BusinessDay 09 Mar 2021

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news you can trust ** tuesday 09 march 2021 I vol. 19, no 773

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Market

₦30,011,690.88 -3.74

Foreign Exchange

Buy

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I&E FX Window CBN Official Rate as at March 5, 2021

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411.88

0.17

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-0.01

2.04

10.40

11.99

379.00

Axxela Nsp-spv Funding 1 (Natural Gas) PowerCorp plc plc

23-Jul-30 30-Apr-25 20-May-27 27-Feb-34

9-Sep-21

3m 2m 28-Apr-21 26-May-21 420.58 422.08

6m 12m 25-Aug-21 23-Feb-22 426.58

435.58

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-0.01 12.01

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60m 36m 28-Feb-24 25- Feb-26 511.54

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Dangote Cement plc

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Nigeria’s renewables local content mirrors oil, gas mistakes ocal manufacturing capacity for renewable energy components in Nigeria is small, a sign that Africa’s most populous country could repeat the mistakes it made in its oil and gas sector.

For decades Africa’s biggest oil producer has extracted and exported crude oil without local value addition. Subsequently, it imports refined petroleum products to meet domestic de-

FGN

ntb

$-N 470.00 480.00 1m £-N 662.00 672.00 Currency Futures 31-Mar-21 419.08 €-N 570.00 580.00 ($/N)

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Benchmark Sovereign & Corporate Bonds

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UBA delivers double-digit growth in gross earnings, as profit hits N132bn ... proposes final dividend of 35k iheanyi nwachukwu

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nited Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) has announced its audited results for the full-year ended December 31, 2020, recording impressive growth across its top and botContinues on page 31

Inside L-R: Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources; Mele Kyari, GMD, NNPC, and Yusuf Usman, COO, gas and power, NNPC, during a public hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Gas Resources and Upstream and Downstream Petroleum Resources, on the Inclusion of Gas Terms in Production Sharing Contract by NNPC, at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, yesterday. NAN

Pension managers woo contributors with higher returns P. 30

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Google pledges $25m to empower women in Africa CALEB OJEWALE

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on-profit and social enterprises creating pathways to prosperity for women and girls in Africa can apply to get part of a $25 million grant by Google, announced today in celebration of the International Women’s Day. With women noted to be bearing disproportional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic through job losses, and millions of girls not likely to return to school, the initiative will seek to even out some of the odds stacked against women and girls across the continent.

Grantees, to be announced later this year, are eligible to receive funding ranging from $300,000 to $2 million. Selected organisations will also receive capacity-building support and mentoring from Googlers.

The open call for applications is from the company’s new Global Impact Challenge (GIC) for Women and Girls, said in a statement to be reinforcing the organisation’s commitment to the empowerment of women and girls on the African continent. It follows initiatives like the 2019 Africa launch of Women Will, Google’s initia-

tive to create opportunities for women, and Google’s #IamRemarkable workshop series, which works to counteract conditioning that women shouldn’t celebrate their achievements.

Empowering women and girls in Africa to reach their full economic potential, and to thrive, is more critical now than ever before as they bear the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, says Juliet Ehimuan, country director, Google Nigeria, quoting the Foresight Africa report 2021. It confirms that the coronavirus has “exacerbated already-existing gender inequalities, laying bare serious fault lines in safety, physical and mental health, education, domestic responsibilities, and employment opportunities”.

“Despite decades of work aimed at achieving gender equality, the disparity between men and women not only remains - it is growing alarmingly, largely thanks to the global pandemic,” the report warns The (GIC) for Women and Girls is focused on changing the status quo, with Ehimuan stressing that job cuts, income losses, and lack of education aren’t simply side-effects of the pandemic, but “will negatively impact the economic strides made by women and girls for many years to come.”

FG sends COVID-19 vaccines to states …states to launch vaccination from today Godsgift Onyedinefu, Abuja

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he Federal Government said on Monday it has begun distribution of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to states to continue the vaccination of priority groups in the first phase of the process.

Faisal Shuaib, the executive director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), who disclosed this at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing, said the distribution of the vaccines should be completed on Tuesday, March 9 (today), and the vaccination for frontline health workers would be launched same day at state treatment centres.

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Shuaib said, however, that some state governors have arranged to flag off vaccination on March 10, while others would commence theirs from March 12.

The ED explained that the delivery of the vaccines to states was predicated on satisfactorily meeting the conditions to keep them safe and potent.

The minimum criteria for successful conduct of the vaccination in states, according to the ED, include training, availability of cold chain storage, data tools, transport/logistics for health care workers, and security for vaccines, among others.

He also informed that the deployment process was being done in close collaboration

with CACOVID to ensure that the vaccines are air-lifted or transported to the states in time for the rollout.

“Adequate provision has been made to deploy the COVID-19 vaccines to all states and vaccination sites where people will be vaccinated according to set priorities beginning with the frontline healthcare workers and other support staff”, Shuaib said.

“100,000 health workers have been trained at national, state and local government levels for the seamless deployment of the vaccines to designated population”, he added.

The ED also disclosed that the Federal Government would designate vaccine accountability officers to the states and LGAs to closely monitor the

management and utilisation of the vaccines.

“These officers will ensure retrieval of vaccine vials for proper disposal. Post vaccine disposal process is equally as important as the vaccination process itself and we urge states and LGAs to keep a close watch on this”, he said.

He added that an accountability mechanism has been activated in collaboration with security agencies to check any anticipated sharp practices in the system.

Shuaib further informed that the PTF would be conducting zonal town hall meetings for transparent discussions on vaccine hesitancy and other aspects of vaccine response at dates that will be announced later.

Creativity awards ’ll sharpen young advert practitioners’ skills - Babaeko BUNMI BAILEY

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teve Babaeko, president, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), has been selected by the organisers of the prestigious Cannes Lions Advertising Festival to function as a member of jury for the 2021 edition of its Young Lions Creativity Awards slated for this month (March).

Babaeko, who is the founder/chief executive officer of X3M Ideas, said he was excited at his selection by the Cannes Festivals as the role has the propensity to positively influence the younger and future generation of advertising practitioners.

“I am extremely passionate about capacity building for generation next. As president of AAAN, one of the corner-

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stones of our agenda is to develop young practitioners so they can be even greater than us. That is why being on the Young Lions’ jury is a huge opportunity for me and our crop of young practitioners in Nigeria,” said Babaeko, who has featured at the New York Advertising Festival (three times), Lisbon Advertising Festival, Cristal Festivals, among others.

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Citing Amanda Banfield, vice president, Snacking and Marketing Services, Mondelez Europe, Babaeko charged leaders in the industry to “get clearer on what’s constant, what’s changing, and what shifts we need to make as leaders in our organizations”, saying this continuous reassessment is key to paving the way and moving the industry forward.

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Trust in the market place

NWABUEZE UHOEGBU

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ames Morrison was headhunted and when he resumed as the CEO of a global multinational firm, he asked a question, “why is trust not among the core values of the organization”? He quickly mandated the company’s head of corporate services and communication to quickly add it to the organization’s core values.

Management by objective deals with strategic management model that aims to improve the performance by clearly defining objectives that are agreed to by both management and staff. In the words of Peter Drucker, one of the custodians of management expertise, objectives of an organization should be seen in the culture, core values, mission statement and behaviour management and staff towards achieving the desired objectives.

Productive managers ensure that communication and trust is built into the structure, culture and daily routine system to achieve organizational effectiveness and culture of innovation.

Let us take an extensive look at trust as an organizational engine room that can spearhead enormous potential growth, innovation and synergy for winning teams. Trust is divided into three main branches namely; •Institutional or organizational trust •Personal trust •Leadership trust Institutional Trust: organizational trust deals with the overall integrity structure on which the organisation stands. Organizational trust is not built in a day; it is a process and structure that needs to be strengthened to gain

the loyalty of customer, employees and other critical stakeholders. Organizations build by aligning with best practices in line with effective product and service quality control and delivery, which is acceptable by the stakeholders.

Essentially, customer insights, feedback and organisation’s proactive response to customers’ needs is the starting point for building enviable trust structure. Additionally, management and staff must be on the same page in terms of achieving the overall objectives. Care should be taken to ensure that the management upholds the principles of human relation, which are essential in building trust between management and staff.

Personal Trust: personal trust deals with trust between two individuals, trust between professional colleagues, trust between team members and trust between management and staff.

Productive managers encourage efficient personal and mutual trust among team members by encouraging good cordial relationship among team members through open and effective communication. The manager in building the team should learn to listen and treat team members with respect, trust and courtesy. This will go a long way to build a culture trust among the team members. Essentially, this will lead to cutting edge and efficient achievement of goals and objectives of the team in line with overall success of the organization.

Leadership Trust: Management team leading by example in terms of keeping to rules and regulations, time management and laid down procedures for relating with stakeholders will go a long way to attract trust and confidence from the staff. In building leadership trust, the productive manager should maintain consistency in leading by example, this will not only yield enormous and extraordinary performance and success, team members will look up to the manager as a role model at all times. In every ongoing project that requires team participation, the trust bestowed on the

manager goes a long way to bring outstanding performance and achievements for the team.

Vital to note, the manager needs to inculcate multifunctional models that will position the company’s brand in high esteem in the comity of competing brands and consequently attract consistent customer loyalty, patronage and referrals to prospective customers.

This can be achieved when the manager positions the brand to give more than satisfaction to customers, but give happiness, excitement and friendly discount etc. Brand managers of HP, Toyota, Maltina, Samsung, Guinness, Heinz, Apple and Microsoft have succeeded in taking the brand from customer satisfaction to customer excitement by building durable and formidable leadership and brand trust.

Let us look at the elements that make –up trust; • Commitment • Communication • Connection •Capacity Commitment: Organizational commitment refers to any action taken in the present and projects a future course of action. Managers who understand the nature and power of their commitment can wield them more effectively and move the organization forward in terms of policies, plans and programme. Managerial commitment takes different forms, from investment options to hiring decisions and to public relation statements, however, each commitment exert both immediate and enduring influence on the company. Overtime, a manager’s commitments shape the organization’s identity, define its strength and weaknesses, establish its opportunities, explore ways of resolving limitations/ challenges and set visionary strategic direction.

How to improve organisational commitment •Create a strong and durable teamwork culture: Managers that build strong teamwork culture facilitates a healthy work environment. No two employees in an organization can be-

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Customer insights, feedback and organisation’s proactive response to customers’ needs is the starting point for building enviable trust structure

Uhoegbu is an author, consultant and commercial strategist. Contact: ieuhoegbu@gmail.com or +2348146338229.

The efficacy of executive coaching in uncertain times

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rom remote-working to artificial intelligence, organisations seem to be bombarded by both present realities and future predictions. Strategy meetings have now wrapped up, and targets have been set, but how best do we launch out into a ‘future of work’ that is ever-evolving?

Finding this balance is crucial, and it is vital at this stage to look into the foundational elements of any organisation; its People. Effective preparation and development of the workforce are vital to building resilience, and the key to this is coaching!

Coaching is not a new concept, and in many ways, it is a term you have most likely become familiar with, probably within the sporting world or in other areas of life. Over the years, coaching has come to mean different things to different people in different walks of life, but one thing that resonates is its ability to inspire and drive individuals to maximize their potentials; both personal and professional. The International Coach Federation (ICF) defines coaching as; Partnering with clients in a thoughtprovoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.

Studies from the Chartered Institute of

Personnel Development (CIPD) show that 51% of companies consider coaching a crucial part of their business strategy, and this is hinged strongly on its potential to support the development of individuals, organisational culture, and a collaborative approach to leadership – through empowering, enabling, fostering empathy, supporting, constructively challenging and seeking to understand others’ perspectives.

The 2017 ICF global consumer awareness study reported benefits of individuals who partnered with coaches. These included improved communication skills, increased self-esteem, increased productivity, optimized individual and team performance.

However, is coaching also valuable at the organisational level? In answering this, this article looks into the impact of coaching on three key areas of any organisation.

1. Higher Levels of Engagement Engagement is vital in driving business success, but with up to 71% of employees reported as either ‘not engaged’ or ‘actively disengaged’ at work, coaching is vital in motivating employees and making them feel valued. Engagement goes beyond current job satisfaction and entails meeting the holistic needs of employees, beyond the job role. A

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recent study conducted by Human Capital Institute (HPI) reported that organisations that met their workforce’s holistic needs reported higher engagement levels, which also contributed to greater productivity and employee retention.

2. Greater People Management Multiple organisations have reported a clear relationship between coaching and the working relationship of the manager or leader and their team members. Equipping managers with coaching skills encourages a participative style of management that focuses on guiding and influencing team members, in comparison to a directive style characterised by instruction and hierarchy.

Not only does this build a trusting relationship, it also builds a greater leadership brand and true understanding of the employee.

3. An Empowered Workforce Leadership expert, Francois Coetzee, explains that the effectiveness of company training programs can increase by up to 60% when supported by strong coaching skills. In comparison to the instilling of new knowledge, coaching focuses on maximising the potential inherent in each individual through partnership and thought-provoking processes that inspire self-motivation. This

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have exactly the same way. When people come from different backgrounds, there will be difference in the way they see and perceive things and the same holds true when people work in groups or in a team. Basically, when managers through organizational policies create and promote a culture of effective teambuilding, employees will be motivated to work together and achieve more. This will help boost their commitment levels and create a long-term work culture harmony.

•Maintain work ethics: The multiplier effects of the manager’s action on creation of team culture that translates to work culture harmony will lead to efficient work ethics, where employees will relentlessly carry out their task effortlessly. Having high standard of work ethics makes employees feel motivated and respectful towards the institution. When employees know that a management team is committed to high moral standards, they stay associated with the establishment.

•Emergence of a positive and creative work culture: The manager’s resolve to uphold enviable organizational culture will lead to positive work culture, where employees feel happy to be part of the process, where they feel motivated and encouraged to share new ideas and facilitate communication with the management without having the fear of being misunderstood. Managers should encourage employees to find a personal fit with the organization’s culture.

•Developing Trust: Excellent leadership trust has a way of influencing employees positively. When employees start developing trust among themselves as well as for the leadership, it is a positive sign of organizational development. Employees constantly watch the leadership for motivation and example of such is when employees learn decision-making skills and how it helps strategic changes within the

ADAORA AYOADE

motivation serves as an internal drive, vital in boosting confidence, ownership, and achievement of higher levels of professional success.

Multiple benefits are constantly being linked to organisational coaching, including improved performance, job satisfaction, work relationships, professional growth, and overall commitment to the organisation.

Coaching must be at the forefront of future business strategy if the focus is to maximize productivity, drive, ambition, and effectiveness.

The question as to whether coaching is valuable is obsolete, instead, the focus should be on how best to incorporate coaching into your organisational culture at this stage.

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Adaora Ayoade, an executive and leadership Coach is the MD/CEO, EZ37 Solutions Limited

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More abductions are the last thing Nigeria needs STRATEGY & POLICY

MA JOHNSON

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ithout going into conceptual discourse of the word “banditry”, I state without fear of contradiction that a bandit is a criminal. Frankly, most Nigerians are not in doubt that bandits are criminals. Or, can we say bandits are saints? No! We cannot give a bandit any other name. Currently, bandits, insurgents, kidnappers etc. constitute threats to Nigeria and its 200 million people. We have seen it with the abduction of almost 600 innocent school children in the last 3 months or thereabout as reported by newspapers.

But some highly placed individuals in the society by their utterances are justifying crime. They want crime celebrated, while security personnel are blamed and media practitioners are being lampooned for upholding honesty.

There are some insane narratives and “war of words” from some eminent personalities in our society. It is sad to hear expressions like, “Not all bandits are criminals.” Is this conclusion the product of a research effort?

Promoters of this sly inuendo believe that some bandits are criminals while others are not. Yet, as the debate goes

on, these outlaws abduct school children for ransom, while some government officials are negotiating and romancing terrorists. A pity indeed.

The other senseless narrative that is getting much attention in some quarters is that kidnappers should be granted amnesty. The Zamfara National Assembly (NASS) caucus also want Nigeria to grant amnesty to bandits in the North West. Though I empathize with the people of Zamfara, the plea to grant amnesty to bandits is a clear example of politics in governance. When has amnesty become a price for peace? A prominent Islamic scholar is also of the view that “bandits are militants, they have killed only few people.” And so, they should be granted amnesty like the Niger Delta militants. But we must not forget that security of all Nigerians takes precedence over all sentiments on criminality. We recall that sometime ago, amnesty was granted by state governors to some bandits in Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara and others. Yet, bandits in these states are still carrying arms and abducting school children.

The FG has said that bandits, and criminal herdsmen are not Nigerians.

How did foreign criminal elements enter Nigeria and what is the position of the law in this matter? One wonders why Nigeria should grant amnesty to citizens of other countries who committed crime in our country? Or, are these criminals Nigerians? Only those in authority can provide correct answers. Perhaps, it is because justice has not been served to bandits, that is why banditry has become lucrative in Nigeria. And because banditry is lucrative in Nigeria, some analysts now refer to bandits as “banditpreneurs.”

These analysts claim that banditry thrives in the country as most of the bandits have been alleged to have the right orientation and connection to powerful people in the society.

One is tempted to believe what these analysts say because of the cacophony of expressions made by some powerful political office holders in the country. Some of these expressions make public intellectuals to question the sincerity of some of those in position of authority in the country.

We need entrepreneurs in the country, not “banditpreneurs”. We do not need criminals who kidnap people for ransom. But who is funding and arming these bandits? I remember that 3 months ago, members of the House of Reps, urged the FG among other requests to “review policies, protocols and procedures for the purchase of arms, ammunition and related hardware by military and paramilitary agencies in the last 10 years.”

The reason given by the lawmakers is that in more than a decade, a lot of deployment of security personnel in internal security duties have taken place, which often are at variance with their core competence, training and mandate. In addition, some counterinsurgency experts believe that once insurgency goes beyond 24 hours, it is likely that the hands of insiders are in the rebellious acts. So, who are those promoting insurgency in the country?

Some public commentators also say that the ECOWAS Protocol on Movement of Goods and People is responsible for movement of bandits across the country’s border and that

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The FG has said that bandits, and criminal herdsmen are not Nigerians...

One wonders why Nigeria should grant amnesty to citizens of other countries who committed crime in our country?

Johnson is an author and a retired naval engineer who has passion for African development and good governance

Understanding former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s active life @ 84

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t has become a yearly sacramental that during this season, friends and associates of Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo converge in the hilly town of Abeokuta, Ogun State, to mark his birthday. On this occasion, Friday, 5th March 2021, the gathering celebrates this most outstanding African and global citizen as he is supposed to turn 84 years, or admittedly, something slightly higher.

Beyond mere fete and jollity, these yearly gatherings have become a festering ground for cross fertilization of ideas among some of the world’s best minds on no few contemporary problematics.

This year, the assemblage, also virtually, by world leaders will focus on “Governmental Models in a Post COVID-19 Era in Africa”. However, there will likely be a turning of minds inwards to focus on the man whose other names are Matthew, Aremu, Okikiola. More than the past, guests both from in-country and out, will again ask from where comes the rather restless and ebullient deportment of this statesman whose life remains an open book of great achievements and no few raised eye brows.

It has been the tradition in most countries that political leaders such as former presidents, who would have completed their statutory limit in office, seldom continue to maintain an activist lifestyle of involvement in national politics. At best, they preoccupy themselves with some charitable causes and remain on them. Even in some rare cases as in the

United States where the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama had to depart from what has come to appear as a normal of silence, the interventions were relatively measured and brief.

This is a far departure from the mien of few former presidents, including the birthday celebrant at Abeokuta whose visibility in national discourse, in social relations and even on the global scene remain unquenched but, rather, continuously re-energized. Chief Obasanjo’s active life is legion and cross cutting. He is no longer a known member of any political party in Nigeria, but his voice is active on most national political issues and he is a back channel brickman on national dialogue, consensus building and state building.

At other times, he adopted the rather unorthodox channel of publicly circulated letters in order to be heard more audibly; a style which some disagree agonizingly.

His schedule has not been less inundated with participation in the perennial stream of discussions by all and sundry on themes pertaining to the Nigerian economy and social development. At the personal level is his endless shuttles across the country on account of his stuffed calendar of social engagements, explainable from over 60 years in level public service.

No less, his global schedule appears an extension of his crowded domestic activism.

He maintains a record of being counted as one of the most sought after and travelling former national leaders and is also quite vocal on the Global Agenda. Undoubtedly,

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there is no other former Head of State of any country known to belong to the number of common concerts of the world’s most venerated seniors.

The question therefore is why has it been impossible to fetter Chief Obasanjo down including muting his thoughts especially at national level. Added to this is the curiosity as to what efforts both private individuals and institutions have deployed to keep him, as it were, politically sedated and less mobile. Not so! All manner of measures, i.e., fraternal, persuasive and otherwise have been resorted to. But OBJ has had an unusual capacity to wriggle out from the fetters of restrains whether by family, friends and by others who are at times less fraternal.

