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news you can trust I ** wednesDAY 03 june 2020 I vol. 19, no 576

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… says allegations against him trumpedup, without facts

Nigerians still groan under ‘crazy’ electricity bills

TONY AILEMEN, Abuja

ISAAC ANYAOGU

AfDB: Adesina gets Nigeria’s support for reelection bid

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resident Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria will stand solidly behind Akinwunmi Adesina in his bid to get re-elected as president of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Adesina was on a courtesy visit to the president at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday.

According to a statement by Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Buhari said that in 2015 when Adesina was to be elected for the first term, he (Buhari) wrote to all African leaders recommending Adesina for the position.

“I didn’t say because you were a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) minister, and I belonged to the All Progressives Congress (APC), so I would withhold my support. I’ll remain consistent with you, because no one has faulted the step I took on behalf of Nigeria,” Buhari said.

The president pledged that Nigeria would work with all other leaders and stakeholders Continues on page 28

E

lectricity customers in Nigeria are still reporting excessive charges despite an order by the sector regulator limiting distribution companies (DisCos) from charging outrageous bills. Power com-

As DisCos flout NERC’s order abolishing practice

panies trying to recover losses caused by COVID-19 are passing the cost to long-suffering unmetered customers.

In February, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) issued the Transi-

tional Capping of Estimated Bills issued to Unmetered Customers

by DisCos, an order placing a cap on estimated bills that can be issued to unmetered customers, but the regulator has failed to enforce the order, leading to

gross abuse.

According to NERC, the order cancelled the Estimated Billing Methodology Regulation as a basis for computing the consumpContinues on page 28

Inside

FG gives detailed guidelines for reopening of churches, mosques P. 27

President Muhammadu Buhari (r) and Akinwunmi Adesina, president, African Development Bank (AfDB), at a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday.

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COVID-19: Lagos yet to reach agreement Developers to lose investment as Lagos revokes layout approval on Lekki regional road RoW on re-opening of religious centres Joshua Bassey

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eligious centres (churches and mosques) may not re-open any time soon in Lagos, as the state government is yet to reach an agreement with religious leaders on the guidelines and protocols that will define their operations.

An indication to this emerged on Tuesday at a ministerial press briefing by Anofi Elegushi, the state commissioner for home affairs, who said notwithstanding the Federal Government’s nod on Monday for re-opening of religious gatherings, Lagos was yet to work out its own schedule and guidelines with religious leaders in the state.

“Even before the pronouncement by Federal Government, we have been having meeting with religious leaders and the state safety commission to look at the possibility of reopening religious houses.

“We had one with the leaders of the two faith (Christianity and Islam) and I want to state categorically that in that meeting the possibility of reopening religious houses soon was ruled out totally. ‘’They (religious leaders) claimed that they cannot take such responsibility of ensuring that only 20 or 50 people are praying behind them.

“So in the meeting we ruled out in totality the issue of reopening the religious houses until we have cleared the coast for us to

do so. The Federal Government mentioned it, but all states will have to look at the possibility of doing so in their respective states,” Elegushi said.

The commissioner acknowledged that the COVID-19 infection figures in Lagos were still rising and therefore would define the decision of government regarding re-opening of religious centres.

He said the governor would come out with further directives and after which the leaders of the two faiths would gather to discuss the pronouncement, noting, “I can assure you that the religious leaders will tell us what to do it.’’

He also said that the government had started the process of automating the processing of money lending licenses.

He revealed that since the commencement of the process few months ago, it has received 207 applications out of which 184 applicants have been granted approval.

He explained that the decision to automate the process of money lending licenses was to ensure a hitch-free renewal and fresh applications by prospective applicants.

The commissioner added that only one application has so far been declined by the ministry while 22 applications are currently being reviewed, stressing that the initiative would henceforth guarantee easy access to loan opportunities to residents of the state and ultimately provide employment for the youths.

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JOSHUA BASSEY

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wners of property on Lekki Regional Road right of way (RoW) are losing their investment, as Lagos State has revoked all layout approval on already developed and yet to be developed property along the corridor.

This is coming four days after the state government flagged off the construction of the about 9km road, which will further open up the Lekki-Epe corridor and possibly attract more investments to that axis.

The government before now had accused developers of deliberate encroachment on the alignment and warned it would demolished all property illegally situated along the road RoW. At the flag off of the construction on Sunday, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said state officials found to had colluded with developers to contravene the RoW would be meted appropriate sanctions.

Some affected property owners in Cowrie Creek Estate told BusinessDay early in the year that about N10 billion could be lost in the process.

Idris Salako, the state commissioner for physical planning and urban development, said on Tuesday that recent observations revealed that the corridor had been encumbered by physical developments (including shanties), which negate the objectives of which the regional road was

conceived.

“Consequently, by virtue of Section 21(1) (a) of Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law, 2015, I, Idris Okanla Salako, the commissioner, ministry of physical planning and urban development hereby REVOKE in part, a section of Elegushi Chieftaincy Family Layout that falls within the alignment.”

Salako regretted that some estates, buildings/structures had encroached on the RoW of the road in Lekki axis.

The Lekki road was first conceived by the state in the Lagos Metropolitan Master Plan (19802000) and was retained in the approved Lekki Comprehensive Master Plan 2013.

“Lagos State granted title to land totalling about 500 hectares and issued layout approval (1991) wherein four (4) major roads were recognized namely, Coastal Road and Lekki-Epe Expressway, Southern part of Elegushi Land, Regional Road and Lagoon at the Northern part of the Elegushi layout, all running parallel to one another. The roads have been envisioned to engender socialeconomic and transportation development of the state.

“In line with the THEMES agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the regional road is precursor to the proposed Fourth Mainland Bridge and a promised dividend of democracy to the people of Lagos in order to improve traffic and transportation system within the state,” Salako said.

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NPA expects utilisation of rail, deployment of electronic call-up to decongest Apapa, Tin-Can ports AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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or Nigeria to be able to decongest access roads into Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports there is need for efficient and seamless evacuation of cargoes using intermodal transportation system that includes rail, inland waters and road, Hadiza Bala Usman, managing director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), says.

Speakinginaninterviewheldon Tuesday, June 2, 2020, on Business Nigeria of the TVC News, she expressed concern that Nigerian ports cannot function well, if 90 percent of cargoes were moved by road alone.

“We recognise the utilisation of intermodal transport system in cargo evacuation and this is why the Minister of Transportation has been actively pursuing the rail project. And the contractor is working on linking Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports with rail connection, which would be completed before the end of this year for Nigeria to have efficient and seamless evacuation of cargoes,” she said.

AccordingtoUsman,theNPAhas recently concluded the operational modalities for Lilypond and Tin-Can Island Truck Parks, which would enable the deployment of electronic call-upsysteminthenexttwotothree months to link both parks.

“We also recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with APM Moller Capital and they are working on evacuating cargo using the inland waters. So, using the three legs of cargo evacuation with call-up system are what will

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enable us to decongest Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports access roads,” she assured.

Pointing out the need for operational efficiency, Usman stated that the NPA was working with terminal operators and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to fast track cargo release and evacuation from ports.

“We need to deploy scanners to our ports so that cargoes can be inspected using scanners, but right now, cargoes are inspected physically. Doing this can be difficult and time consuming because officers have to open all the containers that come into our ports. We need to ensurethatoperatorsutiliseautomationforanimprovedefficiencyofport operations. This is why we are insisting on having responsible terminal operators that would adhere to the developmental plans,” she noted.

On the role of Eastern ports, Usman however noted that there has been an increased volume of cargoes going to the Eastern ports, which can be attributed to NPA’s efforts in accommodating the needs of vessel owners through giving discount to vessel owners as well as reaching out to them to determine their concerns.

“Now, container vessels that have not visited those ports are now going to ports in the East. Bearing in mind the challenges in Eastern ports, we are keen to have the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) deploy the Maritime Security Architecture to deal with the security concerns and ensure that vessels move safely to those ports,” she said.

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Senate increases oil price benchmark from $25 to $28 per barrel Solomon Ayado, Abuja

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enate on Tuesday recommendedthatthepriceofcrude be increased to $28 per barrel as against the $25 per barrel proposed by the Federal Government.

The increase is imperative due to the recent upward trend of the crude oil market which, as of today, stood at $38 per barrel with a very strong expectation that the price will rise to as $40 to $45 per barrel, the Senate said.

This recommendation was made by the Senate sequel to approval of report of the committee on Finance on the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).

Also, the Senate urged that the oil production output be sustained at 1.8 million per barrel per day as proposed by the Executive as this was the decision of cutting production by OPEC, which Nigeria is a member.

It further approved that due to current realities and downturn in the global economy, the N360 per $1 as proposed in the MTEF amendment be sustained with continuous effort by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stabilise the exchange rate.

The Senate specifically called on the CBN to ensure no further devaluation of the naira against the dollars while the Executive strongly ensure diversification of the economy.

COVID-19: MainOne, AWALE partner to support Côte d’Ivoire’s fight against pandemic SEGUN ADAMS

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est Africa’s leading connectivity and data centre provider, MainOne, has partnered AWALE, a neutral network operator that provides high speeddatatransmissioncapacityvia its fibre optic cables installed on the national transport and electricity, to support the Crisis Cell of the Ivoirian government in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

This measure of solidarity will reinforce the emergency deployment plan of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Postal Services of the Ivoirian government.

The joint initiative includes the provisionoffreeconnectivitycapacity and internet services to strategic state institutions for a period of three months. According to both MainOne and AWALE, this is part oftheircontinuouseffortstosupport government’s response plan to COVID-19. MainOne and AWALE are jointlycontributingtheirbroadband connectivity infrastructure and ICT services for the delivery of critical online and real-time public services during this challenging period With civil lockdown, social distancing and remote work patterns becoming the new-normal in Côte d’Ivoire and globally, MainOne and AWALE are determined to ensure the Ivorian Crisis Committee continues to dispense its socio-economicandpublicsecurity responsibilities through virtual platforms. The enhanced connectivity

offering provides the Government’s CrisisCommitteewithrobustaccess to real-time information management, while seamlessly connecting essential workers across the nation.

It is also helping to drive dynamic exchange of scientific findings and access to global knowledge related to control and management of the disease by researchers in Côte d’Ivoire, enabling them to collaborate with colleagues around the world and participate in the global fight against the pandemic.

While speaking on the partnership, Kazeem Oladepo, MainOne’s regional executive director, West Africa, said, “As an organisation committed to enabling the digital economy of West Africa, MainOne is well aware of the impact of the pandemic on public services, infrastructure and businesses, as well as the economic challenges faced by Governments.”

Expressing similar view, Daniel Sampah, founder/managing director of AWALE, noted, “AWALE appreciates the efforts of the Ivorian Sate in deploying an effective response plan to COVID-19 disease.

We are honored to support the CIV’s actions by making available to Operators and Internet Service Providers, our carrier-neutral network entirely based on fibre optics.

“OurpartnershipwithMainOne will enable the provision of quality connectivity infrastructure to the Governments’CrisisCommitteeand thusminimizestheimpactoftheCOVID-19 on activities in the country.”

COVID-19: Reps reject motion to suspend 7.5% VAT James Kwen, Abuja

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he House of Representatives Tuesday rejected a motion calling on the Federal Government to suspend the implementation of the 7.5% Value Added Tax (VAT) contained in the 2019 Finance Act in the interest of Nigerians, following the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The motion prayed the House to urge the Federal Government to suspend the additional 2.5% VAT contained in the 2019 Finance Act until January 1, 2021, while all businesses should henceforth halt the charging of VAT directly from the consuming public.

But as soon as the speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, mentioned the motion under matters of public importance, the lawmakers rejected it and it was not even moved by sponsor, Unyime Idem (PDP, Akwa Ibom).

They argued that since the 2.5% increase in VAT was already in the Act of the National Assembly, which has been signed into law, it cannot be suspended by

a motion but through a formal amendment Bill.

Objecting the motion, chairman of House Committee on Finance, James Faleke, drew the attention of the House to the fact that since the suspension of the 7.5% VAT in the motion affected the 2019 Finance Act, it would be out of place to suspend it with just a motion.

Ruling, Gbajabiamila agreed with Faleke that the issue contained in the motion had a commencement date, which could only be altered through a formal amendment Bill.

Idem argued in the motion that, the House was aware that in December 2019, it had passed the Finance Bill of 2019, which was subsequently signed into Law by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He said the Finance Act changed the Nigerian tax regime by amending among others VAT and made changes that were primarily focused on raising additional revenues in order for the Federal Government to meet the 2020 budget targets. www.businessday.ng

With eyes on revenue boost, FG flags off 2020 marginal fields bid round HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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igeria’s precarious economic situation may lighten up soon as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has officially announced the commencement of marginal fields bid rounds for 2020.

The flag-off of the 2020 marginal bid round comes amid the country’s poor financial situation that has made implementation of the 2020 budget an Herculean task for the present administration with capital and recurrent expenditures already slashed.

The commencement of the 2020 oil bid round is coming 18 years after the first one was conducted in 2002.

Prior to the official announcement, stakeholders in the country’s oil and gas industry have consistently urged the Federal Government to conduct an oil bid round for the purpose of raising revenue to fund some of its critical projects.

Civil liberty organisations in a recent stakeholders’ engagement also harped on the need to ensure transparency and not allow discretionary powers of the minister in the process to ensure maximum benefits in the bid rounds.

The DPR, the implementing agency, announced that the bid round exercise was open to indigenous companies and investors interested in participating in exploration and production business in Nigeria.

For the 2020 oil bid round exercise, according to the DPR, a total of 57 fields located on land, swamp and shallow offshore terrains are on offer.

The exercise, to be conducted electronically, will include expression of interest/registration, pre-qualification, technical and commercial bid submission and bid evaluation.

According to the DPR guidelines on the 2020 oil bid round exercise, payment by interested bidders shall attract non-refundable chargeable fees as follows - application fee of N2 million per field, bid processing fee of N3 million per field, data prying fee of $15,000 per field, data leasing fee of $25,000 per field, competent persons report of $50,000 and $25,000 for fields

specific report.

With the above, interested bidders are expected to pay a total of $115,000 in statutory fees and another N5 million in local currency.

At the official exchange rate of $360/$1, the 57 oil fields on offer give N2,364,800,000 including the N5 million payment.

All application and processing fees are expected to be paid into the Treasury Single Account (TSA), while Signature Bonuses are expected to be paid into the Federation Account, according to the DPR. Also, fees for data leasing, data prying, Competent Persons Report (CPR) and Field Specific Report should be paid into the National Data Repository (NDR) account for repayment.

Sadique Abubakar (r), chief of the Air Staff (CAS), during a closed-door meeting with Aminu Tambuwal, governor, Sokoto State, as the CAS paid on-the-spot assessment visit of the security situation with a view to fashioning new strategies for dealing with the recent rise in banditry activities in the state.

Reps ask FG to commence local flights, re-open airports in each geopolitical zone James Kwen, Abuja

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ouse of Representatives has urged the Presidency to immediately direct the Presidential Task Force on COVlD-19, Ministry of Aviation and its agencies to commence local flight operations, beginning with the opening of at least one airport in each of the six geopolitical zones. This is to give all zones a sense of belonging and ensure equity and fairness.

It also urged the Federal Government to direct relevant agencies of the Ministry of Aviation to develop acceptable Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that would be in tandem with the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for the airlines and workers.

The House further directs Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to ensure that airports and aircrafts are routinely disinfected promptly and mandated its Committee on

Aviation, Legislative Compliance and Ad hoc Committee on COVlD-19 to monitor compliance and report back to the House within two weeks for further Legislative actions.

The House made these resolutions Tuesday at plenary while adopting a motion of urgent public on the need to reopen more airports closed in the wake of Covid-19, sponsored by Mohammed Monguno (APC, Borno) and nine others.

The lower chamber’s decision is coming on the heels of the Federal Government announcement to re-open three airports, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, and the Port Harcourt International Airport on June 21.

Presenting the motion, Monguno said the House noted that Nigerian government closed its airports to the international traffic on March 23 and a week later all the local traffics were also stopped following the discovery of first index case of the COVlD-19

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pandemic to curtail the spread of the virus.

He said the House also noted that the coronavirus pandemic has brought global air travel to an unprecedented halt as the United Nation’s World Tourism Organisation (WTO) states that 100% of 217 countries worldwide have COVlD-19 related travel restrictions in place, such measures, the WTO says, represent the most severe restriction on international travel in history.

According to the Chief Whip, the House: “also notes that most countries in the world have maintained guided local flight for easy movement of people especially the essential workers and goods but banned international flights.

“Aware that the continued ban on local flights will further suffocate the economy and equally cripple the local air transport sector including several other ancillary businesses directly or indirectly linked to it and thereby escalate the unemployment situation in the country.

“Further aware that some @Businessdayng

of the airlines and other service providers within the industry immediately sent their staff on compulsory leave without pay and thus brought untold hardships to many homes directly or indirectly connected to the affected employees.

“Also aware that all the statutory agencies like the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, (NAMA), Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, (NCAT) Zaira, the Nigeria Meteorological Agency, (NIMET) and the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AlB), which generate their revenue when the aeroplanes are working are struggling to pay staff salary at the moment.

“Also, concerned that most of the airplanes now lying idle at the various airports across the country will require huge sums of money in hard currency to service them if efforts are not made to put them back into operations thus losing more”.

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Insecurity and poverty crisis in South East: Evidence of leadership failure

Franklin Ngwu

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n the recently released report on our poverty level by Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the South East states performed badly and below expectation. While Ebonyi is the worst in South East with about 80 percent of her citizens described as poor, Enugu took the second position with about 60 percent poverty level.

Following Enugu is Abia with about 31 percent, Imo at 29 percent and Anambra at about 15 percent. On average, the poverty level in South East is about 43 percent which means that about 43 percent of South East citizens are classified as very poor.

With a below per capita annual expenditure of about N137,430 as the baseline for being described as poor and using a population estimate of 50 million, it means that about 21.5 million Ndi-Igbo are unable to afford and spend about N11,000 per person every month. Of the ten states with the least poverty level, only Anambra made it at 8th position. Where is the branded entrepreneurship skills of the Igbos? Unfortunately, intensifying the poverty crisis is the unprecedented level of insecurity which the governors have through their clumsy actions and inactions allowed to escalate across the region.

Of the five South East governors, only Hope Uzodimma is in his first term. Willie Obiano, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Dave Umahi and Okezie Ikpeazu are all in their second terms and having

spent over 5 years as governors of their respective states, a key question is what has been the impact of their first term economic development agendas (excluding Obiano). Was reducing the level of poverty in their respective states ever considered an important governance and performance measurement variable? With the terrifying level of insecurity, where did all the billions of security votes that the governors collect every month go to?

While we keep lamenting about the visible marginalization from the federal government particularly in appointments, it is time and important for Ndi-Igbo to look inwards and ask our governors and other leaders fundamental questions on their stewardships and implicit internal marginalisation the governors are championing!

From 2015- 2019, the five South East states have budgeted and spent about N4 trillion. A fundamental question that should be asked by all concerned starting from Ohaneze Ndi Igbo to town development associations, religious leaders and individuals is – the evidences of prudent utilisation of the budgeted trillions. Having visited all the South East states, it is a public knowledge that the huge budgets have not been properly utilised. In Abia and Imo for instance, it is difficult to see commensurate and convincing evidence of accountable governance and sustainable development with Owerri looking scattered and Umuahia like an upgraded local government.

While Dave Umahi can be said to be trying in infrastructure, the question again is how the roads are connected to the wider sustainable development of the state. Are roads being built just for the purpose of building roads or part of a detailed strategy to create an integrated economy or what can be described as associational economy with long term vision and sustainable growth.

This is also the case with Enugu State where billboards emphasizing that the state is in the hands of God

‘

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice but when the wicked rules, the people groan

are more visible than the snippets of projects executed or being executed.

Enugu’s own is particularly sad! With the legacy as the capital of former Eastern region, it is difficult to understand how about 60 percent of the citizens are still below the poverty line in addition to the gross underdevelopment of the state. And more lamentably, even with the glaring ineffectiveness of both the state and local governments, a myopic conspiracy of silence among the elites pervades.

With every perceived relevant family or individual (irrespective of party affiliation) allocated a position or personal benefit in the government, a self-interest driven compromise of the privileged is guaranteed with a creed of see no evil, say no evil! In Anambra, it seems that Willie Obiano lost good momentum after his first term which should not be case. Based on interactions and feedbacks from ordinary citizens of the five south east states, none of the governors scored above 50 percent in overall performance assessment! It is that bad!

