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Katsina Governor got it wrong 18 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 OVER the penultimate weekend, Nigerians woke up to one of the most scandalous and outrageous photographs which made the front page of many newspapers and went viral on the social media. Governor Aminu Bello Masari, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, was seen in a group tional responsibility of defending the photograph with the leader of the socalled “bandits” who was clutching an country from external aggression and internal insurrection. AK-47 assault rifle. Even if dialogue with these criminal Unfortunately, there was a Nigerian elements who have massacred and Army officer in the photograph who abducted thousands of innocent stood unarmed and gazing vacantly Nigerians in the North West can be into space. remotely excused, allowing their That picture was reportedly taken leader to wield a gun while our own after the governor held possible soldier posed empty-handed in front amnesty negotiations with the foreign of an elected governor depicted the “bandits” who are also styled as unconscionable and unacceptable abdication of our security institutions to “armed herdsmen” in the Middle Belt and Southern parts of the country. the superior firepower of these foreign invaders. It instantly told the whole story of how our security agencies are gradually failing in their sacred constitu- Many questions are begging for answers here. What has been the outcome, on our security well-being, of countless operations launched by our security organisations in the last few years? Up North, why have the governors suddenly decided to beg the outlaws to accept amnesty and publicly giving them heroic treatments? Another question that the Nigerian authorities are yet to answer is whether it is true that some politicians had brought in these armed foreigners to fight their battles only to abandon them once they achieved their political objectives, whereupon they turned to crime? We cannot understand why these bandits have defied all reported efforts by our military to flush them out. Why have the mighty Nigerian forces which successfully kept Nigeria one in the civil war of 50 years ago and achieved serial exploits in the West African sub-region suddenly become ineffective in securing our country against rag-tag bandits? Could the recent bust of N600 million reportedly stolen from the GOC of the 8 Division of the Nigerian Army fighting the North West bandits, Major General Hakeem Otiki, by his own soldiers be a confirmation that some bad eggs in the military have been profiteering from these military operations? The Federal Government must flush out all foreign invaders and reassert the full sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria over every inch of our country. OPINION Viable alternative to curbing air pollution: Nigerian telcos taking the lead? By SEGUN AKANDE THE beginning of the 21st century marked the start of a major transformation of the Nigerian telecommunication industry. In the year 2000, the industry experienced a great leap when the government of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo issued operating licence to Econet Wireless. The entire Nigerian citizenry had a major relief. Reaching out to loved ones, business partners over long distances was no more going to be an issue. Among other things, subscribers had hoped as well that over time, the very expensive tariff was going to tilt southwards, data services were going to be cheaply accessible, banking operations and services to customers were going to be seamless. As envisioned, it happened exactly! In fact, expectations were exceeded! In no time, after Econet Wireless, Mobile Telecommunication Networks, MTN, Globacom Nigeria and Etisalat got their licences too. The Nigeria Telecommunications, NITEL, also rolled out a GSM arm called MNet (now defunct). This altogether put the subscribers at advantage. The competition between these telecommunication companies, telcos, has been stiff since then, with prices dropping on all products and services. However, all we have benefited in ease of life, we have unfortunately lost largely to poor health! Between the year 2000 and now, the Nigerian topography has been littered with not less than 50,000 on-air Base Transceiver Stations, BTS. This means over 50,000 diesel-powered electricity generators (called DGs in telecommunications parlance) continuously release carbon monoxide into the air space around us. A sense of the degree of damage this causes could be made in thinking of the 150 deaths per 100,000 people attributable to air pollution in Nigeria. According to the Health Effects Institute, HEI, in a 2018 report on annual State of the Global Air Report, SGAR, air quality in Nigeria is among the deadliest in the world, causing very high death rates. Extreme air pollution sources like generator fumes and vehicle emissions were identified as largely responsible. Nigerians are aware of the dangers these telecommunication sites pose, but uncertain of our resolve to end it. It was a case to be likened to a willingness to exchange a few years of our collective living for ease of communication. Until recently, there was no alternative means of powering the active equipment at these BTS sites, no thanks to the unreliable power supply from our national grid. The disturbing noise of continuously working generators is another major environmental pollutant. Though the maximum healthy noise level is 60dB of sound, but generators at BTS sites often sound louder. With majority of these generators running over 20,000 hours unchanged, the noise levels often exceed 90dB, even more as run hours increase. Today, however, the narrative has changed tremendously, with even bigger promises of lesser air pollution and consequently, ridiculously cheap voice and data services provided by these telcos. It is interesting to know that a search by the telcos for cheaper ways of running business has not only become environmentally-benefiting, but also economically advantageous to the subscribers. The leading telecoms infrastructure companies in Nigeria went into