BusinessDay 22 Sep 2020

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news you can trust I ** TUESDAY 22 september 2020 I vol. 19, no 655

Crude Oil $41.25

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N300

Market

₦ 5,068,630.07 -1.40

Foreign Exchange

Buy

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I&E FX Window CBN Official Rate as at September 17, 2020

ntb

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MTN Nigeria plc CP

386.00 379.00

0.30 1.71

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

4.63

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9.00

7.87

8.86

11.08

6m 12m 24-feb-21 25-Aug-21 403.75

420.81

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60m 36m 30-aug-23 27- aug-25 498.32

590.10

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All On signs $1.5m plant expansion deal with Auxano Solar ISAAC ANYAOGU

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ll On, a Shell-funded impact investment company, has announced a $1.5-million investment in Auxano Solar Nigeria Limited, one of the biggest solar panel assembly plants in Nigeria, to scale its operations over the next five years.

“This investment would guarantee the expansion of Auxano’s solar panel assembly capac-

tics by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have eroded the high returns on savings and investments, and an additional burden to Africa’ most populous country faced with the double challenge of Covid-19 and lower oil prices.

Described by analysts to mean negative return on savings and investment in real Continues on page 30

Dangote Cement plc

*NTB - Nigerian Treasury Bills; *CP - Commercial Paper

How risk of Nigeria’s artificially low interest rates exceeds policy gain imed at diverting liquidity away from r i s k- f re e i n s t r u ments to the real sector, Nigeria’s lowinterest rate policy may have achieved its purpose but its side effect could mean more challenges for Nigeria’s already troubled economy.

The financial repression tac-

0.23

3m 2m 28-oct-20 25-nov-20 392.38 395.23

FINANCIAL REPRESSION SERIES

Endurance Okafor & Mercy Ayodele

FGN

Spot ($/N) 25-Feb-21 5-Mar-21 23-Jul-30 30-Apr-25 20-May-27 27-Feb-34

$-N 450.00 465.00 1m £-N 580.00 600.00 Currency Futures 30-sept-20 389.54 €-N 515.00 545.00 ($/N)

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Benchmark Sovereign & Corporate Bonds

Afolabi Akinrogunde (r), All On Investment manager, and Chuks Umezulora, co-founder/COO, Auxano Solar.

Continues on page 31

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Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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PTF confirms release of N1bn each to 32 states to fight COVID-19 …urges more testing, says relaxation could spike cases again HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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he Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19 said on Monday that 32 states across the country received N1 billion each from the Federal Government to support the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The task force also said that the Federal Government has laid out procedures on how the funds should be spent.

Boss Mustafa, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), and chairman of the PTF, who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja, also informed that the Federal Government had earlier supported Lagos and Kano States with N10 billion and N5 billion, respectively.

While two states may not have received the monetary support, the PTF was, however, silent on the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The presidential taskforce expressed concerns over the failure of Nigerians to embrace testing, saying that there were 69 accredited NCDC laboratories where people could

walk in and get tested free of charge across the country.

The PTF further raised concerns that non-conformity to non-pharmaceutical interventions as prescribed by the NCDC and the World Health Organisation could see Nigeria fall back to the earlier stage of the virus in the country.

“The numbers are going down but the virus is not going away. We must test more. We’re not convinced we are flattening the curve.

People need to test more.

Sani Aliyu, the national coordinator of the PTF urged Nigerians to go for test in accredited laboratories across the country.

“Covid-19 tests in Nigeria are free unless you’re testing for the purpose for travelling. No public laboratories can charge for Covid-19 test at the moment and payment applies to only private laboratories.

“Those with symptoms of cough, loss of smell, or you have come in contact with a positive person should go for testing.

“Also, consider testing if you are among the vulnerable groups, particularly

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if you are above the age of 60 years or you have an underlining conditions or also looking after someone who has Covid-19 or has exposed yourself.”

He observed, however, that less than 50 percent of Nigerians say they would get tested if they have exposed themselves to coronavirus. This according to him, is a worrying number for the government, noting that, “what this suggests is that there may be a large number of persons who may be positive without knowing it.”

Speaking further, he said, “we’ve released money to the state governments, which each state government was given a billion naira which is for the purpose of driving the Covid-19 responses and we are urging them to priortise testing in addition for the surveillance activities of the Covid-19.”

The PTF confirmed that Over 1000 persons have regrettably died in Nigeria from the virus, and urged those who have had personal experience with the pandemic to assist in the advocacy against the spread of the virus.

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BUSINESS DAY

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Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

NEWS

Businesses groan as poor infrastructure increases cost, erodes revenue CHUKA UROKO

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s rain continues to fall with increasing intensity and causing inconveniences everywhere, businesses in some parts of Lagos are lamenting over the worsening condition of roads infrastructure in the metropolis, leaving them with increased operational cost and reduced revenue.

As a coastal city, Lagos is easily flooded and when this happens, it does not spare the roads which get destroyed and rendered impassable.

This leads to traffic congestion that affects businesses as much time is wasted in trying to get out of the mess that heavy traffic situation usually becomes in Lagos.

Highbrow neighbourhoods too have their own share of roads in deplorable condition. This is par-

ticularly so in Lekki and some parts of Victoria Island. Oniru, also called Upper Victoria Island, stands out here. Oniru is home to many businesses including banks, hotels and many blue chip industries/companies.

“This is a major tourism axis but the roads, especially Corporation Road, which has become dilapidated and requires the attention of government,” noted Paul Onwuanibe, CEO, Landmark Africa Group, adding that the road becomes virtually impassable during holiday seasons with up to 4-hour traffic over less than 2 kilometres.

Landmark Africa Group is the developer of the expansive Landmark Village.

The Village is a mixed-use development. According to the developers, the development is one stop shop for living, working and leisure.

Onwuanibe told BusinessDay in an interview that the deplorable state of the road inhibits access

to their businesses, convention venue, beach and hotel, pointing out that this situation has impacted their revenues negatively.

“Recently, this became a huge impediment to medical operations when Covid-19 emergency response hospital was set up at Landmark in April 2020,” he noted, pointing out that the road is a key alternative route for Lekki inbound traffic with upwards of 20,000 vehicles a day.

Because of the state of the road, he said, vehicle break-down was frequent which further adds to the terrible traffic situation.

He disclosed that Landmark had spent a huge amount of money on maintaining the road. “Landmark has, over the past couple of years, spent upwards of N300 million in spot repairs, lighting and landscaping of the road,” he revealed, adding that road users have street vendors, area boys and one- waydriving to contend with.

COVID-19 not excuse for government to fail citizens - Sanwo-Olu JOSHUA BASSEY

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overnor Babajide Sanwo-Olu says the ravaging Covid-19 though impacting the economy is not an excuse to fail on the promises made to the citizens at the outset of his administration.

The Lagos governor spoke on Monday at the flag-off of a two-day ministerial performance review retreat organised for top state government functionaries, saying his administration was stepping up the tempo of governance through innovative and inclusive policies.

Sanwo-Olu said fulfilling the promises in line with the T.H.E.M.E.S agenda for ‘Greater Lagos’ would be delivered despite reduction in the budget as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I want to assure that despite disruption occasioned

by Covid-19 and other challenges that we did not envisage, we remain committed as a government to fulfilling the promises we made to people knowing fully that no excuse will be tenable to our citizens.

“We must be determined to step forward, heighten the tempo of governance and continue to create opportunities through innovative policies that are not only inclusive, but provide sustainable solutions for this present administration and lay foundation for future administrations coming behind us.”

Sanwo-Olu implored members of the state executive council and other public office holders, to be committed to his administration’s effort towards meeting the yearnings and aspirations of the citizens.

He added: “Let me emphasise that our yardstick

for performance assessment will not be based majorly on the amount of money expended or budget but the outcome of our various interventions that we have had; what measures the impact that touched the lives of citizens that we swore to serve.

“One of the promises we made at the inception of our administration and in line with the principle of continuity was to ensure the completion of projects that were inherited from the last administration. A significant part of our efforts and resources was devoted towards fulfilling this promise and taking government to another level.”

His deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, also speaking at the retreat which held in Ikeja, said the administration in the last one year and four months, has kept faith with its T.H.E.M.E.S agenda.

UUBO focuses on corporate governance at 3rd webinar series IFEOMA OKEKE

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do Udoma & BeloOsagie (UUBO) in collaboration with its Investigations, Compliance and Ethics (ICE) team focused on leveraging corporate governance to build successful businesses at the 3rd session of its September webinar series.

At the webinar, experts suggested that the best way to build successful businesses and prevent corporate espionage is to imbibe corporate governance in the day to day activities of organisations.

Speaking during the 3rd session of its September series webinar organised by

Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie (UUBO) in collaboration with its Investigations, Compliance and Ethics (ICE) Team, David Olatunji, founder, David Olatunji Leadership Academy, (DOLA) said good governance was at the heart of every successful business.

Olatunji stated that good governance was no longer just a strategy or a culture but now the minimum requirement for sustainability especially for the future of the business.

He explained that ethical lapses and dilemmas were one of the root causes of many problems that corporate management face today, adding that ethics has become a very key issue in corporate governwww.businessday.ng

ance globally.

Olatunji mentioned that ethics, risk management, compliance and administration are all elements of good governance and the four pillars of corporate governance include accountability, transparency, responsibility and fairness.

Udo Udoma & BeloOsagie ICE September Series runs every Wednesday in the month of September. Two sessions have already been held which addressed topics on crisis management, investigations and enforcement and played host to Yomi BadejoOkusanya, Toyin Sanni, Geoff Nicholas, Ben Haley and a host of others as speakers. https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

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Tuesday 22 September 2020

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Naira stable as 5,090 BDCs await $50.9m from CBN Tuesday …as apex bank changes BDCs dollar allocation days HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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igeria’s currency was stable on Monday traded N465 to the dollar on the black market as 5,090 Bureau De Change (BDC) operators await $50.9 million allocation from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday.

The CBN has changed the dollar purchase days for BDCs to Tuesdays and Thursdays from Mondays and Wednesdays, Aminu Gwadabe, president, National Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) confirmed to BusinessDay. What this means is that BDCs are going to be funding their accounts on Mondays and Wednesdays. The CBN had in August 27, 2020 circular said the purchase of foreign exchange by BDCs shall be on Mondays, and Wednesdays in the first instance. The BDCs are to ensure that their accounts with the banks are duly

funded with the equivalent Naira proceeds on Fridays and Tuesdays accordingly.

The local currency was also stable at N465 at the BDC segment of the foreign exchange market on Monday according to data from abokifx. Investigations show that while currency traders across Lagos parallel markets buy dollars from individuals at between N460 and N461, they sell at N465 to the end-users.

At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window, naira signalled appreciation by N0.22k as the market opened with an indicative rate of N386.15k on Monday from N386.37k opened with on Friday, data from the FMDQ said.

The daily forex turnover declined further by 4.43 percent to $83.35 million on Friday from $87.78 million recorded on Thursday at the I&E forex window.

Naira has remained stable at N386.00 per dollar for the fifth consecutive day at the I&E window.

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Analysts at FSDH research said most participants maintained bids between N380.00 and N391.99 per dollar. Moreover, the CBN is still battling to clear the huge backlog of FX demand, especially by foreign investors wishing to repatriate their funds.

The foreign exchange market has witnessed dollar shortages since early this year as a result of sharp drop in oil prices, which accounts for about 90 percent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings and low inflows from remittances due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The price of Brent crude, which has fallen to below $20 per barrel in March 2020 is gradually recovering as it stood at $41.25 per barrel as at September 21, 2020.

The CBN resumed dollar sales to BDCs on Monday September 7, 2020 and had supplied over $200 million to the BDCs. The apex bank sells $10,000 twice weekly to this segment of the foreign exchange market.

LCCI calls for operationalisation of CAMA Act GBEMI FAMINU

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he Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called for the prompt virtual and physical publication of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 in order to commence full operation of dictates provided in the Act. According to a public statement signed by Muda Yusuf, director-general of the chambers, six weeks after the approval of the CAMA 2020 Act by President Muhammadu Buhari, the document is yet to be made available to the business community and the general

public, an action which has hindered the implementation of the provisions of the Act as they benefit the business community.

Yusuf added that in line with technological advancement and digital revolution practices, the document should have been uploaded on necessary websites like the Federal Government and the National Assembly which would have activated its enactment “Six weeks after, the legislation is yet to be gazetted.

The implication of this is that the formal copy of the law is not yet available to the public and therefore the law cannot be operationalised. This is yet

another example of how bureaucratic bottlenecks could impede the progress of an economy, These are activities anchored on the new legislation.

Additionally, the regulations that ought to be issued by the Corporate Affairs Commission on account of the new legislation have equally been stalled because there is no formal document to act upon.”

Yusuf said.

He said it is necessary that the government aligns with the order of the electronic governance and also leverage on the use of technology which has also been imposed by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic as a new normal.

Hamzat lauds XHS’ contribution to education in Lagos INIOBONG IWOK

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bafemi Hamzat, deputy governor of Lagos State has expressed lauded the management of XHS Nigeria Limited for consistent delivery of quality equipment and solutions to the Lagos examination board in the last 14 years, saying this has enhanced the productivity of the state board.

Hamzat, however, encour-

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aged the XHS team to keep up and sustain the good work.

The deputy governor gave the commendation when the management XHS Nigeria visited him in Ikeja, led by the MD/CEO, Femi Okunade on the firm’s effort at delivering 21st century smart office solutions to Lagos state.

Hamzat expressed the readiness of the government to partner with the company and encouraged Okunade to meet and propose solutions

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that will be beneficial to the state through the commissioner for science and technology, Hakeem Popoola Fahm and his team.

Okunade expressed his team’s gratitude to the state government for giving XHS Nigeria the privilege to share in its responsibility of executing the state T.H.E.M.E.S. agenda by providing print management solutions to the MDAs to support e-governance and enhance productivity.

Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Ethical portrait of the Nigerian health sector Rukayat Baderinwa

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ost people are familiar with the Hippocratic Oath - an oath of ethics upheld by medical doctors in almost all parts of the world. But not many are familiar with the specific ethical components health care workers are expected to uphold. Principlism is one of such ethical frameworks. It encompasses four major principles: The principle of autonomy; principle of beneficence; principle of nonmaleficence and the principle of Justice.

The principle of autonomy upholds that patients should have authority over the health intervention or care they receive. This is why in high risk interventions; health care workers have to get an express written informed consent from their patients. The principle of beneficence, on the other hand insists that health care givers must in their practice only do that which is considered of benefit to their patients’ wellbeing. Similarly, the principle of nonmaleficence stands on the proclamation of “primum non nocere” which means “first, do no harm”.

It obligates health care givers to not inflict harm on their patients as a result of inappropriate, inadequate or absent care. The principle of justice obligates fairness on the part of health workers.

It speaks to the rights of patients in their interactions with the health system. Basically, all patients have equal rights and health resources should be distributed among them equally. This also means that patients should be able to seek redress and compensation when a health care worker causes some form of harm (whether intentionally or not) to the patient.

At this juncture, I am sure you are

as curious as I am to know how the Nigerian health sector fairs with regards to these four principles. I believe it is important to state for the benefit of non-locals that the average Nigerian does not consider the existence and implications of these ethical principles and are grateful when their health care workers show up!

Back to the question. How does Nigeria fair? This question was the crux of a recent research (2020) commissioned by the Christopher Kolade Centre for Research in Leadership and Ethics- a research Centre at Lagos Business School.

Through a survey of both health care professionals and health care users, the researchers aimed to ascertain just how well these ethical principles are upheld by medical practitioners in Nigeria.

It will please you to know that the findings were not as bad as one would have thought. Overall healthcare workers recognize these ethical principles: Autonomy Most of the respondents were of the opinion that healthcare workers do uphold & allow the autonomy of their patients. However, more than a quarter of the respondents did not even believe they had the rights to such autonomy.

And of those who did, more than half of them still felt their health care professionals should have the final say in their health decisions. Such over reliance and dependence while not totally farfetched (afterall ‘the practice of medicine is rooted in a covenant of trust among patients, physicians, and society’) is still somewhat disturbing especially in Nigeria, where the health system is such that patients need to act as their own advocate. There have been known cases where doctors act not necessarily in the best interest of their patients.

Individual patients have to know that they have a level of responsibility to themselves as regards their health.

So, even though you trust and should trust your health care professional - do not forget that they are humans, humans with flaws and prone to errors. At every stage of any health intervention you

should and have the right to be aware of your health and health interventions. As a popular adage in my culture goes “oju meiji, o le dabi oju te ni”. Remember, you are first and foremost your own advocate.

Beneficence On the principle of beneficence - respondents were almost unanimous in their response that healthcare workers do their best to ensure their health and wellbeing. This certainly speaks to why most believed their healthcare workers should have the final say in their health decisions. If you believe your doctor has your best interest at heart you are more likely to submit your personal agency to him/her. However, this is contradicted by findings from the research, as you will see in the next paragraph on nonmaleficence.

Nonmaleficence The findings showed that about a third of respondents (healthcare users) had experienced some form of harm while dealing with their health care providers.

It is important to note that this observation cuts across users of both public and private hospitals, as it is often assumed that private hospitals are less likely to be involved in issues of maleficence.

Among all the indicators of maleficence recorded in the study, perhaps the most alarming was the proportion (11 percent) of respondents who indicated that they had been treated by a medical practitioner under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicants. In addition, more than quarter of the respondents indicated that professionals had taken advantage of their health situation in one way or the other to advance their own interest.

The healthcare providers surveyed in the research also affirmed this noting that it is not unusual for practitioners to advance a treatment plan - that may not necessarily be the best for the patient (in terms of finance, duration) but holds the best outcome for the practitioners.

Needless to say, this is totally unacceptable. Under no condition should a health practitioner attend to a patient under the influence of alcohol or any intoxicating substance. Similarly, treatment plans should be based solely on that which

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Over 20 percent of the health practitioners surveyed clearly stated they had no confidence health breaches even when reported will be acted upon adequately and for this reason a fraction of them indicate they do not bother to report instances of misconduct by their colleagues

Note: the rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https://businessday.ng This article was adapted from the Ethical Portraits of the Nigerian Health Sector Report originally written by Dr. Yetunde Anibaba. It has been adapted by Rukayat Baderinwa for the Christopher Kolade Centre for Research in Leadership and Ethics (CKCRLE) at Lagos Business School (LBS). CKCRLE’s vision is creating and sharing knowledge that improves the way managers lead and live in Africa and the World. You can contact CKCRLE at crle@lbs. edu.ng

Working from home in Lagos: What you need to know

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had to meet timelines, no story, no excuse, no support. I realised there are many more ways to do the same thing.” This comment, by a respondent in recent survey, summarises the challenges and advantages faced while working from home during the one-month lockdown in Lagos.

The COVID-19 pandemic made many organisations rethink remote work. For the sixweek period of the lockdown employees had to work from home. Now, working from home is no longer considered impossible.

The lockdown which was enforced to contain the spread of the virus took organisations by surprise and left them no choice but to run their businesses remotely. Majority of them were unprepared.

After the lockdown was eased in Lagos many organisations are wondering if working from home is the new way.

Little was known about the challenges and advantages of working from home. The results from a survey Danne conducted shows: what made employees productive while working from home; preference for remote work after the pandemic and what companies must keep in mind if they decide to adopt working from home as a policy.

Staying online, on schedule and undistracted Stable internet access was the biggest challenge for workers in Lagos during the lockdown.

It was the culprit of working overtime (poor power supply, unscheduled meetings, fluid work hours, stretching into weekends).

Even when companies provided laptops and modem to ease internet connection while working from home.

Before the lockdown broadband 38 percent of internet subscribers in Nigeria were connected online through mobile broadband Unused to working from home, respondents said they had to learn how to keep to a timetable; it took a week to adjust to a routine. Training sessions to help their staff get used to working home were useful.

Respondents said distractions from spouses to children disrupted their work routine. Their worries about how the virus would affect their lives, loved ones, livelihoods and an economic downturn, finding a physical workspace e.g. office equipment from seats to light and documents and lack of physical communication and social interaction with colleagues were among the challenges of working from home.

WfH beats traffic stress, cost and time “My daily commute is almost five hours; it was amazing not to have to do that” a respondent said. Spared the horror of going through traffic for four to six hours daily was the major advantage of working from home. Traffic in Lagos is a terror. It costs money, time and causes plenty stress.

Notoriously hectic Lagos, which was ranked the third most stressful cities in the world in a 2017 by Zipjet, an online dry-cleaning service, based on traffic levels, transport, physical and mental health etc, calmed down during the lockdown. Fewer cars were on the roads as most worked from home. This change in the

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Danne Institute for Research

frenetic and energy-sapping traffic of Lagos was dramatic.

Lagosians are spending more time at home than at the office or at public gatherings, according to the Google Community Mobility report for August. The report tracks relative changes in mobility (number of people as well as time spent at home) before COVID-19 disruptions like the lockdown and afterwards.

Long commute time is denying Lagos of productive hours “Gruelling”, “a major challenge” is how some respondents describe traffic in Lagos, but they were able to do more working from home for four weeks.

