, the idea of a special anticorruption 

court has been mooted 

but its lethargic consideration by 

our lawmakers contrasts sharply 

with their enthusiastic pursuit of 

the death sentence for kidnapping 

and hate speech crimes leading to 

the loss of victims’ lives. 

Evidence of the duplicity in 

Buhari’s anti-graft fight continues 

to mount. This includes cases such 

as that of Babachir Lawal, former 

scribe to the government, and his 

alleged diversion of N220 million 

intended for those displaced by 

Boko Haram in the northeast. 

Ambassador Ayo Oke, former 

head of the National Intelligence 

Agency, allegedly hid $43million 

of government’s fund in a Lagos 

apartment. The National Health 

Insurance Scheme’s boss, Professor 

Usman Yusuf, was reinstated 

despite being under investigation 

for fraud involving N919 million. 

Abdulrasheed Maina, who escaped 

being arrested for a N2.7 billion 

pension scam, was brazenly 

reinstated into the civil service 

with a promotion. Although directives 

have been given by President 

Buhari that all personalities 

involved in the cases should be 

investigated, the delayed action 

from the top came mostly after 

public pressure. 

For those seeking serious examples 

in prosecuting graft, the 

recent announcement of a partial 

and politicised list of so called 

treasury looters by Nigeria’s information 

minister is unlikely 

to inspire much confidence. By 

contrast, Ghana’s president set a 

good example in his surprising 

appointment of Martin Amidu, a 

respected and uncompromising 

anti-corruption crusader from 

the rank of the country’s opposition, 

to head his new anti-graft 

agency. With this appointment, 

Ghana’s president won the public 

over, sending out an unequivocal 

message about the genuineness 

of his effort. A few public figures 

once considered untouchable 

from both side of Ghana’s great 

political divide have since been 

hauled before the special courts 

for corruption. 

Ghana’s achievement here is 

not a one-off. The revelation in 

2015 by a brave investigator, Anas 

Aremeyaw Anas, who secretly 

filmed justices receiving bribes, 

led to the jailing and the premature 

termination of the career 

of several judicial functionaries. 

Nigeria, by contrast, was lethargic 

in dealing with revelation of 

justices stashing away corruptly 

obtained funds, including in a 

bathroom in one of the cases. The 

best that Nigerians got was obfuscation 

and a rare guard action 

of the sort that has effectively left 

disciplinary procedures for errant 

justices in the hand of the National 

Judicial Council. The body itself is 

perceived by many to be far from 

neutral and it can, in any case, only 

dismiss judicial officers. Its power 

does not extend to meting out 

sentences for wrong doers. What 

incentive patterns are being created 

when incidents of corruption 

involving judges cannot be prosecuted 

in normal courts presided 

over by one of their own peers but 

hushed away within disciplinary 

procedures? 

Try a new tack 

Nigeria continues to sustain 

serious economic damage owing 

to the unwillingness of those in 

government to launch a no-holdsbarred 

anti-corruption war. After 

clashing over the EFCC head, 

Ibrahim Magu, Nigeria’s presi- 

dent and lawmakers began a long 

standoff which prevented the Central 

Bank’s monetary policy committee 

from meeting for months 

as lawmakers refused to conduct 

confirmation hearings for nominees 

to a slew of public offices. 

Why didn’t the squabbling political 

actors save face by requesting 

the secondment of a suitably 

qualified anti-corruption technocrat 

from the UK to replace Magu? 

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office has 

been almost exclusively in charge 

of all the high corruption cases 

successfully pursued against Nigerian 

functionaries in the past two 

decades. British prosecutors led 

the prosecution of Nigerian politicians 

from Alameseigha to Dariye, 

through Ibori to Deizani Alison- 

Madueke. The latter’s case is still 

ongoing in London. A top level 

international hire to lead the EFCC 

will likely inspire the younger generation 

of Nigerian prosecutors to 

high professionalism. Exposure 

to a different managerial culture 

at the helm may encourage them 

to properly prioritise water-tight 

investigations before indictments 

are unsealed. 

Defects in the EFCC’s operational 

culture reflects the background 

of its headsto date. From 

Nuhu Ribadu to Farida Waziri all 

the way to Ibrahim Lamorde and 

Ibrahim Magu, each has been 

a career police officer. Leading 

the EFCC effectively requires 

skillsets beyond the core policing 

functions. Serious damages have 

been incurred as government unwisely 

side-steps the rule of law. 

Examples include the continuing 

detention of Sambo Dasuki, former 

National Security Advisor, in 

disregard of court orders. Nothing 

is more injurious to Nigeria’s bid 

to instil discipline, probity and 

accountability than a government 

which undermines the law in its 

ill-conceived and incompetent 

pursuit of justice. 

A foreign EFCC head will operate 

in the full glare of the international 

community, likely 

enhancing their immunity from 

political pressure, manipulation 

or even blackmail. This is not to 

suggest that Nigeria lacks suitably 

qualified citizens who can do the 

job or that a foreign recruit will 

approximate a saint. Rather, it is 

a call for the closing of the circle, 

to welcome direct and constructive 

inputs from better-equipped 

partners that have given Nigeria 

copious anti-corruption support 

in recent years. UK prosecutors 

are especially well-positioned 

with the unrivalled wealth of financial 

intelligence they possess 

on corrupt Nigerian individuals. If 

Buhari dared, he might have found 

in a foreign anti-corruption czar an 

invaluable ally and wise counsel 

that could boost his ostensible bid 

to save Nigeria from corruption. 

That might also strike fear into a 

few incorrigibly corrupt figures in 

high places. 


comment@businessdayonline.com

12 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Monday 16 April 2018 

Editorial 

PUBLISHER/CEO 

Frank Aigbogun 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

Prof. Onwuchekwa Jemie 

EDITOR 

Anthony Osae-Brown 

DEPUTY EDITORS 

John Osadolor, Abuja 

Bill Okonedo 

NEWS EDITOR 

Patrick Atuanya 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

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John Okpaire 

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North) 

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan 

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) 

Ignatius Chukwu 

HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES 

Adeola Obisesan 

Sexual predators as academics in Nigeria 

Last week, a voice recording 

allegedly suggesting 

that a professor 

of Management 

and Accounting at 

the Obafemi Awolowo University, 

Ile-Ife, Richard Akindele, 

was demanding sex in return 

for grade rocked the social as 

well as mainstream media. The 

academic who is also a reverend 

gentleman, was overhead in the 

tape demanding five rounds or 

five days of sex from the hapless 

lady, a final year student who 

failed his course, to upgrade her 

marks to a pass. Of course, the 

University has come out blazing, 

describing the alleged act as “totally 

and morally reprehensible.” 

It also set up a high-powered 

committee to investigate the 

allegation and submit its report 

within one week promising to 

deal decisively with anyone 

found culpable. 

The reaction is expected 

especially since the recording 

is now trending on social media 

and the image of the school is being 

smeared. But we must state 

that sexual harassment in our 

universities is more widespread 

than the authorities would admit 

and they have failed to tackle the 

problem or lay down stringent 

rules to prevent its occurrence. 

ASUU also, that has now made the 

organisation of strike actions to 

protest government underfunding 

of the universities as its main 

goal, has turned a blind eye to the 

vice of sexual harassment that is 

destroying our universities and 

turning them into a caricature of 

what a university should be. 

In 2012, a pilot ICPC/NUC 

University System Study and Review 

(USSR) of corruption in the 

university system was undertaken 

and the review identified a series of 

infractions including admissions 

racketeering, misapplication and 

embezzlement of funds, sale of 

examination questions, inducement 

to manipulate awards of 

degrees, direct cheating during 

examinations, deliberate delays 

in the release of results, victimization 

of students by officials, lack of 

commitment to work by lecturers, 

and above all, sexual harassment 

and exploitation of students by 

lecturers. At the presentation of 

the report in 2012, the ICPC Chairman, 

Mr Ekpo Nta, was quoted as 

saying: “we have uncovered many 

corrupt practices in our universities. 

Sexual harassment seems to 

rank extremely very high among 

corrupt practices in our universities. 

Our report is based on the 

quantum of petitions we have 

received on this corrupt practice. 

We’re emphasizing this because 

sexual harassment has to do with 

the immediate challenge we need 

to address.” 

In fact, the rampant cases of 

reported cases of sexual harassment 

in our tertiary institution 

forced the Senate in 2016, to propose 

a bill, known as the Sexual 

Harassment in Tertiary Education 

Institution Bill, which prescribes 

a 5 year jail term for lecturers and 

educators convicted of sexual 

harassment of either their male 

or female students and also ban 

lecturer-student relationships 

altogether. 

According to the sponsor of the 

Bill, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, 

there was virtually no family in 

Nigeria that does not have someone 

who had been harassed or 

approached by a lecturer in an 

institution of higher learning in 

Nigeria. As he puts it: “Indeed 

there is no family in Nigeria 

where you don’t find a victim of 

sexual harassment...It is either 

your wife when she was younger 

or your daughter, your sister 

or even a niece who has gone 

through the tertiary education 

system at one point or the other... 

You will find out that they have 

had this brush with these lecturers 

who continue to see these 

young women as perquisite of 

their office as lecturers. We feel 

that is unacceptable. We have to 

put a stop to it.” 

At a time when progressive 

universities are outlawing any 

form of sexual or romantic relationships 

between students 

and teachers, our universities 

are being turned to centres of 

sexual harassment, rape and 

transactional sex. Pray, how 

can any meaningful knowledge 

be learnt and transmitted in 

such an environment? It is not 

surprising therefore that our 

universities are bereft of any serious 

academic endeavours and 

our so-called academics are lost 

in the conversations within their 

disciplines and have resorted to 

conversing among themselves in 

beer parlors and eateries at university 

staff clubs. 

This is a major problem in our 

universities and not just the underfunding 

because even when the 

universities are properly funded, 

we will be faced with a bigger problem 

– total lack of academics worth 

their salt but only sexual predators 

and lay-abouts pretending to be 

academics. ASUU needs to do a 

thorough introspection! 

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www.businessdayonline.com


BUSINESS DAY 

13

14 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 


In Association With 

A little hope in Sierra Leone 

Sierra Leone’s new president has made big promises 

But he may not have the money to keep them 

JULIUS MAADA BIO wasted 

no time before being sworn 

in as president of Sierra Leone. 

Just an hour and a half after 

his narrow election victory 

was announced on April 4th, 

Mr Bio took the oath of office, 

forgoing the state house for a 

dimly lit room at the Radisson 

Blu hotel. The unusual circumstances 

were prompted by security 

concerns. During a long 

and tense campaign Mr Bio 

had accused the All People’s 

Congress (APC), the party of 

his opponent, Samura Kamara, 

of trying to assassinate him. Mr 

Kamara, for his part, said the 

vote was rigged. 

The election was Sierra Leone’s 

fourth since its civil war 

ended in 2002. Memories of 

the brutal 11-year conflict 

still linger. Tensions based on 

ethnic, political and regional 

divisions simmered throughout 

the campaign, then boiled 

over when the result was announced. 

Supporters of Mr 

Bio’s Sierra Leone People’s Party 

(SLPP) attacked followers of 

the APC, which previously held 

the presidency. Much of the 

violence has taken place in the 

SLPP’s southern strongholds. 

But more than 100 people have 

also fled Kono, a volatile swing 

state in the east. 

Mr Bio, a former general 

who participated in two coups 

in the 1990s, and who briefly 

took power himself in 1996, 

has tried to calm things down. 

“No Sierra Leonean should feel 

threatened by my ascension 

to power,” he has said, even 

promising to let APC supporters 

stay in their government 

jobs. He has called on Sierra 

Leone’s 7m people to reject 

tribalism and regionalism, 

which have poisoned the country’s 

politics. He has set a good 

example himself, reaching out 

to Mr Kamara (who still plans 

to challenge the result of the 

election). The president will 

need to work with the APC, 

which has a majority in parliament. 

Though it has huge mineral 

and diamond deposits, Sierra 

Leone faces big economic challenges. 

It is still recovering from 

an outbreak of Ebola in 2014, 

which killed 4,000 people and 

scared away investors. A slump 

in global commodity prices in 

2015 deepened its woes. And 

the APC did not help matters. 

During its decade-long hold 

on power, the party looted the 

country’s coffers. A government 

audit recently revealed 

that much of the money earmarked 

for fighting Ebola during 

the crisis is unaccounted 

for. 

To the delight of voters, Mr 

Bio pledged to tackle corruption 

by launching a commission 

to investigate past crimes 

and creating a special division 

in the country’s high court to 

focus on cases of graft. All 

government revenues will 

flow into a single pot, he says, 

making the country’s finances 

easier to audit. 

Education is another problem. 

Three out of five adults 

in Sierra Leone are unable to 

read or write. Though primary 

schools are free in theory, 

parents often cannot afford 

the books and uniforms. Mr 

Bio vows to provide all that, 

and free secondary education, 

with money saved by 

“reducing leakages”. That 

may be unrealistic, given the 

state of government finances. 

His transition team is taking 

stock of the situation. Rumours 

abound that the kitty 

is empty. 

So Mr Bio must convince 

foreign donors, such as the 

IMF, to trust him with their aid, 

much of which has been suspended 

or restricted because 

of the previous government’s 

failure to implement economic 

reforms. Funds from a $224m 

loan package negotiated last 

summer with the IMF were 

withheld over the APC’s failure 

to achieve stricter enforcement 

of import taxes and collection 

of market-rate royalties on 

mineral exports. Mr Bio has 

already made progress in both 

of these areas. 

Most Sierra Leoneans are 

hopeful that Mr Bio will make 

good on his campaign slogan, 

“Salone foh betteh” (Sierra 

Leone must improve), which 

continues to be heard on the 

streets of Freetown, the capital. 

If he can curb corruption a bit, 

then Sierra Leone may indeed 

get better. 

Mr Zuckerberg goes to Washington 

If Facebook will 

not fix itself, will 

Congress? 

The light grilling the company’s boss 

received on Capitol Hill suggests not 

“ 

THEY ‘trust me’…dumb fucks,” 

Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of 

Facebook, wrote in an instant 

message to a friend in 2004, after 

boasting that he had personal data, 

including photos, e-mails and addresses, 

of some 4,000 of his social 

network’s users. He offered to share 

whatever information his friend 

wanted to see. Mr Zuckerberg may 

use less profane language today, but 

many feel he has not yet outgrown 

his wilful disregard for users’ privacy. 

On April 11th he testified before testy 

politicians in Washington about the 

firm’s latest privacy controversy, 

first to a joint hearing of two Senate 

committees that lasted around four 

hours, and then again on April 12th 

to a House of Representatives committee. 

Not since the 1990s, when 

Microsoft was taken to task for its 

monopolistic behaviour, has there 

been such “intense public scrutiny” 

of a technology firm in Washington, 

as Orrin Hatch, a Republican senator, 

informed Mr Zuckerberg. 

Some of his inquisitors appeared 

annoyed by Mr Zuckerberg’s rehearsed 

responses, but that did not 

stop many onlookers from being 

chuffed by his smooth, slightly robotic, 

performance. Facebook’s share 

price closed 5.7% higher after his two 

days on Capitol Hill. Investors may be 

betting that the worst of “Facegate” 

could be over, but it is too soon to 

count on it. 

The immediate scandal is the 

most acute and far-reaching crisis 

in Facebook’s 14-year history. Last 

month it was revealed by Britain’s 

Observer and the New York Times 

that a researcher from Cambridge 

University, Aleksandr Kogan, had 

obtained information about some 

300,000 Facebook users by encour- 

Continues on page 15


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

15 


Brittle Britain 

British productivity is rising at last 

On its current path, the country will remain a growth laggard 

LOW productivity growth 

has plagued Britain’s 

economy since the financial 

crisis. From 2010 to 2016 output 

per hour grew, on average, 

by just 0.2% a year, down from 

2.5% between 1950 and 2007. In 

the G7 group of rich countries, 

only Italy has done worse. Productivity 

drives a country’s living 

standards in the long term. It is 

a relief, then, that the stagnation 

may at last be coming to an 

end. In the second half of 2017 

productivity grew at an annual 

rate of 3.4%, the fastest growth 

since 2005. 

Accelerating productivity is 

the latest, and most important, 

piece of good news on Britain’s 

economy. Capital spending is 

improving. As a share of GDP, 

total investment is a percentage 

point above its average since the 

crisis. Foreign firms are readily 

investing. A tenth of global mergers 

and acquisitions announced 

so far in 2018 have involved a 

British target. Wage growth is 

picking up in nominal terms 

and, with inflation falling, real 

wages may soon start to grow 

again. 

The strength of Britain’s labour 

market stands out. America 

may have a lower official unemployment 

rate, but nearly a fifth 

of people there aged between 

25 and 54 are not even looking 

for work, meaning they are not 

counted in the figures. Not so 

in Britain, where the employment 

rate for this age group is 

84%, among the highest of large 

economies. 

Inevitably in a country still 

riven by the referendum decision 

to leave the European Union, 

Britain’s economic performance 

is analysed through the prism of 

Brexit. Those in favour of leaving 

the EU gleefully recall predictions, 

made by the Treasury and 

others, of a collapse in confidence 

after the referendum, and then a 

recession. Not only have those 

forecasts proved wrong but, some 

Brexiteers say, Brexit may actually 

be helping the economy. On 

their view, productivity is rising 

because falling net migration 

from Europe has led to a tighter 

labour market, spurring firms to 

find ways to do more with less. 

Too soon to celebrate 

Not so fast. The reasons for 

the rise in productivity are not 

yet clear (see article). But there 

are two ways in which the recent 

economic news must be put into 

perspective. 

The first is that the aftermath 

of the referendum has coincided 

with a broad, sustained rise 

in global growth. Against that 

backdrop, it is not surprising 

that Britain’s economy has performed 

better than anticipated. 

It has nonetheless slowed. The 

economy grew by only 1.4% in 

the year to the end of 2017, down 

from 2% a year earlier. And it has 

slipped sharply relative to others. 

Not long ago Britain had the fastest 

growth in the G7 group of rich 

countries. Now it has the slowest. 

Comparing Britain’s growth with 

that of the world economy, one 

estimate puts the running cost of 

Brexit at 1.3% of GDP, or £300m 

($426m) a week. Had the global 

economic cycle not turned in 

2017, some of the more bloodcurdling 

forecasts made before 

the referendum might not have 

looked quite so silly. 

Second, the biggest downside 

to Brexit was never going to be 

immediate economic pain. If 

Britain leaves the single market 

and customs union in an 

orderly manner, the short-term 

shock should be manageable. But 

there is still the swingeing cost to 

longer-term growth from higher 

trade barriers. Firms selling to 

the continent will gradually cut 

Britain out of their supply chains. 

Britain’s workers and capital will 

have to be redirected to produce 

things that previously were imported 

more cheaply. Britain’s 

exports to Europe will cost more. 

With free movement curtailed, it 

will be harder for knowledge to 

flow across borders. The economy 

will be less efficient. 

Brexiteers retort that economists 

have been proved wrong 

once and will be proved wrong 

again. Yet the profession is much 

better at predicting trade flows 

than it is at guessing how investors 

will respond to events. Few 

economic models have had as 

much success in explaining the 

real world as the one saying that 

as distance between trading 

partners doubles, trade flows 

fall by roughly half. There is no 

replacement for frictionless trade 

with a single market of 450m 

people on Britain’s doorstep, 

whatever the government’s hopes 

for trade deals with countries, like 

America, that are oceans away. 

Reliable trade models predict 

long-term losses from Brexit of 

up to 10% of GDP, depending on 

how it is conducted. According to 

analysis by civil servants, even if 

Britain retained tariff-free access 

to the single market and maintained 

free movement of people, 

as Norway does, the eventual hit 

to GDP per person could be as 

high as 2.6%—enough to undo its 

growth during 2017 almost three 

times over. 

In theory, investment could 

boost productivity enough to 

outweigh the effect of lost trade. 

Policymakers are, slowly, getting 

some things right. Government 

investment, as a share of GDP, 

may soon reach its highest sustained 

level for 40 years. Philip 

Hammond, the chancellor of 

the exchequer, is saying some 

sensible things about solving 

Britain’s housing shortage. 

Yet the government is walking 

down a train that is speeding 

in the opposite direction. The 

effects of merely tinkering with 

policy will be of a different order 

of magnitude to those of upending 

Britain’s trading relationships 

with its neighbours. For productivity, 

as for so much else, how 

Brexit is conducted is the thing 

that matters most. 

If Facebook will not fix 

itself, will Congress? 


aging them to download an app and 

take a survey in 2012. He then shared 

these data with Cambridge Analytica, 

a political consultancy, which reportedly 

made them available to others, 

including Donald Trump’s campaign. 

Some 87m Facebook users are affected, 

because Facebook’s policies 

at the time were so loose that people 

using a third-party’s app often shared 

details not only about themselves but 

also about their friends without their 

knowledge. Facebook changed its 

policies in 2014. 

These revelations are especially 

damning because Facebook first 

learned about this problem in 2015 

and did little to address it. In fact, 

instead of focusing on Cambridge 

Analytica’s bad behaviour, Facebook 

threatened to sue the Guardian Media 

Group, which owns the Observer, 

if it published the exposé. Only after 

a media backlash and public outcry 

did Facebook begin to take action. It 

has started making it easier for users 

to control their privacy settings, 

reduced the amount of data that are 

shared with third parties, and promised 

to audit suspicious third-party 

apps. But these are things that many 

of its users wrongly believed Facebook 

had long been doing anyway. 

Politicians and users want to 

know more about how Facebook will 

adequately safeguard people’s privacy 

and offer enough transparency 

about how it operates. While encouraging 

its users to overshare minutiae 

from their own lives, the firm has 

been guarded in the past about sharing 

details of how its extensive datacollection 

machine works and what it 

tracks beyond the data users provide 

directly. The company’s business 

depends on observing users’ online 

behaviour and selling their attention 

to advertisers, who pay money to 

reach specific groups of users based 

on minute details gleaned about their 

identities, their interests and where 

they are. This requires a delicate balancing 

act between catering to users, 

whose attention Facebook must keep, 

and advertisers, who pay the bills. 

To date the firm has mostly favoured 

growth over careful checks that its 

“community”, as it calls its 2.1bn users, 

is being properly protected.

16 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 



“ 

Escaping the maize 

African governments are having doubts about their staple crop 

Relying on maize for half one’s calories is risky—and makes for a boring diet 

IT’S what our forefathers 

used to eat,” says Kennedy 

Kapami, a Zambian 

phone salesman, rolling a 

ball of stiff maize porridge 

in his fingers. Maize is the staple 

food in eastern and southern 

Africa, where in some countries 

it provides over half of calories 

consumed. But Mr Kapami is 

wrong about his forefathers, or 

at least, his distant ones. Until 

the 20th century they mostly 

ate sorghum and millet. Maize 

came to Africa with the colonists. 

Governments now fret about its 

dominance. 

Portuguese slavers were the 

first to bring it to Africa. Sometimes 

the crop took roundabout 

routes. Swahili-speakers know it 

as mahindi (of India). Bambaraspeakers 

in Mali call it kaba, after 

the sacred site in Mecca, from 

where pilgrims returned with 

exotic foods. 

In southern Africa maize was 

grown on large estates by white 

settlers. After independence, 

governments doled out maize 

seed and fertiliser, even where 

soils were unsuitable. Towering 

maize stalks filled fields 

like Roman legions; in Zambia, 

the entrance to the farmers’ 

union is held up by two columns 

sculpted into cobs. 

But using land to grow a 

single crop increases the risk 

from pests and weather. And a 

diverse diet is more nutritious. 

In February Edgar Lungu, the 

president of Zambia, asked 

“whether maize should be the 

ultimate crop for survival as a 

people”. Cultivating several different 

crops reduces stunting 

in children, says Rhoda Mofya- 

Mukuka of the Indaba Agricultural 

Policy Research Institute, 

a Zambian think-tank, although 

growing too many makes small 

farms inefficient. 

Zambia now gives farmers an 

electronic voucher to buy whatever 

farm inputs they choose. 

Meanwhile, in the gleaming labs 

of the Zambia Agricultural Research 

Institute, a government 

agency, researchers nurture 

shoots of disease-resistant cassava 

in test tubes. They have cultivated 

bitter-tasting sorghum, 

which birds don’t like but brewers 

do. And they have improved 

maize itself, developing orange 

varieties rich in vitamin A. 

The biggest push to diversify 

comes from climate change. In 

2010 researchers from Columbia 

and Stanford universities 

estimated that, by mid-century, 

global warming could reduce 

maize production in Africa by a 

fifth. Cassava copes better with 

drought and is shaking off its 

status as “a poor man’s crop”. But 

many Africans love maize, and 

tastes change slowly. Mr Kapami 

has never tried sorghum or millet. 

As they say in neighbouring 

Malawi, “Maize is life.” 

Shake it off 

The outlook for US government debt 

The bond-market doomsters are overstating their case 

THE bond market used to be 

the prime exhibit for those 

predicting low long-term 

economic growth. In the summer 

of 2016 the ten-year Treasury 

yield briefly dipped below 1.5%, as 

expectations for growth and inflation 

sagged. Things have changed. 

Earlier this year the ten-year yield 

briefly went higher than 2.9%. Even 

after recent share-price gyrations, it 

remains around 2.8%, well up since 

the start of 2018. The rebounding 

interest rate partly reflects higher 

confidence in global growth. Inevitably, 

a new set of pessimists 

now voice a fresh worry: that bond 

yields might go on rising for less 

welcome reasons. 

They point to three threats. The 

first is monetary policy. The Federal 

Reserve has raised short-term 

interest rates by 1.5 percentage 

points since December 2015. At 

their March meeting, rate-setters 

slightly upgraded forecasts of how 

far rates should eventually rise. Last 

October the Fed began shrinking its 

$4.5trn portfolio of assets, mostly 

government debt, amassed since 

the start of the financial crisis. 

Quantitative easing (QE) supposedly 

worked by depressing longterm 

interest rates. Unwinding it 

could push them back up. 

American policymakers are not 

the only ones tightening. Britain 

raised interest rates in November, 

and many investors expect the 

European Central Bank to end its 

QE programme this year. Economists 

increasingly think the “term 

premium”—the reward investors 

demand for locking their money 

away—is determined globally. 

The expectation of tighter money 

abroad could push American rates 

up, too. 

The second threat is fiscal policy. 

President Donald Trump’s tax 

cuts, which are expected to cost 

around $1trn over a decade, have 

deepened the hole in America’s 

public finances. A budget deal 

in March raises annual spending 

by at least $143bn (0.7% of GDP). 

Pension and health-care costs are 

rising. On April 9th official budgetwatchers 

projected deficits greater 

than 4% of GDP every year for the 

next decade. Primary dealers— 

middlemen between governments 

and investors in the public-debt 

market—expect almost $1trn of 

net issuance of new debt in the 12 

months to September 2018. 

The third threat comes from 

abroad. China and America have 

engaged in several rounds of setting 

or threatening tit-for-tat tariffs 

on each other’s exports. If a trade 

war erupts, one way China could 

retaliate might be to reduce its 

holdings of Treasuries, currently 

about $1.2trn. 

So there is much to worry the 

bond bears. But all three threats are 

somewhat overblown. Start with 

China. If it dumped dollar assets, 

it would push down the greenback, 

boosting American exports. That 

would be a strange move in a trade 

war. It has been reported that China 

could do the opposite—boost its 

exports by devaluing the yuan— 

though this too is improbable. A 

big devaluation would damage 

China’s authority around the world, 

and might trigger another round 

of capital outflows. The Chinese 

government has fought hard to stop 

these over the past two years. 

The Fed, meanwhile, signalled 

its plans to shrink its balance-sheet 

well in advance, so the effects of reversing 

QE should mostly be priced 

in. And the loose consensus among 

economists is that asset purchases 

brought down the ten-year yield by 

only about a percentage point. Not 

all think the effect on the way out 

will be as large. 

As for fiscal laxity, net new borrowing 

of nearly $1trn is relatively 

small compared with the gross 

amount of debt America regularly 

rolls over. (In the year to February, 

the Treasury issued securities 

worth over $9trn.) That interest 

rates remain low despite plentiful 

public borrowing indicates that 

safe assets are still in demand. 

Thank structural shifts in the world 

economy, such as rising life expectancy 

that causes more saving for 

retirement.


BUSINESS DAY 

17


18 BUSINESS DAY


COMPANIES 

& MARKETS 

Company news analysis and insight 

BUSINESS DAY 19 

Abbey Mortgage Bank 

recurring loss up N212.3 

million in FY 2017 

Pg. 20 

Wema bank records single digit 

profit growth in 2017 

Dipo Oladehinde 

Why the early 

season results 

shows 

tier one sized 

banks are hitting 

double digits growth, tier 

two banks are hitting single 

digits as Wema Bank hits a 

single digit profit of N2.26 billion 

in full year 2017. 

BusinessDay investigation 

showed Wema Bank recorded 

a drop in its profit before tax by 

7.38 percent to N3.01 billion 

in the period under review 

of 2017 from N3.25 billion in 

2016. Also, the profit after tax 

went down by 11.72 percent 

to N2.26 billion in 2017 from 

N2.56 billion in 2016. 

“Despite the slow start to 

the year, 2017 recorded significant 

progress, highlighted by 

the introduction of the Investor 

& Exporters (I&E) window 

and recovery in oil prices,” 

Segun Oloketuyi, Managing 

Director and CEO of Wema 

Bank said. 

“Our target market is the 

upwardly mobile youth segment, 

the young entrepreneurs, 

the young professionals 

and the financially excluded, 

where we continue to leverage 

incremental innovation 

and integral capabilities,” the 

Wema Bank MD said. 

Analysts are concern if 

other midsized banks will 

continue in the single digit 

profit like Wema as another 

midsized bank First City Monument 

Bank (FCMB) recorded 

a single digit profit of N9.4 billion 

in its full financial year of 

2017 compare to N14.3 billion 

in 2016. 

During the year under 

review, Wema Bank’s loan 

to deposit ratio was 84.82 

percent from 70.86 percent as 

at December 2016, while the 

Non-Performing Loans (NPL) 

Ratio closed at 3.52 percent in 

2017 against 5.07 percent as at 

December 2016. 

Also, the NPL Coverage 

Ratio was 136.98 percent as at 

December 31, 2017 compared 

with 100 percent as at December 

2016, while the Capital 

Adequacy Ratio (CAR) stood 

at 14.32 percent in the period 

under review. 

