BusinessDay 25 Jun 2019

Emefiele’s signal for banks’ recapitalisation gains wide acceptance

...Commits to single-digit inflation, 5% growth in next 5yrs …To develop framework for securitisation of mortgage loans

ONYINYE NWACHUKWU, Abuja, HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE & IBIDAPO DAVID, Lagos

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overnor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, on Monday signalled plans to get

the banks to recapitalise to a new level that makes them more resilient and rank among top 500 globally.

At a world press conference in Abuja where he outlined his agenda for the next five years as

the head of the CBN, Emefiele said the present N25 billion capital base of banks was no longer sufficient, having been eroded substantially by the weakened naira.

He said at about N100 ex-

news you can trust I **tuesDAY 25 june 2019 I vol. 15, no 339 I N300

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change rate in 2004, the N25 billion was about $200 million, but today, at N360 exchange rate, the amount is substantially lower than $75 million.

He said, however, that the proposed policy was subject to

the final decision of the committee of governors who would then agree on the framework.

“The capitalisation has weakened quite substantially and it

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Fixing gaps from farm to factory will be a game changer Odinaka Anudu, Josephine Okojie, Caleb Ojewale & Steve Onyekwelu

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ohnson Terhemen (not real name) farms cassava in Mbakyu, a quiet

agrarian community in Benue State. In March 2018, he engaged eight

young men to harvest the cassava crop, paying them N40,000 after two days of labour. He combined with 20 other farmers to get a

L-R: Adedotun Sulaiman, chairman, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN); Dick Kramer, outgoing chairman, BusinessDay editorial advisory board, and Okechukwu Enelamah, former minister of industry, trade and investment, at the BusinessDay send-off breakfast for Dick Kramer in Lagos, yesterday.

Pic by Olawale Amoo

911 truck to ferry the tubers to a starch-processing plant in Lagos.

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Inside Atiku, PDP can’t have access to INEC server, says tribunal

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A step towards new frontiers as Adeosun appointed CEO at P. 39 Forte Oil

Investing in energy reliability in Nigeria: L-R: Kunle Odebunmi, co-founder and CFO, Arnergy; Anders Blom, investment manager, NorFund; Femi Adeyemo, cofounder and CEO, Arnergy; Bunmi Adekore, partner, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Wiebe Boer, CEO, All On, at the press conference announcing the closing of the $9 million Series A investment round in leading Nigerian solar energy company, Arnergy Solar Ltd.

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news Atiku, PDP can’t have access to INEC server, says tribunal

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he Presidential Election Tribunal on Monday rejected the request by the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and his party to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow them access to the server used for this year’s presidential election.

Ruling on the application, the five-member panel unanimously refused the request, saying it could not be granted because issues had been joined by parties over the existence or otherwise of the server.

The judges said it was impossible for the tribunal to delve into the server issue at the interlocutory stage of the panel’s sittings.

Atiku and the PDP, through their lawyers, led by Levy Uzoukwu, had asked the tribunal to compel INEC to grant them access to the server and smart card readers used in the conduct of the election.

But the counsel representing INEC, Yunus Usman, in a counter affidavit asked the court to dismiss the applica-

tion.

“They are asking us to bring something we do not have,” Usman said.

He further called the attention of the tribunal to its judgment of March 6 granting PDP access to inspect only election materials without the server.

Atiku and the PDP are challenging the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election.

The petitioners claimed that the results they obtained from the INEC server indicated that Atiku won the poll with a margin of over 6 million votes.

The counsel to President Muhammadu Buhari, Wole Olanipekun, and the APC, Lateef Fagnemi, on their part, asked the court to dismiss the application for failing to disclose the existence of the server.

Atiku had said that results from the INEC server showed that he scored 18,356,732 votes as against 16,741,430 votes by Buhari. INEC had through manual collation announced President Buhari winner of the election with 15,191,847 votes with Atiku polling 11, 262,978 votes.

NigCoMsat, others face stiff competition as FG licences UK communication outfit Stella Enenche, Abuja

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igCoMsat, other telecoms providers may face stiff competition as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Monday issued a licence (landing permit) to a UK based, Avanti communication group for HYLAS-4 satellite space segment across Nigeria.

The Landing Permit which is the first of its kind in Satellite Communications in Nigeria, is an authorization that Operators are required to obtain for their Satellite to be allowed to beam signal over the territorial integrity of a Country.

The Executive Vice Chairman NCC, Umar Danbatta, in his address at the commissions Headquarters in Abuja, said the emergence of Avanti, in the Nigerian space will make service delivery very efficient and affordable for subscribers.

“This would make service delivery very efficient and we believe that subscribers will pay less and the good thing is that subscribers will have better quality in their services. What we are looking for is number because we represent everybody so the more, we do not have Much, the more merrier.

“Given the enormous opportunities offered by Satellite Communications as an alternative mode of Broadband service delivery, the Commis-

sion, has approved a Landing Permit for the HYLAS 4 satellite space segment over Nigerian territory.

According to Danbatta, who was represented by the Director of Spectrum Administration, Austine Nwaulene,”AVANTI is the only operator that has invested in the installation of international gateways and data centers in Africa. AVANTI has a fleet of satellites and one of them which is called HYLAS-4, is used to extend coverage to West, Central and Sub-Saharan Africa, and it is one of these satellites (called HYLAS-4) that has been deployed to extend coverage over Nigerian territory. “ This satellite uses the latest Ka-band satellite technology and has additional capacity to the tune of ZGHz. This high capacity service has come to Nigeria through an International Gateway that has been deployed by one of our local operators. With such high capacity facility in place and easily accessible, our local operators can now be more encouraged to deploy services via satellite to serve the underserved/unserved areas hence bridging the digital divide currently being experienced by the Nation”, he said.

On her part, the chief regulatory officer Avanti communicationsgroup,AnnVandenbroucke said they will provide superior alternative to subscribers.

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L-R: Okwu Joseph Nnanna, deputy governor, economic policy; Aishah Ahmad, deputy governor, financial system stability; Godwin Emefiele, governor; Folashodun Shonubi, deputy governor, operations, and Edward Adamu, deputy governor, corporate services, all of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), at the world press conference to unveil the new roadmap of the CBN for 2019-2024, at the bank’s head office in Abuja, yesterday.

Experts say infrastructure, security, channel expansion will position Nigerian ports as W/African hub

...with capacity to attract transshipment cargoes AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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or Nigerian ports to attain hub status with capacity to attract transshipment cargoes (meant for landlocked countries), there is need for the Federal Government to invest in building supporting infrastructure, address waterways security concerns and improve efficiency in service delivery, experts say.

Landlocked countries are countries that lack territorial access to the sea and are geographically secluded from international markets. They,

therefore, depend on neighbouring countries to transit their export and import cargo to other markets.

Owing to Nigeria’s location, its ports can serve as transit for import and export cargo for landlocked countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Chad.

But Nigerian ports are currently recording low throughput volume due to inefficiency, high cost of doing business, poor infrastructure and difficulty in hinterland connectivity.

“Infrastructure is critical to attaining the hub status. For

example, Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports were planned over 20 to 30 years ago. The supporting infrastructure has not grown but the volume of cargoes in these ports has grown tremendously,” said Aamir Mirza, managing director, West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) located at Onne Port, Rivers State.

“The entire hinterland connecting infrastructure has to be upgraded along with the upgrading of the terminals to enable the handling of increased volume of cargo,” he said.

Nigerian-billed cargoes

are currently diverted to other West African ports that run more efficient system with deeper depth and capacity to accommodate mega ships with 8,000-20,000 twentyfoot equivalent units (TEUs), findings show. Nigeria runs the risk of losing even more cargo if the challenges are left unaddressed.

Compared with Apapa, Nigeria’s premier port, which has 13 metres draft, the Port of Lome in Togo has draft of up to 15.5 metres, Cotonou

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USTDA, UOP collaborate to develop critical human resources for Dangote Refinery TEMITAYO AYETOTO

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he Dangote Oil Refining Company, United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and UOP, a division of Honeywell International, Inc., have commenced a training programme for the development of critical human talents necessary to operate and maintain a petroleum refinery of the magnitude of Dangote Refinery.

The training, which kicked off at the Dangote Academy, Ikeja, Lagos, involves intensive training of 50 Dangote company engineers. The training programme is designed to focus on refining processes and engineering, as well as on health, safety and environmental skills.

Mohan Kumar, director, human asset management and project support, Dangote Oil Refining Company, said at the kick-off of the training that the programme was very impor-

tant for the refinery operation.

“The training will enable the employees understand the refinery, how it works, the type of technology in the refinery and how it operates,” Kumar said.

George Nicolaides, director, refinery operations of the company, said the training was necessary to prepare the employees for the operation of the refinery.

“TheemployeesarethepresentandfutureoftheDangoteRefinery. The employees are carefully selected young engineers that will be part of the people to start the refinery operation. We expect that within a few years they will be able to take up major roles in running of the refinery operation,” Nicolaides said.

TheDangoteRefinerywillbe a major step towards reducing dependence on imported fuels and petrochemicals in Nigeria.

When completed, the refinery, one of Africa’s largest industrial conglomerates, will create significant economies of scale and support jobs creation in both Nigeria and the continent.

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The Dangote Refinery had acquired technology and personnel from all over the world and collaborated with many international institutions. Incorporating technology from the US, Europe, Asia and Australia, the Dangote Refinery is a global endeavour and demonstration of world-class project preparation, planning, collaboration and implementation of highquality infrastructure.

UOP, a division of Honeywell International, Inc., was awarded a contract to provide critical equipment, technology licensing, and design services. This includes several UOP-proprietary processes and packaged equipment.

The proprietary specialist equipment includes catalyst regeneration and dryer regeneration control systems, high-performance column trays, and heat exchanger tubes. The packaged equipment includes a modular CCR unit, catalyst coolers, a thirdstage separator system for the

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RFCC units (which upgrades heavy oil), and two pressureswing adsorption units (PSA) to purify hydrogen.

Speaking further on the training, Srinivas Rachakonda, director, business strategy and optimisation, Dangote Oil Refining Company, said, “These employees have gone through refinerytraining.Theyhaveseen instrumentation and now this trainingwillenablethemunderstand how technology works.”

“For such a high-tech project, investment in getting the right quality of human capital to run the plant is considered to be possibly the most critical success factor for the multibillion-dollar project. We are therefore most grateful for the assistance from the USTDA towards the training of some of the operators needed to successfully operate and maintain our 650,000 bpd capacity refinery at Lekki,” said Ebele Oputa, head, learning and development, Dangote Oil Refining Company.

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NEWS Nigeria points way for Ethiopia to avoid telecom liberalisation pitfalls Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson

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thiopian telecoms industry has been advised to take cue and learn from Nigeria’s mistakes in Right of Way (RoW), spectrum sales, tax holiday and other industry issues, in its efforts to restructure and open its telecoms market for foreign participation.

Bashir Gwandu, non-executive chair of the Commonwealth ITU Group (CIG) and a former commissioner of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), who spoke at the Innovation Africa Digital Summit (IAD) 2019, dissected the telecoms market.

Gwandu talked privatisation and liberalisation processes, breaking the issues logically from the point of producing succinct legal frameworks for both the privatisation, and that of the telecoms regulation, right down to the market design and to the choices available to the government when it came to competition planning up to the spectrum management and eventually service providers’ regulation.

The need for strong and good regulatory framework, encompassing sensible set of rules that encourage investment and pro-

tect the consumer and requiring effective, professionally competent and sufficiently empowered as well as sufficiently financed regulatory institution, he stated.

According to Reuters, Ethiopia’s telecoms market is considered to be ‘the big price’ and the last greenfield site in a push to liberalise, and end a state monopoly as well as open-up one of the world’s last major closed telecoms markets.

The telecoms industry expert opined that government role should be restricted to policy formulation while a strong, independent regulatory authority should provide stable, transparent, fair and non-discriminatory access to telecoms resources in a timely manner.

The legal framework apart from guaranteeing independence of the regulator, and must enable flexibility of the regulator while remaining predictable, efficient, effective and accountable, he said. “It should be the role of the regulator to ensure the existence of competition in all segments of the market devoid of market abuse or the exercise of significant market power by the participants,” he said.

“Liberalisation of telecom market is essential for rapid network growth as experienced

by other countries and private sector participation is essential for attracting investment. Innovation and new technologies in the telecoms sector is fast moving, it cannot wait for slow government bureaucracy to be approving investment funding and yet compete effectively,” he emphasised.

Looking holistically at the telecoms market, international segment should be examined where the complementary options of international optical fibre and satellite links can be made available in a competitive manner, he stated.

According to Gwandu, international gateway liberalisation and national backbone planning should ensure ubiquitous availability, open access and finally on the last mile the spectrum remains key in view of the lack of sufficient last-mile fixed infrastructure.

He further stated, “Mobile is the largest technology platform in human history and mobile broadband is the most dynamic segment of the last mile market.

Spectrum is a critical resource for mobile broadband but is only valuable if it is effectively deployed to enable appropriate networks and services for socioeconomic benefits to citizens.”

FG needs to ease Nigerians’ sufferings – Arabambi REMI FEYISIPO

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he Federal Government alongside state governors have been urged on the need to proffer immediate solutions to the pains the Nigerian masses are going through.

ThecallwasmadebyTimothy Arabambi,aprophetandassistant general evangelist at Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) worldwide (Reformation Land) Olunloyo, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Arabambi, who stated this in the church auditorium at Knowledge of God Worship Centre, Old Ife Road, Ibadan, said on the hard times Nigerians were facing, “we now hear unpalatable news of terror, anguish, sadness, kidnapping, bare-faced wickedness and of hopelessness, such that, frustration is written on the faces of many people.

“There are dashed hope, thus, it has become clear to many people that there is no solution from man, but only solution to the numerous hardships facing mankind is in God Almighty.”

There is no doubt that most Nigerians are passing through tough times, enduring much pains and sufferings and even a lot – like lack of electricity to power their homes, high cost of food stuffs, joblessness, a high poverty incidence and hunger, as all these have overbearing and negative multiplier effects on the people’s livelihood, the prophet said.

He also pointed out that government should make some moves to salvage the situations

and ensure that the nation was healed, as many who placed their trust and hope in earthly authorities had had their hopes dashed, and the numerous hardship and challenges that the world were experiencing today were the fulfilments of the Scriptures.

He admonished Nigerians that they should not dwell in hopelessness to the point of seeking solutions to their problems in wrong quarters, as the situation demanded divine intervention, saying we need not shed innocent blood in our desire to make it in life.

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The cleric urged the Federal Government to declare state of emergency on unemployment, as governments at all levels must put in place sound economic framework to tackle unemployment.

To better the society, he quoted 2 Chronicles 7:14 “… If my people who are called by name, humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land. And Psalm 4:3 – God is not only happy with the Godly, His ears are ever attentive to His prayers.”

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NEWS Fashola, Ambode may make Buhari’s 2nd term cabinet JOSHUA BASSEY

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wo former governors of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode may make the ministerial list of President Muhammadu Buhari’s fouryear second tenure, it was learnt on Monday.

President Buhari is said to be putting the final list of the ministerial nominees together ahead of the resumption of the Nigerian Senate from its two weeks recess.

A source said the list of the minister nominees might be ready by July 2.

As constitutionally required, the President is expected to send the list of the ministerial nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation.

BusinessDay gathers that while President Buhari is keen at reappointing Fashola, some powerful groups in the North and within the Presidency are making case for Ambode, as a compensation for his rejection by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos.

Fashola served in the first four-year tenure of Buhari as a three-pronged minister, combining the ministries of power, works and housing, in what some pundits believe is a recognition of his performance as governor (2007-2015) and the critical role he played in the packaging of Buhari for the top job prior to 2015.

Recall that Fashola was chairman of the fund-raising committee of the Buhari Presidential Campaign prior to the 2015 general elections.

In the 2019 presidential election, Fashola again played a key role in the mobilisation of voters from Lagos, in what was tagged “5,000 Foot Soldiers for Buhari.”

Ambode on the other hand, apart from his role in mobilising supports for the President as the sitting governor of Lagos, is being considered having lost out in his quest to return to Government House, Alausa. Ambode lost the APC governorship ticket to the incumbent governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who had the backing of the APC leadership in Lagos.

FG harps on good corporate governance as SEC Board is inaugurated IHEANYI NWACHUKWU

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isted companies in the capital market have been called upon to imbibe good corporate governanceandaccountabilityinabidto accelerate the growth of the market and increase both domestic andforeigninvestorparticipation.

MahmoudIsa-Dutse,permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, who is also overseeing the office of the minister of finance, made this call at the inauguration of the board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Abuja on Monday.

According to Isa-Dutse, the Nigeriancapitalmarketisgrowing and evolving and to sustain this growth and eventually transform to a world-class capital market, transparency and investor confidence are key.

He said that like world-class markets, Nigerian capital market should be characterised by high levels of liquidity, depth, breath and sophistication with a strong domestic investor base.

“Itshouldbeinnovative,transparent due to robust disclosure

regimes,andefficientbothinprice discovery and in the allocation of capital. We must have it in mind that world-class capital markets do far more than provide access to capital. They are enablers of socio-economic development because they hasten the rate of capitalformation,fosterameritocracy and promote good corporate governance, innovation and entrepreneurship,” Isa-Dutse said.

“Thus, our capital market should broaden access to economic prosperity by enabling the emergence of financially responsible citizens, accelerating wealth creation and wealth distribution, providing capital to small and mediumscaleenterprises(SMEs), and catalysing housing finance,” he said.

Isa-Dutse stated that the inauguration was coming at a time when many players in the market were displaying weak corporate governance practices that could potentially dampen investor confidenceandunderminethesteady gains achieved since the 2008 stock market crash and therefore urged the board members to play their own part as crucial enablers

intheindustrytowardsadvancing a common vision for the growth and revitalisation of the market.

“The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to transparency and accountability in corporate governance. To this end, I must emphasise that the role of governing boards is to provide effective oversight and strategic adversary to management team. I would therefore like to advise all concerned to study and strictly adhere to laid down laws that have clearly defined the roles and responsibilities of the board members,” he added.

In his remarks, Olufemi Lijadu, chairman of the SEC Board, emphasised that capital markets were very important in the socioeconomic development of any nation as they play a critical role in attracting investments.

“As we all join hands together to build our country, we need investments and the capital market plays a critical role in that respect. We need to see how we can move forward to have a more orderly market, a market that is fair and transparent and

can attract investments to build Nigeria. We need a market that is attractive to investors, both local and foreign,” he said.

“We need a capital market where the rules are enforced and where the public who invests are all protected. We need to reinforce the public trust.

I therefore enjoin everyone to help us towards building a capital market that this country deserves,” he said.

Mary Uduk, acting director general of SEC, expressed delight at the inauguration of the board which she said would assist in moving the capital market forward. She welcomed the new members and expressed optimism that they would bring their wealth of experience to bear in the running of the commission and the market.

The board members are Olufemi Lijadu (chairman), Lamido Yuguda (non-executive commissioner),RekiyaLadi(nonexecutivecommissioner),Okokon Ekanem Udo (rep Ministry of Finance), Angela Adewumi SereEjembi (rep CBN), and Mary Uduk, acting DG.

Closing gender gaps in education could boost GDP by 5% - IMF HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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nternational Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday said closing gender gaps in education across all income groups could boost GDP by 5 percent in one generation.

It would lower income inequality by 2¼ points as measured by the Gini coefficient—a reduction that many countries strive to achieve over the decades.

Godwin Emefilee, governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said on Monday that the CBN in the next five years would strive towards a single digit inflation rate as well as help government attain the 5 percent growth target.

Nigeria’s GDP grew by 2.01 percent in real terms in the first quarter, compared with 2.38 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the National Bureau of Statis-

tics (NBS).

In a report titled “Growing Through Education in Nigeria,” published on Monday, IMF drew its chart of the week from the IMF’s 2019 economic health check for Nigeria, which highlights substantial inequality in access to education between girls and boys, and between rich and poor.

“It is widely accepted that addressing educational gaps results in rapid and large benefits for children, their families, communities, and the country more broadly,” the Fund said.

According to a survey conducted by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, a girl born into a Nigerian family in the poorest fifth of society spends about 1 year in school—approximately a third of the already limited schooling enjoyed by, say, her brother.

US, Iran faceoff tells on gold market, as gold rises highest in 6 years Joseph Maurice Ogu

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s the tension between the United States and Iran continues, the price of gold increased. The precious metal was up by 0.6% at $1,406.56 per ounce in global markets, heading for a fifth straight session of gains.

Gold prices hit $1,410.78, their highest since September 4, 2013. US gold futures rose 0.7% to $1,410.20 per ounce, according to Livemint, the global price watch.

US President Donald Trump said last week that he called off a military strike to retaliate for Iran’s downing of an unmanned US drone, and he said on Sunday that he was

not seeking war with Iran.

But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said “significant” sanctions on Iran would be announced, aimed at further choking off resources that Tehran uses to fund its activities in the region.

Meanwhile, Nigeria has failed to take advantage of the market situation on its gold industry, leaving its fate to bandits and illegal miners to decide.

The Federal Government recently declared war on bandits ravaging Zamfara and other mining sites. As long as the war ravages, the much needed revenue from the mining sector remains bleak. www.businessday.ng

L-R: Njideka Esomeju, group head, personal banking, Access Bank plc; Mohammed Babandede, comptroller general, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS); Amaechi Okobi, group head, corporate communications, Access Bank, and Manir Yari, passport control officer, Ikoyi Passport Office, during the commissioning of the passport production building rebuilt and remodelled by Access Bank at the Ikoyi Passport Office, Lagos, yesterday.

ICC poised to address global inequality as stakeholders converge on Lagos JOSHUA BASSEY & SEYI JOHN SALAU

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nternational Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has restated its resolve to address global inequality, especially as it relate to trade and investment as domestic fiscal policies are needed to ensure the benefits of growth, particularly in emerging markets.

This was the outcome of the fourth International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Africa Conference on International Arbitration with the theme, “Africa: Open for business?” as stakeholders converged on Lagos.

The focal points of this year’s conference that also witnessed the ICC centenary celebration evolve around presentingdamagesinConstructionArbitration; Dispute Resolution under the AfCTA: A new look at the Calvo; Blockchain,SmartContractsandArbitration;

Arbitration of Banking and Financial Disputes, and Oxford Style Debates: a debate session aimed at understanding theplaceofAfricanstateswhenitcomes to International Arbitration.

“There are in fact thirty-Eight African States that are party to the New York Convention. However, to establish African jurisdictions as “safe seats”,this is not enough in and of itself.

An investor will require some comfort that the local judiciary will support arbitration and uphold the New York Convention, practitioners will accept the finality of arbitral awards and that the continent has strong dispute resolution infrastructure,” Babatunde Savage, chairman ICC Nigeria and regional coordinator, sub-Saharan Africa, said.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State governor, said Lagos being the fifth largest economy in Africa is strategi-

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cally positioned to play a key role in showcasing Africa to the world. “For Africa to open for business, Lagos must be home for business, and we are ready for that,” he stated.

Sanwo-Olu commended the international court of arbitration for making its services available in facilitating the process of settling dispute arising from international trade and businesses through arbitration.

Africa is currently attracting the attention of the rest of the world as the next and future destination of investments, he said.

“The vast resources which are largely untapped and the large market represented by the population, as well as favourable demographic of this population all together makes the economic potentials undeniable,” saidSanwo-Olu,whowasrepresented

by Omobolanle Modinat Ogunmola, @Businessdayng

permanent secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives.

John Denton, secretary general of ICC, in a panel discussion focused on global inequality moderated by Ndanga Kamau, the vice-president of the ICC Court of Arbitration, said absence of global leadership was key contributor to inequality. However, strong private sector is good for development and growth of any economy.

AdedoyinRhodes-Vivour,amember of the ICC international court of arbitration on her part, said trade and investment could only thrive in a peaceful atmosphere. While Alexia Mourre, who is the president of the ICC international court of arbitration, based in Paris, opined that arbitration helped to improve the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country to help grow the economy.

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Where are ‘thoughtful doers’ in our nation?

STRATEGY & POLICY

MA JOHNSON

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was recently perusing an edition of the World Bank Global Forum compendium on Science, Technology and Innovation with focus on Capacity Building for Sustainable Growth and Poverty Reduction. The compendium reveals that capacity building relating to Science, Technology and Innovation is “about building the technical, vocational, engineering, entrepreneurial, managerial and scientific capacity to solve a country’s pressing social and economic problems”. It is to transform societies, and have a positive impact on the standard of living and quality of life of indigent people within the society. Simply put, it is about building the capacity to provide good roads, clean water to rural areas, and improve healthcare. It is to add value to natural resources so that famers can be prosperous, local industries can compete and have competitive advantage in a globalized world.

Philosophers have often argued whether policy makers should be thinkers or doers. I make bold to say they should be both because it is thinking that helps to distinguish which of the competing options is best for doing in any given circumstance. There are occasions when thinking is doing, while the desire to do cuts short thinking and vice versa. It is one’s instinct that determines which one comes first. In order to ensure sustainable economic development, it is grossly unacceptable not to think and not to do.

In this piece, ‘thoughtful doers’ are policy makers who are thoughtful in planning, designing, implementing and managing Science, Technology and Innovation capacity building pro-

grams. These are individuals whose diligence and commitment motivate local entrepreneurs’ ability to produce and export more knowledge-based goods and services, while workers possess skills to perform complex tasks.

They are policy makers who are able, willing, committed and courageous to mobilize scientists, technologists, engineers, economists, industrialists, medical practitioners, and educationists to manage existing complex interaction between research, science, technology, education, innovation, industry and the society. I know that we have this category of people in our society but I wonder where they are now and why we are still unable to improve quality of life, health care delivery, access to clean water, and access to affordable energy amongst others. For avoidance of doubt, the current Human Development Index (HDI) of the country shows that Nigeria ranks 153 out of 186 countries. Although, the UNDP has described our economy as robust and resilient, nevertheless, it has not brought prosperity to the people.

Nations that are classified as ‘powerful’ are those that are technologically advanced. They possess a high level of industrialization and economic clout occasioned by indigenous technological capability. In the same vein, nations that command greater influence in world affairs, maintain a reasonable control of their economy. This means control of the factors of production and industrialization, which are the backbone of any industrial and economically developed nation. Nations that crave for relevance in today’s competitive world must not see science, technology and innovation as luxury but a necessity to enable them foster sustainable development and poverty reduction.

Nigeria is not an early adopter of technology, and can be regarded as a laggard. This does not by any means infer that we are doomed as a nation. We should be thinking of how to convert our latecomer’s status into an advantage by narrowing the technological gap. We do not have to invent most of the processes or production technologies, neither do we have to start with old technology by following the same advancement as

developed nations. Our country has the potential to advance technologically. All that is required is to build indigenous capacity to find existing technologies, adapt them for local use, and incorporate them into existing processes.

It is worthy to state that the vast majority of technologies required to reduce poverty, add value to natural resources, upgrade production capacity of local industry have already been invented.

These technologies are widely used in developed economies but not deployed in most developing countries. This problem can be solved by developing engineering, technical and vocational skills rather than conducting frontierlevel Research and Development (R & D). This does not imply that resources should not be committed to develop our R &D capability. It only shows that R & D alone will not solve many of the economic challenges facing us as a nation.

Improving the quality and quantity of scientific research in Nigeria is essential. A world bank Report on development indicates that between 2003 and 2012, African researchers have doubled their production of research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics based fields. The report suggests that the pace and quality of research needs to be stepped up further as research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics constitutes only 29 percent of Africa’s research output despite the need for research in energy, transport, manufacturing and the extractive industries. In Nigeria, it was recently reported in one of the national dailies that research grant is available with TETFUND but only 30 out of 150 applicants have lucid research proposals to draw the research funds. This is an indictment on the quality of our products from tertiary institutions. Bearing in mind, the cost, risk and uncertainty associated with any research endeavour, it may also be argued that researchers are not taking advantage of research grants because the fund is meagre.

The process for building capacity for science, technology and innovation should be clearly defined. It requires committed and capable national leadership with coherent education, indus-

‘

The vast majority of technologies required to reduce poverty, add value to natural resources, upgrade production capacity of local industry have already been invented. These technologies are widely used in developed economies but not deployed in most developing countries

trial as well as science and technology policies. The government of the country has an important role to play in setting the agenda, mobilizing resources, developing and implementing coherent capacity building programs. There must be sincerity and commitment to this cause only then can the industry key into the agenda. Capacity building is a crosscutting issue that transcends sectoral and ministerial boundaries. Committed national leadership is important to overcome ministerial rivalries, while inducing ministers to think outside the box. Focusing on basic literacy is essential but not sufficient to invoke economic development. Nigeria will not be able to address its social and economic problems if it focuses only on basic literacy to the exclusion of secondary and tertiary education. Strengthening higher education along with technical and vocational education is essential for creating a globally competitive economy.

A good business climate must exist in which innovative and globally competitive economy would thrive. There must be policies to ensure macroeconomic stability in order to reduce the cost of doing business. This is because improving productive capacity does not only depend on good business climate, it requires consistency in government policies and programs. It must be stressed that there is no single recipe to build capacity for sustainable growth and poverty reduction however, government policies must focus on promoting entrepreneurship and fostering relationship between public institutions, academia, and the private sector. This requires a sustainable process of institutional learning by government agencies that creates and administers science, technology and innovation policies, while universities and industry create and use knowledge.

• This articles was first published in this column by the author on Tuesday, 16 December 2014.

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

The chant of nationalism

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hile Nigerians and the world are waiting with expectation for a new economic roadmap from President Buhari, it is pertinent to remind the President of his ‘Next Level’ promise to improve the living standard of Nigerians and move the economy out of tottering recovery. The delay in constituting a cabinet in his first term was alleged to have partly contributed to the economic recession. The unlikely consequences of the 2015 general elections accounted for capital flight, as investors moved their investments from Nigeria in anticipation of likely electoral crisis.

While the delay lasted, the Emefiele-led CBN took charge but the volatility of the world price of crude oil, Nigeria’s major income earner nosedived and the economy got thoroughly bashed.

Economy predators did not also help, they collaborated to wreck the economy and Godwin Emefiele became the scapegoat. Global economic protectionism, the BREXIT, and in particular, the unending trade war between United States of America and China made the CBN come up with the suspension of 41 items to resolve the challenges facing the economy.

Godwin Emefiele gauging the temperature and architecture of the trade war between two economic giants and their allies’ and likely consequences it would have on global economic growth and stability came up with some homegrown

policies to secure and protect Nigeria’s fragile economy.

Economic nationalism did not start today or with Donald Trump. Nigeria in 1972 under General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), the former Head of State promulgated the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Decree a.k.a Indigenization Decree. The aim of the policy was to create opportunities for Nigerian indigenous businessmen; maximise local retention of profits and to raise intermediate capital and goods production. It must be noted that, the policy was predicated on a very strong conviction of political and economic nationalisation. The policy was later reviewed by the Murtala/Obasanjo regime in 1977. It was a radical policy politically initiated to set the stage for greater participation of Nigerians in the ownership, management and control of the productive enterprises in Nigeria.

It was envisioned to enhance the industrial development of the country by encouraging foreign investment in intermediate and capital goods production. Unfortunately, we missed the dream and successive administrations lost the vision and Nigeria drifted away from economic realities.

The appointment of Emefiele in June 2014 revealed the true health of the economy with inflation almost hitting the roof and the price of crude oil, the only revenue-earning product for the country, plummeted uncontrollably in the international market. The local currency, the www.businessday.ng

Naira, was worst hit by the enterprises of currency speculators and round-tripping held sway, and embarrassingly, the economy became dollarized.

It thus became obvious that if something drastic and decisive was not done Nigeria might be put up for economic colonisation.

It took the initiative of Godwin Emefiele after devaluing the currency twice, to embrace import substitution policy targeted at the goods draining the reserves and responsible for job loss, the 43 items that can be locally produced. Nigerians knew the consequence of that action. Economic predators went up in arms, but Godwin Emefiele stood his ground. He only sought the support of well-meaning Nigerians. That was Emefiele’s protectionist agenda designed to drastically reduce imports and encourage local production and create jobs. At the heart of the policy was the desire to spur domestic economy, which had been swallowed with warped taste for foreign goods and enhance production of suspended items he has eventually increased to 43, and promised to suspend more if the need arises.

This policy also seeks to discourage dumping of sub-standard goods, which were flooding the Nigerian markets. To ensure that a vacuum was not created, the CBN came up with the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, Investors and Exporters Window, Youth Entrepreneur Development Programme (YEPD), Real Sector Support Fund

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Innocent Onyeabuchi Facility (RSSP) and Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (AADS), not to mention the N220bn MSMEDF, ACGS, SMECGS etc.).

Importantly, his own brand of economic nationalism - Produce, Add Value and Export (PAVE), however, all these efforts, to Emefiele’s detractors, are ‘unforgivable sins’.