Because they worked from home, they had better control over time. Some (30 percent) said flexible work hours and schedule was a benefit of working remotely. It allowed for more time with the family; “an opportunity to build a stronger relationship with family which improved family interactions.”

Some (8 percent) said they were more productive. They said working calmly from home after a restful night, with no need to wake up at insane times to beat the traffic and at their own pace without pressure from their boss helped them focus and meet deadlines.

Workers want to keep working from home An overwhelming majority (98 percent) of those asked if they would like to work from home in the future said yes. Less than half (42 percent) said they would like it sometimes and over half said they said would like to work from home at least twice a week.

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is best for the patients. The pecuniary benefits of the practitioner should never be a factor.

Unfortunately, practitioners who commit this sort of atrocities hardly face any redress/repercussion. It will interest you to know that the body responsible for reviewing cases of medical malpractice in Nigeria (the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN) did not have a governing council for a very long time. This meant practitioners facing disciplinary actions during that period continued to work without any consequence for their actions.

Justice This brings us to the last and final principle - Principle of Justice. As earlier stated, this principle prescribes that health practitioners treat all patients equally without regard to status or any other such considerations. Findings from the study indicate that practitioners are mostly fair in this regard. The healthcare system however makes it such that quality healthcare is out of reach for many individuals.

Speaking to our earlier discussion on seeking redress, although many of the respondents affirmed that healthcare breaches should be reported, more than half had no idea whom to report to and more importantly over 47 percent of the respondents did not trust that anything will be done. This is also evidenced by responses from Healthcare practitioners who participated in the study.

Some respondents said they get more done working from home. They also noted other advantages such as focus, balance, higher productivity and deep work. As one respondent said, “Traffic is a major challenge in Lagos. If I am able to achieve 80 percent of my work without physically being in the office then why not.”

The survey in numbers 461 respondents 37 percent were between 37 years and 50 years (mostly generation M i.e. born between 1971 and 1983), followed by generation Y, those born between 1984 and 1996) More than half (51 percent) had a Masters degree, 35 percent were mid-level managers 6 out 10 of them said they were married, more than half (51 percent) said they had children in school 40 percent were anxious the effect of coronavirus on them and their family 30 percent were unprepared to work from home Work from home essentials: laptop, internet & a generator 70 percent said working from saved them time and money.

The article is based on a survey by Danne Institute for Research. The institute conducts studies on strengthening institutions, developing leaders & sustaining change in Africa

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Democracy, in whose interest

The article you are about to read was first published in this column on August 30, 2016. Please read on Liberal Minded

MA JOHNSON

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or several years, I have been pondering on Nigeria’s democracy, opportunities and challenges it has brought to the nation in the past twenty years (1999-2019). In theory, the opportunities far outweigh the challenges. But in practice, the challenges are numerous and complex. Perhaps, that is why political scientists always say that democracy is a very complex endeavor. Although democracy is a fallacy in practice, I love it more than any type of military rule.

This is because in a democracy, the people are supposed to keep the government in check. Provided however, the people know what the government is doing.

When Abraham Lincoln defines democracy as “the government of the people, by the people, for the people,” he was perhaps, referring to Western democracies. Lincoln’s definition of democracy doesn’t refer to democracies practiced by politicians of African genre.

In the 1990s, some commentators and analysts expressed some condescending perceptions about Africans in their paperwork. One of them by name, George Louis Beer, claims that the “black race has hitherto shown no capacity for progressive development except under the tutelage of other peoples.” As if he was enhancing this derogatory assertion, he affirms that Africans’ existing stage of civilization in the Twenty-first Century is far below the potentialities for progress.

Beer was not alone in these derogatory remarks about Africans. There were

other commentators and analysts who painted an apocalyptic portrait of African nations in the early 1990s because of the immense human tragedy that pervaded the continent at that time under assorted military regimes. Of particular reference, is the statement made by one Paul Johnson, who opines that “some states are not yet fit to govern themselves, and so the civilized world has a mission to go out to these desperate places and govern.” He suggests further that individual “civilized countries would serve under his proposal as trustees.” These offensive remarks are irritants to Africans who have the love of their countries at heart. For them, these remarks appear xenophobic, and outrageous. But are these individuals not correct?

Although, since Nigeria chose the path of democracy in 1999, there has been undulating progress made by successive governments in all areas of our national life. We thought with democracy, electoral processes will be strengthened. Rather than strengthen electoral processes, they are weakened by those who took an oath of office to defend the unity and uphold the honor and glory of the country.

Many Nigerians accepted democracy because they assumed wrongly though, that it would build bridges and not walls between the rich and the poor.

Our democracy has not given the poor any hope. Inflation and unemployment now make the poor more miserable. A visit to the backwaters of the country throughout the 36 states and 774 local government areas will expose the poor conditions of some roads. One would find out that most public health facilities are decaying just as many primary and secondary schools need urgent repairs and upgrades.

It was in 2014 that Nigerians aligned themselves with a few politicians that there was a need for change in governance as corruption and disregard for the rule of law were at their highest amplitudes. As you read this piece, corruption and disregard for the rule of

law still thrive in our society. That is why some analysts say Nigeria needs to be reformed politically and economically.

But I was quick to ask: “Where are the reformers?” They are very scarce in our society and I doubt if they currently are in the government.

The current economic challenges facing Nigeria today have been conceptualized, orchestrated and implemented since independence not by colonialists but by the political elites. I am aware that democracy alone will not solve all the problems of the nation with multiple ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds A careful study of current political and socio-economic challenges, gives an impression that the electorate was deceived with the “change” mantra in 2015. The masses fell for it. Even some Nigerians who knew these crops of politicians and their antecedents fell for their strategic deception during the 2019 general elections. I thought the primary question Nigerians should have asked politicians before going to the polls was that: whose values, beliefs, attitudes, or behavior would require change in order to have a progressive Nigeria.

Nigerians should have asked what shift in national priorities, resources, and power were necessary for development in the country? And what sacrifices would have to be made by whom, and for who, in order to actualize the desired change. We did not ask these questions. Thus, Nigerians missed the opportunity big time! After spending huge sums of money, Vision 20:2020 and the Economic and Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) have just been abandoned.

What an easy way of dumping a nation’s strategic plans. No one in the government deems it necessary to tell citizens what these plans achieved and what they did not realize as we look forward to Vision 2040.

The challenges Nigeria is currently facing are numerous and could better be solved when we have committed and sincere leaders at all levels of

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Nigerians should have asked what shift in national priorities, resources, and power were necessary for development in the country?

And what sacrifices would have to be made by whom, and for who, in order to actualize the desired change

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

The impact of COVID-19 on the real estate sector

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eal estate essentially refers to property that consists of land and or buildings in which resides some value of economic worth. The categories include residential, commercial or industrial depending on usage. It is a critical sector that caters to one of the most essential human needs – shelter, as well as being one of the largest employers of labour.

It is an extensive value chain of products and services that span - land acquisition, building materials production and distribution, building/construction workers and professionals, realtors and facilities managers, financial services and more.

Historically, the six decades of Real Estate Development in Nigeria has been a tale of abysmal shortage of supply to meet the huge demand her large population offers. According to the World Bank, Nigeria has an estimated population of 186million, with the “earning” age group 15 – 55 accounting for about 70 percent, and is projected to double over the next two decades. This has left the country with an estimated housing deficit of about 17million units at the moment. Ironically only about 100,000 units are reportedly being delivered by the industry annually. This is not only grossly inadequate, but in fact ends up increasing the gap, as the rate of population growth is far disproportionately higher than housing solutions being delivered.

Recently, indigenous developers have made visible and aggressive efforts to bridge this everincreasing gap of housing deficit. Government

budgetary allocations to the Housing Sector and direct private construction effort have both proven to be grossly inadequate in offering any impactful succor. The Managing Director of the country’s premier mortgage institution, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria puts the deficit at about 20million and growing.

COVID-19 Ironically, it was in this state of finding the way forward in this critical but troubled sector that the COVID-19 pandemic arrived with its disruptive force, compounding the challenges.

Like every other sector of the economy, real estate activities grounded to halt especially at the total lockdown stage of government directed response to the pandemic. Construction work stopped as staff and management of organizations were forced to stay at home. Site visit activities, letting, lease, sales and marketing efforts equally suffered the same fate.

As society enters the gradual ease of lockdown and the slow painful restart of the economy, several industry experts and watchers are still assessing the damage to the sector and what the emerging picture portends.

Proshare, a respected financial Information organisation opines that the industry had not fully recovered from the 2015-2016 recession, and that it indeed contracted at an average of -4.48 in the last 4years. This is prior to the extant Covid-19 turmoil.

Trends However, there seems to be a widely held belief that Real Estate is a latently resilient www.businessday.ng

sector that is capable of weathering the storm eventually. At the moment though, there is a lot of uncertainty and hesitation in the economy, which the sector shares – this has stalled several investment decisions.

The “new normal” of practicing social distancing, working and shopping from home has reduced the demand for office and commercial space. Even industrial spaces, like warehouses’ have been redundant because of the halt in import and international trade.

There is a noticeable dwindling in consumers’ income precipitated by job losses, pay cuts and the restriction on the larger population, who live on daily earnings to go out and work.

Losers Properties and facilities employed in the events, entertainment and hospitality industry is perhaps the most hit by the pandemic – hotels, restaurants, events hall, gyms, games and recreational centres, nightclubs and the likes – considered to be high risk zones for the spread of the pandemic, have been under lock and key, and will probably be the last sector of the economy to regain its ‘freedom’ from the involuntary quarantine. This otherwise lucrative and round the clock activity environment has not been able to do any business and earn income from their spaces.

Landlords and asset owners are likely to face a major challenge as well. Many may have to tackle the difficulty of regenerating revenue from defaulting sitting tenants and of course face lower offers from intending tenants with

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government. When all known indices of good governance are examined globally, Nigeria is always at the end of the ladder. Indeed, the reputation of Nigeria in the international arena is strained and embarrassing. Instead of democracy improving the quality of lives of the people, it has made many poor. Poverty experienced by Nigerians has reached a crescendo that some local analysts at a seminar asked: “In whose interest is Nigeria’s democracy.” In 20 years, democracy produced almost 90 million poor people only.

Nigerians want to know what they stand to benefit in a democracy. Some Nigerians reason that democracy in Nigeria means “government of politicians, by politicians, for politicians only.” A fellow while expressing his views at the seminar says that “if governors and lawmakers serve for only 4 years and each go home with severance allowances and pensions, but public/civil servants who served the country for more than fifteen years or more are not been paid gratuity and pension on time, democracy is only for politicians.” For several months, there has been outrage in the country over senators’ N13.5 million monthly allowance.

Such allowance to my mind does not match Nigeria’s circumstance as a technologically and industrially backward nation. That is why the ayes have it, when Senator Rochas Okorocha, the immediate past governor of Imo State advocated on the floor of the red chamber for a reduction in cost of governance declaring that instead of three senators per state, Nigeria should make do with one senator per state. Although the former governor is still battling with allegations of extensive property acquisition and extravagance in office, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has imposed sanctions on him. All said, it is still germane to ask: In whose interest is Nigeria’s democracy? Politicians!

GOKE IYIOLA reduced disposable income, which may force the value of rent to go down.

Similarly affected are new investors and developers. The several months of disruption will certainly reflect on project delivery schedules and by implication, financial projections. They have to wait longer to let, lease or sell houses and other facilities.

The building materials subsector has also taken a big blow. Trading was zero for months as was import business. Even at this period of gradual return to commercial activities, the exchange rate has become less friendly, the naira has been devalued and this will speak to the cost of stock replacement.

Lenders – Financial and mortgage institutions as well as private funders are being forced to renegotiate and restructure their facilities.

Technically, borrowers are in a force majeure situation. The apex banking institution, the Central Bank of Nigeria, recently gave teeth to this, directing 22 banks to restructure a whopping 35,000 loans to individuals and organizations whose ability to meet their obligation has been affected by the pandemic. The CBN Deputy Governor, Financial System, Aisha Ahmad confirmed that this represents 41.92 percent of the total (banking) industry loan portfolio.

Note: the rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https:// businessday.ng

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Shifting global demographics: An African opportunity? (1)

Rafiq Raji

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emographers generally agree that the rate of global population growth is likely to fall, with population peaking by the end of this century, and then declining. In their 2019 book Empty planet: The shock of global population decline, authors Darrell Bricker & John Ibbitson assert that the challenge the world must face is not of a “population bomb but of a population bust – a relentless, generation-after-generation culling of the human herd”. Even though remarkably contrarian and counterintuitive, this “empty planet” thesis warrants serious consideration.

A study published in the July 2020 issue of The Lancet envisions the world reaching peak population only a few years after 2050, with a

substantial decline by the end of the century. Such an outcome would not necessarily lead to negative consequences. Fewer human beings would probably be good for the environment, our climate and food security.

Still, a smaller workforce might slow economic growth and increase the support burden falling on those who do work.

Some high-achieving global innovators align with the populist bust thesis. In August 2019, for instance, Elon Musk and Jack Ma, two of the world’s most successful and dynamic innovators, one from the West, the other from the East, converged on an astonishing prediction. Musk opined, “The biggest issue in 20 years will be population collapse, not explosion, collapse.” And without equivocation, Ma agrees: “You call it a ‘collapse’, I agree with you.”

Intuitively, a population bust may seem farfetched. But a global demographic shift that leaves the West (and increasingly the East) ageing and with an insufficient workforce is already apparent. The reverse is almost certainly to be the case in Africa. Global fertility rates are in decline, although this trend is slower in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). And as European & Central Asian populations shrink, that of Africa is expected

to continue to grow.

UN projections of global population tend to be very reliable. Its 2019 World Population Prospects project global population to grow by 10 per cent to 8.5 billion by 2030. The UN projects its growth to 9.7 billion in 2050, then to 10.9 billion in 2100.

The UN expects Africa’s population to reach twice its 2019 level of about 1.1 billion by 2050. Of the nine countries that account for more than half of our world’s projected 2019-2050 population growth, five are African: Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Egypt.

As Africa would increasingly account for a greater portion of the global working age population, economists expect a “demographic dividend.” As societies develop, child mortality falls, and families eventually tend to have fewer children. The resulting transition in the population’s age structure leads to a preponderance of the working population (15 to 64 years) versus the dependent (14 years and younger, and 65 years and older) population.

This trend tends to increase GDP and generate wealth.

However, the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution (digitisation, artificial intelligence, automation, etc.) may cancel the expected

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However, the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution (digitisation, artificial intelligence, automation, etc.) may cancel the expected demographic dividend from Africa’s youthful and globally dominant population

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a new market for pilgrimage merchants exist even when no one will admit to it. These merchants recruit people to embark on pilgrimages backed by supposedly humanitarian benefactor, who sponsor hordes of unknowing pilgrims, who think they are being done a favour, when the real motive is to use them to get allocated FX at a rate that make these merchants instant millionaires. The allocated FX never get to the pilgrims in whose name the FX was allocated. This scam is going on, on both sides, Muslims and Christians are involved.

The CBN acting as supplier and buyer in the market, at the market clearing rate, will have the effect of establishing what the exact rate people are willing to buy and sell the Naira. We should not deceive ourselves; nobody knows the correct rate for exchanging the Naira. We must let the market do it. The price mechanism is the best-known moderator for market efficiency. Nobody could have predicted today’s rate of N475 to the Dollar. It is obvious that we have not been productive as an economy. Only productive economies have strong currencies. Germany exports $155bn yearly, that is why it supports the Euro currency strongly.

Until we make export important in our economy and produce locally what we consume and not spend our scares foreign exchange earnings on importing things we can produce, our productivity will always be low and the impart will always be in a devalued currency. The Japanese’s currency the Yen, exchanged for ¥ 480 to $1 in 1980, today it exchanges for just ¥105 to $1. Honda, Toyota and the Japanese exports bring in enough foreign exchange into the economy to give value to the currency. The difference in the last 40years, is that Japan exports 1 in every 4 cars sold in the world. There is no magic about what has happened to their currency.

We must let the Naira find its level and it can only be supported by the productive efforts of our economy. The Naira once exchanged for $1.70 to the $1 in 1980.

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At the time, Nigeria produced rice it consumed and even exported some to earn Foreign exchange. It refined its crude oil and did not need to spend the huge sums it spends today in importing petroleum products. It Assembled vehicles in Kaduna, Ibadan and Enugu with many of the major spare parts manufactured in various regions in Nigeria.

We must go back to that era if we are to develop and make the Naira have any value.

Fortunately, we have what it takes to produce for our consumption. In some cases, even have the comparative advantage, like in Agriculture.

We have put ourselves in this predicament.

We must work to take ourselves out of it. The one who is already down, fears no fall. If the Naira rate goes to N500 today, it will not make any huge difference, it will be expected and its impact will be any harder than it is now. We should not expect anything to change soon, with the bloated governments we run., it is wasteful and very unproductive. The grandiose expensive government we run, is daily more expensive with no effort to cut down on its wasteful and corrupt practices. The government daily ask the citizenry to tighten its belt while government does not see any need cut down on its own expenses.

The CBN should be in the market ready to buy or sell at the ruling market price. The current creeping rates is detrimental to the economy. Economic players are more concerned about the stability of rates than the rate of exchange. A stable rate, allows for planning and will ensure efficiency as users of foreign exchange will focus on the most efficient way to use what they can afford in foreign exchange, when market prices prevail. Some will find local substitutes for input into their production. Some will raise prices where the market can take it.

Where the market cannot take it, they should be allowed to go out of business. The consumers of that product will find alternatives locally. The consistent adjustments will make the economy more productive and effi-

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Edited & published by the NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies at Nanyang Business School, Singapore. References in original article viz. https://nbs.ntu. edu.sg/Research/ResearchCentres/ CAS/Publications/Documents/NTUSBF percent20CAS percent20ACI percent20Vol. percent202020-32.pdf “Dr Raji is chief economist at Macroafricaintel.

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

The upward creeping foreign exchange rates: Blame the CBN

n recent times, any adjustment of FX rate by the CBN in an attempt to reduce the gap between the official rate and the parallel rate has always produced equivalent rate increase at the parallel market.

This is possible because the Central Bank of Nigeria has failed to recognise that as long as arbitrage opportunities exist, players will take advantage of it. The arbitrage in our foreign Exchange market will vanish when one rate for foreign exchange becomes the norm. The CBN must boldly enter the market and clear all outstanding demand for Foreign Exchange and do it at the existing parallel market rate plus a premium, if necessary.

The CBN should make a plan that may involve sitting with the international lending Agencies and other multilateral institutions to help raise the foreign exchange support needed to make this succeed. They should know that it does not matter whether the CBN intervene in the market with 4 infusions of $100m in a week or a $400m in one day.

We need a large infusion to clear the market of all the genuine demand. The impact of a large one-time infusion will have the effect of pushing prices down, as it allows supply to dampen the demand.

Clearing the market in a onetime intervention will take out speculators, as oppose to the drip interventions and the policy inconsistencies we have witnessed in the recent past. The lack of decisive onetime intervention is what is responsible for the upwardly creeping rates.

Nobody has the Naira to challenge the CBN if they focus on solving this problem, once and for all. We have wasted over $50bn in the last 5 years defending the Naira. We need to do it as a one-time correction and let the market take it from there.

The CBN has failed to realise that the profit motive is strong, especially when there are people who make money so easily. The difference between selling at official rate to a user and another buying at the parallel market rate, could be substantial. As an example,

demographic dividend from Africa’s youthful and globally dominant population. In this scenario, a large and preponderantly youthful working-age population may not be a source of wealth.

But the current hype surrounding these supposedly labour-destroying technological advances may be just that. The real issue is, does Africa have sufficient time for an ideal transformation from agrarian subsistence to industrial wealth? If the answer is yes, which opportunities can firms leverage to deploy the potentially favourable global demographic shifts in favour of Africa? How should the continent proceed over the next thirty years to 2050, another fifty years to the end of the 21st century, and thereafter?

Victor OGIEMWONYI

cient. On the supply side, the higher exchange rate will force people to do things that will allow them earn foreign exchange. Foreign investors will find new opportunities in the Nigerian economy and will seek to invest here.

As the economy adjust to the initial shock, it will find the proper price equilibrium. My prediction is that, we will experience an initial spike in prices but that will eventually adjust downward and will finally stabilise.

This will happen when the CBN find the courage to do the needful, get rid of the power it is now protecting, to be the decider of who gets foreign exchange at what rate.

Their role should be that of a participant in the market and a price taker for buyers and sellers. They should not be blackmailed into the usual thinking that any special segment of the market should be protected. Any business that cannot support its business at the prevailing market FX rate should be allowed to die.

They should either find a way to earn foreign exchange to support their business or start a new business.

The CBN should not listen to the usual fears of unemployment increasing, we already have over 25 percent of our population unemployed. Only steady policies, with a government ready to cut cost of governance will increase employment. The government must also buy FX at the same market rates like everyone else. That will ensure that they spend it only on necessities and not the usual frivolous trips and the inflated contracts they put our scares resources to. Only in taking this path, will we hope to have a strong Naira. Let the CBN act in the interest of all.

Ogiemwonyi is a retired Investment Banker, and writes from Lagos.

