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Lockdown may strain debtors’ ability to repay banks loans … Tenor loan restructuring to be considered HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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igerian banks are in a no-win scenario with customers who took short-term loans as salaries are delayed and businesses are locked down following the stayat-home instruction from the Federal Government occasioned by the continuous spread of Covid-19.

Many of the banks have expanded their digital lending portfolio, which gives Nigerians quick and 24/7 access to funds for emergencies without any collateral.

In October 2019 alone, banks disbursed N45 billion in over 2 million disbursements to individuals and have recently witnessed a spike in their digital lending volumes hitting N1 bilContinues on page 34

Inside

Covid 19: FirstBank donates N1bn, reiterates commitment to safety of Nigerians P. 2 Our close encounter with death, by discharged Lagos coronavirus patients P. 2

L-R: Segun Agbaje, managing director/CEO, Guaranty Trust Bank plc; Osaretin Demuren, chairman, and Erhi Obebeduo, company secretary, during the bank’s 30th annual general meeting in Lagos, yesterday.

Planned electricity tariff hike to wait till July amid coronavirus Nigeria records second death from pandemic 5 more patients discharged, total now 8

ISAAC ANYAOGU & ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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he anticipated increase in electricity tariff from April 1 will be delayed by at least three months because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic which has led to a

shutdown of most economic activities in the country.

Nigeria’s electricity regulator, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), had published a review of the MultiYear Tariff Order (MYTO) 2015 in December, raising tariff by 30 percent on average with effect

from tomorrow, but BusinessDay learnt that the regulator will be announcing today that the new tariff order will be delayed till July 1, 2020.

The delay will give the regulators the chance to negotiate and extract commitments from the DisCos for service level

improvements which must be commensurate with the extent of the planned tariff increase.

Industry players are concerned that an upward review in tariff at this time will aggravate the misery of Nigerians Continues on page 34

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news Our close encounter with death, by discharged Lagos coronavirus patients

Covid 19: FirstBank donates N1bn, reiterates commitment to safety of Nigerians

... ask those still in hospital to have hope

irstBank has announced its donation of the sum of N1 billion towards the joint effort by the Nigerian Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) to rapidly expand the health facilities, especially testing, isolation, treatment and the provision of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facilities pivotal to controlling the spread of and treating individuals diagnosed with COVID-19.

This is in addition to the bank’s drive to move one million children to e-learning, together with an early partner, Roducate, as recommended by the Ministry of Education, Lagos State.

In line with the Federal Government’s 14-day stayat-home directive for Lagos, Ogun and FCT residents, the bank has also reiterated its preparedness to provide essential banking services through its alternative channels to its customers and the public at large, which is in line with its robust Business Continuity Plan.

Updating on the bank’s efforts, Adesola Adeduntan, its CEO, said, “We promise to continue to look at all areas of intervention where our business infrastructure, reach, digital platforms and other natural strengths lie and can be deployed to further support all efforts for Nigerians, young and old alike. To that end, we will continue to communicate ways in which we can do more together.

“We thank our community of friends, customers and other stakeholders who have continued to send us ideas and initiatives and are gladdened at the solidarity we see as Nigerians come together to tackle this under one umbrella. Please stay safe and let’s work together to flatten the curve.”

Joshua Bassey

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wo of the five patients of the Covid-19 pandemic who were discharged on Monday in Lagos say they owe their survival to the dogged work of the medical team who gave their all to save them.

The five patients who had been receiving treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, were discharged after further tests carried out on them returned negative.

“I was admitted last Sunday,” said one of the five lucky patients who walked away from the hospital on Monday.

“Initially there were chal-

lenges. The following day, they brought beds, masks and some equipment.”

The patient, who did not want his identity in print, said it was human for the caregivers to be scared for their own lives, explainingthatwhenhewasfirst brought in he was left for a while unattended and he slept off.

He said the government had to do what it will take to encourage them, including offering them a good life insurance cover.

However, Gbenga Omotosho, Lagos State commissioner for information and strategy, told BusinessDay that the state government has a life assurance cover for all the staff.

Another patient said he

was kept on admission at the hospital for exactly two weeks and was happy to recover.

“I came in here on March 15, and after the test returned positive, I was asked to come back the next day. So I was admitted,” the patient said.

“Initially, there were hitches but it later turned out fine. The health workers did fine, all our challenges were attended to.

I’m a living witness together with my other colleagues.”

Expressing hope, he said people should not panic as the virus could be defeated.

“We can beat it. I want to assure others that this is not their resting place. Encourage yourselves, take your medications and in no distant time, you

will get out of here,” the patient said. “However, I want to appeal to the Federal and Lagos State Governments that they should identify and decorate all those workers who have volunteered to work in such difficult circumstances, so as to serve as encouragement to others. If they are not here as first responders, many would die.”

The patients thanked the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for his support and proactiveness and called for increase in the number of workers at the centre.

The total number of recoveries in Nigeria is now eight.

Three patients, including the

Continues on page 34

Customers of Access Bank, Iju Road, Lagos, at the entrance of the bank to make transactions in preparation for 14days total lockdown directive by the Federal Government to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country. Pic by Olawale Amoo

NSE to sustain remote trading as FG exempts financial system, money markets from lockdown … ATMs, online transactions remain open Iheanyi Nwachukwu & OLUFIKAYO OWOEYE

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he Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will sustain its ongoing remote trading despite a 14-day restriction of movement in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (FCT) aimed at stemming the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.

TheFederalGovernmenton Sunday announced restriction of all movements in Lagos and Ogun States as well as the FCT for an initial period of 14 days effective 11pm on March 30, 2020.

But Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, and Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, in a joint statement on Monday assured Nigerians that the fi-

nancial sector would continue to perform skeletal services during the two-week lockdown.

They said exemptions have been obtained from the president to allow very skeletal operations in the financial system and money markets and that all relevant staff of affected outfits and agencies should look out for further instructions from their immediate bosses.

“To ensure that Nigerians can still perform online transactions and use ATMs whilst observing these restrictions, we will like to inform the general public and all affected stakeholders that we have obtained exemptions from the president to allow very skeletal operations in the financial system and money markets in order to keep the system in light operations www.businessday.ng

during this time,” they said in the statement.

In line with the presidential approval, the NSE said it would sustain its remote trading activities at normal hours and days, in line with the guidance provided by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFEs).

Since the outbreak of the coronaviruspandemic,financial markets, particularly the capital markets, around the world have seen levels of volatility that are only comparable to the global financial crisis of 2007/2008.

“The ability of our financial and money markets to continue to operate during this crisis is testament to a well-functioning economy,” said Oscar Onyema, CEO of the NSE. To comply with government directive, the NSE has activated the second phase

of its business continuity plan that will see its essential staff move into a secured accommodation close to the NSE offices with adequate arrangements for healthcare and other matters necessary to their wellbeing.

“Access to our offices will be restricted to these essential staff who will ensure smooth remote trading and provide remote technical support to Dealing Members. We will also continue to provide remote access to listed companies and issuers during this period,” Onyema said.

He said while the NSE hopes for a quick end to the pandemic, it encourages everyone to maintain precautions, take responsibility for others by observing social distancing and practicing personal hygiene.

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ENDURANCE OKAFOR

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First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is the premier bank in West Africa and Nigeria’s leading financial inclusion bank for over 125 years.

With over 750 business locations and 44,000 banking agents spread across 99 percent of the 774 local government areas in Nigeria, FirstBank provides a comprehensive range of retail and corporate financial services to serve its over 15 million customers. The bank has international presence through its subsidiaries, FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank in the Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Senegal, as well as a representative office in Beijing.

The bank has been nimble at promoting digital payment in the country and has issued over 10 million cards, the first bank to achieve such milestone in the country.

FirstBank’s cashless transaction drive extends to having more than 8.5 million people on its USSD banking service through the nationally renowned *894# banking service and over 3 million people on Firstmobile platform.

Since its establishment in 1894, FirstBank has consistently built relationships with customers focusing on the fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, optimised risk management and leadership. Over the years, the bank has led the financing of private investment in infrastructure development in the Nigerian economy by playing key roles in the Federal Government’s privatisation and commercialisation schemes. With its global reach, FirstBank provides prospective investors wishing to explore the vast business opportunities that are available in Nigeria an internationally competitive world-class brand and a credible financial partner.

Nigerian banks cut customers’ spending abroad on dollar shortage HOPE MOSES ASHIKE

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o re Nig e r i an banks are cutting how much foreign currency customers can spend abroad as the coronavirus pandemic and a slump in oil prices trigger concerns the country might face shortages of the US currency.

Guaranty Trust Bank plc, the country’s biggest lender by market value, reduced international spending limits on its naira-denominated cards to $500 from $3,000 last week, while Zenith Bank plc re@Businessdayng

duced the limit to $1,000 from $3,000. Renaissance Capital expects others to follow as the banks try to conserve dollar liquidity.

It’s a “precautionary measure as we do not know how long oil prices will remain low”, Adesoji Solanke, a director of frontier and sub-Saharan banks equity research at Renaissance Capital in London, said.

“There is a fair probability that the central bank opts to contain the depreciation of the naira, which implies there is a real risk of some foreign-exchange restrictions being imposed,” Solanke said.

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Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY AndersenTax.ng

Andersen Tax Digest COVID-19: Personal Income Tax Compliance Challenges Olufunmilayo Olaniyi Joshua Akhator Manager

Private Clients & Family Wealth Practice E: olufunmilayo.olaniyi@ andersentax.ng

Senior Associate

Private Clients & Family Wealth Practice E: joshua.akhator@ andersentax.ng

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he world, as it is now, is recognized as a “global village” connected by international trade, telecommunications, internet, and migration of individuals across different jurisdictions. The phrase “Global Village” was introduced by Marshall McLuhan in 1964 to describe how standard of living will improve in future due to advancement in technology.

Globalization, though, has its pros and cons especially as it relates to immigration and migration of nationals across different jurisdictions.

An obvious con is reflected in the prevailing global pandemic, COVID – 19 (the Corona virus).

Economies worldwide are struggling under the devastating effects of this pandemic. Central banks in various countries have pledged billions of dollars to support their economies, businesses and workers that have lost their jobs. Many countries have also enacted travel restrictions as a measure to combat the spread of the COVID – 19 pandemic.

employment are carried out in Nigeria for a period of 183 days or more (including temporary period of leave or absence) in a 12-month calendar year. There is also the case of Nigerians with tax filing and payment obligations in the country and who, because of their economic status, are highly internationally mobile.

Enters COVID-19.

Mrs. X, an employee of a manufacturing company based in the US, travelled to Nigeria in November 2019 to conduct a market survey in the country for a period of five months. At the end of the period, she is unable to travel back to the US because of closure of the airports to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. This very event potentially changes her tax residency status from a nontaxable individual to a tax resident individual in Nigeria, with the attendant tax payment and tax filing obligations. On a closer look, this will also create a problem of dual tax residency risk for her as she is deemed taxable in the US by virtue of her citizenship based on applicable laws of the US. Mr. Y, a wealthy Nigerian who has never defaulted in making his annual tax renditions in the country, travels abroad just about the time the Corona virus starts to spread across the world. Unfortunately, Mr. Y is unable to travel back to the country to fulfil his annual tax obligations as all airports in both Nigeria and his host country are on lockdown.

How does this affect you as a taxpayer? How does this affect tax resident individuals with statutory obligation to file Personal Income Tax (PIT) in Nigeria? In this article, we examine the impact of the COVID – 19 pandemic on tax compliance for individuals.

The above scenarios may not be as dire in some other jurisdictions, but in Nigeria, where tax rendition in many States is still done physically and manually, tax compliance status of individuals will likely be affected by the spread of the Corona virus and the attendant travel restrictions imposed by countries across the globe.

Tax Residency

COVID-19 and Tax Compliance

Residency is a key factor in taxation. There are no universal rules for determining the tax residence of a person. Different tax jurisdictions have different definitional rules of residence as contained in their respective income tax legislation and judicial pronouncements. Foreigners, who are upwardly mobile, may have tax residence determined by laws, which vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Some countries determine individual residence based on physical presence, while others use a combination of factors such as location of permanent home, economic interests and family.

In the United States of America (US), a citizen is regarded as resident in the US irrespective of the length of stay abroad. This, as we will see, may potentially create a problem of dual tax residence.

A very rational and logical argument can be made to support the fact that the outbreak of corona virus makes it very difficult to comply with periodic tax filing obligations if one is to stay alive. Afterall, a taxpayer is only one when he is alive. One can also add that the outbreak of corona virus has significant negative impact on businesses generally. The terms of many contracts have had to be renegotiated in the light of the above. The need for social distancing and self-isolation during this period of COVID–19 pandemic has gravely affected the ability of tax payers to meet these tax compliance deadlines in jurisdictions where tax filling system has not been fully digitalized.

In Nigeria, individuals are expected to pay their PIT to the state in which they are deemed resident and to file tax returns annually.In Nigeria and some other jurisdictions across the globe, one of the criteria for determining of tax residency of non-nationals is physical presence. A person is deemed tax resident in Nigeria, if he/she exercises duties of employment in Nigeria. The residence risk for expatriates under foreign employment can be triggered where the duties of

Unfortunately, the law, they say, is an ass. The fact that there is an ongoing pandemic does not automatically absolve taxpayers of their statutory tax payment and filing obligations. All tax resident individuals are, by virtue of Section 41 of the Personal Income Tax Act CAP P8 LFN 2004 (as amended) 2011, required to file return of their income in the prescribed form (“ Form A”) and detailing specific information in relation to their income and taxes thereon with the tax authority of their State of residence. This return is expected to be filed not later than 31st of March of each

year. In the absence of a newer law suspending or overriding the above, taxpayers still have to comply with their tax filing obligations before end of March.

The Finance Act 2019 already provides an avenue for taxpayers to submit a valid notice of objection through electronic means.

In a well-digitalized tax filing system, the effect of a pandemic such as COVID-19 will be minimal. State governments should invest in technological infrastructure that will ease the process of tax payments. The current pandemic has again shown that States actually lose out in tax revenue where the tax administration system is not digitized.

As a palliative move, the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (“FIRS”) on 23 March 2020, sent out a notice informing taxpayers that the FIRS has extended the timeline for filing VAT and Withholding Tax (WHT) returns to the last working day of the month, following the month of deduction. This information was communicated via a four-page publication on the FIRS’ official twitter handle. Some State tax authorities have issued similar directives as regards filing of annual returns for individuals.

For example the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has issued a public notice extending the deadline for filling annual returns for individuals to 31st May 2020. It is hoped that other States in the country will also follow suit.

What You Need to Do

and completely do away with the mundane practice of manual tax fillings at the office of the tax authority. Recent legislation in Nigeria are already tilting towards this direction. The Finance Act 2019 already provides an avenue for taxpayers to submit a valid notice of objection through electronic means. In a well-digitalized tax filing system, the effect of a pandemic such as COVID-19 will be minimal. State governments should invest in technological infrastructure that will ease the process of tax payments. The current pandemic has again shown that States actually lose out in tax revenue where the tax administration system is not digitized.

As a tax resident, it is very important to engage tax advisers early enough to afford you ample time to plan your tax affairs appropriately. It is important to seek professional assistance at this time. The more advice you obtain from tax professionals, the better informed your decisions would be. Such tax professionals can assist you ensure your tax obligations are fulfilled within the timeline provided by the law. They can also help you obtain private ruling from state tax authorities for an extension of time to file your tax returns. As earlier explained, the COVID-19 pandemic does not amount to an automatic exemption from tax renditions.

For taxpayers with international dual residency, you should seek tax advice on how to manage your economic affairs in a way that leaves minimal footprints for you and your businesses. This will become more important in the months ahead, especially as the spread of the corona virus may continue to generate revenue losses for governments, companies and individuals alike.

Conclusion Taxpayers should be diligent and proactive in management of their tax affairs, businesses and transactions and ensure that they are tax compliant at all times irrespective of any subsisting global or national crisis. For those stuck outside of the country and for those who do not know how to navigate the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 in fulfilling their tax obligations, we advise you contact a seasoned tax consultant to assist you fulfil your obligations to the Government. State governments should also ease the process of tax compliance by digitizing their respective tax administration system.

Andersen Tax is a global firm with a wealth of knowledge in various areas cutting across transaction advisory, business restructuring, payroll management and advisory practice, family wealth practice, private client services, restructuring, book-keeping, tax advisory, and regulatory service, amidst others. We will be happy to work with you and ensure that you are compliant with provisions of all applicable tax laws at all relevant times and in any given situation.

We operate in a manner that accommodates terms of business that individuals and emerging businesses can afford, without compromising on quality.

What is key from the above is the need to fully digitalize the tax filling system in Nigeria

Disclaimer: The purpose of this article is to provide information and comments on developments within the Nigerian tax and regulatory space. This article does not constitute professional advice or opinion and may not be relied upon as such. Please seek the services of a tax adviser should you require professional advice or opinion on the issue.

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COVID-19: Stay at home, be compliant and receptive!

STRATEGY & POLICY

MA JOHNSON

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he coronavirus has plunged the world into a state of fear and uncertainty as many face sickness, isolation, financial hardship and information overload. At the initial stage of the coronavirus outbreak, it is either those in authority in Nigeria do not know what to do to freeze the spread of the virus, or they thought the disease would not be imported into the country. As thoughts on this article were put into words, the COVID-19 is “accelerating” across the globe at a fast rate. The global economy has slipped into recession, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

While Nigeria, according to the Finance Minister, may be experiencing another recession soon. So, Nigeria may be experiencing a second recession in a period of 5 years. It is a sad development.

As you read this article, Lagos State is the epicentre of the disease in Nigeria.

Initially, most of our people thought that COVID-19 was a disease peculiar to those in the temperate region. With this mindset, most of us were busy doing what we are best known for-buying and sellingeven when the index case was reported in Nigeria. Why should we bother about a white man’s disease, some asked? The ignorant in our midst say coronavirus is not in Nigeria. They got it completely wrong! Many of our people do not know that the virus was imported by persons coming to the country before the land, sea and airports were closed.

As soon as confirmed cases increased, Lagos, Ogun and other state governments shut schools and banned public gathering of more than 50 people.

Despite restrictions, some worshippers gathered in worship centres to pray. One

wonders why most Nigerians irrespective of their status in the society - poor, middle class and rich – do not have the self-control to obey lawful instructions to stay at home.

Nigerians woke up on 22 March 2020, to watch video clips of policemen from one of the state Police Command in the South West geopolitical zone going around some churches to enforce the law. Some churches and other religious bodies obeyed the order issued by their governments while others thought it was a day for their members to offer praises and offertory to God. Why is it difficult to pray at home until the plague is over?

Rather than play the ball not the man, some critics have questioned the legality and legitimacy of the ban on public gathering issued by the federal and state governments. It is unbelievable that at a time when more than 28,000 people have been consumed by the virus globally, some are more concerned about legality and legitimacy of restriction on movement. This debate makes no sense to me.

In the face of the pandemic, marriage ceremonies and birthday parties were going on as usual. Some friends and family members see those who did not attend such occasions as “fools”. While those who did not go to church on Sunday were regarded as “sinners”. Anyway, reports have it that a few Nigerians who attended a birthday party in London earlier before the movement restriction in Nigeria tested positive to the virus.

One wonders what the motivation could be for not complying with an order that will save the lives of all. It is written in the Holy Book that “the Lord does not take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as obeying the law?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to harken than the fat of rams.”

Perhaps, it was ignorance of the law that was responsible for disobedience displayed by most Nigerians. But there is a saying that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Even the Holy Book tells us that: “All of you must obey the government because those who rule are given the power to rule by God…. So, anyone who is against the government is against something God has commanded. Those

who are against the government bring punishment on themselves.”

Now, it is very clear that the coronavirus is no respecter of anybody. Those who did not obey what government and authorised health agencies are saying may likely bring punishment on themselves.

That is why this writer strongly advocate that Nigerians should be compliant and receptive to instructions from the government concerning the COVID- 19.

What started with one positive case in Nigeria has gone beyond 80 cases within a few days. The risk is high. No one knows the number of those exposed to the virus as you read this article. Government officials who came from abroad but refused to be tested at the port of entry are advised to self-isolate. If they refuse to self-isolate as prescribed by medical experts, it is their choice and they should be prepared to face the consequence. It is regrettable that their recklessness and disobedience will endanger the lives of innocent Nigerians.

In the absence of medical solutions for coronavirus, people all over the world are turning to natural solutions including herbs, chicken pepper soup and pepper amongst others. Banned products are allegedly being used now because of frustration and desperation.

Some governments in Africa and Asia are reported to be actively promoting the use of alternative medicine to prevent the disease and manage symptoms.

With coronavirus, there is fear of the unknown. At times like this when there is a pandemic, provision of adequate health services is the most expensive social service any government- local, state and federal- can be called upon to provide for its citizens. As orthodox medicine is very expensive, we have seen in the past few weeks that developed economies have not been able to provide adequately for the medical needs of their people. Not even the United States of America has been able to provide adequate health services to the satisfaction of its people in order to wage war against this invisible enemy called COVID-19.

Science created the coronavirus.

And if the deadly virus is to be destroyed completely, it is science that will do the

‘

Science created the coronavirus.

And if the deadly virus is to be destroyed completely, it is science that will do the job. Until now, scientists insist that viral infections do not have any cures and will run their courses of between two weeks to four weeks

job. Until now, scientists insist that viral infections do not have any cures and will run their courses of between two weeks to four weeks. They say the body can only be helped with treatments to ameliorate or remove the symptoms and prevent complications. They, however, say that viruses can be prevented by immunisation with vaccines and boosting the immune systems with several other methods. The most interesting one that has gone viral on social media is the claim that the virus can be “cured” with pepper. It claims that coronavirus is “Pepper Deficient Syndrome,” and indicates that eating pepper soup can offer protection.

In the absence of any official drug from the World Health Organization (WHO), one will advise that social distancing and isolation should be taken seriously to reduce the spread of the deadly virus.

Keeping Nigerians who have tested positive to the virus and those who have had contacts with them in isolation will go a long way to “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 pandemic.

If we can lockdown, we should go ahead immediately. It is better late than never. Those in authority should be more aggressive in enforcing measures aimed at containing the spread of the virus, such as: social distancing, contact tracing, testing, and isolation of suspected cases and ensuring that messages get down to the grassroots.

But how will above strategies work when some Nigerians who flew into the country from overseas were alleged to have filled wrong addresses and phone numbers in their health declaration forms. If billions of Naira being spent by governments, corporate organisations and individuals, including the valuable time utilised by health experts were to be impactful, we should obey lawful orders of government. As the number of those infected by the virus increases, let us bring ourselves up to speed with directives from authorised health officials. The only choice we all have now is to be compliant and receptive. Thank you!

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

State of the states, coronavirus edition

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y organisation is tracking responses by various states to the coronavirus pandemic and just as a sample, two states from each geopolitical zone: In the South-West, Lagos has been very proactive. Schools have been shut and places of worship restricted to 20 people per gathering. Furthermore, 25 tests per day are being conducted. Oyo took its time until the faux pas of a public gathering brought an apology from the governor and some form of action. But by then, the horse had bolted, and the Jegede area of Ibadan is somewhere we should watch. In the South-South, the most proactive state was Delta where the governor set up a response team and designated the seaports in Warri, Sapele, Koko, and Oghara as holding centres for any possible outbreak.

