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news you can trust I ** friDAY 10 july 2020 I vol. 19, no 603

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Coronavirus is the killer, PPE shortage is the catalyst I

Nigeria kicks off year of gas with two big projects ISAAC ANYAOGU

The COVID-19 pandemic is currently the biggest worldwide threat to public health. But in Nigeria, the shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to support clinical rescue has especially hastened the deaths of patients suffering from other diseases. Lives of non-coronavirus patients suffering from acute respiratory distress, pneumonia and malaria with symptoms suggestive of SarsCov2 infection are wasting from health workers’ fears induced by PPE shortage. Rather than quick, life-saving clinical intervention, unprotected specialists delay action until COVID-19 test results are available to ascertain the level of risk presented.

In this investigation spanning the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City, the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos, TEMITAYO AYETOTO finds out that severely-ill patients, who would have otherwise been saved if health workers were confident of full protection, end up dying or relapsing irredeemably.

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orrying about muscles, nerves, bones and connective tissues was the reality of Joshua Samson’s professional

INVESTIGATION (1) life as an orthopaedist before COVID-19 pandemic became a global threat. But when, in late January, the horrid waves of the

coronavirus hit the United Kingdom where the Nigerian-born doctor practised, his priorities shifted to soldering frontline

intervention efforts at the COVID-19 assessment unit of his hospital.

Amid a heightened contagion Continues on page 29

n January this year, the Federal Government declared 2020 as the year of gas. Halfway into the year, with one gas project completed and another launched, Africa’s biggest oil producer seems to be waking up the reality that gas is the future.

On June 28, Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG) announced that it has completed the final phase of its 20km domestic gas pipeline expansion project in Abia State, connecting three industrial zones in Aba. The 20km Shell pipeline connects Ogbor Hill, Osisioma and Araria industrial zones and supplies gas to Ariaria Market Energy Solutions, an independent power project (IPP) consortium, and delivering electricity to Ariaria International Market, one of West Africa’s largest markets.

Mansur Ahmed, president, Manufacturers Association of Continues on page 28

Inside

Here’s what FG is doing to implement ESC recommended mass housing project P. 2 R-L: Muhammad B. Abubakar, managing director, Galaxy Backbone; Ubale Maska, chairman, National Broadband Plan Implementation Steering Committee; Isa Ali Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy; Umar G. Danbatta, executive vice-chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); Abimbola Alale, managing director, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), and Kashifu Abdullahi Inuwa, director-general, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), at the Inauguration of the implementation steering committee of the National Broadband Plan (2020-2025), yesterday in Abuja.

Shareholders endorse Dangote Sugar, Savannah Sugar merger P. 3

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Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

news Lack of political will undermines states’ pension compliance

… as Lagos, Kaduna, FCT lead in full compliance Modestus Anaesoronye

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he lack of political will on the part of many state executives and the inability of citizens to hold leaders accountable for their promises have been identified as key reasons for poor compliance of many state governments to the country’s Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

These account for why only two states in the country - Lagos and Kaduna, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) out of the 36 states could be said to have fully complied with the Pension Reform Act 2004, as amended in 2014.

Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) is an arrangement where both the employer and the employee contribute a portion of an employee’s monthly emolument towards the payment of the employee’s pension at retirement.

The main objective of the Pension Reform, which brought the CPS, is to ensure that every person that worked in either the public or private sectors in Nigeria, including

the self-employed persons, receives his/her retirement benefits as and when due. The minimum rate of contribution is 18 percent of the employee’s monthly emoluments, where 10 percent is contributed by the employer and 8 percent by the employee.

However, the employer may decide to bear the full responsibility of the contribution provided it is not less than 18 percent of the monthly emolument of the employee.

According to the figures released by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) on state compliance level for the period ended February 2020, Lagos, Kaduna and the FCT have fully complied with the scheme. These are in terms of pension remittance, monthly payment of pensions as well as provision of group life assurance for their employees.

The data from PenCom further show that Delta and Osun states are paying their monthly pensions to retirees, but yet to include group life cover, while Edo has complied with instituting group life cover for Edo workers.

Here’s what FG is doing to implement ESC recommended mass housing project … modalities, institutions, funding in place to ensure project succeeds CHUKA UROKO

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ecognising that mass housing is a growth enabler in a struggling economy ravaged

by COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Government of Nigeria is setting out to construct mass housing, targeting 300,000 housing units that will be ready for occupation, all things being equal, in 12 months.

In order to avoid pitfalls of similar initiatives in the past, and to ensure the success of the present project, which is part of recommendations by the Economic Sustain-

ability Committee (ESC) for economic recovery, post COVID-19, government has set aside funding and put modalities in place for implementation.

“Government will be building the 300,000 houses over 12 months at a total cost of N317.29 billion, using existing institutions. Implementation is expected to be carried out by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN),” Ayo Ibaru, director, Real Estate at Northcourt, confirms to BusinessDay. Ibaru notes that mass

housing projects tend to work best when public expenditure meets rigorous oversight, adding, “We seem to need more of the latter.”

As part of modalities to make this project successful, office of the Vice President is to provide the leadership and this, Ibaru explains, is based on the understanding that most initiatives chaired by the Vice President’s office tend to achieve some level of success.

“Few offices have a higher performance record, and if we’re going by unhindered past performance, we’re likely to see progress. This means funding and oversight will have a head start,” he states,

pointing out that the implementation committee is to be chaired by federal ministers to drive execution.

Project monitors have also been constituted by combined public and private sector teams, and according to Ibaru, this is the deciding factor on execution, because he believes that, funding out of the question, project monitors, duly empowered, can make or break this programme.

Ibaru, however, reasons that to achieve the target time frame, there are only a hand-

Continues on page 28

WHO calls for rational access to future COVID-19 vaccines in Africa ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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he World Health Organisation (WHO) has joinedAfrica’simmunisation experts in urging the international community andcountriesinthecontinentto take concrete actions to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, as researchers around the world race to find effective protection against the virus.

Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, who spoke about COVID-19 vaccine development in Africa at a virtual press conference Thursday organised by APO Group, says it is clear that as the international community comes together to develop safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19, equity must be a central focus of these efforts.

“Toooften,Africancountries end up at the back of the queue for new technologies, including vaccines. These life-saving products must be available to everyone, not only those who can afford to pay,” she states.

However, WHO and partnerslaunchedtheAccesstoCOVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator to speed up the development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.

According to Moeti, it brings together leaders of government, global health

organisations, civil society groups, businesses and philanthropies to form a plan for an equitable response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“WHO is collaborating with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), to ensure a fair allocation of vaccines to all countries, aiming to deliver 2 billion doses globally for highrisk populations, including 1 billion for low and middleincome countries,” she notes.

Meanwhile, the African Union has endorsed the need for Africa to develop a framework to actively engage in the development and access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Countries can take steps now that will strengthen health systems, improve immunisation delivery, and pave the way for the introduction of a COVID-19 vaccine. These include: mobilising financial resources; strengthening local vaccine manufacturing and regulatory, supply and distribution systems; building workforce skills and knowledge; enhancing outreach services, and listening to community concerns to counter misinformation.

Globally, there are nearly 150 COVID-19 vaccine candidates and currently 19 are

Continues on page 28 www.businessday.ng

L-R: Temitope Hassan, company secretary/legal adviser, Dangote Sugar plc; Aliko Dangote, chairman, Dangote Sugar plc, and Ravindra Singh Singhvi, acting managing directo, Dangote Sugar plc, at the 14th Annual General Meeting of Dangote Sugar plc, held in Lagos, yesterday.

Nigerian firms choose commercial papers over bonds amid lower finance cost … as corporates issue N466bn CP in H1 ENDURANCE OKAFOR & BUNMI BAILEY

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hile Nigerian companies are taking advantage of the low interest rate environment to raise capital, the short-term commercial paper (CP) is most preferred by corporates to bonds due to the low cost of finance and the short maturity period, as compiled from a survey by BusinessDay. Out of the total N658.5 billion debt issued in the first half of 2020, commercial papers accounted for 70.86 percent as against the 23.95 percent raised through corporate bonds and 5.19 percent rights issues.

According to market analysts, Nigerian companies are most in need of working capital, especially during the

COVID-19 era where there are tight liquidity and cash flow problems. Hence, the preference for commercial papers over bonds, as the latter is issued typically for long-term projects.

Ayorinde Akinloye, a research analyst at CSL Stockbrokers, says the single-digit interest rate on commercial papers as against the double digits for bonds is the major driver of corporates increased appetite for commercial paper.

“Raising long-term capital like bonds is more expensive than raising short-term capital like commercial paper. Thus, I believe these companies would like to ensure they keep finance cost as reasonable as possible given operating performance in 2020 may not be solid,” Akinloye notes.

Analysis of the data by

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FMDQ Securities Exchange shows that between January and June 2020, a total of N466.6 billion commercial papers were issued by corporates at an average interest rate of 6.5 percent.

While the commercial papers that were issued in the first six months of this year were over 100 percent higher than the N224.56 billion raised in the comparable period of 2019, FMDQ data show the average interest rate recorded in 2020 was almost 50 percent less than the 11.98 percent reported last year.

“The interest rates on the short-term instruments are significantly lower than bonds. Also, I think some of the companies are also testing the water with commercial papers before advancing with bonds,” Ayodeji Ebo, managing director, Afrinvest @Businessdayng

Securities Limited, states, adding that he expects to see more corporate bonds before the end of the year if interest rate environment remains at current levels.

Commercial papers are money-market security issued by large corporations to obtain funds to meet shortterm debt obligations like payroll, and is backed only by an issuing bank or company’s promise to pay the face amount on the maturity date, which is usually in 270 days or less.

Corporate bonds, on the other hand, are debt issued by companies in order to raise long-term capital.

With this type of instrument, investors effectively lend money to companies in return for high-interest payment, higher than government bonds as it comes

Continues on page 28

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news

Mission decries rising mental disorder among seafarers over COVID-19 restrictions AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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ission to Seafarer, an international humanitarian organisation, has raised concern over the growing numberofseafarersshowingsigns of depression, anxiety and mental disorder following the movement restrictions, lack of effective communication with families and long-stay onboard vessels.

Speaking on Thursday during a virtual seminar organised by LagoschapteroftheMissionwiththe theme ‘Seafarers’ welfare: Are we missingtheboat”?,AyodeleCoker, clinical psychologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), said that recent scientific study showed strong correlation between depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts among seafarers.

“Study also shows that 25 percent seafarers suffer depression, 17 percent suffer anxiety, and 20 percent had contemplated committing suicide while 15 percent had actually committed suicide in one year,” Coker said.

Ben Bailey, director for advocacy, Mission to Seafarers headquarters in London, who stated that the Mission has been worried aboutthementalimpactCovid-19 restrictions had on crew wellbeing, said that lack of communication is now a common complaint among seafarers because many of their families feel they are not hearing enough from their loved ones.

He however questioned the level of resilient training being given to seamen in order to properly preparethemselves.Hesaidwhen

issues of Covid-19 movement restrictions, lack of communication with families and repatriation are summed up, they become even more difficult for seamen to bear.

Bailey, who pointed out the need for regulatory agencies to ensure that seafarers are properly supported through the process of repatriation, said that apart from helpingseamentogettotheirlocal airports, there is also the need to sensitise people about Covid-19.

“The issue of repatriation is a double-edged sword because many obviously want to return home, others are concerned about how their families would receive them. We have several cases where seafarers were forced by their families to isolate and in one dramatic case, the seafarer was forced to leave the village by the local elders because of risk of him infecting them,” he said.

Meanwhile, Coker said that even before the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, mental health disorderamongseamenhasbeen on the increase but Covid-19 has grown the number astronomically.

He pointed to the fear of dying at the sea as one of the causes of mental health disorder among seafarers, as about 2,000 seafarers lose their lives annually due to natural causes and accidents.

Coker, who noted that it has become important to have a medical officer onboard a vessel, who is trained on cognitive behaviortherapy,andhowtoquickly recognise the signs and symptoms of mental disorder, said that such medical officer can provide counseling, anti-depression and anti-anxiety to seafarers onboard.

Covid-19: Nigeria to expand testing capacity with home-made diagnostic kit

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igeria’s efforts at finding a solution to the challenge of non-availability and high cost of coronavirus diagnostic kits have finally paid off with the development of RNASwift Extraction kit.

This was disclosed by Alex Akpa, the director-general of National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) on Thursday during a media briefing held at Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Abuja.

Akpa said the RNASwift test kit would not only revolutionalise Africa’s PCR-Based Covid-19 testing, but also expand the capacity by at least 50 times.

It would equally reduce cost by over 500 per cent compared to the conventional kit in use.

“This meets the demands of the Test Africa Initiative. The kits will be produced in Nigeria, which is great news considering that it will enable preference to be given to the testing needs of Africa,” he said, adding that need for the invention was conceived by the request from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to test five million farmers.

“This was to ensure that our food security chain was not compromised by Covid-19,’’ Akpa said.

According to him, the RNASwift test kit is an indigenous diagnostic test kit designed,

developed and validated in Nigeria for the identification of the causal agent, SARS-Cov-2, which causes Covid-19.

He noted that the diagnostic kit is “very accurate and sensitive’’ and competes favourably with conventional and commercially available kits for the diagnosis of Covid-19.

“This is in addition to a careful choice of reagents that are human and environmentallyfriendly in the development of the protocol for the diagnostic kit.

“The attributes of the RNASwift kits make it a game changer in the design and production of diagnostic kits for infectious diseases in the face of an epidemic or a pandemic,’’ the DG added.

He further said that the project was made possible due to the scientific collaboration between the NABDA, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and Nigerian Institute for Medical Research (NIMR).

He noted that the technical support team of University of Sheffield, led by Alison Nwokeoji, also made the project successful.

Ogbonnaya Onu, minister of Science and Technology, who recalled that the first index case of Covid-19 was recorded in Nigeria on February 27, said he had tasked Nigerian scientists to come up with a solution, with a pledge of N36 million. www.businessday.ng

Zainab Ahmed (l), minister of finance, budget and national planning; Ade Ipaye (r), deputy chief of staff to the vice president, and others, during a virtual National Economic Council meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, yesterday.

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Shareholders endorse Dangote Sugar, Savannah Sugar merger SEGUN ADAMS

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hareholders of Dangote Sugar Refinery plc have given the nod for the formal takeover of Savannah Sugar Company Limited, a move that would enhance production capacity and further increase market share of the sugar refining firm.

The endorsement was given during the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of Dangote Sugar Refinery which was preceded by the 2019 Annual General Meeting.

The merger of the two company will further sub-Saharan Africa’s largest sugar refining firm’s backward integration journey to revolutionizing the sugar sub-sector of Nigeria’s economy.

Chairman of the company, Aliko Dangote said the Dangote Sugar Refinery, a top tier player in the industry with an installed capacity to produce 1.44 million metric tonnes per annum will be

leveraging on the savannah sugar’s sugarcane production capacity to enhance its production capacity.

According to Dangote, Savannah Sugar has 32,000 hectares of land available for cultivation of sugar cane as well as milling capacity of 50,000 tonnes of sugar per annum and that upon the merger, further investments would be made to increase Savannah Sugar land under cultivation.

Dangote explained that the Dangote Sugar Refinery board considered the merger as fair and reasonable and believed that it would provide strategic opportunities and benefits for the company, employees and other stakeholders as the new company would be operating from the position of increased access to capital and then higher profitability.

The merger will result in the consolidation of the assets, intellectual property rights, operations,

African refugees may starve as COVID-19 worsens, warn UNHCR, WFP

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he UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have warned of an impending hunger and malnutrition among millions of refugees in Africa as the impact of Covid-19 worsens.

The UNHCR and WFP in a joint statement on Thursday said that the refugees might also be starved due to dwindling funds for humanitarian aid.

The statement noted that the supply chain challenges, rising food prices and loss of income due to Covid-19 would worsen if urgent actions were not taken. According to the statement, about $1.2 billion needed to care for refugees in 2020, more than half was for operations in Africa, noting that the funds had gravely dwindled, already forcing cuts in food rations.

It stated that WFP was providing food assistance to more than 10 million refugees world-

wide. It said that the assistance included those in the world’s largest refugee settlements, such as Bidibidi settlement in Uganda, where rations were reduced by 30 per cent in April due to lack of funds.

“Refugee populations who were previously able to feed and fend for themselves, including many living in urban areas and others in the informal economy, are also facing significant challenges.

“Large numbers have lost their only source of income as work possibilities disappeared due to Covid-19 prevention measures. Most are not covered by social protection schemes, leaving many families destitute and dependent on humanitarian assistance,” the statement stated.

It added that many refugees in South Africa were in danger of being evicted and had approached UNHCR help lines in desperate need of food and support.

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and business dealings of the Savannah Sugar into Dangote Sugar consolidate; eliminate cost inefficiencies arising from duplication of resources and processes and improve the efficiency through more focused management of resources and position it as the biggest integrated sugar producer in Nigeria.

The necessary approvals have been given by all concerned regulatory authorities, Dangote Refinery said.

Earlier, during AGM of the company, a shareholder rights’ activist, Nona Awoh urged the Government to protect the manufacturing sector through incentives and promotional policies. He specifically asked the government to secure the borders to deter smugglers who flood the market with inferior goods at lower prices, therefore, strangulating the manufacturing sector.

He asked Dangote Sugar to liaise with the Manufacturers As-

sociation of Nigeria (MAN) and NECA to form a pressure group that should engage the government to increase efforts in curbing smuggling.

Awoh appreciated that he was chosen to represent other shareholders at the AGM where attendance and participation were restricted because of the COVID-19 guidelines.

Foremost shareholder activist, Sunny Nwosu charged Dangote Sugar to increase local production by setting more sugar plantations as to make Nigeria sufficient in sugar production. He said that Dangote has achieved this feat in cement which has made Nigeria a net exporter of cement adding that it is possible to replicate same in sugar production.

Nwosu was particular that management should increase production volume now that the borders are shut and develop export capabilities to increase sales and profit.

NSCDC commits to protect national assets, oil pipelines KORETIMI AKINTUNDE, Akure

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he Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ondo State command says it is committed to protecting critical national assets to forestall any form of natural or man-made disaster in the state.

According to NSCDC, critical national assets ranging from oil pipelines, telecommunication masts and electrical installations among others would be adequately protected.

Ondo State commandant of the corps, Philip Ayuba, speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting organised for the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers Association of Nigeria (LPGRAN) on Thursday, said the command would monitor and enforce the compliance of all gas retailers with stipulated safety precautions so as to ensure a disaster free environment.

Ayuba, maintained that the @Businessdayng

command would stand firm on its core mandate urging all stakeholders to comply with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) rules by obtaining required documents for operation and also exercise necessary caution by putting in place all precautionary measures to prevent fire outbreak.

While soliciting the stakeholders’ cooperation, the NSCDC commandant expressed his displeasure with series of reports of fire disasters in some parts of the state, leading to the destruction of properties.

Chairman of the LPGRAN, Amondi Ben, commended the NSCDC for creating an enabling environment for their members to be enlightened on necessary precautions for fire preventions.

Ben, therefore, promised that the association would collaborate with the command to ensure strict compliance by their members.

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BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

news

Low liquidity at official FX window pushes demand to black market ... as naira falls to N465 against dollar Hope Moses-Ashike

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igeria’s currency fell sharply

by N5.00k as the dollar was trading at N465 on Thursday from N460 on Wednesday due to increased demand.

The demand was coming from importers who needed the dollars to meet their obligations as the official market was faced with low liquidity.

At the retail Bureau segment Naira also depreciated by N3.00k after the dollar was sold at N465 on Thursday as against N462 sold on the previous day.

Ayodeji Ebo, managing dire ctor, Afr invest Securities Limited said the major challenge is still the illiquidity of the greenback. Activity level is significantly low in all the official segments of the FX market, hence demand has been shifted to the unofficial market-parallel market.

Most businesses source for dollars via the parallel market to meet their dollar obligations. “We won’t see much appreciation at that segment if liquidity level

does not improve at the various official segments especially the Investors & Exporters window,” Ebo said.

The foreign exchange daily turnover declined significantly by 88.43 percent to $11.96 million on Wednesday from $103.37 million recorded on Tuesday at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday adjusted the exchange rate at the official window by 5.54 percent to N381 per dollar from N361/$, a move seen as helping to curb roundtripping.

“There is still demand pressure in the foreign exchange markets,” said, Ayodele Akinwunmi, relationship manager corporate banking at FSDH Merchant Bank Limited.

However, the foreign exchange market opened with an indicative rate of N386.96k on Thursday, signaling N0.36k appreciation when compared w ith N387.32k opened with on Wednesday at the I&E window, data from

FMDQ revealed.

A report by FSDH research showed that FX Inflows dipped further to US$248 million in June 2020 Q1’20=US$11.92 billion VS Q2’20=US$1.2 billion). In early July, the CBN adjusted exchange rat e i n t h e S e c o n d a r y Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) – a window where importers access foreign currencies – from N360/$1 to N380/$1.

Following the lockdown and restriction of economic activities in April and May, total inflows to the I&E Window dropped from US$3.7 billion in March to US$459.2 million in April, US$492 million in May 2020, the report stated.

According to the report, the CBN intervention increased from US$390 million in January 2020 to U S$2.48 billion and US$2.89 billion in Februar y and March respectively. The attendant effect of COVID-19 on oil price constrained the CBN’s capacity to intervene further as dollar inflow dwindled in April.

Kano to expend N200m on Watari irrigation project Adeola Ajakaiye, Kano

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ano State Agro Pastoral Development Project, (KSADP) has earmarked N200 million for the rehabilitation of Watari Dam and Irrigation project, one of the 23 dams in the state.

The rehabilitation work is one of the measures being taken by the state government to mitigate the threat to food security and nutrition by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The rehabilitation work was announced in a statement signed by KSADP`s project coordinator, Ibrahim Garba Muhammad, made available to BusinessDay on Wednesday in Kano.

The statement stated that preliminary technical assessment of the Watari Dam which is situated Bagwai town about 100 km outside the commercial city of Kano is being conducted by a team of engineers and surveyors.

Also, the statement said the consultancy for the design and supervision of the work, as well as the development of additional

land for the irrigation component of the project has been advertised.

“The project will invest in the rehabilitation of the Watari canal and drainages, including the night reservoir to mitigate gully erosion that is threatening the dam embankment.

More than 150 hectares of land damaged within the vicinity of the land will be reclaimed. Barring any eventuality, this work will start by October, this year.

“Also, the 1000 hectares of land downstream will be developed, using gravity for irrigation for about 4,000 new farmers for rice, wheat and vegetable production.

“The project will also fund the rehabilitation of other irrigation facilities or the development of new irrigation schemes within the state, even as we will support smallh o l d e r f a r m e r s t o a ccess equipment for land preparation, harvest, and post-harvest operations.

This will sustainably increase production, yield and make crops residues and agro-industrial byproducts more abundant for animal feeding. www.businessday.ng

“We also realized that while the state is making the effort to boost rice production in Fadama, the utilization of rice straw is still minimal with most producers burning them to prepare the land for dry season farming.

“However, since rice straw can be treated with urea and fed to livestock to achieve reasonable weight gains, the project will identify at least 1,000 unemployed youth, group them into 200 production hubs around irrigation schemes and support each group with grant/credit for machines and materials, to produce and sell rice straw/ urea mix feed. This activity will by far increase the availability of crop residue for livestock in the state”, the noted.

The statement said that through the project, the ‘Sasakawa SG 2000 Services’, currently being implemented would impact on thousands of farmers of rice and maize selected from various local government areas, providing them with training, inputs warehousing, and marketing services. https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

@Businessdayng

Friday 10 July 2020

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news

Deloitte’s COVID-19 report shows African auto sector in severe shock MIKE OCHONMA

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OVID-19 global crisis is hitting hard on the African automotive sector with mounting volatility at all levels of its value chain, says a Deloitte COVID-19 survey, titled The Economic Impact of the Automotive Value Chain (AVC).

Stakeholders across the sector, from traditional original equipment manufacturers (OEMs, or vehicle manufacturers), new entrant automakers, dealerships, suppliers and financial services providers are going to have to evolve and act immediately to succeed in the face of the pandemic. The survey included 127 respondents from four industry associations representing the AVC across Africa.

“The automotive sector is one of the pillars of a country’s economy and is facing shocks at all levels. All players must rapidly evaluate the influence of the pandemic and take the required action to overcome its challenges, hand-in-hand with customers and employees,” says Deloitte Africa automotive sec-

tor leader Martyn Davies.

Findings from our survey indicate that Covid-19 brings with it an opportunity for the AVC processes to innovate, to become more customer centric and serve the needs of the market during this period and coming out of it, adds Adheesh Ori, Deloitte Africa automotive strategy lead.

