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news you can trust I ** friDAY 20 DECEMBER 2019 I vol. 19, no 461

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n Rwanda, the widely accepted belief in government is that when other countries walk, the country must run to keep up.

Despite its tumultuous history and relatively small size, Rwanda exhibits bigger am-

L-R: Akintunde Oyebode, special adviser to Ekiti State governor on investment, trade and innovations; Olivier Thiry, group chief executive officer, Promasidor Group; Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti State; Anders Einarsson, managing director, Promasidor Nigeria, and Andrew Enahoro, director, external communication, Promasidor Nigeria, during a visit to the Ekiti State Government House and Ikun Dairy Farm for Promasidor Nigeria’s backward integration initiative.

bition than Nigeria which is roughly 16 times the size of the East African nation.

The Rwandan economy probably expanded 8.5 percent in 2019, according to official estimates shared for the first time

by President Paul Kagame, who welcomed local and international guests to the country’s 17th annual national dialogue session in Kigali on Thursday, December 19.

The possibility of displacing Ethiopia as Africa’s fastest growing economy this year is not enough, according to Kagame, who implied a new double-digit target had been set for 2020.

“We should strive to achieve no less than 10 percent growth because we have a unique history and challenges that mean while others walk, we must run,” Kagame said.

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“It means we are not satisfied with our economic growth, neither do we over-celebrate the improvement in our ease of doing business or the high rate of gender inclusion, so we don’t get distracted and forget we still have so much work to do,” he said.

Rwanda is also tipped to grow Continues on page 35

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Rwanda’s bold ambition holds lessons for Nigeria LOLADE AKINMURELE, IFEOMA OKEKE & OLUFIKAYO OWOEYE, in Kigali

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Finance minister says debt service to gulp 29% of total revenue in 2020 … amid concerns over Nigeria’s rising debt burden CYNTHIA EGBOBOH, Abuja

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he Federal Government will spend almost a third of its projected revenue to service Nigeria’s debt next year, Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, said on Thursday.

Ahmed said N2.452trn or 29 percent out of N8.42trn that government has set as its revenue target in 2020 would be used to service debt. This would also amount to about 23.2 percent of total expenditure, an amount which is an increase of 14.5 percent from 2019.

This is coming amid concerns about the country’s rising debt burden.

Nigeria struggles to meet its annual revenue target and spends more than half of what the government earns paying the Continues on page 35

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NIPOST workers protest FG move to cede stamp duty collection to FIRS Cynthia Egboboh, Abuja

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IPOST workers on Thursday protested to condemn an attempt by the Federal Government to take over the stamp duty collection of the NIPOST function and transfer same to Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

The workers held the protest at the Finance Ministry immediately after the budget breakdown presided over by the minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

Ayo Olorunfemi, general secretary, Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies, who led the protest in Abuja, said only NIPOST had the mandate under the existing law to produce stamp and sell same for both postage and

duty purposes, adding that the migration from physical or adhesive to electronic stamping could never lead to change of ownership.

“The action of the Minister is unfortunate, inimical to the ideals preached by this administration and if not checked is capable of causing inter-agency disunity or unhealthy rivalry even now when all hands must be on deck to uplift the nation.”

Olorunfemi speaking further requested that the President Muhammadu Buhari to recall the move as it could lead to disunity and rivalry among government agencies adding that the worst that can happen in the circumstance is the movement of NIPOST to the Ministry of Finance which to us is superstitious; very unnecessary. NIPOST is currently well positioned under the minister of Communica-

tion and Digital Economy.

“From the argument of the minister, it follows that stamp duty is a form of taxation its collection should be ceded to the FIRS. Does that means that the Nigeria Custom which also collects various duties will it also revert its functions to FIRS? Of course if we permit the evil as being perpetrated, the roles of Custom service, Nigeria Ports Authority, Standard Organisation of Nigeria and all revenue collecting agencies will eventually be ceded to FlRS under the highly powerful Minister of Finance,” he said.

He alleged that the minister had made lobbied to get the House of Representatives to pass the bill saying that since the stamp is used to denote receipts, transactions and other documents, it is a tax and her agency must take it over.

Edo’ll continue to encourage local investors, Obaseki assures … extends revalidation exercise for pensioners till January 2020

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do State governor, Godwin Obaseki, says his administration will continue to provide the needed support for local investors to thrive in the state, as their success will attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the state.

The governor said this while commissioning A&O Hotels located at Uselu - Ugbowo Roadaxis of Benin City, the Edo State capital.

Obaseki said, “We are creating the enabling environment to encourage investment. My preference is local investors. I want to support the people at home that are ready to work. When they invest and do well, other people from outside will come and join them.”

He commended the managing director of A&O Hotel,

John Iyere, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who the governor described as a beacon to the people looking forward to investing in the hospitality business.

“There is the impression that politicians do not have anything doing except politics. But we are here to open an edifice built by a political leader, who invested in the hospitality business. This is what this government is encouraging,” he said.

He explained that the ongoing electrification project in the state would be extended to the Uselu-Ugbowo Road-axis within the next three months to encourage more businesses to thrive.

Earlier, Iyere said the revamp of the tourism sector by the state government necessitated his investment in the hospitality

business.

He commended the Governor Obaseki-led administration for creating the enabling environment for businesses to thrive, noting that the hotel would increase the tax profile of the state.

Meanwhile, the state government has extended the ongoing revalidation exercise for pensioners across the 18 Local Governments Areas (LGAs) of the state from Friday, December 20, 2019, to January, 10, 2020.

In a statement, special adviser to the governor on media and communication strategy, Crusoe Osagie, said pensioners who were yet to be validated in the ongoing exercise should remain calm as the exercise would run till January 10, 2020, as against the earlier advertised closing date.

2020 budget: PASAN laments N4.7bn allocation to Public Complaints Commission James Kwen, Abuja

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arliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) has lamented the paltry allocation of N4.7 billion to the Public Complaints Commission in the 2020 budget recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Margaret Chijioke, PASAN chairman, Public Complaints Commission chapter in company of Mohammed Usman, PASAN national president, and Labi Josiah, zonal vice president, who stated this at a press briefing in Abuja, said the Commission had proposed N7.4 billion in the 2020 budget.

Chijioke disclosed that for the past years, the Public Complaints Commission had been grossly underfunded and in 2018, its budget was finally reviewed upwards to N7.4 billion but only about N4.2 billion was released as usual.

According to Chijioke, PASAN has been making efforts including wide consultations with the Principal Officers of the National Assembly so that the Commis-

sion gets adequate funding to discharge her duties, and there was no improvement on its budget.

“It is saddening that the plight of the Commission is not being looked into and so we the members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria will not support deliberate attempt to render us redundant, the only anti-corruption Institution directly under the National Assembly, saddled with the mandate of delivering social and administrative justice to the ordinary Nigerian.

“The Public Complaints Commission remains the voice of the voiceless and the watch dog of the society, and an institution with unique ability to give feedback on government policies and governance,” she said.

The PASAN leader said as a matter of urgency, the Public Complaints Commission needed a Presidential intervention in the 2020 budget to help ordinary Nigerians get justice for free and help the fight against administrative corruption, which directly breeds other forms of corruption.

Reps summon BPP DG over additional 3rd lane on Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road James Kwen, Abuja

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ouse of Representatives Standing Committee on Works has summoned the director-general, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mamman Ahmadu, to appear before it and explain issues around the proposed additional third lane on the Abuja-Kaduna-ZariaKano road.

This followed the absence of Ahmadu at a meeting between the House Standing Committee on Works, abruptly suspended even as a director at BPP told the Committee that he was unavoidably absent without giving any plausible reason.

Chairman of the Committee, Abubakar Kabir, who decried the absence of the director-general said it was unacceptable and an

act of insubordination on Committee as he did not deem it fit to write to the Committee to give his reason for not honouring the invitation.

At a recent meeting with the officials of the Ministry of Works and Housing as well as Julius Berger, the contractor handling the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road project, the Committee frowned at the procurement process and how contract was awarded to the company.

The permanent secretary, Ministry of Works and Housing, Mohammed Bukar, said the contract was awarded to Julius Berger through a procurement process recognised by the Procurement Act. However, the Committee directed BPP to appear before it alongside the Ministry of Works and Julius Berger Nigeria plc. www.businessday.ng

L-R: Olusade Adesola, permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports/representing of minister; Amaju Pinnick, president, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), and Godwin Obaseki, governor, Edo State, during the NFF Annual General Meeting in Benin City, Edo State capital.

Why Jollof rice may have low patronage during Christmas celebration BUNMI BAILEY

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s Nigerians wait for the 2019 Christmas in few days, it appears cooking ‘Jollof rice,’ the usual meal that comes with the celebration, may not be an option for most Nigerians, BusinessDay gathers.

Jollof rice, a Nigerian delicacy, is usually a preferred meal for both common and well-to-do Nigerians to mark celebrations, especially Christmas. However, the popular African dish is likely to have low patronage as many are already opting for other meals such as spaghetti, pounded yam, semovita and other meals to mark the celebration.

Here is why: Many Nigerians have bitterly lamented over the poorly-made local rice, which the sudden border closure has pushed them to go for. The local rice, many have said, is not good enough to prepare Jollof compared to the foreign rice.

BusinessDay earlier reported how most caterers in Nigeria

complain about the poor quality of the local (Nigerian) rice as it fails to properly prepare the country’s popular delicacy known as Jollof rice and meeting the expectations of their consumers.

“People don’t like to eat the Jollof rice prepared from the local one at parties because it is sticky, has a lot of starch and stones. I had to stop using it and stick to the foreign one. Jollof prepared with foreign rice is not mushy and gummy,” Nneke Obi, a Lagos-based caterer said.

“Although, when you prepare Jollof with local rice, the ingredients catch fast and is sweeter than the foreign rice, I still prefer to cook with the foreign one because that is what my customers want,” Obi said.

Moreover, since the closure of the Nigerian land border in August, prices of major ingredients of Jollof such as groundnut oil, turkey or chicken have skyrocketed. This, among other factors, has contributed to low patronage of Jollof rice all over the country.

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According to Vincent Chukwu, a medical doctor, eating Jollof rice has always been a tradition every Christmas, but with the high price in foreign rice, his family will settle for pounded yam.

Before the border closure, a bag of foreign rice cost between N14,500 and N15,000, while a bag of locally produced rice cost about N13,500. Meanwhile, the cost of foreign rice has gone really inflated following the border closure.

This, BusinessDay gathers, has extremely lowered patronage of the foreign rice.

According to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics in November, the Consumer Price Index otherwise referred to as inflation rate rose to 11.85 percent, the highest it ever risen since May 2018, when the number showed up at 11.61 percent.

“I cannot prepare Jollof rice with local rice. My family will not like it. We will still eat Jollof rice, the only difference is that I will not give my neighbours this year,” Bukky Abiodun, a trader @Businessdayng

in Lagos, said.

According to the 2019 Jollof Index by SBM Intelligence, Nigeria’s leading geopolitical intelligence platform, Nigerians are now spending 60 percent more for a family pot of the Jollof than they did three years ago.

The SBM Jollof Index is a composite index that tracks how much it will cost to make a pot of Jollof rice across 12 markets in seven states in the six geopolitical zones, for a family of five or six, the average rural and urban family size in Nigeria.

According to Ayorinde Akinloye, a consumer goods analyst at Lagos-based CSL Stockbrokers, Christmas will definitely be worse as many rice sellers are currently hoarding foreign rice with plans to hike the price significantly in December, and this is bound to impact cost of Jollof rice.

“I think people will opt for other substitutes like spaghetti and local ball foods like pounded yam, and may be other options for consumers in December,” Akinloye said.

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CIBN charges Nigerians on thanksgiving to God at Christmas Hope Moses-Ashike

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h a r t e re d I n s t i tute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has demonstrated the need for Nigerians to always give thanks t o G o d , p a r t i c u l a r l y at Christmas.

This the Institute has d o n e by i n c o r p o ra t i n g an evening of songs into its various programmes.

Speaking at the maiden edition of an evening of songs, on Monday, Mi chael Akinwale, secretary of conference, Methodist Church of Nigeria, urged Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with a heart full of gratitude.

P ra i s i n g G o d g e n e rates unusual gifts, attracts heaven’s attention and br ings dow n His glor y, Akinwale said.

“So, let us know that our gratitude to God will deter mine our altitude and our altitude will show G od’s depositor y value in us. This is only when His glory and beauty will begin to radiate in us and make us come alive,” he said.

He said the season was one that every living soul ought to be grateful for, especially, for the gift of Christ and for life, saying, “As we celebrate this season, let us know that the ultimate reason we are created is to continue to appreciate Christ.

“Christ is our joy, hope and strength, any institution that is addicted in praising G od, will continue to enjoy His uncommon peace.”

Uche Olowu, president/chairman of council, CIBN, expressed gratitude to G od for the extraordinary successes the Institute had recorded in various activities in the course of the year.

Quoting Henri Frederic Amie, he said, “Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude and gratitude is the completion of thankfulness”.

Christmas is a season of giving and sharing, he said, urging Nigerians to give. “ To a fr iend, give your heart, be a good example to a child, be kind to the poor, to a customer render good ser vice, to all, charity and to yourself, respect,” he said.

We a l s o k n o w t h a t Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those around us. “ To t h is e nd , a s you share your gifts this season, I have some Christmas gift suggestions for you: forgive your enemy, tolerate your opponent,” Olowu said.

LCC to begin 100% cashless toll collection on Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge January 2020 AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

... but cash, cashless collection systems continue on Lekki-Eti-Osa Road

anagement of Lekki Concession CompanyLimited(LCC), concessionaire in chargeofLekki-Epe-Eti-OsaRoad, says it has perfected plans to begin 100percentcashlesstollcollection from vehicle users plying LekkiIkoyi Link Bridge come January 1, 2020.

With this development, only electronic payment systems that include eTags, prepaid cards, contactless cards and payment vouchers would be acceptable as means of payment from users of Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge come

January 1, 2020.

However, on the Admiralty Circle Toll Plaza, which caters for vehicleusersplyingLekki-Epe-Eti Osa Road, both cash and cashless toll collections would be allowed from road users.

Speaking with newsmen in Lagos on Thursday, Yomi Omomuwasan, managing director/ CEOofLCC,saidthefirmdeemed it fit to upgrade its tolling system in ordertoachieveefficiencyintraffic management on both the Lekki RoadandLekki-IkoyiLinkBridge.

According to Omomuwasan, LCC has merged the tolling ac-

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count of Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge with that of Admiralty Circle Toll Plaza such that one road user can make use of one or same card to access both tolling plazas without hitches.

“We are making every preparation like carrying out regular media campaigns using billboards, flyers, banners, newspapers publications and other media outlets to enlighten and educate the general public on the commencement of cashless toll collection next year,” he said.

Hesaidtherewouldbeademonstration of what would happen

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onJanuary1,2020,bynextweekto enable the firm take lessons from some of the teething problems that would emerge before the full or 100 percent cashless toll began.

Omomuwasan, who stated that the development was in line with the policy thrust of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, said the LCC recently launched LCC Mobile App that would enable road users register for eTag, call for help in case of emergenciesandtopupaccounts from one’s home or office without having to make physical visit to LCC office.

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Stating that no additional fees would be collected from road users that go cashless as planned, the LCC boss said compliant road users would be rewarded with 10 percent payment discounts for using e-tags and other e-payment systems.

He stated that LCC was also keen on offering auxiliary services that include round-the-clock patrol to aid traffic movement at black spots, ambulance service to cater for emergencies in the case of accident and protocol arrangement with police and LASTMA officers to control traffic.

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OSM rejects Senate president-led APC National Reconciliation Committee

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L-R: Director, Industrial Development, Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment, Adewale R. Bakare, chairman, Beta Glass plc and president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Abimbola Ogunbanjo, minister of industry, trade and investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, and managing director, Beta Glass plc/Frigoglass Industries (Nigeria) Limited, Darren Bennett-Voci, during the courtesy call by Beta Glass on the minister in Abuja, recently.

12-year-old Munachi Mbonu launches yet another book

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12-year-old JSS 2 student of Atlantic Hall school in Lagos, Munachi Mbonu, has launched yet another book, Fathers Will.

The book launch held at Eko Hotel in Lagos had in attendance distinguished personalities, including Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the state governor.

The book, woven around a super cop who consistently solved earth-shaking cases, is yet another incisive book by young Munachi. She had written Concealed and Chidubem two years ago.

A visibly impressed Governor Sanwo-Olu commended Munachi and encouraged her not to rest on her oars, noting that she no doubt was on a path to greatness.

“Munachi has defined her own path and I must say without a doubt that beyond the sky is her limit,” Sanwo-Olu said.

Speaking on how she realised her passion and gift for writing, Munachi said she started by putting down her thoughts into a paper.

“When the house gets noisy, my mummy tells us to go to our rooms and read and do book reviews. She doesn’t like us faffing around. So from there, what initially felt like punishment resulted into a fruitful passion,” she said.

“The first book was from TV drama shows; the second book was inspired by my cousins who moved from the village to Lagos.

They did not like some things we liked here but were willing to learn new things and adapt,” she further said.

Abba Kyari, deputy commissioner of police and commander, IGP’s Intelligence Response Team, who inspired the book, was full of praise for Munachi, noting that her zeal and determination to stand out at this age was one that should indeed be commended and supported by all.

“If we start encouraging young ones like this, the brain drain gradually experienced will become a thing of the past. Also, crime will reduce drastically because our young ones will become more purposeful and aim for their personal growth,” Kyari said.

While giving the vote of thanks, Ifeoma Mbonu, Munachi’s mum, said the young girl has been writing from seven.

“I got her first laptop at five.

So she would sketch some things and write about them. At age seven, she started writing. During the holidays I buy a lot of books and tell her to do a book review. She has written about five or six books,” Mbonu said.

Frank Momoh, publisher of the book, called on parents to support and always encourage their children whenever they notice similar zeal and passion in them. “You never can tell, one might just be nurturing them to becoming great writers the world will come to look up to,” he said.

Taraba presents N213.6bn as 2020 budget Nathaniel Gbaoron, Jalingo

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overnor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State on Thursday presented the Taraba State House of Assembly a budget estimate of N213,632,706,810 for the 2020 fiscal year.

Ishaku tagged it a “budget of accelerated growth and development,” saying that N71.5bn representing 33.5 percent of the estimate was for recurrent expenditure, while N142.6bn, representing 66.5 percent, was for capital expenditure.

The sectorial breakdown of

the appropriation bill shows that work and transport received the highest share of over N77bn, representing 36.6 percent of the total budget.

The governor confirmed receipt of N21.8bn refund from the Federal Government on federal roads constructed by the state government out of the over N42.2bn the state expended on the construction of federal roads in the state.

He also confirmed that the state also received over N33.7bn from the federation account.

he Obaseki/Shaibu Movement (OSM), a support group for the re-election of Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, has rejected the Senate president, Ahmed Lawan-led All Progressives Congress (APC) National Reconciliation Committee, purportedly constituted by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to resolve the lingering crisis in the APC and foster peace and unity among members.

In a statement, convener of the group, Damian Lawani, protested the constitution of the committee, noting that some of those selected as members are interested parties in some of the crisis flashpoints, which calls to question their neutrality in carrying out their assignment.

According to Lawani, “We categorically reject the Nation-

al Reconciliation Committee constituted by the APC NWC because we have seen the duplicity in the act. The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase are members of the newly announced committee and their inclusion is not only pregnant with meaning, but also symptomatic of the intent of the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to continue the lingering fight against his political enemies.

“Comrade Oshiomhole, Nigerians will recall, enlisted the services of Senator Lawan and Hon. Wase to carry out his plan of taking over the powers of the Edo State House of Assembly until they were stopped in their tracks by the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt. The National Assembly was thereby

restrained from continuing in their perfidious ambition, which was to muscle Governor Godwin Obaseki. The court thwarted this move and now Comrade Oshiomhole wants to make mockery of the law by using the National Reconciliation Committee to actuate his plans through the backdoor.”

The group said the actions of NWC on the matter, “goes to show that the National Chairman is still out to hound his political enemies by conscripting his allies to head the committee.

We are not convinced that the committee will be fair to all parties in the matter, especially as it relates to Edo State, which we know is the main target of the National Chairman. This is because we suspect that the committee would be presented with a script they would come and act out on the Edo crisis.

Why future of formal retail lies in small-size malls, neighbourhood stores CHUKA UROKO

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arge-size malls like Ikeja City Mall, The Palms and Novare Lekki Mall in Lagos are giving way to small-size malls and neighbourhood stores that define the future of formal retail in Nigerian real estate sector.

Besides less capital outlay, experts say small-size malls are also preferred today going into the future because these facilities, which could be as small as 3,000 square metre (sqm), can conveniently fit into specific neighbourhoods as opposed to the more popular large malls.

Large malls such as Novare – which sits on 22,000 square metres – and others that are even of larger sizes demand large scale constructions and, oftentimes, significantly disrupt the lives of neighbourhoods.

Small or large, malls or retail spaces present investment opportunities for space suppliers. It is estimated that, in spite of what has been done so far, modern retail in Nigeria accounts for less than 10 percent of the industry and continues to be significantly underdeveloped.

This means that the sector presents a unique opportunity for real estate developers and investors who can fill the gap by developing smaller neighbourhood malls.

“Purpose-built mid-sized retail outlets sited in neighbourhood areas are able to serve the needs of the local residents while simultaneously offering the similitude of experience that large-scale mall customers crave,” Ade Sun-Basorun, CEO designate, FoodCo Nigeria Limited, said.

Sun-Basorun said smallsize malls ease the travel time and stress customers experience in commuting to large malls which are typically located in major city centres.

Speaking at the 5th edition of the West Africa Property Investment Summit (WAPI) in Lagos recently, Sun-Basorun called on real estate developers and investors to harness the opportunities inherent in the

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Nigerian organised retail sector, stressing that the industry was at a period of accelerated growth that would have a ripple effect on ancillary sectors including real estate.

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Tayo Odunsi, CEO, Northcourt Real Estate, said the world of retail is changing and the transformation extends beyond online. He quotes the World Economic Forum on the

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future of consumption which says that retail is becoming more “inspirational, exciting, simple and convenient” in order to meet the needs of the consumer.

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Can European carmakers accelerate electric transition?

New EU emissions standards are designed to wean consumers off larger, petrol-fuelled cars

Peter Campbell

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hen Blas Arambilet tried to buy an electric car in April, something strange happened. Months after ordering a white Kia e-Niro from his local Barcelona showroom, he received a call from the dealership.

Kia could not deliver the car this year, a salesman explained, because the company needed to book the sale in 2020 to help meet tough new targets for CO2 emissions.

While not illegal, this incident demonstrates the contortions carmakers are planning to perform to pass Europe’s strict emissions rules, which come into force at the turn of the year and require them to lower average CO2 output to 95g per kilometre.

To hit the targets, they must sell a large number of electric cars that the vast majority of motorists — aside from Mr Arambilet — have so far shown scant interest in purchasing.

“There is going to be an imbalance between what consumers want and what manufacturers want to sell them,” says Robert Forrester, chief executive of dealership group Vertu, which operates 123 retailers and garages in the UK.

Despite Mr Arambilet’s enthusiasm, vanishingly few buyers are turning to electric cars, which accounted for less than 3 per cent of the cars sold in Europe in 2018, and are still clustered in countries that offer generous incentives.

Instead, consumers are shunning diesel in favour of petrol, and switching to heavier sports utility vehicles.

The result is that, since 2017, CO2 emissions from cars have been rising across the EU. “The industry has been slow to accept the magnitude of the challenge,” wrote Max Warburton, an auto analyst at Bernstein. “It’s just stunning how much is going to have to be achieved in the next 18 to 24 months.”

If the industry sold exactly the same mix of vehicles in 2021 as it did last year, carmakers together would face penalties of €25bn, he calculates.

The impact of the carbon clampdown will therefore be felt at forecourts across the continent, and by a wide body of consumers and businesses that will be encouraged to buy electric cars, whether they want to or not.

“The regulation is not aligned with what is happening in the market,” says the head of compliance at one global carmaker. “To comply, we have to get out of step with the market.”

The impact of the new standards runs deeper than the array of vehicles lined up on a forecourt. For Europe’s carmakers, an industry that supports close to 14m jobs, the change also has profound, business-shifting implications.

The higher input costs of electric vehicles mean they make less profit than “traditional” ones — if they make

any at all — leaving carmakers with less money to funnel into new models.

“Each time I’m selling an EV I’m making much less money than selling anything else,” says Carlos Tavares, chief executive of PSA, the French carmaker behind Peugeot, Opel, Citroën and Vauxhall. “I would therefore like to limit the number of EVs to a certain level.”

Theoretically, carmakers could meet the regulations simply by withdrawing their most polluting models and selling battery cars at exorbitant discounts.

But this would mire them in losses, at a time when manufacturers are already trying to cut costs in the region.

Within Europe alone, Ford plans to axe 7,000 jobs, Daimler 10,000 and Volkswagen’s Audi another 10,000.

As well as selling less profitable cars, carmakers are also seeing a reduction in their total sales, says Philippe Houchois, an auto analyst at Jefferies. He forecasts a 4 per cent decline in EU sales next year.

G2348_19X European car emissionsEuropean consumers have become SUV enthusiasts “Unless there’s a generalised support to the industry, you will probably have a volume recession because you are forcing consumers to buy cars they are not familiar with.”

Fears over additional electric spending and squeezed margins have already led to consolidation across the industry. PSA and Fiat Chrysler are merging to pool investments, while Ford and Volkswagen have formed an alliance to collaborate on new technologies, including some electric systems.

“For mass market carmakers,

‘

Unless there’s a generalised support to the industry, you will probably have a volume recession because you are forcing consumers to buy cars they are not familiar with

electrification looks an existential threat and may require a total redesign of industry structure,” says Mr Warburton.

Each carmaker faces its own CO2 target, based on the weight of its vehicles. A business selling smaller cars such as Peugeot owner PSA therefore has a lower CO2 target than a company with a heavier average vehicle, such as Mercedes owner Daimler.

The targets for each company therefore vary from around 91g/km to just over 100g/km.

Potential fines for missing these are punishing. Every gramme over the target incurs a penalty of €95 — multiplied by the number of cars sold in Europe.

For leading groups such as Volkswagen or PSA, the bill could easily run to ten figures.

Industry leaders also fear that if they miss targets they will face a public backlash in European societies which take environmentalism seriously.

“Right now, we [the industry] are considered as being crooks,” says Mr Tavares. “I don’t think there is any long-lasting, sustainable position in the society if we just do not care about contributing to fixing the global warming issue.

He adds: “This is not a trade-off.

This is a precondition to deserve to be in the market.”

Next year’s rules include some concessions, such as the exclusion of 5 per cent of sales from the calculations, and electric cars counting as double. In 2021 the rules tighten, with all sales counted and battery vehicles losing some of their added weighting.

FT

Buhari’s inept political leadership and Nigeria’s relapse into totalitarianism

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idn’t we experience the worst kind of military despotism and tyranny when Sani Abacha shoved aside the interim and transitional government of Chief Ernest Shonekan in a military putsch?

Abacha it was who imposed a reign of terror on Nigerians, then. Not only did he mindlessly loot our treasury, he also killed many members of the opposition groups, being with sanguinary proclivities. Consequently, then, Nigeria became a pariah state as some western countries and international organisations ostracized and isolated Nigeria.

Thankfully, his unexpected death prevented Nigeria from bowling over the precipice of dismemberment and descending into a civil war.

So, when he died, not a few Nigerians jubilated.

His military successor, Abdusalami Abubakar, conducted the general election, which ushered in the fourth republic in 1999. Since the inception of the fourth republic, the PDP had ruled Nigeria for the greater number of years than others political parties. But it was Goodluck Jonathan ‘s lacklustre and visionless political leadership of Nigeria that caused the PDP to lose its grips on power.

So, the APC, whose mantra of change gained acceptance in Nigeria, won the 2015 presidential election. And Muhammadu Buhari became our president. Because of his ascetic nature, and because of his perceived possession of moral scruples, millions of Nigerians believed him to be the political messiah, who would right the wrongs in our political polity, entrench peace and unity in the country, and rescue Nigeria from the jaws of underdevelopment.

However, the Daura – born former Nigeria’s military head of state has failed to live up to our billings and expectations. In his first term in office, his true persona came to the fore when

he appointed many northern Moslems into the country’s security outfits. His doing that is a proof that he is an ethnic jingoist and irredentist as well as a religious bigot. His actions, which are divisive, have continued to polarize Nigeria along ethnic and religious lines.

So, not surprisingly, Nigeria has not totally won its war against Boko Haram insurgency and terrorism. The Boko Haram insurgents still detonate bombs in crowded places to kill people.

And those displaced by the insurgency have sought refuge in insalubrious places in Cameroon and other neighbouring countries. Worst still, some of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls are still in captivity. Leah Sharibu, who’s one of the abducted schoolgirls, refused to proselytize to Islam. She has become a symbol of resistance to Islamic extremism. Leah Sharibu’s continued stay in captivity is a sore on our collective conscience and an index of our government’s ineptitude and helplessness.

Not only has this bumbling government failed to guarantee the security of life and property in Nigeria, it has also failed to rejuvenate our economy to make it grow exponentially. It should be noted that the formulation and execution of jejune economic policy cannot make our economy grow. The economy should be diversified. Because the economy is shrinking instead of expanding, there is high rate of unemployment in the country. Each year, thousands of university graduates are churned out of the tertiary institutions to join the labour market that is surfeit with job seekers.

It is this appalling, parlous, and despicable state of things that Omoyele Sowore tried to call attention to by planning to stage the #revolutionprotest# before he was hauled into detention. After he had perfected and fulfilled his bail conditions following his arrangement in court,

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the government and the DSS refused to release him. It took Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu’s threatening and order for his immediate release for him to be released only to be re-arrested in court 12 hours later in a Gestapo style.

This APC-led government headed by Rtd General Muhammadu Buhari, which is fast morphing to a totalitarian government, has started to attract global opprobrium and condemnation to itself by its egregious actions and misdeeds. World-wide condemnation of the APC-led government trailed Sowore’s re-arrest in court by the DSS officials.

The APC-led government, which is headed by a former military dictator, Muhammadu Buhari, has gained notoriety for its unabashed, unashamed, and utter disregard of court orders. Sambo Dasuki is still languishing in detention, although there is a court order for his release. Similarly, Sheik Elzak-zaky, the leader of IMN, is still being held in a correctional facility after the court had granted him bail some years ago.

Now, the Buhari government has made nonsense of the theory of separation of powers on which the practice of Presidentialism is rested or predicated. The three arms of government, viz the executive, legislature, and the judiciary ought to be separate, act independently of one another, and check the excesses of one another.

Now, the legislature, which is a rubber stamp, is an appendage of the executive. And, the judiciary has become impotent because the government chooses the court orders, which it will obey. It is said that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man. But, here, in Nigeria, the judiciary has ceased to be the last hope of the common man.

President Muhammadu Buhari is returning Nigeria to the Abacha’s dark era of military despotism. The Nigerian government is so intolerant of criticisms and opposition that it is repressing press freedom and curtailing our fundamental

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Chiedu Uche Okoye human rights. The hate speech and social media bill, which is being debated at the national assembly, is intended to be used in muzzling the voices of dissent when passed into law. If the bill becomes a law, the violators of the law will face the hang’s man noose as punishment. At a time when countries in our today’s world are calling for the repealing and abrogation of capital punishment, the Nigerian government is trying to make an atavistic and barbaric law, the violation of which will attract death sentence.

A government that has shed its democratic credentials is a totalitarian regime. Does totalitarianism make for rapid development of a country? The answer is no. However, political leaders, who are patriotic and receptive to new ideas and tolerant of criticisms, will make amends and formulate pragmatic economic and scientific policies, the implementation of which will take their country to the acme of economic and technological advancement.

However, the repressing and abridging of our fundamental human rights and the use of ironfist by Muhammadu Buhari in administering Nigeria will rouse us from sleep and galvanize us to take necessary and urgent actions to save Nigeria from implosion. The Punch newspaper has set the tone for our mass action with its intrepid editorial.

Okoye is a poet and resides in Anambra State 08062220654

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Ekwegh is a private legal practitioner with over 15 years

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The malaria story HumanAngle

Femi olugbile

M

alar ia is an illness that is characterised by fever, chills, and a general debilitation of the whole person. It occurs up to two weeks after one is bitten by the female of certain strains of mosquito, during which process the infective organism, Plasmodium in one of its varieties is injected into the blood stream.

From that point on the hapless individual is at the mercy of the organism, which goes through different stages of its lifecycle, replicating itself and sending a virtual invading army of parasites to do havoc to the internal organs of the afflicted.

Sometimes, even now, despite the availability of effective treatments, the result is death.

The sheer familiarity of Malaria fever in these parts creates the dangerous illusion in the minds of many that it is a ‘normal’ experience.

Nigeria has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world. One out of every four of those Nigerian infants who die – mostly from avoidable causes, dies from Malaria. Three out of every ten children who die do so as a result of Malaria.

It is a desperate, pathetic picture.

Malaria is the commonest cause of absenteeism from school or work.

The loss in productivity that the nation and the continent of Africa suffer as a result of the plasmodium is very difficult to quantify. In a historical sense, the tiny plasmodium has probably played a very great part in the underdevelopment of sub-Saharan Africa. Because it thrives most in a dirty, deprived environment, it is both a result of Africa’s poverty, and a major cause of it.

In 1998, under the aegis of the World Health Organisation, the ‘Roll Back Malaria’ initiative was launched with great fanfare. One of the avowed aims of the project was to cut Malaria deaths by half by 2010, and by half again by 2015. There was a heavy focus of eliminating areas of mosquito breeding in the environment, promoting the wide-spread use of insecticide-treated nets, and mass spraying of residential areas.

Four years beyond the happy target date by which Malaria should have been ‘rolled back’, Malaria bestrides the homes and hallways of Nigeria, and Africa, majestically, with the impunity of an out-of-control Mafia boss.

Every two minutes, a child somewhere in the world dies of malaria.

Among the eleven countries with the highest burden of malaria in the world, Nigeria stands at number one, followed by Democratic Republic of Congo, followed by Mozambique.

India lurks somewhere in the mix.

It is clear that new thinking is required in the fight against Malaria.

