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news you can trust I ** tuesDAY 05 may 2020 I vol. 19, no 556
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S
outh Africa’s sudden resolve to sell its cashburning state-owned firms provides key learning for Nigeria as it desperately seeks to ease pressure on government finances in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fiscal crisis it is inflicting.
South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni sees gross domestic product (GDP) slumping by nearly 6 percent in 2020, while tax receipts are expected to tumble by up to a third, and he told lawmakers on Thursday the government was willing to sell cash-guzzling public enterprises in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and sharply falling state revenues.
Nigeria, a country of 200 million people, is in an even worse position. “At well below 10 percent of GDP since 2015, the total revenue available to the three tiers of government in Nigeria has fallen so low that it does not cover even recurrent spending threshold of fiscal liquidity, as salaries and debt service each amounted to about 70 percent
6M
of Federal Government revenue in 2017, and deficits had to be incurred to meet both in full, with additional borrowings to meet shrinking overheads and a small and contracting capital spending,” said Ayo Teriba, a Cambridge-trained economist. “With less access to debt markets, many states were known Continues on page 30
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Pressure mounts on Nigeria to sell cash-guzzling state-owned enterprises SEGUN ADAMS
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Lagos, FCT residents spurn facemasks, social distancing as lockdown eases …crowds at bank branches show weak adoption of cashless policy, say analysts … FG alarmed by gross violation of guidelines, to prosecute offenders JOSHUA BASSEY, HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE (Lagos), TONY AILEMEN, JAMES KWEN, SOLOMON AYADO, INNOCENT ODOH, CYNTHIA EGBOBOH & GODSGIFT ONYEDINEFU (Abuja)
D
ay-one of the gradual relaxation of the fiveweek-long lockdown in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun State showed poor level of compliance with the guidelines reeled out by the Federal Government and the various state administrations as residents trooped out with little or no regard to social distance, compulsory use of facemasks and other safety protocols. The three states had been on lockdown since March 30 as part of government measures to curContinues on page 30
Inside
Wapic Insurance offers health workers 15% premium rebates on new policy uptake P. 6
A truckload of interstate travellers arrested by the police at Berger in Lagos, yesterday. According to the truck driver, the truck departed with some travellers from Zamfara State and picked others in other states of the North en route to Lagos. Pic by Olawale Amoo
Sokoto, Taraba, Jigawa record highest poverty rates as Nigeria’s poor P. 6 now 82.9m
Why Buhari’s call for debt forgiveness would be a tough sell LOLADE AKINMURELE
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resident Muhammadu Buhari’s plea to international financial institutions for an outright cancellation of Nigeria’s debt obligation to them to help better withstand the coronavirus pandemic would be a tough sell, according to senior people with knowledge of the matter. The request which was made
in a meeting with other heads of state from the Non-Aligned Movement seemed to be directed at multilateral lenders, including the World Bank and Africa Development Bank, as well as bilateral lenders led by the Export-Import Bank of China and include the French Development Agency (AFD), the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA), the Exim Bank of India and Germany’s KFW.
These groups of lenders, especially led by the World Bank and China EXIM Bank, make up 60 percent of the country’s $27 billion external debt, according to official data, while commercial lenders, led by Eurobond holders, account for 40 percent. Getting a debt cancellation from these groups of lenders would be a tough sell for multiple reasons. For the multilaterals like the
World Bank and AfDB, they operate as commercial entities with shareholders and would most likely balk at a deal to take a hit to lose part of their capital in a debt forgiveness spree. “The World Bank already held internal discussions on ways to ease the pain of debtors at these trying times and decided a debt relief for a couple of months was appropriate,” a senior banker with multilateral lending experi-
ence said. “If they thought a debt cancellation was feasible, they would have done that, but it’s not. What would they have left if they decided to cancel the debt of every debtor country? They’ll go bankrupt,” the person added. The commercial lenders are also unlikely to accept a debt cancellation of Nigeria’s debt as it would mean giving away Continues on page 30
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PPPRA delays petrol price update for May amid multiple exchange rate confusion ENDURANCE OKAFOR
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he Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) is yet to update the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), or petrol, for May as the challenge of Nigeria’s multiple exchange rate kicks in. Following the restructure in Nigeria’s downstream oil industry through the removal of fuel subsidy amid a slump in crude price, PPPRA said in April that it would ensure monthly review of the price of petrol to reflect market fundamentals. While PPPRA released the updated petrol price for April on the 1st of that month, the regulatory agency has said it’s engaging the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to determine the applicable foreign exchange rates for
the importation of petroleum products into the country, the likely reason it is yet to give an update for May, almost one week into the new month. “The agency is engaging the CBN to determine the applicable foreign exchange rates for the importation of petroleum products and modalities for accessing the applicable foreign exchange window by the marketers,” Abdulkadir Saidu, executive secretary of the agency, said in a statement. The secretary said the rate would be reflected in the pricing template to determine the expected open market price of the product. “This means that going forward, the guiding price to be advised will be determined based on the rates quoted by the CBN,” he said. The multiple exchange rates and windows in Nigeria have been opposed by ana-
lysts as they believe these create a lot of distortion in prices, hurt businesses, and encourage corruption as they are susceptible to manipulation. Nigeria’s Federal Government bowed to long-standing pressure to restructure the oil sector and remove subsidy after the country was hit by lower oil prices which have put pressure on its reserves. The Muhammadu Buhari administration moved the petrol price peg of N145/litre to N125/litre in March 2020. It was the first time the price would be adjusted since it was reviewed in 2016, from N86 per litre to N145, after President Buhari assumed office. Petrol price was further reviewed to sell at N123.5 per litre effective April 1, 2020. The 1.2 percent cut was N1.5 less than the previous N125 that was approved by the government on March 19, 2020.
According to PPPRA, the pump price of petrol would thenceforth continue to rise or fall with the international price of crude oil. Meanwhile, the global Brent crude, the benchmark for determining the prices for purchases of crude oil, was $18.47per barrel in April, while the price was $32.01 per barrel in March. Over the last 12 months, the price has fallen 74.07 percent. Brent hit a near-21-year low in April as coronavirus outbreak eroded demand and OPEC and other producers ramped up production before reaching the new supply deal that kicked in on Friday. Brent crude rose above $26 per barrel on Friday, with both benchmarks posting their first weekly gain in four weeks as OPEC and its allies embark on record output cuts to tackle a supply glut due to the coronavirus crisis.
Wapic Insurance offers health workers 15% premium rebates on new policy uptake BALA AUGIE
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ollowing its recent announcement giving premium refunds to customers with active motor vehicle policies during the lockdown period, Wapic Insurance, one of Nigeria’s leading underwriters, has gone further to offer health workers across Nigeria a 15 percent discount on new policies taken up in 2020 to help cushion financial hardships associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The rebate to health workers covers personal accident, householder insurance and motor insurance and is for the tenor of the policies. In line with regulation, discounts do not apply on renewal. “This corporate gesture is in appreciation of the noble effort of our health workers, who are in the frontline of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Adeyinka Adekoya, managing director. Last week, the insurer announced a pioneering initiative costing millions of naira in premium revenue that will give refunds to its motor insurance policyholders. The offer from Wapic Insurance ensures that customers with active policies are automatically credited with refunds based on the lockdown period. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in Nigeria, Wapic Insurance has been at the
Iju Road, Lagos: Bank customers on Monday trooped out to perform various transactions following gradual easing of lockdown in the state. Pic by Olawale Amoo
Sokoto, Taraba, Jigawa record highest poverty rates as Nigeria’s poor now 82.9m … Analysts call for larger sample size to reflect economic realities MICHAEL ANI & SEGUN ADAMS
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igeria’s poverty incidence is mainly skew e d to the northern states of the country, with 19 states in the region recording an average poverty rate of 58 percent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show. That’s alarming when compared with an average of 24.3 percent rate recorded in the 17 states in the southern region, bringing to spotlight the high illiteracy rate and the weak appetite for education in the Northern states of the country. “There is a strong positive correlation between illiteracy levels and poverty, hence wherever you see a high illiteracy rate there is always
a corresponding high level of poverty,” Oluwapelumi Joseph, head of investor relations at Lagos- based advisory firm, Africapractice, said. “From a productivity standpoint, there are not many commercial enterprises in the North due to the recurring insecurity, and this has made most states in the region highly dependent on government aid,” Joseph told BusinessDay. Holistically, four out of every 10 Nigerian or 89.2 million Nigerians have been reported by the NBS to be poor, spending less than N137,430 per year, the equivalent of N376.5 or $1 per day, pushed by states in the North. Similarly, income inequality, which shows the spread between the haves and the have-nots in the country, www.businessday.ng
was estimated at 35.1 (100 means perfect inequality of expenditure distribution while 0 means perfect equality). States of Sokoto, Taraba and Jigawa reported the highest poverty incidence in the period with a poverty rate of 87.73 percent, 87.72 percent and 87.02 percent, respectively. This was followed by Ebonyi, Adamawa and Zamfara with 79.76 percent, 75.41 percent and 73.98 percent. On the other hand Lagos, Delta, Osun, Ogun and Oyo, all southern states, recorded the least poverty rate at 4.5 percent, 6.02 percent, 8.52 percent, 9.32 percent and 9.83 percent, respectively. The success of the South in reducing poverty cannot be divorced from its investment
in education and health of people in the region. In Nigeria where education is basic, free and compulsory for children up to 15 years, no less than 10.5 million aged 5-14 years are out of school, according to the latest data from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The majority of children who are unable to access safe and quality education are situated in the north where across the region net attendance rate is at 53 percent. Bauchi,Niger,Katsina,Kano, Sokoto,Zamfara,Kebbi,Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja are the worst 10 states with about 8 million children not in school and an average enrolment rate of only 57 percent.
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forefront of insurance sector contributions towards the fight against the COVID-19 virus. The company has contributed N40 million to the Federal Government’s COVID-19 response effort. Wapic is also one of the insurance companies underwriting free health cover for Nigeria’s 5,000 health workers. Most importantly, the company is demonstrating its commitment to sustainable business practices by fighting the pandemic through its core underwriting products and services. Wapic Insurance is committed to rolling out more socially responsible and development-focused initiatives using its capital, products and services during these challenging times. Wapic Insurance plc is engaged in the business of underwriting life and non-life insurance risks for corporate and individual customers, and also provides investment risk products for individuals. The company’s range of insurance services includes, motor, general accident, fire, engineering, special risk, marine and group life insurance for the risk management of businesses and individuals. The company’s general business is conducted by Wapic Insurance plc and Wapic Insurance Ghana Limited. Its life Business is conducted by Wapic Life Assurance Limited.
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COVID-19: Compelling case for withdrawal from employees’ RSA
Olusegun Vincent
T
he entire world is currently faced with another world war in a more dangerous dimension than ever. The world is troubled by an invisible enemy that takes no side with any country and the deadliest nuclear weapon ever created by man cannot extinguish this enemy called COVID-19. The virus keeps ravaging the world with an ever-increasing rate of confirmed infected persons and death trend across the globe. At the time of this write up, about 200,000 deaths have been recorded, paralysing global economic activities with a looming worst ever recession in world history. For instance, the IMF April, 2020 World Economic Outlook had projected a global economic contraction of -3.0 percent, advanced economies to contract by -6.1 percent, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to contract by -1.6 percent and Nigeria to contract by a whopping -3.4 percent in 2020. In fact, the US with an unemployment rate of less than 4.0 percent now has about a 26.1 percent unemployment rate and rising applications of unemployment benefits. Consequently, countries are repositioning policy stances including economic stimulus and health policies to curtail the effect of the pandemic. The Nigerian government is not left out in this path of salvaging the situation and curbing the economic effect with a number of stimuli. However, as good as these stimuli might be, they might as well widen the already deteriorating fiscal position. Hence, this article makes a position for the amendment of the Pension Reform Act 2014 to allow employees withdraw from their retirement savings account. An English writer and poet called John Lyly (1551-1606) once said “all is fair in love and war”. Absolutely! It is because of this we now have to set aside the law that created Contributory Pension Scheme, Pension Reform Act 2014 (as amended) to pave way for every employee who has a retirement savings account to be able to voluntarily access 25 percent of his/her total contribution. Since the commencement of contributory pension scheme in July 2004, the value of total funds in portfolio of pension fund administrators (PFAs) is in excess of N10 trillion and it is about time the Act that created the Scheme was amended to accommodate voluntary withdrawal of maximum of 25 percent of total contribution by employee within a window of July 2020 and December 2021. Although, the Act provides clear conditions under which withdrawal could be entertained in order to safeguard the future wellbeing of retiring employees in Nigeria. The Act provides that employee that is yet to reach a retirement age or below 50 years of age cannot withdraw from his/her retirement savings. Also, an employee who is unable to find another employment after four months of disengagement from previous one and other exemptions as prescribed in Section 16 of the Act may have access up to 25 percent of his/her total retirement savings. The conditions for withdrawal must now be set aside and opportunity be given to voluntarily access 25 percent of the fund by any contributor that wishes to have part of his/her
Source: Adapted from National Pension Commission (PenCom) 2nd Quarter 2019 Report
savings to combat the COVID-19 effect. The following provides justifications for amendment of the Pension Reform Act 2014 (as amended) to accommodate the voluntary access to 25 percent of employees’ savings: Nigeria is currently in a deep recession which magnitude is yet to be determined. However, with the IMF projection, it is about -3.0 percent in 2020 which is double the -1.51 percent contraction experienced in 2016. Immediately the economy is opened up for activities, there is going to be severe job cut, pay cut, worsening inflation level, declining domestic credit, deteriorating exchange rate, impaired credit worthiness of households and companies, rising interest rate, and poor consumer spending. The economy of any nation whether developed or developing is made up of three simple mechanisms: aggregate demand; aggregate supply and money to facilitate supply and demand. Therefore, to attain increasing productivity (i.e. rising GDP), there must be aggregate demand (spending) to create aggregate supply (production). In Nigeria, household consumption constitutes about 60 percent of the GDP (by expenditure). Hence, bailing out the economy will require a strong spending capacity by households. This is the most important factor that will drive demand, and invariably spur real sector production and will ultimately stimulate employment. Giving individuals the opportunity to do voluntary withdrawal up to 25 percent of their pension savings will contribute immensely to lifting the economy out of recession via demand-side. As at today, the market value of pension contribution is N10 trillion. The 25 percent withdrawal will amount to about N2.5 trillion released into the economy within the space of 18 months (assuming withdrawal spans between July, 2020 and December 2021) to create demand. Another argument in support of voluntary withdrawal from the pension fund scheme is premised on the fact that Nigeria has poor consumer credit/lending history. Unlike the western world and other organized markets where consumers have easy access to credit especially with low interest rates. In Europe and
America, the potent strategy often used to come out of recession or reflate their economies is by increasing access to credit which translates to high spending and invariably spur companies for production of goods and services; resulting in improved employment opportunity and growing productivity (i.e. GDP). Nigerian financial system is not as sophisticated as expected. We have a poor consumer credit system and have no choice than to use what we have to get what we want. Since credit opportunity is not available and scarce, it is better to leverage on the pension savings to argument government stimulus. It is better to survive today rather than risk waiting for the future that may never come. Allow the contributors to use part of their savings to train their children, live a decent life and save the remaining for the future. It is a win-win! This would portend less pressure on government, and economic activities would blossom and productivity spikes. An argument may arise that a release of 25 percent of the pension fund that translates to N2.5 trillion may fuel inflation. This is far from reality considering the fact that the maximum attrition to the fund is N2.5 trillion and not every contributor will be willing to withdraw from their retirement savings account. Despite having an estimated population of 200 million people, 70 million of whom are actively involved in the labour force, only 8.41 million (12 percent) Nigerians currently make contributions into the Contributory Pension Scheme. It is equally important to note that N2.5 trillion is just about a quarter of Nigeria 2020 budget, which obviously has become unattainable. The deficit expected by government spending may be cushioned by an increase in household spending coming from voluntary release of the 25 percent of the pension fund. Besides, inflation in Nigeria is supply driven than demand coupled with deficit financing effects. Hence, the government can reposition to resolve the supply constraints. For information purpose, the breakdown and statistics of the investment vehicles warehousing the Pension Fund is presented thus: From the table, we can begin to ask some
salient questions. What is the actual worth of the pension fund portfolio in real money terms (after adjusting for inflation)? Is there any risk premium for assets outside the risk-free FGN Bond/Treasury Bill? What is the worth of the portfolio in real exchange terms (after adjusting for Naira devaluation)? The precise answer is that the total portfolio has suffered major devaluation resulting from inflation and naira devaluation over the years. Not too long ago in 2015, the Naira depreciated from N195/$ to N360/$ and recently an exchange rate adjustment was made moving the rate from N306/$ at the official window to N360/ $ and N360/$ to N380/$ at the Investors and Exporters Window. With the uncertainty surrounding oil price and COVID-19, there seems to be a gloomy future as regards foreign exchange earnings. We have been reading so much about different palliatives to people at the very bottom of the pyramid, these coming from State Governments, Federal Government and organised private sector. Also, the federal government through CBN has come out with few stimuli for the industrial sectors but nobody is talking about palliative to the Nigerian employees who have been in active employment contributing to national productivity and tax system on a monthly basis. Government may claim that the stimuli to industries would be to the employees’ benefit, but that assertion is more of a hypothesis than reality. Nigerian labour force need not be left in the cold rather a much more direct and quicker soft landing is needed and an easy way out is to allow voluntary withdrawal of 25 percent of their retirement savings. Alternatively, the law may be amended to allow the use of 25 percent of employees’ retirement savings as collateral for loans of the same amount at a concessionary rate not more than 5 percent; since the loan will be cash backed. This option will be well embraced by employees who have good earning capacity but urgently need liquidity to cushion the effect of COVID-19. Also, an incentive system to repay the loan within a time frame may be inbuilt in the loan structure and agreement. The economist cliché that a country must spend to come out of recession is a valid economics assertion. Total spending drives the economy, which invariably creates its own production. But both spending and production are facilitated by availability of finance. This is a crucial time, and implementation of this must be within a short window of 18 months and thereafter the window is shut down. While the government incurs huge costs for palliative for the downtrodden, the working class simply leverage on their assets at no cost to the government. The revenue from oil is gone and promises of raking revenue from taxation are threatened. When economic activities are sluggish, tax revenue is greatly impaired. Where is the money? Who is spending? Let people pay themselves as they go without any condition and lock the remaining 75 percent (to grow or impaired) for future use. It is my hope that the executive arm of government will quickly sponsor a Bill for consideration of this proposal by the national assembly. Dr Vincent writes from the School of Management & Social Sciences, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos
From the blogs
Time to rescue ourselves from our political leaders
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he Nigerian middle class has to a large extent existed without paying heed to our political leadership. When we are ill, we go to private hospitals in Nigeria or go abroad. We educate our children in private schools in Nigeria or take them abroad. We risk our lives to have children abroad so they can have a better life. We migrate to Canada, UK or America if we are lucky. We banter about how bad things are on social media but by and large we generally mind our own business.
Then comes COVID-19 and we suddenly realise that surviving in spite of our government has its limits. Going abroad including India for medical tourism has become impossible. Sending our children to schools abroad is suddenly not the safest thing to do anymore. We are now all like the “poor” who have no control over their vulnerability. We suddenly realise that the quality or lack thereof of our leadership matters after all. Everyone is saying that the COVID-19 situation will force our leadership to think twice
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ChiChi Aniagolu-Okoye
about how they govern. Of course, we know that will never happen as we can see that even the funds to fight the virus and ensure all our survival are turning to vapour. Those we elected or better still barged into office can’t change because of a virus, because they never went to office to serve. If anything needs to change it’s the middle class that have sat docile for too long. It is time to rescue ourselves from these vermins or they will destroy us all. Clearly the money in our pockets (which is fast disappear-
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ing, by the way, with the devaluation of the Naira) can’t translate into hospitals, schools, infrastructure when borders are shut. We can no longer afford rudderless, visionless leaders. They will kill us all because they don’t know better. They themselves need good leadership to save them from themselves. There is no magic formula, see Zimbabwe, see Somalia etc. It can get worse. We need to chase these pick pockets out of office. The time to start organising in every state for 2023 is now!
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Is Nigeria stuck with oil?
Emeka Okolo
W
ith imminent recession staring Nigeria in the face, which the underlying cause is largely the current poor performance of crude oil in the international market occasioned by the advent of Covid-19 pandemic, the questions on the lips of not few Nigerians are: how far can the country go with its dependence solely on oil? How prepared is the country for another recession which it exited barely three years ago? Time was when the fear revolved around oil being a wasting asset which may dry up any time. Projections were rife then as to around what year that apocalypse would take place. I can recall vividly that 2030 – just ten years away – was one of the years brandied about then. These projections were at their best in the
1980s. Today, the apprehension has shifted to the importance of oil in the future. How relevant will it continue to be in the face of conscious efforts by advanced economies (the major consumers of fossil fuel) to save the environment via policies on climate change? The prevailing sentiment now is that the environment must be returned to its green nature! The reality of electric vehicles and even the discovery of shale oil by America were not on the cards about a decade ago. Diversify the Nigerian economy – that has been the slogan for heaven knows since when. Successive governments including those anchored by the Military found that a very favourite phraseology. With humongous amount of money derived from the oil sector, one is still at a loss as to why investing in other promising sectors was such a difficult task considering both the acknowledged transient nature of oil itself and the volatility of the sector in which it is situated. Even to refine the crude has been a major issue. Other oil producing countries had refineries built outside their jurisdictions that generate foreign earnings for them but Nigeria couldn’t maintain the ones within its territory! It continues to engage in endless turn around maintenance of its refineries and importation of refined crude with all associated corruption. As if Nigeria has not had enough
of its oil induced stupor, it has engaged and still engaging in search of oil in the deserts. A lot of billions of naira has been committed in the venture at a time the agricultural and mining sectors are yearning for attention and the world’s attention is shifting from fossil fuel. Yes, post COVID-19 will be an interesting era for Nigeria. It’ll be somewhat a watershed for the economy, only if the right lessons have been learnt and the will to break away from the past enforced. What bitter lesson is there for one to imbibe when a country depends solely on one product that it can’t sell even below cost of production? Granted, some giants strides have been recorded in the agricultural sector, courtesy of Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) massive interventions, especially in the area of rice production which hitherto gulped tremendous foreign exchange for its importation, nevertheless, a lot of gaps still exist in the entire agricultural value chain. The issue of turning raw materials into finished products via establishment of vital industries is still begging for attention. Exporting mainly raw materials as is presently the case will never make the desired impact. There must be a paradigm shift in the formulation and implementation of agricultural policies in the country. In a world governed by knowledge and skills, especially in the informa-
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Diversify the Nigerian economy – that has been the slogan for heaven knows since when. Successive governments including those anchored by the Military found that a very favourite phraseology
Dr. Okolo is a Chartered Stockbroker and Management Consultant based in Lagos.
Optimising thought leadership for reputation management
Y
ou may consider it inappropriate if I say the term “thought leadership” has become trite. But it’s definitely not misplaced to describe it as a corporate buzzword. I see feeds on LinkedIn and other social networks daily and how almost everyone tags themselves as thought leaders. Once they’re able to publish a few pieces on any subject, however peripheral, with some traction, they start brandishing themselves as thought leaders. The construct of thought leadership has been bastardised, as misconceptions now abound. In this piece, I situate thought leadership in its proper perspective while highlighting its centrality in corporate reputation management and personal branding. Let’s locate thought leadership within the prisms of content marketing. You cannot divorce content from thought leadership. It’s content that an individual or a brand uses to lead thought. Think of content as the driver of thought leadership. Thought leadership means regularly sharing relevant content to provide insight which is helpful to your target audience. It’s the art of building reputation whereby an organisation leverages the expertise of its people to address the questions bogging its target audience. A webinar series in which a top executive of an organisation gives valuable insights on salient industry issues; a weekly blog post or newspaper article on turbulent issues by a CEO; a bi-weekly podcast where a manager in an organisation provides intelligent thoughts on developments affecting their target audience; or a series of speaking engagements for the COO of a brand where they express invaluable ideas on industry concerns. These are examples of thought leadership. Thought leadership is not scatty- it must be deliberate, planned and sustained, with a
clear goal. It’s not a one-off. If you’re keen on becoming a thought leader, you must put your shoulder to the wheel. You must be consistent in providing content that addresses issues impacting your target audience. This is not a piece of cake; but it’s worth it. However, people view thought leadership as an opportunity to conspicuously project their credentials. This is wrong. Thought leadership is not pedigree. It’s not telling your audience your resume and how you aced all courses at college. As a thought leader, you need not dwell on your qualifications. Just continually feed your target audience with content on pertinent issues. Do this in a credible and charismatic fashion, and you’ll become an authority in the eyes of your target audience while your organisation remains top-of-mind. Let your content cast you as a resourceful persona. Demonstrate that you have the most profound knowledge on the topics you cover in your high-quality content. See yourself as a trusted counsellor. One major flaw of some thought leadership contents is their proclivity to sound promotional. Thought leaders should understand that the mere idea of putting out contents which their target audience can trust and work with, is enough promotion, both personally and organisation wise. It’s just counterproductive to advertise your company’s products in thought leadership. The audience considers it a turn-off and empirical evidence validates this. Once you start promoting your brand, you lose your audience. Consider thought leadership as indirect marketing- portraying your brand positively but with subtlety. What thought leadership does over time is that, it gives you and your company a favourable image which has its long-term pay-offs. It helps your brand assert authority in its industry. Many believe that only C-suite executives www.businessday.ng
can execute thought leadership. But thought leadership can actually emanate from anyone as long as the person has experience, knowledge and perspectives. Executives, managers, customer relations officers, public relations specialists, sales officers and business developers are all eligible for thought leadership. It requires disciplined efforts at generating content germane to the target audience. It also demands that you evince the ability to lead and inspire. Retired CEO of ProLogis, Walt Rakowich, states: “I believe thought leaders are not only on the cutting edge in terms of their ideas, but they also must know how to inspire and influence others”. Thought leaders must be able to encourage the target audience to take a supportive action. When you accomplish this, you’ve built audience affinity for your brand. When a brand engages in thought leadership, it builds a relationship with the audience, earns their trust and stays top on their minds. Some thought leadership contents are not actually thought leading. A thought leader should understand that they’re jostling for two things-authority and mind share- and there are scores of thought leaders competing for same. Thought leadership content is not just any content. It must be original, insightful, specific, interesting, relevant, brand enhancing and not be perceived to be promotional. The thought leader is expected to lead with content, not mindlessly recycle existing content. Be forward-thinking. Analyse trends and make plausible forecasts. CEO of Skaled, Jake Dunlap, supports this: “Thought leaders possess an innate ability to contribute to the conversations happening today while also being able to speculate on what is going to happen tomorrow”. Another CEO, Numaan Akram of Rally, posits: “A thought leader recognises trends before they happen and applies that insight to achieve actual business results”.