Deloitte report says that the state of play of the AVC was already under pressure prior to the pandemic, with 66 percent of respondents reporting a decline in earnings and 57 percent already focusing on new ways of working, changing operating models and developing costsaving initiatives.

“Strategic innovation and digital transformation have expanded the way in which the automotive sector in Africa thinks about how to operate and why,” says Ori. Ori added that, for Africans, there are local nuances that demand a shift in operating models and strategies for the future. Survey findings revealed that only 12 percent of businesses are looking to spend 50 percent and upward of their investments on strategy and innovation.

Covid-19: Retailers’ challenges to moderate as property owners offer concessions on malls, shops BUNMI BAILEY

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he huge burden on retailers, notably decline in sales revenue and escalating costs, precipitated by the global Covid-19 pandemic is set to moderate significantly as some property owners in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, have begun offering rental concessions on malls and shop spaces.

A recent report by Broll, African-focused commercial property firm, revealed that a sizable number of retailers in the trading and non-trading segment are engaging property owners on rental concessions given the subdued level of business activities, particularly in the second quarter of the year.

According to Broll, concessions have been granted to retailers in some malls, while some

property owners acceded to certain percentage reduction in rental payment. Additionally, some landlords have been aggressive with reduction granted, while others are yet to offer concessions against the backdrop of debt servicing requirements on facilities obtained from banks, as at last month “This is a big improvement from what was experienced in May 2020, when property owners were contemplating with tenants on potential concessions, after being unable to receive payment on 40 percent of invoiced rent,” the report further stated.

A rent concession can be defined as a price reduction or some other form of benefit offered by landlords to induce a prospective tenant to move into their property. The concession does not always have to be monetary.

It could also involve the provision of a physical good or service. Pro-

viding a rent concession helps the landlord avoid vacancy, maintenance and marketing costs.

“The lockdown in April battered retailers, and consequently constrained them from meeting rent obligations. And again, landlords do not want to lose their retailers from the mall while avoiding running into debt”, an anonymous analyst at Broll said.

Apart from the rental concessions given to retailers, some tenants especially middle and low-income earners in residential houses whose income has been badly affected by the virus, have been offered rent-free period of 6-12months from landlord as a way of sustaining their business and also cushioning the impact of the virus on tenants.

“With persistent fear surrounding the virus as well as limited trading hours, patronage at the malls have been minimal,” the report noted.

Experts say the lacklustre performance in the real estate sector, notably supply glut in the commercial segment of the property market, might have prompted property owners to offer concessions.

“The property market has been sluggish prior to the pandemic, particularly the commercial segment. Property owners might have taken that decision to avoid further losses, retain existing occupants and possibly attract new ones,” Damilola Adewale, a Lagosbased economist, said maintaining that rental concession creates a win-win situation for property owners and retailers.

In coming months, the report predicted that rental payment is expected to drop tangibly due to long hauls of depressed trading activity thereby impacting retailer revenue and capacity to remain in the malls.

FCTA health secretary tests positive for COVID-19 James Kwen, Abuja

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he Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) acting secretary of the Health and Human Services Secretariat, Mohammed Kawu has tested positive for Covid-19.

Kawu who disclosed this at Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja where he is currently receiving treatment said his journey to the Isolation Center began 12 days earlier when he experienced feverish conditions which prompted him to take the Covid-19 test and the result showed he was positive.

The FCTA health secretary, who is an equivalent of a commissioner for health, said it was very important for Nigerians to appreciate that Covid-19 is real and can be fatal.

He said: “I want every Nigerian, like I have always told them in the media, that this thing is real and anybody can be infected, especially those of us that are on the

frontline. The disease can be fatal and it is important that everyone follows all the extant guidelines of hand washing or sanitizing, maintain social distancing wearing of facial covering and staying at home.

“I am happy and I thank my creator that mine was moderate infection. I got some symptoms that were not very severe. I had to be on intravenous (IV) drugs for about 10 days. I’m stronger now.

Probably they will discharge me anytime soon.

“I noticed very important thing; there is so much commitment by the health workers, they are very committed, very patriotic. They are risking their lives to protect the society.

“So, my appeal to everyone in the society is that we must all be part and parcel of this fight against the Covid-19. Everybody must take personal responsibility to ensure that he or she protects his or herself and his or her family”.

Kogi to establish Confluence University of Science & Tech

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ogi State government has approved a bill for the establishment of Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, in the state.

The move was aimed at training manpower in science related courses to feed available industries in the state.

The state commissioner for information and communication, Kingsley Fanwo, disclosed this at a news conference on Thursday in Lokoja.

The commissioner said that the bill for the establishment of the university at Osara in Adavi local government area, would be transmitted to the state House of Assembly by the attorney general and commissioner for justice as

soon as possible.

Fanwo said that the establishment of the Science and Technology University in Osara was approved by the State Executive Council (SEC) during its weekly meeting on Wednesday.

He said that the essence for the establishment of the university was to focus on science and technology related courses to take the state to the next level in industrial development.

“In view of the location of the state and in view of the abundant mineral resources across the state, it is pertinent for Kogi to have a university that will train and feed the industries in the state, especially the giant Ajaokuta steel industry. www.businessday.ng

L-R : Abdulhadi Abdullahi, representative of the minister of state of science and technology; Alex Akpan, director-general, National Biotechnology Development Agency; Muhammed Sabo-Nanono, minister of agriculture and rural development, Ogbonnaya Onu, minister of science and technology, and Awal Muhammed, representative of the minister of finance, budget and national planning, at a news conference on validation of RNA Swift Extracting Kit for a ground-breaking development in science and technology in the country, in Abuja.

Governors agree to ramp up testing to curb community spread of COVID-19 Solomon Ayado, Abuja

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overnorsofthe36states have resolved to increase testing capacity so as to curb the rise in the community spread of Covid-19 in Nigeria.

There is growing concern over increasing Covid-19 fatalities in the country especially among those with underlying health conditions and the elderly.

Thegovernorsundertheaegis of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) during their 12th virtual meetingonWednesday,agreedto scale up testing measures in their various states.

The governors also resolved to consolidate measures being adopted by Federal Government to gradually open the formal and informal sectors of the economy.

They also agreed to engage with the Vice President and chairman of the National Economic Council, Yemi Osinbajo, to facilitate states’ representation in the implementation committee of the Nigeria Economic Sustain-

ability Plan.

Chairman of NGF and Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, in a communiqué, further advocated the need to revive the Nigerian MortgageBanktosupportgovernment’s housing programme and N2 trillion, Nigeria Infrastructure Investment Fund, to stimulate the economy.

The communiqué reads: “We have resolved to collaborate with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to ensure the implementation of the 5 percent user charge on the pump price of petrol and the international vehicle transit charge to better fund road projects in Nigeria.

“Although the second corruption survey focused on Federal Government agencies, members resolvedtocollaboratewithUNODC to strengthen public complaints mechanisms across state MDAsgiventhatstateinstitutions, businesses and households are affected by bribe seeking among public sector officials.

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Ganduje names new chair of KIRS Adeola Ajakaiye, in Kano

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overnor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state has approved the appointment of Abdurrazak Datti Salihi as the new executive chairman for Kano Internal Revenue Service (KIRS) in a reorganisation aimed at boosting the performance of the agency.

Salihi replaces Bala Muhammad Inuwa A statement from the office of the Kano state governor made available to BusinessDay on Thursday said the appointment takes immediate effect.

According to the statement, the governor thanked the immediate past chairman of the agency for his performance within time spent in office and called on the new appointee to improve on the record set.

“We are delighted for his courage and dedication to KIRS while captaining the ship as acting chairman from March this year to date. I wish to charge the new chairman to @Businessdayng

improve on this outstanding record.

The governor charged the new chairman, saying “all eyes will be on you in this period when we need to boost internal revenue generation as a result of the exigency of the moment brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The statement noted that the former chairman, Bala, who doubled as managing director of Kano State Agricultural Supply Company (KASCO), would continue on his substantive managing director position at KASCO. The new chairman Salihi is an experienced financial analyst, a chartered accountant, and a certified tax accountant, with over 20 years of experience in financial management in both the banking and private sector.

Until his appointment, Salihi was the director, State Integrated Financial Management Information System (SIFMIS), of the Kano State ministry of finance.

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Nigeria’s industrial growth and the comparative advantage debate

Chambers Umezulike

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mongst policymakers, academics, private sector practitioners and international development enthusiasts, the inevitability of Nigeria to structurally transform, industrialise and upgrade her exports is generally understood. This is considering the country’s precarious position as a rentier state, its dependence on oil rents for government revenues and FOREX earnings, and the resultant macroeconomic consequences. However, the puzzle remains that in such industrial transformation, should Nigeria progress with its comparative advantage or defy it?

There is a background to this puzzle.

First, developing countries have a comparative advantage in mostly unskilled labour and resource-intensive industries which are mostly of low productivity, as against the capital-intensive ones which are highly productive. Second, a country’s per capita income is an outcome of the prevailing industries and technologies in the country. If a country successfully defies its comparative advantage along the industrial ladder and develops viable, high-productivity industries, it can easily converge with developed countries economically. As such, there is a huge correlation between a country’s export structure and its per capita income.

In discovering Nigeria’s choices in transforming structurally, there must be an examination of the theses of the proponents of each of these paradigms (follow or defy comparative advantage) under the third wave of development

thinking (new structuralism). It is also key to note that both paradigms under new structuralism are a retooled set of principles distinct from the first wave of development thinking (import substitution and big push) and second wave’s (Washington Consensus). In addition, the duo paradigms agree that the market is still the elemental mechanism for resource allocation and that the government must coordinate investments for industrial diversification and upgrading.

The adherents of comparative advantage following (CAF) argue that developing countries should embark on industrialisation by focusing on industries that are consistent with their comparative advantage (labour and resource-intensive industries), considering that a country’s comparative advantage and industrial structure are determined by its factor endowments.

Going contrary implies replication of the mistakes several developing countries made under the first wave of development thinking whereby most of them pursued investments in heavy capitalintensive industries when capital in their economies was scarce. Following their nonviability, most of these industries failed despite the use of distortionary policy instruments to protect them which occasioned rent-seeking, monopoly and elite capture.

In furtherance, the CAF school argues that countries should pursue CAF investments for firm competitiveness in domestic and international markets and large returns. Additionally, successful attempts along the line of comparative advantage enables the poor to benefit in growth through unskilled labour-intensive employment. This enables developing countries to gradually accumulate the requisite capital, upgrade their endowment structure, and move into new economic activities following their success in low-end industries. Finally, the school argues that by following its comparative advantage, a developing country that ventures into new economic activities

can also benefit from the backwardness advantage in the upgrading process. This advantage refers to the easy adoption of production technologies from the developed world at low-risk and costs, as well as courting foreign investments from countries with increasing factor costs in similar low-end industries.

Contrary to the CAF school, the comparative advantage defying (CAD) school argues that the same deployment of import substitution strategies which the CAF school frowns at, in building capital-intensive industries, away from a developing country’s comparative advantage, is exactly what Japan, South Korea and China etc. did. These countries successfully protected and nurtured what could have been termed nonviable firms that defy comparative advantage, in their industrial journey.

An instantiation is that China has an export bundle of a country between three and six times richer. If China, considering its agricultural labour, specialised in the type of products that are unskilled labour-intensive, it would not have been able to sophisticate its export basket.

In addition, even if a country has all the right engineers, machines, and workers, they still cannot be combined into an internationally competitive firm just like that. This is considering that they need to be subjected to a long learning process before they can acquire all the necessary technological capabilities to be competitive in the production of requisite goods. As such, a country’s acquisition of higher technological capabilities in trying to catch up with developed countries, requires it setting up and nurturing industries in which it does not have a comparative advantage. As such, it would be increasingly difficult for a developing or backward economy to accumulate technological capabilities in new industries without defying comparative advantage and entering the industry before it has the ‘right’ factor endowments.

Furthermore, while the CAF ap-

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If China, considering its agricultural labour, specialised in the type of products that are unskilled labourintensive, it would not have been able to sophisticate its export basket

proach will help policymakers in the early stage of development, there is much work to be done to have countries move beyond the middle-income trap. Lastly, CAD argues that patterns of specialisation for countries with similar economic realities, diversification and economic development are not driven by comparative advantage but by concerted government efforts, coordination with the private sector and lone selfdiscovery attempts by entrepreneurs.

Following this examination of the debates of the schools, Nigeria has two choices. First, focus on new and existing industries that are consistent with its comparative advantage, following its factor endowments in labour and natural resources. Second, focus on industries or investments that are both CAF and CAD. A recommendation for Nigeria is to follow the second approach which is heterodox and analogous to what China, Korea, Japan etc. did. This way, the country can develop CAF firms that are competitive, viable and tap the backwardness advantage, so as to facilitate inclusive growth, and address unemployment. At the same time, it is acquiring technological capabilities in selected high-end industries to improve the value of its exports and circumvent the middle-income trap. This could be the only way the country can industrialise and catch up with developed Asia and her former economic comparators.

Post this debate, the Nigerian government must facilitate investments in new and existing industries through addressing externalities, providing the requisite public inputs for industrial growth and stimulating entrepreneurial economic cost-discovery. It can also leverage special economic zones to selectively provide such inputs and reduce firm transactional costs for competitiveness.

Umezulike is an international development professional and Development Economics researcher. He can be reached through chambers. umezulike@gmail.com and on Twitter via @ Prof_Umezulike

‘S’ in English grammar

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he letter, “s”, is central to the grammaticality or otherwise of many English expressions. Since languages are rule-governed, it is pertinent to pay scrupulous attention to the standard forms of sentences, with a view to entrenching global intelligibility, over the course of engaging people of different races, colours and persuasions. With the foregoing in mind, this treatise will shed light on predominant instances of the ‘s’ being incorrectly omitted and inappropriately infused into English expressions, especially as observed in the language usage of the sizeable majority of non-native speakers.

For starters, anyone who wishes to be a good orator must be willing to go to any LENGTHS to acquire appreciable communicative proficiency.

In that regard, note cautiously that the word, lengths, is invariably plural in the aforementioned context. In a similar vein, some humans can go to astonishing LENGTHS to become successful in their endeavours. Be that as it may, if you have a mentor who doubles as a public speaker in an English speaking country and, you hope to establish yourself along the same LINES, then you must understand grammatical intricacies bordering on where and where not to weave “s” into English expressions. Just like your choice of dress largely determines how you will be addressed, your language equally determines people’s appraisals of you, even if you are in SHORTS or KNICKERS (not short knicker).

Coincidentally, are you aware that KNICKERS are exclusively worn by females?

As an aside, you can allot quality time to

read books and peruse dictionaries for just one and a half HOURS daily. In the aftermath, eloquence will, most certainly, be the FRUITS of your labours. Consequent upon this, it bears mentioning that plural does not exactly begin with two. To set the record straight, plural entails anything that is more than one. In view of that, we should say one and a half HOURS (not hour) and one and a half KILOGRAMMES (not kilogramme). Similarly, the outcomes or rewards of one’s efforts are described as the FRUITS of one’s labours, although the “s” is depicted as optional in some dictionaries. Nevertheless, the foregoing justification should not be confused with the FRUIT we eat, which is uncountable, generally speaking.

To add to these critical disclosures, an individual who is well heeled or stinking rich is called a MONEYBAGS; not a moneybag. In lockstep with this rationalisation, “Aliko Dangote is a MONEYBAGS”. To proceed, mackerel is a SPECIES — not a specie — of fish. It, thus, stands to reason that “specie” is utterly non-existent in standard English lexicon. Be it singular or plural, therefore, SPECIES remains the same. Along these lines, it is of the essence to be aware that the mechanics and intricacies of something are called the INS and OUTS of it. Hence, “Gbenga knows the INS and OUTS (not in and out) of architecture”.

What is more, the lowest and arguably the most people-centric level in a thriving democracy is called the GRASSROOTS (not grassroot) level. Let me also admonish the wider readership that you need to consistently acquaint yourselves www.businessday.ng

with international best practices, in order not to lose your BEARINGS (not BEARING) in life.

Instructively, also, to exhibit your real character towards other people amounts to showing them your true COLOURS; not your true colour.

Furthermore, it is supremely important to affirm that when a place, vehicle, etc. is overcrowded, the people therein are packed like SARDINES. By implication, they are not packed like sardine or even “sandin”, as innumerable Nigerians are erroneously wont to say while growing up. Markedly, have you noticed restricted places within buildings being described as “out of bound”? In vivid contrast, you are expected to add the obligatory “s” to “bound” thus: a restricted place is said to be out of BOUNDS. In that connection, such places that are designated out of bounds are occupied by those who work behind the SCENES. The people who work far away from the glare of the public, for instance, at a theatre or in an organisation, are said to work behind the SCENES; not behind the scene. Pointedly, as well, to subject someone to vicious corporal punishment is to beat the living DAYLIGHTS (not living daylight) out of that person. Contrariwise, some expressions should not feature the letter “s” in their standard forms.

First off, people who share the same sentiments, orientation and maxims are said to be of like MIND — not like minds.

Secondly, whenever any development occurs abruptly, it does so out of the BLUE (not out of the blues). Next to that, any individual that you love and cherish the most is the apple of your EYE; not the apple of your eyes. Additionally, the

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The Gift of Gab

Ganiu Bamgbose part of your legs that becomes flat, particularly when you are seated, is your LAP (not laps).

In the same vein, when you intend to refer to similar things or suggest more instances of something, the expression should portray “and the LIKE” as a suffix (not and the LIKES). Hence, illustratively, Professors Adeleke Fakoya and Oko Okoro, as well as Doctors Henry Hunjo, Mahfouz Adedimeji and Ganiu Bamgbose are of like MIND on issues concerning grammar, context, sociolinguistic variables and the LIKE. This is not to bore you with grammatical jargon, but fluency deserves a great deal of attention. To round off this treatise in tremendous style, note that the technical words used in a particular field are collectively referred to as JARGON (an uncount noun); not jargons.

Dr Bamgbose (Dr GAB) has a PhD in English and lectures at the Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos. He is a social commentator who writes on different issues of national concern and the author of daily online English lessons titled “English for Today” with hundreds of lessons available on his website www.englishdietng.com.

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How Ghana bulldozes Nigeria THE NEW WEALTH OF NATIONS

Obadiah Mailafia

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bout a fortnight ago we received the shocking news that the Nigerian embassy staff buildings in Accra were levelled to the ground by a Ghanaian businessman, claiming that the edifice had been erected on his own land. He brought papers claiming ownership of the land. Apparently, our legation could not show proof of ownership – a big embarrassment.

Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama issued a press statement saying that the demolition was the handiwork of criminals. Many Nigerians have been understandably outraged. Many have called for retaliation in kind. However, the Presidency tersely maintains that they would not be starting a “street fight” with Ghana. I commend them for that maturity. The Ghanaian administration has also formally tendered an apology for the incident.

Nigeria and Ghana, are, in a manner of speaking, twins. Ghana is the older of the two, having gotten its independence from Britain in March 1957 while we got ours three years later, in October 1960. It is one of the quirks of nature that the elder of most twins tends to be the smaller in build. Therein lies the seeds of sibling rivalry.

The roots of our rivalry go back to colonial times. The British imperialists recruited mercenaries from Nigeria to help them “pacify” the unruly principalities of the Gold Coast, including the capture and public execution of the brave female warlord Yaa Asantewaa.

Ghana had all the gold. Nigeria was a vast backwater.

The Gold Coast was well ahead of Nigeria in most indices of development.

It had probably the best civil service on the continent. In 1945, a British government impoverished by war, resorted to borrowing from the Ghanaian treasury.

At independence, Ghana was more prosperous than South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.

Ghana’s first leader, Kwame Nkrumah, was, without a doubt, the greatest pan-Africanist of his generation.

At independence, Accra became the Mecca of pan-Africanists the world over. Nkrumah was the leader of the radical Casablanca Group who wanted immediate unification of the continent while Nigeria under Prime Minister Balewa led the conservative Monrovia Group who advocated a more gradualist approach.

Nkrumah, sadly, ended up a despot, as exemplified. His assault on multiparty democracy in Ghana; muzzling of the press; removal of a sitting Chief Justice; incarceration of opposition leaders such as J. B. Danquah, and the creeping cult of personality, showed all the symptoms of a rising despot.

There was no love lost between Kwame Nkrumah and our first and only Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Nigeria’s opposition leader Obafemi Awolowo was a close friend of the Ghanaian leader. They were both socialists. Several of Awo’s lieutenants were trained at Ghana’s Ideological Institute in Winneba. The Nigerian government pointed accusing fingers at Ghana for an alleged plot to overthrow Balewa’s democratically elected government. In 1963, Awolowo was tried for treason and imprisoned for ten years.

When Sir Abubakar was assassinated in the first military putsch led by Majors Chukwuma Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna in January 1966, Nkrumah coldly declared that Balewa was a “victim of forces he did not understand”.

When he himself was overthrown in a military coup a month later, we would suppose that he was a victim of forces

that he presumably understood.

Over succeeding decades, there has been a love-hate relationship between our two countries. Some of our elder military officers were trained at the Ghanaian Military Academy at Teshie. They include Yakubu Gowon, Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, Benjamin Adekunle and Olusegun Obasanjo. It was in Teshie that the Nigerians forged life-long bonds with the likes of Akwasi Afrifa and Ignatius Acheampong.

In 1969, the Oxford-educated Ghanaian Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia, summarily expelled thousands of Nigerians from his country. In 1983, the civilian administration of Shehu Shagari retaliated later by expelling 2 million Ghanaians from our country. The Ghanaians were right to see it as the darkest spot in the collective humiliation as a people. These sad events have cast a shadow over our relations for decades.

We have made stupendous fortunes from oil, which we have proceeded to fritter away in corruption and graft.

Nigeria has come to the aid of Ghana in so many ways. We have given loans and outright grants and offered subsidised petroleum and gas. But they also know that we are a failed state, where nothing really works. We have nothing to show that the Ghanaians can learn from.

Of course, there have been intermarriages. Nigerian music and films are all the rage in Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast and beyond. We have naturalised Ghanaians that have made their mark in our country. A notable example being the late Professor Kwaku Adadevoh who became a Professor of Medicine and distinguished Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos. His daughter Ameyo Adadevoh became a heroine of contemporary Nigeria by giving her life to protect the nation from the scourge of Ebola.

Ghana and Nigeria are the two most important partners in ECOWAS. Nigerians are often left feeling that Ghana outsmarts them at every turn. A good example is Accra winning the right to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area. In my honest

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We have made stupendous fortunes from oil, which we have proceeded to fritter away in corruption and graft. Nigeria has come to the aid of Ghana in so many ways. We have given loans and outright grants and offered subsidised petroleum and gas. But they also know that we are a failed state, where nothing really works

opinion, our government acted stupidly and deserved to lose.

Over the last decade, several foreign companies have re-located to Ghana.

They have continued to target all their products to the Nigerian market. Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have gone behind our back to sign an interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU. The recent closure of our borders has drawn the ire of some Western powers. In December 2019, Ghana indicated that it would consider joining the new Eco currency that is being brokered by France to replace the West African CFA. Nigerians regard it as a stab on the back. Nigerian traders are having a hard time in Ghana after the government brought a law requiring them to deposit US$300,000 in the bank before they could start any business. Many shops owned by Nigerians have been closed down and their owners hounded and humiliated.

Last year, more than 50,000 Fulani herdsmen and their cattle turned in Ghana, armed to the teeth with AK47s and other sophisticated weapons. Ghanaian President Nana Dankwa Akufo-Addo gave an executive order to chase them out of his country. He gave Ghanaians the right to kill and barbecue any cow that trespasses on their farmland, with a stiff warning to the effect that, “Ghana is not Nigeria”.

The violence, lawlessness and anomie that characterise our country today places us on ground zero in the prestige of nations. I am the last to defend, echoing Chinua Achebe, any Nigerian who goes abroad and defecates on another man’s compound. We must therefore do all it takes to redeem our image if we are to win the respect of Ghana and indeed the rest of the world.

Note: The rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https://businessday.ng Dr. Mailafia is a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, a development economist and public finance expert with a DPhil from Oxford obmailafia@gmail.com; 08036590990 (text messages only)

HRM mistakes

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e have all made it to another Friday. This is not to be taken for granted in any way shape or form.

I have determined that this month I will live deliberately. I am doing an exercise challenge and have successfully reached day 8 as I write this piece. I am however finding it difficult quitting eating a certain thing. Lord have mercy. You may say win some, lose some. I however intend to win all. I will keep you posted.

The basics of human resource management is recruitment and selection performance management learning and development succession planning compensation and benefits human resource information systems and human resource data and analytics.

One of the biggest mistakes in HRM has to do with the fact that HR managers must walk a tightrope between advocating for employees while also representing the company. If the balance is wrong there ensues a dire problem.