Since 2016, the Global Technical Strategy for Malaria, with a “High Burden, High Impact” focus, has

been in operation. The policies are supposed to be aligned with national health goals and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a strong foundation in primary health care.

The target this time is to reduce malaria cases and deaths by at least 40 percent by 2020, 75 percent by 2025, and 90 percent by 2030.

The cynical would say the politicians, international civil servants and donor organisations have merely kicked the can down the road.

Not a lot of impact from these highsounding clichés is yet in evidence.

The philosophy at play, really, is much the same as that underpinning the familiar “Roll Back Malaria” campaign.

It is not that “Rolling Back” malaria is inherently faulty as a strategy.

Afterall, such measures, have been responsible for the elimination of Malaria from places such as Southern Europe. But the intensity of the mosquito threat, as well as the density of population under threat, was low in Europe. The same elements, by comparison, in highly endangered areas of Africa, especially Nigeria, are humongous. In Nigeria, and other members of the “group of eleven” highly at-risk countries, government’s reaction to date, has oscillated between those who apply token measures and those who “don’t do jack”.

Malaria needs to be seen as an existential threat to get into the appropriate mind-set to deal with it.

Malaria, the plasmodium and its mosquito vector, are the African’s enemies, and are not to “Rolled Back”. They are to be KILLED, “by any means necessary”.

Finally, help is on the way to do

‘

Malaria needs to be seen as an existential threat to get into the appropriate mind-set to deal with it

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

The digital organisation – The future is now

T

he world as we know it now has changed from what it used to be in 1990 and the key driver of that change is technology.

Technology used to be an enabler of businesses but now, it is the business. Most businesses are now seen as digital business rather than one that leverages technology for its operations. According to Chris Gabriel, the Chief Digital Officer for Logicalis Europe, most businesses are undergoing one form of digital transformation or the other. Disruption is the name of the game and this requires a new mind-set, skillset and culture. You can hardly talk about technology or digitalisation without talking about transformation or change.

I remember how we thronged cyber cafes as early as 1996 in Nigeria, when we needed to send emails, apply for jobs or search for opportunities. Today, the story is different. The global telecoms manufacturing giant Ericsson forecasted that mobile subscriptions will grow by an average of 6 percent a year to just under 1 billion from 700 million in 2017 and according to the trade body GSMA, three-quarters of the population have a SIM connection. That translates to 747 million people, and around a third of that number use smartphones.

Digitalisation is at the epicentre of human needs, personal convenience and societal innovation. With technology, it is easier to articulate, respond and anticipate the needs of the customers, thus providing huge, unprecedented opportunities. The evolving phenomenon has shown that there is no area that is

immune to the influence of technology. From education, to work, health, transportation, real estate, entertainment, marketing, etc.

For example, you can start your day with personal devotion accessing your Bible on your mobile phone; book transportation to your office with Uber, order lunch using HelloFood, carry out banking transactions via Quickteller, watch a movie on Netflix, engage the world for inspiration on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, learn on an app, buy someone a birthday gift on Jumia or Konga, book flight tickets on an airline’s website, search for accommodation, pay insurance premiums, all via a mobile application. Such is the degree of our dependence on mobile apps that makes our lives digital.

One example of the remarkable organizations disrupting the market place with its digital strategy is Domino’s Pizza. It has been remarked that the company does not see itself as a pizza company, but as a digital company selling pizza. Its share price outperformed those of vaunted tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google from 2010 to March 2017.

This great feat was attributed to the execution of a digital strategy following a poor performance in 2008. The food company invested in building a digital capability that elevated its customer experience to an enviable pedestal.

As of 2016, approximately half of Domino’s 800 headquarter employees worked in software and analytics.

This implies that if digitalisation works for

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TUNDE SUCCESS OSIDEKO

a pizza company, it can work for any business that is interested in outperforming rivals in building competitiveness in customer experience.

Building a digital organisation requires understanding how to manage the digital native; a generation of consumers and employees whose existence coincides with the commencement of the digital revolution, to the imperative of deploying automation for process efficiency.

It also includes exploring the relationship between the 4th industrial revolution to the legendary Maslow’s motivation theory; and of course, the need to deploy security measures and control to minimise the risk and of course to the future of the workplace.

The word “digital revolution” means different things to different segments of the society.

For the professionals who are sceptical about how this impacts the availability of jobs, it will be useful to read up on the future of work, the workplace and the workforce. The world economic report estimates that by 2030, global job losses due to digitalisation will range from 2 million to 2 billion by 2030.

There is typically confusion around what digitalisation truly means, and in some instances how digitalisation is different from digitization. This ambiguity usually trails the discussion around its adoption in Africa.

David Burkett defined Digitisation as the process of converting information from a physical format into a digital one while digitalisation is when it this process is leveraged

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just that, it would seem. There is a race to develop an effective vaccine that would prevent people from “catching” Malaria. Most of the scientific research, as usual, took place outside the shores of Africa. A few weeks ago, a pilot vaccination program was commenced in Malawi. It is not yet the finished product. The vaccine has a low effectiveness and requires four doses to be given. Nobody has even yet looked at cost, or how to get it to millions of people in Nigeria, if it proves successful.

There is another route of attack – genetic engineering. Some years ago, Bill and Melinda Gates gave money to help ongoing research to alter the genetics of the female Anopheles mosquito, the principal enemy in spreading malaria in Africa. The attack is meant to reduce the mosquito’s ability to breed, to reduce the population of active females, and to push the “damage” into the mainstream population of mosquitoes. Sadly, as usual, the efforts sterilize the mosquito into species extinction has been dogged by a bizarre disinformation campaign on social media that seeks to portray it as an effort to “sterilize” Africans.

Research is expensive. Nigeria’s contribution to date to the new knowledge that would win the battle against Malaria has been miniscule.

But at least the battle to “kill” Malaria is now well and truly joined.

People of means who profess love for Nigeria, the most malaria-ravaged country on earth, are welcome put their money where their mouths are, for a change.

to improve business processes. Digitalisation is bigger than digitisation and often more than a simple business process to extend to business model.

The UK Guardian Media Network broadly describes digitalisation as technology (social, mobile, analytics, and cloud) that is at the heart of connection between machines and people.

What is obvious is that digitalisation goes beyond launching a website to showcase a virtual version of your business. It requires having a broad strategy, new mind-set, structure and skillset.

According to the RSM’s research, there are benefits of digital transformation to your business - 28 percent business growth, 20 percent efficiency, 25 percent gain in competitive edge, and 13 percent increase in attracting and retaining talent.

The future is digital and the future is now.

It is wise to take more than a passing interest in this subject; everything will depend on it eventually.

Tunde-Success Osideko is Business Leader and Consultant. He has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Ibadan, and an MBA from Anglian Ruskin University United Kingdom. He is an alumnus of IMD Switzerland, Gordon Institute of Business Science South Africa and has attended an Executive Education course at the Harvard Business School Boston. He can be reached via tundesuccess@theworkbooth.com; tundesuccess@gmail.com

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Editorial Publisher/CEO

Frank Aigbogun editor Patrick Atuanya DEPUTY EDITOR John Osadolor, Abuja NEWS EDITOR Chuks Oluigbo EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STRATEGY, INNOVATION & PARTNERSHIPS Oghenevwoke Ighure ADVERT MANAGER Ijeoma Ude FINANCE MANAGER Emeka Ifeanyi MANAGER, CONFERENCES & EVENTS Obiora Onyeaso BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (South East, South South) Patrick Ijegbai COPY SALES MANAGER Florence Kadiri DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Linda Ochugbua GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North)

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Relating with Boris Johnson as the Conservatives dominate British politics

S

upporters and foes alike have been left stunned by the scale of the victory of Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party in Britain’s General Elections on December 12. Permutations are on concerning what it would mean for Britain over the next five years. Many lessons abound the electoral victory, the campaign and the man for Nigeria, our politics and politicians as well as the country.

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson extended his tenure as Prime Minister of Britain since July 2019 with his victory at the snap polls this December. It was the first election in December in the UK since 1979. More significantly, Johnson led his party to a resounding victory the scale of which the party last experienced more than 35 years ago.

In Johnson, Britain elected a prime minister who primed himself for the job since childhood and has gathered valuable experience for the top

job. The 55-year old Johnson is a politician, writer and former journalist. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015.

Before then, he was MP for Henley from 2001 to 2008.

Johnson served as mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. He was a foreign secretary from 2016 to 2018. Britain elected a prime minister with significant experience and exposure.

Johnson is also an independentminded team player. He resigned the Theresa May cabinet in protest against the handling of the Brexit decision of the British electorate in 2016 The British election witnessed a sophisticated campaign that underlined the importance of focused messaging. He is controversial. He is also a strategist who understands how to duck and feint. On the positive side, Johnson has achieved victories from the jaws of seeming defeat since his days as president of the Students Union at the University of Oxford. His brilliant mind conjures tactics that yield

positives from seemingly impossible situations.

As a biography noted, “Johnson is a controversial figure in British politics and journalism.

Supporters have praised him as an entertaining, humorous, and popular personality, with an appeal stretching beyond traditional Conservative voters. Conversely, his critics have accused him of dishonesty, elitism and cronyism, and of using racist, sexist, and homophobic language. Johnson is the subject of several biographies and many fictionalised portrayals.

Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of Nigeria’s traditional ally, represents a challenge for the skills of our diplomatic corps.

Johnson has disparaged Nigeria.

While serving as editor of The Spectator, a political tabloid, Johnson wrote racist and offensive comments about Nigeria in 1999. He wrote off Nigerians as avaricious and childish when he said the young people of his country “have an almost Nigerian interest in money and gadgets of all kinds.” He has not

apologised. Nor has Nigeria taken him up since a newspaper unearthed the offensive comments.

The British General Election was instructive for upholding the choices of the electorate.

Even seats traditionally belonging to one party went the other way because of the sentiments and opinions of the voters. It was free, fair and devoid of the brinksmanship, violence and various atrocities that attended a similar election here in April 2019.

Johnson won and will lead with the mission of delivering Brexit. Nigeria must continue to engage Britain as an ally. Our focus should be what a Britain outside of the European Union will mean for Nigeria and in particular the nature of trade and other relations with that country.

Will Britain regard its obligations to Commonwealth nations better than it did before now?

Congratulations to the Conservative Party and its swashbuckling and history-making leader.

HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES Adeola Obisesan

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Christmas and the meaning of charity Tales from the main road

Eugenia Abu

A

s the year comes to an end, it brings with it yuletide tidings, good cheer and celebration. The year never ends without a Christmas celebration, the birth of Jesus Christ.

Prophet, son, brother saviour, spirit.

The Christian religion which has been around for over 2,000 years is anchored on this one man, his family, followers and his disciples.

It is intriguing to see that so many years after his death, we still remember his birth at Christmas. Not only that but history has been hinged on his legacy so that many things are defined with Before Christ. BC or after the death of Christ, AD. But we seem to forget every year what we learnt from this one man whose life and death affected the world so deeply. Some of these lessons include love, charity, family, hard work, sacrifice, simplicity, humility, and loyalty among others. The world has replaced all of these legacies with strife, anger, greed, selfishness meanness and lack of charity. It has simply replaced these qualities with commercialism and commercialisation.

The worship of money has long

since become our way of life and kindness and charity relegated to the background. In fact, the kinder you are and the more charitable, the more you are described as “Mumu” and taken for granted. Your best friends will become scam artists who will take advantage of you and prepare to take you to the cleaners. Do not look too far away for scam artists… they would include your maid, housekeeper, security guard, your driver, your trusted friends, your relatives and sometimes believe it or not, even your children.

As the year draws to a close and Christmas beckons, it is time to wear your charitable toga and try to be a new man or woman in tandem with the spirit of the season. I believe that part of our problem as a nation is selfishness.

Very few persons consider the other person and generosity seems to have departed our souls.

Generosity is not just the physical things we give but they are also embedded in the way we speak to others, how we make people feel and our gift of listening. A lot of people have gone to their early grave either by suicide or through emotional or physical stress because they have been emotionally abused either by a family member or a spouse. Some have become ill or passed because they have no one to listen to them including their wives or husbands or even their children who seem to be in a hurry to walk past them these days and not find out how they are doing. It is painful.

Being a burden bearer is the highest form of generosity, charity… While it is true that persons with emotional baggage can weigh you down or take all your time, focus. Pick one case

and listen through it. In others offer a smile, a hand, an encouragement or even point a way. It is amazing to find that sometimes the difference between someone feeling suicidal and that person feeling better are a couple of words and a smile. Hello, how are you today?

It may sound random but honestly that may be what that person needs for a flood of sunshine in their lives. And as one person pulling out of depression told me, when you ask people how they are, please mean it and please stay back for 30 seconds to actually hear how they are. We seem to be so busy running between pillar and post and we cannot hear each other. We are always in such a great hurry but we arrive late at everything. How contradictory!

What about your staff? Those horrible things you say to them after every mistake means they cannot grow. This one is a fool. I do not even know why I hired you. You use them and then dump them, in addition to all the invectives you bury them under. Remember, they served you even if all they did was bring you water or your bag. Be kind in your language. You cannot keep a staff who you describe as useless for over a year and continue to describe them as useless. Let them go and get someone who is not useless. When people begin to feel used, they can bring you to grievous bodily harm through their proxies.

If you do not need them anymore let them go nicely. For those you have retained, have they received a Christmas bonus, a gift, some extra cash? Take a look at your spreading happiness quotient this Christmas season and amplify it.

You do not need half the clothes in your wardrobe. Give them out. You

‘

As the year draws to a close and Christmas beckons, it is time to wear your charitable toga and try to be a new man or woman in tandem with the spirit of the season. I believe that part of our problem as a nation is selfishness

will never use that flask the driver asked you for last year, give him. Stop hoarding stuff for your kids. Be charitable to them. Let them learn to fish. Don’t give them fish.

In all of this remember that all religions of the world harp on charity for purification, penance and good neighbourliness. Do not say Oh it is for Christians at this time. No, it is also end of year. It is that time of the year when you ought to be more charitable. Buddhism for example considers generosity as the first of six perfections. Islam practices encourages its adherents to practice many acts of charity including the most well-known Zakat, which loosely translates to alms giving. The Gospel of Luke encourages us all to love our neighbour as ourselves and in Judaism Charity is equal in importance to all other commandments in the Torah combined.

It’s time to go find that man or woman begging at the street corner and give them new notes of 300 naira in pieces of N100 notes. Believe me, just a little drop of your time, your gift, your space, your ears can bring dollops of happiness this Christmas. Well, what are you waiting for, take food to an orphanage this Christmas or visit an old people’s home or that Uncle or Aunty who lives alone because all his children live abroad or all his children are too busy or they are all deceased.

May you always find those who spread happiness your way this season, AMEN Season’s Greetings!

Abu is a broadcaster, writer, trainer, brand and multimedia strategy expert and media consultant. abu_eugenia@yahoo.com

Business codes for radicals

I

n the table of radicals, it’s most times a game of “eat or be eaten”. You’re either on the dinner table or on the dinner menu.

The corporate world is a big league of such radicals posing as gentlemen with hard fists enveloped in velvet gloves. There are codes to get things done radically but with a stealth effect. It starts from being systematic.

Think end to end but operate bits by bits. In other words, conceal your full intentions. Guard your heart and tongues with your mind. Be friendly but have few friends. Stay off sharing information with the talkative. The human tongue is a beast that few can master. It strains constantly to break out of its cage, and if it is not tamed, it will run wild and cause you grief. Power cannot accrue to those who misuse it or squander their treasure of words. Just like the Sicily Italia Mafians would say, “non ʧɜ: ntrɑ: in bocca al lupo”, permit me to say, welcome to the inner business streets, the crude corporate world!

I know this isn’t what your motivational speakers or average article would tell you, but you need this, so let me lay it down flat for you.

In the words of Al Capone “Che c’entrano I soldi?

Pago io!”

In the long, cold and lonely path to the top, the right disposition is that no one owes you anything. It doesn’t matter what anyone promises you, says to you or hands you down. Your passport to grow remains mainly value.

Being a manager or the owner of a business in a radical system is to understand process, the system and people. And about people, to succeed, treat friends like strangers (professionalism) and strangers like friends (with comfort till trust is earned). On the crude streets, they say “it’s nothing personal”, the truth is, you’ve got to break a few eggs to make omelets. This world is yet to find any other way, or do you know one?

So, if you must, master your smiles with it (civil)

for the corporate world is nothing more than a capitalist cartel of sound minds who add value, profitably.

You want to be, Capo Di Tutti Capi, huh?

Well, to be profitable and powerful, you have to create value, then a cult-like follower-ship. In other words, own your own community. You also must have dependencies. And from them have an inner circle you can fall back on. To achieve this, be powerfully stealth, innovative and strategic. Be deep yet exciting; be awesome yet conservative say less than necessary, conceal your total intention for less is more. Engage the concept of branding by mystery. Use smoke screens to disguise your actions. This derives from a simple truth: people can only focus on one thing at a time. You can learn a concept or two from religion and the theory of gods, or the ladies on the red-light districts. I mean just like a sexy lady on a short dress, reveal just enough to keep the eyes and weak minds attracted and focused, but not enough to totally explain or see through. It’s important to keep their minds busy.

Whether in life, relationship or business the same theory works. Don’t be too nice. The truth is, you can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone. Before you reach for their hands, reach for their minds and their hearts (Planning), or vice versa for you need all of them. In planning, think deeply and then move swiftly (Execution).

As you climb up the ladder to feed on the table of men, success is the equalizer. Remember, Quando finisce la partita il re ed il pedone finiscono nella stessa scatola. When you finish the game, the king and pawn end up in the same box!

Also, it’s important to keep a positive outlook and affirmation, irrespective of reality. Take for example, Edison, inventor of the light bulb was referred to by most people in his school as dumb. He was even diagnosed dyslexic. His www.businessday.ng

grade school teacher once wrote to his mother with advice to withdraw him from school that Edison was “addled” and wouldn’t be allowed in their school anymore. When Edison asked his mother what the letter said, she quickly cleaned her teary eyes and pretended to read the letter out loud to her child, saying: Your son is a genius.

This school is too small for him and doesn’t have enough good teachers for training him. Please teach him yourself_.

After many, many years, after Edison’s mother died and he was now one of the greatest inventors of the century, one day he was looking through old family things. Suddenly he saw a folded paper in the corner of a drawer in a desk.

He took it and opened it up. On the paper was written: Your son is addled [mentally ill]. We won’t let him come to school any more. Edison cried for hours and then he wrote in his diary: “Thomas Alva Edison was an addled child, that by a hero mother, became the genius of the century”. It’s not what others say to you that matter, it’s what you tell the universe and yourself about you. Don’t let other people define who you are.

Trust me, I know this. Anyone can rewrite their own neural pathways of how they want to live.

To stay strong, do not try to get validation from everyone. Let me tell you another story.

At Harvard, a young boy by the name of Mark was suspended. They said he violated the rules in starting an idea. Deeply passionate about his idea, he left “their Harvard” to follow that idea.

That idea became a multi-billion-dollar brand.

It’s called Facebook. Today, the same school that suspended Mark for Facebook (Harvard) pays him to have and promote “a Facebook page”!

Don’t let anyone shrink your big dreams into the small frames of their own reality. In other words, don’t let other people’s opinions to become your own facts. Opinions may suggest that you can’t, the fact is that you can!

https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

EIZU UWAOMA Don’t get offended when people don’t believe in your dreams. Your success isn’t tied to it. Everyone has a right to an opinion. And opinions are relative. In the words of the American conscious rapper, Talib Kweli, “You can have your own opinions but not your own facts”. When it comes to thoughts and life, don’t let the outer noise (opinions) drown the inner voice (facts).

Listen to the noise, but pay attention to the voice.

When it comes to business, follow the words of Socrates, “know thyself” and then others. Find your own power. While at it, it’s important to realise that power is amoral – it’s neither good nor evil. You can choose how to use power once you have it, but it’d be foolish to dismiss power as bad or unimportant. In fact, there’s much that we can learn from the masterful scheming of the aristocratic courts of the past—those who can subtly charm, deceive and manipulate without others’ awareness can rise to power without others’ resentment or resistance. To avoid resistance, be assertive with a smile. One person who has masters how to further his own agenda with a smile is Obama. Take for example, Obama has always believed in abortion and gay rights, but he kept it to his closest circles till it was time to strike.

Note: The rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https:// businessday.ng Uwaoma is a start-up, corporate restructuring and strategy consultant. contacteizu@gmail.com

@Businessdayng

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

MONEYINSIGHT How Libra, regulation could push cryptocurrency market into maturity in 2020 FRANK ELEANYA

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he year 2019 saw the cryptocurrency market take significant steps towards maturity. Unlike in previous years where much attention has gone to where the price of bitcoin will drop and regulators’ haphazard approach to putting controls in the space, the attention in 2019 has widened beyond price fluctuations - it was an exciting year for altcoins - and authorities have shown more intelligence in managing developments in the market.

But there is still a lot to learn from the cryptocurrency market.

For instance, Libra, one of the major talking points in the market, especially for most Central Banks in the advanced world, was a clear indication that there were a lot of dynamics in the space that needed to be covered.

But Luno, one of the top ten best cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, said 2020 is likely the year the market comes into maturity. In a release sent to BusinessDay, the exchange which boasts over 3 million users and presence in more than 40 countries, gave three major events that would dominate the market in 2020.

The first is the continued maturity of regulations in the space.

The entry of Facebook in 2019 with the Libra project certainly shook the world of finance and spurred authorities to pay more attention to the cryptocurrency market. As a result, a number of guidelines are set to come into play in the coming year. The G7 group of nations including Canada, Italy, France, Germany, the United States, Ja-

pan, and the United Kingdom gave this indication when they outlined the need for stablecoin regulation in a report.

“We agree that no global stablecoin project should begin operation until the legal, regulatory and oversight challenges and risks are adequately addressed, through appropriate designs and by adhering to regulation that is clear and proportionate to the risks,” said Benoît Coeuré, Chair of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, G7 Working Group.

Japan also passed a bill in May which aimed to reinforce the country’s existing cryptocurrency laws. The bill is expected to come

into force in April 2020.

A major regulatory development to expect in 2020 is the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD). The 5AMLD is expected to regulate virtual currencies and pre-paid cards to prevent terrorist financing and improve safeguards for financial transactions to and from high countries.

The second event is the continued rise in the adoption of cryptocurrencies in 2020. Luno expects more institutional investors such as banks, hedge funds, pension funds, endowments, buying into cryptocurrencies as they diversify their portfolios and finally have the professional machinery to do so.

The launch of Bakkt’s Bitcoin futures exchange in September has grown and was trading at a record 2,469 futures contracts on 22 November. This is expected to continue into 2020, potentially inspiring similar projects and competitors to offer a similar product.

Beyond regulation and adoption, Luno says the third event to expect is the transition of cryptocurrencies into new roles in global financial services. Despite regulatory pushback, the Libra project provides an indication of new opportunities cryptocurrencies can provide the industry. Even with the bashing it received in the hands of US authorities, Luno says there may not be stopping

the project.

The Libra Association charter welcomed 21 new organisations in October. Forty wallets, tools and block explorers plus 1,700 GitHub commits have now been built on its blockchain testnet that has seen 51,000 mock transactions in the past two months.

“With Libra planning to sign up to 80 more members to the project, its potential impact is tremendous,” Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of Luno said. “It’s really a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ and it is a game-changer for the sector.”

2020 will also see the number of Bitcoin rewarded to miners cut by half - also known as halving.

The event is programmed to take place every four years or once every 210,000 blocks until the year 2140 when all 21 million bitcoins are estimated to have been mined. These four years are now almost up, with the next halving set to take place in May 2020. The halving will see the block rewards fall from 12.5 to 6.25 Bitcoin. Experts believe that this increases demand for the cryptocurrency by further restricting supply. And the last Bitcoin halving in July 2016 preceding Bitcoin’s epic 2017 bull run.

“Finally we will see the launch of the long-awaited Ethereum 2.0, codenamed Berlin, we could see the death of ICOs and many people will sit on the fence over privacy coins,” Swanepoel said.

“We started 2019 with Bitcoin at US$3,843 with a daily volume of US$4.3 billion and at the end of this year we are around US$7,200 with a volume of US$17 billion, having peaked at US$13,016.23 on the 25th June with US$45billion of BTC being traded.”

Time spent on WhatsApp gets more PlentyWaka unveils new app to improve customer rewarding with PREWIN Games satisfaction, offers new investment options FRANK ELEANYA

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ndividuals who stress over the amount of time they spend on WhatsApp can now look forward to receiving financial rewards while playing PREWIN Games on the app.

PREWIN Games is a trivia platform that educates and rewards players on different subject areas of interest. It also comes as a mobile application and can also be played on the web.

According to the Global State of Digital 2019 report, WhatsApp is the most used social media platform in Nigeria with at least 85 percent of Nigeria’s 24 million active social media users on the platform.

“People spend a lot of time on WhatsApp either connecting with friends, families, business partners or colleagues,” said Adekunle Akindeji, managing director and CEO of PREWIN

at the launch of the platform in Lagos recently. “With time being such an intangible resource, we came up with the idea of PREWIN Games for people to get educated and rewarded in this knowledge-based economy. We know Nigerians are knowledgeable so why not reward them from the comfort of their mobile device.”

For users, the least amount to play with is N100 and the maximum is N10,000 which means the least you win is N1000 and the maximum is N100,000. There are charges on the select versions of the game for N100 and excluding bank charges which are standard when making withdrawals from banks.

Users can play as many times as they want. It is one game with different categories of choice as selected by the player. The different categories include sports, fashion, politics, entertainment, general trivia to mention a few.

GBEMI FAMINU

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ith the advent of technology and digitalization, start-ups have continued to proffer solutions to various challenges perturbing people’s daily life and in a bid to improve customer satisfaction and provide better services, Plentywaka, a digital bus hailing start-up, has remodeled its mobile application.

Plentywaka, which was launched September 2019, began operations plying routes from Ajah to CMS. Following customer experience and feedback, it recently redesigned its mobile app in its aim to increase customer satisfaction.

Johnny Enagwolor, co-managing director of Plentywaka said at a recent press conference, “The goal is to create an efficient public transport system in Lagos offering convenience and safety within Lagos State” As part of its improvement and expansion plans, he said the company is making moves to increase its fleet with 100 buses by the end of January.

“Aside from being another ven-

ture channeled at infrastructural development, Plentywaka is also providing employment, investment options as well as other opportunities for people who are involved,” he said.

The company is also planning to expand its routes and operations with the introduction of new buses and possibly Sienna vehicles with the introduction of the vehicle partnership option that provides a platform for interested investors.

Enagwolor explained that investors can either contribute same standard buses or provide 30 percent equity capital, however; they will be entitled to 70 percent return on investments while the company will be given the other 30 percent. He added that profit could range between N500 to N800 thousand monthly.

He further said that while the company works to improve its service, some other activities like price increase will occur, however, it will remain affordable.

Speaking on the updated app, Afolabi Oluseyi, VP Operations said the application for the rider

has been built with user-friendly interface for easy understanding.

He added that while the bus will only recognize bus-stops for pickup, the rider can be well informed about the location and movement of the bus.

“Following the upgrade, customers can make a booking for any number of persons and in order to reduce fraudulent activities and for safety reasons, customer request will be perfected with the use of a barcode and movements will be monitored as well.

Furthermore, he said the new Plentywaka app has a wallet system called WakaPurse which allows riders fund their accounts with a minimum of N1000 and conveniently pay for trips without threats on their main accounts. As a bonus it has a referral system that rewards those who introduce new users with points in their WakaPurse.

Onyeka Akumah, Co-Founder, Plentywaka also said the improved Plentywaka app will now provide an opportunity for partners with vehicles that can move more than 6 people per ride and also an opportunity to sign up as a Partner.

Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES & MARKETS

15

COMPANY NEWS ANALYSIS INSIGHT

Markets

Concerns heighten ahead 2020 as Buhari holds worst market performance DAVID IBIDAPO & SEGUN ADAMS

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he equity market is headed for its third-straight election year decline – the last two which President Muhammadu Buhari won – but a more unsettling fact is that Nigerian stocks have recorded positive annual returns just once in the last five years, raising concerns ahead 2020.

The stock market is one measure of the health of an economy. With year’s return at negative 15.16 percent as of Wednesday, President Buhari would have to hasten reforms necessary to boost the economy and increase investors’ confidence.

The stock market according to BusinessDay data has performed the worst under President Buhari than under any other administration since Nigeria’s return to the civilian government.

The annual stock market return shows that Buhari has seen just one positive year return out of the five years of his presidency.

By comparison, Jonathan saw three positive returns out of five years of his presidency (this includes Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s tenure that he completed).

Late Yar’Adua saw one out of three years he ruled while

Olusegun Obasanjo has the highest with a record seven out of seven years (based on the data available).

The trend underscores the underperformance of the economy which has struggled with growth since the 2016 recession.

In the last three years, the economy has not exceeded 2 percent annual growth whereas the population has expanded at a much faster

rate of 2.6 percent.

Amid infrastructure woes, corporate earnings have not been really impressive which has made investors less pessimistic about the market which is one of the cheapest among its frontier and emerging market peers.

President Buhari has recently made bold moves to sign into law a new finance bill that has been praised for some changes to tax policies,

and he has also announced plans for infrastructure development. However, experts have raised concerns about Nigeria’s rising debt profile and utilisation of its borrowings.

Nigeria recently suffered a downgrade from international ratings agency Moody’s which s ent stocks on a downward spiral. Moody’s changed Nigeria’s sovereign outlook from stable to nega-

tive and this rubbed off on big firms as their ratings fell too.

Moody’s said the downward review was informed by the belief that “Already weak government finances will likely weaken further given an extremely narrow revenue base and persistently sluggish growth that hinders fiscal consolidation.”

The global ratings agency said as pressures mount,

there is a risk that the government would resort to increasingly opaque and costly options to finance a moderate but rising debt burden.

It also warned about Nigeria’s weak external position which is worsening given an increasing reliance on foreign investors to fund the foreign exchange reserves.

Moody’s expects Nigeria’s real growth to remain weak, at just over 2 percent over the next few years. National income in the third quarter of 2019 grew by 2.28 percent but remained below the population growth rate of 2.6 percent meaning Nigerians are not any better off.

The World Bank warns Nigeria could house a quarter of the world’s poorest by the end of the next decade if it doesn’t embark on muchneeded reforms.

While President Muhammadu Buhari has recently taken steps to increase its revenue next year, Moody’s expects general government revenues to remain very low at around 8 percent of GDP until 2022.

“Consequently, debt affordability will remain weak, with general government interest payments at around 25 percent of revenues in the next few years,” Moody’s said.

The grim outlook has severe implications for the market as Nigeria heads for a new year.

Agriculture

Cellulant attracts N2b for primary actors in agric trade TEMITAYO AYETOTO

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n a tripartite collaboration between Wema Bank, Cellulant and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for A g r i c u l tu ra l L e n d i ng (NIRSAL), Cellulant has attracted a N2 billion financing to aid primary actors across the trade chain of agricultural operations.

Ademola Adebise, the managing director of Wema Bank who spoke at Cellulant Inaugural Partner Summit in Lagos said the earmarked fund is up for instant draw down to commodity aggregators on the Cellulant network.

This is expected to increase accessibility of affordable funding to all participants and boost access to market which

hitherto was challenging to actors in the agricultural value chain. Adebise said support for the scheme will as well come from intervention funding from a development partner and other DFI at concessionary rates.

“Financial literacy is key to address financing because a lot of people are not aware of intervention funds available to them.

There is also the problem of limited capacity to understand finance of agricultural value chain by banks but fintech entry is beginning to boost confidence in agriculture.

So banks need to improve their skills as well,” the MD said.

Consumption of food, the end product of most agricultural activities in Nigeria is worth about $100 million daily and

between $36 billion to $50 billion yearly, opening up a stream of opportunity in under-explored areas of agricultural logistics, food processing and tailored payment systems.

Bolaji Akinboro, the cochief executive officer of a blockchain technology aiming to become Africa’s foremost platform for reorganising the fragmented supply chain of existing agricultural operations, Cellulant, said agriculture is enough to create wealth for Nigeria.

“It is enough to connect everyone and expose that connection to investors, banks, transporters and business developers,” Akinboro said speaking at the Cellulant Inaugural Partner Summit in Lagos.

Cellulant in the past 15 years has consequently focused on building linkage

infrastructure for a closely knit relationship between farmers, aggregators, food processors and retailers.

Using an approach that ensures security of off-taking for farmer’s harvests and a guaranteed sourcing of raw commodity supply for processors, Cellulant eyes creation of about 1 million jobs in the next five years.

From 100, 000 metric tons (MT) that flowed through its platform for processing in the last one year, Akinboro said the target will be driven to 1 million MT by 2020 and 10 million in the next five years, 2024.

“It means there will be a large network of connection with an end to end visibility of the chain such that in five years time we will be like 200 times the

current size,”he said.

On its supply network, cellulant works with processors including Olam, Dangote and Flour Mills of Nigeria, all of whom commodity stock supply is critical to. The digital platform also has partnership with banks, primarily Wema Bank, to prevent the operations of farmers, aggregators and transporters from being starved of financing.

It runs Agrikore and Tingg. Agrikore serves as a digital unit that connects stakeholders and services providers to farmers and the unbanked. The platform currently encompasses about 15,000,000 farmers’ records. Tingg on the other hand is a payment solution that enables stakeholders to make and receive payments, enhanc-

ing connection with merchants.

However for Rufus Udechukwu, Cellulant’s country business officer, Food Processing Marketplace, Nigeria can deal with food processing by leveraging private and public partnership, simplifying food regulatory environment, developing food safety and quality policy and continuous consumer education as other advanced countries have done.

His idea is that the marketplace is meant to solve the problems facing the farmers and food processor while creating investment opportunities for entrepreneurs, insurers, logistics companies, and other businesses that provide aid to food production, processing and distribution.

16

Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES&MARKETS

Business Event

HEALTH

May & Baker signs deal to produce Sanofi brands locally SEGUN ADAMS

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ay & Ba k e r Niger ia has announced a contract manufacturing agreement to produce four brands of French pharmaceuticals Sanofi, a deal aimed at increasing local production of drugs and boosting Nigeria’s drug self-sufficiency, the company said Wednesday.