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tion and technology field, the country’s impact is yet to be felt. While a lot of countries rake in billions of dollars through this avenue annually, Nigeria appears to be a trillion years behind, no thanks to its wobbling education system. Strikes in the tertiary institutions are now commonplace and have since redefined the education system. If a country like India – a developing economy like Nigeria – can rake in billion yearly exporting its skilled manpower overseas, what is holding Nigeria back? With advent of Covid-19, there is no denying the fact any longer that an emergency should be declared on the education and health sectors. The former apart from reversing the current trend of expending humongous scarce foreign exchange on education tuitions abroad for privileged Nigerians, will make skilled Nigerians employable abroad and thus helping in repatriating the much-desired diaspora fund. The latter will no doubt save equally humongous resources on medical tourism currently being expended. Who says that an improved health sector in Nigeria will not attract foreigners here? It has existed before and could still be replicated. In the 1970s, the Royal family of Saudi Arabia Kingdom used to frequent the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan on medical tourism!
Stanley Elisa
Research developing themes and produce evidence-driven contents. If your content revolves around existing themes, explore unique standpoints. When selecting content pillars, be conscious of your company’s specialties and your area of expertise. Dunlap advises: “Focus on what you know best and hone in on that message repeatedly. It’s more effective to go deep on a few topics than to spray across too many complementary topics.” It won’t be apt to produce an aviation-specific thought leadership piece when your brand plays in the banking space. The nexus between your industry and your content must be unmistakable. You also need to find out the questions which your audience seeks answers to. Elect the content formats and channels to employspeaking engagements, webinars, podcast, press articles, interviews, case studies, blog posts, guesting on broadcast shows, etc. If you’re considering content for publication, it makes perfect sense to run your content themes by a journalist-friend to ascertain the likelihood of publication. Journalists are gatekeepers and can tell you the “media fate” of any content. But this is after you must have stated your goal and developed a strategy. In conclusion, thought leadership is a very effective content marketing activity. And it’s a product of a robust content strategy. Organisations that are not gaining enough from it, should overhaul their strategies. It’s a strategic way of getting your target audience closer to your brand, beefing up talkability and raising top-of-mind awareness. Elisa is a Media and Communication Consultant in Lagos. Email- olisastanley513@gmail.com.
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BUSINESS DAY
Tuesday 05 May 2020
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Online disinformation and the African firm (4) Rafiq Raji
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Insights from case studies ometimes, online disinformation could be totally unrelated to a firm and could still end up affecting it. Thus, even as online disinformation is preponderantly focused on politics and propaganda, a pan-African firm must be alert to potential spill-overs, as the case of South Africa’s MTN shows. Furthermore, a proactive and effective handling of online disinformation is possible; that is, even in the relatively difficult African environment. MTN apprised its customers of the false news about purported promotions and the fake social media accounts the disinformation was emanating from. The firm also used the opportunity to reiterate its real social media accounts where customers could get accurate information about its activities. In the case of Kenya’s defunct Chase Bank, similar diligence was clearly not employed. There was certainly an underestimation by the bank’s communication team of the influence and power of social media to wreak as much havoc on the image of the bank as it did. And when the bank eventually came around to a more accurate appraisal of the crisis at hand, it was too late. There are a few things the bank could have done to stem the tide. It could have refuted with as much vigour the claims about the challenges it was facing. Of course, it did not help that there was evidence of mismanagement by the bank’s executives, which no doubt added flame to the rumours. It also did not help that only a few months back, a similarly-sized bank went under after what turned out to be accurate reports on social media of its financial troubles. In both cases, it is clear that overwhelming fake news with the truth with as much forcefulness could be an effective strategy. Before social media became such a potent force, the Kenyan
bank’s strategy of pretending everything was normal may have worked. It could even have been effective in more developed markets. But in an environment where a lot, rests on word of mouth, a firm should not take the kind of chances the bank took. Like MTN, get in front of it, push out the truth, and approach the respective social media platforms if necessary, to take down fake accounts under the name or brand of your firm. To put the cases in proper perspective, I adapt the framework by Wardle & Derakhshan (2017) to suggest a coherent mechanism for African firms to deal with online disinformation. As the framework depicted below shows, a firm would probably only be most effective intervening at the distribution stage of online disinformation. Of course, internet platforms could easily fact-check content on time to determine if it is true or not before they go viral. And as highlighted earlier, they have the capacity to do so. And even as internet platforms are already partnering with Reuters, Africa Check and others to fact-check information distributed on their platforms, they are not incentivised to do so holistically for economic reasons. Still, as the case of MTN shows, a firm could proactively stop fake news in its tracks. In the event a firm chooses to wait-and-see or rely on internet platforms to bring down false content or seek the aid of law enforcement agencies to punish purveyors of fake news, the damage to a firm could very well have been complete before any of those actors are able to do something meaningful to stem the tide. Regardless, African firms should not wait to be victims of fake news before being part of the solution. Like the MTN case shows, a firm could sponsor training programmes to reduce the production of fake news in the first place. A firm could also engage in public sensitisation campaigns to support the efforts of governments towards discouraging the creation of fake news. Conclusion and recommendations Online disinformation is costly, especially in Africa, where a lot of businesses depend on word-of-mouth. A false rumour could trigger a run on a bank, a sharp fall in share prices, or loss of interest in a company’s products. As internet platforms make it easy for fake news to
spread quickly in unprecedented ways, they are also best suited to stem the tide. We highlighted examples of efforts by internet platforms in this regard. More fundamentally, combating online disinformation could be via state intervention, making social media platforms liable for thirdparty content, and swamping fake news with the truth. Our case studies show; however, firms would probably record more successes in dealing with the problem by the third option; that is, refuting falsehood with the truth. Of course, the experience of firms in this regard differs. Like the case of South Africa’s MTN, a trusted brand is more likely to be given the benefit of the doubt in the event of negative news, deliberate or otherwise, allowing the firm just about enough time to quickly refute any false reports. Not that there would not still be some damage done, but the costs in the aftermath tend to be manageable. Conversely, a firm already suffering from negative publicity, like the case of Kenya’s defunct Chase Bank, may find it harder to recover from an onslaught of additional negative perception issues via social media. Firms on the continent should also be
loath to use legal action to deal with online disinformation. As the adapted Wardle & Derakhshan (2017) framework shows, firms are best equipped to manage online disinformation at the distribution stage. Ideally, laws against disinformation should be a disincentive against creating fake news, the first stage of the adapted framework. But considering how unreliable law enforcement is across the continent, it is highly unlikely these laws would be effective deterrents. Nonetheless, firms could help at this stage with sensitisation campaigns against disinformation. Additionally, firms could sponsor the training and capacity-building of media practitioners to ensure they do not inadvertently aid the production stage. Edited version of article was first published by Nanyang Business School’s NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies. References available via link viz. https//nbs.ntu.edu.sg/Research/ResearchCentres/CAS/Publications/Documents/NTUSBF%20CAS%20ACI%20Vol.%202020-17.pdf “Dr Raji is chief economist at Macroafricaintel. He was previously an Africa Economist at Standard Chartered Bank, London, UK. (Twitter: @DrRafiqRaji)”
Liabilities under public health laws and regulations
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overnments all over the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have had to invoke provisions of existing Public health laws or rolled out new ones as part of measures to curb the spread of the pandemic. The federal government of Nigeria and Lagos State as well as some other states in Nigeria have also made regulations to tackle the pandemic. This article will highlight some of the liabilities and penalties for flouting the provisions of certain public health laws. The quarantine Act This Act dates to as far back as 1926. It is an Act to provide for and regulate the imposition of quarantine and to make other provisions for preventing the introduction into and spread in Nigeria, and the transmission from Nigeria, of dangerous infectious diseases. Section 3 gives the President the mandate to declare any place within Nigeria an “infected local area”. Section 4 of the Act amongst other things empowers the President to make regulations to prescribe steps to be taken when an area becomes infected and prevent its spread. This Act did not specifically enumerate the acts that would amount to an offence under it. However, section 5 of the Act states that any person contravening any of the regulations made under the Act shall be liable to a fine of N200 or to imprisonment for a term of six months or to both. Section 7 of the Act provides that proceedings for imposing any fine or imprisonment under this Act or for recovering any expenses incurred or charged
by the Government in carrying out the provisions of this Act may be commenced before and determined by any magistrate. Quarantine ships regulations This Regulation dates back to 1968. It is a subsidiary legislation to the Quarantine Act. It basically deals with precautionary measures to be taken when a ship is believed to have been in an infected area or has someone who has an infectious disease on board. For the purposes of these Regulations, a ship shall not be deemed to have been in an infected area if, without having itself been in contact with the shore, it has landed there only mail, passengers and baggage, or has taken on board there only mail, fuel, water or stores or passengers with or without baggage who have not themselves been in contact either with the shore or with any person from the shore. The regulations provide for the following offences and penalties; (a) failure to comply with a condemnation notice of any food items found to be contaminated on the ship (b) failure to comply with an abatement notice issued by the port health officer to abate any nuisance in its port area which may in the opinion of the port health officer endanger health or give rise to infection, and it shall be the duty of the port authority to comply with the notice. (c) contravening any of the provisions of the regulations or failure to comply with any direction given by the port health officer under the regulations.
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The prescribed penalty under the regulations is a fine of N100 or imprisonment for six months or to both such fine and imprisonment. Lagos State infectious diseases (emergency prevention) regulations 2020 The Regulations were made in March 2020 pursuant to the Quarantine Act and Public health law of Lagos State and specifically as a measure to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The Regulations enumerated the following as offences; i. Inflation of prices of goods; ii. Hoarding of goods; iii. Failure to comply with a restriction, prohibition or requirement imposed under the regulations; iv. Provision of false or misleading information intentionally or recklessly with a view to causing panic or disaffection amongst members of the public; v. Obstruction of any person carrying out its duties under the regulations; vi. Doing anything contrary to the provision of the regulations. Section 17 of the regulations provides for the penalties for the breach or obstruction of the implementation of the provisions of the regulations and the penalties are prison terms or fines or both in line with the Quarantine Act and Public Health Law of Lagos state. The Public health law of Lagos State provides for a fine of One Hundred Thousand Naira (N100,000.00) or to any non-custodial sentence and if a corporate body, to a fine of Five
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ULOAKU EKWEGH
Hundred Thousand Naira (N500,000). There is no doubt that the Quarantine Act and the Quarantine Ship regulations are very old. The fines prescribed in both of them are no longer realistic. There is definitely a need to repeal or amend them to reflect current realities. It would be worthwhile to look at the possibility of expanding the scope of the offence of provision of false or misleading information intentionally or recklessly specified in the Lagos State infectious diseases (Emergency prevention) Regulations 2020 to include withholding of relevant information from health care providers in circumstances where such withheld information is likely to endanger the lives of health care providers and other patients in a medical facility. Ekwegh is a private legal practitioner with over 15 years legal experience in law firms and as in-house counsel. She is also a fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants. Email: uloekwegh@yahoo.com
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12
Tuesday 05 May 2020
BUSINESS DAY
EDITORIAL Publisher/Editor-in-chief
Frank Aigbogun
Converting private properties to isolation centres is a bad idea
editor Patrick Atuanya
Another example of bad thinking, bad products
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 GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North)
Bashir Ibrahim Hassan
GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) Ignatius Chukwu
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ot only has the COVID-19 pandemic, which has halted activities in the global economy, revealed the dilapidated state of the Nigeria health care system, it has also unravelled the incompetence of most Nigerian politicians. Part of the purported Infectious Diseases Bill which gives power to convert private properties to isolation centres is a stark example of bad thinking. Last week, the Infectious Diseases Bill sponsored by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Pascal Obi and Tanko Sununu, seeks to empower an agency of the federal government to convert any property in the country, including private properties, to isolation centres was read at plenary on Tuesday 28th April 2020, before it hurriedly passed first and second readings on the same day. This is coming amid the shortage of isolation centres in the country owing to the rise in the number of coronavirus patients across the country. As of Friday, the number of patients was 2,170,68 have died while 319 have so far recovered.
We believe this Bill is draconian and poorly drafted. It demonstrates again how bad laws and policies are foisted on the country with no second thoughts given to their consequences. Bad laws and policies don’t fall from the sky. They are made by people and are a reflection of the depth and quality of their thinking. A Bill to give power to requisition hotels and other private buildings as isolation centres is unacceptable and we urge the President to reject it. Nigeria’s inadequate health facilities and amenities stems from the federal government’s inability to fix the health system over the years; hence, private individuals shouldn’t be subjected to such laws except they willingly offer their properties. We understand the need for more isolation centres given the surge in COVID-19 cases in Nigeria, however, there are other options to explore. There are several government-owned buildings or seized assets rotting away across the country which can readily be refurbished for isolating coronavirus patients. For example, the Ikoyi Federal Secretariat in Lagos. Nigerians will not dispute the proposition that the abandoned Federal Secretariat has
become a national embarrassment. For this magnificent edifice in the heart of a city like Lagos to be lying fallow speaks volumes of the quality of leadership in the country. Billions of naira donated by private individuals and organisations during this pandemic could be channelled to making well-equipped, massive isolation centres out of such buildings across the country. It’s absurd how hotels and privately-owned buildings are being targeted. Owners of such hotels, for example, risk losing their businesses post COVID-19. Potential customers of these hotels may fear lodging there given the thought that such hotels have been used to accommodate COVID-19 patients. This hurts an intangible asset, the goodwill of the hotel. Also given the history of the Nigerian federal government, such buildings may not return to the state they were before requisition and owners may not be adequately compensated for damages. Nigeria can learn from China in its response to fighting COVID-19. In Beijing and Wuhan, 1,000 bed capacity hospitals were built respectively in days. Nigeria must look beyond
providing temporary measures and respond to current health crisis with more long-lasting solutions. Refurbishing abandoned national buildings into hospitals is one of such. While we continue the fight against COVID-19, it is important to note that policies and laws made during this period must be critically analysed before being enacted given the fragile state of the Nigerian economy. Unfortunately, the Infectious Diseases Bill, exposes a chasm in how our lawmakers’, recent owners of brand-new Toyota Camrys, arrive at their decisions. It shows how they (and policymakers too) “lack the philosophical equipment to deal with the material goods they are so eager to consume”, as the unnamed character of Teju Cole’s novel, Every Day is for the Thief, laments. Our lawmakers drive Toyotas but do not develop the thinking necessary to make such products in Nigeria. Cole’s narrator concludes that, “Part of the philosophical equipment is an attention to details... a commitment to precision, an engagement with the creative and scientific spirit behind what one uses.” Yo shinai, yo kangai: good thinking, good products is the motto of Toyota.
HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES Adeola Obisesan
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Imo Itsueli Mohammed Hayatudeen Afolabi Oladele Vincent Maduka Opeyemi Agbaje Amina Oyagbola Bolanle Onagoruwa Fola Laoye Chuka Mordi Mezuo Nwuneli Charles Anudu Tunji Adegbesan Eyo Ekpo Wiebe Boer Paul Arinze Boye Olusanya Ayo Gbeleyi Haruna Jalo-Waziri Clement Isong
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Tuesday 05 May 2020
BUSINESS DAY
COMPANIES & MARKETS
13
COMPANY NEWS ANALYSIS INSIGHT
BANKING
COVID-19 to impact banks’ assets in 2020-Agusto & Co OLUFIKAYO OWOEYE
Rating agency, Agusto & Co has predicted that the assets of lenders in the country would be under threat on the back of worsening cases of Coronavirus in the country. In a report, titled ‘COVID-19 pandemic impact on Nigerian Banks’ published by the rating agency, banks that are significantly exposed to some sectors which include the oil and gas sector, manufacturing, real estate, public sector, construction and general commerce, would have their assets quality weakened in view of the impact on State Governments’ finances, purchasing power of households and the performance of businesses. The largest exposure of the banking industry’s credits is to the oil and gas sector, which accounted for over 30percent of the loan portfolio as at 31 December 2019. Although the degree of impact will vary across different sectors, the key sectors that will bear the brunt are oil and gas (upstream), real estate, construction, transportation (aviation) and manufacturing (nonessentials). In terms of currency distribution, approximately 47percent of the Industry’s
gross loans are foreign currency denominated (FCY), predominantly in the United States Dollars (USD) as
at full year 2019. According to the report, the banking Industry’s exposure to vulnerable sec-
TECHNOLOGY
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s communities are kept indoors due to lockdown directives aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19, leading service provider for the energy sector, Siemens Energy Limited has reiterated their commitment towards supporting Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in this critical time. Through this pandemic Siemens Field Service Engineers has continued to deliver solutions to customers and partners in industries catering to vital infrastructure, providing them with much needed technical support. The Field Service Engineers ensure that customers’ plants and sites keep running uninterrupted, for the lights in all our customer locations nationwide Speaking on the company’s commitment to keeping the lights on in Nigeria, Seun
foreign currency loan book, dominated by the oil and gas, manufacturing, general commerce and other import dependent sectors. “This could weaken capitalisation ratios via higher risk weighted assets and increase the level of delinquent FCY loans,” the report said. T h i rd l y , t h e d i s r u p tion in the global supp l y c ha i n s i s e x p e c t e d to increase demand for domestic alternatives for inputs used in the m a n u f a c t u r i n g s e c t o r. While this is good for the domestic market, the higher cost implications will adversely impact the margins of producers, as increased costs are not easily transferable to final consumers, especially in a period of weakened consumer purchasing power. And lastly, the revenues of most businesses in the ‘non-essential’ manufacturing sectors will be hit by the general lockdown in the largest commercial centres in Nigeria. It subsequently revised non-performing loan ratio expectations to 13percent in the short term due to the coronavirus pandemic as against the initial 9.4percent. This is based on the assumption that the average crude oil price will be $30-$35 per barrel.
BANKING
Siemens provides technical support for Nigeria’s energy sector amidst COVID-19 IFEOMA OKEKE
tors threatens asset quality in the short term due to the decline in global crude oil prices elicited by a slump
in demand (due to economic lockdowns in several countries) which will result in lesser revenues for oil and gas firms and the government as crude oil proceeds account for about 60percent of the sovereign’s revenues and 95% of the country’s export proceeds. Being the largest spender, a decline in the government’s revenues has a ripple effect on key sectors such as construction, manufacturing, real estate and general commerce. In addition, the Central Bank’s ability to defend the naira is threatened by lower FCY revenues, which results in weaker macroeconomic indicators (such as high inflation and currency depreciation) and directly affects businesses and households. The recent Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota adjustment – leading to supply cut – are aimed at easing pressures from the oil supply side to some extent. “We estimate an average crude oil price of $30-$35 per barrel, bearing in mind that in the first quarter of the year, crude oil averaged $55.9 per barrel,” the report noted. Another reason is the anticipated further devaluation of the naira which will bloat the Industry’s
Suleiman, Vice President, Service & Digital, Siemens Energy Limited, said, “It’s amazing to share with you the business advantage of localizing the Field Ops organization in Nigeria especially with the pandemic of COVID-19. We have been able to successfully meet most of our customer field service interventions without any hinderance and these FSRs have been fully supported via in-country Tier 1 technical support. “This has significantly kept us in operation despite the suspension of international flights in Nigeria and multiple curfews imposed in Lagos & Port Harcourt. We are immensely proud of our frontline employees working hard on all our customers’ sites to keep the lights on for millions of Nigerians during these difficult times.” Also commenting, Oladayo Orolu, head Business Development, Siemens En-
ergy Limited, highlighted the importance of essential utilities running during this period. “In these challenging times, it is important we keep the lights on to power essential utilities that keep our homes and hospitals conducive, powered and safe. As we support our customers and work to keep Nigeria powered, we continue to prioritise the health and safety of our employees, cooperating with the relevant public and health authorities. “We recognise that without them there will be no business to run so we continue to minimise risk by putting all the safety measures in place. Also, beyond this pandemic, we continue to communicate and work with key contacts in the Federal Government on the Presidential Power Initiative to ensure that we keep the lights on for a much longer time in Nigeria.”
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Afreximbank announces $3m COVID-19 response grant for African countries OLUFIKAYO OWOEYE
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frican Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced a $3 million grant to complement continental efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Benedict Oramah, President, Afreximbank who made the announcement in Cairo, said that the grant was in response to a request by African heads of state, through the auspices of the African Union Chair Person, Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, for the mobilisation of resources to address the pandemic. He said that a significant proportion of the grant would go to the COVID-19 Special Fund set up by the African Union (AU) as well as to the African Center for Disease Control (Africa CDC).
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Afreximbank’s grant support comes in addition to several initiatives the Bank is taking to support the effort in fighting the pandemic, such as the $3-billion Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA), which it launched in March, to help African countries deal with the economic and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bank has also set aside an amount of $200 million for use in financing the production of COVID-19 equipment and supplies within Africa. “We hope that our modest contribution will help to address some of the immediate needs. We encourage other African banks, funds, corporations and charitable organisations to also contribute to the relief effort,” said Oramah, who noted that Afreximbank was working with the United Nations Economic Commis@Businessdayng
sion for Africa (ECA) and the AU to help mobilise grant funding for the COVID-19 mitigation responses. Highlighting the need for wide institutional support for the COVID-19 response effort, he said that “no one country or institution will be able to rise to the challenge of the pandemic on its own.” Oramah said that the resource constraints and urgent nature of interventions on the ground required significant grant financing to ensure timely support for emergency interventions in combating the pandemic. Afreximbank has a history of intervening in support of African countries in times of crisis. In November 2014, the Bank contributed $1 million to the effort to combat the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease which affected several countries in West Africa.
14
Tuesday 05 May 2020
BUSINESS DAY
COMPANIES&MARKETS
Business Event
OMPANY RELEASE
Covid-19: Cummins donates 100kVA power generator to NCDC
C
ummins West Africa Limited, (CWAL) has donated a 100kVA power generator for the Centre for Public Health Laboratory at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Yaba Lagos to guarantee uninterrupted power supply in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic at the center. Presenting the power generator to the NCDC leadership in Lagos, CWAL managing director, Ade Obatoyinbo said that the gesture by the company is part of its support and appreciation of the hard work, dedication and commitment of the staff and management of the centre to protection of the health and lives of Nigerians. Obatoyinbo said that for the centre to respond to emergencies and operate seamlessly it needs constant power supply and a conducive environment to be able to deliver efficient, timely and critical health care for
thousands of Nigerians who will be relying on NCDC to overcome health challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. While expressing optimism that Nigeria will be first among African countries to announce its exit from the pandemic just as in the case of Ebola, the CWAL Managing Director commended all the health workers in the front line of the fight against Coronavirus for the sacrifice they are making to save lives and curb the spread of the virus. He urged everyone to join in the fight against the pandemic by observing all the necessary precautions as prescribed by the Federal Ministry of Health: washing hands with soap and running water, observing social distancing, coughing only into bent elbows and staying at home when possible amongst others. In her response, Olajumoke Babatunde, deputy director NCDC/Head Central Public Health Laboratory
who represented the director general of NCDC, commended the management of Cummins West Africa Limited for the gesture. She said that since inception of the centre, one of the most pressing challenges it has dealt with is lack of adequate and constant power supply. Babatunde assured that with the power generator donated by CWAL, the power issue is now a thing of the past. Cummins West Africa Limited (CWAL), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cummins Inc., a NYSE (CMI) listed, Fortune 200 company. CWAL was initially established as a joint venture which became a 100 percent Cummins wholly-owned entity in 2014. CWAL has powered some of the largest and most mission critical operations in Nigeria in segments including power generation, rail, marine, defense, highway heavy, medium-duty bus and truck, agriculture, oil and gas, mining, construction and industrial.
L-R: Olamide Adeyemo,Chief Operating Officer, Pace Sports and Entertainment Marketing (PSEM), Emeka Ogbu, Vice President of Nigerian University Games Sola Fijabi, Association (NUGA), Eniola Ogunlade, Brand and Activation Manager of PZ Cussons Consumer, Director of PSEM, Charles Omoera, CEO Stanbic Bank IBTC Trustees, and Mutiu Adepoju, Brand Ambassador LaLiga Nigeria, during the International Press Conference to announce the commencement of the 2020 Higher Institutions Football League (HiFL) in Lagos… Pic by Pius Okeosisi
L-R: Sandra Isiekwe, Najeeb Abdulssalaam, Tajudeen Akande , senior partner; PKF Nigeria, Emmanuel Akintola and Steven Gobina at the PKF Nigeria Corporate Strategy Retreat in Lagos
Unilever partners Chamber to donate palliatives to FCT residents HARRISON EDEH,ABUJA
U
nilever Nigeria Plc. has donated essential commodities worth N2.5 million through the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), to some FCT residents to mitigate effect of COVID-19 pandemic. Jonathan Okeke, Regional Sales Manager, Middle Belt, Unilever, presented the essential commodities to the Director-General, ACCI, Victoria Akai, on Saturday in Abuja. The products which would be distributed immediately by ACCI to various homes in FCT comprised of hand sanitisers, face masks, home and skin care products, cosmetics and other personal hygiene items. Okeke said that due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nigerians, it was a call to action for Unilever to intervene and impact on the lives of the citizens to mitigate its effect. “We are partnering ACCI in distributing these items because it has direct access to a lot of women. We understand the period that we are into and how the pandemic has ravaged the whole world,” he said.
He said that similar intervention had also been carried out in many states across the country to cushion the effect by the company, Nigeria’s largest maker of soap as well as other home and personal care products. Akai, while commending Unilever for its gestures also noted that ACCI was concerned about the economic effect of the pandemic and the lockdown on its members and Nigerians generally. “We are grateful to Unilever. These will go a long way to assist various homes in the FCT who are in needs. “We are into partnership with women associations because women are also in the front line. “We are also targeting the market women to reach out to them with these items, to curtail the spread of the pandemic,” she said. According to the directorgeneral, ACCI has collaborated with some organisations to distribute essentials materials and also partnering Women Arise Development and Humanitarian Initiative (WADHI) to distribute the items. Akai also commended the Federal Government on the N50 billion loan facility to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and its www.businessday.ng
effort in enabling movement of essential commodities during COVID-19 pandemic. She expressed concern that due to the impact of the pandemic, some businesses might not survive while some might take a long while before recovering from the effect. In view of this, she said, the chamber had also urged the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN), to consider its members who would like to leverage on the N50 billion loan to boost their businesses. “The ACCI has an MSMEs desk which gives support to MSMEs operators applying for loan to fund their businesses. “We help them to go through the process and we hope CBN will also make the funds available to our members,” she said. Esther EghobamienMshelia, Convener, WADHI, said the association which had a cluster of women would aid in distributing the items through the women leaders in all the area councils to reach many homes. “We have women who are on our data base, day-to-day market women, a lot of them are petty traders with small capital base. Through us they have been able to access credits.
Sabo Nanono (m), minister of agriculture, with management and staff of Stallion group, at the minister’s visit to the Stallion Mills and Farms in Kano.