All hospitals across the state have been mandated to designate an isolated area as a detention centre. In Rivers, on the other hand, it took a lot of effort to get the government moving, and when they eventually did move, after a case had popped up, it was a sledgehammer kind of move. Maybe like China, it would work. In the South East, Abia set up a committee as early as 3 March to launch preventive media campaigns, but this lost steam and the governor was caught on video basically putting his faith in an obscure Bible verse. Enugu is, well, Enugu is in the hands of God. In the North West, Kaduna was the most pro-

active, quickly placing a restriction on religious gatherings, and creating an Emergency Operational Centre. The governor personally led security agents to ensure adherence to movement restrictions and has ensured public disinfecting.

Unfortunately for him, he has caught the virus. I wish him a quick recovery. On its part, aside from an announcement that it has started screening all people coming into the state from the airport and through the land borders (if that were possible), Kebbi seems to be the deer caught in the headlights. Maybe that is because, in real terms, Kebbi is one of the most disconnected states in the country. In the North East, Bauchi was relaxed until the governor announced that he had been infected, and since then a committee has been set up under the leadership of the Deputy Governor, and schools have been closed while gatherings of more than 50 people have been banned. Finally, in the North Central, Kwara completed a 20-bed isolation centre at Sobi Specialist Hospital and plans are underway to build an additional and well-equipped 12-bed intensive care unit at the General Hospital, Ilorin.

In Nasarawa, the government announced that to fight the virus, it would evacuate non-indigenous Almajiri from the state, as if the coronavirus looks at the state of origin before infecting people.

From the above, one thing is stunningly clear: different states in Nigeria have different cultures and attitudes to critical national issues.

Permit me to digress a little and tell a story... www.businessday.ng

In 1999, Nigeria organised the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. The organisation was done entirely at the level of the Local Organising Committee, which was an organ of the federal government, and Nigeria ’99 is on record as probably the worst ever FIFA competition (Indeed it led to loads of changes in the way FIFA ‘helps’ host countries).

Ten years later, we were, for some reason, awarded the right to host the Under-17 World Cup. When it became evident that the LOC was shirking on its responsibilities, state governments in some centres stepped in, and that competition ended up being more successful in some areas than it was in others. In Lagos, Kano, Ijebu Ode and Calabar, the organisation of the competition were quite well done (except for a few minor details as it seems to be with all things Nigerian). In Enugu, Kaduna and Abuja, things were not quite what they should have been. When FIFA’s Vice President, Jack Warner led the body’s delegation to the U.J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar in the lead up to the tournament, Warner was said to have told some other state officials should “take a walk to Calabar to learn the basic distinction between aspiration and achievement.”

This disparity in organisational success shows us that for parts of Nigeria (and eventually the whole) to make real progress, there has to be competition among the constituent parts of the country. The entire point of being a federation is that big, diverse and multi-ethnic constituents are allowed a significant degree of freedom in

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Cheta Nwanze directing their affairs in ways that account for the unique circumstances of their geographic, social and political situation. It is impracticable to demand that Akwa Ibom and Borno structure their affairs the same way. This is why restructuring is key.

As we are witnessing the unravelling of the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States, it has been instructive to watch how Governors Andrew Cuomo in New York and Gavin Newsom in California have taken charge of the crises in their states. This is why federal states, on the whole, have worked better than other forms of representative government. A return, if you may, to the arrangement that obtained in our postindependence democracy where the regions were in direct competition with one another, and each was allowed to develop at its own pace.

Each state in Nigeria has its own uniqueness, and no one should be allowed to hold any other back.

Cheta Nwanze is the lead partner at SBM Intelligence and heads the company’s research desk.

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BUSINESS DAY

Tuesday 31 March 2020

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Good economics for African (Nigerian) times (3) Rafiq Raji

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hy are there so few cash transfer programs, anywhere in the world, that are universal and come without strings attached? One simple reason is money. Universal programs in which no one is excluded are expensive…Initially, most of the money will have to come from shutting down other programs...” (Banerjee & Duflo, 2019).

Nothing short of cash transfers will do With a significant reduction in economic activity due to COVID-19 restrictions, there is likely a substantial reduction in money supply in tandem. Many companies would probably lay off staff, cut salaries and even close shop. Participants in the informal economy, forced to stay at home, and deprived of an income, would have no new money to spend.

A central bank could fill that gap by printing money equivalent to the shortfall for the purpose of unconditional cash transfers.

This is not theory. The United States has passed into law a $2 tril-

lion stimulus package to deal with the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis. It includes a direct payment of $1,200 to each American citizen and $500 per child. Small and medium-sized enterprises would also be able to tap $350 billion in loans. Big companies would similarly have access to $500 billion in loans.

How would it be funded? Money printing, of course. And are there not worries about inflation and a ballooning of the fiscal deficit?

In an emergency, these concerns are insignificant. Is this a solution available to other countries? If the medium of exchange in a country is a currency issued by its central bank, yes, of course.

Besides, the consequent increase in the money supply could simply amount to bringing the overall level back to normal, after likely falling off due to the restrictions, with a likely non-differential inflationary impact.

But even if that turns out to not be the case, that is, an above-normal increase in the money supply with a resultant inflationary impact of similar magnitude, the increase in the price level might not be as significant as some fear.

This is because ordinarily, sellers of essential goods like food and others, would likely hike prices on the back of hoarding behaviour regardless. That is, even before demand and supply dynamics dictate a need for one. What giving money to everyone to buy essentials does is ensure that it is not only the rich that are

able to buy whatever limited stock of goods that are available.

But if there is more money chasing fewer goods, would that not stoke inflation? In the absence of controls, yes it would. Rationing, which is already being done in some countries, would be necessary, clearly. And some countries have already started banning the export of food and crucial medicines.

Besides, the global lockdown has already started to create international trade-related logistical challenges: transporting imported goods is increasingly now with some great difficulty. Available food for sale in many countries now is probably just those imported and stored in silos long before restrictions took effect; and of course, those produced locally.

The other concern could be that the cash transfers may be diverted to other purposes by recipients? Yes, they could. But if well managed, the proportion diverted might not be differential. Besides, research suggests most of the money from cash transfers tend to use for the desired purposes by recipients.

What about those without a bank account and/or debit card? There would need to be a tailor-made solution for those. The authorities already have a database of the very poor for its social programmes and an existing system for transferring cash to them.

Besides, the authorities could simply announce that those without bank accounts come to designated

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Besides, the global lockdown has already started to create international trade-related logistical challenges: transporting imported goods is increasingly now with some great difficulty.

Available food for sale in many countries now is probably just those imported and stored in silos long before restrictions took effect; and of course, those produced locally

government centres to receive cash or the equivalent in food supplies and also get registered with one of the public social programmes in tandem.

How much would it cost Nigeria to pay the N30,000 minimum wage to its 40 million individual bank account holders for 3 months, say?

N3.6 trillion; about a third of the N11 trillion 2020 budget.

With people staying at home and the world on holiday, who would work on any of the planned capital projects of the government for the remainder of the year? As there might clearly not even be projects for the government to spend money on, it could as well get the money into the pockets of citizens to spend. Printing money might not even be necessary for the task. Reallocations and cuts could simply be made to the 2020 budget to accommodate it.

Besides, there is already elite and political support for an unconditional cash transfer programme.

Senior leaders in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have already come out in support of one. A taciturn President Muhammadu Buhari thus far probably now has an opportunity to speak to his people about some really good news in this time of general despair. And no, it is not populism.

It is common sense.

“Dr Raji is chief economist at Macroafricaintel.

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

One person’s glimpse of life after the virus

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his seems a good time to look towards life after the coronavirus.

We say this because media coverage is rightly dominated by the current impact of the virus and perhaps the reading public would like a change.

Also, we have our reservations about much of the data cited in the media, most of all the use of graphs to tell people in country A that, based upon the pattern evident in country B, they should expect the peak impact of the virus in, for example, ten or twelve days. Statisticians are taught to compare apples with other apples, not with pears. The graphs failed to look closely at methodology in different jurisdictions. A study of the different ways that hospitals and health authorities across the world report the cause of death would be a decent place to start.

Our elected leaders like to calm us by pledging that ‘it won’t happen again’ and that they will be better prepared next time.

A negative event happens, and the message of the prime minister, chief executive or head of the household is similar. This sounds reassuring but the emergence of the virus could not have been predicted.

(We have not consulted Nostradamus, the sixteenth century French physician and astrologer, for any relevant prophesies.) In the last decade there was the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which was felt mostly in Asia. This could explain why some governments in the region such as Singapore moved more quickly and had

more equipment to tackle this latest respiratory disease.

Our take on life after the virus should be shaped by grasping the scale of the resources that have been committed to fighting it.

The balance sheet of the US Federal Reserve has reached $5trn or roughly twelve times the size of the Nigerian economy.

The CBN governor has outlined a rescue package totaling N3.25trn, equivalent to about 2 percent of GDP. In the UK, the first (and larger) of two support programmes announced by the Chancellor was costed at 12 per cent.

Governments have very different resources that they can devote to shielding their populations from the impact of the virus but they have all created a huge bill for years to come. The UK government made its final repayments under the post-WW2 Marshall Plan in 2006. It would be foolish to assume that the bills will always be serviceable at the prevailing low interest rates. At some point, the rising supply of debt issuance will bring a marked pick-up in borrowing costs.

Particularly in the Western world, the virus has shattered a popular view that the state should help everybody because it has the resources to do so. One message from its politicians, if we are prepared to plough through pages of verbiage, is that they cannot protect every business and very citizen.

Such was the official thinking in the Soviet system (that the state meets all our needs from the cradle to the grave), and it did not

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last 70 years. For an ideology before which many still prostrate themselves, this was a short life.

As the state evolves in the months and years ahead, we see an enlargement of its role in the provision of specific services (health obviously but education and training too). The electoral pressure will weigh upon governments of all political persuasions. Free-market liberals have suffered a major setback. Tax cuts seems a long way off at this point.

Globalisation was already under pressure and we think that it has now taken another huge hit. Without theorizing about the nationality of the virus of course, we wonder whether multinationals can now feel comfortable with heavily-concentrated international supply chains. Clothing, technology and other companies will be reviewing strategy. Buy the spare parts abroad by all means but from a number of sources!

We see a tightening of border controls and visa restrictions coming. In some countries the authorities appear to have got on top of the virus, only to face a second wave from international travelers. Exposure to foreign tourism can do wonders for the balance of payments and for job creation too yet at the same time it is surely not a coincidence that South Africa and Kenya are now seeing a steep pick-up in incidence of the virus. To extend this thinking without any scientific basis whatsoever, Nigeria is hardly a tourist destination and the annual return of its huge diaspora in December/

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Gregory Kronsten

January probably finished in time.

Ten of thousands of Indians are at school or university abroad, mostly in the US and the UK. The institutions closed and they flew home. Despite stringent checks and tests, including mandatory quarantine, set up at all Indian airports, we have to assume that the virus made its way through the controls.

We will get over it at some point, as our leaders tell us, but we will be living in a world with a difference: not necessarily better or worse but different and with our collective wings clipped. They are not our favourite breed but it is hard not to feel a little sympathy for our elected leaders.

They are now earning their perks of office.

In quieter times, they cannot do right by everybody. Now the accusations in the air cover life and death.

Kronsten is the head, macroeconomic & fixed income research at FBNQuest

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Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

EDITORIAL Publisher/Editor-in-chief

Frank Aigbogun editor Patrick Atuanya

Nigeria equities in the time of coronavirus Investors look beyond exchange rate readjustment

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

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) Ignatius Chukwu

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f a devaluation of the naira was the sole factor that decided the price of stocks on the exchange, foreign and local investors would be flocking to the Nigerian Stock Exchange Market (NSE) now.

There is more, however, to a stock price than the devaluation.

On Mar 20, the Central Bank of Nigeria technically devalued the naira; making it cheaper to the dollar. It moved the rate the at which the dollar is sold to foreign portfolio investors from N366.7 to N380.2. The next day, the official exchange rate which was priced at N307/$ was moved to a “market determined” rate of N360 to a dollar. This isn’t without implication to the Nigerian stock market. Although some analysts believe that an exchange rate between 400 and 450, naira would reflect more the forces of demand and supply.

A devaluation should see foreign investors flock to the stock market given the low levels fundamentally strong stocks are currently trading. The Covid-19

outbreak coupled with the oil price slump are double whammies that have hit the Nigerian economy.

Even so foreign investors aren’t investing, depriving the bleeding stock market the reprieve it needs.

Meanwhile, about 32 central banks across the globe have been forced to cut their interest rates following the outbreak of Covid-19.

In effect, lower borrowing costs in advanced economies creates an opportunity for carry trade which should benefit emerging and frontier economies like Nigeria with higher rates.

However, the risky perception of the economy has made investors hold back cash, some take flight to safety causing the market to bleed further, while others turn bargain hunters – taking short term advantage of cheap stocks and selling off at a more favourable price.

Savvy investors make investment decisions on a number of factors.

These include political climate, industry regulations, company earnings, economic conditions, regulatory consistency and clarity etc.

Unfortunately, poor political cli-

mate, economic conditions, policy obscurity and inconsistencies make the equity market in Nigeria less attractive to foreign investors at a time like this.

These factors have made investors thickly sceptical over the years. More recently, their doubts are about the role of a central bank that isn’t immune from political interference which has led to unorthodox policies that favour the federal government.

In the last week, the exposure of top officials of the federal government to the infectious disease has further complicated matters. Most are preoccupied with self-isolating while they await their tests and channelling their efforts at fixing a broken healthcare system – their only guarantee of survival if they test positive and develop severe symptoms. The health of the economy is now secondary as the global economy slides into a recession.

Standard & Poor (S&P), one of the world’s top rating agencies, downgraded Nigeria’s credit rating barely a month after lowering the nation’s outlook from stable to

negative. Nigeria’s long-term credit was downgraded from B to B- on Thursday. S&P feared that Nigeria may not be able to mitigate the effect of low oil prices and at the same meet financial obligations with falling foreign reserves.

The nation’s foreign reserves dipped to $35 billion in March 2020 from $45 billion last June as it struggles to find buyers for 70 percent of its oil cargoes. An oil glut at record low prices has further dampened interest in the Nigerian stock market.

As at Friday, the Nigeria stock market had shed N1 trillion in market value while the outlook in the short to medium term remains bleak.

Changing the narrative isn’t a rocket science. Investors seek well defined, clear and consistent policies that are market driven.

This resonates with the need for bold reforms from the fiscal and monetary sides of authority. Also, the CBN must regain its autonomy, quarantine itself against political interference, and must avoid being behind the global policy curve.

HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES Adeola Obisesan

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Naira devaluation: Cracking-down on dollar price gouging is a matter of national security Adeyemi Adebiyi

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ikipedia describes price gouging as a term referring to when a seller increases the prices of goods, services or commodities to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair, and is considered exploitative, potentially to an unethical extent. Price gouging usually occurs after a demand or supply shock. Common examples include price increase of basic necessities after hurricanes or other natural disasters.

There is no gainsaying that the sellers of foreign currencies, particularly the dollar, have sharply increased the prices to a high level that is depicting of the definition of price gouging, especially when considering the cause and effect, together with the conditions in which the price is increased.

Similar to profiteering and arbitrage, the defining moment for price gouging is the increase in price of basic necessities, particularly under a state of emergency condition that heavily impacts on demand or supply. Though common examples may include price increase of basic neces-

sities after hurricanes or other natural disasters, increasing the price of dollar (before the CBN did), following the global pandemic of the COVID-19 and the plummeted oil price, is equally a perfect example of price gouging, economically speaking.

With this year’s $37 billion budget passed at a benchmark oil price of $57 per barrel-nearly double its current price, sharply increasing depleting external resource, rapidly growing pace of outflow than inflow of foreign capitals, consistent negative current account balances and massive sell-offs, Nigeria’s economy is looking strongly hit by a tsunami, hurricane or a ballistic missile.

Nigeria, a mono economy, being an oil (and dollarized) economically dependent nation needs to be declared a state of emergency, given our national security dilemma as it is now so easy to acknowledge that the dollar is a basic necessity for the survival of our economy, even much more than hand sanitizers, ventilators and face masks are for nations having the strongest battle with COVID-19.

The most significant cause of the increased dollar price is dwindling supply in the face of growing demand. Since there are limited investment opportunities, some people tend to have a perspective at foreign currencies- particularly the dollar as a very profitable investment, just

as people tend to look at land; rather than buy to build, they buy to hold.

Similarly, instead of using dollar for productive reasons, these people stock it for speculative reasons, expecting that the price will soon go up and then they can sell at a huge profit.

Hoarding and speculating the dollar, which is an essential, are unhealthy economic behaviours with consequences that are life threatening to our economy and the people. Decisive actions need to come from legislators and finance ministry, not just the CBN. The low oil price is largely caused by external or international factors, and so is its correction dependent on it. Whilst revoking, without option for renewal, the licenses of the FX dealers involved in this act, one of the drastic measures the government can take is to make illegal, savings in dollar of more than a certain amount (say $10,000) over certain duration (say 6 months). Some necessary exemptions may be made. The aim of this is to curb speculation, reduce the demand for dollar, release dollar for productive reasons, let the government be in control of more dollar to support our nation’s financial position, and ultimately fix the inefficiencies in the marketplace by helping to meet necessary demands with supply.

In tough times like this, when the Minister of Finance has declared that the country will go into recession if

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In tough times like this, when the Minister of Finance has declared that the country will go into recession if the Coronavirus pandemic persists longer than six months, it is dire for extreme measures to be taken to allow for mitigation of the damages and quick recovery from our economic losses

the Coronavirus pandemic persists longer than six months, it is dire for extreme measures to be taken to allow for mitigation of the damages and quick recovery from our economic losses.

In the same manner that the US President, Donald Trump, has succumbed to the overwhelming pressure to invoke a national security law, Defense Production Act, compelling General Motors to mass produce breathing equipment for the survival of the people of America, the legislative and economic leadership of our nation needs to act in congeniality with other world leaders and invoke actions necessary for our national security, which has been put at risk by the scarcity of dollars that has been created by some criminals through their hoarding and speculative activities.

In a state of emergency, putting the CBN in a much weaker position to salvage the economy by hoarding the dollar that can prevent the devaluation of the naira, just to turn a huge profit, is genocidal. No argument is enough to support the motion that price gouging fixes the inefficiencies in the marketplace by helping to meet high demands with supply.

Adeyemi is an experienced real estate investment & advisory professional and economist. adebiyiadeyemi@outlook.com

Kingsley Moghalu’s statement on the Covid-19 crisis

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he Coronavirus Disease-2019 (Covid-19) epidemic presents a difficult and challenging time for the world and our country Nigeria. This crisis has security, social and economic dimensions, and we must now and in its aftermath fundamentally re-examine our patterns of thinking, acting, citizenship and leadership, and how this all translates into governance.

I commend the federal government of Nigeria and State Governments, as well as the Nigerian private sector, for their progressively gallant efforts to protect our citizens from the ravages of Covid-19. Much more, however, remains to be done, and we must recognize the underlying prior failures of leadership, governance and citizenship that have left us uniquely vulnerable.

Apart from the absence of healthcare infrastructure to handle large numbers of coronavirus patients should this become the case --as is likely – there is the unique challenge posed by widespread poverty. This is reflected in the large crowds of the urban poor in commercial cities such as Lagos, Kano, Onitsha and Aba, congested into tight spaces and seemingly oblivious to the requirement for social distance as they engage in their daily “hustle” for subsistence. This imperative of poverty is the greatest immediate threat to curtailing the spread of Covid-19 in Nigeria.

First, in addition to measures already taken, the federal government of Nigeria should shut down the whole country for one month, barring only existentially essential services. This is necessary in order to give more time for contact tracing, to reduce community spread of the disease, especially in urban slums and rural areas, import and deploy testing kits, and to deal with emergency treatments while it can still conceivably be handled. The Nigerian police and, if necessary, the Nigerian Army, should enforce this measure across the country.

Even in several economically advanced nations, compliance with shut-downs is a

huge challenge, let alone in a country in which literacy and education levels are not what they should be. There also has to be much stronger communication about the coronavirus pandemic, and what citizens need to do, in local languages. Another reason for a complete, enforced shut-down is the failure of Nigerian citizens inherent in overzealous religion, where citizens continue to insist on gathering in large crowds in churches and mosques against public health advice. This tendency flies in the face of the World Health Organization’s recent confirmation that Covid-19 is not only spread by physical contact through our hands touching our mouths, noses and eyes, but is also airborne for limited periods.

Second, what should we do about the loss of livelihood for our already poor and vulnerable people? Here is where our lack of fiscal savings and a real fund for the rainy day become truly painful. The budgets of federal and state governments must now be COMPLETELY re-programmed to focus on Covid-19 in 2020.

With the exception of security and the payment of salaries, not much else should really matter now. We are at war with an invisible enemy. The N50 billion fund established by the Central Bank of Nigeria for families and small businesses will not be adequate to address the crisis if and when it escalates.

The fiscal authorities must plan and make provision for the subsistence funding of all extremely poor Nigerians and individual citizens, numbering approximately 100 million, for 30 days in this scenario. In a back-of-the-envelope calculation, if a sum of N20,000 were to be made available for every impoverished family to stock on food and supplies for a month in a Covid-19 total shutdown scenario, this would require an intervention of N2 trillion! Even the N10-trillion federal government budget for 2020 may not be able to carry this burden, since it is based on projections have turned out (as usual) to be unrealistic because of reliance on crude oil revenue and the absence of a broad base

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of domestic taxation. This would be possible, however, if the burden were to be split with state governments. Additionally, members of the National Assembly should donate 50 percent of their emoluments to this effort.

Third, as I have emphasised in recent interviews, the Covid-19 crisis has graphically exposed the failure of the federal and state governments to invest adequately in human capital – healthcare and education – as a priority. This is incompetent governance, pure and simple.

Nothing is more fundamental than the health of Nigerians, which gets too little a portion of government budgets. Bearing in mind that Nigerian households in an already-impoverished population bear 70% of healthcare expenses out of pocket, the federal government must now urgently commence funding of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund with 1 percent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund as provided in the Nigerian Health Act (2014).

Fourth, our economy appears headed for a second recession in four years. The Covid-19 crisis further demonstrates the ludicrousness of the now-suspended plan to borrow $22.7 from foreign countries (mainly China) for “infrastructure”. That plan should be cancelled completely.

The Nigerian government will likely not be able to service (let alone repay) such debt in the next few years. We need urgent fiscal reforms immediately after the coronavirus crisis. Our economy must become truly diversified away from crude oil. The petrol subsidy needs to be removed and the fuel pump price deregulated, with savings from subsidy removal invested urgently in the health and education sectors.

Foreign exchange reforms that truly incentivise a shift away from oil-dependency through increased manufacturing and export trade remain urgently needed.

The naira should be strategically and proactively devalued, and then align this move with appropriate fiscal and trade policy rather than, as is often the case, having devaluations forced on Nigerians with no accompanying policy

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KINGSLEY MOGHALU

reforms. The CBN should scrap its forex-access restrictions on the importation of over 40 items.

Our fiscal authorities should instead impose high tariffs on items perceived as “luxury” or non-essential (and generate revenues from such tariffs), while industrial and trade policy should establish subsidies and other incentives for domestic manufacturers, especially those that can provide proof of export orders that will bring in hard currency and take advantage of the naira devaluation in the international market. If this approach is adopted, Nigeria will progressively wean itself from crude-oil revenue dependency. This is how a structural transformation of the Nigerian economy can happen.

Political will, policy shifts and transparently administered market incentives, not rhetoric, are essential to achieve this goal.