The voodoo economists have come again as they swarm on Godwin Emefiele in the days of economic adversity. One of them wrote in a national business daily newspaper of Monday 10th June, 2019, ‘’Emefiele: A central bank governor in politician’s image”. Eventually, this is a piece put together and apparently doing the job of paymasters. The writer suggested that President Buhari reappointed Emefiele because he pursued, almost without reservation, the President’s statist and illiberal economic agenda, including propping up favoured sectors, notably agriculture and manufacturing, with billions of Naira.

Note: the rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https:// businessday.ng Innocent writes from Abraka, Delta State.

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Jobs, jobs, jobs (5)

Rafiq Raji

I

was the keynote speaker at an economic dialogue on Nigeria organised by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) and the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria (AHK) on 23 May 2019. Titled “Road to Economic Development: Challenges and Opportunities”, the dialogue was aimed at shaping the priorities of the incoming second administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. The following is the final and fifth part of the highlights of my speech.

Take a charge on bank deposits to raise revenue For the authorities, the most pressing matter is revenue. When there has been a boom in the economy, it was largely because crude oil prices were high. I doubt very much that it was crude oil itself that caused the boom, though. After all, oil is just about 10 percent of GDP. My reckoning is that a buoyant public purse and consequent free-spending government tends to inspire confidence all

around. In other words, when the government is “happy”, it tends to be contagious. As oil prices are volatile, the weight of that purse varies with the times. Thus, there is a need for it to be reliant on more stable sources of revenue. In other words, we need the government to be “happy” most of the time.

Nigerians in formal employment are already taxed automatically.

Those in the informal economy are not. And while even those Nigerians would not mind paying taxes, there is a lot that discourages them. Taxing consumption via value added tax (VAT) tends to be an effective way to bring as many people as possible into the tax net. At 5 percent, Nigeria’s VAT rate is relatively low.

(Kenya’s is 16 percent.) So, the Nigerian government could certainly increase the VAT rate. Judging from the recent public reaction to a “testing of the waters” of sorts about such a move, however, it may not be ideal at this time.

There is another way. Nigerian banks currently charge all their customers, without exception, an account maintenance charge. And in spite of the complaints, they have by and large been able to get away with it. So, what stops a government, which has authority over the banks, and is probably more deserving of such a charge, from doing the same?

In other words, the Central Bank of Nigeria could simply deduct a per-

centage of banks’ deposits (US$82 billion in 2018) as a “patriotic tax”; 5 per cent should probably do the trick.

It would certainly be more efficient and palatable than increasing the VAT rate. The key thing here is that you are not going to be chasing anyone to get revenue. You simply tax the deposits of all Nigerians with a bank account the way banks already “tax” them via an account maintenance charge. When you add the US$4 billion from a potential 5 percent charge on bank deposits to about US$26 billion (2018) revenue the government already gets from oil, we could easily have a deficit-free budget this year and years to come.

Unify the exchange rate to attract investment Growth is at an anaemic 2 percent.

Such is the pessimistic outlook that an economy that not too long ago ran at a rate of more than 5 percent is now only expected up by about 2.5 percent in about three years or so. And considering that population growth is about 2.5 percent or more, this level of growth would still not be adequate to deal with the problems that we have. Most experts agree we would be able to accelerate the current tepid growth by attracting more investment; which is currently quite low at 13 percent of GDP (Ethiopia’s is 38 percent of GDP.) A major impediment is our multiple exchange rate regime. Thus, a unified marketdriven exchange rate would be ideal

‘

The CBN could simply deduct a percentage of banks’ deposits (US$82 billion in 2018) as a “patriotic tax”; 5 per cent should probably do the trick. It would certainly be more efficient and palatable than increasing the VAT rate

at this time.

Authorities on track; try harder To be fair, the authorities are already doing some of these things (see earlier published parts 1-4 of the column). Still, we need to put pressure on them to do the following urgently. Raise power tariffs, raise VAT or take a direct charge on bank deposits, remove fuel subsidies, unify the exchange rate, list the state oil firm on the stock exchange. And for ongoing infrastructure projects, like rail and roads, a higher priority should be placed on those that connect key trade infrastructure; the Lagos sea port, for instance.

And considering there is increasing interest in Nigeria’s digital economy by global tech firms, there should be a deliberate drive by the government to attract more tech foreign direct investment (FDI). Also, action should be afoot to build the relevant pipeline infrastructure that the soon-to-be-completed Dangote oil refinery would need to transport its output across the country. That way, it would not create another traffic gridlocked area in another part of Lagos, the commercial capital; where incidentally, another port is being built. These are simple and practical things that can be done now to improve our lives.

“Dr Raji is chief economist at Macroafricaintel.

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

The longer the US Sino-tariff wars go on, the harder it will be to undo the damage

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ompared to pre-2008 crisis levels, world economic growth has plummeted by half and is at risk of a long-term, hard-to-reverse stagnation. Returning to global integration and multilateral reconciliation could dramatically change the scenario.

Since spring 2017, the US-led tariff wars have effectively undermined the global recovery. In the past years, global economy has navigated across several scenarios. Now it is approaching the edge.

I have been following four generic scenarios on the prospects of global economic growth since the U.S. 2016 election. The first two scenarios represent variants of “recoupling.” In these cases, global integration prevails, despite tensions. In the next two scenarios, global integration will fail, either in part and regionally or fully and globally.

What should worry us all is that, during the past few years, real global growth prospects have slowly but surely moved from the ideal and preferable scenarios toward the worst and darkest.

The Return to Cooperation Scenario In this scenario, U.S. and China achieve a trade agreement. Both agree to phase out additional tariffs, renounce trade threats and establish working groups to defuse other friction areas in intellectual property rights, social and political issues, and military matters. Global growth prospects could – in the best scenario – even exceed the old OECD/IMF baselines at more than 4%.

This was always the least likely scenario to materialize. Today, its degree of probability is minimal. Yet, it is important to remember that, during the first Trump-Xi meeting, many observers saw the scenario still as possible, even probable.

The Muddling Through Scenario

In this scenario, the tariff ’s economic impact would have been limited to 0.4% of Chinese GDP and 0.8% of U.S. GDP, respectively. U.S. and China develop a path to a trade agreement during the truce, but other friction areas, – particularly in advanced technology, result in new skirmishes.

Uncertainty decreases but fluctuates.

Global economic prospects barely improve.

Markets witness rallies and plunges. Global recovery fails. Global growth prospects remain close to 3.5 per cent - 3.9 per cent.

Only half a year ago, this scenario was still seen as a viable one. Today, it feels like a bygone world.

The America First Scenario In this scenario, the import-value stakes would be 10-fold relative to the start of the trade war, amounting to more than $0.5 trillion, with soaring collateral damage. In China, it could shave off 0.4% and in the U.S., 0.8% of the 2019 GDP, respectively.

Neither the U.S. nor China would agree to phase out additional tariffs. Talks would linger, fail or lead to new friction. Uncertainty increases, volatility returns. Global prospects decline further. Markets linger.

In this scenario, global prospects would dampen as world GDP growth in 2019 would sink to 3 per cent or worse.

The Global Trade War Scenario In this scenario, all bets are off. U.S. and China fail to agree on a trade compromise.

Additional tariffs are enacted and new trade threats declared. The White House escalates attacks against Chinese industries, in intellectual property rights, social and political issues, and military modernization.

Volatility soars. Real GDP growth in the U.S. takes a severe hit. Chinese growth erodes.

Eventually, risks to global outlook overshadow world GDP growth, which could

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linger at 2 per cent - 2.5 per cent or worse.

World trade and investment plunges. Migration crises abound. The number of globally displaced, which has exceeded World War II figures since the mid-2010s, soars to record highs. A series of new geopolitical conflicts prove harder to contain.

Toward the Edge So where are we today vis-à-vis these scenarios? A simple answer: Moving closer to the edge.

After trade frictions and the Trump tariffs undermined the global recovery momentum, the IMF finally woke up predicting global economic activity to slow notably. In early June, the World Bank estimated the world economy would only expand by 2.6 per cent. The IMF has affirmed that the trade wars could wipe $455 billion off global GDP in 2020.

Worse, President Trump increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods exported to the U.S., and introduced an effective ban on American companies doing business with Chinese telecom giant Huawei in early May. In brief, the status quo is shifting from the America First toward the Global Trade War scenario.

In effect, multilateral banks’ estimates still downplay effective collateral damage.

If the Trump administration will continue to expand trade wars and geopolitical ploys in multiple regions, their models ignore the impending adverse feedback of such measures - as evidenced by Morgan Stanley’s business conditions index that just took the worst one-month hit in its history.

To understand how much expectations have been revised, let’s recall that before the 2008 global crisis global growth rate was around 4 per cent to 4.3 per cent. The

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Dan Steinbock

current growth rate has almost halved from its pre-crisis level.

In relative terms, something similar occurred in the 1970s, which saw the end of three “glorious decades” of solid growth in major advanced economies.

What we are witnessing now is a potentially fatal fall into secular stagnation. In part, it is structural, resulting from maturing economies and aging populations. But in part, it is self-induced and the effect of misguided trade policies and unilateral geopolitical aggression. In the absence of tariff wars and geopolitical destabilization, global growth rate could now be closer to 3.5 per cent.

The longer it takes to achieve multilateral reconciliation, the more likely it is that falling secular long-term growth rates will prove harder to reverse.

• The original version was published by South China Morning Post on June 20, 2019 Dr. Dan Steinbock is the founder of Difference Group and has served at the India, China and America Institute (US), Shanghai Institute for International Studies (China) and the EU Center (Singapore). For more, see http://www.differencegroup.net/

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

EDITORIAL Publisher/CEO

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

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

Making the most of Nigeria’s growing population

R

eports projecting future markets for goods and services that don’t mention Nigeria are uncommon. Whether it is insurance or cement, Nigeria is considered the last frontier.

For instance, Nigeria is the only African country that will contribute new mobile phone subscribers to the 700m expected by 2025 (contributing about 7m every year). It is currently the largest market of several multinationals – Nigeria’s demographics have been attracting manufacturers and retailers outside and within Africa.

Any market with a young productive population and purchasing power is every manufacturer’s dream. Investors looking for new fastgrowth markets that deliver superior returns know that Africa holds the greatest potential. And that Nigeria is the testing ground.

The reason isn’t far-fetched: economic growth is hinged on a productive population.

An economy’s output risks depression if there are more pensioners than workers. For instance, if there are three

retirees for every taxpaying worker. Besides, retirees don’t build houses, invest in real estate or consume durable goods.

From antiquity historians have observed that a contracting or expanding population is related to the fall or rise of civilisations. Singapore, the tiny city-state, lately came to the conclusion that by 2030, 36 percent of its estimated 6.9m population will be foreign workers. Singaporeans within the working age of 20 and 64 will decline from 2020 while citizens aged 65 and above will be three times the working age population in 2030.

Economic history, experts argue, can be written in terms of the agricultural and industrial revolutions. Both are said to have made long-term economic growth possible. Peter Bauer, an economist, notes in The Population Explosion that “Rapid population growth has not been an obstacle to sustained economic advance either in the Third World or in the West.”

China, for example, was able to lift millions out of poverty when agriculture grew fast. The industrial revolution turned farmers in the UK into mak-

ers (and consumers) of goods and services. By 1849 London expanded fastest, the city attracted the rich and poor. London’s railway stations, ports, banks, factories and breweries found in the growing population a ready labour force and a consumer market for their goods and services. The city’s needs and purchasing power gave entrepreneurs “compelling incentives to adopt new technologies and create new industries,” argues Slyvia Nassar in her book Grand Pursuit.

Nigeria is urbanising too, rapidly. Approximately 70 percent of Nigeria’s growing and rapidly urbanising population is less than 30 years old. The advantage of Lagos, one of only two costal megacities in Africa, is yet to be realised.

But urbanisation has not increased incomes as it has in other developing economies because of the low level of formal, full-time employment.

Rural incomes have stagnated as a result of low productivity and inefficient food distribution channels. The transition from the farm to the factory is not happening. Constraints such as poor road networks and unreliable electricity supply hinder

factories from absorbing the influx of people from the farms.

Hence the economy of Nigeria is failing to lift millions out of poverty. A jobless economic growth coupled with insecurity and policy inertia is a grave threat to Nigeria. For Nigeria to yield demographic dividends from its bulging youth population, it’ll require a comprehensive and well-executed strategy.

Economies of scale, entrepreneurialism and macroeconomic stability can help Nigeria achieve its potential, if challenges such as low productivity and market access in agriculture, prevalence of an informal economy and regulatory uncertainty are tackled.

The President, his ministers and advisers must thus focus on bold reforms such as revamping the Land Use Act to breathe life into dead assets. Certificates of ownership make land movable. It gives land owners the freedom to use the land as capital, collateral or to grow cash crops for export, coupled, of course, with an enabling business environment. Such policies, rather than, say, family planning initiatives, are what have the potential to lift millions out of poverty.

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Easing the pain of political transitions The Reformer

JOE ABAH

O

ne of the main tenets of democracy is that citizens get to choose their leaders every so often. In Nigeria, every four years. Historically, the period of transition from one government to another has been relatively seamless. The official photograph of the former leader is brought down, placed facedown on the floor and that of the new leader is put up, and everything carries on as normal. This happens mostly without major changes, except, of course, changes in personnel.

However, in 2015, Nigeria had its first transition from one ruling party to an opposition party at the national level. This threw up a lot of issues. The incoming party accused the government of the day of refusing to give it handing over notes. What was not apparent to many was that the preparation of the sort of detailed handing over notes that the incoming government was asking for was not what the civil service was used to producing, and that there was limited internal capacity to produce them. Some of us were eventually drafted in at the last minute to help in its compilation and editing, but there were still major concerns by the incoming government when we eventually delivered the handing over notes.

As Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms at the time, we organised a series of trainings for civil servants on how to cope with this unusual change in government and produced a number of manuals on how the bureaucracy should prepare itself to assist the new government. Take up was low and many senior people, such as Permanent Secretaries, that would have benefited from it sent very junior

staff instead. Early in 2015, I attended a seminar organised by the US-based National Democratic Institute, focused on the need to legislate the political transition process. The House of Representatives eventually brought forward a Presidential (Transition) Bill, 2015: “A Bill for an Act to provide for the smooth and orderly transfer of power from one government to another and other related matters”, to try and address the matter.

Among other things, the Presidential (Transition) Bill requires the sitting President to, within two weeks of the results of the election being declared, provide working space for up to 10 people nominated by the President-Elect to “begin a review and analysis of budgeted expenditures during the tenure of the incumbent President.” It also provides that he should pay the allowances of members of the President-Elect’s Transition Team and constitute his own Transition Team, with the freedom to draw members from any area of the public service.

Interestingly, the Bill makes provision for the appointment of an Administrator-General after every general election, to take an inventory of all Federal Government assets, ensure that all assets are maintained, ensure the provision of documents to the Transition Team of the incoming government and prosecute any person that breaches the Act. The penalties in the Bill are N10 million, or 6 months imprisonment, or both. The sitting President was also required to make budgetary provision for this activities of not more than N100 million and ensure that it is appropriated for in the budget of the election year. I believe that the Bill was passed by the House of Representatives but has not yet become law.

There were some issues with the Bill. Firstly, it is tantamount, in a way, to preparing a will, something that most Nigerians are not enthusiastic about. Secondly, the appointment of the Administrator-General is only expected to happen after general elections and it is not clear whether or not it is a permanent or tenured position that will see to the maintenance and public publication

of an inventory of all government assets, and liabilities on an ongoing basis once they are acquired. It is whatever the Administrator-General is given by the incumbent government that he or she has to work with. This would still leave a gap between what the outgoing government says it is leaving behind and what the incoming government says it inherited. Lastly, it gave no deadlines for when a handing over note must be prepared.

Many other countries have Presidential Transition Acts. The closest to home is Ghana that enacted a Presidential Transitions Act in 2012 and used it, for the first time, in its 2012 elections. The Ghana Act is more robust, in my view.

It provides for a Joint Transition Committee made up in equal numbers by nominees of both the President and the President-Elect. Its roles include ensuring the smooth handover of power, providing daily national security briefings to the President-Elect and ensuring that government continues to meet its obligations. It also provides for an Advisory Council headed by the Speaker and made up of one nominee by the sitting President and another nominee by the President-Elect. Additionally, it provides for an Administrator-General in a seemingly permanent capacity and a Presidential Estates Unit under the Administrator-General to keep an inventory of all government assets and ensure their maintenance.

Significantly, the Ghana Presidential Transition Act stipulates that handing over Notes must be presented to the Administrator-General no later than 30 days before the date of the presidential elections and that he shall make them available to the Parliament, Chief Justice, Council of State and Public Records and Archives Department. If this sort of law had been present for the 2015 elections, it would have greatly avoided the issues that arose during that transition and reduced, to some extent, the level of distrust between the outgoing and incoming governments.

I believe that the issues are in even sharper focus at state level. Every four years, claims and counter-claims are made by outgoing and new govern-

‘

The Ghana example of ensuring that handing over notes, with specific guidelines on what it should contain, are delivered 30 days before the date of the elections, is worthy of emulation

ments about how much was left in the treasury of the state. Following the 2019 elections, we saw something similar to the situation at national level in 2015, in that there was a change of power from a ruling party to an opposition party in a number of states. In Imo State, for instance, the new governor alleged that no handing over notes whatsoever was provided to him, never mind one of inadequate quality. He also conducted the press round the governor’s office which appears to have been vandalised, with papers strewn everywhere.

Interestingly, he asked the Head of the Civil Service who was present during the inspection of the governor’s office whether she thought it was a fit environment for the new governor to work out of and she said: “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.” I digress.

In my view, there is an urgent need to legislate Transition Bills at both national and state levels. This will ensure that the circumstances of 2015 and 2019 do not recur. The Ghana example of ensuring that handing over notes, with specific guidelines on what it should contain, are delivered 30 days before the date of the elections, is worthy of emulation. It also makes sense to have a Presidential Estates Unit under an Administrator-General who has a fixed tenure that transverses the transition period. This will ensure that there is an inventory of all government assets as they are acquired and that those assets are constantly maintained. It will make it difficult for public servants to disappear with vehicles, computers and other assets when one government ends and before another one commences. It will also make it possible to provide the information, on request, to civil society organisations, the media and the courts, in case of a corruption trial.

Note: the rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https://businessday.ng Dr Abah is the former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms. He is currently the Country Director of DAI, a global development company. The views contained in this article are personal to him and do not represent the views of any employer past or present.

Women and seafaring: The dilemma of going onboard

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hen the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) came up with the statistics that only 2 per cent of the total seafarers across the globe are women, it came as a surprise to most people especially those that are not really participants in the maritime sector. Some even come with the questions that a large percentage of crew members on aircraft across the world are females and that is an industry perceived to be more dangerous than maritime in fact some airlines are celebrating all female crew from one destination to the other.

What then is the issue? Why do we have this meagre number of female participants in the seafaring profession? The question raises a lot of dust but from experience if one looks at maritime from the Nigerian context, the first question to be asked is that how have women faired in the maritime sector.

Interestingly because of the nature of women of being dedicated to every cause they pursue you find out that the women that have taken advantage of opportunities inherent in the sector have been very successful. For instance the Secretary General of the Abuja Memorandum of Understanding on Port state and Flagstate control Barr. Mfon Usoro is someone you cannot do but talk about her

strides and footprint in the african maritime sector. Everyone one that comes in contact with her knows that she is an encyclopaedia of maritime. There is also Vicky Hastruup and not to forget the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority Hadiza Bala Usman all carving a niche for themselves in the industry.

So do we then say it is the remuneration package that has deterred more women for taking a career in seafaring, this is obviously not so because seafaring is an international career which is well regulated and payment of seafaring is mostly in foreign currencies based on internationally acceptable standards.

It therefore means that financially every seafarer if not taking the whole responsibility of the family would greatly support the spouse.

A major challenge could be lack of awareness. You cannot just jump on board without getting the necessary qualifications and when you talk of courses like nautical engineering, marine engineering and the likes, you don’t find a lot of young females aspiring to be engineers not to talk of taking these specialized fields in Engineering. The problem is lack of proper education of our brilliant young females before enrolling into the higher institutions. Perhaps if Maritime Agencies take it upon themselves to address the issue by

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catching them young it would be of immense benefit.

Another issue is the compatibility of vessels to the female gender. It is an irony that vessels are referred to as females but are not often constructed to suit the female gender. I am of the opinion that modern vessels should start having dedicated female restrooms including areas designated for females alone so that they can have their own private time on board.

The issues of staying away from the family for a period of time can also be a reason of less female participation in the seafaring profession. However, the world is now a global village because of the advent of technology. You can now do video calls in fact you can virtually do everything you need to do with your immediate family because there is no difference between travelling abroad and being onboard vessels.

Let us not even dare go into robotics where they can be programmed to prepare the meals and take charge of the children’s homework.

Again, there are a lot of leaves attached to the seafaring profession so it would not take long for the next visit home.

Well what most people fail to discuss when they encourage females to go onboard is the issue of sexual harassment onboard. Considering the fact that it is a male dominated environ-

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OBIAGELI CHUMA-UGBO ment how do we protect the female gender in this confined area. It should not be a challenge because a lot has been done to ensure that issues of sexual harassments are dealt with in the workplace on land, therefore, why can’t all this be applied to the vessel? It is also a work environment so if appropriate sanctions are attached to erring seafarers it would go a long way to deter potential harassers.

It is heart-warming that the IMO has taken up the challenge of encouraging gender equality onboard vessels with the theme of this year’s world maritime day focusing on gender equality, and to bring this to the fore some member nations including Nigeria have also adopted this theme for the commemoration of the Day of the seafarers. In no distant future, the numbers will swell for the benefit of all and very soon we will celebrate an allfemale crew voyage on a merchant vessel. I am onboard with gender equality please come and join me.

Obiageli works with the Public Relations Unit in NIMASA

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Media business Outdoor, TV, press in Nigeria asked to watch their back, digital is coming …Innovation, research and collaboration as solutions Stories by Daniel Obi Media Business Editor

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n the last 10 years, the Nigerian advertising industry has witnessed disruptions with digital advertising continually occupying bigger space. Global predictions indicate that digital advertising is on the increase and in Nigeria, it has 8% share of total Ad spend from about 5 percent three years ago.

Today, the media landscape and the game has changed as advertisers that used to see, for instance, mobile advertising as a complementary consideration are now considering it first in their budget because of impact, emotive connection and reach, says Jude Odia, CEO of Media Perspectives, a media buying agency.

Odia told members of Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria, OAAN, recently in Abeokuta at their 34th annual conference that if spend is increasing on digital, which is happening now, it is not because clients are bringing additional money from their pocket, they are rather taking money from other media platforms.

With deep understanding of media landscape, Odia reminded

the Outdoor practitioners that with changing landscape “the way we play it about 20 years ago, cannot be the same today”.

Looking at the various challenges confronting the Outdoor industry, such as media debt, vacant billboards and over-regulation, he said it is not that outdoor is shrinking. “Globally outdoor is growing but the industry in Nigeria needs innovation to grow. In Nigeria the problem is that Outdoor has not fused itself into the new ecosystem; therefore it is losing rele-

vance and connectivity and value.

Let’s get back into the eco-system and be relevant and command, and be active on the table” With digital transformation changing the game and business, he said Outdoor and by extension other traditional media platforms can only become relevant through innovation informed by research, partnerships, data, M&As, strong association to constructively engage with regulators and increase the barrier into entering the Outdoor industry.

As advertisers are discovering new cost effective ways of achieving their objective, the media expert advised Outdoor practitioners to ride on the digital trend or face extinction. “It is important we recognise these trends because they shape our business”, as digital can be integrated into billboards and these boards can do much more to add value. He said the critical thing in fighting a battle is know thyself, know thy enemy and know the weapon available to you.

He challenged the industry to move its mind from problem frame of mind to solution frame of mind.

“Some of the problems we had in the past we still have not found solution to them. We can stop the blame game and think how we can change the tide completely. If we continue this way more debts will pile up. We can stop future debt from coming rather than labouring on debt owed years back”, he said.

Also speaking at the forum, the immediate past President of the OAAN, Babatunde Adedoyin listed his administration’s achievement to include downward review by 30% of advert fee on static and 35% on LED boards in Lagos, 20% percent payment on vacant boards policy against 100% and curtailing frictions with Lagos State among others.

Chi introduces Capri-Sun 100ml pack to excite consumers

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hi Limited which was early this year totally acquired by Coca Cola at undisclosed amount has said that one its products CapriSun, at a retail price of N50, has been introduced in a new 100ml pouch size in order to meet an increasing consumer demand for more exciting and unique options.

“The new pouch size is an addition to excite consumers with the goodness of Capri-Sun, but more importantly, to give them the power of choice”, the company said in a statement.

Still with the same delightful signature taste and playful pouch, the Capri-Sun 100ml pouch is handy, pocket-friendly and keeps to the brand’s promise of ensuring a taste of fun in every pouch. Consumers will enjoy the variety of options, ease and convenience in the 100ml pouch, as well as its healthy, naturally tasty and satisfying experience that promotes an atmosphere of fun and adventure.

The introduction of the new 100ml pouch size is in keeping with current trends, and it’s based on a richer understanding of consumer desires to enjoy handy, affordable, convenient and unique Capri-Sun experience in exciting options.

For now, only available in Orange and Apple variants, the launch presents a key advantage to drive value and excitement into the category by offering an appealing product option in line with consumer expectations, the statement said.

Consumer forum identifies key issues, potential solutions in electricity sector

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rbitrary electricity billings, energy theft, issue of metering, group disconnections and poor power sector regulation have been identified as key issues creating frustrations and aggravations between electricity providers, especially discos and consumers.

Over the years, Nigerian electricity consumers and providers have lived with these challenges including lack of state-of-art to distribute electricity, exhibition of violence by consumers against service providers, delay in addressing consumers’ complaints and discriminatory distribution of electricity.

But in an attempt to fashion a new chapter in the sector, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC has initiated a forum between consumers and electricity providers address grey areas.

At one of those town hall meetings held between FCCPC, Ikeja Disco, consumers and electricity regulatory bodies, CEO of FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera said the meeting is to allow the discos to hear the consumers, recognise what their grievances are

and to improve on how they address those grievances.

For instance, he said there is no excuse of billing consumers for power that they did not use. “An estimated billing itself seems to have been redefined, abused and mis-characterised.

We use to have estimated billing in Nigeria before the discos and it was not such a contentious but the real challenge is that this estimated billing has become arbitrary and crazy and that is why people are resisting it. That is why metering seems to be the only option”.

Irukera further said that consumers are dissatisfied because of poor quality of service, and that dissatisfaction becomes aggravation when service providers are not sensitive. However, he said the forum is part of efforts designed to enlighten consumers against the abuse to field workers of discos. “We must find solutions to achieve restraint on violence and again police neighbourhoods to check energy theft and illegal connections”.

Speaking at the forum, Princewill Okorie, National President, Associawww.businessday.ng

tion for Public Policy Analysis said the problem in the power sector is the failure of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC to enforce

the Electric sector reform act of 2005 without being partial.

Okorie said section 32 (1) F says regulation should be just and bal-

anced to all consumers, investors and licensees, but “what you see is that NERC operates in support of the discos against the consumers.

L-R: Asue Ighodalo - chairman Sterling Bank, NESG & Co-Founder, Banwo & Ighodalo; Theresa Adeyinka - commercial Director, Signal Alliance; Austin Okere - founder, CWG plc and Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Ausso Leadership Academy (ALA); Tosin Adefeko - founder/CEO AT3 Resources Limited & President ALA Alumni at the leadership session Asue held with delegates of the academy recently.

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Tuesday 25 June2019

BUSINESS DAY

15

Marketing & Pr Flour Mills Nigeria aims at doubling business in 5 years to N1.2trn revenue Stories by Daniel Obi

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lour Mills of Nigeria Plc, foremost market operator in food and agro-allied products has outlined an ambitious business plan for the next five years. The 59 year old company is targeting doubling its business within this period from N600 billion revenue to over N1.2 trillion in 2024.

The strategy of the business expansion of the company which has over the years diversified into fast moving consumer goods is not only organic growth, but acquisitions and partnerships.

Paul Gbededo, Group Managing Director of the company which controls about 42 percent of the flour business told BusinessDay recently at the celebration of the company’s trade partners for their contributions to the FMN business growth that the business expansion is to ensure that the vision of feeding the nation and Africa is realised.

“Value and job creation is our focus and that will be in the downstream. It is not just good to acquire assets in the upstream but we need to focus on the downstream and create more value”. To ensure continuous business growth, it rewarded its business partners for their patronage and performance. The event which was attended by over 500 guests,

culminated in the handing over of 17 trucks to the top performing dealers.

Top 5 dealers were celebrated with the special award of 30-ton trucks and trailers which further expands their business model with primary distribution capability.

This year’s conference theme , “Breakthrough partnering for growth,” looked back at the rich and unique heritage the company shares with its partners and reinforced the continued commitment towards mutual profitability and growth.

“Our success story as the leading consumer business in Nigeria, will not be complete without our esteemed dealers and partners who form an integral part of how we are achieving our purpose of feeding the nation every day.’ As we continue to look towards the future, our aim is essentially to promote stronger ties with our partners, because we know that the sustainability and future growth of our business depend on it” Gbededo said.

In his comment, Devlin

Hainsworth, Managing Director, Foods division of the company said “After nearly sixty years of doing business in Nigeria, we can say that there are very few companies in Nigeria today, who understand the business environment as we do.

FMN has a culture of winning, that is backed with a robust portfolio of quality products many bearing the Golden Penny name, and sound consumer and market fundamentals that are necessary to drive sustainable future growth”

Polo Limited introduces the wonder of improved Cartier Dumont in to Nigerian Market

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or both materials to suit all tastes.

It also comes with notable design elements of Cartier watches.

“The Santos-Dumont by Cartier is also surprisingly slender, being just 7mm thick. This is because the watch houses a quartz movement and not a mechanical calibre. The movement includes the latest innovations in terms of energy saving. As a result, the watch owner will only have to change the battery every six years.

All the models are equipped with elegant alligator-leather straps”, Polo said.

On simplicity and elegance, the new Santos-Dumont watch remains true to the elegance of the original 1904 model. Cased in gold, gold and steel or all steel, it features Roman numerals, visible screws, a beaded winding crown and blue cabochon, all elements which perpetuate the heritage of this major watchmaking classic.

etermined to inspire Nigeria’s upward mobile class of individuals to stand out in every occasion, Polo Limited, renowned for retail of luxury goods, especially watches, has introduced the wonder of the improved Cartier Dumont wristwatches in to Nigerian market.

With the introduction of the series of the special designs, the Cartier Dumont watches which are hard to ignore for their looks, quality and appeal perpetuates the spirit, style and thirst for altitude held by men who change the world.

This year, Cartier has given new wings to the historic timepiece named after the intrepid aviator, Santos-Dumont. The style of the new models is impeccable and true to the original. The case combines simplicity and distinction, and it’s made of steel, gold www.businessday.ng

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Star brings shining moments to AFCON 2019

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tar Lager beer is thrilling fans with unforgettable moments during matches of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations AFCON. The brand has provided Nigerian fans memorable experiences with 17 Star Fan Parks in eight cities across the country where fans can in carnival like environment enjoy the 52 matches of the competition, which runs from June 21st to July 12th, 2019.

Apart from the thrillers expected from the competing teams on the fields, Star Lager is also thrilling fans to best of entertainment at the Star Fan Park, which is activated on all match days.

At a media parley, the Portfolio Manager, National Premium, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Sarah Agha, explained that the reason is to make Nigerians enjoy the best of African football under a very relaxed atmosphere especially as the tournament is about to set a record as the most attended event by African players plying their trade in Europe.

“Nigerians are very passionate about football and ready to stand behind the Super Eagles as they hope to conquer Africa again and with Star Lager as a foremost brand when it comes to entertainment, consumers and numerous fans are in for wonderful moments of football.

“With the seasons across the globe in recess, the Africa Cup of Nations provides an exciting atmosphere for fans to behold most of the African stars that thrill global audiences in the various leagues in Africa and Europe” she continued.

Star Lager beer is an official sponsor of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), as well as the official beer of the Super Eagles.

Gulder unveils new TVC to inspire consumers

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ulder, from the stable of Nigerian Breweries has unveiled a new TVC to inspire, engage and encourage Nigerians to continue to own their journey. Known for its sleek golden brown bottle with the iconic helmet, Gulder is set to use this TVC to continue to urge Nigerians to celebrate the small wins on their quest for success.

With the aim of extending its market penetration by redefining the brand to its consumers, the new TVC is hinged on Gulder’s redefined positioning tagged “Own Your Journey”, which was launched recently in Lagos. The 60 seconds TVC features a young ambitious man who is striving to become successful in his career.