L-R: Kelvin Orifa, founder/CEO, EMBLUE, , Chidi Okeke , founder , Groove Platforms and Tokologo Phetla, founder/CEO, Christopher Africa, as franchised artificial intelligence marketing software, Christopher A.I, was launched at Social Media Week Lagos,
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Tuesday 05 May 2020
BUSINESS DAY
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Media business Covid-19: Nigerians worry over implications on economy - Survey Daniel Obi
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igerians are increasingly concerned about the coronavirus situation and its implications on life and the economy. With 1182 cases of Covid-19 as at last Sunday, 35 deaths and the four weeks lockdown, the socio-economic effects are hard-hitting. This unease is evident in latest Kantar report which indicates that about 150 million Nigerians out of about 200 million population are afraid of national financial breakdown followed by economic recession and hardship occasioned by Covid-19. The increasing fear negates the earlier confidence expressed in some markets, including Nigeria that their economy will recover quickly once the Covid-19 situation dies down. In a survey conducted by Kantar mid-March, this year, China with 67% was more optimistic of economic re-bound followed by Nigeria with 58%. Saudi Arabia came third with 49%. South Africa 32% and
Spain was less optimistic with 20% of economic recovery after Covid-19. The survey had polled 25,000 consumers across over 30 countries. But the latest survey says almost three-quarter of Nigerians (74%) are fearful of a national financial breakdown followed by an economic recession. Kantar in this second wave of study conducted 500 interviews in Nigeria: through both mobile online and computer aided tele-
phone interviewing (CATI). It also conducted two online focus groups discussions to elicit a deeper feel of consumer experiences, challenges and desires during this time. During the interview, it spoke to Nigerians in Lagos, South West, the Northern States, South East and South South geo-political zones of the country. The present apprehension about financial uncertainty related to the lockdown is not helped by the fact that crude
oil; Nigeria’s major source of foreign exchange is selling around $30 in the international oil markets, which is far below the projected $60 in the 2020 budget by the Federal Government of Nigeria, the report said. “The majority of Nigerians earn a daily wage from informal activities. Unfortunately, they have not been able to fend for themselves and their families throughout the lockdown and this is the deepest concern that the people have today”.
International Breweries Plc. supports the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria
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nternational Breweries Plc., (IBPlc) a part of the Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) family, has demonstrated its commitment to collaborate and partner with its stakeholders, including government, to reduce the spread and impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria. Building on the company’s longstanding commitment to its vision of ‘Bringing People Together for a Better World’, IBPlc, in a statement, said its COVID-19 support efforts have been “based on a collaborative approach of gathering insights from our communities and stakeholders so we can provide tailored interventions with the greatest impact”. Breakdown of the company’s donation to the governments of Anambra, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, and Rivers State; and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) amongst others shows: 30,000 bottles of hand sanitizers are being distributed to the states, hospitals/ government institutions, and communities; 60,000 bottles of nutritious non-alcoholic beverages (Beta Malt and Grand Malt) have been donated to support the food distribution drive by the government in var-
ious states. Tens of millions of naira committed to providing medical consumables which include: COVID -19 test kits, Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for the frontline workers and medical personnel: coveralls, hand gloves. Infrared thermometers. N10m donated by the Trophy Stout brand (during an e-concert by TuFace) to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for the procurement of test kits. Speaking on the company’s COVID-19 intervention, Hugo Dias Rocha, Managing Director, International Breweries Plc. in the statement said, “As an organization, we are always looking to support our local communities and are positive that our donation will assist and support the government and the communities greatly in the fight against the spread of this pandemic. “We appreciate and lend our voice to the various initiatives by the Federal Government of Nigeria, the State Governments, the private sector to which we belong and all other sectors, organizations, individual and players that have all teamed together to assist in curbing the spread of COVID-19.
Why Tecno picked Wizkid for first brand endorsement deal
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n April 2, Tecno Mobile launched its new flagship smartphones, the Camon 15 and Camon 15 Premier, into the Nigerian market. The highlight feature of the devices was the 48MP Ultra Quad camera. There was the fascinating 6.6” display, the sleek body, the trademarked Taivos technology, and the robust 5000mAh battery, all of which place Camon 15 among the most advanced yet affordable top of the line phones in the world. Themed “Magic of the Unseen”, the online launch event was watched live by more than 11,000 people on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, according to a statement. “On the micro-blogging platform, #Camon15Launch trended at number 3. Before the end of the week, the launch video was viewed over 2.5 million times and preorders crossed 3,000”. But the phones were not the only stars of the night. For the first time since Tecno started making phones in 2006, it announced that it had signed a brand ambassador. As the event streamed on, Tecno showcased a Guinness Book of Records-certified world’s largest flipbook and then a 1.1metre portrait of the
Grammy nominated Nigerian singer Wizkid. The portrait had been produced from a picture of the artiste, taken with a Camon 15 at an 8x zoom. With this, Tecno Mobile introduced the world to its first ever brand spokesperson, the statement said. Over the last year, Tecno surpassed Samsung, Huawei, and Apple to take the lead in the Nigerian mobile phone market, according to the statement. “With over 26% share of the market, according to GlobalStats, it currently sells
Rotimi Bankole, CEO, SBI Media www.businessday.ng
more phones than all of the others”. Also in 2019, Tecno’s parent company Transsion Holdings listed on the newly established STAR exchange in Shanghai to a record valuation of $3.95 billion (₦1.4 trillion), signaling that the world acknowledges its unexpected success in Africa. This is why the question now is: why has Tecno chosen to engage a brand ambassador at this time? Insiders in Transsion Holdings, which owns Tecno, Infinix, and iTel, according to
the statement, say the deal between the device maker and the superstar singer exists to accentuate the brand’s position and stature. “The brand has come, seen and conquered. It is time it cements its leadership by breaking new grounds,” says Jeff Tang, marketing manager at Tecno Mobile in the statement. SBI Media Group, the agency, which championed the brand influencer idea and brokered the contract between two parties, agrees with this thinking. According to Rotimi
Wizkid Tecno Nigerian pop star Wizkid (Ayo Balogun) at his unveiling as first brand ambassador signed by Tecno Mobile https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng
Bankole, SBI Media’s CEO, in the statement, there is a parallel in the rising profile of both Tecno Mobile and Wizkid, which is why the deal is worth the investment. A few months earlier, the same agency had brokered an arrangement to bring in Nigerian-international footballer Ahmed Musa as the main celebrity spokesperson for home appliance maker Syinix, another Transsion company. Meanwhile, Wizkid’s hasn’t done badly for himself either. Four years after he snagged the biggest record deal by an African artiste with RCA Records, his fame has grown further around the world. In 2020, a second Grammy nomination arrived indirectly for him by way of his collaboration with Beyoncé on the monumental album, The Lion King: The Gift. “See [the Tecno-Wikid deal] as the biggest in the industry and it is a partnership that is more valuable beyond the figures,” Bankole says. “It is the synergy and the brand fit that makes it invaluable.” Tang adds that, “Tecno fans and customers will be having the best of entertainment and mobile technology that is spoton. Wizkid is an incredible music icon who has taken the world by storm. Tecno is also @Businessdayng
an incredible brand with a strong credibility. Both brands are the best of both worlds.” For a company that has made Africa its own, building R&D labs in Nigeria and Kenya and a manufacturing factory in Ethiopia, Tecno Mobile intends to put its money where its mouth is, cementing its claim as a truly Nigerian and African corporation. Inside sources say the multi-year contract with Wizkid extends beyond the Camon 15 series. It is an “end-to-end” engagement in which the superstar will be on hand to also represent the mother brand and all other products bearing the Tecno logo. As for the pop idol in question, it turned out the feeling is mutual. “My team and I had a series of meetings where we looked at the history of Tecno and we saw something undeniable,” Wizkid says. “There were similarities in both of our personalities. Tecno has relentlessly risen through the ranks over the years, just as I have. We both have risen beyond obstacles and are now global; creating opportunities for others and reminding Nigerians that they are capable of achieving and becoming whatever they desire to be.”
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Tuesday 05 May , 2020
BUSINESS DAY
Branding
With continued collaboration, Covid-19 will be conquered globally – FMN’s COO As part of measures to strengthen the fight against Covid-19, Flour Mills Nigeria, FMN recently announced donation of N1bn to government. It is also providing immediate support to the most affected parts of the country by providing cash, food products and medical supplies across the country to tackle the pandemic. In this interview, the company’s COO, Boye Olusanya speaks on the pandemic and explains the donations to both federal and state governments. Excerpts FMN recently partnered with state governments in support of the nation’s ongoing food relief efforts amid the ravaging scourge of Covid-19. What was FMN’s motivation for this initiative? he coronavirus is easily the biggest crisis that the world is facing right now. We see large cities and developed economies around the world groan under the effects of the virus, and Nigeria is not faring any better. Our socio-economic activities and general way of life have been disrupted. So, you can imagine the effect that this will have on the average Nigerian. These are trying times, and that is why FMN is playing its part to support the efforts of the government. The partial lockdown is well informed and intended to curb the spread of the virus, but we also understand that Nigerians must continue to get access to healthy food, and that is where we come in. As one of the largest Foods and Agro-allied groups in the country today, we understand that our role in society is vital. For 60 years, FMN has continued to demonstrate its commitment to ensuring that Nigeria gets access to healthy and nutritious meals, and we are not about to stop now. We have a shared heritage with the country – we have been here at the best of times and at difficult times and will remain here for many more years to come creating shared values across our communities and ensuring Nigerians always have access to healthy and nutritious meals. We are positive that as we continue to work together, we will overcome the current challenges. What does FMN hope to achieve with this partnership? At this moment, I believe it’s a little bigger than just what FMN hopes to achieve. The coronavirus is a Global crisis of monumental proportions. As at today, the virus has spread to as much as 185 countries and territories across the world. As at today, there are more than 36,000 cases and over 1,500, deaths in Africa alone. Sadly, that number is increasing, and since this is not something any one person can fix, we must trust in the power of humanity and continue to work together. As a Food and Agro-allied group, we know that we can help by ensuring we continue to produce healthy and nutritious foods for Nigerians and we are doing that. We have established a carefully structured protocol at all our offices and plants to ensure that our employees from the farms, to produc-
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Boye Olusanya
tion, and then distribution can safely continue to produce food. We assure Nigerians that Golden Penny products will continue to be available. What measures have been put in place on accountability to ensure the donation gets to the right hands? We are working very closely with the government at different levels to ensure that priority is given to the most vulnerable in our society, like low-income families, the elderly, children and more. For Lagos State, we have the commitment from the Governor that food donations will be distributed as equitably as possible. We must use this opportunity to commend the efforts of the government so far. The measures that were put in place to combat the virus across are commendable. We have complete faith in government and will continue to seek out avenues for partnership until the virus is eliminated in Nigeria. How do you plan to ensure the safety of your staff and individuals they come in contact with during the donations of food? Our priorities were to ensure the www.businessday.ng
safety and reduce the risk of exposure of our employees, partners and other stakeholders as well as, ensure that Golden Penny products are still available. As essential services provider, we are committed to ensuring our operations are not hindered, so one of the first things we did was to implement a strategic business continuity framework, and a Crisis management plan to ensure that our employees are protected and, our supply chains and production processes are not hindered. Most of our employees now work remotely, and the few who must be at the plants follow the strictest safety protocols and adhere to appropriate safety measures as advised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and Federal and State Health Agencies including the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). What has been the company’s greatest concern about food supply to all social classes in the country? More than anything else, the biggest challenge at this period is accessibility. The restriction on movements means that most people can’t
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get access to the right type of food. Markets are not open or only operating marginally. It is easy to imagine the impact that all of these will have on the most vulnerable in our society. When we initiated the food donation drive, our intention was to target this class of people – low-income households, the elderly, children, and more. We actually have a long list of charities and special needs organisations that we want to reach with food, and we will work with the state government to ensure that we can provide some relief at such a trying time. Are there any other initiatives FMN has done/plans to do to ‘Feed the nation’? As part of measures to further strengthen the fight against the spread of the virus, FMN, through the Nigerian Private Sector Coalition Against Coronavirus (CACOVID), donated the sum of N1 billion to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In addition to the cash donation, we have just procured medical supplies worth about $1.5 million . As the virus continues to gain grounds in the country, it has become evident that we must immediately expand our testing capacity in the country. It is our hope that the medical supplies which include COVID-19 testing kits, ventilators and Personal Protective Equipment will rapidly beef up Nigeria’s testing capacity for the virus and give us a fighting chance at such a tough time. The medical supplies will facilitate: 100/ day field-testing capacity, 35,000 laboratory-based testing capacities, and provide about 331,000 pieces of PPE including N95 Masks, Coveralls, Protective gloves, and Protective eyewear. This should be enough to provide regular use for about 10,000 Nigerian health care professionals over two months. This medical equipment will provide the much-needed support to medical emergency workers across the country, who are selflessly working to ensure that Nigeria can slow down the transmission of the virus and save lives. In the next couple of days, we would have distributed the medicals to NCDC and its lab networks across the country. How has Covid-19 affected the production/supply of FMN goods? The virus has greatly affected the world in general. However, we have also implemented strict protocols on all our operations including a carefully designed Business Continuity Plan that ensures that we can continue to produce enough food for Nigerians. During this period, @Businessdayng
logistics and how quickly we can receive raw materials and distribute finished products have come under the most strain. But like any other challenge that a business of our size can encounter on a daily basis we have structures in place to help us adjust and continue operations. What effect do you think Covid-19 will have on FMN’s operations, and the industry at large? The restriction of movement and other measures introduced to curb the spread of the virus, will expectedly put some strain on the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. There is bound to be some reduction in the amount of food that is produced across the value chains. Restrictions to movement, means farmers can’t produce as much, or labour-intensive industries can’t get access to the manpower that they need. With fewer people able to get around, the access to labour or manpower is naturally affected. Most of these are perhaps not that noticeable now, because of the lockdown, but eventually we could witness some scramble for high value commodities which will in turn encourage a hike in prices. The slowdown of the Global economy necessitated by the lockdown in most countries has already had some severe effects on global oil trade, with oil prices now lower than $30. This has in turn had some dire effect on the revenue of Nigeria, and our ability to earn foreign exchange. The impact on the demand for Forex will only mean that Industries will continue to face tough times. What will be your advice to the government and the general public as they deal with the new normal engendered by Covid-19? The safety of Nigerians during this period is paramount to us, so we encourage all Nigerians to continue to adhere to the necessary protective measures against the virus and other diseases. Wash your hands thoroughly or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, practice good personal hygiene, maintain social distancing, stay informed and follow the advice given by the World Health Organization (WHO), and Federal and State Health Agencies including the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).We are encouraged by the efforts of the Federal and state government across the country to fight the virus and will continue to provide support as necessary. We know that with continued collaboration across the country, the pandemic will be conquered in Nigeria, Africa and all over the world.
Tuesday 05 May 2020
BUSINESS DAY
BDTECH
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In association with
E-mail: jumoke.akiyode@businessdayonline.com
How smartphone companies are including features to adapt to the new normal …as software developers work on contact tracing mobile apps ties say their contact tracing software is designed to have a limited lifetime, and says it is necessary to protect people’s health. The program is also voluntary and needs people to opt in for it to work. According to research from Oxford University, these apps will only be effective against the fight of the coronavirus spread if around 60 percent of the population choose to take part.
Jumoke Akiyode Lawanson
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he Covid-19 pandemic is affecting markets, industries and economies all over the world, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone companies are not exempted, and some of them are currently taking active steps to embed new features that will be necessary for users during and after the pandemic. Although the smartphone industry has over the last few months seen a major decline in production; as many smartphone manufacturers have facilities in China and rely on the country to supply components, as well as disruptions in sales because people would rather buy essential items at this time, and changes in usage patterns, it has become more important for smartphone companies to update and upgrade features on existing devices rather than produce or release new devices. Just last week, Apple, producers of iPhone smartphones and iPad tablets, updated its new iOS feature to assist Covid-19 protective measures. This new update allows Apple’s iPhone users to easily unlock their devices, even with their protective face masks on. Face ID was introduced with the iPhone X (10), allowing users to unlock their phones using their facial image rather than fingerprint or password feature that was available in its previous devices. However, with the new iOS 13.5, the iPhone quickly detects if the user has a mask on, and immediately goes straight to the passcode screen for you to unlock your device. This new update makes `using your phone easier, as you do not have to
wait until Face ID fails to recognise a face multiple times before you can access the passcode screen. According to reports from SkyNews, Apple is also working on other features to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. A source at Tecno Mobile tells BusinessDay that the smartphone company which is always working on something new will definitely find ways to incorporate the new normal, post Covid-19 into its subsequent devices. “We are clearly known for innovative technology solutions that address the current needs of users, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the new Tecno devices allow people to unlock their phones using passcodes even with their gloves on. Already our latest devices allow for contactless answering of calls and device unlock with iris scan which can be used with face masks on,” the source said.
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In April, Apple and Google announced a system for tracking the spread of the new coronavirus, allowing users to share data through Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmissions and approved apps from health organizations. It is expected that by mid-May Apple and Google will introduce a pair of iOS and Android APIs and make sure these health authorities’ apps can implement them. During this phase, users will still have to download an app to participate in contact-tracing, which technology experts say could limit adoption. But in the months after the API is complete, the companies will work on building tracing functionality into the underlying operating system, as an option immediately available to everyone with an iOS or Android phone. Apart from smartphone companies upgrading features, technology software developers have also
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gotten to work to solutions that will aid a slowdown of the spread of the infectious virus. As interest grows in smartphone technology as a potential key to ending lockdowns and re-opening economies around the world, various contact tracing apps to help track the path of a potential virus carrier and warning those who might have been nearby have been developed. Singapore has already seen success with its ‘Trace Together’ application, and France is working on its own version called ‘Stop Covid’, Germany is working on its unique application even though Berlin is already using data collected by smart devices – ‘CoronaDatenspende’ which means Corona data donation uses information from smart watches and fitness trackers to build an interactive map showing the spread of the virus. France’s data protection authori-
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How the contact tracing apps work; Once contact tracing apps are installed on mobile devices, it creates a unique, secure user ID and stores it locally on the device. With Bluetooth, the app notes down the IDs of other devices that have come within two metres over the last 21 days. If the phone’s owner becomes sick, the people they have come across are alerted and told to quarantine themselves. This technology aims to be less intrusive than other solutions because it does not need geolocation via GPS or relay antennas to work. It also doesn’t collect data on the user’s health or their list of contacts, and the encrypted user ID ensures that data remains anonymous. In Nigeria, although Ogun State government recently rolled out a mobile application for members of the public to self-assess themselves for Covid-19, technology experts say more should be done by Federal and State governments to engage software developers for contact tracing solutions. Tomi Coker, Ogun State commissioner for health said the application named “Ogun COVID-19 Assessment” is meant to determine the risk of resident’s exposure to the disease and not for diagnostic purposes.
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Tuesday 05 May 2020
BUSINESS DAY
BDTECH
E-mail: jumoke.akiyode@businessdayonline.com
Interswitch Group provides free technology to state, federal governments through HealthTech Subsidiary, eClat ... As Group, employees raise N305 million covid19 response fund Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson
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everaging on its core responsibilities as a technology company and systems integrator, Interswitch says it will be providing free technology for the use of governments and healthcare authorities in Nigeria. Through its healthcare subsidiary, eClat Healthcare, Interswitch is also building a user-friendly, locally-nuanced software application for members of the public as a first-line intervention for the assessment of risk and predisposition to the novel Coronavirus infection. The software platform analyses users’ information provided from answers to a series of questions around risk factors, recent exposure, observed symptoms, health and travel history. According to the company, this initiative essentially serves to provide guided and up-to-date information on COVID-19, reduce panic, lower gross footfall to medical facilities, being a first-line checkpoint and ultimately reduce risk of exposure to health workers on the frontlines of fighting the pandemic. Designed with an interactive interface, the solution facilitates further virtu-
al consultation for infected persons, meaning infected persons can stay in their homes and access consultation as to whether their symptoms give cause for alarm or not. In a statement sent to BusinessDay, Interswitch revealed that the eClat Health-tech solution supporting State Governments’ response to COVID-19 has already been implemented in 20 states across the country. It is currently in use in Lagos State’s Eti-Osa Isolation centre, and in Edo, Ogun and Oyo States. The solution is set to go live in Delta, Kaduna, Bayelsa, Yobe and Jigawa States where healthcare personnel have also been trained for implementation. Others are Kano, Katsina, Rivers, Abia, Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom and Imo States. Interswitch is leveraging its existing partnership with players such as PAX Technology (a leading international provider of Pointof-Sale payment terminals) to provide essential medical consumables and supplies such as N95 facial masks and thermometers as part of the quest to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. The group has also expressed a commitment to leveraging its creative capabilities, social and digi-
Mitchell Elegbe, CEO Interswitch Group
tal media assets to roll out awareness and sensitization campaigns to propagate WHO-approved messaging and information on COVID-19, under the umbrella platform of #FlattenTheCov. Commenting on the essence of these interventions, Mitchell Elegbe, founder and Group chief executive officer at Interswitch, said: “These interventions sit well within the context of
our corporate mission; to create transaction solutions that enable individuals and communities prosper across Africa. Our efforts are underpinned by the realization that this pandemic, if left unchecked is a potent threat to interactions which facilitate entrepreneurship and commerce, without which inclusive prosperity will remain a pipe dream. It is our desire and earnest hope that these initiatives, aggregated with the good-
...expands to meet increasing demands, as it records 300million daily meeting participants Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson
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oom Video Communications, Inc. has turned to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to support its growth and evolving business needs as the enterprise video communications company continues to innovate and provide an essential service to its extensive customer base. “We recently experienced the most significant growth our business has ever seen, requiring massive increases in our service capacity. We explored multiple platforms, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure was instrumental in helping us quickly scale our ca-
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sands of concurrent Zoom meeting participants. After achieving full production, Zoom is now enabling millions of simultaneous meeting participants on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Oracle’s second-generation cloud infrastructure will help Zoom scale to continue to deliver flawless service to its customer base, adapt to changing demands, and lead the video communications industry. “Video communication has become an essential part of our professional and personal lives, and Zoom has led this industry’s innovation,” Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle said. “We are proud to work with Zoom, as both their cloud infrastructure provider and as a
to support the setting up and equiping of isolation centres, purchase of COVID-19 Test kits, provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) and related support to frontline heath workers, as well as the operation of foodbanks to cater to under-privileged communities in Lagos. Already, Interswitch’s Verve Brand has sealed a partnership with the Lagos State Feeding Programme to provide raw food items for poor and vulnerable communities in Lagos. The Group also supported The Young President’s Association (YPO) and the Lagos State government in setting up the already functional Eti-Osa Isolation centre in Lagos. The fund provided the Delta State Government with tropicalized ultra-low temperature (ULT) laboratory refrigerators that will be used for the storage of reagents and other laboratory consumables and COVID-19 test samples, pending when they will be transported to the designated COVID-19 Testing Laboratory in Irrua, Edo State. In addition, Interswitch is finalizing discussions with Edo, Enugu, Kaduna, Ogun and Oyo states in the area of providing test kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline health workers.
Konga partners Unilever for free, contactless delivery of household products
Zoom chooses Oracle as cloud infrastructure provider for its core online meeting service pacity and meet the needs of our new users,” Eric S. Yuan, CEO of Zoom said. “ We chose Oracle Cloud Infrastructure because of its industry-leading security, outstanding performance, and unmatched level of support,” he said. To meet rapidly increasing demand for its services, including a sudden spike to 300 million daily meeting participants, Zoom needed additional cloud capacity immediately. Zoom says it selected Oracle Cloud Infrastructure for its advantages in performance, scalability, reliability and superior cloud security. Within hours of deployment, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure supported hundreds of thou-
will and committed efforts of many other like-minded corporate entities and wellmeaning individuals who have rallied to this noble cause would significantly contribute to the flattening of the COVID-19 infection curve in Nigeria, which remains one of Africa’s most important economic hubs”. By virtue of the alliance with technology providers such as PAX, Interswitch has also underscored commitment by the partners to promote the adoption of contactless point-of-sale payment solutions across the West Africa market. Contactless payment solutions include payments with contactless-enabled credit and debit cards, as well as QR codes, underscored by the realization that the widespread adoption of contactless payment solutions have greater propensity to better mitigate the spread of COVID-19. In addition, the Group and its employees have raised a total of N305 million towards the organization’s COVID-19 response effort. Employees of the organisation contributed a total of N75 million and the company augmented their efforts with the sum of N230 million. The fund from Interswitch Group and its employees is being deployed
customer, while they grow and continue to connect businesses, people and governments around the world,” Catz said. Oracle says it is uniquely positioned to enable Zoom’s rapid expansion and innovative video communications platform, due to its network architecture, capacity and data center locations. Already, Zoom is transferring upwards of seven petabytes through Oracle Cloud Infrastructure servers each day, roughly equivalent to 93 years of HD video. Oracle’s second-generation cloud infrastructure, combined with expertise in security, will support Zoom in delivering an enterpriseready video communications experience.
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K
onga has partnered with renowned Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) manufacturer, Unilever to provide a wide range of products on the e-commerce site with free delivery to shoppers across the country. Konga says that Unilever is indeed keen to leverage Konga’s massive regional warehousing infrastructure, advanced logistics capabilities and unmatched reach, through its thriving online platform which caters to a growing clientele of online shoppers in search of genuine products at the best prices available in the market. Further increasing the appeal of Konga as a premium vehicle suited to Unilever’s ambition of reaching new and potential customers is the e-commerce company’s network of physical stores widely dispersed in @Businessdayng
the metropolises and various nooks and crannies across Nigeria’s vast landscape and its Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licensed payment wallet, KongaPay; factors that have made it the toast of a number of top global brands looking to make an in-road into Africa’s biggest market via e-commerce. Konga revealed in a press release that shoppers in Nigeria are in for a treat as the company has rolled out free delivery for shoppers on the various product range in the Unilever stable. These include products such as Royco seasoning package, Lipton Yellow Label Tea, Close-up Red Hot and Herbal lines, Sunlight detergent, Lifebuoy, Lux, Pepsodent, Vaseline and Shea Moisture, among others. Equally important, the products can be accessed online on the Konga platform.