Finally, Covid-19 in Nigeria is a disease imported and spread by the elite class. Unfortunately, rich and poor will bear its brunt.

While we must have sympathy for any victim of Covid-19 regardless of social status, and many have contracted the virus through little personal fault, the irresponsible failure of some elite individuals to abide by public health protocols in recent weeks, hosting and attending birthday parties, declining to self-quarantine as circumstances require, as well as submitting false contact information following international airline travel, is noteworthy.

No one of us is immune from Covid-19, and we must remain even more vigilant. But we must not waste this crisis. We must learn and apply its important lessons as a country.

Kingsley Moghalu is a Convener, To Build a Nation (TBAN)

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Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES & MARKETS

Company news analysis insight

Banking

Stocks headed for March’s biggest decline in over a decade after volatile month SEGUN ADAMS

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i g e r i a n stocks will end March with their w o r s t p e rformance in over 10 years following volatile trading in the month due to the c o ro n av i r u s p a n d e m i c fallout.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index has declined around 16% as of the close of trade in Lagos Friday, making it the biggest for investors for the month since 2010 at least, while trade on the bourse has been most erratic since January 2018.

St o c k s i n Ma rc h re corded their biggest mean deviations indicating huge price swings last seen about two years ago.

A depressing outlook on the domestic economy trailed outbreak of the COVID-19 which depressed oil price, Nigeria’s main export, and subsequently affected domestic economic activities as social-distancing measures forced non-essential businesses in Lagos, the country’s commercial capital, to halt operations.

In other parts of the country, a similar measure has been put in place to cu rb t h e sp rea d o f t he

disease which as of noon Sunday stood close to 100 confirmed cases in Nigeria.

But economist and exper ts including the Finance Minister Z ainab Ahmed have warned that Nigeria could enter a recession in six months, an outlook that could lower expectations for the stock market in 2020 where the NSE recorded its best start to a year since 2013 at least.

Data on manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed manufacturing sentiments in March at its lowest in almost three years, while non-manufacturing PMI entered “recession zone” or fell below 50 points or the first time since 2017.

The PMI is considered by some analysts and economists to be a predictive tool for output growth.

With the world already i n a re c e s s i o n a c c o rd -

ing to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week, current economic challenges are not exclusive to Nigeria.

H o w e v e r, N i g e r i a n stocks at multi-year lows and attractive valuations will be balanced by considerations around policy response by the government to the crisis which has now forced an adjustment of currency value by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

L a s t w e e k , Ni g e r i a’s long-term rating was lowered from B to B- (shortterm still B) by S&P because it believed that the FG’s policy responses are unlikely to be enough to mitigate the effect of lower oil prices which will hurt Nigeria’s external and fiscal positions, and put further pressure on the foreign exchange reserve.

So far fiscal stimulus includes a downward budget revision, lower fuel

price, relief by the FIRS and passage (by lawmakers) of an Emergency Economic Stimulus Bill that would suspend corporate taxes, place a moratorium on mortgages, remove fiscal bottlenecks on the importation of medical and other essentials among other things.

Similarly, Fitch Ratings downgraded the threehighest rated banks in Nigeria to Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) ‘B’ and Viability Rating (VR) ‘b’, and placed National Ratings of all 10 rated Nigerian banks (excluding Stanbic IBTC Holdings) on Rating Watch Negative (RWN). “... all Nigerian banks will face material pressures from a weaker operating environment over the next few months given the oil price crash, a potential further devaluation of the Nigerian naira and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals and businesses,” Fitch said.

Analysts say the shortterm outlook is not favourable but investors with l o ng - t e r m ou t l o o k ca n take advantage of the deep discount in the market to position in fundamentally sound stocks ahead of improvements in the global and domestic economy.

Bonds

AfDB raises $3billion bond program in fight against Coronavirus OLUFIKAYO OWOEYE

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he African Development Bank (AfDB) sold a record $3 billion debt issue joining the fold of multilateral and public lenders ramping up efforts to raise financing to help combat the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

The three-year bond, the AfdB’s biggest dollar issue to date, aims to provide “support and financing to countries and businesses fighting against COVID-19”, a note from a lead manager of the issue said.

Through this Fight CO-

....as other development agencies join in CONVID-19 fight VID-19 Social Bond, investors will be able to support African communities to help curb the spread of the virus and overcome the many challenges caused by the outbreak,” the statement said.

Order books grew to more than $4.6 billion, according to lead managers.

The bond will pay a coupon of 0.75%.

The development bank, which is AAA-rated, is just one of a number of public issuers selling fresh debt linked to efforts to combat the virus spread.

The International Finance Corp has also sold a $1 billion dollar-denominated social bond as part of the World Bank Group’s $12 billion coronavirus financing package.

While on Thursday, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) launched on a five-year dollar-denominated bond expected to price in the days to come.

It is part of the IADB’s $2 billion programme aimed at helping “countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean cope with challenges posed by the pan-

www.businessday.ng

demic”, according to another term sheet.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) during the week announced a $3-billion facility, named Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA), to help African countries deal with the economic and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fund, PATIMFA, approved by the Bank’s Board of Directors during its sitting on 20 March, will provide financing to assist Afreximbank member countries to adjust in an orderly manner

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to the financial, economic and health services shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to information released by the Bank.

It will support member country central banks, and other financial institutions to meet trade debt payments that fall due and to avert trade payment defaults, said Afreximbank.

It will also be available to support and stabilize the foreign exchange resources of central banks of member countries, enabling them to support critical imports under emergency conditions.

In addition, PATIMFA @Businessdayng

will assist member countries whose fiscal revenues are tied to specific export revenues, such as mineral royalties, to manage any sudden fiscal revenue declines as a result of reduced export earnings.

It will also provide emergency trade finance facilities for import of urgent needs to combat the pandemic, including medicine, medical equipment, hospital refitting, etc.

The facility will be available through direct funding, lines of credit, guarantees, cross-currency swaps and other similar instruments, according to Afreximbank.

Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

COMPANIES&MARKETS

15

Business Event

Banking

COVID-19: Heritage Bank offers seamless service to stakeholders HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

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s the world g ra p p l e w i t h the impact of t h e ou tb re a k of Coronavirus pandemic, which has continued to cause worldwide challenges for healthcare systems, economies and corporate organisations, Heritage Bank Plc have taken practicable steps to offer seamless services to customers, whilst ensuring the health and safety of their workers and others at the workplace.

The bank, however, adopted a crisis response measures in place to minimise and manage the risk arising from the disease known as COVID-19 and ensure that the payment infrastructure and logistics to maintain operations going as various State governments brace up for lockdown to contain the pandemic.

Th e ba n k ’s ma nag ement in a statement explained that part of its business continuity management emanating from Heritage Bank’s corporate

strategy was to guarantee seamless service delivery to the various stakeholders, adopt measures to tackle significant business risk that might have growth impact on economy, whilst taken reasonably practicable steps to minimize the risk.

According to Heritage Bank, incognizant with the protocols proffered by the World Health Organisation, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and other health agencies, Heritage Bank provided a work environment that is without risk to health and safety and adequate facilities for workers in carrying out their work, so far as is reasonably practicable.

The statement noted that the Bank has maintained a maximum of 10% of staff who constitute mainly Units heads and “must have” working from its premises during these times of uncer tainties, whilst others work remotely from home to adhere to the social distancing directive.

The bank further noted that efforts have been ongoing via its intranet and

other channels to keep staff and customers upto-date with the latest COVID-19 information and provide clear direction and guidance expected of workers and customers. “ We h a v e e n f o r c e d and continued to monitor the need for workers to practice good hygiene, including: frequent hand washing, use of sanitizer, limiting contact with others, including through shaking hands covering their mouths while coughing or sneezing require workers to stay away from the workplace if they are unwell and not fit for work, and encourage them to seek medical advice as appropriate seek advice from health authorities immediately if there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19 and for staff who are arriving from affected countries to selfquarantine for 14days,” the financial institution stated.

To e n s u r e s e a m l e s s banking transactions, the bank explained that customers are constantly communicated to, to adopt its available 24/7 alternate electronic channels.

L-R: Solape Hammond, special adviser to the Lagos State Governor, office of sustainable development goals and investment; Taiwo Adejoro, head teacher, St. Mary’s Convent School; Dayanand Sriram, general manager, RB West Africa, and students of St Mary’s convent school.during the Dettol Clean Naija School Hygiene Program at St. Mary’s Convent School Lagos.

L-R: Affi Ibanga, Guest; Iyalode Alaba Lawson, global convener, Women Entrepreneurs and Professionals Development Networks; Thea Restovin, programme analyst, United Nations Women, and Chinny Stevens, chief executive officer, NextGen Media, during private screening of Chatroom Movie at residence of the Deputy British High Commissioner, at Ikoyi to celebrate the International Women’s 2020 in Lagos

CrustMine Consulting launches Rudder to enable SME’s remain profitable Modestus Anaesoronye

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oised with a drive to improve profitability of SME’s in Nigeria, CrustMine Consulting organizers of the Customer Service Conference has kick-off her “Rudder ” Programmme, a series of FREE MasterClasses on Customer Service and Leadership Development.

Ru d d e r p rov i d e s a n opportunity for current/ aspiring entrepreneurs, independent professionals, the employed, etc. to be exposed to customer relationship management best practices, develop leadership capacity, and strategies to keep customers coming back and network with one another.

Rudder became necessary because of the current state of service delivery in Nigeria and the current leadership capacities of businesses in Nigeria.

Commenting on “Rudder”, O’tega Samuel Emorwodia, managing director of CrustMine Consulting said that the company is on a mission to actively engage in the blossoming/thriving of small and medium enterprises in Nigeria.

Emorwodia speaking at the maiden edition, said, “‘Rudder’ is one of the armories in our arsenal and true to our vision of continually increasing individuals and organizations’ “bandwidth” to run holistic businesses”. It is hoped and believed that we will take “Rudder” across Nigeria as organizations/businesses open their doors to us after this national COVID-19 issue is over and reach out to us to provide these series of FREE MasterClasses for them.”

In line with the directive of His Excellency, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on the ban of public gathering above 50 people, CrustMine Consulting adhere strictly to it with a www.businessday.ng

maximum attendance of 15 persons.

“Rudder” was attended by entrepreneurs/business owners, independent professionals, client-facing employees and employees from various industries such as IT, maritime, manufacturing just to mention a few. This edition was supported by Akin Alabi who provided the FREE venue for “Rudder” and was presented with a Support Recognition plaque which was received in his stead by Deji ‘Mo at the venue.

Participants were highly engaged all through “Rudder ” as the y w ere instructed by experienced professionals, who took them through key areas of customer relationship management ; leadership development session to position them to lead better teams and do great work ; as well as unveil s t rat e g i e s t o e ng e n d e r continuous profit through Customer Service.

L-R: Alain Assounga, head , Nephrology unit , Nelson Mandela Medical School, SA; Mohamed NasrAllah, from Cairo University; Sam Yenyi, state coordinator, WHO; Ibijoke Sowoolu, first lady , Lagos State; Gabriel Sowemimo, chairman of the occasion ; Ebun Bamgboye, consultant physician/nephrologist , and Sola Aketi, representing , director of Nursing Services , Lagos State ministry of health , at the World Kidney Day 2020, themed chronic kidney disease” stop the epidemic in Africa” by Kidney Foundation for Africa in Lagos. Pic by Pius Okeosisi

Participants at the CrustMine Consulting Customer Service Conference on ‘Rudder’ Programmme, a series of FREE MasterClasses on Customer Service and Leadership development held in Lagos

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16

Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Media business Study gives brands direction on how to stay connected in pandemic world Daniel Obi

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atest consumer study by Kantar has identified clear pitfalls to be avoided in advertising during the time of pandemic such as the world is experiencing today.

In the report which polled 25,000 consumers across over 30 countries including Nigeria, 75% of the consumers identified exploiting coronavirus situation to promote brands will be a drawback for brands.

During this time, 40% of the respondents said brands should avoid humorous tones in their campaigns.

As brands are sceptical on advertising during this time, the report said, there is very little expectation that brands should stop advertising with only 8% of respondents identifying it as a priority for brands.

As many brands consider ‘going dark’ to save costs Kantar estimates that a six-month absence from TV will result in a 39% reduction in total brand communication awareness, potentially delaying recovery

L-R: Okwudili Ogbuenyi; CEO Valec Electric Ltd, receiving his Ambassadorship award from the secretary general of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Comrade Suleiman Abubakar, secretary general, NYCN, in Port Harcourt, recently. With them is Ekan David, project manager Valec Electric Ltd.

in the post-pandemic world.

The report said for those that do continue advertising, a clear majority of consumers expect advertising to make a positive contribution to society; 77% of the consumers said the advertising should ‘Talk about how the brand is helpful in the new everyday life’; 75% said companies should

‘Inform about their efforts to face the situation’, while 70 % said advertisement should offer a reassuring tone. 70% The report also identified an increase in media consumption across channels as countries, including Nigeria move deeper into the coronavirus pandemic. But among all the media news channels

which have gained in usage, traditional nationwide broadcast and newspapers are the most trusted sources of information, says Kantar report.

The report said 52% of the 25,000 consumers across over 30 countries polled identified traditional media (broadcast and newspapers) as ‘Trustworthy’ source.

BD Brand Talk

Putting the customer first and delivering a consistent brand experience Mike Umogun

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he last time we checked customer is still the king and they are always right in their thinking and position. According to Barbara Cador of Kantar Insight more than ever, customer experience makes or breaks brands. Who remembers the United Airlines brand crisis, in which $1.4 billion in value was wiped out overnight when a passenger’s bad experience went viral on social media? An incident of less than two minutes which set the airlines backward for many years.

For instance, security concern used to be the big driver for the choice of banks in Nigeria, not anymore, customers assume when a license is issued by the Central Bank Nigeria security concerns must have been addressed and sorted. Banks must therefore provide optimum service and nothing more.

To grow value, brands have no choice but to deliver a great experience to their customers.

According to the head of customer service at First Bank Taiwo Shonekan the bank puts its stakeholders and the public alike at advantage in meeting their personal and business needs as it underscores the magic of its services through a hundred and a quarter of a century . The same can be said of most other banks.

Today what people want (and there-

fore on what they are spending more of their money) are memorable moments, so marketers must find ways to turn goods into experiences, and to find new sources of value to meet growing experientialdriven competition. The formula is simple: the better the experience, the more value commanded by a brand.

A 10-year longitudinal analysis of BrandZ data confirms that brands high in Experience Capital outperformed the market by up to 188 percent, while brands with low Experience Capital declined in value.

In many ways the importance of experience now dwarfs everything else. Experience is the real moment of truth, the one that confirms or denies the expectations created by prior contact with the brand, and yet we also know that many brands are failing to deliver consistent, relevant experiences in this complex new world.

According to Kantar’s Connected Life survey, 33 percent of consumers globally report an inconsistent quality of experience across online and offline touchpoints.

Five success factors can help brands put the customer first and deliver a consistent brand experience across all touch points: 1. A clearly articulated and understood brand promise. Do what you preach.

Under promise and over deliver.

2. Empowered employees who can provide proactive, responsive and empathetic service www.businessday.ng

3. Empowered customers free to ‘do it their way’ through frictionless and relevant digital and omni channel excellence.

4. The creation of lasting memories and positive emotional moments throughout the customer journey 5. The exceptional delivery of experiences that reinforce the brand choice and therefore generate loyalty, advocacy and greater customer lifetime value.

This recipe for success has massive implications for businesses around the world: they must create a holistic customer perspective through a seamless alignment of customer experience and brand strategy departments who can therefore no longer sit in organizational silos.

Going forward, senior leadership has a critical role in helping an organisation to make this change, ensuring that the processes which support each stage of the customer journey are designed and managed holistically by interdependent teams.

Finishing the way, we started … with the words of Barbara Cador of Kantar Insight “Every business must strive to create a different and better experience to everyone else. Never rest on your laurels.”

So, if a great customer experience truly starts at the top, why do so many business leaders seem to ignore it?

Michael. Umogun @kantarmillwardbrown.com

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“Government agency websites are regarded as trustworthy by only 48% of people, suggesting that government measures are not providing citizens around the world with assurances and security” while social media platforms are regarded by only 11% of people as a source of trustworthy information.

Kantar is the world’s foremost evidence-based insights and consulting company. In its latest report, the global firm spoke to over 25,000 people in over 30 countries including Nigeria between 14th and 23rd March 2020 with 500 interviews per country.

In later stages of the pandemic, the report said web browsing increased by 70%, followed by (traditional) TV viewing increasing by 63%. Social media engagement increased by 61% over normal usage rates.

According to the report, Whatsapp experienced the greatest gains in usage as people look to stay connected. In the early phase of the pandemic Whatsapp usage increased 27%, rising to 51% in the late phase of the pandemic. “Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram

have all experienced a 40%+ increase in usage from under 35-year olds”.

In spite of usage increase in social media, the report said there is a crisis in trust as traditional nationwide news channels (broadcast and newspaper) remain the most trusted sources of information.

The report also identified that some markets including Nigeria are more optimistic than others, believing that their economy will recover quickly once the situation dies down.

China was more optimistic with 67% followed by Nigeria with 58%. Saudi Arabia came third with 49%. South Africa 32% and Spain was less optimistic with 20%.

The report also showed that people are making many changes to their lifestyle in response to the outbreak.

This include washing hands more often/for longer period; avoiding non-essential social contact; avoiding visits to pubs, cafes and restaurants when possible; self-isolating at home; avoiding public transport when possible; and working from home.

Paga introduces measures aimed at reducing cash handling to slow spread of COVID-19

W

ith the global coronavirus outbreak and its level of uncertainty, Paga, mobile money and payment platform says it has taken measures to make life possible for Nigerians as the world experiences a pandemic with COVID-19.

Paga founder and Group CEO, Tayo Oviosu, said in a statement that the company has made adjustments to its fees aimed to help slow the spread of the Coronavirus by reducing cash handling in Nigeria. “Paga has adjusted its transaction fees for instore merchant payments and money transfers. During this time, merchants can save on transaction fees by accepting payments with Paga for Zero fees.

Customers can send money for free if sending to anyone using the recipient’s phone number or email address versus a bank account. Additionally, customers sending money to bank accounts also enjoy free money transfers for amounts below N5,000”.

The company also announced its innovative payment collections page available to all Paga customers - JustPaga.me. All Paga customers are eligible to get a free customized web page they can @Businessdayng

send out to collect money from anyone who owes them. People paying can pay using their bank cards or Paga account.

The company is taking these actions in response to the cases of Coronavirus recorded in the past week and the need to reduce handling cash as a way to slow the spread of the virus.

“During this period, we understand that people are experiencing a range of difficulties as they try to minimize the risk of exposure. Using mobile money on Paga is the best way to transact without needing physical cash. You can link multiple banks and transact from one place or load cash into the wallet. Your cash is always available to you anytime, anywhere.

We are pleased to support by proactively adjusting our fees to help Nigerians navigate the challenges and uncertainty caused by the Coronavirus” said Tayo Oviosu, Founder & Group CEO, Paga.

In addition, Paga has decided to have its employees work remotely and also taken steps to implement social distancing in the few cases where remote work is currently not feasible.

The company has a team of over 500 employees based in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

17

Branding

Coronavirus: The World is at war … Only prepared nations will win Daniel Obi

N

ations are at war with invisible enemy, coronavirus which has claimed several lives.

“We are at war with coronavirus, President Emmanuel Macron tells France recently. Other presidents have taken similar position.

Expressing worry over the rising death toll across the world, necessitating travel bans and border closures, a Nigerian organisation, Akin Fadeyi Foundation says “For the first time since after the second world war, the whole world is facing an anomalous challenge containing the deadly COVID-19. The virus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization following the high number of reported cases in China, Italy, Iran, Spain, Germany, S. Korea, France, US, UK and other countries, with a current record of

over 8,000 deaths and 219,000 reported cases”.

To fight this ‘’invisible, elusive enemy’’, countries have taken measures that will perhaps affect their economies. Some of the measures, Macron says were ‘unprecedented but circumstances demand for them’.

While some have buffers to sustain the economic impact of the measures, others will be hard hit.

It is interesting while developed and developing economies are taking similar steps to slow the progress of the disease, such as travel bans, border closures, tightening restric-

Covid-19 fallout - How brands should respond to declining sales Austin Efienamokwu

I

t is now a sad reality that the disruption which the coronavirus is creating is on the increase in Nigeria and, as should be expected, this is certainly creating some ripples and racking of nerves across the advertising industry. Among other things, consumers are travelling less; events are getting cancelled; there is disrupted supply chain and delivery; reduced retail sales and cancellations of many forms of public entertainment.

In these distressing times, it is important that we rally around with a sense of community and be the beacons of optimism. We are hopeful that in the very near future Covid-19 will pass and we can, right from now, look forward to the recovery period, which will certainly come.

The best thing we can do, in

the short term, is to maintain an audience-first approach; be fast; flexible and agile; to cater to the shift in media consumption and entertainment sources and, most importantly, prepare a smart and solid action plan for when life gets back to normal.

To start with, we need to be very mindful of: the continuum of pandemic phases.

We also need to bear in mind that a pandemic will always follow with a recovery phase. Thus, whilst we need to prepare for the short term the long run will remain just as important.

Now, what does Covid-19 mean for brands? Among other things, it means that brands should: A. Maintain a consumer-first mindset – In this regard, it is important to maintain a sense of optimism with sensitive brand messaging; reflect local consumers sentiment, emotional context and cultural norms with a utility

approach; consider the context of media placements, and maintain authenticity and support in messaging and content.

B. Think short term but don’t forget the long-term vision - To ensure this, brands must: Have short-term calibration plan but also keep the long term vision in focus; Responsibly maintain ad spend to win hearts and minds longer-term and continue mass awareness, media activities but with the right message for the climate.

C. Focus on digital and social, but TV is key – For this, brands have to: Ensure that the right content and assets are available (mobile, vertical, short-form, video); Utilise TV, video, streaming and online entertainment advertising opportunities to create connections with bored stay at home consumers; and Ensure all online communication is functioning adequately to respond to consumers in a timely manner and foster community.

D. Maintain digital effectiveness and quality – This, brands have to do by: Maintaining likability; Keeping messaging focused; Keeping branding prominent; Providing new information; Staying relevant and targeted; and Listening, Tracking and measuring sentiment.

E. Prepare for Recovery now by – Capturing the resurgence of demand; Preparing for physical and mental availability; Preparing ready promotions and incentives; and Keeping investments flexible to shift with changing tides.

Culled from Bizcommunity

www.businessday.ng

https://

tions on freedom of movement, suspending economic reforms and suspending international flights, closing shops, other countries are struggling with the over 45 percent fall in international oil price, below $30 per barrel occasioned by the global war on coronavirus and exacerbated by Saudi Arabia and Russia price battle.

Some countries such as Russia with $150 billion national wealth fund have shown confidence to withstand low oil prices and possible border lock down due to coronavirus for years but others like Nigeria with $32 billion external reserves may not display such assurance.

Nigeria with about 200 million population and oil accounting for about 95 percent of its exports revenue has shut itself from the world with closure of its international airports to flights. This includes both passenger and cargo flights into the country to checkmate the coronavirus. The country is also struggling with adjustments on its 2020 budget which relied on $57 per

barrel estimate.

The idea by the country officials may be to win the war against coronavirus first and take care of the implications of the measures later, but an analyst said the measures to fight coronavirus coupled with oil price fall will have severe implications on the 2.7 percent growth economy.