The deal which was signed with Sanofi Nigeria, the local outlet for the global drug company, would see May & Baker use its World Health Organisation (WHO) certified manufacturing facility to produce four products brands of Sanofi for sales in Nigeria and West African Markets.

The Sanofi brands which May & Baker would be producing locally include “Flagyl tablets and Suspension and Tarivid

tablets, anti-infective medicines and Malareich tablets- an antimalaria drug,” May & Baker said in a note to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The pharmaceutical company described the agreement not only as a direct response to the call of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for pharmaceutical brand owners to localise their production by using locally available capacity to produce quality products in Nigeria but also a step forward in Nigeria’s quest for medicine security and self-sufficiency.

May & Baker said it has a world-class production facility that has the capacity to produce six billion tablets and 37.5 million 60ml liquid medicine annually and is ready to help other local producers that want to produce locally.

According to the company, it has invested in standard production facilities that meet

international standards and has obtained the WHO Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification.

Revenue of May & Baker slowed by 9.57 percent to N5.9bn in the nine months to September 30, 2019.

The company noted an improvement in its beverage segment while the pharmaceuticals segment noted a decline, with its food business was dormant in the period.

Despite a decline in the company’s cost of production, the sharper drop in sales weighed on gross profit which fell by 9.36 percent.

May & Baker was, however, able to report an increase of 14.18 percent in its profit from continuing operations in the nine months.

May & Baker Nigeria Plc manufactures and distributes pharmaceutical products, such as vaccines, antibiotics, and sera.

L-R: Grace Udensi, public affairs manager (Lagos), Nigerian Breweries Plc; Rotimi Abiru, chief whip, Lagos State House of Assembly; Patrick Olowokere, corporate communications manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc, and Soyoye Oluyinka, principal, Eva Adelaja Girls Secondary Grammar School, at the Commissioning of Renovated Block of Eight Classrooms

by Nigerian Breweries Plc’s Felix Ohiwerei Foundation for Eva Adelaja Girls Secondary Grammar School in Lagos

BANKING

FCMB Opens Ultra-modern Branch in Ondo City, Ondo State MICHAEL ANI

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n line with its customercentric and strategic expansion programme which aims at making its excellent services accessible to more individuals and businesses, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), has opened a new ultra-modern and full-service branch in Ondo City, Ondo State.

The new branch, which was commissioned at an impressive ceremony on December 12, 2019, is located at 15, Yaba Street in Ondo city. The location of the branch takes into consideration convenience for FCMB’s customers and others who live or operate businesses in Ondo City, Ore, Ile-Oluji, Oke-Igbo and neighbouring areas. The Bank currently has 206 branches

spread across Nigeria and three are in Ondo state.

The branch in Ondo City is equipped with unique physical and technological infrastructure to ensure convenient transactions and sundry financial service delivery to existing and potential customers in a relaxed and tranquil environment.

Speaking on the development, the Managing Director of FCMB, Adam Nuru, described the development as another turning point in the commitment of the Bank to bring banking closer to the populace and promote financial inclusion in a manner that would positively impact on their individual and business aspirations.

Nuru, who was represented at the ceremony by the Regional Head, South-West, Adelaja Adeleye, said, “with a

robust product suite for businesses and individuals and our award-winning service culture, we intend to leverage these capabilities by investing extensively in some channels to reach more customers.

Today, our customers are embracing these alternative channels such as mobile and internet banking, at an impressive rate, whilst others who prefer human interaction when banking still need the reassurance a physical branch offers. Our new Ondo town branch gives this reassurance as it is well-equipped to further enhance the experience of our customers’’.

He reiterated that FCMB will continue to raise the bar in the way customers are served and the kind of environment under which such services are provided to meet their respective lifestyles.

COMPANY RELEASE

L-R: Segun Adaju, chairman, Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria; Foluso Gbadamosi, director, business process and technology, Prime Atlantic Group; Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji founder/CEO, Rise Networks; Ifeanyi Odoh, head, offer marketing and business development, Schneider Electric; Chioma Nwachukwu, GM, external affairs and communications, Seplat Petroleum plc, and Dele Arikawe, manager, information management and analytics, Chevron Nigeria Limited, at the Workplan 2019, themed: ‘The Future of Work and the 4th Industrial Revolution Powered by Local Content’, organised by Rise Networks, in Lagos Pic by David Apara

L-R: Bukky Ogunnusi, PR/advert manager TNL; Kunle Ade-Ojo, MD, TNL, receiving the Nigeria’s Car-Of-The-Year Award (COTY) award by Toyota Corolla from Kayode Opeifa, executive vice-chairman, Presidential Task Team on Apapa Gridlock, while Ifeanyi Agwu, CEO, BKG Exhibitions Limited looks on. The event was organised by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA).

Pic by Pius Okeosisi

Winners emerge at FATE Foundation’s Orange Corners Initiative

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ictor Boyle-Komolafe, Olabanke Subair, Boluwatife Arewa, Chidiebere Nnorom, and Riches Attai emerged winners of the Orange Corners Innovative Fund worth the sum of 135,000 Euros after the successful conclusion of the Orange Corners Initiative Pitch which held on Monday 9th December 2019 at the FATE Foundation’s office Ijora.

Orange Corners is an initiative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands that promotes entrepreneurship and stimulates entrepreneurial thinking amongst youth between the age of 18 and 35 in Africa and the Middle East. The initiative is currently active in 10 countries and supports entrepre-

neurs through the provision of a designated workspace, Capacity building and training, Community-building events, Access to Market and funding with monthly allowance as well as voucher tranche of 5000 euros. It also supports 20 innovative business ideas which cuts across key industries such as Agriculture, Education, Circular Economy, Creative and Health with the Orange Corners Innovative Fund every 6 months The Orange Corners Business Incubation Programme in partnership with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency was first launched in Nigeria on July 10, 2019 with the first stream of the Orange Corners Lagos Programme kick stating

on July 16th 2019.

The programme rounded up with a business pitch competition where Incubates pitched their businesses to expert Jury Kars Gerrits; Entrepreneur and Programme Advisor Innovation Fund, Netherlands Enterprise Agency, Oge Nnaife; Head, Startups and Youth Enterprise, and Ibrahim Salau; Sustainability Advisor and Managing Director, Environmental Accord Limited, Nigeria and Executives of FATE Foundation. The business competition resulted in 5 persons winning the Orange Corners Innovation Fund worth 135,000 Euros to be divided amongst them of which 25% will be a loan and 75% will be a grant.

Timipre Sylva (2nd l), minister of state for petroleum resources; ABC Orjiako (l), chairman, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc; Austin Avuru (2nd r), CEO, SEPLAT, and Roger Brown (r), CFO/CEO designate, SEPLAT, at Seplat Petroleum’s courtesy call to the Minister in Abuja

Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

17

AGRIBUSINESSINSIGHT Market Insights

Analysis

Commentaries

Experts/Industry Views

Commodities watch

Policy Reviews

Send in Commentaries to caleb.ojewale@businessdayonline.com

FMN targets tenfold growth in palm oil production within 7yrs Stories by CALEB OJEWALE Twiiter: @calebtinolu

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ike many other commodities, Nigeria has a deficit in palm oil production, requiring substantial investments by big players, who will not only produce but process it into some of the many by-products that can be extracted from the oil palm crop.

Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) according to information seen by Agribusiness Insight in a factsheet, is now stepping up its position in this space, with an ambitious plan for a tenfold increase of its current production within about seven years. While companies like Okomu, Presco, PZ Wilmar, SNL and other big players have in recent years been ramping up investments to expand production, the sector still needs more players in order for Nigeria to erase its deficit and become self sufficient in palm oil production.

Located in Edo state, the palm oil investment by FMN currently sits on 11,600 hectares spread across three

locations; Iguobanor and Iquiye (Agri Palm 1) and New Land (Agri Palm 2), which are 25 kilometers apart.

FMN acquired Agric Palm Limited in 2013, and the renewed optimism to now rapidly grow the business is perhaps in response to the state’s emphasis in recent years to establish itself as the centre of palm oil production in the country.

Last year (2018), Godwin Obaseki, Edo state governor had exclusively told this reporter that the state was finalizing its master plan

on agriculture with specific reference to oil palm.

“We have an institution from Indonesia that is working with us on this. Once it is completed, we would have identified the areas where we want to allocate land for oil palm. We would have finalized communication action programme with the communities involved those areas,” he said. This year, in another exclusive interview, he told this reporter Edo state was ready for the investors, as plans had been finalised.

According to FMN’s palm

oil factsheet seen by Agribusiness Insight, when the company took over control of Agric Palm, “the plantation was in poor shape as regards to regular upkeep and planting density of trees”.

Upkeep activities are now up to date and the yields are steadily increasing, according to the company, which says it is now proceeding to plant the areas with very low or no plant density.

During 2020, the Nursery will be established and planting will commence in 2021, planting 2,179ha over a period of two years

till 2023. Also during 2023 planting will commence in the Agri Palm 2 area where there is an area of 7,800ha to be planted. This area will be planted-up over a period of 3 years completing in 2025.

This will bring the total area planted to 11,626ha by 2025.

For processing, a Crude Palm Oil (CPO) Mill capacity of 45 tons per hour will be constructed by 2025/26. It is also projected that yearly CPO production will increase from the current 2,700 tons to 22,000 tons in 2027, an almost tenfold increase within seven years once the mill is commissioned and projected to grow to 52,000 tons by 2030.

The Agriculture Promotion Policy document by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, estimates the country’s production to be 4.5 million metric tonnes, while demand is 8 million metric tonnes, leaving a 3.5 million deficit. The deficit was however disputed during a meeting of the Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria (POFON) attended by this reporter, as the body considered the deficit to be much lower and in the region of 1 million metric

tonnes. The bottom lime however is; there is a deficit, and it needs to be filled.

At some point in 2017, Nigeria was reported to have imported 450,000 tons of palm oil at the cost of N116.3billion, making quite a number of people raise concerns on the enormity of importation. However, considering the country’s deficit is at least 1 million metric tonnes (according to POFON), and possibly as high as 3.5 million metric tonnes (according to the agric ministry), the cost of importation could be even more shocking.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given some attention to Palm Oil as one of its intervention crops, and even threatening to blacklist accounts of those illegally bringing it into the country.

Under its Oil Palm Development and Expansion Initiative, the CBN says it has so far disbursed over N30 billion to the oil palm sector, but more of this is required for Nigeria to bridge the current deficit.

Operators require access to more finance in order to scale up in the capital-intensive venture, where return on investments could take up to 10 years.

Food security, exports promotion rank high at Research findings must go beyond bookshelves APPEALS implementation support mission in Lagos before agriculture develops- ICERIA

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ncreasing agricultural output to achieve food security and invariably exportation of more agricultural produce was the central message this week when the 4th Implementation Support Mission (ISM) of the Agro Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Support (APPEALS) started in Lagos. The Mission in Lagos, which ends tomorrow, has Kogi and Lagos as participating states, and was led by Adetunji Oredipe, World Bank senior agriculture economist and task team Leader of the APPEALS Project.

As part of the Mission in Lagos, the team will embark on field visits to identified clusters in the priority value chains at locations in Ikorodu and Badagry to wrap up the exercise which has previously held in two locations - Kaduna (for Kaduna and Kano State Coordinating Offices) and in Calabar (for Cross River and Enugu State Coordinating Offices) respectively.

At the end of the Mission, a draft Aide Memoire which captures the out-

come of deliberations is expected to be presented and discussed with the Government.

“My idea of the Implementation Support Mission in the World Bank is to let you know that we are in this together,” said Oredipe. “We are not here on an evaluation mission.

We are here to support you.”

Oredipe in a statement, harped on the need for all project activities to be focused on the key development objectives for which the priority value chains were selected. He explained the Project must be able to show results that demonstrate in tangle forms, how its activities have contributed to food security, agro exports promotion and the improvement of livelihoods for beneficiaries.

The APPEALS Project has eleven priority value chains : Cassava, Rice, Wheat, Cocoa, Ginger, Poultr y, Aquaculture, Dairy, Maize, Cashew and Tomato. The value chains were selected from the priority value chains of the Federal Government’s Agwww.businessday.ng

riculture Promotion Policy (2016 – 2020), also known as the ‘Green Alternative’.

The project aims at supporting the transition of small subsistence farmers’ production system farming (1-5 hectares) to a market-oriented agricultural undertaking and supporting middle-size farmers (5-10 hectares) to address constraints facing them and enhancing their productivity as well as effective participation in the Value Chains.

“The purpose of the Mission is to map out ways to move faster than we are moving now and to demonstrate possibilities for agribusiness, increase contribution to GDP and contribute meaningfully to economic growth,” said Amin Mohammed Babandi, the national project coordinator, represented

by Adekunle Adesoye the national monitoring & evaluation specialist.

He expressed optimism that at the end of this Mission, there would be a workable plan that addresses the development of the priority value chains within the next 12 months.

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he International Conference and Expo on Research and Innovations in Agriculture (ICERIA 2019) by Agrobusiness Times in October, brought experts with experience in both the public and private sectors to deliberate on ways research and innovations can be used to advance agriculture in Nigeria.

In a communiqué which has now been sent to capture the key deliberations, it was highlighted that ; collaboration among the government, research institutes, farmers and processors in order to reap the economic benefits in the agricultural Industry is key. That the tripod relationship will also ensure that agro industries are sited in rural areas where they can add value than where they are currently located as this is germane to enhancing food security and economic advancement.

It was also stated, “The federal government should not expect Ni-

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geria’s transformation to happen through foreign direct investments and partnerships, and we must do it ourselves.”

It further stated that the Federal Government should develop policies that would distinguish the country in the areas of innovation, research and export of agricultural products.

“Government must ensure sustainable financing of all sectors involved in agriculture research and development.

Funds are also needed to scale up off taking of research findings from the shelves of researchers and establishment of demonstration farms,” read another portion of the communiqué signed

by Jim Rex-Lawson Moses, editor, Agrobusiness Times.

Research institutions, according to the communiqués, also need to understand the business of commercializing research outcomes and innovations. They also need to understand research, synergy, collaboration @Businessdayng

and its benefits.

“Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder with over 40 million unemployed youths. Accordingly, Nigeria’s mission has to match its vision and therefore must think at a scale that can solve her problems once and for all.

“Farmers within the agriculture sector must be organized. There is also the need to build a bridge between farmers and research institutes,” it read.

It further stated that no nation was ever able to transform into an industrial economy without first experiencing an agrarian transformation.

It is thus imperative for governments both at the Federal and State levels to give priority attention to the agricultural sector. It called on the private sector to be the main drivers for the transformation of agriculture and for which government must put in place enabling and consistent policies in support of agribusiness.

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

CULINARY DELIGHTS Lunch at Craft Gourmet with Dr. Uyi J Oduwa, SSA to Edo State Governor

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n this edition of Culinary Delights, restaurant edition, I had the pleasure of going to Craft Gourmet for lunch with Dr. Uyi J Oduwa Malaka, who is the Special Adviser to the Governor and Chairman of Strategic Planning and Programme Management, Edo State Government.

We met on a work-related trip to Edo State in August, so I was delighted to hear that she was in town for work and had some time to catch up over lunch. Dr. Malaka is one of the dedicated civil servants helping make Edo State one of the greatest states in Nigeria in terms of job creation and youth development.

Job creation and enterprise are integral man-

@lehlelalalumiere Lehle Balde works at BusinessDay in the department of Strategy Innovation and Partnerships, she is also a financial inclusion advocate and impact investing radio anchor.

Originally from Senegal Lehle has a passion for culinary experiences.

Follow @bdculinarydelights on Instagram.

To learn more bout what Edo State government is doing in regards to economic development and job creation please visit http://www.edostate.gov.ng/.

As I end this column I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all. I hope you take some time to relax and also have some fun. You can visit www. businessday.ng/culinary delights to see what spots you can check out this December. You can also follow us on Instagram @bdculinarydelights.

Chicken Avocado Sandwich dates for the state and I must commend their efforts and recorded results.

I picked Craft Gourmet as the place to meet because we were both in the middle of very full days in Victoria Island and I wanted us to be able to get to the location without too much traffic interruption and I also wanted an intimate place with great food and ambiance where we could enjoy the food as well as have a great conversation. The food at Craft Gourmet is relatively affordable so I took that into consideration as well.

Craft Gourmet is a restaurant located on the third floor of Mega Plaza Mall on 4 Idowu Martins St, Victoria Island, Lagos. I have been here so many times I can barely count. I think this is a clear indication that there is something about the food that keeps me coming back. I don’t think I have ever had a bad food experience at Craft Gourmet and I love that they pay so much attention to detail. With each bite, I taste the wholesomeness of what embodies the food at Craft Gourmet. On this occasion, I went with the mint and lemon fresh juice which was absolutely refreshing and just what I needed on a hot and sunny day. Dr. Malaka opted for some water.

As we started talking about her career journey thus far which involves an impressive career in banking and finance before she was appointed as SSA to the governor and resumed her civic duty, the waiter came to take our orders. I opted for the chicken Yassa, which is a traditional dish from Senegal. Senegalese Chicken Yassa is a famously popular recipe throughout west Africa. It’s one of those simply delicious dishes: just a few ingredients that are transformed, by the magic of cooking, into an exciting and comforting meal. I almost always have this when I come here because it is a

GUEST

Chicken yassa piece of home in the midst of the other delicious dishes I have discovered while living in Nigeria.

Dr. Malaka knew exactly what she wanted and opted for the chicken avocado sandwich which she says she really enjoyed. It is essentially a roasted marinated chicken breast, avocado, iceberg, lettuce, fresh tomato, homemade mustard mayonnaise.

We both thoroughly enjoyed our food and I even took some to go, but apart from the food, pleasant ambiance and service, I thoroughly enjoyed speaking and learning from Dr. Malaka. She is a very accomplished woman who has been able to attain success in many areas of her life. She wears many hats and does very eloquently and I believe many young women should aspire to be like her. One of the highlights of our conversation was around the importance of staying consistent and working hard in order to attain career success.

If I were to describe the food at Craft gourmet, here are the words that come to mind:

fresh, wholesome, healthy, carefully and tastefully made culinary experiences. The owners have mixed fusion of Lebanese, African and Western cuisine and have cultivated their own unique Craft Gourmet style of food. All the recipes are inspired by Loubna’s delicious family recipes. Additionally, the staff is extremely polite, professional and knows the menu well. They also are very good at recommending food from the menu.

Craft Gourmet is perfect for a catch up with a friend, a special large group event, a work lunch, a weekend brunch or even a weekday breakfast. They have a great variety of freshly baked pastries, including delicious mini chocolate croissants which are authentically made as well as fresh juices, mocktails, and cocktails. Some of the more popular dishes are the chicken and waffles, the English breakfast, spicy roast beef and the chicken avocado salad. I definitely recommend this restaurant and I look forward to hearing about your experience!

DR UYI J. ODUWA-MALAKA Special Adviser to the Governor / Chairman Strategic Planning and Programme Management, Edo State Government

Chicken Avocado Sandwich – – N4500 Chicken Yassa

– N5500

Juice

– N1500

Water

– N500

Total

– N11500

To make recommendations or for collaborations please send an email to lehle.balde@businessday.ng www.businessday.ng

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@Businessdayng

Contact @wearecraftgourmet

Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

HEALTH BUSINESS&LIFE How healthcare sector needs to be measured to improve UCH in Nigeria ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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iger ia is currently in search of a workable approach to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and tackling issues around financial barriers, low doctorpatient ratio, infrastructure, clinical governance, quality of care and transparency in the health sector.

Universal health coverage, (UHC), is an aspiration by a country, like Nigeria, to provide her people with affordable quality healthcare. In Nigeria, this will entail ensuring everyone has access to healthcare - this could be via public or private health services.

Experts say universal healthcare is about elaborating equitable and affordable healthcare noting that in order to create a catalytic process within the system, the country needs to focus on tackling key issues and not more with measurable goals and targets.

These experts further said that for Nigeria to achieve universal health coverage to deliver substantial health, economic and political benefits across populations, healthcare should be considered as a human right and no one should be denied access to healthcare due to financial reasons, gender reasons, issues related to geographical barriers or any other issues which might create a barrier to healthcare access.

“Improving transparency in disbursements could be tying budget disbursements to specific healthcare results or outputs from a hospital or health facility with clear reper-

cussions if they are not met, that is performance-based disbursements,” Chibuzo Opara, Co-CEO DrugStoc Nigeria.

Opara said circling back to the issue of financial access to healthcare. “The first thing to note is there is no free healthcare in the world. Someone always foots the bill.”

“There should be an agreement and a commitment between citizens and decisionmakers on where the country places universal healthcare among other important priorities,” he said.

Recently at the 2019 National Health Dialogue, Yemi Osinbajo, Vice president of Nigeria stated that the federal government cannot adequately provide health care services to over 200 million Nigerians but said an effective National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) remains the best option in achieving universal health coverage (UHC) for all and addressing funding challenges.

Nigeria’s target is to achieve UHC by 2030 which is the third goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) As part of efforts to achieve UHC, the country has been to set of guidelines defining

the basis for Administration, Disbursement, Monitoring and Financial Management (ADMFM) through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF, “The Fund”).

The guidelines address urgent interventions put in place to tackle persistent and emerging causes of population mortality in Nigeria including Maternal Mortality, Perinatal Mortality and Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs).

Doyin Odubanjo, chairman, Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria, Lagos Chapter said making health insurance mandatory as some states have started in the country, is expected to benefit all Nigerians and will as well serve to improve the country’s economy when more people are healthy.

“Government should be responsible for the accountability of the health providers for service delivery and it must be monitored to ensure the providers deliver quality healthcare services at the end of the day,” Odubajo said.

Nigeria’s primary, secondary and tertiary institutes are beset by challenges, although PHC facilities are the people’s

Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry loses N1bn on FG’s codeine ban ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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he ban by the Federal Government on codeine-containing cough syrups has affected the country’s pharmaceutical industry, especially companies that produce codeine or Benylin cough syrups say May & Baker Plc. The pharmaceutical industry said that the ban caused it to lose N700 million in annual income as well as loss of raw materials and finished products worth over N350 million.

“Federal Government’s ban of production and distribution of codeine-based cough syrups, government is still holding onto finished product valued at N1 billion.

“The move had taken a huge toll on the industry’s bottom lines and manufacturing production lines,” said Nnamdi Okafor, managing director/ chief executive officer CEO, May & Baker Plc at the company’s end of year media parley in Lagos recently.

Okafor said that as far

as the pharma industry is a concern, the industry has been fighting to see how the government would buy back these products.

He said that though, the government is promising to buy back and pay to replace the finished products and then industry we have some agreement on what to do with the raw materials stating that all of us brought in the codeine raw materials following approval from the government.

“These materials were duly authorized by the government and we believe that government has a responsibility to ensure that these companies that are employing Nigerians will not lose money as a result,” he said.

Okafor explained that it is not that these products are dangerous or harmful, but the problem is that they were being abused.

“People have been using them in ways that are not labeled to be used and that is something to do with enforcement of how drugs are used in Nigeria,” he said. www.businessday.ng

Okafor who described 2019 as a challenging year, urged the Federal government to help pharmaceutical companies to revert a 20 percent tariff for raw materials for battery manufacturing companies.

He explained that the company, in spite of the challenging environment, invested in key strategic initiatives in 2019, the company took steps to actualise its new anti-sickle cell medicines and nutraceuticals.

“These products would be launched in 2020 given the stage the company had reached and our joint venture company, Biovaccines Nigeria Limited is running fully now as an independent company.

It is currently perfecting steps to actualize vaccine production.”

“Nigeria spends close to N8 billion every year to import vaccines into the country. We are hopeful that the company will receive all the needed support to actualize this national dream soon,” he said.

first point of contact with the health system, insufficient service delivery, overburdened clinics with long queues, and poor quality of services has resulted in many people avoiding PHC facilities and going straight to hospital outpatient departments where services are perceived to be better.

Since the establishment of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 200, only about five percent of Nigerians are covered.

Opara said improving the quantum and scope of healthcare services. Quality is very important on so many levels simply because once quality is improved it has one of those long-lasting and catalytic effects on a system leading to cheaper and more effective care in the long term.

“A crucial point to effect system change is holding individuals and entities accountable and measuring the impact of interventions and activities in the healthcare sector.

“For far too long we have been concerned with just how much money and inputs go into the healthcare sector, that is how much in salaries, or what items are being procured, with too little attention paid to measuring outputs and outcomes of the system,” he said.

Opara added that decision-makers and healthcare providers need to be held accountable for health outcomes stating that governance and transparency are quite crucial.

“They will serve to manage our lean resources effectively in addition to attracting the necessary private sector funding to plug the gaps in the fiscal space for healthcare,” he said.

Telemedicine can improve access to quality primary healthcare to Nigerians - Adeniran ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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rgent and efficient medical attention is in high demand in Nigeria and Telemedicine has been tipped as holding promise to alleviate primary health care problems in Africa’s most popular nation.

In a recent interview, Adeyinka Adeniran, chief executive officer (CEO) Medflit, a leading health information technology platform proffers solutions to healthcare problems.

He noted that through telemedicine, online pharmacy, hospital booking and home health services can increase access to care and bridge the gaps created by limited numbers of healthcare professionals to patients.

According to Adeniran, telemedicine can improve access to quality primary healthcare to Nigerians in the comfort of their homes.

“Patients can reach healthcare professionals for evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of less critical conditions at a distance which in turn reduces demand on primary health facilities,” he said.

He further said that primary healthcare services including medical counselling, review of screenings and laboratory results, medication management and provision of on-going care can all be accessed via telemedicine.

“Telemedicine will enable people to access healthcare readily at an affordable rate lesser than the cost of hospital visits. In addition, telemedicine provides an added advantage in its ability to cater to the needs of patients anywhere and at any given time.”

“With the use of telemedicine, patients do not need to travel a long distance to receive

medical care; the prompt delivery of healthcare services would ultimately save lives,” he said.

Meanwhile, primary healthcare is essential healthcare designed to make universal health care accessible to all individuals and families in a community.

The aim of primary healthcare is to take care of less critical medical issues in the attainment of better health services for all.

Effective delivery of healthcare services at all levels, however, requires the availability of adequate infrastructure, diagnostic medical equipment, drugs and well-trained medical personnel.

Unfortunately, Nigeria cannot fully boast of these requirements essential for quality healthcare delivery.

According to experts, telemedicine, the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients by means of telecommunications technology holds the promise to alleviate primary health care problems in the country.

On Medflit’s Impact so far, Adeniran stated “we have successfully provided people with connections to physicians for consultations, quality home service with unlimited video and voice calls, doctor’s prescription with no waiting lines, flexible bookings and access to a variety of hospitals.”

“Our vision is to build a platform where people can access quality healthcare at minimal cost and we will continue to innovate to fulfil this vision. We are also looking forward to starting a TV programme soon to educate Nigerians on health-related topics while debunking myths and fake information about health.

Our beliefs, culture, and access to information can shape how we think about our health and having the wrong information can be extremely harmful.”

Reduce stress, avoid weight gain this festive season, experts tell Nigerians ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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tress and weight gain during Christmas might seem inevitable as people shop for the season and often put a pause on their healthy habits until festive seasons are over.

Health practitioners are counselling Nigerians to make the season a positive one by reducing stress and eating healthy.

They advised Nigerians to shun excessive consumption of high calories foods which is usually a key feature of festive seasons to reduce weight gain.

The Christmas/New Year holiday season is herewith many parties and office gatherings to share a few festive moments with family, friends, colleagues and lots and lots of food.

“During this period people experience anxiety and depression dues to some negative effect of what might have passed through in the year.it could be the experience of death in the family or are socially isolated,

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difficulty by the financial stress,” said Ojo Sikiru, medical practitioner based in Lagos.

Sikiru explained this particularly affects people whose family members spend time at festive season stating that at this period, these people become early stressed and might feel depressed.

The expert said that taking a few steps of walk and deep breaths is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body because it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax.

“It is advisable to stay away from sugar; fluctuating blood sugar levels can really exacerbate feelings of stress,” said Sikiru.

While on the other hand, the expert also noted that during the festive period, a lot of people pile on weight with different arrays of delicious food on offer.

“Christmas Day eating is likely to clock up around 6,000 calories, some people can gain much more than that and unfortunately most people do not lose the weight they gain over the holidays,” Sikiru. @Businessdayng

He added: “Reduce the calories in recipes; avoid drinking too soft drinks and much alcohol. Choose water wherever possible!

“Significantly reducing your calorie intake and avoiding alcohol the following day after a feast can help correct any excess energy intake consumed hence avoiding weight gain,” said Sikiru.

Doyin Odubanjo, chairman, Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria, Lagos Chapter, says evidence shows that once you gain weight, your body will work against you to keep it there.

“The festive season is a time for many of us to take a wellearned break and enjoy good food and good company, so it is only normal that we treat ourselves over the holidays,” Odubanjo said that unhealthy eating is not an excuse, people should try as much as possible not to go out of your regular eating, especially on the sugar intake, the extra weight you might have noticed is not going anywhere.

Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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HEALTH BUSINESS&LIFE World Bank donates $90M for 5-year disease surveillance project in Nigeria GODSGIFT ONYEDINEFU, Abuja

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he World Bank said the sum of $90 million has been donated to Nigeria in form of grant to finance a five-year Regional Disease Surveillance Enhancement (REDISSE) to address gaps in disease prevention and outbreak response.

Daniel Kajang Procurement specialist, World Bank, said this on Wednesday in Abuja, during the formal handover of vehicles to states’ REDISSE Project, a project

initiated by the World Bank to cover all countries in the ECOWAS sub region as consequence of the 2014-2015 Ebola crises.

Kajang said the Ebola outbreak reinforces the importance of surveillance in the face of “very weak health system”.

He expressed concern that diseases sometimes go undetected for months, but said the programme will strengthen disease prevention, detection and address systematic weakness within the animal and human health systems.

According to him, a successful implementation will minimise health and economic consequences of major disease outbreak and enable Nigeria prepare for any eventuality.

“If we are not prepared, even a little disease like diarrhoea can derail the health sector. It’s also a shame that a disease can occur for six months without anybody knowing what it is.

“There was a year in this country, there was cholera in one of the northern states for six months without anybody

detecting it, but with this project, epidemics will not overpower the country”, he said.

He f u r t h e r i n f o r m e d that the project which was launched on the 27th April, 2018 and under the supervision of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) will end in 2023, but said it could be extended with more financing if Nigeria performs well.

A total of 18 vehicles, 75 motorcycles and 175 tricycles were deployed for all states’ Animal Health Disease Surveillance and Response activities including the FCT.

The permanent secretary, ministry of agriculture and rural development, Mohammed Tambuwal said the vehicles will be used prudently for disease intelligence gathering, ambulatory services, sample transportation, simulation and coordination of disease containment activities and response to disease outbreaks in hard to reach areas across the country.

While harping on the importance of surveillance, Tambuwal warned that the delay in response to disease often leads to escalation of

the disease resulting in heavy mortalities and decrease in Productivity of the affected population.

“Today, with the deployment of these containment materials, I am convinced that the states are now more prepared to detect and respond promptly to disease outbreaks” he said.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, director general, NCDC, said the deployment of the vehicles is only beginning of much more hard work to come.

He expressed hope that the resources will be well utilised.

What to do when travelling with a heart condition CAMA seeks collaboration to tackle Executive Travel Health

Dr Ade Alakija Q-life Family Clinic

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lifeadvisoryservices@outlook.com

eart disease whether congenital, hereditary or acquired can be life threatening and all necessary precautions to avoid worsening the condition should be taken. Heart related problems account for a high percentage of all in-flight medical emergencies and the risk of complications on board can be reduced by following a few simple steps.

Air travel is not recommended within less than 2 weeks following a heart attack without complications. Flying is allowed only when you are stable. If a person has undergone an angioplasty where a stent (wire mesh) is placed in heart arteries, then a waiting period of one week is recommended before travel. Pacemaker users and those that have implanted cardiac defibrillators (ICD) though not at great risk (walking through a detector) should go through individual security clearance with hand held metal detectors or hand searches only.

(The hand held device should, if used be held over the ICD for a few seconds only) The following steps should be taken in preparation for the travel: Have your flight plans and all necessary details in writing (separate from your phone organizer) for example hotel address and booking code, important phone numbers . Get contact numbers and website addresses for pacemaker and ICD manufacturers and local representatives in the destination country.

Get information on the area you are visiting. It is your responsibility to make sure you travel for your business or leisure trip unhindered.

You must be stable on your medication before travel. Carry

HBL TEAM

an ample supply of all medications, make sure they are labeled and placed in a carryon bag.

Have your blood pressure and weight taken regularly and have your full cardiac workout including ECG’s, stress test, and blood taken for cholesterol, lipid and sugar. Carry a copy your normal (ECG) if you have irregular heartbeat or a pacemaker.

Exercise and diet will play a key role in your overall health.

Also it is advised to improve your lifestyle, avoid smoking, and reduce weight if overweight.

For those travellers who are being treated for heart disease, try to read up more on your condition and take precautionary measures. Drugs like mefloquine, halofantrine amongst others should be avoided. Consult your Cardiologist, Family Physician or Travel consultant.

Those that have had open heart surgery or have pacemakers installed or procedures like angioplasty done on them, special care should be taken. Depending on your condition, you may need a travel companion with you, arrange for oxygen in the plane, your drugs must be within easy reach (on your person or in hand luggage with your doctors emergency numbers) and adequate. (Enough for your trip and 2 weeks beyond.)

Have a reference doctor and hospital at your destination; also avoid long haul trips (trips greater than 6 to 8hrs). If possible, break your journey.

Keep your hotel informed of your condition if potentially life threatening. Know your distress signs and do not change medication before and during travel if possible. If you must, do it two to 3 weeks before travel to make sure you are stable.

Keep your watch on home time and take medication based on home time for short trips if possible(less than 1 week) across time zones. For long stay, gradually adjust to the new time zone.

Make sure your vaccines are up to date especially meningococcal, influenza, vaccines needed for your destination and all childhood vaccines.

Take antimalarials with you in case you have an attack of ‘fever’ and make sure your life

and health insurance are up to date and take special travel insurance if necessary.