The best explanation for this old man’s agitated mental and physical disposition would have best been left to psychoanalysts, the religious and close family to make scientific, spiritual and emotional explanations. But since his life has been in the public domain, it could be possible to hazard a guess on some pertinent aspects, which are in no way exhaustive.

This is especially for some of us who had the good fortune of working closely with him for years.

In conclusion, American Civil Rights activist, Dr Martin Luther King, Jnr once said that, “human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable”. Progress is only achieved by the continuous activity in various segments of endeavour by persons who find themselves at the stage of leadership and are ready to keep the flame

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of our neighbours. Does the ECOWAS Protocol allow foreigners to come in and go out of member countries with illegal sophisticated weapons? The ECOWAS Protocol did not state that our porous borders should not be secured. So, those security agencies that are to protect our borders are to be asked: Why are foreigners from neighbouring countries in our country with illegal weapons?

Insecurity of many years has deprived Nigeria of development. BusinessDay analysis of data from the 2021 Economic Value of Peace Report by the Institute for Economics and Peace shows that violence has cost Nigeria almost US$ 1.3 trillion (approx. N400 trillion) in 13 years. Violence is expensive. That is why those who have fought wars and understood its mechanism do not pray for war.

If banditry, kidnapping and insurgency continue in Nigeria beyond 2021, it may likely rob the West African sub-region of peace and stability. The level of insecurity in Nigeria demands bringing to bear all elements of national power – diplomacy, information/intelligence, military, economy and population. Our population of 200 million people is the centre of gravity of the country. We must not lose the hearts and minds of our citizens to bandits. Therefore, those in authority should ensure that our citizens do not lose confidence in the capability of governments at state and federal levels to protect their welfare and wellbeing.

Thank you.

GODKNOWS IGALI

burning. Invariably, it is tireless leaders like Dr King that helped to foster change, progress and human well-being. Quite often, such tireless leaders appear to be unyielding and dogged in the pursuit of what they consider altruistic. In the face of their own human imperfections, quite often, such leaders get zealous and at certain times like tireless war horses never give up on their ideals even when the battle appears deafening. Some consider this a flaw that brings such men and women face to face with trouble, as has been the case with Baba Obasanjo.

The other weakness of such leaders, because of their unstinting drive is the fact that they seldom appreciate some of the limitations which others may have nor the real peculiarities which they may be grappling with. But head or tail, his type gets a place on the more sunny side of history as they end up being counted as patriots without borders and greatest of men So at about 84 years, none may need bother to slow-down OBJ, but just wish him more fabulous years on-the-go!!!

Igali, a Career Diplomat and retired Federal Permanent Secretary, served OBJ in various capacities during his tenure as President.

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Capitalism: East or West? (6) RAFIQ RAJI

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hat is not to suggest that Chinese capitalism may not yet unravel.

Because despite its strong fundamentals, “China has faced and continues to face very serious structural problems (Orlik, 2020).” Still, the system has held up astonishingly well thus far. Why is that? Orlik (2020) identifies four factors at play: (1) “China has underappreciated sources of strenght” (2) “The tradeoff between policy choices is overstated” and (3) “As a singleminded, single-party state, China has unique resources”.

Put another way, “one reason they’ve been successful: something economists call the “advantage of backwardness,” a path to growth simply by following in the technology and management

steps traced out by global leaders (Orlik, 2020).” But is that enough?

African countries are similarly poor as China once was but are yet to excel like it did. Orlik (2020) obliges: “What’s accelerated China up the development ladder is its 1.3 billion population and cando-government.”

Besides, foreign firms did not mind giving away their technology in exchange for market access to more than a billion potential customers once the government insisted. A similarly determined African government could hardly muster as much clout. That could change, though. A continental free-trade area of as many customers on the continent means if similar cooperation can be inspired towards technology transfer, there might still be hope for Africa in this regard.

Besides, China was at a vantage point to observe the successes and misadventures of neighbouring Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. “The combination of space for development, enormous size, access to foreign technology, and a ready-made blueprint for development gave China a major head start (Orlik, 2020).” “A high savings

rate, controlled capital account, and a state-owned banking system” also helped (Orlik, 2020).

Also bear in mind that the state actually plays a more active role in Western democracies than is let on. This is the main point made by University College London economics of innovation and public value professor, Mariana Mazzucato, in her 2013 book “The entrepreneurial state: Debunking public vs private sector myths”.

According to Mazzucato (2013), “despite the perception of the US as the epitome of private sectorled wealth creation, in reality it is the state that has engaged on a massive scale in entrepreneurial risk-taking to spur innovation.”

Four prominent examples are the US government’s “Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), the Orphan Drug Act (the EU passed its own in 2001, imitating the US act passed in 1983) and the National Nanotechnology Initiative (Mazzucato, 2013).”

In his 2020 book, “Has China won? The Chinese challenge to American primacy”, distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Insti-

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A continental free-trade area of as many customers on the continent means if similar cooperation can be inspired towards technology transfer, there might still be hope for Africa in this regard

tute, Kishore Mahbubani, assesses the seeming American lethargy as follows. “One reason the West can no longer dominate the world is that the rest have learned so much from the West. They have imbibed many Western best practices in economics, politics, science, and technology. As a result, while many parts of Western civilization (especially Europe) seem exhausted, lacking drive and energy, other civilizations are just getting revved up (Mahbubani, 2020).”

And on China, Mahbubani (2020) had this to say: “Chinese civilization has had many ups and downs. [Thus] it should be no surprise that it is now returning in strength.” Thus, what may seem like maverick or courageous divergence from orthodoxy on China’s part, could be traced to its complex history and evolution, which was characterised by huge failures and successes in almost equal measure.

“Dr Raji is chief economist at Macroafricaintel.

He was previously an Africa Economist at Standard Chartered Bank, London, UK. (Twitter: @ DrRafiqRaji)”

AfCFTA: Handling the challenge of capacity

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his edition of the article on AfCFTA implementation will be focused on Collaborations.

C o l l a b o ra t i o n h a s t o b e i n three forms in order to effectively and successfully implement AfCFTA for the benefits of Nigerians. The first form of collaboration has to be between the public sector and organised private sector in Nigeria. The second form of collaboration has to be between the organised private sector in Nigeria and the relevant organised private sector in the export market. The third form of collaboration public sector in Nigeria and the public sector in the export market. Since all these collaborations cannot happen at once, that means the government must work with the private sector to fashion out the country and product to target per time (this can be per quarter or per month).

Some of the private sector organisation should include but not limited to the representatives from National Association of Chamber of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Bankers Committee, National A s s o c i a t i o n o f S m a l l a n d Me d i u m Scale Enterprise (NASME), Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialist (NASSI) and Manufacturer Ass o ciat i o n o f Nig e r ia (M AN ), L ag os Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Southeast Chamber of Commerce, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Kano Chamber of Commerce, Kaduna Chamber of Commerce etc.

The first and one of the most important collaboration is that between the public and organised private sector in Nigeria. This collaboration should be driven by the implementation commit-

tee since both representatives of the public and private sectors are present as members of the implementation committee. The essence of this collaboration is to enable the implementation committee members to share ideas and strategies with organised private sector. This will enable the government to sample opinions on the implication of the steps they are about to take regarding the AfCFTA. It also affords the government the opportunity to hear from the operator first hand regarding the challenges being faced in the sector. As a matter of fact, this collaboration enables the government to also get feedback and therefore get to know why some of its polic y are being circumvented and therefore not working as originally intended.

From the previous edition of these series of Articles, it has been clearly stated that one of the reason for the failure of free trade agreement around the world is lack of information about profit, plans, paperwork and processes involved in enjoying the benefits of the programme. This public and private sector collaboration therefore will make it possible for governments and the implementation committee to be able to properly disseminate the necessary information to the private sector. This can be done via a monthly meeting of both parties and the signing of a memorandum of understanding that highlights the obligations of both parties.

The second form of collaboration being suggested for the proper implementation of the AfCFTA is the collaboration between the organised private sectors in Nigeria and relevant private

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sector organisation in the targeted export markets. For a start, in the first year of commencement of trading under the AfCFTA, the organised private sector in Nigeria under the umbrella bodies like NACCIMA, can startup the collaboration efforts by forming an alliance with umbrella bodies of private companies in the top five economies in Africa, which include South Africa, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and Angola.

This is because, these are not just the largest economy in Africa, they are also the largest importers of different products into the continent of Africa.

On the other hand, the NACCIMA can decide to choose the countries to form alliances with based on those that currently import products from outside the continent, which Nigeria produces in large quantity. This collaboration should involve the signing of a memorandum of understanding that clearly states the obligations of b oth par ties. The obje ctive of this collaboration should be to exchange information relating to market intelligence reports of different sectors. Also, to have a regular business to business meeting in order to get buyers, sell franchise, give license to produce, form a joint venture, established a presence through partnership with an agent, merchants, distributors etc at the destination market.

The third and the last form of collaboration is a very strategic one between the public sector organisation in Nigeria and public sector organisation at the export market. This should be done through the establishment of a commercial attaché (more like a trade desk) at the Nigerian embassy in the export market. This collaboration

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BAMIDELE AYEMIBO should involve the signing of a memorandum of understanding between ministry of trade or foreign affairs of both countr ies and this agreement should clearly state the obligations of both parties. The objective of this collaboration should be the exchange of information on the government policies and procedures for the importation of products into both countries.

This should cover pre and post import d o c u m e n t a t i o n , e x c h a n g e c o n t ro l re g u l a t i o n , q u a l i t y s p e c i f i c a t i o n s, quality certification, quality control measures at the port, licensing and quota requirements, company incorporation requirements, import prohibition etc. This should also include the needs and supply gap of the economy in terms of raw materials, foods and manufactured goods. All the export market information obtained via this collaboration should be disseminated to the organised private sector through the implementation committee.

Finally, I will like to say that, the objectives of the three collaboration stated in this article are not exhaustive.

They are recommendations that could give the implementation committee a thrust in putting together its strategies.

Ayemibo is Lead Consultant at 3T Impex Consulting Ltd. He is the first Certified Specialist in Demand Guarantee in Nigeria and among the first ten in Africa. He can be reached via bayemibo@3timpex.com and 08036522946

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EDITORIAL PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Frank Aigbogun EDITOR Tayo Fagbule

DEPUTY EDITORS Lolade Akinmurele John Osadolor, Abuja NEWS EDITOR Osa Victor Obayagbona NEWS EDITOR (Online) Chuks Oluigbo MANAGING DIRECTOR Dr. Ogho Okiti EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha GM ADVERT Ijeoma Ude GM CONFERENCES Obiora Onyeaso GM BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North) Bashir Ibrahim Hassan GM BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) Ignatius Chukwu GM DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION SALES Rerhe Idonije BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (South East, South South) Patrick Ijegbai COPY SALES MANAGER Florence Kadiri DIGITAL ADVERT SALES MANAGER Linda Ochugbua

Fossil fuels and Africa’s predicament

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any countries and international oil companies have introduced targets to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 but, increasingly, attention is turning to what this would mean for Africa’s oil and gas producing countries like Nigeria.

The European Union is striving to be climate-neutral by 2050 – an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. This objective is at the heart of the European Green Deal and in line with the EU’s commitment to global climate action under the Paris Agreement.

This means energy transition is gaining speed and Africa’s oil and gas producers require clarity as they join the global race to a net-zero emission future. The energy transition is the departure from fossil fuels to renewables and this has led countries in Asia, Europe and America to set dates for banning internal combustion engine vehicles.

Nevertheless, this meets with the economic benefits of Africa strategically managing its oil and gas industry.

With a population of 1.2 billion, the continent is energy-thirsty because it is home to developing and emerging economies. Africa can embrace clean energy without missing out on a critical means of giving more African households

and businesses access to electricity through the use of its vast natural gas reserves. This has also been echoed in a new report published by the African Energy Chamber.

Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Tanzania and Libya are among the top 10 producers of natural gas on the continent. Others are Angola, Ghana, Cameroon, Mozambique and the Republic of Congo.

On a continent where millions of families are using traditional, hazardous biomass for cooking, where 600 million people lack access to reliable electricity, we see the idea of leaving valuable oil and, especially, natural gas, in the ground as impractical, unpalatable, and inappropriate.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), demand in Africa today is 700 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, with the vast majority, more than 70 percent of the total, derived from North African and South African economies. But the IEA predicted that, by 2040, the fastest demand growth will come from sub-Saharan nations.

In our view, to meet this demand, African countries require a diversified energy mix from fossil fuels such as natural gas to cleaner energy developments across the continent.

This is because, while solar power and wind can help provide electricity to fill the current and impending power void, neither of them can furnish feedstock for industry, petrol

for transportation, or process heat for manufacturing.

The African Energy Chamber’s newly released African Energy Outlook 2021 says, beyond the calamity created by COVID-19, in the shortterm, the drive to curb carbon emissions is one of the conventional oil and gas industry’s biggest challenges, and one of Africa’s, too. We can’t agree more.

We, however, identify two paths that open up for oil producers on the African continent. One is for the continent to expand exploration and production of its vast natural gas and oil reserves to bring electricity, fuel, and financial power to hundreds of millions.

The other path is for the continent to yield to pressure to help achieve climate targets, including outright bans on fossil fuels that would eliminate funding for natural gas projects.

It is our belief that doing what is best for Africa and what is right for the environment are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Some form of balance is always possible.

Africa consumes so little energy now and so, the continent’s emissions from oil and natural gas are minimal. In fact, the World Economic Forum estimates that if all of subSaharan Africa tripled its electricity consumption overnight using only natural gas, the additional carbon dioxide (CO­2) would be equivalent to just 1 percent of global emissions.

We reason with NJ Ayuk, execu-

tive chairman of South Africa based African Energy Chamber, who noted recently that the road to energy transition might be bumpy for everyone, but the idea of banning all fossil fuels makes it exceptionally treacherous, if not impassable, for Africa.

Curbing emissions is a noble and essential goal. The problems associated with climate change are not something that can be ignored. After all, Africa is considered more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than many other areas, especially since so much of the population depends on regular rainfall to grow food crops.

Fossil fuels are not going away soon. It would be around for at least two or more decades. Nevertheless, we advise that, within this period, Nigeria and other African countries with oil and gas reserves have to quickly create an enabling business environment to fuel their economic and industrial development.

Certainly, rising income and population growth will propel energy demand in Africa. The continent has the fastest growing population in the world and the youngest. Greenhouse gas emissions are likely to increase as well.

However, adhering to an intelligent, modern energy plan that incorporates renewables along with natural gas offers some escape route from sustained greenhouse increase and opens the path to lower carbon emissions future for Africa.

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COMPANIES&MARKETS First Bank promotes cross border payments in sub-Saharan Africa with First Global Transfer MICHAEL ANI

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irst Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial inclusion services provider, has announced the launch of First Global Transfer (FGT) to promote the international transfer of funds across its subsidiaries in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Bank’s subsidiaries in Africa include FBNBank DRC, FBNBank Ghana, FBNBank Gambia, FBNBank Guinea, FBNBank Sierra-Leone, FBNBank Senegal.

The First Global Transfer (FGT) initiative is specifically designed to ensure safe,

timely and improved efficiency in the transfer of funds across the network of First Bank subsidiaries in Africa.

The FGT is not restricted to FirstBank and FBNBank Customers alone but it is also open to every individual resident in the country the funds’ transfer is originating from.

Intending users of the initiative are to visit any of the Bank’s branches in Nigeria or subsidiaries in Africa, which are: FBNBank DRC, FBNBank Ghana, FBNBank Gambia, FBNBank Guinea, FBNBank Sierra-Leone, or FBNBank Senegal to enjoy the service. For example, with First Global Transfer,

individuals and customers in Sierra-Leone can walk into any FBNBank branch to send money to FirstBank customers in Nigeria as well as FBNBank customers in Gambia, Ghana, DR Congo, Senegal or Guinea.

Speaking on the initiative, Adesola Adeduntan, CEO, FirstBank said “today’s customer is influenced by the technological advances shaping businesses across various industries and our First Global Transfer (FGT) initiative is one of those advancement created to impact every individual in our host community in Africa, whilst promoting the ease and swift

transfer of money from one country to another for business or personal activities.”

“With the launch of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on 1 January 2021, the First Global Transfer (FGT) is indeed very timely as it will play an essential role in stimulating business activities across borders, thereby impacting the growth and development of the continent. I enjoin everyone to visit any one of our branches nearest to you in Nigeria or our subsidiaries in Africa and send money to your loved ones or business partners with FirstBank or FBNBank account(s),” he concluded.

L:R: Osawaru Obaseki, Uyi Osayimwense Co-CEO Farmforte, Betsy Obaseki First Lady Edo state, Osazuwa Osayi Co-CEO Farmforte, Jean Bakole, Country Director of United Nations Development Organization (UNIDO) during an official tour of the Farmforte's 1000 hectare industrial farm complex in Evbolekpen community, Benin City, Edo State.

NESG, OSIWA launch debt management roundtable for fiscal sustainability in Africa GBEMI FAMINU

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he Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) have launched the Debt Management Roundtable (DMR). This will help Nigeria and other West African Countries create a pathway to fiscal sustainability.

Speaking at the launch, Laoye Jaiyeola, chief executive officer (CEO), NESG, said the Debt Management Roundtable was established to help provide alternatives and recommendations the government can apply to ensure that Nigeria’s debt is properly managed.

“Nigeria’s debt to GDP ratio has increased over the years, and Nigeria’s ability to service its debt is concerning, especially given that about 83 percent of the country’s revenue is spent on debt servicing.” He

said. Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the NESG-OSIWA Debt Management Roundtable said during the opening remarks, said that the debt burden is not about the present but the future.

Oyedele who doubles as the Head, Tax Practice, Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) said debt and credit are not necessarily bad if properly managed, adding that some of the issues affecting debt management in West Africa are poor governance, transparency and use of improper strategies.

“The roundtable will develop analytics that forms the basis, fiscal consideration and sustainability, comparative analysis and help to champion advocacy, However, there is a need for collaboration with the private sector through social financing and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). “ he said. Oluse-

gun Omisakin, Chief economist and research director at NESG, said that the roundtable will allow countries to learn from each other and leverage on shared workable solutions.

He added that Resource management is a huge issue in west Africa as countries do not determine the prices of produce, and this leads to improper debt management.

Members of the DMR include Afolabi Olowokeere, Divisional Head, Economic Research & Policy Management, at Securities Exchange Commission, Babajide Fowowe, Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Ibadan, Musa Dukuly, Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Central Bank of Liberia Monrovia and Kenneth Ofori-Boateng, Senior Lecturer, GIMPA Business School, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.

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Norrenberger partners REKIT to create financial products for the real estate industry in Lagos HARRISON EDEH

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orrenberger Investment and Capital Management Limited, a leading financial services company in Nigeria, has partnered with Rekit Financial Advisors Limited (REKIT), a subsidiary of Modd Management Company Limited, a leading Family Office, to provide innovative structured finance debt instrument for real estate development in the Lekki corridor of Lagos state.

The strategic collaboration it said will finance new developments in the VI/Ikoyi/Lekki corridor of Lagos State with up to N5 billion over 5 years. The instrument has been designed for investors who seek higher returns on real estate investments.

Speaking on the partnership, Tony Edeh, managing director/ CEO, Norrenberger, said, “as the real estate market in Nigeria evolves, new opportunities for growth and collaboration emerge. We have identified an opportunity with our partners at REKIT, and we are excited to provide the support they need to drive value and explore new opportunities in this regard.

With the dearth of conventional financing instruments, alternative finance is the way to go and we are committed to inventing and innovating through complexities.”

The project, it would be noted, aligns with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)’s recent support for alternative finance solutions to deepen the capital market by providing alternative sources of funding and investment.

“We are grateful for the insight, foresight, and commitment

of Norrenberger to working on this dream with us through providing effective and excellent fund management services towards the attainment of this goal.

Having carefully designed this project together, we are certain that it will deliver value to investors and are excitedly looking forward to future collaborations,” said Chioma Okigbo, director, REKIT and CEO MODD Management Company Limited.

REKIT Financial Advisors Limited is a subsidiary of MODD Management Company Limited (MODD) and was set up in 2020 to provide an independent and objective platform to support individuals achieve their investment and life goals.

It aims to provide a platform that allows investors to optimize their returns through the provision of best-in-class options and opportunities to meet these goals. The company provides a customised overview of your investment lifecycle and recommends optimal asset allocation and investment instruments.

REKIT is regulated by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Visit http://www.rekitadvisory.com for more information.

Norrenberger is an industryleading, integrated financial services group which provides individuals and institutions with a comprehensive range of financial products and services including Investment Banking, Asset Management, Venture Capital, Financial Advisory, Structured Finance and Securities Trading; tailored to meet and exceed our client needs and expectations.