Meanwhile, it is a public knowledge that with the proximity of the South East states, there is no reason why a detailed and robust regional economic development plan should not be developed and effectively executed. This I asked former governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha during the Governors roundtable in the last Nigeria Economic Summit Group which I moderated. While he affirmed that discussions are ongoing, I pray and hope that Hope Uzodimma will continue with the discussion and see to its effective actualization given his freshness and enthusiasm to prove a point. History will be kind to him and the unsettled circumstances that led to his emergence will get a better review!

With the nearness of the states, there is no reason why any of the South East states should record a poverty rate of more than 5 percent if effective and visionary leadership is utilised to exploit and manage the abundant

resources the region is endowed with.

For instance, given the fertile land and a comparative advantage in some economic trees like cashew, coconut, palm trees, avocado pears and bitter kola, South East can easily generate annual revenue of over N10 trillion. With an annual revenue of about N25,000 per coconut tree or even any of the above economic trees, the South East can generate an annual revenue of over N6 trillion if they can agree and just plant 50 million trees per state.

Whereas Indonesia made about $18.4 billion from palm oil (about N7.2 trillion) in 2017, Nigeria’s encumbered 2020 federal budget is only N10.27 trillion! In the same vein, while India’s coconuts are valued at about $10 billion, Philippines $6.7 billion and Indonesia $4.5 billion, the three countries account for about 60 percent of the $35.6 billion global coconut market. So, while Indonesia makes about $23 billion from just two economic trees- coconut and palm trees, Nigeria borrows $3.5 billion from IMF and begging World Bank for additional $1.5 billion. Expectedly, the governors including the ones from South East are waiting for their share from the borrowed money.

The essence of the above illustration is just to show the lack of strategic thinking and long-term vision of our governors. With good synergy and a strategic think-tank, the true entrepreneurial spirit of Ndi-Igbo will be unleashed to turn South East to the true Dubai of Africa. While Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince) cautions that the effectiveness of a government can be deduced from the kind of individuals elected and appointed into cabinet, Proverbs 29:2 states that “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice but when the wicked rules, the people groan”.

Dr. Ngwu, is an Economist/Associate Professor of Strategy, Risk Management & Corporate Governance, Lagos Business School and a Member, Expert Network, World Economic Forum. E-mail- fngwu@ lbs.edu.ng

Storytelling – panacea to second and third degrees of poverty

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econd degree of poverty is referred to a condition in which basic needs are just barely met. Third degree on the other hand is a condition where household income is below a given proportion of average national income. The only thing expected of the poor to easily contribute when help come their way is a “renewed mind” to carry on with the new development but unfortunately; that is not as easy as expected due to what psychologist captured under prospect theory.

Economic laws are universal; however, every goal requires program of its own. Extreme poverty is different from this two. Therefore, to overcome these levels of poverty we need different approach aside previous attempts if there are any.

Our values determine to large extent our problems; the nature of those problems determines the quality of our lives. On the same vein, our culture and belief system share so much in common with our values. All of these plays major role in achieving our goals.

Hence, there is a great need to consider them in the fight against poverty (second and third degrees of poverty). Some culture directly or indirectly encourages poverty. Why do the poor make bad and very poor decisions? Decisions are product of orientation; they come out of the abundance of things we know, which

are perhaps product of our thought heavily influenced by values and culture we adopt overtime. It is also pertinent to know that is upon these thoughts we build and run our systems. Little wonder former prime minister of United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher said, “Poverty is a personality defect.”

A problem might be the same everywhere however; imports of similar problems often differ with different folks. And this is one of the challenges facing poverty eradication in most part of the world. If rationality is perception, perception in the other hand is subjective. We control how we see our problems based on how we choose to think about them, and by the standard with which we choose to measure them. The measuring tools in this case lie in our values, and culture. When a group with similar values and culture completely opposite to economic laws and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) puts it out; it makes it more difficult to implement Sustainable Development Goal programs which are geared toward poverty eradication. Any goal that one’s belief system does not support one struggles at it.

Arguably, it is said that culture change with economic times and circumstances. What is the best option? Allow economic times and circumstances to change our culture or con-

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sciously carryout the change? COVID-19 in most unpleasant way brought change to the Almajiri system in the northern Nigeria. Kano state government became the first to abolish the system through her state assembly. This system has been in the region for so long and has contributed immensely to the poor state of the region. It is not wise to wait for economic realities to change our culture, tradition, belief system and likes that are detrimental to wealth creation. Knowledge of the “nature” of a thing; and the ‘order’ of the same thing scales predictive ability. Poverty or wealth state of a group of people could be predicted through the “nature” of their mind and operating “order” of such minds. Therefore, with wrong mindset poverty eradication remains a mirage.

“Poverty can be done away with, not by increasing the number of well to do people who think about poverty, but by increasing the number of poor people who purpose with faith to get rich”- Waliace D. Wattles. Our approach in realising the Sustainable Development Goals need to change if we intend to achieve required outcome. The poor in the aforementioned degrees among us need inspiration and this is where storytelling comes to play. The major challenge facing poverty eradication is unguarded charity. “Except for humanitarian emergencies, direct cash transfers are rarely

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Nnanyereugo Rowland

an attractive way to deliver official development assistance.” – Jeffery Sachs. The poor in this category sincerely do not need charity as much as they need inspiration.

“Poverty eradication is not one of life’s serendipities.” – Nnanyereugo R. Uzoanya.

Poverty eradication requires conscious effort especially from the poor. Unguarded charity keeps the poor alive in their wretchedness.

Inspiration will cause them to rise out of their misery and face life realities with required boldness. “The good news is that the moment you decide that what you know is more important than what you have been taught to believe, you would have shifted gears in your quest for abundance. Success comes from within, not without.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

One sure way capable of bringing the required self – sustaining growth among this group of poor people is by sharing mind transforming, belief, value, and culture reforming stories (storytelling).

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BUSINESS DAY

Wednesday 03 June 2020

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Recovery 101: Business continuity and consumer spending Small Business handbook

Emeka Osuji

S

mall businesses have always carried the can, whenever a disaster happened. They did so in the case of Ebola and also in the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. The reason is simple: They are financially weak and have no capital buffers. Small businesses survive on the good will of patrons who are quick to take out the frills at the first sign of trouble. Besides, most small business-owners run a cash-andcarry, or what I call a hand-to-mouth, economy. Once the cash flow is cut for any reason, “alarm blows” as they say in Nigerian local parlance. That was what happened as soon the lockdown was effected. Their cash flows, and even those of their big corporate patrons, evaporated. Consumer spending is a very important component of the Gross Domestic Product and constitutes about two-thirds of it in many strong economies.

Now we are in a crisis and there is need to restore the global economic equilibrium disturbed by the pandemic. That effort should begin from helping businesses activate their business Continuity Plans, if any or leapfrogging fiscal and monetary policy to shorten the steps. Undoubtedly, most small businesses have no such plans.

That is why it becomes a public policy question. We are however discovering

that it is hard to contemplate any situation more difficult than restoring and restarting a business that witnessed a calamity, natural or man-made. The process of holding on to customers and then reinstating timely product and service delivery channels is harrowing.

Some of the many recent disasters we have witnessed include hurricanes, such as Katrina, Irma and Harvey. Others are floods and some super storms, like Sandy.

Those who were old enough when the Nigeria-Biafra war ended would tell you how hard it is to locate even one’s old footprints after such catastrophic events. In the world of small businesses, picking up the broken pieces is hard enough, and going back to do what customers need is even harder. This is worse still if one is operating in a greatly challenging jurisdiction where serious and continuing external pressures have long been exerted on business entities, due essentially to infrastructure and leadership failures.

There are subsisting research findings and data on what happens to businesses after a calamity. The fact that a substantial number of businesses end their operations on a permanent basis, after disasters like COVID-19, is public knowledge. The American institute of Business and Home Safety estimates that 25 percent of businesses do not reopen after a disaster. Even worse estimates come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the United States, which projects that about that 40 percent of small businesses fail to reopen after being stuck by natural disasters. That is not all.

Further estimates suggest that owing to the lingering impact of such events, another 25 percent of small businesses fail within one year of the disaster while another 90 percent die two years after they are stuck by a disaster.

The full extent of a disaster is not

measured only by the lost income suffered by businesses in times of crisis.

There are other equally significant losses, which are not even insurable and from which the business cannot be protected. Companies can take out insurance against flood, fire and storms but there is no insurance to cover the loss of reputation and market share caused by disaster. These kinds of negative effects are usually more pronounced if the disaster is specific to a company and not shared by its competitors. When a disaster applies generally to operators in an industry, the impact is less pronounced, as customers will have nowhere to go with the company’s market share.

COVID-19 is much more than a disaster. It is a catastrophe. Although both terms are used interchangeably, they differ in certain respects. A catastrophe is a disaster of gargantuan proportions that is beyond the ability of a community to handle. Actually, whether an event is an accident, a disaster or a catastrophe depends on the extent of its impact on the community.

When a community’s capacity to deal with an event is overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it, as in the case of COVID-19, then a catastrophe has happened. It is therefore trite to predict that many businesses will not reopen after this catastrophe, and the number will be much more than what the FEMA report has stated because of the debilitating economic conditions in our jurisdiction. Given that most micro and small enterprises serve as the main source of livelihood to the key man and his family, the lockdown will definitely do havoc to their meagre capital – a problem from which many will never recover.

Those familiar with the origins of the present contributory pension system, the pioneering work of both PENCOM and the operators since

‘

Faced with the critical challenge of rebooting the economy, I propose ensuring business continuity, in the MSME sector, and revamping consumer spending as first principles

Dr Osuji is head of the department of Economics at Pan Atlantic University Lagos. eosuji@ pau.edu.ng @Emekaosujii

The secrets to a long and happy life “

T

he plans of the diligent lead to profit”. We’ve heard it over and over before, especially while growing up, that to succeed in just about any endeavour one decides to embark on in life, one must develop the habit of working hard.

It’s therefore no surprise that we, in turn have adopted this mantra in guiding our own children too. Further sound counsel often given is to plan adequately. However, faithful adherence to these two, without supporting it with good discipline will likely lead to frustration and failure in the long run.

Since our children are not with us right now as we delve into this matter, let us be honest with each other; working hard is not something which many of us would naturally do. Especially if circumstances don’t demand it. Our default mode, often times, is to do the barest minimum and where possible, search for quick and easy answers so we can just move on to the next thing. As we have decided to be candid today, kindly permit me to ask; how many of us who find themselves lucky enough to suddenly come into a large amount of money, enough to meet all present and foreseeable needs and wants, would remain as enthusiastic and diligent about work as they are today? How many would continue to burn the candle at both ends, even when their lives no longer depend on it?

Yes, there are a few out there who may continue with the same vigour, driven by an appetite to succeed in their endeavours and not necessarily driven by a desire to become increasingly wealthy, and there are others who have an insatiable appetite for more wealth, so this too could be the motivation for them not to slow down. But I believe the majority of

people, irrespective of colour and race, would almost instantly slow down if such largesse was to fortuitously fall from the skies. A significant number of people, if not the majority, would be quite happy to do nothing if they could get away with it. You don’t agree? Here’s an illustration.

Several weeks into this lockdown period, when things had really started to bite, especially for those who survive on daily earnings, a chap in our neighbourhood called Friday, who used to man the estate gate but had since become an odd job man, came to our house. He put on his most pitiable face and pleaded with my wife and I to find him something to do as he was hungry and had nowhere to turn. Friday was willing to do just about anything, no matter how menial.

We informed him that we regrettably had nothing to offer him in terms of odd jobs around the house but gave him the little change we could and a little foodstuff. Less than an hour later, my wife and I drove out to pick up a few things.

Not far outside our estate gate, we caught sight of this same chap playing and bantering loudly with some of his friends.

Quickly however, my wife noticed he wasn’t very steady on his feet. We called him over, because shortly after he left our house, we remembered that we needed someone to do a little weeding, as the gardener hadn’t been too regular, as of late. With much glee, this chap came bounding over to our vehicle. Several feet before he got to us, his presence was announced with the unmistakable whiff of alcohol. As if we had been bewitched, we ignored the obvious red flag raised by Friday’s midday drunkenness, evidenced by his incessant bowing in apparent appreciation and a loud “congratulations” to crown it all. Confused, my wife and I turned

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to each other.

“Congratulations” for what? Still we went ahead and asked him to come to the house by 10am the next morning. Till now, “tomorrow” is yet to come. No sight of Friday at all. This is after receiving support that will last a few days, at most; not to talk of a life changing windfall.

Of course, whenever I eventually come across him, in the typical fashion of many of our people nowadays, he will apologise profusely, find something to blame it on and proceed to explain just how badly he still needs the job. Does this sound familiar? Friday had already got what he wanted when he initially came to the house and to use our lingo, his eyes won’t clear until that has been totally expended.

In the highly revealing book, “Ikigai, the Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life”, the authors Hector Garcia and Fransesc Miralles, provide us with some fascinating insights based on discoveries made while searching out these secrets. It became apparent during the course of their research that the indigenes of the various towns in different countries, who have historically enjoyed the longest life expectancy, share some commonalities in behaviour. These geographic regions across the globe where people live longest are referred to as the Five Blue Zones.

Coming high amongst contributory factors to long life and happiness across the Blue Zones are; having a sense of community and a close-knit group of friends, which both act as dependable support groups that contribute immensely to one’s psychological wellbeing.

The role this plays in reducing anxiety and worry, with all the damaging chemicals these terrible twins release into the body, cannot be

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2004, would have noticed the emphasis that was place on Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery. It was not only mandatory for operators to maintain functional disaster recovery centres, at least 25 kilometres away from the main operational base, such centres were subject to regular regulatory review and inspection. The essence was to ensure that pension managers and custodians, who hold the future happiness of most workers, had to be sure to continue operations during and after a disaster.

Good capacity for business continuity is vital to the sustainability of any business and the economy at large. Accordingly, what we need at this point is to ensure our businesses have the capacity to continue operations, albeit skeletal, as we gradually unlock the economy.

The pandemic cut the financial flows in the economy and brought businesses to a screeching halt. As a result, cash flows disappeared and no business can survive without cash coming in and going out. With the evaporation of cash flows also came the disappearance of spending power. Once spending power drops everything begins to look south – inventories pile, production cuts happen, jobs are lost and the economy goes into a declining spiral. Under that kind of environment, businesses cannot restart. They must have fresh funds to clean up the cobwebs of the pandemic and begin to see clearly towards their customers again. Given the nature of our economy and the obvious financial incapacity of household, we need to use fiscal action to shore up aggregate demand. Faced with the critical challenge of rebooting the economy I propose ensuring business continuity and revamping consumer spending as first principles.

Character Matters with Daps

Dapo Akande overemphasised. Others are, a daily routine of light exercise, a largely fish, vegetable and fruit diet and only moderate consumption of alcohol, meat and processed food, if any at all.

However, the authors of “Ikigai” pay primary attention to the people of Japan, who have for long, had the oldest population in the world; and the residents of Okinawa in particular, where a ninety-year-old is still considered a spring chicken.

In addition to the commonly agreed factors, I was intrigued by a couple of other factors they pointed to. One, is their insistence on the ancient Japanese held wisdom of “Hara hachi bu” which simply means, “fill your belly to eighty percent”.

This saying is traditionally uttered before and after every meal. Those who have had the opportunity of dining at Japanese restaurants may now understand why the assorted dishes served are always of very moderate proportions.

Note: The rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https://businessday.ng Akande is a Surrey University graduate with a Masters in Professional Ethics. An alumnus of the institute for National Transformation and author of two books; The Last Flight and Shifting Anchors. Contact: dapsakande25@ gmail.com

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BUSINESS DAY

Wednesday 03 June 2020

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Supporting the AfDB is good business for the U.S.

(a letter addressed to the United States Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin by Ambassador Harold E. Doley, Jr to solicit the support of Trump’s administration for Akinwumi Adesina)

Harold E. Doley

T

his letter follows your recent correspondence to the Chair of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank Group. As you recall, the African Development Bank was created by several African countries in 1964, with the U.S. becoming a major stakeholder in 1983. Previously, we became members of the African Development Fund (ADF) in 1974 as a result of legislation introduced by then-Congressman Andrew J. Young, Jr. It was my honour to be nominated

by President Reagan to serve as the first U.S. Executive Director of the African Development Bank from 1983-85. In the intervening years since then, the U.S. has played a leadership role as the Bank’s largest non-regional (nonAfrican) shareholder, and the secondlargest overall.

Since taking office in 2015, the current and 8th President of the Bank, the U.S. trained and globally renowned Akinwumi Adesina rapidly restructured the bank and refined its focus through a

High 5 strategy that has directly impacted the lives of millions of Africans. This has been through strategic investments in energy and electricity, agriculture technologies that significantly improve food security, access to private sector finance, improved transport infrastructure, and water and sanitation.

In 2019, with U.S. support, the African Development Bank’s shareholders approved a General Capital Increase of $115 billion, the largest in the Bank’s 56-year history.

The increase more than doubled capital from $93 billion to $208 billion.

Also, in 2019, the Bank’s concessional window, the African Development Fund (ADF), received a 35 percent replenishment with donor contributions.

U.S. shares of $499,695,200 represent 7.81 percent of total subscriptions are a critically needed resource for Low Income Countries (LICs) and transition States.

Ultimately, supporting Africa’s private sector is critical for social and economic development. In 2018, Adesina led an unprecedented effort to attract global investments into Africa through the inaugural Africa Investment Forum, which mobilized $78.8 billion in investment interests between 2018 and 2019.

At the 2019 event, the United States’ International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) signed a $5 billion facility agreement with the African Development Bank. The U.S. Treasury and State Department’s support has certainly led to a greater understanding of Africa’s dynamic investment

landscape for American businesses.

Adesina has astutely led the Bank’s bold and decisive COVID-19 response with the announcement of a $10 billion COVID-19 Response Facility to cushion economic and social impacts of the pandemic on the continent. This is in addition to the successful launch of an oversubscribed $3 billion Fight COVID-19 social bond on the London Stock Exchange, making the largest U.S. dollar denominated social bond ever in world history.

The Bank’s 2019 innovative Desert to Power initiative will develop 10,000 Megawatts of solar power across 11 countries in the Sahel region and provide electricity for 250 million people. When completed, the $20 billion investment will be the world’s largest solar zone.

Adesina’s ground breaking Affirmative Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), launched at the 2019 G7 Summit in Biarritz, France and at the Global Gender Summit in Rwanda, has received strong support from President Macron, the G7 leaders ($251 million), African Presidents, and an additional $61.8 million from Ivanka Trump’s Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (WeFi). AFAWA will leverage $3 billion in financing for women businesses in Africa.

While there have been concerns in some circles about China’s role in Africa, American enterprise thrives on competition and is poised to play a more influential economic role in the years ahead. Recognising America’s

‘

It is an acknowledged fact that Akinwumi Adesina is a global player of impeccable character who has helped mobilise billions of dollars into Africa and helped accelerate the continent’s development

Doley is the first ever U.S. Representative to the AfDB. He is an investment banker and founder of the oldest African American owned investment-banking firm in the United States.

The pandemic and our growing vocabulary

L

ike a bolt out of the blue, it came visiting and mankind was clearly not prepared for it and was brought to its knees. For eight weeks the world was literally brought to a standstill. Nothing has been more humbling. This unseen enemy, that last October did not exist anywhere, has done more damage to life and living than anything has done in a century. In March, The World Health Organisation (W.H.O.) labelled it a “pandemic” – an epidemic that has reached more than 210 countries around the world and has killed more than 371,000 globally including more than 270 in Nigeria. Named coronavirus disease 2019 (alias COVID-19) is also known by scientists as SARS-CoV2. They still are unravelling the mystery of the novel virus.

With billions around the world on lockdown for unending weeks and some 16,000 planes grounded, many writers have written about the impact and various aspects of the troublesome microorganism that has disrupted global supply chains and changed how we work, learn and play. Yet, one area worth considering, in a lighter but reflective mood, is how our collective vocabulary have grown in the last three months. How often do you ordinarily hear the word, epidemiologist or the expression, verbal autopsy – if you are not a doctor? Thanks to the pandemic, they have been made famous. This article will run through a few words and expressions that have suddenly become commonplace in so short a time.

Nigeria recorded its (first) index case of coronavirus on February 27, 2020. According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), confirmed cases – that is, those who test COVID-19 positive – in the country on May 30, 2020 had since risen to nearly 10,000 – to be precise, 9,855 – based on 60,825 tests with 2,856 discharged.