Total assets depreciated 

by 8.46 percent to N388.15 

billion in 2017 from N424.04 

billion in 2016 while customers’ 

deposits declined by 10.18 

percent to N254.46 billion 

in 2017 from N283.30 billion 


The bank’s earnings 

from non-interest income 

remained strong, growing by 

24.44 percent from N9.80 billion 

in 2016 to N12.19 billion 

in 2017; surpassing its 2017 

guidance of 19 percent growth 

rate. Also, shareholders’ funds 

increased in 2017 by 2.31 percent 

to N49.62 billion in 2017 

from N48.50 billion in 2016. 

Interest income of the 

bank grew by 19.10 percent 

to N53.07 billion as against 

N44.56 billion reported in 

2016. Net Interest Income 

also increased from N18.65 

billion in 2016 to N19.77 billion 

in 2017. Trading income 

for the reporting period grew 

by over 100 percent to N4.98 

billion as against N2.12 billion 


The innovative bank, which 

launched ALAT, Africa’s first 

fully digital bank, confirmed 

the growth of its gross earnings 

by 20.07 percent from N54.36 

billion in FY2016 to N65.27 

billion in FY2017. 

The growth was supported 

by the launch of ALAT, 

enhancing Wema Bank’s 

already existing alternate 

platforms which recorded 

a combined growth rate of 

205.67 percent in transactions 

executed and with an 

estimated 30,000 accounts 

opened monthly. 

“We approached the money 

market in November 2017 to 

raise N25 billion in two series 

under a commercial paper 

program; series 1 N10 billion 

– 182-day tenor and series 2: 

N15 billion- 270-day tenor. 

Given the relative decline in 

interest rates and possible 

growth within the economy, 

the bank will be re-opening 

the 2nd series of its N50 billion 

debt issuance program. This 

should commence from the 

second quarter of the year,” 

Oloketuyi added. 

In recent times, there 

have been concerns raised 

about the status of midsized 

banks operating in Nigeria 

as foreign financial agencies 

and state owned Central 

Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are 

worried about the survival 

of small and mid-size banks 

in the country, they express 

concern about its over exposure 

to the oil industry, 

which is still recovering from 

the 2014 price crash and the 

recent recession. 

In its recent Credit Outlook, 

Moody’s said Nigeria’s midsize 

banks face greater risk of 

losing business to financial 

technology (fintech) companies 

because they tend to 

provide retail banking and 

payment services to individuals 

and small and midsize 

enterprises. 

According to Moody’s, 

these financial institutions’ 

lower capital over the years 

constrain their ability to grow 

their business in key sectors of 

the nation’s economy. 

The report by Moody’s 

pointed out that mid-size 

banks in Nigeria were limiting 

their loss-absorption capacity 

against unexpected losses, 

and that this would restrain 

their asset growth and revenue 

generation. 

“These financial institutions’ 

lower capital over the 

years constrains their ability 

to grow their business in 

key sectors of the nation’s 

economy,” Moody noted. 

Fitch Ratings in February 

this year disclosed a number 

of Nigeria’s tier-2 banks (banks 

with total assets less than N2 

trillion) will fall below the capital 

adequacy ratio of the CBN 

should the Naira depreciate to 

N450 per dollar. 

Also, International Monetary 

Fund (IMF) last month 

released its Nigeria country 

report, noting that tier-I 

banks’ capital adequacy ratio 

had declined to 10.8 per cent 

in September 2017 from 16.3 

per cent in December 2016 

and 17.1 per cent in 2013, and 

was now at its lowest level in 

the past five years. 

IMF has advised the CBN 

to carry an asset quality review 

of Nigerian banks to determine 

their potential capital 

need. 

Recall, the Washington 

DC-based agency had last 

year advised the Nigerian 

regulator to recapitalise the 

banking industry against the 

backdrop of the capital deterioration 

the industry had 

experienced as a result of the 

2015 fall in global oil prices and 

the recession. 

Also last Tuesday, the 

CBN released its bank stress 

test results, which showed 

the banking system’s capital 

vulnerability is driven by 

midsize banks’ weaker capital 

conditions. 

The CBN said the decline 

in the CARs was attributable 

to the challenges in the oil and 

gas sector coupled with the 

slow recovery in the domestic 

economy, which resulted to a 

rise in NPLs and capital deterioration. 

The Nigerian banking industry 

has about 30 per cent 

of loan portfolio in the oil and 

gas sector. 

NNPC to support local investors on advancement of technology 

HARRISON EDEH, Abuja 

The Group Managing 

Director of the Nigerian 

National Petroleum 

Corporation 

(NNPC), Maikanti Baru, has 

said that the corporation was 

committed to supporting local 

investors towards growing the 

engineering profession, even 

as he noted that this would 

in turn ensure technological 

advancement of the nation’s 

oil and gas industry. 

Baru disclosed this while 

speaking at the induction ceremony 

of the Group Managing 

Director of ARCO Group, Alfred 

Irabor Okoigun, with the Honourary 

Fellowship of the Nigerian 

Academy of Engineering 

(NAE), in Lagos, recently. 

“NNPC will continue to 

support ARCO Group and 

many other indigenous companies 

alike so that your story 

and the story of others will 

continue to be savoured by 

generations yet unborn,” Baru 

said in a statement. 

Okoigun established ARCO 

Petrochemical Engineering 

Company Ltd in 1980 after 

a two-year stint as a Material 

Management Officer with 

NNPC’s Warri Refinery and 

Petrochemical Company 

(WRPC). 

The company has since 

grown over the last three decades 

to become a conglomerate 

that not only deals in 

engineering and maintenance, 

but has also diversified into 

marine logistics, maritime 

security, pipelines & facilities 

inspection, property development 

and consumer power 

generation. 

Congratulating Alfred on 

his fellowship by the nation’s 

foremost engineering academy, 

Baru said he was a leading 

example in the development 

and promotion of engineering 

education in the country. 

“This fellowship is a testament 

of your distinguished 

leadership and contribution 

to the Engineering profession 

as well as your outstanding 

achievements and contributions 

towards the well-being 

of the society at large,” Baru 

added. He also commended 

the NAE for promoting policies 

that ensure the advancement of 

Science, Engineering, Technology 

and Innovation for a better 

economy and society. 

He said in the academy’s 

twenty-one years of existence, 

it has proven to be the national 

“Think Tank” for Engineering 

and Technology, adding that 

“we in the NNPC are proud to 

be associated with you.” 

Speaking earlier, the President 

of the Academy, J. O. 

Maduka described the fellowship 

conferred on Okoigun as 

well-deserved following his 

contributions to the development 

of Engineering education 

in Nigeria. 

She charged him to be a 

good ambassador of the Academy 

by striving to do more for 

the Engineering profession as 

several young engineers are 

looking up to him for his remarkable 

achievements. 

In his lecture at the occasion, 

former Vice Chancellor 

of University of Lagos, Oyewusi 

Ibidapo-Obe called on innovators 

in the Engineering profession 

to look towards providing 

solutions that would make the 

world a better place for all.

20 

BUSINESS DAY 

COMPANIES & MARKETS 

Abbey Mortgage Bank recurring loss 

up N212.3 million in FY 2017 

C002D5556 


Endurance Okafor 

Abbey Mortgage Bank 

Plc, one of the listed 

firm in the Nigeria 

Stock Exchange 

(NSE) recorded loss 

for the Full Year ended December 

31, 2017. This is the second 

consecutive year the Mortgage 

Bank recorded a loss after it 

reported profit in 2015. 

It reported loss after tax expense 

of N212.3 million for the 

year 2017. This was 44.4 million 

or 26 percent increase of loss 

when compared to the reported 

loss of N167.9 million recorded 

in the fiscal year 2016, as compiled 

from company’s financial 

statement. 

The Mortgage Bank’s recurring 

losses can be traced 

to its low operating income 

compared to a high operating 

expense. 

The Mortgage bank’s operating 

income for the year 2017 was 

up N919.2 million, an increase 

of about N44.7 million when 

compared toN874.5 million 

recorded in 2016, however, its 

operating expense was N929.1 

million in the year under review, 

compared to a lower operating 

expense in the previous year at 

N907.1 million. 

Analysis by BusinessDay 

shows that the Mortgage bank’s 

low revenue could be as a result 

of low patronage from Nigerians, 

meaning not many people go 

to take mortgage loans from 

the bank. This is evident in the 

interest income. 

A breakdown of the financial 

report revealed a record of 

N1.2 billion as interest income 

in 2017 compared to its N960.8 

million recorded in the financial 

year 2016. Its interest expense 

for the year under review was 

N490.7 million compared to 

N344.4 million recorded in the 

previous year 

This brought the net interest 

income to N764.9 million in 

2017 as against N616.4 million 

net interest incomes reported 

in comparable period of 2016. 

Experts in the mortgage 

industry also linked the bank’s 

performance to lack of general 

liquidity, short term deposits 

for long term funds, and accumulated 

non-performing loans 

which are running into billions 

in the sector. 

Abbey Mortgage Bank however, 

recorded N 177.9 million 

losses before taxation in contrast 

to N134.4 million recorded 

in the previous year. 

Meanwhile, the bank acquired 

total assets worth N12.2 

billion. This is slightly below the 

N12.4billion assets it acquired 

in the previous year. 

Its total liabilities for the 

year remained almost the same 

as that of 2016 at N6.0 billion. 

Experts in the sector stressed 

that the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance 

Company (NMRC) 

seems to have failed in its mandate 

to raise long-term funds 

from the domestic and foreign 

capital market, as it public 

purpose is in developing the 

primary and secondary mortgage 

markets. 

Although, the fact that the 

real estate sector was still in 

recession could not be ignored 

when BusinessDay spoke to 

analysts about the performance 

of the Mortgage Banks in the 

country. 

Growth in the Mortgage 

industry is seen to be at a slow 

pace. Aside the difficulty of low 

liquidity in the sector, the problem 

of Nigerians not earning 

enough income to qualify them 

to take up a mortgage is another 

setback witnessed in the sector. 

Analyst advised the inclusion 

of the informal sector into 

the mortgage industry in order 

for them to breakthrough, as the 

larger market are in the informal 

sector. 

Abbey Mortgage Bank is one 

of the seven national Primary 

Mortgage Banks (PMB) licensed 

by the Central Bank of Nigeria 

and Federal Mortgage Bank of 

Nigeria (FMBN). The recent 

recapitalization exercise saw the 

down size from 105 mortgage 

banks to only 34 now surviving. 

Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc 

focuses on providing economical 

housing units for interested 

home seekers, developers and 

cooperatives who desire a wellstructured 

mortgage offer. 

MTNF, Kaduna partner to tackle infant, maternal mortality 

Lanatu Shelton 

The Kaduna State government 

and the MTN 

Foundation, alongside 

other relevant healthcare 

agencies, recently pledged 

to work collaboratively to tackle 

the menace of infant and maternal 

mortality in the state. 

The partnership, announced 

at the MTNF Yellow Heart 

Health Forum in Kaduna, is a 

demonstration of MTNF’s commitment 

to reduce maternal and 

child mortality by increasing 

awareness of the phenomenon 

in Nigeria and aligning with 

global efforts to meet the health 

targets of Sustainable Development 

Goals (SDGs). 

Speaking on MTNF’s decision 

to support the Kaduna 

State on this initiative, Danladi 

Mohammed, director, MTNF, 

said, “The Foundation is indeed 

excited to go into a partnership 

that brightens the lives of 

people, especially within the 

community where it operates. 

“We take out time to identify 

with the plight of members of 

the community where we carry 

out our operations and we are 

sensitive to these plights. It is 

because of this that the Foundation 

created a mandate to 

spend towards improving the 

state of healthcare, education 

and economic empowerment. 

“Kaduna State is part of the 

six states selected for the MTNF 

Yellow Heart initiative, it is a 

laudable initiative and we are 

looking forward to a healthy 

collaboration with the Government 

and the good people of 

Kaduna state. We hope to use 

the Yellow Heart initiative to address 

predominant issues such 

as attitude and cultural practice 

that hinder women and children 

from accessing healthcare 

services in the society.” 

While appreciating the 

Foundation for the yellow heart 

initiative, Paul Dogo, commissioner 

for health, Kaduna 

State, said the state was happy 

to partner the Foundation on 

the initiative. 

The commissioner, represented 

by the permanent secretary, 

Kaduna State Ministry of 

Health, Shehu Usman, said the 

initiative aligned with what the 

state government was doing to 

improve healthcare. 

“For the first time in the history 

of the state, we have a government 

that is equipping and 

renovating 255 healthcare facilities 

across the state. When the 

government came on board the 

first bill that was passed was the 

bill to have primary health care 

under one roof, that is through 

an integrated approach. Since 

then, the state government has 

created specialised hospitals to 

cater to the varying healthcare 

needs of the people. 

“These are some of the initiatives 

of the state Government 

towards improving healthcare 

in the state and we are happy 

about the yellow heart initiative 

which we promise to give our 

best support,” he said. 

Commenting on what the 

partnership means for the state, 

wife of the deputy governor, 

Ladi Barnabas, said the initiative 

would immensely help to 

improve the health and survival 

rate of women and children in 

the state, while urging women to 

take full advantage of the intervention 

and come out en-masse 

for the health awareness walk. 

The Yellow heart launch 

in Kaduna featured a workshop 

where experts encouraged 

mothers and expectant mothers 

to exclusively breastfeed 

their newborns and ensure 

adequate routine immunisation 

for them to protect them 

from preventable childhood 

diseases, distribution of delivery 

kits to pregnant women, as well 

as an awareness walk tagged 

“Walk for Life.”

Monday 09 April 2018 



Business Event 

L-R: Leke Pitan; MD, Bank of Industry , Gloria Elemo, DG/CEO, Federal Institute of Industrial 

Research, Oshodi, Dele Oyeku, director, extension & linkage, FIIRO, Lanre Shonekan, MD/CEO, 

Lashone Link Communications,. Okeowo Oderinde, director, finance & accounts, FIIRO, during 

a courtesy visit to BoI recently in Lagos. 

L-R: Olufunwa Akinmade, group head, retail and SME; Titilayo Abraham, group head, corporate 

planning and strategy; Bonaventure Okhaimo, general manager,product and channels directorate, 

and Ebenezer kolawole, executive director, finance and operations all of Unity Bank during the official 

launch of ’’Unifi’’ by the bank in Lagos. 

Pic by Pius Okeosisi 

L-R:Samuel Ikhuoriah, manager, personal lending, Page Financials; Olajumoke Olusoga, head of 

strategy and corporate transformation, Page Financials; Sorinmade Adebayo, MD/CEO, Blue Bond 

Projects and Services; Segun Akintemi, chief executive officer, Page Financials, and Samuel Zion, 

manager, Kedi Healthcare, at the official unveiling of Page Financials Branch Office and launch 

of Page Credit Card In Opebi, Lagos. 

L-R: Aniete Ichie, head, sponsorship, HR Expo Africa; Dayo Olomu, Vice chairman, Chartered 

Institute of Personnel & Development, South London; Kunbi Adeoti, divisional director, human 

resources, Leadway Assurance, and Taiwo Ajayi, member, steering committee, HR Expo Africa, 

at the opening day of the HR Expo Africa, at Landmark Event Centre in Lagos.



Live @ the Stock exchange 

Prices for Securities Traded as of Friday 13 April 2018 

Company 

Company 

Market cap(nm) Price (N) Change Trades Volume Market cap(nm) Price (N) Change Trades Volume 

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES (Equities)


BUSINESS DAY 

23



Access Bank Rateswatch 

KEY MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS 

Indicators Current Figures Comments 

GDP Growth (%) 1.92 Q4 2017 — higher by 0.52% compared to 1.40% in Q3 2017 

Broad Money Supply (M2) (N’ trillion) 24.02 Increased by 0.79% in Feb’ 2018 from N23.83 trillion in Jan 2018 

Credit to Private Sector (N’ trillion) 22.62 Increased by 2.88% in Feb’ 2018 from N21.99 trillion in Jan 2018 

Currency in Circulation (N’ trillion) 1.94 Decreased by 0.42% in Feb’ 2018 from N1.95 trillion in Jan 2018 

Inflation rate (%) (y-o-y) 13.34 Declined to 13.34% in Mar’ 2018 from 14.33% in Feb’2018 

Monetary Policy Rate (%) 14 Raised to 14% in July ’2016 from 12% 

Interest Rate (Asymmetrical Corridor) 14 (+2/-5) Lending rate changed to 16% & Deposit rate 9% 

External Reserves (US$ million) 46.75 April 9, 2018 figure — an increase of 0.52% from April start 

Oil Price (US$/Barrel) 68.14 April 13, 2018 figure - a decrease of 1.30% from the prior week 

Oil Production mbpd (OPEC) 1.81 Mar’ 2018 figure — an increase of 1.12% from Feb’2018 figure 

STOCK MARKET 

Indicators Friday Friday Change(%) 

13/04/18 6/04/18 

NSE ASI 40,928.70 40,841.14 0.21 

Market Cap(N’tr) 14.78 14.75 0.21 

Volume (bn) 0.17 0.50 (66.70) 

Value (N’bn) 2.04 5.85 (65.11) 

MONEY MARKET 

NIBOR 

Tenor Friday Rate Friday Rate Change 

(%) (%) (Basis Point) 

13/04/18 6/04/18 

OBB 2.33 3.67 (134) 

O/N 2.92 4.00 (108) 

CALL 4.94 8.94 

(400) 

30 Days 14.43 14.90 (47) 

90 Days 15.27 15.68 (41) 

FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET 

Market Friday Friday 

1 Month 

BOND MARKET 

AVERAGE YIELDS 

Tenor Friday Friday 

Change 


13/04/18 6/04/18 

3-Year 0.00 0.00 0 

5-Year 13.33 13.56 (23) 

7-Year 12.95 13.72 (77) 

10-Year 13.35 13.62 (28) 

20-Year 13.42 13.65 (23) 

Disclaimer 

This report is based on information obtained from various sources believed to be 

reliable and no representation is made that it is accurate or complete. Reasonable care 

has been taken in preparing this document. Access Bank Plc shall not take responsibility 

or liability for errors or fact or for any opinion expressed herein .This document is for 

information purposes and private circulation only and may not be reproduced, 

distributed or published by any recipient for any purpose without prior express consent 

of Access Bank Plc. 

Sources: CBN, Financial Market Dealers Association of Nigeria, NSE and 

Access Bank Economic Intelligence Group computation. 

NIGERIAN INTERBANK TREASURY BILLS TRUE YIELDS 

Tenor Friday Friday Change 


13/04/18 6/04/18 

1 Mnth 12.91 13.90 (99) 

3 Mnths 13.12 13.20 (9) 

6 Mnths 13.76 14.67 (91) 

9 Mnths 14.32 14.59 (27) 

(N/$) (N/$) Rate (N/$) 12 Mnths 14.86 14.90 (3) 

13/04/18 6/04/18 13/03/18 

Official (N) 305.55 305.60 305.75 

Inter-Bank (N) 337.27 336.48 335.37 

BDC (N) 360.00 359.81 360.00 

Parallel (N) 363.00 362.00 362.00 

COMMODITIES MARKET 

Indicators 13/04/18 1-week YTD 

Change Change 

(%) (%) 

Energy 

Crude Oil $/bbl) 68.14 (1.30) 

5.71 

Natural Gas ($/MMBtu) 2.70 0.00 (11.65) 

Agriculture 

Cocoa ($/MT) 2,555.00 4.20 31.97 

Coffee ($/lb.) 120.00 2.17 (7.83) 

Cotton ($/lb.) 83.45 1.11 7.68 

Sugar ($/lb.) 12.20 

(1.53) (20.42) 

Wheat ($/bu.) 491.50 5.02 13.38 

Metals 

Gold ($/t oz.) 1,337.39 0.37 1.51 

Silver ($/t oz.) 16.53 0.92 (3.84) 

Copper ($/lb.) 305.55 (0.02) (6.79) 

ACCESS BANK NIGERIAN GOV’T BOND INDEX 

Indicators Friday Friday Change 


13/04/18 6/04/18 

Index 2,644.27 2,623.02 0.81 

Mkt Cap Gross (N'tr) 8.88 8.81 0.79 

Mkt Cap Net (N'tr) 5.81 5.75 1.03 

YTD return (%) 7.65 6.78 0.87 

YTD return (%)(US $) -47.46 -48.35 0.89 

TREASURY BILLS (MATURITIES) 

Tenor Amount Rate (%) Date 

(N' million) 

91 Day 9,520 11.75 4-Apr-2018 



Market Analysis and Outlook: April 13 - April 20, 2018 

Global Economy 

In the Eurozone, the trade surplus with the rest of 

the world widened in February as imports saw a 

faster decline than exports. According to the 

European Union's statistics agency (Eurostat), 

exports of goods from the single currency area fell 

2.3% from January, the second straight month of 

decline. However, imports of goods fell more 

rapidly - by 3.1% - leaving the Eurozone with a 

surplus of 21.0 billion euros ($25.9 billion), up from 

20.2 billion euros in January. In a separate 

development, Japanese business sentiment 

worsened for the first time in two years in the first 

quarter. The Bank of Japan's Tankan report - a 

quarterly survey of about 10,000 companies - 

s h o w e d a r e a d i n g o f 2 4 a m o n g m a j o r 

manufacturers in its March survey against 26 in 

the December report. Confidence fell among 

chemicals, electrical machinery makers and other 

exporters, likely due to the Yen’s recent 

appreciation. In another development, India’s 

consumer inflation eased to the lowest level in five 

months in March as food and fuel prices cooled, 

government data showed. The consumer-price 

index rose 4.28% from a year earlier, slowing from 

February’s 4.44% increase. Food prices climbed 

2.81% from a year earlier, decelerating from a 

3.26% rise in February while fuel prices rose 

5.73%, slower than February’s 6.8% increase. 

Despite the decline, the current level of inflation 

remains higher than the Reserve Bank of India's 

(RBI) 4% medium-term target. Elsewhere, 

Moody's rating agency affirmed Brazil's 'Ba2' 

credit rating and raised the country's outlook to 

'stable' from 'negative. In a statement, Moody's 

said it made the revision mainly because of the 

higher-than-expected short and medium-term 

economic growth prospects in the country as well 

as the expectation that the winner of this year's 

election in October will approve fiscal reforms to 

cut government spending. 

Local Economy 

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures 

inflation rose by 13.34% year-on-year in the 

month of March 2018, which is 0.99% points less 

than the 14.33% recorded in February 2018. This 

represents the fourteenth consecutive month of 

decline in the rate of inflation since January 2017. 

The food index rose by 16.08% (year-on-year) in 

March, slightly lower than 17.59% recorded in 

February, thus indicating declining pressure in the 

prices of food items. The core sub-index, which 

excludes prices of farm produce increased by 

11.2%, 0.5% points lower than 11.7% in February. 

During the month, the highest increases were 

recorded in prices of clothing materials, garments 

and other articles of clothing and clothing 

accessories, vehicle spare parts, fuel and 

lubricants for personal transport equipment, 

actual and imputed rentals for housing, passenger 

transport by road, hairdressing salons and 

personal grooming establishments, shoe and 

other footwear, maintenance and repair of 

personal transport equipment and paramedical 

services. In a separate development, the monthly 

business expectations survey report by CBN 

showed that optimism by firms for the month of 

March was higher compared to the previous 

month. The business outlook index improved to 

2 4 . 5 f r o m 1 4 . 5 r e c o r d e d i n F e b r u a r y . 

R e s p o n d e n t s f r o m s e r v i c e s , i n d u s t r i a l , 

wholesale/retail trade and construction sectors 

expressed optimism on own operations in the 

current month with indices of 3.4, 2.2, 1.2 and 0.5, 

respectively when compared with 1.9, 2.5, -0.3 

and -0.5 in February 2018, respectively. The 

outlook on the volume of total order, business 

activity and financial conditions (working capital) 

stood at 16.0, 13.3, and 7.6 index points 

respectively, indicating an improvement in 

relation to its outlook in February 2018 which was 

2.2, 7.1, and 3.8 respectively. Insufficient power 

supply, high interest rate, unfavourable economic 

climate, unclear economic laws, financial 

problems, insufficient demand and unfavourable 

political climate were identified as the major 

factors constraining business activity in the 

current month. The exchange rate is also 

expected to appreciate in the current and next 

months, borrowing rates to rise while inflation is 

expected to fall. 

Stock Market 

Trading activities at the local bourse improved 

marginally in the week ended April 13, 2018. The All 

Share Index (ASI) gained marginally by 0.2% or 

87.56 points to close at 40,928.70 points from 

40,841.14 points the previous week. Similarly, 

market capitalization rose by 0.2% to close at 

N14.78 trillion from N14.75 trillion the previous 

week. The positive performance in the market was 

aided by stocks in the industrial goods, banking 

and oil & gas sectors. This week we expect bargain 

hunting to continue as attractive entry 

opportunities remain in the market. 

Money Market 

Money market rates moderated for the third 

consecutive week due to inflow from retail 

Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) 

refund of about N100 billion. Short-dated 

placements such as Open Buy Back (OBB) and 

Over Night (O/N) rates further declined to 

2.33% and 2.92% from 3.67% and 4% 

respectively the previous week. Longer dated 

placements also trended downwards. The 30- 

day and 90-day NIBOR closed lower at 14.43% 

and 15.27% from 14.90% and 15.68% the prior 

week. This week, rates may trend upwards due 

to expected Open Market Operation (OMO) 

auction. 

Foreign Exchange Market 

The naira-dollar exchange rate at the interbank 

window depreciated marginally by 79kobo to close 

at N337.27/$ from N336.48/$ the previous week. 

At the parallel market, the local currency also 

depreciated marginally by N1 to N363/$ from the 

previous week’s rate of N362/$. The naira 

however appreciated slightly at the official market 

to N305.55/$ from N305.60/$ the previous week. 

The relative stability of the naira to the dollar may 

be attributed to the sustained intervention of the 

apex bank. This week, we expect the naira will 

remain around prevailing levels. 

Bond Market 

Bond yields trended downwards for the second 

consecutive week due to increase in demand and 

sustained moderation in inflation. Yields on the 

five-, seven-, ten- and twenty- year debt papers 

settled at 13.33%, 12.95%, 13.35% and 13.42% 

from 13.56%, 13.72%, 13.62% and 13.65% 

respectively the previous week. The Access Bank 

Bond index rose by 21.24 points or 0.81% to close 

at 2,644.27 points from 2,623.02 points the 

previous week. This week, the direction of yields 

would likely be determined by the new bond 

auction calendar. 

Commodities Market 

Oil prices climbed last week as rising tensions in 

the Middle East continued to stoke concerns over 

potential supply disruptions in the region. The 

price of the Organization of the Petroleum 

Exporting Countries (OPEC) basket of crudes 

added $3.55, or 5.45%, to $68.73 a barrel, settling 

th 

at its highest since January 25 , 2018. In a similar 

vein, precious commodities prices surged as 

escalating geopolitical risks saw investors seeking 

safe haven assets. Gold prices ascended by $4.93 

to $1,337.39 an ounce, while silver price grew by 

15 cents to $16.53. This week we anticipate oil 

prices will remain close to prevailing levels amidst 

rising tensions over military escalation in Syria. For 

precious metals, a combination of concerns over 

ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and 

China and the prospect of a U.S. military strike in 

Syria will sustain safe haven demand and push 

prices higher. 

MONTHLY MACRO ECONOMIC FORECASTS 

Variables Apr’18 May’18 June’18 

Exchange Rate 

(Official) (N/$) 336.72 337.38 337.90 

Inflation Rate (%) 12.67 11.89 11.5 

Crude Oil Price 

(US$/Barrel) 68 67 67 

For enquiries, contact: Rotimi Peters (Team Lead, Economic Intelligence) (01) 2712123 rotimi.peters@accessbankplc.com


BUSINESS DAY 

25


26 BUSINESS DAY


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

27



This is M NEY 

A daily guide to your Personal Finance 

• Savings 

• Travel 

• Debt & Borrowing 

• Utilities 

• Managing your Tax 

Reasons why you should 

have health insurance 

As important 

and beneficial 

as health insurance 

is, it is sad 

to find that the 

level of penetration in Nigeria 

is still less than 5 percent. 

It appears that the major 

reason for this is ignorance. 

Many Nigerians have never 

heard about health insurance, 

have no idea how it 

works – let alone its benefits 

– and therefore have 

not made any attempt to 

purchase it for themselves 

or their families. 

Here are the top seven 

reasons why you should 

have health insurance: 

You’re Protected When 

You Need Urgent and Unexpected 

Medical Attention 

Sickness and injuries do 

not always give advance 

notice. With a health insurance 

policy in place it is 

comforting to know that 

you can have access to good 

quality medical care when 

you fall ill unexpectedly, 

or when you’re injured in 

an accident and require 

urgent medical attention. 

Especially if this happens 

at a time when you’re not 

financially buoyant or in a 

position to be able to pay 

your hospital bill from your 

pocket. 

You Have Access To Better 

Quality Health Service 

With a health insurance 

policy in place, you are 

exposed to a wide range 

of options of care providers 

(medical facilities) to 

choose from. You can decide 

to choose an upscale provider 

(depending on your 

particular plan) which you 

might ordinarily not be able 

to afford on a pay-as-you-go 

basis. 

It Helps In Your Personal 

Financial Planning 

Your personal financial 

planning is made much 

easier when you are able to 

budget in advance for (at 

least a significant portion) 

of your healthcare expenditure. 

Health insurance gives 

you this advantage. 

It Is Cheaper For You On 

The Long Run 

A health insurance policy 

tends to be aggregately 

cheaper than a pay-as-yougo 

arrangement, especially 

when you have a tendency 

to fall ill often, as might 

sometimes happen. A oneoff 

premium payment covers 

you for the full period 

of the policy. You also have 

an opportunity to choose a 

plan to cover more serious 

medical procedures like 

minor surgeries and caesarian 

sections, which would 

otherwise be very expensive 

if you had to pay for them 

from your pocket. 

You Can Present It As A 

Gift Or Employee Benefit 

For employers of labour, 

health insurance is one of 

the most valuable employee 

benefits you can give to your 

employees. It does a great 

deal for employee moral 

when they know that the 

burden of healthcare costs 

is off their family budgets. 

You can also purchase 

a health insurance policy 

and present as a gift to your 

friends, parents and other 

loved ones. That’s certainly 

something to think about! 

It Will Help Develop 

The Health And Medical 

A good, effective and 

affordable health insurance 

system helps the society to 

move closer to universal access 

to healthcare, which is one 

of the ways to aggregately 

raise the quality of life of the 

citizens irrespective of their 

income group 

Sector 

As the demand for health 

insurance grows and more 

people get signed up, this 

will stimulate growth for 

the health sector in general 

as investors and medical 

entrepreneurs will be encouraged 

to build more hospitals, 

health facilities and 

diagnostic centres, more 

doctors and medical workers 

will need to be trained. 