To achieve the right equilibrium HRM must take diplomacy and expert communication skills seriously and this can take years of practice. HRM should not be too eager to please management Another possible HR mistake is using ineffective hiring practices and this is made by many HR practitioners. Sometimes people go to a job interview where the interviewer is not sure what question to ask or ask questions not allowed by law. Before HR interviews a prospective candidate, they should look over the laws regarding questions that cannot be legally

asked such as questions about tribe or gender issues. HR should take the time to review each candidate and not make any snap decisions regarding who to hire One of the bad hiring HR mistakes is writing a poor job description. This may be because the HR manager didn’t have the necessary information when posting the job or the HR manager is filling a position that does not need feeling.

HRM must be as accurate as possible in terms of what the job needs including the people specification.

Handbook errors can be devastating and this is one of the HRM mistakes. A handbook supplies employees with information about what to do in as many cases as possible but some companies make the mistake of issuing handbooks that don’t contain all the information that workers need or use an outdated version of the handbook. To avoid this mistake the HR personnel should do frequent reviews of the handbook and incorporate best practice as best as they can.

Being too friendly is a mistake that can occur in the HR department. HR is not about liking people, it is about understanding people, business practices and regulatory demands as well as developing a culture that allows the business and the staff to thrive. This means that friendships and personal needs are secondary to the obligation of your employees and it is important for HR staff to remain professional. This is critical to their recruiting efforts.

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HRM should be neutral and be sure not to give to only one person what should be given to all. They must be careful what they permit in one case because it would be expected in all cases. It is important that everybody is treated with the same respect, decorum and entitlements due all.

A problem or mistake that can emanate from the above is sharing confidential information with people who should not have it. It is essential to understand who needs to know what. This is a lesson to be taught, learned and respected before anything else. Using confidential information about other employees in our own career negotiations and sharing it with non-stakeholders is totally unacceptable and anyone who makes the mistake is lucky to get a second chance A mistake that HR departments and Senior management make, is staffing the HR department with people who are not qualified to be in HR. Sometimes even the qualified have not received training or have enough experience in current realities and best practice. The HR staff need to be well-versed in the contents of the handbook, must be able to explain any unique policies and must be able to handle all aspects of the job duties. It is important to understand that a degree does not equal experience.

Again, emanating from the above is the problem of having a know- it -all attitude. HR personnel should remain humble and not be afraid to ask questions where they do not fully

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Olamide Balogun know the answer. No one is expected to know everything all the time. It is better to take the time to research than to give advice that could put the company in a position of liability Another mistake it’s forgetting that employees are human. Many things have been automated but it is impossible to automate empathy and critical thinking, which are cornerstones of being a successful HR leader. While learning to leverage new tools it is also important that practitioners never forget that the H in HR stands for human A key success factor in this regard is for HRM to develop a human touch including thinking of HR as a customer service role in which employees are the customers. HRM should embrace an open door policy as much as possible, allowing the staff they support to ask questions.

Note: The rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https:// businessday.ng Balogun is the founder of Box & Cedar Ltd a boutique Recruitment and HR Consulting firm Www.boxandcedar.com

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Black trumpians HumanAngle

Femi olugbile

T

o go by what is reported in the newspapers, things are looking decidedly bleak for President Donald Trump in his battle for re-election.

With elections barely four months away, he is behind his major opponent by a percentage figure in the double digits.

Is the case against Donald Trump’s re-election a “slam-dunk”, to borrow Colin Powell’s much-reviled phrase from his Iran War testimony before the United Nations?

Viewing the “Black Lives Matter” demonstrations that have spread from the streets of the United States to places as far away as Japan and Australia, and given the multi-racial demonstration of support, it is clear that many in the world believe it is time for Change in America.

A key part of that change is that Trump should be shown the way out of the White House. In the eyes of all too many, he is racist, divisive, lacking in empathy and totally unsuitable for the position.

And yet, unpleasant as it may sound to many ears, the reality is that Donald Trump could conceivably still somehow manage to win the election and remain President of America for four more years. Another reality is that a not inconsiderable number of his staunchest supporters are people of African descent.

Black Trumpians? Who are the black Trumpians?

There is a minority tradition of Black Republicanism in America that stretches back to the philosophy of Booker T Washington. It focusses on patriotism, capitalism and social conservatism. It emphasises personal choice and responsibility above socioeconomic status and institutional racism as determinants of how a black person gets along in America. It opposes affirmative action and sees efforts to obtain reparations for slavery as misguided. It believes in promotion of personal and professional excellence and opposes the use of ‘racism’ to justify personal failure. It does not support ‘criminals’ being cast as victims of societal racism. It points out that the Ku Klux Klan was founded by ‘Democrats’, and that President Lincoln was a Republican.

One of Donald Trump’s most visible, most vocal, and most persuasive black supporters is a brilliant young lady named Candace Owens. A few quotes are instructive on her psychology. “…Black Lives Matter is a Marxist movement disguised as racial unrest.

These thugs are delivering ultimatums to businesses and schools. Do as we say, or burn…I’m glad that now that Trump has laid down the law and order hammer on the anarchists, we are back to our regular schedule of #coronavirus scamdemic…”

Clearly, according to Candace, Black Lives Matter is a “leftist” insurrection, not a cry for justice by her fellow blacks, supported now by much of the rest of the world. And COVID-19 is not a pandemic ravaging the world and showing up the incompetence of the American administration. It is a “scamdemic”.

There is an “alternative reality” at play here.

Candace Owens, predictably, is

much loathed in the black community, just as she is much quoted and celebrated by the Trump base. Bizarrely she had worked for an anti-Conservative blog that frequently attacked Donald Trump, before she underwent a sudden “Road to Damascus” conversion in 2017.

Almost overnight, she became a staunch Republican and pro-Trump activist. She has not looked back since. She touches another “politically incorrect” topic underpinning her position. Western Europe will soon be overwhelmed by an insidious Islamic numerical and cultural onslaught, she says. On that day, they will be glad there is a Trump today to hold the fort against immigration in America, and to rescue the West.

Kanye West is a billionaire rapper, songwriter and record producer who has created a popular fashion line.

He is an avid conservative and an unabashed Trump friend and supporter.

His most famous recent quote was to describe Slavery, the horrendous fourhundred-year journey black America is still struggling to get closure on as a “Choice”. It was a comment that rankled and touched every raw nerve in the African American psyche. It succinctly summarised his attitude to poverty, crime, “victim-hood”, entitlement and hopelessness among his fellow blacks.

He wants nothing of these, obviously, and he proudly flaunts his white wife and his Trumpian “MAGA” cap.

There are black Pentecostal pastors whose Trumpian allegiance is rooted in support for Israel, disdain for liberalised abortion and the mainstreaming of LGBTQ as a way of life, and unapologetic defence for a biblical definition of “family”.

In the Vatican, Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah is a notable conservative.

Although he has been silent after coauthoring, with retired Pope Benedict

‘

In Nigeria, there are pockets of Trumpian support.

Doyin, a former presidential spokesman, supports Trump because he believes he has a Christian mission to fulfil, despite his inadequacies.

Femi, a vociferous public pugilist, supports Trump because he is a bulwark against the “Islamisation” of Nigeria

XVI, a doctrinal book on the need to continue strict priestly celibacy, his friend, Italian Cardinal Carlo Vigano recently wrote an open letter of support to Trump denouncing “Black Lives Matter”, the George Floyd protests and COVID19 as part of a Masonic plot for global government without Religion, and a satanic battle between “the children of light” and “the children of darkness”.

Black protesters are, to him, “children of darkness”.

In Nigeria, there are pockets of Trumpian support. Doyin, a former presidential spokesman, supports Trump because he believes he has a Christian mission to fulfil, despite his inadequacies. Femi, a vociferous public pugilist, supports Trump because he is a bulwark against the “Islamisation” of Nigeria. Chris, a charismatic pastor preaches a mélange of conspiracy theories originated by the Qanon and other “alt-right” groups in the Trump base, including how COVID-19 is related to 5G technology, and how social distancing is an assault on Christianity. His latest outpouring is that “Black Lives Matter” is a satanic ploy to disband the police in America, so that electronic chips may be fitted into citizens.

In the South-East, and in pockets across the world, IPOB support for Trump has been long-standing, from the Nigerian Presidential election where they assured their supporters, wrongly, that the man would not recognise Buhari as President, to the present day, where Trump is marketed as the defender of their endangered species.

How much weight will black Trumpians pull in the November elections?

It is interesting to ponder the possibilities.

Olugbile is a writer and psychiatrist. synthesiz@gmail.com

Why culture kills corporate vision in any organisation

M

any times, we hear about the importance of building the right culture within an organisation. CEOs grant interviews on primetime shows and talk about how culture is critical to their organisation development. HR departments are busy planning different culture retreats and orientations for both old and new staff. While all this is essential, there is more that is required.

Beyond the rhetoric, this publication is about getting you to act today. Culture can either create a great work environment or a toxic one where people fail to meet goals, targets, or live up to true potential. A culture can set an organisation on the trajectory of growth, or it can be the cog in the wheel of progress. But what is organisational culture?

Organisational culture is a pattern of underlying assumptions, thinking, behaviours, ethics, and actions that explain the way people do things in a given social setting. This culture is made up of values, habits, and behaviours that contribute to the overall creation of the social and psychological architecture within an organisation. Simply put, culture is what makes an organisation different, thick, relevant, and sustainable.

Every organisation has its unique culture that is first spearheaded by its leaders, either by their words, actions, or their inactions. The leadership sets the tone for the kind of culture that an organisation eventually takes up. This culture is then woven into the fabric of the organisation through commitment to shared values as imbibed and demonstrated by employees. But then over time every culture is embodied and visible to not only the insiders but also outsiders who relate with the organisation in one way or another.

Culture is also manifested through the stories, rituals, policies, structure, and aspirations that a company promotes or tolerates, evidenced by

the day-to-day affairs of its people.

What drives organisational culture Many leaders devote more attention to their visions, financials, sales targets, business models, and hiring but less on building an enduring culture; probably because they figure it’s not that important, or, somehow, it is going to fix itself down the road. Nothing could be further from the truth. Culture plays a big role in the survival and sustainability of any organisation. But before we go into why culture kills corporations; we must look first at what drives organisational culture.

This knowledge is necessary for leaders across all levels, especially those who want to build thriving organisations both today’s market and the one for the future. When it comes to the organisational culture, there are elements to pay attention to: Artefacts, Espoused values, and Assumptions as advocated by Schein.

Artefacts: These are signs or representation of the organisational culture in the social and physical work environment. These artefacts can appear in five distinct forms.

Personal enactment: These are the behaviours exhibited by employees that reflect and showcase the organisation’s values in one way or another. So, when employees fail to reflect the principles of the organisation, it is only a sign that there is trouble looming on the horizon.

Ceremonies & rites: There are different types of celebrations and rites that occur in an organisation. An example is the rite of passage, where individuals, teams, or departments are habitually celebrated for their achievements or special events. Examples of ceremonies and rituals include staff retreats, birthday celebrations, fun days, the end of year review, and so on.

Ceremonies and rites are not daily occurrences; they happen less frequently, and one may be tempted to believe that it is not important to

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define the corporate culture. Yet, this culture element plays a huge role in boosting the morale of team members while increasing engagement within the workforce. Ceremonies and rites help to foster and cultivate a supportive social culture that enables an organisation to thrive.

Stories: These are narratives told by the founders, staff, and leaders of past exploits, milestones, challenges, successes, and aspirations. Stories are known to shape cultures when they are told the right way. Over time stories become legends and take on a life of their own in affecting the way people think, act, and view the world (and workplace) around them. Stories are a powerful way to tell and convey the values and extend the heritage of any organisation.

Rituals & symbols: These are activities that are done regularly and repeated frequently by a team or department. They reinforce the values and beliefs of an organisation in practical and substantial ways. Examples of rituals include training, orientation, and employee’s day or week. While Symbols are unspoken messages within and outside an organisation that are conveyed through images such as the company logos, colours, icons, and even mental images held by employees.

Espoused values: The EV element explains how an organisation, through its management team, explains its culture to insiders (employees, members), allies (investors, clients), and the outsiders (general public). These espoused values are expressed in official documents like official policies, procedure documents, handbooks, manuals, vision, press releases, mission statements, flyers, souvenirs, and so on.

Assumptions: These are hidden beliefs, only discovered after one has been in an organisation for a while. These hidden beliefs are not written but are often understood and followed by all

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Toye Sobande or most persons in the organisation. These elements are not documented anywhere, but the people practice them, nonetheless. They are the traditional unofficial ways things are done in any organisation. When new people join an organisation, without being told or taught, they tend to pick up assumptions over time.

Having looked at the different elements of organisational culture, let’s look at the different types of corporate cultures that exist. For the purpose of this publication, we will narrow down to four organisational cultures, and how they are exhibited in every organisation.

Clan culture: Collaboration is the buzz word in this type of culture. Members of this culture share and have a lot of common interests and view themselves as part of a big family. The leadership style that is often manifested in this kind of culture environment is the one of mentoring, coaching, and brotherhood. What binds this kind of organisation is mutually held traditions and shared commitment. The espoused values for this culture are things like teamwork, communication, openness, and consensus.

Note: The rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https:// businessday.ng Sobande is a Lawyer and Leadership Consultant. He is a Doctoral Candidate at Regent University, Virginia Beach, USA, for a Ph.D. in Strategic Leadership. He can be reached through Email: contactme@toyesobande.com

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BUSINESS DAY

Editorial Publisher/Editor-in-chief

Frank Aigbogun

Inflation worsening Nigeria’s precarious state Define strategic approaches to stop pressure on income

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

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) Ignatius Chukwu

W

hen basic necessities needed for the survival of the common man in Nigeria become less affordable, then the country is really in a crisis. This is what defines Nigeria currently. The general increase in prices of goods and services without corresponding increase in income levels, which economists call inflation, is worsening the already precarious state of the Nigerian economy.

Reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in May, Headline inflation which measures the total rise in prices within an economy, including commodities such as food and energy prices, rose to 12.4 percent year-on-year, highest in 24 months. During this period, businesses suffered supply chain disruptions and subdued demand as major fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wholesale price index of essential food items, measured by food inflation, rose marginally to

15 percent. Food, as we know, is the primary need that every individual seeks to meet. Despite the subdued demand for goods due to lockdown measures, food prices have remained sticky, trended upwards as supply disruptions take its toll on businesses.

These numbers won’t make much sense without exploring the consequences. In an economy where 39.4 million people may lose their jobs, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher inflation rate will only make life more miserable for such people as it erodes their purchasing power amid low or no income.

For household investors, inflation rate above rate of return means negative real income. In the Nigeria Treasury Bill market, yields on 1-year bond has fallen from 14.9 percent in November 2019 to 5.91 percent. At 12.4 percent inflation rate, an investor’s inflation adjusted real return for the 364-day T-bill is -5.78 percent. This is the percentage by which, at a minimum, the value of his investment will decline.

It is pertinent to note that higher inflation means higher cost of living for households and will discourage private investments and savings.

For businesses, consistent rise in price levels will mean lower sales, especially for non-essential items, as consumers would rather focus the little they have on essential items such as food. Nigerian businesses will also struggle to raise capital for expansion in an inflationary economic environment as banks will be less willing to offer long term financing for capital formation and growth. Also, high cost of inputs could see businesses record contraction in profit margins.

Nigeria’s rising inflation rate also poses a risk to the government’s ability to implement its budget due to high and uncertain cost of inputs. On the revenue side, the FG may see tax revenue, especially from Company Income Tax and Value Added Tax, decline, worsening the country’s current fiscal crisis due to low oil prices.

Finally, high inflation levels will always discourage foreign inflow of funds.

It is, therefore, important that discourse around driving down inflation to reasonable levels should be encouraged. In line with a report

by PwC, we must define strategic approaches to put a lid on consistent upward-flexible commodity prices which impact negatively on household income and business.

We align with the report that one such way defining approaches is by supporting adequately the agricultural and food processing sectors to boost supply. The federal government must provide adequate supply-chain mechanisms to facilitate unrestricted supply of food and other essential incentives. Policies, both monetary and fiscal, that will foster stability on the supply side of the market, must be encouraged.

The Nigerian food prices have been a major factor pressuring Nigeria’s core and headline inflation numbers. We recommend that while measures to put money back to the hands of households are necessary to ease the suffering of the people, a complementary effort will be to improve supply of goods and services.

HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES Adeola Obisesan

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Imo Itsueli Mohammed Hayatudeen Afolabi Oladele Vincent Maduka Opeyemi Agbaje Amina Oyagbola Bolanle Onagoruwa Fola Laoye Chuka Mordi Mezuo Nwuneli Charles Anudu Tunji Adegbesan Eyo Ekpo Wiebe Boer Paul Arinze Boye Olusanya Ayo Gbeleyi Haruna Jalo-Waziri Clement Isong

Enquiries NEWS ROOM 08169609331 08116759816 08033160837

} Lagos Abuja

ADVERTISING 01-2799110 08033225506 SUBSCRIPTIONS 01-2799101 07032496069 07054563299 DIGITAL SERVICES 08026011296 www.businessday.ng The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria.

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OUR Core Values

Mission Statement To be a diversified provider of superior business, financial and management intelligence across platforms accessible to our customers anywhere in the world.

BusinessDay avidly thrives on the mainstay of our core values of being The Fourth Estate, Credible, Independent, Entrepreneurial and Purpose-Driven.

• The Fourth Estate: We take pride in being guarantors of liberal economic thought • Credible: We believe in the principle of being objective, fair and fact-based • Independent: Our quest for liberal economic thought means that we are independent of private and public interests.

• Entrepreneurial: We constantly search for new opportunities, maintaining the highest ethical standards in all we do • Purpose-Driven: We are committed to assembling a team of highly talented and motivated people that share our vision, while treating them with respect and fairness. www.businessday.ng

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BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Investor Helping you to build wealth & make wise decisions

Market capitalisation

NSE Premium Index

The NSE-Main Board

N12.952 trillion

2,139.63

N12.695 trillion

2,099.77

NSE All Share Index

Week open (26-06–20)

24,829.02

Week close (03 07–20)

24,336.12

Percentage change (WoW)

-1.99

Percentage change (YTD)

-9.34

-1.86 -0.78

NSE ASeM Index

NSE 30 Index

NSE Banking Index

NSE Insurance Index NSE Consumer Goods Index NSE Oil/Gas Index

1,054.83

762.45

129.47

432.87

198.55

1,864.71

1,194.99

982.36

1,054.83

1,067.98 1,044.50

290.81

742.08

267.55

126.61

430.83

196.21

1,815.20

1,118.11

927.31

-7.52

-2.21

0.63 -10.34

0.00 0.00

-2.20 -11.32

-25.02

0.63

-6.43 -27.33

NSE Lotus II

-1.18

-2.66

-25.26

-1.07

NSE Ind. Goods Index

-6.43 3.95

NSE Pension Index

-5.60 -12.02

Bear reign to persist on weak H1 earnings outlook Iheanyi Nwachukwu

D

espite that Nigerian stocks still offer relatively attractive entr y prices, the market looks good to sustain current bearish momentum in the near term.

With another half-year (H1) earnings season in the offing, market watchers expect negative sentiments to persist on the Nigerian Bourse as the odds favour weak corporate performance due to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on economic activities.

In line with the bleak outlook for H1 corporate performance, Guinness Nigeria recently notified market regulators and the investing public on material circumstances with impact on its full year financial results for financial year 2020.

The brewer said that the adverse impact of the sharp contraction in economic activities and the knock-on effect of the Covid-19 lockdown took a toll on the on-trade segment of the business across all our markets. “Production and revenues have thus been negatively affected”, it said.

Nigeria’s listed stocks lost about N257billion in the trading week ended Friday July 3 as investors approached the market with caution. Week-on-week (wow), the market closed lower by -1.98 percent following last Friday’s 0.16percent dip. The market opened this week with year-to-date (YtD) negative return in excess of -10percent.

Though many companies first-quarter (Q1) results were not totally negative, but were obviously

affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown across states.

Their second-quarter (Q2) results are expected to more precisely reflect the impact of the Pandemicdriven decline in economic activity.

“Going into July, we remain very cautious on the equities market in the short term, due to a number of factors. From a fundamental perspective, July is an earnings reporting month which would span the April to June period where the coronavirus pandemic hit the economy and many businesses hard. Thus, we expect many companies to report significantly weak numbers save for Telecoms, Logistics, Pharmaceuticals and Food focused companies, FSDH Research said in their July 2 note.

FSDH research analysts noted that “from a technical analysis perspective, the All Share Index (ASI) remains very close to the overbought

region... This indicates the market in July has more downside potential than upside potential. In addition, investors have not been enthusiastic about taking positions in the market, with average activity level in June remaining below 2020 monthly average”.

MSCI issued a warning on a possible reclassification of the Nigerian equities market from a frontier status to a standalone status, citing FX illiquidity as the major challenge.

“Investor sentiment was soured by the recent MSCI review that placed Nigeria on a watch list due to FX illiquidity. Thus, we expect minimal activities from index fund managers, while we expect any resumption of FX sale to foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) could trigger a strong sell-off ”, FSDH analysts further said.

Nigeria’s major source of dollar

revenue is crude oil and its price has not been relatively stable lately.

In their July 7 note to investors, research analysts at Lagos-based United Capital said they see the dynamics on the demand side for crude oil dependent on the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic and how soon global economic activities can return to normal.

“With several economies gradually easing restrictions, as well as stimulus measures by governments to spur business and industrial activities, demand is likely to improve in second-half (H2) of 2020”, United Capital research analysts added.

“As COVID-19 continues to spread fast across the country, we foresee further headwinds. While the first-quarter (Q1) 2020 GDP growth outturn was surprisingly positive, it is difficult to argue against an

economic recession this year should the outbreak persist for an extended period”, said Cordros analysts in their July 3 note.

In the analysts’ opinion, risks remain on the horizon due to a combination of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria and weak economic conditions. So, they continue to advise investors to trade cautiously and seek trading opportunities in only fundamentally justified stocks.

Ahead of the earnings season, more listed companies have scheduled their Board meetings to consider their half-year financial results for the period ended June 30, 2020.

“Our sense is that the market will continue to drift downwards over the coming week”, said research analysts at Coronation Merchant Bank. They added, “Stock markets are fickle things. A glance at global equity markets during June shows a worrying trend, namely a sideways pattern. For the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index (NSE-ASI) June also showed a more-or-less sideways trend, with the market losing 3.1percent gradually over the month. Where is it going to go next?

“One worrying aspect is the drop in turnover. Turnover surged during the bull run of January 2020, then again during the panic of March.

So, high turnover does not mean that an equity market will go up, only that it will go somewhere. If the turnover in the NSE returns to its mean, then it turnover must rise, and the market will take a new direction. One strange characteristic of the lull in stock market turnover is the absence of Nigerian institutional investors”, said Coronation analysts.

Champion Breweries links N96m full year profit to costs reduction

C

hampion Breweries Plc is leveraging on reduced costs of production in her efforts to return to profitability.

The company, which held her 44th Annual General Meeting last Friday using virtual platform, said results of such efforts have positively impacted on production and sales of her brand portfolio in the reporting year 2019.

Addressing shareholders who participated effectively in the virtual AGM, Chairman, Elijah

Akpan said revenue grew from N4.8 billion to N6.9 billion, operating profit changed its narrative from a negative position of N223 million in 2018 to the positive position of N241 million and the comprehensive profit was N96 million as against a loss of N165 million in the previous year.

“Our investment in power generation by way of utilization of gas has begun to pay-off as significant savings have resulted as well as improved efficiency in www.businessday.ng

our mode of operation in recent times”, he said, while assuring the Board’s resolute in working with Management on strategies to grow the business and lean on the shareholders’ continuous support towards the capitalization of the company.

Elijah told elated shareholders that the Company is now on the path of profitability as demonstrated in the results.

“The Board will commence work on the establishment of Dividend Polic y with an

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expectation of implementation within the soonest practicable time”, he assured.

He lamented the harsh operating environment occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.“There have been widespread reports of supply shortages of pharmaceuticals and manufactured goods due to factory disruption in China, with many areas seeing panic buying and consequent shortages of food and other essential grocery items. The restrictions on public @Businessdayng

gathering would remain a threat to our consumer market during the year”, he said.

While being optimistic of a more secure and better economically stable country, he said “we are convinced that the incoming year would be more productive and beneficial to us all.

We are approaching the tail-end of the negative results suffered by the company over the years.