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Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

EDITORIAL Publisher/Editor-in-chief

Frank Aigbogun editor Patrick Atuanya

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

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) Ignatius Chukwu HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES Adeola Obisesan

Uzodinma: Reinventing Hitler-styled administration in Imo state

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The draconian, vexatious law impinges on citizen’s fundamental human rights

mo state Governor Hope Uzodinma is again in the news for the wrong reasons. He recently appended his signature to one of the most controversial laws in Nigeria, the Imo State Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ISACJL,) 2020 which empowers him to arrest and detain any resident of the state for as long as he wishes without police or court Warrant.

We hold the view that this law must be repealed. It is draconian, obnoxious, vexatious, repugnant and repulsive and impinges on the fundamental human rights to freedom of liberty and human dignity as enshrined in sections 34 and 35 of the 1999 Constitution, (as amended).

Going through the new law, one could see clearly that Imo state has a governor who is dreaming his dreams, backwards. We do not know why and how a governor in this 21st Century could imagine that such an anachronistic law could be implemented in Imo state of all places. This is most disrespectful to the sensibilities of average Imolites, renowned for their intellectualism, political awareness, business astuteness, and exposure.

Without mincing words, the law smacks of an evil manipulation to throw Imo citizens into the dungeon. Regrettably, this law reminds us of the notorious regimes of despots such as Adolph Hitler, India Amin, Muammar Gaddafi, and lately, Sani Abacha. It is very unfortunate that Uzodinma who became governor by virtue of an injurious and unpopular Supreme Court judgment against the people’s choice candidate, and who for the past 7 months is struggling to gain credibility would resort to this ignoble behaviour. Definitely, this law would scare away existing and potential investors and tourists from the state. With huge unemployment and poverty rates, low IGR, dilapidated infrastructures, no functional government industry and bad road network, Imo state deserves better governance.

Section 484 of the ISACJL, 2020 states that: “Where any person is ordered to be detained during the Governor’s pleasure he shall notwithstanding anything in this law or in any other written law contained, be liable to be detained in such place and under such conditions as the Governor may direct and whilst so detained shall be deemed to be in legal custody.”

Section 485(1) states “that a person detained during the gov-

ernor’s pleasure may at any time be discharged by the governor on license which said license may be in such form and in such conditions as the governor may direct under section 485(2)”.

Also, in section 485(3) of the same law “a license may at any time be revoked or varied by the governor and where license has been revoked, the person to whom the license relates shall proceed to such place as the governor may direct and if he fails to do so, may be arrested without warrant and taken to such place.”

Whereas the original draft of the bill had a total of 372 Sections, how and where it was amended, recreated and reshaped into other sections including the contentious Section 484 and 485 remains a mystery and a legislative wonder of our time as the sponsor of the bill and Deputy Minority Leader of the House, Frank Ugboma and other legislatures have disowned the law.

In a Press statement he personally signed and issued in Owerri at the weekend, Ugboma who represents Oguta state constituency said, “what I presented and circulated to my colleagues during plenary, both in the First and Second Readings, did not contain such obnoxious and embarrassing Section 484, neither

was it deliberated in the House Committee of the whole. It, indeed, never existed in the House”.

The law made a vague provision that someone may be detained at the pleasure of the governor. This implies that anyone (including thugs) could actually be empowered by the governor to affect someone’s arrest. Surprisingly too, the law did not provide for what infractions the governor may be at pleasure to order for someone’s detention. In other words, it could be for anything as bad as asking the governor to pay civil servants their entitlements. It could even be for deciding to go to school or attend church service or for admiring a beautiful woman, who coincidentally, the governor fancies.

We do not subscribe to those who argued that the legislatures should be blamed. Shouldn’t the governor have read what he signed? Shouldn’t the governor have withheld assent, if he wanted to make the slightest pretense to understanding the simplest tenets of democracy?

Governor Uzodinma needs to be reminded that the era of ouster clauses in our laws has gone. Therefore, he must rescind his assent and represent the law to the State Assembly for immediate amendment.

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

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Tuesday 22 September 2020

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COMPANIES&MARKETS The Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 - what you need to know

Part 12 – Directors under the CAMA 2020 UDO UDOMA & BELO-OSAGIE

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Background he Companies and Allied Matters Act (Chapter C20) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (“CAMA 1990”) was initially made law in Nigeria in 1990 as a decree of the military government. It was modelled on the English Companies Act 1985.

For thirty years, there were no significant amendments to the CAMA 1990, notwithstanding that England has, over the past three decades, amended and replaced its own Companies Act. Nigerian companies had to, essentially, rely on a 30-year old law to govern the way businesses operate in our dynamic and exponentially evolving global community. However, this all changed on Friday the 7th of August 2020, when President Muhammadu Buhari, gave his assent to the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 (“CAMA 2020”).

In the course of a 12-part series, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie will provide a review of the provisions of the CAMA 2020, highlighting changes that have been introduced into the body of Nigerian company law by this ground-breaking legislation.

Directors under the cama 2020 The CAMA 2020 has made several changes in relation to the regulation of directors. The most significant of these are highlighted in this final part of this series.

1. Separation of the roles of the chairman and the chief executive officer of a public company The chairman of a public company is now prohibited from also acting as the chief executive officer (the “CEO”) of the same company. This is in line with Principle 3.2 of the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018 (the “NCCG”) which states that the chairman of the board should be a non-executive director and should not be involved in the day-to-day operations of the company (which should be the primary responsibility of the CEO and the management team).

2. Independent directors Section 275 of the CAMA 2020 introduces several important changes with respect to the appointment of independent directors of public companies.

Number of Independent Directors Every public company must now have a minimum of three independent directors.

Who can be appointed as an independent director?

Specific criteria must be met before a person can qualify for appointment as an independent director. These are that in the

two years preceding his nomination as an independent director, the relevant director and/or such director’s relative(s): i. were not employed by the company; ii. did not make to, or receive from, the company, payments exceeding NGN 20 million; iii. did not own (directly or indirectly) more than 30% of the shares of an entity that received such a payment (referred to in paragraph (ii) above) from the company or act as a partner, director or officer of an entity that made to, or received from, the company payments exceeding the specified amount; iv. did not own (directly or indirectly) more than 30% of the shares of the company; and v. were not engaged (directly or indirectly) as an auditor of the company.

The 30% shareholding threshold contained in the CAMA 2020 differs from the provision of the NCCG which stipulates that an independent director should not hold more than 0.01% of the paid-up share capital of the company. What this means is that persons holding not more than 30% of the shares of a public company (a significant percentage given that the shares of public companies are typically widely held) could still qualify for appointment as independent directors notwithstanding the stricter requirements of the NCCG. As the CAMA 2020 is a statute and takes precedence over the provisions of subsidiary legislation such as the NCCG, it is not yet clear how these provisions will be harmonised in practice.

Anyone who controls the majority of the board must nominate the three independent directors The CAMA 2020 also states that anyone who has the power to nominatethemajorityofthemembersoftheBoardmustnominateat leastthreepersonsasindependent directors. Consequently, if a controlling shareholder of a public companyhastherighttonominate more than half of the members of the Board, three of the persons thatsuchashareholdernominates must be persons that satisfy the requirements for appointment as independent directors, and shall be appointed as such by the company.

It appears that the reasoning behind this provision is to

prevent the ability of a controlling shareholder of a public company to control the Board.

3. Multiple directorships The CAMA 2020 requires any person that is proposed to be appointed as a director of a public company to disclose, at the meeting where he is to be appointed, any position he holds as a director in any other public company.

The CAMA 2020 also introduces a limit on multiple directorships of public companies by stating that no person can be a director in more than five public companies at the same time. Any person who is currently a director in more than five public companies is required to resign from some of those board positions in order to ensure compliance with this requirement, and must do so by the annual general meeting of the relevant companies that takes place after a period of two years from the commencement of the Act. Put simply, such directors should seek to comply within the next two years.

Directors in default after the expiration of the two-year timeframe will be liable to a daily penalty in an amount to be specified in the regulations that will be issued by the Corporate Affairs Commission (the “CAC”) and will also be required to refund all remuneration and allowances paid to them as a director in each company exceeding the limit of five companies prescribed by CAMA 2020.

There is no restriction on the number of private company boards that a director can be appointed to.

4. Register of director’s residential address and use and disclosure of protected information The CAMA 2020 now requires all companies to keep a Register of Directors’ Residential Address which must contain the usual residential address of the company’s directors. This register differs from the Register of Directors that section 318 of CAMA 2020 also requires companies to maintain because the Register of Directors only contains information on the “service address” of a director which, in some cases, could be the company’s registered office.

If, however, a director’s usual residential address is the same as his service address (as indicated

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in the company’s Register of Directors), then the Register of Directors’ Residential Addresses only needs to contain an entry to that effect.

In order to protect the privacy of directors, the CAMA 2020 classifies information relating to the residential address of a director as “protected information”.

This information does not cease to be protected information when the director resigns from the board of the company. Accordingly, the company cannot use or disclose this information in relation to any director without the consent of the relevant director unless it is for the purpose of (i) communicating with that director (ii) complying with the requirements of the CAMA 2020 or (iii) complying with a court order.

There are also restrictions on the CAC’s ability to use or disclose such protected information. The CAC is permitted to use the protected information for communicating with the director in question but the CAC may only disclose such information to a credit reference agency or to a public authority - subject to any regulations issued by the Minister of Trade and Investment prescribing conditions that must be satisfied before such protected information may be disclosed to any such public authority.

5. Removal of a director is now a basis for disqualification CAMA 2020 retains the procedure for removal of directors outlined under the Repealed CAMA. A key change, however, is that directors who are suspended or removed from office by the company in accordance with section 288 of CAMA 2020 will be disqualified from being directors of other companies.

6. Attendance at board meetings now a factor in reelection The CAMA 2020, in section 284(2) makes the attendance record of a director one of the factors that should be taken into consideration when a director presents himself for re-election.

Where any director is to be considered for re-election at a general meeting of a company, the record of his attendance at the meetings of the board during the year preceding the proposed re-election is required to be made available to the members at the general meeting where he is to be re-elected.

This series was produced by Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice and does not purport to be fully comprehensive.

If you have any questions or require any assistance or clarification on how the subject of this guidance note applies to your business, or require any company secretarial or business establishment services, please contact us at uubo@uubo.org

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Sun Trust walks lending talks as six SMEs get 46m each TEMITAYO AYETOTO

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un Tr ust Bank is walking its talk of increasing lending towards Nigeria’s budding entrepreneurship projects with the disposal of N46 million each in cash and kind to six finalists of the ‘Entrepreneurship World Cup Award’.

The bank which hit the ground running in 2016 has support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as one of the strategies to achieve its retail banking focus and simultaneously comply with the Central bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directive of ensuring 65 per cent of banks deposit is channelled to lending.

In partnership with GEN Nigeria, Misk, Saudi Arabia, and the Entreprise Development Centre, six projects of outstanding applicants were sieved from a stream of 11,500 applicants in the global competition.

The finalists will be enabled with requisite financing, capacity development and be guided through a

market access path that secures them the off-taking network needed to sustain their product penetration in the market.

Umar Dan’Umma, Sun Trust executive director, bank assurance said the bank’s realization that poor access to funding for expansion constitutes constraints for SMEs has shaped the nature of intervention built for this category of business.

Speaking during the presentation of prizes at its Victoria Island office in Lagos, Dan’Umma noted that issues of collateral demands such as Certificate of Occupancy have been relaxed. “ The business is the collateral. So from the beginning, we know where we are going. We will help them with ideas on how to invest the money and also give them ideas on how to expand,” the executive director said. “Sun trust bank from conception has entrepreneurship at heart and we are putting resources to raise entrepreneurs to international level, showcasing what our country can do.”

Prioritise your pension savings for better retirement Stanbic IBTC Pension urges Nigerians MODESTUS ANAESORONYE

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tanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, has urged Nigerians to pay attention to their pension savings and use it proactively to support their retirement aspirations.

The firm emphasised the importance of prioritising financial security and wellbeing in retirement that will help Nigerians maintain an acceptable standard of living during post-work life.

Eric Fajemisin, chief executive, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, said that as the largest pension fund administrator (PFA) in the country, the organisation remains committed to delivering efficient and innovative customer experience to its esteemed clients. According to him: “Our leadership in the industry reflects our commitment to providing quality service from a team of dedicated, focused and professional employees who have continued to set the standard for pension management in the country.

“Over the years, we have leveraged technological innovations to make pension account access easy for clients via our online platform, mobile app, email and USSD. All transactions are transparent, as our customers get monthly notifications on all contributions to their pension accounts, @Businessdayng

as well as quarterly statements to enable them to keep an eye on their funds. We also provide regular market and industry updates via newsletters to keep our clients abreast of updates important to their retirement planning,” he added. These perhaps were some of the reasons Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers was awarded ‘2019 Best Asset/Fund Management Company in Wealth and Society in West Africa’.

Speaking on Voluntary Contributions, Fajemisin noted that contributors who take advantage of voluntary contributions to supplement their mandatory retirement savings accounts regularly have more lump sum to fall back on at retirement. He explained that employers contribute 10 percent toward retirement savings on behalf of their employees, while the employees themselves make-up the remaining 8% mandated by regulation. However, an employee can add any amount to their monthly contributions as additional voluntary contributions. He clarified, however, that: “Only an employer can remit contributions on behalf of an employee, individuals cannot remit by themselves.

These contributions are invested to yield returns, and the more individuals can make voluntary contributions to their pension accounts, the higher their overall returns over the long term.”

Tuesday 22 August 2020

BUSINESS DAY

15

property&lifestyle Here’s why land banking is a resilient investment in a recessionary period Endurance Okafor

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hile other subsectors of the Nigerian real estate market are mostly affected by recession and downturn in economic activities, land banking has overtime shown that it is one of the investments that are resilient to shock.

Whether it’s faced with a recession like in 2016 or during a pandemic like in the last five months, the prices of land remain unchanged.

The term ‘land banking’ implies almost exactly what it is. Rather than putting cash into a savings account (where it will earn 1.25 percent interest per annum) or the stock market (which has become increasingly unpredictable in recent time), some investors take an alternative approach by acquiring land, a tangible, fixed asset, one that cannot be broken, stolen or destroyed.

Explaining the reason land banking is resilient in tough economic cycles, Seth Williams, a land investor said land is “a resource

with a supply that is always going down (after all, they aren’t making any more of it) and a demand that is constantly on the rise.

According to the 2020 half-year real estate report

by Northcourt, the average land prices for an area like Abraham Adesanya in Lagos increased by 61percent in the first six months of 2020 compared to the average in the comparable period of 2019. The trend is the same for Ikeja GRA, Lagos as land

appreciated by 21 percent despite the impact of the pandemic which disrupted the real estate market since it entered the country on February 28, 2020.

Analysis of the same report shows prime office rent reduced by 30 percent in Victoria Island, Lagos and 21 percent in Garki II in Abuja as other sub-sectors of the Nigerian real estate market also recorded some level of price fluctuation amid the impact of COV-

ID-19 pandemic.

Tayo Odunsi, the CEO of Northcourt Real Estate believes that the lack of loan repayment pressure is one of the reasons land prices are resilient as people don’t typically borrow to buy land, unlike buildings.

“In recessions, developers feel they need to make houses more attractive to buyers by bringing down the price, so it doesn’t stay long and start to depreciate.

Land doesn’t depreciate,”

Odunsi said.

According to analysts, land negatively correlates with other asset classes and only slightly correlates with real estate. This means that while other assets reduce in value (stocks, bonds, etc.), land prices increase.

Meanwhile, the high cost of land in Nigeria is one of the barriers preventing developers from delivering relatively affordable real estate products. With the highest population in Africa, Nigeria is crawling behind its peers in terms of homeownership level.

Whereas homeownership rate is 84 percent in Indonesia, 75 percent in Kenya and 56 percent in South Africa, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation has 25 percent.

“The cost of building a house is the same, whether you are building in VI or Ikoyi, but it is the land value that drives the cost of properties high,” Adekunle Abdul, Managing Director, Metro & Castles Homes, a real estate development company said.

Nigeria’s Land Use Act of 1978 which places all land in Nigeria in “trust” of the government and specifies that future transfers or sale of land must be confirmed

by a government official, in writing, irrespective of the value of the transaction is one of the barriers to obtaining land title which is needed to put a property for a mortgage.

“It shall not be lawful for any customary right of occupancy or any part thereof to be alienated by assignment, mortgage, transfer of possession, sublease or otherwise howsoever without the consent of the governor in cases where the property is to be sold by or under the order of any court under the provisions of the applicable Sheriffs and Civil Process Law,” the Land Use Act read.

A recent report by PWC revealed that Nigeria has an estimated $900 billion worth of dead capital in residential real estate and agricultural land. Dead capital is described as assets that cannot be converted to economic capital.

“Approximately 95 percent of household dwellings in Nigeria have no title or a contestable title,” Andrew Nevin, Partner Chief Economist at PwC, said, adding that in Lagos, for example, it takes an average of 12 procedures and 105 days to register a property or as long as two years.

Property owners edgy as bank seeks to for Juls Homes’ N2000 land payment plan close estate in Lagos over loan default opens opportunity for low-income earners

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roperty owners who bought from Ashake Court, a moderate housing estate in the Oniru area of Lagos, are presently edgy as they risk losing their investment following a decision by an old generation bank to foreclose the estate over the developers default in repaying a loan they allegedly took from the bank.

The bank’s decision is said to be based on a court ruling in a suit numbered FHC/L/CS/130/2019, which it instituted in January 2019, seeking to recover the loan put at N100 million along with the accumulated interest since 2009 when the loan was given and taken, giving a total of N281 million.

A Federal High Court in Lagos, which granted the prayers of the bank in the judgment delivered in March 2020, was presided over by Justice A.M. Liman.

A statement by the property owners, obtained by BusinessDay at the weekend, describes the project (Ashake Court) as an off plan development at Block IV, Plot 23, Oniru Family Chieftaincy Estate, Victoria Island Extension. It gives the name of the estate developer as Prime Water View (PMV) Limited.

It recalls that development and sales of various units of

flats and a pent house commenced in 2008 on installment payment basis in line with the construction period of 18 months agreed between the developers and the subscribers.

It adds that, by the end of 2009, most subscribers/off takers to the project had paid for their flats, which were sold at an average price of N45million each except the penthouse which was slightly higher.

The statement notes that, on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, the property owners had the rudest shock of their lives when a contingent of armed policemen numbering 12 and five OPC members stormed their premises and proceeded to chase them with threat to cause mayhem.

“Residents pleaded for leniency and the officers and their cohorts proceeded to forcefully latch their gates, thereby restricting movement in and out of their premises,” the statement discloses, adding, “when the raucous finally abated, they proceeded to paste a Federal High Court judgment on their walls, claiming that they had obtained a foreclosure judgment on the property.”

Continuing, the statement points out, “it is pertinent to mention that PWV promised www.businessday.ng

subscribers that, upon full payment, it would proceed to register the property at the lands registry on their behalf. The loan was granted and obtained despite the fact that the subscribers had fully taken physical possession of their flats in early 2009 and others at the beginning of 2010.”

It recalls further that, on Thursday, August 27, 2020, the property owners met with representatives of the bank, including their counsel.

They offered to pay in full the principal sum of N100 million being the loan obtained by the developers.

The bank rejected the offer and after protracted discussions offered to write off 40 percent off the interest, but the property owners pleaded for more concessions making reference to CBN Prudential Guideline, which stipulates that banks should desist from booking interest on a nonperforming loan after a period of six months.

“It appears that the bank is bent on taking their pound of flesh from the property owners despite their presentation that its demand will increase the cost of the property far in excess of its value by a margin of 40 percent, such that future sales would be at a significant loss to the owners,” it notes.

…company unveils ‘lazywrita’ as brand ambassador Endurance Okafor

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uls Home s, a ne w real estate and contractors company, is making it easy for Nigeria’s young professionals and low-income earners to buy into real estate through N2000 daily payment plan.

With the slogan, ‘let’s show you home’ the young real estate company said it is not providing luxury real estate properties, instead, it is working towards creating real estate products for those at the bottom of the pyramid.

According to Juliet Mgbeahuru, the CEO of Juls Homes, as long as a person is earning an income, especially the younger population, they can be assured that Juls Homes can secure property for them through its flexible payment plans.

“We have N2000 daily payment plan which enables land buyers to acquire a plot in the space of 20 months,” Mgbeahuru

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said during the official launch of the real estate company.

According to the young CEO who has been working in Nigeria’s real estate i n d u s t r y f o r ov e r f ou r years, “Juls Homes is not looking at providing luxury products but is aimed at providing accommodation for every Nigerian, especially those at the bottom of the pyramid.”

With more than eleven years experience in the investment banking space, Juls Homes is joined by Damilola O dunaike as the company’s Managing Partner.

“I have been able to s ee that there is s ome alpha in the real estate s p a c e. Th e re a re a l o t of potentials that yet to be unlocked and as you would see in many of our flyers and our webs i t e, o u r p ro d u c t s a re mostly targete d at the low-income Nigerians,” Odunaike said, adding that the company “wants to help these people to be able to acquire real estate @Businessdayng

properties.”