There is widespread evidence of community

transmission. Lagos State, with 48 per cent of the cases remains the epicentre (an expression first used for Wuhan, China where it originated from).

The NCDC numbers imply that about 84 per cent of those tested turned out COVID-19 negative.

Do they have the antibodies? That might require antibody testing. “Do you have pre-existing health conditions?” You may statistically, have a higher mortality risk? However, patients with low enough viral load are discharged. The good news for now, is that at about three per cent, Nigeria’s mortality rate is about half the global average of about six per cent.

How do you know that you have caught the virus? “If you have the symptoms: a fever, a dry cough, sneezing, difficulty breathing etc; “call the NCDC number” or see your doctor. Yet, if you are asymptomatic – that is, you have it without symptoms and therefore you do not know – you still can infect others!” Hence, you need to wear a nose mask to protect others, just in case you have it, whether you know or not.

Also, observe social distancing now for clarity relabelled: physical distancing. That has been defined as two metres. How can a virus be so powerful as to severely upset our social lives? That explains the widespread defiance and Nigerian psychological resistance well summed as: “Ba korona.” (There is no Corona). After two states suffered explosion of outbreak, nobody seriously needs convincing: “Zouna a gida. Korona ba wasa ba!” (Stay home. Corona is real).

The refrains will keep resonating in our heads long after: “Stay home! Stay safe! Work from home (WFH)” Digital technology to the rescue: Webinars have replaced physical meetings. It was tough getting 20 million Lagosians to stay at home, particularly those who neither can work from home nor are let out to daily fend for themselves.

A wealth-health dichotomy arose. Governments

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and philanthropists provided palliatives for the vulnerable but not without the usual controversies. In a country with 25 per cent unemployed, mandatory staying at home stoked up vice. Thanks to community self-defence that proved a helpful deterrent. Those five weeks of lockdown proved a tough, memorable period.

Afterwards, what do you do with a lockdown?

Ease it or relax it? Better, lift it! As New York Governor Andrew Cuomo puts it: “reopen the city.”

While other countries progressively reopened their cities after “flattening the curve,” Nigeria eased its lockdown while ascending the cliff. Yet, the plateau is still a long way.

For a virus without an immediate cure, what can you do? The idea is to slow down the speed of the infection arising from social interaction: selfisolate, quarantine, send severe cases to an isolation centre. Nigeria in a few months ensured more than 5,300 beds in some 110 new and refurbished isolation and treatment centres dotting the country. Billions of dollars were raised in medical goods and services in a few weeks. Ventilators came from many sources. Local inventors fabricated them too. Years after, we would celebrate 2020 as the year Nigeria rose to upgrade its medical facilities like no time in many decades. Do we need to wait for an emergency?

The authorities have admitted that the state of health facilities could be much better. The amiable NCDC Director General, Chikwe Ihekweazu has set a lofty target of two million tests, one per cent of the Nigerian population but has in desperation cried out: “We are desperately looking for RNA extraction kits as we expand COVID-19 testing.”

In common with epidemics such as Ebola, enhanced personal hygiene is a major weapon in the war against this deadly virus. Hence, wash your hands often, apply a sanitizer, avoid handshakes, avoid hugs and physical contacts. Speaking at

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pivotal role at the AfDB and other multilateral development banks is crucial for the global economy.

Recently, in conformity with the governance rules and procedures of the Board’s Ethics Committee, the Bank cleared Adesina of wrongdoing stemming from several allegations levelled against. This is a boost for the bank and the continent.

It is an acknowledged fact that Akinwumi Adesina is a global player of impeccable character who has helped mobilise billions of dollars into Africa and helped accelerate the continent’s development. It is why the executive committee of the Africa Union, speaking for 55 African countries, unanimously endorsed him as the sole candidate for re-election to a second term. This is vital for Africa’s continued economic growth, infrastructure and investment.

It is traditional at multilateral development institutions that sole candidates be re-elected by acclamation.

Therefore, Mr. Secretary, the people of America implore you to use your good offices to continue to support Africa, the African Development Bank, and President Adesina in his bid for re-election; and that you walk in lockstep with African Governors and Finance Ministers.

Thanking you in advance for your consideration

@Businessdayng

Victor Eromosele

close range to others or sharing breathing space is enough to transfer the virus. Hence, avoid crowds.

What has immunity got to do with COVID-19 recovery? It is widely believed that those “who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.” W.H.O. in a statement warned that “there is no such evidence” of antibodies providing an “immunity passport.” Nevertheless, those who recovered have done so courtesy of the fighting power of their immune system. Waiting for herd immunity is suicidal. The world is looking to the day a vaccine will do the job and researchers are working round the clock to record a breakthrough. Despite all the fast-tracking, it would not be later than 2021 for the most prospective. Meanwhile, W.H.O. looks to setting up a COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP). The world waits patiently.

In the interim, there is no shortage of homegrown solutions. The pandemic has thrown the limelight on the huge island east of Africa, Madagascar. The president has garnered goodwill and continental political mileage from its homegrown herbal remedy. COVID Organics (CVO).

After many weeks of zero deaths, the country has now recorded six deaths and confirmed cases have exceeded 750. That of course, begins to raise questions on the efficacy of CVO. It is amazing how large our vocabulary has grown in just three months. We cannot but wish away the pandemic with a few more words and expressions: Vicious virus, invisible yet invincible: Purveyor of disease, death, and destruction. Enough COVID-19! Set the world free!

Eromosele resides in Lagos

12

Wednesday 03 June 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Editorial Frank Aigbogun

Africa and the consequences of COVID-19

editor Patrick Atuanya

Healthcare capacity must be expanded, basic emergency care ensured

Publisher/Editor-in-chief

DEPUTY EDITORS John Osadolor, Abuja Tayo Fagbule NEWS EDITOR Chuks Oluigbo MANAGING DIRECTOR Dr. Ogho Okiti EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STRATEGY, INNOVATION & PARTNERSHIPS Oghenevwoke Ighure ADVERT MANAGER Ijeoma Ude FINANCE MANAGER Emeka Ifeanyi MANAGER, CONFERENCES & EVENTS Obiora Onyeaso BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (South East, South South) Patrick Ijegbai COPY SALES MANAGER Florence Kadiri DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Linda Ochugbua

W

hile the world mourns the thousands of lives lost due to the fierce blow dealt by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, Africa may have been spared the worst consequences. Factors such as demography, pre-existing health conditions, and weather are reasons why the death rates from the virus in sub-Saharan African countries are unlike those of western Europe and the US. This is no reason to be complacent; a prolonged outbreak over a few years is possible, if containment measures are not prioritised.

To complement these positive factors, African leaders must invest in better healthcare systems and build stronger economies with buffers that can absorb the ravaging effect of the crisis. As the continent with the youngest population, the future of spared African youth depends on these proactive measures.

In a recent study by the World Health Organisation (WHO), 83,000 to 190,000 people in Africa could die of COVID-19 and 29 million to 44 million could get infected in the first year of the pandemic if containment measures fail. The research, which is based on prediction modelling, looks at 47 countries in the WHO African Region with a total population of 1 billion.

This will rather be a sad reality and wake-up call for African leaders though research has shown that deaths from the deadly COVID-19 virus are expected to be a small fraction in Africa when compared to the West.

The underlying health conditions of hospitalised COVID-19 patients observed in Italy, US, Sweden and Spain is as follows: hypertension (34%), diabetes (1732%), cardiovascular disease (2230%), according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. These conditions are closely linked to obesity. Howev-

er, according to data from Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network, the share of deaths attributed to obesity in Africa is lower at 5.17 percent against 9.63 and 14.31 percent in western Europe and the US respectively.

Meanwhile, viruses tend to be destroyed by heat, sunlight and humidity. Africa is often considered and referred to as the “Sun continent” or the continent where the Sun’s influence is the greatest. This suggests the spread of COVID-19 may slow in hot African countries.

“While COVID-19 likely won’t spread as exponentially in Africa as it has elsewhere in the world, it likely will smoulder in transmission hotspots,” reckons Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa. “COVID-19 could become a fixture in our lives for the next several years unless a proactive approach is taken by many governments in

the region. We need to test, trace, isolate and treat.”

The WHO study further reiterated that the number of cases that would require hospitalisation would overwhelm the available medical capacity in much of Africa. There would be an estimated 3.6 million – 5.5 million COVID-19 hospitalisations, of which 82,000 – 167,000 would be severe cases requiring oxygen, and 52,000 – 107,000 would be critical cases requiring breathing support. Such a huge number of patients in hospitals would severely strain the health capacities of countries.

Consequently, Nigeria’s long neglected and under-funded healthcare system must be prioritised in the fight against the impact of COVID-19. Nigeria, as well as other African countries, must expand the capacity particularly of primary hospitals and ensure that basic emergency care is included in primary health systems.

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Wednesday 03 June 2020

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES & MARKETS

13

COMPANY NEWS ANALYSIS INSIGHT

MARKETS

Offshore Capital Flows to Emerging Markets Slows to $4.1bn in May’s Timid Recovery SEGUN ADAMS

E

m e r g i n g Ma rkets might have bounced back from an historic capital outflow in March caused by the Coronavirus outbreak, but they are not out of the woods yet.

Flows to Emerging Markets in May fell by more than half to $4.1bn with equities flow to markets outside China still depressed, IIF reports.

This marks a slowdown from April’s $18.6bn capital importation that reversed a record outflow in the previous month.

Emerging Markets suffered around $75bn capital flight in March where a wider spread of the new Coronavirus disease roiled markets.

“During April and May, the cascading nature of the pandemic left some EM markets depressed, while others stabilized,” said the Washington-based institution.

“We’ve started to see some of the more beaten down parts

of the capital markets play catch-up and there is a great deal of focus on how sustained this trend will be and how broadly it is felt across emerging markets.”

Only $700m of equity in-

vestment was recorded in May. Markets outside China suffered $4.1bn outflows while flows to Chinese equities saw a net inflow of $4.8bn highlighting the divergence in performance between

China and the rest of the Emerging Markets complex, said IIF. Debt flows continued to pick up but at a sluggish pace reaching $3.5bn in the month.

Regionally, Emerging Mar-

L-R: Marian Reginald-Ukwuoma, corporate affairs manager, Port Harcourt Plant; Akintayo Oguntunde, plant manager, Port Harcourt, both of International Breweries Plc. (IB Plc), presenting hand sanitizers and cases of Grand Malt to Tammy Danagogo, secretary to the Rivers State Government, as part of IBPlc’s first phase of donations towards the fight against CoVID 19 within the state.

Boost for dairy industry as FrieslandCampina Standard Chartered appoints new head of WAMCO hits 40-ton daily milk collection corporate finance for Africa, Middle East ODINAKA ANUDU

F

rieslandCampinaWAMCO, Nigeria’s leading dairy company, has announced an all-time record of 40 tons (40,000 litres) daily fresh milk collection in the country through its Dairy Development Programme (DDP).

Ben Langat, managing director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria, made the announcement on Monday as part of the company’s celebration of the World Milk Day 2020 in line with its grass to glass philosophy.

“We have been making steady progress in our commitment to the development of Nigeria’s dairy sector through our Dairy Development Programme and our efforts are yielding good results as we continue to keep our promise of providing nourishing dairy nutrition to millions of Nigerians,” he said.

As the first dairy company to collect over 40,000 litres of fresh milk per day from local farmers, FrieslandCampina WAMCO has taken its thriving DDP, which it started with pastoralists in local communities in Oyo State, and replicated it across other states, according to Ore Famurewa, execu-

kets in Asia, Europe and Latin America got the bigger pie.

The growing tensions between US and China leading up to America’s November polls is adverse to emerging markets, said IIF adding that

tive director, corporate affairs, FrieslandCampina WAMCO. “In addition to Oyo State where we started the Dairy Development Programme 10 years ago, we have expanded our investments and operations to Ogun, Osun, Kwara and Niger states, especially in the last three years and have networked over 7,000 dairy farmers,” she said.

Famurewa said the dairy maker remained committed to the goals of sustainable development, including poverty reduction, women empowerment and beyond as envisioned by the Federal Government.

“Our crossbreeding programme is yielding good results with over 400 F1 cows born to farms of local dairy farmers. We have developed dairy farms feeds to ensure all year round pasture for the cows and continued with our biannual Farmer2Farmer programme, facilitated by Dutch dairy experts, ” she further said.

Under its Dair y Development Programme, FrieslandCampina WAMCO has transformed the mindset, productivity and livelihood of both male and female dairy farmers across five states where it operates the DDP.

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

S

tandard Chartered has announced that Abbas Husain has been appointed Regional Head of Corporate Finance, Africa and the Middle East (AME).

Bringing over nearly 24 years of banking experience, 17 years of which have been with Standard Chartered, Abbas has been leading one of the largest and most successful Project & Export Finance teams in the region, with a proven track record in structuring and executing project finance transactions in the power, water, oil and gas, metals and infrastructure sectors.

Along with his new responsibilities as head of corporate finance, AME, Abbas’ will also expand his role as head of project & export finance for Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP) to cover Europe, Africa, Middle East and Pakistan. He will continue to be based in Dubai, a statement from its agency said.

Speaking on Abbas Husain’s new role, Sunil Kaushal, Regional CEO, Africa and the Middle East, commented: “The appointment of Abbas demonstrates the commitment we have made in developing top

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leadership talent within the bank. We are focussed on the continued growth of our business, and he brings a valuable wealth of experience in successfully advising clients across a diverse range of sectors in our footprint. As we navigate the current COVID-19 crisis, Abbas will play a crucial role in supporting our clients across Africa and the Middle East during this challenging period.”

In his previous role Abbas advised, structured and executed over 50 deals in MENAP, raising more than US$ 100bn of debt, including advising/structuring more than 60 gigawatts of new power generation and water projects that produce over 1,700 million imperial gallons per day in the region across 11 countries. Abbas was awarded the deal maker of the year

by EMEA finance for Europe, Middle East & Africa in 2017.

Under his leadership, the MENAP Project finance business has been recognized industry wide as the best project finance house in the region over the last few years. He has also been a key contributor to driving the bank’s sustainable finance commitment through leadership in the renewables sector.

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eyes would remain on China’s apex bank to see whether it would allow the Yuan depreciate further.

However, the IIF noted that negative sentiments towards emerging markets recently reached extreme levels encouraging expectations of a period of stabilization that would see conversations around opportunities in the markets, not just risks.

“We see this shift in sentiments as healthy, reflecting deeply discounted valuations in many places which mean that adverse economic outcomes and weak growth are largely priced,” IIF said.

Since April, Nigerian stocks have chopped down year’s loss of around 20% to 6%. The rally has been largely driven by local investors while their foreign counterparts have mostly stayed on the sidelines due to currency risk.

On the debt-side Nigeria’s Eurobonds yield in the same period crashed to single digits as offshore players returned to the market.

COVID-19: Cititrust supports NGO to procure PPE for health workers IFEOMA OKEKE

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ititrust Holdings Plc has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting both public and private initiatives in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic with the donation of one million naira for the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline health care workers.

The cheque was handed over to a non-governmental organisation, Health Emergency Initiative (HEI) at the company’s corporate headquarters in Lagos, on Tuesday, June 2.

HEI, a recipient of Best Supporting NGO Award by Lagos State Health Service Commission, partners the Federal Road Safety Corps, Lagos State Ambulance Service, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and other relevant agencies to ensure that critically injured accident victims receive prompt life-saving care in public health institutions.

Speaking during the occasion, Yemi Adefisan, Group Chief Executive of the company, said Cititrust Group had earlier donated food items to Lagos and Osun state governments, and cash to the @Businessdayng

CBN COVID-19 account.

Adefisan said the current gesture was Cititrust’s contribution to an emergency trust fund set up by HEI to provide much needed PPE for frontline health workers in Lagos State.

Also speaking at the event, chairman of Cititrust COVID-19 Response Committee, Mr. Kunle Adewole, said the company was proud to work with credible organisations like HEI in ensuring that critical needs of frontline health workers are promptly met.

According to him, records show that the organisation has donated PPE to LUTH, LASUTH, FMC Ebute Metta, FRSC and IDH, Yaba, “hence, Cititrust has no doubt that donated funds will be judiciously utilised”.

He said the company would continue to “explore other areas of critical needs in the COVID-19 response and healthcare sector in general with a view to rendering its corporate support”.

In his own comments, Paschal Achunine, the Founder/ Executive Director of HEI, thanked the management of Cititrust for its “unrelenting support for the social wellbeing of Nigerians”.

14

Wednesday 03 June, 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Live @ The Exchanges Stock market maintains positive position on Dangote Cement, GTBank, MTNN strength

Stories by Iheanyi Nwachukwu

N

igeria’s stock market recorded another positive trading session on Tuesday June 2 as investors raised bets in value stocks like Dangote Cement Plc, GTBank Plc and MTNN Plc. Cummulatively, investors gained about N48billion while the benchmark performance indicator - the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) increased by further by 0.27 percent.

FBNQuest analysts had expected the market to trade

sideways on Tuesday, while their counterparts at Vetiva expected the domestic bourse to continue to enjoy positive patronage even in the face of the continued spread of Covid-19, as well escalating tension between the US and China.

This week alone, the market has advanced by 0.46 percent. The market’s year-todate (YtD) negative returns stands at -5.43 percent.

The NSEASI increased to 25,383.43 points from 25,316.15 points, while stocks value increased to N13.24trillion grom N13.19trillion.

Dangote Cement Plc share

price moved from N139 to N141, adding N2 or 1.44 percent while GTBank increased from N24.55 toN25.1, up by 55kobo or 2.24 percent. Likewise, MTNNN went up from N116 to N116.5, adding 50 percent or 0.43percent.

In 4,585 deals, equity dealers exchanged 377,882,717 units valued at N6.058billion.

Nigerian Breweries, GTBank, Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings were actively traded stocks on the Bourse.

The market may record another positive close on Wednesday, though investors should not ignore the possibility of profit taking following recent gains.

Linkage Assurance assures shareholders of meeting new capital requirement

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nderwriting firm, Linkage Assurance Plc has assured its shareholders that despite the challenges posed by the impact of Covid-19, the Company is on course to meeting the recapitalisation requirements.

The Company disclosed that it is concurrently exploring all available options including Rights Issue, private placement, and internal capital sourcing to raise the required funds.

Insurance companies in the country have been in the process of raising capital as required by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) before the Covid-19 pandemic, which did not only affect the economy but disrupted the exercise as potential investors from both local and outside the shores of the country were affected.

The industry recapitalisation exercise which commenced on May 20, 2019 will end December

31, 2020. It requires that life companies increase their paidup share capital from N2 billion to N8 billion; General Business from N3 billion to N10 billion; Composite Business from N5 billion to N18 billion; and Reinsurance companies from N10 billion to N20 billion.

The Managing Director/ CEO of Linkage Assurance Plc, Daniel Braie had assured the brokerage fraternity earlier in the year that his company will meet the new capital base of

Daniel Braie, managing director/ CEO of Linkage Assurance Plc

N10 billion.

Linkage Assurance Plc at the close of business in 2019 posted a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of N6.52 billion as against N5.39 billion during the same period in 2018, indicating a 21 percent increase.

From the business generated in 2019, the company also recorded a Profit Before Tax (PBT) growth of 909 percent, moving from N135 million in 2018 to N1.36 billion during the review period.

Profit After Tax (PAT) also grew to N1.3 Billion, a 553 percent increase from a loss position of N290 million during the same period in 2018.

Underwriting profit rose by 153 percent to close at N409 million during the review period, as against loss position of N773 million the previous year, while investment also grew by 10 percent, moving from N2.46 billion in 2018 to N2.71 billion in 2019.

FMDQ Exchange admits Flour Mills N30bn Commercial Paper Notes

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ommitted to the continuous empowerment of the Nigerian financial market and the provision of uninterrupted services to all stakeholders, FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited has approved of the quotation of the Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc N10 billion Series 13 and N20 billion Series 14 Commercial Paper (CP) notes (the Flour Mills CPs) under its N100 billion CP Issuance Programme on the Exchange’s platform. As most businesses across the globe continue to grapple with the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, FMDQ Holdings Plc (FMDQ Group or FMDQ) has through its subsidiary, FMDQ Exchange, sustained its efforts in the provision of required support to governments, corporates and individuals through the delivery of innovative and dependable capital market solutions.

The Nigerian CP market has remained a viable option for corporate entities looking to raise funds to meet shortfalls in their working capital needs, as well as other short-term expenditures.