He is seen discouraged by family and friends but, despite the odds, he not only pushes through and achieves great success, but he celebrates the priceless moments along the way over cold bottles of Gulder.

Speaking on the launch of the TVC, Brand Manager, Gulder, Kolawole Akintimehin said in a statement “We believe it is a really nice time to be talking about owning and celebrating every level in our personal journeys.

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES & MARKETS

17

FCMB holds seminar on tax matters to foster SMEs growth

COMPANY NEWS ANALYSIS INSIGHT

Pg. 18

Banking

Higher Brent price, economic pickup drive banks’ NPLs to near 3yr low …bad loans dip 6% in Q1, exposure to oil sector 30% Stories by ISRAEL ODUBOLA

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he rebound in Brent price in the last couple of years after the 2016 global oil crash, has not only benefitted Abuja, whose bulk of foreign exchange earnings come from petrodollars, but also the country’s lenders given the improvement in their asset quality.

Figures from the National Statistics Bureau, revealed that nonperforming loans (NPLs) of the Nigerian banking sector contracted by 30 percent year-on-year and 6 percent quarter-on-quarter to N1.67 trillion in the first quarter of 2019, the lowest in almost three years.

Meanwhile, price of Brent crude opened the year at $54.91 per barrel according to data sourced from Investing.com data bank, and climbed 25 percent to end first quarter at $68.39.

When the global oil prices crashed to a record low of $31 per barrel in January 2016 on the heels of geopolitical tensions along critical trading routes including Russia & Western powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia, the Nigerian economy slipped to its first economic slump in 25 years as the country was heavily dependent on the black commodity.

This saw NPL ratio surge to

10.72 percent in the second quarter of 2016 from 3.72 percent in second quarter of 2014, and banks’ bad loans quadrupled from N380 billion to N1.68 trillion within two years.

“The behavior of NPLs is directed by oil price movement. When oil price rallies, the economy improves, and this would enable oil corporates meet their debt obligations” said Emmanuel Noko, Chief Economist at Enugu-based

M&C Consulting Limited.

Speaking further, “If oil price drop significantly say below $45, it is a disaster for the economy. Oil firms will struggle to repay debts, and the adverse effect would be passed on to banks as they are highly exposed to oil sector” The bad loans of Nigerian lenders jumped to N2.39 trillion in 2017, indicating 32 percent increase over N1.81 trillion in 2016, triggered by exposure to telecom

sector particularly 9-mobile, formerly Etisalat Nigeria.

The defunct Etisalat Nigeria in 2013, secured a 7-year $1.2 billion syndicated facility from consortium of 13 lenders including Access Bank, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa and Union Bank, to refinance existing obligations and fund network expansion.

It however ran into crisis when it defaulted on the repayment scheme in 2017, citing economic

downturn and currency devaluation, which lenders classified as non-performing in 2017.

The gradual repayment of the facility towards the end of 2018, along with lenders’ de-risking measures in telecom industry and stronger oil prices, which surged 31 percent on average to $72, bettered banks’ asset quality in 2018, as NPLs dipped 15 percent to N2.04 trillion in the same year.

The gross loan book of the banking sector in first quarter increased slightly by 0.85 percent to N15.48 trillion, in which N1.67 trillion are bad, bringing the NPL ratio to 10.83 percent in the review quarter, the least in almost three years.

“Since Nigeria exited recession, the economy has recorded continued-albeit-slow growth which has enabled corporates repay their obligations” said Gbolahan Ologunro, research analyst at Lagos-based CSL Stockbrokers, noting that the oil price recovery between 2017 and 2018 was a stronger driver of NPLs decline.

Total loan portfolio of Nigerian banks in four months to April 2019 stood at N15.45 trillion, with oil and gas sector (4.86trn) accounting for 30 percent in gross loan book. Manufacturing (N2.24trn) and government (N1.37trn) featured in the list of top three sectors lenders are expose to.

INSURANCE

Mutual Benefits’ net income grows 12% in 2018 on bigger premium ...gross premium written, 6yr high at N15.8bn

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et income of Lagosbased life and general insurer, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, accelerated to its highest level in the last four years in full year 2018 spurred by tangible improvement in premium income.

The insurer’s net income appreciated to N1.15 billion in 2018, the highest in the last four years, indicating some 12 percent over N1.02 billion reported in 2017 as premium income surged 17 percent to N15.6 billion.

Mutual Benefit Assurance posted improvement in premium from non-life and life business. Premium income from both categories expanded 10 percent and 18 percent respectively to N9.79 billion and N5.19 billion respectively, with the former accounting for 62 percent share in gross premium.

Claims paid by the insurer nearly doubled to N8.28

billion in the review year from N4.87 billion in the prior year.

Claim recovered also trended northwards, surged some 18 percent from N2.27 billion in 2017 to N2.67 billion in 2018.

Under writing profit, which is difference between net underwriting income and expense contracted 16 percent from N3.7 billion in 2017 to N3.06 billion in 2018, as underwriting expenses which upped 35 percent outpaced growth in income (18%).

The insurer’s operating profit declined 6 percent from N1.17 billion in the prior year to N1.10 billion in the review year triggered by net foreign exchange loss worth N50.5 million, and elevated management expenses.

The insurer explained that the exchange loss on foreign loan indicates the impact of 2.25 billion Japanese Yen (JPY) payable to Daewoo Securities (Europe) Limited

as at December 31 2018 to the company’s functional currency in naira.

Mutual Benefit invested a proportion of its financial assets in foreign currency to hedge against future exchange losses that may arise on conversion of foreign currency denominated loan balances.

The company’s finance income spiked 64 percent to N327 million in the review year, dwarfing finance cost which appreciated 17 percent from N39 million in the preceding year to NN46 million in 2018.

The improvement in net finance income along with reduced tax expenses helped bolster after-tax income, and earnings per share nearly doubled from 14 kobo to 21 kobo.

The insurer finalized its right issues of 4 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at 50 kobo per share five

months ago, in which N1.59 billion was raised through the right issue and paid-up capital jerked up to N5.59 billion.

The company’s Board of Director is yet to recommend dividend for full year 2018.

However in 2017, Mutual Benefit rewarded shareholders with N160 million.

Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc provides insurance products and services. The company offers

motor, marine, travel, fire, aviation, group life, mutual term insurance, investment linked schemes, endowment plans and protection policies to corporate and retail customers.

L-R: Femi Akintunde, group managing director, Alpha Mead; Mutiu Sunmonu, chairman, Alpha Mead Group; Wale Odufalu, group executive director, corporate services; Babatunde Green, managing director, Alpha Mead Healthcare Management Services (AMHS), and Damola Akindolire, managing director, Alpha Mead Development Company (AMDC), at the investiture reception of Sunmonu as the new chairman of the Alpha Mead Group in Lagos.

Editor: LOLADE AKINMURELE (lolade.akinmurele@businessdayonline.com) Graphics: David Ogar

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES&MARKETS

Business Event

SMEs

FCMB holds seminar on tax matters to foster SMEs growth MICHAEL ANI

I

n line with its commitment to deepen the capacity and growth of businesses in Nigeria, particularly the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), First City Monument Bank (FCMB) will on June 26, 2019 host a seminar on tax matters in Lagos.

The seminar, tagged, ‘’Tax Enforcement and Implications on Businesses in Nigeria’’, is aimed at equipping entrepreneurs with requisite knowledge on taxation by promoting the exchange of ideas between tax regulators and businesses on existing and emerging tax matters to ensure compliance and avoid sanctions.

The one-day seminar would have in attendance SMEs operating in various sectors, including, trading, manufacturing, agribusiness, renewable energy, creative industry, digital technology, healthcare, schools and individuals running businesses in their personal names or accounts.

The director of enforce-

ment, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Emeka Obiagwu would be the guest speaker at the event, the lender said.

In a statement, FCMB said topical issues relating to the country’s tax system and laws as well as other fiscal policies that impact on the profitability and overall success of businesses would be discussed at the seminar by the guest speaker and other professionals. It would also provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs to understand their rights and responsibilities, especially as regards taxes, such as withholding tax and value added tax, among others.

There will also be a session by FCMB Pensions Limited to enlighten participants on new pension initiatives in the country, the implications for SMEs and the attendant benefits.

Responding to inquiries about the seminar, the Executive Director, Business Development of FCMB, Bukola Smith, reiterated that the commitment of the Bank is to go the extra mile in em-

powering businesses with relevant technical and financial know-how that would boost their performance and contribution to national development. ‘’As the dynamics of taxation continues to change in Nigeria, we recognise that many businesses, especially SMEs, in the country are not equipped with the requisite information and knowledge to discharge their responsibilities in this area appropriately.

It is based on this reality that we decided to organise a seminar on tax matters, which will go a long way towards helping SMEs to understand taxation and the processes involved better’’.

Smith added: ‘’As an inclusive lender that places a lot of importance on best practices, FCMB considers it imperative to ensure that our customers in the SME space conduct their businesses in a responsible, transparent manner and under full compliance within all applicable laws, rules, regulations and policies’’.

L-R: Patrick Akinwuntan, managing director, Ecobank Nigeria limited in a warm handshake with Aliyu Abdulhameed, managing director/CEO, Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) during a business visit of NIRSAL Management to Ecobank Head office in Lagos.

L-R: Olakunle Oloruntimehin, general manager of Cisco Nigeria and West African Countries; Chris Stadler, Global Citizen, co-chairman of board of directors; Francine Katsoudas, chief people officer, Cisco and Hugh Evans, co-founder and CEO of Global Citizen, at the celebration of 200 Cisco Networking Academies in Nigeria held at Federal Science and Technical College, Yaba, Lagos.

Financial Services

Landwey launches ‘WeyMoney’ to offer financial credit services to subscribers IFEOMA OKEKE

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andwey, one of Nigeria’s top real estate firms has unveiled its new product, WeyMoney to offer financial credit service to all its existing estate subscribers at a single interest rate.

Subscribers of LandWey only need to leverage on properties they purchased from the firm as collateral to access the loans, which are up to 70percent of such properties’ current market value.

Speaking during the unveil of the product in Lagos, Olawale Ayilara, founder and CEO, LandWey said in the company’s continued quest to ensure its clients maintain financial stability and see their investments reach fruition, Landwey has created this unique, customer-centric solution that furnishes the most convenient, easy access loan facility for its subscribers.

According to Ayilara, with WeyMoney, all subscribers can access funding that helps them stay financially afloat, take care of business that can’t wait, and access loan facility in record time.

“WeyMoney is the first in

Nigerian market to be done by a real estate company.

There are lots of problems around mortgages in Nigeria.

People are not able to access small scale loans for their businesses. To borrow money from the bank, you will need your property as a collateral most of the time. As a result, it is often hard for entrepreneurs to get quick loans from the banks.

“Banks give them interest rate as high as 25 to 40percent. We believe that we can add value to our clients through this product. Most of our clients are business owners. They have properties with us and with their properties; they are eligible to get loans at single digit interest rate.

“So we will be leveraging the properties our customers bought from us to give them loans at single digit interest rate. This will be a win-win situation. We test ran it and it has been accepted by our customers,” he explained.

According to Ayilara, some of the benefits of WeyMoney include variable rate loan, zero deposit, loan terms up to one year, credit up to 70 percent of client property’s current market value, interest

residual in single digit, quick payout and zero fees for early loan repayment.

Other benefits he noted includes absence of guarantor required, no extraneous or external collateral needed, simplicity in loan processing and approval, zero bankblacklisting worries and image injury, utmost confidentiality and complete peace of mind through the entire process.

Also speaking during the launch, Olamide Opadiran, Financial Controller, LandWey said LandWey is a real estate with a difference and it tries to look for new innovations to meet clients’ needs and change the perception of people on what real estate is in Nigeria.

Speaking on its new product, she said, “WeyMoney is a client-centred initiative to meet the needs of our clients.

In as much as we want people to invest in real estate in general, there are opportunities we think they should enjoy from us. This product will reach the business and commercial needs of our clients, thereby adding value to them.

This has not been offered by any other real estate firm in Nigeria.”

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L-R: Ashish Khemka, chief financial officer, Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ); Adesuwa Ladoja, relationship group director, Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise; Oreoluwa Ala, winner of 2019 Tolaram Science Challenge and Pupil of Albesta Academy, Lekki; Morebise Ajibola, assistant director, education district 3, Lagos State, and Kumar Padala, general manager, Lagos Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), during the prize presentation of the winner of the 2019 Tolaram Science Challenge in Lagos.

L-R: Kayode Opeifa, presidential Task Team on Restoration of Law and Order in Apapa (Traffic Gridlock Resolution); Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor; Hadiza Bala Usman, Managing Director, Nigerian Port Authority (NPA); Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Hakeem Muri-Okunola, Lagos State head of service; Ademola Kuti, Controller, Federal Road Maintenance, Lagos, and Hakeem Odumosu, Commissioner of Police, Apapa Port, during the Vice President’s inspection tour of the Apapa Traffic Situation

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

COMPANIES&MARKETS

BUSINESS DAY

19

Business Event

APPOINTMENT

Jobberman appoints Hilda Kragha as new CEO MICHAEL ANI

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obberman, an online recruitment platform, has appointed Hilda Kragha as new chief executive officer, who would pilot the affairs of the business after the exit of Ayodeji, former CEO and Co-founder of the firm barely one month ago.

Kragha joined the business as the new CEO on 10th June 2019 and would be responsible for the growth and operations of the company, the career recruiting firm said in a statement.

Prior to her joining the business, she worked as an engagement manager for global management and consulting firm McKinsey & Company, advising blue chip clients on strategy, human capital, and organizational transformation projects.

“I am excited to join the Jobberman team at a time

when Africa, specifically Nigeria, is at the cusp of redefining the way we approach talent management and workplace productivity. I look forward to engaging with all of our stakeholders and driving positive impact across the country.”

Kragha said Jobberman is Nigeria’s No.1 jobs and careers platform, bringing the best employers and candidates together and improving productivity in the country. Jobberman has over 2.5 million candidates, matching them with more than 100,000 employers in their database.

Through its success, the company has become a real entity in the labour market through unprecedented market insights such as Top 100 Employer Reports. Jobberman Nigeria is part of the ROAM Group, the largest and leading classifieds and online

marketplaces company across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The ROAM Group (“Ringier One Africa Media”), is a group of companies that combines the leading digital classifieds in Sub Saharan Africa. Unified by its mission to connect Africans to opportunities and be Africa’s most user-centric marketplace company, it operates across eight Sub Saharan countries, namely Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Senegal.

Clemens Weitz, CEO of ROAM, said “Nigeria has one of the largest and fastest growing workforces in the world, rich in opportunity and global relevance. Hilda’s experience, but more importantly, passion to bring positive change to the labour market has made her the best possible person for this unique position. We wish her great success in redefining the boundaries!”

L-R: Ike Onyia, Managing Director, FBNQuest Asset Management; Ayodeji Wuraola, Managing Director of Leadway Capital & Trust Limited (Trustees to the FBN Balanced Fund); Tolulope Adetugbo, Company Secretary, FBNQuest Asset Management, and Tseyi Hammond, Non-Executive Director, FBNQuest Asset Management, at the FBN Heritage Fund (now FBN Balanced Fund): Extraordinary General Meeting which took place in Lagos recently.

SMEs

LCCI, Keystone, Facebook equip start-ups with digital marketing skills GBEMI FAMINU

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he Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has partnered Keystone Bank and Facebook to train start-ups on marketing tips as well as ways of using technology to boost their businesses.

Babatunde Ruwase, President of the LCCI, in his remarks at the event, encouraged the participants to use the opportunities judiciously as it was an avenue to boost their businesses, adding that it was necessary to keep up with the global trend of digitalisation and technology. He advised that it was a good idea to learn about business basics from the experienced people in order to avoid mistakes.

Ruwase said in an interview that the motive of this work-

shop was to aid the MSMEs navigate their way through the digital space and show that technological competence could be applied and used to boost businesses and give them a more competitive position in the business world.

Helen Nwelle, Head, MSME & Value Chain Management Retail Banking, Keystone Bank, said in an exclusive interview that MSMEs are the bedrock of any economy and important for the growth and development of the economy.

“This is the digital age and MSMEs have to be equipped to keep up with digitalisation, which birthed the partnership with LCCI and Facebook to train the MSMEs on the use of social media and digital space to boost their business,” she said.

“MSMEs need our assis-

tance as banks to enable them develop their business and also meet their needs like access to market, access to capacity building, access to finance, business registration, cost saving mechanisms and advisory services which Keystone Bank is set to fulfil.” Nwelle said Okemini Otum, CEO, Rabbington Media, who represented Facebook, said MSMEs are the bloodline of any economy and should be empowered to contribute whatever is necessary to the country and the economy.

“Equipped with digital marketing skills, MSMEs will be able to stand out in the competitive business field as they need visibility. Despite the various challenges, MSMEs can still keep up and achieve feats without the traditional marketing mechanisms,” Otum said.

TECHNOLOGY

Adobe surpasses quarterly revenue, profit estimate JONATHAN ADEROJU

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merican multinational software giant, Adobe Inc., beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly profit and revenue last Tuesday, driven by growth in its digital media business that houses its flagship product Creative Cloud, sending its shares up 4.6% on Nasdaq stock exchange Adobe, known for its image-editing software Photoshop, partnered with Microsoft in March to bolster its sales and marketing software capabilities.

Salesforce and Microsoft also posted better-than-expected quarterly results on the back of growth in their cloud businesses.

Adobe’s shift to a cloudbased subscription has

brought a more predictable revenue stream for the company, by selling its software through web-based subscriptions and not through the sale of packaged-licensed software.

Adobe’s executives expressed confidence in the company’s ability to raise prices annually for its subscr iption-based s er vices, while driving volume growth by attracting new users.

According to Chief Financial Officer John Murphy “We’re able to do that through the various new products that are attracting folks to our platform. And then as they get comfortable with those, they end up to upsell them into full suite products for multiple applications.”

Adobe Subscription revewww.businessday.ng

nue during the second quarter jumped 27.7% to $2.46 billion (N 720 billion) and product revenue rose 1.2% to $152.8 million (N 55 billion).

Revenue from Adobe’s digital media segment jumped 22% to $1.89billion (N648billion), above estimates of $1.86 billion (N648billion), according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

According Chief Executive Officer Shantanu Narayen Revenue from its E xperience Cloud business, which provides services including analytics, advertising and marketing rose 34% to $784 million (N282 billion), above analysts’ estimate of $774.9 million (N278 billion). The growth was helped by the acquisitions of Magento and Marketo.

L-R: Emem Usoro, regional director, United Bank for Africa Plc; Liadi Ayoku, executive director and guest lecturer; Oyedamola Oke, deputy vice chancellor, Lagos State University(LASU), and Yinka Asuni, registrar, LASU, during the 2019 Annual Guest Lecture of the Faculty of Management Sciences (FMS) delivered by Mr Liadi titled: The Future of Finance; Technology at Play, held at the University campus in Ojo

L-R: Vincent Olayinka, Category Manager, Dairy and Beverages, Promasidor Nigeria Limited with Kena Igbuanugu of St. Anthony International School; David Chukwudi and Lawal Aleshinloye, both of Morality College, all top three runners in the 3.4km fun marathon during the Promasidor One Love Family Fest for schools in Lagos.

L-R: Chuka Nnabuife,representative of commissioner for information, Anambra State/ MD/CEO, Anambra Printing and Publishing Ltd; Jude Emecheta, managing director, Anambra State Signage and Advertisement Agency (ANSAA), and Chijioke Agbanyim, chief operating officer,ANSAA.at a one day retreat/workshop organized by the agency in Awka Anambra State.

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@Businessdayng

20

Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Past mistakes carry warnings for the future of work

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Sarah O’Connor, FT

illiam Kempster, a master mason in the early 18th century working on the construction of St Paul’s Cathedral, probably thought his legacy was the London building he was helping to craft.

But he left something else behind too: meticulous, handwritten wage records that have helped to expose a major flaw in our understanding of the past.

In a new book, Seven Centuries of Unreal Wages, sources like Kempster are used to argue that for decades historians have relied on misleading data to form questionable conclusions about living standards in Britain, Europe and Asia.

The story of what went wrong isn’t just of academic interest, it is a cautionary tale for economists and politicians who want to understand what’s happening in the world of work today.

In Britain, the data sets that historians have typically used for information about wages in the 17th and 18th centuries were derived from bills paid by big institutions for construction projects.

The “day rates” mentioned in the bills were assumed to be wages paid directly to workers.

But economic historians such as Judy Stephenson have unearthed documents to cast doubt on this assumption.

The building industry at the time was in fact a complex web of contractors and subcontractors; the division between “capital” and “labour” was not always clear-cut.

Contractors like Kempster would charge “day rates” to institutions but pay lower rates to

their workers, with the difference used to cover costs and margin.

As a result, Ms Stephenson believes the standard wage estimates for 18th-century London are about 30 per cent too high.

There is a warning here for those studying today’s gig economy.

Online platforms that connect customers with workers seem to offer economists a rich source of reliable data on earnings.

But as with 18th-century masonry, appearances in 21stcentury online work can be deceptive. So-called human cloud platforms allow workers anywhere in the world to “bid” for white-collar tasks posted by customers — a translation, say, or data entry.

Workers with the best customer ratings tend to win the most work. But when researchers at Oxford university surveyed www.businessday.ng

some of these workers in the developing world, they discovered that it was common for them to win bids then re-outsource the work, often to informal networks of friends or family.

“It’s just like a chain,” said one person who worked for a successful gig platform worker.

“He employs us as his freelancers. [He has] a very good profile [so just] applies for multiple jobs.”

This suggests the money flowing to people in the developing world is spread more thinly than it would appear.

The other mistake made by historians in the past was to multiply a construction worker’s day-rate by 250 to 300 to estimate their annual income.

But the seasonal nature of this work meant that people rarely worked more than 200 days in a year. This, too, contains a lesson

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for today.

Looking at the UK’s hourly wage data, for example, you would think workers at the bottom of the labour market had a terrific year in 2017/18: the government pushed up the minimum wage sharply, which meant they enjoyed a bigger percentage hourly pay boost than almost everyone else.

Ministers trumpet these figures. But people’s earnings aren’t just determined by how much they are paid per hour — they’re also dependent on how many hours they work.

Analysis by the Resolution Foundation think-tank shows that, if you look at the data on a weekly basis, you find the opposite story: the workers at the bottom saw a fall in their weekly pay packets in spite of the rise in their hourly rate, suggesting that they worked fewer hours than @Businessdayng

the year before.

The reason for this drop in hours is a puzzle — Resolution is investigating further. But it was only by looking beyond the hourly pay data that it was possible to see the trend at all. It is often said that we should learn from the mistakes of the past.

But we can also learn from the mistakes we make about the past. Seemingly smooth data can mislead unless it is combined with a grittier insight into the structures, contracts and power relationships that underpin the numbers.

On that score, economists and politicians who want to make sense of today’s labour market have an advantage over historians: it is happening right now, just outside their offices, in all its complexity and messiness. All they have to do is open the door.

Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

21

Mind the gap: Business schools help women break the glass ceiling Laura Noonan, FT

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of transparency around salaries and promotions; and too few female role models for women to follow.

Lawrence Murray, senior assistant dean of the graduate division at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business in New York, says the lower rate of women going from US courses to senior finance jobs also reflects its large proportion of overseas students.

On Fordham’s master of q u a nt i t at i v e f i na n c e p ro gramme 45 per cent of this year’s cohort are women from abroad; the figure for its global finance masters is 49.3 per cent.

“For the last couple of years it has been increasingly difficult for companies to hire international students,” says Mr Murray.

This is because the US is tightening immigration rules and international students are struggling to obtain working visas once they have graduated.

The result is that students go back to their home countries, mostly China, India and South Korea — regions where it is even more difficult for women to break into the financial sector’s higher ranks.

Among women working in finance in South Korea, for example, just 3.3 per cent are in management positions, compared with 21.9 per cent of men, according to research from the Korea Institute of Finance.

Cambridge university in the UK is trying to help women overcome some of the obstacles they face entering the workplace.

In 2017, it launched the Rising Women Leaders Programme, a three-day course www.businessday.ng

training women in “soft skills”.

As well as learning about topics such as negotiation, women are given access to a network of support from peers and sponsors who actively champion them.

Cambridge Judge Business School wants to take a more positive approach to supporting women, says Sucheta Nadkarni, director of the school’s Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre, which runs the programme.

“We take a strength-based approach and say, ‘What are some of the skills needed in the industry and how can we make sure women are prepared for executive roles?’”

The programme is offered to 25 women three times a year and attracts participants from finance and other corporate areas.

After the course, the women are given access to forums where they can have career discussions and find peer role models, which Prof Nadkarni says can make them “feel much more empowered”.

Josephine Wan, chief operating officer for international

treasury at US bank BNY Mellon, completed the programme last year and says that it helped her develop as a leader.

It also gave her the confidence to hold discussions with her manager that led to a promotion this year.

Heidi Pickett, assistant dean for MIT Sloan School of Management’s MiF programme, says her school is developing special seminars and programming for women on its finance courses.

“There is a part for academic institutions in terms of making sure women feel empowered to ask for a seat at the table, to negotiate fair salaries and speak up at meetings and not be overheard or have your ideas taken away from you,” she says.

Ms Pickett also believes in the power of “champions” — male or female professionals who spread the word about a woman’s abilities — over the more advisory role of a mentor.

So does Susan Christoffersen, a professor of finance and vice-dean for undergraduate and specialised programmes at Toronto’s Rotman.

‘‘

Among women working in finance in South Korea, for example, just 3.3 per cent are in management positions, compared with 21.9 per cent of men, according to research from the Korea Institute of Finance

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‘‘

niversities are turning to sponsorship programmes and crash courses in female leadership to bridge the gap between the healthy representation of women in advanced finance courses and their chronic underrepresentation at senior levels of the financial services industry.

There have been earnest statements of intent from industry leaders about the need for gender parity for years.

But women still make up just 27.2 per cent of senior professionals at a group of 47 global banks, insurers and asset managers profiled by the FT last year.

The statistics are even more damning when set against female representation on courses such as masters of finance (MiF), MBAs and undergraduate business degrees. Women made up about 39 per cent of candidates enrolled on MiF courses in 2017-18 at 69 private and 102 public business schools that contribute data to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, a global business education network.

Some individual courses boast an even higher female intake.

At Rotman School of Management in Toronto, for example, the masters of financial risk management is 55 per cent female this year, compared to 60 per cent for the graduate diploma of accounting.

Women are also well represented in applications to business schools across all courses: 43 per cent of applicants in 2018 were female, according to a global study by the Graduate Management Admission Council, including a clear majority of applicants in Europe, Canada and Asia-Pacific.

“It’s a little puzzling,” says Michael Johannes, a professor at Columbia’s Graduate School of Business who teaches a two-year masters in financial economics. This course attracts around 20 participants and is typically split 50/50 men to women.

He suggests that it will take time for women emerging from finance courses to make their way into the upper echelons of financial institutions.

Other academics, including many who have worked in the financial services industry, blame a familiar set of factors for why so few women are in senior positions.

These include work practices that clash with family life; a lack

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She describes a champion as “someone who is willing to bring people forward, [open] doors for them that may have otherwise been closed”.

Through its sponsorship of the Forte Foundation, which aims to increase the number of women enrolling on MBA programmes, Rotman offers a $10,000 grant to women pursuing the masters in financial risk management, alongside awards for other courses.

Prof Christoffersen says these have been “very important” in attracting talented women.

“They’re going to have lots of different opportunities available to them. We need to make sure this is an attractive package for them,” she adds.

Sarah Kaplan, director of the Institute for Gender and the Economy at Rotman School of Management Rotman is also home to the Institute for Gender and the Economy, which was set up to understand gender inequalities and how they can be remedied.

Its director, Sarah Kaplan, argues that the onus is on the industry, not educational institutes, to improve women’s lot in finance. “It is absolutely not about ‘teaching women’,” she says.

“Indeed, that idea is damaging to the women and allows firms to shirk their responsibilities to change workplace practices.” She adds that “no amount of ‘teaching women’ to survive in unhealthy work environments is going to change the problem”.

If the efforts of business schools pay off, however, it could be their alumni who lead the change.

22

Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

EDUCATION Weekly insight on current and future trends in education

Primary/Secondary

Higher

Human Capital

Turning to Sci-Tech education as drivers for much needed economy growth Stories by KELECHI EWUZIE

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he advancement in Science and Technology education across the globe has no doubt thrown up a lot of opportunities for forward looking economies to grow their human capital.

Education today more importantly as it relates to science and technology has assumed an entirely new frontier and approach, such that from an early stage of learning, it has become a norm to tutor next generation of leaders to embrace this 21 century learning style.

It is quite obvious that without science and technology education, no country will forge ahead with advancement in innovations and state of the act discoveries that is shaping the future of virtually every sector of the world.

While managers of the economy may claim to be funding development of education in the country, it is however important to note that building capacity in science and technology represents the driving forces in the current 21st century and a such needs to be catered for.

For meaningful development to take place in the economy, those who know in the field of education insist the issue of funding this specialised form of learning need to adequately taken care of by government.

They observe that science and technology aspect of education has a repository of potentials capable of transforming economies and has been behind the advancements in developed countries.

According to them, despite this knowledge, this aspect of education has not received ad-

L-R: Ben Oghojafor, deputy Vice Chancellor, Management Science, University of Lagos; Folasade Ogunsola, deputy Vice Chancellor, Development Services, UNILAG,; Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, Vice Chancellor, UNILAG; Kai Wulff, Executive Vice-President, Dizengoff/Balton CP Group, and Graham Leslie, Country manager, Dizengoff Nigeria during a formal presentation of communication equipment to the University of Lagos.

equate attention needed to push the growth in Nigeria.

Tolu Odugbemi, former vice chancellor, Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa said there is need for Nigeria to pay adequate attention to science-based education in order to achieve the needed development in the country.

Odugbemi opines that universities and other higher institutions as innovation hubs have major roles to play in using science and technology to drive development

UNILAG receives $50,000 Communication equipment boost from Dizengoff Nigeria

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niversity of Lagos has received communication equipment worth $50,000 from Dizengoff Nigeria as part of the company’s effort to boost training and to improve hands-on practical demonstration in the department of Engineering & Technology of the institution.

Graham Leslie, country manager, Dizengoff Nigeria speaking during the presentation of the communication equipment to the institution, said the choice of University of Lagos is based on the company’s belief that “communication technology is the future of Nigeria and the youth are better divers of that future. What better place to engage the youth than institutions of learning, hence, the University of Lagos.

“We are very much excited about the long term impact this gesture will have to the development of technology in the country and we trust that this donation of communication equipment will be of value to the students and staff of the institution. We look forward to building a long term relationship with the University of Lagos”.

Kai Wulff, executive vice president of the Dizengoff Group, said the vision of Balton CP, which is the parent company of Dizengoff Nigeria, is to promote and enhance teaching and learning in the educational ecosystem in Nigeria, adding that the group is delighted to

make donation to show its commitment to education in general, and to the University of Lagos in particular.

Wulff opines that “Dizengoff has a wide range of solutions from hardware to software to connectivity solutions which we believe will be of great value to the furtherance of academic excellence at University of Lagos to better help prepare students of today for the world of tomorrow.”

According to him, “Digital learning solutions are fundamental to the economic growth of a nation and the youths are poised to champion this growth. Therefore, for any country to continually develop economically, it must develop the capacity of the youth of its country and the best place to hairiness these minds for this growth, is at the learning institutions”.

On his part, Oluwatoyin Temitayo Ogundipe, Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos while responding to the gesture by Dizengoff, said “We are delighted to accept this generous donation of communication equipment from your organisation. He assured that the equipment will be put to great use by the students and lecturers at the department of Engineering and the University of Lagos at large, adding that “we look forward to a long partnership both in terms of technological experience and exchange programmes with Dizengoff”.

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in Science, technology , engineering and Mathematics.

According to him, “Developing economies, such as ours, can only fast-track and/or leap frog their growth through targeted research and development. A practical way to do this is to do what is generically referred to as reverse engineering. It is these institutions that must provide the roadmap to circumvent those roadblocks to indigenous technology enhancement necessary for driving innovation and development of the nation.

“The nation must be prepared to invest heavily in the higher education cutting across both the public and private the research facilities must orchestrate the brain power of the staff, take responsibility for training new generation of talents and participate in the transformation of the nation’s science and technology base.”

He noted that the world has moved from commodity-based and military power ranking to knowledge economies/societies, adding that the paradigm shift is propelled by advancements made through science and technology innovations.

Isaac Adeyemi, former vice chancellor, Bells University of technology, opines that universities in Nigeria must focus on the modernising of forces of the society, for the promotion of the “values of science and technology” and for mediating between the political and industrial spheres of national life.

He called for a coherent national Science and Technology strategy with framework developed in consultation with the National Academies of Science to specify the national priorities for research and development with the appropriate funding commitment, while disclosing that countries like China followed this path some 50 years ago to transform their economy.