This would certainly lead to larger returns shortly in a more stable terrain”

Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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INTERVIEW New BBC, MTN partnership aims to tackle fake news, reduce data usage After successfully launching the BBC News Minute Bulletin, an initiative aimed at delivering verified news in English, Hausa, Igbo, Pidgin and Yoruba at zero cost to subscribers of the MyMTN App, representatives from both companies, in this interview with MICHAEL ANI, BusinessDay analyst, offer insights into how the new development will be a game-changer for Nigerians. They also speak on other salient issues. Excerpts:

I

s it mere coincidence that the partnership is coming at a time of the global pandemic or has it been in the works previously

Kolawole Oyeyemi, General Manager, Customer Experience, MTN Nigeria

We had been working on this partnership before the pandemic.

The pandemic happened around the time we were rounding up the integral parts of the partnership.

There is a trend we noticed about the quality and authenticity of news on various platforms and on social media. Some outlets publish stories with a little investigation, some without recourse to due diligence to determine accuracy. This has obviously led to the problem of fake news, which has ravaged the media space recently.

With this observation, we knew we needed to improve the way our subscribers consume news. This led to the partnership with the BBC, an organisation with a good track record of excellence and authenticity, about incorporating the BBC news on our app.

The pandemic started and we knew it was the right time to launch the platform because a lot of news was going around and we wanted to make sure Nigerians get accurate information and so we launched.

But as I said, this has been in planning before the pandemic.

Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye, Head of West Africa Languages, BBC World Service

It’s been in the works previously.

The partnership was borne out of BBC’s quest to reach more audiences through digital platforms, particularly young people and women. The BBC has over 50 broadcast and digital partners in Nigeria and we take huge pride in these partnerships because they promote great public service journalism that our audiences find useful in their daily lives. Our partnership with MTN is unique, innovative and we will be reaching new audiences on a growing digital platform. Gone are the days when the news waited for audiences, now the news goes to meet audiences where they are and at the time that suits them so we’re excited to be a partner with MTN to provide trusted news on demand to all of their subscribers across the country for free.

It is surprising that the investment into ensuring that Nigerians get credible news

Kolawole Oyeyemi

Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye

at free cost is coming when many companies are holding back on their planned investments due to business uncertainties. What is MTN seeing?

Kolawole Oyeyemi, General Manager, Customer Experience, MTN Nigeria For us, it is not always about profit. Our customers are at the forefront of what we do and we want to make sure they have access to all the information they need to make informed decisions. Yes, the pandemic has affected many businesses globally but what it has also done is to strengthen our resolve to care for our customers especially during challenging times. What we are saying is simple; make sure customers have access to verifiable information. When they do, they can make better decisions.

Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye, Head of West Africa Languages, BBC World Service Apart from tackling fake news, one of the unique features of this partnership is delivering the news in four local languages- Igbo, Yoruba, Pidgin, Hausa, plus English. This means that audience inclusion is guaranteed and people won’t be disenfranchised from receiving trustworthy news and they can interact with this content in languages they are most comfortable with at a time that suits them, wherever they are in the country.

Aside from the issue of tackling fake news, what other reasons is the partnership going to address?

Kolawole Oyeyemi, General www.businessday.ng

Manager, Customer Experience, MTN Nigeria Apart from tackling fake news, the partnership provides a platform where subscribers can get news on the go wherever they are. It also reduces data usage while consuming such news. This way, they get to consume minute by minute update of happenings across the world.

Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye, Head of West Africa Languages, BBC World Service

The BBC has been present in Nigeria for over 60 years and this country brings in an audience over 40 million) to the BBC on a weekly basis. In fact, Nigeria is one of the top three markets for the BBC in the world and number one in Africa. The truth is, the BBC is going strong in this country because of the unflinching loyalty of our audiences, that value and trust our news brand. To show our commitment to Nigeria, the BBC expanded over two years ago and launched three new servicesBBC Igbo, BBC Yoruba and BBC Pidgin, in addition to BBC Hausa, our English platforms and genre programmes like health, business, sports. Nigeria is the West Africa Headquarters of the BBC and we have over 100 reporters, who are Nigerian and delivering content from this region to other parts of the world. So, our partnership with MTN just further deepens the BBC’s commitment to this great country and its resourceful people.

Why did you decide to choose Nigeria as the first country to begin such a commendable partnership?

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Kolawole Oyeyemi, General Manager, Customer Experience, MTN Nigeria Nigeria is a country of over 200 million people with one of the largest economies in Africa. What this means is that false information can get to a large number of people within minutes? This is not only about those who are on the internet but also information from one person to another. We know how damaging that can be.

If the information has the right source and it is authentic. There will be no worry about what people tell each other. So, we decided that we should start with Nigeria and, perhaps, at some point it will extend to other countries on the continent.

Should the market expect the partnership to extend to other countries after this?

Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye, Head of West Africa Languages, BBC World Service This will definitely happen. We are eager for more innovative partnerships like this beyond Nigeria. Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal, DRC Congo, etc are some of the countries in the Western region and across Sub Saharan Africa where we hope to replicate this unique content model over the coming year.

Since launching the BBC minutes in 2015, tell us some of the success stories in regions where it has been done?

Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye, Head of West Africa Languages, BBC World Service BBC Minute is the world’s lead@Businessdayng

ing News bulletin which was produced with younger listeners in mind. BBC Minute is available to audiences around the world in multiple local languages. We have established partnerships with over 40 radio stations– from Hong Kong and Harare to Baghdad and Botswana. African stations include Splash 105.5 FM and The Beat in Nigeria; YFM (South Africa), Gabz Fm (Botswana), Capital K Fm (Zimbabwe) XFM (Uganda), Sun FM (Zambia), Hot 96 (Kenya) to name a few. And increasingly the focus over the last two years has been to make BBC Minute available to new audiences on digital platforms across Africa in English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and Pidgin. The success of this product has ensured some of the world’s biggest media houses distinguish themselves in competitive markets with this innovative news product.

In Nigeria, BBC Minute can be heard on Boomplay Music Streaming service, Information Nigeria Website and Now on MyMTN App. On Radio, audiences can listen on The Beat 99.9 FM, Naija FM, Splash FM, Adaba FM and other leading radio services. Audiences tell us year on year how much they value being able to listen to short-form news on demand, at times to suit them and in a local language of their choice.

How will this partnership be a game-changer for the BBC and MTN in terms of revenue and customer base?

Kolawole Oyeyemi, General Manager, Customer Experience, MTN Nigeria Our priority is on our customers. Ensuring they get the right information. If this translates to having more customers or profit, we will be happy. But the primary objective is to positively affect their lives and improve customer experience on the network.

Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye, Head of West Africa Languages, BBC World Service For us at the BBC, we are focused on growing young audiences and reaching more women and we are optimistic that this partnership will deliver more of this demographic to us and in turn, they will come to have a deeper relationship and connection with BBC News. Millions of young people love MTN and trust the brand and many of them use the MTN app.

With this partnership, the BBC is positioning itself as No. 1 trusted news provider to this youthful, vibrant base

Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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INTERVIEW We look beyond current pandemic to bright future - Murray Paul Murray is the General Manager of the popular Bristol Palace Hotel in Kano. Murray has, behind him, over 30 years of rich and extensive experience in the African hospitality industry as a hotel manager, including Nigeria. Murray, in this exclusive interview with Bashir Ibrahim Hassan, GM, Northern Operations, BusinessDay, shares his rich experiences, challenges of operating under Covid-19, how unique and hospitable the people of Kano, his host business home, are, amongst others. Excerpts.

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Paul Murray

have unique offerings, and a unique style of delivering our services, our food, and giving people a wonderful experience here at the Bristol Palace.

What do you see as the potential as well as the challenges of the hospitality industry in Nigeria?

Obviously, since the COVID-19 (pandemic) in Nigeria since March, everything has changed. We are now living in a different world and COVID-19 is with us, just like the other viruses are with us and it’s not going away. So we have to now look at new ways and opportunities to continue. This is going to be a very big challenge. We started by not closing during the COVID-19. We supported the country as much as possible by assisting the Kano state government and the Presidential task force, which was here.

So we contributed and helped the Nigerian Government in every way possible. Both at the state and federal levels, we are proud to have assisted that way.

I have been working with a skeletal staff of 40 people and I must say I have seen unique qualities coming out from the Nigerian staff. One of them is passion, which I have never seen before. They never complain; they use their initiative; they are motivated; and they’re very proud.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your operation and achievement, and what preventive www.businessday.ng

measures have you put in place for your staff and guests?

I think what is of foremost importance is to follow the COVID-19 protocols. We made a video which we have sent out to all our corporate clients. We disinfect the hotel every two months. We have our own designed face masks, sanitizers and gloves, and have continued day-today hygiene protocols, so that we can assure our staff and customers that they are in a safe environment.

I think this is important going forward, and this will never change.

It will not go away -- we also have to look at our offerings and service.

What is important is for all players in the hospitality industry which includes transportation, food, airlines, to do our best. We must keep working together to be able to continue the domestic business in Nigeria. We must ensure that Nigeria gets over this COVID-19. As a leading country in Africa, Nigeria must show to the world what we are capable of doing domestically and, that will attract the international business like we used to have.

What is different and unique about this hotel?

I’m proud about the huge mountain we have had to climb with COVID-19, working together with the CEO. I talk to him every day. I think this is important. As we are not able to plan our business, say

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monthly or quarterly, at this stage with COVID-19, we have to adopt day by day until it subsides.

In consultation with the CEO, we make decisions on a day to day basis for the business and for the staff to be able to survive and get through the toughest part of this pandemic.

I think things are easing off now, and improving day by day, and as things improve day by day, we will be coming up with strategies to make the Bristol Palace provide good quality service and food at a very reasonable price. This is the Bristol brand and we have been consistent.

Has the COVID-19 affected your revenue?

Absolutely, it has affected our revenue. As a result, I have only employed 25 percent of my full time staff. However, these last weeks we have brought back few people, and it is improving slowly. As it improves with our strategy, we hope that we will be able to get back the business model we had before COVID-19.

I don’t think we can ever talk about normalization again. What we have to do is to bring up a different plan, a plan to be able to brace up domestic business.

Nigeria has huge opportunities in domestic business. Being consistent with the Bristol 5-star brand, meeting, greeting our customers, getting feedbacks, we will continue to make

‘

I think Nigeria is in the right position to show to other African countries and to the world what it is capable of doing.

I have experience from all the staff I have worked with in this period of the pandemic to be able to continue working and improving under the conditions of COVID-19

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You have been in the hospitality industry in Africa for more than three decades. Could you please take us through the journey of your experience? was invited over to South Africa in November 1989 and I decided to have a holiday in South Africa and ended up staying in Africa for all these 31 years. I fell in love with the people in Africa. It absorbed me and, through this journey of running hotels, I got my degree in the United Kingdom, where I’m from, and I progressed.

I have been a general manager for the last 22 years in South Africa, Mozambique, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Nigeria twice. But my favourite is Nigeria. I love the way of connecting with the people of Nigeria especially in high-level business, and I have enjoyed it.

I welcomed the opportunity to return to Nigeria during a three-year break in Dubai working for Sheraton hotels.

The chairman called me and we spoke for 15 minutes and we connected straight away. He is a wonderful man. When I arrived, I met with the CEO, which is the son of the chairman. They are wonderful and humble business people.

This place I am now at Bristol Palace has presented the most enjoyable moments I have had in all my life. This is fourth year with the company and it really has been very challenging for all of us, but we have worked so hard to get to where Bristol Palace is today.

How unique is your Nigeria experience -- how many hotels have you managed here, and how successful have they been?

In my last 12 years, I have obviously become a trouble shooter in the hotel business and I have been called upon even at the Presidential levels in other countries I have been to, to resolve and sort out hotels that started up and have faded after few months and not been able to deliver these hotels to the owners’ expectation.

Such is this Bristol hotel. I arrived here 8 months after it opened, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the huge challenges of the Bristol Palace in Kano. I will not leave the Bristol Palace because of the people I am working with. The owners have given me 110 percent support and that is very fulfilling. As a result, we have come up to be among the top 3 hotels in Nigeria, at a five-star level but offering prices like a 3-star. We have only just started this journey and we

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sure that our services and offerings are of the best standard for them.

Slowly, we’ll do these and other things that we will need to improve to get to where we were before the COVID-19.

Since July 1st -- we now call this the post-COVID-19 operation of the Bristol Palace -- we have unique offerings for our guests who have suffered through the COVID-19.

Understanding our customers and continuing with our 5-star quality and brand, we will succeed.

What makes the Nigeria’s hotel business environment different from other countries that you have worked in Africa?

We have 54 countries in the Africa continent, and Nigeria is the number 1. I think Nigeria is in the right position to show to other African countries and to the world what it is capable of doing. I have experience from all the staff I have worked with in this period of the pandemic to be able to continue working and improving under the conditions of COVID-19. And we have been able to deliver that, and if we keep doing that with other people in the industry making effort to continue operating, we will succeed and also show to the world why we should be number 1 in the continent.

Had you been to Kano before your appointment to manage Bristol, and what would you say about Kano and its environment?

I had not been to Kano before, but I had been to Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and other places.

However, Kano is unique, but they are very proud people and it is good to be proud of who you are, because it gives you recognition and the rules of Kano as a northern Nigerian city is important.

It is important to get to know the people. They are wonderful people for their cultural heritage -- there is so much to know about Kano!

What legacy would you like to leave behind, seeing that you have committed yourself to the hospitality industry in Africa?

I think today, with the large conglomerates of branded hotels, hotels around the world are pretty much alike apart from the individuality of the country.

But African hospitality stands out -- the people are natural and delivering services comes from the heart. This is what I have experienced here in Kano, and this is what is making Bristol Palace unique. So we at Bristol Palace have already achieved this through Covid-19 and we will continue from growth to growth.

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Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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FINANCIAL TIMES

World Business Newspaper

US Supreme Court rules for handover of Trump tax returns

Blow for president but high court blocks similar subpoenas issued by Congress KADHIM SHUBBER

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he US Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Donald Trump’s financial records could be turned over to prosecutors in New York, dealing a blow to a president who has broken with decades of tradition by keeping his tax returns secret.

The high court said the president did not have immunity from a criminal grand jury investigation run by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which last year subpoenaed financial records held by Mr Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA. But in a second case, the high court temporarily blocked similar subpoenas issued by Congress.

Both decisions pointed towards further litigation in the pair of the cases, with the court sending the subpoenas back to the lower courts for additional proceedings.

With four months until the November election, the decisions may mean there will be no public revelations about Mr Trump’s financial affairs during an already difficult re-election battle — he has refused to release his tax returns, unlike other presidents and presidential candidates in the modern era.

Mr Trump’s appointees to the court, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, were in the majority in both cases, which were decided on a 7-2 vote.

Donald Trump and his lawyers have argued that the US president is broadly protected from legal scrutiny while in office. © Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg

Chief Justice John Roberts, delivering the court’s majority opinion in the Manhattan case, said: “Two hundred years ago, a great jurist of our court established that no citizen, not even the president, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding.

“We reaffirm that principle today and hold that the president is neither absolutely immune from state criminal subpoenas seeking his private papers nor entitled to a heightened standard of need.”

Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance said: “This is a tremendous victory for our nation’s system of justice and its founding principle that no one — not even a president — is above the law.”

Mr Trump decried the decision but vowed to continue fighting.

“This is all a political prosecution. I won the Mueller Witch Hunt, and others, and now I have to keep fighting in a politically corrupt New York. Not fair to this Presidency or Administration!” he tweeted, referencing the Russia probe conducted

by former special counsel Robert Mueller.

The president, a real estate tycoon and reality television star, came into office with an international business empire that has drawn claims he could be susceptible to influence peddling by foreign governments and questions about whether Russian money had flowed into his companies.

Mr Trump did not divest his holdings when he became president, instead moving his assets into a trust. His two sons continue to run

the Trump Organization, which operates a hotel in Washington among other locations. The president frequently visits his properties to play golf and at times host foreign leaders.

Three committees in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives had subpoenaed years of records relating to Mr Trump, his businesses and his family from Deutsche Bank, Capital One and Mazars.

Deutsche Bank has financed many of Mr Trump’s business ventures in recent decades. The German lender opened its doors to Mr Trump in the late 1990s, even as many US banks stopped dealing with his businesses after defaults on loans in several high-profile instances.

The congressional committees said they needed the information to consider legislation on foreign influence over US elections, foreign money laundering and conflicts of interest.

Daniel Hunter, a spokesman for Deutsche Bank, said on Thursday: “Deutsche Bank has demonstrated full respect for the US legal process and remained neutral throughout these proceedings. We will of course abide by a final decision by the courts.”

Mr Vance subpoenaed records from Mazars for an ongoing grand jury investigation related to the Trump Organization, the New Yorkbased family business.

The humbling of the Anglo-American world Abandonment of common sense during the pandemic has damaged the US and UK national brands EDWARD LUCE

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t takes effort to recapture how Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s hastened the demise of the Soviet Union.

Images of that triumphal moment are as fresh as yesterday. The atmospherics smell of another era. Yet it is worth the effort.

America and Britain’s poor responses to Covid-19 can be traced partly to post-cold war selfcongratulation — the belief that neither had much to learn from the rest of the world. In a few short months a microbe has exposed the underside to Anglo-American hubris. It could take far longer to undo the pandemic’s damage to their brands.

The tale is best captured graphically. With the exception of Sweden, continental Europe succeeded in May in flattening its infection curve. Its countries have been taking measured steps to keep it flat. Most of east Asia had already achieved that in April.

In America the curve was never beaten, yet half the country has given up trying. Britain eventually flattened its curve in June having reached the second-highest mortality rate in the world (America

If New Zealanders and Australians can wear masks, so could Americans and British © AP

is seventh and climbing). As is often its wont, Britain deployed Churchillian rhetoric to rally the public against Covid-19. In reality, the UK is now throwing caution to the winds on the beaches, on the streets and on the landing grounds.

Corporate brands take years to build but can be broken in short order. The national brands of America and Britain are the product of centuries. Self-belief gives them a greater appetite for risk than found in non-anglophone democracies such as Germany, Spain, France, Japan or Italy. But it is producing worse outcomes. Each of the latter has living memory of defeat, ocwww.businessday.ng

cupation, revolution and failure.

National identity is what separates the US and UK from other English-speaking democracies.

Australia and New Zealand, which have been models of competence against Covid-19, are relatively young nations that struggled until recently to shed their “cultural cringe” to mother England. Canada’s self-image is bound up with not being America.

The pandemic record of these three English-speaking democracies belies the notion that “AngloSaxon cultures” are too individualistic to stick to social distancing.

If New Zealanders and Australians

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can wear masks, so could Americans and British. Ignoring common sense never used to be an anglophone stereotype. What separates the US and the UK from other democracies is extravagant selfbelief. Half a millennium of potted history tells Anglo-Americans they are destined always to be on the winning side. It blinds both to how the rest of the world increasingly views them, which is with sadness and growing mockery.

After pride comes the fall. What is the remedy? Just as humans can learn from their mistakes, nations can recover from episodes of overconfidence. Some scholars have likened America and Britain’s premature relaxation of social distancing to a failure of Stanford University’s marshmallow test.

Five-year-olds were offered the choice between one marshmallow now or two marshmallows a few minutes later. Most children chose to eat one now. Follow-up studies showed that kids who resisted temptation proved far more successful in their adult lives. Much the same applies to the fate of our pandemic economies.

Societies that have followed guidelines have returned to seminormal without triggering new waves of infection. Where outbreaks occur, lockdowns are quick@Businessdayng

ly reimposed. Children have gone back to school in Denmark, Germany and other countries that took early lockdown measures. Some, such as Taiwan, did not have to close their schools in the first place.

Britain and the US are acting as though there is a trade-off between lockdown and economic growth. In reality, there is a premium to patience. Public health and economic growth are complementary. The more effective the lockdown, the more confidently you can reopen your economy.

That is what comes from observing other countries. Donald Trump is calling for America’s schools to reopen now. Yet he dismisses the benefits of testing, contact tracing and social distancing — all of which would make it safe to reopen sooner. Boris Johnson’s signalling is little better. British pubs are teeming again. Wearing masks is not routine. Testing remains expensive. Neither leader can resist the marshmallow now. I do not know whether Mr Trump and Mr Johnson are unable to understand best practice, or if they are wilfully ignoring it. The outcome is just as bad.

The US and Britain are abandoning habits that once made them objects of envy. Chief among these was common sense.

Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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FINANCIAL TIMES

COMPANIES & MARKETS

@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED

Global stocks slide after jump in Florida Covid deaths

Shares in China outperformed, but other markets take negative turn PHILIP GEORGIADIS JOSHUA OLIVER, ERIC PLATT AND DANIEL SHANE

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lobal stocks slid on Thursday after an uptick of coronavirus deaths in Florida rekindled fears that the outbreak could hinder the fragile US economic recovery.

The S&P 500 dropped 1 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq turned an earlier 0.8 per cent gain into a 0.2 per cent drop, with investors instead seeking out sovereign debt including US Treasuries and German Bunds.

States including Florida, Texas and Arizona have suffered a rise in coronavirus cases for some time, but without a related acceleration in deaths. But news on Thursday that Florida had recorded its biggest single-day jump in Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic serves as a warning that the impact of the outbreak could still deepen.

That put the S&P 500 on track for its worst day in just under two weeks. Investors shifted into haven assets as a result, with

US stocks stumbled on Thursday © AP

yields on the 10-year Treasury declining 0.05 percentage points to 0.62 per cent.

The dollar also gained, rising 0.3 per cent against the euro, and commodity prices declined.

Brent, the international crude oil benchmark, fell 1.8 per cent to $42.51 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate, the US marker,

slipped 2.7 per cent to $39.78 per barrel.

The data also dented shares in Europe. The composite Stoxx 600 declined 0.8 per cent, Paris’s CAC 40 slid 1.1 per cent and London’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.7 per cent.

The declines contrasted with the continued rally in mainland

China shares, kick-started earlier this week by enthusiastic backing for the stock market by state-backed Chinese media.

The CSI 300 index rose 1.4 per cent on Thursday, taking this week’s gains for Shanghai and Shenzhen-listed stocks to more than 9 per cent. The latest upswing came after official data

from China showed that factory gate deflation eased during June.

“With fiscal stimulus and infrastructure spending still ramping up, we think that economic activity and producer prices are set to recover further in the coming months,” said Martin Rasmussen, China economist at Capital Economics.

But other analysts cautioned that a surging stock market may prompt policymakers to think twice before unleashing further stimulus measures such as cuts in the amount of reserves banks were required to hold.

“Although Beijing needs booming stock markets to boost confidence and channel capital to the business sector, it may also be concerned that an unbridled stock market boom followed by a bust could sabotage its efforts to return the economy to normal,” said Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura.

China’s onshore-traded renminbi strengthened 0.3 per cent and passed the important seven-to-the-dollar marker for the first time since March, reaching 6.9852.

United Airlines to send lay-off warnings to 36,000 staff Furloughs to be triggered after jobs guarantee as part of industry rescue package ends on October 1 CLAIRE BUSHEY

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nited Airlines plans to furlough up to 36,000 workers, or just under half of its US workforce, as it contends with a pandemic that has decimated demand for air travel.

The Chicago-based company on Wednesday said it would send furlough warning notices to 15,100 flight attendants, 11,000 in airport operations and 2,250 pilots. Other affected employees include catering, aeroplane mechanics, flight network operators and call centre customer service representatives.

Not everyone who received a notice would be furloughed, United said. The company and unions representing pilots and flight attendants are attempting to increase participation in voluntary leave and early retirement programmes. The airline expects to take a $300m charge in the second quarter related to voluntary employee terminations, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

“Our primary goal throughout this crisis has been to ensure United — and the jobs it supports — are here when customers are flying again,” the com-

pany said.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents United’s flight attendants, said the airline’s “projected furlough numbers are a gut punch, but they are also the most honest assessment we’ve seen on the state of the industry”.

The reality is that United simply cannot continue at our current payroll level past October 1 in an environment where travel www.businessday.ng

demand is so depressed United Airlines Passenger numbers at airlines worldwide plummeted this spring as governments imposed stay-at-home orders to curb the spread of Covid-19. Airlines slashed capacity but continued to burn tens of millions of dollars in daily expenses.

The potential furloughs at United will not take effect until October 1. The US government

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passed a $2tn aid package in March that included $50bn for the airline industry. Airline executives agreed when they took the public funds that they would not lay off employees or cut their pay until September 30.

United is receiving $5bn from the portion of the funds from the package meant to guarantee payrolls, and plans to take an additional $4.5bn in low-interest loans. @Businessdayng

United is not the first US airline to announce potential job cuts. American Airlines said last week that in the autumn it would have 20,000 more front-line workers than it needs to operate.

United said July capacity was down 75 per cent compared with the same month in 2019. Scheduled capacity for August is 65 per cent of last year’s.

“And now, given the recent resurgence of Covid-19 cases across the country, it’s increasingly likely that travel demand will not return to normal until there is a widely available treatment or vaccine,” the company said. “The reality is that United simply cannot continue at our current payroll level past October 1 in an environment where travel demand is so depressed.”