Meanwhile, prolonged periods of immobility can lead to venous stasis and increase the risk of developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT). When on board the plane, try to avoid alcohol. This can worsen dehydration in the already dry cabin air and increase your risk of DVT. Drink plenty of water and fruit juices. Avoid stimulants like caffeine until you have had a full night’s sleep at your destination.

Exercise regularly on long flights to help your blood circulation. (Airlines have useful information in their on board magazines). Choose an aisle seat where feasible to encourage mobilisation and stretch your legs without disturbing other passengers. Sleep and miss movies if you must.

Cardiac patients are at risk for DVT. (Your doctor should let you know if you are at risk) take the necessary precautions. The risk applies to any form of travel where you are routed to one place for hours. Exercise at least every hour on long journeys, good measured fitting hosiery (in flight stockings and socks) will encourage circulation. Wear loose clothing.

It is always good to be aware of the current outbreaks of disease, violence, natural disasters or civil unrest at your destination. Also, like in the UAE (Dubai & Co) and some other countries, certain prescription drugs and over the counter drugs are not allowed into the country.

Seek urgent medical attention if you develop swollen painful legs especially if one is more so than the other and if you also have breathing difficulties.

AES (Anti-embolism stockings) should be worn which discourages edema and promotes venous return therefore reducing the risk of DVT. Please consult your doctor or travel medicine consultant. Class 1 AES stockings which provide a compression of 14-17mmHg at the ankle are usually adequate for most travellers. AES should not be used on travellers with certain conditions like peripheral vascular disease, limb deformity that prevents correct fit peripheral neuropathy.

Nigeria’s malaria prevalence JOSEPHINE OKOJIE

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he Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa (CAMA) has called for collaborate efforts in tackling malaria issues and putting an end to the endemic in the country.

Omobolanle VictorLaniyan, head of sustainability, Access Bank Plc and co-chair of CAMA made the call for partnership during the organisation’s end of the year meeting for partners and members recently in Lagos.

“Giving how far we have gone as regards the gains we have achieved in addressing critical health challenges we shouldn’t be at the point we are with respect to malaria,” Laniyan said.

“If we work together as partners both the private sector and government we would be able to significantly address the issue and achieve our elimination goals with respect to malaria,” she further said.

She stated that advocacy, communication, and awareness around malaria are top priorities of CAMA in 2020.

She stressed that without collaborative efforts, the fight against malaria in the country may be a mirage.

She advised Nigerians not take malaria for granted by going for tests before treatment as many have died as a result of the illness.

Malaria is one of the most severe global public health problems globally, particularly in Africa, where Nigeria has the highest number of malaria cases.

According to a recent report by the World Health Organisation, Nigeria accounts for 25 percent of the global burden of malaria in 2018.

It has continued to be a threat to the socio-economic development of the

ANTHONIA OBOKOH / Reporters. Email: obokoh.anthonia@businessdayonline.com

country.

Okuns Ohiosimuan, corporate medical services manager, Nigeria LNG Limited says malaria remains one of the most important diseases in the country because it still kills.

“If you count how many children miss school or how many workers misses’ work and how many women lose their pregnancy all because of malaria, you will see it is still very high,” Ohiosimuan said.

He stated that the Federal Government has an excellent strategy in eliminating malaria within the next three years but the fund to drive it is lacking.

He urged government at all levels to be more involved by investing in programs that address malaria issues.

“If you look at most of what is going on in the malaria space today, you we see that we are depending heavily on external funding, loans and now the private sector to push it,” he said.

“For such a national problem, this is not the way forward. If we want our national health scheme to work, we must tackle malaria, otherwise, all that pulled money will go into something that can be eliminated,” he added.

Speaking on CAMA’s three years strategy plan, Ochuko Keyamo Onyige,

country manager – Nigeria, GBCHealth CAMA said malaria in Africa has an economic cost for individuals and businesses.

She estimated that it cost the continent’s economy $12billion yearly loss which includes; cost in health care, absenteeism, days lost in education, decreased productivity due to brain damage from cerebral malaria and loss of investment.

“The next few years will be a period of great opportunity for businesses to contribute to a rapid acceleration of progress in the critical fight against malaria in Africa,” Onyige said.

“Success will require overcoming underlying systemic challenges and a renewed commitment to controlling the disease. In light of this, CAMA members see the need to further mobilize the private sector and expand alliance activities in Africa to reduce the incidence and mortality due to malaria,” she added.

Onyige said that CAMA 2020-2022 agenda has five pillars of the organisations objectives which are; to promote and support business on workplace and community programs, policy and advocacy, partnerships, to expand work in highburden countries and increase its communication and membership.

I David Ogar, Graphics

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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Fintech firms face grim 2020 amid single digit treasury bill rate, banks’ LDR target FRANK ELEANYA

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or many firms in the financial technology space in Nigeria, how not to walk into 2020 is with the treasury bill trading below 10 percent and the deposit money banks (DMBs) breathing down on retail lending as they race to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s 65 percent lending to deposit ratio target which is likely to reach 70 percent in 2020.

But that is the new reality they would face in the coming year and with inflation heading north once again, the future looks very grim.

In November, the treasury bill fell to its lowest level in 3 years following CBN’s OMO ban on domestic non-bank investors.

The apex bank had announced the exclusion of individuals and corporates from participation in its Open Market Operations (OMO) at both the primary and secondary.

With the exclusion, only DMBs and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) can participate in OMOs, while individuals and non-bank financial institutions will have to shift focus to treasury bills and other investment options. The CBN is hoping that the ban will boost lending to manufacturers especially.

It should be noted that OMOs are issued by the CBN for monetary policy management to control liquidity. The apex bank in recent times had opened the market to foreign investors to generate foreign exchange to maintain the value of the naira, but now, only foreign traders are allowed to hold OMOs. The primary market auc-

tion rates on the 91-day and 182-day bills compressed to 7.7998 percent and 9 percent respectively in November, the first time both the short and mid-dated instruments would record single-digit rates since June 15, 2016. Also, the rate on long-dated 364-day bill cleared at 10 percent.

“The rates are not looking good, those who got the 10 percent should be happy,” said Adedeji Olowe, CEO of Trium Networks, a venture capital firm. “However, this is when other asset classes like equities and mutual funds, that provide higher returns will start getting a lot of interests.”

Fintech firms have long relied on treasury bill rates and other low risk investments to generate revenue.

Options other than treasury bills include agriculture, mutual funds, transport, and consumer loans. Treasury rates, unlike other rates, are paid upfront and investors are paid on maturity and does not roll over.

Several of these firms have made promises of 10 percent and above returns per annum to their users as part of strategies to attract new customers and ensure loyalty to the brand.

“Reducing promised returns to customers would be a problem for fintech firms, so the solution would be to look for other low-risk investments that can match promised returns while the companies remain profitable,” Sydney Aigbogun, CEO of Cashbox told BusinessDay. Prior to November, the treasury bill had consistently traded at above 10 percent, even hitting a peak of 22 percent in 2016.

Promised rates at above 10

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percent are also likely to make a startup look suspicious going forward as neither the bond market nor the stock market is yielding such returns at the moment.

“I want to believe every fintech company didn’t believe T-Bill would continue to be at 12 percent or higher, so they should have made plans for other low-risk investments,” Aigbogun said.

Banks have also invested heavily in treasury bills, using the market to maintain a high cash reserves which made them reluctant to give loans to small businesses and individuals.

But the CBN mandate for DMBs to grow their lending to deposit ratio (LDR) to 65 percent and 70 percent in 2020, would see most of the banks shedding their reluctance and aggressively vying for more share in retail lending.

Already banks like Sterling Bank claims to have given out 79 percent of its deposits as loans as a result of the CBN mandate.

For most banks, fintech solutions presents the most

viable means of meeting the target and reduce the risk of exposure to higher nonperforming loans. Financial technology also gives banks the opportunity to tap into consumer data sources to access credit worthiness and many others.

In the meantime, increased bank involvement in lending is bound to crash interest rates.

Azeez Lawal, head of Capital Markets & Research at Bancorp PLC, said the crash, however, is likely to have little impact if it is not followed up with commensurate fiscal efforts in infrastructure.

“In an economy stuck in a low growth cycle and susceptible to erratic and inconsistent government policies, we can

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only hope that the Government will handle its fiscal responsibilities with more urgency to reap the full rewards of a low-interest environment,” he said.

Olaoluwa Samuel-Biyi, cofounder of SureGroup also thinks the LDR will have little effect on the behaviour of banks in terms of which segments of the market they tend to.

“Online lending platforms emerged to serve segments traditionally underserved by banks and they remain underserved despite the LDR,” Samuel-Biyi said.

While the low-interest environment benefits the consumers, it also impacts the revenues of most online lending

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firms that depend on it.

For instance, a bank charging between 18 to 20 percent interest is far more attractive to small businesses than a credit firm which gives quick loans at 30 to 40 percent rates. As a matter of fact, GTbank now offers quick loans using their *737# code.

“I think the fintech firms just need to inspire confidence by disclosing the instruments they are investigating in, the risk profile of such investments and any insurance they provide against negative outcomes. I think most users will be comfortable with their strategies, and it is in the best interest of fintech firms for users to make their deposit decisions with an abundance of information,” Samuel-Biyi said.

While the fintechs are providing more information, it would be wishful thinking to wish away the increased pressure from banks in retail lending. For one, banks’ cost of funding is many times lower than the lending fintech firms. Their capital base also allows the banks to absorb more losses from bad debts. The LDR ratio increase still leaves room from regulatory arbitrage where the banks undertake asset substitution that are then classed as loans in the LDR computation.

According to a financial advisor who spoke to BusinessDay on condition of anonymity, an option for the lending firms would be to partner with banks to securitize their loan portfolio, although the banks may not accept as they usually have stricter loan requirements, to which accepting it may increase their nonperforming loans.

Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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24

Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Hotels Amani Spa beckons for ultimate indulgence this festive season

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

OBINNA EMELIKE

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f you are longing for special activities that will make your festive holiday unique, then you may consider a spa experience as top in your wish list. A day at the spa is worth experiencing this holiday season for obvious reasons; quality relaxation, rejuvenation of the body and soul, lifestyle outing among others.

For the ultimate quality indulgence this festive season, Amani Spa, an indigenous Africa spa brand, awaits your visit at Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja.

The brand is a leading spa brand and creator of award-winning and exceptional spa experiences in exciting sought-after destinations of incredible beauty across the continent.

‘Amani’, which means peace in Swahili, encapsulates the spirit of Amani’s mission to evoke a sense of “inner peace”, to enable people to reconnect with themselves and improve their quality of life through physical, emotional and spiritual wellness.

For discerning guests and lifestyle lovers, the hotel is offering an irresistible spa offering. For the festive season, the hotel’s worldclass Amani Spa is offering 25 percent discount on all massage treatments. The hotel urges lifestyle lovers and discerning guests to truly windup the year and start 2020 in style with the invigorating spa experience from December 20, 2019 to January 12, 2020.

At the spa, which is located on the first floor of Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja, the experience is same as

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

in other Amani Spa destinations in Africa.

Beyond glowing the skin with natural ingredients, on a visit, a guest wakes up to goodness and stays healthy afterwards.

Your experience starts with the warmth at the spa concierge, genuine smiles that welcome you and proper documentations that help the staff to offer packages that fit you.

Jade Phillips, a spa specialist, leads a team of trained staff, who are equally passionate about their work, to deliver memorable experiences to guests.

Aside the leisure purpose, visiting the spa, according to Jade Phillips, offers guests opportunity to rejuvenate the spirit, regain balance and restore the skin after the havoc wreaked on it by stress of the passing year.

While there are many treatments and offerings, top among them include: The Royal Journey, the spa treatment, which lasts for 90 minutes regenerates and lifts the body after a process of purifying, detoxifying and healing the body through a holistic mineral mud experience.

As well, the 24 Carat

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Cleopatra, which lasts for 90 minutes, is an extraordinary signature treatment, which combines the power and science of 24 carat gold for a flawless skin tone.

For a holistic head to toe experience, the Pearlescence is recommended.

But the ultimate indulgence lies with the Amani Signature Journeys, a 90-minute Kurhula body ritual, a unique and luxurious full body massage using Amani’s signature coconut massage balm, flows into a revitalising mini facial bringing balance to the body, mind and soul.

As well, you need to experience the Jewel of Africa Massage. The 90 minutes experience offers restorative and energising quality of warm salt crystals, rich coconut balm and flowing movements, which work in unison to rapidly reduce tension in the body.

Yet, Hydro Harmony indulges one in a 90-minute exhilarating Rasul session with the self-application of a body peel and mask. The experience is followed by a floatation pool session that imitates the Dead Sea, this results in deep relaxation and relief of joint and muscular tension. The

floatation pool is worth a trial because it offers one in a million relaxation experiences with lots of health benefits.

But the African Rungu is another package to experience at the spa. It is a 60-minute unique African massage, which uses an ancient African warrior stick to deliver long deep pressure strokes that facilitates deep tissue manipulation promoting pain reduction and improved blood and lymph circulation.

Other offerings include; hot stone massage, Swedish, couple, Aromatherapy, pedicure and manicure, deep tissue, body wrap, body polish, flotation, Amani romance, royals, brideto-be, corporate packages, among others.

However, the spa manager noted that the spa experiences are world class with best natural ingredients and well-trained Africans in-charge.

On a further reason to visit the hotel for the spa experience this festive season, she explained that, “The experiences we deliver are consistent and professional. Each of our spas promises peace and tranquility, where you can indulge in our premier spa packages, signature spa rituals, holistic skin beauty and body treatments and hydrotherapy treatments”.

Well, if you have not visited yet, there is still time to book for a Christmas and New Year spa experience, which comes with discounts.

As well, there is no better time to kick back in one of the 94 stylish rooms and suites in the hotel than now that the festive season is set.

The well-trained spa team awaits your visit this festive season!

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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.

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Friday 20 December 2019

Harvard Business Review

BUSINESS DAY

25

MANAGEMENTDIGEST

How the best Bosses interrupt bias on their teams JOAN C. WILLIAMS AND SKY MIHAYLO

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ompanies spend millions on anti-bias training each year, but research shows that such programs rarely deliver. How can you make sure your team is including and making the most of diverse voices?

Although bias itself is hard to eliminate, it is not as difficult to interrupt.

In the decades we’ve spent researching and advising people on how to build diverse work groups, we’ve identified ways that managers can counter bias without spending a lot of time on it.

PICKING YOUR PEOPLE Fairness in hiring is the first step toward achieving diversity.

Here are four simple actions that will yield the best candidates by eliminating artificial advantages: 1. INSIST ON A DIVERSE POOL: Make it clear from the outset that you want true diversity. Research shows that the odds of hiring a woman are 79 times as great if at least two women are in the finalist pool, while the odds of hiring a nonwhite candidate are 194 times as great with at least two finalist minority applicants.

2. ESTABLISH OBJECTIVE CRITERIA: Implicit biases around culture fit often lead to homogeneity. Too often it comes down to shared backgrounds and interests that out-groups won’t have. That’s why it’s important to clarify objective criteria for any open role and to rate all applicants using the same rubric.

3. LIMIT REFERRAL HIRING: If your organization is homogeneous, hiring from within or from employees’ social networks will only perpetuate that. Instead, reach out to women and minority groups.

4. STRUCTURE INTERVIEWS WITH SKILLS-BASED QUESTIONS: Ask every person interviewed the same questions and make sure that each question directly relates to the desired knowledge and skills you’ve outlined. Rate the answers immediately — that will allow you to compare candidates fairly and prevent favoritism.

MANAGING DAY-TO-DAY Even good leaders sometimes fall into bad habits when it comes to the daily management of their teams. Women report doing about 20% more “office housework” on average than their white male counterparts. Meetings are another problem area. Research shows that men are more likely than women to dominate the conversation; women are often interrupted at a higher rate than their male peers are.

Unsure whether this sort of

thing is happening on your team?

Start tracking assignments and airtime in meetings. Who’s at the table? Who’s doing the talking? If you find a problematic dynamic, here are some ways to change it: 1. SET UP A ROTATION FOR OFFICE HOUSEWORK: When administrative staff is limited, a rotation helps level the playing field and makes it clear that everyone is expected to contribute to office housework. When you ask for volunteers, women and people of color will feel powerful pressure to prove they are “team players” by raising their hands, so don’t.

2. MINDFULLY ASSIGN PEOPLE TO HIGH-VALUE PROJECTS: If you have only a tight circle of people you trust to handle meaningful work, you’re in trouble. Reconsider who is capable of doing what the important jobs require: Chances are someone not on your usual list is. You may need to be more involved with the training in the beginning, but it will serve you well in the end.

3. ACKNOWLEDGE THE IMPORTANCE OF LOWER-PROFILE CONTRIBUTIONS: “Diversity” hires may lag behind their peers because they’re doing extra stuff that doesn’t get them extra credit. Many bosses who say they value diversity don’t actually take it into account when promotion time becomes available. Integrating less visible con-

tributions when evaluating their performance is a simple start.

4. RESPOND TO DOUBLE STANDARDS: Pay close attention to the way people on your team talk about their peers and how they behave in group settings. If a few people are dominating the conversation in a meeting, address it directly. If majority-group members take or are given credit for ideas that women and people of color originally offered, call it out.

5. ASK PEOPLE TO WEIGH IN: Women, people of Asian descent and first-generation professionals frequently tend to hold back their thoughts. Counter this by extending an invitation: “Camilla, you have experience with this — is this the best course of action?”

6. SCHEDULE MEETINGS INCLUSIVELY: Business meetings should take place in the office, not at a golf course. Whenever possible stick to working hours, or you risk putting caregivers and others with a demanding personal life at a disadvantage.

7. EQUALIZE ACCESS PROACTIVELY: Bosses may meet with some employees more regularly than others, but it’s important to make sure this is driven by business demands and team needs rather than by what individuals want or expect.

The same may be true of people whose interests you share. If you

are routinely accepting “walking meeting” invitations from a team member who is, like you, interested in fitness, you might need to recalibrate to equalize access.

DEVELOPING YOUR TEAM Your job as a manager is also to encourage the development of each member. That means giving fair performance reviews, equal access to high-potential assignments and pay increases to those who have earned them.

Take these steps to avoid common pitfalls in evaluations and promotions: 1. CLARIFY EVALUATION CRITERIA AND FOCUS ON PERFORMANCE, NOT POTENTIAL: Don’t arrive at a rating without thinking about what predetermined bench marks you’ve used to get there.

Any evaluation should include enough data for a third party to understand the justification for the rating.

2.

SEPARATE PERFORMANCE FROM POTENTIAL: In-groups tend to be judged on their potential and given the benefit of the doubt, whereas out-groups have to show they’ve nailed it. If your company values potential, it should be assessed separately, with factors clearly outlined for evaluators and employees. Then track whether there’s a pattern as to who has

“potential.” If so, try relying on performance alone for everyone or get even more concrete with what you’re measuring.

3. LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD WITH RESPECT TO SELF-PROMOTION: People in out-groups are more likely to refrain from writing effective self-evaluations or defending themselves at review time.

Counter that by giving everyone you manage the tools to evaluate their own performance. Be clear that it’s acceptable, and even expected, to advocate for oneself.

4. EXPLAIN HOW TRAINING, PROMOTION AND PAY DECISIONS WILL BE MADE: When it comes to promotions, you should push for transparency on the criteria used. When they are explicit, it’s harder to bend the rules for in-group members.

Organizational change is crucial, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Fortunately, you can begin with all these recommendations today.

Joan C. Williams is a professor and the founding director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law. Her newest book is “White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America.” Sky Mihaylo is the policy and research fellow at the Center for WorkLife Law.

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

entertainment

It’s groovy December with Bet9ja Detty Fest OBINNA EMELIKE

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arely few weeks after the successful hosting of Big Brother Naija 2019, which was tagged ‘Pepper Them’, Bet9ja, the headline sponsor of the biggest Nigerian reality television show, is out to entertain even more this festive season.

Bet9ja, Nigeria’s foremost sports gaming company, is offering unique excitement to Nigerians this season with Detty Fest December, a music and entertainment fiesta, which features four concerts headlined by four top Nigerian music acts.

From Teni the Entertainer, Wizkid, Davido to Naira Marley, Detty Fest promises an enthralling outing for lovers of music and the general public this Christmas season.

Already, Teni the Entertainer thrilled the audience and won more fans during the first concert of Detty Fest, which was tagged ‘Teni Live Concert: The Billionaire Experience’.

At the concert, which held on December 16, 2019 at Eko Convention Center, Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, Teni offered mind-blowing performances, and delighted fans with hit songs such as; “Billionaire”, “For your sake”, “Uyo Meyo” amid other sensational songs and performances from guest artistes.

With her great personality, style of music, magical performances, she offered unforgettable experience to the audience,

Teni performing at ‘The Billionaire Experience’ concert in Lagos

while further breaking the norm with female artistes in Nigeria with her unconventional style.

If you missed Teni’s concert, Bet9ja is offering you another and even more fun at Wizkid’s concert. On December 26, 2019, Wizkid, the Nigerian music export, will thrill fans and music lovers with his concert tagged ‘StarBoy Fest Lagos’ at Eko Atlantic, Victoria Island Lagos.

The musician, Ayo Balogun, who stages as Wizkid is promising an elevated excitement, which he tagged ‘Boxing Day Madness’.

On December 27th, the next day, Davido, another youthful

ace musician, will continue from where Wizkid stopped to offer more excitement to the audience.

Tagged ‘City of Davido’, the music concert will hold at Ocean View Grounds in Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos and promises to be the best show of the season and year.

The last concert will feature Naira Marley. On December 30, 2019, Naira Marley will be staging a massive concert tagged, ‘Marlian Fest’, at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island in Lagos.

In preparation for the concert, which is probably the last for the year, the youthful singer,

who is currently one of the mosttalked-about music artistes in the Nigerian music scene, took to his social media to announce and invite his fans to the concert.

He assured that he is going to blow up Lagos with his explosive show to wrap up the Detty Fest December 2019.

The choice of Naira Marley to close the show is probably due to his growing influence and large fan base, which the musician has amassed in recent time.

However, speaking on the rationale for sponsoring the music concerts, Bet9ja noted that the Detty Fest December is one of the platforms it uses to amplify

its MORE THAN A BET campaign. The campaign is planned to show Bet9ja’s impact on how it is touching and changing lives positively everyday.

Speaking further on the sponsorship, Ayo Ojuroye, managing director, Bet9ja, explained that, “Our partnership with the music acts such as Teni, Wizkid, Davido and Naira Marley to make this December a boom for the entertainment industry, is another way of giving back to the society where we operate, and we are changing lives everyday through corporate social responsibility initiatives”.

In line with its believe that music is a key component of entertainment, Ojuroye said that Bet9ja believes that impact of entertainment on society is positive, hence the support for the great acts to make the festive holiday a true time of refreshing for everyone.

“People should set apart one day in a week for leisure. In this way they can make their mind strong and active. Besides, entertainment also increases our depth of knowledge. People can learn and achieve work life balance and have up-to-date knowledge on various topics.

This is a state of being whole both mentally and physically to achieve and live a healthy lifestyle”, he said.

While encouraging Nigerians to visit the four venues of the concerts for quality unwinding this festive season, he assured that, “We will continue to seek avenues in the entertainment industry, culture and other aspects to empower Nigerians”.

Dear Affy premieres February 2020, features top movie stars OBINNA EMELIKE

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ovie lovers across the country will be opening the New Year 2020 with the premiere of Dear Affy, a romantic comedy with a super plot twist.

In the new movie that seems so unprecedented, EMS Agency is bringing together eclectic of stars that have not been seen in a long time in Nollywood.

Offering stellar performances in the new movie are superstars such as: Hafiz Oyetoro, Jide Kosoko, Toyin Abraham, Williams Uchemba, Kehinde Bankole, Mawuli Gavor, Charles Inojie, Chiwetalu Agu, Chinedu Ikedieze, Faithia Williams, Bimbo Ademoye, Bimbo Akintola and others.

The movie is a joint production between 007 Global, Aul

Media Studios, Track and Dolly Productions, Miss Tola Elatuyi and Inside Life Studios.

It is directed by Samuel Olatunji (Bigsam), a celebrated media entrepreneur who executive produced Ghost and The Tout and Seven And A Half Dates.

Bigsam has a certificate in Film Making, Film Editing and has spearheaded the marketing of most of the successful Nollywood movies at the box office.

However, the movie will see Teniola, a rising music act, make her acting debut, as well as, Sir Dee, one of the housemates of Big Brother Naija, making his acting debut.

Dear Affy is a romantic comedy with a super plot twist, which tells the story of a beautiful career lady who is about to get married to the man of her dream who is on the verge of sealing millions of Naira worth of contract with a www.businessday.ng

conglomerate in a construction industry. However, he is faced with the devil and the deep blue sea as sealing the contract is hinged on him having an intimate affair with the female billionaire contractor by all means just few weeks to his wedding. All hell was let loose when the detail of his

affair became subject of headline for the media, plot turns out to be a race of redemption for the fiancé, the man, the billionaire and their friends and family.

Speaking on the new movie, Samuel Olatunji, the director, said, “Dear Affy is an ambitious project. We want to tell a differ-

Hafiz Oyetoro in Dear Affy

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ent kind of Nollywood story; we want to be very professional and excellent in our doing. We want to provide 100 percent entertainment and unpredictable story at the cinema and we have cast of who-is-who that can deliver the perfect performance. We are not stopping there, we have dreams, we have ambitions, we believe Nigeria is a place where dreams are possible.

“We believe Dear Affy will be the first Nollywood movie to hit N500 million at the box office.

We have had people tell us it was an impossible dream because of the gigantic nature of the dream but that will not stop us because the guys from Hollywood do not have two heads and we believe in this dream”.

Dear Affy will be released in cinemas across the country on February 2, 2020 and will be distributed by Filmhouse Cinemas.

Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

27

entertainment Business etiquette

Janet Adetu

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ow many times have you been in a meeting where you are simply unsure of what to expect? This is possibly a situation where the meeting you are in has no particular agenda, the flow of the meeting is entirely up to the person presiding. The implication of having no agenda during meetings can derail that meeting, rear off scope, as well as infuse other things not really expected to be spoken about, completely dragging the meeting to last for unusual hours.

An agenda speaks to all the topical issues that needs to be discussed to enable the meeting to be productive.

The agenda also allowsfor a structured allocation of time for those that will be expected to report or deliberate on a specific topic or area of concern that may also require voting on.That agenda will guide all the attendees to concentrate on the issues as they arise, air their views and opinions and finalise on a decision.

It is true that in some meetings where the agenda is made available that some items are still over dragged leading to over time being spent on a meeting proposed for just an hour.

Once the need to hold that meeting has been established the leader must ensure that it is effective, productive and meaningful.

I will talk about having successful meetings on another column but today my focus is on “what’s on the agenda” Let’s look at the flow of an agenda for better clarity.

What’s on the agenda? sion makers for certain goals to be achieved. At times a simple email will surface avoiding having that meeting and the stress that comes with meetings.

Who for?

It is not about the number of people in a meeting that matters, it is the agenda that should be specific to a group of people. In communicating the agenda, let it be known who the meeting if for so that the right people attend. If it is a corporate meeting it is important to stipulate the category of staff required in attendance. Very large meetings are a potential for disaster and disorder. It maybe that only key decision makers are required who will discuss on behalf of the larger body. Executive Committee Members usually have regular weekly, monthly or quarterly meetings, the agenda typically is predictable with a structured flow of events.

What to discuss A meeting of essence will have many areas of discussion that will need to be reviewed, reverted and deliberated upon incorporating the main goal and objective of the meeting all together. Try to keep the discussion structured and meaningful with the aim of achieving results in a successful meeting. It is important to ensure that topics do not become domineering creating confusion and disorder.

To be sure that you have captured everything to be discussed you may decide to ask to adopt the agenda giving room for any addition in case something had erroneously been left out. Once everyone agrees with the items listed the meeting procedure can take place.

Topic arrangement When several topics are expected to be discussed in a meeting, the

Why this meeting?

The process of building an agenda starts with establishing the main reason for the meeting. It is a known fact that many meetings are time wasters and may not need the physical presence of its participants. This happens when there is need for multiple deci-

agenda order is key. It is not a case of saving the best for last. The most important topics must be placed first as a priority. Other topics will follow suit in order of importance. Where individual heads or key position holders are present you may decide whose report is of significance to kick start discussions. Usually all discussions will commence with the Chair or Vice Chair leading into the main pipeline of topical issues. It is the secretary that will draw up the line - up of topics and present to the leader for approval before circulation.

Any other business There are times when attendees of meetings may have something to raise during a meeting which is considered outside the scope of the planned topics but is also important or relevant at the time. In such cases there should be an item on the agenda known as AOB meaning any other business providing that opportunity to raise a discussion outside the main agenda. It is important to note that if care is not taken this has the potential to let meetings linger on. It is also possible that such topics can be postponed for discussion in the next upcoming meeting.

Set timings This is a crucial element to an agenda. It is not necessary to indicate the timings on the agenda when circulating the agenda, but for the purpose of smooth and effective execution this can be at the discretion of the Chair.

Equal time slots is advised where individual members are to present reports. At this point time allocated to AOB should be adhered toavoid creating a new meeting.

‘ It is true

that in some meetings where the agenda is made available that some items are still over dragged leading to over time being spent on a meeting proposed for just an hour

Circulation It is always important that members of a group who have been invited to a meeting receive the agenda ahead of time. This will inform all attendees of details of the meeting, when, where, what time as well as why the meeting is holding. Having a pre-hand view of the agenda will allow participants to prepare ahead where necessary. If reports are required to be shared then you have been given that heads up reminder probably previously agreed in an earlier meeting.

It is the duty of the secretary of the meeting to ensure all attendees receive the agenda of any meeting ahead of time.

Physical vs virtual A physical meeting is traditionally the ideal meeting, which is face to face physical, however today with the use of technology virtual meetings are now widely acceptable. Members have the option of joining meetings through video conferencing. The choices are now numerous they include. Zoom, Free Conferencing Call, Skype, or more recently though for limited users the WhatsApp call.

Connectivity may be a challenge where there is a fluctuation in the internet connection. Overall this option is considered more convenient where distance is involved, or time is a problem. A link to the virtual platform must be provided in advance with an access code where necessary. Attendees can equally contribute in the same effective way as those present. The Chair must provide the opportunity.

The agenda i. meeting title ii. where / when iii. address iv. opening prayer v. introduction vi. adopt agenda vii. read minutes viii. matters arising ix. business of the day x. AOB xi. next meeting xii. adjournment

Who chairs?

The agenda is typically run by the Chairperson of the meeting to ensure the smooth flow of events. The Chair is the leader of the team with the responsibility of using the agenda correctly. The meeting kicks off once the Chair is satisfied that the right people are in attendance. A deputy or vice can also chair a meeting but only in the absence of the leader of the pack.

Janet.adetu@gmail.com @janetadetu @jsketiquette

10 great holiday shows to watch this festive season

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t is the season to be jolly and GOtv is making the season extra special with a selection of exciting TV entertainment goodness for subscribers and families to enjoy.

On offer is a bumper package of the hottest and best local and international television content on its newly introduced packages, GOtv JOLLI and GOtv JINJA. GOtv viewers will get to enjoy the very best of family entertainment this season and beyond.

Subscribers on GOtv JOLLI will get to view unending drama in season one of Single Ladies, showing on Wednesdays on ROK 2 (channel 17) at 8:00pm and 10:15pm. The show follows the story of five single young ladies as they navigate Nigeria in search of ‘Mr. Right’. Also airing on ROK 2 is The Heiress season one, which provides an

interesting tale of power, riches and suspense as decides to speak for the Idara community after being wrongly accused. It airs on Mondays at 7pm.

War of the Worlds airs Wednesdays at 7:45pm on FOX (channel 19). It is definitive proof of intelligent extra-terrestrial life, when astronomers detect a transmission from another galaxy, the world’s population waits for further contact with bated breath. They do not have to wait long. Within days, mankind is all but wiped out; just pockets of humanity are left in an eerily deserted world.

Resolving contentious issues may sometimes result in litigation.

However, court proceedings take a different dimension in the reality television show, Judge Judy, showing weekdays from 2:25pm on CBS Reality (channel 22). Entering its www.businessday.ng

14th season, this programme sees Judge Judy Sheindlin, a family court judge, resolve small claim and family cases.

Seat back, relax and enjoy your Saturday afternoon with The Wedding Ringer, which centers around a socially awkward groom who begins an unexpected ‘bromance’ with the guy he hired to pose as his best man at his upcoming wedding.

This movie is showing on Saturday December 21, 2019 at 12:21pm on TNT (channel 16).

Miss Milly Questions, which is broadcast every day at 5pm on Da Vinci (channel 66), will help expand children’s imagination and creativity. Milly, her friends and family, alongside Edwige Chirouter and Jean Charles Pettier (specialists in Philosophy for children), use creative ways to focus on themes not usually addressed

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on children’s TV. And that’s not all! GOtv JINJA customers will also have entertainment options to choose from this festive season.

For adults with an inclination for documentaries, season two of Doctor Christian Will See You Now, premiering Thursday December 19th on Real Time (channel 12), promises to provide thrills aplenty. Doctor Christian, a renowned medical doctor, embarks on a journey of treating patients with a wide range of conditions and investigates how such ailments have had a devastating effect on their relationships.

Viewers with a taste for hospital and medical-related shows should keep a date with Outpatients. This series follows Dr Cathy Davies, a medical doctor with a special interest in aesthetics, who runs a @Businessdayng

successful practice in Johannesburg and who transforms the lives of ordinary people and celebrities alike. It airs on Wednesdays at 6:55pm on FOX Life (channel 20).

An adventurous time awaits the kids on Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood daily at 7:30am on PBS Kids (channel 65). Each day, Daniel puts on his red sweater and ties his red shoes to go on an adventure of make-believe with his friends, O the Owl, Katerina Kitty cat, Prince Wednesday and Miss Elaina. The show helps pre-schoolers learn the practical skills needed for developing.

Quality African entertainment is not left out for viewers as the Ebele Okaro Movie festival, showcasing the very best of the Nollywood’s movies, airs all day long on Thursday December 26, 2019 on Africa Magic Epic (channel 9).

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

LEADINGWOMAN

Awosika calls for building institutions that will outlive founders …as Chair Centre Group celebrates 30th anniversary in style DESMOND OKON

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s dignitaries gathered at Harbour Point in VI, to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Chair Centre Group, the CEO of the furniture firm, Ibukun Awosika, called for the establishment of institutions that will outlive their founders and leave a legacy that the next generation can be proud of.