Nigeria is import dependent economy. The country‘s imports stood at about $23 billion as at 2018. The imports include fuels, machinery, vehicles, electrical, cereals and iron and steel. This figure according to government officials shows a drop from previous years due to various government interventions.

Nigeria is still theorising with economy diversification to obviate shocks from international markets while other countries have prepared in time of peace for this kind of coronavirus and oil price war.

It is expected that when the war is over, countries like Nigeria will take critical measures and reforms to regain lost economic grounds.

Nigeria needs to copy others, tell its positive stories to expand reputation index Daniel Obi

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igeria is struggling with image problems due to various factors including its historical inability to consistently project its positives. In absence of this, the negatives sometimes unconsciously promoted by the local and international media have dominated the scene which the young Nigerians have grown to, not only accepted as norm but magnified.

For the country to therefore gradually and steadily wriggle out of this poor reputation index, Lanre Adisa, a top Nigerian advertising practitioner who is Chief Commercial Officer of Noah’s Ark challenged communication professionals, governments and all stakeholders in brand to make conscious, deliberate and organised efforts to tell the many positive stories of the country.

In the past, there were image management efforts by Ministry of Information such as ‘Nigeria: Good People, Great Nation’, ‘Heart of Africa Project’ and ‘Change Begins with me’ which did not make much impact.

But Adisa believed that continuous weaving of Nigeria’s positive stories in advertising messages will prove fruitful.

Speaking on the theme : “Advertising and the Power of the Nigerian Story”, at a special industry evening parley convened by Goddy Ofose, one of Nigeria’s brand journalists, Adisa firmly believed that advertis@Businessdayng

ing has huge mind-power with both intended and subtle messages. He said every piece of advertising message must be seen as an opportunity to shape minds and make impact for a particular era. “When the full power of advertising is unleashed, it shapes the story of a brand for good” he stressed.

He also explained that every piece of communication arts, be it an ad, music or film project provides a veritable platform to project Nigeria’s story.

Stating that nations tell theirs through what they do or what they say about themselves, Adisa said Nigerian story is vibrant and no one can tell it better than us. “So we need to shun all the excuse, the time to do that is now. The power is in our hands”.

Members of the panel that included top industry players like Felix King Eiremiokhae of Oracle; Martin Mabutho of MultiChoice; Jaiye Israel Opayemi of ChainReactions; Bunmi Oke of Ladybirds; Moji Saka of SoulCom and Odion Aleobua of Modion Communcations noted that outsiders have been telling the Nigerian story for too long. The panel also noted the lack of buy-in by some Nigerians in the Nigerian brand. They agreed that advertising and conscious efforts by the government to tell Nigerians story will turn things around.

Earlier in his welcome address, Goddy Ofose, said the event was designed to bring together industry leaders to rev up conversations that will move the Nigerian Marketing and Communications industry forward.

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Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

How to get refunds for school fees, season tickets and much more Before seeking reimbursement for services you can no longer use, it pays to know your consumer rights Lindsay Cook & Lucy Warwick-Ching

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oronavirus disruption has changed our dayto-day lives beyond all recognition. Millions of households face difficult choices about their personal finances as they seek to rebalance their budgets and manage the cash flow crunch.

Many will seek refunds on services they have committed to pay for, ranging from education to commuting costs and membership of gyms and clubs, which cannot be provided during the shutdown. Others are seeking refunds or insurance payouts on holidays and flights they had booked.

In such unprecedented times, it pays to know your consumer rights, but these must be weighed against warnings from smaller businesses that failure to pay for services could result in their financial collapse.

Private school fees The final bell rang on Friday March 20, when the government announced it was closing schools to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Experts say it is unlikely pupils will return before the end of the summer term and parents with children at fee-paying schools are asking whether they still have to pay.

Some 615,000 children attend independent schools in the UK, with annual fees as high as £45,000 for boarding schools and £25,000 a year for some London day schools.

Under normal circumstances, the next payment date would be for the summer term due at the end of the Easter holidays in April. So will they be expected to pay?

“This is a hugely difficult time for everyone,” says Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council.

“Schools are under immense pressures and this is one of the issues that will be dealt with at school level, depending on their individual policies and contracts with parents.

“We hope parents will bear with schools who need time to clarify government support measures and take stock of their situation and ongoing operations.

They are focused on the welfare of their school communities and ensuring continuation of teaching and learning.

“Independent schools are fortunate to have access to effective online learning resources, enabling them to continue education remotely using technological solutions.”

Parents facing financial difficulties should contact their school as soon as possible, says Neil Roskilly, chief executive of the Independent Schools Association. All independent schools offer financial help to families, and while it is usually offered when a child enters a school, it can be extended to those families whose financial circumstances change.

Coronavirus and your money Most private schools have funds available for this situation and can also defer fees if there is the prospect of future employment. This should be over a costed and reasonable timescale, usually is up to 12 months.

Schools rarely charge interest.

To help bridge the gap between parental incomes and fees, more than £1bn a year is now provided in fee assistance to over 175,000 students, with about half allocated through means-testing.

“Schools are trying their best to maintain a ‘continuity of education’ via online technology and most parents we have spoken to understand that, and are choosing not to withhold fees,” says Mr Roskilly. “But in some cases, where schools have money in reserves, they are considering returning some of those fees to parents.”

Ellie Spencer, associate solicitor in the commercial dispute resolution team at law firm Goodman Derrick, says: “Parents are paying for a service and they might be able to argue that the school is not providing that service. Even if the school is providing online teaching, this is not the whole service, so parents might be entitled to a discount.”

Private nurseries Parents of children at private nurseries in the UK can pay about £1,000 a month for 50 hours a week for a child under two, but in London, the average Ofsted-rated www.businessday.ng

facility charges between £70 and £85 a day.

Parents typically pay monthly for nurseries so most are receiving bills for April now when children are already at home.

Nurseries are reacting to the closures in different ways. While some are charging full fees, others are offering discounts for all and some cutting costs specifically for families who have suffered a severe loss of income.

Nurseries have contracts with parents that are entered into when the child starts and the terms and conditions tend to require parents to give a month’s notice. They also usually require parents to continue paying fees during an emergency closure, but previously these have tended to be for a few days because of problems with the building.

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association, says: “Whether parents continue to pay fees when a closure is outside of a nursery’s control will depend on the agreements between individual nurseries and their parents. We’re pushing the government hard to offer sufficient financial support so nursery businesses can remain sustainable.”

One parent with two children under five at nursery contacted FT Money to say: “I’ve just received my monthly £2,000 bill with no offer of a discount. It seems that parents — many of whom can now not go to work — are expected to keep the nurseries going without receiving a service.”

Lawyers say parents should negotiate. Edward Macey-Dare, a litigation and employment partner at Lee Bolton Monier-Williams, says: “Remember, nurseries are going to be under severe pressure as a result of the coronavirus situation and, if they play hardball, they are likely to face numerous parents giving

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notice to withdraw their children.

It seems to me, therefore, that parents have the upper hand in this situation when it comes to negotiating a reduction in fees or more favourable payment terms.”

But others warn that without the financial support, private nurseries could collapse. “Some childminders and nurseries have asked parents to continue to pay their fees to retain their children’s places, even if they are not permitted to offer them childcare services,” says Lynne Rowland, a tax partner at Moore Kingston Smith.

“This is perhaps understandable in the absence of clarity over how the special financial measures apply. But the government should consider offering families full tax relief for these costs, which for many families are as essential as their mortgage or rent payments.”

The government has said that funding for early years entitlements covering up to 30 hours of childcare will continue during any periods of nursery closures.

Some nurseries are encouraging key workers to continue sending their children into nursery so they can continue to access this government funding.

Rail season tickets For many commuters the cost of their annual season ticket is their second biggest monthly bill after their mortgage. To get the best deal, many pay upfront for the year, possibly with an interestfree loan from their employers.

Train companies say annual season tickets will be refunded pro-rata, but to get any money back commuters must have 12 weeks remaining on them. This is because they effectively get 12 weeks of free travel on an annual season ticket. Monthly season tickets need at least six days remaining and weekly ones at least two days. The £10 administrative fee will be waived. @Businessdayng

Someone who bought an annual season ticket for £4,980 at the beginning of the year should be able to get a refund for six months’ travel or £2,490. Refunds should be paid within 28 days.

Full refunds can also be claimed for advance and off-peak tickets booked but not used — apply via train company websites.

Transport for London is slightly more generous. It requires six weeks to remain on annual season tickets, seven days on a monthly ticket and three days on a seven-day ticket, and does not charge an administrative fee.

Apply for a refund via its website.

Many commuters pay to guarantee a place in their station car park by buying an annual season ticket. A typical permit costs over £1,000. Apply online for refunds to the company that runs the car park.

Sports subscriptions With no live football likely until June at the earliest and many other major sporting events cancelled or postponed, subscribers to Sky Sports can pause their sports subscription online and it will automatically resume when live football and other major sporting events return.

A message on Sky’s website reads: “While we expect that many of the recently postponed sports events will eventually go ahead, if you wish to pause your sports subscription in the meantime you will not be charged a fee to do so or be held to any notice period.”

Get in touch with the FT Money team Are you struggling with a financial issue, or want to know what your consumer rights are on these, and other subjects?

We encourage readers to contact us, in confidence, with questions about the financial issues they are facing as a result of the coronavirus to help inform our future coverage. Please email us: money@ft.com

Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

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How remote study is changing business school life The coronavirus crisis has created new ways to learn and collaborate Jonathan Moules

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degree,” says Sangeet Chowfla, president and chief executive of the Graduate Management Admission Council, the MBA test administrator.

“They like the ability to walk up to a professor in office hours, debate with classmates face to face and make connections with people in other industries who are their peers.”

Coronavirus has meant an abrupt end to many of the traditional attractions of business schools, including the chance to live on campus and develop a network that will be valuable for the rest of students’ careers.

But some students and their tutors are determined that those teaching and learning leadership skills should be taking this unexpected opportunity to develop smart uses for technology that transform the way people are taught in future.

There is a sense that the coronavirus crisis will prove the tipping point for online education, showing how it can be fully embedded into business degree programmes and winning over previously sceptical teaching staff.

“We do feel the students’ pain, the challenge they are facing, not just moving from face-to-face

teaching to a virtual classroom but having to study from home and concerns about the future jobs market,” says Paul Almeida, dean of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business in Washington DC. “But this crisis has planted seeds for innovation and transformation in the use of technology, about the potential for using our buildings differently so that people can study more flexibly and staff can telework.”

Now all his faculty are teaching online classes live, even those that previously resisted this. “I wouldn’t say the way we are doing it today is perfect, with most just presenting over Zoom, but it has started us on a journey,” he says.

Mr Almeida adds that faculty researchers will realise that when they are away from colleagues, they cannot only work remotely but might be visiting other college labs “where we can unleash the power of working across universities”.

There is a different challenge for students, many of whom have moved abroad to attend business school and have no way to get back to their family or have felt forced to return home to ride out the crisis.

‘‘

We are here to change our careers and as MBA students spend most of our time trying to find solutions to problems, so it feels like responding to this crisis is something I should be good at

‘‘

wo weeks ago Sofia Skevofylaka was sitting in a lecture hall at Imperial College Business School taking one of the final classes on the masters in innovation, entrepreneurship and management degree that she is due to finish in July.

Within 48 hours she was on a plane back to her family in Greece after the campus on Exhibition Road in London’s museum district was closed, and every tutorial, seminar and class was put online.

She does not expect to return.

“People started to get scared.

I was living nearby in Imperial’s student accommodation and I had a contract to stay until August. But I prefer to be with my family. It is one less stress,” Ms Skevofylaka says.

She now attends lectures from her laptop via Zoom, the video conferencing platform. As part of their entrepreneurship module, Ms Skevofylaka and a team of classmates used this system to together present a start-up pitch, including slide presentations, with each logging on from their respective homes. Investors joined the call to judge their performance alongside the course tutors.

“It is a bit weird to have to now look at everyone’s faces on the screen. When we attended lectures on campus we didn’t look at each other as much as we do on Zoom, but the school has shown how it can be used to complete all of our coursework,” Ms Skevofylaka says.

There is also uncertainty around jobs following graduation. Some of the people she knows have secured consulting roles, she says, but for others there are concerns. “I am working on a start-up idea, a family business with my mother, specialising in corporate training and HR. People are trying to adjust to find roles after graduation.”

This crisis has planted seeds for innovation and transformation in the use of technology Paul Almeida, dean, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business Business schools have had to react quickly to make their operations safe, closing campuses and moving lectures and tutorials online. Already, those in charge are getting calls from upset students, demanding tuition fee refunds, and from staff concerned about job security when the lockdown ends.

“There is a question about whether students will be happy to pay the fees for a full-time course when they are getting an online

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At London Business School the current MBA cohort have been organising virtual dinner parties and checking in with each other each evening on web conferencing systems.

“It is weird, but life goes on and I have time now to plan my future better than if I was in a full-time job,” says Ed Boyanoski, a first year student on the 21-month MBA course at London Business School.

“The job market is probably not going to be so amazing when I graduate next year, but what can I do about that? We are here to change our careers and as MBA students spend most of our time trying to find solutions to problems, so it feels like responding to this crisis is something I should be good at.”

The threat of recession and unemployment is a looming concern for students due to complete their studies this summer.

Ije Durga, a final year MBA student at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business graduated from law school in 2008 as the financial crisis unfolded. “The jobs market was pretty ugly with people getting job offers rescinded,” she says.

When Ms Durga finishes her final exams next month she will be preparing to move to Connecticut, where she will start work at a hedge fund. “I am one of the lucky ones,” she adds.

The crisis has prompted others to use their skills in the battle against the pandemic. When the coronavirus hit Germany, Sören Tesdorpf was in Berlin planning a flight to India for the social impact project required for his masters in management degree at the ESMT business school. He and four classmates had planned to compile a database of start-ups in remote Indian towns to help the small businesses attract investors. @Businessdayng

After the trip was cancelled and ESMT ended all classroom teaching on the campus — based in the former East German government headquarters — Mr Tesdorpf started thinking about how he could do something constructive to combat the pandemic.

He contacted the other team members on the India trip and together they created a website where people can record their symptoms anonymously to create a data set of known coronavirus cases globally.

“In 30 years’ time, when people ask me what you were doing during the coronavirus pandemic I don’t want to say I was just sitting around at home watching Netflix on the couch,” Mr Tesdorpf says.

Study Tubers keep boredom at bay As UK schools closed and exams were cancelled, a group of educational YouTube vloggers — the Study Tubers — felt compelled to help their fellow students, writes Amy O’Brien. “The moment the coronavirus measures were announced, my DMs were flooded with students panicking about what would happen to their grades and university offers,” says Varaidzo Kativhu, a 21-year-old Study Tuber and final year classical archaeology and ancient history student at Oxford university.

“There’s so much uncertainty. I had to speak to the other Study Tubers immediately.”

Six hours later, the StudyTube Project channel was live. At 6pm every day, one of the Study Tubers releases a video covering a topic from their specialism.

“We’re trying to provide an online makeshift version of a school, where you have a range of subjects,” Ms Kativhu explains.

“We want to show that you can keep your mind active and enjoy education without a teacher, classroom, textbook and exam.”

As students find themselves at home with more time on their hands, audience demand is high.

The new channel’s videos are already generating revenue, and the group decided any profits made will go to charities helping fight Covid-19.

“It’s a project for students by students,” she says, “to distract from how the world is turning upside down outside, and to show solidarity. We have no idea what’s going on, but for now, we just need to stick to the channel’s motto — one day at a time.”

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2020 © 2020 The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved. Please do not copy and paste FT articles and redistribute by email or post to the web.

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Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

EDUCATION

Weekly insight on current and future trends in education

Primary/Secondary

Higher

Human Capital

YABATECH holds public lecture … as former HOSF warns on climate change Mark Mayah

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ioneer tertiary institution of higher learning, Yaba College of Technology( YABATECH), has held the fourth edition of its Research and Public Lecture series with the former Head of Service of the Federation(HOSF), Oladapo Afolabi(Prof ), warning the country on the dire effects of climate change on the economy and sustainability.

Afolabi, who spoke on the topic: Is climate change real in Nigeria? opined that it would be good for the country’s leaders to put on their thinking caps and halt the gradual, but steady taking over of the nation’s landmass by drought and other negative fallouts of

L - R: Oyeniran Babatope, assistant director Lagos State Examinations Board, Supo Gbadegesin, director Lagos State Examinations and Kuye Dolamu, HOD Placement Test during the Item Moderation Seminar held at Exams Board Headuarters, Ipaja Agege.

Opera, Worldreader partner to deliver free ebooks for children, students amidst Covid-19 outbreak MARK MAYAH

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pera and international non-profit organization, Worldreader, are expanding access to e-books for children and students via the Opera Mini browser in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.

Starting this week, Worldreader will offer a new selection of ebooks to Opera Mini users as well as a brand new web app designed for children.

The regular version of the Worldreader app provides ebooks for young adult readers.

It features hundreds of books for learning and pleasure, in categories including Learn, Health, and Career.

Over 100,000 people already

read from it each month, with new readers joining every day.

The new app, BookSmart, from Worldreader, offers a wide variety of ebooks dedicated to children. Both apps can be accessed from the Opera Mini browser, after tapping on the Worldreader speed dial icon.

Opera Mini becomes the first browser to introduce offline file sharing Once accessed, users will be able to access the new children’s version of the BookSmart app.

“When considering how to mitigate learning loss in a pandemic, it should be a top priority to address supporting reading skills and engagement with books, bridging the gap until schools are in session again,” said Rebecca Chandler Leege, Worldreader’s Chief Impact Officer.

“Through mobile technology, we are able to support the

distribution of ebooks and attend the needs of millions thanks to the massive reach of the Opera Mini browser in Africa,” she said.

According to UNESCO, as at 24 March 2020, 82% of the world’s learners have been shut out of traditional schooling and education programs due to social distancing.

School closures can result in significant learning loss for students.

In response to this global health crisis, UNESCO is supporting the implementation of large-scale distance learning programs and recommending open educational applications and platforms that schools and teachers can use to reach learners remotely.

Opera and Worldreader have successfully promoted literacy worldwide, with greater attention in Africa to enable

millions of people to read free books. However, there are several barriers in certain African communities to access online educational materials, especially when schools are shut down. High data costs, basic phones, and slow mobile networks are some of the main difficulties for accessing educational online content.

“Throughout Africa, mobile data is very expensive and the Opera Mini browser is massively popular in Africa due to its ability to reduce web page sizes and save up to 90% of their mobile data”, said Jørgen Arnesen, Head of Marketing and Distribution at Opera.

“We believe that millions of children and students can benefit from our partnership with Worldreader, and access educational online content while the COVID-19 outbreak lasts.”

Lagos Govt to promote 4,942 post-primary school teachers MARK MAYAH

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o fewer than 4,942 post-primar y school teachers are billed for promotion by Lagos state government, as part of efforts geared towards achieving the progression of teachers as a means of rewarding excellence in service delivery.

Speaking on the conduct of the promotion exercise,

the Chairman, Teaching Service Commission, Olabisi Ariyo(Mrs), said the exercise had been scheduled to commence with a Structured Training Programme, STP, which would entail both the generic and professional programmes for all categories of eligible officers between grade levels 06 -17 and would be handled by the Teaching Service Staff Development Centre, TSSDC, Owutu, Ikorodu, at four designated centres across the state.

The centres are: New Era www.businessday.ng

(Senior and Junior) Secondary School, Surulere; Ikeja (Senior) Secondary School, Oshodi; Awori Ajeromi (Senior) Secondary School, Agboju; and the Teaching Service Staff Development Centre (TSSDC) Owutu, Ikorodu.

The chairman said that eligible candidates for the promotion exercise were assigned to various centres according to the proximity of each of the Education Districts, adding that adequate provisions had also been made towards facili-

tating materials, logistics and other equipment for a hitchfree exercise. The Permanent Secretary, Teaching Service Commission, Toyin Idowu Awoseyi (Mrs), stressed that the STP was mandatory for all eligible officers irrespective of their cadres and grade levels.

Awoseyi, noted that all Promotion Eligibility Identification Slips had been confirmed and forwarded to the Education Districts for onward distribution to eligible officers accordingly.

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climate change.

“We need thinkers as leaders and people that would see Nigeria as their centre stage.

Nigeria is one of the highest emitters of Green House gases and we can see how Lake Chad has shrunk to less than 20 per cent of its original size.

The desert is moving steadily southwards.

“We cannot overlook the economic impact of climate change. Also, about two-thirds of Nigeria’s landmass in the northern part of the country are prone to drought and desertification, thus making its energy resources, extensive fishing and farming culture to be at risk “he said.

Afolabi, who accused some developed economies of paying lip service to the Kyoto Protocol aimed at reducing Green House gas emission, said it was high time Nigeria

decided to tackle the menace at her level, than to just sit down and watch.

The Rector of the institution, Femi Omokungbe(Engr.), said the topic was apt and timely considering how human activities across the world had increased the manifestations of the impacts of climate change. He commended members of the Committee on Research and Publication for working hard to organise the event.

In her remarks, the General Manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA, Dolapo Fasewe(Dr), said people should embrace the culture of properly disposing their waste.

She added that the Lagos State Government was making efforts to make recycling available and affordable for the citizens.

Coronavirus: Dansol High School did not disobey govt orders on closure of schools MARK MAYAH

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ansol High School, Ikeja, Lagos has clarified that it did not defy the state government’s orders on closure of schools but that it fully complied with the said directives.

BusinessDay had, in a news story published on page 5 of the newspaper on Tuesday, March 24, 2020 entitled ‘Owners of private schools defy holiday orders in Lagos State’, erroneously reported that the school did not comply with the order.

However, our checks show the school fully complied.

Dansol High School, in a

notice to all its SS3 and IGCSE Year II students and their parents dated March 20, 2020 and seen by BusinessDay, had advised “all students” to stay at home from Monday, March 23, 2020 in obedience to the government’s instruction.

The school also said it had introduced virtual learning environment for the SS3 and IGCSE Year II students.

The notice counselled students to visit www.myschool. ng/classroom and www.waeconline.org.ng/e-learning for further preparation studies.

BusinessDay regrets its earlier report which was based on apparent misinformation by those our reporter saw on ground who claimed to be teachers in the school.

STEM curriculum: Girls4Tech programme inspires next generation of problem-solvers KELECHI EWUZIE

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astercard as part of its strategic effort to inspire next generation of problem solvers has launched the rollout of its first 2020 Girls4Tech programme in Nigeria.

The hands-on, inquirybased Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programme incorporates Mastercard’s deep expertise in payments technology and innovation In the programme held recently, a total of 60 girls between the ages of nine @Businessdayng

and 12, currently attending the Holy Child College in Lagos, were encouraged to consider careers in science and technology.

Ifeoma Dozie, director, Marketing and Communications, Sub-Saharan Africa at Mastercard, says, “Through our Girls4Tech programme, we’re extending our commitment to Nigeria’s next generation of women leaders and developing a talented pipeline of STEM professionals to support the country’s future economy, by encouraging girls to embrace the subjects that will prepare them for the workforce of tomorrow.”

Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

21

EDUCATION Lagos, Ogun takes to electronic learning approach for pupils amid schools’ closure KELECHI EWUZIE

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etermined to compensate primar y and secondary school pupils for the time lost due to the restriction placed on schools across the States to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, Lagos and Ogun States Ministry of Education have commenced the transmission of subject classes through digital broadcasting.