Its component companies are licensed and regulated either by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Afrimash leverages IT in enhancing agricultural input delivery across Nigeria SEYI JOHN SALAU

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he need to enhance food security and production has always been one of the core responsibilities of every nation, Nigeria inclusive. With this goal in mind, Afrimash Company Limited, an indigenous eCommerce firm based in Ibadan, Oyo state has taken the “bull by the horn” in ensuring that Nigerian farmers get the best inputs such as equipment, livestock, seedlings, fertilizers, and quality vaccines that will enable an increase in food production while making agribusiness convenient.

Afrimash highlighted the challenges that farmers face in sourcing quality farm inputs and has been committed to bridging these gaps through robust IT solutions. The company deploys information technology (IT) tools such as web

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portals, electronic payments, and robust logistics to ensure that these inputs get to farmers.

“Afrimash is an agritech company. We run an eCommerce platform that is designed for farmers to access quality inputs from verified farm input suppliers. Using our online platform, farmers get quick and convenient access to a variety of inputs, place their orders online, and receive their farm inputs delivered to their locations across Nigeria,” said Ahmed Ayoade Oyedotun, CEO/ cofounder, Afrimash Company Limited while speaking on how the company has been engaging farmers for over four years.

According to Oyedotun, Afrimash runs a system that ensures farmers can shop online with peace of mind. He maintains that the company provides premium value to customers via the contribution of a talented workforce who @Businessdayng

enjoy providing quality service to customers.

“We started in 2016 and for about four years now we have been offering eCommerce services (that is agricultural oriented) via our platform where farmers can get tools, inputs, and other agricultural inputs.

“One thing that eCommerce does is that it makes it easy for suppliers and buyers to meet but in agriculture, it is a different ball game when we are talking about live products like day-old chicks, juveniles, rabbits, and so on,” said Oyedotun.

Oyedotun states that access to quality inputs is one of the biggest challenges that farmers face in Nigeria and Africa. However, the agro e-commerce company is out to bridge the gap using internet technology. “Today, quite a several farmers have internet access and we leverage on the ever-increasing internet penetration rate in Nigeria,” he said.

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IWD: Stallion-Bajaj plans to establish Africa’s first women-only assembly plant AMAKA ANAGOR- EWUZIE

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tallion-Bajaj Alliance, the distributor of Bajaj 3-wheeler and 4-wheeler intracity smart cab, is perfecting plans to establish Africa’s first women-only assembly plant in Nigeria in line with its target of significantly growing its female representation to 35 percent by the end of 2022.

Also, the company, which aims at training and absorbing 500 female technicians by 2022, said it would be holding several training sessions for female riders, female assemblers and female mechanics before year-end.

Meanwhile, to mark this year’s International Women’s Day, Stallion-Bajaj Alliance would be welcoming a new set of female mechanics to the training programme.

Already, it has trained and

integrated 40 women into the VON assembly plant in Lagos, Nigeria.

Manish Rohtagi, managing director, Stallion-Bajaj Auto Keke Ltd, who spoke on the goal for the organisation during a recent media tour of the VON Assembling Plant in Lagos, said from the inception, Stallion-Bajaj Alliance has been driven by one goal, which is to build a more inclusive workspace.

“Women makeup over half of the world’s population and are integral to the growth of the world economy. Therefore, Stallion-Bajaj Alliance has put gender equality at the forefront of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For Stallion-Bajaj, International Women’s Day is a reminder that there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that more space is created for women to thrive,” he said.

He described the IWD as

a reminder for the company to examine its processes and structures, to ensure gaps are closed, and that equalopportunities are offered to women at all levels.

This month, according to him, Stallion-Bajaj celebrates women all around the world as it challenges itself as an organisation to continuously act on its commitment to gender equality.

On the impact of the programme, Ayomide Sanyaolu, one of the women assemblers said she is proud to be part of the exciting project.

“Being a member of the first cohort employed at the plant, I have had to learn, fail and relearn. It has been a challenging but fulfilling period in my life. Seeing the end product of our work, the Keke’s on the road gives me joy and job satisfaction. I am grateful to be part of the process,” she said.

L-R: Samuel Durojaye, relationship manager, Kolomoni; Modlin Odu, special assistant on media and publicity to the Senator representing Cross River Central Senatorial District, and Ilabeshi Gabriel, head, marketing and communication, CapitalSage Limited, at the Kolomoni POS Empowerment Seminar held in Calabar, recently.

LAPO MFB wins ACGSF Best Supporting Bank 2020

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APO Microfinance Bank wins “Most Su p p o r t i ve Ba n k Year 2020” in the national category under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Funds (ACGSF) farmers’ award.

In 2012, LAPO Microfinance Bank joined the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) to provide credit support to farmers across the country in a sustainable manner. From January 2012- December

2020, the Bank has disbursed over N27 Billion with a presence in 34 states including the FCT, Abuja, reaching over 34,000 farmers and agro-allied operators across Nigeria.

Briefing Journalist at the event, Oluremi Akande, head, communications and branding said “to achieve sustainable economic growth requires amongst other things healthy and productive manpower. Our partnership with the ACGSF is strategically aimed at economic empowerment

of farmers, food sufficiency, healthier and productive citizens leading to economic growth and prosperity” Furthermore, Akande reiterates “in the ACGSF Farmers Award 2020, State Category, LAPO MfB supported 46 Winners and Runner Ups out of the total number of 86 awardees representing 53% of the entire award recipients in the country. We plan to disburse over N12 Billion in 2021 to empower more farmers and to contribute to national economic growth”

L-R: Tony Okpanachi, MD/CEO, Development Bank of Nigeria; Abba Bello, MD, Nigerian ExportImport Bank (NEXIM); Jonathan Tobin, executive director, corporate services and commercial, Bank of Industry, (BOI); Ladajau Dachi Augustine, representing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Olukayode Pitan, MD, Bank of Industry, (BOI), during the 2021 Association of Nigerian Development Finance Institutions (ANDFI), CEOs Meeting, organised by BOI, held in Abuja

CIPPO laments increasing cost of printing papers MICHAEL ANI

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he Chartered Institute of Professional Printers of Nigeria ( CIPPON), charged with the duty of regulating controlling and managing the affairs of printers and related matters in Nigeria has lamented the arbitrary increase in the cost of papers in Nigeria and has declared the cartel involved in the importation of papers as a threat to National Security.

The President and Chairman-in-Council of the Institute, Olugbemi Malomo said the Nigerian printing industry, which employs over 10 million Nigerians within its valuechain is currently under siege laid by few foreigners who monopolize the market and make it impossible for Nigerians to freely import paper into the country.

According to Malomo, paper is the biggest raw material and constitutes more than 50

percent of any printing contract. But the cartel has been increasing the prices of papers daily unabatedly.

He said although the Institute recognizes that the price of commodities was increasing across the board due to the rising cost of foreign exchange, the increase in the cost of papers which is currently around 300 percent far exceeds that of foreign exchange.

Illustrating how these foreigners have perfected their heinous deeds, he gave an example of how around the time of the last general elections in the country, it got so bad that that everywhere an average Nigerian went to buy paper for importation into the country, they met a brick wall and were referred back home to the cartel who control the price of papers and sell at prices far above what obtains at the international market.

The CIPPON President added that not only do these www.businessday.ng

foreigners sell papers at higher rates, they also are competing with indigenous printers on the commercial side, taking their business, since most of them are unable to match their prices, thereby raising antitrust issues.

The CIPPON President said the consequences of this is that members of the Institute are beginning to sell-off their equipment and lay-off staff almost daily, due to lack of jobs and the fact that they have to return LPO of the jobs they got but cannot afford to execute due to rising cost of papers.

Additionally, with the increasing costs in printing due to the progressively unending rise in paper costs, prices of books will go up, and ultimately put critical books and textbooks beyond the reach of students.

He said if this trend continues unabated, there will be massive unemployment that could disrupt the country’s fragile peace.

L-R: Ossai Nicolas Ossai, chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements; Nasiru Daura, representatives of the Speaker, and Akinyele Olu, clerk of the committee, during a public hearing on a Bill for An Act to Repeal and Enact Treaties, at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.

L-R: Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, public affairs communication and sustainability director, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited; Alfred Olajide, managing director, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited; Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, first lady of Lagos State, and Obuesi Philips, SWEEP foundation executive, at the Waste In The City flag-off event, sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation, in Surulere, Lagos.

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How Malaysia regulated cryptocurrency successfully FRANK ELEANYA

T

he surge in the price of bitcoin in 2017 that led to an alltime high of $20,000 left many financial regulators very worried about the future of money and the role they play in it.

As millions of people rushed to embrace the promise of financial freedom, regulators in countries like Nigeria and Kenya were issuing stay-away orders to investors.

In Malaysia, authorities were also getting worried, but rather than press the hard buttons to assert control, they instead took a soft approach.

In 2017, the Malaysian government began a series of engagements with the 11 cryptocurrency exchanges in the country that culminated in a resolution to place a check and balance system on the cryptocurrency market.

To ensure full compliance, thegovernmentgaveexchanges a one-year period - ending February 2018 - within which it expected them to get ready for a roll-out of a regulatory policy. The new policy required digital currency exchanges to implement measures against money laundering and terrorism financing activities.

This includes transaction monitoring, reports on any suspicious transactions, and monthly reports to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).

“At Luno, we have a very strong compliance policy and culture that was established from the inception of our company. Hence, when the BNM reporting policy was announced, we were one of the first to register with them as a reporting institution,” David Low, General Manager of Southeast Asia, Luno.

In January, the Securities

Commission Malaysia (SC) following in the footsteps of BNM issued the Capital Ma r k e t s a n d S e r v i c e s (Prescription of Securities) (Digital Currency and Digital Token) Order 2019, which defined the characteristics of “digital currency” and “digital tokens”. The SC prescribed digital tokens as securities for the purposes of Malaysia’s securities law.

According to the SC, a digital asset qualifies as securities when it is used as payment to purchase goods, services, or other digital assets and is traded on a digital asset platform; and a person who trades such currency on the platform expects to benefit from a return or appreciation in the value of the digital currency.

The policy also provided that any person or entity intending to operate cryptocurrencies exchange w ill b e re quire d to be registered with the SC as a recognised market operator and comply with a list of criteria that include being locally incorporated as well as having a minimum paid-up capital. Where a cryptocurrencies

exchange operator is a public company, at least one member of the board must be an independent director and the exchange must have in place policies and procedures to manage conflict of interest.

The commission subsequently issued amendments to its recognised market guidelines, which came to include a framework for operators of digital assets platforms to be approved by the SC as recognised market operators. Three exchanges went on to be approved Tokenize Technology, Sinegy Technologies, and Luno who has a strong presence in Nigeria and which was the first of the three to get licensed.

“Any attempt to restrict access to cryptocurrency does not protect Nigerians. It holds them back and leaves them vulnerable,” Luno said in a statement it released recently addressing the prohibition of cryptocurrency exchanges in Nigeria from transacting with financial institutions.

“Blanket bans push people “underground” (i.e. trading via WhatsApp or Telegram

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groups, for example). This makes activity involving transparency less transparent and means financial bodies have less visibility of what’s going on,” the exchange said.

The regulatory approach in Malaysia hasn’t entirely stopped transactions happening outside unregulated exchanges. Experts say at least half of the total monthly cryptocurrency trading volume in Malaysia takes place outside regulated exchanges.

Nonetheless, the three licenced exchanges have been able to bring in more investors onto their platforms, which means more people’s protection and more revenue for the government. The confidence from knowing that the government has taken a proactive measure is also expected to attract more investors into the country which will impact other sectors of the country’s economy.

Luno said it is willing to work with the government to resolve the issues it raised that informed the prohibition directive but it warns that the more the situation is allowed to prolong the more people risk becoming victims of scammers.

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www.galaxybackbone.com.ng

Bank IT Security

Mastercard taps telcos to grow share in Nigeria’s cashless economy

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he rising adoption of electronic payment channels in Nigeria has Mastercard making new partnerships with telecommunication operators to cement a large pie of the cashless market.

Although mobile subscriptions have recently dropped from 204 million in December to 199 million in January 2021, telecommunication operators still control the mobile economy.

The mobile economy is at the heart of the digital economy which the Nigerian government has been pushing. The digital economy is expected to create employment opportunities for Nigeria’s teeming population and lift of millions out of poverty.

In m a n y w ay s, t h a t ambition aligns with Mastercard’s mission of connecting 1 billion people to the digital economy by 2025, including 40 million micro and small businesses, with a direct focus on 25 million women entrepreneurs.

Africa accounts for nearly 40 percent of the world’s population not connected to the internet. With millions under the low-income bracket, access to mobile devices and the Internet remains out of outreach.

Mastercard believes that connecting millions means

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making it easier to accept electronic payments, along with greater access to credit to grow and scale.

To achieve the global payment technology company has announced a partnership with MTN and Airtel in recent time. The MTN partnership enables millions of consumers in 16 countries across Africa to make global e-commerce payments safely and securely, with or without a bank account.

“Last year, we launched a Pay-on-Demand mobile platform in Uganda with Samsung, Airtel, and Asante Financial Services Group which provides end consumers and MSMEs with asset financing to access smart handsets at a low upfront cost while making affordable payments over time,” said Azuka Mordi, Market Product Management, Digital Payments and Labs (West Africa) Mastercard.

The partnership with Airtel will enable access for over 100 million mobile phone users in 14 countries to virtual card numbers (VCN) and QR Payment capability - even though they don’t have a bank account. Mastercard also aims to onboard over 40,000 SMEs as merchants on QR. the company claims the partnership has made Airtel one of the largest offlineto-online digital payment networks in Africa.

Tuesday 09 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

BDTECH

In association with

Eutelsat extends deal with Liquid Telecom to improve internet service in SSA FRANK ELEANYA

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rance-based global telecommunication operator, Eutelsat has announced the renewal and expansion of a Ku band deal with Liquid Telecom aimed at improving the quality of internet service in sub-Saharan Africa.

The deal is a multi-year, multi transponder agreement that will enable Liquid Telecom to leverage the extensive coverage of 7° East orbital position to extend its VSAT services.

The 7° East neighbourhood is a key orbital position for regional TV channels and one of Eutelsat’s fastestgrowing video neighbourhoods. Over 400 TV channels already broadcast from 7° East, which serves anchor clients including Turkish pay-TV platform Digiturk, and Azam TV in sub-Saharan Africa.

The two companies plan to combine the strength

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and position of the 7° East with the VSAT technology in order to reach underserved homes in subSaharan Africa. The VSAT satellite technology uses a type of antenna that receives and transmits data and that by its acronym in English means Very Small Aperture Terminal. This antenna consists of small terminals that can be installed

in distributed sites and be connected to a central hub thanks to a satellite. It also stands out that the size of the dishes can vary from 0.75 to 3.8 metres.

“By working together to further strengthen our ties, we can ensure that the combination of Eutelsat’s satellite coverages of subSaharan Africa and Liquid Telecom’s unrivaled exper-

tise in the VSAT market can deliver the highest possible service levels to Liquid’s customers throughout the continent,” Phillippe Oliva, Chief Commercial Officer, Eutelsat, said.

Founded in 2004, Liquid Telecom has expanded its presence to countries like Rwanda, Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, DRC, and Lesotho.

In February, the company launched a bond and term loan financing package totaling $820 million. The money raised will support the growth and refinance of its parent company’s debt, Liquid Telecommunications Holdings Limited.

“We are delighted to renew and expand our agreements with Eutelsat, ensuring we can continue to rely on its support and coverage to deliver high-speed, reliable connectivity to existing and future customers, no matter where they are located,” Scott Mumford, CEO of Liquid Telecom Satellite Services said.

Tech4Dev ends digital literacy for over 1000 Northern Nigeria beneficiaries FRANK ELEANYA

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echnology for Social Change and Development Initiative (Tech4Dev) has concluded its training of the basic digital literacy for rural clusters in Northern Nigeria in March. The company said the program benefitted a total of 1,338 persons who came from across 10 states including Zamfara; Kaduna; Kwara; Kogi; Kogi; Sokoto; Jigawa; Nasarawa; Niger; and Plateau states. Over 600 of the beneficiaries were girls and women and over 400 were persons with disabilities (PWDs).

Tech4Dev is a non-profit organisation established to empower African communities with digital skills that will bridge the gap of unskilled labor needed for the future of work. The organisation has increased its digital literacy advocacy across the country since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which it says has enabled the increased adoption of digital technology to enable the continuation of work, education, and communications.

However, the economic

hardship brought about by the COVID-19 has widened the digital divide especially in poor rural clusters of Northern Nigeria. Tech4Dev, which is partnering with the UK government, says more emphasis needs to be on digital literacy in order to empower vulnerable populations to leverage technology for commerce, education, and communication to improve their socioeconomic recovery and pandemic resilience and build a more prosperous future.

“The UK Government is committed to supporting the advancement of the use of technology in Nigeria through various programs it is implementing with partners,” Martha Bostock, head of Prosperity Fund Nigeria, a fund set up by the UK Government.

Tech4Dev also launched a Handbook and Factsheet as an offshoot of the Basic Digital Literacy for Rural Clusters a Stakeholders’ Forum. The bok highlights insights and learnings from the program which Tech4Dev says other organisations can also deploy as a framework for such initiatives in Nigeria.

How Seamfix prepares companies for digital everything FRANK ELEANYA

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eamfix sees a future where every aspect of a business operation is conducted digitally and says it plans to help businesses position themselves for it. Chibuzor Onwurah, co-founder and executive director of Seamfix calls it a mission that will see organisations improve the way they work by digitising the existing processes between them and their customers to deliver a high quality of life and happiness for all.

“If you want to grow in the 21st century, your business ought to have a clearcut road map to digitally transforming its business processes and operations right about now,” Onwurah said in a statement.

As a company, Seamfix focuses on the importance of digital transformation, identity management solutions, and biometric identity verification solutions for organisations as they prepare for a digital-everything landscape.

The company says it has deployed solutions its digital

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solutions to players in different sectors including education where it has digitised an entire institution’s academic records and given access to its digital warehouse to various universities. These institutions can access alumni and student records with a click of a button enabling them to boost their internally generated revenue regardless of geographical location and they can also generate business intelligence and data analytics reports from available data.

In financial services, the company said it has attract-

ed many banks looking for solutions for customer onboarding.

“Although these banks were not operating physically, they were able to leverage their mobile app and staff strength to acquire customers and sell services to them,” Onwurah said.

Operators in the telecommunication sector also use digital customer onboarding solutions as it relates to SIM registration and identity validation projects. This has also contributed to customer ac-

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quisition and retention as people have access to the service from the comfort of their homes.

Seamfix also helps organisations automate and humanise their processes around billing, revenue collections, and service provision to their customers, particularly in the COVID-19 era where self-service and remote services are becoming commonplace and defining customer experiences.

The company is also an enabler in the data capture and analytics landscape

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with solutions that power data collection of every kind.

“With these solutions, organisations can gather insights into what is going on in the business which helps in making business decisions from the data collected,” Onwurah said.

“With our solutions, they also ensure that the organisations they serve have more access to customers and can improve on their service quality for better customer experience. This aids business continuity and increase in revenue.”

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Tuesday 09 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

Media business Fear grips Outdoor advertising practitioners over planned concession of roads … 15,000 jobs under threat Daniel Obi

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lan by the federal government through the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMW&H) to concession twelve major roads in the country, under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI), has continued to send cold shivers down the spines of critical stakeholders, in the nation’s outdoor advertising space.

Though the federal government is optimistic that concessioning such roads would ‘deliver a safer and enjoyable travel experience for travellers’ but outdoor advertising practitioners don’t seem to share in such optimism. As far as they are concerned, such plans would further threaten the existence of an already endangered sector. The effects of Covid -19 and harsh economy exacerbated by economic recession had major impact on the industry.

Perhaps the practitioners have reasons to develop such goose pimples towards the policy as such concessioning, in the past, had always left practitioners worse than it met them, a top practitioner told BusinessDay. For instance, some practitioners, would readily attribute the slide in the fortunes of outdoor Ad businesses in Nigeria to what they describe as ‘unfair regulation and lopsided concessioning of some choice roads’, especially in Lagos.

One of the instances cited by the practitioner is that of a particular agency, a relatively young, Lagos-based outdoor advertising firm, but with a very strong connection with those in the state’s corridors of power. The company, he said is given advantage over others as far as outdoor practice is concerned in the state.

“It has simply taken over

L-R: Joshua Ajayi, publisher, Brand Communicator; Olalekan Fadolapo, Registrar/ CEO of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON); Garba Bello Kankarofi, former APCON Registrar/ CEO and Steve Babaeko, AAAN President at the IMC Industry Grand Reception organised for Olalekan held recently in Lagos.

the entire outdoor Ad space, in Lagos, with alleged full support of the state, through its outdoor regulatory agency, the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA),” the practitioner alleged.