Not only will the standard 

and quality of medical services 

for the citizens improve, 

it will become more 

accessible to many more 

people. 

It Allows Equitable Distribution 

of Health Costs 

Across Different Income 

Groups 

Health insurance serves 

as one of the ways of re-distributing 

wealth within the 

society. It helps in reducing 

the gap in the quality of life 

between the rich and the 

poor, because it enables 

the poor to also have access 

to a reasonably good 

and affordable quality of 

healthcare. 

A good, effective and affordable 

health insurance 

system helps the society to 

move closer to universal 

access to healthcare, which 

is one of the ways to aggregately 

raise the quality of life 

of the citizens irrespective of 

their income group.If you do 

not already have a health 

insurance policy, what are 

you waiting for? 

Unclaimed money recovery: Is it a scam or an opportunity? 

Have you been personally 

targeted 

by ads offering 

to help you find 

“unclaimed” money? If you 

immediately wrote them 

off as scams, you were wise 

— but that doesn’t mean 

unclaimed money itself is a 

scam. The US government 

estimates that billions of dollars 

each year go unclaimed, 

just as the advertisements 

say — and your name could 

be on some of it. 

No one says no to money 

that belongs to them. This 

is the reason unclaimed 

money scams are so widespread. 

Even if there’s only 

a slim chance you’ve inherited 

a fortune, you may be 

entitled to anything from 

a few dollars to a few hundred 

dollars — money that 

could go toward a savings 

goal, paying off debt, or just 

enjoying a nice dinner out. 

If you’re interested in reconnecting 

with your longlost 

dollars, it’s important 

to know how to recognize 

the scams and find legitimate 

sources. But, first, let’s 

discuss where all this unclaimed 

money comes from. 

Sometimes, people deposit 

a small sum in a savings 

account and forget 

about it, overpay a utility 

bill, or qualify for an unexpected 

tax refund. If they 

move and fail to leave a 

forwarding address, it can 

be impossible for the issuing 

party to locate them 

— especially if they move 

out of state. After a year, 

unclaimed property laws 

usually dictate that this 

money is returned to the 

state, where the sum is held 

until it can be returned to its 

rightful owner


This is M NEY 

A daily guide to your Personal Finance 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

• Savings 

• Travel 

• Debt & Borrowing 

• Utilities 

• Managing your Tax 

29 

Worried about bank charges, 

here is how to reduce them 

Kenneth Doghudge 

Are bank charges 

causing you 

to have sleepless 

nights? 

Are you wondering 

why you must pay 

every time you perform a 

transaction? Seeing your 

bank charges add up to 

substantial sums can be irritating 

and annoying. The 

bank might provide poor 

service, or worse still refuse 

to support you. “And I still 

have to pay bank charges?” 

might be the question on 

your mind. 

So can we totally eliminate 

these charges? No. 

Banks provide financial 

services to the public. They 

are expected to charge customers 

and make a profit 

in return. Bank charges 

therefore represents compensation 

for services rendered. 

Alas without it no 

bank would be able to survive, 

let alone thrive. 

Bank charges may differ 

from country to country. 

There are certain climes 

where the government collects 

stamp duty, a type of 

tax on banking transactions 

in addition. Bank 

charges, like death and 

taxes have now become a 

fact of life. You can hardly 

fight or refuse to pay them. 

Banks take the money out 

of your account monthly. 

In fact, the more transactions 

you undertake the 

greater your bank charges. 

While bank charges are 

here to stay certain steps 

can be taken to reduce 

them to the barest minimum. 

You need to do the 

following: 

Acquaint thyself with 

your current exposure to 

bank charges 

Come to terms with 

your bank charges by making 

a detailed study of your 

statement. Request your 

statement from the bank 

and check, on a line by line 

basis transactions done 

in the month. Also check 

what your total charges 

amount to. You could be 

in for a rude awakening. I 

recently did, and it wasn’t 

a pleasant experience. I 

didn’t have a clue that I 

was spending so much 

on charges. You can only 

make changes when you 

understand the magnitude 

of the problem. Determine 

to reduce them 

Acquaint thyself with 

the number of transactions 

you initiate regularly 

How many bank transactions 

do you make in a 

day? Did you know that 

each time you use the 

ATM, POS machines, mobile 

and internet banking 

is one banking transaction? 

Each usage may have 

fees attached. Electronic 

deposits into your account 

also attract charges. 

Scan your bank statement 

to identify why so many 

transactions. Try to understand 

the reason behind 

each transaction to see if it 

could be stopped in subsequent 

periods. 

Paying recurring bills 

in cash 

It’s advisable to keep 

some loose cash to pay 

smaller and regular bills. 

At the beginning of the 

week withdraw certain 

amounts to cover all your 

recurring expenses. Petrol, 

Transport, Lunch, 

Telephone etc should be 

planned for. This will cause 

you to avoid whipping out 

your card to pay for these 

items thus causing your 

bank charges to skyrocket. 

Leave plastic cards at 

home whenever possible. 

Carrying your plastic 

cards everywhere you go is 

not a good idea. You should 

leave them at home from 

time to time. Planning what 

you want to spend on in advance 

can help minimise 

spending. You could then 

carry only the money for 

your planned spending on 

you. Try to make it a little 

bit harder to access your 

money wherever you go. 

Earmark several days 

as “no spending days” 

Plan and mark several 

days in your calendar as 

days where you won’t be 

spending any money. Start 

out with marking one day 

a week which could grow 

to several days a week. 

No spending amounts to 

no charges. So challenge 

yourself not to spend. 

You’re not going to die if 

you don’t spend I can assure. 

Having no spend 

days will help you manage 

your money better. 

Seek and use accounts 

with lower bank charges 

Currently there is a 

wide variety of bank account 

products. In the 

past it used to be only current 

and savings accounts. 

There are accounts for 

small and big businesses, 

children, students, retired 

people, high net worth individuals 

and so on. In addition 

there are accounts 

for investments, fixed deposits, 

mutual funds etc. 

Please research and weigh 

the pros and cons before 

you sign up for any account. 

Be constantly on 

the lookout for accounts 

with lower fees that best 

matches your requirements 

such as lower bank 

charges. 

Use debt wisely 

Be careful when you use 

debt. Especially when it is 

not for purposes that will 

bring more money into 

your pocket. For instance 

when you use your credit 

card to pay for items. If 

you don’t pay back within 

the time limit the bank will 

charge interest on the debt 

plus several fees for using 

the card. The same occurs 

when you have a loan facility. 

Interest rates and bank 

charges usually change 

in favor of the lender, not 

the lendee. Taking on debt 

usually causes your bank 

charges to increase significantly. 

Trim down the number 

of accounts you have 

The more accounts you 

operate/keep the more 

bank charges you pay out, 

pure and simple. Most 

people keep plenty of accounts. 

Some might have 

even gone dormant. I’m 

sure when you calculate 

your total bank charges 

in one year you might realise 

the level of wastage 

you have been exposed 

to. It’s time to streamline 

the number of accounts 

you have. There are several 

debates on how many accounts 

someone should 

have. I urge you to be 

mindful and not duplicate 

similar accounts unnecessarily. 

Permit me to re-emphasize 

that immediately 

after reading this you 

should get all your account 

statements. Work out how 

much you have been paying 

as bank charges in the 

last 1 year. Take time to 

implement all 8 key points 

listed above to reduce fees 

paid going forward. This 

is guaranteed to save you 

thousands yearly. Now 

who wouldn’t be happy 

with that? 

Kenneth promotes 

Moneytalk, a knowledge 

based organization committed 

to dispensing financial 

intelligence that leads 

to financial freedom. 

You can reach him with 

your feedback on money@ 

moneytalkng.com or 070 

6337 3391 if you would like 

him to facilitate Money 

talks and lessons at your 

events, seminars or conferences 

over the weekend 

in the Lagos area. 

You can also visit www. 

moneytalkng.com for additional 

resources on financial 

intelligence. 

Taking firm decision about your retirement planning 

Pension and retirement 

funds 

are crucial to 

everybody. But 

unfortunately it 

is one of the least financial 

planning we think about. 

Eventually everybody has 

to stop working. After years 

of hard work you should be 

able to put your feet up and 

enjoy some peace. 

That is not the time to 

be worrying about your 

bills and other things that 

you need money to accomplish. 

So what happens to 

your expenses? They don’t 

go away. In fact, your essential 

expenditures may 

become more expensive if 

you factor in inflation. It is 

time to take action and if 

you have just started working, 

you can start early. 

Early planning is best 

for pension savings. A 

regular amount put away 

yields a lump sum amount 

through the years. There 

are many examples where 

a disciplined investment 

started early has proved 

to be more beneficial than 

chaotic lumps at irregular 

intervals. So start early. 

Subsequently is regarding 

the amount to be saved 

each month. How much is 

sufficient? Well, that depends 

on your ability to 

pay. Try to put away a fixed 

amount. As it is always said 

pay yourself first when you 

receive your salary or income 

each month. 

If you are employed try 

to save in work linked pen- 

sion plans in which your 

employer contributes some 

amount. This is beneficial 

as these pension schemes 

are invested in government 

bonds and offer good returns 

with stability. 

Many things have to be 

considered when picking 

a pension plan. Find out 

how much of your pension 

is taxable and at what 

percentage. It pays to take 

the advice of your personal 

financial planners or legal 

adviser who has experience 

and knowledge in 

pension and retirement 

program. They are not part 

of any one organization 

pushing those plans. They 

will work individually with 

you to provide the best plan 

exclusively based on your 

needs. 

Find out if the pensions 

or at least a part of it will go 

to your spouse or dependents. 

So not blindly trust 

that it will automatically go 

to them. Read the fine print! 

Take charge and do not be 

a passive participant. 

Usually pension money 

is retained with the employer 

till a worker retires. 

It is good to know whether 

this money is safe and in 

the event of employer declaring 

bankruptcy or going 

out of business what 

happens to the money. 

Always ask relevant questions 

and never assume 

things. The stakes are simply 

too high. 

You should also start 

investing in bonds and 

share market early on in 

your career.


C002D5556 


SMART MONEY with Arese 

What is killing Nigeria’s earning potential? 

During his visit 

to Nigeria, Bill 

Gates made 

some remarks 

to Nigerian 

leaders about the economy. 

The central message was: 

invest in human capital to 

achieve sustained prosperity, 

which should be a no 

brainer; a skilled labor force 

has a significant impact on 

growth because skilled workers 

are more productive. 

However, it got me thinking 

about a more specific problem 

with the Nigerian education 

system and its effect on 

our ability to earn. 

When it comes to education, 

the emphasis is usually 

on giving more people access 

at different levels of schooling. 

However, the greater 

reality we have to face is that, 

the quality of the students we 

are churning out, especially 

at the tertiary stage is subpar 

and this has a monumental 

effect on our economy. 

An under qualified labor 

force can’t solve complex 

problems and ironically, 

the no 1-finance question 

millennials ask is how can 

I make more money? However, 

one’s earning power is 

directly linked to the complexity 

of the problem they 

are able to solve. There in lies 

the problem because three 

things seem to be missing. 

1. The Adoption of Critical 

thinking 

When I was in secondary 

school, I was a top three 

student in subjects like economics 

and government. 

I loved these subjects; so 

naturally, in my mind I was 

a superstar! I attended Igbinedion 

Education Centre, 

which was considered one 

of the best private schools in 

the 90s but Imagine my surprise 

when I subsequently 

went to The British School of 

Lome and discovered that in 

actual fact, I knew nothing! I 

was shocked and confused. 

You see in Nigerian 

schools, we learn to cram 

theory and regurgitate definitions, 

so we can pass ex- 

Arese Ugwu 

ams but we don’t learn to 

truly understand, analyze 

and apply. So even though 

I knew the definitions of 

demand and supply, my 

teachers in BSL were not 

impressed. They didn’t care 

about the fact that I could 

recite the definitions of several 

economic terms exactly 

as they were in the textbooks; 

they were more concerned 

with my inability to understand 

the concepts and apply 

them to real world scenarios. 

My thoughts on how a war in 

Bottom line we 

need more vocational 

schools! 

Lets stop pushing 

people into professions 

they can 

never thrive in 

Iraq would impact Nigeria’s 

income were more relevant 

to them than definitions. 

Another shocking concept 

for me in this journey of critical 

thinking was the fact that 

we could actually challenge 

our teachers! What a wawuu! 

Dr Sindall actually expected 

us to question the validity 

of his answers because according 

to him there were 

no wrong responses to his 

questions, just different perspectives 

and proper justifications 

for the assumptions 

that we made. 

Meanwhile in Nigeria, 

our teachers were always 

right and in most cases any 

variation from the teacher’s 

prescribed answer was classified 

as wrong, which left little 

room for original thought. 

Nothing highlights the folly 

in this teaching style and 

its unfortunate impact on 

the productivity of Nigerian 

youths like the phrase ‘This 

is how we do it here’. 

When I first moved back 

to Nigeria, nothing frustrated 

me more than this 

phrase! Let me explain! It is 

extremely important to put 

processes in place so that 

there is structure in a business 

but it must never be at 

the expense of encouraging 

people to use their initiative. 

Most staff are taught 1+1 =2 

so when they see that sum, 

they are clear on how to solve 

the problem. However, if they 

encounter the same problem 

with different elements to the 

sum i.e. 6 minus 4 equals 2, 

they are thrown for a loop 

because in their minds, only 

1 +1 can equal 2. 

If we really want to increase 

the productivity of 

businesses and subsequently 

the economy, critical thinking 

must be employed to 

boost our ability to solve 

problems and understand 

logical connections between 

ideas. 

2. Leverage social media 

and technology as tools 

for teaching 

Social media gets a bad rep, 

especially in corporate Nigeria. 

There’s the perception 

that millennials are so 

preoccupied with things like 

Big Brother Naija and other 

frivolities on social media, 

which is true. However, I 

think it’s more important 

to convert that engagement 

and preoccupation into gold 

by using it as a medium to 

educate. Instead of being 

so focused on highlighting 

the dangers of social media, 

companies need to be leveraging 

it as a medium to re 

educate their staff and educate 

their customers about 

their products and services. 

Technology has made the 

world a smaller place, so 

education is basically at your 

fingertips and there’s access 

to the best practices from all 

over the globe. But are we 

using it effectively? 

3. Can we get over our obsession 

with certificates? 

When all is said and done 

we like book in this country 

sha! No one is cockier than a 

Nigerian that is armed with 

several degrees and qualifications. 

It has become an obsession 

with us! But what do 

these degrees really mean? 

When the people who are 

chasing them are not seeking 

a deeper understanding 

or application of the knowledge 

but are caught up in 

the chase of what these certificates 

could mean for their 

job prospects. At this point 

the degrees become hollow. 

It’s a pretty regular occurrence 

to find people who 

went to university, to pursue 

a degree they despised, because 

their parents wanted 

them to. However, what has 

become even sadder is meeting 

people who are pursuing 

professional qualifications of 

their own volition, in fields 

they have zero interest in, 

because it might improve 

their job prospects. I’m all 

for continued learning because 

no matter how intelligent 

you are, constantly 

improving your expertise 

and sharpening your skills 

is key to success but can I 

ask a question? Why are so 

many people studying for 

ACCA and ICAN when they 

have no interest in becoming 

accountants? It is counter 

productive! Why not spend 

time on something you are 

actually passionate about 

and are in the best position to 

get good at instead becoming 

mediocre at something you 

have zero interest in. 

Now I haven’t figured out 

whom to blame for this phenomenon, 

the employers? 

Who demand these excessive 

qualifications that have 

no bearing on the job in 

question or the labor force? 

Who haven’t figured out that 

there’s little point in chasing 

hollow qualifications they 

have no passion for and 

that most people who thrive 

and become successful, put 

themselves in situations 

where they have matched 

their interests with their skill 

set and focus on being the 

best at it. 

Bottom line we need more 

vocational schools! Lets stop 

pushing people into professions 

they can never thrive in!


BUSINESS DAY 

31 

CITYFile 

A scene of an accident at Maryland in Lagos on Friday. 

Lagos pays N36bn pension 

to retirees in 3 years 

JOSHUA BASSEY 

Lagos State Government says about 

N35.9 billion has been remitted to 

the Retirement Saving Accounts 

(RSAs) of 8,731 retirees, deceased 

and withdrawn staff of the state 

public service between August 2015 and date. 

However, in the last one year, May 2017 

to March 2018, the state paid N9.3 billion 

pension to 2,466 retirees. 

Akintola Oke, the commissioner for 

establishment, training and pensions, who 

released the figures during a session with 

media to mark the present administration’s 

three years in office, said the sums were paid 

to the beneficiaries through Lagos State Pension 

Commission (LASPEC). 

He said there has been continued significant 

reduction in outstanding backlog of terminal 

entitlements of retired public servants. 

Offa robbery: Kwara to acquire additional APCs 

To beef up security in Offa and strategic 

locations across Kwara, the state 

governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, says 

his government will procure additional 

Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), 

and as well build a new police station for Offa 

within the next 45 days. 

The governor however, urged well-meaning 

citizens of the state to resist attempt by 

anyone to use the unfortunate Offa robbery 

attack for political purposes. 

Ahmed, who stated this during the 

swearing-in of a new Khadi of the state 

Shariah Court of Appeal, Mas’ud Adebayo 

Oniye, frowned at utterances made to score 

political gain. 

According to the governor, “those utterances 

do not reflect our values as Kwarans 

and should stop, out of respect for the dead 

According to the commissioner, the 

current administration commenced and 

maintained the trend of paying terminal 

entitlements of retired employees monthly, 

since August 2015. 

“The ministry will continue to sensitise 

retirees on activities of pension fraudsters so 

that they will get their entitlements without 

hitch,” he said, adding that about 8,000 pensioners 

aged above 70 have been identified 

to receive packages from the state government 

this year. 

On the payment of death benefit, he said 

that 80 beneficiaries of deceased employees 

in the state were paid N220.7 million within 

the period. 

The commissioner said that the state’s 

Public Service Staff Development Centre 

trained 3, 737 officers in the last one year. 

The training, he said provided solutions 

to problems on human capacity through 

learning and development initiatives, using 

... as ACF urges FG to equip Nigeria Police 

SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin 

and the injured”. 

Ahmed assured Kwarans that government 

will do everything within its power to 

ensure that the people of Offa and Kwara 

State never experience such a tragedy again. 

“For the avoidance of doubt, let me 

reassure Kwarans that the culprits will be 

apprehended and brought to justice swiftly. 

“Presently, the police and other security 

agencies in the country have begun a vigorous 

manhunt for the perpetrators of the 

dastardly and horrid attack on the peaceful 

and industrious people of Offa,” he said 

Ahmed advised that “our people must 

be vigilant and security conscious as part 

of community involvement in effective 

policing”. 

“Those who perpetrated this evil have 

saddened and inflicted pain on us but they 

cannot break our spirit. I assure you that 

those behind this wicked act will soon be 

NAN 

technology-driven resources. 

“The essence is not only for self-development, 

but for the skills and knowledge 

acquired to be deployed on the job for impactful 

service delivery to teeming populace 

of Lagos State,” he said. 

The commissioner, who commended the 

17 labour unions in the state public service, 

said “it is historic to note that in the last three 

years, this administration has not witnessed 

any form of crisis, protests or agitations by 

labour unions.” 

He said the unions’ National Joint Negotiating 

Council (NJNC) met and interacted 

with government four times yearly to take 

decisions on issues pertaining to workers’ 

welfare and promote industrial harmony. 

He assured that government would intensify 

efforts towards motivating and training 

the civil servants for better service delivery 

and protection of interest of residents of 

the state. 

apprehended and brought to justice swiftly”, 

he added. 

Meanwhile, the Arewa Consultative 

Forum (ACF) has called on the Federal Government 

to properly equip the Nigeria Police 

Force to enable it to effectively discharge its 

responsibilities. 

Mohammed Ibrahim, the national publicity 

secretary of the Forum, in a statement 

in Kaduna, weekend, that the group was 

shocked by the attacks on some banks in 

Offa which left about 30 people and several 

others injured. 

“It was most unfortunate that innocent 

persons and security personnel were killed 

by the armed robbers while some persons 

sustained injuries. 

“We are, however, heartened by the 

prompt action of the Inspector General of 

Police (IGP) in deploying units of Mobile 

Police which led to arrest of some of the 

perpetrators of this heinous crime and the 

restoration of normalcy in Offa town. 

8 Boko Haram kingpins 

arrested in Borno 

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence 

Corps (NSCDC) said it has 

arrested 8 Boko Haram kingpins 

who fled Borno. 

The Corps also said last weekend in 

Abuja that over 100 suspected vandals of 

critical infrastructure also apprehended 

between January and March, are presently 

facing prosecution. 

Abdullahi Gana, the commandantgeneral 

of the Corps, disclosed this 

when he received participants of course 

40/2018 of the National Institute for Policy 

and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, led by 

Humphrey Okpala 

Gana explained that the successes 

recorded by the NSCDC were as a result 

of the collaborative efforts of the Civilian 

Joint Task Force which he said had proved 

to be one of the useful tools for community 

policing. 

He said the corps was not in rivalry 

with sister agencies, but “rather cherishes 

and always works in synergy with 

other agencies in combating crimes in 

the country.” 

“This synergy has worked in the North- 

East where the Corps’ personnel arrested 

Boko Haram members and handed them 

over to the army. 

“In states like Taraba, Plateau and 

Jigawa, armed robbers and rapists were 

arrested recently, and were handed over 

to the police,” he said. 

AVM Okpala told the NSCDC boss that 

the visit was to find out the Corps’ position 

on the ongoing research directed by 

the Federal Government to strengthen the 

nation’s internal security framework and 

community policing. 

“The institute was mandated to carry 

out the research in order to come up with 

strategy to tackle burning issues through 

interaction with stakeholders with a view 

to reporting back to the President accordingly,” 

he said. 

Malaria: CRS adopts Edo 

style of net distribution 

The Country Representative, Catholic 

Relief Services (CRS), Rebecca Hallam, 

says the organisation has adopted the 

Edo Government model of distribution of insecticidal 

nets for other states in the country. 

Hallam said in Benin when she visited 

the Edo deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, in 

Benin. 

“We have learnt some new formula in the 

course of the assignment which we will use 

in other states. I commend Edo government 

for her swift response in addressing challenges 

encountered during the exercise and 

call on other states to emulate Edo,’’ she said. 

Responding, Shaibu said the state government’s 

commitment was part of her 

resolve to reposition primary healthcare and 

strengthening the health sector. 

Shaibu acknowledged that the net distribution 

was an avenue for both parties 

to share ideas, as the state team also learnt 

some models from the CRS team. 

“The exercise is also a means for the state 

government to obtain data to implement 

other programmes in the primary healthcare 

sector. The remaining nets from the exercise 

will be distributed to areas not covered during 

the exercise, after proper data analysis of 

the previous exercise to cover the remaining 

12 per cent,’’ Shuaibu said. 

The deputy governor called on other state 

governments to learn from Edo where chief 

executives personally monitor the distribution 

to ensure its success. NAN

32 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

Monday 16 April 2018


BUSINESS DAY 

33


34 BUSINESS DAY


C002D5556 


Stocks Currencies Commodities Rates + Bonds Economics Funds Week Ahead Watchlist P.E 

Yield curve flattens on Fiscal and 

monetary policy synchronisation 

FSDH sees Nigeria inflation slowing for 

fourteen successive months to 13.49% 

Page 36 Page 36 

ECONOMY 

Dangote Cement, CCNN beat industry 

average as Lafarge gets red flag 

BALA AUGIE 

Dangote Cement, 

CCNN beat industry 

average 

as Lafarge gets 

red flag BALA 

AUGIE percent, according 

to data compiled by BusinessDay. 

However, Lafarge 

Africa’s 16.16 gross margins 

were below the above average 

as the company continues 

to grapple with rising cost 

of production brought on by 

spiraling variable costs and 

costs incurred on evacuation 

at UNICEM. Dangote Cement 

and CCNN have a better 

energy mix as they were 

able to develop coal fire plant. 

That explains why they have 

spent less in producing each 

unit of product. While Dangote 

Cement and CCNN’s 

net margin of 25.35 percent 

and 16.45 percent were above 

the industry average of 10.08 

percent, Lafarge’s huge loss 

of 34.01 billion validates its 

negative retained earnings 

of 11.45 percent. Lafarge is 

highly indebted or highly 

geared as its debt to equity 

ratio of 163.25 percent is 

the highest in the industry. 

Lafarge (WAPCO) Plc had a 

Year-To-Date (YTD) return 

at the negative trajectory at 

-0.87 percent. This is way 

below the NSE ASI of 7.02 

percent as market close for 

the week, Friday, April 13, 

2018. Dangote Cement Plc 

gained 13.04 percent on YTD 

return basis, 6.02 percentage 

point higher than the NSE 

ASI of 7.02 percent. 

CCNN Plc was the best 

performing stock with the 

highest return YTD on the Nigerian 

Stock Exchange (NSE). 

It has gained 105.43per cent 

alone so far this year. CCNN 

The Cement Company of 

Northern Nigeria (CCNN) 

Plc’s profit after tax stood at 

N3.22 billion as at December 

2017, representing a 106.50 

percent surge from the N1.56 

billion recorded five years 

ago. Revenue followed the 

same growth trajectory, hitting 

N19.58 billion in December 

2017. This represented a 

29.83 percent increase from 

the N15.31 billion recorded in 

December 2013. The company’s 

shares have gained 71.31 

percent since January 2, 2015, 

to close at N17.80 at close of 

trading day on Wednesday 

April 6, 2018. The relative 

peace in the northern part 

of the country and low competition 

where the company 

supplies cement were major 

drivers of utilisation rates for 

the company. 

The cement maker is efficient 

in deploying shareholders’ 

resources in generating 

higher profit as net profit 

margins hit 16.25 percent 

in the period under review, 

a 0.60 point increase from 

10.23 percent recorded five 

years ago. 

Lafarge 

Lafarge Africa Plc is grappling 

with spiralling cost of 

production as rising interest 

on borrowing wiped out all of 

earnings, leaving the cement 

maker in a loss position. For 

the year ended December 

2017, Lafarge Africa posted 

a loss after tax of N34.60 

billon from a profit position 

of N16.89 billion the previous 

year, the worst results in 

five years since BusinessDay 

started compiling data. A 

N43.02 billion finance costs 

or interest expense in the 

income statement in the 

period under review swallowed 

all of operating profit 

of N7.88 billion, which inevitably 

resulted in the loss. It is 

glaring that Lafarge Africa is 

exposed to financial risk as 

its debt pile has resulted in 

increased interest payment 

hence suppressing bottom 

line (profit). Consequently, 

risk of stockholders return 

is increased. Times interest 

coverage is 0.18 times operating 

profit in the period 

under review, which means 

the cement maker’s ability to 

meet interest expenses are 

questionable. 

Dangote Cement 



under review showed Dangote 

Cement Plc, the largest 

producer of the building 

material recorded a net income 

of N204.24 billion, from 

N159.50 billion recorded in 

2013. The largest producer 

of the building material in 

Africa’s largest economy has 

utilized each unit of sales 

in generating higher profit 

as margins improved. This 

means it is efficient amid 

a tough and unpredictable 

macroeconomic environment. 

Earnings before interest 

and tax (EBIT) margin 

increased to 37.76 percent 

in December 2017 as against 

29.66 percent as at December 

2016. Gross profit margins 

moved to 56.39 percent in 

the period under review as 

against 47.35 percent the 

previous year. Net margin 



as against 23.22 percent as 

at December 2016. Cost of 

sales ratio fell to 43.66 percent 


from 52.64 percent the previous 

year as the company 

switched to coal, a cheap 

source of energy to power 

plant at the factory. Dangote 

Cement’s sales grew 

by 30.96 percent to N805.58 


SHORT TAKES 

25 kobo 

Nigerian Aviation Handling 

proposes final dividend of 

25 kobo per ordinary share 

for period ended December 

31, 2017. 

34 percent 

Nigeria’s state oil 

company NNPC’s 

engineering subsidiary 

on Friday 

reported a 34 percent 

fall in 2017 

profit before tax to 

N3.26 billion ($10.4 

million) compared 

with the previous 

year. 

Foreign exchange 

gains of 56 percent 

before tax in 2016 

fell to 4.8 percent 

in 2017, NNPC 

spokesman Ndu 

Ughamadu said in 

a statement. 

N237.8 MILLION 

Guinea Insurance posts 

rise in full year December 

2017 profit before taxation 

of N237.8 million versus 

N176.2 million a year ago. 

It recorded full year net 

premium income of N747 

million naira versus N649.5 

million a year ago 

BusinessDay MARKETS INTELLIGENCE (Team lead: BALA AUGIE - Analyst: DIPO OLADEHINDE, ENDURANCE OKAFOR, BUNMI BAILEY Graphics: DAVID OGAR ) 

BMI provides in-depth analysis and data on industries, companies, stocks, currencies, fixed income/credit, economics, regulation and factors that influence investor’s decision-making 

Email the BMI team patrick.atuanya@businessdayonline.com

36 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Monday 16 April 2018 

ECONOMY 

ENDURANCE OKAFOR 

Source: NSE,BusinessDay 

port Group Plc with a market 

capitalisation of N8.879 

billion, traded at N 2.65 per 

share in the NSE and recorded 

105.43percent gain as 

it YTD return. Making it the 

third best performing stock 

in the nation’s bourse. 

NPF Microfinance Bank 

Plc made the list of Business- 

Day’s best five performing 

stock YTD as it gained some 

61.60 percent as at the close 

of market Friday, April 13, 

2018. 

Markets Intelligence 

These stocks made money 

for investors last week 

The stocks of Cement 

CO. of North 

Nig. Plc, Caverton 

Offshore Support 

Group Plc, Unity 

Bank Plc, NPF Microfinance 

Bank Plc, and Wema Bank 

Plc were the best performing 

stocks on a year-to-date 

(YTD) basis, as they had the 

highest return at market close 

Friday, April 13, 2018. 

Cement CO. of North Nig. 

Plc was the best performing 

stock with the highest return 

YTD on the Nigerian Stock 

Exchange (NSE). It gained 

112.63 percent alone so far 

this year and it close the market 

with N20.20 per share and 

has a market capitalisation of 

N25.385 billion. 

Unity Bank Plc is one of the 

best stocks so far for this year 

among lenders. Shares gained 

109.43 per cent to date. 

The bank which provides 

a range of financial products 

and services to personal 

and business customers has 

a market capitalization of 

N12.975 billion and traded 

N1.11 per share, as at market 

close for the week. 

Caverton Offshore Sup- 

Dangote Cement, CCNN beat 

industry average... 