As with previous papers issued under the Programme and like all other securities listed, quoted and traded on the FMDQ Exchange platform, the Flour Mills CPs shall be availed market visibility through FMDQ Exchange’s website and systems; transparency through their inclusion in the FMDQ Daily Quotations List; governance and continuous information disclosure to protect investor interest; amongst other benefits derived from the preferred admission to FMDQ Exchange.

As the economic impact of COVID-19 continues to crystallise, FMDQ Group remains steadfast in contributing towards the

emergence of a resilient financial market in Nigeria.

The Group and its subsidiaries - FMDQ Exchange, FMDQ Clear Limited, FMDQ Depository Limited and FMDQ Private Markets Limited - shall continue to engage the market and invariably, deploy innovative strategies leveraging on the unrivalled capabilities within its vertically integrated market infrastructure to promote market development and expansion.

FMDQ Group is Africa’s first vertically integrated financial market infrastructure (FMI) group which provides a onestop platform for the seamless and cost-efficient execution, risk management, clearing, settlement and depository services, as well as data and information services across the debt capital, foreign exchange and derivatives markets in Nigeria.

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@Businessdayng

Wednesday 03 June 2020

BUSINESS DAY

15

FINANCIAL INCLUSION

& INNOVATION

Investors pump $1.4m into Nigerian Fintech industry in one month …only sector with two investments since Covid-19 outbreak Stories by Endurance Okafor

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nvestors injected $1.4 million into companies in Nigeria’s Fintech industry in April, a sign that venture capital firms see the opportunity that can be tapped from the disruption created by the coronavirus pandemic.

During and post-COVID-19 crisis industry experts expect digital-only to become the new industry norm in financial services as financial institutions are expected to also look up to tech companies rather than in-house solutions to accelerate digital transformation.

“The market will witness a shift to digital-only triggers a “Big Pocket” battle between incumbents and challengers to win the (newly) online customer,” Finch Capital, an early-stage venture capital, firm said in a report.

In its first investment in Fintech industry, TLCom Capital, a venture capital investment firm injected $1 million into Nigerian Fintech startup, Okra, an API which allows users to retrieve realtime financial information from a bank account to any web or mobile app.

While Okra attracted the pre-seed investment three months after it was launched, TLCom Capital said it believes Okra’s technology will

provide a platform for more African Fintech solutions.

“We are always looking for startups with the potential for high value-generation and Okra’s technology provides the foundation for new fintech solutions in Africa for years to come,” Andreata Muforo, a partner at TLCom, said.

In April 2020, the same month Okra attracted its preseed interment, Bundle, an Africa-focused social payments app for cash and crypto raised $450,000 pre-seed from Binance. This made Nigeria’s Fintech industry the only sector to have attracted more than one investment since the first COVID-19 in-

fection was imported into the country in February.

“We built Bundle as a mobile wallet that supports cash and crypto, and makes using crypto feel like just another digital financial transaction done on a mobile app like Venmo,” Bundle Founder, Yele Bademosi said.

Before the pandemic Nigerian Fintech startups, Flutterwave and Aella Credit raised a combined $45 million. While Aella Credit raised a $10 million debt financing round to help it launch new products and expand into additional markets Flutterwave raised a $35 million Series B round and announced a partnership with Worldpay FIS for

payments in Africa.

Meanwhile, industry experts have said there is a high expectation that the world will forever be changed by the pandemic, and it could mean more opportunities for entrepreneurs with ideas for tools and services that can help people adapt to new trends.

Fintech industry in Nigeria, a country where more than 40 million people do not have a bank account, is one of such sectors expected to leverage the pandemic to spur growth.

“In the history of startups, some of the best companies were created during or after periods of serious economic downturn. We hope our story

can be similar,” Bademosi told BusinessDay. History shows that indeed some of the world’s biggest companies of today were established during the recession. Ken Lin, an American tech entrepreneur founded personal finance company, Credit Karma, a tech company that serves as an online credit score monitoring service in the middle of the 2008 recession.

The popular encrypted messaging app, WhatsApp, was created by Yahoo veterans Jan Koum and Brian Acton in 2009 as a way for people around the world to message each other quickly.

The app first gained its popularity and success in countries like the US where there was no access to the same cell network capabilities because it can operate on Wi-Fi. On the effect Covid-19 pandemic will have on the global Fintech industry, analysts said struggling Fintech firms may be forced to seek collaboration, investment, or acquisition by traditional financial institutions, PE funds, or even non-financial strategic buyers due to COVID-19 impact on funding sources.

Online alternative lending, digital wealth management, and consumer banking are sectors industry experts expect to see M&A deals.

“The next segment to feel

the pain and suffer declining investor interest would be early-stage companies (Series A and prior) that have yet to fully validate their business models,” Rosenblatt Securities is a research and investment banking boutique said. Adding that series B-D companies would fare better than their less-mature peers and could trade at par or even at a reasonable premium if they can demonstrate healthy growth, or have unique IP and resilient business models.

According to a Finch Capital report, the Fintech market can expect crisis mode until Q3 2020, followed by a 12 – 18-month recovery.

“Post-crisis, disruptive winners will “take all”, as we expect surging demand from financial services for technology to master digital-only interaction, enabled by AI and big-data analytics,” Radboud Vlaar, Managing Partner at Finch Capital said.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Fintech industry attracted the second-highest investment in 2019, closely behind Kenya.

According to 2019 African Tech Startups Funding Report, out of the 311 companies that secured $491.6 million worth of investment in 2019 Nigeria got 24.8percent.

With $122 million in funding, Nigeria emerged as the continent’s best investment hub after Kenya which attracted $149 million in 2019.

Dozie launches new digital ecosystem, Sparkle for savings, payment transactions …partners Microsoft, VISA, PwC Nigeria

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zoma Dozie, the former Group Managing Director of defunct Diamond Bank has launched Sparkle, a digital ecosystem aimed at providing financial, lifestyle and business support services to Nigerians across the globe.

Officially launched on June 3 2020, Sparkle offers comprehensive support for individuals, including payments, savings and analytics to provide greater freedom, flexibility and control over finances and lifestyle.

With a banking license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sparkle is launching a mobile app – available for iOS and Android – giving customers full and free access to one

account that offers multiple services and different wallets.

“Sparkle will be transformational for Nigerians across the globe and I am hugely excited to be launching it today. Sparkle is redefining Nigerian commerce by merging financial services with a seamless lifestyle solution,” Uzoma Dozie, founder of Sparkle said adding that the company will be removing barriers using technology and data while driving inclusion at scale.

In doing so, Dozie added that Sparkle would be “empowering Nigerians to fulfil their potential, democratizing access to valuable solutions for both business and personal needs.”

On how Sparkle works, the data and technologydriven platform said its users will be provided with visibility over spending patterns, with a detailed breakdown of payments by category.

According to the new company, tools such as Sparkle Stash, a savings device aimed towards specific goals, are also included in the platform.

“Users will also have the ability to split payments and bills, make utilities and bill payments, as well as send and receive money in the Sparkle network and with other local banks. Customers will also have access to Indy – a 24/7 financial buddy and customer services chatbot,” it said.

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According to Sparkle, the financial transaction platform is partnering with VISA, Microsoft and PwC Nigeria to achieve its vision of redefining Nigerian commerce. The partnerships will provide industry-leading expertise in APIs, cloud computing, data science, machine learning, tax and financial advisory services for the benefit of Sparkle’s customers.

“The services offered by Sparkle are all licensed by the CBN,” it said.

The launch of Sparkle comes at a time when most of Nigeria’s population (79%) have mobile connectivity, with 39percent having access to mobile broadband connections.

The new technology-

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driven company said it sees a real opportunity for digital-only propositions like Sparkle to meet Nigeria’s needs, for individuals and small businesses to remain connected and thrive, both now and in the future.

Meanwhile, the impact of Covid-19 which has disrupted several industries accelerating the transition to a more digitally enabled lifestyles coupled with Nigeria’s young and growing population who are also who are digital natives are the catalyst cited by industry analysts to drive growth in Fintech industry.

“We are working with global partners to unleash freedom, flexibility and transparency in Nigeria.

We are helping to drive for@Businessdayng

ward the growth of Nigeria’s budding entrepreneurs and individuals. Join us to make history as we enter the future of commerce and look towards this exciting phase of growth,” Dozie said.

According to Sparkle, it recently joined Women’s World Banking, an organization Dozie was previously a Board member and are working to ensure greater financial inclusion for women, their families and communities in emerging markets.

“Sparkle has also joined Open Banking Nigeria, collaborating with Nigeria’s financial services industry to transform and advocate open banking in Nigeria, and to lead the way in Africa too,” the company said.

16

Wednesday 03 June 2020

BUSINESS DAY

MARITIMEBUSINESS Shipping

Logistics

Maritime e-Commerce

COVID-19: Group writes NPA, calls for fumigation of ports to prevent spread amaka Anagor-Ewuzie

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roup, under the aegis of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has written the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), requesting for the fumigation of Nigerian seaports to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

According to the letter, which was dated May 29, 2020 and addressed to the managing director of the NPA, Nigerian seaport just like other ports in the World is an international arena that plays host to people from different parts of the world, where the deadly pandemic is on rampage.

R-L: Hadiza Bala Usman, managing director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and Lara Lana, managing director, MAERSK Nig. Limited, during the presentation of the COVID-19 Relief Materials.

“There have been reports of one or two infected individuals that had at one time or the other visited the port in Nigeria. Perhaps, there are still some cases of infected individuals

around our ports, but which have not been discovered.

It is for this reason that the fumigation of the ports and environs becomes very pertinent. Our call for the fumigation of the nation’s

ports is to ensure the safety of visitors, thereby curtailing the spread of the virus in our country,” the letter, which was signed by Dipo Olayoku, secretary general of NAGAFF stated.

While appreciating the NPA management’s team for their efforts in sustaining the reforms at the port and striving to make port operations seamless, Olayoku stated that the authority’s action since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought about hiccups in global maritime operations including Nigeria, has been of immense benefit to the country.

“Your effort at collaborating with the Presidential Task Force (PTF) in controlling the traffic gridlock within the ports domain and easing the flow of essential goods out of ports at the peak of the lockdown was a huge contribution, which deserves commendation,” the letter reads.

According to the group, NPA’s role in giving waiver palliative to shippers from

Maritime firms must adopt SDGs as most profitable business plan - Jadesimi

Riverlake MD decries lack of awareness for shipbroking business in Nigeria

…As LADOL boss joins Future Maritime Leaders’ selection committee

B

amaka Anagor-Ewuzie

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he world needs to hasten its progress towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and now more than ever, businesses in the maritime sector must all adopt it as not just the right thing to do, but as the most profitable and essential business plan, Amy Jadesimi, managing director of the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL), has said.

Jadesimi, who has for the second year running, been selected as one of the five global maritime experts to form the Committee that will select the winners of this year’s Future Maritime Leaders essay competition, said that understanding and pursuit of sustainability will determine the shape of the global maritime sector going forward.

According to her, sustainability offers trillions of dollars of untapped opportunity that would help to ensure that future global crisis can be averted. ​“International shipping is responsible for transporting 80 percent of global trade as well as having deep connec-

tions to a wide range of stakeholders from across the value chain. This gives it a vital role in tackling issues like trade and growth, climate change, global infrastructure and food and energy security,” Jadesimi stated. ​ She described the Future Maritime Leaders essay competition as one that creates a valuable opportunity for young people aspiring to become high-level leaders of the future to meet and engage with senior maritime stakeholders, adding that the topic of the easy is most important for young people to write – because they are the future of the maritime industry.

“This year’s topic: ‘Over the Next Decade, How Can the Maritime Sector Continue to Contribute to Realising the Sustainable Development Goals?’ was selected because the global maritime industry finds itself in a unique position to contribute to realising the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals over the next decade,” she added.​ Jadesimi however advised participants to focus on the topic by developing an original solution, adding that the submissions should be sent to futureleaders@globalmariwww.businessday.ng

timeforum.org no later than June 21st 2020 at 11.59 pm CEST together with the writer’s CV and submission form.​ Other members of the Committee include: Christine Loh, chief development strategist, Institute for Environment, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, who also heads the committee; Graham Westgarth, chief executive officer, V.Group UK; Oivind Lorentzen III, director, SEACOR Holdings, USA; and Stephen Cotton, general secretary, International Transport Workers’ Federation UK.​ The winners of the competition will get all expenses covered invitation to the Global Maritime Forum’s virtual high-level meeting this October, and its 2021 annual summit in London, where they would join 250 leaders from inside and outside the maritime sector to represent the voice of young generations. ​ LADOL, which has been operational since 2006, is building the world’s first Sustainable Industrial Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) using the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to build a unique circular ecosystem, servicing a range of industries.

amaka Anagor-Ewuzie ello Tukur, managing director of Riverlake, a shipbroking company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland with subsidiary in Lagos, has blamed lack of required education as well as lack of awareness for absence of reputable shipbrokers in Nigeria.

Speaking during an interview on Maritime Today, a radio show on Lagos Traffic 96.1FM, Tukur said that membership of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) is encouraged for an aspiring shipbroker to get the required knowledge and study to pass the exams set to be able to hold dear the

motto of ICS – “Our Word, Our Bond”.

“In Nigeria, not many people are aware of shipbroking and not many charterers and ship-owners value the services of shipbrokers. Globally, in countries such as London, Dubai, New York, Geneva, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, shipbroking is respected and valued as an integral part of shipping as the major carrier of global trade,” he said.

He further added that “the shipping industry is capitalintensive” so one must have the technical and financial capital to get one’s foot in the shipbroking door.

He explained shipbroking at length, stressing its importance to the shipping industry which accounts for 90 percent

March 23, 2020 to April 26, 2020 was of immense impact in reducing the suffering on the part of port users and freight forwarders during this period.

“It is now most critical that access into the port should be addressed. The need for your office and that of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to close ranks for proper identification of freight practitioners cannot be over-emphasised, without prejudice to the fact that ports are commercial areas but at the same time a restricted area for security reasons,” Olayoku said.

Olayoku further suggested in the letter that access to the port by freight practitioners should be based on the register kept by the Registrar of freight forwarders in Nigeria submitted to the NPA.

of the world’s global trade.

Shipbroking is a financial service which forms part of the global shipping industry; shipbrokers are specialist intermediaries between shipowners and charterers who use ships to transport cargo, or between buyers and sellers of vessels.

Tukur began his shipping career in 2005 as a Terminals Operators Coordinator for Global Gas and Refining Ltd, Port Harcourt. He worked as a tanker operator for E.A. Gibson Shipbrokers Ltd, UK in the late 2000s before working as a commercial/chartering manager for Daddo Maritime Services, Lagos from 2011-2015.

His Riverlake experience began in 2015 as chartering director before becoming managing director.

We’ll tackle road congestion, underutilisation of eastern ports – NPA Board amaka Anagor-Ewuzie

A

kin Ricketts, chairman, board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has assured that under his watch, issues around congestion on the roads leading to seaports as well as underutilisation of ports in Eastern part of the country, would be dealt with.

Speaking at the inauguration of the new board

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members of NPA in Abuja last week, Ricketts said the major issues confronting ports today are capacity utilisation and evacuation corridors.

“While the ports in the East are being grossly underutilised due to many factors, the efficiency of the ports in Lagos is hampered by inadequate evacuation corridors that lead to congestion on the road, which ultimately affects prompt service delivery,” he @Businessdayng

stated.

According to him, the new board intends to confront the challenges head-on in conjunction with other stakeholders, with a view to ameliorating the sufferings of port users and ease business in the port, as envisaged by the Federal Government.

“As a serious government on a national rescue mission, we assure you that we will immediately commence discharging our responsibilities.

Wednesday 03 June 2020

Harvard Business Review

BUSINESS DAY

17

MANAGEMENTDIGEST

The case for a Chief of Staff DAN CIAMPA

W

hen new CEOs with a change mandate take over a company, they typically invest time in reshaping its strategy and determining the kind of culture needed to succeed.

What they pay little attention to is the administrative system that guides day-to-day operations in their offices.

The administrative system ensures that leaders make the most of their limited time, that information arrives at the right point in their decision-making process and that follow-up happens without additional prompts.

Many new CEOs default to the system they’ve inherited, even if it is poorly suited to the operational changes they must make. But there are better ways to handle the information flow necessary for a CEO to succeed — and a chief of staff, or CoS, can play an essential role.

Although each leader should tailor the position to his own needs, a CoS should handle several principal duties. Patrick Aylward, a vice president and CoS at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, breaks the job down into five roles: serving as an air traffic controller for the leader and the senior team; as an integrator connecting work streams that would otherwise remain siloed; as a communicator linking the leadership team and the broader organization; as an honest broker and truth teller when the leader needs a wide-ranging view; and as a confidant without an organizational agenda.

If you’re an executive looking to increase your effectiveness, these seven questions will help you decide whether a CoS might help you: — Are you spending enough time on the vital A items on your agenda, or are you frustrated by the time spent on B and C items?

— Do you have enough “white space” in your calendar to consider future opportunities, or is most of your time spent reacting to what has already happened?

— As you deliberate on

the decisions that only you can make, are you getting the best available information?

— Is it common for you to feel unprepared for important meetings or when making important decisions?

— Are issues identified early enough that action can be taken before they create damage, or is it common for large problems to occur unexpectedly?

— Does the culture encourage resistance to change or insulated silos, rather than embracing new ways to improve?

— When you direct that some action be taken or ask for data on a particular issue, do you often not hear back until you remind people?

Without ever having seen a skilled CoS in action, it can be difficult to envision the value one can add. But when set up in the right way, a CoS position can make it much easier to solve the problems facing a leader.

My observations of how this position has evolved in business organizations suggest that it entails three levels of responsibility: — LEVEL 1: A CoS at this level has typically been promoted from an executive assistant role. An example is Susan, who was the more senior of two executive assistants to the CEO at a large energy-related corporation before she became his CoS In addition to overseeing use of the CEO’s time and ensuring his focus on the most imwww.businessday.ng

portant issues, she manages special projects for the chief financial officer and the head of human resources.

She also prepares prework, handles follow-up and sits in on most board meetings.

— LEVEL 2: Greg is typical of a level-two CoS. He joined a large life sciences company as chief of staff after earning a Ph.D. and an MBA from top programs and then working for a strategy consulting company. Greg works closely with the heads of business development and research and development on alliances and acquisition projects, and with the chief human resources officer on finding scientific talent. Much of Greg’s time is spent helping manage relationships with the company’s scientific partners and studying the forces that have an effect on the company’s strategy, such as academic research and medical advances. He also interacts with regulatory agencies regarding approval of the company’s emerging products.

— LEVEL 3: Chiefs of staff at level three are typically found in large, complex organizations facing the need for dramatic strategic, operational and cultural change, especially when the leader is new to the top post. It is exemplified by someone like Carol. Carol spent 12 years in a multinational technology and operations-improvement consulting firm specializing in the integra-

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tion of acquisitions and the management of alliances.

That was followed by several years at a global corporation.

She was then hired as a CoS for the new CEO of a large and growing technology provider. In that role Carol manages the office of the CEO and is responsible for ensuring the execution of her agenda — a job that includes time management, flow of information to and from the CEO, and seeing that the CEO is always prepared and rarely surprised. Carol coordinates special projects, and drafts presentations and other materials for board meetings, investor conferences and employee town halls. She runs an analysis/ program management unit and is involved in alliances and acquisitions. She is also a member of the executive committee.

Carol’s work is distinguished from Susan’s and Greg’s by its depth and because she works on the company’s top priorities at its strategic core. Another distinguishing factor is where each job is likely to lead.

Susan’s next step could be a managerial position in either financial planning or the benefits department. Greg will probably move to a district manager’s job for field experience and then go on to head up strategy or business development. Carol’s career path could move through senior marketing or operations positions and might eventu@Businessdayng

ally lead to chief operating officer.

Whether a CEO requires a level-one, -two or -three CoS depends on a number of things. If the leader needs help mostly with time management and information flows, and perhaps has an experienced executive assistant who is ready to handle more responsibility, a levelone CoS may be the right choice. A new-to-the-organization CEO who is facing more complex challenges — such as implementing a new strategy or a cultural transformation in a volatile industry — will most likely benefit from a level-three CoS. CEOs whose situation falls somewhere in between and who need research, analysis and program management might consider a level-two CoS. Everyone requires help to achieve his highest potential and to sustain the effort it takes to lead a complex organization. The right chief of staff can be an important source of assistance to leaders who are pushing their organizations and themselves to ever better performance.

Dan Ciampa is a former CEO, an adviser to boards and chief executives, and the author of five books, including “Transitions at the Top: What Organizations Must Do to Make Sure New Leaders Succeed” and “Right from the Start: Taking Charge in a New Leadership Role.”