Captain Todd Insler, chairman of the master executive council for the union representing 13,000 of United’s pilots, said in message to members that it was “corporate triage”.

“None of the pilots notified today of their anticipated furlough are in this situation because of any action or decision on their part. With different luck, timing or circumstances, it could be any one of us,” he said.

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Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

LEADINGWOMAN

HE Olufolake Abdulrazaq, on a mission to impact the people of Kwara positively for the betterment of the state mittee has been working on and they are doing a fantastic job. We have a lot of other groups that are involved in this activity, including the governor, obviously, the governor as head of the entire government is well aware of what is going on and we’re trying our best to curb this menace. Recently in 2018, UNODC did a survey and Kwara was seen to have a 13 percent drug prevalent rate and therefore, we were judged to be the highest in the North Central zone of Nigeria. In 2019, it became something that was on the back of our mind that we really needed to work on this and get to the bottom of it. So, that is why we started a lot of initiatives, making sure that a lot of youths are effectively engaged in grassroot sports and youth centres. They need avenues with which to channel their creativity. It’s very important we put in avenues with which to engage our youths so that they do not go towards the negative curve. Apart from youth centers, there is also a need to create jobs.

When you channel their energy into something positive, this is what works. The young people are generally restless; they need avenues with which to engage, so you cannot close off society from them. They need to be part of the discussion.

KEMI AJUMOBI Her Excellency, Dr Olufolake Abdulrazaq, wife, mother, diplomat and First Lady of Kwara State, was born on the 2nd of August, 1967 in Lagos, South West Nigeria and proceeded to the United States where she started her early education and later returned to Nigeria to complete same.

Abdulrazaq was admitted into the University of Lagos where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in History in 1988 after which she proceeded for her one year mandatory National Youth Service Corp at the 1st Mechanized Infantry Division, Nigerian Army, Kaduna from 1988 to 1989.

In 1990, she bagged a Postgraduate Diploma in Mass Communication before she proceeded to acquire a master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy in 1991, all at the prestigious University of Lagos. On 5th of October 2019, Olufolake Abdulrazaq was conferred with Doctor of science Honoris Causa (DSC Hons) in Excellent Governance and social empowerment by the European American University.

Olufolake started her public service career in 1993 at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where through hard work, dedication and forthrightness, ascended the ladder to the peak of her chosen career.

Abdulrazaq was the third secretary/foreign service officer at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lagos liaison office from 1994 – 1998, where she proceeded to the Nigerian High Commission, London, where she served as Counsellor; Political Affairs, Trade, Investment and Administration from 1998 to 2004.

From November 2017 to September 2018, she served as the acting Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abuja; she was also the Acting Director and Head Trade, investment and economic cooperation division from September 2018 to April 2019.

While serving in South Africa, France and the United Kingdom, Abdulrazaq has been commended as part of the team that organised successful presidential visits to these countries, she is also the Alternate Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the board of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission.

Olufolake Abdulrazaq is currently the Director, Economic Consular and Legal Department, a position she has been holding since March 2019. She is a lover of family, children, sports and all creative endeavours and has in many ways impacted the lives of the indigent and less privileged in the society.

The ascension of her husband Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to the office of the Executive Governor of Kwara State, presented an avenue for her to broaden her humanitarian work through her office as the First Lady, and her personal initiative called Ajike People’s Support centre, where through a well thought out strategy and an all-inclusive selection process, she hopes to reach even more indigent people.

I

In the beginning was born in Lagos, during the Civil War, over 50 years ago and it was a lovely childhood. Not long after, my dad went to the US as an information attaché to the embassy of the United States of America where I went with him.

Much of my early childhood was there and he inspired me so much because apart from being the information attaché, he was also a prolific writer and he used to have so many stage plays in so many places around the US. I remember going with him to the University of Massachusetts to watch one of his plays. His plays were on Voice of America and so many others. So, those were my enduring memories as a child and I told him, (I think when I was seven), that I wanted to become a diplomat. We returned to Nigeria and the rest of my schooling was in Lagos. I did a first degree in history, and I did a postgraduate diploma in mass communication, and then I did a master’s in international law and diplomacy and then later on I got the doctorates in good governance and social development. While I did that, we went ahead to get the necessary forms for me to join the foreign service.

Getting into diplomacy It was lovely to get into. You have

representation from all the states of Nigeria and you go for training.

Basically, the training for me, was what I had done in my masters in international law and diplomacy.

So, a lot of it was similar. You have to go for a training to be a full-fledged foreign service officer and diplomat, and over the 28 years, I’ve served in different departments and I’ve been posted to different countries around the world, served in places like South Africa, the UK, France, and also, I’ve gone on different diplomatic trainings in different countries like Germany and Greece. Sometimes, you do exchange programs and all that. I’ve served in various offices such the office of the honourable minister, permanent secretary and other such highranking offices.

Being First Lady of Kwara State I’ve been in government for 28 years and always exposed, at the highest level too. So, it wasn’t a huge transition. For the governor, he has always been an international businessman. His background is in oil and gas management. He was an oil magnate and his company was the first indigenous oil company in Nigeria.

So, He’s always used to being very busy, active, and always traveling because his job entailed that anyway. So, I wasn’t worried as www.businessday.ng

per capacity or as per what we’re going to bring to the table, as we were already practically in that environment.The only thing is, a lot of the times, your time is not your own anymore.

The governor drove himself to the inauguration, which made headlines because he has this attitude of being very simple and always likes to drive himself. So, he jumped into the car, I jumped next to him and the kids jumped into the back and we practically just drove ourselves to the inauguration and that made headlines about how simple he is. I think everybody can see that that is his nature, the simplicity that he brings to the job.

The first day was very amazing, it was good to meet everybody and it was very obvious that there was this quest for this type of development and for this type of change in Kwara. It was fantastic and everybody was on board. The support has been immense and I’m very happy with how everybody has been supporting across the board, helping with the vision for the state and it’s been great to that effect.

Ajike Centre I have to thank family members and so many other people who actually said, apart from being the First Lady, you also need to do something that would give you an

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additional platform to reach more people. I’m people-oriented, so, it was fantastic to have that idea to set up this additional platform with which to reach people. I had some people who came up to me, brought me a concept as well and they’re still part of Ajike now and they’re doing a fantastic job. This was the genesis of how we came about Ajike, and it’s basically for me to be able to reach more vulnerable groups like women, youth, and children.

I talk about the youth a lot because I have a lot of youths around me, and like have them in everything that I do. The youths are our future, so the more we engage them, the better it is. So, that was why we did Ajike. I wanted to do things like skill acquisition for women, I wanted to be able to empower our children and reach the youth because I happen to be matron of many organisations, so, I knew I had to reach the youths.

They are my target audience when I’m talking about drugs and sporting activities. We’ve done a lot on grassroots sports like softball, baseball, table-tennis, football, and this is the reason why Ajike is functioning.

Youths in substance abuse and cyber crime I am the matron of the Drug Eradication Committee in Kwara and this is something that the com@Businessdayng

Increase in rape cases in recent times This is a contending issue that we’re all working on at the moment. We noticed that during this period of Covid-19, rape cases seem to spike. We started hearing about rape cases left, right, and centre, including the rape of young children and babies.

The last case which has just been solved was the rape of a threemonth-old baby. Thankfully, the man was caught, but the baby needs so many surgeries. It is so inhuman. It is ungodly. It is a terrible crime against humanity.

We had actually been working on sexual and gender-based violence since last year. We did a huge walk against gender-based violence with the involvement of some celebrities with a lot of sensitization. With the Northern Governors’ Wife Forum as well, we did a sensitization video with the First Lady of Nigeria. So, this spike that we’ve now seen during the Covid-19 became so terrible that we had to do something. All the First Ladies came together and issued a communique and a certain agenda that we were going to follow; we formed what is called the Nigerian Governors Wives Against G ender-based Violence. We wrote to the Governors Forum who got together and declared a state of emergency on rape and gender-based violence, and this had spurred on activities in all the states to make sure that this becomes a front burner issue that needs to be tackled.

Friday 10 July 2020

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AGRIBUSINESSINSIGHT Market Insights

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Send in Commentaries to caleb.ojewale@businessdayonline.com

COVID-19 exposes flaws in Nigeria’s dependence on rain fed agriculture Stories by CALEB OJEWALE Twiiter: @calebtinolu

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OVID-19 or not, the rains and seasons will wait for no farmer, and now it appears more strategic control needs to be established, for instance, placing an emphasis on irrigation for farming in Nigeria.

Agriculture is a time bound activity, particularly in places like Nigeria where rain fed agriculture is predominantly practised. However, with disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it became difficult for people to follow the climatic calendar needed for crop food production activities.

“The rains are here and we depend mainly or mostly on rain for agriculture. The rains are not going to wait for us,” said Manzo Maigari, director general, Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG).

According to Kabir Ibrahim, national president, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), COVID-19 is not what brought out the issue of Nigeira’s nonperformance in all year round crop production. “It has been our culture and we did not pay attention to the dry season production,” he said. The country over the years,

largely neglected the utilisation of dams and other water bodies that should have been used to drive food production.

What COVID-19 has revealed according to Ibrahim, is “a wakeup call that we should not only wait for the rain fed agriculture, we should be able to do this all year round so that we will have food”.

According to the Ministry of Water resources Nigeria has about 264 dams with a combined storage capacity of 33 BCM of water for multipurpose use that includes Water Supply, Irriga-

tion, Hydropower, fisheries, ecotourism etc out of which 210 are owned by the Federal Government, 34 by the States and 20 by private organizations.

These dams have about 350,000 hectares of irrigable land around the vicinities ready for development.

While not all of these dams were designed strictly for agriculture, as some have hydroelectric purposes, these facilities remain grossly underutilised, despite Nigeria’s need to muster all available resources for agricultural development.

“What is the ministry of water’s plan for the reservoirs and the dams?” remarked Sani Dangote, vice president, Dangote Group, “The ministry of agriculture is completely disconnected from the ministry of water resources.”

With over 230 dams in the country, how many of them are utilised for agricultural purpose, he wondered, further saying even the few in use for irrigation most farmers still have to draw their own water lines because the supply is not fully organised.

Bello Abubakar, president, Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN) had also noted that in areas where the rain started earlier like the South/South and the Southwest where they plant earlier than the Northern side of the country, due to COVID-19 challenges, many maize farmers were unable to go to their farms. While some of had started and were even set for planting, the challenge of lockdowns made it difficult to access their farms or source inputs from suppliers, which also made it difficult to plant.

Again, the lack of control or ready access to an alternative through irrigation, meant farmers were rendered helpless and in panic mode.

When Agribusiness Insight

published projections of leaders of some commodity associations in the country, Segun Adewumi, nati o na l p re si d e nt, Nig e r ia Cassava Growers Association (NCGA) was one of the exceptions to the declines in productivity being anticipated.

The only problem identified

by Adewunmi, was the rainfall pattern, which had not been consistent enough for farmers to carry out necessary planting activities. This view was also shared by AFAN’s Ibrahim, who not only hoped the rains will not affect productivity, but for the general projection on productivity not to be worsened.

However, if irrigation facilities were in place for year round farming, disruptions such as those caused by the pandemic would hamper activities, but not make the situation completely hopeless for some.

As recommended by Maigari, the Nigerian government has to take very radical steps in order to ensure the country does not face a food crisis next year. “Like I said, the rains are not going to wait and if you look at the turnaround time to get some of these inputs, it’s quite a big challenge,” he emphasised, expressing hope that things get better in the nearest future.

8 ways COVID-19 will impact agriculture in Nigeria - PwC

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report on ‘Responding to the impact of COVID-19 on food security and agriculture in Nigeria’ by PwC, has highlighted eight ways the sector could be impacted by the pandemic, highlighting areas of urgent attention to minimise the negative impacts. Published in June, the report noted that prior to COVID-19, Nigeria’s agricultural sector has been affected by several challenges from drought to flooding and insecurity from the Boko Haram crisis, cattle rustling and farmer-herders clashes. The outbreak of COVID-19 could however, further exacerbate the challenges of the country’s agricultural sector.

Some of the highlights from the report are reproduced below.

Degraded 2020 farming season and possible effect on food availability from Q3 2020 The farming season in Nigeria varies with crops and across the different regions of the country, with maize for instance planted from march/April in the country’s south and harvested between June and August. The situation is slightly different up North where planting kicks off by May/June

and harvesting is done August/ September.

However, movement restrictions that affected the commencement of planting as should be done, also included shortages of farm labour for the current farming season. This disruption to the farming calendar could manifest in availability of agricultural produce in the market from the third quarter of this year, which has already started (i.e July).

The report noted this is worrisome due to the ban on importation of major food products and the depletion of the strategic food reserves. It also noted that local agro-industrial players could www.businessday.ng

face shortages of key inputs or raw materials for production.

Hike in food prices Following speculative buying as a result of the lockdown order, food inflation rose to an average of 15 percent Year-on-Year in April.

With the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated effects such as the interstate movement restrictions, the disruption to the rainy season farming and the logistics challenges associated with domestic food distribution, there is a tendency for food prices to increase over the course of the year. This, the report noted could further worsen the poverty level in the country.

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Disruption in food and supply chain According to the FAO, the inability to distribute food in Nigeria is one of the reasons for food insecurity and the high cost of food. With the distortion caused by COVID-19, the distribution of food across the country could deteriorate in the coming months.

The infrastructure needed to preserve and store agricultural products in Nigeria is grossly inadequate. The incidence of postharvest loses and food wastages exist along the value chain and it is estimated that about 70 percent of fresh agricultural produce get spoilt on the roads. These bottlenecks cause losses for farmers while consumers have to settle for less at inflated prices.

Depletion of the strategic food reserve The Federal Government ordered the release of about 70,000 metric tonnes of mostly grains, drawing down on its grain reserves. The phenomena of leaving little or no grain in storage has been a trend over the years, but poses a serious threat to food security especially in period of uncertainties and where @Businessdayng

there is small harvest.

With COVID-19, the rate of depletion of food reserves may run faster than the rate of replacement, due to low agricultural productivity in the country.

Decline in export earnings from agribusiness The decline in export earnings is estimated to be driven by a combination of declining prices and dampened demand by import partners. Exports of cocoa, cashew and sesame are predicted to decline significantly because of decrease in prices due to falling demand from importing countries.

In 2018, these three commodities generated about $800 million in foreign exchange and accounted for about 70 percent of the country’s agricultural exports, according to the report. However, dwindling demand from Europe has been predicted by the Nigerian Export promotion council to slice off about $100 million from cocoa exports alone.

Continues online at www. businessday.ng

22

Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

HEALTH BUSINESS&LIFE

‘A country without food security and dependents on imports for medicine is unsafe’ Nigeria’s lack of self-sufficiency in medicine weakens Africa’s most populous country’s ability to rapidly and effectively deal with national public health emergencies such as Ebola and COVID-19. In this interview FIDELIS AKHAGBOSO AYEBAE, chief executive officer of Fidson Healthcare Plc. analyses both challenges and solutions to speed up local pharmaceutical manufacturing in Nigeria. He spoke to ANTHONIA OBOKOH. Excerpts:

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igeria currently imports a huge percentage of its active and nonactive ingredients from China and India. With the current coronavirus outbreak, do you think there is a call for concern?

Hundred percent of active ingredients are from China and India. I am in a very privileged position, so I know what fight the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has had with the government in the last 10 years.

Every successive chairman has always advocated and fought for made-in- Nigeria pharmaceutical products, but we have often always hit a roadblock because someone in government will ask you if you have capacity.

What does it take to build capacity in the pharmaceutical industry? It does not take anything. With the small capacity I have, people are not buying made-in- Nigeria and the government too is not patronising and protecting made-in -Nigeria. So how do I ramp it up?

We are tired of telling people to be smart, Nigerians are the smartest people in the world. Now, coronavirus has started and everyone is claiming to be patriotic with the greatest ideas. This is something we have been singing as a song 20 years ago: Develop made-in Nigeria pharmaceutical products because after food it is medicine.

If you are not secured in food and your medicines as a country and you are dependent on imports, you are not a safe country. You cannot protect your people in terms of crisis and we have seen about three crises, but the well-known ones are Ebola and Coronavirus.

There is no research and development (RD) in Nigeria and the reason is that we are largely a generic manufacturing country.

How can Nigeria curtail proliferation of fake drugs that have been affecting sales in the industry negatively?

It is only support for local manufacturing that can stop fake drugs in Nigeria.

Let me give you an example.

Over 10 years ago, the importation of unfinished paracetamol products was banned. There were 18 products, but then two or three products were released through the back door. So, 15 or 16 products were permanently restricted from importation. There have not been scarcities of these products in Nigeria since that time.

So, what is the fear that we have in this country? If we did this 10 years ago when the industrialisation of manufacturing was low, why not now that a lot of pharmaceutical industries have ramped up their capacities and improved their standards?

So, importation of some products should necessarily be curtailed. Let’s forget about this rancor about capaci-

Fidelis Akhagboso Ayebae

ties. If 10 years ago the industry met the needs, today there is not imported paracetamol, metronidazole and the rest in the market, and no scarcity is being recorded. And they are cheap, affordable.

Do the same thing for anti-malaria.

Billions of Naira has been spent on importing. I can hazard a guess that over N100 billion is being spent on importation of finished anti-malaria into the country annually and you have over 160 manufacturers that can give you the same products at affordable rates, languishing.

Where are the low-hanging fruits in the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry?

We turn out very low hanging fruits.

Nigeria’s hanging fruits are very high.

I can tell you because I am on both sides of the divide. You borrow money at 20+ percent. No electricity, you have to generate your own power. No treated water from the government, you have to generate your water, and treat it. Yet some state governments are asking you to pay tax on water you drilled from boreholes.

The low hanging fruits for local manufacturers could simply be for the government and The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to put together about 50 products that we have capacities for and that Nigerians consume a lot. Take those 50 products and restrict importation, and the industry will then begin to grow. In that way, we will attract more investors into the industry.

So, you can go for those very low hanging fruits, which is very easy to do. The capacities are available; the products are generic so you do not need any speciality to do them. The industries will begin to boom. What does it then do? It gradually takes you into research and development and into ability to manufacture or to invest in specialised products.

Fidson healthcare has returned to profitability despite declining sales, according to your 2019 financial statement. What are the things you did right?

What happened in 2018, as we explained before, was a glitch in our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). www.businessday.ng

We had it then just newly installed and, for some strange reasons, the implementation was badly done to the extent that nobody saw some of the things we should have seen until it was too late — until the fourth quarter actually. And because we are a very accountable company, we then did a test of the system and saw that there was a problem.

Basically, maybe it was doubly counted and the pricing of that particular product was affected. Because the pricing was affected, the choice that we then had was to manually look at everything. We then discovered that we needed to adjust.

So that adjustment was to be done in 2018. We made a loss not because there was a rare or actual loss but a system error. So, the system error was responsible for the 2018 loss.

Twenty-nineteen was a difficult year, but then we were still able to do what we did because, as usual, we managed our cost properly and we also were able to bring down our cost of funding which was about N1.9 billion in 2018 but now N1.4 billion in 2019.

Hopefully, this year, we are looking at something significantly lower, something that will cost N1 billion for the cost of funding. So, we were able to manage loans better with cheaper loans like the Bank of Industries (BOI) loans and other finance support whose interest rate was around 15 percent. Things are generally better and well managed.

As the CEO, what innovations have you brought to the company?

Nigeria is a country where we throw words around. What every businessman is basically doing in Nigeria is managing their cost better than before. It is a continuous obsession with cost optimisation because the truth is that you can manage very little in a country which is perpetually in a crisis mode? So, to be honest, what most of us do is to see a better way of managing our cost.

Look at turnaround time of your various deliveries. Things that hinder your deliveries in two months before suddenly become three months. So what do you do with the congested ports? What makes most of us chief https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

executive offices (CEOs) look the way we are most of the time are the structural problems in Nigeria.

Most CEOs are not bad business managers. But when you have structural problems that make it very difficult to manage your problems, you will struggle. The only two ports we have are congested.

For pharmaceuticals, you cannot clear from Tin Can; you can only clear pharmaceuticals in Apapa port.

You then find a situation where your ships land in Apapa, but because of congestion, the ship is diverted to Tin Can Island to unload.

Until we stop being in a perpetual mode of crisis in this country, there is no innovation. Our innovation is all about how we fight self-inflicted crisis in Nigeria and we are perpetually fighting those crises. Even if you have new ideas to implement, you cannot implement them with the current atmosphere.

We have coronavirus in 2020. The virus has created a situation where the main manufacturer of EPI in the world is based in China because most countries of the world import from China, including India. India consumption of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API), to the tune of 70 percent, comes from China.

So Nigeria’s consumption of APIs comes from between India and China because we do not manufacture APIs at all. Just when we thought we were starting business, we were confronted with the coronavirus scare that is causing a problem in the world, and businesses are on a stand still.

As I speak to you, raw materials costs have risen by at least 100 percent. Some have doubled while others have tripled, but some of these costs cannot be passed onto the consumers. This is because your products will not sell and because your products are not likely to sell given the current situation. These products have a shelf life, so you cannot keep them forever.

You know pharmaceuticals have shelf life. Some of them are six months; some of them are one year; 18 months, and two years. So you are going to manage within all of these.

What are some of the pressing changes you would like to see in the pharmaceutical industry?

Hopefully, the policy makers are learning from the current crisis. This same crisis was there at the time of Ebola. When the big manufacturers of APIs in the world, whether China or India, stopped exporting APIs and we got into trouble.

We made so much noise saying Nigeria had no medicine security, but we went back to our old ways after the crisis and the country did not do anything about it. Government did not provide an enabling environment for manufacturing to thrive.

There is no way that any country with over 200 million citizens can survive on imports. You have to manufacture your things locally to some certain percentage. Is it 20 percent?

Is it 50 percent? Step by step, you can get there. But what we find is that we have been paying lip service to local manufacturing.

Except for the entrepreneurs who @Businessdayng

have taken the risk to establish factories to manufacture, every other person from government official to policy maker to civil servants is paying lip service to local manufacturing and capacity building.

When we come to who the real people manufacturing in this country today are, you find out that mostly they are foreigners. Every Nigerian that has money takes it to treasury bills. We need a total reorientation of what it takes to build a nation.

Why should Nigerians patronise local pharmaceutical products?

Nigerians should look at the Indians of this world. It is the best example. Malaysia is another example. Then you have Indonesia and Vietnam. These countries basically love themselves more than other people.

The patriotic zeal of an average Nigerian is very low, from the elite to the poor. Everyone wants to buy imported products and the truth is that there’s a standard for these imported products.

As it concerns pharmaceuticals, the standards are exactly the same as imported ones because there is only one standard for pharmaceuticals across the board.

Everyone should remember that we have only one country called Nigeria, only one country that our children can be free and proud of and express themselves without reservations.

How has drug regulation impacted local manufacturing?

NAFDAC is the saving grace of local manufacturing. If NAFDAC doesn’t exist or is not doing its jobs, though there is still room for improvement, local manufacturing could have been extinct. The country could have been filled with a lot of fake and substandard products more than it is today.

There is room for improvement and the area where NAFDAC should improve, it must improve. I will suggest it listens less to international propaganda. One of the international propaganda that is out there about standards of manufacturing in Nigeria is on anti-high Nigeria.

We may not be as sophisticated in terms of the investment level as South Africa, but Nigerian-made products are comparable in terms of quality and presentation with those of South Africa, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco.

International politics keeps telling us to increase our standards.

The one that we already have that meets the basic GMP patronage is low. How do you then attain WHO GMP? People are busy borrowing, yet regulation is becoming more stringent. The white men are not as stringent but we take it for granted that their food and drugs authorities are stringent regulators.

We are better than these people, so NAFDAC should love Nigeria more, love manufactures more, apply stringent regulations but also know the disadvantage to which we are placed against imported products. The rate at which we have opened our doors to be raped by importers is not the way the country will ever grow. Drug security can never be attained that way.

Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

23

MONEYINSIGHT How clean energy delivers long term economic development, new jobs sustainably Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) has launched a new guide that shows how African countries can leverage on clean energy investments to expand their gross domestic product (GDP) through economic activities that create thousands of jobs and reflates the economy post-COVID-19. The Viennaheadquartered organisation launched the ‘Recover Better’ guide on June 30. STEPHEN ONYEKWELU highlights key themes in the guide.

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ustainable Energy for All has developed the Recover Better with Sustainable Energy Guide for African Countries to aid these countries as they develop post COVID-19 recovery plans and stimulus packages. The guide is part of a series which includes guides for countries in the Caribbean and Southeast Asia to be released soon.

Released on June 30, the Recover Better with Sustainable Energy Guide for African Countries says countries that commit to an ambitious recover better strategy today can deliver long term economic growth, new jobs, and sustainable energy for all in the long-term.