Five states hardest hit by rising inflation amid potential food shortage in March 

DIPO OLADEHINDE 

Nasarawa, Ebonyi, 

Bauchi, Kaduna and 

Gombe states are the 

top five states in March 2018 

that have recorded the highest 

level of inflation rates compared 

to the previous month of February, 

data from Nigeria Bureau of 

Statistics (NBS) showed. 

According to the NBS data, 

the state with the highest inflation 

rate Month on Month was 

Nasarawa State with inflation 

rate of 2.20 percent, followed 

closely by Ebonyi State with an 

inflation rate of 2.10 per cent, 

while Bauchi, Kaduna and 

Gombe states had 1.87 percent, 

1.76 percent, and 1.57 percent 

inflation rate respectively to 

complete list of top five states 

with the highest level of inflation 

in March 2018. 

Dolapo Ashiru, CEO of 

Mega Capital Financial services 

Limited said the high cost of 

doing business in these states 

is the reason for the high level 

of inflation and further tasked 

the government to do more in 

increasing investment. 

“Basically, it has to do with 

government driving investment 

in infrastructure, power, technology 

and other important 

amenities with the purpose of 

bringing down the cost of doing 

business in these states,” 

Dolapo told BusinessDay by 

Phone. 

Speaking on how states 

can generate more revenue, 

Ashiru added,” State government 

should drive their IGR 

and implement policies that 

will drive investment in area 

of specialization or strength, 

also Government need to cut 

wastage and reduce recurrent 

expenditure.” 

BusinessDay’s investigations 

showed food inflation 

Month on Month was highest in 

Nasarawa State at 3.22 percent 

followed closely by Ebonyi state 

with 2.97 percent, while Jigawa 

state had 2.37 percent respectively 

to make up the top three 

states with highest food inflation 

rate among the 36 states in 

Nigeria while Kebbi, Imo. Niger, 

Kwara, Lagos, Rivers and Yobe 

states all recorded food price 

The microfinance Bank 

which provides a wide range 

of banking products and 

services to consumers traded 

at N2.20 per share in the NSE 

and it has a market capitalization 

of N4.619billion. 

Wema Bank Plc was one of 

the lenders that made the list 

also as the bank gained 76.92 

percent as it YTD return. The 

bank with a market capitalization 

of N 35.489 billion, 

traded at N 0.92, as compiled 

from the Bloomberg data. 

deflation or negative inflation 

which is the general decrease in 

the general price level of goods 

and services or a negative inflation 

rate in March 2018. 

Food security is an aspect 

of government that no nation 

that is worth its salt can afford to 

take for granted. It is defined by 

the United Nations’ Committee 

on World Food Security, as the 

condition in which all people, 

at all times, have physical, social 

and economic access to sufficient 

safe and nutritious food 

that meets their dietary needs 

and food preferences for an 

active and healthy life. 

Benue State, the famed Food 

Basket of Nigeria, for instance 

has in recent times suffered 

unimaginable setbacks oc- 

The Nigerian Stock Exchange 

All Share Index (NSE 

ASI) appreciated Friday, April 

13, 2018, as it recorded a gain 

of 0.29 percent to close at 

40,928.70 points 

Similarly, the Market 

Capitalization appreciated 

by 0.29 percent to close at 

N14.78trn, compared with 

the marginal depreciation 

of 0.09 percent recorded the 

previous day. Week-on-week, 

the NSE ASI appreciated by 

0.21 percent. 

casioned by frequent farmers 

and herders’ clashes, so much 

that fears have been expressed 

that if not checked, we might be 

running a serious risk of famine 

in the near future. 

The National Economic 

Council (NEC) at one of its 

meetings had said that there will 

be food crisis in Nigeria unless 

the displacement of farmers resulting 

from incessant conflicts 

between them and pastoralists 

is immediately addressed. 

The Council after a closed 

door meeting at the Presidential 

Villa reportedly said it was worried 

about the displacement of 

farmers and felt that unless it was 

immediately addressed, there 

would be shortage of food in the 

entire country in the near future. 


billon in December 2017 

from N615.10 billion as at December 

2016. A breakdown 

of sales by region shows the 

Nigerian business make up 

68.59 percent (N552.36 billion 

) of total revenue while 

Pan Africa make up 32.08 

percent (N258.44 billion). 

The company’s cement 

volume stood at 21.22 million 

metric tonnes as at December 

2017, which represents 

5.81 percent drop from 22.53 

million metric tonnes for last 

year. Cement production 

capacity increased slightly by 

2.35 percent to 43.55 million 

metric tonnes in the period 

under review from 42.55 million 

metric tonnes. 

Dangote Cement 



under review showed Dangote 

Cement Plc, the largest 

producer of the building 

material recorded a net income 

of N204.24 billion, from 

N159.50 billion recorded in 

2013. The largest producer 

of the building material in 

Africa’s largest economy has 

utilized each unit of sales 

in generating higher profit 

as margins improved. This 

means it is efficient amid 

a tough and unpredictable 

macroeconomic environment. 

Earnings before interest 

and tax (EBIT) margin 

For the 14th consecutive 

time since January 2017, inflation 

rate inched closer to the 

single digits target set by both 

monetary and fiscal authorities 

for the economy. 

Latest figures released on 

Thursday by NBS showed Consumer 

Price Index (CPI), which 

measures inflation level in the 

economy, increased by 13.34 

per cent between March 2017 

and March 2018. 

The statistics agency said 

the new figure was about 0.99 

per cent points less than the 

14.33 per cent rate recorded in 

February 2018. 

During the last Monetary 

Policy Committee (MPC) meeting 

last week in Abuja, the Central 

Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 

Governor, Godwin Emefiele, 

said members resolved to retain 

all controlling policy rates at 

prevailing levels until inflation 

rate dropped to the single digits 

zone. 

Apart from Monetary Policy 

Rate (MPR), also known as 

lending rate, which was retained 

at 14 per cent, liquidity 

rate was maintained at 30 per 

cent. 

Also, cash reserve requirement, 

the amount of cash the 

banks are allowed to keep in 

their reserves, was kept at 22.5 

per cent. 

The Asymmetric corridor 

was left at +200 and -500 basis 

points around the MPR as it was 

during the previous meeting in 

November 2017. 


in December 2017 as against 

29.66 percent as at December 

2016. Gross profit margins 

moved to 56.39 percent in 

the period under review as 

against 47.35 percent the 

previous year. Net margin 



as against 23.22 percent 

as at December 2016. Cost 

of sales ratio fell to 43.66 

percent in the period under 

review from 52.64 percent 

the previous year as the 

company switched to coal, 

a cheap source of energy to 

power plant at the factory. 

Dangote Cement’s sales 

grew by 30.96 percent to 

N805.58 billon in December 

2017 from N615.10 billion 

as at December 2016. 

A breakdown of sales by 

region shows the Nigerian 

business make up 68.59 

percent (N552.36 billion ) 

of total revenue while Pan 

Africa make up 32.08 percent 

(N258.44 billion). 

The company’s cement 

volume stood at 21.22 million 

metric tonnes as at December 

2017, which represents 

5.81 percent drop from 22.53 

million metric tonnes for last 

year. Cement production 

capacity increased slightly by 

2.35 percent to 43.55 million 

metric tonnes in the period 

under review from 42.55 million 

metric tonnes. 

In the NBS report, composite 

food index, which highlights 

the average of some food items, 

majorly staple foods, rose by 

16.08 per cent (year on 

year) in March 2018, down 

from the 17.59 per cent rate 

recorded in February. 

The Federal Government, 

which represents the fiscal 

authorities, had equally set the 

target of single digits inflation 

rate. 

This is just as it continues 

the pursuit of policies and programmes 

to strengthen the economic 

recovery which analysts 

say remains fragile since the 

recent exit from recession. 

Nigeria’s Purchasing Managers’ 

Index (PMI), rose strongly 

in March from 54.7 percent 

to 59.4 percent, the production 

level index for the manufacturing 

sector grew for the 

thirteenth consecutive month 

in March 2018.The index indicated 

a faster growth and expansion 

in the current month, 

when compared to its level in 

the preceding month. 

The Naira remained stable 

in the period under review at 

the CBN official rate of N305 to 

the dollar. 

Looking ahead, dynamics 

in the oil sector will be vital to 

encouraging a faster recovery 

and higher oil prices should fuel 

stronger growth in 2018. However, 

still-high inflation, a weak 

business climate and security 

risks continue to cast a shadow 

over the country’s prospects.


Start-Up Digest 

In 

association with 

BUSINESS DAY 

37 

Oluwatoyin Onigbanjo: From 

journalism to food processing 

Stories by ODINAKA ANUDU 

Oluwatoyin Onigbanjo 

is a journalist, but her 

enterprise poses a big 

challenge to men and 

women of the pen profession. 

The thinking of the majority of 

people is that journalists are only 

spectators and reporters of events, 

but Oluwatoyin and a few others are 

proving this notion to be false. 

She is today the founder and head 

cook of August Secrets, which produces 

baby foods such as Veggie 

Beans, Nutty Meal, Fish Powder and 

Crayfish Powder. She is also exporting 

these packaged baby foods to Ghana; 

New York and Atlanta in the United 

States, and other countries. 

Like all entrepreneurs, Oluwatoyin’s 

story is unique. After having a 

baby abroad, she returned to Nigeria 

only to notice that the child was reluctant 

to eat the available food. She 

started sharing her experience with 

neighbours and church members 

who offered different pieces of advice. 

A matron in one of the hospitals suggested 

two local foods she could give 

the child, and this worked. 

“At the end of the day, I realised 

that there was a lot of gap,” she tells 

Start-Up Digest. 

“I said to myself, ‘Why not package 

all of these foods and give them 

to Nigerian children?’ In the process 

of doing that, I realised that a lot of 

Austin Okere, the serial entrepreneur, 

has launched 

the long-awaited Ausso 

Leadership Academy 

(ALA) in Lekki, Lagos. 

ALA is an experiential entrepreneurship 

academy, which 

mentors and takes care of senior 

executives in large enterprises, 

multinationals and conglomerates 

as well as founders of big 

businesses. 

Speaking at the launch of the 

academy in Lagos last Thursday, 

Austin Okere, CEO of ALA, said 

many of the champions (established 

entrepreneurs) he had 

spoken to agreed that they wanted 

to have an opportunity to mentor 

people of that calibre all along but 

had no medium to do so. 

Okere said he had three reasons 

for setting up the leadership 

and entrepreneurship academy. 

“I wanted to advise others the 

same way I would have advised 

my younger self. If I had that 

kind of advice at the time I was 

starting my business, I would 

probably have avoided some of 

my mistakes. 

“The second inspiration was 

that I wanted to be for others, the 

Oluwatoyin Onigbanjo 

ing the next set of raw materials and 

setting up the factory. Fewer than 

two years down the line, this revenue 

of this firm (in the last 12 months) is 

about $100,000. 

“We are selling in about 24 Nigerian 

cities and states of the country now. We 

sell in Ghana; we sell in Atlanta, and 

we sell in New York. We sell outside 

Nigeria. It is amazing that we now take 

our foods to places where we bring in 

mothers also had the same problem. 

A lot of them wanted foods that were 

natural and from the African soil. 

That was a lot of motivation for me,” 

she explains. 

The entrepreneur started this 

business officially in July 2016 and 

has had a very good experience. The 

first raw materials she bought cost 

her N20, 000. She then spent between 

N200, 000 and N500, 000 on purchasour 

foods from,” she says. 

Oluwatoyin has 24 direct and indirect 

staff members and 24 distributors 

across the country. 

“We decided to fill in the gap when 

we realised that about 90 percent of 

what the Nigerian children ate were 

imported and were foreign goods. We 

are producing Nigerian foods, nutritious 

foods that are attractive and also 

nourish the Nigerian children across 

Africa,” she states. 

The entrepreneur has always been 

a good cook and loves children. In 

fact, before Oluwatoyin set up the 

food processing factory, she had 

established a kids’ store. 

“The interesting part for me is that 

I love coking and I love food. This is 

something I am passionate about, 

and right from time, I have always run 

a kids’ store. Even as a journalist, I run 

a children’s store for children that are 

malnourished. It is one thing to have 

a passion and another thing to do the 

right thing,” she explains. 

It was not completely easy for her 

when she started. She had to wade 

through the challenge of getting 

necessary certifications such as the 

National Agency for Food and Drug 

Administration and Control (NAF- 

DAC0 approval. Setting up the factory 

and office were no child’s play. 

The entrepreneur believes that 

there are more grounds to cover. 

According to her, a lot of produce 

from farmers are wasting away and 

need off-takers and people who will 

market them. 

Austin Okere launches Ausso Leadership Academy 

mentor I wish I had. 

“The third reason, which is 

personal, is to mentor entrepreneurs 

to scale their businesses 

geometrically. We need to create 

something that will bring back 

our children from abroad. If we 

all put our hands together, there 

will be jobs for our children to 

come back to,” he said. 

He said many Nigerians had 

contacted him, asking to attend 

the academy free. However, doing 

this would make people take 

ALA for granted and the academy 

would be unsustainable, he said. 

Okere is the founder Computer 

Warehouse Group (CWG), 

which is today the largest computer 

security firm in the Nigerian 

Stock Exchange. 

According to him, there was a 

need for Nigerian entrepreneurs 

to invest more in human capital 

as noted by Bill Gates. 

Okere said ALA was not a 

business school but a practical 

and experiential complement 

from experiences in business 

schools. 

“A billionaire is not necessarily 

someone who has amassed 

a billion dollars, but someone 

Austin Okere 

who has touched a billion lives,” 

he stated. Ernest Ndukwe, former 

executive vice chairman 

of the Nigeria Communication 

“The link between the farmers and 

the market is very weak. There are still 

a lot of issues in logistics. We also 

have a lot of market gap, and there is 

a gap in warehousing. 

Being a journalist, Oluwatoyin 

believes in the power of the digital 

media. Through various platforms 

made available by technology, she 

reaches 100,000 mothers at the moment. 

She is a strong believer in the 

made-in-Nigeria brands and wants 

the citizens to appreciate and buy 

locally made goods. 

“We are taking advantage of the 

digital media and it has really helped 

us. We are able to reach more people. 

Without digital media, we can hardly 

reach Ghana and other places.” Being 

a married woman, the entrepreneur 

appreciates the role played by her 

family and says a big ‘thank you’ to 

them. 

She says cost of production is high, 

but her firm has adopted a strategy 

to cut it. 

“It has really been tough. What 

we try to do is to watch when there is 

power and we quickly run our production,” 

she discloses. 

Oluwatoyin says moving from 

journalism to manufacturing was 

not easy and adds that she needs assistance 

in terms of technology and 

machinery. “We are looking to get 

support in terms of machines and the 

technology we need for production,” 

she tells Start-Up Digest. 

She has some pieces of advice for 

the upcoming entrepreneurs. 

“I was not cut out to be an entrepreneur. 

I would rather be in my 

house and string stories together as 

a journalist. But I realised that people 

needed my services. If you know how 

to cook, cook it, put it together and 

give it those who need it. Don’t just 

stay in your house. If anybody told me 

that I would be going out to speak in 

conferences and talk to people about 

entrepreneurship, I would not believe 

that,” she advises. 

Commission (NCC), who was 

chairman of the event, pointed 

out that there was a general 

agreement that business execution 

could be taught. 

Ndukwe said mentoring was 

a process, rather than a day’s affair, 

urging mentors or champions 

at ALA to make themselves 

available for the prospective 

mentees. 

He said he was now involved 

in raising a crop of leaders who 

would understood the intricacies 

of governance and global 

issues in a digital economy. 

Leo Stan Eke, chairman of 

Zinox Technologies Limited, 

said what made someone a billionaire 

was not the billions he 

or she acquired but legacies. 

Eke said this was time for 

old entrepreneurs to go back to 

entrepreneurship schools and 

gain knowledge of the modern 

system. 

Tosin Runsewe, chief operating 

officer of AXA Mansard Insurance 

Plc, said as Nigeria’s population 

kept growing, challenges 

also continued rising. Runsewe 

said the population could be a 

gift if properly harnessed, adding 

that the launch of the ALA 

would go a long way in enhancing 

the quality of manpower in 

the country.



C002D5556 


‘Nigerian start-ups need grants 

to scale through hurdles’ 

Elizabeth Anuoluwapo Dike is the executive director of Lizanu Indelible Needles, a firm that 

designs clothes for clients and helps them get the kind of designs they want. Elizabeth holds 

Bachelor of Science (Bsc) degree in Social Studies from Tai Solarin University of Education, 

Ogun State, Nigeria. In this interview with BUNMI BAILEY, the young entrepreneur talks about 

her business, challenges and how government can help young entrepreneurs like herself. 

Tell me about your 

business, when you 

started and your 

background. 

My name is Elizabeth 

Anuoluwapo Dike. I am a fashion 

entrepreneur and my business 

name is Lizanu Indelible Needles. 

What I do is to help clients bring 

their designs to reality. There are 

people who prefer to have their 

own designs instead of having 

something common. So, what I 

do is to help them have the kind of 

design they want for themselves. 

I also create designs for clients. 

I started this business properly 

in the 2016. I have actually been 

doing it for a while, but I got to 

understand the business side of 

it properly in the year 2016. 

What inspired you to set up 

the business? 

I learnt how to make clothes 

as a teenager. The experience was 

what inspired this business. I was 

also helped by my mum. Initially 

I thought it was all about making 

clothes, but then I started seeing 

that there was more to it than 

just making clothes. I decided to 

design since I could be creative, 

moderately. 

What was your initial start-up 

capital? 

The United States Consulate 

General Lagos in collaboration 

with Field of Skills and 

Dreams VTE Academy has 

trained 121 budding entrepreneurs 

in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. It was 

the second edition of the Conference 

for Emerging Entrepreneurs 

and it took place last Wednesday. 

The up-and-coming entrepreneurs, 

selected from across Nigeria, 

learned how to transform their 

ideas into practical business plans, 

Elizabeth Anuoluwapo Dike 

U.S. Consulate, FSD Academy train 121 

emerging entrepreneurs in Port Harcourt 

ODINAKA ANUDU 

manage business risks, navigate 

difficult moments, seek capital, and 

develop partnerships to help their 

businesses grow. 

F. John Bray, United States consul 

general, declared the workshop 

open and was joined by Ipalibo 

Harry Banigo, Rivers State deputy 

governor, and Ndowa Lale, vicechancellor 

of the University of Port 

Harcourt. 

In his welcoming remarks, F. 

John Bray explained that one of 

U.S. Mission Nigeria’s primary goals 

was to support Nigeria’s economic 

development. According to him, 

the U.S. Department of State always 

supported entrepreneurs all over the 

world through training and mentoring, 

while working with governments 

to create enabling environments and 

entrepreneurial cultures. 

“There is growing evidence that 

entrepreneurs the world over are 

the drivers of job growth. The United 

States government is firmly convinced 

that in addition to creating 

jobs and expanding economic 

opportunities, entrepreneurship 

contributes to political stability 

and a vibrant civil society,” Consul 

General Bray said. 

Leading business leaders including 

Tonye Cole, Sahara Group 

co-founder; Stella Okoli, Emzor 

Pharmaceutical CEO; Iyin Aboyeji, 

Andela co-founder; a Zizi Cardow, 

award-winning designer, and senior 

executives of prominent commercial 

banks mentored and trained the 

participating young entrepreneurs. 

The Conference was organised 

with a view to equipping the entrepreneurs 

with the requisite skills 

and entrepreneurial know-how to 

enhance their success in the business 

world. The first edition was 

held in Lagos in March 2017. 

I cannot give a specific amount 

because it was a gradual process 

for me. I got my tools and other 

things little by little. Like I mentioned 

earlier, patience was key. 

How would you say your business 

has grown since starting? 

I will say it is still growing. It 

has not grown to the kind of level 

I want, but there has been some 

improvement. So I will say that 

it is still growing because even 

growth does not just happen. It is 

The government 

can help 

by encouraging 

young entrepreneurs 

with 

grants. If I am 

able to get a 

grant, I could 

help others as 

I had always 

wanted to 

a gradual process. I have a bigger 

picture of where I want my business 

to be and I hope to achieve 

that soon. 

You have over a year experience 

in entrepreneurship. Why 

do you think most start-ups fail 

after five years of being birthed? 

Most start-ups need some 

years to actually make headway or 

have a breakthrough in businesses. 

So, if in about five years the 

business is tired or the person in 

charge is not patient, determined, 

zealous or even strong enough 

to hold his/her ground, then the 

business would simply not fly. 

Lack of patience, determination, 

focus and strength could cause a 

five-year-old start-up to fail. 

What are the challenges confronting 

your business? 

One of the challenges facing 

my business is lack of funds. 

Another is time and distance. If 

I have a trainee and the person’s 

location is really far from mine, 

it slows business and training 

down. 

How can these challenges be 

addressed? 

The government can help by 

encouraging young entrepreneurs 

with grants. If I am able to 

get a grant, I could help others 

as I had always wanted to. But if 

I do not have enough resources 

to even teach people, those who 

want to learn most times do not 

even have enough to pay to learn. 

So, if I have resources and can 

teach for free, that will be a whole 

lot of help, not just for me but for 

the people I wish to help too. 

What would you tell your 

younger self? 

I would tell my younger self 

to keep going, do not stop moving; 

be creative; be energetic; be 

focused and always be ready. Opportunities 

will not wait for you 

to get ready. So always be ready. 

Tech4Dev, Microsoft collaborate to train 

500,000 youth on digital skills 

JOSEPHINE OKOJIE 

Tech4dev and Microsoft 

have partnered to train over 

500,000 youths on digital 

skills through its Basic 

Digital Education Initiative (BDEI). 

In a statement made available 

to BusinessDay, Joel Ogunsola, 

executive director, Tech4Dev said 

that the initiative is an experimental 

learning program that is supported 

by Microsoft Nigeria to train young 

individuals in primary, secondary 

and tertiary institutions on foundational 

digital skills. 

Ogunsola noted that the move 

have become imperative in order 

to equip young minds with the 

requisite skills for the 21st century. 

“We are making ample investment 

in digital skills education 

over the decade through support 

from Microsoft Philanthropy to 

train the next generation of young 

individuals looking to be part of 

the fourth industrial revolution as 

well as adults who very much need 

the skills to fully benefit from new 

opportunities being presented by 

the fourth industrial revolution,” 

he said. 

He noted that the initiative was a 

result of Tech4Dev and Microsoft’s 

mission to solve the world’s biggest 

problems through technology. 

Also speaking during the training 

event, Akin Banuso, general 

manager, Microsoft Nigeria said, 

“in a world where digital skills are 

fundamental to success in so many 

environments, leaving people in the 

dark about this major part of their 

world amounts to an unacceptable 

gap in their education. We believe 

technology should be an equalising 

force in the world—inclusive, 

not divisive.” 

“So, we are investing our greatest 

assets—our technology, grants, 

people, and voice—to advance a 

more equitable world where the 

benefits of technology are accessible 

to everyone,” Banuso said. 

In his key note speech, Olusegun 

Mimiko, former governor of Ondo 

State encouraged the younger 

generation to join the advocacy 

and push for democratization of 

education at all levels. He further 

advocated for more female participation 

in tech fields. 

“It’s a time of intellectual domination. 

Women have begun to 

dominate, and they should get more 

involved,” Mimiko said.


Olawumi Ogunbode 

How Olawumi Ogunbode 

makes money from 

soaps, shea butter, honey 

Angel James 

dients such as egg white 

and lemon. In 2013, she 

commercialised her 

products and created 

awareness on them. Ever 

since then, her sales 

have gone beyond her 

expectation. She is 

happy to have attracted 

many Nigerians to her 

Nigerians 

do not 

appreciate 

their 

own locally 

made 

products 

because 

we do not 

believe in 

each other 

products. 

The young entrepreneur 

did not stop there. 

She committed time and 

resources to learning 

about black soap and 

she now has her own 

recipe, which is different 

from others. 

“I started my business 

with less than N5, 

000, which I used to 

buy materials. My black 

soap business alone is 

worth over N100, 000. 

I have two employees 

and source materials 

from factories where 

they are produced in the 

country. My black soaps 

are unique because I 

check the skin texture 

and complexion coupled 

with other requirements 

before production,” she 

says. 

The entrepreneur 

believes that time will 

come when she will go 

into mass production 

and will have general 

products for oily skin 

and dry skin, among 

others. 

Olawumi has been 

able to create awareness 

through word of mouth, 

social media, her website 

and referrals. 

She says the business 

is lucrative as women 

will always want their 

skins to glow without 

wearing makeup, adding 

that men also patronise 

her because of the quality 

of the products. 

The entrepreneur has 

long-term customers 

and says that Nigerians 

have not learnt to believe 

in their own products. 

“I do not really have 

problem with the shea 

butter and other products 

I make, but my major 

concern which is 

the black soap. I notice 

that people prefer to buy 

soaps from Ghana and 

the UK, but my soap is 

as original as those ones 

from abroad,” she states. 


is planning to expand 

across the country 

and ensure that every 

household uses her 

products. 

“My long-term plan is 

to run the business and 

be the leading brand. 

Nigerians do not appreciate 

their own locally 

made products because 

we do not believe in 

each other. We do not 

know the efficacy and 

worth of our local made 

products,” she notes. 

She urges the government 

to empower 

local entrepreneurs to 

produce more, while 

calling for a better business 

environment for 

entrepreneurs. 

Josephine Okojie 

Kenechukwu Chibuikem 

Okafor is 

a Mechanical Engineering 

graduate 

of Landmark University. He is 

the founder and CEO of Ezra 

Footwear, a start-up shoe 

manufacturing business. 

Kenechukwu was inspired 

to establish his business by 

his parents and his love 

for leather products. The 

achievements of his parents 

motivated him on a daily 

basis and in 2016, he established 

Ezra Footwear. He 

is also the founder of Ezra 

farms. 

The young engineer 

started the business with his 

entire savings. According to 

Kenechukwu, his business 

has grown since starting and 

demand for his products is 

also rising. 

He tells Start-Up Digest 

that he sources his raw materials 

from local markets 

across the country and also 

imports some of them. 

“We source for most of our 

materials from local markets 

and also import from Indonesia,” 

the footwear maker says. 

Kenechukwu recently won 

the Entrepreneurs Organisation’s 

Global Students Entrepreneurship 

Awards (EOG- 

SEA) (Nigeria chapter) and 

represented the country at 

the global finals in Germany. 

Kenechukwu states that 

the footwear industry has 


Ol awumi 

Ogunbode 

is the CEO 

of Jarah, a 

subsidiary 

of Shadonai Resources 

Limited that produces 

skin products such as 

soap, honey, carrot oil, 

coconut oil and shea 

butter, popularly known 

as ‘Ori’. A graduate of 

English from Olabisi 

Onabanjo University, 

Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, 

Olawumi started her 

business while a student. 

Her desire has always 

been to be part 

of the made-in-Nigeria 

project. 

“I started my business 

in 2013 with the desire to 

change the type of soaps 

in the market, which often 

contain harsh chemicals 

that could cause 

skin irritation. I noticed 

that most of the bathing 

soaps in the market were 

produced using chemicals 

that were harsh on 

the skin. I decided not 

use any soap that I did 

not know how it was 

produced. Then I started 

working on my skin and 

people started coming 

to me for advice,” she 

explains. 


had been using 

black soap since 2001 

until she decided to incorporate 

natural ingrethe 

potential to diversify the 

country’s economy away 

from oil and earn huge foreign 

exchange for Nigeria, 

adding that what is required 

is the support from government. 


assures that the country has 

what it takes in terms of raw 

materials and the needed 

skills to be footwear manufacturing 

hub in Africa. 

When asked about his 

expansion plans, he says, “I 

have scheduled a lot of expansion 

plans which I have 

already started working on 

through the help of my parents 

who has been supporting 

me from the beginning. 

Currently I am making efforts 

in securing more machines 

for production and also expand 

the factory space.” 

“I also intend to start 

training other youths on 

footwear manufacturing. I 

am saving towards achieving 

all this within the shortest 

possible time,” says 

Ekenechukwu. 

Answering questions on 

the challenges the business 

is facing, Kenechukwu replies 

that rising cost of raw 

materials remains the major 

issue. He adds that prices of 

every material needed for 

production of footwear has 

risen in recent times. 

This has increased his 

production cost at a point 

when customers are reluctant 

to pay more. Also, he 

stresses that his inability 

to meet up with the huge 

demand for his product is a 

challenge. 


wants the government to 

improve on the ease of doing 

business so that cost of 

production can decline and 

BUSINESS DAY 

39 

‘Start-ups need to be 

competitive to increase survival’ 

We source 

for most of 

our materials 

from local 

markets 

and also 

import from 

Indonesia,” 

the footwear 

maker 

the country’s products will 

become more competitive. 

He states that the issue of 

competitiveness has been 

a major factor hindering 

the growth of the country’s 

footwear industry as a lot of 

foreign shoes are cheaper 

than locally produce ones. 

The engineer-turnedentrepreneur 

said when 

production cost is cheaper, 

Nigeria’s shoes will compete 

favourably with the 

imported ones. 

Kenechukwu also urges 

the government to assist 

start-ups with finance. “A 

lot of Nigerian youths have 

wonderful business ideas 

but the finance to bring them 

to bear is what is lacking, 

forcing many to never establish 

their businesses. 

But if government can start 

supporting start-ups with 

finance, many of them will 

establish their business,” 

he says. 

He states that government 

has not given enough 

support to the leather sector, 

stressing that a lot of footwear 

makers in the country 

have shut down due to harsh 

operating environment and 

lack of government support. 

“A lot of people started 

footwear production line 

and were forced to close 

down because they could 

not cope with the economic 

situation. The footwear industry 

can be a good source 

of export for Nigeria with 

much support from the government,” 

he says. 

On advice to other entrepreneurs, 

he says, “We 

all go through bad days. I 

have been through a lot of 

bad times, but what matters 

is not how hard you fell but 

how you got back up.”


C002D5556 Monday 16 April 2018 

MondayMorning 

In association with 

Harvard 

Business 

Review 

Becoming more conscientious 

STEFANO TASSELLI, 

MARTIN KILDUFF AND 

BLAINE LANDIS 

Ma n y 

people, 

including 

some 

experts, 

see personality as relatively 

stable over time. 

In other words, you are 

who you are, and while 

you may evolve a little, 

once you become an 

adult your major traits — 

your extraversion, agreeableness, 

neuroticism, 

openness and, yes, conscientiousness 

— won’t 

change much. 

But this widespread 

belief in the immutability 

of personality is 

misplaced. People can 

positively change their 

personalities by increasing 

their engagement in 

Welcoming an employee back from medical leave 

ANNE SUGAR 

Employees take leaves 

of absence for all sorts 

of reasons, from dealing 

with a cancer diagnosis to 

caring for a sick child. Here are 

some specific actions that will 

help ensure a smooth transition 

for your employee and 

you. 