“The challenges of our development, epitomises largely by corruption, poverty, disease, and poor implementation of good policies can be surmounted if the citizenry is sufficiently educated to make long-term good decisions.

It is our higher institutions that are expected to be at the vanguard of the national moral rebirth and exit us from the ‘poverty cycle’ as ‘when poverty increases, honesty decreases”, Adeyemi added.

Top performing Nigerian students bag Cambridge, British Council awards

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inety one top performing students from 46 schools in Nigeria received 125 Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards following their outstanding performance in the November 2017 and June 2018 Cambridge exams series. The awards covered various subjects taken in Cambridge IGCSEs, Cambridge O Levels and Cambridge International AS & A Levels.

The annual awards organised by Cambridge International and the British Council to recognise and reward Outstanding Cambridge Learner was held at Civic Centre in Lagos, Nigeria.

Kanto Adesina, territory manager for Nigeria, Cambridge International, said events like this are very important for Cambridge because students are at the heart of everything we do. “We believe continuous and interactive learning, not exams and tests, is the ultimate purpose of education to impact individuals and the world”. Adesina opines that the examinations are designed to encourage, recognise and reward learning. They should not be regarded as an end in themselves.

Our programmes and qualifications encourage students to develop their own strengths and interests, and cultivate an informed curiosity and a lasting passion for learning.’

The British Council also awarded partner schools from the Partner Schools Global Network (PSGN) that exemplifies best practice

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policies for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Child Protection.

Lucy Pearson, Country director, British Council Nigeria and West Africa Cluster Lead, said: ‘At the British Council we are committed to creating opportunities for people all over the world by enabling relevant connections; between people in the countries where we are present, and the UK. We have been doing this in Nigeria for the last 75 years and are currently marking our 75th anniversary celebration. We have been able to achieve several significant successes because of the key partners we work with – an example is our partnership with Cambridge International in providing Nigerian students access to globally-recognised qualifications.

The top achievers included three ‘Top in World’ category winners: Omoshemi Favour Oloriegbe from The Childville Senior for Cambridge IGCSE Sociology in the June 2018 exam series; Prince Ogunlana from Lifeforte International High School for Cambridge International AS Level Sociology in the November 2017 examination series and Chinaza Adaeze Osuji from Chrisland College awarded for Cambridge IGCSE Agriculture in the November 2017 exam series. Top in World winners are learners who have gained the highest mark in the world for a single subject.

@Businessdayng

Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

23

EDUCATION CKF, private sector facilitate viable postsecondary careers for economically challenged girls KELECHI EWUZIE

RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta

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hristopher Kolade Foundation (CKF) in partnership with Andela Nigeria, Banwo & Ighodalo, KPMG in Nigeria and St. Nicholas Hospital in Lagos at a conference, empowered about 240 fresh public secondary school graduates on ways to access knowledge and skills to facilitate transitions to viable postsecondary careers.

The conference tagged Stemma Hands-on Empowerment (SHE) ADVANCE held at Zone Tech Park, Gbagada, provided the girls exposure to career counselling from various experts in the engineering, financial services, law, IT, medicines/biological sciences fields, while they also enjoyed break-out sessions with professionals in their would-be careers.

Omobola Lana, managing consultant, CKF while speaking to Journalists at the event said the facilitators selected for the programme were seasoned professionals practicing in financial services, engineering,

Cross-section of attendees during the SHE Advance Event held in Lagos

law, IT, medicines/biological sciences.

Lana said the programme aims to provide the girls opportunity to explore career profiles that align to their personal interests, skills and aspirations, and to gain information on the specific courses, and postsecondary alternatives to pursue those pathways.

The participants, made up of female pupils, who graduated from 10 public schools in Lagos in 2018 (Cohort 2) and

Cambridge IGCSE: Five Greensprings students emerge top in the country winners KELECHI EWUZIE

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gbodesi Imoagene; Lucas Nelson; Raye O j i ; To l u w a l a s e Aw onuga ; Titilola Akinola, all students of Greensprings school Lagos have emerged winners in the top in the country award category in Physics, English, Literature, Drama and Global Perspectives respectively at the 2019 International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examination award.

The Cambridge IGCSE examination is an international examination taken by students, age 14 to 16-year-olds. It is administered at the final secondary school year of various international schools in Nigeria, with the British Council and Cambridge Assessment International Education being the administrators The Outstanding Cam-

Ogun Gov. moves to rehabilitate 160 Ogun schools

bridge Learner Awards is an initiative of the British Council with a primary objective of recognising best-performing students and innovative schools.

Barney J. Wilson, deputy director of Education, Greensprings School who was present at the award ceremony observes that the school remains the flagship school in Lagos and arguably all over the world.

“These awards validate the academic prowess of our students, and I am proud of the teachers who worked through thick-and-thin to prepare the students for this success,” he said.

Lucas Nelson, who won Top in Country for English when asked how he was able to become top in English, looking at the fact that many students struggle with the subject, said he couldn’t have achieved it if not for God and the excellent English teachers of Greensprings School.

Greensprings school award winners displaying their certificates www.businessday.ng

2019 (Cohort 3), learnt useful tips from Abimbola Shopeju, deputy managing director, Lumos Nigeria about how to get jobs and develop the right attitude for success.

Shopeju while speaking on “Skills for Success in any Career: Distinguishing traits of the best job candidates”, shared how her first job as a student in the United Kingdom motivated her to work even harder to attract better offers.

According to her, “When I got my pay slip at the end of the month, I thought so for all the work, I just got this little. I knew I had to work hard. I told myself that this school that my parents have sent me to, I’d better do well so that I can get a better job. While you look forward to whom you want to become, also look at who you cannot be. Ask yourself whether the life you are living today will make you better than your parents.”

Nigerian Red Cross takes the fight against drug abuse to schools …Organises annual safety day

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he Nigerian Red Cross Lagos State branch, Kosofe division organised its safety day at the Comprehensive High School Alapere, Ketu unit.

The event was organised to create more awareness amongst the students on the anti-social vices, its dangers and how it leads to insecurity in the school and the society at large.

Adegboye Michael, a representative from the Ministry of Education, Alausa while addressing the students discussed the dangers of drug addiction and cultism and how it could destroy the future of students.

Describing drug abuse as the use of drugs in a way other than its medically approved purpose, Adegboye stated that drugs could either be harmful or socially acceptable which must be used in moderation. He however said such drugs should only be used by adults.

Admonishing the students, Adegboye however said that socially unacceptable drugs such as tramadol, codeine should be avoided at all costs.

“Drug abuse affects the user, the family of the user and the society at large. Drug abuse affects the user physically, psychologically and socially.

Adverse effects of drug abuse

include damage to vital organs of the body, sleeplessness, anxiety and loss of job”. He said.

Fawusilat Akindele, the Red Cross coordinator for the school says the spate of insecurity and anti-social activities among the youth has necessitated programs as these that properly educate them on its dangers. “What we need to do is to educate them early so that they don’t participate in these kinds of activities. We believe that we need to sensitise people at the grassroots on insecurity.

We believe that if they are aware and they are well informed, they won’t go aside to join the bad gangs.”

Though it is the maiden edition in the school, Akindele said the event would be an annual one and hopes that the students become highly informed and well equipped to ward off negative influence from peer pressure.

Akindele also advocates for government support for the uniform voluntary organizations such as the Nigerian Red Cross as activities of these organizations are gradually dying since government support at the school levels had been withdrawn. She says this would help keep the students positively engaged and motivated as against getting lured into cult groups.

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he Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun has selected 160 schools for rehabilitation in the 20 local government areas of the state as part of activities to mark 100 days in office.

According to a statement credited to the governor, the renovation of schools and hospitals, especially primary health care centres, across the state, will form part of major interventions and projects pencilled down to mark the adopted 100 days in office celebration usually done by the executive.

Speaking in Kobape in Obafemi-Owode local government during an inspection of 2019 Basic Education Certificate Exams recently, Olu Ola Aikulola, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology declared that 160 public primary and secondary schools had been selected for rehabilitation as part of activities to mark 100 days in office of the governor.

Aikulola, who disclosed that renovation of identified schools are being jointly undertaken by Ministries of Education, Science and Technology as well as Housing, said on

the spot inspection had earlier been done to identify and find a lasting solution to the various stages of disrepair in which the public schools are currently in.

He said, “A total number of 160 schools in need of urgent rehabilitation have been identified and work will commence in earnest as this according to Governor Dapo Abiodun is one of the things his administration hopes to achieve before the end of its 100 days in office.”

On the students’ performance in the Basic Education Certificate Education Examinations BECE, the Permanent Secretary said he was so far impressed by the general conduct of this year’s examination as compared to the past, as students were met already writing the papers of the day.

“To say the least the, I am impressed because unlike in the past, exams commenced on time and there is adequate supply of materials which were packed according to subjects and the schools they were meant for.

“I can also assure you by the grace of God, results will be out in record time, Government has released funds for the conduct of the exams, it therefore behoves us to ensure there is no delay in releasing results”, he added.

Scholarship: Kellogg offers N5M to 50 primary school pupils David Ibemere

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ellogg Tolaram LFTZ Enterprise, as part of its commitment to academic support in Nigeria says it plans to offer five million naira worth of scholarships to fifty primary school pupils across three states in Nigeria who have performed excellently in its recently concluded essay competition.

Kellogg’s Superstars contest is a school-based essay writing competition designed for primary school pupils to sharpen their writing skills while also bringing out the creative uniqueness in them.

Darlington Igabali, marketing manager, Kellogg said the initiative was borne out of the brand’s passion to contribute to the growing educational status of the nation. According to him, “We believe that by encouraging these pupils at a very tender age through the educational scholarship offer, we are tactically paving way for a brighter tomorrow” Igabali said that Kellogg’s Superstars programme follows a holistic developmental approach, which begins with making sure children have @Businessdayng

the best start to their day by getting a complete breakfast option through Kellogg’s various cereal variants while also encouraging them to identify and improve their inherent academic skills in the area of writing.

Omotayo Azeez-Abiodun, Public Relations Manager, Tolaram Group, said that Kellogg is currently moving from school to school to award these 50 outstanding Kellogg’s Superstars with one hundred thousand Naira worth of scholarship each, to invest on their education.

Still under the “Kellogg’s Superstars programme, she also disclosed the involvement of other children engagement activities which the brand has been consistently embarking on in the last couple of years.

“Beyond the essay contest, Kellogg has been working on providing the right start for our children through the Kellogg’s Superstars programme, we equally have invested in building educational infrastructures; reading and literacy initiative; scholarships; business-education partnerships; and other local needs towards ensuring a brighter opportunities for the Nigerian children” she said.

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Investments

ENERGY INTELLIGENCE OIL

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PETROCHEMICALS

Market Insight Companies Commodity Tracker Policy

POWER

Nigeria becoming Africa’s largest petroleum refiner requires huge private investments STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

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he Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) efficiently took the country’s petroleum refining capacity to its peak performance three decades ago but has since lost the ability to either fund or efficiently run these four refineries creating a deep need for private sector involvement.

Despite evidence that Nigeria needs massive injection of private capital to attain local refining sufficiency, the country’s economy managers still show disrespect and lack of confidence in private sector actors. This shows in the data on foreign direct investment (FDI).

Foreign direct investment in Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, plunged by 43 percent to $2bn in 2018, according to a United Nations report.

Reuters reported that investors were put off by a dispute between the government and South African telecom giant MTN over repatriated profits.

Banks HSBC and UBS both closed representative offices there in 2018.

Lack of investment inflows has stalled development in the oil and gas sector, particularly the refining sector.

“The Federal Government and NNPC do not have the funds to turn around Nigeria’s falling refining for-

Source: NNPC

tunes and there are other issues that are legal and legislative in nature” Maikanti Baru, NNPC’s group managing director said at his induction as Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering on June 20, at the University of Lagos.

In a 2017 report on Nigeria’s petroleum refining, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) had projected that by 2019, Nigeria would become Africa’s 3rd largest refiner of petroleum products (behind Egypt and Algeria) and a net exporter of refined petroleum products.

The report titled “Nigeria’s Refining Revolution” stated that the country’s exports are estimated to exceed 37,000 barrels per day (approximately 6 million litres daily). The modular refineries were expected to bridge a supply gap of 53,000 bpd (approximately 8.5 million litres daily) in Nigeria.

This was based on the assumptions that Dangote refinery (650,000 bpd) opens its gates mid-2019, op-

erating at 50 percent utilisation, existing refineries (445,000 bpd) are operating at 20 percent utilisation and modular refineries (combined capacity of 200,000 bpd) also come on stream early 2019, operating at 90 percent utilisation. These ramp up to 90 percent, 30 percent and 90 percent respectively by 2030.

Anyone who has observed closely would see that Nigeria has missed these marks. Dangote refinery comes on stream second quarter of 2020.

Existing refineries have consolidated utilisation of less than 30 percent. Of 39 licences issued for modular refineries since 2015, seventeen licenses to establish (LTE) have expired in the last four years, which represents 44 percent of the total. Fifteen licenses are active and another seven out of the 39 can still break ground.

Only the Niger Delta Exploration & Production Plc (NDEP) Ogbele modular refinery seems to be function at over 90 percent capacity but currently

does 1, 000 barrels per day as it awaits upgrade to 11, 000 bpd. This modular refinery has gulped $150 million of private capital already.

To cut a long story short, Nigeria is still a massive net importer of refined petroleum products and still subsidises these products at the retail point. Landing cost of premium motor spirit (PMS) is put at N185 but the current pump price is N145. The Federal Government carries the burden of the difference by subsidising consumption. The subsidy or under recovery programme has gulped N1.8 trillion since 2015.

The continued regulation of the downstream sector by Government through price control of PMS which accounts for more than 70 percent of fuel consumption in Nigeria makes the economics of refining unprofitable. It scares investors, creates an inefficient marketplace and an incentive for rent seeking.

“Being in the financial business over the last twenty years of my career, I know that this country gets broker by the day. The system as we see it today is not sustainable at some point it will crash” said Afolabi Oladele, partner at the Africa Capital Alliance, Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering and general manager downstream at Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in 1995.

To reverse its dwindling refining fortunes, Africa’s largest crude oil producer needs to deliberately woo private capital. There was a time when Nigeria’s problem was not necessarily how to earn money but rather how to spend it but this is no longer the case.

“We are just barely out of a recession and if nothing is done to fix the petroleum sector, we might be headed the way of Venezuela” said Oyindamola Adedokun, outcome lead, revenue stream at FOSTER, an Oxford Policy Management programme.

Nigeria completed 81 oil wells in 2018 - OPEC report DIPO OLADEHINDE

N

igeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer completed 81 oil wells from neutral zone compared to 76 oil wells recorded in 2017, a new report by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has shown.

An oil well is a hole dug into the earth that serves the purpose of bringing oil or other hydrocarbons - such as natural gas - to the surface. Oil wells almost always produce some natural gas and frequently bring water up with the other petroleum products.

OPEC’s 2019 Annual Statistical Bulletin revealed that among Africa countries apart from Algeria who recorded the highest oil wells completed from neutral zone in 2018 of 277; Nigeria recorded the

second highest oil wells completed of 81 wells which increased by 5 wells compared to 76 wells completed in 2017.

“Thanks to favourable oil prices most OPEC countries were able to maximize investment in drilling new wells which relies on the skilful usage of financial, technological, and human resources while also maximizing capital investment,” Charles Akinbobola, energy analyst at Sofidam Capital Limited.

Among African countries, Congo recorded the third highest oil wells of 8o in 2018 while Angola Gabon and Libya recorded 32 wells, 13 wells and 9 wells respectively.

In 2018, Venezuela recorded the highest oil wells completed of 710, followed by OPEC’s kingpin Saudi Arabia who recorded 599 www.businessday.ng

wells while Kuwait and United Arab Emirates (UAE) recorded 488 wells and 369 wells respectively.

OPEC members completed a total of 3,159 wells in 2018 which increased by 166 wells from 2993 wells in 2017 while the world in general completed 70,511 in 2018 compared to 65,618 in 2017.

In the last eight years, Nigeria’s oil reserves and daily production had remained almost stagnant hovering in the region of 37 billion barrel and two million barrel production day (bpd) respectively in the last five years, as data from OPEC showed Nigeria reserves and daily production have remained almost stagnant.

A 10-year target set by the Federal Government to boost crude oil reserves to 40 billion barrels and daily production to four million

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by 2020 is becoming unrealistic as analysts says corruption and government shenanigans have decrease growths in the sector.

According to statistics from OPEC, Nigeria oil reserve decreased to 36.972 billion in 2018 from 37.453 billion recorded in 2017. In 2014, Nigeria’s oil reserve stood at 37.448 billion before sliding down to 37.062 in 2015 while in 2016 it stood at 37.453 billion.

“Just like savings and earnings, the oil reserves and daily production are vital to creating energy security, increasing the income from crude oil, boosting economic development and showcasing an index that is capable of wooing investors into the country,” Adeoluwa Martins, Lagos based oil and gas analyst told BusinessDay. Also, data from OPEC’s annual @Businessdayng

report revealed Nigeria average daily oil production increased to 1.601 million in 2018 from 1.536 million in 2017. In 2014, Nigeria’s average oil production stood at 1,807 million although it decline again to 1.748 million in 2015. In 2017, oil production moved up to 1.6 million from the 1.4 million recorded in 2016.

Similarly, the level of active rigs which indicates the level of exploration, development and production activities occurring in a nation’s oil and gas sector as at 2018 stood at 32 from 13 rig count recorded in 2017. Recall in 2010, Nigeria’s active rig count stood at 35, it moved to 38, 44 and 59 in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The figure dropped to 46 in 2014, 29 in 2015 and eventually crashed to only nine in 2016.

Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

OFFGRID BUSINESS

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Schneider Electric, EM-ONE Energy sign MOU to build mini-grid manufacturing in Nigeria “Rather than importing minigrids produced in Europe, Asia or North America, we want to create an African mini-grid industry with operators, integrators, investors and local jobs,” Paul-François Cattier said.

Quoting Nigerian government data, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that a lack of access to reliable electricity costs Nigeria an estimated $29 billion a year.

The situation comes with environmental and health risks, too.

Many individuals, households and organizations have resorted to fossil-fueled generators. Nigerians spend an estimated $14 billion a year on small-scale generators.

DIPO OLADEHINDE

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n a bid to build an industrial platform and create an indigenous manufacturing supply chain across Nigeria and Africa at large, French multinational corporation Schneider Electric has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with EMONE Energy Solutions, a company specialized in the provision of sustainable energy solutions across the entire value chain.

According to Schneider Electric, the MOU is aimed at supporting the company in optimizing project structuring, supporting the development of an industrial platform and ensuring licensed manufacturing both in Nigeria at Africa.

The French giant plans to sign similar deals with other engineering procurement and construction companies to implement the same model across the continent.

The MOU will further strengthen the operations of EM-ONE Energy Solutions who has already won a contract for 30 mini-grids in Nigeria to power hospitals in Kaduna State, and is also targeting the university and rural electrification market.

Paul-François Cattier, Schneider Electric’s Vice President, Business Development, Africa & Middle East explained that the MOU concerns Schneider’s support with optimiz-

ing the architecture of these projects and developing an industrial platform to integrate these mini-grids into containers in Nigeria and manufacture Schneider Electric mini-grid solutions under licence.

Schneider Electric’s Vice President said Africa today is comparable to China 40 years ago. “In 2050, it will account for 30percent of the global population according to the United Nations and could be one of the world’s top five economic powers by 2050,” explained Paul-François Cattier.

Nigeria presents the biggest and most attractive off grid investment

opportunity in Africa. With a population of 195 million people, GDP of $405 billion that continues to grow at close to 3 per cent each year, it is the largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. A significant amount of the country’s economy is already powered largely by small scale generators (10-15 GW) and almost 50 per cent of the population have limited or no access to the national grid.

As a result, Nigerians and their businesses spend almost $14 billion annually on expensive, inefficient, polluting poor quality electricity sources. Developing off-grid alternatives to complement the grid

could create a $9.2 billion market opportunity each year for mini-grids and solar home systems, saving Nigerian homes and businesses up to $ 4.4 billion every year.

Furthermore, there is large potential for scaling as 10,000 minigrids of 100kw each could be installed in the next 10 years to meet 30 per cent of anticipated demand.

The combination of large revenue opportunity ($9.2 billion per year), a supportive government and a dynamic entrepreneurial environment make Nigeria the ideal location for impact investing in renewable energy.

18 months ago, Schneider Electric launched an initiative with the objective of creating a continental supply chain of mini-grids, rather than importing them from other countries.

While Africa suffers from an extensive deficit – albeit decreasing –access to power, Schneider Electric launched its Access to Energy program ten years ago aiming to bring solutions to rural electrification in particular.

The company has installed 700 mini-grid systems across the continent thanks to projects developed in partnership with non-profit organizations and financed with donations.

Arnergy raises $9m via Series A financing to boost energy reliability STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

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igerian renewable energy solutions provider Arnergy has closed Series A financing and new injection of capital meant to drive commercial growth towards enhancing energy reliability for its customers.

The distributed utility company, Arnergy, on Monday announced it has raised $9 million in a Series A round of funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures with participation from the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund), ElectriFI (EDFI Management Company) and All On. Arnergy enters a new phase in its development with investors that share its vision and have a track record of tackling the most pressing energy challenges across emerging market economies, beginning with Nigeria.

“We believe that energy needs in Nigeria have surpassed rudimentary requirements of low power utilisation and our product offerings are solving for reliability and not just access,” said Femi Adeyemo, founder and chief executive officer of Arnergy.

Arnergy’s distributed renewable

energy systems harness the combination of solar power, superior storage solutions and proprietary remote management technologies to deliver scalable, reliable and affordable energy solutions that are tailored to tackle issues related to intermittency and grid unreliability. Since launch, Arnergy has delivered over 2 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity and over 5MWh of storage capacity to business and residential clients across Nigeria.

“Arnergy inherently understands the West African market and its need for power reliability,” Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures said. “Creating accessibility to reliable renewable energy sources is paramount to economic growth in this region. With Arnergy’s technology, we can significantly decrease carbon emissions and it’s a model that can be replicated all over the developing world.”

Arnergy’s market scaling ambitions,

fuelled by the influx of new capital, will include new business models and partnership opportunities, as well as consumer financing and channel expansion activities. Targeted verticals for the company’s 5 kilowatts (KW) modular systems will include small businesses, healthcare, hospitality, financial services, agribusiness and education.

Mark Davis, EVP Clean Energy at Norfund emphasised that access to clean and stable energy is a prerequisite for job creation and development and this why Norfund is proud to support the expansion of Arnergy. It “will provide Nigerian households and businesses on a weak-grid connection with a cheaper, cleaner and more reliable power solution to meet their daily needs,” Davis said.

Similarly, ElectriFI, an EU-backed access to energy and impact fund expressed satisfaction to join such a strong group of investors and backing visionary entrepreneurs who will posi-

ANALYSTS: Isaac Anyaogu (Team Lead), Stephen Onyekwelu, Dipo Oladehinde

tively impact thousands of local businesses in Nigeria, Dominiek Deconinck, ElectriFI Fund Manager said.

Wiebe Boer, CEO of Shell funded All On, alluded to the fact this is a deal that is particularly exciting to them at All On as a Nigerian impact investor because “it reinforces our belief that local energy companies like Arnergy with innovative Nigerian technology and business models can attract investments from global giants like Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Norfund and ElectriFI, and are ready and able to compete on a global stage.”

A note of excitement was also expressed by Damilola Ogunbiyi, the CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). “I am delighted that Arnergy, a home grown company and one of the market leaders for off grid energy in Nigeria, has reached this milestone to raise capital from such an impressive group of local and international investors. It is a validation of all the hard work the REA and all of our partners are doing to create an enabling environment for off grid development. ” Arnergy is a distributed utility company that provides energy solutions tailored towards energy reliability in emerging markets. Its energy solutions empower businesses and residential customers through the design, sale and

installation of affordable and reliable, distributed energy systems.

Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) invests in companies that leverage innovative technologies to help address climate change. Backed by many of the world’s top business leaders, BEV has more than $1 billion in committed capital to support bold entrepreneurs building companies that can significantly reduce emissions from agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing, and transportation.

ElectriFI - the Electrification Financing Initiative invests in on- and off-grid early stage private companies focusing on creating new or improved connections and on adding generation capacity from renewable energy sources in emerging markets.

Norfund is owned by the Government of Norway and serves as an instrument in the Norwegian development assistance policy. The fund’s mission is to create jobs and improve lives by investing in businesses that drive sustainable development. The three main industries for investments are clean energy, financial institutions and food & agribusiness, with a geographical focus in Sub-Saharan Africa and in selected countries in Asia and Central America.

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Indigenous healthtech startup, MDaaS closes on $1 million seed funding ...moves to provide more tech-driven diagnostic centres for billions of Africans Stories by Jumoke Akiyode Lawanson

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DaaS Global, an indigenous health-tech companionships which aims to build Africa’s largest network of technology enables diagnostic and primary care facilities has closed on seed funding totaling US$1 million.

Led by Consonance Investment Managers, with participation from Techstars, FINCA Ventures, an investment initiative of FINCA International, and others, the round will see MDaaS scale and replicate its innovative diagnostic center business model, as the company seeks to open 100 additional centers in Nigeria and West Africa over the next five years.

MDaaS was created to address the lack of high-quality, affordable diagnostic services available for lowand middle-income sub-Saharan Africans, starting with Nigeria’s 130 million low- and middle-income patients. Where available and up-todate, health services are unaffordable for most of Nigeria’s population, and expensive out-of-pocket costs discourage patients. MDaaS leverages its vertically-integrated supply chain, technology platform, and patientcentered design to provide modern, convenient services at a price point patients can afford. It offers a wide array of high-impact diagnostic pro-

L-R: Adrian Hall, COO Extensia; Jemal Beker Abedula, Ethiopian Minister of State1-Innovation Technology; Brook Taye Snr, Advisor to Minister Finance; Sisay Tola, the Ethiopian Minister of State2 Innovation and Technology; Oliver Chinganya, Director UN Econ Commission for Africa; Getahun Mekuriya, Ethiopian Minister of Innovation and Technology; Tariq Malik, CEO Extensia; Bashir Gwandu, former NCC Commissioner; Jens Schulte-Bockum, Group COO MTN and Jenfan Muswere, Deputy Minister ICT, Zimbabwe at the opening session of the IAD 2019 summit held at Sheraton Hotel Addis Ababa, recently.

cedures from simple malaria tests to echocardiograms and pap smears.

And MDaaS’ affordability is helping change the healthcare narrative, with basic procedures, like obstetric ultrasounds, starting at just US$4.

Founded in 2016 by Oluwasoga Oni, Opeyemi Ologun, Genevieve Barnard Oni, and Joseph McCord, MDaaS was incubated at MIT’s Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship and was part of the inaugural Techstars Impact class of 2018. The company launched its flagship diagnostic center in Ibadan, Nigeria’s 3rd most populous city, in

November 2017 under its patientand physician-facing brand BeaconHealth. To date, the company has served over 9,000 low- and middleincome patients, speedily identifying health issues and connecting them with a variety of medical specialists and affordable treatment options.

Having partnered with over 60 referring health facilities, MDaaS serves as the centralized diagnostic department for surrounding hospitals and clinics within Ibadan. MDaaS also partners globally with corporates, Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), and developmental organi-

zations seeking top-tier diagnostics for their employees and beneficiaries.

Speaking on the funding, Oluwasoga Oni, MDaaS Global’s CEO and Co-Founder said, “This funding round fuels our next phase of growth, allowing us to continue providing modern, connected healthcare for Africa’s next billion. With diagnostics as the bedrock of modern medicine and key to the treatment of diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes - which are on the rise within the continent unbridled access to quality healthcare is crucial. We are immensely proud of our brick-and-mortar presence;

merging physical patient care with state-of-the-art technology enables us to reach more patients with the care that they deserve.”

It is estimated that 40 percent of the medical equipment in sub-Saharan Africa is currently obsolete or out of service. On a continent where public healthcare is chronically underfunded - receiving less than 5 percent of GDP, MDaaS presents the opportunity to bolster poorly-equipped hospitals and clinics in what is evaluated to be a $1.6 billion market in Nigeria alone.

Mobolaji Adeoye, managing partner at Consonance Investment Managers, said, “Africa significantly trails global metrics in affordable and quality healthcare. MDaaS’ mission to build the physical and technological infrastructure required to provide affordable diagnostic services across Africa fits our investment theme: access to essential services. We are very excited to partner with Soga and his team on this journey.”

Zoe Schlag, managing director of Techstars Impact, stated, “More than half of global population growth between now and 2050 is expected to occur in Africa, and yet the continent’s healthcare infrastructure is not designed to manage the lifestyle diseases this population will face. Under the leadership of Soga and his team, we’re excited to support MDaaS Global to lead the way delivering on solutions to one of the highest leverage opportunities we see in global health.”

9mobile offers one-year data bonus on new smartphone purchase

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mobile, has extended its brand footprint of giving more with the launch of a new mobile device offer where customers can enjoy oneyear data bonus on select smartphones including but not limited to Tecno, Infinix, Itel, Nokia 3.1Plus and Nokia 4.2 devices.

Adebisi Idowu, Vice President, marketing, 9mobile, said this offer is available to new and existing subscribers and gives them

the opportunity to enjoy up to 4GB one-off data upon activation, plus a one-year data bonus (up to 100 percent)upon purchase of monthly data plans from 9mobile.

He further disclosed that it is the only mobile device offer of its kind in the Nigerian telecom market which affords customers the opportunity to enjoy data bonus for a whole year.

“The new mobile device offer reinforces our unwavering commit-

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ment to give more value and benefits to our customers at all times.

At 9mobile, we put our customers first and we are always passionately seeking innovative ways to ensure they get more value for their money because we are a caring network,” Idowu said.

Explaining the unique benefits of the offer, he revealed that customers who purchase Tecno, Itel and Infinix mobile devices will get up to 2GB one-off data bonus, 100

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percent data bonus for the first six months, and 50 percent data bonus for another six months upon purchase of 500MB monthly data plans or higher after offer activation.

He added that customers who purchase Nokia 3.1 Plus and Nokia 4.2 mobile devices will get 4GB one-off data bonus, 100 percent data bonus for the first six months, and 50 percent data bonus for another six months upon purchase of 1GB monthly data plans or higher

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after offer activation.

While stating that the offer is indeed another innovative offering to further extend the positive customer experience both at point of sale and after-sales, 9mobile will continue with its fulfilments of promise to delight customers and give them more value for money.

The mentioned mobile devices can be purchased from 9mobile experience centres nationwide as well as from the online store.

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

BDTECH

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VDT deepens service competition with launch of 4GLTE to retail market Stories by JUMOKE AKIYODE-LAWANSON

V

DT communications, popular wholesale broadband provider is launching 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) service into the retail market to thicken competition in the space and help in Nigeria’s move to deepen broadband penetration and bring high speed internet access to more individuals and homes.

The company which is known for the provision of premium quality services to enterprise customers is leveraging its acquisition of a broad channel 2.3GHz (Gigahertz) spectrum gotten from the Federal Government in 2014; through Bitflux Communications Limited; a consortium which VDT is the principal partner, to bring the same service to retail consumers.

Industry watchers say that entrance of VDT 4GLTE coined “Live the Life” into the retail market will pro-

L-R: Adewale Akinade; head, finance & account, Bimbo Ikumariegbe; deputy managing director, Abiodun Omoniyi; managing director/CEO, Victor Omoyeni and Dan Adah; head, corporate & retail sales all of VDT Communications during the media launch of the VDT 4G LTE advanced data service in Lagos on Wednesday 19, June 2019.

vide a lot more opportunities for the national market and increase competition, especially as VDT LTE is leveraging on the Bitflux network it painstakingly and deliberately built from the scratch to provide premium quality 4G broadband experience in the country.

Speaking at the media launch of the service, Bio-

dun Omoniyi, MD/CEO VDT Communications said; “Despite the existence of other players in the market, the decision to launch VDT 4G LTE service is owing to the gaps existing in the market due to poor quality networks, customer service and support service inherent in the market. VDT 4G LTE advanced has come to fill these

yawning gaps with superior network quality, top-notch network performance and proactive customer and support services.”

“The platform has been built for 4G LTE service, and there is no better platform to usher in the 5G that we are all gearing up for,” he added.

The service which is to

All-girls BrainSquard team wins regional Technovation Challenge ...Develops fund-raising app to get less privileged children in school

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iding on the win of the Junior Division Global 2018 Technovation Challenge by Nigeria, another team of young Nigerian girls have won the 2019 Regional Technovation Challenge.

The all-girls team from Standard Bearers School (SBS) Lekki, Lagos, won the Zonal Pitch of the challenge held at the Lagos Business School (LBS), which is taking them into the semi-final round.