Tuesday 03 June 2020

FT

BUSINESS DAY

18

FINANCIAL TIMES

World Business Newspaper

US cities rocked as police struggle after curfews are defied Five officers shot and unrest widens in NY, Washington and LA in wake of George Floyd’s death DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO, LAUREN FEDOR AND DAVE LEE

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ive police officers were reportedly shot during clashes in several US cities as protesters and looters defied curfews and violence continued in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, in police custody last week.

Four police officers were shot in St Louis, Missouri, as authorities struggled to regain control of the city’s streets late into Monday evening. The officers, who were being treated for non-life-threatening injuries in hospital, were hit by gunfire as they stood next to a police line during violent disorder, said the chief of police, John Hayden.

People had been throwing rocks and fireworks, and had tried to throw petrol at officers, he added. “As we speak we are trying to get control of the city.”

In Nevada, a police officer was shot near the Las Vegas Strip, the Associated Press reported. There were no details on the officer’s condition. Authorities were also responding to a second separate shooting in the area, the AP said.

Two people were killed in Cicero, a Chicago suburb, according to the AP. Ray Hanania, a municipal official, told the news agency that 60 people in the town had been arrested, but did not give further details on the deaths.

The violence escalated after President Donald Trump on Monday night threatened to send American soldiers on to the streets to quell the worst unrest since

Protests over the death of George Floyd have continued in cities across the US, including Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania © Steve Mellon/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/AP

the 1960s. As Mr Trump finished speaking, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who were demonstrating peacefully in Lafayette Square, a park in front of the White House.

Mr Trump then strode across the cleared area to St John’s Episcopal church, where he posed for pictures holding a Bible, in a move critics panned as a publicity stunt.

Mr Trump said on Twitter on Tuesday morning that there had been “no problems” in Washington the previous night. “Many arrests. Great job done by all. Overwhelming force. Domination.”

Meanwhile, Joe Biden, the president’s Democratic opponent as he seeks re-election, was expected to give a speech on

Tuesday in Philadelphia. Much of the downtown area in the city, which is the site of his campaign headquarters, had been shut following violent clashes between protesters and police.

“When peaceful protesters are dispersed by the order of the president from the doorstep of the people’s house, the White House — using tear gas and flash grenades — in order to stage a photo op at a noble church, we can be forgiven for believing that the president is more interested in power than in principle, more interested in serving the passions of his base than the needs of the people in his care,” Mr Biden was expected to say, according to prepared remarks released by his campaign.

After the coronavirus emergency and its devastating economic fallout, which has left more than 100,000 Americans dead and 40m out of work, the protests — the most widespread since the civil rights era — have created another crisis for the president just five months before the election. Since Floyd’s death in Minneapolis last week, the president has been criticised for appearing to incite violence against demonstrators.

New York ordered residents home by 11pm on Monday, the first time a curfew had been imposed on the city in 70 years. But about 1,000 protesters remained on the streets past the deadline, with looting taking place in the glitzy midtown district. Another curfew is set to begin at 8pm on

Tuesday.

“Protesters were overwhelmingly peaceful today and cops respected their right to speak out,” wrote New York City mayor Bill de Blasio on Twitter. “But some people tonight had nothing to do with the cause and stole and damaged instead. That we won’t allow.”

Elsewhere in the state, two police officers in Buffalo were injured after a car was driven through a police line. Mark Poloncarz, Erie County’s executive, wrote on Twitter that the two officers were “allegedly in stable condition” after the incident.

In Louisville, Kentucky, tear gas was used to disperse several hundred people in the downtown area. A march had been held in the city to demonstrate against the death of barbecue restaurant owner David McAtee, who was shot and killed by police on Monday morning.

The city’s police chief was fired after it emerged that body cameras worn by the officers involved in the incident had been switched off.

In Los Angeles, police moved in to arrest looters as an 8pm curfew passed. A peaceful protest had earlier taken place along Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards.

Michel Moore, the city’s police chief, was forced to retract a comment suggesting that looters had Floyd’s death “on their hands” as much as the white officers accused of killing the unarmed victim last week.

After being prompted for clarification by Eric Garcetti, the city’s mayor, Mr Moore said Floyd’s death was being exploited as a “catalyst for violence”.

Amazon secures record low borrowing costs

Booming ecommerce group’s $10bn fundraising is cheapest ever in US corporate bond market

JOE RENNISON, ERIC PLATT AND DAVE LEE

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mazon locked in some of the lowest borrowing costs ever secured in the US corporate bond market on Monday, underscoring the rise of the ecommerce giant during the coronavirus pandemic and the boost the Federal Reserve has provided through its historic interventions.

The company raised $10bn in an offering that included three-year notes carrying an interest rate of just 0.4 per cent, according to people briefed on the matter.

The interest on the new threeyear note was less than two-tenths of a percentage point above the rate investors charged the US government when it issued debt of a similar maturity in May — a stunning turn for a company whose debt was considered junk as recently as 2009.

Amazon paid 1.9 per cent on a three-year note when it last tapped bond markets in 2017, to fund its takeover of the grocer Whole Foods

Amazon’s new three-year debt carried an interest rate of just 0.4 per cent © Bloomberg

Market.

The rate it secured on Monday was below the previous record low of 0.45 per cent secured in 2012 and 2013 by companies including Apple, IBM and Walt Disney.

Companies are looking at these yields and thinking they should be issuing. This is an ideal opportunity to come in and refinance existing bonds or add new debt www.businessday.ng

Peter Tchir, Academy Securities Amazon’s new seven and 10year borrowings carried coupons of 1.2 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively, also the lowest ever in the US corporate bond market, toppling a record set by the retailer Costco earlier this year, according to the financial data provider Refinitiv, whose records go back to 1980.

The coupon on Amazon’s new

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five-year bond matched a low set by the drugmaker Pfizer in May, at 0.8 per cent.

The company also issued 30-year and 40-year debt.

Investors have been clamouring to lend to blue-chip companies since the Fed provided an unprecedented backstop to financial markets in March, which included a promise to buy corporate bonds.

The US central bank’s intervention helped to bring down corporate borrowing costs, which had spiralled to a 10-year high during the coronavirus induced sell-off in March.

Corporate bond issuance has passed $1tn already this year, a record pace.

Amazon’s $10bn bond offering was more than three times subscribed, people briefed on the matter said.

“This month is starting off with a bang,” said Peter Tchir, chief macro strategist at Academy Securities in New York. “Companies are looking at these yields and thinking they should be issuing. This is an ideal opportunity to come in and @Businessdayng

refinance existing bonds or add new debt.”

Amazon stands out as one of the companies to have benefited from the policy response to contain Covid-19, with the closure of non-essential stores pushing more consumers to shop online.

Its revenues surged to $75.5bn in the first quarter of 2020 from $59.7bn in the same period a year ago. However, soaring expenses shaved 30 per cent off its profits.

“There have been companies that have benefited from this pandemic and Amazon is one of them,” said Monica Erickson, head of investment-grade corporates at DoubleLine Capital in Los Angeles.

“You can shop while still abiding by social distancing. They have a lot of goodwill right now.”

Amazon said it would use the cash from the new bond offering for general corporate purposes.

The company is in advanced talks to acquire Zoox, a San Franciscobased self-driving car start-up, for an undisclosed amount. Zoox was valued at $3.2bn in October 2018.

Tuesday 03 June 2020

BUSINESS DAY

19

COMPANIES & MARKETS

Why Wall Street is calm in the face of US unrest Investors can point to history for examples of stock market rallies through social upheaval MICHAEL MACKENZIE

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inancial markets have a history of looking through bouts of civil and political unrest.

Today, investors are focused on the reopening of economic activity in the US, rather than the turmoil engulfing many American cities since last week’s killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in police custody.

Investors can point to history to justify their calm. At the end of a bloody 1968, the S&P 500 finished nearly 11 per cent higher on the year, including the reinvestment of dividends, despite the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F Kennedy, actions that triggered civil and political turmoil.

The S&P also finished 1992 in positive territor y after riots following the acquittal of Los Angeles police officers who had beaten Rodney King, another black man.

Towards the end of the last century, the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton was accompanied by the S&P 500 rallying more than 20 per cent in both 1998 and 1999. More recently, the Occupy Wall Street protest that started in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park in late 2011 was accompanied by a 4.5 per cent climb in the S&P 500.

These examples illustrate how

Wall Street remains confident of an economic recovery this year, even as protests engulf many big US cities © FT montage; Getty Images

equity prices reflect a focus on the underlying economic and corporate earnings narrative at the time, rather than societal or political upheaval.

“History shows markets look through many sorts of tumultuous events and have done so for decades,” says Nicholas Colas at DataTrek Research, which provided the annual S&P figures. “That may seem counterintuitive, and perhaps not even fair, but it’s absolutely true.”

Wall Street’s confidence in an approaching economic recovery this year, vindicating a sharp rebound in asset prices from their lows in March, suggests that the worst of the Covid-19 shock is

behind us. Market sentiment is tied up with long-term expectations for growth and, in spite of skyrocketing unemployment and intense pressure facing small businesses, investors are intent on getting ahead of an expected new business cycle. Hence a stock market that has rebounded by a third in value since late March, leaving the S&P 500 within 10 per cent of its February peak, despite cumulative US jobless claims filings exceeding 40m.

Investor optimism also reflects massive support from the Federal Reserve and fiscal stimulus from Washington. More than a decade of cheap money from the US central bank has been a boon for

asset prices at the same time that it has intensified income inequality. Meanwhile, deep-seated and truly depressing social issues in the US have been exacerbated by a double-whammy of a health crisis and an economic lockdown that has particularly hurt those at the lower and more vulnerable parts of society.

This ultimately raises an important question for investors. Will the vast amount of stimulus fill the deep economic hole produced by the pandemic? Wall Street is certainly expecting an economic bounce, but investors should also note the flattery at work. Given the extent of the collapse in economic activity in recent months, any

rebound in measures of activity as lockdowns ease will look impressive because it is coming from such a low base.

Over the longer term, a period of elevated unemployment beyond 10 per cent, accompanied by business failures, will only intensify civil unrest and frustration towards governments over their approach to the pandemic and the restraints imposed by lockdowns.

And it is possible that the protests will themselves lead to a new wave of infections that requires economically painful measures to be extended. This kind of environment raises the prospect of cautious consumers saving more, thereby weighing on a broader economic recovery.

There is some acknowledgment that Wall Street will reconsider matters should civic unrest delay the resumption of economic activity. “If protests or political spillover start to hurt consumer confidence, that would spell lower stock prices for a longer period than a week or two,” says Mr Colas.

The likelihood of a tumultuous summer on main street as protests continue may not deter Wall Street from its bullishness about the post-Covid economic rebound.

A slow recovery that drags on beyond the summer, mirroring the period after the financial crisis, is another matter. The protests on US streets reflect, in part, a call of economic distress. Ultimately, Wall Street may find itself on the wrong side of history.

Data centre stocks surge as world shelters online Sector seen as a ‘haven’ by investors is outpacing even Big Tech since market’s February peak RICHARD HENDERSON

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assengers on one side of a plane heading west from London’s Heathrow airport can see Windsor Castle, home to Queen Elizabeth II. On the other — if they know where to look — is a cluster of warehouses that plays an increasingly vital role in the world economy.

The warehouses are owned by US group Equinix, which together with rival Digital Realty dominates the global business of data centres, which host computing and storage systems to enable the delivery of web services. Both are big winners on the stock market this year, as the Covid-19 crisis has shifted more economic activity online.

The companies’ combined market value has jumped by a fifth since January, to more than $100bn, while the S&P 500 benchmark of US blue-chips has dropped 5 per cent.

The pair have even outpaced the NYSE Fang+ index since the market peaked in February. That

Fund managers have been investing in companies that supply digital infrastructure providers, such as chipmaker Nvidia © Reuters

benchmark includes their biggest customers — groups such as Amazon, Netflix and Facebook — which have themselves emerged as trusty bets in turbulent trading this year.

The gains reflect the surge in use among tech platforms in recent months as the global pandemic has kept billions of people at home, dependent on the internet for work, school and play. www.businessday.ng

“Data centres are at the other end of the Covid-19 crisis,” said Steve Shigekawa, a portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman, a fund manager based in New York. “We hear about the negative impact for airlines and the hotel industry, but for data centres it has highlighted the importance of having a digital infrastructure.”

Most of these companies are structured as real estate invest-

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ment trusts for tax purposes. Part of the boost to stock prices has come from investors switching into these stocks from other corners of the real estate market hit hard by the shutdowns, such as retail properties and offices.

Colony Capital, a $50bn fund manager, is making an aggressive push into real estate that serves digital industries, including data centres. These investments will comprise up to 90 per cent of its portfolio by the end of next year, from just 2 per cent two years ago.

Colby Synesael, an analyst with New York investment bank Cowen, said the sector had stood out as a “safe haven”, adding that data centres were “benefiting from a secular trend that will be measured in years, not quarters”. Such stocks were “recession-proof ”, agreed Max Gokhman, head of asset allocation for Pacific Life Fund Advisors in California.

Rob Almeida, global investment strategist for MFS Investment Management in Boston, said the fund manager had increased @Businessdayng

its holdings in data centres during the stock market rally that began in March. These companies were attractive because “the winners in cloud computing are well established and picked over”, he added.

MFS has also invested in companies that supply these digital infrastructure providers, such as the big chipmaker Broadcom and its rival Nvidia. The latter announced last month that sales to data centres surpassed $1bn in the first quarter for the first time.

As the industry matures, a fight for scale has broken out. In April, Equinix announced a $1bn joint venture with GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, to open facilities in Japan. In March, Digital Realty completed an $8bn purchase of Interxion, a European group.

Private equity groups are also showing more of an interest.

Last week, KKR committed $1bn of equity to launch and acquire European data centres targeting “hyperscale” customers — big tech groups that require more servers as they expand.

20

Wednesday 03 June, 2020

BUSINESS DAY

FEATURE

Governor Nyesom Wike

Tukur Brutai, Chief of Army Staff

Rivers doles out N450m to victims of clash with soldiers in Abonnema in last elections • Indications emerge that those who die on the side of the state government would not die in vain • A lecturer who died in Bori as party agent got N200m in October 2019

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he Rivers State government has released the sum of N450m to those it identified as victims of the clash between soldiers and youths in Abonnema area of the state. This seems to reaffirm strong assertions that those who died defending the state government would not die in vain. The family of a lecturer from the state’s polytechnic that died while serving as party agent during the governorship election, Ferry Gberegbe, got N200m in October 2019.

Speaking during a meeting preparatory to giving out the cash, Gov Nyesom Wike said the gesture was in fulfillment of his promise to the people of Abonnema in AkukuToru local council area of the state at the church service to honour those who lost their lives, the injured, the detained and those who lost properties during the crisis.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Tammy Danagogo, who represented Gov Nyesom Wike at the compensation ceremony in Abonnema, said alerts were to begin to hit the accounts of the relatives of those who died, and the accounts of the survivors from Wednesday, May, 27, 2020.

Danagogo said the delay would be because of the public holidays but said from Wednesday, May

‘

The Rivers State government has continued to lambaste the military for showing interest in the stalemated elections in the state for a particular political party but said God granted the governor victory through the people of the state that he said rallied round his victory and defended the ballot boxes

‘

Ignatius Chukwu & Sam Esogwa

27, the beneficiaries would begin to find money in their accounts.

The state government identified 37 persons that died and a number of others that were detained by soldiers during the clash on the presidential election day in February 2919. Some of the injured persons stepped out to be identified while relations of those www.businessday.ng

that died came out too.

The state government had set up a high-powered committee headed by the deputy governor, Ipalibo Gogo Harry-Banigo, who hails from Obuama in nearby Degema local council area of the state to identify those who died, their genuine relations, and those who survived.

The compensation day was chosen at the end of the exercise as another democracy day seems to get close.

Heavy clash had occurred during the presidential election on February 23, 2019 at Abonnema where 37 youths and two lost their lives. The shooting shook the area and raised huge panic in Rivers State as heavy bombardment continued for hours.

The youths claimed at that time that they were invaded by soldiers, claiming that the military came to hijack the elections and to give victory to a particular political party, but soldiers had said then that the youths ambushed them on their way to Abonnema on election duty. Footage from private video clips showed soldiers moving from street to street engaging in combat with young men.

There were pockets violence and clashes with soldiers on election duty in other parts of the state during the 2019 elections until the uproar attracted order from the top for soldiers to pull out. An inquiry was later instituted by the Nigerian Army but the outcome

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has not been made public, to this day.

The Rivers State government has continued to lambaste the military for showing interest in the stalemated elections in the state for a particular political party but said God granted the governor victory through the people of the state that he said rallied round his victory and defended the ballot boxes.

He has continued to show support and dole out financial largesse to various groups to show that laying down one’s life to defend the state government was a worthy adventure.

The SSG was supported on the occasion by the Amanyanabo of Abonnema, the king, Disrael Gbobo Bob-Manuel, as well as the chairman of Akuku-Toru local council area, Rowland Sekibo, and deputy chief whip and member representing Akuku-Toru state constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Major Jack.

The Commissioner of Culture and Tourism, Tonye Briggs-Oniyide, was also present to ensure that the victims were compensated as promised by the governor during the funeral service in honour of the victims in 2019.

In his remarks the Amayanabo thanked Gov Wike for fulfilling his promise to the Abonnema people, noting that the governor has proved over the years that his word is his bond. According to him the governor is a man worthy @Businessdayng

of trust and support because he has fulfilled all his promises to the Abonnema People. He Advised beneficiaries to make judicious use of the Money the Governor has graciously given to them.

Earlier the chairman of Akuku Toru Local Government Area who said he is still traumatized by the events that took place during the presidential election in 2019, expressed gratitude to Gov Wike for his kind gesture, stressing that the people of his Local Government Area would continue to support the governor in his quest to improve the lives of Rivers people.

Also speaking, one of the beneficiaries, Minamiango Romeo, who sustained gunshot injuries, expressed gratitude to Gov Wike for not abandoning them in their time of need and promised to continue to support his Administration and the leaders of the Local Government Area.

Top citizens have hailed the actions of the governor in releasing a financial windfall to the Abonnema election victims but some others have mentioned other citizens who died in other election violence that ought to be remembered too. The state government has not reacted to such calls yet.

BusinessDay found that some of the victims were from other parts of Nigeria, and the authorities said it did not matter, so long as they were residents of Abonnema.

Wednesday 03 June, 2020

BUSINESS DAY

21

BANKING CBN’s dollar sales resumption to BDCs means huge loss to FX speculators HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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he naira is facing its greatest risk from the coronavirus pandemic, as currency speculators continue to make spurious demand for dollar with hope to make good returns from the rising gaps between official and parallel market rates.

Dollar exchanges at between N450 and N461 on the black market and retail Bureau segment while it remains stable at N361 at the official window.

Interestingly, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele and President, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe have in recent weeks, analyzed the illicit business of currency speculators and the danger this pose to the economy and naira stability.

In the coming months, foreign currency speculators will face over N10 billion losses as the CBN snd the ABCON finalize plans to resume dollar sales to Bureaux De Change (BDCs).

With over 5,000 BDCs spread across the country receiving weekly allocations for sale to the retail end of the market, and rising accretion to the foreign reserves to over $37 billion, the naira’s future looks bright.

ABCON had warned forex speculators to retreat their steps or get ready to lose their savings and businesses as the CBN has the financial muscles to sustain dollar interventions to businesses, and economy to keep the naira stable in line with its exchange rate stability mandate.

Both leaders have also warned the currency speculators about the looming danger for their trade if they refuse to retrace their steps as they will incur losses estimated at over N 10 billion in the next few months as the CBN prepares for BDCs return to the forex market after nearly six weeks of absence due to the Coronavirus pandemic and need to protect operators.

The fact remains that currency speculators will lose huge funds, that will likely be the beginning of the ending for their illicit businesses as the apex bank will soon begin dollar sales to over 5,000 BDCs operating across major

Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor

cities nationwide.

Emefiele even went a step further to appeal to industrialists patronizing the parallel market to stop such practices in the interest of the economy and for the sustainability of their businesses, failure which they will equally record same huge losses like the currency speculators.

Both Emefiele and Gwadabe have huge experiences in the market to predict what follows after every major crisis.

Like in 2016 currency crisis, the market got a major relief after the BDCs’ began getting dollar allocations from the CBN. That same scenario will soon play out as the CBN team and ABCON management begin to count days for the BDCs return to the market.