Tuesday 05 May 2020
BUSINESS DAY
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The retail boss devising a strategy to survive lockdown James Timpson has been planning how to operate his stores post-pandemic JUDITH EVANS
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t was March 13 when James Timpson, chief executive of the Timpson family shoe repair and key-cutting chain, realised what the full impact of the coronavirus on his business was likely to be. He had planned to take one of his children skiing in France, but was forced to cancel as the French lockdown approached. Instead he looked over company cash flow forecasts and saw a crunch ahead as he realised the group might have to suspend trading for the first time in 150 years. He asked himself: “What happens if the shops are shut, but you’ve got to keep paying the rent, you’ve got to keep paying the rates and you’ve got to keep paying the wages?” In the intervening weeks Mr Timpson’s role has completely changed. He has negotiated a £50m overdraft — “our risk slasher” — for his previously debt-free company; most of his staff are furloughed; and where he once visited dozens of Timpson stores each week, he now sits in a room in his home near Chester, north-west England, trying to work out how 5,400 employees and more than 2,100 stores will reactivate after the pandemic. His routine is now built around a daily workout with a fitness app and a long list of calls with fellow retailers, landlords, suppliers, and colleagues. “The emails have stopped. There’s not as much to do. So all we’re trying to do now is planning ahead,” he says. “To be fair, I think the government has done an amazing job. They are a bit like a surgeon when you’re at death’s door, who holds your hand and says ‘don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re alive when you wake up’.” Unlike many other high street businesses, Timpson does not face an immediate risk of expiring. It has long been a quirky company, shaped by 48-year-old Mr Timpson, and before him his father John, into something
that resembles little else in British retailing. It has rarely borrowed during James’s tenure, leaving it in a strong position for hibernation. And as retailers wrestled with the transition to online, Timpson kept its offering largely to services that could not be carried out digitally — shoe repair, watch repair, key cutting and engraving — which proved a prosperous niche “apart from,” as Mr Timpson says wryly, “when you have to shut your shops”. At a time when companies’ values are under scrutiny, Timpson has developed a reputation for virtue. It sports the Fair Tax Mark and pays the national living wage plus a share of branch profits. A tenth of employees are exoffenders and it runs training schemes in prisons. Staff, always called “colleagues”, get extra days off for birthdays, bereavements, and children’s first day at school; the company owns holiday homes for their use, and in a paternalistic touch, it even rewards employees with £100 for giving up smoking or vaping. When coronavirus hit, some 170 staff on trial periods were let go, but permanent staff were told the company would top up the 80 per cent of wages paid by the government’s furlough scheme so that they would receive full salaries. There is also an element of self-conscious eccentricity about Timpson. Its head office has a life-sized leather camel, tree house and firemen’s pole. Mr Timpson www.businessday.ng
sums up its hiring policy, based entirely on personality, through the medium of the Mr Men children’s books. “We want Mr Happy, Mr Tickle, Mrs Laughter, Little Miss Sunshine, people like that. Not Mr Moody, Mr Dull, Mr Weird, Mr Miserable. It’s a gut feeling — you talk to someone for 5 or 10 minutes and you know what sort of person they are.” A philosophy of “upside down management” hands a high degree of autonomy to stores. But there is an unforgiving side: in a previous interview Mr Timpson has referred to employees who do not fit the culture as “drongos” and said: “Another thing we are good at is making sure those colleagues whose best isn’t good enough leave.” Still, the culture appears effective. Turnover among staff who have passed their trial periods is 14 per cent, he says, compared with closer to a third across the retail sector. “What we find is if people do two years with us, they’ll do another 20.” Timpson carries out no marketing, advertising or public relations, hires no management consultants and has no budgets, Mr Timpson says. It made £14.2m of pretax profit, up 12.7 per cent from the previous year, on £278m of turnover in the year to September 2018, while paying out £1.7m of dividends, according to the most recent accounts, which also reassure readers that “kindness has a big role to play in business ”. Editor’s note
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The Financial Times is making key coronavirus coverage free to read to help everyone stay informed. Find the latest here. Mr Timpson took over as chief executive in 2002. One of five siblings, he knew from his late teens that he wanted to enter the family business. In his early 20s he wrote to business leaders such as Tom Farmer, founder of car servicing chain Kwik Fit, asking to shadow them for a day. Mr Timpson’s father John, knighted in 2017, remains chairman of the company. John sold off its shoe retail business in the 1980s to focus on shoe repair and other services. James has built on that, including with the acquisitions of photo chains Snappy Snaps and Max Spielmann, Johnsons dry cleaners, and a recent venture into barber shop “pods”. A move into China in 2017 proved shortlived, while Johnsons has taken longer than expected to integrate, but such hiccups have been rare. Mr Timpson has “never, never, never” been tempted to list the company or sell a stake, despite approaches “every two or three weeks”. Will any of his three children go into the business? “Maybe one day. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea having 5,400 people who depend on you.” A month into lockdown, a tentative reopening is beginning. Some 40 Timpson stores within supermarkets have reopened, with “sneeze screens” to protect workers — who also wear masks or @Businessdayng
visors — and social distancing in place. It is “very quiet”, says Mr Timpson, who does not expect stores to be profitable during lockdown but is testing the waters ahead of what he expects to be a fuller reopening in June. Longer-term effects on demand are another unknown, although the company benefited after the financial crisis from what Mr Timpson calls a “make do and mend society”. Some workers are “apprehensive, but after they’ve done a couple of hours they feel far more confident,” he says. “A lot are very very keen to get back to work — they love their customers and their shops and it’s been a very important part of their lives.” Three questions for James Timpson Who is your leadership hero? Julian Richer of Richer Sounds — he’s showed how you can successfully run a business through kindness. There are a few amazing people in business who I’ve always followed every word they say, and Julian Richer is one of them. If you were not a CEO, what would you be? A f a r m e r. I p ro b a b l y wouldn’t be a very good farmer, but I love being outside. What was the first leadership lesson you learnt? That the best way to solve a problem is to ask the people who actually do the job. If you want to work anything out, ask the people who do it all the time. They are the experts.
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Tuesday 05 May 2020
BUSINESS DAY
Coronavirus crisis creates new words that enter everyday language In times of emergency, previously unfamiliar terms rapidly enter daily life MICHAEL SKAPINKER
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very crisis is a crashcourse in new words and concepts. The 2008 financial crunch introduced the public to subprime loans, credit default swaps and quantitative easing. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought us contact tracing, PPE (personal protective equipment rather than the degree of philosophy, politics and economics), immunocompromised and coronavirus itself. The new words have become part of everyday conversation. Between 1995 and the end of 2019, major US and UK national newspapers used the phrase “social distancing” 163 times, according to the Factiva database. In 2020 they have used it more than 31,000 times. Some authorities regret the ubiquity of “social distancing”. At the World Health Organization press briefing on March 20, Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO consultant, said the organisation preferred the term “physical distancing” because it stressed that people should keep a safe distance from each other rather than end social contact. The WHO still wanted people to stay in touch with loved ones through the internet and social media “because your mental health going through this is just as important as your physical health”. The attempted change is understandable but it does not appear to have taken hold. The same newspapers have this year used the term “physical distancing” just over 1,400 times. Old words are resurrected Officials have had to revive old terms to explain new concepts. When Rishi Sunak, the UK chancellor, last month announced government support for companies that wanted to stop paying staff without making them redundant, he said these workers would be “furloughed” with the government paying 80 per cent of their salaries. “Furlough”, from the Dutch verlof, appeared in England and in Scottish writing
Shoppers queue outside a supermarket, adopting ‘social distancing’ rules © Tullio Puglia/Bloomberg
from the 17th century onwards, usually about soldiers’ leave, and then about leave from work more generally in the 18th and 19th centuries, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. But “furlough” in the sense that Mr Sunak used it — suspending someone from work temporarily, usually without pay — is primarily an American word, freshly adopted in the UK last month to explain a new emergency measure. The public take control of pandemic parlance Tony Thorne, compiler of the Dictionary of Contemporary Slang and a language specialist at King’s College London, says it is not just health experts and government ministers who have introduced previously unfamiliar words into the coronavirus conversation. People have created their own words, such as “covidiot” for those who disobey social distancing rules. “Some of the language is deliberately frivolous to keep people’s spirits up,” he says. He has seen the use of “Miley Cyrus” as rhyming slang for coronavirus. “The public are not passive consumers of language. They’ve taken ownership,” he says. He is also tracking words people have made up to describe the clothes visible during video calls www.businessday.ng
— “upperware” — or “infits”, as opposed to outfits, for at-home apparel. He is waiting to hear words to portray the reorganisation of book shelves visible in web conversations. I told him that when, with two colleagues, I had a technical rehearsal for a public online panel discussion later that day, one said she would have to “curate her background”. Mr Thorne said: “Good, I’m making a note of that.” Battle metaphors are common Linguists are also tracking the changing metaphors used to describe the crisis. War and fighting metaphors are common, as in Donald Trump’s White House press conference on April 15 in which he said: “All of American society is engaged and mobilised in the war against the invisible enemy. While we must remain vigilant, it is clear that our aggressive strategy is working.” When UK prime minister Boris Johnson was in hospital with coronavirus, Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, who was standing in for him, said: “I’m confident he will pull through because if there’s one thing I know about this prime minister: he’s a fighter.” The use of war and fighting metaphors to describe diseases has attracted criticism for de-
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cades. In 1978, Susan Sontag, the late US writer, objected to descriptions of sickness as battles because they “assign to the ill the ultimate responsibility both for falling ill and for getting well”. Gianpiero Petriglieri, associate professor at Insead, says the problem with battle metaphors is that “war dehumanises us, pushing us to put vulnerabilities aside.” To the critics, for Mr Raab to say that Mr Johnson would recover because he was a fighter suggested that personal courage was enough for a patient to recover from Covid-19 and that those who did not lacked fight. Journey metaphors suggest co-operation Brigitte Nerlich, emeritus professor of science, language and society at Nottingham university, says she is encouraged that UK government ministers are beginning to use journey rather than war metaphors. These imply public co-operation rather than the strong-arm approach conveyed by battle talk. “A journey is an attempt to take people with them, which is good,” she says. Editor’s note The Financial Times is making key coronavirus coverage free to read to help everyone stay informed. @Businessdayng
Find the latest here. She pointed to journey metaphors in Mr Raab’s briefing on April 9 when he thanked the public for having “gone the extra mile”. Mr Raab added, explaining why the government could not yet ease restrictions, that “we must keep going” and that the restrictions would remain until “we’ve got the evidence that clearly shows we’ve moved beyond the peak”. But Mr Thorne says we need a more nuanced examination of when to use battle language. Covid-19 is an all-absorbing crisis, requiring joint action and sacrifice. The Queen understood this when, in her recent address to the UK, she said, echoing Vera Lynn’s second world war song: “We will meet again”. It resonated because she was old enough to have lived through the war and to be able to reassure people that difficult times eventually passed. Mr Thorne says these appeals to solidarity can be appropriate because, unlike issues such as Brexit, where many people said they had become bored, no one could ignore Covid-19 or what the government was asking them to do. “We can’t just disapprove of war metaphors. In this situation you need a national mobilisation,” Mr Thorne says.
Tuesday 05 May, 2020
BUSINESS DAY
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EDUCATION Weekly insight on current and future trends in education
Primary/Secondary
Higher
Human Capital
Bala assumes office, appeal for unity • To revived committee system • Says ABU had never had an academic brief • Decried mediocrity in varsity system MARK MAYAH
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he vice chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kabir Bala, professor of Construction Management has finally assumed office, with a passionate appeal to all staff of the institution to unite and work hard for the advancement of the university. Bala made the appeal on Friday during the official handing over by the immediate past Acting vice chancellor of the institution, Danladi Ameh (Prof ), at the university’s Senate chamber. A release signed by Mallam Auwal Umar, Deputy Director, Public Affairs stated that the vice chancellor explained that for ABU to be run effectively and efficiently, the university Committee System had to be revived as a statutory organ of the administration. The new VC said all hands must be on deck to take the
Kabir Bala VC ABU
university to greater heights. Bala quoted the world’s 18th Century literary icon, Shakespeare, to justify his appeal on the need to work together in the overall interest
of the university when he said: “The world is a stage where everyone will act and go”. The VC expressed gratitude to his predecessor, Ibrahim Garba (Prof ), for his good
IAC: Kwara govt refutes worker’s leave-without-pay SIKIRAT SHEHU, ILORIN
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he Kwara State Ministry of Tertiary Education, Science and Technology has clarified that the government has neither approved for salaries to be paid in percentages nor for any member of staff at the International Aviation College Ilorin to go on compluslory leave without pay at the College or in any of the Tertiary Institutions for that matter. A release on Friday, signed by Sa’adatu Modibbo Kawu, Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Science and Technol-
ogy stated that “in March 2020, in the interest of public safety as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government directed all its employees to work from home until further notice. “That subsisting directive covered all employees in Kwara State establishments including the Aviation College. The decision was not for anyone to go on leave without pay. “I will like to place on record that this administration has on several occasions approved special intervention funds for the International Aviation College. In January, 2020, for instance, N19.460m was
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approved and released to the college to pay the salaries of its staff; its aviation insurance fees; and other items needed for smooth flight operations. “The students of the college are presently on standard pilot course 16, and flight dispatch course 6 — thanks to the administration. “It is also important to state that the college is presently enjoying virtual learning access, the first of such since the College was established. “The present administration would continue to prioritise the welfare of staff and students, while ensuring accessible and qualitative learning in all our institutions. “We recognise that the world is facing serious economic crisis at this time and Kwara is not immune. Even then, the Ministry of Tertiary Institution, Science and Technology has not approved any pay cut or leave without pay for any category of workers at this time. To this extent, the decision for pay cut or leave without pay is hereby reversed with immediate effect.”
works and prayed God to reward him in his future endeavour. He also commended the immediate past acting vice chancellor,Danladi Ameh (prof) for contributing to the progress and development of the university within the period he led the institution. Bala, who threw ‘missiles’ at the ceremony, listed lack of functional academic brief, inability to review the institution’s curricular and lack of master plan among others, as the major challenges facing the university at the moment. He said the last time the institution curricular was reviewed was in 2012 and that was the very first time the university was able to review its curricular adding that the present curricular was due for review in 2017 but nothing was done. “We need to do a lot to catch up with the global trend. ABU had never had an academic brief. We don’t have the master plan for long, the last being the one
produced in 1982, during the tenure of Ango Abdullahi (prof), even the strategic plans we have do not synchronise. We have to raise these questions because of ABU’s strategic position. “Unfortunately, we are now in an academic and intellectual environment where we don’t want to ask questions for fear that we may be tagged as the enemy of the system. All we have now all over is mediocrity”, he said. The VC noted that people looked up to ABU to solve their problems as the institution proffered solutions in the past to challenges faced in agriculture, security and many other sensitive issues. “When last did we have our discourse as a university? I could vividly remember when the government would always rush to ABU to collect the analyses and recommendations after every public discourse organized by the then academics like Bala Usman (Dr) of blessed memory”, he said.
The VC therefore stressed that, for the university to be run effectively and efficiently the committee system had to be revived immediately as a statutory organ of the administration. Earlier, Ameh described the new VC as somebody with a vast knowledge of the university, saying: “With Bala in the saddle, the institution will farewell”. Ameh, who described as ‘daunting’ the task assigned him as acting VC, urged the university community and all other stakeholders to give Bala all the needed support to move the institution forward. It would be recalls that the governing council of ABU had at its 189th special meeting on January 22, 2020 approved the appointment of Kabir Bala as VC. Bala, until his appointment was the institution’s vice chancellor (Administration), took over from Ibrahim Garba (prof), whose tenure expired on April 30, 2020.
Post COVID-19: Nigeria, Others must seek creative approach to address educational inequality KELECHI EWUZIE
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frica largest economy, Nigeria and governments from other African countries must as a matter of urgency seek creative approach to solve the inequality challenge in the education sector, post Covid-19. Stakeholders in education have said. The Coronavirus pandemic that continues to defy solution has seen educational institutions shuttered as millions of students are out of the classroom which in turn has witnessed a drop in learning outcomes for a lot of students. The experts who spoke at a webinar series organised by Teach For Nigeria, an organisation that recruits young graduates to teach for two years in underserved community, says that Coronavirus pandemic will exacerbate educational inequality in Africa, but it will also provide an opportunity for creativity towards solving that problem. In the webinar series titled, ‘Rethinking Education in Africa: A response to the Global Pandemic’ experts called on
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government to think beyond traditional education to hands on learning where young people will become problem solvers, creating jobs even for their own friends and peers. “It is absolutely important for business leaders to stand up and take part in helping the education sector during this Covid-19 pandemic, said Dzingai Mutumbuka, former minister of education, Zimbabwe. “The economy is vibrant because of skilled people. Poor education will affect the economy of Nigeria. Everyone must come together to secure the future”, Mutumbuka said. He called on African leaders to provide critical infrastructures, adding that unless action is taken, the inequity and inequality we see tomorrow will be worse than what we have today in the education sector. Also speaking, Simi Nwogugu, executive director, Junior Achievement Nigeria says governments both at the Federal and subnational levels must begin to move education from traditional models to alternative models of learning. Adding that it’s time to use this opportunity to get education @Businessdayng
right-not just for the lockdown but for good! “Coronavirus has shown us that we need to be innovative. We need citizens who are design thinkers and problem solvers. The pandemic has exposed us more to the need for raising children that can develop solutions to help communities. We need these capabilities even after the post Covid-19” Nwogugu said. Chris Bradford, chief executive officer, African leadership academy, opines that to help children in rural areas without electricity or internet, government must ensure that schools are ready to make up for their loss of learning when they resume. Bradford noted that so many schools see excellent education as a series of A’s instead of a process of continuous learning, adding that to become better, we need to reframe the definition of excellence. On her part, Modupe Adefeso-Olateju, managing director, TEP center, opines that strategy and speed will differentiate those who are able to leapfrog educational access and quality post-pandemic.
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Tuesday 05 May, 2020
BUSINESS DAY
EDUCATION
Innovation amid Covid-19 will improve learning outcomes in Nigeria - experts KELECHI EWUZIE
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n a country like Nigeria where the education sector is still challenged by issues around quality, quantity of education, gaps across various dimensions like gender, regional, income levels, socio- economic status, overcrowding in public schools and also funding, the Coronavirus pandemic may have provided an opportunity to advance learning outcomes. Industry experts has said. To mitigate the impact of school closures, learning in Nigeria has gone virtual, moving online where connectivity can be established, and using television, radio, and paper-based approaches where internet access is limited. BusinessDay findings re-
Adamu Adamu, education minister
vealed that the virtual learning process has not been easy and the transition is far from seamless. Across
the country, telecom infrastructure is inconsistent as a number of households still do not have laptops, tablets,
ANCOPSS, ASUSS, NASU LAUDS ITYAVYAR over repositioning of TSB MARK MAYAH
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he umbrella bodies, All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) and Non Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (NASU) all in Benue State, has lauded the honourable commissioner of education Dennis Ityavyar (prof) for taking proactive measures in repositioning Benue State Teaching Service Board (TSB). They made the commendation on Friday, when they paid a courtesy call on the commissioner at the ministry headquarters in Makurdi, Benue State capital. In his remarks, the chairman of ASUSS Ornaji S.O who spoke on behalf of the delegation commended the commissioner for his selfless and tireless efforts in developing the education sector and his repositioning of the Teaching service board. He appreciated him for his fatherly role in resolving issues while promising to work harmoniously with the TSB boss Frank kyungun (Dr) and other union bodies to compliment the efforts of the Governor in moving education in the state to greater heights.
Presidents of the various union bodies thanked the governor for reappointing Ityavyar, as the Commissioner for Education, saying, “it is the first time a meeting of such nature is been held’’. Responding, the Benue state Commissioner of Education Dennis Ityavyar (prof ) commended the newly appointed Executive Secretary of Benue State Teaching Service Board, Frank kyungun for the right steps taken so far. He thanked the TSB boss for creating an effective and sustainable synergy with the union bodies and the ministry of education so as to give the Teaching Service Board a lift for success.
He urged the Union bodies to keep sanity in the system, while stressing that it was their duty to drive government policies. The commissioner maintained that the governor’s desire is to reposition the education sector for the benefit of the Benue child, hence all hands must be on deck to achieve this. The Commissioner stated that Government is making efforts to change Teaching Service Board (TSB) into Secondary School Commission as this will help the government to get money from counterpart funding through federal government to improve government schools in the state.
or smartphones accessible to students for regular learning. Again, Teachers in the public primary and secondary schools have had little or no time to acclimate to new teaching tools and are now creating curricula and structuring remote classes. They are finding it difficult to engage and assess students remotely. The learning environment has shifted for parents, as well, many of whom were deputised overnight as homeschoolers in systems with which they may not be familiar. Experts who are familiar with the subject are optimistic that despite these inconveniences, these efforts have the potential to expand the flexibility of delivery education in Nigeria. Covid-19 has the tendency to accelerate things that were already happen-
ing. We are going to see schools use digital technology more and more to ease the financial pressure that we are all in, says Sim Shagaya, chief executive office, U lesson. “The Federal and State government are under tremendous pressure to rethink things completely. They will have to rethink delivery of education and it is going to mean different things, the use of digital technologies, private sector players would play an increasing important role”, Shagaya said. Analysts observe that learning by doing in the virtual world is reaching new frontiers. Without regular real-time instructional support, students are increasingly using multiple sources for understanding new concepts, and relying on teachers as coaches, rather than
instructors. They further noted that this is the critical thinking approach to learning that has been long overdue in Nigeria advocating for a new framework for education structured to deliver 21st century skills and lifelong learning for its graduates to compete in tomorrow’s economies. While it remains to be seen when some countries will reopen and when it will be safe to bring students back to schools, these developments are signs that education delivery could change for the long-term. “Covid-19 has shown us that there is a silver lining here to really transform our education. We are already in an epidemic, and it is time all stakeholders seize the opportunity to rethink and adjust this pivotal sector, they stresses.
COVID-19 lockdown: UNIBEN clears air on resumption of work MARK MAYAH
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he management of the university of Benin (UNIBEN), has told members of staff to continue to work from home until further directive from the Federal Ministry of Education (FME). A release by the institution’s Public Relations Officer, Benedicta Ehamire, urged staff members to maintain the status quo and work from home for now despite ease of lockdown. The clarification, according to the image maker, was sequel to the directives by the Edo state Head of Service (HOS) on the resumption of work in the state. The statement read; “In the wake of the continuous uncertainties regarding the
Lilian Salami, UNIBEN VC
COVID-19 pandemic and in line with the position of the federal ministry of education, no specific date has been fixed for reopening. “UNIBEN staff members should continue to work from
home till resumption date is received from the federal ministry of education. “Staff on essential duties are to maintain all the hygiene and safety rules as stipulated by the NCDC.”
COVID-19: Godfrey Okoye University resumes lectures REGIS ANUKWUOJI, Enugu
G Samuel Ortom, Benue Gov www.businessday.ng
odfrey Okoye University, Enugu has resumed lectures for the 2019/2020 academic year In a statement on Friday by the University Registrar, Nnamdi Ene said that students were not expected to congregate for lectures as usual but would be taught
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online. According to Ene lectures would be accessed through the university online learning platform, as well as WhatsApp group teaching which had already begun after the institution’s Coronavirus (Covid-19) break. He said that students will be given the email address of the lecturers for contacts and clarifications as well as for group teaching via Whats App. @Businessdayng
“The university online learning platform is accessed from the university website: www.gouni.edu.ng. He said “Lecturers who have not uploaded their courses risk excluding themselves from teaching this semester,” Ene said that the university had extended its second semester course registration to provide students ample time to complete their course registrations for the semester.
Tuesday 05 May 2020
BUSINESS DAY
23
property&lifestyle Slum dwellers worst hit as COVID-19 exposes ‘homelessness’ in Nigeria CHUKA UROKO
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xperience and reports have shown that, though coronavirus is no respecter of person, position and place, people living in slums are the worst hit as the impact of the deadly virus has exposed widespread ‘homelessness’ and inadequacies in Nigeria—Africa’s self-styled largest economy. At the onset of the pandemic, mayne because of how it came and where it started, the poor folks in Nigeria were quick to dismiss the virus as one that targeted at the country’s elite, particularly politicians. They gloated over this until lately when it became clear that the virus was for everybody. Several warnings that the life-threatening respiratory illness could hit the poor as well as the rich did not change the early position quickly. Their judgment was right, or so it seemed, because Nigeria’s first list of people who got or have died from Covid-19 included the President’s chief of staff, politicians, state governors, former ambassadors and their aides or relatives. But, the narrative has
since changed and the story is now being told of how the poor and not the rich struggle to survive amidst ‘homelessness’ and inadequacies that define their lives and living. The poor, many of them in extreme poverty, are the ones that live in slums or what UN Habitat calls informal settlements. A World Bank and United Nations’ fact-sheet about them is quite revealing. Out of the country’s 200 million population, the factsheet says, 69 percent of urban residents live in slum conditions, 70 percent do not have safe drinking water and sanitation, while 49 percent of children under five are stunted, too thin or overweight. The plight of the people who belong to this class was poignantly exposed by the disease demands social and physical distancing, and also personal hygiene of washing hands regular with soap and running water which they don’t have and cannot afford to buy in some cases. Their condition was made worse when, on March 29 March, President Muhammadu Buhari in a nationwide broadcast ordered a 14-day lockdown of Nigeria’s commercial hub Lagos, neighbouring Ogun State, and the
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capital city Abuja, giving their estimated 30 million residents just 24 hours to prepare to stay at home. Before the poor could recover sufficiently from the jolt thrown at them by the lockdown, Buhari came back with another broadcast and extended the lockdown by two weeks, deepening fears about how the poor will survive in their overcrowded neighbourhoods, without water, electricity, and little food. The president along with health experts ordered socialdistancing and self-isolation,
but these are impracticable, if not impossible, in a typical Nigerian slum. This is where about 30 families often cram into a building, sharing the same bathroom and toilet. Though coronavirus, as noted by Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, is not for the rich or elite alone; while the lockdown caused much inconvenience for the rich, it was both hardship and nightmare for the poor especially those that live in slums. Informal settlements or slums are big challenges, and this is in clear evidence all around Lagos. They con-
stitutes a threat for both the settlers and residents. Lagos, for instance, has about nine slum areas harbouring about 70 percent of its estimated 20 million residents. During the lockdown, the highest level of defiance to the government’s stay at home order was seen in these slum areas. The residents, citing hunger and lack of basic facilities like water and electricity, came out of their ‘homes’ and stayed in clusters on the streets, refusing to heed the advice on social distancing. The result is quite clear for all to see now.