The girls, aged 10 -11 years, who were called BrainSquad team include; Ivana Mordi, Munachi Chigbo, Jadesola Kassim, Ayomikun Ariyo and Pandora Onyedire. After research, the team came up with an idea of building a fund-raising app called Handsout to help less privileged children go to school and get a good education.

Their studies showed that over 10 million children are out of school in Nigeria, with problems mainly from poverty. The inspiration behind creating Handsout was the collapse of a school at Itafaji, Lagos and also the viral online news of Success Adegho who was sent out of school because her parents could not pay her school

fees.

BrainSquad won and is now waiting for the final selection of teams in Africa as the judges in Silicon Valley decide which teams will go on to represent the continent at the finals later this year. While they are waiting, they have used the time to improve on their app following the judges’ advice, to finalize the launch of Handsout.

“The aim of Handsout is to create a way for organisations, friends and wellmeaning people all over the world to donate funds for the school fees of less privileged Nigerian children who desire to go to school but cannot afford to.

People who want to support by giving things like school shoes, school bags, stationery and library books are welcome and can do so through the app, which our team developed,” Munachi Chigbo and Jadesola Kassim, BrainSquad team leaders stated.

Modupe Adeyinka-Oni, proprietress, SBS, said, “We are very pleased our pupils have been able to win the Zonal Pitch and are encouraged with the process so far seeing that it is in line with our School’s philosophy of embracing 21st century www.businessday.ng

learning with technology being the cornerstone. The children have shown that they can stand shoulder to shoulder with their peers worldwide and tackle global problems heads on, an integral trait for developing the leaders of tomorrow, which we lay emphasis on in SBS. The Nigerian 2018 winners in the Junior category called Team ‘Save-A-Soul” developed a mobile application called ‘FD Detector’ to tackle the problem of fake drugs in the country.

They are also a beacon of hope and encouragement to our team ‘BrainSquad’ and together, show the world that Africa has the best and brightest. The FD Detector team was selected from over 2,000 mobile app developers to represent Africa at the world pitch.

According to the proprietress, BrainSquad is partnering with Stanbic IBTC Bank Trustees to open a trust to handle all cash donations and are looking to partner with organisations and foundations to select the recipients and logistic companies to assist with transportation of any non-cash donations to designated communities.

She explained further that Handsout is a hub for chil-

dren by children where donors’ funds can be directed to the children who need it, using charities like International Women’s Society (IWS) and Slum2School.

Credible NGOs who work directly with children and orphanages around Nigeria are expected to apply on behalf of the children so people who need the funds are reached.

Handsout will be available shortly on Google play store to be downloaded for free and the process to sync the app with the bank’s account to enable it receive funds is on going.

“It is estimated that if only 100,000 people donate a minimum of N1,000 every month, they will get a great deal of children off the streets and back in schools”, she said.

The plan is to support children in primary and secondary schools across Nigeria and have capped the maximum scholarship at N50,000 per term. This could be less, depending on the average fees obtainable in each region.

The Technovation Challenge, which is sponsored

by Microsoft, encourages girls to develop apps that will solve global problems through technology.

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be launched next month, July 2019 is expected to cover the entire Lagos, and then other strategic states of the country later on.

“Our official service launch is scheduled to take place early next month in Lagos. With the huge acceptance and patronage, we received during the pre-launch test period with about 80 percent network coverage of Lagos State, VDT LTE would expand strategically to cover the entire Lagos State, and other leading cities in the key economic zones of Nigeria and the rest of the country in phases,” Omoniyi said.

VDT’s 4GLTE products range include home CPE and mobile mifi devices which come with an offering of free 3068 data. Free 8pm to 7am night browsing, with data plans for as low as N3,500, including free power bank [depending on the home CPE purchased].

“With the overwhelming patronage received even during the pre-launch, data consumers in Nigeria

have demonstrated without doubt, their preference for high quality network and good customer support services. These attributes will take us to a higher pedestal now that the brand is officially launched, to give data consumers in Nigeria that premium browsing experience they have always craved for,” the company stated.

Answering media questions, Omoniyi revealed that the company has partnered with Huawei and other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to provide quality equipment, and is planning to have channel partners VDT Communications Limited is an lSO 9001:2015 and the lst ISO 20000:2011 internationally certified Telecom Company in West and Central Africa. It currently operates in over 30 states in the country and provides services to all top banks and other financial services institutions in Nigeria, as well as other blue chip companies operating in different sectors.

Expose your girls to technology early, Glo charges parents

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lobacom Limited, a telecoms service provider and technology innovation leader has called on parents to give their children early exposure to technology, and tech-related subjects to enable them compete favourably in the innovation space, as the world becomes more digitally oriented.

The company urged greater interest by girl-children in subjects like mathematics, physics, engineering and computing.

Justina Abdulateef, Globacom’s account manager, public sector, Lagos zone, made the assertions at this year’s commemoration of the International Girls in ICT Day by eBusinessLife magazine.

According to Abdulateef, the ICT space requires a broad range of skills, noting that operators in the sector are continually looking for talented individuals with those skills to play various roles. She also implored school girls across the country to take active interest in science subjects that could help them play prominent roles in the technology world in the future.

She lamented that stereotypes and discrimination had deterred many girls from pursuing interests in Infor@Businessdayng

mation and Communication Technology, suggesting the need to break these stereotypes early in life in order to create meaningful access to ICT for girls and women.

“The growth potential is enormous for ICT professionals, and there are many areas you can decide to focus on.

You could choose to be a software developer, a webmaster, web designer, animator or data analyst, among many others”, Abdulateef advised.

Also speaking at the event which was attended by hundreds of school girls from 15 prominent schools in Lagos, Ufuoma Daro, the chief executive officer of eBusiness Life, the organisers of the event, thanked Globacom for supporting the initiative this year again, recalling that the company was also one of the companies that made it possible for the event to hold last year.

Daro called on other corporate bodies to support initiatives that are aimed at empowering the womenfolk in the overall interest of the country.

The ceremony drew participation from leading lights in the ICT industry, including representatives of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), leading ICT companies and policymakers.

Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

31

FEATURE

When N65,000 monthly stipend for Niger Delta ex-militants becomes insufficient ONYINYE NWACHUKWU

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rogress reports on the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) indicate that while there have been improvements in terms of relative peace in the Niger Delta region and even the ability of the ex-militants to become productive and peaceful citizens, there is still the need for graduates of the program to become gainfully and sustainably engaged.

One of such bothers around economic re-integration.

This is because the ability of ex-militants to transition to peacetime activities by getting employed, becoming entrepreneurs, and engaged in functional civic activities after being trained under the amnesty program is critical in addressing, particularly the socioeconomic, developmental issues in the oil rich region.

Charles Dokubo, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and PAP Coordinator, understands this. He strongly believes that sustainable development in the region now requires more than the N65, 000 which the government pays the ex-militants as monthly stipends.

This implies not just the training in specialised or general skills, but the ability of the system to absorb graduates of such training at the completion of their courses. “We must find jobs for the ex-combatants. Something must engage them and turn their attention away from their old lifestyle of militancy.

“It is better to train people and give them jobs and they earn salaries. When they earn salaries, they can take care of their families, not with stipends and this is a challenge which government alone cannot handle,” Dokubo said.

The Nigerian government under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, on the 25th of June, 2009 established the Presidential Amnesty Programme—one that would not only grant amnesty to the Niger-delta militants but also drive the human development capacity of the region.

The new approach then became a better alternative to other failed initiatives which targeted growth and development there.

The success of the Amnesty programme evolved around the willingness and readiness of the militants to surrender their arms and unconditionally, renounce militancy and sign an undertaking to this effect.

Government in return pledged to institute programmes to rehabilitate and reintegrate ex-militants under a structured Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DDRR) programme.

As at March 2018 when Dokubo assumed office as the PAP Coordinator, the programme was at its Reintegration Phase - pivoted on training; education and knowledge; vocational and skills acquisition.

BusinessDay understands that previous heads of the Amnesty office seemed only interested in education and training without recourse given to the needed empowerment

Charles Dokubo

and job placement.

Dokubo says this has long changed eventhough more work is needed. “I have injected a new thinking and dimension to the programme. These new thinking is all about the introduction of job placement programmes, micro-credit, cooperatives, business support, monitoring and evaluation,” he said at a recent session which BusinessDay attended.

His thinking was that for the programme to achieve its objectives, the Niger-Delta youths do not only need be trained and educated, they should be assisted to rediscover their potentialities and further made to be self-reliant, as this will keep them engaged.

Empowerment through job placement and entrepreneurship is the new dimension introduced by Dokubo who worries that many Niger-Delta youths and citizens lack finances to set-up their businesses. PAP realizing this and further recognizing that governments alone cannot provide jobs for its teeming youth population, has developed programmes that would help expand economic activities through entrepreneurship and job placements of all trained delegates.

One of such is the Job Placement and International Development Partners Engagement, JP-IDPE Unit which has produced the MADE project, with even more expected. At the moment, PAP is liaising with different organisations such as United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to help in this regards.

“Militancy in the Niger Delta is not purely a Nigerian affair because it affects international oil companies directly,” Dokubo stressed, as he appealed to the international organisations, agencies and oil companies to assist in the reintegration project to get the excombatants fully empowered and engaged in www.businessday.ng

gainful endeavours.

Although, post-training engagement for already trained ex-militants remains daunting, the Amnesty Office has so far empowered and facilitated the set-up of small and medium scale businesses for nearly 4,450 ex-militants. Some of the trained delegates have secured direct employment in the public and private sectors within and outside the country.

Figures shown that since March 2018, the Amnesty office has graduated an increased number of ex-militants geometrically to over 20, 000 - about 3, 243 persons are at present undergoing training while 5, 578 are at waiting to be enrolled.

With regards to education, 2,577 persons are currently in school - 1,060 are studying in over 10 universities (both private and government) locally, while 1,517 are studying abroad in over 50 universities spread across Europe, Asia, Africa and Americas.

“PAP is doing all this because knowledge and education are key factors to the full and effective participation of youths in the processes of social, economic and political development. What education does to the youth is that it gives them the knowledge, capacities, skills and ethical values needed to fulfil their role as agents of development, good governance, social inclusion, tolerance and peace.

“We recognise that greater focus on universal access to education, quality education, human rights education and learning is key for young people to be able to address their aspirations and challenges, fulfil their potential, and influence current and future social and economic conditions and opportunities.”

The Amnesty office has also done well in skills and vocational training. At the mo-

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ment, work is ongoing to set up vocational Training Centres (VTCs) in different fields in collaboration with the state governments.

Two of these centres are already commissioned – including the oil and gas training Centre in Agadaba-Obon, Ondo State and the Basic Skills Training Centre in Kaiama in Bayelsa State.

But seeing militants just sit back and collect N65, 000 monthly stipends from government without considering that such doles are just not sustainable is another source of concern.

“Although I am from the Niger Delta, I am also concerned about this concept of paying people N65, 000 without doing anything.

“Our people are now used to accepting doles for doing nothing, some people if you find a job that pays say N50, 000, they will not take and they forget they can rise on the job and be better off tomorrow.

There have been questions, though, on why government is still paying the stipends even after the ex-militants must have undergone trainings and are expected to stand on their own. “By the rules of DDR, those who have undergone training must be fully empowered with functional employment. They must be re-inserted into the larger society with alternative means of livelihood other than militancy. This is what rehabilitation and re-integration is all about,” Dokubo explains.

He says his intention is to carry out a policy of reorganization, reindoctrination, to make the ex-militants realize that amnesty is a short term project and will not last forever.

“That is the view of our people and I want to change that.”

He is further concerned that the Niger Delta region is not making the best out of the benefits from government, observing that no part of the country has more agencies of government than the Niger Delta and “if we cannot make the best of it, we will be blamed.”

For him, it is against the spirit of reintegration to allow the ex-militants return to the same environment and lifestyle that gave rise to militancy after the disarmament and demobilisation and the training are.

“If something must change about their behaviour and way of life, then something must change about their environment and lifestyle. This is a global practice everywhere.”

“Payment of stipends will continue for the time being until it is replaced with effective way of life for the ex-combatants, but it certainly will not continue forever,” he warns.

“But it is imperative that if we give these young men and women from the Niger-Delta favourable conditions and policies to enable them gain employment, they will be busy, invariably, they will not have time for much agitation or to foment more trouble.

“Besides, a properly empowered youth within the region is also a potential employer of labour, thus contributing to economic growth and development of that very important region and the country.”

@Businessdayng

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

INTERVIEW We hope to identify, empower local businesses and put them on the world map - Aregbe Idris Aregbe is the brain behind Sisi Oge, Nigeria’s premiere beauty pageant, which has within the space of 11 years empowered over 50, 000 models and 11 queens. The concept which recently rebranded to become Culturati, is said to be Africa’s largest cultural fusion. The brand holds its 12th edition on June 30. In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE, he reveals that the idea of rebranding was inspired by his love and passion for celebrating values that promote the African culture. Excerpts:

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Idris Aregbe

to Culturati in order to create an urban appeal that will distinctively capture the vast beauties of the African culture in its entirety. The objectives of Culturati include, amongst others, to rebrand and re-introduce African cultures and traditions such as art, dance, fashion, music, food amongst others to the international community. It also aims to attract international tourists to Africa as well as to resuscitate our fading cultures through enlightenment, education and association. It will also reward creative excellence and provide soft footing to tenderfoots in the creative industry, which is why Culturati Fashion Hub was orchestrated.

What are the business angles of culture you feel people should explore?

We are fully ready to launch the Culturati online business hub, which would profile business owners in terms of fashion, arts, crafts, entertainment, and everything that has to do with African value and heritage where anyone who is interested in any aspect of these businesses can hook up with individual owner of these businesses. We are also talking to banks to see how they can give some kind of zero interest loans to support these ones. That is why the exhibition we are holding this year is also to identify those key brands in the market, which we believe can sell and which we can also give support. www.businessday.ng

What exactly differentiates the forthcoming edition from the previous ones?

Like I said, with Culturati the concept is bigger and we have more to offer. We are offering additional content and a wider scope and reach. We are going beyond the mere fashion show and pageant to look at the business angle of culture. We are looking at promoting unsung heroes who are actually growing the economy of the country. For example, there is a business dealing in smoked beef (suya) at Allen Junction, Ikeja, called University of Suya, which has been running for about 37 years. We have like three generations that have been doing the business. They have been growing the business and empower-

“

ing young people from one generation to another. This is what Culturati stands for. We want to identify some of these key businesses and see how we can engage and empower them and also help them redefine what they are doing and then put them on the world map. We want to encourage them and let them know that there is a brand observing them and that they just need to continue to move forward and see how they can continue to give out their best to the society. Whether we like it or not, if we grow our local business, we are equally growing our society. So, we are looking at turning passion into wealth and to also continue to see how we can empower young people do SMEs. So it is not just about another pageantry event but is about celebrating African values.

You mentioned that there is a line-up of activities for the coming event. Can you talk about them?

The Culturati Night Grand Finale comes up on June 30 at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos by 5pm.

The activities leading to the grand finale include an interactive symposium held on June 11; Culturati Celebrity Football Match for June 20 by 7pm at Fun Turf, Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; Hair Braiding Festival on June 23 by 12noon at Nike Art Gallery, Lekki, and an Art and Fashion Exhibition on June 30 by 10am at the Balmoral Conventional Centre, Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos.

The event is primarily aimed at acknowledging and appreciating our treasured cultural heritage and traditions. The night will feature thrilling experiences from arts and fashion exhibition, musical performances, dance drama, cultural festival and pageantry, special recognition and awards amongst other.

The hair braiding festival and competition aims at celebrating the best hands in the industry, that is local stylists who are capable of making unique hairstyles, see how we can empower them set up businesses for men and also connect them to

We want to encourage them and let them know that there is a brand observing them and that they just need to continue to move forward and see how they can continue to give out their best to the society

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“

What informed your decision to rebrand from Sisi Oge to Culturati? ulturati is a cultural festival inspired to showcase African culture. As a matter of fact, it is a concept designed to showcase the good side of Africa to the world. We have quite a number of people who are doing great things African in Africa and all over the world - people who are growing the African continent. That was why I decided that we needed to take this brand further by rebranding from our usual Sisi Oge, which has been an annual cultural event to a more encompassing brand, Culturati, after celebrating the 11th edition, which was a resounding success. Now in its 12th year, the brand has passionately rewarded the contributions of creative minds, nurtured cultural ambassadors, and empowered burgeoning art and fashion enthusiasts, while propagating the beauty of the African culture within and beyond the proximity of Africa.

Culturati is an edutainment cultural festival channelled towards a thorough acknowledgement and enlightenment of Africa’s rich history and values. It is a sustainable fusion and celebration of Africa’s arts and culture with a mission to revive indigenous culture on the brink of extinction on account of reckless abandon, as well as the rapid influx of westernisation. This event is intended to celebrate Africa’s exotic culture with a variety of entertaining engagements from, arts and fashion exhibition, music/dance drama, cultural festival/pageantry and a host of other electrifying performances.

Culturati, formerly known as “My Heritage, My Pride & Sisi Oge,” is not just an annual festivity, it’s a cultural movement aimed at promoting the African heritage with a strong commitment to instil our fading cultures in the hearts of today’s youths. It is designed to sustain our culture and of course, we are also incorporating SMEs and expanding our scope.

So, the notion behind Culturati 2019 is to explore nature’s creative beauty, create a renaissance of our cultural heritage, raise cultural ambassadors, and grow SMEs in the creative industry. To this end, we are building up programmes that are ongoing, to create the right momentum for the major event. The objective is to see how we can empower Nigerians.

We are looking at culture from the prism of business and trying to tell the world that Culturati is not just about beauty pageants, nor events but promoting our culture with a perspective to also explore the business angle of culture.

The brand Sisi Oge was rebranded

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one of our sponsors, Lush Hair, a brand of synthetic hair extensions, so that we can easily achieve our aim. We also have the food aspect, which we are trying to come up with different recipes that have to do with the African vibes and for the African people. In terms of fashion show, we have seen different sorts but now we are looking at things that are targeted towards promoting the African values and cultures.

This concept has been running for over 10 years and it’s growing day by day. How would you describe its impact on Nigerians?

It’s been great, with the pageants alone, we have trained over 50,000 models and we have had 11 queens over the years. When you look around today, you would see some of our models featuring in most of the big shows in the fashion and entertainment industries. I’m glad that in the last 11 years, we have been empowering young people, directing them in the right path and providing them with amenities to excel. So, for us, we are not just a pageant promoter, it is about trying to redefine the African youths and the African woman in particular. So we thank God for where we are today and I also thank God that we are fully rebranded and that we are fully ready for a proper businesses platform to see how we can take small business owners from the level they are at the moment to a better level.

That is why for this year’s edition of the show, we are partnering with a lot of big brands that also would be giving values to our youths.

Now, you are going beyond the usual beauty pageant, extending your scope to incorporating budding SMEs and others. Won’t this make you deviate from the original concept of Sisi Oge? Well, I have always said that I am not a pageant promoter. I wasn’t doing that because I wanted to parade models. I was doing it because I understood that with this concept, we can grow a better content. And that is what we have witnessed this today with the birth of Culturati. Sisi Oge has always been content and it is that content that has grown to be what we are today – a better content, better platform.

Looking back at 12 years ago when you started Sisi Oge, did you envisage what it has turned out today?

Maybe I didn’t see it this way but I knew it was going to be different from what was on ground then because I understood what my content and concept were all about. I was ready for it. And I thank God that today; it is even bigger than what I envisaged.

Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

33

Markets + Finance

‘Providing proprietary research, commentary, analysis and financial news coverage unmatched in today’s market. Published weekly, Markets & Finance provides all the key intelligence you need.’

How Zenith Bank is bringing bank service to the unbanked?

BALA AUGIE

J

ust as the Biblical Sarah laughed off a prophesy from the spirit messengers of God that she would give birth in her old age, Emeka Uka, 49, a trader in spare parts at the sprawling Ladipo market, laughed off the idea that he could open a zero savings and current account with Zenith Bank.

After much persuasion from a Bank staff and campaigns in the media, he yielded and decided to open a current account. Today he is spreading the good news.

“I used to think that operating a current account was for affluent business men and high earners, but Zenith Bank has proven me wrong,” said Uka, who sur-

vived as a sales boy.

In an effort to make banking facilities available to all, especially those hailing from the rural, semi-urban areas and operators in the informal sector, Zenith Bank, the largest lender by asset, rolled out the zero-balance account.

Customers can now open a Zenith Bank account with a Zero Balance (N0.00) as opposed to its initial range of N50, 000 – N250, 000.

It becomes the first Nigerian lender to successfully integrate and launch Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) payments on Point of Sales (USSD on POS), enabling customers to pay for goods and services via POS terminals in merchant locations or on ecommerce websites without the use of cards.

The innovative payment

Peter Amangbo, MD, Zenith Bank

solution, which is powered

by CoralPay, allows Zenith Bank customers to use the *966# Eazy Banking (USSD) to pay for goods and services on POS terminals in merchant

locations or on ecommerce websites through the generation of a payment code on the POS terminal which is then confirmed by the customer using their USSD pin.

“This solution is an exciting and highly innovative initiative in promoting financial inclusion, facilitating payments by customers either remotely in the comfort of their homes or offices or at merchant locations without the use of a payment card,” said Peter Amangbo, group managing director and chief executive officer of Zenith Bank Plc. “With this solution, customers in remote locations plagued with challenges of poor Internet access can now carry out transactions easily using their feature phones,”Amangbo.

With market penetrating mobile applications and aggressive policy to attract more retail customers, the lender is in the forefront of deepening financial inclusion in the country.

Out of a population of 200 million people, 38.60 percent, representing 36.60 million of adult population in the country are excluded from the financial umbrella.

But a latest survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) showed that Nigeria has a chance to achieve the 20 percent exclusion rate target for adults by 2020.

Low financial awareness and literacy levels, dampened consumer confidence,

cumbersome and unnecessary rigor in opening account balance, and proximity of financial institution to places where people live, especially in the rural areas, is undermining policy makers’ financial inclusion strategy.

A lot of Nigerian traders have closed their bank accounts and have resulted to starching cash in their back yards because they were tired of standing on a long queue for hours to cash money.

Some sub-Saharan African countries are ahead of Nigeria using mobile phone to access financial service.

According to a recent by EFG Hermes, an Egyptian investment bank present in the middle East and North Africa region, revealed that only recorded 8 percent Nigeria’s population used their mobile phone mobiles to access their bank account in 2018.

The report further shows that Kenya remained the continent’s leader in mobile banking. The 2018 report published by the Egyptian investment house shows 72 percent of the banking population used their mobile phones to access their accounts, nearly three times global average of 25 percent.

Uganda was the lowest to Kenya with 47 percent while Tanzanian followed with 37 percent.

However, Nigeria has gone from 100,000 working fixed line phones in the early 2000s to 170 million today.

“In promoting financial inclusion, there are certain questions our policy makers need to evaluate and possibly answer. They include why the village man will prefer to use formal sector instead of his well understood informal sector.

Does he need a National ID Master Card for his daily existence and his financial transactions? Even if he decides to use ID Master Card, where will he use it and will he understand the terms and conditions of the transaction?” said Franklyn Ngwu, senior lecturer in Strategy and Risk Management, Lagos Business School.

Educating customers

BD MARKETS + FINANCE Analysts: BALA AUGIE www.businessday.ng

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@Businessdayng

about various latest banking applications like payment system in the era of digital financial service is paramount.

A total of N80.4 trillion had changed hands through the NIP channel in 2018, representing 43 percent increase from N56.17 trillion that was transacted via the channel in 2017, according to a recent report by Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).

According to the report, average daily transactions on the channel doubled from N1 million to N2 million in 2018.

While the total bank account rose by 17.9 percent, the number of individual bank accounts rose by 18.5 percent and active bank accounts rose by 12.1 percent.

Total bank accounts rose from 100.2 million to 118.1 million as at the end of December 2018, while active bank accounts rose to 71.2 million from 63.5 million and individual accounts rose from 59 million to 69.9 million.

About Zenith Bank Zenith Bank Plc was established in May 1990, and commenced operations in July of the same year as a commercial bank. The Bank became a public limited company on June 17, 2004 and was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on October 21, 2004 following a highly successful Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Zenith Bank Plc currently has a shareholder base of about one million and is Nigeria’s biggest bank by tier-1 capital.

In 2013, the Bank listed $850 million worth of its shares at $6.80 each on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, Zenith Bank Plc has over 500 branches and business offices in prime commercial centres in all states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In March 2007, Zenith Bank was licensed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of the United Kingdom to establish Zenith Bank (UK) Limited as the United Kingdom subsidiary of Zenith Bank Plc.

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

property&lifestyle Market Analysis

Real Estate Fund lags Money Market, Fixed Income on low RoI, illiquidity, industry woes Endurance Okafor

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or reasons that include low return on investment, illiquidity and industry challenges, the more tangible real estate fund remains less attractive to investors than money market and fixed income funds, BusinessDay findings have revealed.

Whereas both money market and fixed income funds have 18 different investment options each, real estate fund has only three investment classes, data by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the industry regulator, has shown.

For the week ended June 14, 2019, SEC data revealed that the asset managed by the Real Estate Fund stood at N45.56 billion which accounts for 6.09 percent of the entire mutual funds asset with Net Asset Value (NAV) of N753.28 billion.

The asset managed by Money Market Fund which has 75.3 percent share of the mutual fund and the 10.64 percent controlled by Fixed Income Fund are both higher than the Real Estate Fund by N608.21 billion and N32.84 billion respectively.

“Real Estate Fund is not very liquid, and it is very difficult to see people go to capital market floor to buy it. As such, one hardly sees any trade in any of the REITS,” Paul Uzuma, MD of Halo Nigeria

Capital, said.

A real estate fund is a type of mutual fund that primarily focuses on investing in securities offered by public real estate companies.

While evidence indicates that investment-grade real estate assets in Nigerian market are capable of generating average yield of 7-9 percent, these reasonably enticing returns appear less attractive when compared with those offered by other more aggressive investment strategies in less-risky assets.

Checks by BusinessDay revealed that in the last five years, the three different Funds under the real estate asset class reported an average return that was down 7.09 percent.

Managed by SFS Capital Nigeria Limited, Union Homes REITS and Skye Shelter Fund reported five year return of -9.03 percent and -14.44 percent respectively.

Union Homes REITS traded at a unit price of N50 in July 2014 but declined to N40.07 in 2019 while Skye Shelter Fund also reported a decline as its unit price of N100 in 2014 lowered to N85.56 reported in 2019.

However, UPDC Real Estate Investment Fund, managed by FSDH Asset Management Limited reported a positive return of 2.47 percent from N10 unit price in 2014 to N12.47 in 2019, SEC data analysed by BusinessDay showed.

Checks by BusinessDay revealed that investors are concerned that a combination of the real estate market’s immaturity, highly illiquid nature of real estate assets, and regular fluctuations in many of Africa’s currencies will make it difficult to exit from funds in which they invest.

In spite of the challenges that African real estate poses for fund managers and investors, the vast market possibilities are proving irresistible.

Those who have been able to identify and make early invest-

ments in countries with high potential have been rewarded.

In Kenya, for instance, the real estate sector as a whole has returned 25-30percent to investors over the past five years, consistently outperforming other asset classes.

These returns have unsurprisingly prompted increased investor appetite.

That is however not the case in Nigeria, as Henry Ogbuaku, Asset Management, Growth and Development Asset Mgt Ltd said the low level of development in the

…as Propertygate exits advisory services

L

ack of functional mortgage, rising unemployment, fragile economy and consumers’ apathy, were the major factors that contributed to the low transaction volume recorded in development of real estate for sale

throughout 2018.

Also, the sector remained sluggishintheyearunderreview following the slowed down of local and foreign investments as some corporate and individual investors held back their capital due to political uncertainty surrounding the country’s preparation for general elections that

CHUKA UROKO

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country’s real estate sector is something that is lower than its peers.

“If you look at the level of development of the property market in Nigeria, it is very low. Enough attention has not being paid to the industry. Investment in real estate is also a long time, because you have to go through the various stages of development of a property and all of that. But if you look at other investment classes, like the money market, in 30 days one can get back one’s investment,” Ogbuaku said.

Absence of functional mortgage, fragile economy threatened Nigeria’s real estate sector in 2018 CHUKA UROKO

New cycle of real estate investment trends emerge as market matures

held earlier in 2019.

To address this, government needs to work hard in creating a functional mortgage system that would enable more Nigerians to be able to buy houses, developers to build new properties and create employment opportunities through the construction industry.

L-R, Janet Fifo, Propertygate Development and Investment Plc’s Company Secretary; Adetokunbo Ajayi, MD/ CEO, and Jonathan Ogungbola, non- executive director, at the Company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, recently. www.businessday.ng

Speaking at the10th Annual GeneralMeetingofPropertygate Development and Investment Plc,AdetokunboAjayi,managing director/CEO, said the last few yearshavebeenverychallenging for the sector, which recorded negative real GDP growth for the last three consecutive years.

“Many operators in real estate development and services space have been hard hit by the lingering slow-down in the sector. They have suffered from acute revenue shortage to severe liquidity crunch.

These have had devastating impact on many operators, even threatening the continuity of their business,” he said.

According to him, operators require innovative thinking and actions such as diversification of revenue sources from being mono income source to multiple sources as mono income source can put an operator in a severe strain when the business climate of the income source begins to falter.

Ajayi, who advised other operators to have a rethink of their business structure and other

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operational strategy including issues, products and services offering, funding mechanics and other fundamental issues critical to corporate success, said time had come for industry groups to emerge, to seriously engage and collaborate with government authorities and stakeholders on handling issues affecting the sector.

Propertygate, Ajayi stated, had a disciplined business and financial operation year by concentrating on its ongoing projects, adding that the company was pleased with its overall results, given the difficult business environment in 2018.

He said Propertygate, which has over the decade operated more as a development trading company, is presently finalising plans to focus its attention on real estate development.

“We are exiting property advisory services and we intend to do more in development by investing for strategic reasons.

With exit from advisory offering, thecompanyiscurrentlyholding asignificantstakeinPGReadzon Services, a real estate and allied services firm. This will help the revenuediversificationgoalofthe company,” he disclosed. @Businessdayng

n incremental basis, the African real estate market is maturing, leading to the emergence of a new cycle of real estate investment trends which together are shaping Africa’s investable real estate sectors, players and markets.

The continent can now see a rise in sophistication in key markets reflected in the growing number of investors, developers and asset managers interested in key markets and also in a better understanding of the type of risk return profile of these markets.

“Today, we have hands on data (be it land price, cost of development, rental levels, valuation, yields and so on), whereas 15 years ago, it was a lot of ‘guess-estimates,” notes Kevin Teeroovengadum, one of Africa’s most vocal and experienced independent real estate advisors.

These trends and growth have been attributed to the contributions of the Africa Property Investment (API) Summit, now in its 10th year.

The Summit is regarded as the continent’s leading real estate investment and development gathering.

This year, the summit which will be holding in Johannesburg in November will be showcasing how the investment case across the continent’s-built environment markets has matured over the past decade.

Teeroovengadum, a current and former board member of leading operational, investment and development firms over the past 18 years, including the Radisson hotel group, Actis and AttAfrica, amongst others, notes further that the summit has been a catalyst in bringing stakeholders across the continent together.

According to him, the summit is “not only being a forum whereby international investors get to meet and establish and enhance their relationships with local developers, but also as platform whereby best practices are shared,” adding, “the API Summit has been extremely helpful to the industry, having been able to pull that kind of intellectual property and sharing with the delegates.”

In recognition of these developments, the Summit’s organising committee has released its high-level white paper containing 10 trends shaping African real estate. Drawing on more than a decade of insights and inputs from its pan-African and international stakeholders from across the continent’s expanding real estate value chain, the white paper details 10 highlevel trends and unlocks why these developments are likely to result in a new development cycle.

Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

35

property&lifestyle Property Investment

JLL sees higher property market transparency boosting investors’ trust in Nigeria, SSA Israel Odubola

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ones Lang La Salle (JLL) says higher transparency in the property markets across SubSaharan Africa (SSA, particularly in Nigeria and Kenya, is needed to boost investor’s trust in this region.

The Chicago-based real estate investment firm, in its report titled ‘The Path to Real Estate Transparency across Sub-Saharan Africa’, notes that the top 25 transparent markets, including London, Los Angeles, Sydney and New York, account for 70 percent share of global direct real estate investment, with about three-quarters of it being cross-border investment.

Though property markets in Nigeria and Kenya are gradually improving as regards market transparency, progress seen so far is yet to match the increasing expectations of investors, businesses and communities and JLL’s report reveals that property market in this region has the least growth compared to other regions of the world.

Market transparency is the foundation that allows investors and corporate occupiers operate and make decisions with confidence, and enables government

and public agencies create efficient and competitive property markets.