The CBN has come to realize that BDC operators can be the difference between naira recovery and depreciation during volatile and uncertain times. That’s especially true now that the local currency has come under intense pressure that is purely driven by speculative demand for the dollar.

The BDCs are essentially operators that help get dollars to the end users no matter where they are and have for decades proven time and time again their relevance in stabilizing the naira.

Gwadabe said the CBNlicenced BDCs will soon start full operations as the apex bank will soon reopen dollar sales to operators.

According to him, with the CBN’s planned lifting of moratorium on dollar sales to BDCs, reopening of the airports for air travels, global ease on restriction of movement are positive indications that dollar flows to the economy will soon improve.

He said the naira has been www.businessday.ng

Aminu Gwadabe, ABCON president

exchanging at N461 to dollar at the parallel market but will be upbeat once dollar sales to BDCs commence.

“The return of over 5,000 BDCs to the forex market will add great strength to the Naira and lead to major capital losses for forex speculators. It happened in 2016 and will happen again in 2020. The return of the BDCs will immediately boost Naira recovery and put the enemies of the economy to shame. We are committed to the CBN’s exchange rate stability and will take all necessary steps within set rules and regulations to keep the naira stable,” he assured,” Gwadabe said.

He said the return of BDCs to the forex market will help chase away speculators, curb rising inflation, boost productivity and employment, enhance price discovery, enhance market transparency and competitiveness.

Positive Indicators for Naira Recovery Aside positive developments in the global economy, the CBN has taken action to address the risks facing the naira, which will lead to rapid recovery for the local currency.

For instance, the recovery in the Chinese manufacturing sector and opening of the Asian tiger’s economy after months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic have raised the country’s crude oil demand, many of which will be bought from Nigeria. Such purchases will boost Nigeria’s dollar earnings.

Besides, Nigeria is one of the few lucky countries that have secured emergency $3.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI). This fund

will not only support Nigeria’s financial sector and address balance of payment hitches, but has boosted foreign reserves and financing to the budget for targeted and temporary spending increases.

Nigeria’s foreign reserves have reached over $37 billion, which represents enough buffers for the CBN to deal with any act of illegal economic behaviour like hoarding, speculation, conversion of local assets among other illicit financial activities.

Gwadabe also added that the OPEC measures on sustainable price stability are commendable as many governments across the world have agreed to oil production adjustment targets and continued collaboration with all their partners, a move that will benefit Nigeria.

He said the CBN has also officially reviewed the naira exchange rate to N380 to a dollar.

Aside devaluing the naira, the apex bank also adopted a unified exchange rate, and pushed the official rate of the naira to N376 to dollar for International Money Transfer Operators rate to banks; N377 to dollar for banks’ dollar sale to CBN and pegged CBN’s dollar sales to banks at N378, all aimed at attracting Foreign Portfolio Investment and strengthening the local currency. The BDC operators are expected to buy dollar from the CBN at N378 per dollar.

Gwadabe said the naira rate review and assurances by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele to foreign investors that want to repatriate their funds from the country are positive for the naira continued recovery.

Reopening Guidelines for BDCs Gwadabe said ABCON is

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issuing their reopening guidelines to all its members nation wide to include on-boarding on the queuing crowd ticketing management application by all members known as ABCON 360°QSM portal with over 80 per cent members registered nation wide so far.

“We are also updating all regulatory obligations during the lockdown, fumigation of members offices/markets, distribution of second phase of face mask nation wide to our members. There is also the provision of wash hand basins, sanitizers at our distributions centres while members are to explore school fees, mortgage, subscription payments as one of their allowable scopes during post COVID-19,” he said.

ABCON’s Take on African Currencies’s Performances ABCON boss Gwadabe said the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the naira was not as bad as seen in other African countries’ currencies.

Amid huge capital flow reversal driven by risk-off sentiment, currency rates of African countries shows that the South African rand is the worst hit, down 20.6 per cent year-to-date .

This is followed by the Angolan Kwanza which has depreciated by 16.1 per cent, Mauritius Rupee (-8.8 per cent), Nigerian Naira (-6.6 per cent) and Kenyan Shilling (-5.3 per cent) followed in that order. Others include the Tunisian Dinar (-3.8 per cent), Morocco’s Dirham (-2.7 per cent) and the W7est African Monetary Union’s CFA franc (-2.3 per cent ). Notably, the Egyptian Pound, up 1.3 per cent year-to-date, remains the best performer across the region.

Gwadabe explained that while an adjustment of the Nigerian naira from N360/$ to N385/$ broadly reflects the 6.6 per cent weakness observed in the official market, it must be noted that currency depreciation at the unofficial market is much deeper, currently at N461/$.

But looking ahead, the outlook for the naira is expected to remain relatively strong on the back of growing foreign reserves at over $37 billion, increasing global demand for crude oil, rising commodity prices and rising global trade.

CBN’s Message to Parallel Market Patronizers Emefiele has warned domestic and foreign investors against patronising the unofficial market, saying it was helping to overheat that @Businessdayng

market.

Dollar sales have since resumed following a phased easing of the lockdown but foreign investor currency demand is yet to be met, analysts say.

Emefiele, has warned firms and individuals against patronizing the parallel market, popularly called the black market.

He warned them to stop using black markets for foreign currency exchange, adding that patronizing the parallel market is helping to overheat the foreign exchange market.

“I know some of you are involved, stop now. By going to the parallel market, you are helping to overheat that market. Not only that, you will lose money because you would have bought it at a price that is not realistic. I can tell you that you are going to lose money. But we have seen your account already. We are appealing to you, please stop and let’s do what is right, what is legal, so that Nigeria can continue to be a good place for you and to live in,” Emefiele appealed to businesses patronizing parallel market.

Going further, he said, “We are taking note of some of you and I can tell you, go ahead and do your business, nothing will stop your forward, your forward will be at a committed price, we are going to provide more liquidity in the market so that people can stop going to the parallel market. Don’t go there because it is not good for you. But be patient, it’s going to be orderly’’.

ABCON’s Commitment to Exchange Rate Stability Gwadabe disclosed that ABCON executive council under his leadership will continue to promote transparency and efficient market dealings while commending the CBN management for its progressive policies and achieving stable exchange rate that aligns with its price stability.

He said the CBN has been able to create a people-focused Central Bank promoting macro-economic objectives such as low inflation and a stable exchange rate, along with a focus on promoting inclusive growth and reducing unemployment in the country.

Gwadabe said the BDCs remain at the centre of economic development and have the capacity to attract needed capital for the development of the Nigerian economy.

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African swine fever kills 145,000 pigs in Oke-Aro farm estate Josephine Okojie

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housands of pigs have died from the recent outbreak of the African swine fever (ASF) in Oke-Aro pig farming estate in Matogun, Lagos state.

The disease has claimed over 145,000 hogs since its outbreak in Oke- Aro - West Africa’s largest pig farm estate, causing farmers to lose billions of naira.

Confirming the outbreak, Omotayo Adekoya, secretary of the Oke-Aro farm said that farmers in the estate have lost over 145,000 pigs due to the ASF outbreak.

She said that the last outbreak of ASF in the farm was recorded in 10 years ago.

Adekoya stated that the Lagos state government in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture has come to the aid of farmers in the farming estate by fumigating the farm estate s e v e ra l t i m e s a n d a l s o providing millets to farmers as palliative.

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious virus that affects both domestic a n d w i l d p i g s, c a u s i n g diarrhoea, vomiting, coughing, haemorrhages on the skin, and severe mental distress.

It is an airborne disease that can be transmitted directly between animals or

through infected meat and feeds.

“Since the outbreak in our pig farm estate, it has been devastating. I have lost 500 pigs to the disease,” said a farmer in the estate who simply gave his name as Bernard.

“The Lagos state government has come to our

2020 World Milk Day: Three Crowns celebrates with ‘Voices of the Heart’ campaign Josephine Okojie

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o commemorate the 2020World Milk Day, Three Crowns, Nigeria’s leading low cholesterol and heartfriendly milk, has unveiled plans to launch the Voices of the Heart Campaign.

The campaign is to highlight the fulfilling ways the dairy industry has made a vital contribution to improving nutrition in Nigeria’s food value chain.

Omolara Banjoko, marketing manager, Three Crowns said that the organisation would play to mums and the value chain a holistic campaign message tagged ‘Voices of the Heart.’

“Through this campaign, we will elevate the brand’s care for your heart story and dial up the functional benefits of Three Crowns milk by showcasing the different things a healthy heart can do,” Banjoko said.

“Every time the heartbeats, it speaks and its language is so unique that only very few can hear and interpret it. Luckily, Three Crowns milk is one of the few that understand and can interpret well the language of the heart,” he

added.

According to him, the campaign will climax on June 1 which is the day set aside since 2001 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to show the importance of milk and encourage its consumption as part of a daily diet.

He stated that through t h e b r a n d ’s u n i q u e campaign, Three Crowns will be caring for the hearts of mums and make use of the 2020 World Milk Day celebration to translate the message and bring it to the forefront for everyone to hear.

He noted that the campaign is in line with the brand’s pay off, ‘Healthy Mums, Happy Families.’

The campaign has since kicked off on May 24th with a teaser by the brand to demonstrate what a healthy heart can do when nourished and properly cared for.

It was followed by a series of consumer engagements where Mums are asked to record and upload 30-second voice notes to their loved ones with a pledge to stay healthy for them with Three Crowns milk on the brand’s website https://www. www.businessday.ng

femininelounge.com/ world-milk-day Mums can also send their voice notes through WhatsApp to 08036847790 with their full names.

There were other interactive online quizzes o n z i k o k o. c o m w h e r e mums were asked to plan a breakfast meal and upon completion, the brand reveals what type of mums they are, based on their responses.

Across select stores, starting from May 29 till World Milk Day June 1, shoppers that buy at least N5,000 wor th of Three Crowns milk gets free milk up to N2,500 and N5,000 in Lagos and Ibadan respectively. The gesture was also extended to some selected online shopping platforms.

On June 1, 2020, the brand gave out free milk worth N400 to the first 2,000 consumers that buy at least N2,000 worth of Three Crowns milk products on Jumia, Konga, or Habari websites.

This is yet another exciting campaign from Three Crowns milk to make this year’s World Milk Day celebration memorable for all its consumers.

aid and they have fumigated the farming estate several times but this has not helped in tackling the virus spread,” he said.

He noted that without the complete evacuation of faeces and cleaning of the environment the disease will still remain on the farming estate as it can stay up 72 days

in the faeces of pigs.

Pig farming contributes largely to the country’s food production and security as well as income generation for thousands of farmers.

Pork is the choice meat for weddings, funerals, and other major social occasions, and pigs are essential to a respectable dowry especially in s ome re gions in the country.

However, the threat of farmers losing their pigs with no recompense is a big challenge to keepers as many of them struggle to survive with income earned from their investments.

“This is my only source of income and the loss I have incurred so far is alarming,” said another farmer in the estate who gave his name as Okechukwu.

He urged the government to support farmers in ensuring that their means of livelihood does not go down the drain.

Speaking to BusinessDay, Adekayode Sonibare, director, Veterinary Teaching

Hospital, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta says that the virus is not treatable and that there is no known vaccine for it yet.

Sonibare noted that it can only be controlled by stamping out, that is, fumigate the entire farm and shut it down for six months and then restock.

“We need to fumigate and shut down the farm for six months to control the virus and prevent frequent recurrence of the outbreak,” he said.

“If we fail to do so, the pigs that will survive will become the source of the next outbreak,” he added.

He says the government must also provide support for all the farmers in the estate during the six-month shutdown as the farm remains their only means livelihood which they depend for survival.

He called for the adoption of proper quarantine measures of new stock after the virus to prevent future frequent outbreaks.

COVID-19: OCP Africa’s Agribooster set to support 75,000 farmers in planting season Josephine Okojie

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CP Africa, a top global producer and exportation of phosphatebased fertilizers through its agribooster scheme is set to support 75,000 farmers as planting season commences.

The agribooster initiative which was launched in 2017, supports smallholder farmers to get access to quality farm inputs, financial services, markets, and training with extension services centered on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) while improving the yield and productivity of the farmer.

The scheme is now being boosted across key agric-belts in Nigeria as the 2020 farming season commences and is intended to help mitigate

the impact of COVID-19 on Nigeria’s food security.

“Following the decline in agricultural production in Nigeria, we are pleased to have programs like this which are fashioned towards helping smallholder farmers, and empowerment of young extension agents to fight insufficiency and insecurity of both food and cash crops,” said Akintunde Akinwande, business development manager, OCP Africa Nigeria.

Akinwande explained that through the initiative, the organisation has trained and equipped about 30 lastmile agents and provided them with motorcycles and tablets to work directly with farmers and ensure that quality practical GAP training is cascaded down through the Training of Trainers (ToT)

Farmers who are beneficiaries of the OCP Africa Agribooster Initiative

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approach.

The agents also perform entrepreneurial functions in retail sales of quality inputs to farmers within their environment.

Following the success of the initiative in the past three years, Akinwande stated that OCP Africa is planning to grow its involvement in 2020 to cover 75,000 smallholder farmers.

“And in light with the efforts by federal and state governments in Nigeria to battle the adverse effects of the COVID pandemic on food security, OCP Africa would also be implementing an agribooster-themed ‘Palliative Intervention to farmers’ across several states in Nigeria,” he said.

This intervention which would be launched soon would give farmers access subsidized bags of fertilizers provided by OCP Africa under the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative.

Under this new initiative

by OCP Africa, farmers will be able to access NPK 20:10:10 fertilizer at a subsidized retail price, while benefitting from GAP training, digital technology support and market linkages all provided as an incentive and a booster bundle under OCP Africa’s Covid-19 initiative.

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Nigeria’s global ranking in pension reflects need for further reforms Modestus Anaesoronye

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igeria’s pension ranks on the 64th place in the world, especially because of the insufficient adequacy of its pension system, an Allianz Global PensionReport reveals.

The Country’s coverage of the pension system is still very low and limited access to financial services hampers the build-up of sufficient private old-age savings to cushion the lack of the public pension pillar.

With respect to sustainability, Nigeria ranks also in the bottom third. The harmonization of the retirement ages of the various professions and adjusting the retirement age in line

with future gains in life expectancy would improve the long-term sustainability of the pension system further, the report further reveals.

Allianz weekend unveiled the first edition of its “Global PensionReport”, taking the pulse of pension systems around the world with its proprietary pension indicator, the Allianz

Pension Indicator (API). The indicator follows a simple logic: It starts the analysis with the demograph-ic and fiscal prerequisites and then continues to examine pension systems along their two decisive dimensions: sustainability and adequacy.

Hence, it is based on three pillars and takes all in all30 parameters into account,

which are rated on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being the best grade. By adding up all weighted subtotals, the API assigns each of the analyzed 70 countries a grade between 1 and 7, thus providing a comprehensive view of the respective pension system.

“Demographics and pensions have been eclipsed by other policies in recent years, first and foremost climate change and today the fight against Covid-19”, said Ludovic Subran, chief economist of Allianz. “But you ignore demographics at your own peril, demographic change will soon be back with a vengeance.

Defusing the looming pension crisis and preserving ge-nerational justness and equality arekey for building inclusive and resilient societies.”

PILA holds virtual oath ceremony, as Ojemudia becomes new President

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rofessional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA) has elected Joyce Ojemudia as its new President to drive the affairs of the professional insurance ladies body for the next two years.

Ojemudia who takes over from Ose Oluyanwo becomes the 13th President of PILA, which serves as an advocacy group to promote gender mainstreaming and equal opportunities in the Insurance sub-sector of the financial services industry. The Association is keenly concerned with promoting forthrightness in women in the insurance industry.

With almost two decades of versatile work experience

in the insurance industry, Joyce Ojemudia is expected to bring her wealth of knowledge and contact to position ladies in insurance business for prime position in the industry and financial services sector in Nigeria and globally.

In her acceptance speech during a virtual oath taking ceremony on Friday 29th of May, the new President of PILA, Joyce Ojemudia said she and her team will continue to build on the strength and accomplishments of her predecessors, whilst also giving vigorous attention to taking on new directions.

Some of the dignitaries that participated in the virtual meeting include Sunday Thomas, commissioner for

Insurance; Adejoke Orelope Adefulire, former deputy governor of Lagos State; Lola Akanade, commissioner for Commerce and Industry; Bolaji Dada, commissioner for Women Affairs; Muiz Banire; Hakeem Ogunniran; Abi-

Ojemudia

ombola Awogboro, honourable justice; Bola Onigbogi, president, NCRIB and Fola Daniel, form CFI; and other dignitaries.

The new president said said the focus of her tenure would be anchored on the theme: ‘Mission To Movement’, whilst promising to continually apprise members with details of the thrust of office as time progresses.

Ojemudia said one of her key priorities is the completion of PILA Secretariat.

“The completion of our Secretariat remains our first priority as this will open a new chapter in the history of our prestigious Association and give significant brand equity to the Association.

Funmi Omo, African Alliance CEO, launches scholarship initiative

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n a show of continued support to outstanding young women across the country, the Managing Director/CEO of foremost Life Insurer, African Alliance, Funmi Omo, has launched her passion project, The FunmiOmo Initiative (FOI).

The FOI seeks to support five young women with scholarships of up to N300,000 each for every academic year. These scholarships are available to Nigerian women who havegained admission or are in a public university in Nigeria. The scholarships would cover their schools fees for a ses-

sion, books as well as provide a personal allowance. “This initiative is close to my heart, I believe that giving young Nigerian women a chance for an excellent education will enrich their future and in turn, they can contribute

Funmi Omo www.businessday.ng

positively to our society” Omo said.

FunmiOmo is a renowned leadership authority and role model. Earlier this year, she hosted ten brilliant youthsat a mentoring session tagged ‘Brunch with FO’. The one-on-one networking and mentoring brunch was an avenue to share tips for personal and professional development.

This is in addition to countless personal mentoring sessions she has with scores of upcoming professionals from all walks of life.

“The launch of the FOI demonstrates Funmi’s commitment to bettering

the lives of young Nigerians especially women and helping them become exemplary citizens. These characteristics resonate with our core values as a company and we are proud to be associated with such a woman of compassion,”Bankole Banjo, Brand, Media and Communications Manager at African Alliance said in his own remarks.

To apply for the scholarship, qualified young women are to visit www. funmiomo.com to confirm eligibility and required documentations. The scholarship closes on the 22nd of June, 2020.

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AIICO Insurance records 23% increase in GWP to N17.6bn Modestus Anaesoronye

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IICO Insurance Plc has reported a Gross Written Premiums of N17.6 billion at the end of first quarter 2020, a 23 percent increase from N14.3 billion in the same period in 2019. This growth is driven by sustained positive performance across the major lines of business of the Group: Retail and Corporate &Institutional businesses.

The Group also recorded a 24 percent increase in profit before tax (PBT) of N1.44 billion, compared to N1.17 billion in Q1 2019, while profit after tax (PAT) also grew by129 percent to N1.88 billion, compared to N0.82 billion attained in Q1 2019.

Babatunde Fajemirokun, managing director/CEO of the company said “AIICO delivered excellent first quarter results, demonstrating the overall strength of our Company and ability to continue to meet our obligations to stakeholders even in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic. We are living in a period of uncharted waters and recognize the situation presents both challenges and opportunities. Our resilient business continuity plans and robust technology infrastructure ensured we remained operational throughout the lockdown period. We have rolled out additional digital channels for the convenience and safety of our customers, and our employees have embraced the Work-FromHome (WFH) concept – in-

deed this is the new normal”.

Speaking further, Fajemirokun said, “In light of these outcomes, we recorded strong growth in our Retail Life business, which grew by 34 percent to N10.97 billion as against N8.2 billion in first quarter 2019); and an increase of 6 percent in our Corporate and Institutional business to N6.2 billion (Q1 2019: N5.9bn).

Within the period under review, the Group’s balance sheet improved with total assets growing by 11 percent to N176 billion compared to N159 billion in Dec 2019.

Shareholders’ funds, also rose by 0.28 percent to N27.99 billion (Dec 2019: N27.91 billion). He added that “Insurance has a critical role to play in the economy and business environment in which we operate. With the advent of this pandemic, we are seeing increasing requests from corporates in Nigeria trying to understand how insurance can be deployed as a strategy for building resilience within their businesses.

On the retail side, we are seeing new trends emerge; one of which is the shift towards a low touch world, where close-contact interaction is discouraged. In response, we are positioning to take advantage of these trends and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to reshape and disrupt the way we operate, interact and our go-to-market strategy. I am however confident that we will get through this difficult times and emerge stronger.”