COVID-19 is an opportunity to serve community and support govt — Landmark CEO … as Sanwo-Olu unveils 80-bed isolation and treatment centre in Eti Osa CHUKA UROKO
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he COVID-19 pandemic, a global health emergency, has provided opportunity for individuals and corporate organizations to serve communities and support government, Paul Onwuanibe, CEO, Landmark Africa, developers of the expansive Landmark Village in Lagos, has said. It is for that reason that three weeks after the an-
nouncement of ongoing discussions to use a part of the Landmark Village as an Isolation and Treatment Centre in Eti -Osa Local Government, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, last week, unveiled an 80-bed centre completed recently at the site. The facility, a standard centre constructed and fitted to specification, was delivered through a tripartite public private partnership (PPP), consisting of Land-
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FCMB (UK), Seso Global in partnership to discuss opportunities in Nigerian real estate
mark Africa, the Lagos State Government and the Young Presidents’ Association (YPO) representing various private individuals as well as corporate donors. Governor Sanwo-Olu, at the unveiling event, commended the parties for the level of preparedness, saying, “we have taken over this facility but it will be operated in collaboration with the private sector. I am happy with the level of preparedness I have seen.” Onwuanibe explained that Landmark’s decision to partner with the YPO and the Lagos State Government, was because “we see this as an opportunity to serve the Eti Osa community and Lagos state residents at large, given the support and patronage we have enjoyed from them over the years.” He noted that the world was pulling together private and public resources to fight the coronavirus pandemic and, as a responsible corporate citizen, “it is important for us to contribute our quota to ensure prompt treatment and help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Eti Osa LGA.” In an extensive chat with
journalists about safety measures that have been implemented, the Head of Projects at Landmark Africa, Enyinna Okorafor, assured that the centre was physically isolated from other facilities and operations within the Landmark Village. “We must make it clear that the Isolation and Treatment Centre is a physically independent and completely isolated operation within Landmark. Regular visitors to Landmark will have absolutely no interaction with the Centre or its activities. “Our partners, tenants, visitors, neighbours and the larger community are able to carry out their normal activities, both inside and outside our premises, with ease once the lockdown directive has been reversed. Together with the YPO, NCDC and the Lagos State government, there are also stringent and WHOapproved decontamination measures in place both now and once the Centre is de-commissioned,” said Okorafor. He described the swift construction process that led to the prompt delivery of the Centre, stressing that “we are immensely proud
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to have delivered the facility within three weeks of commencement. With over two decades’ experience as a property services company, our detailed construction processes helped us deliver the project seamlessly and to ensure that it was ready for use within the stipulated time.” Landmark Africa has now joined the league of events and exhibition centres across the world that has made their facilities available to support their governments in the fight against COVID-19. The New York state-owned Javits Centre was converted to a 4,000-bed field hospital, pulling together expertise from more than 15 city, state and federal agencies in the United States. In London, the ExCel Centre is now the site of the first NHS Nightingale hospital – the first of such as part of Britain’s nationwide effort to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, a 1,000 bed hospital is being built at the Lenexpo Exhibition Centre while the Crocus Exhibition Centre will now be converted into a 1,500 -bed hospital in Russia. @Businessdayng
CMB Bank (UK) Limited, the UK subsidiary of a leading Nigerian bank, First City Monument Bank, has partnered with Seso Global, a property sales and marketing company, for a webinar series aimed at highlighting the current trends and opportunities in the Nigerian real estate sector. “With a population of over 200 million and estimated to grow to about 263 million by 2038, Nigeria is still contending with a huge housing deficit. This portends a great investment opportunity for the Nigerian Diaspora who remitted about $25million into Nigeria in 2018. This is the time and the right platform to discuss this opportunity,” Stella Okuzu, Head of Personal and Business Banking, FCMB Bank UK, said. The webinar, set for Wednesday, May 6, 2020 at 3pm, will discuss why the Diaspora should act now and take advantage of the economic climate in Nigeria and the opportunity to invest within a trusted ecosystem presented by the partnership between FCMB Bank (UK) and Seso Global. Expected speakers at the webinar with the theme, ‘Buying Property In Nigeria:Trends, Opportunities and Risk Management’, are Stella Okuzu, Head of Personal & Business Banking and Head of Marketing at FCMB Bank UK; Daniel Bloch, CEO of Seso Global; Andrew Nevin, Partner, FS Leader and Chief Economist at PwC West Africa; and Aniekan Ukpanah, Managing Partner at Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie. “We are excited to cohost the first webinar in our series,” said Bloch, adding, “it is an important time to clearly promote Nigeria and the opportunities in the real estate industry. With an exclusive panel of experts in their respective fields, we believe there is a unique opportunity to learn how to tap into the clear opportunity.” The Nigerian real estate sector is still seeing transactions despite the current lockdown across parts of the country. Investors have taken a medium to long term position to protect investment in the safer haven of property rather than more risky areas such as the stock market. Online searches for property have markedly increased over the last month with a clear appetite for property once the lockdown is over.
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property&lifestyle Nigeria’s long term rent payment system saves landlords from COVID-19 crisis … only monthly rent collectors are hit ENDURANCE OKAFOR
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or most Nigerian l a n d l o rd s w h o adopted the long term rent payment system, the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the real estate market is nothing but news. This class of landlords has not been affected by the wave of the pandemic as their tenants renewed their rents before COVID-19 started affecting their wallet. But that is for early rent payers. Although unlawful, most landlords in the major cities in Nigeria require tenants to make down payment of not less than one year. In some cases, tenants are expected to pay rents three years upfront . “As at the ending of February, all my tenants had renewed their rent for the year 2020, so I have not been affected by the coronavirus impact except, of course, they are all now staying at home which means more pressure on the facilities in my property,” Johnson Babajide, a landlord with three properties in the main-
land axis of Lagos state, said. Meanwhile, the Lagos Tenancy Law 2011 states that it is illegal for a landlord or his agent to demand or receive rent in excess of six months for a monthly tenant, or one year from a yearly tenant. It is also unlawful for the sitting tenant to offer or pay rent in excess of one year for a yearly tenant and six months for a monthly tenant. “I recently moved to Yaba and the landlord didn’t collect anythinglessthantwoyearsrent as he claimed that the property was a new one,” Bisi Olalekan, a 25-year old accountant, told BusinessDay in Lagos, adding that she would have been required to pay for one year if it was an old building. Checks by BusinessDay revealed that Nigeria has one of the most rigid rent payment systems in Africa as the majority of landlords require upfront payment on apartments. This is despite the fact that most tenants receive their income on a monthly basis. The frequencies at which rent is paid and how much is required as an upfront pay-
ment are the two criteria in determining rent payment system in a country. Using both indicators, Nigerian cities come at the bottom of the pyramid in Africa, accompanied by Cameroun, Ghana and Sierra Leone, as data available shows they are all in the same level. This is, however, not the case in some African countries like Botswana, South Africa, Benin Republic, Togo and Rwanda, where rent payment frequency is on a monthly basis without an upfront or down payment. On why landlords in Nigeria prefer upfront rent payment, Adeniyi Akinlusi, president of Mortgage Bankers Association of Nigeria (MBAN) and CEO, Trustbond Mortgage, said some landlords collect upfront payment of two years because of the high-interest rate on the loans they borrowed from banks and as such are constantly in search for ways to recoup and pay up as soon as possible. “The second reason maybe because they are not sure that the tenants will be consistent
in their monthly payment,” Akinlusi said, adding that the “fear of high default rate due to the lack of credit collection system,” is a challenge. With the highest population in Africa, Nigeria has a housing deficit of more than 17 million units, and according to the Association of Housing Corporation of Nigeria (AHCN), an umbrella organization for all federal and state housing agencies, more than 90 percent of new homes utilise funds from personal savings for incremental construction. Available report shows that the average rent of Nigerians between 20-35 years of age is around $230 monthly and the average price of one-bedroom in megacities like; Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt is around $300 per month. This means that a lot of people cannot afford to rent by themselves and the problem of upfront annual rent requirement has also created a product gap that can only be bridged by one that can split those payments into a monthly denomination.
Knight Frank joins fight against COVID-19, provides palliatives for Lagos Island residents CHUKA UROKO & KELECHI EWUZIE
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night Frank Nigeria has joined the league of corporate bodies lending helping hand to Lagos State government to fight coronavirus and also cushion the hash effect of the deadly virus on the people. The company, which is the world’s largest independent residential and commercial property consultancy with about 19,000 staff and 512 offices across 60 cities globally, took it upon itself to fight hunger among people in its immediate neighbourhood. The real estate firm, at the weekend, gathered over 1000 residents of Lagos Island who it considered the most vulnerable and less privileged in that neighbourhood and provided food and drinks for them as a way of cushioning the impact of COVID-19 on them. It also provided face masks for the people. “We are here to help the government to fight Covid 19. Today witnesses the sharing of some foods, drinks and the provision of face masks for the people in line with precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus,” Frank Okosun, CEO, Knight Frank Nigeria, explained to Busi-
Cross section of Knight Frank staff distributing food items to residents of Lagos Island as part of efforts to cushion the impact of COVID-19 lockdown in Lagos. Pic by Pius Okeosisi
nessDay in a brief interview. “We as a company believe that, with collaboration, we can stop the spread of this virus. We are here to feed about 1000 people and we are happy about the turnout of the people to share in what Knight Frank is offering,” Okosun added. He disclosed that they had been operating in Lagos Island neighborhood for the past 50 years and the people had been quite peaceful to them and so the palliatives were their own way of helping them. The weekend ‘feeding of www.businessday.ng
the multitude’, which the chief executive said was part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, was the climax of similar gestures in the past. “We had been feeding between 200 and 250 residents of the island in the last six weeks,” he said. Lanre Afini, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Lagos Island, commended Knight Frank for the kind gesture. He said the palliative was one of the collaborative steps he had taken along with the company to reach out to residents of
Lagos Island. “My role is to support the company to ensure that the gifts get to the right people,” he said, calling on other corporate organisations to think of ways to also support the less privileged in the society to prevent civil unrest. Okosun commended government’s efforts so far at containing the spread of the virus, but did not look forward to the resumption of work on Monday, May 4 with much excitement because, according to him, “the numbers of confirmed cases are spiking.”
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Infrastructure Maintenance With Tunde Obileye Obileye is a UK-trained lawyer and CEO, Great Heights Property and Facilities Management Limited Email: Tundeobileye@greatheightslimited.com
Steps to safely reopen workplace by facility managers
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he Covid-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented amount of uncertainty as countries of the world battle growing infections, implement wide-ranging measures including lockdown and social distancing and wearing of mask. While managing the immediate health crisis is vital, governments have begun assessing how the economy reopens in their respective countries once the virus is contained. Nigeria is no exception. It is extremely important to the health and safety of people that organizations stake wellthought-through precautions when introducing their employees back to the workplace. The way we inhabit our workplace is changing and so are the workplace strategies we must have in place. In this article, I offer a guide to make the return of employees to workplaces more approachable with quick and customizable solutions that can be implemented with little or no fuss. Facility managers should lead the development of best practices to prepare staff, visitors and contractors for post-pandemic recovery and the eventual return to the work place as Covid-19 stayat-home restrictions are lifted. There are 3 key questions facility managers should articulate as part of the considerations to determine strategy for reopening – how can facility managers continue to support the organization’s business objectives to achieve its goals, what sort of support will facility managers provide to employees, visitors and contractors; will vendor contracts be subject to review and renegotiation in the light of Covid-19? Typically, organizations should have a Business Continuity Plan which outlines steps that must be followed in the post Covid-19 situation. Business Continuity Plans should include steps to identifying essential workers and how to implement phased telecommuting. This has to continue until a time when all workers can resume, manage social distancing in the workplace, security arrangements to ensure people and products are protected and protective gear, especially hand sanitizers, masks and gloves are available @Businessdayng
to all workers and visitors. Facility managers should refer to the business continuity plan if one exists and work with all stakeholders to ensure personnel and assets are protected and are able to function in a safe environment. This is a time for facility managers to turn data into information, and information into insight. Facility managers must leverage the entire collected data for business value and optimum customer service satisfaction in any facility. Facility managers may have to review service contracts which will include analyzing the contracts and specifications to identify opportunities to change them. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a new level of attention to cleanliness in the workplace. A new standard of cleanliness is expected The guide outlines ix-point workplace readiness essentials: 1. Prepare the Building Implement cleaning plans, pre-return inspections, and HVAC and mechanical checks. 2. Prepare the Workforce - Create policies for deciding who returns, shift/schedule management and employee communications. 3. Control Access - Enforce protocols for safety and health checks, building reception, deliveries, elevators and visitor policies. 4. Create a Social Distancing Plan - Follow guidelines for decreasing density, schedule management and office traffic patterns. 5. Reduce Touch Points & Increase Cleaning - Implement open doors, clean-desk policy, food plans and regular cleaning of common areas. 6. Communicate for Confidence — Recognize the fear employees may feel in returning, communicate transparently, and listen/survey regularly. The migration back to places of business will look different for every organization, but the principles outlined in this guide are applicable to nearly every organization and occupier. As we navigate the complexity of this unprecedented situation together, facility managers should continue to provide general guidance as well as bespoke solutions to their clients at every step of the way. These are interesting times in tough times.
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Tuesday 05 May 2020
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COVID 19:Terminations of rig contracts threatens Nigeria’s oil fortunes DIPO OLADEHINDE
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ome of the biggest oil companies operating in Nigerian rig activities have started cancelling their oil rigs contracts from drilling companies as the effect of coronavirus and a price war continue to take a toll on hydrocarbon industry worldwide. The termination of rig counts contracts in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry exposed the volatile state of the industry which is the main revenue earner of the country, an indication that Africa’s biggest oilproducing country is no longer an investment destination despite its huge potentials. ExxonMobil has publicized notification of early termination of the contracts for the jackups Gerd and Groa offshore Nigeria which are working in Nigeria under contracts originally committed until April 2021 and May 2021, respectively. The contracts for both rigs require 180-day notice for early termination. “The Company is in discussions with Exxon Mobil with regards
to planning the discontinuity of operations for both rigs following the early termination notices,” Borr Drilling said in a statement. According to an intelligence publication from Offshore technology other announcements of terminations of rig contracts by other companies are expected to follow,
as market conditions worsen. “Some of our customers are unable to continue safe operations in the current circumstances are experiencing difficulties in their respective supply chains and have announced cost-saving initiatives,” Borr Drilling said. “Further, a number of custom-
ers have contractual rights in place to suspend operations in certain circumstances, and we could be subject to further suspension notices in light of market conditions,” the company said. Nigerian rig activity in various stages of operations on as many locations fell from a three year high
in January 2020, with 32 rigs to 21 rigs in March, according to data from Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Active oil exploration brings about a billion investments in the country’s economy as well as the development of related sectors of the economy and infrastructure. It also supplies new jobs for Nigerian citizens and improvement of social and living standards in general while absent of oil exploration implies the reverse of increased economic growth. “The logic is straightforward. When the number of oil rigs rises, it means more people can be employed, when it drops, it means loss of employment opportunities,” said Edward Diete Koki, managing director, Alliance Capital Management Ltd. Actions in the industry have been reduced to just maintenance activities by oil and gas companies even though the government has over the years been singing it wants to increase its crude oil reserve to 40 billion and increase daily production to four million barrels per day production.
How domestic energy security will benefit Nigerians STEPHEN ONYEKWELU
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igeria’s energy insecurity has manifested in a most remarkable form due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus pandemic, presenting an opportunity for Africa’s most populous country to rethink its energy security strategy. According to Chukwudi Okeke of the department of public administration and local government, at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, energy security refers to a condition in which a nation and a majority or all of its citizens and businesses have access to sufficient energy resources at reasonable prices for the foreseeable future, free from any serious risk of disruption of service. In this regard, energy resources include petroleum products and electricity. For countries that are net importers of energy resources such as the United States of America, Europe and China, energy security implies diversifying energy suppliers. The logic of energy security for energy exporters is the inverse. It means diversifying foreign
buyers for their energy resources in order to achieve security of demand. Overall, the energy sector, a key pillar of foreign direct investment in Nigeria is forecasted by GobalData to face downward earnings revisions of 208 percent in 2020, with the shock compounded by the oil price crash. Oil prices have decreased by more than 50 percent since January 2020, with the US reporting record lows. With countries on lockdown, there is significantly less of all activity and the demand for oil and gas has fallen spectacularly. www.businessday.ng
The International Energy Agency reported that oil demand is likely to decrease by 29 million barrels per day in April 2020 and by 23.1 million bpd in the second quarter of the year. “I have been doing sessions about Nigeria virtually and often my co-panellists state 90 percent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange comes from oil. This is inaccurate. Nigeria’s biggest export is the Nigerian brain,” Andrew Nevin, chief economist at PwC Nigeria said in a tweet. Energy security not brain drain is the focus here, but it is worth men-
tioning to underline the reality that Nigeria’s dependence on crude oil export is contrived and now is the time to concentrate on domestic energy security. Domestic energy security in this context means a sustained availability of affordable energy in its various forms, which is fundamental to the provision of jobs, food, health services, education, housing, clean water and good sanitation. Energy security is the foundation stone and the pillar, upon which every advanced world economy is built. All economic activities: the industries, the factories,
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the schools, the businesses, the markets, the hospitals, the service companies, the hotels, tourism and all the public and private sectors need constant energy to function effectively. This is the goal of domestic energy security and leads to industrialisation, which in turn grows productivity and creates wealth for many Nigerians. In the Southeast Asian nations, China and India, known for the strength of their manufacturing sector, the capability of electricity production depends on the strength of fuel sources of energy production and their high technology. Meanwhile, both countries are net energy resource importers. In Singapore, energy for electricity production comes from only two kinds: 80.30 percent of natural gas and 19.70 of petroleum. For Nigeria a nationwide domestic energy strategy is urgent. Unemployment data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show geopolitical zones with most industries have lower unemployment rates. The South-South regional zone had the high@Businessdayng
est unemployment rate of 32 percent in the thirst quarter 2018 despite its oil and gas resources. South West recorded the lowest unemployment rate of 14 percent. The North West Zone recorded the highest underemployment rate of 27 percent for the quarter. “We should have some development agenda for Northern Nigeria, to calm tensions down, energy security is a key part of this; it is too expensive to run anything on energy fuels in Northern Nigeria today. A key issue, therefore, is how we get gas up north in the most efficient way,” Gbite Adeniji, a former adviser to Nigeria’s minister of state for Petroleum Resources said in an exclusive interview with BusinessDay. Adeniji stressed that what is needed is prosperity for all in a manner that does not stop economic activity elsewhere because that also will be disastrous; development needs to be balanced. If more gas is found up north “I’m all for it you see some power plants and industries come up quick and you see more people getting into the job market.”
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ENERGY INTELLIGENCE Seplat increases CAPEX to $120m despite lower oil price DIPO OLADEHINDE
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espite some of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies cutting spending this year following a collapse in oil prices, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc has announced plans to revise it’s Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) upwards to $120 million with two additional gas wells and related infrastructure. Seplat announce its increasing CAPEX by 20 percent to $120 million with two additional gas wells and related infrastructure despite prices tumbling to a three-decade low. “We have significant cash resources available and will continue to manage our finances prudently in 2020, expecting now to invest $120 million of capital expenditure across the year, including two new gas wells and associated infrastructure,” Seplat said in its First Quarter 2020 report. COVID-19 has caused a decline in oil demand given restrictions in movement and reductions in travel, a development which has led to oil majors
slashing Capex. Cuts announced by nine major oil companies, including Saudi Aramco, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, come to a combined $38 billion, or a drop of 22percent from their initial spending plans of $175 billion. However, Seplat said its business is hedged against low oil prices and a significant proportion of its revenues now come
from gas, which offers further protection from oil price volatility. “We are in constant dialogue with partners on monies owed and are pleased to report that our cash flow remains robust and we have significant cash in reserve,” Austin Avuru, Seplat’s Chief Executive Officer said. With Brent oil price averaging $50.90 in the first quarter of
2020 compared to $63.59 in the corresponding Quarter last year, Seplat recorded a loss after tax of $106.6 million loss in its unaudited Q1’20 result which was mostly driven by a $145.5 million impairment loss (compared to a gain of $14million in Q1 2019) charged on its oil and gas assets. Seplat noted that Amukpe to Escravos pipeline is set to provide a third export option for
liquids production from OMLs 4, 38 and 41 although completion work on the 160,000 bopd pipeline has been slower than anticipated due to delays in the contractor delivery schedule, final activities have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown order. “However, we expect that the pipeline will be commissioned during the first half of 2020 and become fully operational to the initial permitted volume for the Seplat / NPDC joint venture of 40 kbopd,” Seplat said. During the period, three new development wells (Sap-35, Oben-48 and Ovh-06) were completed and the wells are expected to flow at a combined initial gross rate of approximately 4,200 bopd. The drilling of Ovhor-20 commenced and expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020 with an expected initial flow rate of 2,500 bopd. This, coupled with the majority of our debt repayment obligations extending beyond 2021, gives us confidence that we can continue to operate comfortably within the covenants on all lines of debt,” Avuru concluded.
Financing
Lumos secures solar relief financing to power healthcare facilities in response to COVID-19 ISAAC ANYAOGU
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ff-grid energy firm, Lumos is one of four renewable energy companies that has been selected to receive a share of the $500,000 Solar Relief Fund from Nigerian off-grid energy impact investing company All On. This new funding, and the availability of Lumos’ countrywide operations and logistics network, mean that solar home systems are rapidly being deployed to critical healthcare and emergency response centres across Nigeria, the company said. In Africa, the corona virus is beginning to advance through major cities and into towns. Compared to European and US cities, the confirmed cases in Sub-Saharan cities has remained relatively low. However, experts from the World Health Organisation estimate that 10 million Africans could catch the virus in the next six months. However, less than 33% of households and 30% of businesses in Nigeria have reliable access to grid electricity. Many
healthcare facilities, whether pre-existing or new Covid-19 emergency response centres, suffer from a similar lack of reliable power, which severely hampers their effectiveness in responding to the health crisis. This is where organisations like Lumos can provide help. www.businessday.ng
One of the organisations that is receiving Lumos’ solar home systems is the Society for Family Health. Anthony Iwala, Social Franchise Director, Society for Family Health, said: “We are pleased to receive this very significant support from Lumos and All On.
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“It is an exemplary intervention that will facilitate the success of the fight against the virus. Electricity from their solar systems will ensure staff are properly kitted, able to prepare instruments and medication without compromising infection prevention protocols,” said
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Iwala. Lumos said the solar systems will be used to power basic necessities such as lighting, fans and computers, ensuring that essential services are able to respond to the crisis, supply testing kits, and deliver urgent medical care. Adepeju Adebajo, CEO, Lumos Nigeria commented: “Covid-19 is an unprecedented crisis, putting millions of lives at risk. Reliable, affordable and clean electricity is vital to running lifesaving equipment in hospitals and training essential workers. The All-On fund is enabling us to react exceptionally quickly. Lumos has the products and the trained staff on the ground to install solar systems, which will allow key workers to test and treat patients with the virus and save lives.” Wiebe Boer, CEO, All On, commented: “All On investee Lumos was selected to be part of the Covid-19 Solar Relief Fund based on their immediate preparedness to respond with products, inventory, technical capabilities and their efficient nationwide delivery track record.”
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FEATURE COVID-19: Towards a learning curve JiNmi Ajayi
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homes to meet varying financial demands to support themselves and their families. 80% of Nigeria’s employment and about 60% of the economy are in the informal sector – the majority. Nigeria’s private sector has been supportive in the ongoing battle against the Covid-19 by setting up isolation centres, donating ventilators and PPEs. Some notable individuals have delivered on their pledges to donate large sums of money towards tackling the scourge. And, thanks to the people’s communal orientations, we have seen individuals, communities, and foundations distribute food items to the less privileged around them. A lot of MSMEs are already going under. A fragile economy which continues to produce young, creative and tenacious entrepreneurs is now facing perhaps the toughest phase ever. Some of these entrepreneurs do have bank loans to service but are unable to get to work. Artisans have now resorted to begging to feed their families. Over 40% of adult population remains unbanked. A stimulus fund for the poor and needy cannot easily reach the targets even if attempts were made to leverage on existing FMCG value chains. Delivery is not guaranteed. We have been unable to develop a robust national database where all citizens’ information can be pulled irrespective of age, social status or location. Planting season has been affected and we may be heading into a major food crisis which is not only due to the Covid-19 virus but also insecurity and infrastructural challenges. Let’s not heap all woes on the virus. We have had years to tighten up loose ends but neglecting a major sector has exposed us at a really critical time. It will be frustrating again to www.businessday.ng
give in to selective amnesia.Food security has also been threatened by security challenges and now farmers’ movement to and from farms is now more cumbersome, markets are closed, consumption and purchasing power have also dipped. As Covid 19 cases continue to increase, we do not seem to have a strategy to monitor when the virus peaks. There is increasing call to lift restrictions due to the effects of the lockdown which cannot be enforced to the letter without the absolute buy in of the people. Increasing agitation due to hunger, job loss, mental health amongst other issues. But getting people back to work will rapidly undo current wins. What other innovative approach do we have if we cannot adopt a stay home strategy? Even Lagos State Government’s efforts may soon be diminished if cases continue to rise. Hopefully, this serves as a wake-up call to both the people and the leadership. The people must learn to look beyond asking for cheap financial rewards before casting their votes during elections so that the leadership can be held accountable at the end of
‘ Social distancing cannot be effective in communities lacking basic amenities
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igeria, a country that possessed the ‘manifest destiny’ to be the leader of the black race. A country that once paid the salary of the civil service of another in the Caribbeans; sent trained professionals to other countries through the Technical Corp Aid Scheme (TACS), it’s hospitals ranked high within the commonwealth, her citizens were comfortable and never really saw any reason in emigrating to other parts of the world as we now have today. Nigeria led the fight against the brutal apartheid regime and in fact sacrificed the dreams of her hardworking athletes by boycotting the 1976 summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec in Canada as a show of discontent against the apartheid regime. Prior to its independence in 1960 Nigeria was already active in the international relations arena and had participated in peacekeeping missions across the globe. Like most countries of the world, it went through a teething phase of post-independence which included several coups, countercoups and a civil war that lasted almost three years ended in 1970. An oil boom in the 70s led to the jettisoning of a growing agricultural sector which had greatly helped in infrastructural and developmental efforts across the country. Some have argued that oil is more of a curse than a blessing as it has been and continues to be the root cause of crises and distrust in the country. Crude oil, an instrument of multiple potentials for a broad revenue generation which ought to be used to develop, maintain and scale other sectors like multimodal transportation, good roads, agriculture, education, tourism, sports and healthcare has been the focus for internally generated revenue. States have had to depend on such revenues – convenient but not enduring - as against developing areas of comparative advantage in agriculture. This approach mirrors not only the style of leadership but a general mindset of cheap and quick gains with little or no consideration for the rainy day. Now a country of about 200 million people and in the wake of Covid-19, the federal government has reduced cost of petrol from 145 Naira to 123.70 Naira, it has released fund to support the poor and also gave financial support to all its 36 states. Majority of its citizenry depend on one form of daily activity or wage to manage to feed on what the little earning can purchase. Business owners as well as the employed still need to leave the confines of their
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the day. We have had a lockdown which ought to have been general and with interstate road and air travel restrictions. That was not the case until recently.What then is the point of the lockdown if we are easing restrictions when the disease is yet to peak? People will go out to source for food and then return home with the virus. We have found ourselves between the rock and a hard place. Lagos State easing restrictions is dangerous and suicidal. It gives a false sense of hope and security. Let’s not be deceived by the double figure mortality, it’s only a matter of time. With a life expectancy of below 55 years, a lot of Nigerians under 50 years already have major health concerns. Some high blood pressure, diabetes, renal issues etc. A number of them require regular visits to the doctor to manage such ailments. These people also fall in the category of those returning to work this week while the younger category will return home to parents of 45 years and upwards. The lockdown has not been thorough, those who were on the roads don’t seem to understand the viciousness of community transmission. Easing restrictions does not mean we have overcome the virus. And, we witnessed several unmanned police posts while some had tiredlooking police officers. If this was the case in a supposedly full lockdown, then can we ensure compliance in a partial lockdown?We are dealing with a virus which creeps in and devours from within. Countries lifting restrictions have citizenry that understands the importance of physical distancing and the necessary guidelines. Their governments have invested in welfare programs, healthcare, education, infrastructure, unemployment insurance among others. In our clime, you are responsible for virtually eve@Businessdayng
rything. Over the years we have not only witnessed a sheer lack of political will but personal agenda being elevated above the common good. A new administration wants to be seen as active then winds down projects of the previous governments. This continuous cycle of irrational display drains one to the very core. Everything has to be personal. Ordinary hand sanitisers must carry pictures and names of donors. Series of ignoble acts in constant competition. Those interested in running the affairs of this country now know that healthcare must be revamped alongside the economy for them to make any impact. The CDAs need to be mobilized and equipped just like during political campaigns to push sensitization and awareness in a bottom-up approach. Challenges do offer learning opportunities. One is that those lousy individuals who are quick to insult along religious and tribal lines and call for war now have a faint idea of what life will look like when the state fails.Mind you, the ‘big men’ may not be locked within as we have now. Super markets will not open, there will be no electricity and there will be no clamour for the chance to go to work. The experiences of the Northeast, Jos or Ife-Modakeke crisis and others should not be quickly forgotten. Even food will lose its taste. Secondly, we can hope for the best but prepare for the worst. What happens if the next epidemic or pandemic is airborne. Let’s be honest, we will not all be in it together. Some probably have ventilators in their bunkers. Afterall, being wealthy is no crime. If caution is thrown to the wind, Nigeria and other African countries may become a humanitarian concern because the coronavirus may linger for a long time. Social distancing cannot be effective in communities lacking basic amenities. Some of the youths seeking better education abroad may now find it even more difficult to obtain visas. By extension, it will affect commerce, trade and travel in and out of sub Saharan Africa. Nigeria’s elites as mentioned in bloomberg (https://www.bloomberg. com/news/articles/2020-04-02/ trapped-by-coronavirus-nigerias-elite-faces-squalid-hospitals) may remain locked in the the same endless maze as the rest of the populace. When the dust settles, hopefully the leadership will have a rethink and ensure to put adequate structures in place to earn the people’s trust as well as instil discipline. Our challenges are not new but we continuously lack the political will to effect a broad based change. Jinmi Ajayi, founder VDS Farms and Foods Limited, an organic vegetables farm established in 2016.