This is essential because no real estate market can function properly without high levels of transparency even as influx of direct real estate investment penetrates to markets with higher transparency.

Najeeb Adeyemi, Head of Valuation and Business Development at Lagos-based Ewenla & Mustapha Limited, hinged the SSA’s underperformance to lack of reliable data that cover every activity in property transactions, saying this is a disincentive to investors.

“There are no data to help investors make informed decision. Data on property transaction are rarely available, even the available ones lack authenticity most times.

The absence of authentic data is one way we are missing out foreign investment in real estate”, Adeyemi said.

Real estate transparency index evaluates the openness of activities in property markets based on six broad benchmarks including transaction process, regulations, sustainability, market fundamentals, performance measurements and governance of listed vehicles, on a scale of 1-5, with low index points in-

dicating better transparency.

Nigeria ranks 67 out of 100 countries in the transparency ranking, with 3.73 index points, and the country’s commercial capital, Lagos, took the 124th spot out of 158 cities captured.

Two-thirds of the market in the region including Nigeria, Rwanda and Ghana are in opaque zone, with average transparency score standing at 3.86. The region lags Europe, Asia-Pacific and America, in terms of market data availability.

JJL hinged the challenges of data collection in the region on absence of industry forum for disseminating information, few publicly-listed real estate investment trusts (REITs) and scanty independent research firms.

Damilola Ijalade, broker with PWAN Homes, attributed Nigeria’s low ranking to weak regulatory mechanism.

“Using Nigeria as benchmark for others, regulations are not strong enough. This is why you find a dealer selling a piece of land to two, three people, without being brought to book.”

The SSA is yet to leverage its rapidly growing population and urbanization to attract foreign investment.

According to figures from the United Nations, about there

are 472 million inhabits in the region, and the figure is expected to double in the next 25 years. Also, the global share of urban residents is projected at 20.2 percent by 2050, from 11.3 in 2010.

To have the narrative re-written, experts say the region must improve data availability, strengthen regulations and explore property

technology (Prop-tech).

Adeyemi urged players in respective markets in the region to partner their government to ensure timely publication of data needed to support investors, saying no informed business decision can be made without data.

On his part, Ijalade called for stringent regulations to curb unethical practices that

scare investors. He also noted that the region is yet to exploit the benefits associated with Prop-tech compared to other developed climes.

“Prop-tech has not gained prominence in Nigeria and other markets in Africa, I want to believe. This is a key area we need to work on to make us compete favourably on the global scene”, he said.

Dispute Resolution

Save your time and money; embrace ADR, expert tells real estate professionals Cost scares use of interior design services, skills dearth limits delivery standard

CHUKA UROKO

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eal estate professionals have been advised to save their time and money by embracing alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in settling their business disputes which are inevitable and inescapable in their business relationships.

Adeyinka Olumide, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who gave this advice in his speech on ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution—a Panacea for Growth in the Real Estate Sector’ at the quarterly meeting of Federation of International Real Estate Association (FIABCI), Nigerian chapter, in Lagos, explained that litigation as a court process for settling disputes was counter-productive.

By the nature of their profession, especially the aspect that has to do with estate agency, these professionals are frequently involved in land cases, landlord-tenants disputes, misrepresentation, etc which normally see them embroiled in endless litigation in which time and money are wasted on lawyers arguing their case in court.

“As business people, time is money and there is no need wasting this time and money where there is an alternative route to settling your case.

Mediation is the way to go,”

Temitayo Ayetoto

T Adeyinka Olumide (l), guest speaker, with Adeniji Adele, President, FIABCI Nigeria, at the federation’s quarterly meeting in Lagos recently.

Olumide counselled, stressing that businesses shouldn’t have any business in court.

Businesses, typically, are concerned with growth and earnings which is why anything that impedes these should be discouraged and Olumide said that resolving commercial disputes in an adversarial, long drawn manner was not the most effective way to go.

According to him, because this is a human society, there will always be disputes, but the important thing is how it is managed or handled, pointing out that there was no benefit for parties to a dispute to be embroiled in a court process www.businessday.ng

that damages relationships.

Adeniji Adele, president of FIABCI Nigeria, noted in an interview that the knowledge sharing was instructive because it was a way of improving business competence of members. “We are in the built industry; we don’t take it for a ride. For example, we have found out that there are so many litigations over the years involving some clients and we have been looking out for ways to get out of such cases.

“We realise that there are so many ways to get out of them and one of the ways is, perhaps, the process of arbitration or mediation because

litigation has not really solved the problem,” he said.

Adele agreed that litigation shouldn’t be a go area as the process of the judicial system, according to him, was very cumbersome and, apart from the cost element, it was time-wasting and parties may not get the desired justice.

“So the best way is to have a peaceful resolution between the parties”, he said.

“The most unfortunate thing in this part of the world is that we are not truthful to ourselves; most times, you see parties in a dispute would be at fault, yet each will be striving to justify his case,” he noted.

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he cost of having professional interior design services is considered as an unnecessary and extra burden by many Nigerians building houses, especially for residential purposes, interior design experts and architects say.

They also say lack of poor options of finishing materials as well as low availability of skilled hands locally are constraining the budding area of design from growing at par with advanced trends in other climes.

Apart from engaging essential services of surveyors, architects, structural engineers, builders and mechanical engineers, people tend to undermine the role of interior designers, undertaking the arrangement task themselves.

“The cost scares average Nigerians. They think if they have architects, it is enough. Not everybody understands the value.

But there is a big value in it,” Tola Akerele, iDesign chief executive director told BusinessDay. “When you are building, you can make costly mistakes which you can’t correct but if interior was in it earlier on your project, you will probably not make those mistakes.”

Interior design focuses ef@Businessdayng

ficiency on space management.

By determining space requirements and selecting essential decorative items such as colours, lighting, and materials, floor or ceiling finishes, safe and beautiful results are achieved.

Designers work closely with architects, civil engineers, mechanical engineers, and construction labourers to determine how interior spaces will function, look, and be furnished. Interior designers read blueprints and must be aware of building codes and inspection regulations.

Akerele trained at Parsons School of Design New York argues that interior design function has to come in early almost the same time as the architect’s, to ensure the space is structured properly or the layout of each room is efficient before embarking on things like electrical wiring and others.

Corroborating her, Saheed Balogun, an architect at --said there designs, especially for public and commercial buildings such as offices and hospitals are better integrated when they come in early.

“Generally, Nigerians don’t go for it and it is good because it shapes the living space. The majorproblemisthatpeoplebelieve it is waste of money to spend on professional designct,” he said.

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

politics & Policy

Southwest PDP leaders move to resolve Lagos crisis … Only recognition of party constitution can guarantee peace, says Adewale Iniobong Iwok

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outhwest leaders of the main opposition, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have moved to resolve the leadership crisis which has engulfed the Lagos chapter of the party since the conclusion of the 2019 general elections.

Lagos PDP has been factionalised into two camps in recent months, this is just as two leaders of the party in the state, Segun Adewale and Dominic Agboola have been laying claims to the chairmanship position.

Adewale is alleging that the tenure of Adegboola Dominic, who is backed by a leader of the party in the state, Bode George, expired last December and based on the 2016 state congress of the party he was the legally recognised chairman.

However, Adewale, with scores of his recently supporters recently gained entrance and took control of the party state secretariat.

National Vice chairman (Southwest), Eddy Olafeso, had in the past insisted that Dominic was the authentic party chairman in the state.

However, it appears there is a new twist into the crisis, this just as Olafeso, confirmed in an interview with BusinessDay, Monday, noting the leadership of the party was working assiduously to resolve the crisis and was making progress on the issue.

“We would resolve the matter, Lagos PDP crisis is a very complicated issue and I am personally on that. We have held some meetings recently,” Olafeso said.

Olafeso, however, revealed that the party would hold a

fresh elective state congress in the where new leaders would

emerge.

“We would resolve the is-

sues; a fresh elective state congress would be held, the party is

R-L: Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor; Simon Lalong, Plateau State Governor; Bola Ahmed Tinubu, national leader, All Progressives Congress (APC); Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker, House of Representatives, and Obafemi Hamzat, deputy Governor, during a reception in honour of the Speaker, at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos on Sunday.

looking into it,” Olafeso added.

Meanwhile, factional chairman, Adwale, as warned the national leadership of the party that the next state chairman must emerge through a credible process as stipulated in Section 47(6) of the party’s constitution, urging them to reject all those coming to lobby with names because it will further escalate the crisis in the state chapter of the party.

Spokesman of Adewale-led faction, Ademola Adeoye, told BusinessDay, Monday, that Adewale would not accept any election that is not in line with the party’s constitution.

“We would not accept any fresh congress that is not in line with the party’s constitution, every candidate must be given a chance, or else Adewale would continue to see himself as the party chairman,” Adeoye said.

news Fixing gaps from farm to factory will...

Continued from page 1

The cost of moving the cassava tubers to Lagos was N450,000 and Terhemen paid N80,000 out of it. He had borrowed N200,000 from a microfinance bank in his community and promised to repay in 12 months at 28 percent interest.

By the time the truck arrived at the Lagos factory, the cost of a tuber had increased by 12 percent because the truck broke down three times due to bad roads and the driver demanded an extra N120,000.

The processing plant could not accept the crop for two reasons. One, the tubers were now very expensive and they no longer met the quality the factory wanted. The company had to stop production temporarily to search for high quality cassava.

Terhemen and his associates then had to sell 25 percent cheaper than anticipated in an open market as buyers were even willing to do without cassava due to their shrinking wallets.

On getting back to his community after incurring a huge loss in Lagos, Terhemen discovered that his small farm had been invaded and overrun by herdsmen, with cows eating up everything of value.

At the same time, his eldest son Samuel, who just finished university and moved to Lagos in search of jobs, could not secure employment because no factory was ready to engage workers.

This had been the case for 24 months.

He settled for a job at a restaurant where he was paid N20,000 a month ($1.85 a day).

Samuel was extremely

poor and so could not send money to his father to pick up the pieces left by the herdsmen. So, his farmer-father could not buy new land elsewhere or expand and the eight people he once engaged on his farm became jobless.

This is the cycle of poverty that connects rural communities to cities. The rural population (% of total population) in Nigeria was reported at 51.4 percent in 2016, according to the World Bank, quoting the United Nations. An estimated 80 percent of the rural dwellers in Nigeria are living below the poverty line.

Hundreds of Nigerians move from rural communities to cities every day in search of jobs and opportunities. Official data say that 86 people enter Lagos (Nigeria’s mega city of 21 million residents) from across the country every hour.

These hopefuls eventually struggle to get jobs but processing plants and factories are not ready to take in new workers because they incur high energy and input costs and pay at least 54 different taxes to all levels of governments, touts and contractors.

More than 2,000 members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) could only create 18,203 jobs in 2018, according to the association’s economic review for the second half of 2018.

Unemployment rate rose from 18.8 percent to 23.1 percent in the third quarter of 2018.

Hard-hit manufacturing and agro-processing plants, characterised by high job ratios, are not engaging many Nigerians as much as they did five years ago because farmers can’t get high quality www.businessday.ng

seeds, roads are bad, railways are near absent, raw materials are expensive and energy cost is prohibitive.

Chief executives of manufacturing firms in the country rank poor electricity and gas supplies/non-reliability of gas supply/scarcity of diesel as their biggest challenge.

“To create enough jobs, there is a need to repair and expand the roads leading to Lagos ports, and make other ports outside Lagos functional,” CEOs of manufacturing firms said in a recent survey carried out by MAN. “Make FX more available for purchase of inputs, and create a flexible condition to improve manufacturers’ access to funds,” they added.

Nigeria’s smallholder farmers are yet to significantly increase their yield per hectare, as Africa’s most populous nation still records the lowest among its peers.

For tomatoes, the average yield per hectare in Nigeria is 7 metric tons (MT); Kenya’s average yield for the crop is 20MT, tomato yield in Ghana is 8MT, and South Africa’s average yield for the crop is 76MT, according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FOA)’s 2017 data.

Similarly, for maize – which is the most consumed grain on the continent— Nigeria’s yield per hectare is 1.6 MT on the average despite being the second largest producer of the crop while Kenya and Ghana have same average yield of 2MT per hectare.

South Africa’s average yield is 6MT per hectare.

For potato, which is the best rounded and nutrient root in all of Africa, Nigeria’s yield per hectare for the crop is 3.7 metric tons (MT) per hectare.

Kenya’s average is 15.5MT and South Africa’s average yield for the crop is 38.8MT.

Nigeria’s average yield per hectare for rice paddy, which is the most consumed staple in the country, is 2MT, while Kenya, South Africa and Ghana have same average yield per hectare of 3MT. “Nigeria has the lowest yields per hectare globally. In tomatoes, for instance, only one percent of Nigerian farmers plant their tomatoes using hybrid seeds and seedlings.

In Ghana, 40 percent of their farmers farm with hybrid seeds and in Kenya 68 percent of their farmers use improved seeds and seedlings,” Emmanuel Ijewere, vice president, Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) said at CEO’s breakfast meeting in Lagos last year.

Seeds remain a big issue for farmers. Nigeria’s seed industry potential stands at N777.38 billion, according to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Local farms annual production is estimated at N252.35 billion, leaving a gap of N525.04 billion.

As confirmed by farmers, most imported seedlings are cheap but substandard, which eventually hurts seed productivity.

The total national seed requirements for eight major crops, including maize and rice, in Africa’s most populous country stood at 388,690.64 metric tons (MT) in 2015, while the quantity available was 126,173 MT, leaving a yawning gap of 262,518 MT. Owing to the low crop yields, Nigeria now records huge demand-supply gaps in most of its staple foods, even as the population growth rate stands at 2.6 percent per annum and projected to surpass the 300 million people mark by 2050, according to the World Population Prospects

Continues on page 38

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Efforts to save OML-25 may crash as...

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Port has draft of 15 metres, Tema Port in Ghana to has draft level of 19 metres at the completion of the expansion, and Cameroon Container Terminal has 16 metres draft, according to a study tagged ‘Nigeria Poorest Rating of 183 on the Ease of Trading Across Borders’. The study did a comparative analysis of the waterways infrastructure of five West African ports including Nigeria.

Lucky Amewiro, managing director, Eyis Resources Ltd, promoters of the study, said the state of the nation’s seaports allows most Nigerian shipment to be shipped through other West African ports.

Amewiro said Nigeria lost the transit status to neighbouring West African ports due to lengthy and cumbersome procedure involved in cargo clearing, outdated procedure, lack of modern transit facilities, lack of transit module, and lack of coordinated government agencies.

“There is need to re-claim our cargo from neighbouring countries’ ports that are hub for Nigerian cargoes, by working out mechanism for a better developed regional hub to consolidate on the destination of Nigerian cargo that has been siphoned by regional ports,” he said.

Amewiro, a former member, Presidential Taskforce on the Reform of Nigeria Customs Service, said Nigeria needs to look into the issues of port inefficiency associated with unwholesome practices and manipulated delays by providers of shipping services and other government agencies which result in payment of high demurrage, rent and @Businessdayng

transaction cost.

“Nigeria Customs has not deployed the scanners that are required. An additional tool we need to deploy for trade facilitation is the single window. That is also another infrastructure ports in neighbouring countries have that make cargo clearance fast and seamless. If you deploy single window, every agency will now key into that,” said Hadiza Bala Usman, managing director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

The port operational activities from the NPA show the number of vessels that called at the ports dropped by 7.3 percent to 969 in the third quarter of 2018, from 1,045 recorded in the same period in 2017. Containerised imports dropped by 9.9 percent to 368,976 TEUs, from 409,454 TEUs recorded in 2017.

Mirza of WACT said terminal operators were investing massively in terminal development to attract more cargo.

However, the effort would be futile if the connectivity from the port to the hinterland was not reliable due to lack of government investment in fixing the roads, he said.

“Addressing the issue of waterways security for the shipping lines will help reduce the premium charge paid to vessel owners by importers due to security threats from pirate attacks. Dredging of channels will aid navigation, and investment in road construction will attract bigger ships to come to our ports,” he added.

Jonathan Nicol, president, Shippers Association of Lagos State, said Nigeria needs to bring back its importers who have taken their businesses to other countries by making the trade platforms simple.

Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

news Fixing gaps from farm to factory will...

Continued from page 36

2017.

Nigeria’s food inflation is high at 11.4 percent in April, 2019, with tomato prices doubling. Data from Agriculture Ministry show that Nigeria is the largest producer of yam globally, with 40 million metric tons per annum but yam demand in the country is 60 million metric tonnes per annum (MT), leaving a gap of 20 million MT. Nigeria produces 42 million MT of cassava but has a demand of 53.8 million MT of the crop, leaving a gap of 11.8 million MT. National supply for Irish potato is put at 900,000 MT per annum but with a demand of 8 million MT and a gap of 7.1 million MT. Similarly, local production of sweet potato is estimated at 1.2 million MT, while demand is 6 million MT, leaving a gap of 4.8 million MT. More so, Nigeria produces 400,000 MT of wheat annually but with a demand of 4 million MT, which leaves a gap of 3.6 million MT. Maize production in the country is put at 10.5 million MT but demand is 15 million MT, leaving a gap of 4.5 million MT. Nigeria has 200 million people, with 45 percent in extreme poverty. A third of the world population will come will come from Africa in 2050.

The continent is also expected to produce food for the world but it is not yet ready.

“The only two ways of doubling food production are through investment and science,” Scott Angle, director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the United States and former CEO of

International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), told BusinessDay in Washington at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit’s international reporting tour.

“You will need to move from small-scale subsistence agriculture to more commercial agriculture,” he said, while addressing Nigeria food production model.

Funding for farmers is insufficient, with many accessing loans at over 20 percent, say experts.

Many cannot embark on commercial farming owing to lack of capital access. Consequently, Nigeria is one of the least mechanised farming countries in the world with the country’s tractor density put at 0.27 horsepower per hectare (hp/hectare) which is far below the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recommended tractor density of 1.5 hp/ hectare.

The country is 132nd out of the 188 countries worldwide measured by FAO / United Nations in terms of the number of tractors in the country.

This is one reason why farming has been mainly subsistence, rather than commercial.

Amidst these challenges, wheat farmers in many parts of northern Nigeria no longer farm due to insurgents and herdsmen, prompting food and beverage firms to import inputs with scarce foreign exchange.

Almost 1,700 violent deaths have been attributed to herdsmen in attacks carried out between January and September 2018, according to the 2018 Global Terrorism Index.

Rural dwellers that mostly farm and produce these commodities are moving to the

Emefiele’s signal for banks...

Continued from page 1

is time to recapitalise the

banks once again,” Emefiele said.

Analysts believe that the recapitalisation of the Nigerian banking sector would help banks resilient to risks inherent in the macroeconomic space. This may, however, pose more challenge to midtier banks within the industry.

“It is our expectation that as more banks move to the adoption of the I&E FX rate for reporting purposes, there will be a need to shore up capital levels at some institutions. This is especially so, where foreign currency lending has been especially prevalent,” said Razia Khan, managing director/chief economist, Africa and Middle East Global Research, Standard Chartered Bank, London.

“We expect the process of capital-raising to be gradual, and to support the eventual recovery in lending growth from the Nigerian banking sector,” Khan said in an emailed response to BusinessDay. The extent to which policy can play a more supportive role in helping bank loan growth has yet to be demon-

strated, she said, adding that the need to balance domestic growth considerations with relative FX stability means that the pace of easing will need to be measured.

“The Nigerian economy is still vulnerable to shocks in the global market from trade tensions, volatility in crude oil prices, etc., which upon crystalising will have an effect on the banking sector, hence justifying the policy plan of the CBN,” Gbolahan Ologunro, research analyst at CSL Stockbrokers, said.

While increasing regulatory capital requirement should conveniently see the big lenders meet the new requirement (not disclosed yet), the struggle may be inherently more within the mid lenders.

While tier-one banks have recorded average capital adequacy ratio of about 20 percent above regulatory ratio of 15 percent, giving them more buffer ability to absorb shocks, mid-tier banks still lag behind with CARs below 20 percent.

However, CBN’s early announcement of its plans to recapitalise the banks should see management of these banks “be proactive to preserve their www.businessday.ng

cities in droves. Ironically, they want to secure jobs from the same industries that are going through low capacity utilisation.

The insecurity is sending not only rural farmers on forced exile, but also investors, who left the city, hoping to invest in agriculture.

One of such is Olumide Abayomi, a chartered account and fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), who retired from his lucrative job at African Capital Alliance, a private equity firm, in 2013. Upon retirement, he planned to pursue his own private ventures, which included farming. The long-term plan was to develop his plantation into a resort, since it had access to a railway line, and a river flowed behind it.

“If one had no reserve, by now one would have committed suicide,” said Abayomi

in a phone interview, as he recalled losses incurred after crops on his 450-acre farm in Osun state were eaten up by cattle, which according to him, were brought by Fulani herdsmen.

“I have not farmed in 18 months because of this issue of insecurity,” Rotimi Williams, CEO Kereksuk Rice Farm told BusinessDay. He said operations on his 45,000-hectare farm in Nasarawa State have been suspended owing to recurring conflicts in the neighbouring communities.

As noted in a recent BusinessDay report, while some accounts of attacks on farmers make it to the news, most never do.

Post-harvest losses are a challenge for farmers too. Half of the fruits and vegetables grown in Nigeria often get bad before they get to the markets owing to inadequate stor-

age facilities and huge road deficits, experts say. Storage facilities cost millions and most smallholder farmers cannot afford them.

“Post-harvest losses in Nigeria are huge due to inadequate storage facilities in the country,” said Mawuli Coffie, team leader, West Africa Food Markets Programme.

Coffie stated that the country is not growing enough owing to low yields per hectare, and most of what is grown often rots in the field because it is difficult to move them easily from the farms to the market and the facilities to store them are lacking also.

Investments in the country’s primary agricultural infrastructure will help integrate the poorer sections of the population into a sustainable process of economic growth and development, experts say.

Losses usually occur during harvesting, handling,

packaging, and storage.

Also, high logistics cost has limited farmers to easily access markets with their produce while reducing their profits.

“Farmers pay so much transporting their produce from the farm to the market because the roads are very bad. This further increases the cost of production and deter farmers from easily accessing the market and making most resort to selling their produce to middle men who rip them off,” said Lawrence Afere, founder and CEO of Springboard Nigeria.

Afere said that Nigeria can only feed itself and improve farmers livelihood when infrastructure needed to boost productivity across the value chain are provided, stating that infrastructural facilities such as storage, good road and adequate access to quality seed varieties will lift farmers out of poverty.

earnings to shore up their capital base”, Gbolahan said.

On the timing of the recapitalisation move by the CBN, Gbolahan said, “Although banks are still recovering from the 2015 economic crises, I don’t think the timing is inappropriate. We should expect the recapitalisation move the CBN by 2023.”

At the world press conference on Monday, Emefiele also committed that the CBN in the next five years would strive towards a single-digit inflation rate as well as help government attain the 5 percent growth target.

He said monetary policy measuresembarkeduponbythe CBN would be geared towards containinginflationarypressures and supporting improved productivity in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.

“Working with other stakeholders, we intend to bring down the cost of food items, whichhaveconsiderableweight in the Consumer Price Index basket. Our ultimate objective is to anchor the public’s inflation expectation at single digits in the medium to long run,” he said.

Also in the next five years, he said, the CBN would work in developing a framework that would enable banks to

securitise mortgage loans, which can then be sold in the capital markets.

The move to boost lending to the real estate sector of the economy through the securitisation of mortgage loans which will then be sold at the capital market is said to have the capacity to open up the economy for growth in areas of employment, investment and market deepening.

Securitisation is the conversion of an asset, especially a loan, into marketable securities, typically for the purpose of raising cash by selling them to other investors.

“The real estate sector development is important to creating jobs for both the skilled labour and unskilled labour, so any policy that frees more money to the real estate sector will have a multiplier effect on the economy of being able to provide job opportunity for artisans, professionals and also provide investment opportunity through securitisation for investors, hence deepen the market,” Ayo Akinwunmi, head of research at FSDH Merchant Bank, told BusinessDay. The CBN has also moved the financial inclusion target from 80 percent in the year 2020 to 95 percent in 2024.

On exchange rate stability, the governor said the CBN would continue to operate a managed float exchange rate regime in order to reduce the impact which continuous volatility in the exchange rate could have on the economy.

“We will support measures that will increase and diversify Nigeria’s exports base and ultimately help in shoring up our reserves,” he said.

Reacting to this, Khan said continuation of a managed float has largely been anticipated by investors.

“While the need to preserve relative FX stability means that policy cannot be as loose as would otherwise be the case, this has not precluded the CBN from financing government,” Khan said.

Emefiele said the current enrolment of 38 million unique banking customers will be expanded to 100 million over the next five years, adding that ongoing partnership with NIMC would also enable integration between the two databases.

He further announced plans to aggressively implement the CBN’s N500 billion facility aimed at supporting the growth of non-oil exports, which will help to improve

non-oil export earnings.

“We will launch a Trade Monitoring System (TRMS) in October 2019, which is an automated system that will reduce the length of time required to process export documents from 1 week to 1 day,” he stressed.

On targeted development finance, Emefiele said building on the success of Anchor Borrowers Programme and other intervention programmes geared towards supporting the growth of the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, and in keeping with the recent presidential directives, the CBN intends to boost productivity growth through the provision of improved seedlings, as well as access to finance for rural farmers in the agricultural sector, across 10 different commodities – rice, maize, cassava, cocoa, tomato, cotton, oil-palm, poultry, fish, and livestock/dairy.

The choice of these 10 crops is driven by the amount spent on the importation of these items into the country and the over 10 million jobs that could be created over the next five years if efforts are made to expand cultivation and processing of these items in Nigeria, he said.

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

39

news Kogi guber: PDP, APC aspirants oppose Bello’s second-term bid OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja

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head of the November 2, 2019, governorship election in Kogi State, governorship aspirants from both the All Progressives Congress (APC)andthePeople’sDemocratic Party (PDP) have opposed the reelectionbidofincumbentgovernor, Yahaya Bello.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, Salam Adejo, APC state secretary, said the Kogi State Working Committee of the APC was divided over support for Bello’s second-term aspiration.

Adejo addressed journalists alongside other members of the state APC executive and Forum of Kogi State Governorship Aspirants comprising both the PDP and APC governorship aspirants.

AccordingtoAdejo,theydidnot endorse the governor for a second term at a meeting held with him at the weekend.

The legal practitioner also denied withdrawing a court case they filed against the governor, stressing that until he (Bello) paid their

salaries and other entitlements spanning over three years, they would not withdraw the court case against him or endorse him for a second term.

He said: “The governor said he needed true reconciliation and we reachedaresolutionthatourallowances and salaries for over three yearsmustbepaid.So,withdrawing our case in court is based on this condition that he pays our salaries and entitlements.

“Our meeting did not endorse him. The issue of endorsing him wasn’t part of our agenda at the meeting we held with him and the state chairman can’t be here becausewearenotonthesamepage.”

On whether the governor has been performing in his first term of fouryears,theAPCsecretarysaid,“If someoneisaperformer,itwillshow.

He has been far away from us and forthatreason,hehasnotbeenable to win the people’s hearts.”

He, however, said the APC would win the governorship election in the state if all the issues were amicably resolved, as some members of the group said they were pro-Audu group in the state.

‘New Nigerian passport will adopt tougher security features’ IFEOMA OKEKE

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omptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, says the new Nigerian passport coming out tomorrow will have 22 security features installed within.

Babandede says the era of multiple identities is over with the new passport that is integrated with National Identification Number (NIN) and Biometric Verification Number (BVN).

Nigerians with duplicitous intentions will now find it extremely difficult to obtain the new 10-year validity passport with these features installed.

According to the NIS, for passports declared lost and the owner starts a new process for another or ac-

quires another only to turn around and use the old passport, the owner is liable to get 10 years imprisonment if proven he has two passports.

Babandede, who made this known Monday ahead of the roll out of the new passport document at the Ikoyi Passport Office, attributed the stringent measures to people with criminal intentions, stating that with linkages to the NIN and BVN, it would be far more stringent in collecting the new document.

“Nigerians are meant to harmonise their identity and not travel out and start seeking change of name or identity for any frivolous reason that comes to mind.

“The new passport will harmonise one identity for Nigerians and this will help our social development,

economic development and above all, it will be difficult to change the data now,” he said.

The CG earlier inaugurated eight projects from NIS partners and stakeholders including a SERVICOM Centre assisted by Heritage Bank, an 18-seater bus for the Ikoyi Passport Office donated by Fidelity Bank, a lookout building donated by the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA).

Others include a floor of a building located within the premises to handle Lost Care and Change of Name donated by Zenith Bank, a waiting lounge for applicants donated by Access Bank, a renovated enrolment room by Still Earth Capital as well as a Conference a Centre donated by GTBank.

Reacting to these pro-

jects, he said, “This relationship symbolises that the private sector and government can work together.

We need to learn from the private sector in terms of maintenance, and they learn from us. We are not in uniform to harass anyone we are here to protect and deliver a service.”

Responding for the Representatives of Banks, A m a e c h i O k o b i , C o rporate Communication of Access Bank said the bank’s would continue to support lofty innovations and would be there when called on.

“We will continue to support Customer Service Responsibility (CSR) developments. We will not only rely on government and as private sector anytime you need us, you call on us, we asteroid here for you.”

A step towards new frontiers as Adeosun appointed CEO at Forte Oil DIPO OLADEHINDE

Olumide Adeosun - FO CEO

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ollowing the divestment of Femi Otedola, Forte Oil’s new management has appointed Olumide Adeosun and Moshood Olajide as the new chief executive officer (CEO) and chief financial officer (CFO), respectively.

This comes after the resignation of former CEO and CFO Akin Akinfemiwa and Julius Omodayo-Owotuga, of Forte Oil. Prior to his recent appointment as CEO, Adeosun led the Energy & Power (West Africa) Practice at PriceWaterhouseCooper. He held various leadership roles including Head of Strategy Consulting for West Africa and Head of Capital Projects and Infrastructure where he was lead adviser on a number of multibillion-dollar projects. Notably, he co-led the buy-side advisory of one of the largest acquisition deals in the Nigerian downstream oil and gas sector.

With extensive knowledge developed over 18 years of experience encompassing oil and gas, renewable energy, power, and strategy both locally and internationally, Adeosun has a proven track record of technical delivery, senior leadership, and strategic foresight. Over his career, he has led profitable businesses and is a recognised thought leader in the energy sector.

Recall, Forte Oil, in a notice filed with the Nigerian Stock

Exchange (NSE) last week Thursday, said Ignite Investments and Commodities Limited, led by Prudent Energy Services Limited, had completed the acquisition of Otedola’s 74.02 percent shareholding.

According to the firm, the completion is consequent upon Ignite receiving all the necessary approvals from the Securities and Exchange Commission, NSE and fulfilling all relevant terms and conditions attached to the Share Purchase Agreement.

“As a result of the successful acquisition and further to the announcement on December 28, 2018, Ignite will take over controlling stake in Forte Oil the downstream company,” Forte Oil said in a corporate filing on the Nigerian stock exchange on 20th June.

Forte Oil’s new CFO Moshood Olajide is a lawyer with dual Nigerian and New York Bar memberships. As a chartered accountant and Tax Professional, he enjoyed rapid growth at PwC, a multidisciplinary firm due to his versatility.

Moshood Olajide’s speciality ranges through financial reporting, statutory audit, capital projects and infrastructure deals advisory; Energy, Utility and Mining deal advisory, general tax advisory, deal structuring and compliance services; regulatory services; client training services and company secretarial services covering many sectors of the economy especially Oil and Gas.

Moshood Olajide - CFO www.businessday.ng

L-R: Tijjani St. James, group head, commercial division, Notore Chemical Industries plc; Ibrahim H. Tukur, principal, Aliyu Musdafa College Yola; Femi Solebo, MD/CEO, Notore Power & Infrastructure; Tony Elumelu, founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation; Lalla Malika Issoufou, first lady of Niger Republic; Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, first lady of Nigeria; Hinda Deby Itno, first lady of Chad; Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow, first lady of The Gambia, and Rebecca Akufo-Addo, first lady of Ghana, at the launch of Notore’s Green Schools Initiative at Aliyu Musdafa College Yola.

NigCoMsat, others face stiff competition as FG licenses UK communication outfit Stella Enenche, Abuja

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igCoMsat and other telecoms providers may face stiff competition as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Monday, issued a licence (landing permit) to UKbased Avanti Communication Group for HYLAS-4 satellite space segment across Nigeria.

The Landing Permit, the first of its kind in Satellite Communications in Nigeria, is an authorisation that operators are required to obtain for their satellite to be allowed to beam signal over the territorial integrity of a country.

Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman, NCC, in his address at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja,saidtheemergenceofAvanti in the Nigerian space would make service delivery very efficient and affordable for subscribers.