SUNU presents PPE to Lagos State Teaching Hospital

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edical officers of the Lagos State Teaching Hospital (LUTH) were excited with the receipt of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from Sunu Group to help protect front line health workers against Coronavirus.

Representing the Chief Medical Director of the teaching hospital, Chris Bode the Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, Clinical Services, LUTH, Ayodeji Oluwole while receiving the equipment said they came at a time when the hospital was almost running out of stock.

He said in the last few weeks, they have had about 100 of Covid-19 positive patients.

He said while many are still on admission, they have delivered two Covid-19 positive pregnant women, even as @Businessdayng

they are delivering more.

He said: “We are really running short of these supplies of PPE equipment and SUNU Group has just donated them to us at a very good time. I am sure the health workers will be praying for the company. The equipment is exactly what we need for the front line workers. It’s very important because we have a block with four floors and 120 beds. We have about 100 patients meaning you need about 100 workers. They all have to wear these and they go in to check on the patients like four to five times a day.

“Before you know it, all these will be consumed between two to three weeks. It’s something you use and incinerate. So it is a very timely donation and we are appreciative of it because this is what we really need now.

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FMF should match NADDC offer to assemblers - LCCI ...Industry worth $40bn that directly supports more than two million employees MIKE OCHONMA Transport Editor

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he Automotive & allied sub-sectoral group of Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) has commended the National Automotive Design & Development Council (NADDC) on the recent two percent interest reduction on loans from the NAC fund under the Bank of Industry (BoI) custody taken by some local assemblers in Nigeria as palliative to mitigate the impact of the ravaging coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, but insisted that, the interest support needs to be matched with the Federal Ministry of Finance in renewing the expiring and expired auto assembly licences.

While also throwing his weight behind NADDC’s extension of repayment period of the loans to auto assemblers by 90 days as part of the palliative, Bambo Adebowale, chairman of the Automotive & allied sub-sectoral group of LCCI told BusinessDay that, similar relief packages should be extended to other category players within the automotive assembly value chain as they are also impacted by the current sharp negative economic downturn.

The LCCI sectoral group chairman said auto assemblers should also benefit from the CBN announced financial interventions to manufacturing and other key sectors of the economy. ‘’We at the group however, continue to emphasize that it’s the whole auto industry that needs help to survive, not just auto assemblers. Employees and entrepreneurs including dealers, technicians, and spare parts dealers numbering over two million need support’’.

The negative impact of pandemic on the auto industry is obvious. Cancelled motor shows, empty showrooms, inactive repair shops and non-moving inventory are all indicators. The VW Group,

Lagos sector boss, FRSC spokesman promoted to ACMs in board promotion MIKE OCHONMA

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world’s largest auto manufacturer reported it was losing $2bn a week globally from the shutdowns and Hertz rentals, founded over a century ago and one of the largest single users of the automobiles has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

An unplanned silver lining might come in the desire to socially distance, triggering the demand for individuals to drive their own vehicles, as commuters avoid public transportation, but with salaries that might be constrained, new priorities in healthcare and limited access to finance, it will likely be Nigeria’s used vehicle segment will for now, be the bigger beneficiary.

The LCCI’s Automotive & allied sub-sectoral group chairman said in the in the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic, there will be excess auto inventories in Europe, Asia and America as auto manufacturers attempt to kick start their industries by offering sweeteners like the vehicle scrappage scheme proposed by Germany.

It means the part exchanged vehicles will likely find their way to the some of the largest used car market in the world including Nigeria where there is currently

no structured plan, no articulated regulation, no comprehensive strategy to control this amid little or no support to the local industry to challenge it.

Nigeria have a $40bn industry that directly supports more than two million employees, entrepreneurs and technicians and the NADDC needs to embrace the potential engaging the ministries, departments and agencies.

These will help in articulating lasting solutions, some well documented, that will develop the auto value chain by scaling up assembly, scaling down age old vehicles and simultaneously deploying sustainable stimulants for growing the local component industry in the first instance.

While encouraging assembly, support should be given to local industries to start producing generic components like fan belts, windscreens, discs, pads and other parts that is within the category.

Adebowale suggested that once the COVID19 fall-out is dealt with first, the registered and licensed autoprenuers should receive a package of economic support for their imported automotive

equipment, inventory of vehicles, components and spare parts at the ports.

NADDC should engage the shippers, clearing agents, NPA and concessionaires and the Nigeria Customs to defer, absorb or offset the various import levies and charges.

Other possible interventions can be in form of increasing “line free” and “port free” days for imports, reducing charges for demurrage, documentation and administration. The NADDC can seek easing for indirect import delivery and terminal handling charges, levies for the maritime organization of West Africa and sea protection by Nigerian Maritime & Safety Administration (NIMASA).

Once the industry gets going, NADDC will need to work with Nigeria Automobile Manufacturers Association (NAMA), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigeria Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NACCIMA), LCCI and other relevant stakeholders to agree realistic timescales for phasing out of generic auto spare parts and aggressively supporting their local manufacture.

oard of the Federal Road Safety Commission has approved the promotion of 10 corps commanders (CC) to the rank of assistant corps marshal(ACM) and 32 deputy corps commanders (DCC) to the rank of corps commander.

The approval was subsequent to the virtual meeting of the board on promotion of senior officers, where the promotion exercise was deliberated upon.

Deputy corps public education officer, Mccharm Sambo said the promotion takes effect from May 29, 2020.

Names of corps commanders promoted to the rank of assistant corps marshals are Bisi Kazeem presently, the Corps Public Education Officer at the headquarters Abuja, Hyginus Omeje, Lagos sector commander, Clement Oladele, Ogun sector commander, Francis Udoma , Imo sector commander, Shehu Iliyasu, corps procurement officer at the headquarters, Benjamin D Anafa, corps commander in charge of monitoring and evaluation unit, operations department at the headquarters and four others.

Newly promoted corps commanders are Segun Ogungbemide, sector head of operations, Ondo state sector Command , Godwin Ntukidem, principal staff officer II to the corps marshal, Kukbol Gonji, the deputy corps Legal Adviser, LD Shehu, CM Onukwubiri, DCC IG Ibrahim, and 26 others.

Mallam Bukhari Bello expressed his satisfaction with the high level of transparency and objectivity that heralded the whole process and urged the promoted officers to show more commitment and rededicate themselves to achieving the corporate mission of the Corps which is to eradicate road traffic crashes and create a safer motoring environment in the country.

The promotion exercise Bello said is part of the commission’s drive towards rewarding excellence, and hard work in line with the administrative philosophy of the present leadership of the Corps.

Commuters doubt Lagos blue rail-line readiness 2022 MIKE OCHONMA

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ommuters along the LagosBadagry expressway corridor have expressed doubt over the completion of the 27 kilometer CMS to Okokomaiko blue rail line project abandoned since the administration of former governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos.

During a ministerial briefing to commomerate governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s one year in office last week, state commissioner for Transportation, Frederic Oladeinde said the blue and red lines rail projects remain the flagship transport developments of the current administration.

A cross section of commuters who spoke to our reporter expressed doubt on how the completion of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line project from Marina to Okokomaiko

will be achieved given the level of infrastructural decay that has bedevilled the humongous project.

As at the time of filing this report, a visit to some of the completed, but abandoned buildings designed for use as terminal train stations and disjointed and falle-apart remains of rail tracks all www.businessday.ng

the way from the Orile Iganmu towards Mile 2 is a sad reminder of the level of neglect by the state government.

In December 2003, due to the enormous deficit in mass transit infrastructure, the then Governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, announced the plan to revive the Metroline project. The project was renamed the “Lagos Light Rail” Project, also known as the “Eko Rail”.

The first phase of the Metroline Project was expected to be completed in three years. The project commenced, though at a relatively slow pace.

A year before the completion date, the Metroline Project was terminated

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by the Buhari-led Federal Government.

The reason given for the cancellation of the project was the unavailability of funds.

The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) founded a year earlier, was saddled with the responsibility of managing the “Lagos Light Rail” Project.

The effort to develop the “Lagos Light Rail” Project involved an initial phase of building 2 lines made up of the Red and Blue lines, with the intention of extending it to 7 lines.

There was a five-year delay before the project kicked off. The contract for the project was awarded to the Chinese firm, Civil Engineering Construction Company (CECC) and was valued at$1.2billion. The completion date was set for 2011.

After the project commenced, the Lagos State government began seek@Businessdayng

ing for investors that would operate and maintain these lines after the construction.

The plan was to award a concession contract to the potential investors of which would last for 25-30 years. The concessionaire would also be involved in the design and construction of the infrastructure relating to the operation and maintenance of the lines.

The Blue line of the “Lagos Light Rail” Project was expected to begin at Marina on Lagos Island and extend to Okokomaiko. This particular line was expected to be entirely funded by the Lagos State Government.

The total length of the Blue line (Okokomaiko to Marina) is 27km and comprises of 13 stations namely Marina, Ebute Ero, Iddo, Iganmu, Alaba, Mile 2, Festac, Alakija, Trade Fair station, Volkswagen station, LASU and the Okokomaiko station.

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BUSINESS DAY

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NLC disagrees with governors, backs FG’s financial autonomy for state legislature, judiciary Joshua Bassey

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igeria Labour Congress (NLC) has disagreed with governors of the 36 states, who are pushing to challenge the financial autonomy granted state legislature and judiciary by Executive Order 10 recently signed into effect by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The NLC is asking the governors to back-track their step and accept the process in the interest of democracy and good governance.

“In the interest of good governance, strengthening of the principle of separation of powers, national stability, and overall development of Nigeria, we urge political leaders at every level to respect the wishes of the Nigerian people and allow the full exercise of financial autonomy for the judiciary and legislature in the states.

“Democracy must remain the government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” Ayuba Wabba, president, NLC, said in a statement seen by BusinessDay on Monday.

According to the labour organisation, strong legislative and judiciary institutions of government are pillars of democracy and good governance. A resilient judiciary and a conscientious legislature, the NLC argued, are sine qua non to the deepening of the democratic process, promotion of public accountability and

ensuring popular participation.

Wabba decried what he described as long “history of arm-twisting and abuse of the judiciary and legislative arms of government at the sub-national level in Nigeria,” which has got worse in recent years.

According to the labour leader, the distortion of due process, checks and balances, and public accountability which are the core ingredients in the principle of separation of powers, got to a head when legislators in some state houses of assembly, sadly, rejected constitutional proposals to grant them financial autonomy during the constitutional review process led by the 7th National Assembly.

He said that until the Executive Order 10, there were little signs to show seriousness on the part of state governors to comply with the clear demands of Section 121 (3) of our constitution, which is a direct violation of the oath sworn by the governors to uphold the Nigerian constitution at all times.

He argued that if our political leaders were alive to the spirit of the constitution they swore to uphold, there would not have been any need for the Presidential Implementation Committee set up on March 22, 2019, adding: This was almost one year after Section 121(3) had been assented into law and at least the exercise of one budget cycle.

Why we cannot intervene on Crazy Bill issue - NERC Olusola Bello

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lectricity consumers who are victims of Crazy Bill may not get reprieve soon as the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has given reasons why it has not given quick intervention to the issue, which has almost ran many companies, especially small and medium scale businesses aground.

The regulatory commission told BusinessDay that it had a procedure to attend to such issue and that such a procedure must be followed before it could intervene.

According to Michael Faloseyi, assistant general manager, government external and industry relations, “The Commission will never shirk in its responsibilities in enforcing its Orders and Regulations, and evidences abound on that. This is a regulated environment and due process must be followed.”

The Commission encourages electricity customers to first take

up any disagreement on billing or any other issue with their Disco with the aim of reaching an amicable resolution and then our Forum Office, Faloseyi said.

It is after this that complaints can come before the Commission.

The Commission will not hesitate to ensure strict compliance with its directives but the due process has to be followed, he said.

This process, some customers have said, is too cumbersome and time wasting for any serious minded businessman.

Philips Ekele, who operates a poultry farm, said you can imagine how long it would take for a case with the Disco to be resolved if one had to go through this process. So, it is better we depend on our generator to supply the needed power instead of us not being supplied power and yet we are made to pay for what we did not consume.

In a situation where many consumers do not have prepaid meters, Discos continue to base their bills on estimation or guesswork at the detriment of the masses.

In addition to crazy bill, inadequate and unstable electricity supply remains one of the greatest nightmares of consumers.

An official with Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, Angela Olorawaju, said, “At IBEDC we are committed to providing our customers the best service experience. As such we have fully complied with the NERC directive on capping estimated billing for unmetered customers, which was introduced to address the ‘Crazy bills’ challenge.

“However, we urge any customer going forward that receives any estimated bill in excess of the recommended Capping to kindly contact us with evidence of such through our various channels.

“Finally, we appeal to customers to embrace the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) initiative to get metered. This initiative was introduced by NERC to close the metering gap in the power sector and ultimately put an end to estimated billing.”

At Eko Distribution Company,

Seyi Makinde (l), governor, Oyo State, presenting a cheque to Adeleke Solomon Oyeleke (retired), during the symbolic presentation of cheques to 2013 retired workers in the state, while Commissioner for Establishment and Training, Dahud Shangodoyin look-on at Government House, Ibadan.

Ugwuanyi maintains high throttle on infrastructure development in Enugu amid COVID-19 Regis Anukwuoji, Enugu

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espite fight against coronavirus ravaging the whole world and forcing most state governors to drop development projects, Enugu State government remains upbeat with new projects development.

The most recent of these developments is the 13-kilometre Nike Lake Junction linking Harmony Estate to Amorji Nike and Adoration Centre, through Orie Emene Road. This project, which was started and completed by this administration, speaks volume of the development strides of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi administration in the state.

The new road, which passes through the thick forest of Umuchigbo community in Enugu East Local Government Area of the state, would not only help to reduce the traffic congestion experienced in Abakpa Nike, but also increase the economic development of the area.

The new road has lined drains and five river crossing, plus culverts and bridges, linking the busy and thickly populated Abakpa Nike with Emene satellite town.

“This project was conceived by my administration as the first bypass to ease traffic flow in Enugu East Senatorial Zone including the inter-state vehicular movements on the recommendation of the Enugu State Urban Renewal Committee,” Governor Ugwuanyi explained at the inauguration of the project.

The governor said the bypass opens up development at the Harmony Estate and also provides access to the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, currently undergoing massive rehabilitation.

He said the completion of the entire road project was consistent with his administration’s procurement policy of ‘start-to-finish,’ noting, “the stretch from Airport Roundabout to Eke Obinagu in Emene was also duly completed and inaugurated by my administration, elevating the status of Emene and its environs, hitherto a semi-urban city, to now an urban city within Enugu Capital Territory.”

The governor pointed out that the project will help to grow the local economy and open a new economic corridor through stimulation of commerce and creation of job opportunities for the teeming youths.

The event was witnessed by the speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Edward Ubosi, the Chief Justice of the state, Ngozi Emehelu, the member representing Enugu East/Isi-Uzo Federal Constituency, Cornelius Nnaji, the PDP state chairman, Augustine Nnamani, and the Enugu East Council Chairman, Alex Ugwu, among others.

Ejike Mbaka, the spiritual director of Adoration Ministry, commended the governor and prayed that God should continue to increase his wisdom to enable him work for the people of the state.

He said the road passed through a thick forest, and it was only a governor with political will to work for his people that would do what Governor Ugwuanyi did.

The governor has also, within the last few months, transformed the university town of Nsukka into an urban city with all major roads leading into and out of the town dualised with street lights lining all roads and street in the town. www.businessday.ng

the company insists that to the best of its ability, there is neither tariff increase nor crazy bill at this point in time, noting, “Definitely, when the time comes in the near future, going by the guidelines of the regulatory body (NERC), there might be tariff increase. Again, we cannot implement it without the approval of NERC.” Godwin Idemudia, general manager of the company, said the slight increase in customer’s bill recently within EKEDC was as a result of the following: Due to the lockdown, a lot of families are staying at home thereby resulting to increase in power consumption. a. Electrical appliances are put in full use. For example, air conditioners, pumping machine, televisions, fridges, fans, internet etc. All these comfort cannot be achieved without power. b. Unlike before the lockdown, some families go to work while few people are at home if any. Within the period, you can agree with me that the consumption was low hence the bill was low too.

N3bn loss per month: Port Harcourt Disco launches war against energy theft Ignatius Chukwu

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ort Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) is set to take the war to those who steal energy to the tune of between N2.5 billion and N3 billion every month, a cost said to lead to operational losses.

The new managing director, Henry Ajagbawa, told newsmen on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, that all distribution companies face the crisis of energy theft but said the case in the Niger Delta was differently high.

The company has perfected plans to take the fight to the thieves by launching arrests, investigations, prosecutions, and other drastic measures, Ajagbawa said, though the company was not planning to break laws.

He mentioned the various methods of theft as meter bypass, tampering and van-

dalism, saying it was shocking that somebody would bypass a meter and when caught and arrested, would find his way back and start again.

He gave the example of Woji with 95 percent metering yet almost every one there was by-passing or tampering with the meters. Whereas it takes huge sums to do metering, the areas metered keep returning huge losses to the company, he said. “We collect N50 for every N1 power we send to Woji,” he said.

This is as he said the PHED has a duty to pay the suppliers of power on the value chain.

He said he acquires about N4.5Bn power but collects less than N2.5Bn back, always posting huge losses. This he said affects investments.

The matter is said to be so serious that the topmost executives of the company were not yet paid April 2020 salaries to enable the company pay all others and sup-

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port the power project in Rumuolumini.

The task forces would swoop on all areas to fish out the criminals tampering with meters and stealing electricity, he emphasised. He also talked about aggressive metering scheme that would be step by step.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly known and addressed as Akinola Doris Adejumoke now wish to be known and addressed as Ogundele Doris Adejumoke. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly known and addressed as Mbah Fortunatus Udochukwu now wish to be known and addressed as Fortunatus Udochukwu Emmanuel. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note. @Businessdayng

He raised hopes, saying the company was bent on boosting supply in the mandate areas of Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Cross River.

He mentioned a 60mw project at Rumuolumini to Rumuosi sub station that would boot power by at least 48 mw to Port Harcourt.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluwadamilola Chisomebi Fasawe now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Oluwadamilola Chisomebi Aderinto. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Okafor Uchenna Roseline now wish Mrs. Akpassa Uchenna Roseline. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

Wednesday 03 June 2020

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news

FG gives detailed guidelines for reopening of churches, mosques ... says 812 health workers infected with COVID-19 Tony Ailemen, Innocent Odoh, Harrison Edeh, Cynthia Egboboh & Godsgift Onyedinefu, Abuja

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he Federal Government on Tuesday revealed that 812 frontline health workers in Nigeria have been infected with the ravaging coronavirus.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), who said this at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, added that the country recorded third highest number of confirmed cases in Africa.

Ihekweazu said 29 of the healthcare workers are staff of the NCDC and currently receiving treatment.

“These are not just numbers, they are people and they matter,” he said.

The DG described the rise in Nigeria’s cases to over 10,000 as a significant event, adding that it’s spot on countries with highest cases in Africa is an added responsibility for government to strengthen its response.

Ihekweazu said 75 per-

cent of the over 10,000 cases recorded so far do not know the source of their illness. This, according to him, is because community transmission is ongoing and therefore difficult to link one’s exposure to one particular person or one event.

“This is normal of a respiratory virus of which 80 percent of people are asymptomatic,” he said.

Ihekweazu added that 2 percent of the cases have a travel history, while 23 percent are contacts of existing patients.

The DG further said 60

percent of cases are in 20 LGAs across the country of which most are in Lagos. He said a lot of effort will be focused the LGAs to prevent spread to others.

Ihekweazu said the NCDC has increased its testing capacity, informing that it has tested over 65,000 samples and increased laboratory network to 30 following the activation of laboratories in Bauchi and Abuja.

The DG also said 37 rapid response teams have been deployed with over 450 people

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National grid collapses again, plunges Nigeria into darkness ISAAC ANYAOGU

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igeria’s electricity grid system suffered another collapse around 11am on Tuesday, plunging the country into darkness. And though parts of the grid were restored in the evening, large swaths of electricity users remained in darkness for most of Tuesday.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) which manages the grid did not respond to request to provide clarifications but some power distribution companies (DisCos) confirmed that they did not receive generation between 11am and 2pm.

Eko Electricity sent messages to its customers saying that a feeder system had been damaged and was responsible for the blackout after parts

of the grid system had been restored.

According to data from the Nigerian Electricity System Operator, an arm of the TCN, at around 6am 2,774MW of electricity was generated and distributed before the grid collapse.