The Lagos State Government has made arrangements to air lessons in eight subjects on Wazobia FM and Wazobia TV, daily, while the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has also planned programmes for all classes on its Interactive Radio Instruction initiative on Radio Lagos and Eko F.M. On the part of Ogun State, the digital classes tagged “Ogun DigiClass has commenced and is being aired on the Ogun State Television,

Some of the Scholarship Awardees at the 25th Annual Lecture of the Stephen Oluwole Awokoya Foundation for Science Education (SOAFSE) in Lagos.

OGTV. Dapo Abiodun, Ogun State governor disclosed this on his twitter handle @dabiodunMFR saying the initiative will be facilitated by the State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and will be handled by experienced educators on core topics.

Abiodun says the morning session will be aired between 9 am - 11 am, while the afternoon session will be aired between 1 pm-2 pm.

According to him, “The interactive class, which will allow for questions from viewing pupils and students, can be watched online by those who do not have access to the

televised sessions via http:// ogundigiclass.ng. Abiodun urged Parents and guardians to allow and enable their children and wards to benefit from this initiative.

Folasade Adefisayo, Lagos State Commissioner for education says the process is a fulfilment of her promise that teachers would record

How GPE, private sector funds cushion COVID-19 effect on Nigerian students KELECHI EWUZIE with agency report

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he Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and private sector operator like First Bank of Nigeria in support of government efforts in education are pulling funds together to help minimise the disruption to student’s education resulting from schools’ closure.

GPE only recently announced a US$8.8 million contribution to UNICEF to help children and young people in Nigeria and other developing countries access learning opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is an urgent need to invest now in education systems to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children in developing countries. These funds are an initial step to kick-start governments’ efforts to keep students safe and ensure they can keep learning, including by supporting teachers and

schools,” said Alice Albright, GPE’s Chief Executive Officer.

To ensure resources are quickly available to the countries that need them most, GPE has partnered with UNICEF to implement the grant. The funds will help governments and local education partners reduce the impact of COVID-19 on children’s education by ensuring the continuity of learning and supporting safe practices in schools.

Emphasising the urgent need to ensure that children are not disadvantaged, remain engaged and stay safe during this period of school closure, Adesola Adeduntan, FirstBank Chief Executive Officer, announced the bank has concluded plans with the necessary authorities to enable as many children as possible access e-learning.

Henrietta Fore, UNICEF executive director, observes that the COVID-19 pandemic has upended children’s lives in unprecedented ways, saying that Hundreds of millions of children will have to spend weeks and www.businessday.ng

months away from their classrooms.

“We know from experience that the longer vulnerable children stay away from school, the less likely they are to return. It is critical to give them alternative ways to learn and rebuild a routine. If we act now, we can take the necessary steps to safeguard their future while protecting their present,” Fore said.

These funds will support children’s many needs at this challenging time.

From preparing alternative learning programs, to providing vital information on handwashing and other measures to keep them safe, to counselling to support their mental health, to programming to prevent stigma and discrimination by encouraging students to avoid stereotypes when talking about the virus, this generous contribution will go a long way towards helping children and young people continue their education.

According to Adeduntan, “Education remains the bedrock of any society and we believe that when

we educate our children, we enable our nation and produce global citizens who provide ground breaking solutions for the continent and the world at large. So, building educational partnerships is an avenue to support our children to remain resourceful and fully engaged at this time so they can compete favourably with their peers internationally” Governments in 87 eligible countries will start receiving education funds from 30 March to support education systems’ response to COVID-19. The funds will help scale up response planning, communication around safe school operations and sharing knowledge and building capacity.

The funds represent a first step in GPE’s mobilisation to provide financial support to its partner countries to cope with impacts that disruptions to education will have on children.

UNICEF will also provide US$4 million of resources to reach an additional 58 countries.

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lessons in eight subjects targeted at JSS3 and SS3 pupils preparing for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BACE) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

The subjects are: Mathematics, English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Literature in English, Financial Accounting, Yoruba and Economics.

According to a schedule shared by the public Affairs unit of the Ministry of Education, the lesson would air 11am-1pm Mondays to Thursdays and feature call-in tutorial class on Fridays.

The television version would air 2pm-4pm Mondays to Thursdays, while a repeat broadcast would feature 3pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

The lessons for primary school pupils will air for Primary 1 and 2 pupils Mondays to Thursdays on Radio Lagos 107.5 FM in the mornings from 9.30am; while programmes for Primary 3-6 pupils will air on Eko FM

between 10.30am and 12.35 pm on same days.

The government came up with the TV lessons to reduce the negative impact of school closures as a result of the COVID-19 on pupils.

The state shut schools on March 23 – two weeks to the end of the second term to mitigate the spread of the highly-infectious virus.

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has since suspended the WASSCE for school candidates 2020 until the health situation improves.

Adefisayo urged parents to support the State Government’s efforts by ensuring that their children have access to these programmes initiated to refresh their minds and prepare them for the forthcoming examinations, adding that Lagosians should not panic about the pandemic. She concluded that as a responsive government, the virus will be contained and the children will be back to school in due time.

NBC Lauds YABATECH Radio Equipment • urges institution to abide strictly on NBC code MARK MAYAH

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he Zonal Director of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Chibuike Ogwumike(Dr), during the tour of facilities of Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) radio, commended Management of the College for providing top class and quality equipment to the institution’s Radio 89.3 FM. The visit to Yabatech, was to access the level of preparedness of the college Radio before going into full broadcasting after the initial six months test running, as well as ensuring that the National Broadcasting code is being adhered to strictly, for enhance mutual cooperation between Yabatech and NBC. Ogwumike noted that he was dedicating his time to tour all the broadcasting stations within the Lagos zonal office, so as to familiarize himself with their system of operation, while also ensuring that the stations do not run afoul of the NBC code so as to avoid @Businessdayng

any form of sanction.

He eulogized Yabatech Management for investing in digital radio equipment.

“Let me say that I’m really impressed with the level of facilities put in place here, the equipment I have seen here are of top quality which some commercial radio stations in Lagos do not have”.

According to him, the NBC core function is to regulate the broadcast stations in Nigeria and so we are here to see the activities in Yabatech radio.

He disclosed that NBC will partner with the Yabatech radio in the areas of training, retraining and moulding of future broadcasters.

He implored the College management to use the radio station as a training ground for Mass Communication students and others interested in broadcasting.

The Rector, Obafemi Omokungbe(Engr), who received the team thanked NBC for granting a radio license to the College. He said that the radio will work in line with the regulatory policy of NBC without breaching any of the rules.

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Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

BDTECH

In association with

E-mail: jumoke.akiyode@businessdayonline.com

SophosLabs tracking shows significant uptake in COVID-19 cyber-scams Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson

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ophosLabs is tracking how the use of “COVID-19” and “coronavirus” in domain names, spam, phishing attacks, and malware has skyrocketed in a new Uncut blog, “Facing down the myriad threats tied to COVID-19.”

The live report shows that the volume of “COVID-19” and “coronavirus” email scams have nearly tripled in the past week.

Attackers are also increasingly impersonating the WHO (World Health Organization), CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, North America) and the United Nations (UN), as evidenced in scams tracked by SophosLabs.

Speaking on the development, Chester Wisniewski, Sophos principal research scientist, said: “Cybercriminals are wasting no time in shifting their dirty, tried and true attack campaigns toward advantageous lures that prey on mounting virus fears. It’s easy to see, for example, that the attackers behind a new Chloroquine scam are the same as those behind a recent herbal Viagra scam”.

Continuing, Wisniewski, emphasised that “With global spam volumes estimated to be in the hundreds of billions, for 2-3 percent of those to be COVID-19 themed is significant. Similar to A/B testing

of advertisements and web pages, criminals often dip a toe in the water when there is a new or sensational topic in the news. If the new topic proves a more effective lure than the previous scam bait they begin switching to new lures.

“In fact in one of the spam campaigns we tracked this week, there was evidence of exactly that. These particular criminals had been using fake shipping and delivery emails to

convince unsuspecting victims into opening attachments and infecting their computers with the Kryptik Trojan. Now the main body of the email pretends to come from erecruit@who.int with “health advice” in the attachment, but when we carefully inspect the plain text body, we see it matches a previous spam campaign from this same criminal using a lure pretending to be about invoices and deliveries.

“The increases we are seeing are likely due to two important factors.

First, as time passes more and more criminal groups are joining the party on using all this interest in COVID-19 to steal money from people.

Secondly, it takes time. Any given criminal group has to handcraft the spams to convince the recipient to take an action. In the research community we call this the call to action.

The call to action might be to open

the attachment, visit the website or, in the case of the WHO Bitcoin scam, to donate cryptocurrencies to criminal controlled Bitcoin wallets.

Crafting these messages takes time, especially for those who are not native English speakers.

“Even the most innocuous mention of something by a politician or a celebrity can lend a scam credibility or present a new business opportunity. Two recent examples come to mind. One spam campaign offering to tell you about the government cover up and attempting to sell you a COVID-19 survival guide used celebrity Gwyneth Paltrow as a lure in its subject line. A tipoff the email is a fake is the incorrect spelling of her first name as Gwenith, but this could easily be missed or glossed over.

“A few days ago President Donald Trump mentioned the possible efficacy of a drug called Chloroquine against Coronavirus immediately leading to WordPress blog comment spammers switching from pitching herbal Viagra to instead attempting to sell you Chloroquine, which can be quite dangerous when not taken under the supervision of a doctor. And within only two days of the WHO creating a charity called the Solidarity Response Fund, criminals were soliciting Bitcoin donations pretending to be the charity, even implying your donation is fully tax deductible in the US or Europe,” he remarked.

COVID-19: Smile assures uninterrupted service, offers free data Jumoke Akiyode Lawanson

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mile communications, West Africa’s pioneer 4G LTE broadband service provider, has enjoined all Nigerians to strive to be safe by observing all necessary safety precautions as the

coronavirus pandemic persists.

To this end, the company has created data free access to websites for everyone, on its network, to have easy access to up-to-date information on the pandemic. The websites are: http://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng/ and https://www. who.int/health-topics/coronavirus

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In a statement issued by the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) broadband service provider, Smile said: “Appreciative of the current restriction of movement, aimed at combatting the ravages of Coronavirus in Nigeria, Smile has taken steps to remain fully operational and serve

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the best interest of its customers in this challenging time. Consequently, it has created many online platforms to enable its teeming customers to recharge, make enquiries and seek assistance. Smile customers can henceforth utilize these platforms: Instagram @smilecomsng; Twitter

@Businessdayng

@smilecomsng; and Facebook Smile Communications Nigeria.”

Smile also advised customers to visit the its website to chat with a representative via web chat or send an email to customer care or call the Smile help line for assistance and enquiries.

Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

BDTECH

23

E-mail: jumoke.akiyode@businessdayonline.com

Five steps businesses can take to stay in touch during COVID-19 Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson

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e are already seeing businesses coming together to share information, connect and support each other, their employees and their customers during the outbreak of COVID-19.

We know that the livelihood of small businesses is crucial in Africa, especially in challenging times.

“When businesses thrive, their communities and local economies do too,” says Nunu Ntshingila, Regional Director, Facebook Africa. “We continue

to hear and see stories from around the world of how individuals and businesses are remaining resilient, everything from now offering virtual fitness classes to coaching and teaching students through Facebook LIVE. We know that businesses may experience unexpected challenges during this time, and we’re committed to providing as much support as possible through resources like our Business Resource Hub.” Below, are five technology enabled steps that owners of small businesses can consider while they plan their strategies:

Keeping customers safe Stay up to date by following credible, official sources such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the government health department so you can respond quickly to changes that could affect you or your customers. Follow WHO on Facebook or Instagram or use the WhatsApp Support Line: 0600123456.

Staying in touch with your customers Proactively share important information with your customers using email, your website or social media messaging platforms.

You might include information about the measures you’re taking to make your premises or products safe, or how you will handle customer enquiries if there are expected delivery delays.

Try hosting online events In case you need to postpone or cancel any planned events as a result of the outbreak, connect with your customers directly on their phone with an online webi-

HP, Nigerian authorities collaborate to disrupt counterfeit retail operations Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson

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P and Nigerian authorities have successfully obstructed over 20 illicit trading operations for fraudulent HP printer cartridges across the country.

Between September and October 2019, Nigerian authorities raided around two dozen illicit trading operations in Lagos, Niger and Plateau. As a result of the action, law enforcement personnel were able to confiscate approximately 25,000 counterfeit products from retail outlets and storage facilities, removing them from the Nigerian market.

Counterfeiting is a crime. For users, such illegal imitations can cause a multitude of problems that can cause performance and reliability issues.

Should your printer break because of using counterfeit printer ink or toner, you could also have issues with your manufacturer’s warranty becoming not applicable.

In contrast, original HP products are designed to meet HP’s strict quality and reliability standards, based on a long history of inventing and testing.

Original HP LaserJet and HP inkjet cartridges, unlike counterfeits, benefit from outstanding performance and consistent results. www.businessday.ng

Across EMEA over the last five years, approximately 12 million counterfeits and components have been seized by local authorities, supported by HP. HP has conducted over 4,500 audits and inspections (CPPAs and CDIs) of partners’ stocks or suspicious deliveries for customers.

Through HP’s AntiCounterfeiting and Fraud (ACF) Programme, the company actively educates its customers and partners to be vigilant against fake printing supplies. It also cooperates closely with local and global law enforcement authorities to detect and dismantle illegal operations that produce counterfeit HP printing components.

nar, organise live sessions using social channels, record videos and podcasts, and leverage social media posts and instant messaging.

ing templated responses for your emails or set up instant-reply messages with information you expect your customers will be looking for.

Prepare a customer service plan To be responsive and transparent with your customers during these challenging times, prepare for incoming questions and requests. Consider draft-

Provide a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) Prepare a list of responses for questions your customers are likely to ask and provide as much detail and reassurance as possible in your answers.

The 2020 iPhone could be delayed for months Ben Gilbert

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pple has set a decade-long precedent of revealing and launching new iPhone models every year, often in the fall. It’s become a standard — an expectation among Apple devotees.

But this year, with the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus pandemic, multiple reports point to a delayed iPhone.

Part of the reason cited by those reports has been supply and manufacturing constraints, as Chinese factories that produce iPhones were temporarily closed.

But the latest report, from Nikkei Asian Review, points to another reason: Apple is concerned that “the current situation would significantly lower consumer appetite to upgrade their phones.”

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Tim Cook, Apple CEO

Moreover, Apple is reportedly concerned about a lower than usual interest in the new iPhone specifically because it’s expected to be the first featuring 5G technology.

“They need the first 5G iPhone to be a hit,” an unnamed source speaking with Nikkei Asian Review said. @Businessdayng

As Apple’s competition has already released phones with 5G technology, the company reportedly sees itself as playing catch up.

Apple will reportedly decide on the fate of the next iPhone by May. Company representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

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Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

property&lifestyle Here’s how coronavirus is changing real estate story for 2020 CHUKA UROKO

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y the turn of 2019, analysts and close market watchers were talking about the property market developing a bit of momentum. Some described the market as one in a stabilizing mode. A little above 2 percent growth was projected with the hope that demand and price would leave the current threshold.

That story is now fast changing with the coming of coronavirus, a deadly disease that has been described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a global health emergency.

In just a couple of months of its coming, coronavirus is putting the global economy in reverse gear with its negative impact on people, places and property. The impact is already a sharp shock to the economy.

Analysts see the virus having negative effects on employment. Though they expect a strong rebound by 2021, in the short term, it will hurt. There are sectors in the economy where people will lose jobs which is why the virus is generating uncertainty in communities and, in turn, in the economy.

Already in the housing market, there is a pull-back by buyers, especially with the social distancing rule. This is taking momentum out of the market. Transactions have

dropped significantly. It is expected that the next thing to happen will be price fall.

The property market is not alone in the present dire situation. Other investment assets, notably equities, are also being hit. For a lot of people with wealth tied up in the share market, their wealth has been diminished and therefore, capacity for many people to use that wealth to buy into the housing market has been reduced.

It has been a challenging season for developers in Nigeria where the market is defined by high supply and low demand. This time around it is going to be tougher. However, buyers who are in very secure jobs are actually in an improved position because the market is weaker now.

But coronavirus is already creating and taking out a group of buyers. One group comprises buyers who have adopted a wait-and-see approach or who are simply unable to buy due to reduced income.

Another group is made up of buyers who are in jobs but who face uncertainty about how coronavirus will affect their pay or whether they will keep their job at all. Many of such buyers will be taken out of the housing market for now.

It is for this reason that Nigel Stapledon, a research fellow in real estate and a consultant to state governments and the property market, advises that sellers need to appreciate that market is getting weaker, adding, “would-be sellers who have flexibility will be able to defer and that could

cushion prices falls.”

The office space sub-market is struggling with over supply and reduced demand. Coronavirus is a sore point for that market. Available data shows that as many as 130,000 square metres of new office space will be coming into the market in 2020 and that 20 percent of these deliveries will be ready by the first quarter of the year.

But in the present circumstance, it is quite unlikely that these deliveries will be possible this year with the virus spreading, creating fear, closing down workplaces and construction sites.

Data compiled by Broll Property Services Nigeria, as contained in the Broll Intel Property Market Viewpoint, shows that year-to-date, 45,000 square metres space

have been completed, and about 130,000 square metres are under construction.

With movement restrictions and social order rules, work has literally stopped at most construction sites. Two major projects that would have been completed this year—the Famfa Oil Towers and Trinity Towers may be delayed considerably.

Famfa Oil Towers is a 20-floor office building being developed by Dayspring Property Development Company on Alfred Rewane (Kingsway) Road in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The Tower which sits on 5,695 square metres of land will be delivering to the market 55,000 square metres.

Trinity Towers is a huge project being developed by the City of David Church, a

province of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). It is located in the heart of the fast developing commercial centre of Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Upon completion, the development will boast 13,320 square metres of contemporary real estate, spanning 12 floors with parking for 670 cars in the multi-storey car park, 5000-seater concert hall, indoor amusement for children, retail therapy for the shopaholic, two cinema halls, a gymnasium, rooftop swimming pool, helipad, medical centre, café and restaurant, multi-purpose halls, banking halls, and ATM Gallery.

Analysts do not see demand increasing from the present levels. The Broll Intel market viewpoint notes that with no significant movement upwards in the level of enquiries, demand is not expected to increase in the near-term, meaning that the market will remain ‘tenant;s market’.

Nnenna Alintah, head, Property Intel, Nigeria, recalls that occupier requirements remained fairly unchanged in the market in the second half of 2019, with the top factors driving building selection (besides costs) being location, security, building efficiency, HSE features, and onsite amenities.

But with the new development, space suppliers will struggle more with falling demand and rising vacancy rate.

Coronavirus: Now is good time to buy real estate in Nigeria ENDURANCE OKAFOR

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eal estate investors and potential homeowners may want to consider Nigeria’s property market at this time as industry players have assured it is a good time to buy.

Going to the property market at this time will avail investors and potential home buyers a higher barging power as most players in the industry are on pause mood, adopting the wait-and-see attitude amid the uncertainty created by the coronavirus outbreak.

“Yes, it is a good time to buy a property now, especially investment properties. Smart investors recognize that developers are more amenable to a good bargain due to the crisis,” Bola Omobola, business development manager at Joe Etoniru and associates said.

According to him, riskaverse buyers will at this point in time stop buying or slow it down to a crawl to watch what the market will say in the next couple of months. “This will, in turn, create a buying freeze in the market, and will make developers open to a good ne-

gotiation from a willing buyer.”

Nigeria’s property market is not excluded from the global real estate industries that have been disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak.

This is evident in the recent behaviour of industry players who out of fear of the industry uncertainty have become more cautious about taking positions in the market.

With social distancing being observed religiously as a preventive measure against the deadly virus, the real estate industry and its investors are part of those who are most affected as transactions in

the market has turned southwards following, among other reasons, the unwillingness for buyer-sellers to go for property inspections.

The crash in the price of crude oil and dwindling revenues as a result of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic poses risk to Nigeria’s real estate industry which is in need of as much as N200 trillion to bridge its housing deficit.

“As far as economic cycles are concerned, we seem to have been forced into what may be the early innings of a recession. As property markets trail macroeconomic

www.businessday.ng

indicators, prices are likely to decline – depending, of course, on how long the current situation persists,” Ayo Ibaru, COO /Director of Northcourt said.

The global fight against the spread of coronavirus and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia crashed global crude price to below $30/barrel, a revenue threat for Nigeria whose 2020 budget is marked at $57/barrel.

Meanwhile, history has shown that prolonged periods of depressed oil prices does not only shake the Nigerian economy but also affect the

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country’s real estate market.

Nigeria’s real estate sector was largely affected by the commodity price crisis of 2015/2016 which sent oil prices below $30 in early 2016 and has since recorded 16 consecutive quarters of recession.

With a housing deficit of more than 20 million units, Nigerian real estate sector recorded the fastest growth yet since 2016 at -2.36 percent for the year ended December 2019, the fourth-quarter report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows.

Though the impact of the @Businessdayng

rampaging virus is not yet seen or felt in house prices, industry analysts are optimistic that investors and potential home buyers can bargain their way to a lesser price.

According to a Lagosbased estate agent, the power to negotiate on the side of the buyer has more than doubled. “The property market is not buoyant as we speak, as there are very few buyers.

As a buyer, you are able to negotiate well now because very few people are buying,” the agent who asked not be identified said.

While explaining the current situation of the market, the agent said a property that was, for example, sought after by four people is now left with just one person. “With the ability to buy now, you can sit down with the landlord and negotiate to a very good price,” the agent said.

“They can look around before the market stabilizes and developer confidence is assured. Because when that happens they will look to make the difference they lost during the crisis and this might increase the price of properties immediately,” he said.

Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

25

property&lifestyle Airbnb to offer free housing to 100,000 coronavirus responders globally … 20,000 homes already allocated

With Oluwakemi Adeyemo

ENDURANCE OKAFOR

How to make real estate valuable in a crisis

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ealth care professionals, emergency workers and relief personnel who are the front-liners of efforts at curtailing the spread of coronavirus will be able to access free or subsidized accommodation from different parts of the world, thanks to the new initiative by Airbnb.

According to Airbnb, the aim of the new global initiative is to help connect those responding to the COVID-19 pandemic with safe and convenient places to stay while they carry out their critical work.

The San Francisco-based company has a goal to help give free accommodation to 100,000 healthcare professionals, relief workers, and first responders around the world. Airbnb said it will waive all fees for stays arranged through this initiative.

“Medical workers and first responders are providing lifesaving support during the coronavirus outbreak and we want to help,” Joe Gebbia, Airbnb’s Co-founder, said.

Announcing that over 20,000 homes have been given to the COVID-19 responders globally, Brian Chesky, Cofounder, CEO, and Head of Community at Airbnb appreciated the 6,000 heroic hosts who have signed up to offer free accommodation.

“We are partnering with our hosts to provide healthcare providers, relief workers, and first responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic with places that are safe, clean, and allow them to be close to their patients,” Chesky said on twitter.

He added that the company has heard from countless hosts around the world

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who want to provide a comforting home to heroic first responders.

This initiative by the 12year old company builds on two pilot programmes in Italy and France where Airbnb announced that doctors, nurses, caregivers and other medical support staff who are responding to the outbreak can access free accommodation through Airbnb.

‘Powerful to see neighbours stepping up around the world to open their homes to medical workers. The best instincts of humanity is helping heroes,” John Kerry, former United States Secretary of State commended.

Before Airbnb came up with the new initiative, the online property platform allowed guests around the world to cancel and get a refund after the virus outbreak was described

by WHO as a pandemic.