“What we are looking for is numberbecausewerepresenteverybody so the more, the merrier.

“Giventheenormousopportunities offered by Satellite Communications as an alternative mode of Broadband service delivery, the Commission, has approved a Landing Permit for the HYLAS 4 satellite space segment over Nigerian territory,” Danbatta said.

According to Danbatta, who was represented by the Director of SpectrumAdministration,Austine Nwaulene, “AVANTI is the only operatorthathasinvestedintheinstallationofinternationalgateways anddatacentresinAfrica.AVANTI has a fleet of satellites and one of them which is called HYLAS-4, is used to extend coverage to West, Central and Sub-Saharan Africa, and it is one of these satellites (called HYLAS-4) that has been deployed to extend coverage over Nigerian territory.”

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He disclosed that this satellite used the latest Ka-band satellite technology and had additional capacity to the tune ZGHz. “This high capacity service has come to Nigeria through an International Gateway that has been deployed by one of our local operators. With such high capacity facility in place and easily accessible, our local operators can now be more encouraged to deploy services via satellite toservetheunderserved/unserved areas hence bridging the digital dividecurrentlybeingexperienced by the Nation”,he said.

Onherpart,thechiefregulatory officer of Avanti Communications Group, Ann Vandenbroucke, said they would provide superior alternative to subscribers.

“We are working with the mobileoperatorshereandthatmeans that we can bring faster internet servicesbecausewearenotproviding satellite TV; we are internet in @Businessdayng

the sky so what we want to bring to Nigeria is immediate access because the satellite is there, it works everywhere. It enables immediate broadband access to anybody, everywhere,” she said.

“Our investment is very much ininfrastructureandwhathappens with roles in terms employment in theeconomicgrowthissomething thatisrealisedthroughanechosystem so we are looking for strategic partners to develops applications foranatom.It’sabitliketherain,we arethecloudsandwearebeaming down capacity. We are a technology company, employment and economic growth and it’s facility throughtheechosystem,”shesaid.

According to Vandenbroucke, Avanti had two gateways: one in Lagos and the other in Johannesburg, South Africa. She explained that the c comp0any built two gateways to enable it deliver quality service.

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

NEWS FirstBank hits 27,000 banking agents to deepen financial inclusion

Customs takes delivery of cargo MainOne to support UNIBEN’s ICT programme advantage of the opportunities inspection scanner to ease border trade IDRIS UMAR MOMOH available to them in ICT. In her

irstBankofNigeriaLimited has announced that it now has over 27,000 Agents on its Firstmonie Agent Network, reinforcing the bank’s role at promoting financial inclusion in Nigeria.Theover27,000Firstmonie Agents are present in almost all local government areas across the country.

In line with the Financial Inclusion objectives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to bring financial services closer to Nigerians, Firstmonie Agent Network is a unique channel designed by FirstBank to solve the challenge of access to financial services.

FirstmonieAgentsareempowered with secured digital channels to provide basic financial services such as account opening, Cash-In, Cash-Out, Funds Transfer, Airtime topup, and Bill payments to customers across the country.

FirstBank, through this Financial Inclusion drive, is making very impressive impact on job creation, womenandyouthempowerment, and entrepreneurship development–fundamentalpillarsofoverall economic development.

Bashir Aliyu Muhammad Rimin-Gado, a Firstmonie Agent operating from Rimin-Gado area in Kano State, said, “I have been with Firstmonie since they started

ollowing the need for proper inspection of cargo at border stations, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Beninoise Customs have taken delivery of a new cargo scanner donated by the European Union for joint use at the Seme Border station.

Meanwhile, users of port services have called for proper cargo examination at ports and border stations through the adoption of automation and use of standard inspection equipment.

Proper cargo examination

by Customs shall enhance the statutoryfunctionsof theNational Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC),theStandardsOrganisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in quality assurance and fight against illicit drug, port users say.

Mohammed Uba, controller, SemeAreaCommandoftheNCS, who confirms the new scanner is already being test-run, says the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will maintain it for two years.

According to Uba, officers of the two countries have been trained on how to use the scanner, particularly on how to read

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and I can say that it has been a life changing experience, I have been able to build trust of the communities around me as many workers in my area have forgotten the last time they visited any bank branch for basic banking services. I am a proud employer of labour and as a result my staff are well paid and comfortable.”

On the back of its drive to deepen inclusion through Agent Banking, FirstBank has also partnered with National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).

The (NURTW) partnership seeks to leverage the human traffic and commercialactivitiesatvariousmotor parks across the country to ease access to financial services.

First Bank is also in partnership withAzuriTechnologiesLimited,an off-grid power distribution company to make access to off-grid power easy, especially in rural communities,aswellasotherinstitutions,who are seeking to provide resources to cushion the effects of economic and social shocks on low income individuals.

According to Adesola Adeduntan, CEO, FirstBank, “Our Firstmonie Agent Banking network, spread across the nook and cranny of the country, is a demonstration of our resolvetopromotingfinancialinclusion and business in the country.

… as port users call for proper cargo examination AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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images.

However, port users list the benefits of proper cargo inspection to include safety of trade investments, enhanced revenue collection, trade facilitation, adequatecollectionoftradestatistics, and suppression of smuggling activities.

Boniface Aniebonam, founder,NationalAssociationofGovernment Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), said recently that the major problem with Nigeria’s port operations was manmade.

He therefore called on the government to ensure that all trade facilitation tools were adequately provided, including but not limited to automation tools, good access roads to the ports and borders,tradedataandsimplification of processes and procedures as well as adequate equipment for cargo operations at the terminals.

“The most critical is the political will and patriotism on the part of the agencies of government to enforce regulations and trade laws. We must emphasise that government is all about the general wellbeing of the greater numbers and we need to bridge the gap between the people and government,” he said.

He decried the unproductive ordersissuedbymostleadersfrom their various offices without findingouttheexactsituationofthings.

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ainOne, West Africa’s connectivity and data centre solutions provider, on the heels of the expansion of its network into Edo State has assured the University of Benin (UNIBEN) of its support towards continued ICT development at the school.

Funke Opeke, CEO of MainOne, reiterated her commitment towards improving access to ICT on campus with the investment in fibre connectivity to the campus as well as by pledging financial support and internship opportunities for the top performing ICT students at the university.

The pledge was made at a private meeting hosted by the vice chancellor of UNIBEN, Faraday Orumwense, represented by the deputy vice chancellor, Ekehuan Campus, Joel Agbolagba, minutes before the start of the fourth edition of University’s ICT Day event on June 19, 2019, themed: “Building Sustainable Future with ICT Tools and Apps.”

The University’s ICT Day event was focused on enlightening the students, faculty, secondary school pupils, and general public on the importance of ICT tools in the sustainable economic development of Nigeria.

Opeke, the keynote speaker at the event, stressed the importance of students taking

Ekiti seeks AfDB’s support for road construction, agric processing zone, others SEGUN ADAMS

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he African Development Bank (AfDB) has expressed its readiness to provide technical and financial support for Ekiti State government to upgrade its infrastructure, including fixing the Ado Ekiti-Akure road, currently in a terrible state.

Other projects the AfDB is willing to support are the Ekiti Airport, the Ekiti Knowledge zone (a smart city to promote knowledge economy) and the agriculture processingzoneproject,allgeared towards improving infrastructure and socio-economic development of the state.

These are some of the highlights of a high level meeting between the Ekiti State government team led by the state governor, Kayode Fayemi, and the AfDB president, Akinwumi Adesina, at the organisation’s headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, at the weekend.

The meeting, attended by top officials of the AfDB, including its senior vice president, Charles Boamah;threevicepresidents,CelestineMonga(VP/chiefeconomist); Vivienne Banke (VP agriculture, human and social development), and Bajabulile Tshabalala (VP finance and chief finance officer); seniordirectorforNigeria,Ebrima Faal; DG, Central Africa and former country director Nigeria, Ousmane Dore, among others, reviewed the project proposals by

Governor Fayemi and resolved to provide necessary support to actualise them, in line with the bank’s mission of supporting nationalandsubnationalgovernments’ development plans.

As a follow up to the meeting, a team of technical experts from AfDB would be in Ekiti State in the next few weeks for further discussion and assessment of the various projects. The visit and other activities that would follow would prepare the ground for the bank’s final decision.

Speakingatthemeeting,Governor Fayemi said his administration decided to seek AfDB’s support for the projects that were crucial to the infrastructure and industrial development of Ekiti State so as to improve the fortune of the state, reposition it as a destination of choice for investment and create jobs.

Specifically, he said state needed to upgrade its infrastructure and invest in agric business, which will in turn provide jobs for its teeming population of youths, which he put at 75 percent of the state’s total population. He added that setting up a smart city to promote knowledge economy was also crucial to the administration.

The governor said: “These are our local priorities. If you can support us, it will enable us to do some other things through our own limited resources.

“Wehavealignedourpriorities to the AfDB’s priorities which applytous,suchaslightingupAfrica; www.businessday.ng

FeedingAfrica;IndustrialiseAfrica etc. All these apply to us, as our plan is to make Ekiti a destination of choice for her citizens and all those who will like to live, work and invest in the state.

“To achieve this, we need to invest heavily in infrastructure.

We want to fix the roads, have our small cargo airport that will aid agriculture and open our landlocked state to domestic and international markets and ultimatelycreatejobsthatourstate urgently needs for its vibrant and educated youth population.”

AsNigeriaGovernors’Forum’s (NGF) chairman, Governor Fayemi advocated for more serious engagements with sub-nationals in Nigeria as they represent the engine room of development.

This he argued would complement and accelerate what AfDB was doing at the Federal Government level on human capital, infrastructure and private sector development.

According to the AfDB president, Adesina, the bank is excited about the plans for job creation, especially for the youth and the plans to improve the stock of infrastructure. He said the menace of kidnapping and banditry in the country would be arrested with more investments and job opportunities for the youths.

Adesina said government must find a way to create jobs for theteemingpopulationofunemployed youths, in order to secure the future of the country. https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

@Businessdayng

speech, she highlighted how advances in technology and access to infrastructure had lowered the barrier to entry for potential entrepreneurs like never before regardless of age, gender, social or educational status.

She also noted that there were more opportunities for financing from local incubators alongside international initiatives to support the growing network of technology start-ups.

She ended her presentation by encouraging the students, stating, “21st Century success as entrepreneurs or in paid employment will come from adding value with ICT tools and apps. I urge you all to go disrupt the world with an app.”

MainOne’s ICT support of the university is underscored through the completion of the terrestrial fibre infrastructure programme it started nine months ago in partnership with the Edo State government and global social media firm, Facebook.

The infrastructure, which will provide connectivity for mobile operators’ base stations, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Points of Presence, and public locations, including schools and hospitals, is now ready to be turned on across Benin City.

Tuesday 26 June 2019

FT

BUSINESS DAY

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FINANCIAL TIMES

World Business Newspaper MATTHEW ROCCO

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ew trade barriers imposed by G20 economies threaten to crimp the global economy, the World Trade Organization said in a report published on Monday.

G20 nations implemented 20 new trade-restrictive measures between mid-October and midMay, including higher tariffs, import bans and new customs procedures for exports. Those measures affect goods worth $335.9bn, the second-highest figure recorded since the WTO began tracking it in May 2012.

The WTO noted that the size of restrictive trade policies has spiked in the last two reporting periods, with the prior period representing the highest on record at $480.9bn.

The same economies also introduced 29 measures aimed at facilitating trade, such as eliminating or reducing tariffs and adding export duties, covering an estimated $397.2bn.

Roberto Azevêdo, directorgeneral of the WTO, called on G20 nations to ease trade tensions, saying the report’s findings “should be of serious concern for the whole international community”.

“The stable trend that we saw for almost a decade since the financial crisis has been replaced with a steep increase in the size and scale of trade-restrictive measures over the last year.

This will have consequences in increased uncertainty, lower

WTO warns of rising trade barriers ahead of G20 summit

Spike in restrictive trade measures between October and May hits some $335.9bn of goods

US national security adviser John Bolton and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a press conference in Jerusalem on Sunday © AFP

investment and weaker trade growth,” Mr Azevêdo added.

The report arrived days before the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, where President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are scheduled to meet amid a long-running trade dispute. Mr Trump said he will have

ALISTAIR GRAY AND ANDREW EDGECLIFFE-JOHNSON

Donald Trump says other countries should do their part to protect ships on critical routes

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he US has called on world powers to join an effort to boost maritime security after attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf stoked tensions in the region and between Washington and Tehran.

Brian Hook, the Trump administration’s special representative on Iran, signalled Washington would unveil more sanctions against Iran later on Monday as part of its campaign of “maximum pressure” on the regime.

The top US official said he’d seen a “lot of interest” in measures to safeguard ships during a tour this week of Gulf Arab oil-producing countries, including Saudi Arabia.

“In many conversations here, there is a lot of interest in finding a new initiative to enhance maritime security,” he told reporters in a telephone briefing, without giving details of whether the talks centred on a tanker escort operation or some other plan. “It’s something that needs to be

internationalised”.

Shortly after Mr Hook’s remarks, Donald Trump complained on Twitter that other countries were not doing their part to protect vital shipping lanes in the Middle East, such as the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

“China gets 91% of its Oil from the Straight (sic), Japan 62%, & many other countries likewise. So why are we protecting the shipping lanes for other countries (many years) for zero compensation. All of these countries should be protecting their own ships on what has always been a dangerous journey. We don’t even need to be there in that the U.S. has just become (by far) the largest producer of Energy anywhere in the world!”, the president tweeted on Monday.

Mr Hook will travel from the Gulf to Paris for a meeting with European powers in the next phase of an intense week of diplomacy on Iran, climaxing at the summit of the G20 club of big world economies in Japan. www.businessday.ng

have so far been spared from the trade war if Mr Xi skipped the G20 meeting.

The WTO report said traderestrictive measures currently under consideration add to “the challenges faced by governments, businesses and consumers in the current global

economic environment”.

Last month, the US raised existing tariffs on $200bn of imports from China, with officials accusing Beijing of “reneging” on promises made during the talks. China retaliated by increasing tariffs on about $60bn in American goods.

US companies hunt for loopholes to beat China tariffs Lawyers warn customs workarounds carry risks as business counts costs of Trump penalties

US pushes for boost in maritime security as Gulf tensions rise MICHAEL PEEL

an “extended meeting” with Mr Xi during the gathering of G20 leaders, which is set to begin on Friday.

Failure to reach a trade truce could result in additional tariffs.

The US president had threatened to impose levies on about $300bn of Chinese goods that

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S companies are turning to their lawyers for help in containing the costs of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on goods from China, looking for legal loopholes to help avoid or reduce duties without shifting production to other countries.

Law firms and consultants say they are being inundated with requests for assistance from importers seeking to use provisions such as the “321 de minimis” rule, which allows goods worth less than $800 to be shipped to the US without being subject to tariffs.

Corporate advisers caution that the attempts to reduce costs are not without their risks. Money can be clawed back — and top executives held accountable — if US authorities clamp down on a particular tariff avoidance method, they say.

“Customs in the end typically holds the highest officer in the company responsible, so it’s not just you that’s engaging in these

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activities, it’s also your CEO,” said Geoff Pollak, leader of Alvarez & Marsal’s global supply chain practice.

US companies have issued a series of warnings about the economic fallout from the trade war ahead of a meeting planned this week between Mr Trump and Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, at the G20 summit in Osaka.

In addition to billions of dollars in charges imposed on Chinese imports, the Trump administration is threatening levies on an additional $300bn of goods, increasing pressure on companies with longstanding relationships with Chinese suppliers.

Jason Bonfig, chief merchandising officer at electronics retailer Best Buy, told a recent hearing in Washington: “In many leading products, there is no practical substitute made outside of China in the near term.”

As a result, companies have been encouraged to “look at every possible way to reduce their tariff exposure” within the rules, said Edward Steiner, senior director @Businessdayng

for international trade and governmental relations at Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg. “The private sector is being incentivised to be creative in their mitigation strategy.”

Steve Orava, chair of King & Spalding’s international trade practice, said: “Companies have found ways to manoeuvre around some of the China tariffs, being creative and sophisticated in how they address the restrictions.”

Amy Magnus, director of customs affairs and compliance at Deringer, said importers have expressed particular interest in the “321 de minimis” rule. The limit on goods that can be imported without being subject to tariffs was increased to $800 from $200 three years ago. But only one shipment per customer is permitted each day.

“A lot of people are asking more questions about how this can work for them,” she said. “It is already happening now, and it will be happening a whole lot more if wave four [the threatened tariffs on more Chinese goods] comes in.”

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Tuesday 26 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

FT

NATIONAL NEWS

China’s race to 5G hampered

by Huawei ban

Beijing hopes to be mobile internet superpower after issuing commercial licences LOUISE LUCAS AND YUAN YANG

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hina’s determination to be the first 5G superpower was on show again this month, as the government handed out commercial licences to its three telecoms carriers and a cable television network to roll out the next generation of mobile internet.

The race to 5G has become a focal point in US-China tensions, as China threatens to overtake its rival in building networks that will enable everything from instant film downloads to self-driving cars.

Michelle Wei, telecoms analyst at JPMorgan, said the decision to issue the licences was a show of bravado intended to “send a message to the world that China is capable of pushing forward 5G, and also to motivate domestic supply chain players”.

But analysts and industry insiders warned that China’s 5G rollout would be slower than the government might hope.

They said the development of 5G would be constrained by a US ban on Huawei, the country’s largest telecoms equipment maker, as well as by the same issues dogging 5G elsewhere: a delay in agreeing standards, a lack of commercial applications, and the fracturing of the global supply chain.

Huawei is China’s dominant 5G supplier, and Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy, a Brussels-based thinktank, estimated that it would win tenders for 37 out of the 40 cities in the first phase of China Mobile’s 5G rollout.

Three-quarters of the cities were tendering for just one supplier, so Huawei had won a significant share of the tenders for China’s biggest mobile carrier, he said. “Foreign vendors are likely to be excluded, or just given a symbolic share,” he added.

But Huawei has been hit by a US ban on buying American parts and components — as well as from foreign companies reliant on US technology — which will severely stymie its ability to deliver 5G. Analysts have estimated that the telecoms supplier has stockpiled enough parts and is sufficiently covered by licensing agreements to last through the end of the year.

But after that, it is likely to face difficulties obtaining power amplifiers — currently supplied by Skyworks and Qorvo of the US — and electronic design automation tools, made by the likes of Cadence, a US software and system design company.

China’s other telecoms suppliers, ZTE and Datang, are much less advanced than their larger rival in 5G, despite having built a significant share of the 4G network.

Edison Lee, a telecoms analyst at Jefferies, said that Chinese telecoms companies were unlikely to switch vendors if Huawei was un-

able to deliver, suggesting that the rollout could be hampered.

“Chinese telecoms companies, if they cannot buy from Huawei and ZTE, will they just use Nokia and Ericsson? I don’t think so, because one reason for 5G is to grow the domestic supply chain.”

The European companies nevertheless remain hopeful of winning more business. “In China, the 4G market share of non-Chinese players is smaller than enjoyed in the rest of the world,” said one executive familiar with the European vendors’ thinking. “That’s been something of a concern in the industry as to why that’s the case.”

Estimates of the duo’s share of overall telecoms infrastructure kit in China vary at between 11 and 15 per cent, lower than their global shares. This partly reflects longstanding efforts to support national champions at home.

Analysts have warned that relying on Huawei may not necessarily be good for the Chinese telecoms carriers themselves as it could leave them scrabbling for equipment if Huawei is unable to deliver.

“Operators probably will be more conservative when it comes to network planning compared to what they would do had there been no ban on Huawei,” said one Hong Kong-based telecoms analyst.

The analyst added that MIIT, the Chinese telecoms regulator, has left carriers that are reluctant to push ahead on 5G plenty of wriggle room by not defining “commercial” scale when granting the licences.

China Mobile and China Unicom, the two biggest mobile carriers, maintain that they will have some level of 5G service in 40 cities by the end of this year, but the spend and speed of the rollout may not be as fast as expected.

The number of signal-broadcasting base stations they have planned is small — in total, all three state carriers plan to deploy some 100,000 stations this year and the US defence department estimates that China currently has around 350,000 5G-operable base stations.

That compares with 1m stations carriers deployed every year during the 4G buildout, with capital expenditure of between Rmb150bn ($21.8bn) and Rmb190bn ($27.6bn) a year, according to JPMorgan estimates.

Telecoms carriers are also expected to spend less on 5G than they did on 4G rollout.

Market research firm IDC has projected that Chinese carriers’ annual investment in 5G will reach between Rmb30bn and Rmb40bn this year, Rmb100bn in 2020 and Rmb150bn in 2021.

“We think the development of 5G networks will be much slower than 4G, it’ll be a slope rather than a sudden hike,” said Cui Kai, tech analyst at IDC. “Apart from geopolitical issues, the biggest challenge for 5G is the lack of a clear plan for profit,” Mr Cui added. “The carriers are in a cautious position, trying to figure out the commercial value of 5G.” www.businessday.ng

Viral Acharya had warned of the ‘potentially catastrophic’ effect of the Modi government’s intensifying efforts to influence RBI policy © Bloomberg

Reserve Bank of India deputy governor quits in blow for central bank Economist had been a fierce advocate of the RBI’s independence AMY KAZMIN

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he Reserve Bank of India suffered another blow to its credibility on Monday, as deputy governor Viral Acharya, a fierce advocate of central bank independence, resigned.

In a statement, the RBI confirmed Mr Acharya was standing down from his position six months ahead of schedule, citing “unavoidable personal reasons”. His last day at the bank would be July 23.

New Delhi has yet to announce a replacement.

The departure of Mr Acharya, one of four RBI deputy bank governors, comes six months after former governor Urjit Patel quit following a high-profile stand-off with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration over New Delhi’s growing efforts to influence central bank policy.

Mr Acharya had openly sided with his former boss, a Yale-educated economist, as tension between Mr Patel and then finance minister

Arun Jaitley mounted, particularly after last February’s discovery of an alleged $2bn bank fraud at Punjab National Bank.

In a dramatic public speech last October, Mr Acharya warned of the “potentially catastrophic” effect of the Modi government’s intensifying efforts to influence RBI policy on issues ranging from banking sector regulation to its efforts to seize what it considered the central bank’s “excess reserves”.

“Governments that do not respect central bank independence will sooner or later incur the wrath of financial markets, ignite economic fire and come to rue the day that they undermined an important regulatory institution,” Mr Acharya warned.

When Mr Patel quit in December, there was intense market speculation that Mr Acharya would stand down in solidarity.

In the end he decided to stay on to aid the leadership transition. He is now expected to return to New York University’s Stern School of Business.

“The timing is a bit of a surprise but the decision is not really a surprise,” Sonal Varma, India economist at Nomura, said of Mr Acharya’s resignation.

In the months since Mr Patel’s departure, Shaktikanta Das, the career bureaucrat handpicked by Mr Modi to replace him, has diluted previously tough banking system regulations, giving banks and defaulting corporate borrowers more time after a missed payment before classifying a loan as a stressed asset.

Mr Acharya was also adamantly opposed to New Delhi’s efforts to seize up to $44bn of what it considers the RBI’s surplus capital to shore up increasingly fragile public finances, a proposal being evaluated by a committee led by former RBI governor Bimal Jalan.

Mr Acharya was considered an inflation hawk. He voted against two of the RBI monetary policy committee’s previous interest rate cuts, although he supported the bank’s decision earlier this month to reduce its benchmark policy rate to 5.75 per cent, its lowest level in nine years.

H2O cuts exposure to illiquid bonds as it battles crisis London-based subsidiary of French bank Natixis tries to staunch outflows ROBERT SMITH AND CYNTHIA O’MURCHU

H

2O Asset Management has cut its exposure to illiquid bonds and tried to deter investors from pulling more money, as the asset manager battles a crisis triggered by an outsized bet on debt linked to a controversial German financier.

The Mayfair-based firm, which is a subsidiary of French bank Natixis, has suffered a €1.4bn drop in assets across six of its funds, according to data up to Thursday, after the Financial Times revealed the scale of its holdings of bonds tied to Lars Windhorst, a flamboyant entrepreneur with a history of legal troubles.

A portion of its “non-rated private bonds” have been sold, H2O said on Monday, while their value had also been marked down. In an effort to staunch outflows, H2O said that those clients wanting to pull money would have to accept a discount of between 3 per cent and 7 per cent on the value of their

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investments.

This practice — known as “swing pricing” — is a way in which firms can pass on the higher trading costs at times of market turmoil to clients demanding their money. The Financial Conduct Authority last month recommended it as a way asset managers could halt “fire sales” in times of stress. H2O first introduced this practice in 2017.

Alongside that deterrent, H2O also scrapped entry fees across its funds after having hiked “introduction fees” on five of them at the end of last year.

The fund manager, which has €30bn of assets under management, was plunged into crisis after FT Alphaville reported last week that H2O’s latest filings collectively listed investments in more than €1.4bn of illiquid bonds linked to Mr Windhorst.

Concern over the scale of the holdings has hit also Natixis, whose shares dropped 15 per cent over two days last week and shaved close to €2bn off the bank’s @Businessdayng

market capitalisation. They were up 1 per cent on Monday in Paris trading.

In a statement on Monday, H2O added that the aggregate value of the illiquid bonds is now below 2 per cent of its assets under management following the sale and the lower valuations.

The new valuations came from international banks. H2O said that the markdown of the bonds was “triggered by press reports which dried up market liquidity”.

Last week, H2O told investors that the majority of its positions related to Mr Windhorst were classed as “Level 3 securities”.

This is a term for financial assets that are not traded frequently, making it difficult to find a reliable market price.

Natixis said on Monday that it supported the measures taken by H2O. In a separate move aimed at “restoring confidence” in H2O, the French bank said it had brought forward a “periodic audit” of the firm, which it began on Friday.

Tuesday 26 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

47

FINANCIAL TIMES

COMPANIES & MARKETS

@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED

US Fed quizzes Deutsche on ‘bad bank’ plans Regulators seek to address concerns on potentially significant impact on US operations KIRAN STACEY AND STEPHEN MORRIS

U

S regulators have asked senior executives at Deutsche Bank to explain their “bad bank” proposals, seeking to address concerns about the potentially significant impact on the lender’s operations in the country.

Officials at the Federal Reserve have in recent days spoken with key figures at the German bank to request further details of their plans, which form part of its shift away from investment banking, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.

Under the proposals, which were revealed by the Financial Times last week, Deutsche plans to shrink or close down large parts of its trading business outside continental Europe.

While the size of the bad bank is still being decided, executives are considering putting as much as €50bn worth of assets into it, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions. The new strategy is likely to result in a significant reduction of its US business, according to some within the bank.

Fed officials were concerned when they learnt of the strategy, according to one person close to the situation, given the uncertainty it now casts over the company’s entire US portfolio.

“There are lots of rumours swirling around about the scale of the cuts

the bank is going to make,” said one person with knowledge of the contact between bank executives and US regulators. “The Fed needs to know from Frankfurt how this is going to change its US operations.”

Deutsche declined to comment on the matter.

The US arm of the bank is restricted from making payments to its parent company in Germany without Fed permission, after failing its annual stress test last year due to what the Fed said were “widespread and critical deficiencies” in its capital planning.

Deutsche’s US bank passed the first round of this year’s stress tests last week, but it will find out only after a second round later this week whether it will be able to free itself from those restrictions.

Meanwhile the bank is also the subject of several investigations in the US — including a criminal probe over alleged failures to comply with anti-money laundering laws. The investigation being carried out by the Fed relates to transactions involving entities controlled by US president Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

With the US bank undergoing significant turmoil, executives in Frankfurt are preparing to reduce or close the entire US equities trading business, according to people briefed on the plans. It is likely to retain its commercial banking operations, however.

Turkey’s lira rises as opposition wins Istanbul mayoral election The defeat will come as a blow for President Erdogan DANIEL SHANE AND EVA SZALAY

T

urkey’s currency strengthened on Monday after the country’s opposition secured a resounding victory in the rerun of Istanbul’s mayoral election.

The lira was trading nearly 1.6 per cent higher at 5.7300 per US dollar after Ekrem Imamoglu again won the race to control the country’s biggest city. Mr Imamoglu was the victor in the previous contest for the mayoralty but was stripped of his narrow victory after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP party claimed fraud.

Preliminary results on Sunday showed that Mr Imamoglu not only won the vote’s rerun but also increased his majority substantially.

The defeat in Istanbul will come as a blow for Mr Erdogan, who has for years warned his party faithful that losing the city means losing Turkey.

“The rally in the lira would suggest that the market has decided that growing support for [the] opposition is good news,” said Rodrigo Catril, senior currency strategist at National Australia Bank.

Turkey’s economy has struggled

over the past year amid surging inflation, while Mr Erdogan has repeatedly said interest rates are too high and must come down. The president’s fondness for unorthodox economic policy measures has long been a sticking point for international investors, even though Turkey is highly reliant on foreign money inflows.

Strategists at Citibank noted that aside from geopolitical developments, “credible steps” aimed at reducing government spending and reining in credit growth in the economy would play an important part in the performance of Turkish assets.

“The marked deterioration in the budget performance during the January-May period calls for restraining spending and . . . the required tightening in the fiscal stance will need to be accompanied by prudent monetary policy,” the strategists said.

The Turkish currency has lost more than 8 per cent versus the dollar since the start of the year. Authorities in the country have previously blamed the currency’s weakness on sinister foreign influences. www.businessday.ng

Deutsche is planning to shrink or close down large parts of its trading business outside continental Europe © Reuters

Tech stocks help Wall St higher as trade hopes face test from G20 MICHAEL HUNTER AND DANIEL SHANE

T

echnology stocks helped Wall Street equities make a positive start on Monday, as investors looked ahead with measured optimism towards the G20 summit later in the week.

The S&P 500 ticked up 0.1 per cent, heading back towards the record highs it claimed last week. The improving mood helped the Philadelphia seimiconductor index turn positive after three consecutive sessions of declines, which had tracked fears any decline in trade relations would leave the sector looking exposed.

The G20 talks, which begin on Friday in Osaka, is expected to include a meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on its sidelines. Hopes abounded that such a top-level encounter could produce a breakthrough in the trade dispute between the world’s two biggest

economies. The US has threatened to apply tariffs on another $300bn in Chinese goods if a deal is not reached.

The dovish turn taken by central banks was weighing most on the dollar while also helping New York stocks. With the US Federal Reserve expected to cut interest rates at its next meeting, the euro was able to push to a three-month high, up 0.2 per cent for the day to $1.1387.

European carmakers were lower after a profit warning from Germany’s Daimler.

Shares in the company fell 3.5 per cent, while the index tracking the sector fell 1.5 per cent, underperforming a slip of 0.2 per cent for the wider Stoxx 600.

Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax 30 fell 0.5 per cent, with London’s FTSE 100 down 0.1 per cent.

There was further demand for US government debt as the mood stayed cautious.

Treasuries have rallied amid

demand for their relative safety, pushing yields lower, as concern for the outlook for growth has tracked the move back towards looser monetary policy at global central banks. The yield on benchmark 10year Treasury fell 1.9 basis points to 2.047 per cent. Weak business confidence data from Germany added to that sense of gloom and after it, investors sought the safety of Bunds, sending the benchmark 10-year German sovereign debt yield down 2.9 basis points to minus 0.31 per cent.

Brent crude, the international oil marker, ticked up 0.5 per cent amid unfolding geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran.

Gold, which touched six-year highs last week, was again boosted by the fraught geopolitics in the Middle East. It was up 0.5 per cent on Monday at $1,405.87, taking it back towards Friday’s intraday peak of $1,410.78, a level last touched in 2013.

Olympics takes gold with $3bn Mengniu Dairy-Coca-Cola deal US drinks maker and Chinese milk group in one of sport’s biggest corporate sponsorships MURAD AHMED

T

he organisers of the Olympic Games have signed a record sponsorship deal with CocaCola and China Mengniu Dairy worth a combined $3bn, in one of the biggest ever corporate endorsements in sport.

On Monday, the US drinks maker and Chinese milk and yoghurts group will announce they will jointly sponsor the event between 2021 and 2032, covering six summer and winter games.

The deal helps to secure the financial future of the world’s biggest sporting event into the next decade, and represents a show of co-operation between major US and Chinese companies amid trade tensions between the two superpowers.

Coca-Cola has been associated with the Olympics for more than a century and has used the games as a platform to market its products

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globally.

In renewing its place in the worldwide sponsorship programme of the International Olympic Committee, the governing body of the games, the drinks giant has agreed to a deal alongside Mengniu, the second-largest dairy group in Asia. Together, they will share the position as the official non-alcoholic “beverage” partner for the games.

“With Mengniu, we saw an opportunity to expand the dairy aspect of the beverage category,” said James Quincey, chairman and chief executive of Coca-Cola. “We will be activating our own individual marketing plans, but we are pleased to be a joint partner with a well-respected dairy company that is well known to us in China.”