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news Lagos, FCT residents spurn facemasks... Continued from page 1
L-R: Ben Akabueze, DG, Budget Office; Clem Agba, minister of state for budget and national planning, and Olushola Idowu, permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, during the inauguration of the Technical Working Group (TWG) on Macroeconomic Framework and Growth Diagnostics, for the Development of Nigeria Agenda 2050 and the Medium Term National Development Plan, in Abuja, yesterday.
Pressure mounts on Nigeria to sell cash... Continued from page 1
to have been unable to meet salary obligations in
full, creating unpaid arrears of more than 12 months in some states,” he said. Nigeria, which has a plethora of state-owned enterprises that can be better managed by the private sector, got a $3.4bn lifeline from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday, but this support will not get the country out of the fiscal bind that it finds itself. “The sum of $3.4bn sounds like a large amount of money but it is roughly 1-2 percent of Nigeria’s GDP. It is not enough to solve our fiscal challenge,” said Mustapha Chike-Obi, former CEO of AMCON. The formal letter requesting that IMF support was signed by both the Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed and CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele and in it, Nigeria committed to enthroning better economic management policies including a regime of flexible exchange rate. Many are now calling on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to loosen the state’s grip on the economy by embarking on a credible but deliberate programme of attracting badly needed private capital into Nigeria, beginning with restating the sale and concession of poorly functioning public assets.
BusinessDay learnt that so far, senior government officials including some ministers are resisting the move and doubling down at a time the public treasury is drying up despite Nigeria embarking on a borrowing spree. “There is a battle going on for the soul of Nigeria,” said Clarke Huntingfield, economist and investment analyst. “There are those in government in Nigeria who do not see the big picture because of their parochial pursuit, and it is why purposeful leadership at this time is even more critical. Nigeria cannot afford to be borrowing and then failing to unchain the economy so as to rebuild it.” Teriba said while Nigeria’s economic, fiscal, and financial struggles resulting from the decline in income have been conspicuous in news headlines and policy discussions, the solutions that the value of assets owned by Nigeria could unleash have been less so. “It is time to broaden the conversation to include the differences that the value buried in vast assets owned by Nigeria could bring to the narratives, evaluate the case for unlocking domestic and external liquidity from them, and explore ways of doing so,” he said. Teriba lists possible solutions to include the securitisation of financial assets; issu-
Why Buhari’s call for debt forgiveness... Continued from page 1
a diverse set of investors’
capital. “That’s never going to happen. Fund managers could go to jail over that,” one money manager said. “To avoid jail term, fund managers who invested in the Eurobonds will have to find a way for the diverse investors in their fund to reach a consen-
sus to write off the money and that’s practically impossible, you are talking about some people’s pension money and life savings. Moreover, it could set off a chain link of defaults,” the money manager said. Nigeria’s external debt has gradually crawled back up since the Paris Club wrote off some $18 billion debt owed by Nigeria in 2005. The probwww.businessday.ng
ance of foreign currency bonds based on JV equity stakes; privatisation of corporate assets including selling up to 51 percent of all wholly-owned SOEs, as well as the liberalisation of intangible assets. The leading economist also suggests breaking government monopoly infrastructure sectors; commercialisation of non-financial assets and optimisation of underutilised government lands and buildings that litter cities across the country. This, he said, would open up large non-tax, non-oil revenue streams that can compensate for lower commodity export and tax revenue. He argued that Nigeria could raise domestic and external liquidity thresholds by doing the following: securitise government equity stakes in Joint Ventures with foreign currency bonds to give Nigerians at home and in diaspora opportunities to invest while shoring up foreign reserve thresholds; issue Asset-Based Securities and/or Diaspora bonds against financial assets; issue Asset-Based Securities against new income streams from non-financial asset; privatise all wholly or majority-owned corporate assets to attract brownfield FDI by encouraging foreign investors to own up to 51 percent, while keeping 49 percent securitisable equity stakes; liberalise to attract greenfield FDI by breaking government
monopoly in all infrastructure sectors to encourage entry of foreign investors to operate in parallel to the joint ventures, and commercialise idle or underutilised public lands/ built structures by relocating uneconomic activities from prime locations and redeveloping the sites to open nontax revenue streams. Participants in a recent BusinessDay webinar said the government also needs to let go of the Nigeria Gas Limited that has consistently failed to get gas to the power plants to produce badly needed electricity to energise the slumbering economy. The failing state airports should be sold or put under private management without delay, starting with those in Lagos and Abuja, they said. The presidential committee on Nigeria’s post-COVID-19 economic sustainability which is chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo held a crucial meeting on Thursday with the CBN governor and several key ministers as well as members of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council participating. At the meeting, the wellrespected economist Doyin Salami, who heads the Economic Advisory Council, presented a report in which he laid bare the scary prospects that confront Africa’s most populous nation if it failed to undertake urgent reform of the economy.
lem is the substantial rise in external debt is not well reflected in the economy as it hasn’t translated to improved infrastructure. What’s more is that while most developing countries take advantage of concessionary financing from the World Bank or other international institutions, Nigeria’s is increasingly made up of commercial debt, with Eurobond investors the single largest holders of Nigerian external
debt at $10.86 billion. Economists had warned that such a mix makes its economy especially vulnerable to external shocks, such as a sustained drop in oil prices. That’s the case today with oil prices reeling from the coronavirus-induced demand shock. Ike Brannon, a former senior economist for the United States Treasury and US Congress, said Nigeria squandered its debt reduction of 2005.
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tail the spread of COVID-19 in the country. In Abuja, the poor compliance to the guidelines issued by both the Federal Government and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) was visible, sending signals that there could be a surge in the number of cases of the killer virus in the nation’s capital. Prompted by what it called gross violation of guidelines it had announced on ease of lockdown across the country, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Monday raised said it would prosecute and apply tough sanctions against offenders. Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation and chairman of the task force, while noting that there has been large scale violation of the regulations, particularly on use of facemasks and observing social distance, said the PTF has been monitoring the level of compliance with some of the measures. “Early obs er vations showed lack of compliance with social distancing and wearing of masks,” Mustapha said at the daily briefing of the task force in Abuja. Some of the guidelines released by the FCTA at the weekend ahead of the ease of the lockdown said “use of facemasks by residents in all public places is mandatory and prohibition of commercial motorcycles within the FCC remains in force including Kubwa and Dutse Alhaji”. The guidelines asked tricycles to limit their activities to areas already designated with a maximum of three persons (driver and two passengers); taxis are mandated to carry a maximum of four persons at a time (driver and three persons), among others. However, BusinessDay observed that in many parts of the FCT, particularly in adjoining towns to the City Centre, these guidelines were flouted as most transporters, for instance, were still conveying more than the approved number of passengers while long queues were seen at banks without observing the safe distancing protocols of at least 2 metres and wearing facemasks.
In the Kuje Area Council, people trooped out, especially owners of small scale businesses and daily-paid workers, without observing social distance and other protocols. At Nyanya, a suburb of the FCT, parks and market places were seen crowded with people including commuters scrambling to go to work crammed in vehicles, while the multitude that trooped out in the area did not wear masks. The residents of Zuba apparently resumed their commercial activities fully as the fruit market as the place was crowded with buyers, sellers and suppliers without observing social distance, just as it was seen at the Utako market. The same was observed in Bwari Area Council, as well as Lokogoma/Lugbe axis. In Lagos, the commercial banks had difficult times managing surging crowd of customers who thronged their branches for different transactions. In almost all branches of the different commercial banks visited, disgruntled customers were seen in queues with civil security personnel and police operatives attached to the banks battling to control the crowd. Some of the anxious customers, BusinessDay discovered, arrived their banks as early as 7:30 even when the subsisting guidelines in Lagos allow banks to open their offices to the public from 9am. It was noticed that the social distancing protocol was not observed in most of the bank branches monitored, as the customers glued in the queues, just as many were without facemasks. Also, some of the yellow commercial buses did not comply with the directive to limit their capacity to 60 percent. A number of them sighted on Funsho Williams Avenue (formerly Western Avenue) in Surulere and elsewhere in the state metropolis carried more than eight passengers. At Oyingbo Market in Lagos Mainland LGA, our correspondent ran into an intimidating crowd of buyers and sellers many of whom wore no facemasks and seemed to care less about the social distancing protocol.
“To have squandered the debt reduction in just fourteen years and have no tangible economic progress to show for it is beyond disappointing. If Nigeria does not get its financial house in order it will undoubtedly face some sort of fiscal crisis in the next few years,” Brannon said in an article published in Forbes magazine last year. “In the long run the Buhari government must make a concerted effort to diversify
the country’s economy away from oil as well as take steps to widen and increase the revenue base, and it should look to settle its major contingent liabilities soonerratherthanlater,”hesaid. Another person familiar with the matter said “Nigeria doesn’t have any justification to request for a debt relief when the evidence is there that the last time it happened, it made no difference in terms of how we progressed since then”.
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Presidential technical team attributes Kano deaths to Covid-19 Adeola Ajakaiye, Kano
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residential Technical Team (PTT) investigating the ongoing mass deaths in Kano State is suggesting that coronavirus (Covid-19) may be responsible for the recent increased deaths in the state. Nasiru Sani Gwarzo confirmed this Sunday, while speaking with journalists at the handing over of a Mobile Testing Centre donated by Dangote Foundation in Kano. Gwarzo, who is the team leader of the PTT, said the committee was able to detect this as a result of the verbal autopsy on some of the dead persons, saying the ongoing test carried out in regard to Covid-19 in the state indicated that the cause of most of the deaths was attributable to coronavirus. It would be recall that the PTT was put into place at the instance of President Muhammadu Buhari to unravel the real cause of the reported unprecedented daily deaths being recorded in the state. M e a n w h i l e, G ov e r n o r Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano commiserates with Kano Emirate Council and families of the late Jarman Kano, Professor Isah Hashim and that of Muhammad Uba Adamu, the biological father of the dual-Professor Abdallah Uba Adamu, who is the
current Vice Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). The death of the two academics and leaders in their own rights, “Came to us as unabsorbing shocks, because of the preserved and highly responsible positions these gentlemen held during their lifetime. They were all shining and guiding stars of their generations and beyond. “While Professor Isa Hashim the late Jarman Kano was an astute administrator whose position in the Kano Em i rat e s t a b i l i s e d ma n y things within the traditional institution, Dr. Muhammadu Uba Adamu was an icon whose love for scholarship manifested in his immediate family setting,” the governor said. “It is on sad note and disturbing development, that I am, on behalf of the government and people of Kano state, praying for Allah’s Blessing and Forgiveness for the gentle souls of the late Jarman Kano Prof. Isa Hashim and Dr Muhammad Uba Adamu, the father of Prof. Abdallah Uba Adamu. “Both Dr. Adamu and Professor Hashim were part of the most respected and respectful Kano Elders, whose lifestyle and life view were always in tune with their people. Theirs was people, people and people,” he said.
EY shows efforts to support ECOWAS, AfDB on human capital strategy BUNMI BAILEY
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Y Nigeria, a global professional services firm, was recently engaged by the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) and African Development Bank (AfDB) to support the development of a well-thought-out human capital strategy, focusing on education, skills development and labour, an initiative being driven by the two institutional bodies. A virtual stakeholder forum was organised last week by ECOWAS in partnership with AfDB to validate the ECOWAS Human Capital Strategy Report. In a proactive response to the realities of COVID-19, the otherwise planned live event was held virtually with over 100 participants in attendance across the West African region and sub Saharan Africa. In her opening remarks, Bunmi Kuku, partner and performance improvement leader, EY, expressed her gratitude to ECOWAS and AfDB for the opportunity to support the noble initiative. According to Kuku, the overall objective of the study is to provide ECOWAS with a coherent and holistic human capital strategy, focused on education, skills development and labour. “We expect that this strategy will bring many benefits to the ECOWAS member states, including empowering young pupils and students, accelerating job creation, improving the standards of living, enhancing economic growth, driving regional integration, amongst other benefits,” she said. The vice-president of the ECOWAS, Finda Koroma, while
declaring the forum open, emphasised on the importance of human capital, noting that in order to anticipate and prepare the resilience of our states to cope with all situations, it has proven important to take stock of the situation on human capital and define a strategy and action plan for the region. Corroborating the statement by the vice-president, Martha Phiri, AfDB director of human capital, youth and skills department, highlighted the importance of developing deliberate strategies to reskill the workforce, strengthen industries and promote lifelong learning. “We need to shift focus to training our youths for the jobs of the future and not for the jobs of yesterday as over 75 million jobs will be replaced by technology according to World Economic Forum (WEF). Most recently, millions of jobs have been threatened as a result of COVID 19 pandemic, with some jobs functions now extinct - almost overnight,” Phiri stated. The Human Capital report will identify critical inputs for human capital development within ECOWAS; suggest programmes and initiatives that will significantly move the dial on the quality and quantity of human capital to accelerate socioeconomic development and economic prosperity. Among high-powered delegates that attended the forum include the ECOWAS Commissioner for Education, Science and Culture (ESC), Leopoldo Amado; director ESC, Abdoulaye Maga, and the director labour, Fernando Alves D ’Almada. Others were director-generals of MDAs who led the delegations from the 15 ECOWAS countries. www.businessday.ng
L-R: Bode Agagu, group chief technical officer, Notore Chemical Industries Plc, presenting food relief items to Tammy Danagogo, secretary to the Rivers State government, donated by Notore in support of Rivers State COVID-19 response, at the Rivers State Palliatives Collection Centre.
Rivers rolls out ‘extreme measures, locks up Port Harcourt, orders auction of any erring hotel, car Ignatius Chukwu
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overnor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has rolled out what he termed ‘extreme measures’ and thus locked up Port Harcourt, ordering Task Force men to auction any hotel that dares to open and sell off any taxi that dares to operate. Those ready to make N100,000 would only have to blow the whistle on anyone that violates the order, especially hotels trying to open. Task Force members have been mandated to confiscate and sell off any hotel or car impounded in the process. And this order is until the governor decides otherwise. This is at a time when the national lockdown is easing off, but the governor said it was to stop possible community
level spread. Governor Wike announced the 24-hour total lockdown and a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor local government areas that make up the state capital, saying it was part of the state government’s measures to check the spread of coronavirus. In a broadcast on Monday, Wike called it extreme measures, and said: “Consequently, we have decided on the extreme measure of placing the entire Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt City Local Government Areas under a 24-hour total lockdown from Thursday 7thMay 2020 until further notice.” With the declaration, all residents of Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt City local government areas must stay at home. He said: “On no account should there be any vehicular movements or gathering of
Coronavirus: We never released photograph of fleeing COVID-19 patient – Edo
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do State government has said it never released any photograph of a fleeing COVID-19 patient, a nursing mother, who is wanted for treatment in the state. In a statement, Crusoe Osagie, special adviser to the governor on media and communication strategy, said this in reaction to a video on social media by someone claiming to have been falsely identified as the nursing mother, who absconded after testing positive for COVID-19. He noted that the lady whose picture was circulated on social media, is a victim of fake news, stressing that the action by the mischief makers amounts to undermining government’s efforts to track down the nursing mother. According to Osagie, “Our attention has been drawn to a video on social media by a lady who claimed her photos have been circulated on social media wrongly as the nursing mother wanted for COVID-19 treatment by the state government.
“It must be stated that when government made the announcement, it only gave the name of the woman in question and her address and never released any photograph of her. “We categorically stated that the nursing mother lives at No. 2 Atoe Idubor Street, off 2nd Ugbor, Benin City. With such detail, it would be impossible to mix up the person we are searching for. “However, we understand that the action of the mischief makers would have caused the lady in the video on social media undue psychological torment. We sympathize with her as, just like us, she is now a victim of fake news. “Therefore, we use this opportunity to reiterate the warning on purveyors of fake news and misinformation to desist from such act, as their actions amount to undermining government’s effort to check the spread of coronavirus. This is punishable under the Quarantine Act Regulations, which is in force in the state.”
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more than two persons in these Local Government Areas, except those on essential services with appropriate authorisation; “All shops, trading or business activities, including currency exchange, in these Local Government Areas must also remain closed until further notice; “All landlords are advised to ensure that no shop or trading activity is opened or carried out in or around their premises or risk the confiscation of their property by the Government; “Any person, group or
institution that violates the lockdown and curfew in these Local Government Areas will be made to face the full wrath of the law.” He directed the immediate arrest and prosecution of B.A. Worgu and Isaiah Abraka for sneakily organising night markets in defiance of existing ban on such activity. He said given the threat posed to the state by oil and gas company workers, it had reviewed all entry waivers and permits earlier granted to oil and gas companies.
As lockdown eases in Lagos, firms delay resumption to gauge FG’s gamble Michael Ani & Segun Adams
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n Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial city and the epicentre of the country’s coronavirus pandemic, the gradual easing of a five-week lockdown on Monday saw economic activities barely return to life with many formal businesses delaying staff resumption over concerns that the disease outbreak could worsen. Firms said a “wait-and-see” approach would allow them to assess the situation and guide them in reopening their businesses, although some of the worst-affected by the lockdown economically, like commercial transport workers and merchants, returned to work. “There is still the fear factor that it is not yet safe to lift the lockdown since a lot of new virus cases are still being reported,” said Joseph, who works in operations at an oil and gas firm. “I expect Lagosians to become more comfortable as the week progresses.” Joseph also said some companies are not prepared to meet all guidelines for resuming operations while others are concerned about the cost of operations, supply constraints and mobility of their workers outside Lagos. Ifeoluwa, a chartered human resource practitioner and HR personnel in a logistics company @Businessdayng
in Lagos, said companies want to avoid any outbreak in their organisations, “because that will definitely lead to bigger problems and waste of resources, ultimately put the people and the company in danger and that’s one of their reasons for not resuming despite the lift in the lockdown”. Around 50 percent of workers that participated in a BusinessDay Poll confirmed that their offices had delayed resumption. Despite an increasing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Lagos, the FG last Monday announced a gradual and phased easing of the lockdown in key states including Ogun and Abuja, to soften damages to the economy. IMF last month predicted the economy could tank 3.4 percent this year due to the disruption to businesses and oil price decline. The easing of the lockdown was an economic decision given Nigeria’s huge informal sector. Lagos has a huge informal economy where 60 percent of its adult population earn income daily or weekly, according to EFinA data. However, the state accounts for almost half of over 2,500 confirmed cases in the country, and recently returned to being the epicentre of new COVID-19 cases.
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FG receives over $311m Abacha recovered assets from US, Bailiwick of Jersey Onyinye Nwachukwu, Abuja
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L-R: Adesuwa Ladoja, relationship lead, Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited (LPLEL); ‘Bode Oyedele, director of the company; Waheed Tubeko, baale of Idotun Community, and Olakunle Fadumiye, manager, landside infrastructure, during the presentation of food items to Lekki Port’s host communities at the project site in Lagos.
Global oil demand begins long, painful, uncertain recovery, but no cheer yet for Nigeria ENDURANCE OKAFOR
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ew have a better watchtower over oil demand dynamics like Joe Gorder, chief executive officer of major US refiner, Valero Energy, or Marco Dunand, co-founder of Mercuria Energy. This week, Gorder and Dunand didn’t even need their business insight to know that fuel consumption was starting to recover in America and some key economies around the world. They both believe the global oil market was turning the corner, but then, relief will be far coming for oil-dependent nations like Nigeria reported by the Wall Street journal to have cut oil production far more aggressively than any other producer. “People are starting to get out more,” Gorder said. “I think there probably is a pent-up demand for folks to get out of their houses and get mobile.” From the streets of San Antonio to Barcelona and Beijing,
traffic data, sales at fuel stations, and pipeline flows all suggest that the slump in oil demand probably bottomed out around the middle of April, and has now started a modest – and very tentative – recovery. The signs matter beyond the petroleum industry as they provide a glimmer of hope after a torrent of negative economic data. “I believe we have seen the bottom,” said Dunand who has helped build Mercuria into one of the world’s top-five oil trading houses. The crash in US crude prices into negative territory in April served as a wake-up call for the industry, which had responded by “aggressively” cutting back output. “There is a certain inertia to closing fields and wells . . . because there is a cost to close and reopen,” Dunand told journalists. “But I think the scare of Monday [April 20] made some people realise they were better off leaving oil in the ground.” The Wall Street Journal said the crash in oil prices and the
economic fallout pose an existential threat for Nigeria. The report, titled “Oil price slump, coronavirus create perfect storm for Nigeria”,said, “Nigeria, a country of 200 million, is slashing production faster than any other major oil economy following the precipitous plunge in global prices. Cargo ships full of millions of barrels of Nigerian crude have nowhere to go, with much of the world on lockdown. Nigerian oil companies are desperately competing to fill the last few empty tankers...” For Africa’s most populous nation, the fiscal dislocation will continue because traders believe the oil market recovery will be extremely slow. Some say it’s likely to take more than a year, and perhaps much longer, before global demand reaches the prepandemic levels of roughly 100 million barrels a day. A growing minority even speculate it may never get there again. The sheer scale of the demand destruction – about 30 million barrels a day in April
– means the comeback is going to be a painful process. The International Energy Agency estimates that consumption will be down 25.8 million barrels a day in May, and 14.6 million in June. In December, it would still be 2.7 million a day below 2019 levels. “We’re seeing improvements really across all three markets, we’ve seen in May volumes trending up in Europe, we see that happening in the U.S., and we see that also in Asia,” Darren Woods, CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp., told investors on Friday. “There are some, I’d say, encouraging early signs.” Brent traded at $25.91 a barrel early Monday while the US grade WTI was quoted for $18.28. The improvement is coming at a time when around 3m barrels a day of North American output is being curtailed because of low prices and limited pipeline capacity. ExxonMobil and Chevron each announced shut-ins of up to 400,000 barrels per day on Friday, much of it from their US shale businesses.
h e Fe d e ra l G ov e r n ment of Nigeria has received approximately $311,797,866.11 of the Abacha assets repatriated from the United States and the Bailiwick of Jersey. Attorney-General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, confirmed receipt of the funds in a press statement issued by his media aide, Umar Jibrilu Gwandu. According to Malami, the amount increased significantly from over $308 million mentioned earlier in February, due to the interest that accrued from February 3, 2020, to April 28, 2020, when the fund was transferred to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The litigation process for the return of these assets titled “Abacha III” commenced in 2014, while the diplomatic process that culminated into the signing of the Asset Return Agreement on February 3, 2020, by the Governments of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, United States of America and the Bailiwick of Jersey commenced in 2018. “This Agreement is based on international law and cooperation measures that sets out the procedures for the repatriation, transfer, disposition and management of the assets,” he said. Accotding to Malami, “The recovery effort further consolidates on the established record of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government, which has a history of recovery of $322 million from Switzerland in 2018, which is being transparently and judiciously deployed in supporting indigent Nigerians as specified in the agreement signed with the Switzerland and the World Bank.” Malami, who led the negotiation team, noted that the Tripartite Agreement and the process towards the implementation represented a major watershed in International Asset Recovery and Repatriation, as it sought to provide benefit to the victims of corruption. In line with the 2020 Asset Return Agreement, the fund has been transferred to a Central Bank of Nigeria Asset Recovery designated account and would
be paid to the National Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) within the next 14 days, which is responsible for the management and execution of the projects to which the funds will be applied, the minister stated. He reiterated government commitment to deploy the assets to support and assist in expediting the construction of three major infrastructure projects across Nigeria, namely: Lagos – Ibadan Expressway, Abuja – Kano Road, as well as the Second Niger Bridge. The government is in the process of establishing a Project Monitoring Team to oversee the implementation of the projects and report regularly on progress made to the public, he said. To ensure transparent management of the returned assets, the Nigerian government will also engage a Civil Society Organisation, which has combined expertise in substantial infrastructure projects, civil engineering, anti-corruption compliance, anti-human trafficking compliance, and procurement to provide additional monitoring and oversight. The process for the engagement of the CSO monitor has already commenced, he said. BusinessDay recalls that the recovered funds were laundered through the US banking system and then held in bank accounts in the Bailiwick of Jersey. In 2014, a US Federal Court in Washington DC forfeited the money as property involved in the illicit laundering of the proceeds of corruption arising in Nigeria during the period from 1993 to 1998, when General Abacha was Head of State. In 2017, the FRN filed a case in the Bailiwick of Jersey to assert its authority as the owner of these funds and as the victim of the action of General Abacha. Malami urged for greater cooperation and mutual respect amongst countries in the implementation of expeditious cooperation measures already set out in the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and in the implementation of the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) principles on the repatriation of stolen assets.