REMEMBER TO CHECK IN. 

Plan to check in periodically 

with your team member on 

leave. A good starting point is 

checking in on a monthly basis, 

but of course this depends 

on the length of the leave. 

Keeping up even occasional 

communication will help your 

team member feel valued and 

engaged when they are out of 

the office, and it demonstrates 

your confidence in and support 

of their work. 

activities that fit three 

criteria: They feel important, 

are enjoyable and 

accord with their values. 

With this in mind, 

think about why you 

may struggle to act conscientiously. 

See if you 

You can talk with your employee 

to find the method 

of communication that best 

suits them, whether it’s quick 

emails, phone calls, or perhaps 

an occasional face-to-face 

meetup if they’re on extended 

leave and their situation allows 

for it. 

REACH OUT RIGHT BE- 

FORE THEIR RETURN. Even 

more important than a brief 

check-in is the communication 

right before the staff 

member returns to the office. It 

is important to ask about how 

they would like their return 

announced. Sometimes the 

employee might want to return 

without a lot of fanfare. It is 

important to honor privacy in 

terms of what the staff member 

wants to divulge, so prepare for 

a brief conversation. 

THINK THROUGH THE 

can identify what is getting 

in your way, and 

discuss it with your boss. 

She may be able to explain 

why a task that 

seems unimportant to 

you is important to the 

success of the business, 

DETAILS. As a first step, consider 

how you can create 

meaningful touchpoints that 

create a welcoming experience. 

For instance, you might 

meet the employee at the door 

when they arrive at the office, 

or have flowers or some other 

welcoming item waiting for 

them at their desk. End the 

first day early so that your employee 

can ease back into the 

workflow. 

PROVIDE A PHASED 

TRANSITION. Recognize that 

because of medical appointments 

or fatigue, your employee’s 

schedule might need to 

be different than before. With 

these parameters in mind, focus 

on some small, quick-win 

projects to jump-start the employee’s 

work in a meaningful 

manner. 

CHECK IN FREQUENTLY. 

or willing to assign you 

to tasks that are a better 

fit for your abilities. 

If you can’t change the 

tasks you’re assigned, try 

to change how you think 

about them. For example, 

if you can remind 

With your returning employee, 

think about providing additional 

attention, as if you had 

a new employee joining the 

team. The most important 

meeting to facilitate is with the 

yourself that timeliness 

is part of high-quality 

work, you may find it 

easier to let go when the 

deadline approaches. 

Do you value collaboration 

and helpfulness? 

Building relationships? 

Teamwork? If you learn 

to see a task in a way that 

matches your values, 

you will have an easier 

time completing it well. 

You can also enhance 

your conscientiousness 

by enhancing your interactions 

with co-workers, 

inside or outside the 

workplace. Research 

shows that investment 

in activities with colleagues 

is associated 

with an increase in a 

person’s conscientiousness. 

Even recreational 

activities can help you 

become more detail-oriented 

by boosting your 

team member who took over 

the employee’s work while 

they were out. 

Remember that transition 

scheduling should be fluid 

since each employee has a 

sense of belonging and 

obligation to your work 

community. 

Importantly, showing 

your willingness to become 

conscientious may 

be just as important as 

actually doing it. From 

an organizational perspective, 

leaders should 

evaluate their employees 

not only on their 

current behavior and 

performance but also 

on how adaptable those 

employees are. 

(Stefano Tasselli is an 

assistant professor at 

the Rotterdam School 

of Management, Erasmus 

University. Martin 

Kilduff is a professor at 

the UCL School of Management. 

Blaine Landis 

is an assistant professor 

at University College 

London.) 

unique experience and situation 

returning to the workplace. 

(Anne Sugar is an executive 

coach and speaker.) 

(C) (2017) Harvard Business Review. Distributed by New York Times Syndicate


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

41 

Harvard 

Business 

Review 

MondayMorning 

In association with 

Presenting in English when you’re not a native speaker 

DEBORAH GRAYSON RIEGEL 

Being compelled 

to speak in your 

non-native language 

can lead to feelings 

of frustration pressure, 

and insecurity. 

Add to that the burden 

of making formal business 

presentations in 

front of superiors, decision-makers 

and key 

stakeholders in your 

non-native language, 

and the anxiety is significantly 

greater. 

My co-author Ellen 

Dowling and I interviewed 

many leaders 

in this situation, and 

asked them to share 

their experiences. Here 

are three strategies nonnative 

English speakers 

can employ to help 

them feel more confident 

before, during and 

after a presentation: 

SPEND SIGNIFI- 

CANTLY MORE TIME 

PRACTICING YOUR 

DELIVERY THAN PER- 

FECTING YOUR DECK. 

The goal here is “overlearning” 

your presentation 

— pushing on 

with practice even when 

it seems like you’ve 

done enough. This will 

help your presentation 

to become embedded 

in your long-term memory 

and therefore less 

susceptible to the effects 

of stress. It will also 

help you speak spontaneously. 

DON’T AGONIZE 

ABOUT YOUR AC- 

CENT, BUT DO SLOW 

YOUR SPEAKING 

SPEED. An unfamiliar 

accent is particularly 

problematic in the first 

minute or two of your 

presentation when 

your audience must 

initially strain to understand 

you. Choose your 

opening words deliberately 

and pronounce 

them carefully. The au- 

dience will slowly develop 

an ear for your 

accent and find it easier 

to understand what you 

are saying. 

PAUSE EARLY AND 

OFTEN. Understanding 

accented speech requires 

listeners to draw 

on additional cognitive 

resources, not only to 

understand and remember 

what has been 

said but also to manage 

other information or 

tasks while listening to 

accented speech. 

For both native and 

non-native English 

speakers, perfection 

is overrated. But with 

some extra attention, 

effort and commitment, 

non-native English 

speakers can present 

with confidence, 

competence and cultural 

comfort. 

(Deborah Grayson 

Riegel is a principal at 

The Boda Group.) 

Why email is so stressful 

DORIE CLARK 

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed 

with the 

crush of email. In fact, 

one study showed the average 

professional spends 

4.1 hours per day responding 

to work messages. 

I undertook an experiment. 

For two weeks, I 

tracked, recorded and 

categorized every email 

I received, splitting them 

into categories like “client 

communication” and 

“networking or event invitation.” 

Everything that 

made it directly into my 

inbox was tallied — 1,161 

messages over a two-week 

period. 

Here are three important 

lessons I learned from 

the process, which may 

be valuable as you think 

about how to make the 

time you spend on email 

more efficient, as well. 

EACH “YES” LEADS TO 

MORE WORK. Saying no 

is a challenge for any professional: 

You don’t want 

to disappoint people, and 

any given opportunity may 

lead to positive outcomes. 

But analyzing the emails I 

received taught me an important 

lesson about why 

it’s essential to exercise 

stringent judgment: Each 

“yes” leads to a cascade 

of (typically unforeseen) 

work. Recognizing the 

downstream consequences 

and impact on one’s 

time is essential when 

evaluating your decision. 

IT’S EASIER TO SAY 

“NO” WHEN YOU REAL- 

IZE HOW MANY PEOPLE 

ARE ASKING. It was stunning 

to me how many 

messages I received — a 

full 12% of my overall 

emails — that were people 

asking me to do things. In 

some cases, it was easy to 

say no. But many requests 

were harder to navigate, 

including 75 messages 

from colleagues asking for 

favors, whether it was a 

book endorsement, an introduction 

to someone, or 

a request to connect me to 

a contact of theirs. 

In total, I received 69 

requests per week, or 

nearly 10 per day. It takes 

extreme willpower to say 

no, but it became easier 

when taking the aggregate 

numbers into account. As 

the old saying goes, “Your 

inbox is someone else’s 

to-do list for you.” When I 

thought about how much 

energy I’d be spending 

doing 69 people’s bidding 

per week, it helped 

me refocus and recognize 

that I could only make an 

impact if I focused on my 

own priorities. 

I’ll suggest that the truly 

essential emails were 

client communication 

and inquiries about potential 

new engagements. 

Using that metric, only 

10.5% of the messages I received 

over the two-week 

period qualified. 

Spending more time 

fielding messages, time 

spent away from our own 

priorities, isn’t a sustainable 

answer. And asking 

people to take you off of 

mailing lists or leave you 

off of “reply all” threads is 

a losing battle. (Just save 

your time and don’t respond.) 

Instead, by understanding 

the signal-to-noise 

ratio of our inboxes, and 

recognizing how easy it is 

for others to make (often 

onerous) requests for our 

time, we can make smarter 

choices about where to focus 

our attention. 

(Dorie Clark is a marketing 

strategist and professional 

speaker who 

teaches at Duke University’s 

Fuqua School of 

Business.) 

Brought to you courtesy of First Bank Nigeria



REAL SECTOR WATCH 

Understanding Nigeria’s industrial strategy 

ODINAKA ANUDU 

One of the barely 

discussed concepts 

in modern development 

economics 

today is industrial 

strategy or blueprint. But it is hard 

to identify any upper middleincome 

or advanced economy 

that did not propel its growth or 

development through a clear-cut 

industrial strategy. 

China, for instance, is exportoriented. 

It is the largest exporter 

of steel, shipping 73.3 million 

metric tonnes to the world in 

2017. The country is also world’s 

largest exporter of textiles and a 

number of other products. Even 

the ‘Go-Out Policy’ introduced by 

the country in 2009 is a reflection 

of its outwardly looking industrial 

strategy, targeted at exporting finished 

products to the world and 

investing overseas. 

India is following the same 

development pattern. 

Import-substitution, on the 

other hand, was adopted by Latin 

American countries, including 

Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and 

Venezuela, in the 1930s up to 

1980s. It was hugely successful in 

these countries. 

It is a strategy in which local 

industries are established with 

a view to producing goods that 

replace imported ones. It means, 

for instance, encouraging the formation 

or establishment of fruit 

juice manufacturing companies 

in Nigeria to ensure that fruit juice 

is no longer imported. It is more 

inward-looking than outward. 

It requires imposition of tariffs, 

quotas and exchange controls to 

protect local industries from foreign 

competitors and make foreign 

goods expensive. 

Export- oriented or substitution 

industrialisation, on the other 

hand, is a strategy of exporting 

goods for which a country has 

a comparative advantage. This 

strategy has worked miracles for 

the Asian Tigers. 

Some countries have also adopted 

foreign private investment 

strategy, whereby incentives are 

put in place to attract multinationals 

and foreign direct investors. A 

typical example of a country with 

this policy is Ethiopia, even though 

it may be argued that the East African 

country is export-oriented or a 

mix of export-orientation and foreign 

private investment strategies. 

Some analysts argue that Nigeria 

does not have a specific industrial 

strategy and needs any of the 

three discussed above. 

Speaking at this year’s Manufacturing 

& Equipment Expo 

organised by MAN and Clarion 

Event West Africa, Aliyu Suleiman 

of the Dangote Group said the an 

industrial strategy had become 

important for Nigeria as new 

governments spent half of their 

tenures devising plans, with little 

room for implementation. 

“Last year, the United Kingdom 

produced a revised manufacturing 

strategy— a definitive roadmap. We 

can do that in Nigeria and MAN is 

in the best position to do this,” he 

stated. 

According to him, the industrial 

strategy should include the aspiration 

of industry in terms of how 

much GDP contribution targeted; 

where to play, with regard to areas 

of priority, and how to win, in terms 

of becoming competitive. 

Others have also pointed out 

that the country’s industrial strategy 

is vague, if it ever exists. 

There is another school of 

thought that believes that the country 

has never had any well-defined 

industrial strategy over the years. 

But a close look at Nigeria’s 

industrial history shows that the 

country adopted import-substitution 

strategy between 1960 and 

1985. However, the objectives were 

never realised. 

According to Udo N. Ekpo of the 

Department of Economics, Akwa 

Ibom State University, inputs such 

as raw materials, machines, spare 

parts and the skilled manpower 

used in the local industries were 

imported. As a result of this, rather 

than cut imports, external dependence 

or save foreign exchange 

as expected, the policy hiked 

imports, perpetuated external 

dependency of industrial sector, 

and drained foreign exchange. 

More so, the envisaged transfer 

of technical skill and technology, 

which could have resulted in technological 

development in Nigeria 

and consequently boost industrial 

development, did not materialise 

because strategic technical position 

in existing manufactured 

firms were manned by foreigners, 

he added. 

At various times in the past, 

Nigeria made efforts to attract 

foreign manufacturers and multinationals 

to create jobs and utilise 

local raw materials. 

Olusegun Obasanjo and 

Goodluck Jonathan’s eras saw 

Like in the importsubstitution 

era in 

Nigeria, many of 

the raw materials 

are still imported 

today, even though 

local input sourcing 

is already over 

50 percent 

ministers doing road shows outside 

the country to woo investors. 

There were also controversial 

waivers and incentives which 

several foreign companies got, 

especially during the Jonathan’s 

administration, targeted at promoting 

foreign investments. 

Currently, many government 

officials have used the expression 

‘import-substitution’ many 

times, pushing analysts to wonder 

whether this is the country’s current 

strategy. 

However, the crash in Nigeria’s 

biggest foreign exchange 

earner—crude oil— in 2015 and 

2016 pushed public officials into 

campaigning for export of Nigerian 

agro and finished products. The 

reason was not far-fetched: Oil 

price was low and consequently 

dollar inflows could not meet the 

demands of manufacturers who 

needed to import inputs; fuel 

importers who wanted to bring in 

refined fuel, among others. 

Like in the import-substitution 

era in Nigeria, many of the raw 

materials are still imported today, 

even though local input sourcing is 

already over 50 percent. This is why 

many think that Nigeria’s industrial 

strategy is either non-existent or it 

is import-substitution. 

However, checks show that 

there has been a new industrial 

policy in the country since 2014. In 

the Nigeria Industrial Revolution 

Plan prepared by the Goodluck 

Jonathan administration, adopted 

by the present government, the 

country’s strategy is what is called 

‘resource-based industrialisation’. 

This means the use of locally 

available resources, such as raw 

materials, man power and natural 

resources, to grow domestic 

production. This has seen some 

success with local input sourcing 

ranging between 52 and 60 percent 

since the second half of 2016, 

according to numbers from MAN. 

However, the craze for export 

to earn foreign exchange and the 

constant use of ‘import substitution’ 

in the industrial circles are 

blurring this vision. Nigeria’s nonoil 

export today is still dominated 

by cocoa, rubber, sesame seeds, 

shea nuts, animal skins/leather 

and vegetables, which ordinarily 

should feed local industries. 

Frank Udemba Jacobs, president 

of MAN, believes on the focus 

is on import-substitution, exportorientation 

and resource-based industrialisation. 

Jacobs said export 

was important because of the need 

for foreign exchange in the country, 

adding that export would create 

more demand locally. 

“Our industrial strategy is clear. 

It is resource-based industrialisation. 

But all others are important. 

What we do not want is exporting 

commodities without adding 

value,” he said. 

Jacobs said the prices of Nigerian 

products were not low owing 

to high cost of inputs and power. 

Muda Yusuf, director-general of 

the Lagos Chamber of Commerce 

and Industry (LCCI), pointed out 

most industries focused on both 

the local and export markets because 

the latter was bigger. 

Yusuf said import- substitution 

and export promotion could 

go together. He explained that 

resource-based industrial was 

more competitive because local 

resources were utilised, citing an 

example with the bright performance 

of food and beverage subsector 

which got most of its inputs 

locally as a case study. 

Oladapo Abiodun, chairman 

of LCCI SME Group, noted that 

import-substitution and export 

promotion could not be separated 

as one depended on the other for 

success. 

“The whole world is a global 

market. For you to enjoy economies 

of scale, you need to produce 

at an optimal level, satisfy 

the local market and export,” 

Abiodun said. 

He said a clear industrial 

strategy could only be noticed 

when the environment was good 

enough for businesses. 

Experts say what Nigeria 

needs is to further develop essential 

raw materials for industries 

by bringing back petrochemical 

industries, rejigging Ajaokuta 

Steel and attracting deep-pocket 

investors to the solid minerals 

sector. They say unless efforts are 

made in these directions, input 

importation will continue and 

resource-based industrialisation 

will become a will-o-the-wisp.


C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 43 

REAL SECTOR WATCH 

Steel firms expand capacity, tap 

export opportunity to earn FX 

Stories by ODINAKA ANUDU 

Nigerian steel 

firms are expanding 

capacity 

and tapping 

into export opportunity 

in the neighbouring 

markets to earn foreign 

exchange. 

Aarti Steel Nigeria Limited, 

which recently completed 

a 120,000- tonnes capacity 

cold-rolled mill in Ota, Ogun 

State, exports steel to Togo 

and Mali and plans to expand 

to Central Africa, Ivory Coast 

and Benin to boost capacity, 

earn more foreign exchange 

and tap the growth potential 

in the continent’s market. 

Aniket Singal, Aarti’s vice 

chairman, told BusinessDay 

that the company was looking 

at expanding its export 

footprints, but said there 

was a need for a policy that 

would keep substandard roofing 

sheets at bay. African 

Industries, in October 2016, 

exported finished steel products 

to Morocco, Ghana and 

other parts of Africa for the 

first time. 

The company said its export 

of finished steel products 

would save the country over 

$650 million yearly. Alok 

Gupta, group managing director, 

African Industries 

Group, said that the quality 

of steel products of African Industries 

was at par with steel 

from Ukraine, if not better, 

adding that the company had 

become internationally competitive 

in exporting products 

Nigerian Breweries expanding local input sourcing operations, says MD 

The Nigerian 

Breweries (NB) 

says it is committed 

to raising 

its current 

50 percent local raw materials 

sourcing to 60 percent 

before 2020. 

Speaking at the annual 

general meeting held last 

Wednesday in Lagos, Jordi 

Borrut Bel, managing 

director of NB, said the 

brewer would continue 

to improve on its value 

extraction from local raw 

materials, including cassava 

and sorghum. 

Bel stated that the company 

was determined to 

improve the sorghum value 

chain in the country. 

The brewer’s profit after 

tax (PAT) on the financial 

year ended December 31, 

2017, surged to N33 billion, 

from N28.4 billion reported 

in the correspond- 

A cross section of participants trained by Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC) on “Customer Relationship 

Management” in Lagos recently 

ers. 

He said the firm had 

cut water consumption for 

production by 28 percent 

in the last 10 years, sourcing 

100 percent of its packfrom 

Nigeria. 

He called for Export Expansion 

Grant to enable the 

company to sustain its exports. 

He added that freight 

cost from Ukraine to Ghana 

was $40 per metric tonne 

(MT) while that of Nigeria to 

Ghana is $65/MT, which was 

expensive. 

Uche Iwuamadi, executive 

director of the group, said the 

company’s operational capacity 

was below 70 percent, 

stating that there would likely 

be excess steel in the country 

when African Industries 

reached 100 percent capacity. 

African Industries has 12 

subsidiaries, including six big 

ing period of 2017, representing 

a 16 percent rise. 

Revenue for the period was 

N344 billion, as against 

N313 billion recorded in 

the previous year, representing 

approximately 10 

percent increase. 

Bel said the board of 

directors of NB recommended 

dividend of N33 

billion to shareholders, 

which was highest in the 

company’s history. 

The recommendation 

amounts to a total dividend 

of N4.13 per share 

for the 2017 operating year. 

Bell explained that the 

brewer gave out 100 per 

cent dividend as part of its 

dividend policy, consistent 

in its robust balance sheet. 

He explained that the 

company’s stable growth 

amid economic headwinds 

was a result of the company’s 

ability to cut cost. 

steel plants such as African 

Steel Mills, Ikorodu Steel Mills, 

African Foundries, and Abuja 

Steel Mills. 

“We produce one million 

tonnes of steel per year and 

our target is to export between 

200,000MT and 400,000 MT 

this year. You can see we are 

earning foreign exchange 

when others are demanding 

it from the government,” Uche 

Iwuamadi, group executive 

director, African Industries, 

told BusinessDay. 

Standard Metallurgical 

Company Limited (SMC) is 

planning to launch a billet mill 

to produce standard wire rods 

in Nigeria for the local and 

ECOWAS market. 

Mohammed Saade, managing 

director, SMC, said was 

producing 300,000 tonnes of 

wire rods per year. 

“With phase two, we would 

produce 260,000 tons of billets 

in Nigeria. Nigeria today 

is a big market and we are 

committed to meeting local 

demands and the surplus can 

go to the ECOWAS market,” 

Saade said. 

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest 

economy, spends about $3.3 

billion on steel imports every 

year. Eighteen of the 30 steel 

manufacturers in Nigeria produce 

about 2.2 million tons a 

year with scraps and billets 

Bel explained that the 

foreign exchange situation 

improved last year, but 

pointed out that double 

digit inflation impacted 

businesses and consum- 

imported mainly from China. 

An average of steel products 

such as standard plates, 

hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled 

coil and rebar is $464.7 using 

Chinese prices, which means 

Nigeria imports roughly 7.1 

million metric tonnes of steel 

annually. Many of the exports 

are still scraps, billets, and 

nails . 

The publicly-owned Ajaokuta 

Steel Complex is in 

disrepair after government 

sinking over $5 billion into the 

plant. The government has 

been slow in handing over 

the behemoth to a private investor 

despite interests from 

foreigners. 

aging materials locally. 

Bell noted that development 

of employees was 

important for sustainable 

company performance, 

adding that early signs 

of improvement in the 

macro-economic condition 

were yet to reflect on 

consumer confidence. 

He said the firm remained 

committed to the 

market in the long term as 

the fundamentals of the 

beer market were strong 

and attractive in the both 

medium and long term. 

He pointed out that 

firm was well positioned 

to trade through difficult 

times by leveraging its 

innovative brands across 

different market segments. 

NB sources its sorghum 

through a company known 

as Psaltry International 

Limited, located at Alayide 

village, Ado Awaiye near 

Iseyin, Oyo State, 

Initiate policies to 

revive moribund 

textile mills, 

NTGTEA tells FG 

The Nigeria Textile, 

Garment and Tailoring 

Employers 

Association (NT- 

GTEA) has urged the Federal 

Government to initiate 

steps to revive moribund 

textile mills in Nigeria. 

By 1985, Nigeria had over 

180 textile mills employing 

more than one million 

Nigerians. Some of the 

mills were United Nigerian 

Textile Limited (UNTL), 

Aswani Textile, Afprint, 

Asaba Textile Mills, and Edo 

Textile Mills, among others, 

but there are fewer than 

three full-fledged healthy 

textile mills in Africa’s biggest 

economy and most 

populous country today. 

Speaking in a telephone 

interview, Hamma Kwajaffa, 

director-general of NTG- 

TEA, said unbridled importation 

of cheaper but substandard 

textile products 

killed local firms, stating 

that 95 percent of the textile 

market in the country today 

is dominated by China. 

Kwajaffa said the very 

few surviving textile firms 

are struggling and cannot 

compete with China and India, 

whose production costs 

in their home countries are 

much lower than Nigeria’s. 

“Energy costs four cents 

per kilowatt in other African 

countries but 20 cents per 

kilowatt in Nigeria. So how 

can a struggling textile firm 

compete? We need government 

intervention to be 

able to compete,” he asked. 

The textile industry in 

Nigeria is currently made 

up of fabrics makers, cotton 

producers, rug and carpet 

manufacturers as well as 

fashion and designers. 

“We can produce military 

uniforms. We have bed 

sheets, blankets, towels 

and handkerchiefs. We can 

make good products, but 

there is a need for incentives 

for the industry,” he 

said. 

In the first quarter of 

2016, Aisha Abubakar, 

minister of state for industry, 

trade and investment, 

toured three textile firms, 

which include Lucky Fibres 

Nigeria Plc, Spintex Mills 

and Nichemtex Plc in Lagos 

and Ogun states, promising 

to draw government attention 

to the challenges in the 

industry. 

However, smuggling, 

high production cost, poor 

patronage and lack of quality 

control on imports, which 

are age-old problems in 

the industry, continue with 

little or minimal government 

response.

44 

BUSINESS DAY 

ABUJACITYBUSINESS 

COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF NATION’S CAPITAL 

PenCom sensitizes prospective 

retirees on ease of accessing benefits 

HARRISON EDEH, Abuja 

National Pension 

Commission 

(Pen- 

Com) has 

carried out 

sensitisation awareness to 

prospective retirees on ease 

of accessing their retirement 

benefits from the Contributory 

Pension Scheme (CPS) 

under the Pension Reform 

Act, 2014. 

Prior to the reform, Public 

Sector operated Defined 

Benefit (DB) Scheme which 

was unfunded to the tune of 

N2.3 trillion pension liability 

as at 2004; marred by weak, 

inefficient and poor administration, 

prone to fraud and 

riddled with endless and 

painful annual physical verification 

of pensioners. 

On the other hand, the 

L-R: Ye Shuijin, 

president, China 

Chamber of Commerce 

in Nigeria 

(CCC); Chiedu 

Osakwe, chief 

trade negotiator/dg 

Nigerian Office for 

Trade Negotiations 

(NOTN), and Zhang 

Wenfeng, md/ceo, 

China Harbour Engineering 

Company 

Limited, during the 

presentation of Office 

Equipment/Items by 

the CCC to NOTN in 

Abuja. 

Pic by Tunde Adeniyi 

Private Sector pension was 

characterized by low coverage 

as most employers did 

not have pension arrangements 

and Retirement benefit 

under the NPF/NSITF 

scheme were very low. 

Section 4 of the Pension 

Reform Act 2014, stipulates 

the minimum rates of contributions 

of 10% and 8% for 

employers and employees 

respectively in both public 

and private sectors; monthly 

pension contributions in the 

core civil service are centrally 

deducted by the Office of the 

Accountant General of the 

Federation (OAGF) as advised 

by the Budget Office of the 

Federation based on budgeted 

total personnel costs 

with effect from July 2004. 

At a recent sensitisation 

meeting held in Kaduna, the 

officials of the National Pension 

Commission explained 

in a presentation made 

available to BusinessDay, 

requisite steps as well as the 

benefits of the contributory 

Pension scheme. 

According to the Commission, 

“Contributory 

Pension Scheme seeks to, 

amongst others, ensure that 

every worker receives his 

retirement benefits as and 

when due.” 

Also, retirement benefits 

administration is the last 

phase of the process/activities 

put place to achieve the 

above objectives of the Pension 

reform. 

The two models of withdrawal 

under the Contributory 

Pension scheme are: 

‘Programmed withdrawal’ 

and the ‘Purchase of retiree 

life annuity. Besides, there are 

also benefits for the beneficiaries 

of a deceased contributor. 

Through the Programmed 

Withdrawal, 

beneficiaries are entitled to 

monthly pension of at least 

50% of terminal monthly 

emolument subject to lumpsum 

taken and RSA balance 

may be enhanced at regular 

intervals subject to returns 

on investment; balance in 

RSA is re-invested by PFA 

for maximum growth and 

bequeaths inheritance if 

death occurs at any time. 

In the same vein, Retiree 

Life Annuity provides opportunity 

for retirees, access 

to a financial product offered 

by Insurance companies 

for a regular income in 

consideration for payment 

of premium from a retiree; 

regular pension payments 

for life so long as the retiree 

is alive. 

FCT Minister seeks National Assembly 

approval for N40.3bn priority budget 

LAIDE AKINBOADE-ORIERE 

Federal Capital Territory 

Administration 

(FCTA) has defended 

its 2018 National 

Priority Budget proposal 

of N40,297,122,872 

before the Senate. 

Muhammad Bello, FCT 

Minister who presented the 

budget to the Senate Committee 

on Federal Capital 

Territory (FCT), at the National 

Assembly in Abuja, 

explained that the proposal 

was in accordance with 

the N40.3 billion envelope 

given to the FCT as its National 

Priority Budget by the 

Federal Ministry of Budget 

and National Planning. 

According to Bello, 

27 critical infrastructure 

projects totalling 

N40,297,122.27 have been 

prioritized for action under 

the proposal. 

These include the B6, 

B12 and Circle roads traversing 

the National Stadium, 

Villa and back to 

the Stadium; the Greater 

Abuja Water Works project 

as well as the Extension of 

Inner Southern Expressway 

(ISEX) from the Central 

Bank/National Christian 

Centre to Galadimawa 

Roundabout. 

Provisions totalling N1.2 

billion were also made for in 

infrastructure development 

at major satellite towns of 

Kubwa, Karshi and Bwari 

to help stave off the weight 

of expansion being witnessed 

in the city. In addition, 

major utilities and 

social services covering 

education, water supply as 

well as security at the UN 

building have been effectively 

provided for. 

The Minister disclosed 

that the N40.3 billion FCT 

2018 Budget, is an improvement 

on the N30.4 billion 

that was allocated to the FCT 

for capital projects in 2017. 

H e s a i d 

N12,198,561,434.40 representing 

40.1 percent of the 

total sum has so far been 

released and expended. 

He expressed his appreciation 

to the National Assembly 

for extending the window 

of expenditure for the 2017 

Budget and stated that it will 

allow for more releases to be 

made to offset some critical 

infrastructural bills in the FCT. 

Bello disclosed that the 

FCTA is working to overcome 

the budget shortfall 

through its recently reconstituted 

FCT Internal Revenue 

Service. 

Speaking earlier, Dino 

Melaye, chairman, Senate 

Committee on FCT, 

lamented that the FCT National 

Priority Budget has 

declined from N109 billion 

in the recent past to N30.4 

in 2017 and N40.3 billion 

in 2018. 

C002D5556 

KEHINDE AKINTOLA, HARRISON 

EDEH & CYNTHIA EGBOBOH, Abuja 

The Organised Private 

Sector (OPS), 

Nigerian Labour 

Congress (NLC) 

and other key economic 

stakeholders want the Federal 

Government to prioritize 

enforcement of rules of 

Origin in the African Continental 

Free Trade Area 

Agreement (CFTA) saying 

that this is the only way the 

Nigerian economy could 

harvest the full benefit in 

the deal. 

They also tasked African 

Heads of States and Government 

on the need to 

fast-track provision of requisite 

infrastructure such as 

road, rail infrastructure that 

will aid interconnectivity 

of member states; protect 

local market and ensure 

that CFTA strictly include 

goods produced within the 

region as part of measures 

aimed at turning Africa into 

dumping ground. 

Speaking to Business- 

Day exclusively, Frank 

Jacobs, President of the 

Manufacturers Association 

of Nigeria (MAN) affirmed 

that the consultation initiated 

by Federal Government 

has been fruitful and 

took note of various concerns 

including enforcement 

of the rules of Origin 

and Market Access. 

“We hope that the committee 

that would harmonise 

the reports would reflect 

our submissions accordingly,” 

Jacobs noted. 