For Mengniu, the sponsorship is part of ambitious plans to expand outside its home market. The company, based in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, @Businessdayng

is buying entry to a global corporate elite that includes US chipmaker Intel, Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and Chinese internet group Alibaba.

Each has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to be part of the IOC’s top tier of international sponsors.

Financial details for the agreement have not been revealed, but a person with knowledge of the terms said the deal was worth “multiple dollar billions”.

Another person briefed on the negotiations said the sponsorship was worth up to $1.5bn, comparable to the $200m-$250m the IOC earned from recent deals with Alibaba, Bridgestone and Panasonic over a four-year Olympic cycle.

But they added the overall value of the partnership was closer to $3bn, as both Coca-Cola and Mengniu have also committing to additional media spending, such as running advertising with Olympics broadcasters.

48

Tuesday 26 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

FT

ANALYSIS

Donald Trump’s Iran policy confuses both allies and foes US president’s aborted attack has created perception of a chaotic White House DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO AND SIMEON KERR

P

resident Donald Trump claimed he was “getting a lot of praise” for not striking Iran in retaliation for the downing of a US surveillance drone. Yet he also warned Tehran that a conflict with the US would lead to “obliteration”, before promising to “make Iran great again” if it abandoned its nuclear ambitions.

“Everyone was saying I’m a warmonger. Now they’re saying I’m a dove,” Mr Trump said, summing up a tense week that saw the US and Iran come dangerously close to war. “I’m neither . . . I’m a man with common sense.”

The way the president has described the circumstances surrounding his decision to abort strikes on Iran, minutes before they were set to occur, and his other contradictory remarks about the crisis in the Gulf,

as a sign of weakness — in the way Mr Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama was criticised for allowing Syria to go unpunished for the use of chemical weapons — or as a lucky escape that provided an opportunity to dial back the tension between the nations.

Mr Sadjadpour said there would now be a debate in Tehran between those who say Iran should reciprocate by being less provocative and others arguing for an aggressive posture after Mr Trump pulled back from conflict.

“The contradiction in Mr Trump’s approach is that he simultaneously provoked an escalatory cycle with Iran while also signalling his aversion to conflict, and so Tehran’s appetite for risk went up,” said Mr Sadjadpour.

“They likely thought they could get in a few free punches, and in some ways you could say that they were proven right.”

A former senior US military commander said Iran would continue to

Facebook’s full-frontal assault on finance Digital currency plan has already garnered a backlash, but may still be hugely disruptive RICHARD WATERS AND HANNAH MURPHY

F Critics say President Donald Trump provoked an escalatory cycle with Iran while also signalling his aversion to conflict

have created a perception of chaotic decision-making in the White House.

That, in turn, has made it increasingly hard for allies and foes alike to understand his strategy. “The Iran policy has the strategic coherence of a Jackson Pollock painting,” said Karim Sadjadpour, Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The rhetorical swerves have highlighted the conundrum facing Mr Trump. As Iranian provocations continue, he is caught between calls from his hawkish aides — particularly national security adviser John Bolton — to strike Iran, and his pledge during the 2016 campaign not to drag the US into wars.

“John Bolton is absolutely a hawk,” Mr Trump told NBC News on Sunday.

“If it was up to him, he’d take on the whole world at one time.”

William Cohen, a Republican who served as defence secretary for Bill Clinton, said Mr Trump’s handling of the crisis was “chaotic”. The president probably wanted to avoid military action with Iran while he was grappling with China and other issues, Mr Cohen said, but his approach revealed an ad hoc and short-term approach to foreign affairs. For example, at least publicly, the president appeared to have lost interest in dealing with Venezuela, Mr Cohen said.

“The fact is he doesn’t have any sense of how do you play this game.

Are you playing blackjack or bridge?

He is playing one card at a time to get to 21, but you have to be a bit more sophisticated.”

One question that will determine how the US and Iran approach each other in the coming weeks is how Tehran views the reversal on strikes:

“push the envelope” to strengthen their hand ahead of any possible talks with the US. “They cannot be seen as coming to the table out of weakness.”

Suzanne Maloney, an Iran expert at the Brookings Institution, a think-tank, said Tehran had “taken the measure” of Mr Trump. “The Iranians will continue to test, but will remain relatively measured and calibrated. Clearly American casualties are a red line.”

James Stavridis, a retired US admiral who commanded Nato forces, said Mr Trump had taken the right decision if the calculus was to avoid collateral damage but that Iran would be wrong to interpret it as weakness.

“If they are smart, they will decide that a serious strike is coming if they continue on their current course. But don’t bet on it,” he said.

Speaking in Israel on Sunday, Mr Bolton also warned Iran not to “mistake US prudence and discretion for weakness”. Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, was travelling to the Middle East on Sunday night for talks of his own with allies including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

For some Gulf observers, Mr Bolton’s reference to “prudence” rekindled memories of Mr Obama’s refusal in 2013 to take military action after a Syrian chemical attack on civilians, despite having made that a “red line”.

“This is worse than Obama. Trump had all the evidence, but all of a sudden he backs down,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati commentator. “If there is an attack on an American plane in international waters, we expect an answer — this breach of trust hurts the US’s reliability both in the eyes of the enemy and of American allies.” www.businessday.ng

lawed, derided, feared: Facebook’s proposal for a new virtual currency, revealed last week, has already provoked a backlash. But might it end up blowing the financial system wide open anyway?

The idea marks a “long overdue” attack by Big Tech on the payments industry, says David Yermack, a finance professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Apple has carved out a limited role for its own payments system on the iPhone: by contrast, Facebook’s plan is a full-frontal assault. The planned launch, within a year, of its Libra digital currency would have the backing of partners like the payment networks Visa and Mastercard and internet companies Uber and eBay. Facebook itself would create a “killer app” to take advantage of this digital money: a payment system embedded into its messaging services, so that users can easily and cheaply send money to friends or make purchases. With 2.4bn users, the social networking company could single-handedly propel cryptocurrencies into the mainstream, according to its supporters, fulfilling hopes first stirred by bitcoin a decade ago.

“The threat to the existing banks is severe,” says Mr Yermack.

Companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon have two significant advantages over banks, he adds: they can process transactions at much lower cost, and they have proven themselves masters at creating new digital services, drawing billions of people to their platforms.

But the barriers to entry are also high and the resistance already extensive. Politicians, privacy activists and bankers have been among those lining up to question the proposal in the days since it was unveiled. That Facebook and its partners plan to forge ahead anyway is testament to how much is at stake.

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The many criticisms and warnings stirred up over the last week have centred around three main areas.

The first concerns the credibility of Facebook itself. After the furore over Russian interference in the last US presidential election, including through content that appeared on Facebook, the social network is regarded with deep distrust. Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer, at first denied any responsibility, but has struck a note of humility as he tries to fix the social network.

But with its plans for a new cryptocurrency, Facebook’s unbounded ambition has been revived. The company has talked of reaching billions of people with its payment service. In an interview, Kevin Weil, vice-president of the proposed Facebook payment service, says the company hopes the new currency would last “hundreds of years”.

Even fans of the idea find it hard to believe Facebook can contemplate such a project, given the political and regulatory pressure it faces. Mamoon Hamid, a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins who has invested in a similar payments idea from messaging service Telegram, applauds the vision, but says: “Whether the world we live in wants them to do this is another matter. Things have changed over the past two years.”

Facebook executives have been at pains to stress that any financial services they create will be properly regulated. But it is already clear that the company hopes to skirt banking regulations, something that has antagonised executives in the sector.

Mr Weil says the company would look to offer other financial services such as credit but adds: “We’re not a bank, we don’t view ourselves that way. We’re not offering interest, for example, and things that banks do.” The distinction is one that many predict will not hold, as financial regulators subject the wayward internet company to heightened scrutiny.

There have also been questions about Facebook’s promise @Businessdayng

to keep its users’ financial information separate and not use it to target advertising. The sharing of data with other Facebook services would be possible if users opt in to certain services. And even without the opt-in, a Facebook service like WhatsApp would be able to see when a user makes a payment, as well as to whom, giving it valuable information.

Putting so much data in one organisation is asking for trouble, particularly given Facebook’s past failures, says Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Open Markets Institute, a Washington pressure group opposed to excessive concentration of corporate power. He also warns that Facebook would be in a position to leverage its dominant position in social networking to move into a new market — something that might be opposed by antitrust regulators.

The fact that more than two dozen other companies and organisations have already provisionally backed the Libra project, despite Facebook’s obvious political and regulatory challenges, highlights the scale of the opportunity.

For all its failings, Facebook, with its massive user base, could open the way to bringing cryptocurrencies into the mainstream.

That has stirred hopes in Silicon Valley for a new generation of financial services, built on top of the new Libra backbone.

Many developers have been “sitting on the sidelines of crypto and really want to take the plunge,” says Katie Haun, a former US prosecutor who now runs a cryptocurrency fund for Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. “This will be a catalyst for a lot of talent coming in to the space.”

The second major area of concern about Facebook’s plan stems from the nature of the currency itself, and whether it would leave too much financial power in the hands of a self-selected group of big companies. The plan calls for Libra to operate on a version of a blockchain — a decentralised ledger, maintained by all participants in the network, where transactions would be recorded.

Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

49

Live @ The Exchanges Market Statistics as at Monday 24 June 2019

Top Gainers/Losers as at Monday 24 June 2019 LOSERS

GAINERS Company

Company

Opening

Closing

Change

N60

N58.5

-1.5

N13.5

N12.15

-1.35

N11.35

N10.25

-1.1

DANGSUGAR

N12.4

N11.45

-0.95

ACCESS

N6.9

N6.6

-0.3

Opening

Closing

Change

NESTLE

N1350.3

N1399.2

48.9

PRESCO

N50

N52

2

CCNN

UNILEVER

N31

N32

1

ETI

N9.35

N10.25

0.9

N45.75

N46.6

0.85

GLAXOSMITH GUINNESS

NB

ASI (Points) DEALS (Numbers) VOLUME (Numbers)

29,809.20 4,076.00 573,674,369.00

VALUE (N billion)

10.213

MARKET CAP (N Trn)

13.136

Investors lose N19bn as stock market opens week on negative note … Year-to-date loss widens to -5.16% Stories by Iheanyi Nwachukwu

T

he Nigerian stock market opened this week on a negative note, eroding preceding trading day’s gains. As a result of the dismal outing on Custom Street on Monday June 24, the market’s loss year-todate (ytd) has increased to -5.16percent.

Market watchers noted that neither the speech by the Central Bank governor about the 5-year policy direction of the apex bank nor the announcement

by Airtel Africa last week about the listing date and Initial Public Offering (IPO) price was able to save the day from loss. At the sound of trading gong on the Nigerian Bourse, stock investors lost N19billion.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) lost 0.14percent to close at 29,809.20 points as against the preceding day close of 29,851.29 points, while Market Capitalisation closed at N13.136 trillion as against the preceding day

close of N13.155 trillion.

Only 24 stocks gained as against 19 losers. Nigerian Breweries Plc led the laggard while Nestle Nigeria Plc share price recorded highest advance.

Though some analysts did not rule out the possibility of bargain hunting on select counters on Tuesday June 25, their concern remains that the market

still struggles because of a dearth of market driver(s).

For instance, equity research analysts at Lagosbased Vetiva who noted that prices of stocks across the board remain deflated and present an attractive entry point for investors, still foresee another session of declines on Tuesday.

Afrinvest analysts expect that investors will continue

to take position in fundamentally sound stocks “as we approach the H1:2019 earnings season”.

The volume of stocks traded increased by 202percent, from 189.95million to 573.67 million, while the total value of stocks traded increased by 145.41percent, from N4.16billion to N10.21billion in 4,076 deals.

SEC gets Board members after 4 years

T

he Federal Government on Monday in Abuja inaugurated the board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Olufemi Lijadu, a commercial lawyer with over 30 years experience is the new board Chairman.

The last time the SEC board was constituted was in 2015, since then the apex regulator of the capital market in Nigeria has operated without a Board.

Lijadu worked with the

Udoma and Osagie Chambers (1992-1994), was appointed Executive Director at United Bank for Africa (1997-2002), served in the Presidential Committee on the Recovery of Government Assets (2015-2017).

He was a consultant at Femi Lijadu & Company, and also C0-Founded a thriving business law firm Ukiri & Lijadu Law Firm.

Lijadu has vast experience in Energy Law, Banking and Finance Law, Foreign Investment Law and www.businessday.ng

Commercial Law. Other members of the SEC Board include Mary Uduk – Acting DirectorGeneral, SEC Nigeria, Alvan Ikoku- Representing Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido YugudaNon-Executive Commissioner, Rekiya Ladi – Non-Executive Commissioner, Okokon Ekanem – Representing Federal Ministry of Finance, Henry Rowland-Acting Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services, Isyaku Tilde- Acting Executive Commis-

sioner, Operations, and Reginald Karawusa –Acting Executive Commissioner, Legal and Enforcement.

Lijadu attended University of Durham, St Chads College (1977-1980) where he bagged his B.A Hons in Law, and furthered his studies at the University College London, UCL (1982-1983) where he bagged his LLM in Law. The SEC Board Chairman also has an M.SC in Business Management from the London Business School (2002-2003).

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Global market indicators FTSE 100 Index 7,416.69GBP +9.19+0.12% S&P 500 Index 2,950.84USD +0.38+0.01% Generic 1st ‘DM’ Future 26,775.00USD +78.00+0.29%

Deutsche Boerse AG German Stock Index DAX 12,274.57EUR -65.35-0.53% Nikkei 225 21,285.99JPY +27.35+0.13% Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index 3,008.15CNY +6.17+0.21%

SUNU Assurances chairman visits IDP camps, commits to raise $80m

T

he Chairman of SUNU Assurances Kyari Abba Bukar and private sector leaders under the aegis of the Nigerian Humanitarian Fund Private Sector Initiative (NHF-PSI), along with the United Nations (UN) visited Borno State last Tuesday.

During the visit which was part of efforts to provide indigenous support and the second time to assess the condition of internally displaced persons, Kyari Abba Bukar noted his commitment to raise the sum of $80million in financial aid to support thousands of displaced people currently living in IDP Camps spread across Maiduguri state.

Bukar led the delegation of Nigerian entrepreneurs and CEOs who paid a visit to the state’s IDP Camps last week on a second assessment tour of the facilities.

The delegation was in Maiduguri in May for the first visit, led by UN Country Director, Edward Kallon the cochairmen of NHF-PSI, Kyari Bukar who is also a former chairperson Nigerian Economic Summit Group.

Speaking on his experience visiting the Camps last May, Bukar said, “It is quite encouraging to see how Nigerian corporates are responding to what the United Nations is doing. It was a day trip but at the same time, it had touched their lives. As we were returning, many of them didn’t realise how dire the situation is over there.

He expressed delight about the private sector in Nigeria’s enthusiasm in mobilizing resources and expertise to provide home-grown humanitarian assistance to the IDPs in the North East.”

Bukar’s philanthropic activities have seen him play an active role in assisting the United Nations’ fundraising goals and encouraging Nigerian Corporates to contribute towards the United Nations Nigerian Humanitarian Fund.

“He said over $83 million have been donated to the UN Nigerian Humanitarian Fund by 17 different countries. This has thrown a challenge to the private sector as they have set a target of raising USD80 million as Nigerians also to commit to various humanitarian causes. Sometimes it’s bring@Businessdayng

ing the people in touch with how we can impact people’s lives”, he further noted.

On both occasion, the delegation visited NYSC IDP Camp where close to 7,371 IDPs are ‘sheltered’. They were also at Stadium IDPs Camp, where 10,673 were similarly camped. At the NYSC camp, the delegation interacted with local leaders of the displaced persons, including women groups on their needs.

Yaro Mustapha Aji, IDP chairman of Damboa Local Government Area said “we thank you for the visit and all the support you offer us.’

He enumerated among other things that they are facing challenges relating to livelihood, healthcare and shelter.”

He explained that in a situation where the camp clinic cannot handle their health situation, they find it difficult to access health services outside because of

Kyari Abba Bukar, Chairman of SUNU Assurances

the cost involved. Similarly, he said that ‘we do not have enough shelter and even for those who do have them that does not mean we have beddings, blankets and what have you. ‘We also have problem that has to do with water.

Our boreholes are powered by solar and whenever there is rainfall, there would not be enough power to supply water for us,’’ the local leader explained.

Similarly, the women leader, Habiba Ibrahim also harped on condition of women in the camp. She said in Hausa language that “In situations of pregnancies, there are no adequate facilities for child delivery.” Habiba also told them that “due to the new arrivals to camp (as a result of new displacements last December), there are women and children sleeping outside as a result of inadequate shelter.”

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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50

Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

Live @ The STOCK Exchanges Prices for Securities Traded as of Monday 24 June 2019 Company

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Price (N)

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Trades

Volume

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Price (N)

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Trades

Volume

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES (Equities) BANKING ACCESS BANK PLC. 234,598.49 6.60 -4.35 174 35,729,194 UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC 218,876.30 6.40 -0.78 160 8,087,154 ZENITH BANK PLC 627,929.88 20.00 -0.25 342 355,214,203 676 399,030,551 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FBN HOLDINGS PLC 249,472.28 6.95 -0.71 146 7,222,012 146 7,222,012 822 406,252,563 TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES MTN NIGERIA COMMUNICATIONS PLC 2,646,086.70 130.00 - 87 229,277 87 229,277 87 229,277 BUILDING MATERIALS DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 3,135,453.36 184.00 - 60 54,709 LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. 193,293.55 12.00 3.90 511 32,501,076 571 32,555,785 571 32,555,785 EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC 300,106.73 510.00 - 12 7,007 12 7,007 12 7,007 1,492 439,044,632 REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC 1,710.00 85.50 - 0 0 UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) 10,175.81 40.70 - 0 0 UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST 14,408.66 5.40 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND 411.91 552.20 - 0 0 VALUEALLIANCE VALUE FUND 3,312.39 103.20 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 CROP PRODUCTION FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC 440.00 0.20 - 1 10,000 OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. 63,530.41 66.60 - 28 292,731 PRESCO PLC 52,000.00 52.00 4.00 30 386,695 59 689,426 FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING ELLAH LAKES PLC. 8,520.00 4.26 - 3 25,200 3 25,200 LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. 1,590.00 0.53 -3.64 3 497,467 3 497,467 65 1,212,093 DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. 794.19 0.30 - 1 100 JOHN HOLT PLC. 182.90 0.47 - 5 4,317 S C O A NIG. PLC. 1,903.99 2.93 - 0 0 TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC 47,151.67 1.16 0.87 55 5,257,065 U A C N PLC. 17,431.84 6.05 -0.83 124 3,241,831 185 8,503,313 185 8,503,313 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ARBICO PLC. 711.32 4.79 - 0 0 0 0 INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. 27,588.00 20.90 - 16 12,696 ROADS NIG PLC. 165.00 6.60 - 0 0 16 12,696 REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC 3,923.58 1.51 - 3 9,467 3 9,467 19 22,163 AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC 954.53 0.20 - 0 0 0 0 BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS CHAMPION BREW. PLC. 12,214.01 1.56 9.86 21 376,480 GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. 242.22 0.89 - 1 200 GUINNESS NIG PLC 102,071.84 46.60 1.86 26 184,712 INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. 143,550.89 16.70 - 6 28,520 NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 467,818.77 58.50 -2.50 71 1,009,324 125 1,599,236 FOOD PRODUCTS DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC 87,250.00 17.45 2.65 123 2,851,435 DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC 137,400.00 11.45 -7.66 72 1,051,806 FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 57,405.31 14.00 - 43 196,368 HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 8,168.10 1.03 - 34 669,926 MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC 1,340.10 0.36 - 0 0 N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. 766.26 4.30 - 1 200 NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC 39,741.58 15.00 - 7 11,873 UNION DICON SALT PLC. 3,321.07 12.15 - 0 0 280 4,781,608 FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. 20,566.31 10.95 0.92 24 188,242 NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 1,109,084.63 1,399.20 3.62 122 372,183 146 560,425 HOUSEHOLD DURABLES NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. 1,680.31 22.10 - 0 0 VITAFOAM NIG PLC. 4,753.21 3.80 - 29 305,608 29 305,608 PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 28,190.39 7.10 1.43 53 747,241 UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. 183,840.17 32.00 3.23 35 12,207,469 88 12,954,710 668 20,201,587 BANKING ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED 188,082.90 10.25 -9.69 70 2,886,011 FIDELITY BANK PLC 49,836.65 1.72 -0.58 83 4,038,888 GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 915,309.67 31.10 -0.48 155 25,810,657 JAIZ BANK PLC 13,258.91 0.45 -2.17 10 547,650 SKYE BANK PLC 10,687.83 0.77 - 0 0 STERLING BANK PLC. 69,960.72 2.43 0.41 37 6,098,899 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 200,933.19 6.90 - 33 356,928 UNITY BANK PLC 8,299.43 0.71 - 2 93,085 WEMA BANK PLC. 24,687.66 0.64 -4.48 43 3,494,520 433 43,326,638 INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC 4,117.00 0.20 - 2 10,500 AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 4,781.84 0.69 - 7 45,692 AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC 20,370.00 1.94 - 4 3,085 CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC 1,788.60 0.22 -4.55 7 941,000 CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 19,811.94 1.91 - 0 0 2,945.90 0.20 - 2 400,000 CORNERSTONE INSURANCE PLC GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC 909.99 0.20 - 2 1,100 GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. 1,228.00 0.20 - 1 10,000 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE PLC 487.95 0.38 - 0 0 LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 2,270.26 0.31 6.90 12 14,972,610 LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. 2,148.17 0.50 - 3 27,000 LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC 5,280.00 0.66 - 5 25,184 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. 2,346.27 0.21 5.00 9 1,035,965 NEM INSURANCE PLC 13,306.87 2.52 -10.00 24 1,168,752 NIGER INSURANCE PLC 1,547.90 0.20 - 1 9,360 PRESTIGE ASSURANCE PLC 3,175.71 0.59 9.26 10 5,385,610 REGENCY ASSURANCE PLC 1,333.75 0.20 - 1 755 SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC 1,751.57 0.21 -4.55 8 1,451,000 STACO INSURANCE PLC 4,483.72 0.48 - 0 0 STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. 2,582.21 0.20 - 3 26,100 SUNU ASSURANCES NIGERIA PLC. 2,800.00 0.20 - 0 0 UNIC DIVERSIFIED HOLDINGS PLC. 516.46 0.20 - 0 0 UNIVERSAL INSURANCE PLC 3,200.00 0.20 - 1 10,000 VERITAS KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC 2,773.33 0.20 - 11 2,039,750 WAPIC INSURANCE PLC 5,754.58 0.43 4.88 27 1,136,620 140 28,700,083

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MICRO-FINANCE BANKS FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 11,799.67 2.58 - 0 0 2,743.97 1.20 -7.69 30 1,420,545 NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC 30 1,420,545 MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC 3,780.00 0.90 - 3 25,051 ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC 7,370.87 0.50 - 0 0 5,796.93 1.39 - 1 605 INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC 2,265.95 0.20 - 2 10,001 2,949.22 3.02 - 0 0 UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. 6 35,657 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AFRICA PRUDENTIAL PLC 6,820.00 3.41 - 47 460,329 CUSTODIAN INVESTMENT PLC 35,879.37 6.10 0.83 11 165,093 660.00 0.44 - 0 0 DEAP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT & TRUST PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. 31,882.36 1.61 -3.01 107 9,001,165 ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. 1,131.98 0.22 - 7 364,317 416,278.48 40.65 - 41 182,965 STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UNITED CAPITAL PLC 14,040.00 2.34 1.74 60 2,268,308 273 12,442,177 882 85,925,100

HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS EKOCORP PLC. 1,680.29 3.37 - 0 0 UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC 852.75 0.24 - 1 100,000 1 100,000 MEDICAL SUPPLIES MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. 593.50 0.60 - 0 0 0 0 PHARMACEUTICALS EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 366.17 0.50 - 0 0 FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 7,575.00 5.05 - 3 3,415 12,257.73 10.25 9.63 48 374,896 GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 4,054.30 2.35 - 8 67,522 NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 987.56 0.52 - 2 6,657 NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. 556.71 3.62 - 0 0 PHARMA-DEKO PLC. 325.23 1.50 - 1 2,840 62 455,330 63 555,330

COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC 745.92 0.21 - 7 62,800 7 62,800 COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERALS OMATEK VENTURES PLC 1,470.89 0.50 - 0 0 0 0 IT SERVICES CWG PLC 6,413.06 2.54 - 2 3,500 648.00 6.00 - 0 0 NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. 346.47 0.70 - 0 0 2 3,500 PROCESSING SYSTEMS CHAMS PLC 1,408.82 0.30 -3.23 26 1,336,910 9,996.00 2.38 - 4 12,000 E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC 30 1,348,910 39 1,415,210

BUILDING MATERIALS BERGER PAINTS PLC 1,912.83 6.60 1.54 8 116,514 CAP PLC 19,250.00 27.50 - 23 99,952 CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC 159,693.54 12.15 -10.00 36 472,649 FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC 844.14 0.40 - 0 0 MEYER PLC. 313.43 0.59 - 2 130 1,959.74 2.47 - 1 7 PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC PREMIER PAINTS PLC. 1,156.20 9.40 - 0 0 70 689,252 ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC 2,256.91 2.09 - 0 0 CUTIX PLC. 2,589.14 1.47 - 29 578,406 29 578,406 PACKAGING/CONTAINERS BETA GLASS PLC. 36,847.94 73.70 - 9 8,966 GREIF NIGERIA PLC 388.02 9.10 - 0 0 9 8,966 AGRO-ALLIED & CHEMICALS NOTORE CHEMICAL IND PLC 100,754.14 62.50 - 0 0 0 0 108 1,276,624 CHEMICALS B.O.C. GASES PLC. 1,565.08 3.76 - 0 0 0 0 METALS ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. 1,781.64 8.10 - 0 0 0 0 MINING SERVICES MULTIVERSE MINING AND EXPLORATION PLC 852.39 0.20 - 2 11,000 2 11,000 PAPER/FOREST PRODUCTS THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. 92.40 0.42 5.00 5 5,001,490 5 5,001,490 7 5,012,490 ENERGY EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC 1,440.42 0.23 -4.17 34 3,594,201 34 3,594,201 INTEGRATED OIL AND GAS SERVICES OANDO PLC 49,725.65 4.00 1.27 86 1,243,693 86 1,243,693 PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS 11 PLC 61,301.19 170.00 - 15 1,372,683 CONOIL PLC 15,024.06 21.65 - 19 42,983 ETERNA PLC. 4,694.92 3.60 -1.37 30 301,633 FORTE OIL PLC. 41,679.40 32.00 2.56 126 1,866,286 MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 6,354.80 20.85 - 2 7 TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 50,928.28 150.00 - 50 41,703 242 3,625,295 362 8,463,189 ADVERTISING AFROMEDIA PLC 1,820.01 0.41 - 1 10,000 1 10,000 AIRLINES MEDVIEW AIRLINE PLC 17,551.17 1.80 - 2 98 2 98 AUTOMOBILE/AUTO PART RETAILERS R T BRISCOE PLC. 341.14 0.29 - 0 0 0 0 COURIER/FREIGHT/DELIVERY RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 3,242.23 5.50 - 2 10,300 TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. 342.26 0.73 - 3 43,072 5 53,372 HOSPITALITY TANTALIZERS PLC 642.33 0.20 - 2 1,100 2 1,100 HOTELS/LODGING CAPITAL HOTEL PLC 4,723.78 3.05 - 0 0 IKEJA HOTEL PLC 2,702.44 1.30 -0.76 7 119,788 TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. 7,862.53 3.50 - 8 1,921 TRANSCORP HOTELS PLC 41,042.18 5.40 - 2 2,005 17 123,714 MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC 4,800.00 0.40 - 2 4,500 2 4,500 PRINTING/PUBLISHING ACADEMY PRESS PLC. 163.30 0.27 - 4 17,188 LEARN AFRICA PLC 1,033.74 1.34 - 45 12,350 STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. 1,183.82 1.99 - 2 200 UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. 819.68 1.90 - 9 75,821 60 105,559

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Tuesday 25 June 2019

BUSINESS DAY

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41

leaderSHIP

BUSINESS DAY Tuesday 25 June 2019 www.businessday.ng

CEO in focus

Yele Okeremi: The Fintech CEO teaching foreigners to repackage apps Endurance Okafor

Y

ele Okeremi, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Precise Financial Systems Ltd (PFS), has championed indigenous contents and digital changes in the software industry as well as the financial sector.

Before PFS, Okeremi had a successful professional career starting at Inlaks Computers. He then moved to Industrial Bank Limited (Merchant Bankers) as a Programmer/Analyst where he rose to become the Chief Information Officer of the bank before leaving for Ventura Savings and Loans Limited as the Head of Systems and Logistics department.

A former board member of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Okeremi is also a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and a member of the Presidential Initiative for developing the software industry in Nigeria.

He is an icon in software development in Nigeria, spanning over 30 years of experience across the IT and financial sector in which he has been involved in different areas of IT – as a Programmer, Systems Analyst, IT Manager, Head of Systems and Logistics.

He holds a B.Sc degree in Computer Science (With Economics) from the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and a Masters in Business Administration. He has also schooled at Wits Business School, Johannesburg South Africa and the prestigious Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA where he completed the Owner President Management Program as well as Doctor of Business Administration degree from the Swiss Business School, Zurich, Switzerland.

When Yele Okeremi left his consulting job at Inlaks Computers in 1989, the banking sector was his least favourite place to end up, but he did anyway.

As serendipity would have it, the management of Industrial Merchant Bank was looking to replace foreign software with in-house alternatives and, as he grew into the role of CIO, Yele got first-hand exposure to “the secrets of software development” According to the CEO of the indigenous software company, that point at CIO was when he realised that they could do better than all those guys that came with briefcases from Europe. The CEO said that was the reason he said started what his company is doing today.

Soon enough, Yele left a promising career - not to mention an official Peugeot 505 STI -to start Precise Financial Systems (PFS), a multi-million dollar software development company that serves clients (mostly banks) in over 34 countries across Africa.

In May 2019, the company celebrated its 25th anniversary, according to the company it was a way of making a bold statement in all ramifications as to the stature, ability, maturity, and dreams of the company. “Deep inside of us we are lions and lions don’t eat dead meat.”

Yele Okeremi

With assured and consistent successes in developing simple solutions for Accounts Reconciliation, Cheque Truncation, Multi-Channel payment systems, Revenue Collection System, Cheque

Micrarisation and Personalisation, and Thrift and Loans System – PFS continues to be the first amongst equals in software development, deployment and after-sales services.

Despite these successes, PFS is looking at the future with baby eyes- expectant and hopeful, believing the best is yet to come.

Okeremi is intent on ensuring the DNA of the company stays true- that of a champion, knowing that a champion is not the one that fails but the one who has more successes to call upon.

The CEO believes in the saying of Jeff Bezos which proclaimed that: “As a company grows, everything needs to scale, including the size of your failed experiments. If the size of your failures isn’t growing, you’re not going to be inventing at a size that can actually move the needle.”

PFS is proud to be the developer of NACS, the software that runs Nigeria’s electronic funds-transfer system. This connects all the financial houses in the country. The company is proud to have given Nigeria the opportunity to be the first African nation to provide a T+0 cheque application system. The most famous solution from its stable continues to CLIREC, the accounts reconciliation solution deployed across 37 African countries and in France.

PFS is primed to walk the route of progressive success, knowing the future will be the present for those that dare today.

The company is interested in developing solutions that will help ensure tomorrow is better than the present.

PFS offers customized solutions to help any client, in any field because according to the company, they call them their teachers, “to achieve their objectives and give them an edge over their competitors.”

Okeremi si of the opinion that it requires a lot of discipline to become a champion- in his words: a pedestal PFS is braced to grace for many years to come because the DNA of the company is steeped in breaking barriers and changing the status quo.

Today; PFS’ innovative and worldclass solutions are running thousands of computers, serving numerous clients both in Nigeria and in twenty-seven (27) countries in Africa.

Their cutting edge environmentally friendly software technologies include an integrated account reconciliation solution; cheque and e-payment processing, security & remittance solution; end-to-end outward and inward cheque clearing solutions; cheque MICRisation and personalisation solution; banking and finance solution; bonds and financial derivatives trading and monitoring solution; bureau de change solution; cooperative societies solution; stock brokering solution; billing and revenue collection solution.

Others include card issuance and monitoring systems; self-service cheque, cash, & card deposit and withdrawal solution; pension remittance monitoring solution; project appraisal and monitoring solution. Through these ingenious solutions, PFS has successfully positioned herself as a foremost force in the financial software development space of the nation.

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Advert Hotline: 08034743892. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08169609331 Editor: Patrick Atuanya. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.