World leaders pledge $8bn for Coronavirus vaccine fight Apapa differs from other locations as ore than $8bn the European Commission’s pull together” in sharing exper(£6.5bn) has been contribution, and France has tise, “the faster our scientists will lockdown eases, Lagos residents troop out
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pledged to help develop a coronavirus vaccine and fund research into the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Some 40 countries and donors took part in an online summit hosted by the EU. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the money would help kickstart unprecedented global co-operation. She said it showed the true value of unity and humanity, but warned much more would be needed in the days ahead. In total, more than 30 countries, along with UN and philanthropic bodies and research institutes, made donations. Donors also included pop singer Madonna, who pledged €1m ($1.1m), said Ms von der Leyen, who set out the Brusselsled initiative on Friday. The European Commission pledged $1bn to fund research on a vaccine. Norway matched
pledged €500m, as have Saudi Arabia and Germany. Japan pledged more than $800m. The US and Russia did not take part. China, where the virus originated in December, was represented by its ambassador to the European Union. Of the money raised, $4.4bn will go on vaccine development, some $2bn on the search for a treatment and $1.6bn for producing tests, the EU said. In her opening remarks at the summit, Ms von der Leyen said everyone must chip in to finance “a truly global endeavour”. “I believe 4 May will mark a turning point in our fight against coronavirus because today the world is coming together,” she said. “The partners are many, the goal is one: to defeat this virus.” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, another co-host of the conference, said the “more we
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succeed” in developing a vaccine. Mr Johnson, who spent three nights in intensive care with Covid-19, was to confirm the UK’s pledge of £388m for vaccine research, testing and treatment during the conference. Along with the European Commission, the conference is being co-hosted by the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway and Saudi Arabia. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are also among those who have signed up to the initiative. In the open letter published in weekend newspapers, the leaders said the funds raised would “kickstart an unprecedented global co-operation between scientists and regulators, industry and governments, international organisations, foundations and healthcare professionals”.
CHUKA UROKO
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n the first day work resumed in Lagos after a month-long lockdown, Apapa, Nigeria’s premier port city known for its unnerving gridlock, chose to differ from other parts of the city by giving motorists free ride as the Apapa-Ijora Bridge, arguably the most stressed bridge in Africa, had no single truck on it for the better part of the day. It is always a rare occurrence for the Apapa bridge, which records over 1,000 stationary trucks daily with more on thorough-fare, to be free of traffic as it was yesterday when it was expected to be heavy. “It is a pleasant surprise that on a day when people are rushing out of their homes and clogging the roads with gridlock, the trucks and their mindless drivers have chosen to leave the Apapa Bridge for other road users to enjoy. Where have all the trucks gone to?” queried Emma Ameke, a port operator.
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“Apapa is defined by its own contradictions,” said Imeh Henry, a real estate industry expert, in a telephone chat, adding, “The city nourishes as much as it devours.” He explained that as a port city that accounts for over 70 percent of import and export activities in Nigeria with an economy estimated at N20 billion a day, Apapa is also a hostile environment that has seen scores of businesses die and many landlords turned to tenants in other locations. Driving through Lagos suburbs to the metropolis today, Monday, May 4, showed that this, indeed, was a day the residents, who had been on lockdown with a stayat-home order, had been looking forward to. The surge out of homes was incredible. Bus stops were buzzing with impatient passengers whose plight was not helped by the social distancing rule which demands that buses and tricycles maintain enough space by reducing the number of passengers they carry. @Businessdayng
Motorcycles are completely out of the way. The surging traffic which defines Lagos roads has come back and was hectic on most of the routes taken. Travel time has increased significantly from what it was during the lockdown, meaning that Lagos is back or track, or so it seems. BusinessDay observed that as the roads were busy, so also were banks jam-packed with customers in need of cash. All that the government and health experts had been preaching about social distancing was thrown to the trash can. At the GTbank branch on IsoloEjigbo-Ikotun Road, it was quite a crowd and many of them might not get attended to. Customers were seen pushing and pulling one another on long snaking queues. The same scenario was observed at Access Bank branch in Aguda, Surulere where customers were not even allowed into the bank premises. Many of them were desperate, or so they seemed.
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Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020: Melaye says some sections violate his human rights Felix Omohomhion, Abuja
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ormer senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye, has dragged the National Assembly and three others before a Federal High Court in Abuja over the Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020, currently before the House of Representatives. Melaye, in a fundamental human rights enforcement suit, said the bill if passed into law as it was now would breach or likely to breach his fundamental rights as provided for in the Nigerian Constitution. According to Melaye, the content of the bill is against his freedom to human dignity as enshrined in Articles 4, 6,7,10,11,12 and 14 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights Ratification and Enforcement) Act Cap A9 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, Articles 2(3),7,8,9,12,17,21 and 22 of The International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights,1976, Articles 3,5,8,9,10,12,13,17 and 20 of the Universal Declaration
Of Human Rights, 1948. He described the bill as unconstitutional, illegal, wrongful and amount to flagrant abuse of his fundamental rights. The suit, which has the Clerk of the National Assembly, the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Inspector General of Police as respondents, seeks an order of the court declaring the provisions of sections 3(8), 5 (3),6,8,13,15,16,17,19,23,30 and 47 of the Control Of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020, invalid and unconstitutional, as same constitutes a gross abuse of his fundamental rights and will likely be infringing upon his fundamental rights if eventually passed into law. He also wants the court to direct the 1st to 3rd Respondents to delete the provisions of sections 3(8),5(3),6,8,13,15 ,16,17,19,23,30 and 47 of the Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020, for being inconsistent with sections 33, 34,35,37,38 and 40 of the Constitution and constitute a gross abuse of his
fundamental rights if eventually passed into law. The former senator is also seeking an order of injunction restraining the Respondents from further proceeding with, or continuing with further debates with respect to sections 3(8),5( 3),6,8,13,15,16,17,19,23,30 and 47 of the Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020, which provisions breaches and are likely to breach his fundamental rights. In an affidavit in support of his application, Melaye averred that, on April 28, 2020, the Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020, which is intended to amend the Quarantine Act of 1926, was introduced by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajiabiamila and that the said Bill passed the 1st and 2nd readings before the House of Representatives on the said date. He further noted that, most of the provisions of the said Bill constitute a flagrant breach of his fundamental rights and or, are likely to breach his rights. “That I know as a matter of fact that section 3(8) of the Bill
which empowers the DirectorGeneral of the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) by himself or any officer under him or a police officer on his direction, to enter into any premises or gathering of people in an area declared by the president as a public health restricted zone, without a warrant, is clearly in breach of my fundamental rights to freedom of assembly and right to liberty of my human person”. He further averred that the said provisions violate his rights to fair hearing and also in breach of the twin pillars of natural justice. “That section 5(3) of the Bill, which empowers the DG of NCDC, to compel any person suspected by him, of having an infectious disease, to take a medical examination or any test the DG of the NCDC prescribes and allow the DG to forcefully take blood or other samples from the person for purposes of public health surveillance, is in breach and or likely to breach my fundamental rights to privacy and right to respect of the dignity of my human person.
FirstBank sustains positive impact, welcomes back customers
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irst Bank of Nigeria has expressed its appreciation to the public - especially its customers - for their continued patronage of its services during the COVID-19 lockdown, while assuring the public that stringent measures have been implemented to ensure its branches and locations across the country operate in line with the health and safety guidelines issued by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. Expressing the bank’s delight at welcoming customers to its branches and locations from Monday, May 4, 2020, Adesola Adeduntan, the bank’s CEO, noted that these safety measures include ensuring personal protection, as wearing face masks was now mandatory, maintaining social distancing by reducing physical contact by at least one meter from the next person and queue guides and markings are in place to guide customers; as well as enhancing the practice of personal hygiene as hand washing stations and hand sanitisers have been provided. Speaking on the impact made by the bank across its sub-Saharan business Dr. Ade-
duntan said “We are glad that our investment in technology over the years has really borne fruit as many of our staff were able to work remotely during the lock down with effective IT support to hand. We were therefore able to actively support our customers, their families and businesses through these challenging times. We ensured business continuity across eight countries – Nigeria, Ghana; Democratic Republic of Congo; SierraLeone; the Gambia, Guinea; Senegal and United Kingdom. We recognise that this has truly been a trying period and are poised to continue to provide as much support as we can to our customers and communities we operate in”. Coming back home, the bank’s chief explained that during this period it proactively reviewed products and services to support customers better and expressed his appreciation to Nigerians for the whole hearted adoption and patronage of its electronic services, as these indeed demonstrated the trust which the public repose in the Bank and in return the Bank commits to always live by its resolve on being true to its mantra – You First.
Naira appreciates by N15 after partial relaxation of lockdown Hope Moses-Ashike
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igeria’s currency on Monday strengthened against the dollar by N15 at the black market after the partial easing of lockdown by the Federal Government. Dollar was trading at N435 on Monday as against N450
traded last Thursday before the public holiday declared by the Federal Government on Friday. The foreign exchange market opened on Monday with an indicative rate of N385.33k at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window. This indicates that naira is losing 0.09 percent or N0.33k compared with N385 opened on Thursday last week.
Promasidor Nigeria boosts Covid-19 fight with N280m Daniel Obi Fatai Owoseni (2nd r), special adviser to Oyo State governor on security; Jide Ajani (r), special adviser on media, enlightening the people of Bodija Market, Ibadan, on how to prevent themselves from Covid-19 virus. Pic from Oyo State government.
COVID-19: Edo expenditure may hit N12bn - Shaibu IDRIS UMAR MOMOH & CHURCHILL OKORO, Benin
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do State government says it projects to spend over N11 billion to N12 billion for the management of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the state, saying the projected cost will be for facilities alone. The state deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, said this while defending the state government’s over N1 billion so far expended on the management of the disease on a television show, “The Osasu Show,” monitored by BusinessDay in Benin City. Shaibu, who is the chairman of the state’s COVID-19 response technical committee, said if the state government’s predicted projection comes to pass the cost for facilities alone might rise to over N11 billion. “From our programme, we pray that we are able to flatten the curve and the projection, as
prediction doesn’t work in Edo. God forbid it does work, our projections and costs for facilities alone would be taking us to N11 to N12 billion. So, we are preparing for the worst but we don’t pray for the worst,” he said. Recall that on April 19, the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, at a press briefing when he imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew, said the state had so far spent over N1 billion in the fight against Coronavirus. The deputy governor’s response is coming after criticism on and off-social media trailing the state governor’s statement. While justifying the over N1 billion so far spent, Shaibu said the money causing controversy was used to procure ventilators and other medical equipment, adding that the fund was used to build isolation centres, purchase www.businessday.ng
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and relief materials for vulnerable persons. According to Shaibu, the over N1 billion that is becoming a controversy is crazy because, for instance, we have two new isolation centres that have been built, we have a 30-bed new isolation centre in Stella Obasanjo Hospital, Benin City. “We have a 12-bed isolation centre in Auchi, 12 female and 12 male, making a total of 24. The entire Stella Obasanjo Hospital now, which used to be 168-bed facility is being converted, as we speak, to a 400-bed facility, which will serve as a holding centre and an isolation centre. “Within this period we procured a total of 32 ventilators. When you quantify the amount of the cost of a ventilator, an average of N8 million, you would know the cost of that. “We also procured dialysis
machines because when we were investigating this particular ailment, we discovered that you can get to a state where you would need dialysis because of kidney failure and other renal problems. “So, we also procured six dialysis machines for the new facility, we also procured two new mobile x-ray machines for this new facility. When you check from the angle of this equipment alone, you have over N600 million. “We are not talking about the facility itself, the structure itself. Don’t forget we have a brand new isolation centre in Stella Obasanjo, which was an expansion of the old one. “We had existing one that had a 24-bed ICU facility that we were supposed to use for the Edo 2020 national sports festival, but because of the pandemic, we decided to build a new one, which is a 30-bed one”.
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romasidor Nigeria Limited has joined forces with other critical stakeholders in the fight to contain further spread of the deadly coronavirus with the contribution of over N280 million, a statement from the company states. This is as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world with numbers of confirmed cases increasing astronomically daily in Nigeria and globally. Specifically, Promasidor, a food and dairy firm, has made a direct cash contribution as well as donation of its food products in the fight against COVID-19. While the food company was said to have donated N 200 million cash for the exclusive purchase of equipment and the setting up of isolation centres required in the nationwide fight against COVID-19 through the Nigeria Private Sector Coalition against COVID-19 (CACOVID), it has also donated some of its products worth over N80 million to Lagos and Ekiti State governments, respectively, the statement said. @Businessdayng
“From the N80 million products support, the company has donated milk, beverages, cereals and seasoning products worth N44million in support of the food bank in Lagos state. Similarly, it has given products worth N 34m to Ekiti state even as it gave products worth N5.7 million to Isolo community, a major part of Lagos metropolis that plays host to its operational headquarters,” it noted. Speaking on the company gesture in Lagos, the managing director of Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Anders Einarsson, stated that the palliative was a combination of various initiatives the company was doing in the form of transformations and food support with the quality food for nutrition that the organisation produces. Explaining further, Einarsson noted: “Isolo community is very close to our heart. It’s the community, in which we have been operating in the last couple of years, and we are seeing and witnessing every day the struggles that her citizens are facing. It’s important that we partner in our direct host community.
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Live @ The Exchanges
Stock market opens week on a positive note Stories by Iheanyi Nwachukwu
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ig e r ia’s sto ck market opened this week on a positive note as investors gained N36billion at the close of remote trading on Monday May 4. The market’s benchmark performance indicator (All Share Index) also gained 0.30 percent because investors are still buying fundamentally sound stocks trading at record lows. Nigeria on Monday began easing the lockdown in its major cities - Lagos, Abuja and Ogun State. The NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation opened this week’s trading at 23,021.01points and N11.997 trillion respectively, but at the close of trading session the indicators increased to 23,089.86 points and N12.033trillion. The market’s negative return year to date stood lower at -13.98percent. Stocks like MTNN, Zenith
Bank, GTBank, Nestle, Access Bank, UBA, Dangote Sugar, Ardova, among others have seen increased buy sentiment lately, against sell positions taken on the likes of Seplat Petroleum due to record crude oil price decline. MTNN Plc led the advancers league after its share price moved from N112 to N116, adding N4 or 3.57percent, followed by Ardova Plc which increased from N11.55 to N12.7, adding N1.15 or 9.96percent and Dangote Sugar which increased from N12.45 to N12.8, adding 35kobo or 2.81percent. On the decliners list, Guinness Nigeria Plc topped others after its share price moved from day open high of N18.4 to N17.5, losing 90kobo or 4.89percent; Access Bank followed after declining from N6.6 to N6.1, losing 50kobo or 7.58percent and Lafarge Africa Plc which dropped from N10.8 to N10.3 shedding 50kobo or -4.63percent. In 6,538 deals, investors exchanged 249,859,281million units valued at N2.396billion. GTBank, FBN Holdings,
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UBA, Zenith Bank and Access Bank were actively traded stocks on Bourse. Last week, the equities market appreciated by1.9percent to close the month of April, rebounding 8.1 percent month on month after tumbling by 20.9percent in March. Analysts say the implementation of OPEC+ supply cut deal and the influx of more quarterly earnings (Q1) will drive sentiments this week amid increasing number of countries weighing the need to unlock economic activities as the debate around health and economic wellbeing gets louder. Investors are expected to take more positions in healthcare stocks due to increased interest in the sector lately. Given that a number of fundamentally sound stocks remain below their fair value, Lagos based Vetiva Securities analysts expect investors’ to continue to take position in attractive counters in the near term “in spite of the persistent threat of the Coronavirus pandemic.”
L-R: Khaled El-Dokani, country CEO, Lafarge Africa Plc; Sikiru Elegbede, a beneficiary, and Elenda Giwa-Amu, non-executive director, Lafarge Africa Plc, during the presentation of relief materials to residents of Lagos-Island East to cushion the effect of the lockdown.
Covid-19: FCMB donates 1000 bags of 5Kg rice to Imo State Government
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irst City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc has joined the list of corporate entities that have made donations to support Imo State Government in providing palliatives to its citizens, following the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic. Receiving FCMB’s 1000 bags of 5kg rice in government House, Owerri last week on behalf of Governor Hope Uzodimma, the Chief of staff, Nnamdi Anyaehie expressed deep appreciation to the bank for its magnanimity. He said the pandemic has
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taught Nigerians a lesson of generosity, brotherhood and communalism, which will be essential in future endeavours. “ This singular act of generosity shows that you have a soul, passion and empathy for fellow citizens. We only pray God to continue to prosper and replenish your purse a million folds,” Anyaehie said. Speaking earlier while presenting the items, the representative of FCMB, Chinedu Anyanwu said the bank, in line with what it has done at the centre and other states where it does business,
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decided to support the effort of the Imo State Government in cushioning the effects of coronavirus lockdown on the masses. Anyanwu said the donation is the first phase of what the bank plans to do, as “the bank will still come back with the second phase.” He commended Governor Uzodimma and members of the Covid-19 Taskforce in Imo State on their dexterity in contending the spread of coronavirus pandemic in the state, insisting that Imo has done well so far in the fight.
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Tuesday 05 May 2020
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FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES The Covid-19 Riddle: Why does the virus wallop some places and spare others?
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he coronavirus has killed so many people in Iran that the country has resorted to mass burials, but in neighboring Iraq, the body count is fewer than 100. The Dominican Republic has reported nearly 7,600 cases of the virus. Just across the border, Haiti has recorded about 85. In Indonesia, thousands are believed to have died of the coronavirus. In nearby Malaysia, a strict lockdown has kept fatalities to about 100. The coronavirus has touched almost every country on earth, but its impact has seemed capricious. Global metropolises like New York, Paris and London have been devastated, while teeming cities like Bangkok, Baghdad, New Delhi and Lagos have, so far, largely been spared. The question of why the virus has overwhelmed some places and left others relatively untouched is a puzzle that has spawned numerous theories and speculations but no definitive answers. That knowledge could have profound implications for how countries respond to the virus, for determining who is at risk and for knowing when it’s safe to go out again. There are already hundreds of studies underway around the world looking into how demographics, pre-existing conditions and genetics might affect the wide variation in impact. Doctors in Saudi Arabia are studying whether genetic differences may help explain varying levels of severity in Covid-19 cases among Saudi Arabs, while scientists in Brazil are looking into the relationship between genetics and Covid-19 complications. Teams in multiple countries are studying if common hypertension medications might worsen the disease’s severity and whether a particular tuberculosis vaccine might do the opposite. Many developing nations with hot climates and young populations have escaped the worst, suggesting that temperature and demographics could be factors. But countries like Peru, Indonesia and Brazil, tropical countries in the throes of growing epidemics, throw cold water on that idea. Draconian social-distancing
and early lockdown measures have clearly been effective, but Myanmar and Cambodia did neither and have reported few cases. One theory that is unproven but impossible to refute: maybe the virus just hasn’t gotten to those countries yet. Russia and Turkey appeared to be fine until, suddenly, they were not. Time may still prove the greatest equalizer: The Spanish flu that broke out in the United States in 1918 seemed to die down during the summer only to come roaring back with a deadlier strain in the fall, and a third wave the following year. It eventually reached far-flung places like islands in Alaska and the South Pacific and infected a third of the world’s population. “We are really early in this disease,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Health Research Institute. “If this were a baseball game, it would be the second inning and there’s no reason to think that by the ninth inning the rest of the world that looks now like it hasn’t been affected won’t become like other places.” Doctors who study infectious diseases around the world say they do not have enough data yet to get a full epidemiological picture, and that gaps in information in many countries make it dangerous to draw conclusions. Testing is woeful in many places, leading to vast underestimates of the virus’s progress, and deaths are almost certainly undercounted. Still, the broad patterns are clear. Even in places with abysmal record-keeping and broken health
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There are notable exceptions to the cultural distancing theory. In many parts of the Middle East, such as Iraq and the Persian Gulf countries, men often embrace or shake hands on meeting, yet most are not getting sick
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Hannah Beech, Alissa J. Rubin, Anatoly Kurmanaev and Ruth Maclean
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Iraqi border agents at the Zurbatiya border crossing with Iran. On the other side lies the largest epicenter of the virus in the Middle East. On the Iraqi side, there are relatively few cases.Credit...Ivor Prickett for The New York Times
systems, mass burials or hospitals turning away sick people by the thousands would be hard to miss, and a number of places are just not seeing them — at least not yet. Interviews with more than two dozen infectious disease experts, health officials, epidemiologists and academics around the globe suggest four main factors that could help explain where the virus thrives and where it doesn’t: demographics, culture, environment and the speed of government responses. Each possible explanation comes with considerable caveats and confounding counter-evidence. If an aging population is the most vulnerable, for instance, Japan should be at the top of the list. It is far from it. Nonetheless these are the factors that experts find the most persuasive. The Power of Youth Many countries that have escaped mass epidemics have relatively younger populations. Young people are more likely to contract mild or asymptomatic cases that are less transmissible to others, said Robert Bollinger, a professor of infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. And they are less likely to have certain health problems that can make Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, particularly deadly, according to the World Health Organization.
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Africa — with about 45,000 reported cases, a tiny fraction of its 1.3 billion people — is the world’s youngest continent, with more than 60 percent of its population under age 25. In Thailand and Najaf, Iraq, local health officials found that the 20-to-29 age group had the highest rate of infection but often showed few symptoms. By contrast, the national median age in Italy, one of the hardest hit countries, is more than 45. The average age of those who died of Covid-19 there was around 80. Younger people tend to have stronger immune systems, which can result in milder symptoms, said Josip Car, an expert in population and global health at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. In Singapore and Saudi Arabia, for instance, most of the infections are among foreign migrant workers, many of them living in cramped dormitories. However, many of those workers are young and fit, and have not required hospitalization. Along with youth, relative good health can lessen the impact of the virus among those who are infected, while certain pre-existing conditions — notably hypertension, diabetes and obesity — can worsen the severity, researchers in the United States say. There are notable exceptions to the demographic theory. Japan, with the world’s oldest average @Businessdayng
population, has recorded fewer than 520 deaths, although its caseload has risen with increased testing. The Guayas region of Ecuador, the epicenter of an outbreak that may have claimed up to 7,000 lives, is one of the youngest in the country, with only 11 percent of its residents over 60 years old. And Dr. Jha of Harvard warns that some young people who are not showing symptoms are also highly contagious for reasons that are not well understood.
Far-flung nations, such as some in the South Pacific and parts of subSaharan Africa, have not been as inundated with visitors bringing the virus with them. Health experts in Africa cite limited travel from abroad as perhaps the main reason for the continent’s relatively low infection rate. Countries that are less accessible for political reasons, like Venezuela, or because of conflict, like Syria and Libya, have also been somewhat shielded by the lack of travelers, as have countries like Lebanon and Iraq, which have endured widespread protests in recent months. The lack of public transportation in developing countries may have also reduced the spread of the virus there. Heat and Light The geography of the outbreak — which spread rapidly during the winter in temperate zone countries like Italy and the United States and was virtually unseen in warmer countries such as Chad or Guyana — seemed to suggest that the virus did not take well to heat. Other coronaviruses, such as ones that cause the common cold, are less contagious in warmer, moist climates. But researchers say the idea that hot weather alone can repel the virus is wishful thinking. Some of the worst outbreaks in the developing world have been in places like the Amazonas region of Brazil, as tropical a place as any. “The best guess is that summer conditions will help but are unlikely by themselves to lead to significant slowing of growth or to a decline in cases,” said Marc Lipsitch, the director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard University. The virus that causes Covid-19 appears to be so contagious as to mitigate any beneficial effect of heat and humidity, said Dr. Raul Rabadan, a computational biologist at Columbia University.
But other aspects of warm climates, like people spending more time outside, could help. “People living indoors within enclosed environments may promote virus recirculation, increasing the chance of contracting the disease,” said Mr. Car of Nanyang Technological University. The ultraviolet rays of direct sunlight inhibit this coronavirus, according to a study by ecological modelers at the University of Connecticut. So surfaces in sunny places may be less likely to remain contaminated, but transmission usually occurs through contact with an infected person, not by touching a surface. No scientist has proposed that beaming light inside an infected person, as President Trump has suggested, would be an effective cure. And tropical conditions may have even lulled some people into a false sense of security. “People were saying ‘It’s hot here, nothing will happen to me,’” said Dr. Doménica Cevallos, a medical investigator in Ecuador. “Some were even going out on purpose to sunbathe, thinking it would protect them from infection.” Early and Strict Lockdowns Countries that locked down early, like Vietnam and Greece, have been able to avoid out-of-control contagions, evidence of the power of strict social distancing and quarantines to contain the virus. In Africa, countries with bitter experience with killers like H.I.V., drug-resistant tuberculosis and Ebola knew the drill and reacted quickly. Airport staff from Sierra Leone to Uganda were taking temperatures (since found to be a less
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In Indonesia, we have a health minister who believes you can pray away Covid, and we have too little testing
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Experts are trying to figure out why the coronavirus is so capricious. The answers could determine how to best protect ourselves and how long we have to.
effective measure) and contact details and wearing masks long before their counterparts in the United States and Europe took such precautions. Senegal and Rwanda closed their borders and announced curfews when they still had very few cases. Health ministries began contact tracing early. All this happened in a region where health ministries had come to rely on money, personnel and supplies from foreign donors, many of which had to turn their attention to outbreaks in their own countries, said Catherine Kyobutungi, executive director of the African Population and Health Research Center. “Countries wake up one day and they’re like, ‘OK, the weight of the country rests on our shoulders, so we need to step up,’” she said. “And they have. Some of the responses have been beautiful to behold, honestly.” Sierra Leone repurposed disease-tracking protocols that had
Cultural Distance Cultural factors, like the social distancing that is built into certain societies, may give some countries more protection, epidemiologists said. In Thailand and India, where virus numbers are relatively low, people greet each other at a distance, with palms joined together as in prayer. In Japan and South Korea, people bow, and long before the coronavirus arrived, they tended to wear face masks when feeling unwell. In much of the developing world, the custom of caring for the elderly at home leads to fewer nursing homes, which have been tinder for tragic outbreaks in the West. However, there are notable exceptions to the cultural distancing theory. In many parts of the Middle East, such as Iraq and the Persian Gulf countries, men often embrace or shake hands on meeting, yet most are not getting sick. What might be called “national distancing” has also proven advantageous. Countries that are relatively isolated have reaped health benefits from their seclusion. www.businessday.ng
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been established in the wake of the Ebola outbreak in 2014, in which almost 4,000 people died there. The government set up emergency operations centers in every district and recruited 14,000 community health workers, 1,500 of whom are being trained as contact tracers, even though Sierra Leone has only about 155 confirmed cases. It is not clear, however, who will pay for their salaries or for expenses like motorcycles and raincoats to keep them operating during the coming wet season. Uganda, which also suffered during the Ebola contagion, quickly quarantined travelers from Dubai after the first case of coronavirus arrived from there. Authorities also tracked down about 800 others who had traveled from Dubai in previous weeks. The Ugandan health authorities are also testing around 1,000 truck drivers a day. But many of those who test positive have come from Tanzania and Kenya, countries that are not monitoring as aggressively, leading to worries that the virus will keep penetrating porous borders. Lockdowns, with bans on religious conclaves and spectator sporting events, clearly work, the World Health Organization says. More than a month after closing national borders, schools and most businesses, countries from Thailand to Jordan have seen new infections drop. In the Middle East, the widespread shuttering of mosques, shrines and churches happened relatively early and probably helped stem the spread in many countries. A notable exception was Iran, which did not close some of its largest shrines until March 18, a full month after it registered its first case in the pilgrimage city of Qum. The epidemic spread quickly from there, killing thousands in the country and spreading the virus across borders as pilgrims returned home. As effective as lockdowns are, in countries lacking a strong social safety net and those where most people work in the informal economy, orders closing businesses and requiring people to shelter in place will be difficult to maintain for long. When people are forced to choose between social distancing and feeding their families, they are choosing the latter. Counter-intuitively, some countries where authorities reacted late and with spotty enforcement of lockdowns appear to have been spared. Cambodia and Laos both had brief spates of infections when few social distancing measures were in place but neither has recorded a new case in about three weeks. Lebanon, whose Muslim and @Businessdayng
Christian citizens often go on pilgrimages respectively to Iran and Italy, places rife with the virus, should have had high numbers of infections. It has not. “We just didn’t see what we were expecting,” said Dr. Roy Nasnas, an infectious disease consultant at the University Hospital Geitaoui in Beirut. “We don’t know why.” Roll of the Dice Finally, most experts agree that there may be no single reason for some countries to be hit and others missed. The answer is likely to be some combination of the above factors, as well as one other mentioned by researchers: sheer luck. Countries with the same culture and climate could have vastly different outcomes if one infected person attends a crowded social occasion, turning it into what researchers call a super-spreader event. That happened when a passenger infected 634 people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the coast of Japan, when an infected guest attended a large funeral in Albany, Ga., and when a 61-year-old woman went to church in Daegu, South Korea, spreading the disease to hundreds of congregants and then to thousands of other Koreans. Because an infected person may not experience symptoms for a week or more, if at all, the disease spreads under the radar, exponentially and seemingly at random. Had the woman in Daegu stayed home that Sunday in February, the outbreak in South Korea might have been less than half of what it is. Some countries that should have been inundated are not, leaving researchers scratching their heads. Thailand reported the first confirmed case of coronavirus outside of China in mid-January, from a traveler from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the pandemic is thought to have begun. In those critical weeks, Thailand continued to welcome an influx of Chinese visitors. For some reason, these tourists did not set off exponential local transmission. And when countries do all the wrong things and still end up seemingly not as battered by the virus as one would expect, go figure. “In Indonesia, we have a health minister who believes you can pray away Covid, and we have too little testing,” said Dr. Pandu Riono, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Indonesia. “But we are lucky we have so many islands in our country that limit travel and maybe infection.” “There’s nothing else we’re doing right,” he added.