According to Juls Homes, some of the properties in the offering are located in areas like Ombre Gardens at Ilamija Ibeju Lekki (5 Million per plot), 1960 Water View Estate at Ikpesu Ajah (2 Million per plot), 1960 Wat e r F ro nt at I kp e s u Ajah (5 Million per plot), Chuvie Gardens at Ilamija Ib e ju L e k k i ( 1 Mi l l i o n per plot) Haven Homes at Oriba, Ibeju Lekki (1 Million per plot) Lagoon Park Estate at Abijo GRA (10 million per plot), Juls Court at Sangotedo (15 million a plot),1980 Estate at Bogije (17 million a plot) amongst others.

“I am excited to be working in partnership with Juls Homes. For me, real estate is a good investment that is secured and the fact that Juls is targeting young and lowincome earners in Nigeria is worth celebrating,” Anda Damisa (Lazywrita), the recently unveiled brand ambassador of Juls Homes said.

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Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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18

Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

INTERVIEW

‘Despite opposition, Peace Corps Bill will be passed, assented to by Buhari’ The National Commandant of the Peace Corps of Nigeria, DICKSON AKOR, has expressed confidence that despite the massive opposition by other security agencies, the Bill for an Act to Establish the Peace Corps before the National Assembly, which has passed second reading, will be passed into law and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari. In this interview with JOHN OSADOLOR and INNOCENT ODOH, the commandant decries the misconception surrounding the Peace Corps, which he insists is an organisation with the zeal to bridge the security gap and complement the efforts of the other security agencies rather than the speculation of the duplication of functions. Excerpts:

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he proposed est abl ishme nt of Peace Corps of Nigeria has been generating serious controversies among security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police, on the grounds that it would duplicate the duties of the existing agencies. You have made remarkable efforts in the past to dispel this narrative but the police appear adamant. How are you managing this challenge?

Well, to correct an impression, the current police force under the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu, are not antagonizing the Peace Corps. The issue of the police being against the Peace Corps I think was the handiwork of the former IGP Ibrahim Idris, who raised baseless allegations against the Peace Corps after fruitless efforts by both the police and other security agencies to scuttle the process of the bill at the level of public hearing.

I want to remind you that when the bill was pending in the two chambers of the NASS, for an act to establish the Nigerian Peace Corps, there was a gang up by the security agencies but during the public hearing in both chambers a total of 784 memoranda and oral presentations were made. And out of these only 4 institutions kicked against the establishment of the Peace Corps but as somebody, who is well read, I feel what they are doing is normal. Those who want to maintain the status quo or the existing system will always work against any new idea or any new invention.

At this level so far, we have passed through a lot of institutional challenges in the hands of the Police, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA). In the course of trying to show our innocence and ensure that our fundamental human right is not taken away from us, we were in court for 17 times- 15 times at the level of federal high court and 2 times at state high court, and in all these matters we won.

I want to tell you that despite the landmark victory we recorded in all these matters and not found wanting before the law, one of the agencies still sneaked to the Court of Appeal in Owerri

Dickson Akor

without our knowledge to file a matter for one of the judgments we got against them to be vacated. What happened was that at the end of the proceedings at the Court of Appeal, Owerri Division we won. It is the DSS that filed this appeal and we don’t know how they filed this appeal from somewhere and claiming it was us. But thank God the judge upheld the judgment of the lower court Owerri and also upheld the legality of the Peace Corps of Nigeria.

So, what is happening to us is not strange. We do know from day one that I initiated this organization that we are going to pass through some institutional challenges and that is what we are passing through.

You have spoken well of the current IGP, but in terms of your activities, how has he collaborated with you?

As far as I am concerned the extent he went was to try to obey the court judgment based on the intervention of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

That was what led to this curwww.businessday.ng

rent IGP to respect the rule of law, thereby obeying the earlier judgment which was given two or three years before he was appointed. The former IGP disappointed and disobeyed the judgment and many other judgments.

But immediately the current IG’s attention was drawn to it by the AGF, he complied and this office was vacated on the 28 February this year and that day coincidentally was exactly the day it made it three years that this property was sealed by the police.

In terms of collaboration, at my level looking at the overwhelming security challenges, its impact on the socio-economic life of Nigeria and the way the crime situation is projecting Nigeria in international community which is a negative projection, I have written several letters to some of these security agencies that there will be need to partner with an organization that is grassroots based like Peace Corps and others which members are fully integrated within the local community that make their job easier.

We see a lot of things happening in Nigeria, some of which if you report to some security

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agencies the way they go about it encourages more crime to be committed. So, less than two weeks ago, I wrote to the National Security Adviser, begging for the third time that no matter how we have been misrepresented, leading to us being stereotyped, we are Nigerians and we still have interest in the security and the well being of this country. And what we want is to be given audience.

There are suggestions that the Peace Corps will substantially reduce crime situation. You can look at the implication of what was happening. Peace Corps today, there is no locality and local government you go to today in Nigeria that you won’t find significant numbers of youth. There is no state we have less than 4,000 members and these youths are coming from local communities.

Therefore, based on the letter that I wrote, my suggestion to the National Security Adviser (NSA) was that there could be a designated desk in the office of the NSA to bring organization like Peace Corps, Man O’ war and other voluntary youth organizations together and ensure that even if somebody is coordinating, let us be supplying that office with primary security intelligence.

I call it primary intelligence so that nobody will feel that we are coming into competition with anybody. All that we are doing is just to complement.

But my position remains that no matter the level that you equip the security agencies even if you give them angelic swords, mount armored tank in every state, in every community in Nigeria, the crime rate will continue to surge.

So, what is the core mandate of the Peace Corps of Nigeria?

The core mandate of Peace Corps is to develop, empower and provide gainful employment for the youth in order to facilitate peace, neighborhood watch, volunteerism, community services and nation building.

If you study the core mandate and if you study the mandate of any other agency in Nigeria you will never get any agency that has that kind of mandate. There is nowhere in the mandate given to Peace Corps that gives it power to investigate anybody , there is no power to arrest, to prosecute anybody and there is no power to detain.

All the concept of neighborhood watch is, if you see things @Businessdayng

going wrong, alert the conventional security agencies. If they are things that border on drugs and narcotics, you alert the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), if it is something that can lead to a breach of peace and security, you alert DSS, if it is something that will lead to criminal activities you alert the police, that is just the concept.

The Bill for an Act to establish the Peace Corps of Nigeria suffered some setback. The House of Representative passed the bill in 2017 but later stepped it down after President Buhari refused assent to the bill.

The lawmakers cited the issue of inter-agency rivalry among security agencies as one of the reasons for the bill to be stepped down.

But the National Assembly has re-introduced the bill in early August 2020 and it passed second reading in both chambers. What is the hope of making the Act possible?

What are the reasons given for stepping the bill down? One was the duplication of services which I just cleared. The former IGP and his allies have the listening ear of Mr. President and that to an extent caused the setback. For the Peace Corps if not what we are doing now, I have no access to the President even the people in the security that he appointed that we wanted to meet we have no access them.

We believe that Mr. President has done things that are noble.

There is an international body that declared Mr. President as the most incorruptible President anywhere in the world. He does not have foreign bank accounts and he does not stash any money overseas. So, based on that we believe that certainly somebody who will serve as a mediator that will hear our cry, somebody who properly understand what we are dong, will one day lay our issue before Mr. President.

The government has invested a lot in terms of fighting banditry, terrorism, herdsmen clashes it is a notable fact that the government is concerned with that. If Mr. President is doing that and he got to be properly briefed that what we are doing is not necessarily a duplication of any agency’s function, I believe it will go a long way to help the situation.

Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

19

Media business Despite Covid-19 disruptions, Comercio Partners foresees bright prospects

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he Nigerian economy is currently in dire straits with major economic indicators looking grim due to increasing external shocks.

The Covid-19 as well as the drop in crude oil prices, the country’s major source of revenue, indeed exposed Nigeria’s weak underbelly. Crude oil represents over 80 per cent of Nigeria’s export revenue and a downturn in the market for the commodity always has a ripple effect on the economy.

Often, this shock has a pass-through effect on the foreign exchange market thereby leading to depreciation of the naira exchange rate and putting pressure on external reserves as seen in recent times.

Indeed, as predicted, due to these external shocks, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2020 contracted by 6.1 per cent, which was the first negative growth since the first quarter of 2017.

This has been the trend globally due to the impact of the virus, as countries such as South Korea (-3.3%), Singapore (-41.2%), US (-9.5%), Germany (-10.1%), had earlier reported GDP contraction in Q2.

More worrisome is the projection that the country will plunge into a severe economic recession this year, the worst since the 1980s, according to the World Bank.

In fact, the World Bank has projected that the pandemic would push about five million more Nigerians into poverty this year, adding that while before the pandemic, the number of poor Nigerians was expected to increase by about two million largely due to population growth, the number would now increase by seven million.

Owing to the gloomy outlook, analysts at Comercio Partners noted that the impact of the pandemic and its unprecedented consequences has taught the global economy an important lesson on the need for brands to be innovative and agile.

They pointed out that the global economy is in an era of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity), adding that the uncertainty has been heightened by the destabilisation of financial markets, protracted ultra-low interest rates, and changes in international affairs.

An integral part of Comercio Partners is empathy.

Guided by this commitment as a brand, the firm acknowledges the facts and realities occasioned by the current pandemic.

It pointed out that even though the full effect and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic is still unknown, though it appears to have peaked in certain countries, most countries are still in a constant state of flux.

Steve Osho, co managing partner, Comercio Partners and MD CEO, Comercio Partners Capital

The world continues to reel from the effect of the COVID 19 pandemic, which has created a new world order for businesses around the globe just as governments, brands and consumers are struggling to survive the deleterious effects of the virus.

But despite concerns in the global economy, the company’s Head Financial Advisory/Co-Managing Partner, Steve Osho, in a statement said: “We see a great future in Africa, occurrences such as the pandemic is a reminder of this assertion. We like the dream of the future better than the history of the past; our words,

messages, actions, services, businesses further confirm our belief in Africa’s business ecosystem.”

On his part, Head of Trading/Co-Managing Partner, Nnamdi Nwizu, noted that, “the world as we know it changed over the last six months. Comercio Partners is ready to partner with you and lead you to the new tomorrow. Now more than ever, the current situation has made the market more dynamic.

We, therefore, owe our clients, the obligation to provide innovative financial products, by investing in traditional and alternative asset classes in

various geographies across currencies for our proprietary and client portfolios. We will leverage our broad array of strategic, international partnerships to expose our proprietary and client portfolios to assets in the international financial markets.

Similarly, the Head of Investments/Co-Managing Partner, Tosin Osunkoya, pointed out that, “leveraging our depth of resources to provide stability to your growing wealth and the right partnership to the financing demands to support your strategic business growth we remain your anchor to the future.”

According to Comercio Partners, “the impact and facts are starring at us in the face as the world slides into a global recession; the coronavirus pandemic is having devastating impacts across global market and wiping out trillions in asset value.

Invariably, businesses are closing, people are losing income daily, families are being painfully separated by death, and life is taking a turn to what this generation has not experienced before.

“Admittedly, these are the facts, but are they the truth?

The long age question of seeing the water in the cup as being half empty or half full comes to mind at this point.

Let us delve a little bit more between truth and fact.

“The animals who sur-

vived the apocalypse are not the strongest, they are the ones that are able to adapt, they are able to separate fact from truth, they are the ones who were able to unlearn, relearn, forecast and took a stand for survival.”

The firm expressed optimism that if the world survived the First World War, survived the Spanish flu and the Second World War and other ‘socioeconomic pandemics,’ it would also overcome the Covid-19.

“As an organisation, a collection of people, beliefs, and mindset; as a brand, we have studied, unlearned, relearned and we quite seriously, acknowledge the facts and realities occasioned by this pandemic.

We acknowledge that the situation will change and reshape a lot of things, we also, quite convincingly, know that a fact is transient while the truth is constant.

“The truth is that we irreversibly believe in the sheer audacity of hope that exist particularly in Africa, hope that authenticated by the possibilities and potentials that pervade Africa’s business landscape. We hold so strongly to this truth at Comercio Partners to the extent that it has inspired us to reinforce and re-emphasize our philosophy, our processes, and to reposition our brand as one that sees a greater future ahead of Africa especially in the financial services eco-system.

Government commends X3M Ideas on community engagements, urges organisations to emulate agency Daniel Obi

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s it has become an annual ritual for the echelon of the Lagos State government, especially the ministry of education to converge every August at the behest of Lagos agency, X3M Ideas to commission one innovative project or the other to commemorate the agency’s anniversary, August 2020 despite prevailing COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effects, was no exception.

Government officials penultimate week, unveiled a multimillion naira innovative COVID-19 prevention project, a disinfectant tunnel with iron net finishing. It is a 5.5meters X 16meters dimensioned walkthrough tunnel with ample headroom to make for excellent airflow and appealing ambience, dedicated the use of humanity on behalf of the agency at the Opebi Senior High school, Ikeja.

The disinfectant tunnel which occupies 5.5meters x

16 meters area is fixed with 10 wash handstands, automatic liquid soap, and hand sanitizer decanters 10 apiece each. It is also two digital thermometers.

Added to the disinfectant tunnel were Glo MiFi internet modems to help the students and their teachers keep abreast of the latest COVID-19 news and also help in their academic pursuit.

According to Steve Babaeko, CEO, X3M Ideas, the agency built the elegant hand washing system for the students because they represent the future of this great state. “This year, in view of COVID-19, it becomes imperative to create the hand-washing station just to continue to maintain the high level of hygiene among the students, to protect them and to protect ourselves

to ensure that we help flatten the COVID-19 curve and make sure all the wonderful health workers who have put in the time to help manage the crisis don’t have to do more work.

Also information is power, that is why we also provided Glo Mifi to empower against this dreaded virus and give them the edge in their academic pursuit”

The Disinfectant Tunnel donated by X3M Ideas to the school. www.businessday.ng

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Taken aback by what they described as timely and innovative, the state’s officials led by the Executive Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB), Wahab Alawiye-King and the Commissioner for Education, Folashade Adefisayo represented by Grace Akinfoyewa, a director in the ministry, praised the agency for its consistent and innovative ways of supporting the government’s priority areas of intervention by availing the government of Lagos state its well thought-out annual CSR intervention projects for the good of all while urging other corporate organisations to emulate X3M Ideas’ consistency in doing good.

X3M Ideas’ commenced its social good works at the junior section, Opebi Grammar school in August 2012. Other beneficiaries include Oregun Senior High School, Oregun and Community High School Wasimi, Maryland, Lagos ( 2013); the Lagos State Special Correctional Centre for Boys, Oregun, Lagos was the beneficiary in 2014. @Businessdayng

In 2015 X3M goodness CSR project was delivered to Ikeja Senior High School, GRA, Ikeja to mark its 4th anniversary.

The agency took the initiative outside Lagos and it berthed at Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS) Chibok in Bornu state to provide palliatives to the Chibok girls.

The X3M’s unfailing annual CSR project, however, returned to Lagos for its 6th edition with State Senior High School, Ikeja GRA being the beneficiary.

The 7th year anniversary CSR project saw Commissioner for education, Adefisayo on hand to commission the renovated Block IV, a sickbay and library all donated by X3M ideas at the Agidingbi junior Secondary School, Ikeja.

While commending the Executive Governor of Lagos state, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and his Hon. Commissioner for Education, Folashade Adefisayo for always allowing X3M Ideas to partner with the state every year, Steve emphasized, government cannot do it all alone.

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Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

BDTECH

In association with

E-mail: jumoke.akiyode@businessdayonline.com

TD Africa to launch Nigeria’s first tech experience centre ...To house Microsoft, Samsung, Cisco, other global technology giants Jumoke Akiyode Lawanson

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D Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest tech, lifestyle and solutions distributor and one of the companies in the Zinox Group, is set to launch a Tech Experience Centre, an ambitious technology project that is widely expected to bridge the gap to cutting-edge technology for millions of Nigerians.

The first of its kind in Africa, the experience centre will house global tech giants such as Cisco, Dell EMC, HP, Microsoft, Samsung, Philips, Bosch, Schneider Electric and Zinox, among others, under its roof, to create a truly immersive and rich experience of latest world technologies.

Set to launch on Thursday, October 1st 2020, Nigeria’s 60th Independence day, the opening will stream live online for the benefit of tech enthusiasts.

The Tech Centre is widely expected to boost Nigeria’s relevance in the global technology race and shore up the country’s march to technology independence.

For the first time, Nigeria will play host to the latest global technologies including those not normally available in Africa, offering all classes of visitors a first-hand experience of new gadgets, solutions and infrastructure that would have previously required a

visit abroad, thereby saving corporate organisations, government establishments and individuals money or scarce foreign exchange expended on these trips.

Also raising the excitement for the launch of the Tech Experience Centre is its status as one

of the greatest achievements in Nigeria’s technology history and a huge confidence-booster in the Nigerian economy, despite the challenges faced by the current administration which has shown greater commitment in leveraging technology in building a digital

economy for all Nigerians.

Meanwhile, the project cited within the Yudala Heights on Idowu Martins Street, Victoria Island will be commissioned by Isa Ali Pantami, Nigeria’s minister of communications and digital economy. Also expected to attend

the launch are stakeholders from the technology sector, corporate leaders and other dignitaries, not exceeding 50 in line with the current guidelines on public gatherings occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Already, a number of globallyrenowned international tech giants, all of whom will be housed within the Tech Experience Centre, will provide real time information, support and expertise to visitors and other prospective customers, eager to be acquainted with the technologies on ground.

Quite significantly, the unveiling of the Tech Experience Centre resonates with the recent call by Leo Stan Ekeh, chairman, Zinox Group, on the federal government to declare October 1st 2020 Nigeria’s technology independence day.

Ekeh, a serial digital entrepreneur, had based his recommendation on the giant strides recorded by the country in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). ‘‘October 1st 2020 is traditionally Nigeria’s Independence Day. It is a day that commemorates Nigeria’s emergence as a sovereign state. Considering the massive strides recorded so far in our journey to technological emancipation, the federal government should strongly consider declaring October 1st Nigeria’s technology independence day,’’ Ekeh said.

Digital Encode gets license to help organisations with cyber security, data management ...Capability Maturity Model Integration partner license to help improve resilience in Nigerian businesses Jumoke Akiyode Lawanson

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igital Encode Limited, an indigenous consulting and integration firm has become a Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) licensee.

This means that the company is capable of helping organisations elevate and benchmark performance across a range of critical business capabilities, including service ex-

cellence, data management and cybersecurity.

Digital Encode specialises in the design, management, and security of business-critical networks, telecommunications environments and other Information Technology (IT) infrastructures.

On the other hand, CMMI is a proven set of global best practices that drives business performance through building and benchmarking key capabilities.

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Speaking on this development, Peter Adewale Obadare, the cofounder and chief operating officer of Digital Encode, said that Digital Encode will always assist individuals and businesses to protect and manage their information assets.

“As partners, Digital Encode is one of the qualified organisations within a global CMMI Network that are licensed by the institute to help other organisations and individuals to adopt and utilise their prod-

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ucts such as the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) or the Data Management Model (DMM).

Obadare who doubles as the director of governance, risk and compliance said that as a Pan-African cybersecurity company, Digital Encode will use CMMI model to assist organisations in Nigeria to improve their cybersecurity success and resilience.

Also, Seyi Akindeinde, the chief technical officer at Digital Encode,

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said the license is a testament to Digital Encode’s unique methodology rooted in depth of expertise and professionalism.

Akindeinde who is also the chief research officer and director of security assurance at Digital Encode, said that while assisting companies to achieve the cybersecurity assurance goals, Digital Encode will continue to translate strategic business objectives into sound, achievable secured technology solutions.

Tuesday 21 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

21

EDUCATION Weekly insight on current and future trends in education

Primary/Secondary

Higher

Human Capital

Post COVID-19 reality: Organization presents survey report to LASG • Harps on the need for schools to utilize technology in learning MARK MAYAH

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n O nline Schools Discovery platform, SchoolsCompass has taken the initiative to ascertain the nonhealth impact of Covid-19 on Nigerian Schools, thereby researched and presented their findings to the Lagos State Government harping on the need for schools to utilize technology in learning especially post COVID-19 in order to remain relevant despite its effect personally and professionally, requiring new skills to function optimally in the interest of finding sustainable solutions in empowering learning institutions to be more impactful.

Receiving the report titled, “Understanding the Stance of a Nigerian Parent in a typical Post COVID-19 Learning Environment,” on behalf of the State Government in her office at the Secretariat, Alausa Ikeja on Friday, the Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo described the SchoolsCompass initiative as a laudable and complimentary one, stating that Education, being a critical success factor for any socio-economic development in any emerging economy requires all the technicalities, reports and researches that allow for critical assessment to gauge and drive policies in advancing education reforms.

Adefisayo also pointed

L-R: Nwanneka Cynthia, head, Business Development, SchoolsCompass; Yomi Ojo, founder, SchoolsCompass; Folasade Adefisayo, commissioner for Education, Lagos State; Ojo Afolabi, Support Lead, Schools Compass, during the Presentation of a report titled, ‘Understanding the Stance of a Nigerian Parent in a Typical Post COVID-19 Learning Environment’, to the Lagos State Government at the Secretariat, Alausa Ikeja.

out that the Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu (BOS) Education Transformation plan was an integration of several action initiatives and ideas put together to meet the sector’s needs and leverage on existing needs, expertise, partnership and resources to improve quality and relevance of the Public Schools system and administration.