Nigeria’s unstable power grid collapses when there is too little or too much generation and sometimes, inclement weather or disruption to its stations has led to collapse in the past.

Power generation companies (GenCos) could produce over 12,000MW but the most they can generate is around 5,000MW due to difficulties getting gas supply.

The TCN says its transmission lines are capable of wheeling 8,000MW but the most it does, in reality, is less than 5,000MW and frequently unstable.

Lagos delivers 1,576 homes in 12 months, seeks partnership with private investors … says additional 2,284 homes to be delivered before Q1 2021 CHUKA UROKO

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L-R: Emmanuel Ijewere, past president, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN); Dame Onome Joy Adewuyi, president, ICAN, and Mrs Comfort Eyitayo, 1st deputy vice president, during the investiture of Adewuyi as the 56th president of the institute in Lagos, yesterday.

Pic by Olawale Amoo

Stimulate economy, support MSMEs to avert adverse impact of COVID-19 – Analysts … as World Bank proffers steps for speedy recovery Hope Moses-Ashike

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he World Bank on Tuesday proffered steps developing countries and the international community can take to speed up recovery after COVID-19 and blunt long-term adverse effects of the pandemic, including securing core public services, getting money directly to people and maintaining the private sector. These, the bank said, would limit the harm and help prepare for recovery.

In a report titled ‘Countries Can Take Steps Now to Rebuild from COVID-19’, the World Bank said short-term response measures to address the health emergency and secure core public services would need to be accompanied by comprehensive policies to boost long-term growth, including by improving governance and business environments, and expanding and improving the results of investment in education and public health.

To make future economies more resilient, the World Bank said many countries would need systems that can build and retain more human and physical capital during the recovery – using policies that reflect and encourage the post-pandemic need for new types of jobs, businesses and governance systems.

The global bank estimated 60 million people across the globe could be pushed into extreme poverty this year, and the number could rise further.

Analysts say the World Bank’s projection is not surprising, adding, however, that Nigeria can avert the impending doom if it responds appropriately.

Taiwo Oyedele, head of tax at PwC, said the World Bank’s projection of 60 million people being pushed into extreme poverty as a result of COVID-19 is not surprising given the attendant economic crisis.

He said besides the number of people already living in www.businessday.ng

poverty, tens of millions more live on the edge of the poverty line and would easily be thrown into poverty with the slightest economic dislocation.

To prevent this, Oyedele said there needs to be a concerted effort to stimulate the economy to protect livelihoods, particularly for Micro Small and Medium (MSMEs) who support the vast majority of households.

Ayodele Akinwunmi, relationship manager, investment banking at FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, said government can implement appropriate policies that encourage private investmenttoavertthesituation.

According to analytical chapters released Tuesday from the World Bank Group’s Global Economic Prospects report, the coronavirus pandemic and the economic shutdowns are dealing a severe blow to the global economy and especially poorer countries. The analysis has been released ahead of the

June 8 issuance of the full report, which will include the Bank Group’s latest forecasts for the global economy.

Uche Uwaleke, professor of finance and capital markets and chair, Banking and Finance Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, said it should be expected that if the economy contracts by as much as 3.4 percent this year according to IMF projection, then a lot more Nigerians would be thrown into extreme poverty.

In order to avert this catastrophe, he said the government should ensure that the stimulus packages are well targeted, especially to support micro and small businesses.

“The gradual reopening of the economy will go a long way to stimulate economic activities in view of the huge population in the informal sector. This should include relaxation of interstate travel since domestic flights are now scheduled to commence in a few weeks’ time,” Uwaleke said.

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orking with the understanding that housing is the bedrock of economic development and social stability, the Lagos State government, in the past 12 months, completed and delivered 1,576 new homes in its various housing schemes across the state.

The completion of these housing schemes is one of the strong footprints of the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu who marked his first one year in office a couple of days ago.

A sprawling commercial city with an estimated 20 million population, the most outstanding environmental challenge Lagos has is its housing deficit which is both qualitative and quantitative.

The completion of these housing units means 1,576 families or households who are among an estimated 3 million home seekers currently in the state’s housing market will be taken out of the market in the days and months to come as they buy and take possession of these new homes.

Analysts note that, at an average of six persons per family, about 10,000 persons will be getting roofs over their heads, arguing that if this tempo is sustained in the next three years of Sanwo-Olu’s tenure, about 30,000 persons will have homes to live in.

Through with the supply side, the state is also dealing with the demand side. According to officials of the state government, plans are on top gear to ensure that buyers get @Businessdayng

access to affordable mortgage to enable them to buy the houses without much stress.

“Provisionofdecenthousing for Lagosians is an integral part of the transformation agenda of the present administration.

Housing being a critical need of humans forms the bedrock of other developmental efforts, hence the great attention given to it by the present administration, “explained Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, the state’s Commissioner for Housing.

The commissioner who spoke at a ministerial briefing on the activities of the state government in the housing sector which was held Tuesday to mark the first year in office of the state government, disclosed that the state government completed six housing schemes within this period.

These schemes, according to him, are located at Igando in Alimosho Local Government Area; Igbogbo in Igbogbo Baiyeku Local Council Development Authority, Igbokushu, Lekki Phase 1, Idale in Badagry, Iponri in Surulere Local Government and Lekki Phase 2 also in Eti Osa Local Government Area.

To deliver these schemes, the state government deployed two main strategies which the commissioner listed as Direct Budgetary allocation as well as Public Private Partnerships (PPP) initiatives.

“492 of the homes located at Lateef Kayode Jakande Gardens Housing in Igando and 360 at LagosHoms Igbogbo 2b were actualised through Direct Budgetary allocations while the rest were made possible through Joint Ventures with private investors,” he said.

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news Nigerians still groan under ‘crazy’...

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tion of unmetered custom-

ers by DisCos, capping the maximum bill an average unmetered customer can pay to N1,875.

However, electricity users returned to their offices last month – after being shut for over a month due to government-imposed lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus – to meet huge bills despite very limited power consumption.

“The estimated billing nonsense really has to stop,” Omobola Johnson, a former minister of communications, said on Twitter. She had been billed N29,000 by Eko Electric for the month of April, even when not turning on a light bulb during the period.

Eko Electric attributed the higher energy charge to increased energy use as families are cooped at home to help flatten the coronavirus curve, but this does not explain how offices that were closed for months still ended up with outrageous bills.

In April, some DisCos wrote to NBET, which manages the money pool in the electricity supply industry, warning that the COVID-19 was having a ravaging impact on their business operations and constrained their ability to pay for the electricity contracted to them to sell and recover cost.

Apart from lower revenue, many businesses were not open on account of the lockdown, leading to lower energy demand especially for industrial customers who pay the bulk of energy charges. Yet, the DisCos continued to take the same volumes of energy supplied prior to the lockdown which they would be required to pay for.

Last month, Funke Osibodu, CEO of Benin Electricity Distribution Company, said on account of COVID-19, DisCos have seen supply disruption, rising cost due to exchange rate volatility, and loss of half of their revenue.

“Our costs have gone up but revenue has gone down, as our industrial and commercial customers have been hard hit leading to fall in demand,” Osibodu said.

Some analysts called for some concessions for DisCos. Chuks Nwani, an energy lawyer, said the regulator, NBET and the market operator should factor losses arising from COVID-19 when they are making a request for debt settlement from DisCos. But the regulators have not heeded this call. Rather, some in government began talking about providing free

electricity for two months as part of palliatives. The only remedy NERC provided was postponing the commencement date of paying increased tariffs to July.

Yet, the DisCos were being compelled to settle the full cost of the power sent to them. Last month, Abdullahi Abdullazeez, spokesman for Kaduna DisCo, told BusinessDay that the Market Operator was threatening to call the company’s Letter of Credit on account of its inability to fully settle its market invoice.

The DisCos are now passing the cost to the consumers who are unmetered, considering that metered customers only pay for what they use.

NERC’s order capping estimated bills was with the objective of compelling DisCos to meter their customers. According data from the commission, 52 percent of over 10 million electricity customers do not have meters.

The 2007 Meter Reading, Cash Collections and Credit Management regulation, enacted by NERC, empowered DisCos to bill customers by estimation when they are unable to gain access to the customers’ premises.

This has, however, become so perversely abused that it is now the single most painful source of frustration for customers, accounting for 65 percent of all complaints lodged at DisCos’ offices across Nigeria, according to NERC’s data.

NERC’s most recent attempt to compel DisCos to meter customers through a Meter Asset Provider regulation, wherein third-party investors buy the meters and resell to customers through DisCos for profit, is unravelling.

NERC said “several constraints, including changes in fiscal policy and the limited availability of long-term funding, have led to limited success in the meter rollout”.

Shortly after the policy took off, the Ministry of Finance imposed a 35 percent tariff increase on meters imported into the country and the Customs Service began enforcing it, heralding the beginning of the end of the programme as investors, already cash-strapped, abandoned thousands of meters at the port, rather than watch what little margins they hope to make eaten up by import duties.

Nigeria does not produce electricity meters, local plants merely assemble parts. The naira devaluation and dollar shortage have severely impacted their businesses, putting paid to the hope of millions of electricity customers being metered. www.businessday.ng

L-R: Oluwasina Thorpe, permanent secretary (PS), Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy; Babatunde OlaideMesewaku, PS, Tourism, Arts and Culture; Solomon Bonu, special adviser to the governor on tourism, arts and culture; Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, commissioner for tourism, arts and culture, and Segun Dawodu, commissioner for youth and social development, during the 2020 Lagos State Government’s Ministerial Press Briefing in commemoration of the first year in office of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in Lagos, yesterday. NAN

AfDB: Adesina gets Nigeria’s support...

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in AfDB to ensure that Adesina was elected for a second term built on the record of his achievements during his first term.

Buhari’s expression of Nigeria’s support for Adesina is coming less than a week after former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed also threw the weight of their support behind Adesina.

Adesina, 60, a former minister of agriculture and rural development in Nigeria, was first elected as AfDB president on May 28, 2015.

His re-election bid has been widely supported, including by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), whose Authority of Heads of States and Governments gave its nod after its 56th ordinary session in Abuja last December.

The African Union had also endorsed the Adesina as sole candidate for the seat.

His milestones in the last five years have been amply celebrated, including by Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo. In a letter to 14 former presidents of African countries, dated May 26, Obasanjo had extolled Adesina’s work at the AfDB, saying he has “performed very well in this position over the past five years” and “taken the bank to great heights”.

If the AfDB had gone on with the election of its president on May 28 as originally scheduled, Adesina would no doubt have been reelected, being the sole candidate for the position.

But his bid is now being challenged by whistle-blowing allegations of inappropriate conducts allegations of inappropriate conducts.

The bank’s Ethics Committee, after looking into the matter, cleared Adesina of all the allegations brought against him, but following US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s open rejection of

FG gives detailed guidelines for...

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supporting the response.

He added that over 40,000 pieces of complete Personnel Protective Equipment (PPEs) have been distributed and a new consignment will be distributed this weekend to every state and Federal Medical Centres (FMC) in the country.

Sani Aliyu, national coordinator of the Presidential Task Force, while giving detailed insight on the opening of worship centres, advised that despite reopening, it was still better to worship at home.

“There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic is still around and it is safer for you to stay at home. There is no doubt that it is safer for you to worship at home,” he said.

“PTF is providing the safety advisory in the event that you have to go for worship outside of your home for safety.”

The guidelines are the baselines for the states to work on and states are free to strengthen the guidelines and strengthen the baselines so that citizens are protected in their respective places of worship, Aliyu said.

The PTF said the places of worship are particularly recognised to have a major potential for exploding COVID-19 infection among worshippers.

“This has been clearly demonstrated in several COVID pandemic outbreaks globally with regard to religious gatherings,” he said.

PTF warned that places of worships that are unable to comply with these guidelines should not be allowed to operate by state governments.

“All places of worships must sign up to full compliance to all aspects of nonpharmaceuticals interven-

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the decision, AfDB may order a new and independent probe of Adesina, although the bank’s Board of Governors has said in a statement that it did not request for a fresh investigation and that it has not also ordered the president’s resignation.

Giving a background to what was happening in the bank, Adesina said the 16 allegations raised against him were trumped-up “and without facts, evidence, and documents, as required by the rules and regulations of the bank”.

He said the Ethics Committee of the bank cleared him of all the allegations, and that calls for fresh investigation by the United States of America were against the rules.

“My defence ran into 250 pages, and not a single line was faulted or questioned.

The law says that report of the Ethics Committee should be transmitted to the Chairman of Governors of the bank. It was done, and the governors upheld the recommendations. That was the end of the matter, according to the rules.

It was only if I was culpable that a fresh investigation could be launched. I was exonerated, and any other investigation would amount to bending the rules of the bank, to arrive at a predetermined conclusion,” Adesina said.

Stressing that the motive was to soil his name, and that of the bank, the AfDB president said he was proud to be Nigerian, and thanked President Buhari for his unflinching support.

Analysts have also said the open rejection of the report of the AfDB’s Ethics Committee and the call for a fresh “independent” probe risk eroding the independence of the bank’s corporate governance structure and raise doubt about the bank’s internal integrity mechanisms.

“You helped me to get elected in the first place, and you have supported me robustly all along, and the African Union unanimously endorsed my re-election,” Adesina told Buhari on Tuesday.

The AfDB election is now scheduled for August 25-27.

tion required to protect the public from COVID-19,” Aliyu said. “They are to ensure the supply of running water and soap and alcohol sanitisers at the entry and exit points of the church and in all high contact locations including bathrooms.”

He said worshippers are to sanitise their hands before entry and also have temperature checks before entry. Supervision and enforcement of this would be led by the church leaderships of various church facilities, he said.

“Use of face masks is mandatory. We strongly discourage all close contacts including shaking of hands, sharing of prayer mats, microphones, among others. The capacity of the church facilities should be limited to allow for physical distancing of at least two metres between persons. People from the same households should be encouraged to stay together,” he said.

“Local authorities should also be advised on areas of hotspots that requires greater restrictions. Volunteers should be limited to the exact number needed and none of the volunteers should have an underlining medical conditions or be above the age of 55,” he further said.

Aliyu said the leadership of the places of worship were entrusted with responsibility for the enforcement and supported by local authorities in the states.

“We strongly recommend limiting congregations contact times in the places of worships and mosques. Churches are allowed to conduct services for a maximum of an hour in between services to allow time for disinfection,” he said.

Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, decried the varying levels of readiness in states, adding that there was need for state governments to re-strategise to keep the people safe.

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BUSINESS DAY Wednesday 03 June 2020 www.businessday.ng

CEO in focus

Faith Adesemowo: Building social network for trust, credit and access to financial services

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ENDURANCE OKAFOR

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ith almost a decade of professional experience in finance and financial technology Faith Adesemowo, the CEO and co-founder of Social Lender, a Fintech solution that helps financial institutions to offer financial services based on social reputation to individuals who are unbanked, underbanked or have little or no access to formal credit is one of the industry leaders that is driving financial inclusion expansion in not only Nigeria and South Africa.

As an emerging markets leader with a focus on innovation, Adesemowo has in the last four years of chairing Social Lender developed solutions that have helped to bridge the gap of immediate fund access for many Africans with limited access to formal credit.

From starting her professional career as an analyst at BGL PLc, one of Africa’s foremost investment banking companies some 12 years ago, Adesemowo worked her way to lead a department as the Group head, professional service at Bincom ICT solution, a Nigerian ICT Solutions firm before becoming the CEO of Social Lender in 2015.

With over 50 percent of African adults lacking access to formal financial services, Social Lender is striving to bridge the gap by helping financial institutions to offer financial services based on social reputation to individuals who are either underbanked or are financially excluded.

The technology-driven company is designed to bridge the gap of immediate fund access for people with limited access to formal financial services using its own proprietary algorithm which performs a social audit on users through social media, online, communities and other related platforms upon which it is able to give a Social Reputation Score to each user.

Financial Services are guaranteed by the user’s social profile and network allowing users to then borrow from banks and other financial institutions based on their social reputation.

Beyond financial measures, Social Lender’s traction can be quantified by the number of people impacted by the inclusive nature of its innovation.

For example in Nigeria, Social Lender has built a network of Ambassadors and Local Guides

Social Lender solution is now available to a vast majority of End-users who lack access to the internet and do not have a smartphone Adesemowo

who provide offline guidance to the financially excluded, deliver financial literacy and education.

Social Lender solution is now available to a vast majority of End-users who lack access to the internet and do not have a smartphone. They access the technology using SMS & USSD channels on their feature phones with the guidance of Social LenderAmbassadors. The outcome of which is improved lives for individuals in the local communities using Social Lender’s technology.

In a country like Nigeria where more than 40 million adult population are without bank accounts with lack of identity posing as one of the barriers to financial inclusion, a solution like Social Lender that is driven by technology and mobile phone can not only give access to financially excluded but can also enable access to bank credit.

The provision of identification and other relevant documents

are the bedrock for onboarding a customer in Nigerian banks. The lack of such requirements means that the unbanked population would not be able to access credit as banks leverage on financial transactions to determine a customers’ creditworthiness.

As part of the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) procedures as implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Deposit Money Banks (DMB) in Nigeria are required by the regulator to obtain identification documents before opening an account for their customers.

Meanwhile, on January 2012, the central bank of Nigeria through its collaboration with industry stakeholders launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) in which it projected that it will ensure 80 percent of Nigerian adult population are included into the financial cycle by the year 2020.

Latest figures by EFInA put

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As an emerging markets leader with a focus on innovation, Adesemowo has in the last four years of chairing Social Lender developed solutions that have helped to bridge the gap of immediate fund access for many Africans with limited access to formal credit

Nigeria’s financial inclusion rate at 63.2percent, meaning that as much 36.8 percent adults still lack access. Meaning if the apex bank is going to achieve its 20 percent exclusion rate by yearend, it would have to bridge the current 16.8 percentage point exclusion gap.

While Nigeria depends largely on its Bank-led financial inclusion model, its African peers who have leverage technology and Telco has reported high inclusion rate than Africa’s most populous nation.

According to a report by the World Bank, mobile money drove financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa. Between 2014 and 2017, the Washingtonbased lender noted that there has been a significant increase in the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions which contributed to a rise in the share of account owners sending or receiving payments digitally from 67 percent to 76 percent globally while developing countries recorded 57 percent to 70 percent.

While Kenya and Ghana have 60 percent and 40 percent mobile money service penetration rates Nigeria with an adult population that is higher than both Ghana and Kenya put together has1 percent.

However, industry experts have said that the telecommunication penetration rate in Nigeria at 86 percent with 182.7 million customers, the single largest customer base in the country holds growth potential for financial inclusion growth.

Under the leadership of Adesemowo, Social Lender has made it services accessible on multiple channels which include SMS, USSD and Web. Recently,

Social Lender launched a USSD only channel in Nigeria targeting low-income communities. Also, customers of Social Lender both in Nigeria and South Africa can withdraw requested cash loans via existing banking channels including bank accounts and mobile money.

The Company has signed partnerships with 6 Financial Institutions in 2 Countries of Operations including Sterling Bank (Nigeria), Unity Bank (Nigeria) FCMB MFB (Nigeria) Absa Barclays Bank (South Africa), and iTrust (Nigeria) with a pipeline of 4 partners in 2 countries.

Meanwhile, the technology company is seeking to raise $1 million in equity, convertible note or impact investment to expand staffing, implement and integrate more technology interfaces, expand Social Lender’s social impact, brand and marketing reach, and to expand into new markets and countries of operation.

The company has the aim to provide end to end Lending solution for the underserved (using Social Reputation), it also plans to launch new value-based propositions through Strategic Partnership in various areas including Alternative Credit Scoring, API Integrations and so on.

According to Social Lender, its priority is to enable access to financial services for the target audience in Low Income / Developing Economies while driving financial inclusion and impacting the lives of its targeted demography (Unbanked & Underbanked).

It also wants to make Social Reputation Score as an alternative credit score to enable leasing of Agricultural Equipment for Small Holder Farmers and access to finance for agriculture Inputs while exploring New Use Cases and Industry Verticals for the Social Reputation Score e.g: Insurance Score solution, KYC (Know your Customer) Solutions, Pension / Micro-Savings Solution, etc.

Whilst promoting diversity and encouraging more women in leadership, Adesemowo mentors individuals and is an advisor to several organisations. Faith has also founded two thriving startups specializing in delivering clean, eco-friendly and sustainable beauty products for women of colour.

Adesemowo is also an avid speaker and has gone on to win multiple awards for Social Lender. She’s passionate about Technology for Good as well as delivering Social Impact.

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