According to the practitioner, many choice areas, in the state, such as Lekki –Epe Road, the newly-built Murtala Muhammed Airport Road, the Badagry Road and others, had been allocated to this agency, while other operators were not given the opportunity to even participate, at the bidding process.

More worrisome to stakeholders, according to the outdoor practitioner is the fact that there seems to be no criteria employed by the state’s outdoor regulatory agency, at arriving at the choice of the young outdoor advertising firm that is connected to a big man in politics.

“Not that we are against concessioning, but we believe it should not be done at the expense of standards. We believe all the cards must be put on the

table. There should be a levelplaying field. We should not just wake up and realize that a part of the metropolis has been concessioned, without any call for bidding.

“For instance, nobody knows the criteria being used to arrive at the choice of this particular agency as beneficiary of such concessions, and many others,” stated the practitioner, who would want to remain anonymous now.

The practitioner also alleged that LASAA had not been giving practitioners a level-playing field to operate.

“You will agree with me that when you give such juicy parts of the state to just one firm, and others are left to struggle with the ‘bones’, I think there is an issue,” he added.

According to him, despite the fact that the young agency owes the state’s regulatory agency humongous amount of money, the outdoor firm is usually exempted when enforcements are being done.

“They are usually exempted when enforcements are

being carried out, just because of their strong connections to those in the corridors of power.

Unfortunately, when you give such indulgence, and pursue those with milder debts with a sledge hammer, I think there is a problem here,” he added.

Another practitioner, expressed concerns that the recent announcement by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, concerning the concessioning of 12 major roads across the country, would result in many practitioners being at the receiving end.

“If you remember when Lagos – Ibadan Expressway was concessioned to BiCourtney, years ago, the first step the company took was to remove all the billboards on that corridor, and begin to erect theirs. Instead of facing road construction, outdoor ad practice was the first thing the company delved into, immediately it got there. A lot of practitioners, on that corridor, lost huge amount of money.

So how are we sure the new ar-

rangement, by FMWH would be different?” he asked.

The stakeholder, believes indiscriminate concessioning and unfair regulations might further sink the fortunes of this gravely-troubled multi-billion naira sector.

“Not that concessioning is out of place, but you have to take into consideration our peculiar situation. The country is going through a lot, and no industry is immune.

And when you concession a huge stretch of land to just one outdoor firm, not because it is better than the others, but just because of its strong connection, you are gradually killing the practice.

“For instance, we have over 150 outdoor ad firms in the country, and each of these firms employs at least ten people directly. And as a government, if you really want the economy to grow, your concerns should be how to ensure about 15,000 workers directly engaged by these firms don’t lose their jobs.

And the only way you can do that is to ensure such ‘commonwealth’ go round, and not just monopolized in the name of concessioning,” the stakeholder stated.

But L ASAA and the FMW&H may believe these fears are unfounded. For instance, LASAA may not agree that the agency had concessioned more roads to a particular agency as that would be unfair to others as the agency tend to be fair to every operator.

“That can’t be true. We haven’t concessioned any other roads to the firm, apart from the previous arrangements, and any one with contrary evidence can come up with that,” an official of LASAA stated.

The official also described as untrue, allegations that any outdoor firm was always shielded by the agency, anytime it went out for enforcement, despite humongous debt with the outdoor regulatory agency.

According to the official, almost all the outdoor ad agencies are presently indebted to the agency.

“But what we’ve done is to allow them to have a payment plan. So every one of them has a payment plan on how it intends to pay its debt. We only go after those that failed to honour such plans. So if the agency is not going after any agency, what it simply means is that the firm is keeping to its payment plans,” the official added.

While reacting to the issue of concession by the FMW&H, a source at the ministry described the fears of outdoor Ad practitioners as unfounded.

According to him, rather than exterminate small businesses, the intention of the planned concession is to protect young businesses, and give them a lifeline.

“I think these fears are coming from the way the media reported the issue. For instance, we’ve not concessioned any of the roads, we are just starting the process.

Besides, the HDMI is meant to help small businesses to grow.

In every consortium, you have the lead, and other members of that consortium, but what we are encouraging is that other small businesses, even down to the catering services, advertising, remain with the small businesses, within this consortium.

“We are also going to launch what we call a vendor market place where small businesses are able to come in, show their competence, because a lot of concensionaires are also having the challenge of knowing which one of these small businesses are genuine, or doing what they claim they do. So we are hopeful that vendor marketplace will be able to connect big concessionaires to small businesses. You know creating jobs is the motto of the government, so there is no way it would embark on act that would threaten jobs,” he stated.

LASAA sensitises operators on regulation of outdoor adverts Advert managers forum gets

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agos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) has flagged off the first phase of an awareness campaign to sensitise the general public on the need for compliance with regulations guiding outdoor advertisement in the state. The regulations cover on-premise and off-premise signage displays as well as registration of mobile adverts.

Speaking during one of the agency’s awareness campaigns in Lagos, Managing Director of LASAA, Prince Adedamola Docemo,in a statement said it is important to sensitise and educate the public on the need to comply with the LASAA law before the agency begins enforcement.

He noted that the exercise would provide another opwww.businessday.ng

portunity for LASAA to remind clients on the importance of always being on the side of the law as good individuals and corporate citizens.

He urged Lagosians to cooperate with LASAA so that the state government can successfully deliver the dividends of democracy to them through its revenue optimisation effort.

Also speaking, Deputy General Manager, Corporate

Communication and Strategy of LASAA, Temitope Akande, in the statement noted that LASAA has a tradition of embarking on an awareness campaign to clients and the public in general in February and March every year.

The campaign will focus on the need for clients to be on the side of the law as enforcement would commence afterwards, he said.

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new executive officers

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new executive committee of the Advert Managers Forum (AMF), a professional group of managers of advertising in the print media industry has been inaugurated. The inauguration which took place during the February monthly meeting of the forum at the secretariat of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of @Businessdayng

Nigeria (NPAN) in Ikeja, Lagos saw the emergence of Evelyn Onyibe of The Sun Newspapers as the new Chairperson of the group. Other members of the new executive committee elected along with her are Ojo Adebowale Patrick of Vanguard Newspapers as the Vice Chairman, while Angela Tony Iji retained her position as the Secretary.

Tuesday 09 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

19

Branding Financial inclusion: Paga adopts measures to checkmate robbery attacks on agents … Expands to Ethiopia, Mexico Daniel Obi

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ollowing the frequent robbery attacks on mobile money agents across the country, an unfortunate development threatening financial inclusion drive of Central Bank of Nigeria, Paga, foremost mobile money operator has adopted a number of measures to checkmate attacks on its agents.

Nigeria’s apex bank has in the last eight years embarked on remarkable moves which include licencing of banking/ mobile payments systems, agent banks, increase in ATMs and POS to deepen financial but robbery attacks on some of these operators have frustrated the operation in certain areas.

But Paga, established in 2009 with a purpose to eliminate the use of cash for transactions and access to financial services has adopted a pattern of recruiting agents that know their communities very well and most of the people. In addition to provision of insurance to Paga agents, “we believe that the selection of agents that are vast with their communities will assist in their protection”, Jay Alabaraba, Co-founder of Paga told BusinessDay in a Webinar chat recently.

He said that Paga system allows its agents to lodge cash in any bank to reduce quantum of cash with them at any time. Alabaraba believed that these measures

will assist in checkmating attacks on the agents/ Paga has over 27,000 agents across the country and 30 percent of them are women.

According to him, the employment opportunity is huge as each agent has average employment of three persons. He said Paga presently has direct employment of over 450 across regions.

Alabaraba further said that Paga has successfully established a well trusted and known brand - earning the trust and confidence of people and the network.

“Our Agents have come to feel a keen sense of honor to

be part of Paga. While some agents use other competitor brands, the measure of trust they ascribe to Paga is admirable so much so that many of them leave their daily commissions in their Paga accounts overnight”.

On the effects of lockdown over Covid-19, he agreed that the lockdown affected businesses “and at Paga, we were concerned about the eco-system, our agents and their ability to stay in business”. But the opportunity of the lockdown came as we started to see a lot more sign up by customers for digital means of financial

transactions and registration for wallet transfers as people did not want to interact physically or handle cash.

“The lockdown was both a concern and opportunity.

The opportunity was huge.

It was something we latched onto and know our customers better as we brought solutions that helped our customers meet their needs”, the Paga co-founder said.

Recognising Nigeria as a market where adoption of digital services is growing, he said Paga has seen the growth in recognition of the value of digital payment on robust platform of Paga.

L-R: Adegbolahan Dixon, special adviser on operations LASAA; Adedamola Docemo, managing director, and Temitope Akande, deputy general manager, Corporate Communication & Strategy, during an Awareness & Registration Compliance Exercise of the Agency in Lagos.

Sunlight on path of continuous innovation; launches Fast Oil Stain Removal Dishwashing Liquid product

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he thought of washing dishes could be frightening, more so when these dishes are stained with oil and stubborn grease. The apprehension is heightened by perhaps lack of quick cleansers and fast grease removal solutions in the market.

At homes and restaurants, washing dishes could be timeconsuming and tiring, everyone would prefer a solution that would enhance washing dishes faster, brighter, and remove grease much quicker.

Interestingly, this gap observed in the market encouraged Sunlight, a listening consumer organization to reformulate Sunlight dishwashing liquid to satisfy its consumers. The new product in two variants –‘Lemon and

Regular’ was re- launched into the Nigerian market with its unique attribute and promise of ‘fast oil stain removal in 1 wipe’.

The superior proposition of Sunlight in the campaign confirms the Dishwashing solution as an appropriate, suitable, and satisfying option for consumers, restaurants, and caterers looking for solutions for quick dishwashing and faster removal of greases and stain in dishes.

Simply, Sunlight Dishwashing Liquid was reintroduced to make dishwashing for everyone less stressful and time-consuming.

Before now, various solutions such as the use of sand, ash, and detergent for dishwashing and removal of stubborn oil stains were in vogue. www.businessday.ng

Therefore, the core message in the reformulation and reintroduction of Sunlight Dishwashing Liquid is superior degreasing benefits against the toughest oil stains in dishes which is a replacement to any other solution.

The campaign deployed in various media platforms showcases Sunlight’s ‘fast oil stain removal in 1 wipe’ as being of better value, thereby confirming to consumers that their choice for the brand will help them do their dishes right and faster.

“Sunlight Dishwashing Liquid provides consumers the benefits of a longlasting dishwashing liquid, cuts through tough and stubborn stains, and effectively removes grease from dishes, pots, pans, cutlery, and glass-

ware in one wipe” The reformulation confirms the brand’s commitment to developing the market and satisfying consumers anytime, any day, and anywhere.

Explaining further on the newly improved Sunlight dishwashing liquid, the Senior Brand Manager, Princess Nnaji said, “To ensure continuous consumer satisfaction, we have our ears to the ground and make timely improvements”.

“The innovation is welcomed by consumers as Sunlight develops the market, offers homes, restaurants, and other eateries convenient dish-washing solutions, the best cleaning experience, and removing oil stains faster which also requires less effort.

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Facebook Launches ‘LeadHERs: Life Lessons from African Women’

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s part of its celebration around International Women’s Month, Facebook has announced the launch of ‘LeadHERs: Life Lessons From African Women’, a collection of beautifully inspired stories & life advice from 19 women who are breaking boundaries in fields such as media, entertainment, politics, education and business.

Available for free in digital and physical formats, the book provides inspirational real-life stories for future generations and young leaders. Each chapter focuses on a personal experience and life lesson around how these women have navigated their path to success, alongside the challenges they have had to overcome along the way. ‘LeadHERs: Life Lessons from African Women’ is aimed at encouraging, inspiring and guiding the reader - no matter the background, age or ambition.

‘LeadHERs: Life Lessons from African Women’ follows on from the successful 2020 launch of ‘Inspiring #Changemakers: Lessons from Life and Business’ in South Africa. This 2021 book is further brought to life through a series of beautifully illustrated artwork specially commissioned from four female artists from across the continent - Massira Keita from Côte d’Ivoire, Lulu Kitololo from Kenya, Karabo Poppy from South Africa, and Awele Emili from Nigeria.

Nunu Ntshingila, Regional Director, Facebook Africa, said in a statement: “At Facebook we know that African women are at the helm of shaping the future of our promising continent - they are changemakers, mothers and CEOs. This book is a celebration of just some of

the exceptional African women who in their own right are trail-blazers, motivating and inspiring people and advocating for good across Africa, and the world. We’re excited about their individual stories, inspired by challenges they’ve endured and how they’ve risen above these, and importantly how they’ve turned these into important life lessons to help inspire others.”

Some of the women featured in ‘LeadHERs: Life Lessons From African Women’, include: Tara Fela-Durotoye - Entrepreneur and CEO [Nigeria]; Elizabeth Akua Ohene – Journalist and Politician [Ghana]; Hawa Sally Samai – Founder, CEO and Campaigner [Sierra Leone]; Saran Kaba Jones – Founder and CEO [Liberia]; Temi Giwa-Tubosun – Founder and CEO [Nigeria]; Baratang Miya -Tech entrepreneur and CEO [South Africa]; Yvonne Okwara – Journalist and News Anchor [Kenya]; Tecla Chemabwai – Athlete and Educator [Kenya]; Alice Nkom - Lawyer and Human Rights Activist [Cameroon]; Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim - Global Activist [Chad] and Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu – Founder and CEO [Ethiopia].

HiFL 2021 to promote brand equity, deepen Nigeria’s collegiate sport

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rganisers of the 2021 Higher Institution Football League (HiFL), are optimistic the football tournament will deepen collegiate sport and further promote the brand equity of the game.

“The 2021 football games will commence in next monthl with the qualifying rounds. We have had a series of consultations with our partners, the Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA), sponsors and other relevant stakeholders across the board and we are glad to have come to a consensus that we can go ahead with the 2021 football season,” said Sola Fijabi, director, PACE Sports and Entertainment Marketing Ltd, organiser of the round leather game, stating that preparations are in top gear to ensure lovers of the game enjoy the best of collegiate football this season.

According to Fijabi, PACE @Businessdayng

Sports is optimistic of a successful season, leveraging on the right strategy and global best practice. “We have also studied international football games and how they have been able to pull off the games despite the restrictions occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Stephen Hamafyelto,the president of NUGA said, Nigerian higher institutions are ready to host the games in line with Covid-19 protocols.

According to Hamafyelto, other activities for the 2021 season will include the HiFL E-games, Masterclass series 2.0 and a host of other digital engagements.

Godwin Harrison, MD, Beiersdorf Nigeria, makers of Nivea Men skincare products, said Nivea Men is thrilled to come on board as HiFL’s official men’s grooming partner for the 2021 HiFL games tagged, ‘Game on’.

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Tuesday 09 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

OFF-GRID ENERGY BUSINESS

in association with

SUNREF invites operators to tap $81m funding for off-grid projects ISAAC ANYAOGU

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he Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Finance (SUNREF), a green financing line for businesses developed by the French Development Agency (AFD) is encouraging manufacturers to take advantage of the SUNREF funding facility.

The organisation in a virtual investors conference it hosted along with the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) said that its SUNREF funding facility, which is composed of a €60 million ($70 million) lowcost debt financing, a €9.5 million ($11 million) grant facil-

ity and technical assistance provided to partner banks and project developers, will help to deepen Nigeria’s energy access.

The conference, which

was hosted in partnership with development partners, the Nigerian Energy Support Program (NESP) implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Interna-

tionale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and off-grid renewable energy investor All-On, brought together investors, SUNREF Nigeria partner banks (Access Bank and UBA), technical assistance providers, renewable energy and energy efficiency project developers, government agencies and other stakeholders.

“The SUNREF facility has come at the right time when manufacturers need more power to drive our operations. We are excited about it as potential beneficiaries and we hope that both our members and non-members will take full advantage of this opportunity,” said MansurAhmed, the MAN President.

In his remarks, Wiebe Boer, CEO All-On, an investment firm, highlighted the huge market potentials in the renewable energy and energy sectors in Nigeria.

“The size of the energy gap in Nigeria is between 30GW and 175GW, and would cost between $40 billion to $200 billion to address. Nigerians spend $15 to $20 billion annually on power, which is ten times the grid,” said Boer.

“This is also a market opportunity for providers of constant, reliable electricity, such as mini-grids which are a potentially $10 billion market.”

There were also presentations from the partner banks and the Nigerian Energy Support Programme

(NESP). The conference was followed by a matchmaking session hosted by the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) which brought manufacturers and other businesses together in order to be connected to qualified developers that can offer them energy and cost saving solutions, and help them put together an application that will meet the SUNREF eligibility criteria.

This will provide a starting point for those businesses that are interested in RE/EE solutions and want to take advantage of the concessionary lending and technical assistance that the SUNREF Nigeria programme has to offer but they are not sure where to begin.

Chapel Hill Denham boosts Havenhill’s mini-grid roll out with $4.6m funding ISAAC ANYAOGU

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hapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (NIDF), the first listed infrastructure debt fund in Nigeria and Africa, has announced the successful financial close for the construction of 22 mini-grids being developed

by Havenhill Synergy Limited (Havenhill) under the Nigeria Electrification Project.

With this development, NIDF will provide Havenhill long-term financing of N1.8 billion (c. $4.6 million) to partfinance the roll out of these mini-grids, that would connect 70,000 people along with other establishments in the host communities to clean, reliable energy supply.

Recent data obtained from National Bureau of Statistics

revealed that access to reliable electricity in Nigeria is relatively low with a rural electrification rate still hovering around 39 percent.

In 2019, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also estimated that a lack of access to reliable electricity costs Nigeria an estimated US$29 billion a year.

The inability of the owners/ operators of main electricity grid to connect rural communities and provide them with reliable power supply has further amplified the need for decentralised energy systems and other clean alternatives.

Havenhill is addressing these challenges by deploying smart solar mini-grids to commercially viable rural communities across the country.

Speaking on the completion of the ground breaking deal,

Anshul Rai, CEO of NIDF said that it was quite fulfilling that NIDF is playing a significant role in improving energy access in Nigeria.

“NIDF prides itself in being the leader in financing of clean energy and energy access projects in Nigeria and thus contribute to the achievement of UN’s sustainable Development Goals. In multiple projects such as Havenhill, our unitholders

can see their capital in action and generating not only financial returns but also making a strong, positive impact on the daily lives of their fellow citizens,” Rai said.

Rai said that financing of the project will be funded from the fund’s recently concluded Series-7 capital raise, which also involved the participation of African Development Bank (AfDB).

“With the support of AfDB, NIDF is also implementing a comprehensive Environmental & Social Management System for the fund and also supporting its borrowers adopt the international best practices in the area of environmental and social sustainability” he added.

On his part, Wale Shonibare, director, Energy Financial Solutions, Policy & Regulation, African Development Bank, described the investment in the project as a welcome development that would assist in complementing its role to the sovereign loan offered to the Federal Government of Nigeria which is targeted at supporting the implementation ofthe Nigeria Electrification Project.

While expressing his satisfaction with the outcome, Olusegun Odunaiya, CEO of Havenhill, said that it was quite

exciting to have NIDF as a longterm partner for the mini-grids roll out project.

According to Odunaiya, the NIDF team’s commercial savviness has enabled it to implement a highly innovative financing structure that fully addresses the peculiarities of the project and, therefore, ensure its long-term success.

“This milestone ser ves as a renewal of Havenhill’scommitment to powering Nigeria’s most remote communitiesand delivering last-mile electricity connections. These mini-grids will catalyse economic activities in host communities, serve healthcare facilities, and overall deliver a transformative multiplier effect.

I appreciate the efforts and grit of our team in solving one of the most important problems in the world today”, he added.

EDITOR: Isaac Anyaogu / Analysts Stephen Onyekwelu, Dipo Oladehinde / Feedback: 07037817378, / email: isaac.anyaogu@businessday.ng,

Tuesday 09 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

21

ENERGY INTELLIGENCE OIL

GAS

PETROCHEMICALS

POWER

Gas project lenders, sponsors must use right structure - Mama CHIJIOKE MAMA, founder and managing director at MeiraCopp Nigeria Limited [MNL] and a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria in this interview with BusinessDay’s ISAAC ANYAOGU highlights ways investors can secure financing for gas projects at a time the government is seeking to deepen domestic gas use locally.

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hat is the outlook for raising gas project capital in Nigeria?

For Nigerian project sponsors, raising capital for natural gas projects is arguably a difficult hurdle. Fertilizer plants, Methanol plants, Ethylene plants, Power plants, LNG for export, Onshore LNG, Natural Gas Liquids [NGL] plants, Floating LNG [FLNG] and CNG plants, are the possible natural gas value chain projects in Nigeria – but the finance puzzle has to be solved.