On his part, Tony Ejinkonye, 

Vice President of 

National Association of 

Commerce, Industry Mines 

and Agriculture (NACI- 

MA), told BusinessDay 

that: “In market access 

for instance, stakeholders 

have made their submissions 

to the government 

stating that products from 

African countries gaining 

market access must adhere 

to specified percentage (of 

local content) according to 

the CFTA. 

“In the case of Cement 

for instance, that must be 

certain percentage of the 

local content specifying that 

the local content and other 

materials making up the 

Cement are produced in Africa, 

otherwise there would 

be sanctions. This is what 

is meant by enforcement 

of the rules of Origin and 

Market Access so that there 

is no exploitation of local 

industry producers, hence 

they are well protected,” 

While giving update on 

the level of consultation 

with NLC, Ayuba Wabba, 

NLC President expressed 

optimism that the ongoing 

consultation on African 

Continental Free Trade 


CFTA: OPS, NLC, MAN want FG to prioritize market 

access, enforcement of rules of Origin in CFTA deal 

Agreement will be beneficial 

and provide safeguard 

for Nigeria. 

Wabba who stated this 

in a chat with BusinessDay, 

maintained that the decision 

of Nigeria and South 

Africa as the largest economies 

in the continent to decline 

signing the agreement 

in Kigali, Kenya, was commendable 

as it provides 

opportunities for relevant 

stakeholders to make input 

into government policies 

and programmes. 

He observed that opening 

of borders for free flow 

of goods across African 

continent, should involve 

provision of relevant infrastructure 

and level playing 

ground for reciprocity, 

competition and products 

produced within African 

continent. 

“We saw that it was the 

voice of Esau but I think, 

the hands of Jacob. 

So clearly speaking, we 

said let us also make sure 

that we are able to protect 

our markets. Because 

there’s a push somewhere 

and we thought we should 

be able to expose that push 

but importantly, putting 

safeguards to make sure that 

Africa does not become a 

dumping ground for other 

countries because we have 

the population, we have 

what it takes and therefore 

we must work towards industrialisation 

of Africa. 

“If you look at Africa 

today, how many countries 

are into production that really 

we can be able to trade 

among African countries, 

even within West African 

sub-region? Clearly speaking, 

this is what we want, 

yes. Free trade agreement 

is good especially among 

African countries, but it 

must be done within the 

context of reciprocity and 

also within the fact that 

we are the same pedestal 

where Nigeria can be competitive. 

We can be able to 

also produce. 

“Two, is the issue of infrastructure 

of doing trade. 

Today, trade is being facilitated 

in all the European 

countries and other countries 

around them because 

they have infrastructure 

and there’s interconnectivity. 

For us, to move within 

West African countries is 

really is nightmare, sometimes 

you have to go to 

Europe before you can connect 

African countries. 

“The first thing is to put 

infrastructure in place that 

can be able to facilitate 

trade where countries have 

connecting roads and rails. 

For you to go to Cameroon 

from here, you know the 

difficulty it will take to arrive 

there, only going to 

Dakar.

Monday 16 April 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 

45



C002D5556 

NEWS 

L-R: Aliyu Abdulhameed, managing director, Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for 

Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL); Zainab Ahmed, minister of state, budget and national planning, 

and Laoye Jaiyeola, CEO, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), at a workshop on low 

carbon investment opportunities in Nigeria, organised by NESG in Lagos, at the weekend. 

Pic by Olawale Amoo 

Lagos-Badagry 2019 rail completion... 


system along the Lagos- 

Badagry axis, referred as 

the blue line may no longer 

be feasible. 

Awarded to the China 

Civil Engineering Construction 

Corporation 

(CCECC), with advisory 

services being provided by 

CPCS Transcom Limited, 

the blue line project is being 

financed solely by the 

Lagos state government. 

The slow pace of work 

on the on-going blue rail 

project linking Marina and 

Okokomaiko to meet with 

the proposed integrated 

transportation system initiative 

and the lack of push 

to deliver it on record time 

has been described as one 

of the factors piling up 

traffic along the corridor 

which has become a recurring 

decimal. 

Meanwhile, many motorists 

and other road 

users have continued to 

narrate their harrowing 

experiences of deadly attacks 

by some criminal 

elements and destitutes 

who lay siege at the newly 

constructed Lagos-Badagry 

rail terminals. 

A visit to the railway 

terminals reveals the occupants 

had fixed mosquito 

nets and curtains at their 

respective sleeping corners, 

while clothes were 

littered all over the floor. 

Occupants used stones 

and similar objects to 

carve out their spaces. 

Ijeoma Goldie, a petty 

trader who hawks mineral 

drinks and water along 

the corridor, said she had 

witnessed a lot of crimes 

perpetrated by hoodlums 

using the rail terminal at 

Mile 2 and Suru-Alaba as 

their target points. 

About two weeks ago 

during a traffic gridlock, 

the criminals attacked 

many vehicles and 

smashed the windscreen 

and made away with their 

belongings. 

A Chinese supervisor 

working for the CCECC 

at the site who did not 

give his name said it was 

not their responsibility to 

chase away the hoodlums 

and other occupants of the 

railway terminals. 

According to him, “Our 

job is to fix the project and 

getting protected from 

these people is government’s 

responsibility. I 

believe, after completion 

of the construction, their 

activities here will be over.” 

In April 2008 during 

the administration of former 

governor Babatunde 

Fashola, the Lagos state 

government approved 

N70 billion (Out of the 

estimated N220 billion) 

for construction of the 

Okokomaiko-Iddo-Marina 

Line, with an estimated 

completion date of 2011. 

However, the project 

has suffered many delays 

due to funding shortfalls 

with the completion date 

being revised to June 2013, 

then December 2016, then 

2017. As at November 

2016, only 16 km of the 

27 km blue line had been 

completed. 

Comparing the Lagos 

rail project to similar ones 

in other parts of Africa 

shows that Ethiopia managed 

deliver the first modern 

light rail project in 

Sub-Saharan Africa which 

opened in the capital Addis 

Ababa in 2015. 

Ethiopia’s rail project 

was delivered on time despite 

being longer than 

the Lagos – Badagry rail 

line currently under construction. 

Addis Ababa’s two line 

34-kilometre systems was 

built by the China Railway 

Engineering Corporation 

(CREC) and cost $475m, 85 

percent of which was covered 

by China’s Exim bank. 

Lagos has a population 

of about 20 million 

people, compared to Addis 

Ababa’s 5 million. 

The Ethiopian light rail 

has a capacity to carry 60,000 

passengers a day across the 

capital of Africa’s second 

most populous nation. 

Ethiopia was able to 

complete the project despite 

its $50 billion GDP 

being about half the Lagos 

economy. 

Lagos currently doesn’t 

have enough infrastructure 

to move its teeming 

population, with choked 

roads and bridges sometimes 

leading to 4 hour “go 

slows” or traffic jams. 

Speaking with BusinessDay 

on telephone, 

Kola Ojelabi, LAMATA’s 

head of media and communications, 

said the project 

was stopped for almost 

three years because of 

various problems of obstruction 

on the right of 

way (RoW). 

Reacting to the menace 

of hoodlums living on the 

rail lines harassing motorists 

and other road users, 

he explained that, it is 

illegal for anybody under 

any guise to live on the 

rail tracks, not to talk of 

turning themselves into 

criminals and causing a 

breach to public safety. 

According to him, the 

state government is exploring 

the option of lighting 

up the entire stretch 

or highway and erecting 

a protective safety fence 

along the entire Lagos- 

Badagry rail corridor when 

completed. 

“It is true that we have 

given different completion 

dates for the project but 

one of the challenges that 

we had was that the train 

was originally to go to the 

Iddo Railway Terminus, 

but the Railway Act did not 

allow us to do such.’’ 

“Since we could not 

take the train station to 

Iddo, we had to change the 

alignment, and in changing 

that, there were a lot of 

obstructions on the way.’’ 

Among these challenges 

was a fertiliser plant 

around Ijora belonging to 

the Federal Government. 

The state government had 

to negotiate to use the 

compound, so that it could 

take away the warehouse 

and build another warehouse 

for them. 

Moving into the lagoon, 

there were two major 

Adeosun reassigns portfolios in SEC, Mary... 


position of Acting Director-General 

of the Commission. 

Uduk’s appointment is 

governed by the provisions 

of the Investments and Securities 

Act (ISA), 2007 and 

the conditions of service 

applicable to the Director- 

General of the Commission. 

The Minister, in a letter 

dated 13th April, 2018, 

said Uduk’s appointment 

had become necessary to 

ensure effective regulation 

of the Capital Market. Her 

appointment will, subject 

to satisfactory performance, 

subsist until further notice. 

The Minister also announced 

the redeployment 

of the former acting Director-General 

of the Commission, 

Abdul Zubair, to External 

Relations Department. 

She further made the following 

reassignment of the 

under-mentioned persons 

- Reginald C. Karawusa – Acting 

Executive Commissioner, 

Legal and Enforcement; Isiyaku 

Tilde – Acting Executive 

Commissioner, Operations; 

Henry Roland Adekunle – 

Acting Executive Commissioner, 

Corporate Services. 

The new Acting Director- 

General joined the Commission 

in 1986 as an assistant 

financial analyst. 

Her career as a regulator 

has spanned many functions 

and departments in 

the Commission, from corporate 

finance, administration, 

to providing structural, 

policy and due diligence for 

capital market transactions. 

She has also been responsible 

for managing 

several landmark capital 

market projects, including 

challenges, including the 

relocation of gas link, a 

gas pipe underneath the 

lagoon, which also took 

some time. 

There was the wreckage 

of a ship that was at the 

bottom of the lagoon that 

also had to be removed. 

These delayed the time 

line for the delivery of the 

project, Ojelabi of LA- 

MATA explained. 

“From the initial plan 

of the Lagos State Government, 

this rail project 

ought to have been delivered 

in 2012 or 2013,’’ 

he said. 

Ojelabi explained that 

LAMATA lost about three 

years to the recovery of RoW, 

adding that, the state government 

had to bear the 

additional costs, which were 

not in the initial budget. 

This, according to him 

was to ensure that the 

structures were solid because 

rail infrastructure 

the registration of Capital 

Market Operators, articulating 

rules for bonds and 

equities; Mergers, acquisitions 

and Takeovers, and 

managing the banking and 

insurance industry consolidations 

between 2005-2007. 

Uduk served as the pioneer 

Head of the Operations 

Division in the Lagos Zonal 

Office, and has headed the 

following Departments in 

the Commission: Internal 

Control, Investment Management, 

Financial Standards 

and Corporate Governance 

and Securities, and 

Investment Services Department, 

among others. 

Meanwhile, the Federal 

Ministry of Finance has requested 

for a formal explanation 

from the SEC of the 

recent communications between 

the Commission and 

the Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE), which adversely impacted 

market confidence. 

is expected to last a minimum 

of 100 years. 

When completed, the 

rail project will cover a 

distance of 27.5 km from 

Marina to Okokomaiko, 

with 13 stations and an 

end-to-end journey time 

of 35 minutes. 

The entire blue line will 

operate over a secure and 

exclusive right-of-way, 

with no level crossings and 

no uncontrolled access by 

pedestrians or vehicles.


US Nigeria Mission reiterates commitment 

to deepen ties with Nigeria 

US Consulate General, 

John Bray, has 

reiterated the commitment 

of the US 

Nigeria Mission to deepen 

bilateral ties with Nigeria for 

sustainable development. 

The mission recently 

graduated 20 young Nigerians 

of the Carrington Youth 

Fellowship Initiative (CYFI), 

an initiative geared towards 

promoting civic engagement, 

economic empowerment, 

and education and health 

care delivery. 

Launched in 2011, the 

CYFI works to bring together 

Nigerian youth to design 

and implement projects 

focused on societal innovation. 

These projects centre 

on broader themes championed 

by Ambassador Walter 

Carrington, for whom the initiative 

is named. 

Bray in his message to 

the graduates urged them 

to remain in touch with 

their cohort and maintain 

the strength of the bond 

they have formed together 

through collaboration. 

“Our objective at the US 

Consulate General in Lagos 

is to support efforts that address 

Nigerian issues, par- 

Kachikwu named as one of 100 

most influential Africans of 2017 

Minister of State 

for Petroleum 

Resources,. 

Emmanuel 

Ibe Kachikwu, has been 

named by the New African, 

a London-based magazine, 

as one of the 100 

Most Influential Africans 

of 2017 in the category of 

Business and Finance. 

In a letter signed by 

Omar Ben Yedder, group 

publisher and managing 

director, congratulating 

Kachikwu, the magazine’s 

publisher said their organisation 

was ‘’dedicated 

to changing the African 

narrative and fighting for 

its interests, and hope to 

continue on this journey 

ticularly economic development, 

access to healthcare, 

peace and security, transparency 

and good governance. 

To that end, the CYFI program 

is an incredibly valuable 

program, in that it allows 

some of the most promising 

young people in Nigeria who 

are passionate about these 

issues to affect real, positive 

change. 

“Always remember that 

you are a select few chosen 

from a pool of the most 

talented and driven young 

people in Nigeria. The friendships 

and partnerships 

you’ve developed over your 

year with CYFI will become 

some of the most rewarding. 

“As you’ve learned this 

year, you can run into all 

kinds of challenges in the 

course of implementing real 

and meaningful change. 

I hope that the successes 

you have had this year have 

shown you that the importance 

and impact of your efforts 

far outweigh the trials 

and tribulations you sometimes 

face in the course of 

enacting this change,” Bray 

said, urging them to stay 

committed and passionate 

to societal innovation and 

change in their society, even 

in the face of opposition. 

alongside people engaged 

in transformational roles 

across the continent such 

as your goodself.” 

According to Yedder, it 

has become the tradition 

of the publishing outfit to 

dedicate its annual year 

end edition to ‘’celebrating 

and reflecting on what 

shaped the African continent 

in the past year and 

highlighting the men and 

women who were changemakers 

and influencers in 

a number of sectors and 

industries’’. It is in accordance 

with that tradition 

that Kachikwu was spotlighted 

as one of the greatest 

influencers of the continent, 

last year. 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

47 

NEWS 

ICRC pledges commitment to successful implementation of port concession 

MICHEAL ANI 

The importance of 

ensuring Public 

Private Partnerships 

(PPP) in the 

country are executed without 

undue encumbrances 

was highlighted last week, 

when a delegation from the 

Infrastructure Concession 

Regulatory Commission 

(ICRC) visited Josepdam 

port concession site in Lagos, 

as part of its monitoring 

activities. 

ICRC is a commission 

established in 2005, and 

saddled with the responsibility 

of monitoring and 

SEYI JOHN SALAU 

… embarks on fact finding to Josepdam concession project 

ensuring the efficient execution 

of all PPP projects 

entered into by Ministries, 

Departments and Agencies 

(MDAs) on behalf of the 

Federal Government. 

Chidi Izuwah, acting 

director-general, ICRC, 

who led the delegation, expressed 

delight at the site, 

which shows the potentials 

of PPP for making the 

economy more vibrant and 

improving the country’s indices 

as it pertained to port 

operations. 

According to Izuwah, 

the commission is aware of 

some of the challenges currently 

being faced by Josepdam, 

which range from the 

challenge of having third 

party and equipment occupying 

more than 25 percent 

of their terminal land mass, 

court injunction brought 

against Jospdam port services 

by third party and inability 

to meet covenanted 

GMT target as stated in the 

agreement due to certain 

challenges. 

Izuwah however maintained 

that all disagreements 

relating to concession 

exercises at the ports 

must therefore be resolved 

in order to make Nigerian 

ports the hub for international 

shipping trade in the 

West and Central African 

sub-region. 

To him, the commission 

is working tirelessly to ensure 

that all of such challenges 

be resolved. 

“It is on this premise 

that the ICRC decided to 

embark on this monitoring 

exercise to brainstorm with 

your management and the 

NPA on the way forward. 

“As the regulator of the 

lease agreement, we can- 

not fold our hands and 

leave you to struggle it out 

alone,” he said. 

“Under the President 

Muhammadu Buhari-led 

administration, there is a 

will to address this issue 

and effort is being made to 

resolve it to create a winwin 

situation for all parties,” 

he said. 

Simon Travers, managing 

director, JBS, urged the 

commission to assist in 

finding an amicable settlement 

on the issue of the 

third party presence at the 

terminal, which was hindering 

its operations. 

He recommended that 

the NPA should review and 

extend the lease agreement 

for years lost due to 

the third party interference 

and also appealed to the 

government to repair the 

access road to the port. 

Prior to the ports exercise 

and subsequent 

concession of terminals 

in 2006, the nation’s ports 

were known for inefficiency 

and decaying infrastructure 

resulting in the delay 

in cargo clearance and several 

other malpractices.


BUSINESS DAY 

A1

A2 

NEWS 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

Business 

confidence index 

rises to 24.5 point 

in March - CBN 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE 

Nigerian businesses 

are showing more confidence 

in the macro 

economy as the overall 

Confidence Index (CI) 

rose to 24.5 index point 

in March, from 14.5 index 

points recorded in 

February 2018. 

The March 2018 Business 

Expectations Survey 

(BES) was carried out by 

the Central Bank of Nigeria 

(CBN) between March 

12 and 22, with a sample 

size of 650 businesses 

nationwide. A response 

rate of 91.8 percent was 

achieved, and the sample 

covered the services, 

industry, wholesale/retail 

trade and construction 

sectors. 

The respondent firms 

were made up of small, 

medium and large organisations 

covering 

both import- and exportoriented 

businesses. 

The optimism in the 

current month was driven 

by the opinion of respondents 

from services 

(13.9 points), industrial 

(7.5 points) construction 

(1.8 points) and wholesale/retail 

trade sectors 

(1.2), while the drivers 

of the optimism for next 

month were services 

(38.5 points), industrial 

(16.8 points), construction 

4.9 points) and 

wholesale/retail trade 

(4.0 points) sectors. The 

positive outlook by type 

of business in March 

2018 was driven by businesses 

that are both import- 

and export-oriented 

(29.1 points), those 

that are neither importnor 

export-oriented 

(25.9 points), businesses 

that are export-related 

(23.5 points), and those 

that are import- oriented 

(17.7 points). 

However, the surveyed 

firms identified insuffi- 


I&E window success snaps Nigeria’s dependence on CBN dollar supply 

LOLADE AKINMURELE …as deals hit $16.6bn in 2018 

Some $16.6 billion 

worth of deals have 

been done on Nigeria’s 

Investors 

and Exporters (I&E) 

window year to date, the latest 

sign that Africa’s largest 

economy is recovering from 

a paralyzing dollar shortage 

that curbed growth and 

hurt businesses in need of 

the greenback for critical 

imports. 

What is perhaps more 

telling is that the success of 

the I & E window in attracting 

autonomous supplies 

is helping the foreign ex- 

change market be relatively 

less dependent on central 

bank supplies upon which 

it was heavily reliant in 2016 

after independent sources 

gummed up in reaction to 

capital controls. 

According to data provided 

by trading platform, 

FMDQ, the total value of 

trades recorded on the I & E 

window for the week-ended 

April 6, 2018 was $1.34 billion, 

a 3.9 percent increase 

from the previous week. 

Those I&E deals accounted 

for 80 percent of trading 

activity in the Spot FX market 

between the commercial 

banks and their clients that 

same week, which stood at 

$1.656 billion, an indication 

that the foreign exchange 

market is growing less dependent 

on CBN supply, 

which traders say account 

for less than 15 percent of 

dollar supply on the I&E 

window. 

The CBN supplied nearly 

80 percent of dollars to the 

foreign exchange market in 

the thick of a brutal scarcity 

in 2016, burning through its 

external reserves at blistering 

pace to keep up with the 

dollar demand of households 

and businesses. 

When those antics 

proved no more than a 

drop in an ocean, following 

a demand backlog that has 

grown in excess of $7 billion, 

the apex bank unveiled the I 

& E window in April 2017, as 

part of a sweeping reform to 

lure dollars back to its shores 

in the wake of acute shortages 

created by a plunge in the 

global price and production 

of oil and capital controls 

that curbed foreign investment 

inflows in 2016. 

This time, the central 

bank would allow the market 

to determine the exchange 

rate at which to 

trade, in a departure from 

the false float in June 2016 

after which the apex bank 

continued to manipulate the 

market in defense of the naira 

value against the dollar, 

despite announcing to limit 

its interventions. 

The move turned out 

successful, with the window 

attracting some $42 billion 

since inception, according 

to FMDQ data. 

For context, that amount 

is the same as Egypt had in 

its external reserves as of 

February 2018 and is more 

than double the level of Nigeria’s 

external reserves in 

2016 and is only $4 billion 

behind the current reserves 

of $46 billion. 

In that period, the naira 

has been relatively stableaveraging 

N360 per US dollar- 

while the stock market 

has rallied to a 3-year high, 

as foreign portfolio investors 

lap up Nigerian assets from 

stocks to bonds.


FT FINANCIAL TIMES 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

A3 

World Business Newspaper 

Security and plane costs 

hit $9m as Zuckerberg 

tours US 

Why don’t more 

deputies get a shot 

at the top job? 

Sidekicks play a vital role that deserves more recognition 

PILITA CLARK 

Which chief executive wrote 

this last week: “There is no 

such thing as a free lunch. 

We will have to fight to succeed and my 

team and I are ready to do so. Because 

it’s worth it!” 

I doubt it will help much if I tell you 

it was the boss of one of the world’s 

biggest banks, because the words 

came from Christian Sewing, Deutsche 

Bank’s new CEO, in a message he 

sent to staff about his appointment 

on Monday. 

Outside banking circles, Mr Sewing 

is not a big name in his native 

Germany, let alone anywhere else. He 

joined Deutsche as a teenager in 1989 

and has been quietly plugging away 

there for all but two years ever since. 

I have no idea if he will be the answer 

to the bank’s plummeting share 

price or years of annual losses. But 

I rather hope he will be because Mr 

Sewing — formerly one of Deutsche’s 

deputy chief executives — is an example 

of something you do not see every 

day: a deputy who got the top job. 

I am biased because, although I 

have never had a job remotely as important 

as any of Mr Sewing’s, I have 

been a serial deputy, most recently this 

paper’s deputy news editor. And as is 

well known, this is often an excellent 

way to make sure you do a lot of thankless 

work and never get the boss’s job. 

In my case, this was not a problem. 

I am rarely gripped by the urge to run 

anything and have mostly been a deputy 

to pleasant, hard-working people 

who made their offsider’s life easy. 

At the same time, I decided I 

never wanted another job with the 

word “deputy” in the title. I agree with 

Richard Hytner, one of the few people 

to have written a book (Consiglieri) 

about the under-studied role of the 

sidekick. When people hear the word 

“number two”, he says, they often think 

“also-ran, loser, couldn’t hack it as 

number one”. 

And in my experience, they do. It 

was no surprise to see a survey last 

year showing the number of deputy 

chief executives in the 100 largest 

UK companies had dwindled to zero. 

Even deputies themselves dislike the 

Fastest expansion in loan books since Trump’s election 

ALISTAIR GRAY 

US banks have finally reopened 

the lending taps to corporate 

America, expanding their loan 

books at the fastest pace since Donald 

Trump’s election resulted in a lengthy 

credit stagnation. 

While the industry data published 

on Friday reflect only one month of 

recovery, bankers said they were an 

Page A4 

title. Two friends of mine who recently 

became a number two did something 

smart I wish I had thought of. They 

insisted on being called an “executive” 

so-and-so, rather than a deputy. 

Mr Hytner, a former deputy chairman 

of the Saatchi & Saatchi advertising 

group, thinks the deputy’s sorry 

reputation is unfair. Support acts are 

often happy to be number two and play 

a vital role in their organisations that 

he thinks deserves more recognition. 

I agree, but I am more interested in 

why deputies are so often passed over 

for the top job in favour of an outsider 

or thrusting insider. 

This is annoying for several reasons. 

First, the deputy usually has a 

proven record of running an organisation 

because they often have to do it 

when the boss is busy or away. They 

also usually do this without one of the 

big advantages the boss has: a deputy. 

Promoting people to be a deputy is 

also a helpful way to groom talented 

staff and create a pool of potential 

leaders who can be considered alongside 

outside candidates when a new 

chief is needed. 

These number twos have one big 

advantage over external hires: they 

are a known quantity. Outsiders who 

look terrific on paper and have stellar 

records elsewhere are not guaranteed 

the same success in new organisations. 

The corporate landscape is littered 

with examples of high-fliers raided 

from rival organisations who falter. 

Few fall to ground as quickly as 

John Browett, the former boss of the 

Dixons electronics chain who lasted 

less than a year as Apple’s head of retail. 

But they can be just as disruptive. 

This is no argument against the 

often excellent outside hire. Carolyn 

McCall, the former boss of the Guardian 

Media Group, was dismissed as a 

media luvvie when she was picked to 

run easyJet in 2010. 

By the time she left seven years 

later, the company’s share price had 

quadrupled and its passenger numbers 

had soared to records. 

There are plenty of other examples 

like her. Would deputies have ever 

done as well? It is impossible to say 

because, as is so often the case, they 

never got the chance to lead. 

US banks open lending taps to corporate America 

encouraging sign and predicted a more 

sustained pick up as US business gets 

more comfortable about taking on 

more debt. 

“You saw a decent pick up in March 

and we’re seeing that in our pipeline,” 

said Bill Demchak, chairman and chief 

executive of PNC Financial Services, the 

sixth-biggest US retail bank by assets. 

Continues on page A4 

Tighter interest rates 

raise fears of central 

bank exposure 

Second fiddle: Julia Louis-Dreyfus as US vice-president Selina Meyer in ‘Veep’ © HBO 

Berlin’s airport travails bruise German engineering pride 

Project nears completion, almost a decade late and regarded as national joke 

GUY CHAZAN 

It has been such a mess that one 

senior Lufthansa executive recently 

predicted it would have to be torn 

down and rebuilt. 

But after years of scandal and 

controversy, Berlin’s new airport is finally 

inching towards completion. The 

€5.3bn building will begin operations 

in October 2020, nearly a decade later 

than planned. Germany’s biggest national 

joke is readying for primetime. 

Engelbert Lütke-Daldrup, boss of 

the airport operating company, knows 

many will view the new deadline, first 

unveiled last December, with scepticism. 

Since work began on BER, as it 

is known, its official opening has been 

postponed six times. 

But on a recent press tour of the 

building, he promised there would be 

no more delays. “We’ve deliberately 

gone for a date that’s reliable, that has 

Americas find common cause in attack on Maduro 

Trump is the first US president to miss Americas Summit in its 24-year history 

GIDEON LONG 

Latin America found rare common 

ground with the US in 

criticising Nicolás Maduro, 

Venezuela’s president, at a fractious 

Summit of the Americas marked by 

Donald Trump’s decision to stay 

at home to deal with the conflict 

in Syria. 

Mr Trump pulled out just three 

days before the start of this weekend’s 

summit in Lima, becoming 

the first US president to miss the 

event in its 24-year history. Some 

Latin Americans said his no-show 

proved how little he cared about 

the region. 

The US leader sent Mike Pence, 

vice-president, in his place, but a 

White House faux pas served only 

to raise Latin American hackles 

further. In a note to journalists, Mr 

Pence’s office said he would attend 

a banquet hosted by Pedro Pablo 

Kuczynski, who resigned as Peru’s 

president last month. 

Trade tension between the US 

and China also cast a shadow over 

Page A5 

sufficient reserves built in to cover all 

unforeseen circumstances,” he said. “It 

means we’ll all have to be a bit more 

patient — the public too.” 

Mr Lütke-Daldrup whisked journalists 

through the new terminal 

building, a cavernous, light-filled 

space the size of eight football fields. 

Eerily empty now, it will one day 

swarm with travellers: by 2040, BER 

will be capable of processing up to 55m 

passengers a year. 

“With BER the city will finally get 

the airport it deserves,” said Burkhard 

Kieker, head of VisitBerlin, which promotes 

tourism to the German capital. 

But it’s questionable whether it will 

ever be able to shake off its reputation 

as a national embarrassment. “BER is 

not exactly a glorious chapter in the 

history of German engineering and 

construction,” Mr Lütke-Daldrup said. 

That is an understatement. Dogged 

by technical snafus, poor planning 

the summit. Latin American companies 

export billions of dollars 

in raw materials to both countries 

and are wary of any threat of further 

tariffs. 

But on Venezuela, most nations 

of the Americas were in agreement. 

With the exception of a few 

leftwing countries, notably Cuba, 

they expressed concern about the 

exodus of Venezuelans fleeing hyperinflation, 

hunger and crime in 

their homeland. 

“It’s incredible that [Mr Maduro] 

remains in a state of denial when 

faced with such a clear crisis, when 

the whole world can see with its 

own eyes how his people are physically 

dying of hunger,” said Juan 

Manuel Santos, president of Colombia, 

which has borne the brunt 

of the exodus. Colombia, Chile 

and Argentina said they would not 

recognise the results of Venezuela’s 

presidential election, arguing the 

May 20 contest would be neither 

free nor fair. 

“The elections are not democratic, 

they’re not transparent, they 

and dizzying management changes, 

BER has become a byword for incompetence. 

When work on the site began in 

September 2006, the opening was set 

for 2011. That has since been repeatedly 

pushed back, while the project’s 

budget has more than doubled from 

€2.5bn to €5.3bn. 

Thorsten Dirks, a senior executive 

at Lufthansa, said last month that all 

the equipment the airline had installed 

in BER was now hopelessly out of date. 

“My prediction: the thing will be pulled 

down and rebuilt,” he said. 

Critics think the 2020 deadline 

will go the way of all the others. “This 

is the same team that never managed 

to get it up and running on time and 

crashed all the previous deadlines,” 

said Dieter Faulenbach da Costa, an 

airport planner who has been one of 

BER’s harshest critics. “Why should it 

be any better this time?” 

don’t comply with the minimum 

standards of a truly democratic society,” 

said Sebastián Piñera, Chile’s 

president. “No country that truly 

believes in democracy in my opinion 

should recognise these elections.” 

Mr Pence described Venezuela 

as “essentially a failed state” and the 

government in Caracas as a “corrupt 

dictatorship”. “The responsibility for 

the Venezuelan people’s suffering 

can be laid at the feet of one man: 

Nicolás Maduro,” he said. 

With Mr Maduro barred from the 

summit, the defence of Caracas fell 

to Havana, and at times the exchanges 

between Bruno Rodríguez, Cuba’s 

foreign minister, and Mr Pence were 

reminiscent of the darkest days of 

the cold war. 