Reminiscing about the hurdles she crossed and the battles she fought to build the business, she said building strong institutions in Nigeria was possible.

“There are so many young people who need to know that it is possible to build an institution in Nigeria, and our own 30-year-old story, was worthy of celebrating as a landmark to help the next generation also look forward.

“One of the things I will like to encourage all of us is that, we need institutions in our country and we must all find a way to build these institutions that will outlive us. We need to do so for the sake of the country and our children can tell stories of great institutions that have come out of this country, more jobs can be created rather than replaced because every company that dies, and we have to build a new one, we’re replacing jobs that are lost from that company that died,” she said.

The call was made because she said she has always been bothered about the number of great Nigerian businesses that had died over time. “I’ve always felt that if I’ve worked all through my youth building this and it dies when I die, I’ve wasted my life.”

As the face of The Chair Centre Group, Awosika was honoured with eulogies and praised for her entrepreneurial spirit, doggedness, resilience and passion for her nation.

Awosika’s name can never be skipped from the list of influential entrepreneurs who have contributed significantly to Nigeria’s economic development.

So, while many government officials, including governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu (special guest of honour) and other dignitaries showered her with accolades, Awosika, also called ‘Billy’ by close pals –and described as an emblem of humility, redirected the accolades to her staff, customers, friends, and supporters.

For her, the 30-year-old story of the business was about people, beginning with her first seven workers –three carpenters, two upholsterers, and a few others, who came with their own tools “into an empty ground where we built a shed in Papa-Ajao on the 3rd of January, 1989.”

She narrates: “I tried to think about the last 30 years and I realized that the story of my life and the story of Chair Centre Group is the story of people, opportunities, support, diligence and dedication. When I started the business, I remember there were jobs I wanted to do that I didn’t have enough capital and Tayo (a close acquaintance) would open his account and say ‘this is all I have, I’ll give you a portion of this so you can go and use it and return it when you are done’.

“So my story is about people. People who saw something that even I didn’t see and they

loved me enough to make sacrifices.

To many aspiring/young entrepreneurs (and perhaps, existing ones), Awosika is surely the standard or role model, but starting and sustaining a business in a tough terrain like Nigeria often give entrepreneurs sleepless nights –or nightmares, for those who can manage to sleep.

A panel was created to discuss this issue in hope that many business owners will get fresh insights to doing business, as they also acknowledged the potential inhibitions.

Bolanle Austen-Peters, founder Terra Kulture, Seun Abolaji, co-founder of Wilson’s Lemonade and Kofo Akinkugbe, founder & CEO of SecureID, said passion, adaptability, and execution were keys qualities of an entrepreneur.

“When we see these children come to Terra Kulture every day to dance, perform, learn new skills, even when I’m down, I have to encourage myself to say ‘I’m adding value and these children are Nigeria’s tomorrow and somebody needs to be doing something, especially when we recognise that the traditional formal jobs cannot possibly employ all our youth’. Said Austen-Peters.

According to Abolaji, one word that comes to mind is adaptability, when he thinks about what it takes to sustain a business. “Everything that we’ve gone through, we’ve had to adapt to what we’re seeing, adapt to what the environment is telling us. If you don’t stop to listen to your environment, your company will fold.”

In her submission, Akinkugbe reminded the audience that it was one thing to have a dream, another thing to be passionate, but the other thing was to actually execute.

“For me, the attribute is flawless execution,” she said. “The thought process that you put into it; seeing your dream and starting with the end in mind, knowing that even if you dream big, you can start small but scale fast.”

Some dignitaries present were: Oba Otudeko founder and chairman of the Honeywell Group; Michael Ade-Ojo, founder of Elizade University, and Elizade Motors; Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Fola Adeola, businessman and politician and keynote speaker at the event, and others.

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

INTERVIEW

Health and wellness industry is making more people financially free – Odey ROMEO ODEY is a member of Norland Industrial Group, a large-scale industrial group involved in health industry, medical cosmetology, direct selling and e-commerce. In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE, Odey, who is an entrepreneur, a mentor and a coach, speaks about his journey in the company, his aspirations and why he has decided to give back to the society through his foundation.

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ould you give us a brief background on your journey at Norland Industrial Group?

I joined the Norland Industrial Group in 2017. In two years of being in the business, through our hard work, commitment and passion towards the business, on a weekly basis I earn seven-figure income, courtesy of Norland. I have been able to acquire several properties in and outside the shores of this country; in my city, in Port Harcourt, Abuja and other cities outside this country.

This company has given me nine brand new cars in two years.

This year alone, I qualified for six cars from the company. I am currently building a rice factory in Abuja, courtesy of this company. I have also ventured into farming. I have a snail farm and apart from that, it is a business I have used to change other people’s lives. Ordinary people have been turned into multimillionaires. People I met along the way, some of them could not afford a meal but today some of them are house owners and some have bought their properties. Some of them are driving new cars. Some of them have travelled outside the country.

We have achieved so much. If we can do this in just two years, by the time we get to four years, we should have tripled what we have achieved in two years. From what I have achieved from the company, I thought to give back to the society. It has been an amazing business opportunity and so much has been achieved and more are still on the way.

What kind of business are you currently running?

What we are actively involved in is what we call multi-level marketing or what is called network marketing. It is actually the business of 24th century. It is a health and wealth industry. The health and wellness industry has been seen as a multi-billion naira industry that in the 24th century.

This industry has created more millionaires and more financially free people than any other industry. Today, it is a vibrant industry and an industry that is transforming a lot of lives. It also gives you that capacity to become a better you. My own company is one of the best in Nigeria and Africa as I speak to you today. It is called Norland Industrial Group. In just two years of our operations in Africa, it has helped a lot of people with health challenges and taking care of their health problems.

Health is one of the greatest assets. That is why most times

company, we have the different systems, all these compensation plan has been combined together to give us what we have in Norland. So you discover that our system is different from other systems and that is why you see Norland system rewarding more people than other systems.

people say your health is your wealth. In Nigeria, for instance, we have created more than 500 multi-millionaires already with this company. We have given over five people house awards; which mean they now own their own houses. We are currently building about two hotels for some top leaders in Nigeria and we have given out over 100 cars in two years. The company has taken out over 300 Nigerians outside the country, all expenses paid; we do this twice a year. We give out cars three times a year to different people that have worked hard in the company and have qualified for those awards. I am so happy with what we are doing today because we are changing a lot of lives and giving a lot of people succour, especially those suffering from health challenge like diabetes, high blood pressure, fibroid, women having issues with conceiving, people with heart challenge, people having infertility issues amongst others.

It is a total package that takes care of your health and revenue. The economy is dwindling but with this opportunity, we have actually contributed our quota to the society and the government of the day.

You left your job and went into business. How did you encounter multi-level marketing business?

I remember that some time ago, even while I was in school, I read motivational books and business books. What I read from Robert

Kiyosaki’s book talked about Real Estate and Network marketing and I started doing my research to know more about it. I was in Abakaliki when I met a man who was into network marketing and I started asking him questions about network marketing and he told me a lot about it and what he has achieved. I saw the money in it and I decided to give it a try. I started learning the business because I tell people that no matter the business you want to do and what you want to venture into, you need to learn the act and master it. You cannot become a doctor or lawyer today if you are not properly trained. So I decided to do my research and learnt about network marketing.

I discovered that it is a vibrant industry and a multi-billion naira industry. I saw the future and that was how I got involved in the first one. I moved to the second one because I didn’t find what I was looking for in those particular companies I tried. That was how I came to network marketing.

Network marketing has existed for over 20 years in Nigeria and during these 20 years, a lot of lives have been transformed.

People say there is a difference between network marketing and multi-level marketing. Do you agree with that?

They are the same thing. Network marketing is a business system built on leverage. First of all, there are lots of Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) businesses out

there. But for you to get involved in any MLM business, you need to look for a good company that must have existed even outside your continent for a minimum of five years. There are a lot of schemes out there and people have been scammed. A network marketing company must have a face and people that are behind the business that you can see physically. Though our business is actually online but we must have a physical presence. A network marketing company should have a product because when you don’t have a product, there will be no value for your money and money flows in the direction of value. So, a genuine marketing company must have physical product and a good compensation plan. The worst thing that happens to most of the network marketing companies sometimes is that we have companies with good products but lack good compensation plan. It is rare for you to find a good company, with good compensation plan as well as good product like Norland and that is why you see that most people are making it in Noland.

So if you want to join a network business, look for companies that must have existed and have survived in other continents and if it has survived in other continents for five years at least, then it can stand the test of time. It should have a good system. A system in this sense is the platform that can guarantee your growth in the business. Different companies have different systems but in my

We hear you want to start a foundation. Tell us about the foundation?

When I was growing up, it was difficult and challenging for my mum to pay my school fees and pay some other bills. Growing up I see a lot of people suffering and having financial challenges.

Some can’t even see themselves through school. People drop out because they don’t have money.

Some venture into some vices they are not supposed to because they are looking for a means of survival. In my company, I am the highest earner in Africa. A lot of people also have the potential to rise to the top but one of the things we need to equip them with is to give them the right education, which is the basis.

We need to give them the right foundation. So, we are creating a foundation to see how we can help more people get the basics, which is education. We want to give them scholarships to enable them go to school. Secondly, as God continues to give us capacity, we are going to see how we can look at how we can support the widows and establish businesses for them. We are also looking at supporting the girl child. If you go out there, you see a lot of girls engaging in unhealthy vices to survive. As God has blessed us, we also want to give back to our society.

Could you tell us what motivates you and why you are doing all you are doing for the society?

I have come to discover that in life when you come to this world and you don’t affect lives, you are not worth more than a vegetable.

I am a compassionate person. I don’t like seeing people suffering. I can’t be in an advantaged position and see people suffering and refuse to help others. I also discovered that we rise by lifting others. What I am doing is to see how I can help others stand on their feet and become better. I have always prayed to God to give me opportunity and capacity to help people. I like seeing people being successful and wearing smiling faces. This has always been my drive. I have discovered that when you help people, you will be successful. I have a passion to see people become better.

Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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FEATURE

How 9mobile drives quality service, innovation, customer experience Unwavering commitment to investment in infrastructure and cutting-edge technology are paramount in 9mobile’s quest to raise the bar of excellent service delivery, innovation, and exceptional customer experience writes Chuka Uroko.

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hree critical tests are of utmost importance to users of telecommunication services, which service providers should pass. These are quality of service, innovation, and exceptional customer experience.

Translating these values into efficiency and effectiveness across touch-points, including voice, data, and value-added services is something that would undoubtedly endear customers to a telco.

Their absence would conversely repel them.

For instance, the service provider of Baba Ade of Ijaiye community in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State meets his expectation if he can make and receive clear, crisp calls to or from his children who live in Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Abuja. Adamu in Anka, Zamfara State, also thumbs up for his service provider when he can call his customers in Ifo market in Ogun State to buy off his newly harvested yam tubers and grains.

For the army of arts and sports entertainment video-driven Nigerian youths, a network that offers them affordable and fast internet service to download e-books and study materials, pictures, music, videos, and stream live without any hindrance makes a great ally.

And, for Emeka, a start-up entrepreneur, and for owners of large corporations, a network operator that offers them cost-effective and innovative solutions that empowers them to optimise efficiency, productivity, and profitability would be their ideal choice service provider.

However, several critical dependencies must fall into their proper places to enable telcos to deliver top quality experience in data, voice and associated services. For example, interconnectivity, power, general infrastructure deficit, multiple taxations, amongst many others, are long-standing challenges Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) face. Considering the close relationship between overall Customer Satisfaction and Quality of Service (QoS), Innovation and Customer Experience variables, it becomes obvious why telcos including 9mobile are pushing the frontiers of meeting and surpassing customer expectations.

A study by Benjamin Diaw and Gideon Asare Nanjing entitled ‘Effect of Innovation on Customer Satisfaction and Customer Reten-

L-R: Abdulrahman Ado, executive director, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, 9mobile; Sunday Dare, minister of Youth & Sports Development, and Jermaine Sanwo-Olu, senior special assistant to the Lagos State Governor on Diaspora and Foreign Relations, at the launch of the Ministry’s Adopt-Campaign and public presentation of the Work Experience Programme in Lagos.

tion in the Telecommunication Industry in Ghana: Customers’ Perspectives’, found a significant positive relationship between innovation and customer satisfaction and retention. The study also found that innovations introduced in recent years are a significant determinant in customer satisfaction and retention.

Another study, ‘An Empirical Examination of Customer Retention in Mobile Telecommunication Services in Australia’ by Hassan Shakil Bhatti, Ahmad Abareshi and Siddhi Pittayachawan, similarly found out that service quality has an impact on customer satisfaction and retention.

Aware of this nexus between Customer Satisfaction and the trio of Quality of Service, Innovation, and Customer Experience, 9mobile has committed to running a network that delivers high-quality voice and data services through consistent investment and deployment of infrastructure. 9mobile’s Acting Managing Director, Stephane Beuvelet, had reiterated that same commitment to excellence as the gold bar of operations in his 2019 New Year message to customers.

Months after that assurance, the company’s increased investment in, and deployment of cutting edge technology has further reflected on its quality of service and turned it into a toast of Nigerians who are happily getting value for their money. Between January www.businessday.ng

and now, 9mobile has, amongst others, enhanced its network across the various RAN technologies to address congestions and improve user experience. The existing 4G LTE infrastructures were upgraded from 5MHz to 10MHz in cities including Abuja, Owerri, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, and PortHarcourt to increase LTE network capacity and guarantee higher levels of quality and performance.

In Lagos, for example, LTE User DL and UL throughputs improved by 156.06percent and 36.05percent respectively while total traffic grew by 19.03percent.

9mobile has further upgraded its equipment for additional capabilities by activating HD Voice on its 2G GSM network to enhance voice quality. This upgrade provides customers with highquality, crystal-clear voice calls and reduced background noise.

9mobile has also optimised its IP network by reducing hops across the system, thereby reducing latency and allowing for a smooth experience in streaming services.

The telco has additionally expanded its cache infrastructure, helping to deliver excellent quality of service to subscribers across popular platforms such as Google and Facebook services.

Between Q4 2019 and Q1 2020, 9mobile would be taking its LTE coverage to over ten new cities across the country including, Sokoto, Jos, Aba, Onitsha, Akwa, Enugu, Calabar, Zaria, Maiduguri,

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and Uyo while, at the same time, enhancing the existing six cities earlier mentioned.

In the realisation that a tree does not make a forest make, 9mobile has also entered strategic partnerships with industryleading solution providers to offer bespoke enterprise offerings with services ranging from innovative broadband connectivity, M2M/IoT to Anything-as-a-service (XaaS).

Moreblaze, an innovative data package that enables data-reliant businesses and individuals to do more through reliable and consistent internet and Moreflex, are only two of the network’s unique offerings empowering businesses and individuals amongst several other offers and solutions. Moreblaze, in particular, has been hailed for allowing subscribers to enjoy a much more productive and faster online browsing experience.

Besides investing in technology that makes its Quality of Service standout, 9mobile is also offering customers the best-in-class experience by investing in solutions to measure real user experience and better understand the customer’s journey. The telco has invested in a Customer Experience Management (CEM) solution that gives it the capability to acquire realtime network and customer intelligence. With this CEM solution, 9mobile can provide proactive care, better reactive support, and gain useful insights into customer network experience. @Businessdayng

A retired diplomat, Job Oniwon, one of the two winners that won five million naira each at the grand finale of the Magic Hour Promo, a customer loyalty reward scheme by 9mobile in May attested to the superior customer experience on the brand. He disclosed that it was the network’s quality service that attracted him in the first instance but believed that he made the right choice when customer service personnel promptly resolved an issue he once had.

He narrated his experience this way: “I last worked at the Nigerian High Commission in London and returned to Nigeria about four years ago. It was after I returned to the country that I became a 9mobile customer. I realised that it was cheaper to call London with 9mobile and after observing for a while and being satisfied with the quality of service, I called all members of my family to switch to 9mobile. I’m an addict of anything called 9mobile. When the company changed its name, and people suggested I should drop my line for that of another network because they claimed 9mobile was going down, I said no. I remained with them and was further encouraged when I had an issue with my line.

I went to the office at Cedi Plaza, Abuja and the people I met there were wonderful. They resolved the issue promptly while treating me courteously the whole time. They were wonderful!”

Oniwon’s experience is the same with millions of other 9mobile customers who are having a good time with the network’s quality data and voice services.

However, despite the joy it is giving to subscribers through its quality service, the company is not resting on its oars.

According to the Acting Director, Marketing, 9mobile, Layi Onafowokan, the company recognises “that quality data and voice services are important in the day-to-day activities of Nigerians; therefore, we are passionately committed to providing the best services. We will not deviate from this commitment, and we reassure all new and existing customers that everyone has got a home on our network.”

With such affirmation, existing and prospective 9mobile customers can only be assured of a great experience on Nigeria’s network of choice that prioritises Quality of Service, Innovation, and Customer Experience.

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Sports GOtv Boxing Night 20: Argentina’s Chiquito vows beat Godzilla to WBF title Anthony Nlebem

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riel “Chiquito” Baracamonte, the Argentine boxer billed to fight Nigeria’s Onoriode “Godzilla” Ehwariemi for the World Boxing Federation (WBF) Intercontinental heavyweight title, has vowed to stun his opponent right in front of his fans. The bout is the major encounter of the nine-bout GOtv Boxing Night 20 slated to hold on 28 December at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.

Speakiing in a telephone interview-via an interpreterfrom his training base in Cordoba, Argentina, Chiquito, said the fact that Godzilla is

Three other title fights are scheduled for the event. They are the West African Boxing Union (WABU) lightweight title bout between the defending champion, Rilwan “Real One” Oladosu of Nigeria and Ezekiel Anan; WABU welterweight title bout between the reigning champion, Nigeria’s Rilwan “Baby Face” Babatunde and Ghana’s Sanitor Agbenyo; and a national super bantamweight title bout between Sadiq “Happy Boy” Adeleke and Opeyemi “Sense” Adeyemi.

The bouts include a national featherweight challenge clash between Taiwo “Esepo” Agbaje and Olusegun Moses; national super featherweight contest between Rid-

fighting in his country will be of no advantage. The 26-year old said he is not coming to Nigeria for tourism or fun.

“I am not coming to Nigeria to have fun. I’m coming for serious business. Godzilla is fighting at home but against me that will count for nothing.

I’m coming to win the title,” he boasted.

The 6’2” boxer, who has won five of his fights by knockout, also disclosed that he knows a bit about his Nigerian opponent, who has had nine fights in Argentina.

“From his (Godzilla) records, he seems to be a knockout specialist. I am also a knockout king. The fight will end in three rounds,” he stated.

El Clásico ends scoreless first time in 17 years Anthony Nlebem

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he muck talked about El Clasico of 2019/2020 ended in a stalemate, as Barcelona were forced to share the spoils with arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Nou Camp.

The match was originally scheduled for October 26, but rising tensions in Catalonia - after nine separatist leaders were jailed - saw the tie postponed until December 18.

There were still concerns the match may not go ahead, particularly with a pro-independence protest taking place outside the Nou Camp before kick-off, but amid heavy security the match started at 8pm local time as planned.

It was a game that would have separated both teams in terms of points at the summit of the LaLiga table, but in the end, both teams held their ground, much like the league table suggests.

It was an exciting matchup, with Real Madrid dominating proceedings for much of the encounter, and defenders on both sides of the aisle coming to the rescue on more than a few occasions.

Although Zinedine Zidane got a very valuable point at the fortress that is the Camp Nou,

he would perhaps be ruing the missed opportunity, as Los Blancos’ attack really should have capitalised on their large spells of dominance, especially in the first half.

Gareth Bale possibly came closest to ending the stalemate in the 72nd minute, but his goal was disallowed for offside. In this article, we analyse a few talking points from the encounter.

Lot of chances and maybe Real Madrid will feel like it’s two points lost but at Camp Nou, they’re probably happy enough. Bale had a goal ruled out for offside, Messi missed a fairly routine chance and both sides went at it before accepting that a draw was the best result for everyone.

Real Madrid felt at home in Camp Nou This was an encounter that was dominated before the kick of a ball by politics rather football, and the atmosphere around the Camp Nou was tense, as the players prepared to do battle in the holy grail of derbies.

If the Real Madrid players felt nervous before the encounter, they certainly didn’t show it, as they outplayed Lionel Messi and his cohorts from the first blast of the whistle.

Zinedine Zidane’s men were in imperial form, chasing down every ball and connected

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the dots beautifully with crisp and eye-catching passes.

The likes of Casemiro, Isco, and Federico Valverde brought their A-game, as they relentlessly pressed their opponents, forcing Camp Nou’s stars into a series of errors.

Although Barca did punctuate the Madrid dominance with a series of sharp attacking manoeuvres through the encounter, it was an opportunity missed by Zidane’s men, as more often than not, they weren’t precise in the final third.

Los Blancos had a total of 17 shots, in comparison to Barca’s 9, but Madrid’s lack of precision upfront was evidenced by their paltry 4 on target.

Lionel Messi’s poor day Messi wasn’t the best player on his team at the end of the encounter.

Barcelona’s talisman performed poorly in the game (by his standards), as he wasn’t able to shake off the relentless Real Madrid defensive pressure for much of the battle, and only managed to spearhead a handful of skirmishes into the Los Blancos defence.

It was a game the entire Barca attack and Messi didn’t turn up, as they were thwarted at every turn by Zinedine Zidane’s men snapping at their heels with relentless intensity.

Messi had only two great chances to score, but he was thwarted by Sergio Ramos in the first half, and he fluffed his lines in front of goal on the hour mark.

At the end of the encounter, Messi had just 2 shots with only one on target, and he only managed to thread just one key pass all game. Those are dismal numbers by his lofty standards.

wan “Scorpion” Oyekola and Sikiru “Omo Iya Eleja” Shogbesan; and the national light heavyweight fight between the national champion, Adewale “Masevex” Masebinu, and Olanrewaju Segun.

In addition, Alaba “Eylbow” Omotola and Bolaji “Fight to Finish” Abdullahi will make their professional debut in a national lightweight challenge, while there is an allfemale bout between Cynthia “Boby Girl” Ogunsemilore and Aminat Yekini.

The event will also feature live musical performances from “Bolanle” crooner, Zlatan; “Up to something” singer, Mayorkun, and “Mercy of the Lord” performer, Oritsefemi

Ramos and Fati topple landmarks in record-breaking ElClasico Anthony Nlebem

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he Real Madrid captain played his 43rd ElClasico, passing Sanchís, Gento and Xavi, while Barça’s young forward made his debut in the fixture aged just 17.

Wednesday’s ElClasico shaped up to be the most equal stand-off in years, and that’s exactly how it played out on the pitch. The 0-0 final score kept both teams neck and neck at the top of the table with almost half the LaLiga Santander season in the books. However, two records were broken in last night’s game, with Sergio Ramos and Ansu Fati the record-breakers.

Real Madrid captain Ramos became the all-time ElClasico appearance leader, with 43. The Seville native has made almost a half-century of appearances in world football’s biggest game over the last 15 years. Until last night he shared the appearance title with legends such as Manolo Sanchis, Paco Gento (both Real Madrid) and Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona). Real Madrid president Florentino Perez presented him with a commemorative shirt in the dressing room following the match.

Wednesday night’s match also saw Lionel Messi inch further up in the all-time appearance rankings. The Argentine number 10, the

fixture’s all-time top scorer, played his 42nd Clasico, drawing level with the aforementioned Sanchis, Gento and Xavi. Just one behind Ramos, everything points to these two continuing their duel to see who ultimately sets the record for years to come.

Curiously, the match also produced another record at the other end of the experience scale. Barcelona’s Ansu Fati, who came on as a second half substitute for Antoine Griezmann, became the youngest player to appear in ElClasico in the 21st century. At the age of just 17 years and 48 days, Fati made his ElClasico debut even before Bojan Krkic (17 years and 117 days).

Cross Section of Staff and Alumni of Meristem Securities Limited during a novelty match at Campos Mini Stadium, Lagos Island.

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

33

news

Abandoned projects caused order for forensic audit – NDDC’s ag. MD Ignatius Chukwu

… says defaulters do not want audit to succeed

igh number of abandoned projects led the presidency to order forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission’s (NDDC) board, says the acting managing director and head of the interim management committee (IMC), Joi Nunieh.

This is as the Ogoni titled woman has re-affirmed the commitment of the Commission to completing all ongoing projects in the Niger Delta region.

Nunieh spoke while inspecting NDDC projects in Imo State, in the company of the state Deputy Governor, Gerald Irona; the representative of Ohaji Egbema Federal Constituency, Kingsley Uju; the Commission’s directors and engineers.

The NDDC CEO expressed dissatisfaction with the situation at most of the sites visited, saying non-performance of the contractors provided justification for the worries of President Muhammadu Buhari and his order for a forensic audit of the NDDC. She said: “At most of the places we visited, people were brandishing Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs) with very little to show on ground. The IMC will try to complete the projects to respond to the concerns of the President.

“The reasons for the President’s worries and the pressure on the IMC to change things are becoming obvious. The de-

faulters do not want us to work to facilitate the carrying out the forensic audit.”

She stressed that the NDDC would carry out the mandate of President Buhari to complete all ongoing projects in the region and positively impact on the lives of people in the rural areas.

The inspection team visited the road and bridge leading to Oguta Lake, to connect Egwe autonomous community, and Nnebukwu community in Oguta Local Government Area.

The NDDC boss noted that the project, which was awarded in 2010, was abandoned with very little work done, after the contractor had collected N455 million in addition to a mobilisation fee of N700 million.

The Imo State deputy governor said the project was important because of the commitment of the state to tourism, especially at Oguta Lake, which had always been a good tourist attraction, noting that the bridge would link Oguta with Rivers and Anambra states.

Another project inspected in Oguta LGA was the IzombeMgbele Road, awarded by NDDC in 2014. The Commission’s Acting MD ordered that the contractor, who she said rushed back to site because of the inspection, should stop work immediately. A similar situation was observed at the Amakofia-Abiaziem Road also in Oguta LGA. The team also inspected

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the reclamation and shore protection project at Opuoma in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area. Briefing the team, the President of the town union, Harrison Nwereazu, said that for over 12 years, the contractor had been playing hide and seek with the community, without reclaiming any land.

Another project inspected was the 25-kilometre dual carriageway connecting Imo and Rivers states, from Port Harcourt Owerri junction-Etekuru-Ohaji Egbema, terminating at Ogba Egbema Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The representative of Ohaji Egbema Federal Constituency, Kingsley Uju, decried the slow pace of work on the road and thanked President Buhari for setting up a team to take correct the ills at the NDDC. He observed: “Today, we have seen the wisdom in Mr. President’s appointment of the IMC to unravel the level of infrastructural decay in the Niger Delta region. I have moved round with the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC on inspection of projects and we have seen the level of abandoned projects in Imo State.

Uju said the House of Representatives was in agreement with the President’s decision to set up the IMC to supervise the forensic audit of the NDDC, stating that the three-man Interim Management deserved the backing of the legislature.

Concern as reserve bidder for Abuja Disco fails to meet payment deadline DIPO OLADEHINDE

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ncertainty has enveloped the sale of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company following the failure of the reserve bidder, North South Power Limited, to meet the payment deadline.

Information made available to this paper says North South Power, the reserve bidder in the sale of the electricity distribution company was given 15 days to pay the purchase price deposit after the preferred bidder, Fini Standard International Limited was knocked out of the ownership race for similar reasons.

The reserve bidder, our investigations reveal, is promoted

by Ibrahim Aliyu, who is the Chairman of Urban Shelter, a real estate investment company with interests also in hotels.

It was learnt that although Fini Standard raised the required sum of money a day after the expiration of the 15 days window, its bid was rejected because the money did not arrive within the agreed period.

It is not clear how the transaction would be structured going forward, especially since the preferred, bidder has been unable to make the purchase price deposit, more than 48 hours after the expiration of the payment window on December 17.

Our investigations reveal that he core investor in Abuja

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Electricity Distribution Company, KANN Utility Company Limited, a 60 percent joint venture of the Copperbelt Energy Corporation plc (CEC), a leading Zambian energy company, pulling out of the Abuja Electric following boardroom squabbles chiefly instigated by its inability to repay the loans if took from a new generation bank to secure the distribution company.

It is not clear if there is going to be a fresh bid or the bank in question would take the cheaper option of re-inviting the preferred bidder to re-present the cheque that was rejected over

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18 days ago.

KANN Utility Company Limited, the main investor in Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, is selling its 60 percent stake in the company amid rising financial obligations following pressure from its bankers to retire loans secured to purchase the company.

Since the privatisation of the power sector, Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) has struggled to repay loans used in financing their purchase. Discos account for 5 percent of non-performing loans in some of Nigeria’s top lenders.

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news Hope for SMEs as Rensource targets 1m solar users after $20m investment FRANK ELEANYA

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s Nigeria’s power supply situation worsens, millions of small businesses are looking to alternative energy sources to continue to sustain their operations.

Thirty to 40 percent of Small and Medium scale Enterprises’ expenditure goes to alternative power sources, with 41.5 million small businesses spending billions to fuel their generators.

Manufacturers spent N117.38 billion to power their businesses in 2017, according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).

But Rensource, an energy services company and the latest Nigerian tech startup to attract investment, is bringing hope to small businesses as it plans to connect one-million merchants with solar energy in the next five years.

“We believe that simultaneously greening and decentralising its power infrastructure is the only way to navigate Nigeria out of its current state of energy poverty,” said Ademola Adesina, CEO of Rensource.

“Pursuing this with a focus on the millions of small businesses that drive our economy creates a massive multiplier effect whose benefit accrues to all,” Adesina said.

This is coming on the heels of the company’s completion of a $20 million equity financing round co-led by existing investors CRE Venture Capital and the Omidyar Network, with participation from Inspired Evolution,Proparco,EDPR,I&P, Sin Capital, and Yuzura Honda.

Although Nigeria is endowed with large oil, gas, hydro and solar resource and already has the potential to generate 12,522 megawatts (MW) of electric power from existing plants, most days it is only able to generate around 4,000MW, which is grossly insufficient for its energy needs.

Sunday Oduntan, executive director, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, said in an interview in 2018 that Nigeria needstogenerateatleast180,000 megawatts (18 Gigawatts) of electricity to have adequate and stable power supply.

•Continues online at www.businessday.ng

EFCC confirms arrest of Adoke on return to Nigeria ONYINYE NWACHUKWU & FELIX OMOHOMHION, Abuja

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ormer Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), who returned to Nigeria on Thursday, has been taken in by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the antigraft agency confirmed.

“I don’t know whether you will call it arrest but he’s with us,” Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC spokesman, told BusinessDay on Thursday in response to inquiries.

Adoke returned to Nigeria after he regained freedom from the International Police (INTERPOL).

He was released after one month and a week in the custody of INTERPOL in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Confirming Adoke’s release on Thursday, his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, said Adoke was already airborne to Nigeria.

According to Ozekhome, the former AGF opted to come back to Nigeria so as to enable him clear his name in the alleged fraud in the OPL 245, otherwise known as Malabu Oil deal.

“He has been released and he is airborne to Nigeria. He has been released because nothing was found against him, nothing incriminating was found. So the UAE authorities and Interpol were forced to release him,” Ozekhome said earlier on Thursday.

“He opted to come to Nigeria. He could have gone to any other country of his choice. But he is on his way to

Nigeria and he will arrive this afternoon”, he said.

Ozekhome disclosed that Adoke bought his ticket himself to return to Nigeria because he believed he was innocent of the charges against him.

“He is coming on his own volition, he was not extradited, the Federal Government could not extradite him and would even have no reason to arrest him on his arrival because the order for his arrest has been set aside by Justice Zenchi on October 25,” Ozekhome said.

Adoke was arrested on November 11 in Dubai by the INTERPOL immediately he entered the country to seek medical attention.

The international police said their action was based on an international bench warrant for Adoke’s arrest issued on April 17, 2019 by Justice Danlami Senchi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

But Adoke had insisted his arrest in Dubai was illegal since the purported bench warrant had been vacated by the same court.

However, the INTERPOL and the authorities in UAE had to release him on Wednesday when nothing was found against him.

Adoke’sextraditionwasfaced withsomehurdlesfollowingfailureoftheFederalGovernmentto communicate with INTERPOL and the authorities in Dubai on the order setting aside the bench warrant for his arrest.

•Continues online at www.businessday.ng www.businessday.ng

Nyesom Wike (m), Rivers State governor, cutting the tape to mark opening of Globus Bank in Port Harcourt, yesterday.

On his left is Elias Igbinakenzua, CEO of the bank.

Final investment decision for NLNG Train-7 misses Dec. 19 deadline … may be signed today – Sources OLUSOLA BELLO & DIPO OLADEINDE

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he much-publicised Final Investment Decision (FID) for Train 7 of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited has failed to meet the deadline set for December 19.

The planned signing of the FID on Thursday suffered delay as stakeholders could not conclude the meeting preceding the signing.

Sources close to the promoters of the project said it would now happen today, Friday.

The sources said the meeting scheduled to precede the signing of the FID was originally planned to end at about 2pm local time on Thursday, but the meeting was still on as at 6pm yesterday and was

envisaged to continue until midday today.

Whatever announcement that would be made by the promoters would be after the meeting today, the sources said.

The project, which is expected to increase Nigeria’s LNG production by 35 percent to 30 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), has been delayed for several years. A previous deadline for a Train 7 FID in the fourth quarter of 2018 was not met.

Nigeria lost more than $5 billion to Olokola Liquefied Natural Gas (OKLNG), Brass Liquefied Natural Gas (BLNG) and Train 7 because of bureaucratic bottlenecks and delays in taking final investment decision, according to stakeholders.

Louis Brown Ogbeifun, former president of Petro-

leum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), said the Federal Government conceptualised the projects in 2004 and gave them five years’ completion date but 15 years after, the projects were not yet completed.

The Train-7 project, when it finally takes off, is expected to greatly impact the national economy as it would boost the Federal Government’s revenue by $9bn and generate about 10,000 direct jobs and 40,000 indirect jobs to ease the youth unemployment challenge in the country.