With findings from the sur vey ascertained

by SchoolsCompass, she stressed that policies will be effectively improved upon to better deliver government deliverables.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Abosede Adelaja while lauding the organization’s collaborative effort with the Ministry of Education said the results of such surveys support transitions into knowledge-based economy and help distil the specific initiatives and intervention plans required to execute on the mandate of the State Government.

She encouraged other stakeholders to take a cue from SchoolsCompass by identifying the Ministry’s focus areas for potential Public Private Sector Collaborations stress-

Ex- FUT Minna VC canvases inclusion of virtual learning in higher institutions SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin

S

uleiman Adeyemi (Prof ), former Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology (FUT) Minna in Niger State has enjoined the federal government to approve the use of virtual learning in addition to physical teaching and learning process to accommodate more students in the nation’s institution of higher learning.

Adeyemi gave the indication on Saturday while fielding questions from journalists in Ilorin at a special prayer, organised by the Emir of Ilorin and C h a i r m a n Kw a r a S t a t e Council of Chief, Alhaji

Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, in honour of Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, professor of political science and the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.

He says the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic all over the world has made it impossible for physical teaching and learning in schools, adding that adopting virtual learning in addition to other methods will give more people opportunity to access education.

Adeyemi explained that “since we are now in a digital age the nation should take full advantage of the opportunity.”

Speaking on the sideline of the prayer for Gambari, the former VC urged him to discharge his duties deligently www.businessday.ng

and prayed to God to guide President Muhammadu Buhari in piloting the affairs of the country.

In his contribution, Yusuf ‘Lanre Sagayah, the Principal Partner of Yolas Consultant and Zanna of Ilorin, appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for his choice of Gambari as the Chief of Staff, adding that the Chief of Staff will perform optimally going by his antecedents as an academician, administrator, diplomat and former Minister of the federal republic of Nigeria.

Sagaya, a close ally of the Chief of Staff prayed God to grant him more wisdom in order to always guide the President towards good direction and making the country better.

ing that the sector’s development requires a collective partnerships and stakeholders’ participation.

With the gradual easing of nationwide lockdown due to a progressive decline in the number of the Covid-19 cases in Nigeria, we are getting ready for Schools re-opening and also ensuring adherence to Covid-19 safety protocols in the face of ‘post-COVID-19 education realities’.

Also while making the presentation, Founder, SchoolsCompass, Yomi Ojo said COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest dis-

ruption of education systems in history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries and all continents. “If we are to reiterate the stands of notable authorities in the education sector, one might agree that the nation’s pre-COVID-19 education system was not sustainable as the sector is currently experiencing the drastic impact of the downturn caused by the pandemic.

“As a tech driven organization, SchoolsCompass is established to assist parents in aligning with an ideal school(s) for their wards by giving them

access to relevant information about different schools all in one platform”, he noted.

Ojo said his organization conducted a survey utilizing the vast database on its platform to reach the targeted Nigeria’s education stakeholders and decision makers to determine the Nation’s post-COVID-19 learning expectations.

The research which involved respondents from the six geo-political zones in the country supports active parent’s inclusivity in every child’s education.

According to him, the organization’s findings reveals that, (i)the pandemic encouraged the need for schools to utilize technology in learning (ii) in a post COVID-19 learning environment, school owners and key decision-makers must involve parents throughout the learning process of the way forward for education (iii)the tuition fees payment package should be personalized in terms of each parents capabilities as authorities in the sector forecast a more competitive environment for school owners as they strive to remain in business (iv)even with the gradual easing of lockdown due to expected decline in the number of covid-19 infections in Nigeria, school owners must show leadership by providing preventing measures that would curb the spread so as to boost parents’ trust in institutions (v) now more than ever, schools owners must revamp their I.T department in order not to be taken unawares in the future.

Learning will be hybrid for students as schools physically reopen – Lai Koiki KELECHI EWUZIE

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ith the Lagos State government announcing September 21 as the date for schools reopening, Lai Koiki, the chief executive officer of Greensprings School has said that the school will run a blended system of both virtual and on-site learning as schools reopen Speaking in an interview recently after the Lagos state government announced the physical reopening of schools. Koiki declared that Greensprings School will strictly follow the government’s reopening guidelines, adding that the school has also developed some internal policies to complement the government’s proposition.

“We have started working on ensuring our facilities, staff,

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and students adhere to the government’s guidelines on school reopening. Our classrooms have been remapped to allow social distancing of 2 meters from one seat to another. We have disinfected the classrooms and other areas in our school, and this will continue regularly.

“More hand-washing areas and sanitizer dispenser stations have been installed, and these have been done in all four campuses including Anthos House (our special needs school). As recommended in the guidelines, break time will be staggered, restrooms will be cleaned hourly, and our staff and students will wear a facemask at all times, except during the required outdoor mask-break period,” she said.

On the hybrid learning system, Koiki stated that the school plans to have not more than half of its students’ population in physical attendance @Businessdayng

on school days. By this, some students will come to school twice a week, while some will come three times a week.

Students staying at home on a particular day will learn the same thing as those in school through the school’s online learning platforms, and this will ensure there are no learning gaps across all learning categories.

The school’s plan will also ensure that students who are members of the same family will be scheduled to be in school (on-site) on the same day, as well as have virtual classes on the same day. Provisions will also be made to continue virtual learning via the school’s online channels, for parents who do not want their children to resume physically for now.

Koiki concluded by stating that all students of the school will first resume online by September 28.

22

Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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Manufacturers in pains, cry out to FG for help ‘This pandemic disrupted the global supply chain, caused a massive slowdown in the international trade and in our case worsened the already fragile economy. The consequence of this development was that sectoral groups ran short of supplies of raw materials due to disruptions in the global value chain and many still cannot access forex.’

SIAKA MOMOH

M

anufacturers in Nigeria, who are currently down with pains inflicted on them by the impact of COVID-19 scourge, cried out on Thursday, in Lagos, to the Federal Government of Nigeria for rescue.

In a press interactive session at the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria’s (MAN) headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos, Mansur Ahmed, the association’s president, said the pandemic disrupted the global supply chain, caused a massive slowdown in the international trade “and in our case worsened the already fragile economy”. The consequence of this development he said was that sectoral groups ran short of supplies of raw materials due to disruptions in the global value chain and many still cannot access forex.

He argued that “this year marks a turning point not only in the economy but also in the day to day activities in our respective lives, adding “as you already know, countries including Nigeria are experiencing the adverse effect of COVID-19 pandemic which is negatively impacting the world economy and the way we do things”.

He added: “MAN is aware of the unprecedented trauma that this pandemic has unleashed on human lives, businesses, health systems, institutions and economies around the world…

From all indication, it is clear that Nigeria was not immune to this challenging time as the world manufacturing also experienced inconsistency in production growth indicating an overall economic slowdown, which resulted in job losses, decline in consumer demand and a general deterioration in living standard.”

Mansur Ahmed explained: “So far in 2020, the performance of the economy has been fragile and slowly sliding into recession. Our Economic outlook for the first quarter 2020 found maximum expression in the actual performance of economic indicators, as economic activity in the year was disrupted by the spiral effects of the pandemic.

“This pandemic disrupted the global supply chain, caused a massive slowdown in the international trade and in our case, worsened the already fragile economy. The consequence of this development was that sectoral groups ran short of supplies of raw materials due to disruptions in the global value chain and many still cannot access forex. The global price of crude oil

also crashed leaving the country with no choice than to review downward its expenditure plan for the year.

“The manufacturing sector performance that was expected to be strong having recorded an impressive performance in the 4th quarter of 2019 on account of border closure suffered a huge setback. In the same vein, inflationary pressure remains a source of concern as COVID-19 disrupted the demand and supply side of the global economy.”

He said the pandemic created unprecedented challenges for economies across the globe as the period under review recorded an unprecedented distortion in the value chain as countries directly or indirectly shut their borders and imposed export restrictions on critical raw materials while some imposed outright ban on food, pharmaceuticals and other essentials.

He argued that for Nigeria, “the

outcomes include lockdown, near shut down of the operations of eight manufacturing sectoral groups, disruption in supply chain, and inventory of unsold items and loss of jobs”.

He added: “Arising from the scenario, the expectation is that inflation, interest and exchange rates will jointly trend upward from their current states in differing magnitude of between 15% and 18% and the rate of unemployment will double, reaching the 50% mark for the first time in our history.

“Suffice it to point out that MAN CEO Confidence Index (MCCI) fell significantly to 44.4 points in the first quarter of 2020 as against 51.9 points recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019; thus, affirming the negative impact of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic on the confidence of manufacturers in the period”.

MAN commended the Government for the initiative towards unify-

ing foreign exchange windows in the country, but urged the CBN to ensure that the unavoidable shocks that would result from multiple exchange transition to a single exchange regime are properly managed to have minimal effect on the sector, “particularly, the burden of foreign currency denominated loans and offsetting of existing credit commitments to foreign suppliers of raw materials should be given priority consideration”.

“It is our conviction that the foreign exchange unification initiative will engender a regime of a balanced participation for forex users and promote a transparent as well as efficient allocation of forex required for sustained

N

economic growth,” he said.

MAN appreciates some of the initiatives taken by government but wants more done. For instance, it argued that data obtained from manufacturers revealed that some of these initiatives though hold long-term benefits but necessitated tougher business decisions to mitigate the short-term impact on the manufacturing sector performance. “These divergent scenarios underscored the policy short-term volatility and the persistence of familiar manufacturing challenges,” it argued.

It note that the downward movement of key economic indicators reinforced the need for more proactive initiatives as against reactive initiatives.

“For instance, while the aggregated economy recorded a positive growth as indicated by increase in real national output to 2.39% in 2019 from 0.81% in 2018, manufacturing sector growth plunged significantly to 0.77% in 2019 from 2.09% recorded in 2018 (NBS).

The dwindling manufacturing performance was substantiated by capacity utilization in the sector which slowed to 56.8% in 2019 from 57.8% achieved in 2018.

“In addition, the quarterly Manufacturers CEOs Confidence Index (MCCI) which was launched in the first quarter of 2019 to gauge perception of CEOs of member companies on the economy and the state of the manufacturing sector using pre-determined factors, economic policies and operating environment parameters. MCCI averaged 51.2 points in 2019, an indication of a meagre 1.2 points above the 50-points performance threshold thus Continues on page 23

Editor’s Note

igeria’s manufacturing sector is troubled. Hitherto, it had the challenges of power, infrastructure, multiple taxation, poor access to the ports, etc, to contend with. Then COVID-19 pandemic came with its own nuisance. Mansur Ahmed reeled out the sector’s challenges in Lagos at the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria’s 48th AGM press briefing in Lagos.

Read this and more in our cover today.

For advert placements, reactions and content contributions, call Siaka on 08061396410 or email siakamomoh@ yahoo.com.

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Siaka Momoh

Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

27

Investment Opportunity

Investing in a dry cleaning venture CHUKWUDI ODILI

D

ry Cleaning and Laundry business is a highly profitable venture if the owner would be ready to give close attention to its day to day operation.

To dry-clean means to ‘clean clothes’ with organic solvents without using water; while ‘laundry’ refers to the action of washing clothes or to a place for washing clothes. Solvents used in dry-cleaning could be technically defined as ‘dissolving agent that weakens dirt, which may be lighter or heavier than water if dissolved in it, depending on the nature

An independent market survey usually incorporated in a Feasibility Report or Business Plan will provide useful information about customer segments and the competition. It will reveal the existing key players with

and characteristics.’

Clothes may also be sent in for only ironing after the owner must have washed the clothes himself or herself.

Either for want of time or for lack of electricity in the home, someone may just ask the dry-cleaner/ laundryman to iron the clothing and nothing more.

their range of their service offerings; and the service quality, pricing, promotion and operating strategies employed by each of them.

The survey will unravel the strengths and weaknesses of these existing service providers, as well as opportunities and threats in the industry.

Those consumer needs that

are not adequately met by existing operators would be unraveled by a market enquiry. It will clearly define how far an offering tailored towards unsatisfied consumers would take business away from competitors.

An industrial sur vey, which will also form part of the Business Plan, will identify and recommend all the basic facilities required to ply the dry-cleaning and laundry trade. For instance, a prospective service provider intending to install modern automated machinery and equipment – small hydro extractor, dryer, rotor cabinet, pressers-hoffman table, etc – should have basic technical knowledge of recommendable capacities and other specifications.

He should get to know the costs and reliable sources of these facilities and how best to procure them. Above all, he must be conversant with the preliminary steps that should

be followed when a customer comes and drops his clothes off for cleaning.

It is instructive also that a prospective service provider should be able to identify the risk elements in the proposed venture, especially during the planning stage. Risks associated with any venture may be classified as low or high. Dry cleaning and laundry business is moderately high-risk. Several hazards are indeed associated with the business. These include chemical, fire and ergonomic hazards. Exposure to chemicals commonly used in dry-cleaning shops can occur through skin absorption, eye-contact, or inhalation of the vapors. Perchloroethylene (perc), a potential human carcinogen, is the most commonly used as dry-cleaning solvent. An equally dangerous risk of fire and explosion also exists…

The approximate (figures quoted here based on level of inflation that exists) can change with time) start-up cost structure of a modern small-scale dry-cleaning and laundry venture, which may be scaled up or down to suit the pocket of the investor, may be summarized as follows: The writer, who can be reached via his email address: ticodilis@yahoo.com, has the expertise and experience to assist those desiring to establish modern laundry and dry-cleaning business.

Manufacturers in pains, cry out to FG for help Continued from page 22 signifying that the manufacturing sector is still struggling. This shows that the sector is still in need of a comprehensive and integrated support system from the government.”

Ahmed argued MAN is aware of the numerous challenges responsible for the persistent lackluster performance of the manufacturing sector and listed some as follow: Manufacturers are increasingly finding it difficult to source foreign exchange for the importation of raw materials, machinery and spares that are not available locally; Inventory of unsold finished manufactured products has risen to an all-time high of about N402.4 Billion confirming the reality that the disposable income of the consumers has been grossly eroded; Manufacturers are still inundated with numerous, oftentimes duplication of demands from the tiers of Government in form of taxes, levies, fees, permits, etc; Manufacturing companies are continually overwhelmed with multiple regulations from different regulatory agencies and excessive drive for revenue by government agencies; Dearth of trade facilitation infrastructure, poor access to the nation’s sea ports and longer turnaround time for

clearance of cargo collectively stifle the smooth operations of manufacturing concerns; Inadequate electricity supply and incessant increases in tariff without commensurate improvement in generation, transmission and distribution remain key challenges; The manufacturing sector spent over N67.38b on self-generated electricity with energy cost accounting for over 38% of production cost in 2019; and Genuine exporters are still being owed huge sums of money as backlog of unpaid outstanding from the Export Expansion Grant scheme.

1st page (Rollover to 2nd page) Mansur Ahmed lists way forward for MAN MAN’s president, Mansur Ahmed, has come up with suggestions that will bring manufacturers out of the wood. He came up with the following list on Thursday in Lagos at the association’s 48th AGM press briefing: • Reduce the financial pressure on companies occasioned

by COVID-19 by compensating manufacturing concerns that are forced to shut down with 60% of employees’ salaries for at least three months to prevent laying offs of employees and massive unemployment.

• Support manufacturing concerns with existing loan

facilities by reviewing the terms, especially reducing interest rates to 5% with two years moratorium. Manufacturers that are investing in order to scale up production should be granted loans at 5% interest rate for a period of 5 to 7 years. These will no doubt improve liquidity and ramp up productivity in the manufacturing sector in a manner that will cover up for obvious losses due to COVID-19.

• Prevail on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend its COVID-19 Stimulus packages to manufacturers not covered by existing CBN initiatives.

The CBN should also grant manufacturers increased access to Foreign Exchange at pre COVID-19 rate to support the importation of raw materials, machines and spares that are not available locally.

• Introduce fiscal measures by waiving import duties on Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), other essential products and food related raw materials for one-year effective April 2020; • Extend timelines for filing and paying taxes (including excise duty with a provision that it should be based on sales and not production) by 6 months after the economy returns to normalcy.

• Reverse the Value Added Tax Rate back to the pre 2020 Finance Act rate and reduce the Personal Income Tax to a

flat rate of 10% for one-year effective April 2020. This will improve the disposable income of Nigerian workers, stimulate consumption, promote an upsurge in demand and increase production output.

• Direct all Regulatory Agencies, especially Standards Organizations of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration & Control (NAFDAC) to reduce their respective administrative charges (Pre-COVID-19 rates) payable by manufacturing concerns by 50%.

• Direct the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigerian Ports Authority and other related agencies of Government to treat all requests from Manufacturers expeditiously with great sense of responsibility and understanding of the prevailing situation. As a matter of urgency, direct that cargoes containing manufacturing raw materials are cleared swiftly and ensure compliance with additional free days from the terminal and shipping lines to clear the containers to avoid demurrages as already announced.

• Grant manufacturers waivers from all demurrages payable between February and July 2020, especially those occasioned by the lockdown directives of Government and others associated with COVID-19 pandemic.

The Palestinian question, globalisation

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ne thing stands out clear in Transformations in International Relations Since 1945; it is a rich resource document, what with its array of authors who are experts in their own right. You will find the book, edited by Abolade Adeniji, PhD, covering all relevant aspects of international relations – close or remote.

Let us look at the book in segments: ‘Distilling the Presence of the Past: Continuity and Change in International Relations’ by Abolade Adeniji, identifies, defines and dissects International Relations then and now.

He thus succeeds in not only introducing the subject to the uninformed but gives a convincing executive summary of the subject. You will get to know that the modern period in International Relations commenced in 1648 with the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia, which enthroned the principle of sovereignty, which brought with it, the principle of balance of power. You will discover that the principle of balance of power helped to disallow continental domination by any one State. You will find out too that the breakdown of balance of power was responsible for the outbreak of the First and Second World Wars.

Rufus Olu Olaoluwa anchors the ‘Role of International Law in International Relations’.

He treats the concepts, and sources of International Law, principles of the law, as well as the relationship between International Law and Municipal laws, etc. It is interesting and in order that Olaoluwa is able to expose the ugly face of International Law, inspite of its outward qualities.

Olaoluwa’s point of view can be corroborated with an Australia/ East Timor recent example, which has to do with a dispute over territorial waters. January 2006 witnessed an outpouring of criticisms against the Australian Government as the Governments of Australia and East Timor signed another interim resources sharing agreement for contested petroleum resources in the Timor Sea, by an Australian lobby group. The group attacked the Australian Government’s failure to address the larger and more important issue of permanent maritime boundaries.

Timor Sea Justice Campaign co-coordinator, Tom Clarke, claims the deal to share ‘government royalties’ from the Greater Sunrise gas field 50/50, despite the field being twice as close to East Timor than Australia, simply postpones the real issues of sovereignty for half a century. This is something similar to Nigeria’s 60/40 per cent oil exploration relationship with Sao Tome and Principe.

Michael Ogbeidi’s 15-page historical analysis of the ‘Middle

East in Contemporary Times’ is a brief that gives one the picture of war-mongering Middle East that we know. We get to know the origin of the Middle-East debacle – an unending military confrontation that is predicated on the Palestinian question.

What is the question? The Jews facing persecution and decimation in Europe wanted a safe haven elsewhere. On this question of safe haven, the Jews race was divided between the orthodox Jews who wanted to return to Palestine and the liberals of the secularists who wanted statehood and locality.

The orthodox Jews had their way for the Jews migrated to their acclaimed homeland, a move that was hotly rebuffed by Palestinian Arabs.

The Palestinian question has its roots in the 20th C, when most Arab nations became independent from either Britain or France, the UN voted in 1947 to divide Palestine between the Jews and the Arabs, but all Arab states rejected the plan.

In 1948, when British troops left Palestine, the Jews declared the independent state of Israel.

The Arab states attacked Israel, unsuccessfully, and most of Palestine’s Arab inhabitants fled.

Arab-Israeli relations remained hostile, although in 1979, Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David accord, a separate peace treaty brokered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. The dingdong relationship remains till this day.

Olaoluwa appropriately gives a summary of the militarism that the region had been entwined in over the years – from the 1935 and 1939 Arab terrorists and Iraq’s murder of 630 Jews in Mandatory Palestine, through the various attacks of Arab armies on the Jews in 1948, 1967, 1973, and 1991.He notes appropriately too, that the solution to the Palestinian question is the recognition of the existence of the state of Israel by all Arab nations. The genesis of the crisis tells it all.

One other chapter that makes interesting reading is Chapter 13, the chapter tagged ‘Globalisation and its Contradictions’ authored by Sylvester Odion-Akhaine. If you have been part of the group that has been celebrating the phenomenon called globalisation you are most likely to have a change of mind after reading this chapter. Odion-Akhaine profiles current global inequality. To him, the North South divide is like a ravine, which deepens with everyday downpour. He asks the question: For who is globalisation? And he proffers an answer: It is simply for capitalists, and a tool for their maximization of profits, and for the rest of us, it is poverty and social inequality.