Mr Rodríguez accused the Trump 

administration of promoting “hate, 

division, selfishness, calumny, racism, 

xenophobia and lies”. The 

thawing of relations between the two 

nations under Barack Obama had 

been reversed, he said, and Cuba 

“will not cede one millimetre” in the 

way it conducts its internal affairs.

A4 BUSINESS DAY 


FT 

NATIONAL 

US poised to support $13bn capital increase for World Bank 

Package would see big lending reforms and rise in China’s shareholding 

SHAWN DONNAN AND SAM FLEMING 

The Trump administration is 

poised to back a $13bn capital 

increase for the World Bank in 

a package that would see significant 

lending reforms and an increase in 

China’s shareholding. 

Barring last-minute hiccups, US 

Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin is 

set to tell fellow World Bank shareholders 

at next week’s spring meetings in 

Washington that he will support an 

increase in the bank’s capital, a senior 

Treasury official confirmed to the 

Financial Times on Friday. The move 

would be a significant shift in the US 

administration’s attitudes towards 

multilateral institutions. 

“I think we are moving in that 

direction. We have been working for 

months on reforms at the bank and 

they have made a lot of progress,” the 

senior official said. 

The turnround in White House 

views on the World Bank marks a major 

win for its president, Jim Yong Kim, 

who was first nominated for the role by 

former President Barack Obama. He 

has worked hard to build a relationship 

with the new administration and 

aligned himself with Ivanka Trump, 

the president’s daughter, who was behind 

a $150m women’s empowerment 

fund launched by the bank last year. 

The administration, which expressed 

reservations about World 

Bank lending to China and other 

middle-income countries at last October’s 

annual meetings, had been wary 

of the plans for a capital increase and 

expectations for an agreement at next 

week’s meetings were muted. 

However, Scott Morris, a former 

Treasury official now at the Center for 

Global Development, a Washington 

think-tank, said: “I’m hearing a lot 

of positive sentiment both from the 

Bank side and the US side. That’s pretty 

remarkable.” 

US banks open lending 

taps to corporate America... 

Continued from page A11 

“That should set us up well for the rest 

of the year.” 

Commercial and industrial loan balances 

swelled at a seasonally adjusted 

rate of 9.3 per cent last month to hit a 

record $2.13 trillion, according to the 

Federal Reserve figures. 

That was by far the biggest increase 

since the 2016 election. In only two 

other months since the vote has the rate 

of growth been higher than 3 per cent. 

The protracted period of weakness 

had called into question how businesses 

feel about the Trump administration’s 

agenda and uncertainty about tax 

reform in particular, suggesting they 

were nervous about the direction of 

the economy. 

Commercial loan volumes have 

been among the biggest concerns to 

investors in US banks, who are otherwise 

upbeat about a profit-boosting 

mix of higher interest rates and financial 

deregulation. 

Analysts have offered some technical 

explanations for the corporate lending 

sluggishness: instead of borrowing 

from banks large companies have been 

tapping capital markets, for instance. 

However, bankers have identified 

policy uncertainty from Washington as 

a primary factor, arguing it held made 

companies hold back on expansion 

plans. 

Presenting quarterly earnings on 

Friday, executives said business was 

feeling more comfortable — especially 

now that tax reform had passed. John 

Gerspach, Citigroup’s chief financial 

officer, said the “best is yet to come” 

from the tax cuts. 

Marianne Lake, chief financial officer 

at JPMorgan Chase, said the bank 

was “expecting growth in the mid-single 

digits” in commercial and industrial 

loan balances for the year. They rose 5 

per cent in the first quarter compared 

with a year ago. 

She added, though, that the bank 

would “continue to be very selective and 

cautious” — especially in commercial 

real estate, where “pricing has become 

fiercely competitive”. 

Earnings season continues on Monday 

with results from Bank of America, 

which is also forecast to benefit from 

a pick-up in loan demand. Analysts 

have pencilled in a 40 per cent year-onyear 

rise in first quarter net income to 

$6.16bn, according to estimates collated 

by Bloomberg. 

The recent commercial lending 

recovery has helped banks compensate 

for weakness in other areas, notably 

mortgages. Higher interest rates have 

led to a slump in demand for refinancings. 

Wells Fargo has been particularly 

hard hit, reporting a 24 per cent decline 

in mortgage banking income in the first 

quarter. 

Security and plane costs hit $9m as Zuckerberg tours US 

Surge in costs for safety picked up by company for founder worth estimated $66bn 

TIM BRADSHAW 

Facebook shareholders picked up 

a $9m bill for chief executive Mark 

Zuckerberg’s personal security 

detail and private aircraft usage last year, 

as he took on a “personal challenge” to 

visit every US state. 

Mr Zuckerberg, whose net worth 

is estimated at $66bn, spent much of 

2017 criss-crossing the US, from Alaska 

to Louisiana, as part of an effort to “get 

out and talk to more people about how 

they’re living, working and thinking 

about the future”. 

While the grand tour was styled by 

Mr Zuckerberg as the latest in a series 

of “personal challenges” designed to 

help him “grow outside of my work”, 

Facebook’s shareholders were left to pick 

up the tab for much of the travel. 

Mr Zuckerberg, who receives a notional 

$1 annual salary, saw his “other 

compensation” jump by more than 50 

per cent, from $5.8m in 2016 to $8.9m 

MATTHEW GARRAHAN 

After almost two weeks of swirling 

speculation about his future, it 

still came as a shock late on Saturday 

night when WPP announced that 

Martin Sorrell, its chief executive of more 

than three decades, would be stepping 

down following an investigation into 

an unspecified misconduct allegation. 

Company and man have been inextricably 

linked since 1987 when he was 

appointed to lead what was then known 

as Wire & Plastic Products, a small maker 

of shopping baskets until Sir Martin and 

a business partner bought a minority 

stake. They set about transforming it into 

a global marketing services company 

and with Sir Martin running the show 

and masterminding deal after deal, WPP 

ascended to the summit of the advertising 

industry. 

last year, according to a regulatory filing 

released on Friday afternoon. 

The figure includes $7.3m in personal 

security fees both at home and on his 

travels, up from $4.8m in the prior year, 

and $1.5m for “costs related to personal 

usage of private aircraft” — a 75 per cent 

increase on 2016’s flight costs. 

The disclosure comes at the end 

of a bruising week for Mr Zuckerberg, 

as he faced questions from dozens of 

lawmakers in Washington DC about 

Facebook’s handling of personal privacy 

and electoral interference. 

During Mr Zuckerberg’s walkabout, 

he posted on his Facebook page about 

driving a tractor in Wisconsin, fishing for 

salmon with Native Alaskans, and petting 

a service dog in Montana’s Glacier 

National Park. 

He has also spoken about meeting 

recovering drug addicts in Ohio and 

visiting a church in Charleston, South 

Carolina, where a shooting in 2015 killed 

nine people. 

The local families and community 

Martin Sorrell’s empire building reshaped adland 

The former Saatchi & Saatchi finance 

director created the model of 

an advertising holding company with 

a conglomerate-style structure where 

individual media buying, creative, 

public relations and digital services 

businesses coexisted under one roof. A 

flurry of deals saw J. Walter Thompson, 

Ogilvy & Mather, Young & Rubicam and 

Grey added to WPP’s portfolio. Other 

companies, such as the media buying 

giant GroupM, were created in-house. 

“You can’t underestimate what he 

achieved,” said Alex DeGroote, media 

analyst with Cenkos Securities. “He 

took a cash shell that had zero value and 

turned it into an established FTSE 100 

name over a 30-year period, acquiring 

the global marketing services industry’s 

biggest names. I don’t think anyone will 

be capable of doing it again.” 

The impact on the ad landscape 

groups he flew to visit were often given 

only a few hours’ notice of his arrival, in 

order to ensure his security. 

Facebook said in its proxy filing that 

the company paid the security costs due 

to “specific threats” to Mr Zuckerberg’s 

safety that arise “directly as a result of 

his position” as Facebook’s founder and 

chief executive. 

“We require these security measures 

for the company’s benefit because of the 

importance of Mr. Zuckerberg to Facebook, 

and we believe that the costs of this 

overall security program are appropriate 

and necessary,” the company said in the 

filing. Using private aircraft is part of the 

security programme, it added. 

The proxy filing also disclosed that 

Facebook’s other executives saw their 

cash bonuses fall in 2017 compared 

with the previous year. Sheryl Sandberg, 

Facebook’s chief operating officer, received 

a bonus payout of $640,378, less 

than half the amount she received in 

2017, after a reduction in her “individual 

performance” rating. 

His impact on the industry was profound but not everyone was a fan of his approach 

was profound as rivals such as Publicis 

and Omnicom followed WPP’s model, 

consolidating what had been a large and 

disparate industry into a handful of holding 

companies. But not everyone was a 

fan of his approach — or of the changes 

wreaked on the ad industry by WPP and 

Sir Martin, who declined to comment. 

When WPP acquired Ogilvy & 

Mather in 1989, the late David Ogilvy 

called him an “odious little shit”. He also 

upset some within advertising’s creative 

community: Ogilvy employees were 

not happy in 1992 when WPP uprooted 

them from central London to a new 

office in Canary Wharf — an area not 

exactly rich in inspiration for advertising 

creatives. “There was a period, probably 

in the first four or five years, when 

it could have killed the agency,” Paul 

O’Donnell, Ogilvy’s former UK head, 

told the Financial Times in 2014. 

Donald Trump creates 

task force to scrutinise 

postal service 

President seeks report on pricing linked to 

USPS contract with Amazon 

BARNEY JOPSON AND 

KADHIM SHUBBER 

Donald Trump has begun to 

act on his complaints that 

the US Postal Service is losing 

out on shipments for Amazon 

by ordering an official review of 

the mail agency’s pricing of package 

deliveries. 

After amplifying his longstanding 

dissatisfaction over Amazon’s 

delivery contract with the post 

office, Mr Trump late on Thursday 

created a task force to evaluate the 

“operations and finances” of the 

post office. 

The move caught Washington 

by surprise as it had been unclear 

how Mr Trump would act on his 

contested claims that delivering 

packages for Amazon was contributing 

to the postal service’s 

substantial losses. 

An executive order creating the 

task force — to be led by Treasury 

secretary Steven Mnuchin — said 

it would examine “the expansion 

and pricing of the package delivery 

market and the USPS’s role in 

competitive markets”. 

Despite Amazon’s high-tech 

credentials, it relies on about 

230,000 postal workers to deliver 

millions of packages along the 

“last mile” to many American 

homes. 

As concern about the power of 

big tech companies escalates in 

Washington, Mr Trump has turned 

Amazon into the target of a personal 

crusade even as Congress is 

preoccupied with Facebook, hauling 

its founder Mark Zuckerberg in 

to testify this week. 

Package deliveries for ecommerce 

have been a source of 

revenue growth for the postal 

service, going some way towards 

offsetting a sharp decline in letter 

volume. But the post office has 

still posted a net loss in each of the 

past 11 years, including a $2.7bn 

loss in 2017. 

The executive order says: “The 

USPS is on an unsustainable 

financial path and must be restructured 

to prevent a taxpayerfunded 

bailout.” 

In one tweet this month, Mr 

Trump said: “I am right about Amazon 

costing the United States Post 

Office massive amounts of money 

for being their Delivery Boy.” 

His discontent over the alliance 

of the postal service with Amazon 

appears to have become entangled 

with its founder Jeff Bezos’s ownership 

of the Washington Post 

— one of the president’s least 

favourite media outlets. 

Allies of the postal service said 

it cannot be losing money on its 

work for Amazon since it is barred 

by law from charging its customers 

less than the cost of delivery.


FINANCIAL TIMES 


@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED 

Corporate America poised 

to unveil record buybacks 

Companies likely to boost dividends to fresh high on back of tax cuts, JPMorgan says 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

A5 

ROBIN WIGGLESWORTH 

US companies are expected 

to shower investors with a 

record amount of share buybacks 

in the current earnings season, 

as corporate executives take 

advantage of major tax cuts and a 

faltering stock market to increase 

their repurchase programmes. 

S&P 500 companies have already 

announced about $167bn of 

new buyback authorisations this 

year, and analysts at JPMorgan 

predict that trend will accelerate 

this quarter as boardrooms digest 

the full scale of the tax cuts passed 

in December. 

“We are expecting record buyback 

announcements during this 

earnings season given further clarity 

on tax reform, equity multiples 

are broadly attractive, and companies 

likely to replenish buyback 

programmes after the recent selloff,” 

noted Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, 

an analyst at JPMorgan. 

Overall, US companies will buy 

back about $800bn of their stock 

this year, the bank forecasts, up 

from $525bn in 2017, and boost 

dividend payouts by about 10 per 

cent to a record $500bn. 

President Donald Trump and 

the Republican-controlled Congress 

have lauded a potential upswing 

in investment by US companies 

following the tax cuts, but 

strategists at Goldman Sachs expect 

a heftier increase in buybacks and 

dividends. 

The buyback and dividend bonanza 

would be a welcome boost 

to the US stock market, which has 

become more volatile this year over 

concerns that global economic 

The UK pension industry will 

undergo a “fundamental shift” 

over the next three years, curtailing 

new business growth for asset 

managers hired to provide sophisticated 

investment strategies to final 

salary retirement schemes. 

A growing number of UK defined 

benefit (DB) pension schemes have 

adopted liability driven investment 

strategies (LDIs) over the past 20 

years to reduce the risk that they may 

be unable to meet retirement payments 

that stretch for decades ahead. 

Demand for LDIs will slow markedly 

by 2021, said London consultancy 

Hymans Robertson. It predicted 

that this shift would also significantly 

affect the UK government bond 

market. 

LDIs provide protection against 

unforeseen changes in interest rates, 

inflation and life expectancy while 

also helping DB pension schemes to 

increase assets. 

Insight, a division of BNY Mellon, 

Legal & General Investment Management 

and BlackRock are the three 

biggest players in the LDI market. 

BMO of Canada, Schroders and 

River & Mercantile each run more 

than 100 mandates that are significantly 

smaller in combined assets 

growth is slowing and international 

trade tension are escalating. 

“I find it hard not to be excited 

about equities,” said Marco Pirondini, 

head of US equities at Amundi 

Pioneer Asset Management. “Companies 

are super profitable, and 

have money to increase investments, 

buybacks and dividends.” 

David Kostin, chief US equity 

strategist at Goldman Sachs, said 

that a surge in corporate share buybacks 

helped turn round markets 

after the turmoil of early February, 

and thinks that a renewed pick-up 

will put the S&P 500 back on track 

for a 10 per cent gain by the end of 

the year. 

While US companies will lift 

their spending on investments, 

research and development by 11 

per cent to more than $1tn this year, 

shareholder returns in the form of 

buybacks and dividends will grow 

by 21.6 per cent to nearly $1.2tn, Mr 

Kostin predicted. 

“I’m willing to bet that as soon 

as companies start buying shares 

again [after the earning season 

blackout] that we will see the market 

volatility fall again,” Mr Pirondini 

said. “The geopolitical temperature 

is going up, and that’s not a good 

thing. But it is the economic cycle 

that will drive markets, and the 

global economy looks good.” 

The buyback spree will also lift 

the amount of profit companies 

make per share. S&P 500 companies 

are expected to report earnings 

growth of 17.1 per cent in the first 

quarter, which would the highest 

growth since the start of 2011, 

according to FactSet. That is up 

sharply from the rate of 11.3 per 

cent that was projected at the start 

of the year. 

UK pensions industry faces ‘fundamental shift’ 

Consultancy predicts liability driven investment demand 

to be saturated by 2021 

CHRIS FLOOD 

than the LDI operations of each of 

the big three. 

A survey by Hymans found 

that more than three-quarters of 

the £1.5tn total assets held by DB 

schemes already employed some 

form of LDI, suggesting that new demand 

could become exhausted over 

the next three years. 

“We will reach the age of peak LDI 

by 2021 at the latest,” said Jon Hatchett, 

a partner with Hymans. “Pension 

schemes have added about £100bn of 

notional hedging [via LDIs] annually 

over the past three years and will not 

materially hedge above asset levels 

of £1.5tn.” 

If new demand for LDIs was to 

drop to £50bn a year, then the market 

would not reach saturation point 

until 2026. 

Robert Gall, head of market strategy 

at Insight Investment, said it would 

take “many years” before the hedging 

requirements of pension funds could 

be fully met. 

“We expect the fundamental 

demand for LDI to persist for the 

foreseeable future,” said Mr Gall. 

Professor David Blake, director of 

the pensions institute at Cass Business 

School, London, said demand 

for LDIs would depend on changes 

in central banks’ policies as interest 

rates were rising in the UK and US. 

Monetary policymakers are starting to wean bond markets off the support provided through quantitative easing 

Tighter interest rates raise fears of central bank exposure 

Officials responsible for asset portfolios worry about prospect of steep losses 

CLAIRE JONES 

Officials responsible for managing 

central banks’ vast asset 

portfolios fear exposure 

to steep losses as their policymaking 

counterparts tighten interest 

rates on the back of a global economic 

expansion. 

Central banks are some of the 

biggest investors in markets for government 

and highly rated corporate 

bonds, making their portfolios sensitive 

to changes in interest rates. 

In a poll of central bank reserve 

managers, responsible for assets 

worth $5.5tn, most said rising rates 

posed the biggest threat to their 

performance over the next year. 

The US Federal Reserve is expected 

to raise rates three times 

this year, and the European Central 

Bank set to follow suit around mid- 

2019. Rates are at or close to historic 

lows, a legacy of central banks’ response 

to the financial crisis of 2008 

that left global markets teetering. 

Higher rates are expected to 

push up yields on government 

bonds and other relatively safe assets. 

With yields moving in the opposite 

direction to price, that would 

lower the value of the sort of assets 

that central banks tend to own. 

In the poll of reserve managers 

at 79 central banks conducted 

by Central Banking Publications, 

a trade publisher, and HSBC, just 

over three-quarters of respondents 

thought rising interest rates would 

be one of the biggest threats over 

the next year, with 59 per cent saying 

it was the most important risk. 

The reserve managers signalled 

they would respond to tighter 

monetary policy by buying more 

short-term debt for now, in a sign 

they expect bonds with longer-term 

maturities to offer higher yields 

in the coming years as monetary 

policymakers raise rates. 

The prospect of rate rises comes 

at a time when monetary policymakers 

are beginning to wean 

bond markets off the support they 

have provided through quantitative 

easing. Monetary policymakers 

across advanced economies 

bought trillions of dollars of assets 

as part of “quantitative easing” 

programmes aimed at restoring 

economic growth and staving off 

deflation. 

While the policies are credited 

with spearheading the global economic 

recovery, critics have said 

policymakers have inflated bubbles 

in asset prices. 

Assets bought by banks under 

QE are not included as central 

banks’ reserves, as policymakers 

are not expected to hold on to these 

over the longer term. The Federal 

Reserve has started to unwind its 

QE operations while the European 

Central Bank is expected to halt 

fresh asset purchases under its 

€2.4tn programme at the end of 

this year. 

Reserves are usually amassed 

through central banks’ attempts to 

control the value of their currency 

through purchases of the main 

global reserve currencies such as 

dollars or euros. 

Central banks tend to invest 

their reserves in safe government 

or corporate bonds, as well as gold, 

though some invest in equities. 

Most assets are denominated in 

dollars or euros. 

Central banks hold reserves 

worth $10.8tn according to IMF 

data. Asian central banks are responsible 

for the biggest reserve 

stockpiles. 

Maiden Cloudcover women in business forum holds, challenges females to aim higher 

The maiden edition of Women 

in Business, a networking session 

for women in all sectors of 

the economy powered by Cloudcover 

Limited, an innovative company delivering 

constant internet connectivity to 

Nigerians, has held in Lagos with a call 

on women to always aim high and not 

be limited by their situations. 

The interactive session brought together 

women from diverse industries 

and organisations, and addressed issues 

concerning women in all areas of 

economic endeavour. 

Featuring women entrepreneurs, 

professionals, businesswomen and 

budding entrepreneurs, the event held 

at Brown’s Cafe, Victoria Island, and 

had the co-founder of She Leads Africa, 

Afua Osei as keynote speaker. 

Afua Osei, an Entrepreneur, Investor, 

and a seasoned Public Speaker, urged 

women not to be overwhelmed by the 

harsh economic environment that seeks to 

limit them from attaining greater heights. 

According to her, “It’s a tough society 

with series of odds stacked against 

women but we must never give up. We 

will find it hard going alone but our 

strength is in our unity. When we collectively 

face challenges, we will achieve 

more. We should network more, share 

insights more and seek solutions together. 

We must not be overwhelmed by 

the institutional and cultural hurdles in 

our paths, we must refuse to be limited.” 

Osei who had also served in the office 

of America’s ex-First Lady, Michelle 

Obama, added that “this is a unique opportunity 

that has been offered to us by 

Cloudcover, we should do well to seize it 

and also look into offerings by the company 

that can assist us in our respective 

endeavours. Whether entrepreneur, 

professional or businesswomen, we will 

find the device invaluable.” 

In her brief remarks, Group Chief 

Operating Officer of Cloudcover Limited, 

Eleanor Potter, explained that 

the aim of the interaction was to help 

women surmount cultural and institutional 

hurdles they face in realizing 

their career and business goals through 

quality networking. 

She said that Cloudcover recognises 

the huge but underappreciated 

roles women have been playing in the 

Nigerian business landscape and will 

continue to offer them innovative 

solutions that will give them a head 

start and make their tasks easier in 

whichever sector of the economy they 

are playing in. 

Potter said: “We recognise the 

thousands of women playing in different 

sectors of the economy and who 

need help to further progress along. 

No matter whom you are; established 

entrepreneur, up and coming one, a 

professional, Cloudcover will empower 

you to do more through these networking 

sessions and our innovative internet 

and data solutions like the Cloudcover 

CC1 MiFi device that makes use of dynamic 

network roaming to give users 

seamless and constant internet connectivity 

across seven network providers in 

Nigeria. With the CC1 device, women 

and indeed everybody no longer have 

to own multiple SIMs and MiFi as the 

device uses virtual sim technology. 

These and more are ways by which we 

will continue to help women grow.” 

Co-founder of Cloudcover Limited, 

Uchenna Agbo, disclosed that being 

women themselves, they understand 

the challenges businesswomen, entrepreneurs 

and professionals are facing 

in Nigeria, hence their resolve to create 

a platform to help as many as possible.


A6 BUSINESS DAY


BUSINESS DAY 

A7

A8 

NEWS 

New technologies 

key to driving 

Africa’s growth 

MIKE OCHONMA 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

Chun-Yuan Gu, 

president, ABB, 

Asia, Middle East 

region, says Africa 

has an historic opportunity 

to accelerate growth and 

development by tapping 

into the potential that new 

technologies holds in the 

continent. 

Delivering a speech at 

the ABB Customer World 

Africa 2018 conference in 

Johannesburg, South Africa, 

Chun-Yuan Gu noted 

that the digital revolution 

had already transformed 

the lives of millions of people 

through mobile phone 

and Internet access, saying 

these technologies had allowed 

Africans to leap over 

fixed-line telephone usage 

and use financial services 

without “setting foot in a 

bank.” 

“Now, those technologies 

are transforming industry, 

and Africa is the 

place that stands to benefit 

most, by leapfrogging older 

technologies on to a sustainable 

path to growth and 

development,” he said. 

Underlining Africa’s opportunities 

and ABB’s key 

role in unlocking value for 

its customers through automation 

is the 40% rise 

in the group’s 2017 orders 

across all its divisions, subregions 

and channels, Gu 

said. 

“Africa has the world’s 

most youthful population. 

This, combined with improving 

economic fundamentals, 

makes the continent 

ideally positioned 

to take advantage of new 

technologies. Training and 

preparing the next generation 

of engineers is pivotal.” 

He pointed out that Africa 

had the tools and the 

means to compete in global 

markets, adding that by 

taking advantage of ABB’s 

digital offering, ABB Ability, 

Africa would be capable 

of building robust industries 

that can compete 

with rivals in other parts of 

the globe. 

ABB Ability, which was 

launched last year, works 

by gathering and analysing 

data from customers’ operations 

and applying to that 

data, knowledge and expertise 

gained from ABB’s 

vast global installed base 

of 70-million connected 

devices and 70 000 control 

systems. 

“It helps customers in 

utilities, industry, transport 

and infrastructure 

develop new processes 

and advance existing ones 

by providing insights and 

optimising planning and 

controls for real-time operations,” 

Gu said. 

Nigeria tops countries with 

highest death sentences in SSA 

KELVIN UMWENI 

Though no execution 

was recorded 

in Nigeria, the total 

number of death 

penalty recorded 

at the end of 2017 stood at 

621, the second highest in 

the world after China, while 

2,285 people were known to 

be under death sentence. 

This is according to a report 

released April 12, by 

Amnesty International, a 

global movement for the protection 

of human rights. 

The report noted that in 

Nigeria, 68 persons were 

commuted, 17 pardons were 

granted while 28 persons under 

death sentence were exonerated 

in 2017, the highest 

in the world. 

Global death sentences 

decreased by 17 percent to 

over 2,591 in 2017 from 3,117 

recorded in the previous year 

with over 21,919 people under 

death sentence as of yearend 

2017. 

In the same vein, the total 

number of executions carried 

out by countries around 

the world (excluding China) 

in 2017 was down for the 

second consecutive time by 

4 percent to 993 compared 

with 1,032 executions recorded 


The Middle East countries 

of Iran, Saudi Arabia, 

Iraq and Pakistan accounted 

for 84 percent of all recorded 

executions globally in 2017; 

Iran alone accounted for 51 

percent of this figure. 

China, with over 1,000 recorded 

executions, remains 

the country with the highest 

number of executions worldwide, 

though the Chinese 

government still classifies 

figures as “a state secret,” thus 

making it difficult to obtain 

complete official statistics. 

The report noted that the 

United States of America 

(USA) was the only country 

to carry out executions in 


the Americas, while Guyana, 

Trinidad and Tobago and the 

USA were the only country 

in the region that imposed 

death sentences. 

Eleven countries of USA, 

China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, 

Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Japan, 

North Korea, Afghanistan 

and Malaysia, excluding 

Syria and Libya, were fingered 

by Amnesty International 

to have persistently 

executed in the last five years 

(2013 – 2017).


BUSINESS DAY 

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A10 BUSINESS DAY


BUSINESS DAY 

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A12 

NEWS 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

Adeosun, Emefiele join economic experts to 

discuss global issues at IMF/World Bank meeting 

Minister of finance, 

Kemi 

Adeosun, and 

Central Bank of 

Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin 

Emefiele, left Nigeria for 

Washington DC on Sunday to 

join other economic experts 

from around the world to discuss 

issues affecting global 

economy. Discussions would 

take place under the auspices 

of the World Bank Group and 

the International Monetary 

Fund (IMF). 

The Spring Meetings of the 

IMF and the World Bank will 

bring together central bankers, 

ministers of finance and 

development, parliamentarians, 

private sector executives, 

representatives from civil society 

organisations and the 

academia. 

The experts will discuss 

issues of global concern, including 

the world economic 

outlook, poverty eradication, 

economic development and 

aid effectiveness. 

There will also be seminars, 

regional briefings, press 

conferences and many other 

events with focus on global 

economy, international development 

and the world’s 

financial system. The meetings 

will hold between April 

16 and April 22, 2018. 

Nigeria attends the meet- 

ing each year because of the 

quantum of investments and 

assistance it receives from 

both the IMF and the World 

Bank. 

Although Nigeria currently 

has zero loans with the IMF, 

it enjoys technical support 

from the organisation. 

The World Bank Group on 

the other hand is helping to 

fight poverty and improve living 

standards in the country 

through 33 Core Knowledge 

Product Reports and 29 ongoing 

National and Regional 

projects. This is in addition to 

about 60 Trust Funds. 

The World Bank Group 

since 1958 supported Nigeria 

with loans and International 

Development Association 

(IDA) credits worth about 

$14.2 billion. 

The group in 2017 fiscal 

year alone committed $1.51 

billion to the country, and so 

far in 2018, it already spent 

$486 million on different development 

projects across the 

country. Some of the projects 

include Electricity Transmission 

Project, Agro-Processing, 

Productivity Enhancement 

and Livelihood Improvement 

Support Project, Polio 

Eradication Support Project 

and Housing Finance Development 

Programme, among 

Capital market plan to top discussions as 

SEC holds first CMC meeting for 2018 

ONYINYE NWACHUKWU, Abuja 

Progress made so 

far on the capital 

market master 

plan implementation 

and other 

market initiatives will top 

discussions as the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(SEC) holds its first 

Capital Market Committee 

(CMC) meeting for 2018. 

The meeting is scheduled 

to hold in Lagos from 

April 19 to 20. 

The ten-year plan for the 

Nigerian capital market, 

which is expected to help 

refocus and double the 

market size as well as grow 

the economy, was unveiled 

November 2014. 

The Commission has so 

far implemented some initiatives 

in the Master Plan 

with the aim of attracting 

more investors to the market. 

Some of the initiatives 

include direct cash settlement, 

dematerialisation 

and e-Dividend Registration, 

as they promote 

transparency, protect and 

enhance investors’ confidence 

in the capital market. 

Mary Uduk, who was 

appointed last Friday by 

minister of finance, Kemi 

Adeosun, to take over as 

SEC’s acting director-general, 

is expected to chair 

the meeting. 

Uduk took over from 

Abdul Zubair, who Adeosun 

redeployed to external 

relations department of the 

SEC. 

Those who have been 

invited to attend the expanded 

session are chief 

executive officers (CEOs) 

of all registered capital 

market firms, including 

Broker Dealer, Capital Market 

Solicitors, Custodians, 

Fund Managers, Issuing 

Houses, Rating Agencies, 

Registrars, Reporting Accountants, 

Trustees, and 

Consultants, etc. 

Others are CEOs of the 

Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE), National Association 

of Securities Dealers 

(NASD), The Financial 

Markets Dealers Quotations 

(FMDQ), Africa Exchange 

Holdings (AFEX), 

Nigeria Commodity Exchange 

(NCX), Central Securities 

Clearing System 

(CSCS), Chartered Institute 

of Stockbrokers (CIS); as 

well as representatives of 

relevant Financial Services’ 

Agencies, among others. 


Kenya Airways sacks 86% of 

its Nigerian employees 

... unions to picket airline operations 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

East African carrier, 

Kenya Airways, 

weekend, sacked 22 

out of its 26 Nigerian 

employees, representing 

86.4 percent of the affected 

workers. 

A source close to the airline 

told BusinessDay that 

the staff members were issued 

the disengagement 

letters at the airline’s office 

in Lagos, in the presence 

of stern looking police officers 

that were engaged by 

the airline to scare away the 

affected staff and prevent 

possible breakdown of law 

and order. 