The project would deliver 100 percent engineering of all non-cryogenic areas incountry and also push up Nigeria’s profile as a major force to reckon with globally in terms of gas production.

Earlier in the year, NLNG

announced that the joint venture company, SCD Group, comprising the Italian company, Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda Corporation and South Korea’s Daewoo, would undertake the engineering, procurement, and construction for the $10 billion Train-7 project.

NLNG is a joint venture company owned by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (49 percent), Shell (25.6 percent), Total (15 percent) and Eni (10.4 percent).

The Train-7 project is located at the Bonny Island LNG facility, in the Niger Delta. Once complete, it will include a new liquefaction unit, an 84,200m3 storage tank, a 36,000m3 condensate tank and three gas turbine generators.

•Continues online at www.businessday.ng

NEC seeks N2trn pension fund annually for infrastructure devt ... We’ll soon okay community policing – Govs TONY AILEMHEN, Abuja

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he National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday said it has concluded arrangement to seek N2 trillion from the pensions fund under the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to finance critical infrastructure like roads, power and rail projects.

This, according to the council, would take effect in the first quarter of next year.

Atiku Bagudu, governor of Kebbi State, said this while briefing State House correspondents at the end the 100th NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He was accompanied by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State governor, and Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, Bagudu said the proposed plan to seek N2 trillion from the pension funds was to address the

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infrastructure deficit in the country.

According to Bagudu, this was contained in the interim report by the subcommittee set up at the 99th NEC meeting which has the 36 state governors and ministers with economic portfolios and the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.

“You will recall that at the 99th NEC meeting, the NEC set up a subcommittee to see how pension funds can be used for infrastructure develop@Businessdayng

ment as provided for by the Pensions Reform Act because up to 20 percent of the pensions funds under the current law can be used for infrastructure,” Bagudu said.

“Last NEC meeting, there was a review of the performance of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority and we are all impressed about experience they had gained in the last few years and their performance. And it Continues on page 35

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news Rwanda’s bold ambition holds lessons...

Continued from page 1

8.5 percent in 2019 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The estimate was revised upward from 7 percent following betterthan-expected growth in construction, manufacturing and services. Though growth of 8.5 percent is a slowdown from 8.6 percent in 2018, it may be enough to make Rwanda the fastest growing economy in Africa this year.

On the World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking, Rwanda comes second in Africa and 38th globally. The country ranks third globally in giving land titles.

The ease of doing business has spurred private sector growth which has helped the economy grow rapidly since the end of a painful genocide in 1994, when an estimated 800,000 people were killed. According to government data, the economy has averaged 8 percent growth in the last 18 years. In that time, the rate of poverty has more than halved to 38 percent.

“It is important to note that Rwanda doesn’t boast the resources of all the 37 countries ahead of us in the global ranking, yet we are there. It shows how we are constantly punching above our weight in international rankings,” said Claire Akamamzi, CEO of the Rwandan Development Board.

Some 1,646 miles away is Nigeria, where the government is often criticised for lacking ambition. Africa’s largest economy probably expanded 2 percent in 2019, which will be the highest annual growth since 2015.

For Nigeria’s size and population, 2 percent growth means people are getting poorer as economic growth is unable to match population growth rate of 2.6 percent annually.

The government, whose economic growth target for 2020 is a meagre 3 percent, has taken almost every opportunity to celebrate the growth rate this year, citing recovery from an economic recession in 2016 that owes more to the rebound in crude oil prices than government policy.

The recovery has also not been inclusive. Average per capita numbers show a consistent contraction since 2015 and the country overtook India in 2018 as the world’s poverty capital despite having only a fifth of the latter’s population.

Nigeria’s ease of doing business ranking is also excessively celebrated for rising 15 spots to 131 in 2019.

Business leaders say the progress has done little to mask infrastructure chal-

lenges and anti-private sector government policies that have stifled business activity.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said the goal for ease of doing business was for top 70 by 2023.

President Kagame’s target for Rwanda is to be within the top 10.

“In an ideal scenario, Nigeria should be targeting economic growth of 7 percent at least and strive to be within top 10 on the ease of doing business ranking,” a Nigerian who relocated to Rwanda in 2018 said.

“Since I left Nigeria, my business has thrived on the back of 24-hour power supply and supportive government policies in Rwanda and I have no regrets leaving Nigeria,” the person said.

Rwanda is almost unrecognisable since the 1994 genocide, with key milestones achieved based on the country’s Vision 2020, an economic blueprint drafted in 2000 with targets set for economic and social development. Within the period the Vision 2020 was implemented, the country has recorded infrastructure development whether it’s in roads or airports, sports and entertainment.

The Rwandan national budget is now 84 percent funded by the government despite limited resources.

The target is to fund at least 90 percent of the 2020 budget solely through government resources.

Access to education has also improved. Kagame acknowledged the rising number of children in school but said the quality of education must be improved on.

“Our education advancement is very slow, we are walking but we need to run,” he said.

Rwanda currently ranks among the top 10 countries globally in areas of gender equality and has a significant number of female members in the judiciary and executive council. However, the government has set a target to be in top five countries in the near term.

L-R: Felix Awogu, executive head, OB and Studio, SuperSport; Sunday Dare, minister of youth and sport development; John Ugbe, chief executive officer, MultiChoice Nigeria, and Caroline Oghuma, executive head, corporate affairs, MultiChoice Nigeria, during a courtesy visit to the minister in Abuja.

Finance minister says debt service to...

Continued from page 1

interest on its debt. This

has drawn public criticism, including a recent backlash from former Vice President Atiku Abubukar.

Total public debt has risen by almost 58 percent in the last three years to N25.7trn as of June 2019. Last year, the government paid N1.8 trillion to service its local debt and $1.47bn or around half a trillion naira for external debts.

While as a percentage of GDP, debt remains under 25 percent, the poor utilisation of borrowings and the fact that servicing debt is now as high as the amount earmarked for capital projects has been of major concern, especially for a government which barely generates enough revenue.

To put it in context, allocation to capital projects (CAPEX) in the 2020 budget is N2.78trn or 26.2 percent of total expenditure and would be 12.6 percent less than 2019.

There will also be a provision to retire maturing bonds to local contractors of N272.9bn which is 2.6 percent of total expenditure, and 148 percent higher than 2019.

According to Ahmed, this reflects FGN’s effort to resolve accumulated arrears of contractual obligations dating back over 10 years.

Meanwhile, the overall budget deficit of N2.175trn jumped from the N859bn in 2019. The figure represents 1.52 percent of the gross do-

NEC seeks N2trn pension fund...

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was decided that a committee be set up on how we can leverage on that performance to create a platform where pension funds can be used for infrastructure development in a safe manner, so that there will earn long-term returns for the pension funds while also helping to build Nigeria’s infrastructure,” he said.

He said it was on that premise that the subwww.businessday.ng

committee yesterday presented an interim report where it advised on some of the issues that came up while deliberating.

“Of particular note was that other countries have been using the same mechanism – South Africa, Saudi Arabia and others have been using their pension funds and sovereign wealth authorities investment process to create platform for development. So, the

mestic product.

Ahmed said that the projected deficit is still within the threshold stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, while economists expect the deficit to be wider than expected based on historic trends.

The minister explained that the deficit would be funded by N850bn new foreign borrowing, N744.99bn new domestic borrowing, N328bn multilateral/bilateral loan agreement, and N252bn privatisation proceeds.

The budget assumes an exchange rate of N305/$, oil production at 2.18 mbpd, oil price at $57/b, inflation rate at 10.81percent, nominal GDP at 142.96trn, GDP growth at 2.93 percent, and nominal consumption at N122.75trn.

The oil production volume projected is lower than the projected volume of 2.3 mbpd in 2019.

The minister explained that the actual crude oil production and exports have been below budget projections since 2013 despite installed capacity of up to 2.5 mbpd, hence the 2020 projection of 2.3 mbpd, which she said was more realistic to achieve.

A breakdown of the budget shows a total revenue of N8.42trn, to be generated through N1.81trn non-oil revenue, N2.64trn oil revenue, and N3.97trn from other revenue sources.

Total expenditure is valued at N10.594trn, broken down

into capital expenditure at N2.465trn, recurrent expenditure at N4.493trn, debt service at N2.453trn, Statutory transfer at N560bn, debt sinking fund at N274bn.

“The top 12 MDAs recurrent expenditure include Ministry of Interior at N219.46bn, Ministry of Police Affairs at N394.57bn, Federal Ministry of Defence at N784.59bn, Federal Ministry of Education at N501.48bn, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sport at N168.33bn,” Ahmed said.

“Others include Ministry of Foreign Affairs at N67.81bn, Ministry of Petroleum Resources at N75.96bn, Office of the National Security Adviser at N116.91bn, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at N58.69bn, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation at N 59.60bn, and Presidency at N46.56bn,” she said.

The minister further explained that the initiatives to drive strategic revenue growth include to identify new and enhance existing revenue streams, and build a sustainable revenue generation ecosystem by ensuring resilient and optimal performing revenue stream.

“We will implement the revenue generation operating model that enhances collaboration, synergy, capacity building and eliminate leakages,” Ahmed said.

Clem Agba, minister of state for finance, budget and national planning, said that capital expenditure would

be targeted at completion of on-going projects rather than commencing new ones, adding that there is a projection for an increased share of non-oil revenues which underscores confidence in the various revenue diversification strategies.

“In our efforts to enhance transparency and accountability, we shall extend strict implementation of Treasury Single Account to capture the domiciliary accounts in our foreign missions as well as some accounts of governmentowned enterprises,” he said.

“The 2020 budget expects enhanced real GDP growth of 2.93 percent to be driven largely by non-oil output as economic diversification accelerates and the enabling business environment improves,” he said.

Ben Akabueze, director general, Budget Office of the Federation, said the 2020 budget aims to consolidate the achievements of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the government, with key focus on ramping up the nation’s infrastructure stock, sustaining economic growth and maintaining macroeconomic stability.

“Although the 2020 capital expenditure falls short of 30 percent ERGP target, the main emphasis will be the completion of as many ongoing projects as possible. It is expected that given the early passage of the budget, actual disbursement may exceed the outcomes under larger budgets in past years,” he said.

committee reported and identified potential road infrastructure, infrastructure in the power, rail sectors that can be funded through this mechanism,” Bagudu said.

“They noted that this year’s budget, for example, has N169 billion for roads across the federation and it is grossly inadequate.

But with this mechanism, maybe up to N2 trillion can be accessed and leveraged upon,” he said.

Speaking earlier, Sanwo-Olu said the state gov-

ernors emphasised that community policing was important and could be used to create employment.

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, said her ministry reported to the council on the balances of some key accounts.

“For the Excess Crude Account, as at 19th November, 2019, we have a balance of $324,967,933.72. In the Stabilisation Account, as at 17th of December, 2019, we have a balance

of N30,479,704,808. In the Natural Resource Fund, still at the same date, 17th of December, 2019, we have the balance of N88,283,218,114.40,” she said.

“Also, today we have an update to the council on the repayment process for the Budget Support Facilities that was granted to the states. The current situation is that deductions are ongoing and remittances on these facilities are being made to the Central Bank,” she said.

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news

Beta Glass to complete $30m furnace capacity expansion SEGUN ADAMS

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eta Glass plc has reiterated its commitment to completing its $30 million furnace capacity expansion at its Beta Glass subsidiary’s Guinea Plant in Agbara, Ogun State, on schedule in June 2020. Chairman of Beta Glass, Bimbo Ogunbanjo, said this at a meeting with the minister of industry, trade and investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, in Abuja.

He said the company had made considerable progress in engineering and construction works on the furnace capacity expan-

sion and was on track to complete the project on schedule. He said the new furnace would increase the plant’s production capacity by 35,000 tons per annum and create additional employment opportunities.

The minister commended Beta Glass for the investment in their Agbara Plant, assuring the company of Federal Government’s support for the project.

Managing director/CEO of Beta Glass and Frigoglass Industries (Nig.) Limited, Darren Bennet-Voci, said the incremental capacity would help the company meet the growing demand

for its glass bottles and jars in Nigeria as well as boost their exports to neighbouring West African countries.

He confirmed the introduction of the Narrow Near Press & Blow (NNPB) technology for the first time in West Africa, enabling Beta Glass to produce lightweight non-returnable glass bottles.

The capacity expansion will also include an additional production line, improvements to existing production lines and a new quality inspection facility that would further enhance the plant’s operational efficiencies.

FilmOne announces historic $1m fund to finance improved production quality of Nollywood films OBINNA EMELIKE

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ilmOne Entertainment, an independent distributor of filmed entertainment with emphasis in Nigeria territory, has launched the first-ever international capital fund created mainly for investment in Nigerian films. Core investors in the $1 million fund are Huahua Media and Empire Entertainment (South Africa).

While Huahua Media is a Chinese company known for investing in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Transformers: The Last Knight and Star Trek Beyond, as well as AY’s next movie, 30 Days in China, Empire Entertainment is a leading African distributor representing major Hollywood studios and a host of leading independent studios and producers. Both companies will assist in identifying the films with the most potential for theatrical release and box office success in global markets.

On hand to witness sign-

ing of the historic agreement by executives of Huahua and FilmOne are Chu Maoming, consul general, People’s Republic of China; Uju Emagha, zonal coordinator, National Film and Videos Censors Board, representing Adedayo Thomas, the executive director; Kefei Wang, CEO, Huahua Media; Johnny Fu Cong, Huahua Media; Kene Okwuosa, co-founder, FilmOne; Moses Babatope, co-founder, FilmOne, and Chinaza Onuzo, director, FilmOne. Consul General Chu welcomed the new development, saying that, “This is the very first film fund between Chinese and African partners, which is signaling a growing interest in Nollywood by China and the international film community. We welcome this partnership between Chinese and African companies, as they seek to increase the number of premium Nollywood films being made, by providing filmmakers with bigger budgets and technical advice to improve the quality of their films.”

Moses Babatope, managing director, FilmOne, is excited about what the fund means for the Nigerian film industry. “This is the first of many investments being planned by Huahua, Empire Entertainment (South Africa) and FilmOne, to take Nollywood to a higher level of production quality and global appreciation of our content.

“Our filmmakers have the talent, but lack access to the capital that would allow them to produce the movies they dream about. This fund aims to change that paradigm by partnering with them, to provide the resources they need to make better films, and create more jobs and opportunities for other creatives”, Babatope said.

Babatope also gave credit to the Nigerian government for facilitating seamless visit of Huahua executives, as well as, the support of the National Film and Videos Censors Board. Further announcements will be made regarding the slate of films to be funded.

Special task force on power to reposition sector DIPO OLADEHINDE

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inister of power, Saleh Mamman, Thursday inaugurated Special Task Force Committee on Electric Power Sector to address the country’s power challenges.

The task force was inaugurated by the minister at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking at the event, Mamman said the committee would serve as an advisory team on policies and innovative technologies in the power sector, noting that the Taskforce was part of Federal Government’s plan to accelerate the pace of ongoing reforms and improve power output as well as availability in the short/long term in the sector.

“It is in line with this that I have designed the concept of setting up this committee so as to achieve short term service delivery gains while maintaining policy consistency of the Federal Government. Therefore, the Ministerial Taskforce on Power, within its tenure of two years is to help with developing, planning and driving forward, the reform

plan for the Nigerian Power Sector,” he said.

Addressing the press shortly after the inauguration, the newly appointed chairman of the committee, Abubakar Sani Sambo, said the Nigeria power sector was moving in the right direction in the electricity supply industry.

According to Sambo, “The task force is going to take time to study the sector thoroughly and look at the specific aspects that have not changed over the years.

But those aspects are the ones preventing electricity supply in regular manner that all Nigerians require and we would attend to things that have not been changed over the years.”

Similarly, vice chairman of the Taskforce, Olabamiji Ogunleye, said the committee would ensure that the electricity sector was stable for Nigerians, saying achieving stable electricity supply would promote rapid industrialisation and sustainable economic development.

The taskforce comprises of a team of sector experts and technocrats, assembled by the minister of power, to help design a pathway for tackling the myriad of problems bedevilling the Niwww.businessday.ng

gerian power sector, Ogunleye explained.

“It is upon the understanding that the problems of the sector are multi-layered, and transverse a broad spectrum of agencies and departments, and thus, has been perennially bugged down by the bureaucracy and entrenched inter-departmental lock-horns and silo-working.

“The setting up of a none bureaucratic expert team has been essential for the professional and prompt service delivery in those sectors, and the lack of such an advisory and Taskforce team had been responsible for the sluggish and uncoordinated progress in the power sector,” he said.

Members of the committee are Sunusi Muktar Bichi, Sam Uche Okoro, Goodluck Enimakpokpo, Chidi Adabanya, Musa Usman Yola, Abubakar Atiku Tambuwal. Others are Shehu Inuwa, Tunji Ariyomo, S.S Adamu, Faruk Yusuf, Ivy Joyce Adi-Elekwa, Abba Aliyu, Isa Ado Maidoya, Mahmud Tukurm, Haruna Musa, Vincent Dogo, Abubakar Jika Jiddere, Nurain Hassan Ibrahim, E.O Ajayi, including, Haruna Ladan, DD APD Power as the secretary. https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

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news

We’ll continue to create economic opportunities to combat illegal migration – Obaseki

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overnor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has reassured that his administration will continue to pay close attention to the welfare of the people, noting that the state government will not relent in creating more economic and training opportunities for residents to discourage illegal migration.

Obaseki said this in commemoration of the International Migrants Day, by the United Nations and its sister agencies.

The governor maintained that such opportunities would discourage people from undertaking risky journeys and provide the needed incentives for them to realise their dreams at home.

The governor, who also assured that his administration would continue to protect the rights of legal migrants and provide enabling environment for their businesses to thrive, said migration could propel economic growth, reduce inequalities and connect diverse societies.

“Migration has been with us from time immemorial; people have always moved either in search of better opportunities, or to flee conflict-ridden areas. A recent United Nations Develop-

ment Programme (UNDP) report, Scaling Fences, highlights that migration is a reverberation of development progress across Africa, albeit progress that is uneven and not fast enough to meet people’s aspirations.

“But we cannot deny the fact that some misguided youths fled the country, despite the risks involved, as a result of the lack of critical institutions to equip them with requisite skills to survive in a globalised world.

“That is why we as a government have taken it upon ourselves as a point of duty to provide our people with highly sought-after skills and creating opportunities for jobs and emphasising training, especially technical training and improving their chances of employment. These will guarantee a better life for our people, ensuring that they realize their dreams at home.

“On this day of the 2019 World Migration Day, it has become imperative to reiterate that this government has prioritised providing conducive and safe business environment for our visitors and investors to thrive, so as to contribute to sustainable development of their countries of origin and destination,” he said.

Reps probe NPA over N5.1bn renovation contract

...turn down Customs management over account officers James Kwen, Abuja

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ouse of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts on Thursday began investigation into the N5.1 billion contract for the renovation of the corporate headquarters of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Lagos.

The investigation is sequel to the Auditor General of the Federation’s report that queried the contract awarded in 2011 with a completion period of 15 months but without a valid signed contractual agreement with the contracting firm.

According to the query, as at 2013 when the contract ought to have been completed and money paid out, there was no valid signed contractual agreement in place.

Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Wole Oke, while interrogating NPA management, expressed reservation over the award of such a magnificent contract worth billions of naira without a valid signed contractual agreement as alleged in the query.

Responding, NPA managing director, Haiza Bala-Usman, stated that the contract was awarded by the Federal Executive Council, and that available records showed that

was a valid signed contractual agreement.

However, the Committee insisted that only the original copy of the signed agreement would clear the Agency of the audit query and ruled that the audit query be stepped down for the Agency to produce the original copy.

Meanwhile, the management of the Nigeria Customs Service also appeared before the Committee but was turned down as the officers who the Committee earlier insisted must appear physically over the audit query raised against the Service in the 2013-14 financial year were absent.

Recall that the Committee had ordered Customs to produce before it with three former Account officers with the Service on another audit query of N28 million said to have been expended on a training programme for personnel at the Service’s premises in Gwagwalada, during which over N1 million was paid out for hiring a hall.

Chairman had emphasised, “it will be in the interest of the Customs Boss to produce the affected officers, serving or retired, before this Committee to tell us all we need to know about the expenditure or should be ready to refund the amount to the covers of the Federal Government.” www.businessday.ng

L-R: Emmanuel Ojo, CEO, Chams Switch; Kayode Sorinwa, country director, Network International; Demola Igbalajobi, executive director, SystemSpecs; Akeem Lawal, divisional CEO, Interswitch; Stanley Jacob, chairman, Committee of e-Business Industry Heads; Jide Oladipo, sales manager, Inlaks Computers; Uche Elendu, divisional CEO, Digital Payment Services; Victoria Ilevbare, business development manager, Accelerex, at the 2019 retreat of Committee of Head of E-Business Heads (CeBIH) held in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Natural resource charter says reliance on oil, undiversified revenue drag Nigeria’s economic development HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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igeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC) has blamed Nigeria’s inability to effectively manage the wealth from its oil and gas resources on a number of factors, ranging from the country’s over reliance on oil, undiversified revenue base and other economic, among other social factors.

Speaking in Abuja, at the ‘Soft media launch’ of NNRC’s 2019 benchmark exercise report, programme coordinator of the NNRC, Tengi George-Ikoli, noted that in 2017 efforts were made to strengthen Nigeria’s oil and gas resource strategy with the approval of the national oil and gas policies by the Federal Executive Council.

She explained that these policies, which would have helped in no small measure in the effective management of the country’s oil and gas wealth, were yet to be fully implemented.

George-Ikoli emphasised the need for the better management of Nigeria’s oil and gas resources with a view to repositioning the country as one of the fastest growing economy in the world.

She commended the government for the various initiatives it had put in place in the petroleum industry for effective resource management, such as the beneficial ownership register and the Amended Deep Offshore Act, among others, noting, however, that a lot still needed to be done in the industry to ensure the country

derived the maximum benefit from its oil and gas resources.

She said, “There have been a lot of targets that Nigeria has set for herself; there are a lot of challenges that Nigeria is currently facing, in terms of ensuring that it maximizes her revenues; but we have recently, since 2018, being said to be the poverty capital of the world. Our country requires a lot of revenues and also has to diversify its economy.

“The way it does this is to ensure that it maximises revenue from oil and gas resources and potentially uses those revenue to diversify its economy into gas, potentially, and to others sectors as well, including agriculture.

“In the next 40 to 50 years, oil will no longer have same value as it does now.

“There is therefore need for Nigeria to at this time, enjoy the benefits while it still can.

The conversation we are having now is that these are the top indices that Nigeria needs to hit in terms of the bench mark that Nigeria needs to hit to ensure that they get all the maximum benefits from the resources.”

The launch highlighted Nigeria’s performance against 12 pre-conditions to effective resource management proposed by the NNRC and determined how far or close Nigeria might be in achieving its objectives.

The report, the fourth in the series of benchmarking exercise reports, after those of 2012, 2014 and 2017, was produced by NNRC and was undertaken to provide an assessment of governance on Nigeria’s petroleum wealth.

JAMB generates N20bn in 3 years – registrar

Afrexim Bank to mobilise resources for Southeast development

egistrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Ishaq Oloyede, says the board generated N20 billion from University and Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) between 2016 and 2019.

He made the disclosure during a two-day meeting with Computer Based Test (CBT) Centre Operators, State Coordinators of the Board, Financial Institutions and Internet Service Providers on Thursday in Zaria, Kaduna State.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the meeting, which was held at Kongo Conference Hotel, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), aimed at deliberating on issues affecting the board and way forward.

Oloyede urged CBT centre operators not to worry about their investments while transacting business with the board as long as they were doing their work in accordance with the agreed registration and examination guidelines.

“You have nothing to fear and you should know that, if you put your investments together, it

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can’t be up to N20bn and we have accrued N20bn in three years as an agency.

“As an agency of government, we have to ensure that small and medium scale businesses thrive and if you multiply 11 staff by 700, you will know better.

“We are also adding value to the economy and job creation out of your employment market, and we will continue to support you once you are doing your work well,” he assured.

Oloyede said the board also announced its readiness to deploy drone cameras to all the identified 700 examination centres to check any activity that could jeopardise the efforts of the board from being a transparent agency of government it was known for.

The Registrar directed: “All CCTV must be wired, all cameras must cover verification areas, coding areas, walk ways, examination hall, server room and entrance and exit in all centres.

We will use drones to monitor the centres to check registration and examination scandals.”

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resident, Afrexim Bank, Benedict Orama, says the bank will mobilise financial resources for the development of the South East region if the zone provides viable and realisable modules.

Orama, who is also the Chairman, Board of Directors of the bank, made the pledge on Thursday while delivering a keynote address for the 4th South East Economic Summit in Enugu.

According to him, the South East Region Economic and Development Company (SEREDEC) must come up with viable and realisable business modules for implementation.

Orama said the zone with its abundant untapped resources had the potential to compete with the best developed regions of the world if the government did the right things.

He challenged the five state governments in the zone to address the burdensome investment climate in the area which, he noted, had encouraged @Businessdayng

capital flight and brain drain in the zone.

Orama called on governors of the zone to strengthen the confidence of investors as well as introduce reforms that would encourage indigenous entrepreneurs.

He stressed the need for the five states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo to pull their resources together as well as deepen integration in regional planning to reduce uncertainty.

“It is sad that states in the region just like others across the country have constantly depended on Federal Allocations and always blame the centre for failure of its programmes and services,”.

He said internally generated revenue in the region accounted for less than 34 per cent of total revenue in the area.

Orama said the foregoing had made it difficult for the state governments to generate and mobilise resources for the execution of capital projects in their respective areas.

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Business SOUTH-SOUTH

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SOUTH-SOUTH / SOUTH-EAST

NB Plc committed to investing in opportunities to support livelihoods – says Bel GODFREY OFURUM, Umuahia

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he management of Nigerian Breweries Plc, foremost brewing firm in the country has reiterated its commitment to continue to invest in providing sustainable value and opportunities to support livelihoods across its value chain.

Jordi Borrut Bel, managing director/ chief operating officer, Nigerian Breweries Plc made this promise at the closing ceremony of the 10th edition of NB Plc / Ridge Club Tennis tournament, held at the Ridge Club, Umuahia Tennis Section.

Represented by Kingsley Odoko, public affairs assistant, NB Plc, Bel explained that the momentous event, continues to offer the firm an opportunity to further demonstrate their commitment towards sports development and active healthy living in Umuahia, Abia State and the country at large.

“I am delighted that the tournament attracted tennis enthusiasts from different locations beyond the State to participate in this tournament. We will continue to invest in providing sustainable value and opportunities to sup-

(R-L) Uzodinma Odenigbo, public affairs manager (PAM), South, Nigerian Breweries (NB) plc, Ukeje Udah, former Brewery manager, Aba plant of NB plc, Onyi Wamah, head of service (HoS), Abia State and Kingsley Odoko, public affairs assistant, NB plc, Aba plant, at the closing ceremony of the 10th edition of Nigerian Brewries/Bridge Club, Umuahia 1920 Open Tennis Tournament, held recently.

port livelihoods across our value chain. In line with our philosophy of winning with Nigeria, we are committed to growing with our communities and supporting our shared aspirations in the area of sports vocational youth empowerment, education, health, among others,” he stated.

He appreciated the partici-

pants for making the tournament a memorable, exciting and successful one. He also used the opportunity to thank the organizers of the tournament, the management of Ridge Club and the captain of the Tennis section for their immense contribution to the success of the tournament.

Sylvester Ibeleme, captain,

Tennis Section, Ridge Club, Umuahia 1920, appreciated Nigerian Breweries Plc, the sole sponsors of the annual tennis tournament for their consistency in sponsoring the tournament, noting that the tournament has continued to bring tennis players from within and outside the State for an annual re-union and

Ikpeazu flags off N10m How Mobil contributes micro-credit scheme in Abia to Akwa Ibom economic bank in Aba development, by Udom Inoyo …inaugurates Microfinance Governor Ikpeazu said that ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo

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obil Producing Nigeria (MPN), operator of the Nigerian Petroleum Corporation (NNPC/ MPN) joint venture says it has contributed significantly to the economic development of Akwa Ibom State.

The oil firm says it has done this by tax remittances, offering of employment opportunities and contributions to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) fund for the development of the region in which Akwa Ibom State is a beneficiary of its numerous projects.

So far, the company says it remits N7 billion annually in personal income taxes, and has contributed over N160 billion to Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in which the state government has benefited from its development projects.

Being an oil producing state, with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC/ MPN) operating in its territory and because of this production capacity, Akwa Ibom state revenue ranks among the highest (if not number one) in the country.

Udom Inoyo, vice chairman of the oil firm stated this while receiving an award bestowed on the oil firm by the Akwa Ibom State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), as part of activities marking its Press Week. He pledged the oil firm’s commitment towards

sustaining its contributions to the state and its partnership with its key stakeholders, including the Akwa Ibom media community.

Inoyo said Akwa Ibom state indigenes alone constitute about 35% of all employees of the ExxonMobil affiliates in Nigeria.

“When you drive on a newly constructed road, watch a match in the ‘Nest of Champions’ or fly Ibom Air, know that all these have been largely enabled by the contributions of the joint venture operator.

While thanking the managers of resources in the state, we should never fail to give kudos to the thousands of personnel, who toil every second, to bring this crude to surface,” he said.

Inoyo urged journalists never to be deterred and never to give up on their primary role of being the watchdog of society.

He said there are lots of activities at the national level that the state needs to capture more opportunities from, especially in these times of prevailing inindustry competitions.

He lamented that some of what MPN, a major oil company in the country is doing are not put forward across the media spectrum.

The theme of the NUJ Akwa Ibom council’s Press Week was: “Strengthening Peace and Unity Towards Sustainable Development in Akwa Ibom State: The Role of Journalists.”

UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

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overnor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has flagged off a N10 million microcredit scheme for low income earners such as petty traders, artisans and other micro and small-scale businesses. The scheme is the state government’s resolve to create wealth and boost SMEs in the state.

The governor has also officially opened the Abia SMEs Microfinance Bank in Aba, a commercial hub in the state.

The Bank is meant to assist the low-income traders and artisans in the State with funding.

Ikpeau while speaking during the event at No 17B Ngwa Road Aba, Governor Ikpeazu said that N10 million Naira credit scheme was specifically for the ordinary traders and recommended that six out of every ten beneficiaries in the first phase of the credit scheme would be women.

The Governor said that the idea of the Bank was to create many millionaires in the State through the Small and Mediumscale Enterprises (SMEs). He stated that his expectation was that the Bank would target at empowering 100 persons each month; and urged all to open accounts with the Bank.

According to Ikpeazu, Abia government would use this project to save traders from long processes of getting collaterals before they can obtain loans from commercial banks.

the only collaterals the lowincome earners needed in order to benefit from the Abia SME Bank micro-credit scheme were just for them to present business ideas, as government would always bring fund to meet their intellect.

The Abia State chief executive disclosed that his interest in setting up the Abia SME Bank was that it was an opportunity for the people of the State to access available funds from the Federal government, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bank of Industry (BoI), among others.

He assured that he would continue to fund SMEs in the State, while stressing that the location of the bank was strategic for traders in Aba, the commercial capital of the state.

Governor Ikpeazu used the opportunity to inform that the first set of Made in Aba shoes which would emanate from the newly installed automated shoe factory would be out in few weeks. He called on Aba residents to leverage on the constant electric power in Ariaria International Market to better their lots.

The commissioner for SME, Onyema Wachuku, and his counterparts for Trade & Investment counterpart, Cosmas Ndukwe and Industry, Uwaoma Olenwemgwa respectively said Abia State believed in the entrepreneurs and was ready to support them in various ways, including establishment of the bank, specially dedicated to the SMEs.

get-together.

He however pleaded with NB Plc to graciously consider increasing the level of sponsorship of the tournament to match its pedigree and status of the company.

Ukeje Udah, former, brewery manager, Aba plant of NB plc, who presided over the closing ceremony and award presentation, assured that the tournament, which started many years ago, would be sustained. He explained that the peculiar thing about the annual event is that NB Plc and the Club management structured the tournament in such a way that every participant is a winner.

Uchenna Dike, chairman Ridge Club, Umuahia, thanked Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu for providing a conducive environment that made it possible for the hosting of the tournament and for his financial support to the club house project.

“It is our desire to return the club to its former glory of providing a good environment for sports, relaxation and entertainment.

Maxwell Abosi, emerged the overall winner of the 10th edition of the tournament, which hosted a total of 112 games.

Investor calls on Enugu to harness its tourism potentials REGIS ANUKWUOJI, Enugu

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nugu State has been described as one of the states in Nigeria that has tourism potentials that can change her economic narrative through effective management of the potentials.

Bongo Brown Igboegwu, a professional architect who designed and constructed the symbolic Michael Opera Square in Enugu, stated this in an exclusive interview with BusinessDay in Enugu when he unveiled the Brown and Brown Historic Cinema in Enugu recently.

According to him “when one is talking about tourism and development in general, Enugu is gold mine, that has so much potentials they could tap into and create very good change in the economic status of the state ,but they are not doing that, they have hard working leaders but may be the people are not helping the leaders think.”

He called on the people to assist the leaders of the state in finding out those potential areas that need to be developed for tourist attractions, saying that they do not know it all hence they need assistance of the people.

Igboegwe revealed that the Michael Okpara Square Enugu has not been completed according to its design; pointing out that when completed it would house a lot of tourism attractions such as a museum, a tower of light that beautifies the city, and other things.

GMICORD industrial group, Ihenachor reels out challenges of metal operators in South-East SABY ELEMBA, Owerri

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oddi M. Ihenachor, chairman and chief executive officer of GMICORD industrial group has commended the efforts of the Federal Government administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that moribund and wobbling federal government establishments were revitalized, this is as he has decried the numerous challenges facing the small and medium scale (SME) Steel and Metal workers in the South East and Nigeria in general.

Ihenachorsaidinthethis21stcentury, advanced nations are seriously exploring the outer space, artificial intelligence and robotics; but Nigeria is still grappling with very poor state of roads network to access factories and industries. He stressed that with poor infrastructuralcondition,noindustrial growth could be achieved.

He said it had been a herculean task to experience a steady power supply in the South-East, and the country in general, and such an epileptic power supply had hindered the growth of the SME operators in metal industries on the South-East zone of Nigeria.