Recent developments around the world have transformed “Fossil finance”. Capital is proving to be more difficult to rally for Oil and Gas projects, both domestically and internationally. Whether it is large, circa 1 billion USD projects such as fertilizer, methanol or LNG plants; Midstream gas processing projects that cost USD 300 to 500 million or even smaller projects such as upstream drilling projects or flare commercialization projects that may cost less that USD 50 million.

The old logic for raising capital as well as the definitions of Bankable, Viable or Profitable is continuously shifting for lenders and sponsors alike. To optimize gas projects, sponsors and lenders will need to be at home with the transactional dynamics, especially in Nigeria. While there are larger macroeconomic factors that influence access to debt and equity capital, project specific issues may be paramount.

What do you consider the preferred model for financing gas projects?

Natural gas has several use scenarios, but in majority of the scenarios, demand is inelastic, technological risks generally low [except in the case of nascent FLNG] and project assets have long economic life for instance, processing plants, gas pipelines, Liquefaction facilities, Regas facilities or LNG vessels.

These conditions make gas projects a very good fit for Project Finance [in contrast to Corporate Finance]. Since cash flow can be

backed by an ECA. Similarly, global lending for the shipping component of the LNG value chain is dominated by South Korean banks, explained by Korea’s capability in building LNG ships. This trend can also be seen in other gas-use scenarios, such as gas processing plants made by OEMs in North America, which may be supported

by US or Canadian ECAs.

Chijioke Mama

steady and predictable. In addition, certain risks are also predictable due to mature technologies being applied and project assets typically have long economic life that outlives the loan life. As a result, natural gas projects requiring large capital outlay have strategic fit with project finance.

Other structures are nevertheless possible. However, with Project Finance comes the obligation to fulfill stringent expectations from lenders’ and co-sponsors [equity partners], including the navigation of the complex web of contracts used to de-risk the project.

In the last decade, of the $1.5trn capital deployed through project finance globally, an estimated 20 percent was in the oil and gas sector. The challenge with alternative structures such as Corporate Finance, which will require reliance on sponsor’s balance sheet, old cash flows and assets with commensurate collateral value; is that these conditions may be difficult for most sponsors to meet when you are looking to raise huge capital.

How has the Nigerian Debt and Equity market performed in this

space?

Every project sponsor intends to raise adequate capital, cost effectively and this can be achieved through the use of proper commercial structures for the project.

Nigerian financial institutions do not often have the capacity to independently finance project with huge initial capital requirement.

Export-focused gas projects such as cross border pipelines, large methanol plants, urea plants and LNG, will undoubtedly benefit from foreign co-sponsors.

These co-sponsors are often more capable of securing private or public capital. This includes financial support from Export Credit Agencies [ECAs], such as loans, loan guarantee or contract financing, which can in turn facilitate the entry of other lenders, especially local lenders.

For instance, majority of the top, global LNG project lenders are Japanese banks & financial institutions, underscoring the importance of LNG to Japan and the strategic opportunity of partnering Japanese companies either as project co-sponsors, equipment supplies or EPC partners.

Recently, Yemen LNG secured a 15 year 1.7bn debt, half of which was

What are the critical strategies for enhancing project attractiveness?

There are many factors, from using proper GSPAs, to the right commercial structures, but lenders and co-sponsors will knock hard on the door of bankable offtake contracts. If your project is not exportfocused, catalyzing meaningful and long term offtake contracts in the domestic market is an early stage project huddle.

While there are several approaches, a sponsor’s ability to contract “Finance-for-Gas” is considered critical. In this scenario, credit worthy end-users could join the project sponsor as co-sponsor [acquiring equity] or provide debt capital in exchange for produced gas or gas-based products such as NGLs, methanol, electricity, fertilizer, olefins or other byproducts.

For ambitious projects like FLNG and LNG projects that are export-focused, credit enhancement [in a project finance structure] can be achieved through the participation of foreign companies that could offer funding in exchange for Gas. This often appeals to organizations from major gas demand centers such as China, Japan and South Korea.

In 2006, the 7.8mtpa Qatargas 3, raised $1.5bn from banks, while project co-sponsor ConocoPhillips put in $1.2 billion and as well, pledged to buy the gas under a 25 year contract. Firm offtake contracts facilitate the entry of lenders & equity sponsors, and could lower the cost of finance. A suit of offtake contracts in the case of export products may be preferred to single offtake contract, where countryspecific economic downturns or geopolitical risks could hinder performance.

What are lenders’ concerns around gas supply frameworks?

The nature of the contracts that govern the supply of gas to a plant or pipeline is not only fundamental but also critical. GSPAs and GTAs [Gas Sales and Purchase Agreements & Gas Transportation Agreement] and their terms have to be congruent with overall project economics.

This is particularly true with respect to gas prizing since NPVs and ROIs are known to have significant sensitivities to gas price – particularly for large projects. In the case of midstream projects, one of the most critical project issues is the source of gas and the profile of the producer which literally translates to supply reliability concerns.

Evidence of geological risks being properly managed has to be explicit, along with demonstration of thorough understanding of all other above-ground risks facing the producer. There is dual challenge in this regard, since project sponsors have to provide gas supply reliability assurances to lenders and in turn, provide financial capability assurances to the gas producer within the GSPA. What is a lender’s perception of the risks inherent in gas projects?

Arrays of risks are associated with gas projects, however of the known risks, lenders may critically require the greater assurance on a handful, including construction risk, completion risks and foreign exchange risk [for funds received in foreign currency].

Construction risks will require commensurate mitigation measures to be put in place, usually with insurance policies such as Construction All Risk [CAR] insurance and Erection All Risk [EAR] insurance, for plants and pipelines. This is because Risk of Delay in Start-up [DSU] will directly impact loan repayment plans. The risk of time and budget overruns that may be tied to contractor or sub-contractor underperformance must be optimally mitigated, likewise foreign exchange risks that arise when project cash flow and the received funds are in different currency.

EDITOR: Isaac Anyaogu / Analysts Stephen Onyekwelu, Dipo Oladehinde / Feedback: 07037817378, / email: isaac.anyaogu@businessday.ng,

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Tuesday 09 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

INTERVIEW

‘Every technological advancement is a product of ingenuity’ Olatunji Akinwunmi, chairman, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Nigerian Council, in this interview by Osa Victor Obayagbona, talks about the forthcoming 2021 edition of Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum (OLEF) and the role of technology in optimizing operations in the energy sector. Excerpts:

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etween technology and human resources, which plays a greater role in operational excellence and portfolio optimisation in oil and gas industry?

I believe that at the foundation of every progress in any sphere of life is the human being – his courage, and his hunger for continuous progress. Our resilience, our capacity for adaptation and innovation are all what combine to enable progress, therefore any and every technological advancement is a product of man’s (or woman’s) ingenuity.

of OML 17 assets to TNOG Oil and Gas Company. So, we thought about operational excellence in the current context giving us the ability to be low-cost producers and we also thought about portfolio optimisation in the sense of assets divestment and transfer of mature assets from the established players to new comers. We believe that the exchanges that would be facilitated during our upcoming OLEF workshop would be beneficial to the industry in Nigeria.

Do you still see a future for fossil

‘

Every sector had peculiar challenges as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. What unusual challenges did the oil and gas industry face?

No one imagined at the beginning of last year that we could have had a lockdown of the major economies of the world. When movements are curtailed – limitation of flights, maritime activity and even passenger vehicular movements led to low demand of our products, and of course the impact is depressed commodity prices which in turn led to an output cut. So, the impact on the oil and gas industry was and continues to be a major one.

Given these challenges in the pandemic era, should the industry focus more on existing assets or go all out for greenfield projects?

I believe the focus should be on efficiency, the industry should strive to be efficient both in terms of cost and by way of reduction of emissions in all our activities: exploring for new oil and gas fields, as well as developing and producing both existing and new fields. Having said this, the industry in Nigeria is in dire need of new projects which hopefully the passage of the PIB should enable.

Are we going to see an extinction of some of your industry players soon?

I certainly hope not, this is one of the reasons why SPE puts a lot of attention and focus on helping to make our industry stronger by technical inputs and facilitating exchange of ideas for best practices in order to ensure the survival of our industry.

Fossil fuels still have a future in contributing to the energy mix of an ever-increasing demand, Nigeria as a gas province still has much to offer

Olatunji Akinwunmi

‘

One clear and obvious message that the industry cannot be tired of passing at this time is to encourage the Federal Government to pass a PIB that would enable growth of the petroleum industry in Nigeria

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What can government do to help the industry in the midst of these challenges?

I think one clear and obvious message that the industry cannot be tired of passing at this time is to encourage the Federal Government to pass a PIB that would enable growth of the petroleum industry in Nigeria, while taking into account the global realities of the energy transition.

After the last-minute suspension of the 2020 edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, how does it feel to have Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum (OLEF) back?

It is true that last year the OLEF was cancelled at the last minute due to the escalation of the pandemic.

We had planned a physical event to hold mid-March 2020, but the developments at that time forced us to cancel. As you know, many other

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events scheduled at that time were also cancelled. I am very happy that we are now able to hold the OLEF albeit in a hybrid format, due to the requirements of the COVID-19 protocols, especially with respect to large gatherings. Accordingly, we will welcome few people at the site while most delegates and participants will have to join online.

What informed the theme of this year’s edition?

Since last year we have been confronted within situation of pandemic, which also led to lockdowns in several countries and resultant downturn in commercial and industrial activities leading to an unprecedented drop in demand for our commodities. At the beginning of this year, we also witnessed the consummation of the biggest asset transfer for several years in Nigeria - talking about the transfer @Businessdayng

fuels?

Certainly, there is a future for fossil fuels. With the abundance of the resources we have in Nigeria, there is very good opportunity with the right enabling policies for us to be able to efficiently develop and produce low-cost high-quality crude oil. As for gas, which is a transition fuel, we have a wonderful opportunity to develop and produce this abundant energy resource in our country.

As a professional association, how is SPE bracing up for a future without vibrant fossil fuels economy?

As I said earlier, fossil fuels still have a future in contributing to the energy mix of an ever-increasing demand, Nigeria as a gas province still has much to offer. And if we can reduce our cost of oil production and improve overall efficiency, the industry still has many years of active operation ahead of it.

What would be your overall assessment of Nigeria’s over 60 years of oil history?

Without a doubt, it has been a checkered history, but the future is indeed bright if we take advantage of digital transformation, efficiency of our operations and relentless pursuit of cost optimisation across our industry.

Tuesday 09 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

23

INTERVIEW ‘Solar is pathway to increasing electrification rates, jump-start economic recovery’ Peju Adebajo, CEO of Lumos Nigeria in this interview with BusinessDay’s Frank Eleanya speaks about the company’s journey of bringing solar home systems into millions of Nigerian households and businesses. She also highlights the impact of the partnership with MTN and government’s recent efforts to promote renewable energy.

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ou are one of the companies that got into the retail solar market early, how has it been?

There are 85 million Nigerians without access to electricity, which gives us an electrification rate of about 57 percent.

This has an impact on the quality of life for individuals and small businesses, like barbers, tailors, shopkeepers etc., that need electricity for a better quality of life and to improve productivity. The installed capacity of the National grid is about 12.5 Gigawatts with a distributed capacity far less than that. The government understands that renewable energy is one of the best ways to quickly increase those electrification rates with a combination of the national grid, mini-grids, and solar home systems. What makes the most sense depends on a combination of factors including population density and distance. For Lumos, solar is the way forward to increase electrification rates and jump-start economic recovery.

During the pandemic, a catalyst for recovery was needed. The Federal Government came up with the Economic Sustainability Plan, which included what is now called the Solar Naija Project, a N140 billion plan to distribute 5 million solar-home systems aimed at impacting 25 million people and creating 250,000 jobs by 2023. It shows the government recognizes solar as extremely important in the energy road map to increase electrification rates.

Lumos entered the market in 2014. The learning curve has been steep, but we have drawn on these experiences to become the market leader with over 50% market share.

Some will say your launch with MTN as a partner gave you a market advantage. How is that relationship going now?

With MTN’s nationwide presence and strong brand recognition, it enabled us to quickly deploy our systems across Nigeria. Most people had not used solar before and are what we call early adopters. Our association with MTN increased awareness and understanding amongst Nigerians that the Lumos Yellow Box is a highquality product.

In addition, through MTN, our customers could pay with airtime, which is a familiar payment method. This also meant that payments were easily facilitated.

Peju Adebajo

We also have our direct-to-market channel which enables rural penetration where MTN may not have a presence.

The market entry strategy through MTN was extremely important and mutually beneficial for both. Now we are proud to say we are in every state in Nigeria.

Lumos is lighting up the whole map of Nigeria. Not only in MTN’s urban locations but also semiurban and rural locations.

When you got into the market, many said there was going to be a solar revolution. What has happened to that revolution? Is it still alive?

Nigeria has had many different policies over the years to improve the electrification rate in the country, for example, the National Renewable and Energy Efficiency Policy, the NERC’s mini-grid regulations, and the National Content Development for the Power Sector.

However, two recent programs have accelerated growth in the sector. First, is the Nigeria Electrification Project to increase electricity access to 250,000 MSMEs and 1 million households. The second is the Economic Sustainability Plan, launched by the Federal

Government in 2020 – a component of which is the Solar Power Naija project to deploy 5 million systems to create energy access for 25 million people and create 250,000 jobs.

These are two closely coordinated policies, for example, to be able to participate in the Solar Power Naija project, you must be NEP qualified. In the rollout of these projects, one can very clearly see the coordination between the Federal Government; the Executive- the Ministry of Power, REA, and the private sector. This is an example of the right policies delivered and coordinated in the right way and I strongly believe they will both be successfully implemented.

Government support in this area is extremely important. We are a first mover in this sector, and it is difficult for one private sector player to bear all of the cost of educating and developing an industry sector all by itself. With the federal government’s support, I believe this is the time for the solar revolution and even before 2023, there will be a significant increase in the uptake of solar power systems.

The price of batteries is coming

down; however, the income of the average Nigerian still can’t afford it regularly. How are you dealing with issues around affordability in meeting new markets? What is happening to the battery market in Nigeria?

The cost of many components such as batteries is reducing internationally. However, in Nigeria, many of these components are still imported. Unfortunately, with devaluation and importation issues such as customs duties and delays, the landing cost of our components is not decreasing.

While the government has been working hard with PEBEC and the Ease of Doing Business initiatives to improve the situation at the ports, there is still some way to go. The VAT rate has also gone up, so whilst costs are coming down globally, a combination of other factors mean local costs may not come down as fast as expected.

Lumos has been in the market since 2014 and we have learned since then that the best customer experience comes when the customer can comfortably afford the monthly payment. We have two systems on offer to suit different budgets.

Our core system is the Eco. The customer pays a N22,000 down payment and then N6,000 per month for a period of 48 months. We have a long payment period to ensure affordability for the customer. We are the only Solar Home System Company that allows a payment period of 48 months because we know paying in small instalments is critical for customers to not just make the first payment but to pay regularly and continuously over a period of time.

As simple as this proposition is, it is enabled by a very sophisticated technology that allows us to know where the boxes and systems are at any point in time, and in the case of default, we can switch off the box remotely. We offer high quality customer service with installers and agents all over Nigeria. Our technology and systems allow us to diagnose and fix problems remotely, without sending anybody out unnecessarily. It is only when we cannot fix something remotely that we send field service agents. This enables us to keep our costs low.

At the end of 48 months, the customers own their system completely. They also have a four-year warranty during the 48 months, so customers know they have a reliable partner who will ensure a good customer experience.

What would work better; enforce localization by restricting imports of components or a healthy balance of imports and localization?

It will be a mixture of the two. It is possible to do more assembly in Nigeria and I believe there is a migration path. It may start with panels, as batteries may take a bit more time.

A lot depends on the policies as well as the consistency of implementation over a period. The partnership the private sector has with government is important. You must have players who know what they are doing and are committed to that long-term goal, which Lumos is. We have been in the market for six years and have paid the price of educating the market.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but what is important is the commitment to some measure of localization given the potential size of the market in Nigeria.

How much of a challenge is not having the right policy against demand and the cost of components?

We believe that the government is getting it right with its two flagship programs in this area the Nigeria Electrification Project and the Solar Power Naija Project. We can see coordination between the different stakeholders, i.e., the Federal government, the Ministry of Power, and REA. We can also see engagement. There is an ongoing discussion with the private sector to understand if there are aspects of the program that need to be improved.

The key one is foreign exchange.

We all know there is some current unavailability of foreign exchange.

If you are forced to purchase components at the black-market rates, as opposed to the official market rates, that could be as much as a 20 percent premium. This has an impact on our cost and the price that we need to charge the customer.

You may have a very good foreign exchange policy, but it will need to be accompanied by access to foreign exchange at the official rate, so that we are not incurring these additional costs. It will also need to be accompanied by zeropercent duties in tariffs for those people who are assembling locally.

But one needs to be careful to ensure that this is not abused.

Policies are good but consistency, coordination and implementation are critical.

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Tuesday 09 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

property&lifestyle Here are reasons real estate was able to crawl out of recession in Q4’20 CHUKA UROKO

T

hough some analysts argue that opportunities offered by Covid-19 contributed to real estate exiting an 18-month recession in the fourth quarter of 2020, experts who spoke at a recent Lagos Business School (LBS) Breakfast Meeting think differently.

Increased construction activities and investors scrambling for attractive yields, they say, are the main reasons the sector was able to crawl out of recession with a positive growth of 2.81 percent.

Bismarck Rewane who gave this hint at the meeting, noted that the 2.81 percent growth is the first time the sector is recording positive growth since first quarter of 2019 when its growth was 0.93 percent. The sector’s growth record in the third quarter of 2020 was -13.04 percent.

On how increased construction activities contributed to real estate recovery from recession, experts explain that the large-scale project downturn is already resulting in increased interest in private sector projects.

Residential construction spending in the private sector alone was up nearly 7 percent in 2020, and privately-owned housing starts clocked a 12.8 percent year-over-year growth in November 2020.

It is expected that the con-

Lessons learnt on infrastructure in year of pandemic

T struction of projects that were initially put on hold amid COVID-19 lockdown and the rebuilding of vandalized properties will boost the construction sector and thus, drive growth of the overall real estate market in 2021.

“We expect to see growth in the real estate construction sub-sector as many projects that were put on hold amid the COVID-19 lockdown will commence,” Temitope Runsewe, CEO, Dutum Construction, said, expressing optimism for industrial and residential real estate.

The implication of these developments is that opportunities are growing for investors while hope of more jobs coming is rising. The construction sector is the highest employer of labour.

Analysts estimate that every

square metre of real estate activity creates jobs for three people.

The slowdown in other investment asset classes such as equities, bonds, Treasury Bills swayed investment interest in favour of real estate and that explained why there was a scramble for yield by investors with patient capital and long term view of the market.

Rewane noted further that real estate agents have become increasingly innovative to attract more investment which is why land and house ownership packages now come with installment payment plans. This has the advantage of bringing more people on to the property ladder Looking ahead, Rewane expressed concerns that vacancy factor may widen as a result of consumers shrinking

wallet. Vacancy factor also known as vacancy rate is the percentage of all available units in a rental property that are vacant or unoccupied at a particular time.

“Housing costs to climb on expensive raw materials; rate of increase in commercial buildings to pick up in the near term; Vacancy factor is down 6 percent to 19 percent in Q1’21 from 25 percent in Q3’20 and this is in agreement with the recovery in the real estate sector in Q4’20,” he said Different from vacancy rate, vacancy factor is an indicator of the state of the real estate markets in the upper class neighborhoods which are close to the central business district (CBD) or downtown areas of the metropolis.

No formal retail space deliveries expected in near-term mirrors a struggling sector CHUKA UROKO

T

he news that there are no near-term deliveries expected in the formal retail space as stated in Broll Intel Property’s recent ‘Retail Market Viewpoint’ emphasises the grim situation in the sector.

That piece of information only mirrors a sector that is struggling, meaning that both landlords and retailers/tenants are also struggling while new investments in the sector are being held back.

“It is expected that the trend of bespoke lease agreements between landlords and tenants will persist in the next 3 - 6 months,” Amaka Ajaegbu, senior research analyst at Broll Nigeria, noted, adding that asking rents are expected to remain fairly unchanged in the next six months.

“However, we expect to see a decline in net effective rents, the magnitude of which will be dependent on the nature of

Infrastructure Maintenance With Tunde Obileye

the tenant and performance of the mall,” she noted further.

All these are reflections of demand which is expected to remain flat in the short term.

It is expected also that malls that have shown continued success will continue to see the highest tenant activity.

“We foresee more tenant exits in the period as lease events come up from tenants that continue to struggle,” Ajaegbu said.