“We will not collect fees on these bookings. We don’t want guests to feel like they have to travel because they cannot get their money back,” Chesky said in a statement.

To enable healthcare providers and other COVID-19 responders to find housing, Airbnb said it will be working with businesses, non-profits and government and emergency management agencies supporting the responders.

Even thoygh the initiative is yet to kick off in Africa, the continent which now has 3,934 confirmed cases of coronavirus, Airbnb has enjoyed growth in the last five years in Africa.

The number of guests who use Airbnb annually in Africa more than doubled over the past year from 572,000 to 1.2 million. The figures show a 5th straight year of strong growth from a base of just 6,000 listings and 22,700 guests in 2012-2013.

Analysis of the 2019 data

by Airbnb shows that Nigeria reported the fastest growth of 35percent over the past year with effective locations at Ibadan, Abuja and places in Lagos like Lekki County Apartments, Mixta Apartments, Urban Shelter Apartments, Lekki Gardens Apartments and many more as high

yield accommodations.

However, the country with the highest population in Africa with 97 confirmed cases of coronavirus is a laggard when compared to its African peers in terms of the market size of Airbnb.

While South Africa, Morocco and Kenya are top on the ranking as the countries with the largest Airbnb markets in Africa, Nigeria is only able to occupy the fifth position, a recent report by Airbnb shows.

The fear by Nigerians to use their debit cards to make online reservations, lack of trust that the advertised apartments online will be the reality on the ground coupled with security challenges are some of the particular issues that are daunting the growth of Airbnb in Nigeria, as compiled from a survey by BusinessDay. Airbnb in Nigeria can be likened to the already established e-hailing industry which has major players like Uber, Bolt and OCar. According to industry experts, it will be correct to call Airbnb the Uber of houses.

COVID-19: What govt’s order on construction sites workforce means to housing market

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t may not be easy at the moment to figure out accurately what the aftermath of the rampaging and deadly coronavirus will be. But one thing is certain: individuals, businesses, cities, economies of countries and the world as whole will come off badly bruised and, in some cases, dismembered.

The housing market which is already taking the heat with zero transactions will be worse off. Apart from the anticipated fall in house price, supply will shrink in the short term due to a combination of factors.

For instance, the Lagos State government, in a bid to enforce the social distancing rule in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection, has ordered construction companies to reduce

Talking Real Estate

their workforce to 20 persons.

The state’s ministry of physical planning and urban development has said it would together with its agencies commence the enforcement of the limit at all construction sites across the state.

“All construction sites are expected to ensure that their sites have not more than 20 workers each day and that the sites must make provisions for the washing of hands of all workers and visitors,” said Idris Salako, the commissioner in charge of the ministry.

Salako also directed that all construction workers must observe social distancing of not less than 2metres (5feet); maintain good hygiene at all times and that all construction sites should have alcoholbased sanitizers for the use of www.businessday.ng

workers and visitors.

The commissioner also directed that all workers should sanitize themselves before and after entering a construction site and maintain other safety measures. He urged the general public to report any construction site that does not comply with these directives to the ministry or its agencies.

The implication of this order, as good and well-intentioned as it is, is that capacity is reduced, output will be low and ultimately, delivery of projects will be delayed because longer time is now needed.

Ordinarily, with the right manpower and adequate funding, a housing project could be delivered within 24-36 months. But with the present order and other cir-

cumstances, developments have to suffer.

Delayed project delivery is not all that the developer has to contend with. Big housing projects, for instance, are executed using equity and debt. For any investor or developer who is exposed to bank credit, it is going to be a sad story because interest is running on the loan and before long, repaying will be due and the lender will be piling pressure on him.

The construction industry is said to be the highest employer of labour, skilled and unskilled.

Paul Onwuanibe, CEO, Landmark Africa, the developers of the mixed use Landmark Village in Victoria Island Lagos, confirmed to BusinssDay that one square metre of a real estate construction site creates jobs for three persons.

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t the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, no one envisaged it would endure for so long or spread as far and wide as it has. Now, the whole world is plunged in an undeniable economic crisis. A crisis is any circumstance that negatively impacts and influences the life of an individual or group of people, which they did not cause and over which they have no control.

While some developing African countries have not been so hit by the spread of the virus as other countries have, economies have been badly hit. Covid-19 began in a place you might want to call the market hub of the world, a country from which almost every other country sources one commodity or another.

For instance, Nigeria trades a lot with China. According to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade, the value of Nigeria’s imports from China in 2018 was estimated to at US$8.35 billion.

The real estate business, in many ways, depends on trading relationships with some of the currently halted economies. The building sector consumes iron, steel and other materials which are largely imported. Only a small fraction of these materials are locally manufactured. The building industry relies heavily on imported materials for finishing.

This makes the impact of the current economic meltdown both massive and profound.

Nigeria’s economy is also heavily dependent on oil revenue. Oil fuels the energy sector to which many other businesses in the economy are intricately connected. Besides, the oil and energy sector arguably employs a sizeable number of middle-class citizens. This is one reason it’s difficult to effect a total lockdown. Even if it is enforced, it cannot hold out for long.

Dear investor, while it is near-impossible not to panic, it is important that you promptly convert that energy into taking precautionary actions – precautionary actions as recommended by the WHO, NCDC and other credible sources of information. Then, engage a thought process that helps to put in perspective, things that are peculiar to your investment or business.

Businesses and investors in real estate should conduct investment reviews at this time, holding in perspective the object of investment, the people involved and the projected stakeholders’ return on investment. @Businessdayng

The object of investment: In a crisis, some things change while some don’t. Real estate assets fall largely in the category of things that don’t change.

Land, especially, remains as it is although the price value may change. The changing value may require some adjustments in the use of land space to maintain premium value.

Clients and partners in the business: The needs of clients and business partners during a crisis often change. A real estate business can create certain comforts for clients and partners while maintaining business values. In Nigeria, rent or lease is paid yearly or a lump sum paid, to cover a minimum of three years. Scheduled virtual communications and meetings between stakeholders, to check for the functionality and convenience of the property, will convey care and value in a time like this.

The values that drive the business: The business of real estate thrives majorly on quality services and people management. While businesses are set up to solve problems and make a profit, people drive the business and consume the end product. Between the back-end and front-end processes of a real estate investment, values and culture are communicated.

Investors now, more than before, need to see the values and culture that drives the business entities that they have entrusted with their money.

It is very important to note that while the value of money may reduce, money does not leave the planet during a crisis. It will simply be redistributed. Projecting and communicating strong positive values and culture now, positions your business to benefit from redistributed currency after a crisis.

Crisis does eradicate traditions. For real estate businesses whose clientele base has not mattered before the crisis, here is the chance to strengthen communication and convey positive values. Crisis offers you a second chance to build stronger business relationships.

A simple yet effective communication plan will help your business to re-connect or establish and strengthen communication with your clients during this period.

To request for a free communication plan, send CP to info@futureperfectproperties.com

• Oluwakemi Adeyemo CEO of Futureperfect Limited is a Real Wealth Creation Advisor with extensive experience in real estate wealth creation and investment optimization.

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Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Investments

ENERGY INTELLIGENCE

Market Insight Companies Commodity Tracker Policy

OIL

GAS

PETROCHEMICALS

POWER

Market

With oil market in distress, refiners are counting their losses ISAAC ANYAOGU

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il prices have fallen to levels last seen over two decades ago and demand has dropped globally by at least 20 percent on the back of the Coronavirus pandemic and refiners are feeling the heat.

Gasoline and jet fuel margins have plunged to their lowest levels. The combination of weak demand and crude oversupply are compounding the situation.

Refineries in India and Europe are shutting down. Italy’s API said it would close operations temporarily at its Ancona refinery, which has capacity of 85,000 barrels per day (bpd).

In India, top refiners Indian Oil Corp and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals declared force majeure, with MRPL in the process of shutting down its entire plant.

The bearish oil market is complicated by the trade war between the Saudi Arabia and Russia which is fast morphing into a contest of egos and now refiners are running out of storage space.

According to a study by Rystad Energy, a Norwegian, independent energy research and business intelligence company, the largest oil supply surplus the world has ever seen in a single quarter is about to hit the global market from April, creating an imbalance of around 10 million barrels per day (bpd).

The firm’s research analysis shows that global storage infrastructure is in trouble and will be unable to take more crude and products in just a few months.

“Our current liquid balances show supply surpassing oil demand by an average of nearly 6 million bpd in 2020, resulting in an accumulated implied storage build of 2.0 billion barrels this year.

“Based on our rigorous analysis, we find that the world currently has around 7.2 billion barrels crude and products in storage, including 1.3 billion to 1.4 billion barrels currently onboard oil tankers at sea. We estimate that, on average, 76% of the world’s oil storage capacity is

already full.”

Asian jet fuel refining margins turned negative for the first time in over a decade--hardly surprising as regional and international airlines remain grounded as the COVID-19 pandemic reaches fever pitch.

As reported by Reuters, Richard Gorry, managing director at JBC Energy Asia, says that global air traffic has declined 40-45% and will further deteriorate over the coming weeks as airline capacity reductions and more flight restrictions take effect.

Gorry has warned that global jet/kero demand could fall by a whopping 70% quarter-onquarter to just 2.5 million bpd as air passenger travel activity subsides to minimum levels.

The current pandemic and oil price war have thrown a monkey wrench into the works, causing a disruption of epic proportions.

This has led to negative crack spreads.

Crack spreads are essentially the economics of refining a barrel of crude oil into its constituent products and can be used as a proxy to gauge demand for various distillates. When crack spreads move higher, it typically signals growing demand for oil products or falling crude prices, which translate into higher profit margins for refiners. Consequently, narrowing spreads tend to indicate weakening demand for refined products or rising crude prices, resulting in worsening margins for refiners.

According to oilprice.com negative crack spreads mean that refineries like Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) and Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) are operating at a loss.

It’s a clear signal for refiners to start cutting gasoline and jet fuel output.

Company news

Four critical events that will shape Seplat’s 2020 production DIPO OLADEHINDE

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eeping businesses afloat in the upstream oil and gas sector has become extremely tough. An analysis into Seplat Petroleum Development Company Limited 2019 financial result reveals how the company plans to stay in business this year.

60percent of 2020 production hedged at $45 Seplat said the company has prudently managed its commodity risk and is well hedged with 60percent of 2020 production hedged at a floor price of $45/bbl up to Q3 2020.

For Nigeria’s domestic oil companies, an oil price within the range of $30 may bring another round of funding crises that might bring fears of 2016.

Indigenous firms that bought assets could no longer generate revenue at the levels expected when they agreed to loan terms, putting themselves and banks at risk as a result of the oil price slump in 2016.

It’s 2020 and the current oil price rout may mean a similar scenario is well on the cards for indigenous producers in Africa’s top oil producer.

Amukpe to Escravos pipeline expected in H1 2020 Seplat is hopeful of bringing on stream its Amukpe-to-Escravos pipeline by first half of 2020.

Amukpe-Escravos pipeline is a 160,000 bpd, 67-km 20-inch horizontal directional drilling (HDD) export line, is first of its kind in Nigeria and Africa. A burial depth of 45 -150ft makes it one of the most secured export route in the country “We expect that the pipeline will be commissioned during the first half of 2020 and become fully operational to the initial permitted volume for the Seplat / NPDC joint venture of 40, 000 bopd,” Seplat said in its 2019 financial. www.businessday.ng

The company said the Amukpe to Escravos pipeline will provide a third export option for liquids production from OMLs 4, 38 and 41 in 2020.

Seplat noted that the completion works on the 160, 000 bopd pipeline has been slower than anticipated due to delays in the contractor delivery schedule, final activities including the installation of the LACT unit are progressing well.

Investment focus in 2020 Austin Avuru, Seplat’s Chief Executive Officer said in 2020 the company will focus its investment only on the highest-returning projects, whilst carefully balanc-

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ing future needs with prevailing market realities.

Avuru noted that the company has more cash in its balance sheet which is more robust and diversified thanks to continuing investments in gas and independence from oil price volatility.

“We are a low-cost producer and will continue to manage our finances prudently. With the recent addition of Eland and the availability of new pipelines, our oil business is broadening and derisking its production fields and routes to market to assure even greater security of revenues in the future,” Avuru said.

In 2019, Seplat spend $125 million on drilling costs in relation to nine development wells, the Ohaji South facility expansion project and the Amukpe Liquid Treatment Facility.

Lower capital expenditure plan Seplat plans to invest $100 million of capital expenditure with a target of three new wells across portfoli0 in 2020.

“We will also, continue to focus on our investments in gas and the completion of the ANOH project remains a major priority. At present we are targeting 2020 production of between 47,000 to 57,000 boepd, including Eland production of 6,000 to 10,000 bopd, subject to continuous evacuation being possible,” Seplat said in it’s 2019 financial.

Decreasing Reserves Seplat’s working interest 2P reserves, as assessed independently

by Ryder Scott at 1 January 2020, stood at 474 MMboe, comprising 216 MMbbls of oil and condensate and 1,494 Bscf of natural gas.

This represents an organic decrease in overall 2P reserves of 1.5percent year-on-year, due to production but mitigated by movements from the contingent resource category. Working interest 2C resources stood at 85 MMboe, comprising 53 MMbbls of oil and condensate and 188 Bscf of natural gas.

@Businessdayng

Risk management Seplat admitted that the firm is exposed to further credit risk from outstanding cash calls from Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS).

Also, the Group is exposed to credit risk from its sale of crude oil to Mercuria, Vitol, Eni Trading and Shell western.

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Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

ENERGY INTELLIGENCE Hurtful oil price crash Nigeria’s first electric car to cost N316 may force big producers for full charge-Stallion motors back to negotiation table Interview

DIPO OLADEHINDE

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tallion Motors, one of Nigeria’s auto assemblers and franchisee of nine global brands, has said Nigeria’s first electric car, Hyundai–Kona, expected from its auto plant before the end of this year will cost N316 to fully charge.

The car which is expected to hit the market before the end of 2020, comes with five years of battery warranty and five years of vehicle warranty with a driving range of 482 kilometres and an acceleration of 0-100kms in 9.7 seconds.

According to Arpita Luthra, General Manager, Marketing, Stallion Group, the technology is a customer-friendly car that can easily be charged by plugging into an electrical socket at home or at work.

Luthra added that when Hyundai Kona goes on sale in Nigeria, its owner would incur only N316 to get a full charge, if the car is plugged onto public power supply.

“Not being dissuaded by the nation’s infrastructural challenges, one of our plans for this year is to introduce into the country Electric Vehicle (EV) and, in no distant future, embark on attitude change campaign for a clean environment in conjugation with Hyundai,” CEO of Stallion Group Anant Badjatya said.

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

F Warning that climate change is for real, Badjatya explained that the changes in global temperature and weather patterns seen today are caused by human activities, concerned that they are happening much faster than the natural climate variations of the past.

The Stallion Motors initiative, it was learnt, is in recognition of the need to ensure that Nigeria becomes part of the global trend where industries are switching from internal combustion engines to sustainable means of doing business and adopting technology with less environmental impact.

However many experts have also raised concern about electric car business even as the Nigerian market is very much dominated by fuel-driven vehicles which have a grip over motorists.

Also, unlike other countries, the Nigerian government has not decided when it intends to switch to electric vehicles, further affecting the penetration of EVs within the country.

The last time the subject was raised at the Senate by the former lawmaker, Ben Bruce, the National Assembly kicked against it. Bruce had introduced the Electric Car bill in April last year which was basically seeking that the National Assembly approves the use of electric cars in Nigeria.

The bill aimed to phase out the use of petroleum and diesel vehicles by 2035, to be replaced by electric cars. The reason for the bill was to encourage the use of modern technology, de-emphasise on oil consumption and also reduce air pollution

Here is how REA plans to power 20,000 MSMEs with $200m renewable energy project DIPO OLADEHINDE

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igeria will need all the ideas it can muster to grow its flailing power sector which is why the federal government in partnership with African Development Bank (AfDB) launched the $200 million Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) to provide off-grid energy devices and machinery to 20,000 micro, small and medium-sized businesses.

The off-grid solution project under NEP is expected to commence in the next five months, will also provide clean and reliable energy and halt of 1.69 million tons of carbon emission into the environment.

The Bank and Africa Growing Together Fund’s (AGTF) joint funding of $200 million will derisk and scale-up private sector participation in the market, fostering a business environment conducive to the accelerated electrification of off-grid communities in Nigeria.

The project comprised of four components which include; Solar Hybrid Mini Grids at $70 million, Energy-Efficient Appliances for Productive Use at $20 million, Phase 3 of the Energizing Education Program at $100 million, and

Technical Assistance and capacity building at $10 million.

The project will be implemented by Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency(REA), an agency tasked with solving Nigeria’s energy access shortfalls by directing private sector investments into mini-grid and off-grid solutions to achieve universal energy access by 2030.

“Apart from supporting 20,000 MSMEs with productive use appliances and equipment; NEP-AfDB will contribute to more than 500,000 Nigerians in 105,000 households in off-grid or underserved communities,” Ahmad Salihijo, managing director of REA. NEP is the largest single investment stream in Nigeria’s off-grid sector addressing the energy access challenge through mini-grids, the solar home systems and the Energizing Education Program (EEP) of the Federal Government.

“Over 500,000 people will have access to approximately 76.5MW of increased installed power of which 68MW will be solar generated,” said AfDB’s Acting Vice President for Power Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth, Wale Shonibare.

According to Shonibare, Nigeria needs to connect 500,000 www.businessday.ng

to 800,000 households per year to achieve the electricity for all target by 2030 in line with the Sustainable Development goals (SDGs) as 80 million Nigerians lack access to sustainable and affordable electricity.

Shonibare noted that although Nigeria’s power sector was privatized in 2013, it still struggles to generate 4,000 megawatts (MW) for the Nigeria population, leaving 80million without access to power. “With the improvement in off-grid technology, there is now a means to reach unserved and underserved communities”.

Seven years after the privatisation of the power sector in 2013, Nigeria has been able to improve its electricity challenges. The investors who took over the power firms are still grappling with the old problems in the sector.

Even with an installed generation capacity at 12,910.40MW, electricity production has been hovering between 3,000MW and 5,000 MW as a result of gas constraints, transmission line issues and low demand by electricity distribution companies. The peak generation ever attained in the country is 5,375MW, which is insufficient to meet the energy needs of about 200 million population.

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our weeks after two of the world’s biggest oil exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia failed to reach an agreement on new production cuts under the OPEC+ arrangement; early signs show a possible return to the negotiation table.

On Friday, Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund suggested his country was willing to consider returning to the negotiation table but on the condition that the deal includes more countries than those that had formed the redundant Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers including Russia (known as OPEC+). The existing deal expires on March 31.

Although in Russia, there is no consensus yet. Officials and oil executives have been split on the need for cuts with Dmitriev and Alexander Novak, Russia’s energy minister supporting cooperation while the head of Kremlin oil major Rosneft, Igor Sechin, has criticised the cuts as providing a lifeline to the less competitive U.S. shale industry. President Vladimir Putin has said little since the OPEC+ deal collapsed, Reuters report said.

However, Friday, an official from Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said, referring to the wider grouping of oil producers. “There have been no contacts between Saudi Arabia and Russia energy ministers over any increase in the number of OPEC+ countries, nor any discussion of a joint agreement to balance oil markets.”

Saudi Arabia may soon be under pressure from the U.S. to return to the negotiation.

The Kingdom’s latest move to flood the oil markets with larger volumes and cheaper oil which triggered an oil price war and the crash has put President Donald Trump in a difficult situation because it has undermined the U.S. shale industry, which has much higher costs than Saudi or Russia production.

Already a group of six U.S. senators wrote a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week saying Saudi Arabia and Russia “have embarked upon economic warfare against the United States” and were threatening U.S. “energy dominance”.

They called on Saudi Arabia @Businessdayng

to quit OPEC, reverse its policy of high output, partner with the United States in strategic energy projects or face consequences.

These are some of the early signs that the two biggest oil exporter may soon be forced to return to the negotiation table to fix oil markets collapse.

Additionally, the cost of oil price and volume wars in the global oil market is growing for both Russia and Saudi Arabia, countries with bigger fiscal and financial buffers than Nigeria has.

Russia’s revenues from oil and gas are estimated to be US$39.5 billion (3 trillion rubles) lower than planned due to the tumbling oil prices, according to Anton Siluanov, Russia’s minister of finance. This means that at the current oil prices, of below $30 a barrel, the Russian economy will tip into a deficit, albeit a moderate one at 0.9 percent. The Russian budget, according to the finance ministry, was balanced at a price for the Urals blend of $42.40 a barrel.

According to Fitch Ratings, Saudi Arabia needs oil prices at $91 a barrel in 2020 to balance its budget, all else being equal.

For Saudi Arabia, at $30 and below a Brent barrel, the country’s wealth fund will deplete fast and lead to reduced government spending. This will in turn stall projects, bad news for an already suffering private non-oil sector.

That is the near-term damage.

The longer-term damage is the lack of funds for the ambitious Vision 2030 plan of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, which was already going downhill even before the oil price collapse as the promised multi-billion foreign investment and Saudi investment in “diversifying away from oil” were not exactly flowing to the Kingdom, Tsvetana Paraskova, an energy analyst at oilprice.com said.

It is now a game between Saudi Arabia and Russia of who will blink first, and in this game, the Saudis seem to have overestimated their fiscal buffers and underestimated the coronavirus-hit enormous demand destruction, Paraskova observed.

No country is more at risk than Nigeria, a country where oil accounts for 96 percent of exports and over 75 per cent of government revenues; a country that has absolutely no resilience to oil price shocks.

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Tuesday 31 March 2020

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29

POLITICS & POLICY

PDP, BMO lock horns over ‘palliatives’ in Buhari’s broadcast Zebulon Agomuo

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he parable over t h e v a r i e gat e d definitions of an elephant as given by ten blind men appears to be repeating itself in the perspectives coming from different quarters over the President Muhammadu Buhari’s nationwide broadcast last Sunday.

The parable of the ‘Blind Men and an Elephant’ originated in the ancient Indian subcontinent, from where it has been widely diffused. It is a story of a group of blind men who have never come across an elephant before and who learn and conceptualise what the elephant is like, by touching it. Each blind man feels a different part of the elephant’s body, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then describe the elephant based on their limited experience and their descriptions of the elephant are different from each other.

In some versions, they come to suspect that the other person is dishonest and they come to blows.

The President during the broadcast, said: “For residents of satellite and commuter towns and communities around Lagos and Abuja whose livelihoods will surely be affected by some of these restrictive measures, we shall deploy relief materials to ease their pains in the coming weeks.

“Furthermore, although schools are closed, I have instructed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to work with State

Governments in developing a strategy on how to sustain the school feeding program during this period without compromising our social distancing policies. The Minister will be contacting the affected States and agree on detailed next steps.”

According to him, “Furthermore, I have directed that a three month repayment moratorium for all TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni loans be implemented with immediate effect.

“For the most vulnerable in our society, I have directed that the conditional cash transfers for the next two months be paid immediately.

Our internally displaced persons will also receive two months of food rations in the coming weeks.”

But flatly faulting the Federal Government for not making appropriate plan for every citizen of the country at this critical period, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), through its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan said the address did not touch on the real necessities of majority of Nigerians who reside in the states where President Buhari had ordered a lockdown.

The PDP said that it was unfortunate that President Buhari failed to respond to demands on hope for medications, direct social palliatives, cut in taxes as well as reduction in the pump price of fuel even with the cut in the price of petroleum and crude oil in the international market.