The CEO of GMICORD who presented a paper titled: “Challenges and theWayForwardforMetalOperatorsin theSouthEast”duringthe2ndNigerian Metallurgical Industry Stakeholders’ Forum (MISF) engagement with the South East zone said the region is also faced with scarcity of gas supply.

He informed that steel and aluminium companies are heavy duty industries that depend solely on gas energy to make the equipment running. According to him, the South East has been starved of gas supply, while the South West states of Ogun and Lagos and their environs are supplied with gas through a pipeline from Kwale in Delta State.

“There is no gas pipeline feeding the South Eastern states of Anambra, Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi states, despite their proximity to Warri, Egbema and Izombe that reportedly have heavy gas deposits being flared,” he said.

He further noted that access to diesel which is an alternative to gas to power industrial machines is a big problem, because all the petroleum depots in the region are not functional; and that also explains why industrialists in the region get their supplies from far away Lagos.

He said, consequently, foreign and local investors will not be attracted to establish heavy steel industries in the South East, because of the obvious power supply challenges.

He requested that special funding for metal operators should be created and the interest rate should be at two to three percent, and a long-term repayment period of about 30 years.

Metal operators in the South East also face the challenges of importation bottlenecks because of poor allocation of forex, to import flat sheets and aluminium coils because the Ajaokuta Steel Mill and Aluminium Smelting Plant is yet to be fully operational.

As a result of the scarcity of forex metal operators are constrained to source forex at high exchange rate in the black market, which in turn, adversely affects operators running cost, amongst other challenges.

Meanwhile, Olamiran Adegbite the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, who was represented by Uchechukwu Ogah, his Minister of State, said the theme: “Building Local Capacities for the Development of the Nigerian Metal Sector” was apt with the Federal Government administration’s resolve to vigorously pursue the diversification of the economy among the mineral and metal sector of the Nigerian economy.

Friday 20 December 2019

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cityfile Yuletide: LASEPA warns against infringing on rights of others ... reopens sealed facilities in Lagos JOSHUA BASSEY

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eneral Manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA, Dolapo Fasawe has warned residents and events centres in the state against infringing on the rights of other citizens while celebrating the yuletide.

The agency has also re reopened the 26 facilities it earlier sealed following their compliance with the environmental laws guiding their operations.

Fasawe said that the warning became necessary considering the spate of reports of infractions received by the agency in respect of abuse against the environment and infringement on the rights of individuals to the peaceful ambience.

In a statement, Fasawe urged Lagosians to comply with environmental laws guiding the conduct of every resident saying, “we can merry without making noise; we should be good neighbours and therefore respect the rights of others to a peaceful environment. Also, remember that a noiseless celebration is a peaceful celebration and this should be demonstrated through our actions to our neighbours and environment”.

He further warned that any event centre, hotel, bar, lounge and religious centre operating and generating noise without obtaining relevant permits, are liable to fines, sealing and prosecution.

The LASEPA boss applauded owners of some facilities earlier sealed by the agency for meeting the conditions stipulated as a prerequisite for their reopening, revealing that 26 out of the 28 facilities have been reopened while two were advised to relocate from their area of operations.

FG to train 200 women on shea butter value chain HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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ariam Katagum Yalwaji, the minister of state for industry, trade and investment, has disclosed that the Federal Government through the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) would be training 200 women entrepreneurs on the shea butter value chain across the country.

The minister disclosed this on Wednesday while declaring open the Bauchi State 1st National Trade and Exhibition Fair with the theme, “the New National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan and Eventual Diversification of Nigeria’s Economy; the Role of Small and Medium Enterprises held in Bauchi, Bauchi State.

Yalwaji said that the targeted beneficiaries would be trained on best practices in shea-nut picking and shea-butter processing. “At the end of the training, the women organisations will receive the complete set of shea-butter processing equipment to continue with the project”.

The minister, who said the theme of the trade fair was in line with the present administration’s policy that was aimed at putting the Nigerian economy on a path of sustained, inclusive and diversified growth as well as job creation, reaffirmed the commitment of the Federal Government to provide both financial and technical assistance to small and medium enterprises to ensure their products meet international standards.

Abdullahi Zulkifeli (l), comptroller Oyo/ Osun State Area Command of the Nigerian Customs Services (NCS), being briefed by an officer, during an inspection round the 2,540 bags of parboiled rice, seized by officers of NCS with newsmen in Ibadan on Wednesday.

NAN

Demolition: Ijora Badia, Otodogbame residents demand resettlement INIOBONG IWOK

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isplaced residents of Ijora-Badia, in Apapa, and Otodogbame, in Lekki area of Lagos have appealed to the Lagos state government to resettle and compensate them over the demolition of their houses.

Many of the displaced residents spoke to newsmen during a tour of the affected communities by Deji Akinpelu, co-founder, Rethinking Cities, a non-governmental organisation involved in environmental advocacy.

The affected residents disclosed that the demolitions were carried out within the last six years; between 2003 and 2016.

They lamented that despite occupying the areas for decades, they were forcefully evicted, while several of them lost their means of livelihood and properties worth millions of naira during the demolition in the two communities.

The residents said that they had occupied and resided in the areas since 1973 when they were moved from their original place of resident at the site of the National Theatre when the construction of the theatre was about to begin.

The Ijora-Badia residents who are now living in makeshift shanties within the area alleged that were paying rent to the Nigerian

Railway Cooperation NRC), before the land was claimed by the Ojora family.

An affected resident, Usman Yusuf, said successive administrations had failed to keep up with the promise to resettle them, while appealing to the Sanwo-Olu-led administration to consider their plight.

“Our houses in Ijora-Badia were demolished in 2013, government should help us because we are citizens of this country. We believe we have a right to housing and all the social amenities that other people are getting.

Since this demolition, our means of livelihood have also been cut off and our children are not going to school.

“Successive governments have promised to resettle us but nothing came out of it. Fashola was here and promised to build housing units that would accommodate us but nothing happened since he left office.

We also approached the last administration of Akinwunmi Ambode but he did not keep to his words to resettle us also,” Usman said.

Another displaced resident, Bose Olawunmi also decried the failure of the government to fulfil its promise to resettle them after the demolition. She, however, urged meaningful individuals to come to their aid, stressing that many of them were jobless.

“Our houses were demolished some years ago and we had hoped that the government would relocate us but up till now the prom-

ises have not been kept. We were relocated here from the site of the National Theatre in 1973 when the place was to be built and we had lived here and paid rent to the Nigerian Railway Corporation,” she said.

Speaking on the demolitions, Akinpelu bemoaned the plight of the evicted residents, saying that it was time the state government looked into its forceful eviction policy.

Akinpelu appealed to the Lagos State government to urgently resettle and compensate the residents of the two communities, while seeking an inclusive urban development policy from the government.

According to him, “We have constantly faced force evictions across the state. This is the third year that Otodogbame and Ijora-Badia communities were forcefully evicted. What we are looking is the effect, there is the assumption that when you evict this people they go to somehow but we are only creating more shanties because they would not go away. They are still here building something else.

“These people are having health hazard, the schools were demolished, and their child are at home. So we have to rethink this approach of demolition and resettlement for waterfront communities. This attitude of saying go there and forcefully evict the people is not working. For every force eviction that happens anywhere, the people affected are resettled and compensated.

Customs seizes cannabis worth N159m, others in Oyo, Osun REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

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he Nigeria Customs Service(NCS), Oyo/Osun command, has seized 1,040 compressed cannabis (SK Blocks) and another 101 bags of cannabis sativa with duty paid value of N159 million.

The command also arrested 24 suspects in connection with various seizures this year.

The Comptroller of Customs, Argungu Abdullahi Zulkifli, who disclosed this to newsmen as part of achievements of the command in last 11 months, said 21 of the suspects were on administrative bail, one charged to court and two convicted.

Between January and November this year,

www.businessday.ng

he said, the command made a total of 313 seizures with a duty paid value of N519 million.

The command also generated the sum of N35 billion between January and November this year, an increase of 59 percent against N22 billion generated in 2018.

He listed other seizures to include 2,540 (50kg) bags of foreign parboiled rice valued at N72 million, 12 fairly used (Tokunbo) vehicles, 15 bags of sugar, three motorcycles, 40 bales of second-hand clothes and shoes and 500 used tyres.

Zulkifli put the duty paid value of these seized items at N143 million.

He said most of the goods were concealed in trucks and vehicles meant to convey commuters, but used to perpetuate the evil acts.

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The Federal Government in August closed Nigerian land borders in a bid to tackle smuggle and encourage local production.

But Zulkifli said: “Despite the partial border closure, some recalcitrant ones still find other means of perpetuating smuggling especially as the yelutide approaches. Our officers are and will always be on the watch for them at all times”.

While commending the efforts of the officers and men, the Customs chief said the command found it worthy to award some outstanding officers who performed creditably well in the out-going year. The officers include Amusan John of Igbeti out station, Adewole Moses, in charge of operations and Idowu Gafar.

@Businessdayng

Friday 20 December 2019

FT

BUSINESS DAY

40

FINANCIAL TIMES

World Business Newspaper

DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO AND JAMES POLITI

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onald Trump became the third president in US history to be impeached when the House of Representatives charged him with using the power of his office for personal gain in a partisan vote that could be the defining moment of his presidency.

The decision on Wednesday night paved the way for a trial in the Senate, where Republican control makes it unlikely that Mr Trump will be removed from office — or that the tribal divisions afflicting American society will soon heal.

However, Nancy Pelosi, Democratic speaker of the House, sparked confusion about what comes next by suggesting that she might not immediately send the articles of impeachment to the Senate, in a possible effort to gain leverage over Republican Senate leaders who have favoured a trial without testimony from witnesses.

Following a day of often ferocious debate, the House voted almost entirely along party lines to impeach Mr Trump for abuse of power for pressing his Ukrainian counterpart to launch investigations into political rival Joe Biden and into debunked theories that Kyiv, rather than Russia, intervened in the 2016 US election.

The motion was passed 230197. Two of the 233 Democrats in the House voted against the article of impeachment, while Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii Democrat running for president, abstained.

All 197 Republicans opposed

Donald Trump is impeached for abuse of power and obstruction President becomes the third in US history to face trial in the Senate after House vote

the measure. Justin Amash, a former Republican and now independent, voted to impeach Mr Trump.

The House then voted largely along party lines — 229-198, with one abstention — in favour of a second article of impeachment, which accuses Mr Trump of obstructing Congress by refusing to allow his aides to testify in the inquiry and for failing to provide documents to House investigators.

Mr Trump accused Democrats of trying to impeach him “from day one” of his presidency as he spoke to supporters at a rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, shortly after the vote.

“After three years of sinister witch hunts, hoaxes, scams, tonight, House Democrats are trying to nullify the ballots of tens of millions of patriotic Americans,” he said. “Crazy Nancy Pelosi’s House Democrats have branded themselves with an eternal mark of shame.”

The decision marked the first time House members had used their “most solemn powers”, as Ms Pelosi put it, since Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998. The first impeachment of a US president was of Andrew Johnson in 1868.

Both Mr Clinton and Johnson were acquitted after a Senate trial. Rich-

IMF approves $280m loan to Equatorial Guinea despite NGO criticism

Human rights groups had argued the country is too corrupt and rich to merit the programme DAVID PILLING

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he IMF has approved a controversial $280m loan to Equatorial Guinea, defying criticism from human rights groups saying that the central African country is too corrupt and too rich to merit a programme.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has governed the oil-rich country since he took control in a 1979 coup against his uncle, then president, who was subsequently executed.

Human rights groups regularly condemn Mr Obiang’s government for abuses including repression of the opposition and institutional corruption. Many of Mr Obiang’s critics have been driven into exile. Oxfam and Human Rights Watch both petitioned the IMF not to grant the loan.

The IMF has said that the threeyear programme will allow it to monitor the country more closely, helping in the fight against corruption as well as improving financial stability.

Tao Zhang, the IMF’s deputy managing director, was quoted by Reuters as saying that Equatorial Guinea’s economy had been hurt

by a fall in oil prices, and that increasing transparency was critical.

“Priority should be given to strengthening the anti-corruption framework by addressing conflict of interests and adopting and enforcing a robust asset declaration regime for senior public officials,” he said.

President Obiang has been under corruption investigations in Switzerland where authorities have seized and auctioned off 25 supercars owned by Teodorin Obiang Nguema, President Obiang’s son and the country’s vicepresident.

Equatorial Guinea has a nominal per capita gross domestic product above $10,000, lower than during its oil-boom years but still higher than countries such as Brazil and China. Still, some 400,000 of its 1m people live in poverty.

Gabriel Obiang Lima, the minister of mines and hydrocarbons and another of the president’s sons, said that his country did not need the IMF’s money but had accepted it as an act of solidarity with other central African states.

“Equatorial Guinea is not a country that needs $200m,” he said. “We make that in two months.” www.businessday.ng

At a rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, President Donald Trump spoke at length after the impeachment vote. ‘After three years of sinister witch hunts, hoaxes, scams, tonight, House Democrats are trying to nullify the ballots of tens of millions of patriotic Americans.’ © Leah Millis/Reuters

ard Nixon resigned as president in 1974 as the House was about to impeach him.

As they prepared to vote, Democrats cast themselves as defenders of US national security, saying they needed to act immediately to prevent Mr Trump from soliciting foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election.

“If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty,” Ms Pelosi said. “It is tragic that the presi-

dent’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice.”

Echoing charges made by Mr Trump, Republicans accused the Democrats of being “Trump haters” who were pursuing a “hoax”.

They said Democrats had not proved Mr Trump had committed treason, bribery or the “high crimes and misdemeanours” that are the constitutional standard to remove a president.

Barry Loudermilk, a Republican congressman from Georgia, compared the proceedings to Pontius Pilate’s judgment of Jesus Christ, which led to his crucifixion.

“When Jesus was falsely accused of treason, Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers,” he said. “During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more right to Jesus than the Democrats have afforded this president, and this process.”

Africa’s mixed blessings in 2019

Despite floods, famine and disputed Congo elections, hopes rose in Sudan and the fintech sector DAVID PILLING

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s this goes out, Beyoncé and 500 other mainly AfricanAmerican celebrities are expected to head to Ghana for the culmination of the Year of Return.

Part marketing ploy, part genuine initiative to forge closer understanding between Ghana and the African diaspora, the event marks the 400th anniversary of the start of the transatlantic slave trade. It is impossible to get a booking in any of Accra’s top hotels.

The A-listers are arriving at a time when, for the second year running, an African has taken home the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2019, it was the turn of Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister, who pressed on with a daring economic and political reform agenda — now endorsed by a $2.9bn IMF loan — in the teeth of a growing ethno-nationalist backlash.

Elections scheduled for May 2020 will be critical. For all its problems, its fast-growing economy carries the hopes of the continent.

Another big hope for Africa, the African Continental Free Trade Area, a $3tn trade area of 54 countries, made progress this year with the accession of reluctant heavyweight Nigeria. But xenophobic riots in South Africa and Nigeria’s closure of its land borders to stop smugglers hint at some of the ob-

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stacles ahead.

As in 2018, the continent’s economy grew by less than 3 per cent, wretchedly slow, thanks mainly to laggards South Africa and Nigeria.

But Ghana, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Djibouti all managed growth rates of 6-8 per cent, some of the world’s fastest.

Here are five things that helped shape the continent in 2019.

Sudan: The Sudanese revolution deserved more global attention.

Millions of people, many women, many young, faced down bullets in the name of peaceful change. They met savage repression, but eventually prevailed. After 30 years as president, Omar al-Bashir fell. A fragile militarycivilian council is charged with overseeing a transition to democracy.

The economy is still on its knees.

The soldiers still have guns. What happens next will be important for a continent with out-of-touch leaders and a median age of 19.

Climate change: This year the impact of changing weather became obvious in a continent that has hardly contributed to global warming, yet will be among the first to suffer. Cyclone Idai, the second deadliest on record in the southern hemisphere, ripped through Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, killing 1,300 people and displacing 2m. Idai brought flooding, but drought is a bigger problem still, @Businessdayng

including in Zimbabwe where crop and government failure combined to put nearly 8m people on the brink of severe hunger.

In the Sahel, desertification is helping to stoke conflict between nomadic herdsman and settled farmers. In Mali, which saw an upsurge in terrorist attacks, those conflicts are intertwined with rising Islamism. In Ethiopia, coffee farmers are moving to higher altitudes as temperatures rise. Expect some African governments to soften their opposition to genetically modified crops.

Felix Tshisekedi: He became president of the Democratic Republic of Congo after elections that Financial Times reporting suggests were fixed.

Joseph Kabila remains the power behind the cobalt throne. How long that continues will help determine the fate of the vast, resource-rich country.

Jumia: This company, perhaps unfortunately dubbed Africa’s Amazon, provided the most spectacular initial public offering. Others included Helios Towers, Bharti Airtel Africa and Network International.

Jumia listed in New York, became the continent’s first $1bn start-up.

After initially soaring, shares fell back with a bump as the company’s on-the-ground logistical difficulties mounted. Losses neared €55m in the third quarter. Some expect it to be sold next year.

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

NATIONAL NEWS

FT

FCA probes early audio streams of Bank of England press conferences Audio provider denies hack of central bank’s comments

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he UK’s financial watchdog is probing the revelation that an audio feed of the Bank of England’s market-sensitive press conferences was supplied to high-speed traders seconds before the events were more widely broadcast.

Following a rapid internal investigation, the central bank confirmed what it called a “wholly unacceptable” use of its back-up audio feed of press conferences by a third-party supplier, which it has refused to name, citing legal reasons. It referred the matter to the Financial Conduct Authority, which said on Thursday it was looking into the issue.

The identity of the entity supplying the audio feed has not been confirmed. However, Statisma News, a little-known audio news provider based in Essex, published a statement on its website in response to an inquiry from the Financial Times. It said it specialised in the “fast delivery of publicly available audio content”, adding: “We DO NOT carry embargoed information and we DO NOT release information without it first being made available to the public.

It is impossible to “hack” or “eavesdrop” any live public event or press conference. Any such suggestion is dismissed out of hand.”

The company markets itself as a provider of superfast audio streams of central bank statements around the world. According to its Twitter feed, Statisma has offered customers the ability to hear audio streams “first” from the European Central Bank, South Africa’s central bank, the Federal Reserve and the Economic Club of New York, as well as the BoE, the Bank of Japan and the House of Commons.

RanSquawk, LiveSquawk and Selerity, three other providers of audio news to traders, all said on Thursday that they did not have access to BoE audio streams.

The BoE confirmed that it was investigating use of audio feeds in response to an article in the Times, which reported that hedge funds had been eavesdropping on press conferences a few seconds before others heard the words of governor Mark Carney.

The bank’s audio feed was installed only to act as a back-up in case the video feed failed, but the BoE said it had recently discovered — “following concerns raised with the bank” — that the feed had been misused by a supplier since earlier this year.

“This wholly unacceptable use of the audio feed was without the bank’s knowledge or consent, and is being investigated further,” said the BoE in a statement. Those who received the audio feed had a five- to eight-second advantage over people who watched the main video feed, the Times reported, because audio was easier to compress and transmit than video.

The BoE said the FCA would investigate whether rules had been broken and trading had occurred on the basis of early information from the feed.

The central bank said that after identifying what was happening, it had immediately disabled the supplier’s access — before the BoE’s most recent press conference on the Financial Stability Report. It also underlined that security had not been breached in the release of market-sensitive decisions of its policy committees. The issue “related only to the broadcast of press conferences that follow such statements”.

Pelosi throws timing of impeachment trial into doubt House speaker suggests she may delay sending articles of impeachment to Senate JAMES POLITI AND DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO

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s Democrats impeached Donald Trump, Republicans were preparing for a January Senate trial to determine if the president will be convicted and removed from office.

However, just minutes after the historic votes to impeach Mr Trump, Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker, threw the timing of a trial into doubt by suggesting she might delay sending the two articles of impeachment to the Senate.

The move sparked speculation Ms Pelosi was trying to gain leverage over Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate majority leader, in a bid to force him to agree to Democratic demands to hear testimony from witnesses who the White House blocked from appearing before the threemonth impeachment investigation in the House.

“So far, we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us,” Ms Pelosi said in response to questions about the Senate process.

“We will make our decision as to when we are going to send it, when we see what they are doing on the

Senate side.”

Sean Patrick Maloney, a New York House Democrat, said Ms Pelosi was not contemplating withholding the articles, but wanted to ensure there was a “fair” process.

“I don’t think anyone is seriously contemplating not transmitting articles to the Senate, we take our responsibilities seriously, but we have a right to expect fairness,” he said.

Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon House Democrat, told MSNBC that he had talked to 40 members who were worried about transmitting the articles too quickly. “I strongly believe we should be in no hurry. We should have guarantees about access to witnesses,” he said.

Even before the House votes, Mr McConnell was gearing up to defend the president at a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate. where a two-thirds majority is needed to convict the president and order his removal from office.

“We don’t create impeachments, we judge them,” Mr McConnell said this week, as he sparred with Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, over the trial rules.

“It is not the Senate’s job to leap into the breach and search desperately for ways to get to guilty. That would hardly be impartial justice.” www.businessday.ng

Seed capital: A Rwandan tech start-up © Alamy

Growth of tech hubs masks Africa’s IT skills dilemma Access to digital training provides only a partial solution to boosting job opportunities ANDREW JACK

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hen OpenClassrooms, a Paris-based online education company, began offering technical courses to students globally, it soon identified an intriguing pattern of demand from Africa.

Alongside more basic courses, there was high uptake for training in Python, JavaScript and other programming languages — notably in north Africa.

In Tunisia alone, 80,000 students — nearly a third of all those enrolled in higher education — are viewing its materials every month. That suggested high potential, but also limitations with domestic training capacity.

“Despite the usual belief that there is less capacity or literacy in Africa, there is a talent pool that is comparable to Europe and the US,” says Stéphan-Eloïse Gras, the company’s director of strategic partnerships for Africa.

Many Africans have unprecedented opportunities today beyond their own national borders in the tech sector. They can benefit from trends in remote working, the global search for cheaper labour and the power of the internet.

In theory, this should allow skilled people in less industrialised countries to “leapfrog” workers in more developed economies in attracting work and boosting employment at home.

Vibrant tech hubs have emerged in countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, helping

support international businesses such as Cellulant, a pan-African digital payments platform, and fellow fintech start-up Flutterwave. Yet behind the success stories, substantial mismatches remain between the pool of potential talent, the capacity of local education systems to provide training, and the likely scale in demand from employers.

The World Economic Forum estimates 15m-20m will join the African workforce every year for the next two decades.

By 2030, the continent will be home to more than a quarter of the world’s population under 25 and 15 per cent of its total working-age population.

The imbalance is already frustrating business. PwC’s latest Global CEO Survey showed 87 per cent of African chief executives were concerned about the availability of key skills, including 45 per cent who were “extremely concerned”.

The first difficulty is the poor provision of basic schooling. A report

by Unesco this year highlighted low levels of investment, with a substantial and growing gap between the number of teachers needed and those actually employed.

Data released by the OECD, a club of mostly rich nations, showed just 5 per cent of children aged 15 in Zambia and 9 per cent in Senegal achieved basic reading levels.

For rudimentary maths skills, the shares were 2 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively.

Adamon Mukasa, a senior researcher at the African Development Bank, estimates that under-skilled youth comprises nearly 30 per cent

of Africa’s population, compared with 13 per cent in other developing regions. Just 8 per cent of young people had tertiary education compared with 21 per cent elsewhere.

Like other analysts, he highlights the need for both enhanced science technology engineering and maths (Stem) and improved soft skills such as the teamwork required in the workplace.

Post-school education is also often lacking. Patrick Dunne, chair of Education Sub Saharan Africa, a charity seeking to improve teaching across the continent, says: “The population is growing more quickly than the skills to respond. We need to do something urgently about the capacity of colleges and other learning institutions.”

A final problem, even for those who do emerge better trained by the education system, lies in the recruitment market itself. Many African entrepreneurs complain about political and infrastructure barriers to expanding their businesses. There are also signs that the scope for arbitrage by western employers seeking to tap into the continent’s lower-cost talent pools is being squeezed.

Andela, a company backed by US philanthropists, aimed at training and creating programming jobs in Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria to supply US businesses, announced brutal cutbacks. Jeremy Johnson, the chief executive, said the business would refocus on supplying higherlevel programming staff while cutting hundreds of jobs. “We now have significantly more junior talent than we are able to place,” he said.

Airbnb secures EU legal victory over its status as online platform Company faced French claims it should be regulated as estate agent JAVIER ESPINOZA AND ALICE HANCOCK

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irbnb has won a big legal victory with Europe’s top court ruling that it does not need to comply with the onerous regulations applied to property agents in the EU. The ruling will be a relief to the home rental site, which has faced public protests and increasing attention from authorities in several European cities.

It also helps to clear the path for Airbnb’s anticipated initial public offering next year.

The European Court of Justice made the ruling after deciding

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that Airbnb is a broad platform of potential accommodation, rather than an ancillary tool to book a specific type of home rental.

It found that the site did not attempt to influence what landlords charged for their homes, and that there were many other existing ways for landlords to find tenants.

It also said that EU states should not ban Airbnb, unless they needed to do so to fight crime, restrict racism or protect consumers and investors.

The ruling is a big win for “gig economy” companies, as it marks a departure from the recent clampdown by regulators @Businessdayng

in Europe.

The verdict came despite an ECJ ruling in December 2017 that Uber should be classed as a taxi operator rather than an intermediary service for riders to find drivers.

But the court said that, by contrast, it could not establish that Airbnb had a “decisive influence” over how much landlords could charge, or over which hosts and accommodation were available on its platform. The ruling came after a senior adviser to the court said earlier this year that Airbnb should be treated as an “information society services” instead of an estate agent.

Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

42

FINANCIAL TIMES

COMPANIES & MARKETS

@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED

Existing home sales fall more than expected in November MAMTA BADKAR

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ales of previously owned homes in the US fell more than expected in November as a limited supply of homes continued to constrain buyers.

Existing home sales fell 1.7 per cent in November from the previous month to an annualised rate of 5.35m, the National Association of Realtors said on Thursday — the lowest level since June.

That missed economists’ expectations for a more modest 0.2 per cent drop, according to a Reuters survey, and marked the second decline in the past three months.

A regional breakdown showed sales increased in the north-east and Midwest but fell in the south and west.

Demand for homes has been strong and the market has seen a rebound since the spring driven by strength in the labour market and low mortgage rates. However, a shortage of labour and lots has contributed to inventory tightness and is weighing on affordability, constraining prospective buyers.

Indeed Thursday’s report showed housing inventory fell last

month and now sits at a 3.7-month supply at the current sales pace.

“Sales will be choppy when inventory levels are low, but the economy is otherwise performing very well with more than 2 million job gains in the past year,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR. Data earlier this week showed permits to build new homes surged to their highest level in 12 years, while confidence among homebuilders hit a 20-year high.

But Mr Yun said “we are still not seeing the amount of construction needed to solve the housing shortage”.

“It is time for builders to be innovative and creative, possibly incorporating more factory-made modules to make houses affordable rather than building homes all on-site,” he added.

The strength in the housing market this year has helped offset weakness in business investment in response to the US-China trade war. With manufacturing troubles yet to abate and concerns about cooling spending by US consumers, investors are likely to keep a close eye on housing market indicators in the coming months.

Sterling faces worst week of the year as Brexit concerns reappear Currency has had a volatile week as no-deal Brexit fears have returned PHILIP GEORGIADIS

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he pound fell anew on Thursday and is now on track for its worst week of the year as traders price in renewed Brexit uncertainty over the next 12 months.

Sterling was trading 0.2 per cent lower at $1.3050 in the wake of the Bank of England’s widely expected decision to leave interest rates on hold. Against the euro it fell 0.3 per cent to trade at €1.1735.

The central bank said it expected gross domestic product to rise “only marginally” in the fourth quarter of 2019, and that it was too early to tell how developments on Brexit will feed into the economic outlook.

The pound has fallen more than 2 per cent against the dollar and euro this week, leaving it on track for its worst week against the single currency since July 2017, and close to its biggest weekly drop against the greenback this year.

The currency’s sharp fall has dispelled expectations that a Conservative election victory could provide a period of market stability.

Sterling shot to $1.35 on Thursday evening as an exit poll gave the first indication of the Conservative party’s decisive election victory, but has since given up all of those gains as Mr Johnson pledged to outlaw any extension to the UK’s post-Brexit transition period at the end of next year.

“We doubt such a promise is realistic given the mammoth task

of bilateral negotiation ahead,” said strategists at Pictet Wealth Management, who expect the deadline to be extended.

Mr Johnson’s brinkmanship leaves markets facing another year with the threat of a disruptive EU exit hanging over the currency.

While wrapping up a basic trade deal within 12 months is possible, EU officials have warned that crucial issues, such as market access for services, may only be tangentially treated in any initial trade deal.

UBS Wealth Management forecasts sterling falling to $1.15 if the trade talks fail and the UK reverts to a WTO-style trading relationship with the bloc at the end of 2020.

But, the world’s largest wealth manager said in a note to clients on Thursday morning that this scenario is not its base case.

“Prime minister Johnson has a powerful incentive to avoid the economic disruption that a nodeal Brexit could produce.”

Chief investment officer Mark Haefele said he remains positive on the currency, and sees the pound’s fair value against the dollar at higher than $1.50.

“Exchange-rate drops into the lower end of the $1.30 to 1.40 range can be used to build exposure to sterling.”

Investors had also used the brief bounce to $1.35 to take profits following the pound’s surge higher from $1.20 earlier in the autumn, according to one foreignexchange sales trader. www.businessday.ng

The World Bank warned that emerging market economies were more vulnerable today than before the global financial crisis © Bloomberg

World Bank warns on ‘towering’ $55tn emerging market debt pile

Fastest and widest surge in borrowing poses risk should era of low interest rates end TOMMY STUBBINGTON

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eveloping countries racked up a “towering” $55tn of debt by the end of last year, in a borrowing surge since the financial crisis that has been the fastest and widest in modern history, according to World Bank research.

Fuelled by the era of very low interest rates, total debt has rocketed to 170 per cent of emerging markets’ gross domestic product, a 54 percentage point increase since 2010, according to a World Bank report published on Thursday.

The findings are likely to fan concerns that developing countries have accumulated debt levels that could quickly become unsustainable should global rates rise.

“The size, speed and breadth of the latest debt wave should concern us all,” said David Malpass, World Bank group president.

The bank warned that, on many measures, emerging economies were more vulnerable today than

before the global financial crisis.

Three-quarters have budget deficits, while corporate debt denominated in foreign currencies is much higher and current account deficits are four times larger than in 2007.

Borrowers in the emerging world should try to mitigate these risks through greater transparency, which would help identify dangers, and pursue alternatives to borrowing by encouraging private sector investment and expanding their tax base, the bank said.

“Towering though it may seem, the latest global wave of debt can be managed. Across the world, interest rates are at historic lows, moderating the costs of the debt,” said Mr Malpass.

“But leaders need to recognise the danger and move countries into safer territory in terms of the quality and quantity of investment and debt — sooner rather than later.”

The bank’s “Global Waves of Debt” report compares the recent borrowing frenzy with three previous episodes of rapid EM debt ac-

cumulation, all of which ended in financial crises.

Compared with the preludes to the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s, the Asia financial crisis of the late 1990s and the global financial crisis of 2008 — when EM exposure was contained to specific regions and largely involved public debt — the researchers found the current build-up involves public and private borrowers, is not limited to one or two areas and involves new kinds of creditors, often originating from China.

China itself, whose debt-to-GDP ratio has risen 72 points to 255 per cent since 2010, accounts for the bulk of the boom, but nominal debt levels have doubled in the rest of the developing world, the bank found.

For now, historically low interest rates make a crisis less likely, according to the report, but the authors said that roughly half of the 521 national episodes of rapid debt growth since 1970 have resulted in crises which significantly hurt incomes.

Lowest-rated US bonds end the year with a bang Hunt for yield has spread into every corner of corporate debt market in 2019 JENNIFER ABLAN

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nvestors have been scrambling to buy the bonds of the riskiest US corporate borrowers as the year draws to a close, underscoring a desperate hunt for yield as interest rates remain rooted near historic lows.

In December alone, companies across the US rated triple C — the bottom tier of the “junk” bond market — have returned 4.4 per cent, according to Oleg Melentyev, head of US high-yield strategy at Bank of America Global Research.

That is a much brighter performance than the rest of the year, suggesting that investors have overcome an aversion to borrowers most likely to hit trouble in the event of an economic downturn.

The headlong rush into triple C bonds, which typically offer attractive coupons to compensate for the higher risk of default, comes as investors try to squeeze out income at a time when renewed monetary stimulus has pushed yields on trillions of dollars of debt deep into negative territory.

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“Where else are you going to go for yield?” asked Mr Melentyev. “Retirees are forced into this market, insurance companies are forced into this market, pension funds are forced into this market and anyone else who relies on income as a source of living is forced into this market. There is no yield so they pile into junk bonds.”

So far this year, US companies with a double B rating — the top tier of junk, one below investmentgrade — had posted returns of 15.6 per cent, said Mr Melentyev, while single B bonds were up about 14 per cent. Triple C corporate debt has returned just 4.5 per cent for the year, meaning that almost all of the gains for 2019 have come in the past few weeks.

Line chart of Spread of triple-C credits over US government debt (percentage points) showing Riskiest junk bond spreads fall The two largest exchange traded funds specialising in junk corporate bonds — the iShares iBoxx (which trades under the ticker HYG) and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays (JNK) — gathered $9bn in combined net inflows so far @Businessdayng

this year, erasing the prior year’s outflows, according to Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF and mutual fund research at CFRA. The latest data from EPFR Global, which tracks flows in and out of mutual funds and ETFs, show that money has been added to fixedincome funds for 49 straight weeks.

That stretch has added $468bn in new assets to bond funds, in the largest uninterrupted haul in records going back to 2001.

Bond fund managers including Pimco and DoubleLine Capital have warned that sky-high prices for junk bonds are vulnerable to falls.

Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of DoubleLine, which oversees $150bn in assets, said: “The point is that the losses will be huge when the economy turns down.”