Quoting Ihonvbere, he says, “Globalisation has not reduced genocide, civil wars, interstate wars and violence”.

All said, the book is an indispensable, robust, quality resource material.

24

Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Investments

ENERGY INTELLIGENCE

Market Insight Companies Commodity Tracker Policy

OIL

GAS

PETROCHEMICALS

POWER

Gas pricing, inadequate infrastructure deter industrialization in Nigeria STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

I

deally, homes in Nigeria, industries and vehicles could be running on natural gas, and industrialisation could have been well underway. Agriculture would be booming and job creation would happen in millions.

This is possible because Nigeria is more of a gas than an oil territory.

Gas has the potential to catalyse Nigeria’s industrial growth and development in addition to its role as a key revenue earner to government. However, despite having the highest gas reserves in Africa, only about 25 percent of those reserves is produced or under-developed.

Nigeria’s domestic gas sector is struggling to capitalise fully on the potential of its sizeable gas reserves even though some big-ticket projects are emerging in the country.

S e p l a t P e t r o l e u m’s $700mn gas joint venture with the state-owned Nigeria Gas Company in Imo State is emblematic of what the government would like to happen more often – a

high impact project run by a homegrown company.

When it eventually comes on stream 2021 the Assa North-Ohaji South plant will process wet gas from Niger Delta crude producing blocks 21 and 53. It is slated to have a capacity of 300mn cubic feet a day (f3/d). Another plant, run

by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), will process another 300m ft3/d from the field.

There is no doubt that Nigeria needs gas domestically. Electricity supply remains intermittent, despite successive administrations putting gas at the centre of their power sector reforms.

However, the gas supply is not the biggest bottleneck in the system.

Distribution to households and industrial plants is being hampered by a lack of investment in power and gas distribution infrastruc-

ture, in part due to market uncertainties such as those resulting from the botched privatisation of the electricity sector in 2013.

Gas availability, pricing The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Gas Users Group argue that it is difficult to plan with the erratic supply of natural gas even after investing in some cases N65 million and in others

Goldman Sachs Made $100 Million Off Tesla Trades in 2020

O

ver the past 6 months, special attention has been paid to Tesla and - more specifically - euphoric call-buying in the name that undoubtedly helped propel a gamma squeeze that has seen Tesla’s equity scorch higher since the beginning of the year.

Weeks ago we learned that Softbank was helping along the broader market rally with a strategy of buying OTM call spreads in a handful of high beta tech stocks - a strategy that netted Softbank upwards of $4 billion.

Now it appears as though Goldman Sachs may be cashing in on a similar strategy. According to IFR Reuters, the investment bank made about $100 million trading Tesla alone over the last several months.

The bank was engaged in trades that included “stock options, providing financing secured against Tesla’s shares, and buying and selling its convertible bonds,” according to

Bloomberg.

G o l d ma n ’s e q u i t y trading desk doesn’t deal with retail investors. But the sizeable revenues it raked in show how the investment bank’s traders still managed to profit from these extraordinary market moves, in part through using derivatives to position for an upswing in Tesla shares, sources said.

In addition to making buck in Tesla calls, the vampire squid also made it rain buying and selling Tesla converts (which have a face value of over US$4bn), whose prices climbed sharply this summer as the company’s shares rock-

eted. Goldman bankers also made money providing financing secured against shares in the company, or as it is also known, “corporate equity derivatives deals” involving Tesla.

That is an umbrella term for a range of transactions – including margin loans, or lending money against a company’s shares – which usually involve providing financing against large equity stakes, IFR reported.

The action from Softbank acted as a “tailwind” for the company - and ultimately for Goldman, as well - as option missiles fired across the tech sector helped the broader

market rise before the NASDAQ dropped about 12% from highs earlier this month.

According to the report, in a time when single stock option volumes exploded 3x in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, the surge in Tesla option volumes was even more remarkable - $1.45 trillion in July, up more than 10x from $124 billion in July of last year. Amazon was the “second largest beneficiary” of the options trading, Reuters notes, seeing activity rise from $632 billion to $1.48 trillion over the same period.

These imbalances occurred over the summer, where volume is notoriously low in equity markets. In simple terms, as best as we can understand: major financial institutions seem to be undertaking equity manipulation via the reflexivity of options market (where the tail literally wags the dog) as an actual trading strategy now.

N500 million to acquire gas generators. Gas, they say is rationed and unavailable sometimes forcing some to close shops.

“We cannot generate jobs when we cannot plan.

We cannot plan when the gas supply is erratic. You should know that joblessness is the biggest source is insecurity,” Michael Adebayo, chairman, MAN Gas Users said.

Natural gas provides a strong base for industrial development. Developing the sector will position Nigeria for unprecedented growth as it creates an alternative source of public revenues.

Yet, a critical enabling factor for the development of the sector is “pricing.”

Nigeria’s gas pricing mechanism is largely regulated.

This has failed to promote a framework that attracts quality private capital. The government would be required to engage in a delicate balancing act that balances the need to guarantee investors a reasonable return on investment alongside the need to deepen domestic gas utilisation.

In June, the Federal Government initiated plans to review the price of gas in the country. This was made known by Timipre Sylva, the minister of state, Petroleum Resources while inaugurating the Committee on Gas Sector-Wide Review of the domestic Gas pricing framework.

Sylva underlined the need for an appropriate price regime that will be beneficial to the manufacturing industry, Nigerians, and the gas sector at large.

Nigeria produces an average of 8.06 billion standard cubic feet per day (BSCFD), according to the Department of Petroleum Resources; 41 percent of this production goes to the export market (LNG and WAGP).

Seventeen percent goes to the domestic market, whereas 31 per cent is used for oil field operations including gas re-injection and the balance 11 percent is flared. Nigeria has the largest gas deposits in Africa, making it the leader on the continent and the ninth globally.

How potential investors can qualify for Nigeria’s 2021 crude lifting contract DIPO OLADEHINDE

P

rospective local and international oil companies who desire to lift Nigerian crude next year must provide certificate of Registration/Incorporation by Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), if they are local companies and provide the equivalent of such documents issued by home Country’s Government Agency for foreign companies.

Interested bidders must provide certified true copies of memorandum and Article of Association of the company, evidence of compliance with pension law and tax clearance certificate for the last three years or evidence of exemption if that were the case.

Nigerian bidders must provide current Industrial Training Fund Compliance Certificate and prove they are registered on the National Database of Federal Contractors, Consultants and Service Providers by submission of Interim Registration Report (IRR) expiring on 31st December, 2020 or valid Certificate

issued by BPP. The NNPC said it would start accepting bids from “interested and credible companies” to lift Nigerian crude and condensates from October for the next 12 months. The bulk of Nigerian crude is sold in Europe and Asia.

Bidders must own a refinery or retail outlet, have bilateral relationships with high energy consuming countries, own an internationally recognized large volume crude oil trader company or be indigenous Nigerian company engaged in the downstream sector.

The current 2018-20 crude term contracts are held by more than 60 recipients, making it the largest list Nigeria has ever allocated.

Oil major Total, along with international oil trading companies Trafigura, Vitol and Glencore, Azerbaijan’s Socar, India’s International Oil Corporation and Russian Lukoil’s trading arm Litasco are some of the companies included in the 2018-20 NNPC term contract list.

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

Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

LAW & DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT

INTERSECTION BETWEEN ECONOMIC POLICY AND LAW: CAN LAW FIND THE MONEY AND JOBS? OCTOBER 22 -23, 2020 | 10 A.M. | VIRTUAL

ABOUT

The Law & Development Summit will gather experts from law, administration, policy, research, and the private sector to crack perennial problems relating to the social mandate of the legal system beyond law and order but as a catalyst for unlocking economic advancement.

Deliberations at the Summit will be rooted in the Law and Development Project (LDP), a legacy project of the President Buhari Administration, under the Federal Ministry of Justice. The objective of the LDP is the enactment of critical legislation and development of policies that will support economic transformation, revenue generation, job creation, and the strengthening of key legal and regulatory institutions.

The outcome of the summit will be a roadmap for the generation of N40 trillion from new economic activities and the addition of 10 million jobs over the next 4 years.

SPEAKING AND SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITES Theodora Kio-Lawson

01-4537213

theodora@businessday.ng

Noel Ezekwe

0803 298 6374

noel.ezekwe@businessday.ng

www.businessday.ng

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25

26

Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Live @ The Exchanges Market Statistics as at Monday 21 September, 2020

Top Gainers/Losers as at Monday 21 September, 2020 LOSERS

GAINERS Company

Closing

Change

JBERGER

N15.5

N15

-0.5

DEALS (Numbers)

0.35

REDSTAREX

N3.26

N2.96

-0.3

N3.4

0.1

FLOURMILL

N19.8

N19.65

-0.15

VOLUME (Numbers)

N120

N120.1

0.1

CHAMPION

N0.9

N0.81

-0.09

VALUE (N billion)

N25.35

N25.4

0.05

ACCESS

N6.45

N6.4

-0.05

Closing

Change

N49

N49.9

0.9

N6.05

N6.4

INTBREW

N3.3

MTNN

PRESCO UACN

GUARANTY

Company

ASI (Points)

Opening

Opening

25,574.35 3,542.00 196,121,661.00

MARKET CAP (N Trn)

1.727 13.365

Insurance stocks seen drive Nigeria Bourse N1bn gain heanyi Nwachukwu

N

igeria’s stock market close slightly in green on Monday September 21 following bargains in insurance stocks despite record drags to the positive close seen from banking counters.

Equities like Cornerstone Insurance, Mutual Benefit and Wapic were on demand on the Nigerian Bourse driving the +1.36percent increase in NSE Insurance Index which was followed by the NSE Consumer Goods (+0.08percent).

“This week, we anticipate that investors will continue to take profit”, Afrinvest Research analysts had said earlier in its September 21 note.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) appreciated by 0.01percent to close at 25,574.35 points from day open low of 25,572.57points.

The market’s negative

L-R: Ibrahim Boyi, executive commissioner Corporate Services Securities and Exchange Commission; Tunde Amolegbe, president, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers; Lamido Yuguda, director general SEC; Ariyo Olushekun, past president CIS and Dayo Obisan, executive commissioner operations, SEC during a Meeting between The SEC and CIS in Abuja.

return year-to-date (Ytd) decreased to -4.72percent.

The value of listed stocks increased by N1billion to N13.364trillion, from preceding trading day’s low of N13.365trillion.

In 3,542 deals, investors exchanged 196,121,661 units valued at

N1.727billion. FBN Holdings, Chams, UBA, Mutual Benefit, and Zenith Bank were actively traded stocks.

Presco led the gainers after its share price moved from N49 to N49.9, adding 90kobo or 1.84percent.

Also, UACN increased from N6.05 to N6.4, add-

ing 35kobo or 5.79percent.

MTNNN moved from N120 to N120.1, adding 10kobo or 0.08percent.

International Breweries rose from N3.3 to N3.4, up by 10kobo or 3.03percent, while GTBank Plc rallied from N25.35 to N25.4, up by 5kobo or 0.20percent.

SEC says Digital Assets classification aimed at investor protection

T

he Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said that the recently released SEC statement on Digital Assets and their Classification and Treatment is aimed at boosting investors’ protection in the capital market.

Emomotimi Agama, Head, Registration, Exchanges, Market Infrastructure and Innovation of the SEC while speaking on the guidelines said: “The first thing the SEC bothers about is investor protection.

“This is no difference from what we have been doing. We are looking at investor protection, integrity, transparency and of course we want to make sure that the market is safe and everyone is comfortable with what is going on in the investment climate”.

Agama noted that last year

the Commission launched the Fintech Road map and after that was done, it went ahead to set up the block chain virtual financial assets committee.

“These committees are both market wide and principally done to engage the market, to be able to have discussions with the market and get their buy-in into what we are doing. “What we found out today is that a lot of persons, youths are all involved in this space and it is important that even as far as that is the case, the SEC lives up to the expectations and making sure that those people that are getting into the business are protected “Clearly, that is our aim and the market is part of this and indeed the feedback has been wonderful. People are www.businessday.ng

happy with what we are doing, being able to provide some clarity as to where we stand in terms of digital assets regulation.

“Digital assets is the next thing, our idea is not to stifle innovation, but to promote innovation within a reasonable space and that is exactly what we are doing. Section 13 of the ISA empowers us to do this and so we are doing what we have been empowered to do by law,” he said. On what internal capacities the SEC is developing to meet the challenges of this fast changing digital financial world, Agama said “the SEC is a knowledge based institution and before we come out of this kind of initiatives, we would have done so much research.

“I need to tell you that the Cambridge Centre for Alter-

native Finance has been partnering with the SEC and up to this point, we have been engaging with them and several of our staff have been part of their programmes.

“The World Bank and other institutions are also working with us on Fintech to see that the Nigerian landscape is not left barren but guided with basic principles, we will not leave any stone unturned, but ensure that everyone within the SEC that has the responsibility to guiding investors and the populace in making sure we have an investment environment that people will be proud of is provided.

“Capacity building is a continuous exercise, we will continue to upgrade ourselves, we will continue to learn because knowledge is for life”.

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Global market indicators FTSE 100 Index 5,804.29GBP -202.76-3.38%

Nikkei 225 23,360.30JPY +40.93+0.18%

S&P 500 Index 3,247.61USD -71.86-2.16%

Deutsche Boerse AG German Stock Index DAX 12,542.44EUR -573.81-4.37%

Generic 1st ‘DM’ Future 26,718.00USD -884.00-3.20%

Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index 3,316.94CNY -21.16-0.63%

Lafarge Africa says improved operating efficiency buoys positive outlook

L

afarge Africa Plc, a member of the LafargeHolcim group last Thursday September 17 presented the Facts Behind the Figures on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to the investing public and participated in a digital Closing Gong Ceremony. The company during the session showcased the positive turn-around in the company’s second-quarter (Q2) 2020 and half-year (H1) 2020 performance.

The Country Chief Executive Officer, Khaled El Dokani while making his presentation said: “The proactive measures we have put in place as a business have been instrumental to the positive results we have seen.

The health and safety of employees, communities and other stakeholders remain at the heart of our operations especially at this time with the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

El Dokani, further said: “Our route-to-market strategy has proven to be effective, particularly, our expanded distribution network which proved very valuable during the peak of the CO-

VID-19 pandemic lockdown.

We have steadily expanded our retail footprint in our core markets. The recent relaunch of our Supaset brand has continued to gain traction with our customers, especially with the block makers.’

LafargeHolcim prides itself as a company in the forefront of reducing the environmental impact of manufacturing by ensuring its operations all over the world comply strictly with international regulations and the voluntary commitments it has made to reduce carbon emissions.

The majority of Lafarge Africa plants are environmental management system (EMS) certified to ISO 14001:2015.

El Dokani explained that Lafarge Africa’s initiatives are designed to contribute to the attainement of the Sustainability Development Goals.

The company commits to best practices such as minimizing the use of water and replacing sources of water in communities, adopting non-polluting forms of renewable energy and recycling materials.

IOSCO issues measures to reduce conflict of interests in debt capital raising

T

he Board of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) on Monday September 21 published final guidance to help its members address potential conflicts of interest and associated conduct risks market intermediaries may face during the debt capital raising process.

The guidance also seeks to address some specific concerns observed by certain regulators during the COVID-19 crisis that may affect the integrity of the capital raising process.

IOSCO is the leading international policy forum for securities regulators and is recognised as the global standard setter for securities regulation. The organization’s membership regulates more than 95percent of the world’s securities markets in more than 115 jurisdictions and it continues to expand.

Conflicts of interest and associated conduct risks can

@Businessdayng

weaken investor confidence and undermine debt capital markets as an effective vehicle for issuers to raise funding. To help regulators identify and address these risks, IOSCO today published the final report on Conflicts of interest and associated conduct risks during the debt capital raising process.

The report also explores the potential benefits and risks of Blockchain technology in addressing conflicts of interest in the debt capital raising process. The report describes the key stages of the debt raising process and identifies where the role of intermediaries might give rise to conflicts of interest.

The guidance comprises nine measures that address potential issues when issuers are preparing to raise debt finance, including such things as the use of risk management transactions, the quality of information available to investors, and the allocations process.

Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

27

POLITICS & POLICY

Now that Obaseki has won Iniobong Iwok

A

gainst all odds, Governor Godwin Obaseki of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) last Sunday was declared winner of the Edo State gubernatorial election held the previous day, Saturday, September 19, 2020.

Obaseki defeated his closest rival, Osagi Ize-Iyamu candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to win a second term in office.

The governor emerged victorious after a bitter and tension-soaked electioneering by garnering a total of 307,955 votes, while the APC challenger polled 223,619 votes.

His victory at the poll and the manner the election was conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been applauded by Nigerians; observers, describing it as a plus for the nation’s democracy.

By the victory, Governor Obaseki therefore made history by posting a second defeat of his old rival in the keenly contested election.

Both men had switched political platforms just before the election after their previous contest four years ago, which also ended in Obaseki’s favour.

For political watchers, Obaseki’s victory was a clear sign that the collective will of the people is more

Godwin Obaseki

important in a democracy than the wish of a few individuals.

During the campaign, Bola Tinubu the APC national leader had urged the people of the state to reject and vote against Obaseki and the PDP, saying that the APC holds the way forward for a prosperous future for Edo State.

But analysts are of the view that

G

overnor Seyi Makinde has said that his administration w ould not leave any stone unturned in ensuring that dividends of democracy get to all and sundry.

Makinde, who stated this at the presentation of Instruments of Office to the newly-installed Alamodu of Ago-Amodu, Oba Johnson Akinloye Olaoye, Olaewe III at Ago-Amodu, Saki East Local government at the weekend, added that all mechanisms would be put in place for the desired change to be achieved.

Speaking through the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Bayo Lawal at the event held at Baptist Day School Ago-Amodu, the governor pointed out that efforts of traditional leaders in socioeconomic development could not be underestimated.

He however, said that the current administration would work with both Local Councils and the traditional leaders to ensure campaign promises were fulfilled.

“We commend the people of Ago-Amodu and Saki East for their support during the 2019 gubernatorial election; we are pledging not to let the people down, we promise the people of Oyo State that they will all enjoy the benefits

of democracy as we shall not relent in our efforts to ensure the desired positive changes are fulfilled.

“We enjoin the new Alamodu of Ago-Amodu to always be alive to his traditional responsibilities by serving and protecting the interest of the people as well as to support the present administration in moving the State to an enviable height.”

Earlier in her welcome address, the Caretaker Chairman, Saki East Local Government, Rahmat Adeniran commended Governor Makinde for his kind gesture and prompt approval of Alamodu of Ago-Amodu’s installment, add in that the entire people of AgoAmodu and Saki East at large were grateful.

She however, assured the people of Ago-Amodu and Saki East that Governor Seyi Mankind administration would bring meaningful development to the area and Oke-Ogun at large.

In his acceptance speech, the Alamodu of Ago-Amodu, Oba Johnson Akinloye Olaoye Olaewe III, also commended the governor for being a lover of Oke-Ogun in general as shown in the provision of several social amenities, citing the ongoing construction of Moniya-Iseyin road which he said has given succor to the movement of people and goods as well as the new Specialist Hospital in Saki, for which he said his people would be forever grateful. www.businessday.ng

be paramount in his plans; he must keep a chart of his promises and follow up on them,” Chekwas Okorie, a former national chairman of the United Progressive Party of Nigeria (UPP), said.

Okorie, however, further stated that the governor must run open and transparent administration in which everyone should be carried along.

“Obaseki should let the people know the extent he is going to fulfil his promises; if he encounters economic challenge, he must let them know what he is facing and show good example; I mean what it takes to be a good governor,” Okorie added.

Speaking in similar vein, Adelaja Adeoye, a political commentator, advised Obaseki to extend an olive branch to his opponents, mend fences, so that he can concentrate to govern the state in peace.

According to him, “I want him to rally round all other opponents and extend olive branch to them, to make sure that there is peace and tranquility in the state. Political and economically, he must try and see how he can stabilise his economy and move on.”

“It is important that he consolidate on his achievement for him not to have distraction; he needs to have peace among other political parties and contestants. It is only when that is done that he can know he has a state,” he added.

‘Edo governorship election signals huge improvement in Nigeria’s electoral process’

Makinde promises dividends of democracy to all, installs new monarch in Oke-Ogun REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

the manner the people of Edo State rejected the APC and godfatherism and imposition of candidate was perhaps, a clear lesson for all Nigerians ahead of future elections.

They say Obaseki’s victory was a big dent on the ruling APC, and Adam Oshiomohole, in the main, with whom the governor had been embroiled in a bitter feud following

their disagreement, politically.

Oshiomohole had subsequently facilitated the emergence of IzeIyamu as the APC candidate and campaigned vigorously for him.

Now, after securing a second term for another four years in office, Obaseki, must realise that his overwhelming victory was made possible by the people of Edo State and was a clear indication of the confidence they repose in him, and he must not disappoint them.

Political watchers have advised that the governor must immediately put machinery in motion in a bid fulfil his campaign promises to the people of the state.