This is critical for Africa after COVID-19. The Recover Better guide has highlighted the deep regional divide in energy access progress. Africa is a region full of promise and a growing economic powerhouse, yet this progress will be stifled without access to sufficient, reliable and affordable energy.

In the Recover Better, SEforALL recommends that governments profit from the COVID-19 crisis by adopting and ensuring a successful energy transition. To achieve this goal, African countries need to improve on the ease of doing business. This means that governments need to strive towards creating a supportive business environment that ensures fast investment inflows. This entails significantly reducing red tape, reducing the number of permits required and time it takes to get permits or waivers (if available) for renewable energy and clean cooking equipment and appliances.

African countries are strongly advised to set robust policies and empower national institutions to drive development.

Governments need to work to establish or empower institutions such as regulators and rural electrification agencies to ensure the right frameworks are in place to successfully drive the development of renewables, increased electrification and access to clean cooking.

offered by the sun.

“Nigeria is committed to the full utilisation of this abundant solar energy source. The Federal Government has already removed fossil fuel subsidies and included five million solar connections in our postCOVID-19 economic sustainability plan – first steps to new jobs and a cleaner, healthier environment. We commend Sustainable Energy for All for producing this practical ‘Recover Better’ guide that will help African governments close the energy access gap and deliver economic growth for the benefit of our people.”

Damilola Ogunbiyi, chief executive and special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy

“COVID-19 has changed the world as we knew it. As countries rebuild economies from the impact of the pandemic, they are faced with a unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity to ‘Recover Better’ with sustainable energy”, said Damilola Ogunbiyi, chief executive and special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy.

“There has never been a better time to invest in clean, efficient renewable energy.

Countries that recover better with sustainable energy will see the payoff in the form of resilient economies, new jobs, and faster energy development. By making this investment, African countries can develop a competitive advantage,” Ogunbiyi said.

Other recommendations in the Recover Better guide include the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies. With the price of oil at its lowest in 18 years; governments must take this opportunity to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. When the price www.businessday.ng

of fossil fuels rises again, governments should refrain from re-introducing the subsidy.

A movement towards costreflective tariffs has also been recommended as an important factor to reap the fruits in the Recover Better guide. The natural tendency for countries could be to cut the cost of electricity, but this should be avoided. The reality is that electricity is largely consumed by wealthier households, industrial or commercial clients.

Governments are then persuaded to allow cost-reflective tariffs that enhance utilities to perform better and increases investments in energy access and clean energy.

The Recover Better with Sustainable Energy Guide for African Countries makes a case for investment in robust data and recommends the declaration of a moratorium on new coal-fired power. Other forms of investments go to energy efficiency and in people so they can take advantage of new clean energy jobs.

The latest data on Sustainable Development Goal 7

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(SDG7) – access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030 – shows that progress in Africa is still off track to meet global targets. Over 565 million people still lack access to electricity, and a further 900 million lack clean cooking solutions.

The pandemic risks setting progress even further behind.

By acting on the enabling measures put forward in The Recover Better with Sustainable Energy Guide, countries across Africa will benefit from increased gross domestic product, affordable energy provision, and improved agriculture, gender and health outcomes.

This re-set can also spark progress at the speed and scale needed to meet SDG7 and help put the global economy on a trajectory in line with the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

On the launch of the guide, Yemi Osinbajo, vice President of Nigeria said COVID-19 has presented a unique opportunity to accelerate the transition to that clean, affordable, reliable and renewable energy source @Businessdayng

The global economy is increasingly being powered by clean and efficient sources of energy. According to some research outcomes, dollar for dollar investments in clean energy creates three times the number of jobs compared to fossil fuels. Every 1,000 customers connected to decentralised energy solutions – solar home systems or solar minigrids – supports approximately 25 jobs.

A m i n a J. Mo h a m m e d , Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations, said, “access to sustainable energy is pivotal to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. As we work to recover better from the impacts of COVID-19, African countries have the opportunity to drive faster progress on the energy transition with efficient, renewable energy that protects the most vulnerable, delivers sustainable growth and support climate action.”

Similarly, Riccardo Puliti, World Bank Global Director for Energy and Extractive Industries and Regional Director for Infrastructure in Africa said “access to energy is crucial for Africa to recover from the ongoing health, economic and social challenges caused by the pandemic. We welcome this new guide from Sustainable Energy for All that outlines ways in which African countries can seize this unique moment, and in return, unleash economic growth with clean, sustainable energy.”

24

Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Hotels

‘It is going to be a long, slow recovery for hospitality industry’ No doubt, the hospitality industry is among the worst hit by the impact of coronavirus pandemic since the first quarter of this year. As countries are now relaxing travel restrictions and restarting their economies, there seems to be hope of recovery for the industry. In this interview with Obinna Emelike, Trevor Ward, managing director, W Hospitality Group, x-rays the industry’s current position, the impact, trends, recovery among other related issues.

No doubt, Covid-19 has dealt a deadly blow on the global hospitality industry with huge revenue and job loses. In your view, how much is the impact on the African and Nigerian hospitality industry? he impact differs from country to country, but in general terms Africa and Nigeria have fared much worse than the USA, but about the same as Europe. STR released some statistics a few weeks ago that said that whilst in the USA 17 percent of hotels had closed, and the balance were achieving 37 percent room occupancy, in Africa 80 percent were closed and those still trading were achieving 14 percent occupancy – a huge difference.

The reason the data paint such a different story is that in several African countries, including Nigeria, governments have ordered hotels to close, and the domestic and international flights have stopped operating (plus in Nigeria no inter-state road travel either).

Hotels depend on travel, particularly air travel, for their customers. And whilst in the UK and other European countries government has provided financial support to companies who have furloughed staff, contributing a large part of the salaries of employees who cannot work, or are not needed, so that they are not sacked, there are no such palliatives available in Nigeria.

How will the losses impact business going forward?

It is going to be a long, slow recovery, it could take as much as 4 to 6 years (but in reality we don’t know, we’ve never been in this situation before) to get back to 2019 levels of business. There will be really tough times for the staff no longer required, and for their families.

What are the new trends or new normal to expect in the industry going forward?

I don’t see that, there will be much of a long-term impact on the way the hotel industry operates. In my opinion, social distancing will “fade away”, particularly when a vaccine or other “cure” is available for the COVID-19 virus (but note that it will be a long time before a vaccine can actually be delivered to everybody). There will be a

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Trevor Ward

greater awareness of cleanliness, that’s here to stay – but shame on those who weren’t clean already!

Do you see recovery for the continent and Nigeria soon?

We can recommence trading properly once the borders and skies are reopen. Whilst countries like South Africa and Kenya can look to the domestic market for demand, as they can drive to hotels, in Nigeria we rely on air travel for our domestic and international guests, so without flights, no guests. Then, there is the fact that for many cities in Africa the demand is almost entirely commercial and/or government, and unheard of reductions in GDP, and therefore corporate and state incomes, means there will be a reduction in demand from those sources. “Soon”?

No, I don’t believe it will be soon, but then the resilience of Africa and the Africans is legendary, and a return to growth is not so far away.

What measures should the sector adopt to survive, especially now that government palliatives are not getting to them?

The same as every business, look inwards to how we operate, and whether we can reengineer the processes to cut costs, and look outwards to our customers, maintain contact, inform them about the steps being taken to ensure their safety when they return. When hotels do reopen it is going to be extremely competitive, www.businessday.ng

and owners and managers are strongly advised not to seek to attract market share by abnormal discounting, as that is a lose-lose situation, and will result in more business failures than would otherwise have been the case.

Considering growth projections for the sector this year, how has the pandemic impacted it, and are pipeline projects still realisable this year?

All budgets, forecasts and projections made for 2020 are out of the window, and at present it is impossible to know what will be the situation, both in terms of supply (who will reopen, who will not) and demand (who will travel, what will consumer behaviour be like). As I said before, we’ve no experience of this “total reset”. As for the pipeline, many planned openings are going to be delayed to next year or beyond, for a variety of reasons: there’s no point opening into such a poor market (low demand); funding may not be available to complete the hotel; technicians and others cannot travel to commission plant and equipment; a reduction in capacity for cargo shipping (and airfreight) can delay materials and other needed items; and so on.

Are there brands that are holding on despite the impact of the pandemic and which brand is worst hit?

The pandemic shows no favouritism, so everyone is hit equally, whatever the brand, and those with no brand, all

are suffering.

Despite government order that hotels should open, why are many still shutdown, especially international brands?

It is not a matter of government “ordering” hotels to reopen! Hotels and tourism are matters for the Nigerian states to regulate, and each has different policies although most had shutdown the sector completely, along with bars, restaurants, nightclubs, event centres among others. In Lagos, after some confusion regarding the state government’s policies, it has been confirmed that hotels can open to the public for their overnight accommodation, and guests staying in the hotel can use the restaurant and bar so long as social distancing and other regulations are adhered to.

In order to open bars, restaurants and other facilities to the (non-resident) public, hotels must obtain a certificate from the Lagos State Safety Commission first, and then await an announcement from the State Governor that they may open their doors. That announcement is still awaited.

Do you think Nigeria can issue and enforce a uniform health and safety protocol for hotels and can hotels maintain the protocols?

Yes and yes. We are on the whole a highly professional industry, and the safety of our guests and staff has always been a priority, it’s not as if this is something out of the blue for us. It’s just that the new reality has brought new requirements, which will take some getting used to, but in a short time we will do just that, and the social distancing and other requirements will become second nature.

When hotels fully open, what do you think would-be guests will be looking for?

Hotel owners and managers will need to give their guests and potential guests the reassurance that all measures have been taken to ensure that they will not be infected by COVID-19 whilst on their premises. People are going to be very nervous at first, after so many weeks of lockdown, social distancing and so on, that the thought of being in close proximity to others will naturally bring anxiety.

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Top BusinessDay Partner Hotels Four Points by Sheraton Hotel (Oniru Chiefatancy Estate,Lekki) Tel: +234 1 448 9444

Transcorp Hilton Abuja 1 Aguiyi Ironsi Street Maitama, Abuja Tel: +234-708-060-3000

The Wheatbaker #4 Onitolo(Lawrence Road), Ikoyi, Lagos.

Tel: 01 277 3560

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Abuja 1 Uke St, Garki, Abuja.

Tel: +234 9 4603900, +234 805 7522500

Lagos Continental Hotel Plot 52, Kofo Abayomi St, Lagos Tel: 01 236 6666

Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja #38/40 Isaac John St, Ikeja GRA100271, Ikeja Tel: +234-908-780 5555

206 Exclusive Hotel Plot 206 Oladipo Diya Road Opposite Olympia Estate

By Games Village Second Gate Durumi2 Abuja

Novotel Port Harcourt Address: 3 Stadium Road Rumuomasi, Port Harcourt Rivers State, Tel: 0809 713 5734

Radisson Lagos Ikeja #42-44 Isaac John Street, GRA Ikeja, Lagos

Southern Sun IkoyI Hotel Address: 47 Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi, Lagos Tel: +234 1 280 5200 / +234 1 280 0630 Email: ssikoyi.reservations@ tsogosun.com

Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel 1A,Ozumba Mbadiwe,Victoria Island. @Businessdayng

Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

25

Corporate Social Impact

Onuwa Lucky Joseph Editor, (08023314782)

Black Lives Matter: How CSR occurs when a community’s cause crosses many corporates’ ONUWA LUCKY JOSEPH

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orld over, corporate organisations are struggling to earn their CSR compliance stripes in the most daunting of times.

As we all know, what makes a socially responsible organisation is not merely that it makes profit or pays its taxes; even though that’s what Milton Friedman and his supporters would have us believe.

There is more of course.

The organisation has to be intimately in tune with the needs and aspirations of its publics even when those yearnings are unvoiced. The corporate’s tentacles is sensitive enough to intuit the need of the day and to do its bit towards ameliorating it.

No one says any one organisation has what it takes to fix all of the world’s problems. But from where thou standest, how about shining your light, as in the motto of the old West African Pilot: Show the light and the people will find the way. It’s all so easy to seem like responsible when you get the press put the spotlight on the measliest of interventions your company undertakes on behalf of others.

And no matter how stalwart a company is, there is the soft underbelly that critics can take potshots at without missing. Take the example of Nike. Its message ‘Just Do It’ resonates because most people would rather not ‘do it’. They’d rather think about running than do the run; they’d rather imagine reading than picking up the book; they’d rather imagine themselves doing the assignment than actually doing it, they’d rather imagine tilling the soil than actually being on the farm. So, early enough, and consistent with its brand essence, Nike realised that ads that move people are far more resonant than ones that talk merely about product quality in an age of parity products or commoditized brands where real differentiation aside the visual branding is close to nonexistent.

Nike has since then picked up speed on its social interventions becoming one of the very first to align with the Black Lives Matter movement. Its support for Colin Kaepernick who was featured on the company’s norm altering advert caused not a little stir in the corporate world but especially in the US where dire predictions were made by conservatives of the company’s imminent diminishment.

NIKE AD

It didn’t happen. No, it didn’t.

Rather, Nike has grown from strength to strength with Phil Knight (Nike founder) in an interview with Fast Company in 2018 quoted as saying “It doesn’t matter how many people hate your brand as long as enough people love it.

And as long as you have that attitude, you can’t be afraid of offending people. You can’t try and go down the middle of the road. You have to take a stand on something, which is ultimately I think why the Kaepernick ad worked.”

So there you have it, Nike decided to take a stand on racial equality, something so monumentally crucial to the fabric of the American way of life. It was always going to be an uphill battle with entrenched racists who have perfected the use of the law and order system (police and the courts) to keep people of colour perpetually under.

Justice is routinely denied black people even as they are decimated by policemen clearly licensed to do so by the system.

But Nike’s seeming soft underbelly is its labour practices as it concerns its factories in China and Vietnam.

It’s been alleged that under aged workers are the mainstay of the labour pool there and that they produce under sweltering sweatshop conditions. These accusations have dogged Nike for a long time but the company has also made efforts to distance itself from that ignominious reputation. While admitting that its labour engagement www.businessday.ng

was a blind spot at the time of its stratospheric rise in the 90s, it states it has since remedied the situation by being more hands on rather than leaving all the decision making about factory employment to those running those factories in faraway places. In a statement last year, Nike said “We specifically and directly forbid the use of child labor in facilities contracted to make Nike products, and we regularly monitor contract factories to remain vigilant.

Our contract factories are required to comply with Nike’s Code of Conduct and Code Leadership Standards, which are audited by independent monitors.”

So does Nike sometimes drop the ball on this matter?

Being a profit driven human operation, we can safely say that there would be infractions now and then. That said, however, Nike has shown itself a decisive, social impactguided, hands-on-the-market-pulse player. It is something of a radical undertaking for a white owned business to take a stand on the volatile issue of systemic racism, something to which many in the establishment are wedded and sworn to. If that stand, which some claim is cynical, helps balloon its bottom-line, so be it. Nike never claimed to be a non profit. Hopefully, the company will integrate its work place even better, having admitted in 2017 that only 10% of its 353 vice presidents were black. That actually, ought to be the sweet spot for black folks, when they are an integral part of wealth building, entrenched as staff and leaders in the corporate sector. The question however still remains, how does that help a man or woman who despite their station in life can be pinned down on the streets or even in their homes and life snuffed out of them like George Floyd’s was, like Breonna Taylor’s, Aura Rosser’s, Stephon Clark’s, Botham Jean’s, Philando Castille, Alton Sterling’s, Michelle Cusseaux’s, Freddie Gray’s, Eric Garner’s, and so many more.

Point is, systemic racism, is the root that needs be taken out. Only thereafter can lives

and livelihoods be built and expected to flourish.

It is noteworthy that Nike, despite its other perceived failings, has stayed stout on the matter of Black people, who it must be said constitute a big chunk of its market. Nike sneakers is a big part of the hip hop culture with Air Jordan and other brands named after iconic Black sports folks becoming highly prized collectibles in the Hip Hop as well as wider Black community.

Nike’s lead, nice to see, has attracted the following of other corporates.

No doubt, the climate is right for change and the organisations know that they need to be on the right side of history. They can see the portents, the trends, they need to ride the wave. It’s a big wave, by the way, one that’s been building up for a long time. The swell is a dream and to miss that wave might be suicidal. But that’s how change happens. It’s the culmination of the interplay of multiple variables, many of which don’t seem to share any connection whatsoever.

So what do we have? At the last count, Black Lives Matter and other allied Black Lives enhancement set-ups has attracted support from several organisations, many of which have also incorporated “#BlackLivesMatter” into their

social media accounts • Google – $12 million • Facebook – 10million • Amazon – 10million • Apple $100million • Airbnb - $500,000 • Walmart – $100million over • 5 years • Target – $1million • Home Depot – $1million • EA Games – $1million • Square Enix - $250,000 in addition to matching employee donations to the Black Lives Matter organization and other charities.

• Uber - $ 1million • Ubisoft – $100,000 • Etsy – 1$million • H&M - $500,000 • Toms Shoes - $100,000 • Spanx – $200,000 • Gap brands (Athleta, Old Navy, Gap) – $250,000 • Warby Parker - $1million • Lululemon - $100,000 • Nike - $40million • McDonalds - $1 million • Wendy’s - $500,000 • Coca-Cola - $2.5 million • Honest Beauty – (founded by Jessica Alba) - $100,000 • Anastasia Beauty - $1 million • Glossier - $500,000 • UnitedHealth Group - $10 million commitment to support George Floyd’s children…

• Peloton - $500,000 • Whoop - $20,000 • YouTube - $1 million This is all good, and we still hope to see more organisations joining the fray. But

the corporate organisations can only do so much. They do not hold the real levers of power that’s the prerogative of government; the government, unfortunately, of white supremacist Donald Trump.

Like Susan Aronson, , Senior Fellow at The National Policy Association in Washington DC was quoted as saying at the Americas Conference on Social Corporate Responsibility in 2002, “GE brings good things to life, but it cannot end poverty. Archer Daniels Midland may claim it’s the supermarket to the world, but it cannot ensure that no child goes hungry.

DuPont may provide better living conditions through chemicals, but it can’t ensure safe drinking water worldwide…That is the role of governments” (Heinecke, 2002:38) Donald Trump must step up to the plate and swing right. His antediluvian politics might have been right for the 60s, but it’s all wrong now. Listen he must, and follow, he must, the money.

Corporates aren’t just doing good, they can smell the money. The man who claimed to have written The Art of the Deal should know that.

(Next week, we shall show the different statements of intent from the different corporates supporting BLM)

L-R: Lilian Chukwuemeka, Assistant Director, Lagos Zonal Office, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); Steven Falomo, Director, Lagos Zonal Office, SEC; Oscar N. Onyema, OON, Chief Executive Officer, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Ariyo Olushekun, Chairman, Capital Market Support Committee for COVID-19 (CMSCC); Bukola Rufai, Deputy Director, Lagos Zonal Office, SEC; and Jude Chiemeka, Head, Trading Business Division, NSE during the NSE’s donation of cash and an Ambulance totaling N60 Million to support CMSCC in the fight against COVID-19 on Monday

COVID 19:

Again, The Case For Trasparency

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ransparency is the foundation for confidence. Anything done with the public which hides lots of critical details is bound to lose buy-in. The Covid 19 fight can’t lose sight of this. How much has been garnered so far? What has been spent? What’s the breakdown? Regular folks were all

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ready to be supportive of this, but after the initial flurry of disclosures there’s been an info dry up from the Cacovid secretariat as well as the CBN. It’s not enough to tell us without fail about the numbers infected, dead and recovered. We never see the guys infected, unlike is the case in practically every @Businessdayng

other country. What is the NCDC and the FG hiding?

The people need to know. They insist on knowing. Show us the figures and the images!

(Kindly send feedback to 08023314782 / csrmomentum@gmail.com)

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Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

cityfile Families’ unity, economic prosperity of Iruland my top priority - Oba Lawal

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Security dogs sniff a passenger’s luggage at Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, during the resumption of domestic flight operations in Abuja on Wednesday.

Safe Birth Initiative: When the lives of mother and child come first SEGUN ADAMS

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regnancy and childbirth are life’s most joyful expectations.

H o w e v e r, i n many instances, these end in tragedy and anguish for families and friends when neonatal mortality; maternal or newborn deaths occurring during childbirth or shortly after from related complications happens.

Research shows that Nigeria has a current maternal mortality ratio of 576 per 100,000 live births, and a neonatal mortality rate of 37 per 1000 live births.

These staggering numbers are worthy of concern as the current realities are dire. Fortunately, data generated from countries with better medical facilities has revealed that these numbers can be improved.

Therefore, it is evident that such improvements are often associated with a country’s socio-economic development. The question on concerned stakeholders is: Does this mean Nigerian women have to risk their lives consistently during child birth? This and more, are questions that plague the minds of expecting mothers across Nigeria.

It is in response to challenging situation like this that Coca-Cola birthed the Safe Birth Initiative to impact the lives of expectance mothers and their babies, especially in making a difference in the communities it serves. However, this commitment transcends providing refreshing bev-

erages across its markets; it is all-encompassing as it also entails investing in the wellbeing of people around the world.

Over the years, this passion has birthed several initiatives focused on measurable impact; some of these initiatives include 5 by 20 women economic Empowerment, World Without Waste, Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN), the Safe Birth Initiative (SBI) and many more.

The Safe Birth Initiative (SBI), which aims to support the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on maternal and neonatal mortality; focusing on strengthening the capacity of selected public hospitals through procurement of vital maternal and neonatal medical equipment as well as providing training via renowned biomedical engineering technicians.

Through the SBI, CocaCola hopes to equip public health institutions with lifesaving equipment as well as promote effective maintenance culture by empowering local biomedical engineering technicians with the knowledge and skills for ensuring maximum uptime of new equipment provided and the rehabilitation of abandoned biomedical equipment in these hospitals.

The Coca-Cola Safe Birth Initiative is a social investment from CocaCola Nigeria in partnership with Medshare International, the Federal Government through the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Developwww.businessday.ng

ment Goals, and the Federal Ministry of Health.

“The Safe Birth Initiative is a part of the company’s wellbeing program to support the efforts of the government in reducing the alarming numbers of women and newborns who die from birth-related complications every day.

The initiative was born out of the company’s desire and effort towards building sustainable communities that will ensure mums and babies come home alive,” said Clem Ugorji, the business unit public affairs, communications and sustainability director, Coca-Cola West Africa.

Ugorji opined that Coca-Cola has donated Sixteen 40-foot containers of medical equipment, kits and supplies with more on its way to these public health institutions. According to him, some of the beneficiary hospitals who have had its equipment and supplies fully installed and commissioned include; National Hospital Abuja, Federal Medical Center, Ebute Metta, Alimosho General Hospital, Federal Medical Center, Owerri and Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesha.

Upcoming installations have been scheduled for the University Teaching Hospitals in Ilorin and Port Harcourt.

Folasade Jaji, the secretary to the Lagos State Government, on behalf of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State governor, during the handover ceremony of the equipment in Alimosho General Hospital said, the donated equipment aimed at strengthen-

ing the state’s capacity to address the issue of maternal and newborn mortality in Nigeria.

The SBI through its partners, Medshare International, has also trained over 150 technical/biomedical engineers across these health institutions.

These provisions are particularly significant in Nigeria where access to quality medical care is limited and sometimes unavailable to pregnant women who cannot afford the service.

With an investment of about 4 billion Naira, this has significantly transformed the health sector as medical care is set to get better with the Safe Birth Initiative being rolled out subsequently to other state hospitals across Nigeria.

The Safe Birth Initiative, therefore, ties into the women empowerment vision of the company as a crucial vehicle to help drive change in Nigeria, especially as it relate to save mother and child delivery in all medical facilities across the country.

Therefore, Coca-Cola remains at the forefront of women empowerment consistently supporting initiatives that help achieve this goal. The company’s global 5by20 initiative, launched 10 years ago, aims to economically empower 5 million women by 2020.

As at the end of 2019, 4.6million women have been empowered under this initiative, of which over 400,000 are Nigerian women as Coca-Cola is well on its way to achieving this goal by the end of 2020.

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ollowing report of bickering in the Iru Kingdom, the new Oba of Iruland, AbdulWasiu Lawal, on Wednesday, said that the unification of the larger Oniru royal families and the economic prosperity of Iru land are his priorities.

The monarch, who spoke through his Private Secretary, Hakeem Akintoye, said in a statement that as the new Oniru is not interested in mundane things amid the reported bickering.

According to Akintoye, the vision of the Oniru for Iru land is the continuous growth and development of the kingdom that remains one of the economic nerve-centers in Lagos.

He stressed that the Oniru is not distracted at all and continues to urge all sons and daughters of Iru royal families to join hands with him towards the realisation of his vision for the kingdom.