Retail is income dependent while income is a reflection of the economy. Disposable income in Nigeria is low at the moment and that is because the economy which generates income is having challenges.

This is as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic which has continued to plague the global and domestic economy. The onset of a second wave and new variants of the virus have doused optimism about future growth projections. www.businessday.ng

Growth in 2020 was projected at -3.5 percent and -3.2 percent for the world economy and Nigeria respectively, before a recovery of 5.5 percent and 1.5 percent in 2021 according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The magnitude and pace of global vaccinations will truly set the stage for the realisation of these projections.

Coupled with the economic and health challenges brought on by the pandemic, Nigeria saw some civil unrest following the aftermath of the EndSARS protests with nationwide looting and destruction to property.

There was significant damage to infrastructure and property, with the retail sector enduring significant losses relative to other segments in the real estate sector. While some retail malls and high street stores have resumed activity, a number of retailers are yet to trade in some locations due to the severity of the

damage caused.

Inflation is a major macroeconomic factor that impacts negatively on retail. It has eroded the value of whatever is in the pockets of consumers, hence reducing further their purchasing power.

Inflation was higher at the end of 2020, recording its highest rate in December 2020 since November 2017. It closed 2020 at 15.75 percent after a steady increase over the year. Higher food prices, supply-side and foreign exchange pressures have had a significant impact on consumer prices which continues to weigh on purchasing power.

The opening up of the borders at the end of 2020 after about 17 months of limited no activity was not sufficient to pull back the pace of inflation in the market. Inflationary pressures were to persist on the backdrop of forex market challenges with liquidity and higher energy prices.

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he year 2020 has become history and major concerns now are the immediate pandemicrelated challenges in the workplace and how these impact the future of work around the world.

The future workplace as envisioned by forward thinking business leaders has suddenly become a reality overnight, changing how businesses operate and how employee experience plays a role in the work.

The first half of last year will go down as one of the most tumultuous periods in modern history. Without doubt, lessons have been learned by all stakeholders, not least business leaders and facility managers. These forward-looking lessons will be useful as they articulate strategies for their returnto-office plan.

The lessons learned can be applied as many organizations begin rolling out their return-to-work strategies. Specific lessons were identified from information gathered as a result of COVID-19 experiences. These lessons highlight particular changes in mindset, attitude, direction, and behavior that will be particularly important.

Stronger Outlook: Many FM practitioners and business leaders share a common belief that their businesses will one way or another come out of the pandemic crisis stronger despite the challenges. This optimism is indicative of the ingenuity and innovation organizations have shown in navigating the crisis.

New working methods: Flexible working is here to stay, and it will benefit @Businessdayng

organizations as well as employees. Businesses are realizing that work can happen anywhere as virtual teams work across locations and agile teams are formed and disbanded around specific activities.

Wellness and wellbeing: Facility managers and business leaders recognize and accept that there’s now a need to increase emphasis on employee work-life balance as a result of the pandemic. This includes the overall well-being and wellness of all staff in an organization. Facility managers expect this to be maintained over the long term.

The use of technology: It is incredible to see how the use of technology has increased the set-up of virtual meetings on a daily basis.

Many initiatives around digital transformation have been accelerated.

Many business leaders and FM professionals see Covid-19 pandemic as a catalyst for major change within the built environment with focus and priority on health and safety despite the socio-economic challenges faced by both public and private sectors of the economy.

From a business agility and resiliency perspective, the question remains whether the lessons learned can withstand the test of time however the confidence is that workplace culture is transforming in the right direction and there is need to learn and adapt quickly from this experience.

Obileye is a UK-trained lawyer and CEO, Great Heights Property and Facilities Management Limited Email: Tundeobileye@greatheightslimited.com

Tuesday 09 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

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Tuesday 09 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

KNOWLEDGE PLACE

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A Quest for Greater Women’s Rights Protection Efforts

By Olaniyan Temitayo Dare The International Women’s Day (IWD), an annual event organized to celebrate achievements and promote equal rights for women started as a political movement in different parts of the world in the early 90s to create awareness against gender discrimination, inequality and violence against women. World leaders, civil and international organizations have since continued to draw attention to the plight of women, with March 8 officially set aside by the United Nations for women’s rights.

The yearly celebration of IWD continues to bring to bear lingering issues surrounding women and the girl child. It is one of the most salient developmental issues highlighted in the United Nation’s Human Development Report of 2016 which noted that despite significant gains in human development in most countries, many groups (including women and the girl child) have not benefited from the progress. The report also noted that while global gender disparities are narrowing slowly, longstanding patterns of exclusions and lack of empowerment for women and girls remain pressing challenges.

Gender discrimination takes many forms in different parts of the world, and these include the inability to pursue career of choice, preference for dress, driving, choice as a witness in the law court, divorce and marital issues, inheritance, Pregnancy and Age discrimination against women especially in some work environments, amongst others.

CEDAW Treaty In addition to international human rights law prohibiting discriminations based on sex, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms

of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty that specifically enshrines the political, economic and social rights of Women. Despite the focus of the on issues like sex stereotypes, economic and social rights of women, education, equality in marriage its objectives are yet to be fully achieved.

“An unmarried woman police officer who becomes pregnant shall be discharged from the Force and shall not be re-enlisted except with the approval of the Inspector-General.”

Laws such as these need to be reviewed as the kill dreams or limit potentials of women. Such laws and codes are a violation of the rights of women as stated in Section 42 (1) of the In Nigeria, there has been 1999 Constitution some level of achievements in the quest for protection of Unfortunately, despite the the rights of women and the constitutional provision, girl child. However, a lot still women and the girl child in needs to be done especially Nigeria are faced with incessant with regards to reviewing discriminations because of the extant laws and ensuring extant laws which limit their proper enforcements. Scores of development while religious revealed cases of discrimination beliefs and traditional practices and violence against women are still prevalent in many parts still go unpunished or of the country. Our constitution neglected. Also, Nigeria being a and other codes and laws must patriarchal state still indirectly be seen in context and intent harbors traditional and cultural to protect women from any practices that discriminates sort of marginalization. The against women.

Women government also must engage are continually faced with in community awareness challenges such as domestic programmes to sensitize the violence, child marriage, rape, general populace on the effects sexual harassment and many of those practices. others which contravenes the CEDAW treaty Nigeria adopted Celebrating Nigeria’s Women in 1979. of Substance A classic example is in Section On a positive note, and against 55 (1) (d) of the Penal Code all odds, Nigeria has been able where it is ‘legal’ for a man to to provide for the world, notable hit a woman for ‘correction’ women of virtue and substance purposes so far, she is his that have achieved a lot for wife. The code states that: themselves and the country.

“Nothing is an offence, which One of such is Dr. Ngozi Okonjodoes not amount to the infliction Iweala who on the 1st of March of grievous harm upon any became the first woman and person and which is done by the first African to assume the a husband for the purpose of office of the Director-General correcting his wife, such husband of World Trade Organization and wife being subject to any (WTO). She has continued to natural law or custom in which be a source of pride for the such correction is recognized as country and an inspiration lawful.” to many young women. We also have the likes of Ibukun In the same vein, in a very Awosika, Chimamanda Ngozi recent event, a Policewoman Adichie, Mosunmola Abudu, was dismissed in Ekiti State Tara Fela-Durotoye, Abike for getting pregnant out of Dabiri-Erewa, Chioma Ajunwa, wedlock. Such act is said to Agbani Darego, Sandra have contravened the condition Aguebor, Blessing Okagbare, for service under Section Ire Aderinokun, Olajumoke 127 of the Police Act and Adenowo, Funke Akindele and Regulation which states that: many others who have been

www.businessday.ng

particularly in our immediate environment. Everyone should choose to challenge and call out discrimination and all forms of inequality and unfair treatment towards women.

The theme recognizes the fact that irrespective of one’s sex, #ChooseToChallenge putting an end to discrimination The theme for this year’s is the collective effort of all.

International Women’s Day celebration calls for all hands In conclusion, a world where to be on deck, in order to curtail discrimination is eliminated and discrimination against women where there is gender equality and the girl child globally and is possible. This remains the courageous and dogged in their respective endeavors and have been ambitious enough to challenge stereotypes and fight bias to attain success.

We celebrate them today and always.

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@Businessdayng

collective effort of all and would make the world a better place.

Nigeria must be seen in action to be committed to equal rights for men and women and this can be achieved when it repeals all laws that are not favourable to women, engage in community sensitization programmes, and increase support for ministries and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that are at the forefront of executing programmes which empower women.

Tuesday 09 March 2021

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World’ first professor of internal audit endorses TEXEM, UK programme for Africans.

Andrew Chambers, the world’s first Professor of Internal Audit and Former Dean of Cass Business School, has endorsed the forthcoming virtual programme on survival strategies for Nigerian and African leaders during the COVID-19 era organised by TEXEM UK.

He said it was not just COVID-19 which posed challenges, but the pace of technological change was just as challenging.

Chambers said leaders might not be able to identify the particular future happenings which would become opportunities or threats.

Chambers, a key faculty for the programme Risk Management & Effective Leadership for Superlative Performance During Turbulent Times, spoke on Sunday through a statement issued by Caroline Lucas, Director of Special Projects at TEXEM, on the coming executive development programme slated for March 10 and March 11 while sharing insights into how to succeed in such turbulent times.

“And then satisfy ourselves that we could exploit those opportunities or mitigate those threats should they occur for whatever cause.

On why leaders should attend the programme, he said that given TEXEM’s impressive pedigree of consistently helping organisations to thrive and the worldrenowned faculties expected, it is a programme that no executive should miss.

insights on how to unlock scarce value in an era where there are few.

Faculties who would be delivering the programme include Mike Wilkins, Managing Director S&P Global Ratings and Prof. Randall Peterson of London Business School.

“Through this executive development programme, leaders would enhance their social capital by networking and steepening their learning curve by challenging assumptions.

Others are Ambassador Dr Peter Collecott and Ambassador Richard Gozney, the Lieutenant Governor of Isle of Man and Former British High Commissioner to Nigeria and Ambassador Dr. Peter Collecott, Chair Ambassador Partnerships.

Chambers said the topics that will be covered are relevant and essential for the success of leaders and organisations.

“This TEXEM, UK programme on Risk Management & Effective Leadership for Superlative Performance during Turbulent Times, promises to offer valuable

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“Still, we should certainly try our best to define possible future scenarios caused by whatever opportunities or threats that may occur.

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TEXEM, UK, which has trained over 4,000 executives in the UK and Africa in the past eleven years, is founded

by Dr Alim Abubakre, a British based entrepreneur from Nigeria. (Ends)

“Notably, in times of volatility, stiff competition, and slow economic growth, it is easy to get so engrossed in the daily struggle to survive that one forgets to be strategic and focus on optimising performance.

“This TEXEM, UK programme would help participants to learn how to achieve this and more,” the former Advisor to the British House of Lords explained.

According to Chambers, a company must integrate culture, risk and strategy to succeed while the mission, promise, values and ethics of an organisation must also be integrated with these.

@Businessdayng

“And we may be able to engineer that the opportunities do occur and the threats are avoided,” he said.

Participants of this programme will learn how to enhance Strategic Leadership impact on self, team and organisation and optimise self, team, and organisational performance. Also, participants would glean how to identify and harness opportunities inherent in a risky operating context and how to reduce losses due to the financial impact on organisational resources during a crisis.

TEXEM, UK, which has trained over 4,000 executives in the UK and Africa in the past eleven years, is founded by Dr Alim Abubakre, a British entrepreneur originally from Nigeria.

For more information, please call +44 7425 883791 or email exec@texem.co.uk or visit https:// texem.co.uk/risk-managementand-effective-leadership-forsuperlative-performance-duringt u r b u l e n t- t i m e s / a n d wa t c h t h e v i d e o a t h t t p s : / / w w w. youtube.com/watch?v=vJY_ Z9znogE&feature=youtu.be

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NPA rakes in N350bn despite decline in cargo volume ...record high in 5 years AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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espite a drop in the volume of cargo coming into Nigeria in 2020, due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, the revenue generated by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) grew by 14.76 percent to hit N350.37 billion, the highest in the last five years.

These were monies collected from royalties, cargo throughput, harbour dues, administrative and other statutory sources. The NPA is recording a revenue increase at a time the Federal Government is experiencing general drop in income needed for governance as well as infrastructure development due to instability in the international prices of crude oil, which is Nigeria’s major economic stay.

Growth in NPA revenue, according to BusinessDay findings, can be attributed to the introduction of e-billing system, which has helped to block leakages, clamping down on erring contractors, and reduction of overhead and running costs.

“We have improved our revenue generation and contribution into the Consoli-

dated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government by plugging sources of revenue leakage in our operations. So, we launched final billing and customer portal module of revenue invoice management system,” said Hadiza Bala Usman, managing director of the NPA, while responding to BusinessDay questions on why NPA is now generating more revenue despite decline in cargo and shipping activities.

According to her, the final billing and customer portal module of revenue invoice management system was aimed at improving service offering, creating efficient payment method, maximising revenue and eradicating loss associated with fraud and revenue leakage.

“The truth is that human intervention subjects operations to all forms of rent-seeking with the attendant revenue loss to the Authority. So, progressive since 2016, we started automation of a lot of our processes,” she said.

Usman also pointed out that foreign exchange gain differential also played a role in boosting the agency’s revenue.

A breakdown of the NPA recent revenue profile, which was obtained by BusinessDay shows that in 2020, the author-

ity’s revenue grew by 14.76 percent to hit N350.37billion from N305.31 billion recorded in 2019.

In 2018, NPA recorded revenue of N284.36 billion, which was a marginal increase from N284.01 billion revenue collected in 2017. The authority had raked in N203.31 billion in 2016.

Recall that Usman recently told newsmen that the authority had clamped down on contractors that were not remitting government money as and when due, by ensuring that they remit government revenue through the Single Treasury Account (TSA) as established by the Federal Government.

The agency, she said, then also went further to reduce the burden on overhead by cutting off many payments that add up to the cost such as travelling and other unnecessary overheads.

“Some years ago, the management of the NPA led by Hadiza Bala Usman introduced the electronic billing system (e-billing), which means that payments to the authority is now done online and that has made it more efficient in capturing all the revenue leakages associated with the old payment process,” said Aminu

Umar, managing director, Sea Transport Ltd, a shipowner.

Umar, also said that high exchange rate may have also played a role in the increase in revenue generated by the authority as the exchange rate in 2015 is different from the exchange rate in 2020.

“The management of NPA has also been very effective, efficient and meticulous in making sure that all the revenue leakages are blocked.

Even though there is a drop in ship traffic into the country, the e-process has helped to ensure that all the revenue generated by the Nigerian Ports Authority goes into its account,” he said.

Umar, who is a former president of the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA), said this is one of the major achievements of the management of the NPA over the last five years and the MD has been strict in making sure there are no leakages in revenue generated by NPA. Meanwhile, in terms of ship traffic, the recent statistic shows that the total vessels that called at the Nigerian ports in 2020 declined by 6.6 percent to stand at 3,972 with 125,133,912 gross registered tonnage from the 4,251 ships with 138,577,463 gross registered tonnage received in 2019.

Medical expert draws attention to cancer challenges as world marks IWD CHUKA UROKO

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medical expert has drawn attention to peculiar challenges posed to women by cancer in developing countries, including Nigeria.

Abia Nzelu, a medical doctor and executive secretary, Giving Tide International, spoke on Monday, as the world marked the International Women’s Day (IWD).

Nzelu said the IWD provided an opportunity for women and their loved ones to #ChooseToChallenge to cause a change in the present unacceptable situation concerning cancer in Nigeria Globally, cancer continues to deal deadly blows on women. The latest data by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates that the global burden of cancer has risen to 19.3 million cases and 10 million cancer deaths in 2020 with more than 50 million people living within five years of a past cancer diagnosis.

The data shows further that, in Nigeria, there were over 120,000 new cancer cases in 2020 with a higher incidence in women (about 73,000 cases), whereas the incidence in men was about 51,000 cases. Nigerian women also have a higher burden of cancer deaths with over 44,000 deaths in 2020 whilst the number of cancer deaths in men was about 34,000.

Nzelu is pained that the disproportionate burden of cancer mortality in Nigeria is

large because of the dearth of infrastructure for cancer care in the country, citing India which has over 200 Comprehensive Cancer Centres, most of which are the products of non-governmental/nonprofit endeavour, but Nigeria has none.

“Nigerians who can afford it, go abroad for treatment, spending over $1 billion annually, an amount sufficient to establish 20 Comprehensive Cancer Centre (CCC) in Nigeria every year. Tragically, those who seek care abroad often die from late intervention. “This financial haemorrhage is unsustainable and the waste of lives is unacceptable.

Moreover, the COVID-related global lockdown has shown that medical tourism may not always be available, even if one could afford it,” she said.

According to her, the higher burden of cancer deaths in Nigerian women is the opposite of what obtains globally where men have both a higher cancer incidence and higher cancer mortality. Apart from the direct burden on them as individuals, Nigerian women also bear the brunt when their spouse or children are affected by the disease.

“Too often, unaffected female caregivers end up dying from stress-related illnesses, even before the cancer victim they are caring for. I recall the sad death of an otherwise healthy young mother who succumbed to the stress of seeking funds to care for her 8-year old daughter with eye cancer,” she added.

UBA reimagines digital banking with new mobile app FRANK ELEANYA

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L-R: Oluseye Maku, general manager, Ogun State Water Corporation; Kunle Otun, special adviser to Ogun State governor on water; Dapo Okubadejo, commissioner for finance and chief economic adviser; Chao Jinjun, consultant, and Bayo Adenekan, senior special assistant to the governor on development partners, after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on water distribution in Abeokuta and environs, yesterday.

These 3 oil majors are betting big on wind energy DIPO OLADEHINDE

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o reduce emissions, generate growth and maintain share price, Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum (BP), and France’s Total are intensifying plans for energy diversification by creating strategies that will allow offshore wind turbines to replace oil rigs before the end of this decade.

The world’s biggest oil and gas companies are stepping up efforts to develop wind power, as the focus on renewables gains traction amid ongoing efforts to achieve peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.

For instance, Shell’s pursuit of offshore wind allowed it to team up with Dutch renewable energy company Eneco to build giant wind farms off the coast of the Netherlands.

The investment will help the two energy firms to scale the innovative wind project, which is scheduled to come online in 2023.

“Big Oil’s” big spending on offshore wind is an investment in their long-term future,” Mark Lewis, the chief sustainability strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management, a major investor in renewable energy, said in a note.

BP is also partnering with www.businessday.ng

German firm Energie BadenWuerttemberg (EnBW) to develop two giant wind farms in the Irish Sea which could power as many as 3.4 million homes across the United Kingdom.

“This is both important progress towards BP’s transformation into an integrated energy company as well as a significant next step in our long history in the UK,” CEO of BP, Bernard Looney, explained of the development.

The two wind projects come as BP pledged to spend $5 billion a year in low-carbon investments as part of its renewable energy strategy.

Recently, BP signed a partnership with Norwegian state oil company Equinor to develop existing offshore wind in the U.S at a cost of $1.1 billion. In September 2020, the company announced plans to advance a project that is expected to produce 50GW of renewable power by 2030, generating power for over two million houses.

French oil giant Total also won in the auction, partnering with Macquarie’s Green Investment Group to secure a 1.5 GW project off the East Anglian coast. This sees the U.K. lending all suitable areas of its coastline to wind production.

https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

nited Bank for Africa (UBA) has launched a new mobile application is says will change the face of digital banking services.

The new app is designed to give customers increased control and accessibility to carry out transactions with ease.

Among the benefits for customers is the ability to decide where they want their bank cards to operate. Customers can also block, view, or request new cards straight from the app to suit their specific needs.

Kayode Ishola, Group Head, Digital Banking described the app as a personal finance manager built with a distinctive user interface that changes the face of banking.

“With this app, we are reimagining banking as our engagement has moved from being channel-based to being platform-based,” Ishola said.

“The speed of the has been made to match the speed of light as we have cut down significantly on the number of processes expected to carry out your transactions.”

The bank designers, ac@Businessdayng

cording to Ishola, worked to create behavioural insight for customers and working around this to address the real needs of the customers using the Omni-channel platform and running on the open digital platform.

Apart from the fact that the app has been created with a journey that has a high-level of intelligence - as it can work based on frequent transactions, it can also speak to the specific country where it is being used as the new mobile app runs concurrently in the 20 countries of UBA’s operation interacting in the different languages and cultures in line with the specific needs and regulation of the country in focus.

“This all-encompassing platform which boasts of a new user interface because of its sleek, modern nature of delivering a seamless experience across several devices; can be used as a budgeting tool, loan application and also allows customers view their expenses according to their various categories such as the amount spent on data within a particular period;” Sampson Aneke, UBA’s Head, SME Banking.