Obaseki should realise that as the governor of the state, he is the father of all, and must embrace everyone including those who worked against him in the election for peace to reign, while moving the state forward.

His MEGA programme of 12 point action plan, which entails key developmental programmes in education, health care, critical infrastructure, agriculture and natural resources, peace and security, environment, must be pursued to the core.

“The election has been commended by all Nigerians if that is the case it means he owes that mandate to the people. He must act it out in anything he would do in his second term. The people of Edo State must

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin

C

oalition of Accredited Civil Society Domestic Observers (CACSDO) for last Saturday’s Edo State governorship election, said the conduct of the election was a demonstration that the electoral process has impressively improved in the country.

The coalition made the remarks on Monday at a press briefing in Benin City.

The spokesperson of the coalition, Victor Kalu opined that the

result of the election declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission reflects the will of the people.

“We, the INEC’s duly accredited observers for Edo State governor election, adjudged the election to be free, fair, credible and transparent.

“The election met required international standard for credible democratic election. The result should therefore, be accepted by all as a true reflection of the will of the people of Edo State,” Kalu said.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for giving INEC

and security agencies free hands to conduct the Edo election.

He however, called on INEC, political parties and other stakeholders, especially civil society to engage more on civic voter education and mobilisation before election to improve and encourage impressive voter participation during elections.

“We observed with satisfaction that INEC’s uncompromising position on the strict compliance to use of smart card reader, providing level play field for all participants and ensuring timely and even distribution of election materials,” he added.

Edo election: Be magnanimous in victory, Yiaga Africa tells Obaseki, PDP IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin

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non- governmental organisation, Yiaga Africa on Sunday called on Governor Godwin Obaseki and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to be magnanimous in victory.

The organisation made the call at a press briefing to verify the accuracy of the election results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Benin City.

Cynthia Mbamalu, director of programmes, Yiaga Africa, who addressed journalists, also urged the candidates of other political parties to accept the results as they reflect the votes cast.

Mbamalu, further appealed to

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all candidates, parties and Nigerians to show political maturity and maintain the peace.

While noting that the Edo State governorship election is an improvement on Kogi and Bayelsa 2019 governorship elections, she urged INEC to take all necessary steps to address challenges in the election before the October 19, 2020, Ondo State governorship election.

“Given the significant rate of procedural infractions around counting of spoilt and counterfoil ballot paper, Yiaga Africa recommends better training for Election Day INEC ad-hoc officials. While these infractions do not undermine the integrity of the process, they are a sign that Election Day officials’ training can be improved,” she said. @Businessdayng

She called on the National Assembly to accelerate reforms to the electoral act geared towards legalising electronic transmission of results as the INEC results viewing portal deployed for the election demonstrated how citizens’ access to polling unit results increases the integrity of the electoral process and encourages acceptability of electoral outcomes.

She commended the Benin monarch, Oba Ewuare ll and the National Peace Committee (NPC) for responding to the call by stakeholders on the threat of violence as indicated in Yiaga Africa’s pre- election observation report.

Mbamalu opined that the intervention contributed in no small measure to the peaceful conduct of the election.

28

Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

NEWS

Non-oil revenue: Delta unveils export initiative MERCY ENOCH, Asaba

T

L-R (on the podium): Dan Orbih, chairman, Edo State PDP Campaign Council; Godwin Obaseki, Edo State governor and governor-elect, his deputy and deputy governor-elect, Philip Shaibu; Francis Okiye, speaker, Edo State House of Assembly; Gideon Ikhine, deputy director-general, Edo PDP Campaign Council, with other leaders and supporters of the governor during a colourful carnival-like victory party, in Benin City, yesterday.

NCC to review int’l termination rate for voice services GIFT WADA, Abuja

T

he Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has embarked on a cost-based study to set the new pricing regime for mobile international termination rate (ITR) for inbound international voice calls in the country.

The ITR is the rate paid to local operators by international operators to terminate calls in Nigeria.

As part of the process for the rate determination, the NCC has organised a virtual stakeholder engagement forum with relevant industry stakeholders to intimate them with the ongoing cost-based

study and the need to cooperate with Payday Advance and Support Services Limited, the consultants engaged to carry out the study.

Addressing the stakeholders in Abuja recently, the executive vice chairman of the commission, Umar Danbatta, said the study has become imperative following the various implementation constraints arising from contending industry and market dynamics that met previous efforts at finding an optimum price for the termination of international voice services in Nigeria.

Danbatta, who was represented at the forum by the executive commissioner, stakeholder management, NCC, Adeleke Adewolu, said through the new ITR pricing,

JSS3, SS2 students resume classes in Lagos public, private schools MARK MAYAH

S

tudents in Senior Secondary School (SS2) and Junior Secondary School (JSS3) in public and private schools in Lagos, on Monday, resumed physical presence across the six education districts of the state.

The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, during the 18th update on the Covid-19 pandemic, on Saturday, September 19, directed schools to reopen for students in JSSS3 and SS2 from Monday, September 21.

The schools have been on lockdown since March 18, 2020 following the outbreak of the dreaded coronavirus.

The governor had explained that the phased resumption of physical classes in the state would allow the JSS3 students to

adequately revise and prepare for their forthcoming Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), organised by the Lagos state examination board, scheduled to hold from Tuesday, October 6, to Monday, October 12, 2020.

BusinessDay survey of some schools on Monday showed that the elated students resumed as early as 6:35am as teachers were also on hand to receive the returning students.

BusinessDay monitored resumption at Evaton High School, Alagbele, Agbado/ Oke-Odo, Government College, Orile- Agege, Eko Boys High School, Mushin, and Birch Freeman High School, Idioro-Mushin.

Some of the students, who spoke with our correspondent, expressed joy to physically resume academic activities. They said “our wish is to see to quick end of coronavirus pandemic.’’ www.businessday.ng

the commission would be able to balance the competing objectives of economic efficiency and allowing operators the latitude to generate reasonable revenue.

The executive vice chairman, however, explained that in 2013, the commission issued a determination stating that mobile termination rate (MTR) rates were the same irrespective of where the call originated, a clause he said was largely misconstrued by operators at that time to mean that ITR should be the same rate as the MTR. He said this led to operators ignoring the international cost portion, where ITRs were agreed at MTR level without a positive residual to cover the costs of the international leg

for local operators.

“As a result of this, the ITRs continued to decline, in line with the MTR glide path and as the ITR was set in naira, it suffered a further downward slide in dollar terms following the currency devaluation. Ironically, the Nigerian operators paid the international operators in dollars to deliver international calls which created an imbalance of payments as the ITR in Nigeria declined,” he said.

As a result, Danbatta said Nigerian operators’ profitability and commercial results were negatively affected putting Nigeria’s ITR below that of most countries with which it makes and receives the most calls, thereby making Nigerian operators perpetual net payers.

Beyond Limits Africa to empower professionals, entrepreneurs BUNMI BAILEY

B

eyond Limits Africa, founded by Juliet Ehimuan, who doubles as Google director, West Africa, is set to empower Nigeria’s professionals, leaders, and entrepreneurs through a sixweek online transformational programme.

The programme includes intensive training and group mentoring think tank sessions, aimed at developing leadership and personal effectiveness skills.

Participants will also get a chance to win a total of N1 million in grants to support viable projects and businesses. This comes amid the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the global economy.

Through Beyond Limits Africa, a leadership and organisational capacity building initiative, Ehimuan engaged participants from all over the world, where she leveraged technology and

multimedia to teach a wide range of essential concepts, carefully curated to develop leadership skills and drive transformation.

From leadership to purpose, vision, transformation and reality, thousands of people learned timeless life lessons, delivered over six weeks and carefully crafted to fit into today’s reality. While a lot has been said about the consequences of the lockdown, this move to support people and businesses through uncertain times through coaching and financial backing stands out as one of the more empowering forms of leadership to come out of Nigeria in recent times.

The transformation series was a natural progression of events for Beyond Limits, championed by the founder Ehimuan, who has been involved in leadership development for many years, focusing on innovation and transformation.

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he Delta State government on Monday said it has moved from lip service in the non-oil sector to an action plan with the creation of the Delta-UNIDO Export Initiative.

“The vision behind my decision to work audaciously in the non-oil sector is to increase the amount of forex generated, generate employment, help in funding and access to market, including assistance in training, branding, packaging and labelling, Ifeanyi Okowa, the state governor said while unveiling the Delta Export initiative and Made-in-Nigeria products exhibition at the David’s Events Centre, Asaba.

Okowa, who was represented by the commissioner for economic planning, Barry Pere Gbe lamented that mono-product economy does not augur well for inclusive economic growth and sustainable development as oil is a depleting resource.

According to him, “the advent of electric cars is clear and presents danger to the future of the oil industry. Hence, there is an urgent need for the state government to expeditiously diversify the economy

and maximise the non-oil export potentials of the state for accelerated economic development.”

To this end, the state government has been consistently committed to policies and programmes geared towards enhancing diversification of the economy through massive investment in infrastructure and skills acquisition.

Our drive is to enhance job and wealth creation in nonoil export initiative, he added.

Okowa recalled how his administration in the first term, set out to make agriculture a growth driver to reduce dependence on fluctuating oil earnings and embarked on a pilot scheme of producing high quality, internationally certified Yellow Garri, which was successfully exported to the United Kingdom which he said led to the creation of the Delta Export Initiative and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Centre.

He promised that the state government would strengthen and consolidate on the programme taking the dividends of democracy to the door steps of the people, just as he stressed the need for collaboration the private and public sectors to achieve the goals.

Adesina, AfDB president, others to speak at Africa agric summit

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kinwunmi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), will deliver the keynote address at the Agriculture Summit Africa (ASA) 2020 holding between September 23 and 24.

The ASA, an annual event organised by Sterling Bank plc, since 2018, is one of the continent’s leading, privately funded platforms dedicated to increasing the value of the agribusiness value chain. It creates a convergence of private and public sector interests, development finance institutions, agribusiness investors and players every year. The theme of this year’s summit is, ‘fast forward agriculture: Exploiting the next revolution.’

In respect of government’s directives on public gathering, this year’s summit is a hybrid event, with participants expected to participate online while a few selected guests will be in Lagos and Abuja studios.

I a statement issued by the bank in Lagos on Momday, Yemi Odubiyi, executive director, corporate, Sterling Bank, said other dignitaries were @Businessdayng

expected to deliver goodwill messages at the summit. They include Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Muhammad Sabo Nanono, minister of agriculture and rural development; Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River State; his Kebbi counterpart, Atiku Bagudu, as well as Oba Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, the Oniru of Iru Kingdom.

Kwasi Attah-Krah, director, Advocacy and Country Alignment Function (ACAF), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), director-general’s office, is expected to deliver another keynote address on the theme of the summit on the second day.

He said the second technical session with the sub-theme: ‘role of financial intermediation in agriculture’ would be moderated by Femi Ogunjimi, partner at CardinalStone Capital Advisers. The panel of discussants include Martins Fregene, director, Agriculture and Agro-Industry, AfDB; Bukola Awosanya, group head, Agric Finance and Solid Minerals with Sterling Bank, among others.

Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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News Nigeria’s Situation Room commends conduct of Edo guber election

… calls for enforcement of laws prohibiting vote buying Modestus Anaesoronye

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he Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has applauded the peaceful conduct of Edo Governorship elections held on Saturday, applauding role of the Independent National Electoral Commission (NIEC), professionalism of security agencies as well as some level of compliance on Covid-19 guidelines.

It however calls for a more effective enforcement of election laws that prohibit vote buying and other election offences, which it noted was prevalent during the exercise.

The agency in a Second Interim Statement on Edo State Governorship Election 2020 signed by Clement Nwankwo, convener, said it was issuing this statement following its observation of the Edo State Governorship election held on Saturday, September 19, 2020, from the commencement of polls to the collation of results.

According to the agency, “Overall, the Edo State governorship election was violence free to the relief of stakeholders who had feared that the violence laden rhetoric of the election participants could

pose a threat to peaceful elections.”

The agency said, “It is noteworthy that efforts at mediating peace and reducing political tension mounted by INEC, the Police, the National Peace Committee, the Benin Monarch, the Oba of Benin and civil society groups paid off. These peace efforts commend themselves to future elections.”

The Situation Room also commended INEC for introducing the Covid-19 protocols to address public health concerns caused by the crisis of coronavirus, and urged a greater effort at enforcing the protocols ahead of future elections.

It also observed that the incidence of vote buying during the election was high, and therefore called for a more effective enforcement of election laws that prohibit vote buying and other election offences.

“Situation Room calls on the National Assembly to move quickly and urgently proceed with legislative action to ensure the passage of the Electoral Offences Commission Bill that creates a body to enforce respect for election

L-R: Jean Claude Kassi-Brou, president of the ECOWAS Commission; Nana Akufo-Addo, president of Ghana/chairman of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Government, and Zubair Dada, minister of state for foreign affairs, during President Nana Akufo-Addo’s working visit to the ECOWAS Commission, in Abuja, yesterday.

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Why New National Development Plan must prioritise productive economy, double digit growth HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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ith raging concerns on the weak performance o f Ni g e r i a’s e c o n o m i c plans, programmes and policies, industry analysts have challenged the Federal Government to look beyond gross domestic product (GDP) growth and Continues on page 30 prioritise human productivity as it prepares to unveil a post vision 20:2020 strategic document.

This suggestion is coming on the heels of the weak performance of the vision 20:2020, which the small businesses from 12am, government has admitted on Monday, September 28, performed below expec2020.” tations and has however Prospective beneficiaries are to access the portal via http://survivalfund.ng. It is also stated that it will provide what is called “Formalisation support” that will see free HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE Business name registrations fter more than two for 250,000 new businesses. months of easing There will also be provision of lockdown imof small grants of N50,000 posed by the Fedto support the survival of “100,000 businesses most eral Government to contain affected by the Covid-19 pan- the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, Nigerian banks still demic.”

Artisans and those in the maintain closure of some of transport industry are not left their branches. out, with 333,000 beneficiaries Investigation has shown to receive N30,000 “opera- that this is part of cost cuttions grant to reduce the ef- ting measures by the lenders fects of income loss.” in the face of the economic There will also be a Guar- headwind occasioned by anteed Offtake Scheme, which the coronavirus disease. will entail bulk purchase “The banks have disof products from 100,000 covered that they can actuMSMEs to protect jobs and ally do without some of the livelihoods, according to the physical branches and save Survival Fund website. cost,” Ayodeji Ebo, a LagosTo benefit, prospective based investment profesbusinesses must be Nigerian- sional, said. owned; registered by the CorThe lockdown caused porate Affairs Commission by the Covid-19 pandemic, (CAC); the business owner he said, has increased the must have a BVN, and staff awareness and use of elecstrength should not be less tronic channels (e-chanthan 10 for Payroll Support nels) for transactions. Also, and 3 for Guaranteed Offtake most customers try as much Scheme.

Nigeria opens applications for salary support, grants for schools, SMEs CALEB OJEWALE

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here is an opportunity for school owners and other small businesses that have been unable to pay staff salaries since the beginning of Covid-19-induced lockdowns to get some succour.

Starting 10pm tonight, such businesses will be able to apply for benefits including a payroll support to cover salary obligations of between N30,000 and N50,000 per employee over three months, and this is targeted at 500,000 vulnerable Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

It is part of the N75 billion MSME survival fund by the Federal Government, which is a component of the N2.3 trillion Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP).

“As the portal for registration of prospective beneficiaries of #SurvivalFundNG opens today, interested Nigerians in the Payroll Support scheme are to note that the site will be open from 10pm Monday September 21, 2020,” read a tweet via @NigeriaGov, official twitter handle of the Nigerian government.

A subsequent tweet also noted, “The portal will also be open to other categories of

assured that the Committee working on the post 20:2020 document would review the performance and take relevant lessons.

“We must look beyond GDP since it is often a w e a k m e a s u re m e nt o f development. You can have a wider GDP with less development, larger inequality, and high unemployment. GDP can be skewed and it is a weak measurement of development, “ Tope Fasua, an economist told BusinessDay, while speaking on expectations from the new development plan.

Nigerian government had envisioned to place Nigeria among the top 20 economies in the world w i t h a m i n i mu m G D P

of $900 billion and a per capita income of not less than $4,000 per annum at the end of 2020.

Other key targets as envisioned by the plan include achieving a double digit economic growth rates, single digit inflation, and stable exchange rate.

The vision further seeks to correct the weakness of the revenue allocation, which relies heavily on revenues from crude oil, by encouraging greater internal revenue generation efforts at the state and local government levels.

It also seeks to eradicate extreme hunger and p ov e r t y , g u a ra nt e e i n g food security, enhancing access to quality-affordable healthcare, sustained

access to water and basic sanitation, making housing accessible and affordable, generating employment and protecting jobs, improving access to micro credit, ensuring gender equity and women empowerment and enhancing productivity through entertainment and recreation.

However, these targets were not achieved, as Nigeria has posted very poor development indices as well as witnessed sharp decline economically amid dwindling revenue resources and non-diversified economy.

D espite the plan by the vision to eradicate extreme hunger and pov-

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Nigerian banks in cost cutting push maintain branch closure after lockdown ease

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www.businessday.ng

as possible to avoid the banks; hence the number of customers visiting the branches will also reduce.

“I don’t expect this to have much impact on operating expenses (OPEX) due to increased general cost of doing business,” Ebo said.

During the lockdown, businesses including banks were closed but the e-channels of the banks were effective.

Consequently, the value of e-payment transactions through the point of sale (PoS) terminals, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Instant Payment (NIP) and Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) increased significantly by 82 percent to N11.676 trillion in May 2020, compared with the N6.421 trillion recorded in April 2020.

On May 4, 2020, the first day of the partial easing of the month-long lockdown, banks opened for business

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for about five hours a day.

However, some bank branches still remain closed after the second phase of easing of lockdown by the government in June 2020.

“For many of them it is part of the new normal occasioned by Covid-19 as a significant proportion of banking transactions are now conducted on line. It is also part of strategies for cutting cost.

“But, the reality is that it is creating a lot of inconvenience to bank customers who still throng the banking hall for one service or the other,” Uche Uwaleke, professor of capital market, Nasarawa State University Keffi, said.

According to Uwaleke, the rationale for a large branch network is to bring banking services closer to customers, which encourages financial inclusion.

With many bank branches yet to commence operations, a lot of valuable time @Businessdayng

is wasted locating the nearest bank branch that is usually crowded with customers.

“This can be frustrating to say the least. I think the CBN should intervene and persuade the deposit money banks (DMBs) to restart most of their branches nationwide,” Uwaleke said.

As part of measure to contain the spread of the virus, Access Bank plc allowed 420 out of its 621 branches to operate during the partial lockdown. However, the bank plans to open 127 branches in the second phase of lockdown easing, and till now customers are still waiting.

“We are pleased to inform you that we will be reopening our branches across the Federation in phases, to ensure that you enjoy access to the worldclass services that you are accustomed to, while main-

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Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

news Nigeria’s Situation Room commends conduct...

Continued from page 29

Students of Adeola Tower Memorial Nursery and Primary School, Lagos, observe COVID-19 protocol of checking body temperature and using face mask during resumption of schools in Lagos State.

Pic by Olawale Amoo

FINANCIAL REPRESSION SERIES

How risk of Nigeria’s artificially low...

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terms, financial repression implies that Nigerians no longer have many choices when investing their savings, as yields on investment instruments are lower than the inflation rate.

From 2019 to date, the interest rate on government short-term instrument has plunged by 8 percentage points from 12.27 percent in January 2019 to 3.45 percent in the same period of 2020.

The stop rate on the 364day T-bill instrument now stands at around 3 percent, the highest rate across the three government instruments.

“Savers who have to earn below inflation rate return on their savings would see the value of their money eroded. Thus, by the time repayments are made, the purchasing power of the saved money would be lower, which implies lower income, lower demand and lower output,” Ayorinde Akinloye, a research analyst at CSL Stockbrokers Limited, says.

While interest rates have always been high in Nigeria due to the monetary system in vogue since 2009, which sought to use FGN bonds/Tbills and OMO bills as means of attracting US dollar to stabilise the naira, the recent OMO policy by the CBN, which prevents domestic investors from participating in the auction, has sent yields to its worst record. The apex bank banned non-bank locals (individuals and corporates) from participation in its Open Market Operations (OMO) at both the primary and secondary markets last October.

“The government uses this policy as an opportunity to reduce borrowing cost, but the major risk of financial repression is that it discourages savings, which will have major consequences in terms of capital permission on the economy and could

increase pressure on the exchange rate and external reserves,” Omotola Abimbola, a macroeconomist at Chapel Hill Denham, notes.

While the low-interest rate policy means cheap borrowing cost for both government and corporates, as they have both tapped into the domestic market for capital, it does not translate into a low cost of credit for the ordinary Nigerians who are still accessing bank loans at a double-digit interest rate.

Data analysed from the Debt Management Office (DMO) show the Federal Government domestic debt has increased by 10 percent in one year, from N13.11 trillion in the first quarter of 2019 to N14.53 trillion in 2020.