“There is no doubt that the future of Iru Kingdom continues to be bright and promising, the ascension of Oba Lawal marks the start of the next phase of the journeyintothatfuturewithinitiatives that would develop Iruland.

Many parties are just uncomfortablewiththefactthatitisnolonger business as usual,” Akintoye said He noted that under his kingship, the future of Iru Kingdom looks bright and promising, given such a rich leadership credential especially in the public sector that Oba Lawal has brought to bear on the kingship.

Akintoye added that the Oniru’s past performance as commissioner under three different administrations in Lagos and his legacy in the ministries of agriculture and housing stood him out as one who will

bring further positive transformation to the kingdom.

Noting that the palace would not give room for division in the royal family, Akintoye assured that Oba Lawal would continue to adopt an open-door policy in directing the affairs of the kingdom.

He pointed out that the Oniru would nonetheless not tolerate violence or disruption of law and order especially based on his experience as an officer of the law.

The private secretary noted that the king has pledged to invest resources in projects that will promote cultural renaissance in Yoruba land as well as embarking on innovations that would engender economic development in the kingdom.

Akintoye assured all residents and members of Iru Kingdom of Oba Lawal’s commitment to unity and progress as promised during his installation as the 15th Oniru of Iruland on Sunday, June 7, 2020.

“With my experience in public service, I will continue to work with others not only to bring more development to Iruland but the entire state.

I promise to live the rest of my life for my people. I will work with fellow monarchs, chiefs, community leaders and all stakeholders for the unity of our people. I will project the Yoruba culture and tradition by promoting and sustaining our identity as a people. Consequently, I pledge to invest resources in projects that will promote cultural renaissance in Yoruba land. I will spare no sweat in guaranteeing the advancement of the Yoruba culture and tradition. I will work with various stakeholders to achieve this,’ Akintoye quoted Oba Lawal as saying.

Police arrest ritualists over Killings in Ibadan REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

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he police in Oyo State have arrested ritualists suspected to be involved in the recent killings in Akinyele local government of the state.

It would be recalled that an expectant mother, two undergraduates, and a young boy were recently murdered by unknown assailants in their homes in the local government area.

Fatai Owoseni, special adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on security, who disclosed this during a town hall meeting, said the suspected killers would be paraded by the Oyo State police command.

Owoseni, a former Commissioner of Police, said: “as of Tuesday, the criminals

@Businessdayng

were apprehended and the Commissioner of Police would possibly hold a press conference. But, I can specifically tell you that the person behind it has taken police to the ritualists and they are now behind the bars.”

“Even though there is no town where there is no sin but I can assure you as I speak that the perpetrators of the killings in Akinyele have been apprehended.

While urging all stakeholders and residents to remain security conscious to ensure such killings don’t occur again noted that they have a part to play to ensure the security of lives and properties because the government can’t do it alone.

He urged the people to be security conscious, adding that residents have roles to play in securing communities.

Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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news

Probe: Police, NDDC staff shared N3.14bn as COVID-19 relief - Senate ...No kobo misapplied -NDDC Solomon Ayado, Abuja

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he Senate on Thursday disclosed that the Nigeria Police Force and staff of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) shared N3.14 billion as relief for the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was disclosed by Senator Olubunmi Adetunbi (APC Ekiti North), chairman of the Senate ad-hoc committee investigating alleged N40 billion illegally expended by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the NDDC. Adetunbi said the amount was contained in documents submitted to the committee by Kemebradikumo Pondei, managing director of the IMC. Pondei had admitted before members of the Senate ad-hoc committee that N3.14 billion was spent by the NDDC on Covid-19.

He said the money was paid to the police, NDDC staff, youths, men and women to cushion the negative effects of the pandemic and to avoid violence in the Niger Delta region.

The Senate ad-hoc committee, Thursday, held an investigative public hearing on an alleged misapplication of N40 billion by the IMC of the NDDC. However, Senator Adetunbi disclosed that from the records, out of the total sum of N3.14 billion the IMC spent on Covid-19, N1.5 billion was shared among the police and staff of the commission across the nine states of the Niger Delta region.

Specifically, Adetunbi revealed that N475 million was paid to the police from the money to purchase facemasks and hand sanitizers.

Also, he said N10 million was paid to an unnamed top management staff of the commission while N7 million each was given to two other senior staff of the NDDC. According to him, “148 NDDC staff got N3 million each, 157 staff received N1.5 million each, 497 staff were paid N1 million each while 464 staff were also paid N500,000 each as Covid-19 relief.”

Reading further from the documents, Adetunbi said: “the

NDDC IMC expended on other issues, including Covid-19, to the tune of N81.509 billion, from October 2019 to February 2020, and from February to May 30, 2020, the reason of this investigation.”

H e g av e t h e b r e a kdown of the 81.509 billion as follows:”community relations: N1.3 billion; condolences:N1.2 million; consultancy: N3.8 million; Covid-19:N3.14 million; duty tour allowances:N486 million.

“Impress (October to May, 2020): N790 million; Lassa fever: N1.956 billion; legal services: N900 million; logistics: N31 million; maintenance: N220 million; medicals:N2.6 billion; overseas travel (February to May,2020): N85.6 million; projects payment:N38.6 billion; public communication: N1.121 billion; security: N744 million; staffing related payment (October to May, 2020), including payment of salaries and other allowances: N20.9 billion; engagement of stakeholders (February to May, 2020):N248 million; and travels:N56.5 million” respectively.

Oil marketers disapprove of FG’s mode of deregulation Olusola Bello

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il marketers are still skeptical about position of the government on its pronounced deregulation as they said subsidy could be brought back when it is politically expedient.

The oil marketers who are reacting to the statement by the minister of State for Petroleum Resource, Timipre Sylva to the effect that the government never promised Nigerians that the price of petrol would remain permanently low, expressed the fear that subsidy may come back should public outcry against the current price modulation mechanism persists, particularly if the price of crude oil goes up and the price of petrol also reviewed upwards.

Tunji Oyebanji, chairman, Major Oil marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), said what the government has done is take steps that there is no subsidy, which is a step in the right direction.

He stated that the govern-

ment has deregulated to the point that the price is now determined partially by price of crude oil.

He said why the operators are worried is that if the government do it this way it could run into crisis, saying that even now, people are already grumbling about the recent review of the price of the product.

“If by end of July indices suggest that the price will go up, the problem would become louder.

The result would become the usual labour unions and others would begin to protest about price increase, would the government not revert to subsidising the product?”

He said if governments remained at the background and allowed the market forces to determine the price, it would have been better for the market and the industry “But when government just wakes up and makes announcement regarding prices, everybody begins to focus on marketers, asking them when they would be complying with government directives over price. But if you leave it to the

market, may be nobody will even notice when there is price change as it may not be every marketer that would be interested in changing price immediately,” he said.

The managing director of 11Plc said we are going back to subsidy because politically, it may become impossible to change the price again while other indicators may have gone up.

He said this is the reason why they are agitating that government must deregulate fully so that the market would determine the price of the products According to him, if the government continues shifting prices, smuggling would start again, stating further that the reason why they are clamouring for the sectors is because the refineries are not working, the pipelines in bad shape, and the trucks used in the sector old and break down often.

The minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, on Thursday said the Federal Government did not at any time promise to keep the pump price of petrol permanently low.

MSMEs: Positioning for collaboration, continuity OLUFIKAYO OWOEYE

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icro, small, and medium business owner must look inwards and begin to position their business for collaboration, continuity and growth in order to take advantage of opportunities in the wake of the new normal.

Despite the numerous challenges small businesses have to contend with, there are also countless opportunities for businesses to grow and thrive in this new economy. Unfortunately, only a few of the thousands of micros, small and medium businesses in Nigeria are either aware of these opportunities or fully prepared to take advantage of the same.

As individuals, governments, medium and large-scale enterprises struggle with the need to thrive in this new world, small and micro-scale enterprises who already have many challenges up against them are also not left out. To collaborate with one another, organisations must understand their businesses, knowing their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, then ascertain the gaps to be filled, the goals to be achieved and the right partner to synergize with in order to attain the desired objectives.

Now that a business owner seeks a handshake with other business partners, one need to understand that collaboration is about “give and take”.

Thus, business owner needs to have a unique value proposition, and be ready to show, consistency and reliability; compliance with all regulatory requirements to a large extent and most importantly; customer focus. To avoid rejection, these 3Cs are important and should be taken seriously even before you start sourcing for business partners.

Pertinent questions include: can your business outlive you? Can it withstand the pressures that come with running a business? What structures, controls, and risk management framework do you have in place?

These are some of the questions local and most international busi-

ness partners ask because they seek businesses that are sustainable. This is why having a solid foundation and a business continuity plan is essential.

Business Continuity Plan (BCP) has been one of the buzz phrases during this Covid19 pandemic and smart small businesses are already taking automation and digital transformation seriously in order to ensure their business operates based on systems and not sentiments.

A BCP enables you to outline procedures and instructions to follow in the face of a major disruption. It covers your Processes, People (internal and external) and Platforms.

Small businesses remain small because they ignore some of these subjects with the believe that it is meant for only large-scale enterprises.

It is important to reiterate that largescale enterprise where once small and took these things seriously that is why they grew and currently run without their founders being involved in the day to day running of the organisation.

Want your business to outlive you? You need to start working on the lessons in the book “Built to last by Jim Collins”.They are: Clock Building, Not Time Telling - go beyond a great leader to building a great institution; No Tyranny of the “Or” - embrace the genius of “and”. e.g. profits AND purpose, conservative AND bold, ideological control, AND autonomy; More Than Profits - find your organization’s purpose and build the “core ideology”; Preserve the core and stimulate progress - change everything readily, except the core beliefs and values. i.e. adapt without compromising your core ideals; Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) - think big, aim high; Cult-Like cultures - cult-like adherence to the culture; Try a Lot of Stuff and Keep What works - try a lot of experiments and keep what works; Home-Grown Management - hire leaders from within; Good Enough Never Is - strive to do better tomorrow than you did today, by making continuous improvement an institutionalized habit (a way of life) not just a program or process improvement. www.businessday.ng

L-R: Jimi Benson, Majority Leader of the House/chairman ad-Committee on Power Sector reform; Alhassan Ado-Doguwa and deputy speaker, Idris Ahmed Wase, who represented Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila at the opening of the public hearing on the reform of the power sector; Aliyu Dau Magaji and others at the National Assembly.

Buhari to sign N10.8trn revised 2020 budget into law today ... as minister meets Lawan, Gbajabiamila on 2021-2023 MTEF/FSP Solomon Ayado, Abuja

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resident Muhammadu Buhari will today sign into law the revised 2020 Appropriation Bill of N10.8 trillion, minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, has disclosed.

Ahmed, on Thursday met with Senate president, Ahmad Lawan, and speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

The minister revealed that the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/ FSP) would be submitted to the National Assembly later in the month.

Ahmed further stated that Buhari had given directives for the Ministry to expedite action

on next year’s budget estimates to enable presentation of the 2021 budget proposal by the end of September this year.

According to the minister, in keeping strictly with the January – December budget cycle, Buhari is to sign into law the revised 2020 budget, passed by the National Assembly in June.

She said: “This for us is a journey towards ensuring that the progress that we have made as a collective to return the fiscal year to January – December is maintained for the 2021 budget as well.

“The President has directed that we must deliver the budget to the National Assembly by the end of September.”

While giving an update on the 2020 budget implementation between January and May 2020, she stated that the Federal

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Government’s retained revenue was N1.48 trillion, an amount representing 56 percent of government’s target.

Adding, she said out of the sum generated as revenue, oil revenues accounted for N701.6 billion; non-oil tax revenues N439.32 billion; Companies Income Tax (CIT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) collections - N213.24 billion and N68.09 billion; and Customs collection N158 billion, respectively.

“Other revenues amounted to N339.51 billion, of which Independent revenues was N80.22 billion. Recoveries and Stamp duty collected during the period are yet to be booked in the fiscal accounts,” Ahmed said.

On Expenditure performance for the same period (January – May 2020), she disclosed that N1.25 trillion was @Businessdayng

expended for debt service; and N1.32 trillion for Personnel cost, including Pensions.

According to the finance minister, as at the end of May 2020, only N253.33 billion had been released for capital expenditure.

Ahmed while giving underlying assumptions driving the macro-economic parameters and targets of the 2021 – 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, said same was “revised in line with the emergent realities.”

She stated that the Oil Price Benchmark for the 2021 fiscal year was pegged at $35, and $40 for 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Oil Production (mbpd) was placed at 1.86 for 2021, 2.09 for 2022, and 2.38 for the 2022 fiscal year; while the Exchange Rate remains at N360 to USD$1.

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Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

news Here’s what FG is doing to implement...

Continued from page 2

ful of dominant companies that can deliver to acceptable standards of quality, hoping that due process will be followed in contractor selection.

In terms of pricing for the housing, he says, “It’s still too early to say, but utilising a model that considers, among other things, the state of the economy, current construction materials prices and its overall impact on the average income earner is a good place to start,” pointing that the Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (LagosHOMS) project might be useful in that regard.

According to Ibaru, prospective buyers of the houses will have to engage with the government through Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMW&H) which, acting with the FHA and the FMBN, would have to come up with a thorough and transparent framework. “This will work best early in the process, involving the private sector,” he says.

The Economic Sustainability Committee selected mass housing and public roads construction among key projects for the government to undertake in order to revive the COVID-19 ravaged economy in the believe that housing and roads construction have the capacity to generate economic activities and create jobs.

Experts and sundry stakeholders in the housing and construction industry have welcomed this idea, describing the industry as a catalyst for economic growth through massive employment creation.

“Many countries have embarked on construction activities as a means of stimulating economic activities because they have dual impacts on the economy,” Frank Okosun, MD/CEO, Knight Frank Nigeria, states in an interview with BusinessDay. He explains that during the

actual construction period, construction provides jobs, thereby putting cash into the hands of citizens who distribute it onward as they purchase other goods and services they require for living.

He adds that the final products, which may be houses, roads, bridges, etc., will further improve the lives of the people who use it. Hence, this is a welcome plan, which needs to be meticulously implemented.

Damola Akinolire, managing director, Alpha Mead Construction Company, affirms, estimating that 300,000 housing units will provide, at least, 6 million direct and indirect jobs. “Although far from making any major dent to the high unemployment figures, it will certainly make an impact,” he states.

The residential housing market, he notes, is one of the most labour-intensive sub-sectors and will generate a lot of economic activity and reduce unemployment.

Though, to her, the size of the project appears small in comparison to the stated housing deficit, but Oluwakemi Adeyemo, CEO, Future Perfect Properties, notes that setting up this economic recovery project with as little bias and bottlenecks as possible will add its own quota to reviving the economy.

“To determine the economic recovery output, a set of critical questions needs formulating. These questions must also get answers. This is important for the sake of clarity and measurable output.

“One of such questions should be, which of the housing problems will the projects be solving? Nigeria’s housing challenge is three-pronged, namely, supply, demand and the macroeconomics. Housing and road projects should seek to solve the macroeconomics challenge,” she posits.

WHO calls for rational access to future...

Continued from page 2

in clinical trials. South Africa is the first country on the continent to start a clinical trial with the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, testing a vaccine developed by the Oxford Jenner Institute in the United Kingdom.

The South African Ox1Cov-19 Vaccine VIDA-Trial is expected to involve 2000 volunteers aged 18–65 years, and include some people living with HIV. The vaccine is already undergoing trials in the United Kingdom and Brazil with thousands of participants.

According to the African Academy of Sciences, only 2 percent of clinical trials conducted worldwide occur in Africa. It is important to test the COVID-19 vaccine in countries where it is needed to ensure that it will be effective.

“With more than 215,000 cases, South Africa accounts for 43 percent of the continent’s total cases. Clinical trials must be performed according to international and national scientific and ethical standards, which include informed consent for any participant.

“I encourage more countries in the region to join these trials so that the contexts and immune response of populations in Africa are factored into studies,” she says.

She further states that Africa has the scientific expertise to contribute widely to the search for an effective COVID-19 vaccine, stating that indeed, our researchers have helped develop vaccines that provide protection against communicable diseases such as meningitis, Ebola, yellow fever and a number of other common health threats in the region www.businessday.ng

L-R : Oyewo Oyelowo, attorney-general and commissioner for Justice, Oyo State; Rauf Olaniyan, deputy governor, Oyo State; Seyi Makinde, governor; Debo Ogundoyin, speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly; Manta Abimbola, chief judge of Oyo State, andAde Aderemi, justice and president, Customary Court of Appeal of Oyo State, at the inauguration of the Family Court of Oyo State in Ibadan, the state capital.

Nigeria kicks off year of gas with two big...

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Nigeria (MAN), said industries and manufacturing plants play a key role in transforming the Nigerian economy and this project would connect many manufacturers in Abia State, one of the nation’s major industrial

hubs, to pipeline gas, which is a cheaper, cleaner and more reliable source of energy.

According to Ahmed, the gas supply to the Ariaria Market IPP would strengthen micro, small and medium enterprises in the Abia State and enhance the operating environment for manufacturing to thrive.

Two days later, President Muhammadu Buhari performed the flag-off of the construction of the 40-inch x 614km Ajaokuta-KadunaKano (AKK) Gas Pipeline project, a section of the TransNigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) with capacity to transport about 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day, expected to be completed in 24 months.

The AKK gas pipeline project is planned to be financed through 85 percent debt and

15 percent equity with loan facility from the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) at London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) interest rate plus 3.7 percent with a 12-year repayment period, while NNPC will cover the remaining 15 percent of the project’s cost.

“We have done an extensive review of this project and we are satisfied that the cash flows from the AjaokutaKaduna-Kano gas pipeline will be sufficient to repay the facility,” Nigeria’s finance minister, Zainab Ahmed, told Reuters in March.

According to the Federal Government, the economic benefits of the AKK pipeline which would originate from Ajaokuta in Kogi State, and traverse Abuja (FCT), Niger, Kaduna, and terminate at Kano, would boost domestic utilisation of natural gas for Nigeria’s social economic development, when completed.

It would also unlock 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas to the domestic market, support the addition of 3,600 megawatts of power to the national grid and revitalise textile industries which alone boast of over 3 mil-

Nigerian firms choose commercial papers...

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with more risk.

According to Yinka Ademuwagun, research analyst at United Capital, the impact of COVID-19 on companies’ revenue stream is one of the key drivers of corporates rush for commercial papers as compared to bonds.

“COVID-19 came as a shock and so most companies had revenue challenges due to the decline in economic activities. Companies needed to raise quick cash like short-term cash plug,” Ademuwagun says, adding that rather than the companies accessing capital from banks at 14-15 percent, “It’s better to go to the fixed income market to raise capital at say 7 percent.”

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) slashed the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 100 basis points to 12.5 percent to spur lending to the economy, which faces imminent recession on twin pressures of COVID-19 pandemic and low oil prices.

Out of the 27 companies tracked on FMDQ that have gone to the market to tap from the low-interest environment in the first half of 2020, United Bank for Africa (UBA) is one of the few that leveraged the opportunity to restructure its financing cost by redeeming a bond it issued six years ago.

Instead of paying 16.45 percent interest on its 7-year bonds, UBA said it redeemed

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lion jobs in parts of the country.

“When completed, the 614km pipeline will be Nigeria’s biggest domestic gas transmission infrastructure,” according to a release from the Presidency.

However, Nigerians have expressed a mixture of admiration and concern for the projects, especially the AKK pipeline project. The 614km AKK pipeline is part of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline, which will ultimately pipe Nigeria’s gas into Europe but its route includes insecure terrains susceptible to attacks by insurgents.

While the objectives of the TNGP sound laudable, analysts say the Nigerian economy would benefit even more from government incentives targeting local gas utilisation projects driving increased domestic gas consumption, particularly for petrochemicals.

The government has been praised for its commitment to revamp gas infrastructure to unlock domestic utilisation of gas.

According to a release signed by Lucky Akhiwu, publicity secretary of PETAN, the AKK Gas Project is positioned to help realise the long-held dream of developing Nigeria’s domestic gas transmission infrastructure as well as

implementing Nigeria’s Gas Masterplan.

It is also hailed as a local content success with local oil company, OilServe Limited, leading the project. PETAN notes the project will promote the domestication of technology in Nigeria and concretise the gains of Nigerian Content by encouraging participation of indigenous companies in the delivery of the project.

More than 3,000 Nigerian workers will be engaged in the project.

However, some have also expressed concern that it could be commercially unprofitable for a poorly industrialised sub-region with little commercial off-takers.

“The capital expenditure for the crude pipeline to Kaduna, and that of the construction of the refinery, could not be recovered, not to talk of profit,” says Alao Abiodun, head of energy research at New Nigeria Foundation.

These projects signpost a shift towards developing gas resources following the signing of the final investment decision on NLNG Train 7 project and the NNPC/Chevron Nigeria Limited agreements over the multibilliondollar Escravos Gas-to-Liquid (EGTL) project

its outstanding N30.5 billion bonds issued in December 2014 and due to mature December 2021 on June 30, 2020.

With the decision by UBA to make an early call on its bonds, the commercial bank would be saving about 6 percent as the yield on a 7-year bond is currently at about 10 percent.

“We suggest that companies should also begin to consider issuing corporate bonds, which is more long term to refinance current long-term debt as well as expansion,” Ebo says, adding that long-term capital will better position the companies in the next 1-2 years as the economy return to positive growth.

Ebo advises that with the limited investment options amid expected high T-bills

maturity, companies should take advantage of the lowinterest rate to restructure their funding sources.

Meanwhile, yields on both T-bills and bonds instruments have hit a bottom record from a double interest rate enjoyed some four years ago, and according to industry analysts, the low yield environment is an opportunity ready to be tapped.

Interest rates in Nigeria have always been high due to the monetary system in vogue since 2009, which sought to use FGN bonds/Tbills and OMO bills as a means of attracting US dollar to stabilise the naira, but the recent OMO policy by the Central Bank, which prevents domestic investors from participating in the auction is one of the drivers of the country’s low interest.

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Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

29

News Coronavirus is the killer, PPE shortage is the...

Continued from page 1

rate that tipped many into

clinical emergencies, Samson encountered a patient with a history of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

The lung disease that chronically interferes with normal breathing qualified the patient as a high-risk suspect of the virus, but that did not stand in the way of prompt rescue action. Fully garbed in the PPE, Samson swabbed him as was done for every walk-in patient, took his samples and began to administer COPD medications without waiting to see a COVID-19 test result first.

It was an emergency that saw a decreasing concentration of oxygen in the patient’s blood. The process, medically termed desaturation, is a sour recipe for the destruction of tiny air sacs of the lungs and could lead to a fatal outcome.

Finding the condition disquieting, Samson rang a respiratory consultant who advised the patient be switched to a continuous positive airway pressure machine to aid breathing, in spite of the procedure being an aerosol generating one, capable of dispersing the virus if he happened to be positive.

In its interim guidelines for clinical management of COVID-19, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) considers the procedure a highly sensitive one that must be done under the protection of N95 respirator, face shield or goggles and apron at all times when interacting with patients.

“That notwithstanding, I was kitted with the appropriate PPE and made sure this gentleman made it. Sadly, his result came back positive but that didn’t make us abandon him. We had to escalate to intensive care unit and he fought his way out in few days,” Samson explained.

“When he was finally discharged after a negative swab, you could see the joy in his face and the family was very happy. There are lots of cases.

Even the ones that we think would not make it, we give them palliative care, keep them comfortable as much as possible and give them a

Chikwe Ihekweazu (r), director-general, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on an official working visit to inspect facilities at the Isolation Centre and the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Laboratory in UBTH.

dignifying death.”

3,259 miles away… no PPE, no rescue About 3,259 miles away from the UK, in his country, Nigeria, Samson could only wish the fate of his patient for his dearly loved father who suddenly found himself at the mercy of University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) for clinical rescue.

With a combination of lack of PPE and a jeopardising loyalty to a killer-policy of ‘no test, no rescue’, the octogenarian’s chances of surviving were squandered. Apart from the triaging doctors who had access to basic protection, specialist doctors who could offer the nature of critical intervention Samson gave his patient lacked the confidence to swing into action primarily due to the unavailability of protection.

About a month earlier, 25 doctors at the teaching hospital had been infected with the virus, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) confirmed. This was why doctors’ fears leaped to the height of insisting on the unwritten rule of obtaining a negative COVID-19 test result before approving a sensitive procedure as ventilator aid for a gasping patient.

Obtaining test result typically gulps more than 96 hours countrywide — an offshoot of decades of government’s prioritisation of politically gratifying efforts like expending billions on fuel subsidy over

A queue of vehicles carrying patients with potential need for coronavirus tests at UCH Emergency Department driveway. www.businessday.ng

investing in manufacturing capacity capable of responding to a pandemic need of medical kits and building health infrastructure, such as high-capacity molecular laboratories that would have hastened the rate of testing and detection of the coronavirus in many remote regions in Nigeria.