massive rollout of alternative power solutions for their sites from 2010 till date. This has since seen at least 20,000 sites powered in an unconventional manner. The regular way was to run an Alternating Current Generator, ACDG, nonstop. A 15KVA generator will consume 1,200 litres of diesel in a month with an average DC load of 30 Amperes and AC load of 15Amperes. The combustion of this volume of diesel will produce about 3216 kilogrammes of carbon monoxide. Too dangerous for human when we make a sense of it across over 50,000 BTSs. The diesel consumption increases with increasing site’s load. As an alternative, Direct Current Generators, DCDGs, and backup batteries are deployed alongside solar panels to keep the sites running. The solar panels run the site as well as charge the batteries during We must embrace the green solution and ensure its implementation in BTSs across the country is total the day, while the batteries take over when there is low or no sunlight. Adequate amount of battery strings of 12V165Ah rating per battery can run at least 20,000 hours or more depending on site load, after which the DCDG will take over for only two to three hours before the sun rises again. This has proven to be a very effective way of reducing air pollution, taking Nigeria several steps closer to the clean energy era. It is great news to know that this will continue with little support from government. The telcos have continually sought ways of improving on their green energy solutions. This is particularly because the lesser the need to run diesel engines, the lesser the cost of operation. I believe the future is brighter for telcos with clean energy solutions at the core of their organisational objectives. A continuous effort to eradicate the use of diesel will be endearing to subscribers because of the consequent Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com reduction of noise and carbon monoxide in the environment. It is a win-win solution: telcos spend several billions less, subscribers get lesser environmental threat and cheaper call and data rates. Since founding till date, the combined profit declaration of MTN, Airtel, Globacom and Etisalat is well over $32bn. Then in 2018, a jaw-dropping profit of $453m was declared by MTN. Bharti Airtel declared $312.9million for the first half of 2019. It has been momentous in the past ten years as there has been massive rollout of alternative power projects, thereby creating thousands of jobs during the project period. Clearly, the future holds even more beautiful realities for Nigeria in the area of air pollution, especially because it has become popular among the telcos that the greener they go, the bigger their revenue. Telecoms infrastructure giant, IHS Towers is leading in this regard, followed by American towers. Sooner than envisioned, the use of dieselpowered generators will reduce monumentally, leading us several steps closer to an entirely clean energy industry. The Ministries of Communication, Environment, Agriculture and Health are duty-bound to encourage telecommunication companies to adopt only the clean energy alternative to solving air pollution challenges ravaging the Nigeria airspace and ensure compliance to the existing environmental laws. To nip the menace of air pollution occasioned by diesel-powered generating plants nationwide in the bud, all hands must be on deck. We must embrace the green solution and ensure its implementation in BTSs across the country is total. Other industries must be encouraged to embrace this as well. Nigeria stands to benefit because the health of its citizenry is bolstered with an attendant increase in life expectancy. •Akande, a Telecoms Professionalwrote from Kano
CBN mandates banks to record CP transactions as loans, deposits By Elizabeth Adegbesan The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has mandated banks and discount houses to record all Commercial Papers (CPs) purchases and sales as loans and deposits respectively, in their balance sheet. The apex bank gave the directive yesterday in its latest guidelines on the issuance and treatment of Bankers Acceptances, BAs, and CPs. CP is an unsecured, short-term debt instrument issued by a company, typically for the financing of accounts payable and inventories and meeting shortterm liabilities. BA is a short-term debt instrument issued by a company and guaranteed by a commercial bank. Section 18.4 of the guidelines read: “Banks and discount houses shall book all CP purchases and sales on their balance sheets as loans and deposits, respectively.” On tenor and rollover of BAs and CPs section 6.1 stated: “The tenor of the BA, including rollover, shall not exceed: In the case of financing purchases, 365 days, after execution of documents and acceptance by the bank. “In the case of financing sales, the shortest remaining credit period extended by the drawer (seller) to the purchaser(s) of the goods. “In the case of importation of capital goods, 365 days and a final rollover of additional 180 days, subject to CBN approval. “The CP shall be issued for maturities of between 15 days and 270 days, including rollover, from the date of issue; every issue of a CP is therefore, a separate CP; and the capitalization of upfront interest and discount on maturing CP into a rollover is not allowed.” CURRENCY BUYING SELLING US DOLLAR POUNDS EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL SDR DANISH RAND $101.15 2.80 2,218.00 0.00 $10.83 -0.05 $60.90 -1.48 $55.91 -1.49 305.85 306.35 306.85 377.5412 378.1584 379.7756 336.6491 337.1994 337.7498 307.7581 308.2612 308.7643 2.8396 2.8442 2.8489 0.4956 0.5056 0.5156 418.1454 418.829 419.5126 42.9688 43.0395 43.1102 81.5404 81.6737 81.807 418.831 419.5157 420.2004 45.11 45.1837 45.2574 20.8441 20.8782 20.9123 CBN Exchange rate as at 11/09/2019 On limits and the amount of issue of BAs and CPs, the guidelines states: “ Off-balance sheet BAs and guaranteed CPs extended to a single obligor shall not exceed 30 percent of a bank’s or discount house’s shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses. “Aggregate off-balance sheet BAs and guaranteed CPs shall not be more than: 150 percent of shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses for a bank; and 300 percent of shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses for a discount house.” On penalty for non compliance to the guidelines the apex bank said: “Non-compliance with Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 — 19 these guidelines or any part thereof shall attract appropriate penalties as prescribed in Section 60 (1) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 1991 (as amended) and may also include debarring from the BA or CP market, or as may be prescribed by the CBN from time to time.” From left, Mrs Funke Osibodu, MD/CEO, BEDC Electricity Plc, Prof. James Momoh, Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Prof. Olukayode Amund, Vice- Chancellor, Elizade University Ilara-Mokin, Akure, at the Graduation ceremony for graduate trainees and technician trainees of BEDC in Asaba, Delta State. Bonny Light price rises further to $64.65 as OPEC puts Nigeria’s output at 1.8m bpd By Udeme Akpan THE price of Bonny Light, Nigeria’s premium oil grades, has surged further to $64.65 per barrel, yesterday, from $63.00 recorded Tuesday, just as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, continues to eliminate excess oil from the volatile market. Meanwhile, OPEC, in its report released yesterday, puts Nigeria’s oil output at 1.8 million barrels per day, mbpd, in August, this year. These show a mixed development in the nation’s 2019 fiscal estimates as the oil price is significantly ahead of the $60 budget benchmark while the output is equally significantly below the budgeted 2.3mbpd. However, the report painted a gloomy global economic picture, and by extension oil demand when it stated: “US economic growth was revised down to 2.3per cent for 2019 and 1.9per cent for 2020. The forecast for Euro-zone growth in 2019 remains at 1.2per cent, while 2020 was revised down to 1.1per cent. Japan’s 2019 growth was revised up to 0.9per cent due to a stronger-than-expected 1H19, although there was a downward revision to 0.3per cent in 2020. “China’s 2019 growth forecast remains at 6.2per cent and is expected to slow to 5.9per cent in 2020. India’s growth forecast was revised down to 6.1per cent for 2019 and 6.7per cent for 2020. Brazil’s 2019 growth forecast was revised down to 0.8per cent, but is then projected to reach 1.4per cent in 2020. After low 1Q19 growth, Russia’s growth forecast for 2019 was revised down to 1.1per cent, and is forecast at 1.2per cent in 2020.” The report obtained by Vanguard further stated: “World oil demand in 2019 is expected to grow by 1.02 mb/d, which is 0.08 mb/d lower than last month’s projection. The drop can be attributed to weaker-thanexpected data in 1H19 from various global demand centres and slower economic growth projections for the remainder of the year. Both OECD and non- OECD demand growth forecasts were revised lower, by 0.03 mb/d and 0.05 mb/d, respectively. Recapitalisation: Insurance sector to witness significant growth in 10 yrs — report By Rosemary Onuoha The Nigerian insurance sector has been projected to increase in penetration to 3.69 percent in the next ten years from the current 0.31 percent. The sector was, however, projected to retain about 25 insurance companies or 40 percent of the operators after the on-going recapitalisation enforcement end in June 2020. The remaining 34 would have to be absorbed into the surviving institutions or be liquidated. The Head of Research at Coronation Merchant Bank, Mr. Guy Czartoryski, who disclosed these in its report titled “From Lagoon to the Ocean”, said the industry research indicates that companies that will survive the exercise will be strong enough to deepen insurance penetration in the country. Czartoryski, who spoke at a press briefing to announce the research report on the insurance sector by the bank, noted that in the last ten years, the industry has not grown in real terms as insurance penetration stands at 0.31 percent, pointing out that with 25 strong companies, the sector should witness growth in real terms in the next ten years. Czartoryski said a number of factors including favourable capital importation, oil price, transactions in bonds and treasury bills as well as equities will play significant roles in redefining the fortunes of the sector, which is currently hounded down by low capitalization. He stated: “At the end of the recapitalisation exercise in the insurance sector, we are going to have just about 25 insurance companies remaining, from the 59 that are currently in operation now. It is going to be similar to the 2004 recapitalisation in the banking sector where only 25 banks emerged against 89 banks that were operating before then. “This is going to be good for the insurance sector because the companies are going to be stronger and will have more capacity to deepen insurance penetration in the country.” Unity Bank partners Binkabi to ease lending to farmers By Elizabeth Adegbesan In a bid to ease lending to farmers and promote financial inclusion in the country, Unity Bank Plc, in collaboration with Binkabi Limited, has launched an Agro Commodity Trading Platform. Executive Director, Corporate Planning & Compliance, Unity Bank, Usman Abdulqadir, disclosed this at a media launch in Lagos. Explaining the reason behind the adoption of the product, Abdulqadir said: “By way of strategy we look at the various value chains across the agric sector and incidentally while some banks prefer to concentrate on certain types of customers, the big ones that have little or no risk exposure we lean across the entire value chain. What we are doing today is to integrate all the members of the value chain to one single entity to have an integrated approach to funding the agric sector. “Now there are problems within the agric sector one of them that has inhibited banks from lending to the agric sector is the difficulty in accessing risk there is no data, even when there is data it is unreliable. “Consequently, we are working with rice farmers, wheat farmers, maize farmers and cotton farmers, agro processors , rice mills flour mills and other players in the processing space.”
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