Tuesday 09 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

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NEWS

In post-oil world, investors turn to ‘rare earth’ metals STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

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lean energy targets across the world have seen renewables rise to prominence as energy sources and demand for electric cars increase, accelerating ‘rare earth’ mining in Asia, Australia, Africa, and the USA. Seldom heard of but used in abundance ‘rare earth’ has been getting lots of attention recently and so as companies with ‘rare earth’ development projects.

“Rare earth” elements are a group of 17 chemically similar elements crucial to the manufacture of many hi-tech products. Despite their name, most are abundant in nature but are hazardous to extract.

Most rare earth elements are used in several different fields as well as those listed below.

The rise of the rare earth metals market continues to move upward as it parallels the recent and future upticks of the Electric Vehicle (EV) market. EVs need magnets and they are majorly made from rare earth metals.

Additionally, rare earth materials such as dysprosium,

neodymium, terbium, europium, and yttrium are often critical components of renewable energy hardware.

Rare-earth elements (REEs) are used as components in high tech devices, including smartphones, digital cameras, computer hard disks, fluorescent and light-emitting-diode (LED) lights, flat-screen televisions, computer monitors, and electronic displays.

Nevertheless, Tim Worstall, a wholesaler of rare earth metals, argues that rare earth are not rare (they are also not earth). It is near trivially easy to find deposits. Anyone who really wants to can increase the production of them. It is the processing that is the problem. The price rises that came from the Chinese efforts to assert dominance in 2010 led to both Malaysia-based Lynas and Molycorp (a US mine that does not process its own concentrates) being financed. That led to production increasing sufficiently for global prices to fall. Molycorp then went bust and Lynas nearly did and was saved in a highly dilutive refinancing.

The global market for rare earth metals has grown at an annual rate of about 8 – 11 percent over the last decade,

according to the World Trade Organisation, but this pace has spiked in the past 12-18 months or so.

One of the main reasons is because consumers around the globe, particularly in China and the rest of emerging Asia, are buying electronics goods, such as cameras, new Apple i-Pads, Samsung flat-screens, and many other products, hand-over-fist.

Simply put, trillions of dollars of modern devices would not be possible without the existence of these metals.

According to MarketWatch, the global rare earth elements market size was valued at $2.80 billion in 2018 and is estimated to witness a compound annual group rate (CAGR) of 10.40 percent to 2025. A report from Brand Essence Research adds to that projection, saying the market size will reach $20.60 billion in 2025.

Growing demand for magnets in automobiles and energy generation will largely contribute to the growth of the global rare earth metals market over the forecast period. The demand for rare earth magnets is mainly increasing by their consumption in electric and hybrid vehicles.

MBA assures investors of getting back funds amid challenges Daniel obi

Increasing focus on utilising clean and renewable energy is giving substantial pressure on the electricity providers, to generate energy through renewable sources, which in turn will show a positive impact on the growth of this market.

Active rare earth stocks in the markets include Canadabased Medallion Resources Limited, Malaysia-based Lynas Rare Earths Limited, and USbased Tesla, Inc., Las Vegasbased MP Materials Corp., and Shanghai-based NIO Inc. London Stock Exchangelisted Pensana Rare Earths Plc’s shares soared in January when it announced plans to establish a rare earth processing facility at Saltend Chemicals Park, Yorkshire, England.

Once constructed, the $125 million facility will create around 100 direct jobs and become one of the world’s largest producers of rare earth oxides, used in a range of industries including electric vehicles and offshore wind turbines, a staff writer at mining.com said in a report.

The project will be located at the Saltend Chemicals Park, which hosts a cluster of chemicals and renewable energy businesses, including BP Chemicals.

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BA Trading and Capital Investment Limited, a forex training and capital investment company, has stated commitment to pay back investors capital fund after challenges to meet up with the expected investment revenue base due to market volatility among other challenges, a statement has said.

Recall that investors have been calling for payment of their capital fund across media platforms.

An online news platform had reported that investors alleged that major stakeholders in the company committed fraud.

In a statement signed by company’s CEO, Maxwell Odum, titled “We will pay your money, MBA assures investors”, the company assured investors that they will get the refund of their capital funds as the process has already commenced while some have already received their funds. It also maintained that it did not engage in another notorious Ponzi scheme and its major stakeholders never committed any fraud. “ Now, f o llow ing th e challenges we are currently grappling with in our business due to market volatility and other unfortunate developments, which means we are unable to meet up with the expected outcomes, we are strongly committed to ensuring that you do not at least lose your capital. We sold you an idea that we believed in and you

have invested your funds into it because you trusted us. Where for one reason or the other things do not work out as expected in terms of your returns, the least you would expect is that your capital is safe.

“Our commitment is to pay back all capital funds.

In f a c t, w e hav e c o m menced that process by paying out our clients on the N360, 000 categor y (which has the largest volume of persons). To this end, we have slowly paid out hundreds of persons before we encountered an unforeseen circumstance.

The Central Bank suspended any dealings in our accounts because, according to them, it became imperative to carry out some checks to ensure that we have been acting lawfully.

All other payment gateways we normally use for easy payout of funds have also blacklisted us causing even more difficulty in the initial process,” the statement explained.

Commenting further on the issue with the Central Bank, MBA stated that “on our part, we recognise the role of government’s intervention in moments of hazy optics. While we are not perfect, we do not subscribe to criminality and will not convert this intervention to exploitation of your patience to shy away from our responsibility. However, you will agree with us, in circumstances like this, we are expected to cooperate with the authorities until they lift this embargo and allow us to fulfil our commitments to you.”

IWD: Access Bank to lead chat on gender balance

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L-R: Fred Onyia, representing the chairman of Udi Local Government Area (LGA) of Enugu State; Juliet Ude, head of human resources, Baywood Foundation (BF); Chukwudi Ojielo, country director of BF, and Chris Amadi, resident consultant on special projects, Udi LGA, during the Youth Skill Acquisition and Empowerment training by Baywood Foundation in conjunction with Coca-Cola Foundation in Udi LGA, Enugu, yesterday.

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Policy summersault, others limit Nigeria’s agricultural extension services - minister Nkechinyere Oginyi, Abakaliki

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he Federal Government on Monday bemoaned the decline in Nigeria’s agricultural extension services, attributing it to poor funding, policy summersault, reduction in manpower, and the lack of interest in agripreneurship by young Nigerians Mu ha m ma d Na n o n o, minister of agriculture, stated this in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi

State capital, during a training session for agro extension agents in the state.

Nanono, represented by Chima Okoro, programme manager, Ebonyi State Agricultural Development Programme (EBADEP), regretted that the decline has affected food production which, according to him, exposes the country to the dangers of unemployment, youth restiveness, and economic instability.

The minister noted that agricultural extension dewww.businessday.ng

livery was the driver of all agricultural policies and researches, without which all efforts in the agricultural ecosystem may not realise its goals.

Frank Kudla, director, federal department of agricultural extension under the ministry of agriculture and rural development, identified factors causing a decline in the national agricultural extension delivery system to include decreasing number of extension agents occasioned by retirements, deaths, youth

unwillingness to embrace agricultural entrepreneurship, poor capacity of existing extension agents to deliver, and poor funding of the subsector.

“This training of the agricultural extension agents, among other interventions, will serve as a floodgate for many opportunities such as providing them with tools that will help them to give, not only agronomic but also more practical services to farmers that will engender efficiency and more income”, he said.

https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

n commemoration of the International Women’s Day, the W Initiative of Access Bank Plc has announced that its International Women’s Day Fireside Chat will hold on Thursday, March 11, 2021.

T h e Fi re s i d e c h a t i s themed: ‘Take the centre stage: speak up.”

Confirmed speakers and panelists for the event are Aisha Ahmad, deputy governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Dere Awosika, chairman, Access Bank Plc.; Pearl Uzokwe, director for governance & sustainability, Sahara Group Limited; Adenike Adebola, marketing director, Guinness; Rabi Adetoro, senior manager, talent and career management, MTN Nigeria, among others.

Through the event, the bank seeks to analyse and offer solutions to how women can maintain assertiveness in the workplace, own their @Businessdayng

voice as well as identify and handle imposter syndrome.

Other conversation areas include the importance of flexible work environments in encouraging engagement and retention for women in the workplace and leveraging intersectionality in the workplace.

Speaking on the event, the group head, W Initiative at Access Bank, Ayona Trimnell, stressed the need for increased discussions about real challenges that affect women in the workplace.

“The peculiarities of the global community today means that we are awakened to the successes women can achieve given the right systems and platforms for expression. We are also aware of the gaps and stereotypes that need to be challenged if we are to achieve the ultimate goal of this month’s commemoration - gender balance and equality,” she said.

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Tuesday 09 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

news Pension managers woo contributors with higher returns … as 2,799 switch providers Modestus Anaesoronye

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ension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in desperation to retain their existing contributors are doing all within their powers to enhance service delivery and returns on the funds.

This is following the pressure created by the recent opening of pension transfer system by the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), which gives Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders the right to change their existing PFA for another if they desire.

The transfer window is a platform created by the PENCOM to enable pension contributors who are dissatisfied with the services of their current PFAs transfer their RSA to any Pension Fund Administrator of their choice.

As at the end of December 2020, a total of 2,799 RSA holders have initiated the transfer of their RSAs from their existing pension PFAs to other PFAs. This is during the maiden RSA Transfer Quarter.

According to PENCOM, total value of the RSA balances transferred stood at N18.9 billion, and all the 22 PFAs were involved in the transfer, as transferring and/ or receiving PFAs. Before the commencement of the transfer system on November 16, 2020, it was not the practice for most PFAs to let their contributors see their performance records.

But with the transfer window now, PFAs that are doing well have no choice but to showcase their qualities that make them stand out among their peers.

This is not only positively enhancing benefits accruable to RSA holders, but also increasing understanding of their knowledge on how their pension funds are managed from time to time.

Service delivery has also seen a lot of improvements, as PFAs have increased communication with their respective RSA holders through so many channels, including social media.

But what has become interesting is where the pendulum of leadership is moving to. Competition, no doubt, is setting in and over time it will become clearer where RSA holders are transferring to, whether it is to bigger PFAs or small- size PFAs. A small revelation is already coming from the last quarter 2020 report of the PENCOM, which revealed that smaller PFAs are pulling some weight in terms of new entrants, but whether it is as a result of transfer or new registrations, it will become clearer over time.

As at Q4 2020, the ranking of PFAs by number of registered contributors showed a marginal growth in the market share of the bottom three PFAs from 1.45 percent in Q3 2020 to 1.50 percent in Q4 2020.

Similarly, the bottom five PFAs recorded slight increase in the number of registered RSAs from 3.96 percent in Q3 2020 to 4.10 percent in Q4, 2020, just as the bottom 10 PFAs recorded a marginal increase from 15.02 percent in Q3 2020 to 15.20 percent in Q4 2020.

The market share of the top three marginally increased from 37.39 percent in Q3 2020 to 37.40 percent in Q4 2020, while the market share of the top 10 PFAs marginally declined from 78.44 percent in Q3 2020 to 78.40 percent in Q4 2020.

The market share of the top five PFAs also marginally declined from 53.27 percent in Q3 2020 to 53.20 percent in Q4 2020.

A further breakdown of the cumulative PFA registrations revealed that 15 PFAs had registered less than 500,000 RSAs each, while the remaining seven PFAs had registered more than 500,000 RSAs each as at the end of the Q4 2020.

Wale Odutola, managing director/CEO, ARM Pensions, providing answers to some of the concerns of RSA holders, for instance, on what distinguishes a PFA from the other, and what should influence choice and movements, said, “Key differentiating elements are likely to influence choice of one PFA to the other.”

According to Odutola, these elements become the competitive qualities that PFAs are going to work on, which bring additional value to the RSA holder and for the larger pension industry.

“For every RSA holder planning to make a move, I’ll advise that such a person seeks out a PFA with an excellent management team, a good investment track-record and notable years of experience.

“RSA holders should not ignore the history books.

Ensure that the PFA you move to have rigorously managed pension fund assets and remained consistent with paying out higher returns to the retirees whose fund they manage,” he said.

Every word from Odutola is laced with concern for the RSA holders who he hopes will make the right choice of PFA. As at the end of December 2020, the contributory pension scheme has registered 9.22 million contributors with total pension funds under management standing at N12.31 trillion. www.businessday.ng

These six numbers show Nigeria’s persisting gender gap Mercy Ayodele

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heUnitedNationsSustainableDevelopment Goal (SDG) 5 aims to achieve gender equality for all by 2030, but Nigeria still has a long way to go in achieving gender parity.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), gender parity has a significant impact on economic development in any society.

Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) could grow by 23 percent or $229 billion by 2025 if women participated in the economy to the same extent as men, notes a McKinsey report.

To achieve this, Nigeria would need to pay attention to its widening gender inequality gap.

21%

Nigerian women hold only 21 percent of board directorships of the NSE’s top 20 companies by market capitalisation, according to a report by the Professional Women Roundtable (PWR).

The report shows that out of the 230 board seats in total, only 48 seats are held by women (21%) and 182 seats are held by men (79.1%).

The report also highlights that out of the 20 companies; only three are chaired by women. These companies are Access Bank, Union Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank.

According to a report by McKinsey, at a corporate level, African companies with at least 25 percent female representation on their boards had a 20-percent higher than industry

average earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin.

6% Nigerian women have the lowest proportion of female lawmakers on the African continent with just 6 percent of seats in the national parliament held by women compared to an average of 15 percent across sub-Saharan Africa, according to data from the Geneva-based group.

This participation level is low, especially when compared to Rwanda, where women representation in the parliament accounts for 61.3 percent in the Lower House and 38.5 percent in the Upper House.

According to the United Nations, only five out of the 73 candidates that ran for the office of the president in 2019 were women.

Also, out of about 3,000 women in political parties, only 64 got elected in offices in 2019.

22 million Nigeria has the highest number of child brides in the West African region and the 11 highest rates of child marriages globally with an estimated 22 million child bride in the country.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), about 44 percent of Nigeria’s female population are married before their 18th birthday compared to 3 percent of boys before the age of 18.

12 million The latest unemployment data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show women were the worst hit with 12.2

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BusinessDay Women celebrates 2021 International Women’s Day #Choosetochallenge, in Lagos, yesterday. Pic by Olawale Amoo

Nestlé raises stake in Nigerian unit by N3.63bn amid optimism for rebound Iheanyi Nwachukwu

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estlé S.A., the majority shareholder in Nestlé Nigeria plc, has increased its stake in the Nigerian unit through equities purchases valued in excess of N3.633 billion.

NestléS.A.isaSwissmultinationalfoodanddrinkprocessing conglomerate headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest food company in theworld,measuredbyrevenue and other metrics.

Details of recent equities deals consummated at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) show that between March 2 and 3, 2021, Nestlé S.A. bought 2.166 million units of Nestlé Nigeria plc shares at an average price of N1,349 per share.

On March 2, Nestlé S.A purchased 1.980 million units of Nestlé Nigeria worth N2.671 billion at N1,348.84 per share, while on March 3, it bought 186.277 units valued N251.425 million at N1,349.74 per share.

Also, between March 4 and 5, Nestlé S.A purchased 77,019

units of Nestlé Nigeria shares at an average price of N1,349 per share.

On March 4, it bought 50,000 units of Nestlé Nigeria value at N675 million at N1,350 per share while on March 5 it purchased 27,019 units valued at N36.449 million at N1, 349.03 per share.

Nestle S.A. Switzerland holds 63.5 percent equity stake in Nestlé Nigeria while other investors account for just 36.5 percent. Nestlé Nigeria’s shares outstanding are 792,656,252 units.

At N1,350 per share, Nestlé Nigeria’s market capitalisation is in excess of N1.07 trillion. The stock had reached a 52-week high of N1,505 and a corresponding week low of N764.90.

Nestlé Nigeria recently announced its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020. The company reported revenue of N287.1 billion in 2020, up by 1.1 percent over 2019 low of N284.035 billion.

Gross profit for the year 2020 stood at N119.2 billion,

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down by 7 percent when compared to N128.1 billion recorded in the preceding year.

Operating profit of N64.419 billion in 2020 against N72.062 billion in 2019 represents a decline of 10.6 percent.

The company’s finance cost of N4.427 billion in 2020 as against N2.267 billion in 2019, which represents an increase of 95.3 percent impacted negatively on its profit level.

Nestlé Nigeria posted pretax profit (PBT) of N60.638 billion in 2020 as against N71.124 billion in 2019, which represents a decline of 14.7 percent.

Profit after tax (PAT) of N39.3 billion in 2020 as against N45.683 billion in 2019, was down by 14.2 percent.

The N1,350, which Nestlé Nigeria shares were priced at the close of trading week ended Friday, March 5, represents a decline of 10.3 percent this year.

Nestlé Nigeria shares trade at a discount compared to target price (TP) of N1, 511.16, which Lagos-based analysts at Vetiva Research set for the stock in their March 5 note to @Businessdayng

investors.

Despite underperforming the analysts’ forecasts, Vetiva believes that Nestlé Nigeria fundamentals remain strong given its product portfolio.

Thus, the analysts remain cautiously optimistic as they forecast revenue of N296.3 billion for Nestlé Nigeria in full year 2021 – a 3.2 percent year-on-year (y/y) expansion.

“We base our forecasts on the premise that Nestle’s products remain household names and brand leaders in their respective market segments, despite increasing competition,” Vetiva added.

In their recently released full-year scorecards, Wassim Elhusseini, managing director/CEO of Nestlé Nigeria, said, “Amid a very challenging business environment in 2020, we strengthened market leadership across our categories. Thanks to our high performing team, we successfully continued to provide our consumers with high-quality affordable foods and beverages to enjoy every day.

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news

UBA delivers double-digit growth in...

Continued from page 1

tom lines.

The 2020 audited financials filed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, showed that bank’s gross earnings grew by 10.8 percent to N620.4 billion, compared to N559.8 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2019.

The bank’s total assets also grew by 37.0 percent to N7.7 trillion for the year under review.

Despite the challenging business environment during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant effect on economies globally, the bank’s profit before tax was impressive at N131.9 billion, compared to N111.3 billion at the end of the 2019 financial year. In the same vein, the profit after tax rose remarkably by 27.7 percent to N113.8 billion compared to N89.1 billion recorded at the end of the 2019 financial year.

On the cost side, operating expenses grew by 10.1 percent to N249.8 billion, as against N217.2 billion in 2019, well below average inflation rate of 13.2 per cent for the year, thus reflecting the bank’s cost effectiveness.

In its usual tradition of rewarding shareholders, the bank proposed a final dividend of N0.35 kobo for every ordinary share of 50 kobo.

The final dividend, which is subject to the affirmation of the shareholders at its annual general meeting, will bring the total dividend for the year to N0.52kobo as the bank had paid an interim dividend of N0.17 kobo earlier in the year.

UBA recorded a remarkable 24 percent growth (to N2.6 trillion) in loans to customers, whilst customer deposits increased by 48.1 percent to N5.7 trillion, compared to N3.8 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2019, reflecting increased customer confidence, enhanced customer experience, successes from the ongoing business transformation programme and the further deepening of its retail banking franchise.

Commenting on the result, Kennedy Uzoka, group managing director/CEO, noted that the year 2020 was important for the UBA Group, as it gained further market share in most of its countries of operation.

He said, “We ended a very challenging year on a reassuring note. The bank recorded double-digit growth in both our top and bottom lines, as gross earnings and after-tax profit grew by 10.8 percent and 27.7

percent to N620.4billion and N113.8 billon respectively.

Return on equity was 17.2 percent, even as our cost-toincome ratio moderated to 61.3 percent. Our earnings per share of N3.20 is a 26.8 percent growth from the preceding year, as we continue to ensure maximum value creation for our highly esteemed shareholders.

Continuing, Uzoka said, “despite the tumultuous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic globally and across our 23 countries of operation, we created N519.0 billion additional loans as we continued to support our customers and their businesses. Customer deposits grew 48.1 percent to N5.7 trillion, driven primarily by additional N1.8 trillion in retail deposits.

As a global bank, we remain well capitalised and determined to successfully drive financial inclusion on the continent through our innovative products and vast network. Our capital adequacy and liquidity ratios came in at 22.4 percent and 44.3 percent, well above the respective regulatory minimum of 15.0 percent and 30.0 percent.

Speaking on the bank’s strategy, Uzoka said: “Our primary strategy will continue to focus on providing excellent services from our customers’ standpoint, putting the customer first always. Looking ahead, I am inspired by the achievements we have made since the launch of our transformation programme. We have expanded market share considerably across the geographies where we operate and are consolidating our digital banking leadership in Africa. We will continue to leverage our diversified business model and dedicated workforce to further strengthen our position as ‘Africa’s global bank’.”