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Global stocks drop as US-China tension flares
Renewed friction between Washington and Beijing adds to coronavirus concerns COLBY SMITH , PHILIP GEORGIADIS, NEIL HUME AND HUDSON LOCKETT
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S stocks were mixed on Monday, as tensions flared between the US and China over the origin of the coronavirus
pandemic. The S&P 500 saw its third straight day of losses, slipping 0.3 per cent in afternoon trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fared better, rising 0.6 per cent. The moves came after Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, on Sunday reiterated US government claims linking the coronavirus outbreak to a laboratory in Wuhan, China, without providing any evidence. China has denied the virus came from the lab. In a television interview, Mr Pompeo said China was also blocking access to information and refusing to co-operate with overseas scientists trying to develop a vaccine. In Europe, the benchmark Stoxx 600, which tracks the region’s largest companies, closed lower by 2.7 per cent. The losses were sharpest in continental Europe, where markets had missed out on Friday’s sell-off because of a public holiday. In Frankfurt, the Dax fell 3.6 per cent, while the CAC 40 in Paris was 4.4 per cent lower. London’s FTSE 100, which had fallen more than 2 per cent in the previous session, slipped a further 0.2 per cent. Analysts said an upcoming decision in the German constitutional court on the legality of the Europe-
Tensions between the two superpowers come at a delicate moment for markets © Bloomberg
an Central Bank’s asset-purchasing programme was also weighing on market sentiment in Europe because it could undermine the central bank’s Covid-19 response. Renewed tensions between the US and China have come at a delicate moment for markets, which climbed in April even with much of the global economy in freefall after widespread lockdowns to stop the spread of coronavirus. “The last thing we need is more trade war,” said Kit Juckes, a strategist at Société Générale. On Friday, the S&P 500 shed 2.8 per cent after US president Donald Trump threatened to use tariffs against Beijing, escalating his attack on China over the origins of
the public health crisis. Strategists at Bank of America said their discussions with clients had revealed “a fairly unanimous view that the US-China relationship would worsen moving ahead”. The Wall Street bank said the biggest risk was the sustainability of the “phase one” trade deal signed in January after months of negotiations. “It is possible that the US administration feels emboldened to restart the trade rhetoric given the rally stocks have undergone in recent weeks,” said Robert Carnell, ING’s head of Asia-Pacific research. “If so, Friday’s S&P 500 sell-off comes as a reminder that the underlying drivers for markets have
not changed.” The re-emergence of US-China trade tensions also weighed on the price of industrial metals. Copper extended its decline from its late-April high of $5,250 a tonne, trading as low at $5,060 on Monday. Aluminium dropped 0.7 per cent to $1,487. Weak manufacturing data and the absence of Chinese buyers because of a public holiday added further pressure on the sector. “As the global economy looks to escape its current lockdown, May is likely to be a test month and for that reason risk appetite is likely to remain muted at best,” said Alastair Munro, a metals trader at brokerage Marex Spectron.
Coronavirus business update How is coronavirus taking its toll on markets, business, and our everyday lives and workplaces? Stay briefed with our coronavirus newsletter. Sign up here Asian stocks also dropped on Monday. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng fell 4.2 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi slid 2.9 per cent. Markets in Japan and mainland China were shut for holidays. Oil benchmarks also got off to a poor start for the week, hit by persistent worries about oversupply and inadequate storage. West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, was down 0.5 per cent at $19.76 a barrel while Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped 0.2 per cent to $26.38. The decline in oil prices, which followed their first weekly gain in a month, came as optimism over output cuts began to sour again. Last month, US oil prices collapsed into negative territory for the first time as the rising cost of increasingly scarce storage pushed producers to pay buyers to take the product off their hands. Signs of risk aversion were still prevalent on Monday, with a $500m oil exchange traded fund in Hong Kong saying that its broker had blocked it from increasing its holdings of crude oil futures. Analysts at Citi warned that the “worst is likely yet to come, given signs of global storage reaching tank tops even as a demand recovery starts”.
Tanzania hiding true number of Covid deaths, opposition says Secret burials, overflowing hospitals and dead MPs, as president takes refuge in home village
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anzania’s government is covering up the true extent of the coronavirus pandemic with secret burials taking place at night, hospitals overflowing and three parliamentarians suspected of dying from the disease, according to doctors, opposition leaders and activists. President John Magufuli, who has spent much of the crisis holed up in his home village 750 miles west of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, has denied the virus is serious and urged people to continue working and attending religious ceremonies. On Sunday, in a national address, Mr Magufuli even accused the national laboratory of fabricating results under the influence of what he called imperialists. “We only see them releasing positive, positive, positive results,” he said. Zitto Kabwe, a prominent opposition leader, said that, by questioning the results of the government’s own laboratory, ordinary Tanzanians would lose faith in the health system’s response to Covid-19. He cited records being kept secretly by doctors that, he said, showed the number of infections nationally at six times the official figure of 480.
According to government records, 16 people have died of the virus. Night burials had taken place in different parts of the country, including Arusha and Dar es Salaam, with gravediggers and pallbearers wearing protective clothing, Mr Kabwe said. His party had sent people to film the night-time ceremonies at Uninio, north of Dar es Salaam, but he added that a true reckoning of how many people had died from the disease would not emerge until the pandemic was over. Although schools have been closed since mid-March, strict social distancing measures have not been enforced in the east African nation of 56m people. That makes Tanzania unusual in Africa where many countries have imposed lockdowns, curfews and other measures to stop the progress of the disease. [The president] told us to go back to work and pray, then he got on his private presidential jet, went to [his home village] Chato and left us to it Fatma Karume, lawyer Last week, Augustine Mahiga, 74, justice minister, became the third parliamentarian in 11 days to die of a short illness, though there was no official confirmation that he had contracted Covid-19. The three deaths represented nearly 1 per www.businessday.ng
cent of the 384-member national assembly, prompting the opposition Chadema party to say its MPs would no longer attend. Hassan Abas, a government spokesperson, said Tanzania had implemented more than 40 measures to curb the pandemic and was learning from the experience of other countries about how to tackle the virus. He defended the government’s statistics and denied that it could be hiding the extent of the outbreak. “It takes one to be insane to insinuate that Tanzania is not taking serious measures or hiding data,” he said. Someone with close knowledge of the medical profession said it was almost impossible to secure a hospital bed in several cities. The Aga Khan hospital in Dar es Salaam had a well-equipped ward for 80 coronavirus patients, but several were dying each night, he said. “There is such a hush-up on how many people are really sick with Covid. We know that all the hospitals are full,” he said. “We always thought it would be the elderly that would succumb, but we are also looking at cases of young people in their 30s and 40s who we know have passed away.” Fatma Karume, a prominent lawyer and government critic, said: “On Monday I woke up to find that
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five people I knew had passed away from respiratory illnesses.” Tanzanians, she said, had been shamed into not admitting they had caught Covid-19, which had been stigmatised by a government that said only weak people died from the illness. “They want to own the numbers and the statistics,” she said, adding that a lawyer who had urged more transparency had been arrested. Ms Karume said people were referring to Covid-19 by a euphemism in Kiswahili, the national language, of “kutopumuwa”, which roughly translates as the “hard-to-breathe” disease. She said she blamed Mr Magufuli for retreating to his home village of Chato on Lake Victoria. “He basically told us to go back to work and pray, then he got on his private presidential jet, went to Chato and left us to it.” Mr Magufuli, known as “the bulldozer” because of his trenchant style, was elected president in 2015 amid hope that he would carry out his pledge to eradicate corruption. Instead, he has become increasingly authoritarian, declaring that pregnant girls should be banned from school and clamping down on the internet and press freedom. As other African leaders reacted @Businessdayng
swiftly to coronavirus, closing their frontiers and preparing for lockdown, Mr Magufuli made a point of attending crowded church gatherings, telling people that the “satanic” virus could not survive in the bodies of the faithful. Editor’s note The Financial Times is making key coronavirus coverage free to read to help everyone stay informed. Find the latest here. On Sunday, as he sought to cast doubt on the work of the national laboratory, Mr Magufuli said he had arranged for samples of blood from goats, sheep and the francolin bird, as well as papaya, jackfruit and engine oil, to be sent for testing. The samples had been given false identities, he said. “We took the papaya sample and gave it the name Elizabeth Ann, 26-year-old female. The papaya results were positive,” he said. “There were many such shocking outcomes.” If Mr Magufuli was so confident the risk had been exaggerated and that religious faith would protect Tanzanians from the worst effects, Mr Kabwe asked why the president had been “hiding” in his home village. “We have been asking him to come out and lead this fight,” he said.
Tuesday 05 May 2020
BUSINESS DAY
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FINANCIAL TIMES
COMPANIES & MARKETS
@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED
Argentina bondholders snub ‘disproportionate’ debt offer Biggest creditors attack government’s proposal to restructure $65bn of foreign debt COLBY SMITH
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rgentina’s biggest bondholders have doubled down on their opposition to the government’s plan to restructure its $65bn foreign debt mountain, all but confirming the failure of the deal, which expires on Friday. On Monday, three groups representing some of the country’s largest private creditors issued a joint statement confirming they would not support the proposal from Buenos Aires, which calls for interest payments to be delayed until 2023 and principal payments until 2026. Tensions have run high between Argentina and its creditors since the proposal was announced last month. The three groups, which represent some of the world’s largest institutional investors including BlackRock and Fidelity, have already rejected the offer independently, with some calling it “unacceptable” and not a product of “good faith” negotiations. “Each of the three bondholder groups and the institutions they represent, together with various other investors, wish to reiterate and make clear that they cannot support Argentina’s recently launched exchange offer, and will not tender their bonds in such offer, because, among other reasons, they consider the terms
People queue outside a shop in Buenos Aires. Argentina’s government, which has given investors until Friday to accept the terms, wants a 62 per cent ‘haircut’ on interest payments © Bloomberg
to require Argentine bondholders to bear disproportionate losses that are neither justified nor necessary,” the creditors said in a statement on Monday. The government, which has given investors until Friday to accept the terms, has requested a 62 per cent “haircut” on interest payments worth almost $38bn, as well as a 5.4 per cent reduction in the face value of the debt, worth about $3.6bn. BlackRock, Fidelity, T Rowe Price and Ashmore are among the members of the largest group, while Greylock Capital
Management and GMO have joined forces with other firms in a separate committee. A third group, which represents holders of previously restructured bonds issued in 2005 and 2010, or socalled exchange bonds, counts hedge funds VR Capital Group, Monarch Alternative Capital and HBK Capital Management among its members. Last week, several members of the various groups rejected meetings with economy minister Martín Guzmán and his team, according to people familiar with the matter, arguing that
there was little to discuss so long as the government insisted it could not adjust the terms at all. “We understand everything we need to understand about this deal to know it’s not going to work,” said one creditor. Writing in the Financial Times, Mr Guzmán said that solving the debt crisis required “common sense, collaboration and fresh ideas in the interest of both international creditors and Argentina”. But bondholders have taken issue with the government’s request for a three-year payment
holiday, arguing that while the country does need “breathing space”, paying nothing during that period is a step too far. “Zero is an unreasonable number,” said one group member. Other members have questioned the economic assumptions the government has used to justify the deal and hit back at the coupon payments proposed by Argentina, which initially start out at no more than 0.5 per cent. Analysts say the terms equate to an average recovery value for bonds issued after 2016 of 32 cents on the dollar and 35 cents on the dollar for the exchange bonds. Argentina must win over the support of the three creditor groups before May 22 if it is to avoid its ninth sovereign debt default, however, as that is when the 30-day grace period ends for payments it has already missed. Depending on the bond, the government’s deal needs the approval of between 66 per cent and 85 per cent of creditors. The group including BlackRock says its members hold more than 25 per cent of Argentina’s bonds issued since 2016 and more than 15 per cent of the exchange bonds outstanding. Meanwhile, the exchange bondholder group says its share is more than 16 per cent. In their statement on Monday, the bondholders said they were open to “constructively engage with Argentina when its government is ready to do so”.
Fashion group J Crew pushed into bankruptcy by coronavirus US retailer of preppy clothing was already under pressure from heavy debt load ALISTAIR GRAY AND MYLES MCCORMICK
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Crew, the retailer known for colourful cashmere, Breton-stripe tops and upbeat branding, has filed for bankruptcy protection, becoming the first major US retailer to be pushed over the edge by the coronavirus pandemic. The private equity-backed company said on Monday that its parent Chinos Holdings had filed for Chapter 11 relief after lockdowns to contain the spread of Covid-19 left it unable to cope with its near $2bn debt burden. Like other bricks-and-mortar clothing chains across the US, J Crew had been struggling well before the outbreak. The maker of cashmere T-shirts and seersucker shirts made a series of design missteps in recent years, although its Madewell denim brand has remained popular among young female shoppers. J Crew produced revenues of $2.5bn last year, yet the company’s debt load — a legacy in part of its
J Crew said it had reached a deal with its lenders to convert $1.65bn worth of debt into equity © Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg
2011 buyout by TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners — inhibited its ability to take on rivals, including lower-priced H&M and Zara. Michael Nicholson, Chinos president, said coronavirus had caused “considerable financial strain” but added it had “only exacerbated” the chain’s existing problems. About 11,000 of the retailer’s 13,000 workers have www.businessday.ng
already been furloughed. The bankruptcy of J Crew, which has about 500 outlets, is the latest blow to the retail property market. The New York-based retailer warned in the filing that it would need to close stores permanently if it could not secure “accommodations” from landlords, and was seeking court approval for “streamlined” lease rejections. Restructuring bankers expect
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the impact of the pandemic on the industry will lead to more US retail failures in the weeks ahead. Debt-laden department store and mall-based chains are under particular pressure. Both Neiman Marcus and JCPenney have missed bond payments in recent weeks. J Crew’s roots are as a door-todoor clothing business, Popular Club Plan, that began in 1947. The J Crew brand was not developed until 1983 by Arthur Cinader, son of the founder, and Emily Woods, Arthur’s daughter. Started as a clothing catalogue venture, J Crew opened its first store in Lower Manhattan in 1989 and went on to build a national bricks-and-mortar presence with an Americana-inspired range that was more affordable than Ralph Lauren. Mickey Drexler, the US fashion retail personality, took charge in 2003 and repositioned J Crew, making it more upmarket. He also built the Madewell denim brand. J Crew was embraced by celebrities including former first lady @Businessdayng
Michelle Obama, who sported a cardigan and pencil skirt combo on her first official visit to London in 2009. International expansion began in 2011. Yet the brand has increasingly struggled to remain relevant to modern shoppers. Fast-fashion rivals mimicked the look at lower prices, and the rise of Amazon added to the pressure. Mr Drexler stood aside as chief executive in 2017. The company had sought to reduce its debt load by floating the fast-growing Madewell brand late last year but was unable to complete the listing. As part of the bankruptcy, J Crew has reached a deal with its lenders to convert $1.65bn worth of debt into equity. The company said it had secured commitments for a debtor-in-possession financing facility of $400m to help it through the bankruptcy. Jan Singer, chief executive, said the arrangement would help produce “sustainable growth” for J Crew and enhance “Madewell’s growth momentum”.
leaderSHIP
BUSINESS DAY Tuesday 05 May 2020 www.businessday.ng
Aigboje Aig-Imoukheuede: The transformational leader retires as chairman of Wapic Insurance plc SEGUN ADAMS
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fter nearly a decade of expanding the frontiers of possibilities at Wapic Insurance, Aigboje AigImoukheuede retires as Chairman leaving behind a legacy to inspire the future generation. Aig-Imoukheuede was appointed as Chairman to initiate and spearhead the transformation of Wapic Insurance Plc and its subsidiaries Wapic Life Assurance Plc, including Wapic Insurance (Ghana) Limited. In 2013, following the divestment of Access bank from non-banking subsidiaries, the lender distributed all its shareholding in Wapic Insurance to its 800,000 plus shareholders by way of a special dividend. These shareholders challenged the new Board with the responsibility of repositioning the company and turning around its fortunes. During his appointment, AigImoukheuede led a number of initiatives that helped Wapic Insurance Plc and its subsidiary Wapic Life Assurance Ltd to become profitable and grow remarkably from an industry position of 18 to 8, and transformed into a frontline insurance company in subSaharan Africa. Aig-Imoukheuede notably initiated the first phase of growth for Wapic, which helped the company stabilize and reach new heights. Some of the highlight of his transformation include Recapitilisation for Competitiveness, Brand revitalization, Entrenching a culture of excellence, Recruiting and developing talented employees, Transforming customer experience and Digitisation and Automation of the business. Recapitalisation for Competitiveness One of the very first tasks for Aig-Imoukhuede-led Wapic was positioning the underwriting business for leadership in the industry, and to achieve that, there was the need to strengthen its capital base. From a total capital of N4.7 billion at the time Aig-Imoukhuede took over the leadership of the Board, he and his turn-around team successfully recapitalised the business to the tune of N23.1 billion, between 2011 and 2019, a significant 400% growth. It is noteworthy that the General business which has already met the 2018 NAICOM recapitalisation requirement is now also well positioned to recapitalise its Life subsidiary business in 2020. As Aig-Imoukhuede retires from the Board of Wapic Insurance and its subsidiary Wapic Life Assurance, he leaves behind a very strong and robust foundation from leap the business, now among the top 5 most recapitalised insurance companies in Nigeria can, within 10 years, achieve a capitalization exceeding N100 billion based on current trajectory of growth and inspiration of Aig-Imoukhuede’s leadership. Brand Revitalisation and In-
Aig-Imoukheuede
stitutional Repositioning In line with the vision to reposition Wapic Insurance and its subsidiaries for industry leadership, the Aig-Imoukhuede-led Board, worked with the management team on a strategic rebranding exercise to create a superior identity for the business and accrue competitive advantage needed for greater value delivery. Formerly known as Intercontinental Wapic Insurance, the rebranding exercise not only changed the company’s name to Wapic Insurance Plc but established a relevant and compelling promise to all customers and stakeholders. The rebranded Wapic Insurance was supported by a new brand identity, which included a new logo, as well as focused internal and external communication which aligned all stakeholders and signaled the company’s new business trajectory and repositioning in the industry. The leadership also completed a modern head office built in line with state-of-the-art sustainability principles. The brand has become a source of pride to all stakeholders and Wapic Insurance has become a credible partner to customers and counterparties, large and small, both locally and internationally. Entrenching a Culture of Excellence, Professionalism and Integrity The Aig-Imoukhuede-led Board has encouraged and instituted a high-performance system of shared values and beliefs, which has positively impacted the organisational practices, employee attitudes and behavior in Wapic Insurance. The board enlisted the support of management consultancy, Accenture Nigeria, to champion an organisation-wide cultural reorientation and change management programme with excellence, professionalism and integrity at the heart of its DNA. As a result, Wapic Insurance was able to elicit trust in its values, and the principles of excellence, integrity and professionalism became entrenched in the organisation across all levels of operation.
The company established the Wapic Insurance Academy to deliver a 4-month postgraduate ‘boot camp’ to the best-of-the-best university graduates, as a precondition to employment in the company. To date, the Academy has produced five (5) classes of Entry Level Trainees totaling 120 Trainees from Nigeria and Ghana. As a reinforcement of its resolve, Wapic Insurance also entered into an arrangement with the Lagos Business School (LBS) to support the development of mid-level to senior management employees as well as partnerships with global re-insurance companies such as Munich Re who deliver bespoke training for key talent. Today, Wapic Insurance does not only pride itself as one of the best places to work in Nigeria - the company has become a convergence point for highly motivated and talented employees, pushing the boundaries of innovation in the Nigerian insurance sector. Introduced Best Practices and Excellent Procedures to the Company The Board of Wapic, under AigImoukhuede, has approved and instituted a number of leading practices in corporate governance and risk management policies aimed at strengthening Wapic Insurance’s operations. The company has assembled a team of highly qualified and reputable non-executive directors to strengthen the corporate governance of both the parent company and its subsidiaries, a move that has seen Wapic Insurance over time become a reference point for leading market practice and stringent adherence to high standards of governance. As a company, Wapic Insurance has taken pride in being the first NSE listed company to establish a Board Technology Committee. Its passion for sustainability has seen the company play a leading role at industry events, such as the 2014 National Insurance Summit, which was the first of its kind in Nigeria, further supported by the move to establish a sector-wide, shared-claims bureau to radically improve claims payment by all operators. In response to the current pan-
demic, Wapic has implemented a stringent Business Continuity Programme aimed at safe-guarding the organisation and its people and ensuring prevention and recovery measures are in place. The footprint left behind by AigImoukhuede is a lasting one that would serve as a barometer to the future leadership. Transforming Customer Experience Wapic’s customer-centric philosophy has seen it invest quality time in understanding customers’ needs and developing processes to ensure customers can access products and services through different channels, creating a unique and excellent customer experience. The company, today, is changing the narrative in the insurance industry through prompt claims payment processes and a pleasant customer experience, thus restoring confidence and encouraging a faster uptake of an insurance culture in the country and beyond. Wapic also deepened engagement with its customers through convenient electronic channels as well as personal client visits, using its Financial Service Advisors (FSA) and Contact Centre agents. CSR and Covid-19 fight Following it’s recent announcement giving premium refunds to customers with active motor vehicle policies during the lockdown period, Wapic Insurance, one of Nigeria’s leading underwriters, has gone further to offer health workers across Nigeria a 25 percent discount on new policies taken up in 2020 to help cushion financial hardships associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The rebate to health workers covers Personal Accident, Householder Insurance and Motor Insurance. Earlier, the insurer announced a pioneering initiative costing millions of Naira in premium revenue that will give refunds to its motor insurance policy holders. The offer from Wapic Insurance ensures that customers with active policies are automatically credited with refunds based on the lockdown period. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in Nigeria, Wapic Insurance has been at the forefront of Insurance sector contributions towards the fight against the Covid-19 virus. The company has contributed 40 million Naira to the Federal Government’s Covid-19 response effort, Wapic is also one of the Insurance Companies underwriting free health cover for Nigeria’s 5000 health workers. Most importantly the company is demonstrating its commitment to sustainable business practices by fighting the pandemic through its core underwriting products and services. Digitisation and Automation In today’s digital world, companies that fail to proactively take steps to leverage technology will fall behind. For the size of its business, Wapic
Insurance has a robust IT infrastructure, supporting its automation and digitisation. The company invested in several state-of-the-art technology solutions and applications to boost its operational efficiency upon realising the scale of transformation that would be required to take its operations to industry-leadership. As service excellence was at the core of its operations, Wapic Insurance strengthened service delivery and quality with the adoption of WapX, an excellent world-class core insurance application developed by Asseco Europe. With WapX, Wapic Insurance now seamlessly rolls out digital insurance products and services. This first mover strategically heralded a new dawn in operational delivery and service excellence for the insurance industry in Nigeria. Wapic Insurance is the first in West Africa to deploy a Core Insurance Application of this level supporting current and future capability. Aside from the internal efficiencies that the application brings (which includes giving the customer an end-to-end view of their transactions) the application has an inbuilt Internet Insurance Portal that empowers individuals, brokers and agents to be in control of initialising, managing and terminating most transactions from the convenience of their offices and homes. In addition, the application provides Wapic Insurance the capability to connect their agents, channels and various partner platforms through well-secured application programming interfaces (API). The core insurance application supported by a robust array of other applications including the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform using Microsoft Nav, the refreshed and reinvigorated wapic.com website with the online functionalities and the Historical Data Portal (HDP). The new solutions have brought faster processing time, speedy resolutions, improved document management and an altogether slick and convenient customer experience. Lasting Legacy Having led the company and mentored the next generation of leadership, Aig-Imoukhuede will hand the baton to Mutiu Sunmonu as the Chairman of its Board of Directors and Bababode Osunkoya as Chairman of its subsidiary, Wapic Life Assurance Ltd, marking the second phase of Wapic’s growth plan focused on extending its culture of distinction in service excellence, innovation, technology, sustainability practices and operational efficiency. Aig-Imoukhuede has laid the foundation for Wapic Insurance to reach new heights and set an example for those that would follow through his achievements in the finance industry in Nigeria and Africa. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede retired effective April 27, 2020, after 8 years of diligent and committed service to both organisations.
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