Akinloye believes financial repression related policies in themselves are aimed at driving the cost of borrowing lower with the aim of driving investments via access to cheap debt capital, “however, in the case of Nigeria, most of this cheap capital goes to the public sector, which is grossly inefficient. Thus, this misallocation of capital impedes growth.”

Meanwhile, Nigerian companies as of August 7, 2020, have raised more than N559.77 billion through commercial papers, 103 percent higher than the N275.37 billion raised in March 2019. They issued the notes with an average interest rate of 7 percent, much better than the average 15 percent offered by commercial banks.

“It is worth noting that the market forces that should eventually push up the rates in the fixed income space are not doing so. Institutional investors seeking to combat the subdued levels of business activities as a result of the pandemic are taking up government securities despite low-interest rates,” Desmond Abbey, www.businessday.ng

research analyst at Arthur Stevens Asset Management, states.

A lower interest rate means Nigerians have no return on their savings and investment as the inflation rate has accelerated to12.82 percent in July, the highest in 27 months.

“Nigeria needs Nigerians to save and invest in the economy, and this requires a positive rate of return. This is particularly critical for the BoP, as they have fewer options to save and invest,” Andrew S. Nevin, partner/chief economist at PwC, says.

The impact of financial repression means an additional burden to many Nigerians whose purchasing power is already being eroded by the country’s current stagflated economy.

With the first contraction in three years at -6.1 percent in the second quarter of 2020, the largest economy in Africa can now be best described as one that is stagflated.

The condition, described by slow, declining or contracting economic growth and relatively high unemployment, or economic stagnation, which is at the same time accompanied by rising prices (i.e. inflation), tips Nigeria into top six most miserable countries globally.

Nigeria’s current economic position means deeper dwindling of consumers’ purchasing power, which implies that incomes of many Nigerians can only buy less of their usual consumption basket, a situation of the poor getting poorer in real terms, and the middle class getting thin out.

According to Nevin, the easiest way to exit “this situation is for the Nigerian economy to grow faster in a sustainable and inclusive way. If we have sustainable, inclusive growth of 6-8% annually for GDP, interest rates would rise and the stronger economy would ensure a fair return for savers.”

laws.

“Situation Room calls on INEC to deepen and expand the use of its Election Result Viewing portal in order to increase the transparency of Nigeria’s elections.”

The agency further commended INEC for conducting a much improved governorship election in Edo State, urging the Commission to ensure that the progress made with improvements in its conduct of the election were deepened and sustained during the Ondo State Governorship Election scheduled for Octo-

ber 10, 2020.

“The usual issues cited such as logistical challenges and overbearing security presence were less of an issue in this election, although the challenge of vote buying/ trading was still prevalent.

This election was faced by a never before seen challenge of Covid-19 and efforts were made to ensure the safety of persons, although a lot more can be done to ensure compliance. This election showed that Nigeria can learn from previous setbacks in its electoral process and take a step towards achieving credible elections.”

Financial Repression: The good, bad and ugly MAYOMIKUN DEJI-OMOTAYO

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ayo Akande purchased a Treasury bill with 3.34 percent interest rate on his investment, while the current rate of inflation in Nigeria stands at 13.22 percent as at August 2020.

Here is what it means for Akande’s investment: In any economy, interest rates play the dual role of returns for savers and costs to borrowers. Whether or not a financial decision is worthwhile is not only dependent on the nominal value of the interest rate but also the value in real terms as indicated by the rate of inflation, which adjusts with consideration for the time value of money.

Ideally, the savers earning rate should be higher than the rate of inflation for the financial decision to save or invest to be considered profitable.

Simply put, a 3.34% interest rate on Akande’s investment means at maturity of that investment, Akande will have 3.34% more money. However, because the inflation rate exceeds the interest rate, it means Akande will have more money in nominal terms, he will have less in real terms; his purchasing power weakens. He has more money which buys him less. Essentially, the value of Akande’s money has been eroded and this is not necessarily profitable but it does not stop him from proceeding because he may be risk averse and simply wish to just grow his savings.

A situation like this, where the saver earns lower rates than the rate of inflation, is said to be ‘repressive’.

The concept of financial repression was introduced to characterise government policies that have a dampening effect on economic growth, especially in emerging markets.

Why would the government do this?

The main purpose of repressive policies is for the government to be able to borrow at extremely low interest rates, giving them access to funding

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for government expenditure at low costs.

Financial repression can be said to describe the government’s measures to pay off or reduce their own debts by channelling funds from the private sector. Private sector funds pay off public debts.

With interest rates below the inflation rate, it basically places a tax on savings, so repressive policies allow the government to increase tax income and domestically-held debt and reduce the burden of repayments on the government’s borrowing.

The government benefits from low nominal interest rates that decrease debt-servicing costs, and tools like zero or negative interest rates may be used, which erode the real value of government debts.

The implication for the economy The major overall adverse effect of repressive policies on the economy is inhibited growth. The tax implication on savings and increased domestically-held debt limits the investment options available to the populace and more often they are unable to invest in foreign assets as their funds are channelled towards serving government debts.

Low returns on savings below interest rates leave savers with little to no funds to take on other investment opportunities. Financial repression leaves savers disadvantaged while the government benefits richly from these policies.

The lack of sustainability of government finance through repression cannot be understated as it is unlikely that funding in this way will lead to a stable period of debt reduction and the growth potential of the economy is undermined in the process.

Resources that could be used to explore the growth path of the economy are funnelled to government expenditures.

Economic participants are forced to hold “safe assets” in the form of government bonds at low rates and low bond yields, and there is an @Businessdayng

artificial inflation of the demand for government bonds.

Where financially repressive policies are adopted in advanced countries, the effects often manifest in emerging economies with the increased chance of capital flow reversals and the threat of increased exposure to rapid exchange rate depreciation and further currency crisis.

Federal currency reserves are often tasked more to ensure stability under these conditions. Financial instability is introduced into emerging economies accompanied by possible capital controls, higher legal reserve requirements and low remuneration rates.

There are essentially financial “caps” on the economy.

Is it all bad?

On the bright side, low interest rates mean loans are available to the government and companies at low costs, which could stimulate growth and create employment.

However, in reality, what usually happens is this lowcost funding is majorly funnelled towards the government which in turn pushes the available capital to its select preferred economic sectors.

This should not be such a downer, except these stateowned enterprises are often heavily inefficient and reliant on debt. Resources are poured into these sectors and they are merely kept surviving rather than thriving.

The greatest benefactor of repressive policies is usually the government that put such policies in place.

State-directed finance institutions and enterprises enjoy the yield of financial repression while the private sector is left to find alternative growth paths, often at much higher costs.

When considered carefully and applied optimally, financial repression has the potential to stimulate some level of economic growth; after the global financial crisis of 2008, advanced economies led the way with using financial repression policies as deliberate debt-reduction tools.

Tuesday 22 September 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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News Why New National Development Plan ...

Continued from page 29

erty, the country was also categorised recently by Brooking Institute as the World Poverty Capital of the world, stating that the number of Nigerians in extreme poverty increases by six people every minute.

On the heels of these concerns, analysts told BusinessDay that the government should look beyond a nominal growth of the GDP and prioritise human productivity and double digit growth, and sectoral policies targeting growth and development that would see various sectors harvesting human capitals locally and creating opportunity for young people in the country.

“Focusing on being the first 20 economies in the world could also deflate the main motive of achieving real development economic goals, albeit focusing on the wellbeing of our people, and addressing concerns of, for instance, 14 million out of school children, scathing unemployment, underemployment, rising inequality, and poor infrastructural development,” Fasua said.

There must be a way to create an economy that focuses on the strength of Nigeria, while prioritising human capital, the economist noted.

According to Fasua, “We ne e d to g e t more productive as a people.

We need to get something that pushes ground up.

We need to supply our industries with our local experts, which lays emphasis on a quality education. We must see the future exploring areas of our competitive advantage and strength.

“The Federal Government has already commenced steps towards development of Medium Term National Development Plans, 2021-2025 and 2026-2030 and the perspective plan tagged ‘Nigeria Agenda 2050.’”

Government said its focus was to develop an acceptable national development plan that required involvement of critical stakeholders comprising of the Organised Private Sector, civil liberty organisations, non-governmental organisation and other similar groups. But some analysts are not pleased with how the government has set out to execute some of its strategic economic policies pointing out that government often prioritises politics ahead of economy.

For Celestine Okeke, associate consultant, British Department for International Development, “Until we pay more attention to economy ahead of politics, we would keep having problems of poor implementation of such plans like this.”

He quer ied why the President went back to merge the Federal Ministry of Finance and National Planning, saying, “It is more of political than economics. National p la n n i ng p ow e rs have now been diluted with the merger. Finance is also very massive, tracking national development and proper planning most likely will suffer a setback.”

According to Okeke, “National Planning should be an independent ministry tracking national development, programmes and policies and providing direction for both federal and sub national government. “ You cannot remove politics from economy, but when you choose politics ahead of economy, there is always a problem.

Our biggest problem is prioritising politics ahead of economy. This is our bane,” Okeke emphasised in an interview with BusinessDay. Chijioke Ekechukwu, a former director-general of Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, expressed further concerns that too many things were responsible for nonattainment of the vision 20:2020.

He listed some to include, “Lack of understanding of the vision, lack of capacity to implement, lack of political will and inadequate economic base,” adding that “Vision is not meant on paper alone, but must be action based and measurable.

“Even if you give us another 20 years, we are not likely to achieve the vision because of the vices I mentioned earlier. Instead of improvement in infrastructural development, everything is deteriorating,” he regretted.

On the way for ward, he said, “All state governments need to key into the vision,” and that “it is not a Federal Government vision only.

He also called on states to be more integrated into the programme and given targets, adding that supervising ministers must be held accountable and the carrot and stick approach used. www.businessday.ng

L-R: Victor Liman, acting chief trade negotiator/director-general, Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN); Wamkele Mene, secretary general, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA); Adebayo Adeniyi, minister of industry, trade and investment; Ahmed Abubakar Aliyu, director, Trade, Ministry of Industry, Trade And Investment, and Francis Anatogu, senior special assistant to the president on public sector, during press briefing on the activities of AfCFTA in Abuja, yesterday.

Pic by Tunde Adeniyi

All On signs $1.5m plant expansion deal ...

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ity by over 50 percent and is a great win for local content,” said All On Programmes and Investments manager, Afolabi Akinrogunde. “Auxano’s growth as the first private assembler of solar panels is a success story that ought to inspire other players in the renewable energy sector in Nigeria.”

The investment, which is single largest investment ever in a domestic assembly of solar equipment and largest investment into the sector since the pandemic started, will be a blend of equity and debt investments that will facilitate the increase of Auxano’s capacity utilisation by funding its expansion plans.

This will cover facility relocation and meeting the working capital financing needs of a rapidly growing company that is also involved in the sales and distribution of renewable energy components, such as hybrid inverters and charge controllers.

The investment will also enhance the company’s services such as after-sales installation, management and maintenance services of renewable power solutions to its customers.

The All On Hub will also

provide development support, including functional and innovation support, business opportunity development and investor/donor engagement.

“This continued support from All On is in response to an increase in demand of our goods and services,” said Auxano Solar chief operating officer, Chuks Umezulora. “It is also an indication that Nigerians are increasingly becoming more accepting of solar as an alternative to on-grid energy and diesel generators.”

At the initial stages of the business just three years ago, the company hired students from a local technical school who were trained by foreign experts to manage costs. Today, Auxano is benefitting from an investment in excess of $1 million.

“We are very happy about this announcement which aligns with our policy objective of driving economic development,” said Rural Electrification Agency managing director, Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad. “This support from All On comes during a great economic downturn and injects significant capital that will scale Auxano’s solar panel assembly operations at a time when localising supply chains is more critical than ever. We hope that this

Nigerian banks in cost cutting push...

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taining health and safety standards to protect you and our employees,” the bank stated then.

First Bank of Nigeria with 750 locations opened 360 branches nationwide during the period, while 98 branches are available for Saturday card issuance.

“The disease has caused a significant reduction in social interaction and disruption in economic activities,

while some public facilities have been shut down in a bit to contain the spread of the virus. The Group will continuously and closely monitor the status of the fight against the pandemic, evaluate and proactively address its impact on the Group’s financial position and performance.

“However, the Directors are confident that the Group will continue to operate into the foreseeable future,” the

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investment will encourage many more investors to see that Nigeria’s renewable energy sector is still very much open for business.”

Some international donor agencies and partners also share this sentiment.

“We are particularly excited about this commitment from All On and our collaboration to support African solar enterprises in improving lives and livelihoods amid Covid-19. This particular investment by All On is special, as it is the continuation of a journey we started as co-investors in Auxano’s first assembly plant expansion under the 2018 All On-USADF Nigeria Off-Grid Energy Challenge,” said president/CEO of the US African Development Foundation, C.D. Glin.

The successful expansion of Auxano’s solar panel assembly plant and its business practices have led to increased demand for the company’s panels, products and services. This has in turn resulted in a supply challenge, which this investment is intended to address.

Another significant contributing factor of the increased demand for the company’s solar panels is the relative short delivery time compared to imported goods.

Most significantly, the current Covid-19 crisis has

caused severe disruptions in the importation of solar panel parts. Having an operational in-country assembly plant has been an industry saver, first because the solar panel assembly sector has been able to survive and customers have been able to purchase goods in naira rather than foreign currency—a trend Auxano’s expansion will make more viable.

“The current supply chain disruptions and market volatility demonstrate yet again, the importance of local assembly for the growth of the renewable energy sector in Nigeria,” said All On CEO, Wiebe Boer. “Auxano Solar Nigeria is a textbook example of what is possible even in times of crisis when we promote local content and invest in capacity-building in country. This is a company that has demonstrated the entrepreneurial spirit and execution focus we know Nigerian companies are capable of.”

Auxano is one of the four companies selected by All On to partner in the Covid-19 Solar Relief Fund in April 2020 for the deployment of power to emergency health care and emergency response centres in Nigeria. The company deployed the solar power solution at the Covid-19 isolation ward at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos.

banks said in its second quarter financial statement.

Stanbic IBTC operated 154 out of 180 of its branches and five cash centres during the period. “Please note that our branches will be opened in phases to allow for business continuity in the event of the contamination of any of our locations. Consequently, we will inform you as we progress,” the bank stated on its website.

GTBank said, “Since the easing of lockdown procedures in Nigeria, we have

operated our branches in a way that ensures customers are always safe when they visit by redesigning our physical spaces to enable social distancing, providing adequate sanitation for personal protection, alternating the opening of branches on a weekly basis and rapidly instituting a process that allows customers book their branch visits ahead of time to reduce high number of footfalls at the same time.”

@Businessdayng

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BUSINESS DAY Tuesday 22 September 2020 www.businessday.ng

Fola Tinubu: Pioneering modern transportation in Lagos State Endurance Okafor

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hile transportation is an essential part of human activity, it is more important in Lagos, Nigeria’s smallest state (357,700 hectares), as commuters in the most populous city in Africa have been faced with challenges in the course of moving from one place to the other.

To contribute its quota in bridging the transportation gap in Lagos State, a group of investors led by Fola Tinubu, managing director of Primero Transport Services Limited, operator of Lagos Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), thought it wise to invest in the busiest city in Africa, in a bid to solve transportation issues.

Hence, in November 2015, saw the birth of Primero Transport Services. The entrance of Primero into the BRT scheme, as initiated by the Lagos State government, has seen the company grow to become the leading public transportation service provider in Lagos.

Primero Transport Services Limited prides itself as a privately owned company with an ultramodern facility in Ikorodu.

With a BA degree in Economics and Politics from the University of East Anglia in Norwich England and an MBA from the University of Stirling (Scotland), Fola’s leadership character at Primero – coupled with his good ability to strategise, has tremendously brought organisational growth and structure to the company within the space since Primero was established.

Universally, the BRT system has the capability of moving huge numbers of people from one place to the other at a time in a faster and more convenient way. The system operates on the concept of utilising dedicated lanes in areas where competition with highway traffic would be greatest while it makes use of existing highways and roads in areas that are less congested in order to reduce cost.

According to the Lagos Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA), by 2009 the BRT system had conveyed over 52 million passengers. Since the implementation of the BRT scheme, it has become a reference point for other cities and countries.

It has been the toast of commuters in Lagos because it is faster, safer, more reliable, more comfortable and cheaper. More importantly, it has also led to the reduction of accidents. In order to enhance the service delivery of the BRT scheme, the Ambode administration launched over

Fola Tinubu

400 air-conditioned buses on the ever-busy Ikorodu Road from Ikorodu roundabout to CMS. Conceived in 2007 by the administration of Bola Tinubu, the then governor of Lagos State, the BRT is a transport option, which relies on the use of dedicated interference-free, bus-only lanes to guarantee fast and reliable bus travel. This system came to fore, under the Fashola-led administration, which kick-started the BRT scheme in 2008.

The BRT programme is a highperformance public transport bus service that works to combine bus lanes with high-quality bus stations, vehicles, amenities, and branding to achieve the performance and quality of a light rail or metro system, with the flexibility, cost, and simplicity of a bus system.

Meanwhile, the Primero capacity boasts of a fuel storage facility, an automated washing bay, a maintenance workshop, a warehouse, and a technologydriven control room that helps determine the status of buses and traffic. This helps in either deploying more buses to where there is the most need or rerouting buses due to roadblocks.

Primero began operations with roughly 434 buses, which operate

from Ikorodu through to TBS in Lagos Island.

Offering affordable and convenient services, Primero’s buses take commuters as many miles away up to their destinations as the buses ride on the BRT lanes,

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Lagos public transport systems have been widely described as chaotic, inefficient, expensive, low-quality and dangerous, both in terms of road traffic accidents and personal safety

skipping the Lagos traffic being faced by other motorists within the metropolis during peak hours - in a stress-less manner.

Even though BRT has not entirely solved the issues of traffic jam in most part of the busy city, a survey by transport analysts shows it has contributed its quota in easing the traffic challenges.

Prior to the introduction of the Bus Rapid Transit system on Lagos roads, commuters had gory tales to tell in the course of moving from one place to the other in the metropolis. While some had their clothes torn by rickety commercial buses and had to appear shabbily dressed for those all-important functions, others had to contend with saucy bus conductors, who have made it a habit to insult passengers whom they imagine are at their mercies.

Currently, estimated at roughly 21 million, the population of Lagos State is growing rapidly. The rural-urban migration to Lagos is consistent and steadily increasing, which puts even more strain on the state’s infrastructure.

As described by the United Nations, Lagos is the only megacity in the world without an organised public transportation system.

Megacities are expected to have a balanced transportation mix comprising of rail transportation, water transportation and safe road transportation, with good road networks. Although Lagos prides itself as a megacity, it has failed in this regard.

Lagos public transport systems have been widely described as chaotic, inefficient, expensive, low-quality and dangerous, both in terms of road traffic accidents and personal safety. Lagos roads are largely ridden with rickety buses that regularly break down and are not considered safe.

Lagos is estimated to need at least seven thousand buses, however, the state currently has less than three thousand. The shortfall is apparent and having detrimental effects on the lives of everyday Lagosians.

Primero Transport Services Limited prides itself as having offerings that are unmatched in Nigeria’s mass transportation. Such offerings include the card system, a cashless system, which enables passengers travel seamlessly and eliminates leakages that are often associated with cash transactions.

Primero buses are fully fitted with air conditioners, TV screens and free Wi-Fi access.

Since Primero Transport Services’ debut, the company has grown quickly, with further calls for the company to expand and increase its routes, in order to reach the demand of Lagosians

who would like to enjoy safe, premium transportation services. The company is said to be aware of these demands, and in response, have applied for the BRT corridor between Oshodi and Abule-Egba, which, has now come to light.

The social impact of Primero’s initiative cannot be ignored as it has helped improve the transportation system in Lagos, and any improvement to infrastructure helps both people and commerce to thrive. On average, Primero Transport Services conveys just over one hundred and fifty thousand commuters to and from their places of business on a daily basis. This is a massive contribution, but given the state’s populace, this is only scratching the surface. Beyond this, Primero Transport Services Limited has employed roughly one thousand employees, thereby contributing gainful employment opportunities to the state.

Lagos is currently the fifth largest economy in Africa, and with its quest to move up the ladder; likewise, any forward-thinking company operating in Lagos State.

The Public-Private Partnership will form a major growth driver for achieving this. Often time, it has been posited that government has no business doing business other than creating a conducive environment, as Primero Transport Services Limited strives to change the narrative in the transport space, analysts believe its success will be a win-win affair for the investor(s), state and the citizens alike.

Apart from managing Primero, Fola also oversees the affairs of Maryland Wreckage as the managing director of the company.

Fola’s ability to balance the strong elements of his financial, managerial and business background with the company’s broader business strategies has helped him put both Primero and Maryland Wreckage on the global map.

Prior to joining Maryland Wreckage, Fola was the managing director/CEO of Greater Washington Mortgage LLC, one of the fastest-growing mortgage companies in the Washington area of the United States.

Fola worked through the ups and downs of the mortgage industry and exercised understanding of how to best serve a client’s needs. He has also worked for some top financial organisations in the US in senior positions; some of the firms are ITT Financial Services, Eastern Savings Bank, Dime Bank, and National City Bank. He is happily married with children.

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