Only four of its Nigerian 

staff members are retained 

by the management of the 

airline after the purging 

exercise. Those retained 

are Afeez Balogun, country 

manager, the station manager, 

and two other staff. 

The source disclosed that 

the affected workers were 

only given four weeks wages 

on disengagement, a situation 

the industry unions are 

already frowning at. 

It was gathered that the 

abrupt sack of the Nigerian 

workers happened when 

the airline was still negoti- 

ating the new condition of 

service with the industry 

unions. 

The source said the carrier’s 

management took the 

decision without taking into 

consideration the Nigerian 

Labour Laws, which kick 

against unilateral decision 

by employers when disengaging 

workers. 

It was learnt that plans 

had also reached an advanced 

stage by the management 

of the airline to 

replace the sacked workers 

with casuals, as it had already 

contracted engagement 

of new workers to a 

general sales agent in the 

country. 

However, there are indications 

that the sack of 

the workers may cause disruption 

to the smooth operations 

of the airline today 

(Monday), as the unions 

have prepared to picket the 

operations of the airline. 

Olayinka Abioye, general 

secretary, National Union 

of Air Transport Employees 

(NUATE), confirmed the 

sack of the 22 workers, saying 

however that the unilateral 

sack of the workers 

by the airline would not be 

allowed to stand by the industry 

unions.


BUSINESS DAY 

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A14 

NEWS 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

‘Only Nigerians with creative, innovative 

mindset can push frontier of growth’ 

KELECHI EWUZIE 

ships between buyers and 

sellers.” Like a typical MBA 

curriculum, The Chairman’s 

Empire is designed to teach 

business tactics and strategic 

thinking and the fundamentals 

of maintaining a healthy 

cash flow in order to avoid 

bankruptcy. 

“The game is designed 

to act as a guide on how to 

invest big to reap big and become 

the chairman of a vast 

business/economic empire, 

and inspire and contribute 

to your world through engagement 

in corporate social 

responsibility projects, etc,” 

she said. The game set up is 

structured like a typical business 

with players/investors 

why ply different sectors of 

the economy. It also has a 

central bank or the banks 

from which players obtain 

loans/credit for investment. 

The ‘investor’ must be 

careful to invest in sectors 

with low risk, but with potential 

for higher returns on 

investment. 

“The Chairman’s Empire 

was developed by HIIMA 

Edutainment, a Nigerian 

company and an arm of 

Distinct Integrated Services 

Limited, as an exciting business 

education game, which 

enables players catch up with 

the ever evolving business 

world. 

Zinox merges Konga, 

Yudala operations 

JUMOKE AKIYODE-LAWANSON 

Zinox Group has announced 

the merging 

of e-commerce 

operations between 

Konga and 

Yudala, as earlier predicted 

after Zinox acquired Konga, 

one of Nigeria’s largest online 

malls a few months ago. 

The merger, which takes 

effect from May 1, will see 

both companies operate on 

the ‘Konga’ brand name and 

is likely to give the company 

a stronger hold on Nigeria’s e- 

commerce market. 

In a statement, Zinox says 

the decision will see both 

Yudala and Konga leverage 

the combined strengths of 

both platforms, which is expected 

to further broaden 

the scope of organised retail 

and e-commerce in Nigeria 

and deliver more value to 

customers and merchants. 

“Combining forces to 

power the new Konga will 

enable us effectively achieve 

our goals of platform expansion 

and accelerated growth, 

as we embark on an ambitious 

journey to redefine the 

retail ecosystem with the 

industry’s most advanced 

technology,” Olusiji Ijogun, 

the newly appointed chairman 

of Konga, said. 

“Effective from May 1, Yudala 

will now operate under 

the name Konga, with dual 

CEOs in the persons of Nick 

Imudia who will be in charge 

of online among others and 

Prince Nnamdi Ekeh who will 

be responsible for offline. This 

merger will further strengthen 

our position in the Nigerian 

retail market as we creatively 

position Konga as the first 

profitable e-commerce company 

in Africa. 

“The efficiency of Konga’s 

cutting-edge online platform, 

access to thousands of merchants 

and Yudala’s expansive 

network of fully stocked 

offline stores is poised to give 

our customers the best shopping 

experience imaginable. 

We will be working closely 

with all our combined clients, 

customers, merchants 

and employees to make the 

integration process as seamless 

as possible and thereafter 

make public our road map to 

sustain our leadership on the 

continent,” Ijogun said. 

One of the exciting benefits 

of this merger is the possibility 

it offers prospective 

shoppers to order online, pay 

and pick-up the product(s) 

at the nearest Konga offline 

store. There are also increasing 

business opportunities for 

merchants nationwide. 


Medview explains rationalisation of 

staff, denies debt to service providers 

IFEOMA OKEKE 

Industry experts in the 

business and education 

sectors have warned that 

in the coming decade, 

the only assurance for Nigerians 

to remain relevant and 

push the frontier of growth is 

to be creative and innovative 

in their decision making. 

Ima Mariam Agunbiade- 

Etiebet, chief executive of 

Distinct Integrated Services 

Limited, said it was important 

that Nigerians learn financial 

discipline, planning and 

management as this would 

help them develop entrepreneurial, 

creative and innovative 

mindset to see possibilities 

and opportunities. 

Agunbiade-Etiebet stated 

this at the unveiling of the 

Chairman’s Empire, an innovative 

board game in Lagos. 

The Chairman’s Empire 

is a thrilling board game 

that can be played by two or 

more people, and takes players 

through the nitty-gritty of 

modern business practice. It 

is designed to be enjoyed by 

both adults and children of 

seven years old and above. 

According to Agunbiade- 

Etiebet, “The Chairman’s 

Empire, among other things, 

helps the players understand 

the dynamics of doing business, 

including the relation- 

Managing director 

of 

Medview Airlines, 

Muneer 

Bankole, says the airline 

had to undergo rationalisation 

of 52 staff members, 

both professional and administrative 

wise, as part of 

efforts to re-align its operations. 

Furthermore, Bankole 

says the airline is not indebted 

to any of its international 

service providers. 

Speaking at a press conference, 

weekend, Bankole 

said the airline had paid 

January salaries and had 

paid up 60 percent of staff 

in February, and was not indebted 

as those rationalised 

had to undergo the company’s 

processes but would be 

paid soon. 

According to Bankole, 

“Today, I will tell you that 

Medview is carrying out 

staff rationalisation and 

that is normal in any business. 

We came back in January 

and we announced to 

staff that we had to carry 

out this exercise. In January, 

we didn’t owe anyone and 

in February we had paid 60 

percent of our colleagues, 

including our pilots, but 

those that were laid off were 

52 and we are still doing it. 

“We had to rationalise 

their salaries because they 

have to meet the processes 

and procedures of disengagement, 

because when 

we give them letters, they 

have to go through Human 

Resources, return their 

Identification card and we 

check their books to see if 

they are not on loan and 

then they are paid their final 

packages. 

“In January, we had paid 

all and paid 60% in February 

and we are doing the 

exercise simultaneously. It 

affects captains, engineers, 

handlers and it affects those 

who have cases and those 

indicted for disciplinary of 

fences are equally affected.” 

On alleged debts to service 

providers, he said if 

they were owing any of their 

foreign service providers, 

the airline would not last six 

months. 

The airline, according to 

Bankole, is also realigning 

its operations to ensure its 

long-term sustainability by 

strengthening its domestic 

operations. 

“The 777 is undergoing 

C-Check and will be back 

by May but this affected 

our scheduled operations. 

When you have two aircraft 

outside, you restructure 

your operations and plan 

your schedule.


NEWS 

L - R: Ivy Ojigbede, 

group retail 

sales manager, 

Investment One 

Financial Services; 

Oluyori Ezekiel, 

managing director, 

Investment One 

Stockbrokers 

International 

Limited, and 

Oluchi Amorha, 

communications 

officer, Investment 

One Financial 

Services, after 

the launch of the 

company’s All Stars 

League initiative 

in Lagos, at the 

weekend 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

A15 

fivethings 

for your new week 

Fascinating business facts 

35 

Zimbabwe is to sell shares in 35 state-owned firms, 

including telecoms and mining entities in the latest 

step to revive the economy under new political 

leadership, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on 

Friday. Targeted firms include mobile carriers NetOne 

and Telecel, fixed line operator TelOne and savings 

bank POSB, all owned by the state. Shares in 17 

government-run mines would also be sold. Like most 

parastatals, the mines, which mainly produce gold, 

have struggled over the years due to lack of capital 

and mismanagement, forcing some to close. 

Stakeholders pick holes in FG’s 

attempt to sell Yola Disco, Afam plant 

OLUSOLA BELLO 

Stakeholders in the 

power sector say it 

is improper for the 

Federal Government 

to put Yola 

Electric Distribution Company 

up for sale, given that 

it is performing better than 

most of the other Discos 

that are privatised. 

They wonder if the real 

value of the Disco would 

be realised if it is sold now 

in view of the fact that the 

circumstances that made 

the core investor to return 

it to the government, which 

was insecurity, is still very 

much prevalent. 

They also frown at the 

situation in which the government 

is yet to refund the 

core investors, Integrated 

Energy and Distribution 

Marketing Company 

(IEDM), the $80.5 million 

that was the value negotiated 

after the return of the 

company, and is putting it 

put for sale. 

A former managing director 

of Ikeja Electric said: 

“It is crazy to want to sell 

Yola Disco now considering 

the performance of the 

sold ones. Presently Yola 

is performing better than 

most Discos despite the 

fact that it is still being run 

by civil servants. If the government 

had given the old 

management a third of the 

over N1 trillion intervention 

fund it has pumped 

into the system since privatisation 

could country 

would have been singing a 

different song.” 

Another executive director 

of one of the Discos 

queried the rationale 

behind the government 

selling the asset while still 

owing the former core investors, 

and described the 

action of the government 

capable of causing disincentive 

to other investors. 

“Whoever wants to buy 

the asset must be seeing 

what others are not seeing. 

I only hope that they do 

proper due diligent before 

throwing themselves into 

it,” he said. 

According to some others 

that spoke with BusinessDay, 

the Boko Haram 

insurgency is big challenge 

to any investor, as it seems 

intensified, even though the 

government claimed that 

the group has been technically 

defeated. They also 

cited the problems of the 

Fulani herdsmen, another 

major factor threatening investments 

in that region. 

The Fulani’s herdsmen 

problem has led to displacement 

of a number of 

people in Taraba and Adamawa 

states, which were 

considered as relatively 

peaceful before now. They 

said it would be difficult for 

any investor to want stake 

his money on the company, 

given the level of uncertainty 

prevailing in the 

areas covered by the distribution 

company. 

Efforts to get the reaction 

Bureau of Public Enterprise 

(BPE) on the views 

expressed by stakeholders, 

especially on why the refund 

of N80.5 million the 

former core investor is being 

delayed, was not successful. 

40 

National Microfinance Bank (NMB), Tanzania’s biggest 

bank by market capitalisation, is ready to participate 

in a needed consolidation of Tanzania’s fragmented 

banking sector, its chief executive said. Tanzania’s 

banking sector, hit by bad loans and low lending, 

would be healthier if smaller banks were taken over 

by larger ones, Ineke Bussemaker told Reuters. The 

East African nation has about 40 licensed banks, but 

the sector is dominated by a handful of big lenders. 

Netherlands-based Rabobank Group is NMB’s biggest 

shareholder with a 34.9 percent stake, while the 

Tanzanian government owns 31.9 percent. 

$3.5bn 

Kenya’s second-biggest infrastructure project since 

independence five decades ago, a $3.5 billion inter-city 

expressway, will be delayed amid concerns by lawmakers 

that East Africa’s largest economy is taking on too 

much debt, the company building it said. The nation’s 

debt could rise to 58 percent of gross domestic product 

by the end of June, from 40.6 percent in the 2011-12 fiscal 

year, according to World Bank estimates. 

$100m 

Russian IT services company IBS has postponed its 

planned initial public offering due to the Moscow market 

volatility caused by imposition of fresh US sanctions 

against the country. IBS said last week it would launch 

a flotation on the Moscow exchange and was said to be 

raising $100m by selling 30-35 per cent of its enlarged 

capital. Two days after that announcement, Washington 

said it was placing sanctions on seven Russian 

oligarchs, 12 of their companies and 17 Russia officials, 

leading to a run on the rouble and the largest daily fall 

in the Moscow stock market since 2014. 

$71.50 

With oil at above $71 a barrel, OPEC is beginning to 

reformulate its target in terms of upstream investment 

rather than oil inventories, according to an 

analysis of recent statements made by ministers 

from member countries. “There is no such thing as a 

target price by Saudi Arabia,” the kingdom’s energy 

minister, Khalid al-Falih, told reporters on Wednesday 

(“Saudi Arabia happy with oil market, won’t let 

another glut form”, Reuters

A16 

NEWS 

Coronation Merchant Bank records 

66% growth in gross earnings 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE 

We will not betray your confidence 

in us, Buhari tells Nigerians 

TONY AILEMEN, Abuja 

BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

In spite of the tough operating 

environment 

witnessed in the financial 

market in 2017, 

Coronation Merchant Bank 

Group recorded 66 percent 

increase in gross earnings to 

N25.5 billion in full year 2017 

financial result, as against 

N15.2 billion recorded in the 

previous year. 

Aside the strong earnings 

performance, the Group recorded 

a significant growth 

in its balance sheet in 2017. 

Total assets increased by 

28 percent to N136.7 billion 

from N106.6 billion in 

December 2016, and shareholder’s 

funds increased to 

N29.5 billion from N25.9 billion 

- a valid testament to the 

resilience of the Group’s operations 

and its adaptability 

to current market realities 

and challenges. 

“The impressive results 

of the bank in the last three 

years demonstrate the effectiveness 

of our strategy, the 

quality of our past decisions 

and the commitment of our 

board and management to 

maximise shareholder value 

whilst actively expanding 

our franchise in select, high 

growth markets where we 

believe we have a competitive 

advantage,” Abu Jimoh, 

CEO of the bank, said. 

The bank’s interest income 

growth of 67 percent 

year/year and non-interest 

income growth of 57 percent 

in 2017 reaffirm the sustain- 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari has assured 

Nigerians living 

in the United Kingdom 

(UK) that his administration 

will work to justify 

Nigerian’s confidence in his 

administration. 

The President speaking in 

London on Sunday while receiving 

the Buhari Diaspora 

Support Organisation, led by 

Efe Sylvester, assured, “We 

will do our best to justify your 

trust in us, and that confidence 

won’t be abused.” 

A statement by special 

adviser to the President on 

media and publicity, Femi 

Adesina, said the President 

expressed happiness that the 

country had people who were 

ready to defend her. 

“You have shown courage 

and sacrifice. I assure you that 

your confidence in us won’t 

be abused, we will do our best 

to justify it,” he said. 

The group, a new force 

set up to counter the activities 

of other Nigerians who 

had been engaging in protest 

against the President at the 

Nigeria House in London, 

had expressed their confidence 

in the current administration’s 

efforts to rebuild the 

country. 

ability of its core business 

growth. “We will continue 

to gain momentum in our 

efforts to achieve more diversified 

earnings, as we 

strengthen our subsidiaries 

offerings,” Jimoh said at the 

annual general meeting held 

at the weekend in Lagos. 

Despite the high inflation 

rate, cost-to-income ratio 

increased marginally by 90 

basis points to 46.1 percent 

compared to 45.2 percent in 

December 2016, reaffirming 

the bank’s commitment to 

rein in costs while improving 

operating efficiency. 

“We remain committed 

to providing our clients with 

superior financial services 

whilst generating attractive 

and sustainable returns for 

shareholders.” 

The bank recorded 

growth in loan book by 42 

percent to N32.3 billion in 

2017 from N22.7 billion in 

2016. 

“While general economic 

conditions and the regulatory 

environment remain 

tight, we believe that our 

new business and lending 

strategies, embedded risk 

management culture and 

continuous cost savings 

will enable us stand firm 

throughout this period”. 

“In the coming years, we 

will focus on the disciplined 

implementation of our 

growth strategy to drive efficiency 

in all segments of our 

business leveraging fintech 

and process re-engineering,” 

Jimoh said. 

The President, who noted 

that Nigeria was gifted with 

tremendous human and natural 

resources, however, regretted 

that “failure of some of 

the leadership we had in the 

past led to our not being able 

to capitalise on resources to 

improve the lot of the people.” 

For him, “wicked people 

plundered the country, and 

kept Nigerians poor. Looking 

at the condition in which the 

current administration met the 

country, without savings and 

the economy badly vandalised, 

“we have not done too badly.” 

He reiterated that the 

damage done to the Nigerian 

economy in the years of plunder 

was massive, and that government 

was doing its best to 

recover some of the loot, but 

noted that it was impossible 

to identify and recover all. 

“If they had used 50% of 

the money we made, when 

oil prices went as high as 

$143 dollars per barrel, and 

stabilized at $100 dollars 

with production at 2.1 million 

barrels per day for many 

years, Nigerians would have 

minded their businesses. You 

could almost grow food on 

our roads, as they were abandoned. 

The stealing was so 

much, and they were so inept 

that they could not even cover 

the stealing properly.” 

Emefiele says AGSMEIS funds 

to reach N60bn by June 

… 358 entrepreneurs benefit as CBN, Bankers’ Committee commence disbursement 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE & ONYINYE NWACHUKWU 

Funds pooled by the 

commercial lenders 

under the Agribusiness/Small 

and 

Medium Enterprises 

Investment Scheme (AGS- 

MEIS) is already in excess of 

N26 billion, and is expected 

to exceed N60 billion by June 

2018, CBN governor, Godwin 

Emefiele, said as disbursements 

of the funds began in 

Abuja, last week. 

The flag off saw the disbursement 

of about N118 

million to 358 beneficiaries 

under the scheme that seeks 

to reasonably cut the present 

high unemployment rates in 

the country. 

The beneficiaries are 

youths who have been 

trained on various entrepreneurship, 

vocational and 

management skills across the 

country by Entrepreneurship 

Development Institutions 

Paga celebrates 

9th year 

anniversary 

Paga is celebrating 

its ninth anniversary 

as Nigeria’s first 

and leading mobile 

money company. Founded 

by CEO, Tayo Oviosu in 

April 2009, Paga has provided 

easy means for simple 

mobile money transfers, 

bill payments and 

provision of financial services 

to over 8 million users 

on their platform through 

the years. 

Since 2009, Paga has 

created meaningful financial 

technology that has led 

the drive for financial inclusion 

which aims to bank 

over 70 million unbanked 

and underbanked Nigerians 

leveraging its web 

channels, mobile apps and 

short code (*242#). 

Paga has pioneered the 

mobile money industry 

objective by creating what 

is recognized as the single 

largest shared active agent 

network in Nigeria with 

over 14,000 agents. These 

agent outlets are widespread 

across the 36 states 

in Nigeria and they enable 

millions of Nigerians 

to perform simple money 

transfers and pay bills for 

life and business. 

Notable businesses and 

organizations like Dangote 

foundation, Ikeja Electric, 

Eko Distribution Company, 

JAMB, WAEC, UK 

Immigration among many 

more companies have leveraged 

the reach and impact 

of Paga to achieve payment 

collections and bulk 

disbursements. 

and Centres, such as Fate 

Foundation, Lagos Business 

School, House of Tara and 

Thrive Agric. 

The Bankers’ Committee 

had, at its meeting on February 

9, 2017, came up with 

the AGSMEIS to improve 

access to affordable financing 

for MSMEs, particularly 

those operating in the informal 

sector of the economy, 

and to support the Federal 

Government’s efforts and 

policy measures to promote 

sustainable economic development 

and employment 

generation. 

As a commitment to the 

successful implementation 

of the scheme, all deposit 

money banks, voluntarily 

agreed to set aside and 

contribute 5 percent of their 

profit after tax (PAT) annually 

to finance eligible projects 

under the scheme. 

Quoting data from the 

National Bureau of Statistics 

(NBS), Emefiele said the rate 

of unemployment in Nigeria 

worsened marginally during 

the third quarter of 2017, and 

that this raised concerns and 

risks for the collective peace 

and progress across the nation. 

He noted that one of the 

most effective ways to tackle 

this scourge was through entrepreneurship 

development 

and easy access to affordable 

financing, which according 

to him, has been a huge challenge 

to entrepreneurship 

development in the country 

today. 

He regretted the financial 

intermediaries’ apathy to 

youth entrepreneurship and 

start-ups, which are usually 

perceived as being too risky, 

lacking relevant managerial 

skills and not possessing adequate 

collaterals acceptable 

for conventional credit. 

He said the situation 

therefore led the Bankers’ 


Committee Retreat, to design 

and fund a suitable scheme 

that will not only reduce the 

huge financing gap for Macro 

Small and Medium Enterprises 

(MSMEs), but also 

fully commits to the pursuits 

of job creation, financial inclusion 

and inclusive growth 

for Nigerians, particularly the 

teeming youth population. 

The AGSMEIS has been 

designed to be implemented 

in three broad components, 

namely Direct, Indirect and 

Developmental components. 

Under the Direct component 

of the AGSMEIS, beneficiaries 

can access loans to a 

limit of N10 million, at interest 

rate of 5 percent per annum 

and a maximum tenor 

of up to seven years. There is 

also a moratorium period of 

18 months on principal and 

six months on interest element, 

depending on the nature 

of the business.

BUSINESS DAY 

Opinion 

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I MONDAY 16 APRIL 2018 

CHOGM 2018: Nigeria, Commonwealth and the London summit 

C002D5556 

This week, from 

today Monday 

16 to Friday 20 

April, the 25th 

biennial summit 

of the Commonwealth, 

the Commonwealth Heads 

of Government Meeting 

(CHOGM), will take place 

in London. It is the first 

time the event is held in 

the UK since 1997. As a 

proud Londoner, with a 

longstanding relationship 

with the Commonwealth, 

I cannot but comment on 

thehistoric event, even 

more so because of the 

importance of this week’s 

summitandthe role that 

Nigeria should play in it. 

But before we get into all 

that, let’s remind ourselves 

of Nigeria’srelationship 

with the Commonwealth. 

Nigeria joined the 

Commonwealth at independence 

in 1960. For 

most part, since that time, 

we have been an enthusiastic 

member of the organisation. 

We produced 

its third Secretary-General, 

since the office was 

established in 1965, in the 

person of the globally respected 

elder statesman, 

Chief Emeka Anyaoku, 

who led the organisation 

for ten years, from 1990 

to 2000. On any visit to 

the Commonwealth Secretariat, 

I never cease to 

admire Chief Anyaoku’s 

larger than life portrait in 

his traditional Nigerian 

attire. He was an iconic 

and highly successful secretary 

general! 

I attended my first 

CHOGM in Abuja in December 

2003. I had been 

asked by the Commonwealth 

Business Council 

to be the rapporteur for 

the Business Forum during 

the summit. With both 

the Hilton and Sheraton 

hotels cordoned off to 

accommodate the guests, 

including the Queen and 

her entourage, and with 

several colourful social 

and cultural activities, 

it was a very memorable 

event for many of the foreign 

visitors. 

Of course, Nigeria will 

always pull out all the 

stops to organise spectacular 

events to impress 

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES 

OLU FASAN 

Dr Fasan, a London-based lawyer and 

political economist, is a Visiting Fellow at 

the London School of Economics. email: 

o.fasan@lse.ac.uk, 

He tweets @olu_fasan 

Anyaoku 

foreigners. Sadly, it lacks 

the ability and/or the willingness 

to organise its 

own affairs. For instance, 

despite its enthusiasm for 

the Commonwealth, Nigeria 

falls far short of meeting 

its goals. Of the three 

Commonwealth goals – 

development, democracy 

and peace – Nigeria is 

certainly nowhere near 

attaining at least two, development 

and peace, not 

with widespread poverty, 

inequality, political tension 

and insecurity in the 

country. 

However, its internal 

deficiencies notwithstanding, 

Nigeria has always 

been an active member 

of the Commonwealth. 

The only exception was 

during the Abacha dictatorship 

when, following 

the execution of Ken 

Saro-Wiwa, Nigeria was 

ejected from the organisation 

in 1995. This was 

particularly embarrassing 

because, at that time, a 

Nigerian, Chief Anyaoku, 

was secretary-general of 

the Commonwealth. Abacha 

turned a deaf ear to 

Anyaoku’s entreaties, rejected 

Mandela’s pleas, 

and killed Saro-Wiwa. 

Nigeria crossed the Rubicon, 

its behaviour was 

beyond the pale, and had 

to be sent out of the Commonwealth. 

But no member wants 

to be ostracised from the 

Commonwealth for too 

long. Every member suspended 

from the organisation 

always applied to 

be readmitted when the 

time became auspicious, 

as Nigeria did in 1999 after 

returning to democracy, 

and as The Gambia and 

Zimbabwe are currently 

doing after Yahya Jammeh 

and Robert Mugabe were 

replaced by more civilised 

leaders. 

So, why is the Commonwealth 

that important? 

Well, I would say there 

are two main reasons. The 

first is its functional value. 

The Commonwealth, a 

club of mostly former British 

colonies, is the only 

plurilateral organisation 

in the world whose membership 

spans the globe. 

Its 53 member-countries 

spread across Africa, Asia, 

the Caribbean, the Americas, 

Europe and the Pacific. 

It is also the only 

monwealth Charter, 

agreed on 14 December 

2012, sets out 16 core 

principles to which all 

members are committed. 

These range from democracy, 

human rights and 

peace and security to rule 

of law, good governance, 

gender equality as well as 

health, education, food 

and shelter. Of course, as 

Nigeria shows, not every 

Commonwealth member 

adheres to all these 

principles, or fully to any. 

However, the principles 

are benchmarks against 

which the behaviour of 

Indeed, can the trade minister, Okechukwu 

Enelamah, freely engage in 

such bilateral trade talks when President 

Buhari can easily overrule him 

(a la AfCFTA!)? What’s more, would 

Nigeria embrace a more economic 

Commonwealth with greater push for 

a commitment to free trade? Or would 

it be one the refuseniks? The latter, of 

course, is more likely, which reflects 

the regressive state of policy-making in 

Nigeria. 

such organisation with 

membership encompassing 

developed, developing, 

small and vulnerable 

states. These global 

reach and diversity enable 

the Commonwealth to 

leverage support for its 

members and their citizens 

through institutional 

development, capacity 

building, technical cooperation 

and professional 

development. 

Then, there is the normative 

value. The Com- 

every member-country 

can be measured, and 

therefore serve as a powerful 

source of normative 

pressure. 

For instance, all eyes 

will be on Nigeria next 

year as it holds its general 

elections. It will be 

expected to conduct 

the elections in an environment 

“where there 

is confidence, transparency 

and accountability 

in the electoral process, 

and where voters are free 

to exercise an informed 

choice between alternative 

candidates for office”. 

Following the success of 

the 2015 elections, Nigeria 

would be expected to 

strengthen its democracy 

and enhance the credibility 

of its electoral process 

by conducting free, fair 

and peaceful elections. 

Commonwealth election 

observers would, of 

course, be on the ground 

to see if Nigeria passes the 

electoral test. It is a test 

that Nigeria must not fail! 

So, the Commonwealth 

is a relevant organisation 

that provides valuable 

public good. But it 

is now facing pressure 

to do more, to become 

somewhat an economic 

bloc! Which brings me 

to why this week’s London 

summit is important. 

The summit,which comes 

just a year before Britain 

leaves the EU (Brexit), will 

have a significant impact 

on the future of the Commonwealth. 

It is not surprising 

that the theme of 

the CHOGM 2018 is “Towards 

a common future”. 

Simply put, the Commonwealth 

will be different 

post-Brexit. This is because 

the UK is very keen 

to secure trade deals with 

as many Commonwealth 

countries as possible, with 

Nigeria among its priority 

countries. In fact, British 

officials had hoped that 

trade talks would form a 

key part of the CHOGM 

agenda, but other Commonwealth 

members resisted 

turning the summit 

into a trade round. But the 

issue will still dominate 

discussions on the margins 

of the summit. As one 

British minister said, “We 

are hoping that through 

the bilateral discussion 

that will take place there 

would be huge opportunities 

to advance trade talks”. 

Sadly, Nigeria is unlikely 

to engage constructively 

in such talks, given its 

reflex defensive attitude 

to trade issues. Indeed, 

can the trade minister, 

Okechukwu Enelamah, 

freely engage in such bilateral 

trade talks when 

President Buhari can 

easily overrule him (a la 

AfCFTA!)? What’s more, 

would Nigeria embrace a 

more economic Commonwealth 

with greater push 

for a commitment to free 

trade? Or would it be one 

the refuseniks? The latter, 

of course, is more likely, 

which reflects the regressive 

state of policy-making 

in Nigeria. 

Nevertheless, trade and 

investment issues, if not 

actual trade talks, will still 

dominate the CHOGM 

agenda, particularly its 

Business Forum, from 

16 to 18 April, where the 

discussion will focus on, 

among others, advancing 

intra-Commonwealth 

trade and strengthening 

the “Commonwealth advantage”. 

In 2015, the Commonwealth 

Secretariat invited 

me to join a panel of experts 

to review its flagship 

trade publication, “The 

Commonwealth in the 

Unfolding Global Trade 

Landscape”. The study 

showed that there is a 

“Commonwealth Advantage”, 

which helps to increase 

trade by 20%, and 

reduce the cost of doing 

business by up to 19%, 

between Commonwealth 

countries than between 

them and non-Commonwealth 

countries. These 

findings will shape discussions 

at the Commonwealth 

Business Forum. 

But the CHOGM will 

not all be about business 

talks. One subject that 

might also be broached 

is the next head of the 

Commonwealth after 

the Queen. Of course, 

the Queen is universally 

adored, so much so that, 

according to media reports, 

some Commonwealth 

high commissioners 

want to nominate her 

for the Nobel Peace Prize. 

But after her, who next? 

Obviously, the Queen’s 

successor to lead the 

organisation should be 

Prince Charles when he 

becomes king, but the role 

is not hereditary, and, in 

principle, nothing should 

be taken for granted! 

Yet, for me, the present 

informal arrangement 

whereby the symbolic 

head of the Commonwealth 

is the British 

monarch, who is also 

head of state of 16 Commonwealth 

countries, 

while the chief executive 

of the organisation, i.e. 

the secretary-general, 

is rotated among other 

Commonwealth members, 

currently held by 

Patricia Scotland from 

Dominica, seems to work 

perfectly well. Surely, 

when the time to take 

that decision comes, 

Nigeria should support 

Prince Charles for the 

role! 

So, this week’s CHOGM 

is an interesting one for 

the Commonwealth and 

all its well-wishers. I look 

forward to it, and hope 

Nigeria takes active part 

in deciding the organisation’s 

“common future”, 

including on economic 

cooperation. 

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