“Credit can stay rich for a long time,” said Dan Ivascyn, group chief investment officer at Pimco, which oversees almost $1.9tn. But he added that high levels of debt at US companies with lowly credit ratings were likely to magnify problems in the junk-bond market if the economy shrank.

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

FT

ANALYSIS

Five things to watch in the oil industry for 2020 Traders debate whether US shale can really keep growing — and how the market might react DAVID SHEPPARD

T

he oil market’s biggest nightmare briefly came true in 2019 — an attack that knocked out more than half of all production in Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter.

But in little more than a week, oil prices were back to where they started.

That was partly because of a quicker than expected recovery of the kingdom’s facilities, but also because traders said that fears of oil shortages were hard to sustain in the era of US shale.

They might have a point. Crude prices started 2019 near $60 a barrel and look set to finish the year at roughly that level. The market has taken almost everything thrown at it in its stride.

But will 2020 prove to be another uncommonly placid year in crude, with volatility calmed by the US oil juggernaut? The history of the oil market suggests that outcome is unlikely, with

periods of complacency quickly giving way to heightened volatility. Already traders and analysts are arguing over whether US shale can really keep growing and, if not, how the oil market might react.

Here are five things to watch in the oil market in 2020.

Line chart of Millions of barrels a day showing US oil production continues to climb US shale The outlook for US shale will most likely be the biggest single oil-specific factor to decide crude’s path next year.

The sector has shown tremendous growth in recent years, heaping pressure on Opec as supplies have expanded faster than demand.

But there are signs that shale growth may slow or eventually reverse in 2020.

The small independent companies that still dominate the sector are finding it increasingly difficult to raise money and struggle to generate positive free cash flow consistently.

Some analysts see US shale expanding in the first half of next year, but then flatlining or declining, potentially leaving production largely unchanged from January to December.

Rystad Energy, a research company, calculates that shale investments declined 6 per cent this year to $129bn and predicts they will fall another 11 per cent in 2020 — though it still expects production to rise slightly.

“US shale activity is slowing as drillers retain a focus on capital discipline,” said Chris Midgley at S&P Global Platts.

Slowing demand growth The wild card for oil could be the strength of the global economy. Oil demand has struggled in 2019 as the US-China trade war threatened to derail a decade-old economic expansion.

It is still expanding, however, averaging close to 100m barrels a day for the first time, but analysts predict an annual rate of growth of below 1 per cent for the first time since prices crashed in 2014.

Demand has not been helped by an economic slowdown in India, which is second only to China in driving consumption growth.

“The oil demand picture for next year and, to a big extent, the price outlook, will hinge on a recovery in global economic growth,” said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates.

Opec+ Opec and allies such as Russia (Opec+) have been fighting a rearguard action against US shale since 2016, and at the start of December they made another cut to production in a bid to stop the market becoming overwhelmed by new supplies in the first half of next year.

They have been relatively success-

ful at propping up prices near $60 a barrel, but few expect them to be able to push crude significantly higher.

Line chart of $ a barrel showing Crude prices: where next?

Opec’s own analysts are, however, forecasting that next year the market will be relatively balanced, at least if they keep the cuts in place — and implying the balance of supply and demand will be tighter in the second half of the year than in the first, especially if US shale production slows.

Opec sees demand for the cartel’s crude at about 29.6m b/d next year — roughly matching what the latest cuts suggest it will pump, with much of Iran and Venezuela’s oil off the market because of US sanctions.

“By focusing on short-term physical imbalances, Opec+ is targeting tight physical markets,” analysts at Goldman Sachs said.

US presidential election For the oil market, the US presidential election in 2020 is really about one man: Donald Trump.

The tweeter-in-chief has made lower oil prices a key part of his economic pitch to voters, and in the past he has not been shy about firing 140-character broadsides at Opec if he thinks the group — and in particular close ally Saudi Arabia — is letting prices get too high.

Some analysts even believe this fed into Saudi Arabia’s decision to push for a production cut this month, because it may find reducing output more optically challenging in a US election year.

Given Riyadh is widely believed to hope Mr Trump remains in power, not least because of the pressure he has heaped on Iran, it would be foolish to rule out the presidential campaign somehow impinging on oil’s fortunes. www.businessday.ng

FT Person of the Year: Satya Nadella Microsoft was at risk of technological irrelevance but the chief executive has presided over an era of stunning wealth creation

RICHARD WATERS

S

atya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft, has earned a unique place among the tech barons who preside over today’s digital landscape.

The growing wealth and power of Big Tech over the past decade has been a defining feature of modern capitalism. Yet even judged by the standards of most of his peers, Mr Nadella stands out.

By the end of November, the total return generated for Microsoft shareholders during his near-six year tenure passed $1tn. Contrast that with the moment when he took over as only the third CEO in Microsoft’s history, and the software company looked like it might be on the fast track to technological irrelevance.

This stunning exercise in wealth creation has occurred at a time when the purpose and power of large companies has come under more scrutiny than at any time in a century. The singleminded pursuit of shareholder value is in question, and politicians and regulators are showing a new appetite for challenging the dominant companies of the age — particularly in tech.

So it is notable that Mr Nadella has put Microsoft back at the top of the tech heap without attracting the resentment and anxiety provoked by some other tech leaders — or, for that matter, Microsoft’s own former self. The software company was once considered to be the model of the corporate bully, using its monopoly over PC software to hold sway over the tech world.

The equanimity that has accompanied its recent rise is a testament to the new purpose at the heart of the company, as well as a corporate culture that reflects the personal qualities of a chief executive more given to humility than the intellectual arrogance the company was once known for.

It is still far too early to judge the impact of the new Microsoft that Mr Nadella has been building.

With control of one of the handful of cloud computing platforms that stand to dominate tech’s next phase, it is likely to wield significant influence over the future of business and society, whether for good or ill.

Bar/Line chart showing how the cloud has brought growthback to Microsoft Mr Nadella himself is well aware of the risks, and claims to have set parameters for his company that will ensure that its impact on the world is benign. At

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a time when the reputation of the tech industry is moving in inverse proportion to its power, he is also keen to distance himself from the rest of the pack.

“There is no such thing as Big Tech any more,” he declares, a reference to what he claims are key differences in business model between the leading tech companies that have put them on diverging paths. Proving that Microsoft has truly changed its ways and become a new type of tech giant will be the ultimate test.

One mark of Mr Nadella’s success in 2019 has been how seldom his company has been in the headlines. With a focus on selling technology to businesses more than consumers, it operates largely behind the scenes, though it does reach consumers through the Bing search engine and email service, the Xbox games console and tailored versions of its PC software.

There are still plenty of controversies to navigate, from the company’s tussles with the US government over access to personal data hosted on its servers, to the housing shortages and other growing pains caused by its expansion in the greater Seattle area. Early in the year, it set aside $500m to support more affordable housing in its home region, preempting similar moves by other Big Tech companies.

Wall Street’s growing confidence in the Nadella revival at Microsoft brought a 50 per cent advance in its share price over the course of 2019, nearly twice the increase in the wider stock market.

That took its market capitalisation past $1tn for the first time, and a fifth of the way to a second trillion.

By mid-December, the increase in value on Mr Nadella’s watch had stretched to $850bn. Add in the $150bn of stock buybacks and dividends paid out over the same period, and the total shareholder returns generated under his tenure now reach into 13 digits.

That is still not as much as Tim Cook, his counterpart at Apple who was FT Person of the Year in 2014, who has clocked up $1.27tn in shareholder value in eight years (reflecting an $870bn advance in Apple’s stock market value over that period, along with nearly $400bn in buybacks and dividends). But while Mr Cook has proved himself the operational genius capable of fulfilling the potential of the company built by Steve Jobs, Mr Nadella’s record has depended on engineering a more fundamental corporate revival.

“He brought in a new culture, a new enthusiasm,” says Michael Cusumano, a management profes@Businessdayng

sor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Microsoft became an exciting place to work again.”

When Mr Nadella took over, Microsoft was in danger of having missed almost every important new technology trend since the turn of the century. An expensive pursuit of Google in the search market had come up short, and social networking had passed it by entirely. Attempts to catch up with Apple and Google in smartphones came to nothing: one of Mr Nadella’s first acts was to shut down the Nokia mobile business Microsoft had bought in a last-ditch gamble.

And in cloud computing, a late start left it far behind Amazon.

At the root of the problem was Microsoft’s addiction to the monopoly profits churned out by its PC operating system. The effort to keep Windows at the centre of the computing universe handicapped engineers, hampering efforts to break into mobile and cloud computing.

Mr Nadella responded by taking Microsoft back to its roots, looking to a period before Windows when its software tools were used by other companies to build their own technology.

“That fundamental notion that we build tools, build platforms so that others can build more technology, I think is more relevant, more needed in 2019 than it was in 1975,” he says.

Aged 46 when he took over, the new chief was only 11 years younger than co-founder Bill Gates. According to Mr Cusumano, though, that was enough to free him from the company’s old dogmas: “He’s the next generation — he’s really part of the internet generation.”

As it chases Amazon in cloud computing, Microsoft was recently awarded a landmark US Department of Defense contract worth up to $10bn. Amazon, the favourite to win the work, has sued the Pentagon, claiming it lost the work because of political bias. But the fact that Microsoft was deemed capable of taking on the assignment, even though it still lacks all the security clearances required, is a sign of the technical capabilities and massive new cloud infrastructure that Microsoft has amassed under Nadella.

A graphic with no description Microsoft’s board did not turn straight to Mr Nadella when it came to looking for a replacement for Steve Ballmer, instead pursuing a number of potential outsiders to fill the gap. Yet his undramatic elevation to the job in early 2014 was in keeping with a rise that was characterised by technical vision and quiet assurance.

44

Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Live @ The STOCK Exchanges Prices for Securities Traded as of Thursday 19 December 2019 Company

Market cap(nm)

Price (N)

Change

Trades

Volume

Company

Market cap(nm)

Price (N)

Change

Trades

Volume

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES (Equities) BANKING ACCESS BANK PLC. 348,343.21 9.80 -1.01 130 147,718,775 UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC 239,395.95 7.00 -0.71 150 5,718,480 ZENITH BANK PLC 580,835.14 18.50 -0.27 390 27,372,853 670 180,810,108 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FBN HOLDINGS PLC 231,524.64 6.45 0.78 160 12,997,749 160 12,997,749 830 193,807,857 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES MTN NIGERIA COMMUNICATIONS PLC 2,289,882.72 112.50 -2.43 78 1,294,297 78 1,294,297 78 1,294,297 BUILDING MATERIALS DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 2,385,671.04 140.00 - 67 469,521 LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. 223,898.36 13.90 - 45 176,256 112 645,777 112 645,777 EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC 323,467.98 549.70 - 3 65 3 65 3 65 1,023 195,747,996 REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC 1,710.00 85.50 - 0 0 UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) 10,175.81 40.70 - 0 0 UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST 8,805.29 3.30 -9.59 9 211,475 9 211,475 9 211,475 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND 411.91 552.20 - 1 5 VALUEALLIANCE VALUE FUND 3,312.39 103.20 - 0 0 1 5 1 5 CROP PRODUCTION FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC 440.00 0.20 - 0 0 OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. 52,465.05 55.00 - 10 10,134 PRESCO PLC 47,500.00 47.50 - 6 12,700 16 22,834 FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING ELLAH LAKES PLC. 8,500.00 4.25 - 2 1,735 2 1,735 LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. 1,500.00 0.50 - 3 67,500 3 67,500 21 92,069

DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. 1,323.65 0.50 8.70 5 434,000 217.92 0.56 - 4 4,731 JOHN HOLT PLC. S C O A NIG. PLC. 1,903.99 2.93 - 0 0 TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC 39,835.03 0.98 2.08 52 12,415,686 U A C N PLC. 24,779.15 8.60 -1.71 87 2,657,602 148 15,512,019 148 15,512,019

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ARBICO PLC. 521.24 3.51 - 0 0 0 0 INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. 25,080.00 19.00 - 29 269,895 ROADS NIG PLC. 165.00 6.60 - 0 0 29 269,895 REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC 2,182.65 0.84 -6.67 20 741,802 20 741,802 49 1,011,697 AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC 954.53 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS CHAMPION BREW. PLC. 7,281.43 0.93 - 2 21,150 GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. 242.22 0.89 - 0 0 GUINNESS NIG PLC 77,977.63 35.60 - 40 170,406 INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. 80,801.10 9.40 -1.05 11 446,195 NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 421,436.74 52.70 - 29 150,338 82 788,089 FOOD PRODUCTS DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC 198,600.00 16.55 - 75 452,087 FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 79,137.33 19.30 - 37 250,090 HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 7,930.20 1.00 -1.96 23 1,330,134 MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC 1,340.10 0.36 - 0 0 N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. 766.26 4.30 - 0 0 NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC 35,105.06 13.25 - 13 73,194 UNION DICON SALT PLC. 3,321.07 12.15 - 0 0 148 2,105,505 FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. 20,002.85 10.65 - 31 90,996 NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 1,030,453.13 1,300.00 - 21 6,245 52 97,241 HOUSEHOLD DURABLES NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. 1,680.31 22.10 - 0 0 VITAFOAM NIG PLC. 4,878.29 3.90 - 25 587,686 25 587,686 PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 23,822.86 6.00 - 33 329,278 UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. 105,995.35 18.45 - 24 127,785 57 457,063 364 4,035,584 BANKING ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED 127,529.38 6.95 - 34 393,034 FIDELITY BANK PLC 63,744.55 2.20 5.77 134 13,920,963 GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 882,935.38 30.00 1.69 155 21,590,969 JAIZ BANK PLC 19,151.76 0.65 1.54 18 1,871,751 STERLING BANK PLC. 56,141.32 1.95 -1.52 21 953,779 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 198,021.12 6.80 - 19 52,589 UNITY BANK PLC 7,831.86 0.67 1.52 6 313,056 WEMA BANK PLC. 28,930.85 0.75 7.14 18 518,360 405 39,614,501 INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC 4,117.00 0.20 - 0 0 AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 4,920.45 0.71 1.43 13 1,894,460 AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC 18,900.00 1.80 - 3 6,269,194 3,170.70 0.39 - 1 3,500 CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 22,820.04 2.20 - 0 0 CORNERSTONE INSURANCE PLC 6,775.57 0.46 -9.80 2 125,240 GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC 909.99 0.20 - 0 0 GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. 1,228.00 0.20 - 0 0 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE PLC 487.95 0.38 - 0 0 LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 1,977.33 0.27 3.85 8 440,094 LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. 2,362.98 0.55 - 2 62,142 LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC 3,920.00 0.49 - 3 92,400 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. 2,234.55 0.20 - 0 0 NEM INSURANCE PLC 10,561.01 2.00 - 9 134,238 NIGER INSURANCE PLC 1,547.90 0.20 - 4 514,510 2,745.10 0.51 - 0 0 PRESTIGE ASSURANCE PLC REGENCY ASSURANCE PLC 1,333.75 0.20 - 3 150,000 SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC 1,668.16 0.20 - 0 0 STACO INSURANCE PLC 4,483.72 0.48 - 0 0 STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. 2,582.21 0.20 - 0 0 SUNU ASSURANCES NIGERIA PLC. 2,800.00 0.20 - 0 0 UNIC DIVERSIFIED HOLDINGS PLC. 516.46 0.20 - 0 0 UNIVERSAL INSURANCE PLC 3,200.00 0.20 - 3 35,000 VERITAS KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC 2,773.33 0.20 - 2 12,600 WAPIC INSURANCE PLC 4,817.79 0.36 5.88 23 4,272,844 76 14,006,222

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MICRO-FINANCE BANKS NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 2,629.63 1.15 - 0 0 0 0 MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC 4,200.00 1.00 - 0 0 ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC 7,370.87 0.50 - 0 0 5,796.93 1.39 - 0 0 INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC 2,265.95 0.20 - 0 0 UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. 2,949.22 3.02 - 0 0 0 0 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AFRICA PRUDENTIAL PLC 8,240.00 4.12 - 51 400,657 CUSTODIAN INVESTMENT PLC 36,467.56 6.20 - 11 75,871 DEAP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT & TRUST PLC 600.00 0.40 - 0 0 35,644.88 1.80 -1.11 109 23,107,018 FCMB GROUP PLC. ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. 1,492.16 0.29 - 4 13,415 390,784.79 37.20 0.54 19 313,916 STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UNITED CAPITAL PLC 14,220.00 2.37 3.04 63 4,131,948 257 28,042,825 738 81,663,548

HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS EKOCORP PLC. 2,069.19 4.15 - 0 0 UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC 781.69 0.22 - 0 0 0 0 MEDICAL SUPPLIES MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. 494.58 0.50 - 0 0 0 0 PHARMACEUTICALS EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 366.17 0.50 - 0 0 FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 6,467.72 3.10 - 2 2,500 6,876.29 5.75 9.52 22 644,190 GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 3,692.00 2.14 - 13 72,838 NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 1,082.52 0.57 - 9 103,491 556.71 3.62 - 0 0 NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. PHARMA-DEKO PLC. 325.23 1.50 - 0 0 46 823,019 46 823,019 COMPUTER BASED SYSTEMS COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC 852.48 0.24 - 2 123,000 2 123,000 COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERALS OMATEK VENTURES PLC 1,470.89 0.50 - 0 0 0 0 IT SERVICES CWG PLC 6,413.06 2.54 - 0 0 NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. 486.00 4.50 - 0 0 TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. 316.77 0.64 - 3 27,976 3 27,976 PROCESSING SYSTEMS CHAMS PLC 1,690.58 0.36 -5.56 11 964,137 E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC 10,962.00 2.61 - 0 0 11 964,137 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES AIRTEL AFRICA PLC 1,123,311.48 298.90 - 1 5 1 5 17 1,115,118 BUILDING MATERIALS BERGER PAINTS PLC 1,956.31 6.75 - 22 148,263 16,800.00 24.00 - 11 48,600 CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC 247,097.82 18.80 - 6 46,610 MEYER PLC. 286.87 0.54 - 0 0 PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC 1,769.32 2.23 - 0 0 PREMIER PAINTS PLC. 1,156.20 9.40 - 0 0 39 243,473 ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC 2,256.91 2.09 - 0 0 CUTIX PLC. 2,465.85 1.40 - 6 90,489 6 90,489 PACKAGING/CONTAINERS BETA GLASS PLC. 26,898.49 53.80 - 2 100 GREIF NIGERIA PLC 388.02 9.10 - 0 0 2 100 AGRO-ALLIED & CHEMICALS NOTORE CHEMICAL IND PLC 100,754.14 62.50 - 0 0 0 0 47 334,062 CHEMICALS B.O.C. GASES PLC. 2,539.09 6.10 - 3 4,163 3 4,163 METALS ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. 1,781.64 8.10 - 0 0 0 0 MINING SERVICES MULTIVERSE MINING AND EXPLORATION PLC 852.39 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 PAPER/FOREST PRODUCTS THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. 83.60 0.38 - 0 0 0 0 3 4,163

ENERGY EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC 1,252.54 0.20 5.00 21 860,055 21 860,055 INTEGRATED OIL AND GAS SERVICES OANDO PLC 46,742.11 3.76 1.62 39 721,116 39 721,116 PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS 11 PLC 53,332.04 147.90 - 13 5,566 CONOIL PLC 12,838.11 18.50 - 11 23,450 ETERNA PLC. 3,912.43 3.00 - 10 58,850 FORTE OIL PLC. 23,574.91 18.10 - 31 555,395 MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 4,663.23 15.30 - 5 5,635 TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 37,652.97 110.90 - 24 9,254 94 658,150 154 2,239,321 ADVERTISING AFROMEDIA PLC 1,509.28 0.34 - 0 0 0 0 AIRLINES MEDVIEW AIRLINE PLC 15,796.05 1.62 - 0 0 0 0 AUTOMOBILE/AUTO PART RETAILERS R T BRISCOE PLC. 247.03 0.21 - 0 0 0 0 COURIER/FREIGHT/DELIVERY RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 2,623.26 4.45 - 5 11,200 464.16 0.99 - 1 6,750 TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. 6 17,950 HOSPITALITY TANTALIZERS PLC 642.33 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 HOTELS/LODGING CAPITAL HOTEL PLC 4,259.15 2.75 - 0 0 IKEJA HOTEL PLC 2,328.25 1.12 - 9 55,864 TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. 7,862.53 3.50 - 0 0 TRANSCORP HOTELS PLC 41,042.18 5.40 - 2 4,820 11 60,684 MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC 4,320.00 0.36 - 0 0 0 0 PRINTING/PUBLISHING ACADEMY PRESS PLC. 223.78 0.37 - 1 48 LEARN AFRICA PLC 964.31 1.25 - 8 175,426 STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. 1,183.82 1.99 - 1 8,000 UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. 504.75 1.17 - 2 10,000 12 193,474

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46

Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 20 December 2019

BUSINESS DAY

47

Live @ The Exchanges Market Statistics as at Thursday 19 December 2019

Top Gainers/Losers as at Thursday 19 December 2019 LOSERS

GAINERS

Company

Opening

Closing

Change

N115.3

N112.5

-2.8

UPDCREIT

N3.65

N3.3

-0.35

UACN

N8.75

N8.6

-0.15

0.12

ACCESS

N9.9

N9.8

-0.1

0.07

INTBREW

N9.5

N9.4

-0.1

Company

Opening

Closing

Change

GUARANTY

N29.5

N30

0.5

MTNN

GLAXOSMITH

N5.25

N5.75

0.5

N37

N37.2

0.2

N2.08

N2.2

N2.3

N2.37

STANBIC FIDELITYBK UCAP

ASI (Points) DEALS (Numbers) VOLUME (Numbers) VALUE (N billion) MARKET CAP (N Trn)

26,584.45 2,690.00 304,214,729.00 3.148

Global market indicators FTSE 100 Index 7,573.82GBP +33.07+0.44%

Nikkei 225 23,864.85JPY -69.58-0.29%

S&P 500 Index 3,202.20USD +11.06+0.35%

Deutsche Boerse AG German Stock Index DAX 13,211.96EUR -10.20-0.08%

Generic 1st ‘DM’ Future 28,362.00USD +81.00+0.29%

Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index 3,017.07CNY +0.02+0.00%

12.832

Stock Exchange lists additional 31.5m shares of Stanbic IBTC worth N1.2bn

T

Timipre Sylva, The Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum resources, (second from the left) flanked on his left chairman Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, ABC Orjiako; chief executive officer, SEPLAT, Austin Avuru; and to his left, chief financial officer and CEO Designate, SEPLAT, Roger Brown, during Seplat Petroleum’s courtesy call to the minister

MTNN, others drag stock market southwards Stories by Iheanyi Nwachukwu

T

he Nigerian equities market closed negative on Thursday December 19 supporting earlier expectations that the market will remain bearish this week due to continued sell-offs.

The disappointing outing at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) was fuelled among others by decline in prices of MTNN, UPDC REIT, UACN, Access Bank, and International Breweries Plc. “We expect equity market performance to remain volatile for the rest of the week as bargain hunters and profit takers continue to visit the exchange,” according to

research analysts at United Capital Plc. “A mid-session decline in MTNN cemented the loss for the All Share Index (ASI) while the session was generally mixed otherwise”, said Lagos-based analysts at Vetiva Securities.

They expect investors to carefully hunt for bargains on certain stocks which depreciated in Thursday’s session, adding that activity in the market heavyweights will ultimately determine the direction of the ASI. As such, they foresee a mild recovery for the Nigerian bourse on Friday.

The NSE All Share Index (ASI) moved down by 0.30percent from a preceding day high of 26,665.73 points to 26,584.45 points.

The value of listed equities on the Bourse decreased to

N12.83trillion.

In 2,690 deals, equity dealers exchanged 304,214,729 units valued at N3.148billion.

Access Bank, Zenith Bank, FCMB, GTBank and Fidelity Bank were actively traded equities.

The market has gained 0.18percent this week, but has decreased by 1.55percent this month, and 15.42percent year-to-date (ytd).

The record negative further raises concerns on the possibility of Santa Claus rally that involves a rise in stock prices during the last 5 trading days in December and the first 2 trading days in the following January.

The stocks of MTN N recorded the highest price decline on Thursday December 19. It decreased from N115.3 to N112.5, losing N2.8 or

2.43percent. UPDC REIT also decreased from a high of N3.65 to N3.3, losing 35kobo or 9.59percent.

UACN Plc was also down from N8.75 to N8.6, losing 15kobo or 1.71percent, while Access Bank Plc declined from N9.9 to N9.8, losing 10kobo or 1.01percent.

GTBank Plc stock price rallied most, from N29.5 to N30, after adding 50kobo or 1.69percent, followed

by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc which advanced from N5.25 to N5.75, adding 50kobo or 9.52percent.

The share price of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc moved up from N37 to N37.2, after rising by 20kobo or 0.54percent, and Fidelity Bank Plc which rose from N2.08 to N2.2, adding 12kobo or 5.77percent.

Shareholders approve Forte Oil name change to Ardova

T

he shareholders of Forte Oil Plc at the company’s Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) approved that the name of the company be changed from Ardova Plc. Ignite Investments had on June 24, 2019 acquired

970,166,694 ordinary shares representing a 74.02percent equity stake in Forte Oil from Zenon Petroleum & Gas Limited, Thames Investment Incorporated and Femi Otedola, for a cash consideration of N66.25 per share.

The acquisition was conwww.businessday.ng

summated following the execution of a share purchase agreement between Ignite Investments, Zenon Petroleum, Thames Investment and Femi Otedola, and the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Recently, Ignite Investments and Commodities Limited through a mandatory take over acquired up to 500,000 ordinary shares in Forte Oil Plc at N66.25 per share, which now makes its equity holdings in Forte Oil up to a maximum of 74.06percent.

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he Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has listed Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc’s additional 31,515,400 ordinary shares of 50 kobo. The additional shares valued at N1.16billion considering the N37 which the stock closed on Wednesday December 18.

With this listing of 31,515,400 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid up shares of the Company has now increased from 10,473,451,958 to 10,504,967,358 ordinary shares.

Dealing members were notified on Thursday December 19, 2019 that the shares listed on the Daily Official List of the Nigerian Stock Exchange arose as a result of the Scrip Dividend offered to eligible shareholders of Stanbic IBTC Holdings.

The shareholders had elected to receive ordinary shares in lieu of cash dividends with respect to the N1 final dividend declared for the half year (H1) ended June 30, 2019.

The N37 per share

which Stanbic IBTC Holdings closed after Wednesday’s trading on the floor of the Bourse represents year-to-date (ytd) decline of 22.8percent. The stock had reached a 52-week high of N53.25 and a corresponding week low of N33.

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc posted a profit of N36 billion for the half-year which ended June 30, 2019 and rewarded shareholders with an interim dividend of N10.2 billion at 100 kobo per share.

“We remain committed to operating to the highest level of corporate governance standards while delivering sustainable longterm value to clients and other stakeholders through worldclass innovative operations and our customercentric approach,” Yinka Sanni, Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc had assured. According to him, the Group’s achievements are an indication that its strategy is delivering on set goals and objectives.

ASHON says capital market opens multiple income streams for operators

T

he Nigerian capital market is believed to have opened up multiple options for securities dealers in Nigeria as stockbrokers await the take-off of demutualisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The Capital Market boasts of FMDQ Securities Exchange, a full-fledged exchange and the NASD OTC Plc for unlisted securities. Besides, the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) is expected to commence operations soon as a Pan African Exchange among others.

Oyinyechukwu Ezeagu, Chairman, Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), described the development as heartwarming, saying that it had brought multiple income streams to stockbrokers’ table.

“The new trend in the financial market is that opera-

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tors have multiple options for professional practice.

These go along with multiple income streams on the table of market operators.

We are looking at a broad range of markets and the readiness of operators to participate in these markets. “We have seen an expansion in fixed income investments, in Government Securities and renewed interests in the Commodities Market. The listing of two telecommunications companies excited the market within the year”, said Ezeagu.

According to him, equity market represents the market of the real owners of the firm, taking into consideration the features of the theoretical common stock and the performance of the equity market in Nigeria is not different from its worldwide nature of performance.

Women in Business

BUSINESS DAY Friday 20 December 2019

By Kemi Ajumobi

www.businessday.ng

Celestina Nkechi Eke

Chizor Malize

Head, technical, Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH)

Managing director/CEO, Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC)

C

elestina Nkechi Eke was born in Oguta, Imo State to the family of Alphonsus Ukachukwu from Oguta Ameshi in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State. She started her educational pursuit at Oguta Primary School, Imo State. Thereafter, she proceeded to Federal Government Girls’ College Gusau, Zamfara State where she wrote her SSSC. Subsequently, she enrolled into Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda, Zamfara State, to study Quantity Surveying and obtained Ordinary National Diploma (OND) In addition, she obtained a certificate in Computer Science from Business Solution International, Kano. She was admitted into Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna State, to study Quantity Surveying and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree.

She had her mandatory National Youths Service Corps in Abuja, where she served as a Quantity Surveyor in the Maintenance Unit at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Celestina gained admission into the University of Calabar, where she obtained Masters in Business Administration. Furthermore, she proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where she obtained another Master’s degree in Facility Management and later went to the Glasgow Caledonian University for her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Construction Management with specialisation in Public Private Partnership (PPP).

Celestina has worked in different capacities. Her career spanned through the Banking Industry, Project Management, Facilities Management and Administration and all aspects of construction/infrastructure business and practice. She served twice as a Council Member of the Nigeria Institute of Quantity Surveyors, first as a co-opted member of the Institute and later as a Secretary Marketing and Corporate Affairs. She was the pioneer Treasurer of the National Executive of Women Association of Quantity Surveyors of Nigeria.

She also served in various capacities with the First Bank of Nigeria Limited. Some of her duties with the Bank include: Quantity Surveyor/Project Officer at the Head Office and General Services Manager at Abuja. Others are: Relationship Manager in Public Sector Group at Maitama and Central Business District, Abuja respectively.

She rose to become the General Services Manager of the Bank. She served in the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria. She worked at the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, where she was seconded to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation as the Head, Technical Division.

Celestina has written articles in professional journals. Some of these are: “Quantity Surveying: A Reforming Cost Control Profession” (The Quantity Surveyor, 55(2),3-8 (2007) and “Overview of Quantity Surveyors Role in Engineering Infrastructure Projects” (NIQS 2006 Biennial Conference Calabar Nigeria 22-25 November, 2006).

She has attended numerous workshops, conferences and seminars both within and outside Nigeria. Some of these include: Contemporary issues in the City and the Built Environment, Kenya; International Congress for Quantity Surveyors, South Africa; 3rd Triennial General Assembly (Africa Association of Quantity Surveyors (AAQS), to mention a few Celestina is a Member of the working committee of Women in Management, Business and Public Service, Abuja. She is a Fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Quantity Surveyors and equally has certifications from other professional bodies, including: Fellow of Society of Construction Industry Arbitrators (FSCIarb); Certified Facility Management Professional (FMP); Professional Member, Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM); Associate Member, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN); and Member, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

Others are: Member, Project Management Institute (PMI); Associate member, Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ); and Member, National Association of Home Builders of United States (NAHB).

She is presently undergoing a ten months training at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies Kuru, Jos for the award of Member National Institute (MNI).

She is happily married to Prince Ifeanyi Anthony Eke, a Realtor from Lokpanta in Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State and blessed with two children.

Her hobbies are traveling, reading and meeting people.

C

hizor is the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC).

FITC was established in 1981 as a Limited by Guarantee not for profit professional services organisation, based on the Company’s Act of 1968. It was created in response to the recommendations of the Pius Okigbo Committee, which was setup by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1976, to review the Nigerian financial system. FITC’s Institutional Members are members of the Nigerian Banker’s Committee, comprises of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and all licensed banks in Nigeria.

Chizor has over two decades of professional experience that cuts across marketing, business process re-engineering, market growth strategy, reputation management and business consulting.

She has led various strategic and transformational projects in the financial services sector, local and international, in strategy, product marketing, electronic banking, retail, wholesale, private banking and brand repositioning. Her financial services experience spans several institutions such as Valucard Nigeria Plc, Standard Trust Bank/United Bank for Africa and Access Bank Nigeria Plc. She launched and managed several of these Nigerian financial institutions in 8 African countries and the United Kingdom.

Prior to assuming the role at FITC, Chizor was a Founding Partner and CEO at Brandzone Consulting LLC. She led the firm’s Consulting practice serving major international and indigenous organisations of repute while creating thought leadership to advance businesses. She has been a mentor to a number of new ventures and advisor to Executives.

“Brandzone Consulting LLC, is a globally inspired multidisciplinary brand consulting firm founded on the premise to help organisations creatively and innovatively align their branding and marketing strategy to their business goals and objectives. Brandzone helps organisations realize their full potentials of their brands.

This is done by creating world-class solutions in Branding, Communications, and Digital/New Media. Brandzone has built and managed some of the most innovative brands in the local and international busi-

ness community”. Says Chizor On the importance of branding, she says “Branding helps for differentiation, quality and competitiveness, increased sales, revenue and profitability. I am sure every business wants to be successful at these, small or big alike”. Malize reveals.

Malize is big on mentorship. In her words, “Mentoring relationship involves two parties who work together and cooperatively for the development of one of the parties.

They often meet regularly to exchange ideas, discuss and review progress and set goals for further development. I have benefitted tremendously from this process and I currently mentor a large pool of young females across my different spheres.

To young female entrepreneurs, she admonishes “Take time out to put together a well-researched business plan.

That step provided me the right insight and details for a winning strategy. Focus is key and critical.”

Chizor holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) with specialization in Marketing. She is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), London and Chartered Institute of Marketing, Nigeria. She is an Executive Education Alumna of the London Business School, UK and the Columbia University, New York, United States.

She is a recipient of Marketing and Leadership awards. She won the award for Marketing Personality of the year 2016 and the African Leadership Excellence Award 2017. She was recently nominated

by REBRAND™ USA, as a Jury Board member on the REBRAND 100® Global Awards Board, the only member from Africa, amongst the world’s top global business leaders, business strategists and designers. She sits on the Executive Council of Women in Management, Business and Public service (WIMBIZ), a non-profit organisation, that has impacted over 100,000 women in business, management and leadership in Nigeria.

Chizor is a prolific and respected international speaker. She has developed and facilitated several training courses in reputable institutions such as Lagos Business School, Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), and BrandPlatform Academy. She is passionate about impact, enterprise and family.

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