(Review) As of June 22, Nigeria had crossed another grim milestone after it reported its single biggest daily total of 745 confirmed cases on June 18.

In its initial struggle with the pandemic, Africa’s largest oil producer had only about 200 testing facilities to a population nearing 200 million. Even in pre-coronavirus era, the biggest labs in the country shipped patients’ samples requiring molecular diagnosis abroad, said Abassi Ene-Obong, chief of 54GENE, the health start-up that raised $500,000 from private partners to equip government-run labs with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines.

‘No ventilator if the swab comes out negative at UBTH’ Samson’s old man was evidently gasping. His saturation had sharply nosedived to the value of 58 even on 10 litres of oxygen. He had no respiratory drive and was essentially drowning in his own fluids.

It means dying. Healthy people require a saturation level above 94 to sustain their vital organs. But in his case, a ventilator strength was critical to force out the fluids.

Throwing him in a tank of oxygen would not have made a difference. That was the main concern of the doctor who transferred him from a private facility where he had earlier been managed to UBTH — the only tertiary hospital where a ventilator aid was available in the entire city of Benin. Efforts to scout for private ventilator service were futile. At the news of resorting to UBTH, the old man got jittery. It never sat well with him. And unfortunately, his suspicion was right.

As Joshua Samson monitored events from his UK residence via phone calls, he

asked that his younger brother Osas Samson let him speak with the doctor attending to their father. But the response was jarring: If the swab comes out negative, he gets a ventilator. But if positive, he doesn’t.

“He said the team involved in doing that was only ventilating negative patients. Then what happens to patients who are positive? They are left to die?” Samson wondered, regretting how his medical training and expertise could not serve the man who fathered him through life, simply because he was trapped in the web of an insensitive system.

Yet, there were idle ventilators in the ward, confirmed by a doctor who spoke to Samson. Joshua Uwaila, public relations officer of the hospital, spoke of how the hospital had moved past trifle forms of incompetence, telling BusinessDay that two ventilators were dedicated to the isolation ward since the start of the pandemic.

He also confirmed that some ventilators were available outside the isolation ward. UBTH is one of the NCDC’s licensed centres for managing coronavirus cases.

Given the NCDC’s weakness at pacing up testing rates, and a critical shortage of PPE, suspected patients like Samson’s father are not

just left to writhe in pains; more like kicking a man who is already down, they are equally burdened with a personal responsibility to stay alive in a ‘holding bay’ until a COVID-19 test result proves them negative.

In that holding bay, no severity of gasping can provoke clinical rescue action — simply because doctors are afraid to act without protection.

“That is a big gap in our healthcare system. Who takes care of patients awaiting test, who have likely Covid-19 symptoms? You should have doctors working with full PPE because these people are Covid-19 patients until proven otherwise. And you may even have a testing lab in that holding bay,” said a consultant surgeon at the frontline of Covid-19 in one of Nigeria’s tertiary hospitals who didn’t want to be mentioned in this report for fear of retribution.

“But here, we are overstretched. PPE are being prioritised for those working in the isolation ward. Yet, doctors at the frontline in the other wards, including emergencies, don’t have adequate protection. The idea is that those who are treating confirmed coronavirus patients should wear N95, shields, gowns. But other doctors treating ordinary patients should just wear surgical masks and they will be fine.

We all know that N95 is the most superior. We all know surgical mask is not as effective as N95 and yet politicians use it to address press conferences and senators wear them to plenary sessions.”

No PPE, delayed COVID-19 test result and death Acute respiratory distress with desaturation is a clinical emergency all over the world, irrespective of the cause, says Francis Owoicha, a UK-based Nigerian doctor currently working at the centre of Covid-19 fight.

“The coronavirus pandemic is just one cause; it shouldn’t lead to denial of treatment to anyone presenting with acute shortness of breath, even though they are

Taiwo Mumini in tears over the death of his brother who had just died in the car following hours of neglect at the Emergency Department Foyer, University College Hospital, Ibadan.

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@Businessdayng

suspect,” he says. “Intubate if they are desaturating even on Oxygen, with a ‘dirty ventilator’ if need be. While on treatment, a result comes out and then your management can change.

The testing and admission criteria must be redefined and people who need intervention should be prioritized, rather than herding asymptomatic patients into isolation centres and publishing phantom recovery rates.”

For severely ill suspects such as the senior Samson, they weren’t merely to be isolated in the holding ward after collection of samples from the nose and throat. In the US, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that healthcare workers closely monitor vital signs, including pulse rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature.

The doctors finally swabbed himonSunday,May17,butwell over 48 hours elapsed without a result to show for the effort. This was at a time when the hospital had been licensed to conduct coronavirus testing within its facility.In-hospitaltestingkicked off May 11 — enough time to test-run and fix shortcomings if there were any. The turnaround wasexpectedtobeshortercompared to when the hospital had to take all samples some 87 kilometres north of Benin City to Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, where other samples arrivingfromnearbycommunities and states had to compete on a long queue.

By then, his family was panicky. Joshua kept tracking Osas to speak to a doctor.

A typical diabetes case that was under control suddenly relapsed into sharp headache on May 14. The old man called in at the hospital and seem stabilised until few hours into the night when the pains returned, causing him to be managed as a case of migraine and slightly elevated sugar.

By 2am the following day, gasping set in. Samson asked for a chest x-ray, which revealed pulmonary edema.

The burden wasn’t for oxygen to shoulder. It was battle for a ventilator. Yet, to ascertain the level of risk in the absence of PPE, a coronavirus test stood in the way of ultimate clinical rescue in the golden hours of need. The gasping continued endlessly until the old man got tired of fighting alone. He died on Wednesday, May 20, at the holding ward of the hospital.

But reacting to the grim fate of patients under the hospital’s negligence, Uwalia said: “That’s not the true representation of things. The management is conscious.

We are conscious of the fact that beyond COVID-19, the cases we are managing are still there, like surgeries cannot continue to be put on hold.

Women have to give birth.”

Days after the old man’s death, his COVID-19 test was yet to be released. It is not clear if the other members of the family were endangered.

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Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Harvard Business Review

MANAGEMENTDIGEST

Harnessing everyday genius GARY HAMEL AND MICHELE ZANINI HOW MICHELIN GIVES ITS FRONT-LINE TEAMS THE POWER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. he loss of “good jobs” in the U.S. economy and elsewhere has inspired a slew of proposals, including mandatory labor representation on corporate boards, benefits for gig economy workers, tax breaks for investments in human capital and a minimum guaranteed income. While some of these ideas have merit, they don’t address what we believe is the root of the problem: the widespread assumption that low-wage jobs are filled by minimally capable people — a prejudice that has denied millions of employees the opportunity to enhance their skills and exercise their minds.

Yet a growing band of organizations around the world have freed their employees from the yoke of bureaucratic control.

They share a deep belief that “ordinary” employees — when given the chance to learn, grow and contribute — are capable of extraordinary accomplishments. That conviction, when consistently acted upon, produces a workforce that’s deeply knowledgeable, relentlessly inventive and ardently focused on the customer.

The question is, why haven’t more organizations followed suit? In this article we offer a path out of the bureaucratic trap, drawing on the example of the tire manufacturer Michelin. Since 2012, under the banner of “responsabilisation” (French for “empowerment”), Michelin has dramatically increased the authority and accountability of its front-line workers, reversing the centralization that has characterized the automobile sector for five decades.

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HOW THE JOURNEY BEGAN The idea for responsabilisation was born out of frustration. In the mid-2000s, the tiremaker had launched the Michelin Manufacturing Way, or MMW, a corporatewide program to improve productivity through standardized processes, tools, dashboards and performance audits.

But as MMW was rolled out, factory leaders raised concerns that it was crowding out local initiative and creativity. By 2010 the standardization efforts were producing diminishing returns.

Looking for a way forward, Jean-Michel Guillon, then the

head of Michelin’s personnel department, hosted a workshop in early 2012.

One of the workshop’s most vocal participants was Bertrand Ballarin, the manager of Michelin’s Shanghai plant. A few weeks later, Guillon invited Ballarin to join the personnel department as head of industrial relations. Eager to broaden his impact, Ballarin quickly accepted. He felt that the solution to Michelin’s problems was responsabilisation, and by the summer of 2012, Ballarin had sketched out a bottom-up initiative to promote it, which he labeled MAPP, the French acronym for “autonomous management of performance and progress.”

STEP 1: LAUNCHING THE MOVEMENT Ballarin toured the factories, making his pitch to local managers and teams. By October 2012, Ballarin had recruited 38 teams, comprising 1,500 people (about 1% of the company’s head count), from 17 plants.

The next few months were hectic. At each of the 17 factories, Ballarin held kickoff meetings, where he reminded plant leaders that the point of the exercise was for teams to discover the solution.

Ballarin also walked each team through the mission of responsabilisation. The focus was on the what, not the how.

Team leaders were encouraged to let go and shift their role from “deciding” to “enabling.” To get the ball rolling, they could ask their teams two questions: “What decisions could you make without my help?” and “What problems www.businessday.ng

could you solve without the involvement of support staff like maintenance, quality or industrial engineering?”

Things advanced slowly at first, but by March 2013 experiments were ramping up. The tipping point, says Ballarin, came when the teams figured out that no one was going to stop them.

STEP 2: CONVERGING ON A SHARED VIEW During the first half of 2013, the responsabilisation teams worked independently, but in the summer, Ballarin began connecting them with the help of Olivier Marsal, an enterprising manager in Michelin’s manufacturing function. The pair began hosting monthly phone conferences and set up an online space, MAPPEDIA, where teams could share findings and address common problems. Ballarin also ran a series of three-day workshops, at which teams shared videos about their experiments and then worked to define the signature practices of an autonomous team.

The insights from the workshops clustered into six categories — developing a shared mission and objectives, organizing work, developing competencies, driving innovation, coordinating with others and managing performance — which became the foundation of a framework for new teams joining the responsabilisation journey.

STEP 3: SCALING UP With pilot teams delivering encouraging results, Ballarin and Marsal aimed higher, wangling

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their way onto the agenda of a December 2013 senior leadership meeting. After playing a selection of the teams’ videos, Ballarin summarized the performance gains and noted the rising engagement scores. Then came the big ask: He wanted to test responsabilisation at the full plant level — which would challenge plant leaders and support functions to redefine their roles. Even more contentious, the corporate staff groups would have to cede some decision rights to the plants involved.

Executives were enthusiastic and eager to learn more about the pilots. Hoping for permission to test responsabilisation in two factories, Ballarin left the meeting with the go-ahead to scale up in six.

STEP 4: REDEFINING BOUNDARIES AND ROLES In the test plants, front-line employees began playing bigger roles in areas such as safety, quality and scheduling and even participating in high-level planning meetings. For the first time, they weighed in on decisions about plant design, capital programs, staffing levels and yearly targets.

As production teams began to exercise greater autonomy, managers at the test plants worked to redefine their roles.

Each factory developed training programs on topics like emotional intelligence and “leading from behind.”

A few plant executives also offloaded some of their responsibilities.

In a win-win, front-line empowerment freed managers to focus on more rewarding work, @Businessdayng

such as building team skills and resource planning.

STEP 5: RENEGOTIATING RELATIONSHIPS WITH HQ Michelin’s plants traditionally depended on central functions to set standards, define processes and hand out production quotas. It was clear to Ballarin that unless factories could start managing those tasks themselves, responsabilisation would stall out. Wresting authority from central functions was a challenge, yet several plants made progress. The key, local managers realized, was to win permission for a targeted experiment and then use the results to push for more autonomy.

THE CASE FOR RADICAL EMPOWERMENT Companies like Michelin show what can be achieved when an organization has faith in the potential of its people and is prepared to invest in their skills and reward their contributions. This workplace alchemy — turning dead-end jobs into get-ahead jobs — doesn’t require new legislation or billions of dollars in public spending. It just takes commitment to building organizations that kindle the spark of everyday genius in each human being.

Gary Hamel is a visiting professor at London Business School and the founder of the Management Lab. Michele Zanini is the managing director of the Management Lab. They are the authors of “Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them.”

Friday 10 July 2020

BUSINESS DAY

31

Sports FA to investigate Akinfenwa’s racial claims during League One play-off tie

Eendracht Termien as he will be quarantined for at least a week.

Onuachu joined Genk from Danish club FC Midtjylland last summer.

He scored 10 goals and recorded two assists for the club in the 2019/2020 season before it was abruptly ended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Onuachu’s debut for the Super Eagles is quite historic; scoring one if not the fastest goal ever for the Nigeria national team.

Premier League considering extending transfer window

Ex-City boss Manuel Pellegrini takes over at Real Betis

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then we must strive to educate each other about these issues. We must work together to ensure those who have not and do not face racial prejudice understand that what may appear to them to be a throwaway remark can have such a big and hurtful impact.

“A Water Buffalo is a dark

animal and as a black man I believe that you have dehumanised me by associating me with a dark animal as this was said in a derogatory manner.”

Wycombe say that ‘fully support’ Akinfenwa’s claims, while the FA issued a short statement confirming that they will conduct an investi-

FIFA wants uniform global use of VAR

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IFA wants Video Assistant Referee reviews to be applied in the same way across all competitions, as they take over direct responsibility for the system.

Issues concerning VAR have been handled primarily by IFAB, the game’s lawmaking body, during the system’s two-year experimental phase and its introduction as part of the laws of the game.

Soccer’s global governing body FIFA, however, took over the role of supporting competition organisers with the implementation of VAR from 1 July.

Pierluigi Collina, the Italian former World Cup referee and chairman of FIFA’s Referees’ Committee, told Reuters the move was a “natural transition”.

“IFAB as an organisation has the duty to govern the laws of football, including VAR and the protocol and regulations. Once the laws of the game are set, IFAB’s job is over,” he said.

“It is then FIFA that deals with referees’ education around the world supporting all the member associations.”

There have been some variations in the use of VAR in different competitions and national leagues, but Collina believes that there should be

gation into the alleged racist incident.

“We’ve been made aware of the allegation and we’ll be investigating it further,” said an FA spokesperson.

W yc o mb e d re w t h e match 2-2, securing a 6-3 aggregated win over Fleetwood to reach the League One play-off final.

T a uniform approach.

“Another responsibility of FIFA’s is to have the laws of the game implemented all over the world in the same way, there cannot be different implementation of the laws of the game in different continents or different countries.

Our responsibility is to ensure that football is played in the same way all over the world.

“Can you imagine in international competition played by teams who are used to having different interpretations of the laws of the game in their domestic competition? Saying that VAR should be used in the same way all over the world is something obvious.

“Of course there can be some small differences, but the general implementation should be the same.

“It is FIFA and IFAB’s responsibility to have the game played the same way across www.businessday.ng

the world, for the benefit of those who are playing,” he said.

The Premier League has not used VAR to check for encroachment off the line by goalkeepers during penalty kicks despite that element being part of the protocol.

Speaking generally, Collina said FIFA want to avoid situations where players in an international tournament faced surprise decisions.

“If something is written in the laws of the game, it has to be implemented everywhere, otherwise can you imagine the surprise of someone who is penalised for something in an international game that he is not penalised for at home?

“Maybe they would not be aware of what they can do? If something in the laws of the game doesn’t work, then it is discussed and eventually changed by IFAB,” he said.

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igeria striker Paul Onuachu has repor tedly tested positive to the novel coronavirus.

In a report by Belgian tabloid, Het Laaste Niuews , the 26-year-old tested positive at his club and has since gone into isolation.

Onuachu was the only RC Genk player that tested positive for COVID19 as the club conducted tests in preparation for its first pre-season game.

Ahead of the club exhibition game, all the players were tested, including compatriots Stephen Odey and Cyril Dessers, and they were all negative except the towering striker who will now miss his team’s preseason friendly tomorrow.

“In the run-up to the first exhibition game of the season, the entire Genk group was tested,” a report on Belgian website hln.be stated. “Everyone tested negative except Onuachu.”

Onuachu will miss Genk’s first exhibition game of the season against

Stories by Anthony Nlebem

he Football Association is launching an investigation into Wycombe Wanderers striker Adebayo Akinfenwa’s claims that he was racially abused during the second leg of the League One play-off semi-final .

The former AFC Wimbledon forward released a statement on Wednesday stating that a representative of Fleetwood Town had called him a ‘Fat Water Buffalo’.

“Following the conclusion of the game I learned that a representative of the opposition had repeatedly referred to me as a Fat ‘Water Buffalo’ in a derogatory tone,” wrote Akinfenwa in a tweet.

“Regardless of whether or not there was deliberate racial intent by using that language and irrespective of the context in which it was used, if we are to make real and long standing change

Nigerian striker tests positive for Covid-19

he English premier League is considering extending the transfer window for deals between League and EFL clubs.

UEFA has recommended that domestic leagues shut their windows no later than Monday, 5 October, a fortnight before the group stages of the 2020-21 Champions League and Europa League are due to begin.

According to the PA news agency, the Premier League is set to follow that guidance for international deals and transfers between top-flight clubs, but representatives of the 20 top-flight sides have discussed a two-week extension for deals involving the EFL, allowing for business to be conducted up to 19 October.

Club bosses gathered via video conference for a

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shareholders’ meeting on Thursday, but no decision was reached on the start and end date for the summer transfer window, which has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

A decision on dates will be taken on or before the next shareholders’ meeting on 24 July, which is two days before the scheduled end of the 201920 Premier League season.

The clubs also discussed the start date for the 2020-21 Premier League season but those talks will continue, with the scheduling of domestic cup competitions a consideration when coming up with a final calendar.

It is understood there were no discussions about changes to how VAR is applied in the Premier League next season.

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o r m e r Ma n c h e s t e r City, Real Madrid and West Ham head coach Manuel Pellegrini has been appointed manager of Real Betis from next season on a three-year contract, the La Liga side announced.

Pellegrini, who won the Premier League with City in 2013-14 as well as two League Cups, returns to Spain where he had successful spells with Villarreal and Malaga.

The Chilean, 66, led Villarreal to the 2006 Champions League semi-finals and led Malaga into Europe’s premier club competition for the first time in 2012, leading them to the quarter-finals a year later.

“Real Betis has signed Chilean manager Manuel Pellegrini to take up the reins of the first team next season.

The contract between Pellegrini and the club is until June 2023,” the club said in a statement.

Women in Business

BUSINESS DAY Friday 10 July 2020 www.businessday.ng

By Kemi Ajumobi

Sandie Okoro

Lola Shoneyin

Senior Vice President and World Bank Group General Counsel, Vice President for Compliance at the World Bank

Award winning Author, poet, publisher & Founder, Ake Festival, Africa’s largest book festival

W

ith 189 member countries, staff from more than 170 countries and offices in over 130 locations, the World Bank Group is a unique global partnership: five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries.

Sandie Okoro is Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the World Bank Group, and Vice President for Compliance at the World Bank.

The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. Its five institutions share a commitment to reducing poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development.

They have improved their ability to measure results and it has adopted standardized metrics across a wide range of sectors to aggregate contributions to development results across countries and across time.

They have also opened their data, knowledge, and research to foster innovation and increase transparency in development, aid flows, and finances. A variety of tools, programs, and policies facilitates these goals.

As the first British national and the first black woman to hold this role, Sandie is the principal advisor and spokesperson on all legal matters for the world’s leading development finance institution. She heads the Legal Vice Presidency Unit where international development legal experts provide legal services essential to World Bank activities and operations. Sandie also heads the Compliance Vice Presidency that is responsible for developing and overseeing the World Bank data privacy framework that is based on the World Bank Group Policy on Personal Data Privacy. The two Vice Presidencies are separate and distinct.

In addition to her official duties, Sandie is an ardent defender and champion for women empowerment, gender equality, and justice for all. She uses her voice and expertise to spark personal and community-based development and push the envelope in tackling gender-based inequalities, particularly among minority groups

and women. She proactively engages in opportunities to spur change and move the needle in tackling issues such as gender-based violence, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, sexual harassment, child marriage, women’s access to justice, gender equality in the judiciary, discriminatory laws, and many more.

Prior to joining the World Bank, Sandie was General Counsel for HSBC Global Asset Management, Deputy General Counsel of HSBC Retail Banking and Wealth Management, and Global General Counsel at Barings.

Sandie is an Honorary Bencher of Middle Temple in the United Kingdom (2018) and was named one of the Upstanding 100 Leading Ethnic Minority Executives (2016), Top 20 Global General Counsel (2019) by the Financial Times and was recognized as Britain’s 5th most influential person of African and African Caribbean heritage

by Powerlist (2018). She holds Honorary Doctorates in Law from City University London (2014), London Southbank University (2018), and her alma mater Birmingham University (2019).

Okoro was appointed to the Management Board and the Panel of Experts of The Haguebased Panel of Recognized International Market Experts in Finance (2011) and the Premier League Equality Standards Panel (2016). She is Ambassador for the Law Society of England and Wales Diversity Access Scheme and served as President of the International Lawyers of Africa (2014). She also received a lifetime achievement award from the UK Black Solicitors Network (2016), was named one of the Power 100 Women

by City A.M. and 100 Women to Watch by Female FTSE Board.

She received the Howard University 2019 Vanguard Women Award for her accomplishments as a woman of color who has blazed the trail and her commitment to mentoring young women and advancing the rights of women and girls globally. She is also the recipient of the Beyond the Glass Ceiling Award presented by the Leadership Institute for Women of Color Attorneys (2019), the Chambers 100 Outstanding Global General Counsel award (2019), and an honoree of Harvard Law’s 7th Annual International Women’s Day Portrait Exhibit (2020).

L

ola Shoneyin is a Nigerian poet and author, who launched her debut novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, in the UK in May 2010. Shoneyin has forged a reputation as an adventurous, humorous and outspoken poet (often classed in the feminist mould), having published three volumes of poetry. In April 2014, she was named on the Hay Festival’s Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature. Lola won the PEN Award in America as well as the Ken Saro-Wiwa Award for prose in Nigeria. She was also on the list for the Orange Prize in the UK for her debut novel, The Secret of Baba Segi’s Wives, in 2010.

She lives in Lagos, Nigeria, where she runs the annual Aké Arts and Book Festival. In 2017, she was named African Literary Person of the Year

by Brittle Paper.

Titilola Atinuke Alexandrah Shoneyin was born in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria, in 1974. She is the youngest of six children and the only girl. Her parents, Chief Tinuoye Shoneyin and Yetunde Shoneyin (née Okupe), are Remo indigenes from Ogun State.

Shoneyin’s work is significantly influenced by her life, notably providing material on polygamy for her debut novel; her maternal grandfather, Abraham Olayinka Okupe (18961976) was the traditional ruler of Iperu Remo and had five wives. He ascended the throne in 1938 and died in 1976.

At the age of six, she went to boarding school in the UK, attending Cargilfield School, Edinburgh; The Collegiate School, Winterbourne, Bristol, and Fettes Junior School in Edinburgh. Returning to Nigeria after her father was imprisoned by the then military government; she completed her secondary education at Abadina College. She later earned her BA (Hons) degree from Ogun State University in 1994/95.

Lola’s early writing consists mainly of poetry and short stories. Early examples of her

work appeared in the Post Express in 1995, which features a short story about a Nigerian woman who leaves her husband for an Austrian woman. This story initiated dialogue about homosexuality within a Nigerian context.

Her first volume of poetry, So All the Time I was Sitting on an Egg, was published by Ovalonion House, Nigeria, in 1998. Shoneyin attended the renowned International Writing Program in Iowa, USA, in August 1999 and was also in that year a Distinguished Scholar at the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota).

Her second volume of poetry, Song of a Riverbird, was published in Nigeria (Ovalonion House) in 2002. While living in England, she obtained a teaching degree from London Metropolitan University in 2005.

Shoneyin completed her first novel in 2000. Her second novel, Harlot, received some interest, but the story of a young girl growing up in colonial Nigeria to make a fortune as a “Madame” remains unpublished.

Shoneyin moved on to her third novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, which was published in 2010.

Cassava Republic Press, Nigeria, published Shoneyin’s third poetry collection, For the Love of Flight, in February 2010. Mayowa and the Masquerades, a children’s book, was also published by Cassava Republic, in July 2010.

She has also written for newspapers, including The Scotsman, The Guardian,[ and The Times on issues such as racism, Nigeria’s tradition of polygamous marriage, the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram and the elections of now President Muhammadu Buhari.

She is the founder and Director of Book Buzz Foundation, a non-governmental organisation established in 2012 for the promotion of arts and culture within local and global spaces. She co-founded Infusion, a popular monthly gathering for music, art and culture in Abuja, Nigeria. Shoneyin served as a judge of the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing.

She is married to medical doctor Olaokun Soyinka, son of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka.

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