“Our party notes as saddening that even in areas where President announced

Muhammadu Buhari

an ambitious intervention, such remained largely cosmetic as there are no clear palliative content but moratoriums on loans with no clear data for implementation, it said.

The opposition party further said: “President is reminded that already, the COVID-19 had affected the performance of those loans.

Granting them moratoriums is therefore of no consequence to the capital and interest on them.

“It is rather unfortunate that Nigerians had to wait this long for an address that came out empty and failed to respond to anxieties.

“Moreover, Nigerians expected President to articulate an across-the-board and farreaching strategy that would have captured the need of each state of the federation as they were today, instead of a parochial approach to a national anxiety.”

It directed the President to go back and “listen to the nation, retool his policy framework and implementation strategy to properly address

the fears as well as the needs of Nigerians, including health safety measures and the real remedies that meet the anxieties of our nation at this critical time”.

However, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has sharply disagreed with the PDP, rather applauding the content of the broadcast and assuring Nigerians of government’s commitment to their wellbeing at this trying period.

BMO urged Nigerians not to panic as the government was working round the clock to put in place far-reaching measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 and to facilitate citizens’ comfort and economic stability in the face of the global economic crisis caused by coronavirus.

In a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, the group said: “Aside the interest rate cuts on all applicable Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention facilities, the one-year moratorium on loan servicing, the N20 naira cut from the

price of petrol the N50 billion targeted credit facilities through the NIRSAL microfinance bank for households and small and medium-sized enterprises among others, Nigerians should be expecting more robust measures to strengthen the fight against the dreaded disease.

“Some of these measures include a downward review of NNPC’s expenditures associated with oil to include cuts of under-recovery payment from 457.5bn to zero, reduction of other federally funded upstream projects in such a way that aggregate NNPC deductible expenditures are cut by 53percent, and revision of the 2020 budget using a $30 per barrel price benchmark with oil production volume still remaining at 2.18mb/ per day.”

“Other measures are revving up of oil production on shut down wells, reduction of budgeted customs revenues from N1.5tr to N943billion, cut in proceeds of privatisation by 50percent from N252billion to N126bn, reduction of MDA’s Administrative Capex by 20percent, reduction of administrative Capex and overheads for top 10 government-owned enterprises (GOEs) in FGN 2020 budget by 25percent and similar cutting measures to all other GOEs and thereby increasing FGN revenue by N67billion”.

It also listed additional measures as, restructuring of the social investment programmes, control of the fastgrowing personnel cost by efficiency measures such as non- essential recruitments, design and launch of other policy measures to be agreed

with the strategic MDAs, Provision of fiscal relief for Taxpayers and Key Economic sectors, incentivise for employers to retain and recruit staff during the economic downturn and also stimulate investment in critical infrastructure.

“Other important measures in the package are a review of non-essential tax waivers to optimise revenues and complementing of Monetary and Trade Interventions to respond to the consequences of Covid -19,” it said “It should be noted that other incentives and laws proposed include granting job creation tax rebates for employers, accelerating the construction of over 70km of roads and bridges under Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme and Review of sectors eligible for pioneer tax holidays.

“There is also the negotiation of a break on debt servicing with multilateral and financial institutions, import duty waiver for essential input for pharmaceutical firms, tax waiver on new health equipment, deferment of tax to increase production, the release of N6.6billion in two tranches to NCDC to fight Covid19, and release of N1billion for pharmaceutical firms and the release of yet another N10bn to support Lagos State government’s effort to combat Covid19,” it said.

BMO added that implementation of tax holidays and import duty waivers in the Agricultural sector to enhance production and job creation and accelerating the ease of doing business-related reforms are also part of many other stimulus packages.

Coronavirus: Oyo should be given same treatment as Lagos, Ogun - Federal lawmaker tells Buhari REMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

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resident Muhammadu Buhari has been asked to include Oyo State and other states with confirmed cases of Covid-19 in whatever measures being taken by the Federal Government to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus in the country.

A three-term member of the House of Representatives, Ajibola Muraina who gave the advice on Monday, warned the Federal Government not to play politics with the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, wondering why the President failed to mention Oyo, which has the third highest incidence of COVID-19 in the country after Lagos and

Abuja, in his state broadcast or extend any of the measures put in place to check the spread of the disease.

The lawmaker stated that the exemption of Oyo State and a few other states where there have been confirmed cases of the virus from the measures being taken to address the situation could mean harm for their fights against the virus.

He noted that though Governor Seyi Makinde has been doing a good job in handling the crisis, with adequate measures already put in place to contain the disease such as embarking on massive sensitisation and issuance of directives to ensure the prevention of the disease, the Federal Government would have to www.businessday.ng

include Oyo State and other states in whatever measures and benefits being made available to Lagos and now Ogun.

He added that the perceived lackadaisical attitude of the Federal Government towards Oyo State in the handling of COVID-19 crisis has already reflected in the incapacitation of the University College Hospital (UCH), a federal hospital, to handle the crisis until the Oyo State government funded a Diagnostic Centre in the hospital.

Muraina, who commended Governor Makinde’s proactive leadership, which he said has seen the state embark on a full-scale campaign on precautionary measures against COVID-19, putting in place measures to ensure social dis-

tance, among others, as well as setting up well-equipped isolation centres with a total of 114 beds in Ibadan and Ogbomoso, advised the Federal Government not to leave Oyo State and others where there have been confirmed cases to face the challenges alone at this period.

He said: “Last Sunday’s national broadcast by President Muhammadu Buhari could not have come at a better time than it did, after widespread criticism on the President’s handling of the COVID-19 situation. In the broadcast, the President highlighted some of the measures the Federal Government has put in place and those that will still come on stream as the nation continues to seek ways to overcome the

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ongoing health crisis.

“It is, however, pertinent to mention that the President’s broadcast, through an error of commission and omission, left out Oyo State and a few others where there are confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the measures being put in place to check the spread of the virus, despite the fact that Oyo State has the third highest number of COVID-19 incidences in the country.

“By omitting the name of Oyo State and, indeed, a few others where the confirmed cases of Covid-19 exist from the first donation, not only has the Federal Government left the states to hold their own in the face of the COVID-19 challenges, it has also made donors look away from them. @Businessdayng

“While I would want to give the President the benefit of the doubt by agreeing that Oyo State and others were inadvertently omitted in the national broadcast, it is imperative that the Federal Government takes steps to correct the omission and immediately retrospectively include them in all plans put in place to fight the spread of the virus in Lagos and Ogun states.”

According to him, “As the President would have known, the UCH, which is supposed to be the flagship of hospitals in the country has had to write an SOS letter ‘to whom it may concern’, seeking funding for facilities to handle the COVID-19. This, in itself, is an indictment on the Federal Government.”

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COVID-19: Unilever donates hygiene products to Lagos, Ogun

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nilever Nigeria has donated its hygiene portfolio brands – Lifebuoy, OMO, Sunlight soaps and detergents – to Ogun and Lagos State governments to complement their efforts to combat the coronavirus challenge. This is in demonstration of the firm’s commitment to making sustainable living commonplace through its operations.

Soromidayo George, director, corporate affairs and sustainable business, Ghana and Nigeria, Unilever, while making the donations to the government of both states, commended the states for leading effectively in the crisis and demonstrating capabilities to stem the spread of the virus with adequate preparation of the right infrastructure set up for affected people to be treated.

“Since the confirmation of the first case, the governments have proven beyond reasonable doubt their capabilities to curtail the virus from spreading to become a pandemic.

The strategic engagement of the states in keeping everyone informed through their channels of communications has been effective with the right actions taken to keep every-

one safe,” George said.

Motunrayo Babalola, brand manager, beauty and hygiene, Unilever Nigeria, said the Lifebuoy brand and other hygiene products of Unilever have been in the forefront of the global battle to combat diseases like Ebola, diarrhoea and others.

She noted that hygiene plays a crucial part in combating many of these diseases, saying the Unilever brands such as Lifebuoy have social missions that have committed to helping people always live well by promoting hygiene in all spheres of life. This, she said, is a charge that specifically comes to bear during these challenging times.

Receiving the products from Unilever in Ogun State, Tomi Coker, the state commissioner for health, commended Unilever for its initiative in donating the products in support of the government efforts to fight the virus in the state.

“We are making conscious efforts in our infrastructure set up to handle the COVID-19 cases confirmed in the state, and the support of Unilever will go a long way to curtail the spread, she said,” Coker said.

Gas constraints to Geregu, Olorunsogo, others weaken nationwide power supply - TCN HARRISON EDEH, Abuja

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ransmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said gas constraints from several gas companies to Geregu and Olorunsogo power plants and others have continued to weaken power supply in the country, affecting most of the nation’s thermal generating stations and overall power supply in the country.

Ndidi Mbah, general manager, public affairs in the TCN, informed in a statement on Monday that the development had restrained optimal generation into the grid and consequently the quantum of electricity transmitted to distribution load centres.

TCN, it would be recalled, reported the low gas supply to many power plants few weeks ago but the gas shortage has persisted till date.

The thermal power plants most affected by gas supply constraint include; Geregu Gas station now generating 0MW against 435MW, Geregu NIPP generating 81MW with a shortfall of 354MW, Sapele NIPP now generating 0MW against 230MW, Olorunsosgo NIPP generating 0MW against 112MW and Olorunsogo Gas plant generating 70.5MW with a shortfall of 195.5MW, while Gbarian plant is generating 0MW against 112MW. Also affected by the gas supply constraint are; Omotosho NIPP generating 110MW with a

shortfall of 220MW. Meanwhile, Egbin power plant, Alaoji NIPP, Delta, Okpai are equally affected by gas shortage. Egbin is currently generating 596MW with a short fall of 264MW. Delta II-IV gas is generating 306.81MW with a shortfall of 128.19MW and Okpai Gas plant is generating 159MW with a shortfall of 291MW. On the other hand, Rivers IPP, AFAM IV-V and Paras Energy are also generating with a shortfall of 40MW, 60MW and 30.2MW respectively. AFAM VI does not have gas supply problem but one of its units is out on fault.

Presently, Azura and Odukpani power plants are the only two thermal power generating stations generating at full capacity into the nations grid. With the

current situation therefore, a few of the distribution companies that can pick more load are unable to, because what is generated into the grid is what TCN strives to distribute equitably to DisCo nationwide.

Recall that TCN had earlier issued a press release dated March 7, 2020, in which it stated that low gas supply was significantly affecting the quantum of power generated into the grid. TCN insists that the poor gas supply challenge has not abated but is getting worse, even after the maintenance of the gas pipelines.

TCN hereby notes that there is need to urgently address the issue of gas shortage to thermal generating power plants nationwide to avert serious system disturbance.

Ondo: IGP sets up special investigation team, calls for calm Innocent Odoh, Abuja

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nspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu has set up a special investigation team to unravel the immediate and remote cause of the unfortunate tragic explosion that occurred at Ogbese near Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Friday, March 27, 2020.

According to a statement issued on Monday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, the team is headed by the Commissioner of Police (CP) in charge of the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit, Force Headquarters, Abuja, Maikudi A. Shehu.

The team is made up of police officers from the Police Bomb Disposal Squad (Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit), which is a specialised arm of the Police that oversees explosives and ordinance operations of the Force including controlled detonation, safe evacuation, sweeping, assessment, analysis, intelligence and investigations touching on bombs and all

forms of explosives related incidents.

The investigation team will work jointly with experts from the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) - the nation’s leading Research and Development Institution that is the sole repository of all geo-scientific data.

According to Mba, the agency has a state-of-the-art laboratory with the capacity and expertise to carry out a wide range of geo-scientific examinations including Laboratory/Forensic Examinations, Geochemical Analysis of Rocks, Minerals, Water, Sewage, Soil Samples and Site Investigations amongst others.

The IGP in the statement expressed hope that with the involvement of NGSA, the quality and integrity of investigations into the explosion will be greatly enhanced. He however, enjoined the citizens especially those living around the scene of the incident to avoid the area so as not to tamper with the scene of incident and the ongoing investigations.

Ministry of finance, CBN obtain exemption for skeletal operations Hope Moses-Ashike & Onyinye Nwachukwu, Abuja

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inistry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have obtained an exemption from President Muhammadu Buhari to allow very skeletal operations in the financial system and money markets in order to keep the system in light operations during the lockdown period.

Buhari on Sunday, at a nationwide broadcast, ordered the restriction of movement in Lagos, Ogun and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, fol-

lowing the persistent spread of Covid-19 in the country.

A statement jointly signed

by Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, and Godwin Emefiele, governor, CBN, stated that these restrictions were critical to significantly reduce the transmission rate of the disease and make it much easier for health professional to trace, test and isolate patients.

The statement said all relevant staff of affected outfits and agencies should look out for further instructions from their immediate bosses. www.businessday.ng

The 110-bed Isolation Centre at Mobolaji Johnoson Stadium, Onikan, Lagos Island, constructed by the Lagos State government and Guaranty Trust Bank, unveiled on Saturday, March 28, 2020.

‘Congestion looms at Lagos ports’ AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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assive congestion is looming at the ports in Lagos because consignees and their agents are not taking delivery of their cargo, the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) has said.

The STOAN says while it is good that the seaports will be working to support government’s effort at curtailing the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), there is need to allow full movement of cargo across the country, to ensure their operations are not hampered.

“All terminals in Lagos are between 90 percent and 95 percent full. Most of the cargo is

non-essential. If cargo doesn’t flow, within days, there will be no space in the terminals to discharge other cargo. And some of the cargo awaiting to be discharged include food and medicine. There is a need, therefore, to appeal to importers to pick up their cargo and not return empties for next two weeks in order to allow the prioritisation of imports coming in.

“If consignees do not remove their cargo in the next couple of days, the ports will become fully congested and it will be near impossible to discharge incoming vessels,” Bolaji Akinola, STOAN spokesman, says.

Akinola states that the multiplicity of government agencies at the ports and at the

ports’ exit gates at both Tin Can ad Apapa ports is compounding the “painfully slow delivery of cargo”.

“These government agencies are working at odds with the Federal Government’s policy on the Ease of Doing Business.

“There are too many government agencies involved in the cargo release process, and after the cargo is released in the terminal, these government agencies including the Nigeria Customs Service conduct another round of checks at the port gate.

“The situation has resulted in long truck queues inside the ports because the rate at which trucks exit the main port gate has is extremely slow due to these multiple checks,”

he notes.

The STOAN spokesman also said that the challenge of slow cargo delivery is compounded at the Apapa Port due to the ongoing reconstruction of the exit gate.

“Operational continuity at the port is vital to our fight against the coronavirus disease.

The ports cannot stop working.

The only way to ensure that the country does not run short of vital supplies including food, medicaments, hand santisers and nose masks, which are essential kits in curtailing the spread of the deadly virus is to keep the ports working. This is why everyone involved in the cargo release process and the logistics chain must sacrifice personal interests at this time for the national good.

US chartered flight arrives at MMIA IFEOMA OKEKE

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chartered flight from the US landed at the Lagos International Airport on Monday with 26 persons on board. The persons on board the flight are Americans working with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

After thorough screening by officials of the Port

Health services, the Americans departed on an Air Peace chartered flight to Calabar.

This flight is part of the special flights granted permission by the Federal Government to land during the suspension of all commercial and private jets movements in the country due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The letter seeking per-

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mission to embark on the flight and land at any of the Nigerian major airports was sent to the Ministry of Aviation for approval and communicated in a letter to the various Aviation agencies to ensure seamless facilitation of the flight.

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had ban international flights but confirmed essential flights @Businessdayng

would still operate.

The essential flights include aircraft in state of emergency, over flights, operations related to humanitarian aid, medical and relief flights, alternate aerodrome identified in the flight plan, technical stop where passengers do not disembark, cargo flights and other safety related operations.

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COVID-19: Anger in Lagos, Ogun, FCT markets as prices of foodstuff soar MARK MAYAH

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ollowing the announcement on Sunday by President MuhammaduBuhari’stwo-week shutdown order on Lagos, Abuja and Ogun State to stop further spread of COVID-19, residents of the affected states have lamented the high rate of foodstuff in the markets.

In a bid to ensure that they stock their houses with foodstuff, many of the residents who have stormed the markets at Ile-Ipo, Agege, Oshodi, Idumota, Mile 12, Ojota, Wuse Area One, Area 10, Garki ,Kuto, Lafenwa, Sango, Ifo and Idiroko to buy food items were taken by surprise as the prices of goods have skyrocketed.

At Ile-Epo Market, a suburb area of Agbado/Oke- Odo Local Authority Development Area of Lagos State, the prices of garri, one of the staple foods in Nigeria, were increased by about 300 percent.

Garri, which used to sell for N500, was increased to N1500 and N1800, respectively.

Similarly, Agege, Idumota and Oshodi markets, garri goes for N1400 and N1600, respectively.

While a derica of rice, which was sold for N300 before Sunday, now goes for N600.

At Sango, Ifo and Idiroko markets, garri also went up by 300 percent as residents of these areas pay between N1400 and N1700. A tuber of yam also goes for between N800 and N1300 as against N500 and N700 being sold before the Sunday announcement.

At Kuto Market in Abeokuta North Local Government Area, the hike in prices of garri did not go down well with the youths in the

area, who mobilised to the market to ensure that the price was brought down to N900.

Those who flaunt the order had their produce taken away from them and were sold to the public by the youths at the price of N900.

This development forced those who could not sell at the agreed price to lock their stores and go home for fear of the youths who were bent on enforcing the agreed prices.

Some of the market women who spoke to BusinessDay said they bought the produce at high prices adding that they had no choice than to sell at a high rate. One of the garri sellers who spoke under strict anonymity said, “We bought this garri at a very high price because those that sold to us told us that government is closing the borders on Monday night. So we have no option than to sell at a very high price too because that is how we bought.

But with what the youths are doing now we are selling at a loss.”

Some who supported the actions of the youths said it was wrong for the women to increase the prices of garri stressing that government has not increased prices of petroleum products so there was no need to increase the prices of foodstuff just because of lockdown.

Christie Onoja, who came to Ile-Epo market to buy foodstuff said, “We were all taken by surprise this morning when we came to the market. The prices of foodstuff just tripled. We don’t see any reason why they should increase things like this. It is not faring at all. Please government should do something about this if not we will die of hunger during the coming lockdown.’’

Lagos directs police, others to provide security as state sets for lockdown Joshua Bassey & Godsgift Onyedinefu

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overnor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has directed the police and other security forces to ensure the protection of lives and properties as the state goes into knockdown.

The directive followed the presidential broadcast on Sunday during which President Muhammad Buhari ordered the cessation of movement in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, starting from 11pm of Monday, March 30, to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.

Residents of Lagos State have been expressing fears of the possibility of criminals and robbers taking advantage of the lockdown and sit-at-home order to unleash havoc on innocent citizens in their homes.

But addressing this concern, Sanwo-Olu on Monday, said the security agencies had been directed to be on top of their game

… military to enforce Buhari’s lockdown order

in making sure that Nigerians complying with the directive don’t fall prey.

“I would like to address the fears of those who have expressed some security concerns about your places of work and shops during this restriction.

I have directed the police and other security agents to ensure that there are no security breaches. They will ensure that criminals do not take advantage of this important measure,” Sanwo-Olu said.

The governor also advised private sector players, market leaders and traders to move out inflammable materials such as petrol, kerosene and others, from their offices and shops before the restriction ‪begins at 11pm, urging them to also switch off all electrical and electronic appliances to stave off fire incidents during the 14-day restriction.

He further noted that the government would intensify efforts at

disinfecting public places, including parks and highways, adding that the exercise would extend to rural and riverine areas during the restriction period.

Speaking on the relief package introduced by his administration, the governor said, “We have since started our welfare package for the vulnerable class of people.

Those who live on daily earnings and the jobless. The hitches noticed in the distribution of the food package are being addressed so as to make the exercise healthier and more dignifying”.

He said there was no need to panic in Lagos, adding, “As the number of those infected is rising and our fear of community spreading is being confirmed by the cases that are being handled, it is also the time to be more focused on our responsibility in this battle. Let us continue to obey the simple rules prescribed by the experts”.

On the other hand, the Nigerian Armed Forces say it had been

directed to enforce all restriction on movement as directed by President Buhari at his Sunday broadcast on the Covid-19 pandemic.

John Enenche, coordinator, Defence Media Operations (DMO) who made this known while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Monday solicited the support of the general public by adhering to all the medical and administrative guidelines being provided by government at all levels.

Enenche also disclosed that a senior officer of the Nigerian Armed Forces had tested positive to the Coronavirus, explaining that the officer recently returned from a high burden country and was currently at the isolation centre at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital.

Speaking further on the level of preparedness of the Armed Forces, the DMO coordinator said 17 isolation and treatment centres have been activated across the six geopolitical zones.

FG postpones lockdown on Ogun to Friday … Abiodun tested negative to COVID-19 RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta

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aving considered the negative effects and hardships the sudden lockdown declared by President Muhammadu Buhari on Lagos, Ogun and Abuja, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State on Monday secured waiver on total lockdown from the Federal Government.

This is in order to create time for residents of the state to stock foods and other daily needs before the lockdown take effect.

Governor Abiodun, who declared that he had tested negative to Coronavirus after he had secretly subjected himself to selfisolation immediately he came back to the state from London and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum meeting held in Abuja about two weeks ago, explained that the declaration of emergency on the state which supposed to start Monday night had been shifted to Friday night for the state to be able to also distribute relief materials and foods to the residents.

Speaking at the unveiling of three Isolation centres in Ikenne, Sagamu and Abeokuta, totalling 300 beds on Tuesday, Governor Abiodun said, “After consultation with the Presidency, the interstate and international borders will close tonight at 11.00pm as directed by the President. However, the total lockdown of the state will be effective from 11pm on Friday, 3rd April, 2020.

“This is to enable us finalise the mechanisms for the distribution of relief materials and food items ahead of the total

lockdown.

“Our government is conscious of the implications and discomfort associated with these measures. Nonetheless, we are constrained to do this because the available options are limited.

Not taking these measures would have dire consequences.

“Coronavirus has upturned people’s lives and destinies and we have to fight with everything that we have, including stepping down our individual preferences and freedoms. These restrictions will be kept under constant review.

“We will relax them if the evidence makes it compelling. The restrictions are without prejudice to the need for people to reasonably move within their neighbourhoods to buy essentials such as food, drugs and access healthcare, as contained in Regulation 8 of Ogun State Corona Virus Disease (Emergency Prevention) Regulations 2020.

“Let me now unveil new strategies to further flatten the curve of the spread, isolate and treat any positive case, and provide relief and succour to our people, in this trying time.

“Arrangements are at an advanced stage to establish our own biomedical laboratory so that we can test suspected cases in the state without going to Lagos or Abuja. This laboratory which will be in place by this weekend will minimize the test turn-around time which currently is between 3 – 5 days and fast-track the treatment of positive cases. It will also reduce period of apprehension and anxiety for those suspected of infection and their relations.

L-R: Femi Fapohunda, chief operating officer, Mouka; Taiwo Olufemi Salaam, permanent secretary, ministry of local government and community affairs, and Dimeji Osingunwa, chief commercial officer, Mouka, during the donation of 500 mattresses to Lagos State government for the enhancement of COVID-19 isolation centre, at Alausa Secretariat on Monday.

Pic by Pius Okeosisi

Coronavirus: NIMASA draws new guideline for vessels calling Nigerian ports AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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igerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has issued new guideline to all types of ships operating into the nation’s seaports in order to contain the spread of Coronavirus, through shipping activities.