Speaking on the performance, Ugo Nwaghodoh, group chief financial officer, said: “The persistent low interest rate environment in 2020 exerted significant downward pressure on margins. Notwithstanding, our interest income for the year grew by 5.7 percent (to N427.9 billion), driven by 8.2 percent and 7.5 percent year-on-year growth on interest income on loans and investment securities respectively. Our interest expense declined by 8 percent (to N168.4billion) driven largely by a 34.2 percent decline in interest expense on customer deposits in our Nigerian operations, bringing down the Group’s cost of funds to 2.9 percent, from 4 percent in 2019. www.businessday.ng

L-R: Auwalu Garba, personal assistant to the chairman, Magma Group of Companies (MGOC); Salihu Idris, chairman, MGOC; Fahad Al-Taffaq, ambassador, United Arab Emirate in Nigeria, and Uchechukwu Ogah, minister of state for mines and steel, during a public lecture series for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on his 64th birthday, titled: Building the future of Nigeria through enterprise and innovation in Abuja, yesterday.

Nigeria’s renewables local content...

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mand because there is no local capacity to refine them.

Nigeria imports practically all the technology and equipment required for the exploration and production of oil. For example, the rigs used for drilling oil on Anyala West field offshore Nigeria were made in Singapore.

Nevertheless, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has committed to changing this narrative though. The main purpose of the Local Content Act of 2010 is to increase Nigerian participation in the oil and gas industry by prescribing minimum thresholds for the use of local services and materials for the promotion of technology and skill to Nigerian labour in the oil and gas industry.

Additionally, Nigeria has an abundance of sun, water and wind, but to harvest these energy resources the country imports literally all the components and equipment required. Without local manufacturing of solar panels, photovoltaic (PV) batteries, and other essentials, the country will be exporting jobs to China where these renewable energy components and equipment are made. This repeats the story in the oil and gas sector where the country has for decades failed to make locally the essential pieces of equipment and to build an ecosystem that ensures technology transfers.

“Without value addition through local application of the technology and manufacturing of the equipment vital for building a sustainable renewable market, Nigeria will simply be exporting jobs to China and other parts of the world,” Elizabeth Obode, an energy engineer and research assistant at Texas A&M, Qatar, told BusinessDay

on a phone interview. “Government has to get serious with derisking the sector if they want to avoid the mistakes that were made in the oil and gas sector.”

Athrivinglocalmanufacturing industry for renewable energy components and equipment will be dependent on ancillary industries such as glass making, an aluminium manufacturing base, and access to rare earth elements or minerals.

At the moment, most of Nigeria’s domestic demand for glass as a result of infrastructure development is imported.

Meanwhile, local manufacturing of solar panels consumes large quantities of photovoltaic glass, which is used in solar modules that produce solar energy. There is a negligible local ecosystem for this.

The cost of solar power panels is dropping at a staggering rate worldwide, as a result of the narrowing gap between solar energy generation costs and other related costs, coupled with a number of government subsidies granted to photovoltaic companies and organisations in countries such as the People’s Republic of China and the United Kingdom.

The average cost of energy generated by large-scale solar plants is around 0.068 kilowatts per hour (kWh), compared to 0.378 ten years ago, and the price fell 13.10 percent between 2018 and 2019 alone, according to figures released by the International Renewable Energy Agency.

“However, in Nigeria, the cost of solar installations has refused to fall because there are no large economies of scale to drive local manufacturing and push prices down,” noted Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO, Sustainable Energy for All, special representative of the secre-

These six numbers show Nigeria...

Continued from page 30 million unemployed females compared to 9.5 million unemployed men.

According to the NBS, female unemployment has risen to 31.6 percent in the second quarter of 2020 from 26.6 percent in the third quarter of 2018.

60% According to the United Nations, Nigeria has one of the highest out-of-school children in the world, at 14 million, and 60 percent of this population are girls. More worrisome is the 30 percent of girls aged 9-12 years who have never been to

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tary-general for Sustainable Energy for All, and co-chair of UN-Energy.

To fix Nigeria’s energy supply challenge the Federal Government under the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) plans are on to install solar home systems in five million homes coordinated by the Rural Electrification Agency in partnership with private companies. This relies on low-cost, single-digit interest loan facilities from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Since Nigeria does not manufacture solar energy systems equipment and components it will rely on imports to fulfil this demand. The local economies of the countries where these solar home systems will be made reap the economic benefits by way of local job creations and contribution to infrastructural developments.

The Federal Government of Nigeria boasts of creating 250,000 jobs through the five million solar home systems drive. Nevertheless, it exports more jobs abroad than it creates locally due to the absence of local manufacturing capacity for renewable energy components.

China, currently the world’s leading producer of solar PV equipment as well as the largest installation market, accounted for 2.20 million jobs or more than half of global sector employment.

By comparison, the US is currently home to around 240,000 solar energy jobs, according to a 2019 jobs report by the International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA).

People familiar with Nigeria’s solar value system say it is a game of numbers and volumes. Local manufacturing of these solar components and equipment is about upstream of the sector. Assembling solar components is the mid-stream and solar installation is downstream.

For local manufacturing,

that is, the upstream to take off there have to be many players in the mid-stream demanding for these solar components and equipment. Currently, only Auxano Solar Nigeria Limited, a solar assembly plant, plays in Nigeria’s mid-stream and this cannot sustain upstream businesses.

One off-taker for manufactured solar equipment is insufficient to sustain local manufacturing. Nigeria’s solar mid-stream exists because the downstream is vibrant and profitable.

“The mid-stream is taking off slowly because of the many mini-grids, solar home systems, commercial and industrial projects that are driving the demand for assembled components,” Gabriel Chukudi, business development executive at Auxano Solar, said, noting, “Without the volumes and patient capital to lift the mid-stream, local manufacturing will not take-off.”

Meanwhile, China maintains its dominance in the global solar energy market. Shanghai-headquartered JinkoSolar Holding Company Limited holds the number one position in solar panels manufacturing, globally.

For full-year 2020, the company estimated its total solar module shipments to be in the range of 18.50 gigawatts (GW) to 19GW. This is an increase from 14.20GW shipped in 2019.

Governments across the globe have consciously derisked their upstream solar value chain through a raft of policies, grants, and low-interest loans.

The Federal Government has committed to taking a similar path. However, history has shown that the challenge with Nigeria has often not been a lack of policies and brilliant ideas but the political will to implement them and reap the benefits thereof.

school at all.

These girls are out of school as a result of issues such as poverty, child marriage and discriminatory social norms.

The issue is more prevalent in Northern Nigeria as families do not see value in sending their girls to school, and will choose to marry them off to ease the economic burden on the family.

70% Nigeria overtook India as the World Poverty capital in 2018 with over 89 million of its people wallowing in extreme poverty.

According to the World Poverty Clock, over 70 percent of this population are women who make up slightly less than 50 percent of the Nigerian population.

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Insight

BUSINESS DAY Tuesday 09 March 2021 www.businessday.ng

Deepening financial inclusion: QRCode as a lever DANIEL OBI

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any people may have seen Quick Response Codes signs on various platforms such as supermarkets, advertisements and restaurants but might not know what it is for. Quick Response Code, abbreviated QR is a type of matrix barcode. It usually has a pattern of criss-cross or web black lines arranged methodically inside a square like a puzzle on a white background. It can be seen on bank or shop buildings or advertisements. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached.

Imaging devices such as smartphone cameras are usually used to read these QR Codes. It is simply an advanced payment technology which is used in many markets around the world.

In many economies, the system complements POS, ATMs and mobile banking systems.

QR Code is not readily prevalent in Nigeria for transactions but as a technology fast adoption country and with the embrace of other forms of digital banking transactions, Nigerians will easily catch up with QR Code when promoted and made easily available.

Around 11 million households in the US alone were expected to scan a QR code in the year 2020. This number is way more than 9.76 million scans which were recorded in the year 2018, says NikunjGundaniya inDigipay Website.

“US is not the only country where QR Codes are widely used.

Countries like France, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, Indonesia, and Canada are not far behind in the race. Furthermore, QR code is also witnessing a surge in Africa and the Middle East region where its total usage jumped from 12% in 2017 to 18% in 2018”, according to Gundaniya.

In China, it is said that people have used QR codes for payments for a long time. It is reported that Chinese payment app Alipay was the world’s most used app in 2018 outside of social networking apps. “15 million small-business merchants accept Alipay’s QR code payments in China.

“QR codes have, for a while,

been a popular way to transact in quite a few other countries too.

In India, 9 million merchants use the digital wallet Paytm, which processes QR payments.

In African countries, restaurants print QR codes on receipts so customers can pay on their own.

“In these and other countries, QR codes continue to be an excellent way for merchants to accept payments without a card machine or other expensive setup, and the customer doesn’t even have to own a payment card”, experts say.

How does it work?

To use it for the purpose of payment, Gundaniya said a buyer needs to scan the QR code with a barcode reader that has the capability to scan QR codes.

This is either Tablet or a smartphone with an inbuilt camera.

“Nowadays, there are also many QR code scan apps available that allow users to scan the QR codes with the utmost ease.

All the user has to do is open the camera and place it towards the QR code; this will immediately identify it and subsequently open a push notification. The user then just has to tap on it to finish the operation. There are also some payment and banking apps that can process QR codes for the purpose of bank transfers and payments”.

When a QR code is scanned, the horizontal and vertical patterns of the matrix are decoded by the software on your smartphone and converted into

a string of characters. “Both iPhones and Android smartphones can scan QR codes directly from the main camera app, as long as it is using the latest iOS or Android software”, those knowledgeable with the payment system said.

Explaining further on the usage, Gundaniya said in “Scanning recipient’s QR code with a smartphone, the user has to open the phone camera or the relevant QR code scan app.

After-wards, they have to scan the code that is displayed on an individual product, paper bill, or at a store’s checkout. Various offers and loyalty points might also be applied via the application in case it’s a store specific application.

“Retailers scanning QR code on user’s phone screen: In the QR code payment process, the user opens the payment app once the total transaction amount is set in the POS system of the retailer.

The QR code payment app displays a QR code that identifies with the user’s card details. The retailer then scans the QR code with a scanner thus concluding the transaction”.

QR Code as financial inclusion enabler It is noteworthy that Nigeria’s Central Bank has in the last 8 years embarked on remarkable moves to deepen financial inclusion which was abysmally low.

Its primary objective is to ensure that vast majority of Nigerians have access to financial services.

Data from the apex bank revealed that in 2008, about 53.0% of adults (half of the population) were excluded from financial services. This figure of exclusion rate reduced from 53.0 % in 2008 to 46.3 % in 2010 due to global pursuit of financial inclusion as a vehicle for economic development.

Encouraged by the positive development, the Central Bank of Nigeria in collaboration with stakeholders launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy in October, 2012 aimed at further reducing the exclusion rate to 20% by 2020 and deepening financial inclusion.

Since then, the Central Bank under Godwin Emefiele as governor had adopted enablers and various strategies to achieve higher percentage of financial inclusion. This includes licencing of agent banks, ATMs, POS and mobile banking/mobile payments systems.

Though Nigeria may not have yet achieved 80% financial inclusion by 2020 as promised by Central Bank of Nigeria as the rate stands at about 65% butthe gradual increase on the rate is an indication that the Central Bank’s programmes are catching with Nigerians towards financial technology. With introduction of POS, agent banks and mobile payments, banking transactions are simplified and this has enhanced the achievement of CBN objectives.

The embrace of these pay-

ment systems are partly enabled by the penetration of mobile phones. It is reported that there are around 170 million mobile subscribers out of about 200 million population in Nigeria. This means,that 90 percent of citizens can execute transactions on their phones. “There is little excuse, then, for Nigeria’s low level of financial inclusion”, according to authoritieswho understand process of increasing financial inclusion in a market With increasing knowledge about POS and mobile banking, it is therefore expected that introduction and embrace of more payment platforms which are deployed in other markets such as Quick Response Code, QR Code into the Nigerian market will further boost CBN policies and augment the financial inclusion drive.

The complementarity of other payment platforms by QR Code is expected to be another trigger for the much-needed financial Inclusion promoted by Central Bank of Nigeria. Basically, financial inclusion guarantees that all income levels both businesses and individuals have access to right financial services. Access to basic financial services, according to experts is critical in reducing poverty and promoting economic development While usage of QR Code cannot replace other forms of digital payments, Gundaniya said one of the biggest advantages of using QR codes is that it facilitates instant payment. “Making payment via QR codes is extremely quick as compared to other modes of payment. All that a user has to do is simply open the QR code scan app, scan the QR code, and confirm to process the payment. Within a few seconds, the payments are made.

“Making payments via QR codes is very secure. It’s because the QR code is nothing but just a tool that is used to exchange information. Any data which is transferred via QR codes is encrypted thus making the payment fool-proof secure”.

Introduction of QR Code as a payment platform will not only enhance the social distancing life-styles occasioned by Covid-19, but it will also provide convenience, security and boost the financial inclusion of Central Bank of Nigeria towards driving economic growth of Nigeria which is struggling at 0.11 growth after recession.

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Advert Hotline: 08033225506. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08164361208 Editor: Tayo Fagbule. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.

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Tuesday 09 March 2021

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Live @ The Exchanges Market Statistics as at Monday 08 March 2021

Top Gainers/Losers as at Monday 08 March 2021 LOSERS

GAINERS

Company

ASI (Points)

Opening

Closing

Change

N0.5

N0.45

-0.05

DEALS (Numbers)

LIVESTOCK

N2.23

N2.01

-0.22

SCOA

N2.64

N2.38

-0.26

VOLUME (Numbers)

0.25

IKEJAHOTEL

N1.16

N1.05

-0.11

VALUE (N billion)

0.05

NEM

N1.89

N1.76

-0.13

Company

Opening

Closing

Change

LINKASSURE

N0.5

N0.55

0.05

MEYER

ARDOVA

N13.5

N14.85

1.35

CHAMPION

N1.68

N1.84

0.16

OANDO

N2.65

N2.9

WEMABANK

N0.55

N0.6

MARKET CAP (N Trn)

39,396.57 4,655.00 297,269,586.00 3.154 20.612

Stocks reroute to green zone as investors buy Ardova, others Iheanyi Nwachukwu

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fter last week’s sell pressure which pervaded the Bourse of Africa’s largest economy, the equities market opened the new week in green.

The positive close seen Monday March 8 on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) came as more investors moved to take position in counters like Ardova Plc to qualify for dividend payment.

In its recently released financials for the year ended D ecember 31, 2020, the Board of Directors of Ardova Plc proposed a final dividend of 19kobo per share from the retained earnings account.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation which opened the new trading week at 39,331.61 points and N20.578trillion respectively increased to 39,396.57 points

and N20.612trillion at the close of trading session on Monday.

The NSE ASI increased by 0.17percent at the close of trading, while the value of listed stocks increased by N34billion. The market’s yearto-date (YtD) negative returns decreased to 2.17percent while this month’s dip has moderated to -1.01percent.

Ardova Plc led the gainer league after its share price moved from N13.5 to N14.85, up by N1.35 or 10percent.

Linkage Assurance Plc followed after rising from 50kobo to 55kobo, adding 5kobo or 10percent.

Also, Champion Brewer ies Plc increased from N1.68 to N1.84, adding

16kobo or 9.52percent, while O a n d o P l c m ov e d f ro m N2.65 to N2.9, up by 25kobo or 9.43percent.

Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings, AXA Mansard, Guinea Insurance and United Capital were actively traded stocks.

In 4,512 deals, investors exchanged 288,278,289 units valued at N3.032billion.

Access Bank unveils SwiftPay to boost digital payments for SMEs HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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n the bid to boost the facilitation of payments between SME and retail customers in the digital space, Access Bank plc recently unveiled SWIFTPAY, a digital payment service that facilitates the receipt of business payments by enabling customers make quick, easy and secure digital payments on social media platforms to merchants.

Speaking to newsmen during the launch of the new service in Lagos, group, head, emerging Businesses, Access Bank plc, Ayodele Olojede, noted that the lockdown, experienced in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in less in-person interactions and less in-person payment options. She revealed that statistics from a survey carried out post-lockdown showed that MSMEs were impacted by cash flow, revenue and sales while adding that the

impact of the pandemic made more apparent the lack of infrastructure and access to digital resources for small businesses.

“This is why Access Bank introduced SWIFTPAY to support the digital transition and growth of SME businesses.

This product is part of the Ba n k ’s c o m m i t m e nt t o support SMEs to meet their business objectives despite the times. The new service comes in form of a payment link that can be hosted on merchants’ social media pages and sent

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to anyone to pay and conclude business transactions. It is easy and takes less than 5 minutes for interested merchants to sign up as it is convenient and time saving for everyone.

Ayodele also revealed that the Bank is committed to providing very practical solutions that support the growth of small business in Nigeria.

“SWIFTPAY is free and the processing charge is discounted up to 15 per cent to ensure merchants keep most of their earnings. In

recent times, e-commerce has been challenged with the rise in fraud on social media, we have ensured that every merchant registered on SWIF TPAY car r ies a ‘verified by access ‘stamp to authenticate the page giving customers confidence when they transact.

“We have been focused on providing solutions targeted at boosting the economy because we believe it is our responsibility to contribute to the stimulation of economic growth. With the launch of “SwiftPay by Access”, we are renewing our commitment to providing the much-needed technological support to our SMEs.” Olojede concluded.

Access Bank Plc is recognized as one of the most innovative financial institutions in Africa. With over 40 million customers and 600 branches nationwide, it offers a range of products and services tailored to suit needs and lifestyle of its customers across multiple segments.

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Global market indicators FTSE 100 Index 6,721.44GBP +90.92+1.37%

Nikkei 225 28,743.25JPY -121.07-0.42%

S&P 500 INDEX 3,874.63USD +32.69+0.85%

Deutsche Boerse AG German Stock Index DAX 14,390.66EUR +469.97+3.38%

Generic 1st ‘DM’ Future 31,931.00USD +466.00+1.48%

Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index 3,421.41CNY -80.57-2.30%

Notore notifies NSE of management changes … Okoloko retires after 16 years as CEO

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igeria’s leading agroallied company, Notore Chemical Industries Plc has notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange, its shareholders and the general public of changes to its management.

Notore is Africa’s first indigenous Urea fertilizer producer in Sub-Saharan Africa including South Africa.

With the change, Onajite O k o l o k o re t i re s a s t h e company’s Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, effective from 31st January 2021, after serving in the capacity for 16 years. He will remain on the Board of the Company as a non-Executive Director.

Okoloko had in 2005, assembled a team of investors to acquire the assets of the former NAFCON and as a core investor, partnered with a consortium that included Emerging Capital Partners, a major private equity firm out of Washington, D.C., USA., and OCI Fertilizers BV, owned by the Orascom Group, on the deal.

He later successfully led the

completion of the largest single loan syndication of Nigerian banks at the time, when Notore raised $222 million from 7 Nigerian financial institutions.

Ohis Ohiwerei takes over from Okoloko as the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, effective from 1st February 2021.

Ohiwerei was formerly an Executive Director and the Deputy Managing Director of the Company.

Prior to joining the Company on 17th September 2018, he served in executive capacities in Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc. Mr. Ohiwerei was the Chief Financial Officer of Diamond Bank Plc and later became Executive Director, Corporate Banking of Diamond Bank Plc from 2005 2010. In October 2011, he was appointed as an Executive Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, where he was responsible for Commercial Banking and Public Sector, Lagos Division for four years, until his retirement from the Bank in October, 2015.

SEC holds 5th budget seminar

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he Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to host the 2021 edition of Budget Seminar virtually on March 11th 2021.

The theme of the event is “Financing Nigeria’s Budget and Infrastructure Deficits through the Capital Market”.

Expected as Guest of Honour at the event is the Minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

The Seminar presenter is Afolabi Olowookere, Head Economic Research of the SEC while the Moderators are Ben Akabueze; DG, Budget Office of the Federation and Bolaji Balogun; CEO, Chapel Hill Denham Limited Panellists at the event include H.E. Babatunde Fashola, SAN; Hon. Minister of Works and Housing, Aisha Dahir-Umar; DG, National Pension Commission, Patience Oniha; DG, Debt Management Office, Uche

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Orji; MD/CEO, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, Chidi Izuwah DG Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission and Ade ola Adenikinju (Prof ), Director, Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law, University of Ibadan.

Other Panelists are Oscar Onyema; MD/CEO, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Samaila Zubairu; President/CEO, African Finance Corporation, Olumide Oyetan; MD/CEO, St a n b i c I BTC Pe n s i o n s Managers, Chinua Azubike; MD/CEO, InfraCredit and Bright Eregha (Prof ), PanAtlantic University, Lagos The seminar, the Fifth of its kind by the SEC, will bring together experts with professional, policy and academic background in order to deliberate extensively on how the capital market can aid the flow of private capital to address Nigeria’s budget and infrastructure deficits in a sustainable manner.