According to a marine notice published by the agency recently, NIMASA directed all maritime stakeholders to develop risk assessments and safety intervention guidelines for their personnel and operations on the areas of vulnerabilities of their maritime operations that can be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The notice, signed by the management, listed the areas to include offshore opera-

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tions such as crew/personnel changes, visits from onshore and other locations for provision of supplies, maintenance and repairs, among others.

While stating that the agency would be elaborating on the guideline in coming days, the notice further directed that schedule for ongoing offshore operations requiring new crew or crew changes from affected countries must ensure that predeparture tests for COVID-19 were conducted on such persons, and self-isolation procedures for the prescribed period were instituted for new crew/ personnel before exposure to other personnel.

“Only international marine vessel which had planned and informed the agency of their call into a Nigerian Port not later than 1st February, 2020

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may be allowed to call on such port,” the marine notice further stated.

It added that any international marine vessel or any member of its crew or passenger therein having a travel history of visiting any of the COVID-19 affected countries since February 1, 2020, shall not be permitted to enter any Nigerian port from March 30, 2020, till April 12, 2020, while further dates may be reviewed from time to time.

“Furthermore, only international marine vessel having thermal screening facilities for passenger and crew may be allowed in the ports and shipping agent/master of vessels must submit all documents related to crew and passengers regarding their travel to or from the COVID-19 affected countries,” the notice read. @Businessdayng

NIMASA also directed that it was important for all passengers and crew members to fill the Self Reporting Form as prescribed by Nigerian Port Health Authorities, adding that Port Health officers shall carry out thermal screening of all the passengers and crew members on board ship, and none would be allowed ashore until clearance is given.

The Bashir Jamoh-led management of NIMASA also said in the notice that the purpose was to help shipping companies and all maritime stakeholders follow advice provided

by United Nations agencies including the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), as well as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

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Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

COPING WITH LOCKDOWN

Covid-19: Dollar-a-day income earners hurt as economic activities shrink, movement restricted CHUKA UROKO

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or the class of Nigerians whose income is so small that it is equated to one dollar-a-day, the impact of the rampaging coronavirus is a lot deeper as government’s preventive measures take toll on economic activities.

Increasingly, economic activities are grinding to a halt and this has been made worse by government’s restriction of movement and an order for people to sit at home to avoid contracting or further spreading of the virus.

Lagos State government had ordered the closure of markets, schools, event centres and other public places.

The Federal Government has added to this with a total lockdown of the state, stressing that all forms of movement in and out of the state should stop. President Muhammadu Buhari, who gave this order in his broadcast to the nation Sunday evening, also shut down Ogun State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. His reason was

that Lagos and Abuja have the highest number of coronavirus cases while Ogun was affected because it was close to Lagos.

“This in a worthwhile development, but one only hopes some people will not die of hunger in their houses. There are some people who earn income from their daily activities like hawkers, motorcycle (Okada) and tricycle (Keke) riders, mini bus (danfo) drivers, and labourers at construction sites,” Idowu Makinde, a social affairs commentator, told BusinessDay on phone. Makinde hoped that this class of people were among those the president, in his broadcast, described as “the most vulnerable” who the Federal Government would give food ration.

“For residents of satellite and commuter towns and communities around Lagos and Abuja whose livelihoods will surely be affected by some of these restrictive measures, we shall deploy relief materials to ease their pains in the coming weeks,” the president assured. But concerns still remain. “The president’s

promise of relief materials is very good and reassuring, but I have my fears. As an okada rider, I get what my family and I eat from the road. Now I don’t know whether I am part of the people the President said are the most vulnerable and for whom relief materials will be provided,” Matthew Idoko, an Okada ride, said.

In spite of everything, Idoko supports the president’s action, but feels worried about the fate that awaits him and people like him in the days and weeks to come. He pleaded that, no matter how small, governments at the federal and state levels should give out stimulus package to all the people who are truly vulnerable.

Anthony Njemanze is a construction worker. Before now, he was busy, moving from one building to another, doing his plumbing work at Teju Royal Garden Estate located in a Lagos suburb.

Like Idoko, he also commended the decision to shut down Lagos and Abuja “if only that will prevent the spread of this deadly disease to other parts of the country.”

But he wondered how his

family would cope without any income at all. “This is the time for both government and churches to help poor people,” he pleaded.

Unarguably, reduced economic activities is affecting all and sundry and that is piling enormous pressure on many families, especially those of the poor. “The situation is tough already and I have my fear that it will be tougher when we get deeper into the lockdown,” Idoko lamented.

However, the president has appealed that “we must all see this as our national and patriotic duty to control and contain the spread of this virus. I will, therefore, ask all of us affected by this order to put aside our personal comfort to safeguard ourselves and fellow human beings.”

Buhari pointed that as the government remains ready to enforce these measures, Nigerians should see the measures as their individual contribution in the war against COVID-19. He noted that many other countries have taken far stricter measures in a bid to control the spread of the virus with positive

L-R: Babajide Sanwo-Olu (left); Lagos State Governor, ), Segun Agbaje (second left) managing director, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBand Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi (right), during the unveiling of the 110-bed Isolation Center at Mobolaji Johnoson Stadium, Onikan, Lagos Island, constructed by the Lagos State Government and GTB, in Lagos.

Anger in Lagos, Ogun, FCT markets as prices of foodstuff soar MARK MAYAH

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ollowing President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement of a twoweek shutdown of Lagos, Abuja and Ogun States to stop further spread of COVID-19, residents of the affected states have lamented the high rate of foodstuffs in the markets.

In a bid to ensure that they stock their houses with foodstuff, many of the residents who stormed the markets at Ile-Ipo, Agege, Oshodi, Idumota, Mile 12, Ojota, Wuse Area One, Area 10, Garki ,Kuto, Lafenwa, Sango, Ifo and Idiroko to buy food items were taken by surprise as the prices of goods have skyrocketed.

At Ile-Epo market, a suburb area of Agbado/OkeOdo Local Authority Development Area of Lagos State, the prices of garri, one of the staple foods in the country were increased with about three hundred per cent. Garri which used to sell for N500 was increased to N1500 and N1800 respectively.

Similarly, Agege, Idumota and Oshodi markets, garri goes for N1400 and N1600 respectively. While a derica of rice which was sold for N300 before Sunday now goes for N600.

At Sango, Ifo and Idiroko markets, garri also went up by 300 per cent as residents of these areas pays between N1400 and N1700. A tuber of yam also goes for between N800 and N1300 as against N500 and N700 being sold before the Sunday announcement.

At Kuto market in Abeokuta North local government area, the hike in prices of garri did not go down well with the youths in the area, who mobilized to the market

to ensure that the price was brought down to N900.

Those who flaunt the order had their produce taken away from them and were sold to the public by the youths at the price of N900.

This development forced those who could not sell at the agreed price to lock their stores and go home for fear of the youths who were bent on enforcing the agreed prices.

S ome of the market women who spoke to BusinessDay said they bought the produce at high prices adding that they had no choice than to sell at a high rate. One of the garri sellers who spoke under strict anonymity said, “We bought this garri at a very high price because those that sold to us told us that government is closing the borders on Monday night. So we have no option than to sell at a very high price too because that is how we bought.

But with what the youths are doing now we are selling at a loss.” Some who supported the actions of the youths said it was wrong for the women to increase the prices of garri stressing that government has not increased prices of petroleum products so there was no need to increase the prices of foodstuff just because of lockdown.

Christie Onoja (Mrs), who came to Ile-Epo market to buy foodstuff said, “We were all taken by surprise this morning when we came to the market.

The prices of foodstuff just tripled. We don’t see any reason why they should increase things like this. It is not faring at all. Please g overnment should do something about this if not we will die of hunger during the coming lockdown.’’

FRSC orders immediate shutdown of driver’s license capture centres nationwide MIKE OCHONMA

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ollowing the lockdown directive by President Muhammadu Buhar i on the COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday, the Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Boboye Oyeyemi, has ordered the shutdown of driver’s license database in Abuja with immediate effect.

As a result of this, the drivers license centres will not be able to process licenses nationwide.

Applicants can go via the bypass mode to process for the license to be delivered after the lockdown period.

Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem in a statement said that the shutdown is aimed at sustaining existing endeavours already in place by the federal government to curtail further spread of the menace.

He added that the Corps Marshal had in the wake of the pandemic directed all DLCs to maintain maximum hygiene www.businessday.ng

through provision of adequate water, soap and alcohol-based sanitizers at the Centres.

The corps marshal had earlier advised applicants to avoid physical capture at this critical moment when the world is battling a common enemy (COVID-19), and explore the bypass option which is the online processing of the National Drivers License without physical presence of the applicant at the DLCs. However, the driver’s license

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will only be collected upon resumption after the lockdown.

It is therefore to be noted that the By-Pass option is applicable only to applicants who intend to renew their licenses not fresh applicants.

This is hereby reiterated as part of the Corps’ concerted efforts to curb the spread of the global health challenge.

Th e c l o su re o f t h e D LC s will not affect the operational formations of the corps as operatives have been deployed @Businessdayng

to render required essential services in collaboration with other security and intelligence agencies at all levels to enforce both the Presidential and State G overnment’s directives on restriction of movement and sit at home among others.

The corps marshal has notified the chairman and secretary of the Joint Tax Board ( JTB) about the effect of the temporary shutdown of the DLCs nationwide.

Tuesday 31 Tuesday 2020

BUSINESS DAY

Live @ The Exchanges Nigeria stock market hits new low as investors sell MTN, banking stocks Stories by Iheanyi Nwachukwu

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i g e r i a’s s t o c k market opened this week on a negative note as equity dealers got more orders from investors to sell stocks like MTNN, Zenith, GTBank, and UBA without corresponding demand for them.

The value of listed stocks depleted further by N277billion as investors continued to weigh the risk of Coronavirus pandemic, which its control measures made Fe deral Government order a 14-day lockdown in the nation’s commercial capital of Lagos State, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja and Ogun State.

In the absence of any positive catalyst that is capable of lifting investors’ confidence, market

watchers expect Monday’s bearish performance to filter into Tuesday trading session.

Despite this restriction, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is sustaining its ongoing remote trading following the approval to include the Financial System and Money Markets in the list of exempted services from the lockdown of Lagos and Ogun States and the FCT. The NSE sustains remote trading activities at normal hours and days, in line with the guidance provided by the World Federation of Exchanges.

MTNN led the losers table on Monday after its share price decreased from N100 to N90, losing N10 or 10percent, followed by Zenith Bank Plc which decreased from N12.6 to N11.95, losing 65kobo or 5.16percent, and GTBank Plc which dipped from N18.45 to N17.9, shedding 55kobo or 2.98percent.

Stock dealers in 3,659 deals exchanged 466,907,406units valued at N1.933billion. As at close of trading on Monday March 30, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) decreased by 2.43percent from day open level of 21.861.78points to 21,330.79 points while the value of listed stocks decreased to N11.116trillion from N11.393 trillion. The stock market’s yearto-date (ytd) negative return has increased to -20.53percent.

Investors however raised bet in stocks like Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc which rose by N14.4 or 9.83percent, from N146.5 to N160.9; while Cadbury advanced from N6.2 to N6.8, adding 60kobo or 9.68percent.

The positive performance in the Oil & Gas sector (1.77percent) could not save the NSE ASI from closing south as losses across other sectors eroded the gains made.

Sterling Bank reports 15% growth in net profit in 2019

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terling Bank Plc, a full-service national bank, has reported an audited profit after tax (PAT) of N10. 6 billion on gross earnings of N150.2 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to a net profit of N9.2billion in the corresponding period of 2018, representing a growth of 15 percent.

Commenting on the financial performance, Abubakar Suleiman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sterling Bank said, “In the final quarter of 2019, our relentless commitment to improving education through micro banking was rewarded with ‘The Banker’s Award for Banking in the Community’ on the global stage by the Financial Times of London.”

He said the bank was also ranked ‘top 3 banks in retail’

by Nigerian consumers in a KPMG banking survey - a major accomplishment for the brand and overall, the bank delivered a 15 percent growth in profit after tax to N10.6 billion as at December 2019.

According to Suleiman, the bank recorded an increase in gross earnings, driven majorly by growth in fees and commissions by 24.3percent, despite a steady loan base – as it continues to diversify into key sectors of focus - and a decline in trading income.

In 2019, the bank delivered m o re t ha n 2 0 0 p e rc e nt increase in loans to its retail and consumer segment with its Loan-to-Deposit Ratio (LDR) above the regulatory limit all year round. Notably, the bank’s digital lending product continued to set the trend with more than N45 billion disbursed to more than 50,000 customers.

Also, interest expense declined by 10.9 percent driven by a 19.4 percent year-on-year increase in low-cost deposits as the Bank continues to grow its Retail & Consumer base, resulting in a 110 bps drop in the cost of funds and consequently, a 130 bps increase in net interest margin.

According to the CEO, the Bank’s cost-to-income ratio remained relatively flat year-onyear, even as operating expenses grew on the back of staff salaries and wages and spend on technology infrastructure as well as digital platforms.

Suleiman said the bank grew its deposit base by over N130billion in deposits during the 12-month period, representing over 75 percent growth from its 2018 performance of about N75billion, and shareholders’ funds grew by 22.2 percent at the end of the year.

Covid-19: Union Bank launches toll-free customer service line

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s part of proactive efforts to ease banking worries during the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak in Nigeria, foremost financial institution, Union Bank, has introduced a 24-hour toll-free Customer Service Line - 0800 700 7000.

The multi-lingual customer service line, which allows customers to call the Bank’s Contact Centre at no cost, was launched on Monday, March 30 as part of the Bank’s efforts to ensure it provides seamless banking services as the country responds to the coronavirus

outbreak.

Speaking on the new s e r v i c e , L o l a C a r d o s o, Executive Director and Head of Retail and Digital Banking for Union Bank said: “While we navigate the new realities brought on by this global pandemic, our goal as a trusted partner to our customers is to ensure that they don’t have to worry about banking during this time. A toll-free number will allow our customers call us free of charge to resolve any banking issues they may have without worrying about cost.

We believe this kind of support is crucial for our customers www.businessday.ng

during this difficult period.”

Through Union Bank’s robust digital banking channels - UnionOnline, UnionMobile and the USSD code *826#, customers can continue to enjoy uninterrupted banking services round the clock, despite movement restrictions in certain Nigerian states ow ing to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The introduction of the new toll-free customer service line reaffirms Union Bank’s commitment to the provision of simpler, smarter banking services to its teeming customers. https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

@Businessdayng

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Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

news Lockdown may strain debtors’ ability...

Continued from page 1

lion daily.

Femi Gbajabiamila (m), speaker, House of Representatives, presiding over an emergency meeting of the Body of Principal Officers of House to deliberate on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Nigerians at the National Assembly.

Planned electricity tariff hike to wait...

Continued from page 1

and make redundant ef-

forts by the government to mitigate the impact of the economic slowdown and the nationwide lockdown occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.

President Muhammadu Buhari on March 29 announced restriction of movement in Lagos, the commercial capital, Abuja, the seat of power, and Nigeria’s rapidly industrialising state, Ogun, to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Various governments are seeking ways to ameliorate the hardship their citizens would face on account of the shutdown and a decision to raise electricity prices appears impractical.

“Implementing a tariff increase when the economy is virtually on lockdown does not sound right,” said Ayodele Oni, a Lagos-based energy lawyer.

Nigeria’s electricity supply industry appears to be jinxed.

The first attempt to increase tariffs after the privatisation of the sector was reversed 10 days after it had taken effect in 2015 by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.

The reversal was seen as an attempt to pander to the electorate during the 2015 elections.

Five years later, the same fate has befallen the sector as the scheduled tariff increase has been postponed for three months a day before it was set to take effect.

“Already people struggled to pay the current tariff at a time when the economy was relatively better; now when there is a shutdown, it will be near impossible,” Oni said.

A major contention will likely erupt if the regulator goes ahead to impose penalties on distribution companies (DisCos) for failing to

improve service delivery by at least 50 percent when the tariff increase is introduced later in the year.

In the past, the DisCos have argued that service delivery was hampered by the inability of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to wheel all the generated power to their stations.

Nigeria’s weak transmission lines sometimes see a quarter of the power sent from generation companies lost before they get to areas they are needed.

NERC will now ensure that in the case where the TCN fails to deliver an agreed amount of power to a specific DisCo, the transmission company will itself be penalised.

DisCos too are often accused by the TCN of rejecting electricity supplied to them. The regulator recently introduced a capacity charge, wherein DisCos would be compelled to pay for the load they reject, in a bid to address this concern.

“A further delay in the implementing a tariff review will mean that the challenges faced by the players will continue,” said Chuks Nwani, another energy lawyer based in Lagos.

DisCos recorded a cumulative loss of N787 billion in their 2018 financials and have only managed to keep the lights on due to interventions by the Federal Government which has subsidised their operations to the tune of about N2 trillion.

Nwani said that now may not be the time for the regulator to enforce a new service improvement agreement seeing that DisCos would be constrained further with delay in tariff review.

“The DisCo owners already have an agreement with the Bureau of Public En-

terprise which is more comprehensive and goes right at the heart of their operations, a new agreement may not be necessary,” said Nwani.

Under the planned tariff order, according to the publication, for residential customers (R3) in Abuja who currently pay N27.20 per kilowatt unit, they are to now pay N47.09; commercial customers (C3) that paid N27.20 per unit since 2015 when the tariff was last adjusted are now to pay N47.09 per unit.

According to NERC, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company’s residential customers (R3 category) that are paying N26.50 per unit are now pay N36.92 per unit.

The commercial customers (C3) that paid N24.63 per unit since 2015 are to now pay N38.14 per unit. The industrial customers of the IKEDC (D3) that paid N25.82 per unit are now to pay N35.85 per unit.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has confirmed the second death from COVID-19 (coronavirus) in the country.

Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, announced this on Monday during the Presidential Task Force Briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

“We have intensified contact tracing and our strategy remains to promptly detect cases, isolate them, and follow up with their contacts and also isolate and treat, in order to reduce the spread of the infection,” the minister said.

“As of today, the 30th of March, 2020, we have recorded 111 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria of which 68 are in Lagos, 21 in the FCT, seven in Oyo, three in Ogun, two in Bauchi, two in Edo, two in Osun, two in Enugu, and one each in Benue, Ekiti, Kaduna and Rivers States,” Ehanire said.

He stressed that in Nige-

ria, majority of the cases were persons who came in from overseas.

He also informed that all retired but able-bodied staff of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the Federal Ministry of Health were being recalled.

Ehanire warned Nigerians to protect the elderly among them, as well as those having underlying health issues, as they were the most vulnerable.

Five coronavirus patients who had been receiving treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, were also discharged on Monday after further tests carried out on them returned negative. This brings to eight the total number of discharged patients.

Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), informed that the briefing would be a daily event and that the purpose was to give an update and minimise the incidence of fake news in the country.

Mustapha stressed that the briefing would be the only approved briefing of the task force, although appearances on TV by relevant members would be allowed.

He emphasised that President Muhammadu Buhari has constituted a committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to care for the economic challenges that the situation may bring for the time being.

The SGF also clarified the controversy triggered by the restriction of movement in Lagos and Ogun States, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He allayed the fears of Nigerians, saying workers in the financial institutions were not included in the stayat-home order declared by the president in his Sunday broadcast to the nation.

Demand for total unsecured lending from households increased in the third (Q3) quarter of 2019, according to the CBN’s credit condition report.

Payday loans, referred to as salary advances, payroll loans and payday advances, are typically small, shortterm unsecured loans that are tied to a borrower’s payday.

The growth in aggregate credit to the economy by banks is put at N2.35 trillion since the inception of the Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR) policy, Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, said at the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja.

Consequently, sectoral distribution of credit between end-May 2019 and end-February 2020 was as follows: manufacturing (N533.06 billion); general retail and consumer loans (N380.71 billion); general commerce (N229.87 billion); agriculture, forestry and fishing (N163.04 billion); information and communications (N163.69 billion); finance and insurance (N131.20 billion); construction (N112.25 billion); and transportation and storage (N45.42 billion), amongst others.

The CBN granted a further moratorium of one year on all principal repayments of its intervention funds, effective March 31, 2020, being part of measures to contain the impact of Covid-19.

The CBN also granted Deposit Money Banks leave to consider temporary and time-limited restructuring of the tenor and loan terms for businesses and households most affected by the outbreak of Covid-19 particularly oil and gas, agriculture and manufacturing.

However, the banks are not seen as keen to follow the regulator’s measures as they keep sending messages to customers, reminding them of their loan repayment that is due.

One message sent by a tier-2 lender to a customer

seen by BusinessDay said: “Dear xxx, your Loan Repayment of xxx is due in three days, 28 March 2020.

Please ensure your account: XXXXXXXXX is sufficiently funded. Call us for enquiries.”

Some of the customers who took loans from the banks are in disarray over repayment of such loans, BusinessDay learnt.

Akintunde Olusegun, financial market analyst at Polaris Bank Limited, said banks would have different approaches to this.

“I expect a lot of engagement between banks and such customers. Restructuring of some of these loans in view of current economic situation will likely be the most reasonable thing to do in other to forestall rise in the industry’s Non-Performing Loans (NPL),” Olusegun told BusinessDay. CBN in one of the circulars released in response to Covid-19 outbreak and its spill over, granted Banks leave to consider temporary and time limited restructuring of tenor loans.

The ratio of NPLs moderated from 6.59 per cent in January to 6.54 per cent in February 2020 but the ratio remained above the prudential benchmark of 5.0 per cent.

Taiwo Oyedele, head of Tax and Corporate Advisory Services at PwC said, the CBN had earlier granted repayment moratorium on their intervention loans while the federal government has equally done the same thing on their Tradermoni and the likes.

“As part of the CBN earlier interventions, banks have been given the forbearance to restructure loans to customers that are most affected by the current situation. This should cover some MSMEs but unfortunately majority of such businesses do not have facilities from the traditional banks. Therefore government needs to consider appropriate interventions for these sort of businesses outside the traditional banking system,” Oyedele said.

Our close encounter with death, by...

Continued from page 2

Italian index case and two Nigerians, had earlier been treated and discharged from the Lagos facility.

Lagos remains the epicentre of the coronavirus in Nigeria, having 68 of the total 111 cases so far recorded in the country.

Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi, the only female of the five discharged patients, took to Twitter to narrate her ordeal and how she escaped death.

Osowobi said she contracted the disease during a post-Commonwealth event she attended in the United Kindgom (UK).

“Life finds ways of throwing

LEMON at me. I’ve struggled with coming forward, but I want to inspire hope. I returned to Nigeria from the UK post-Commonwealth event (I totally enjoyed)andfellill.Asaresponsible person, I self-isolated. Days after, I tested positive for COVID-19,” shewroteviaherpersonalhandle @AyodejiOsowobi.

“Before returning, I had planned several interviews, I was scheduled to start a fantastic consultancy job & was also expecting to sign a contract worth millions. I lost them all.

I had to self-isolate and also inform people I came in close contact with to get tested. My friend & I kept calling @NCDCgov to get tested. What if we didn’t persist?” she wrote.

Tuesday 31 March 2020

BUSINESS DAY

35

news

Covid-19: Stallion commits free supply of rice, fish to government-run hospitals across Nigeria MIKE OCHONMA

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tallion Empowerment Initiative, a philanthropic arm of Stallion Group, has pledged its support to local governments across Nigeria by committing to provide locally produced rice and fish free to all government-run hospitals dedicated to Covid-19 for next three months.

Anant Badjatya, CEO of Stallion Group, has also committed a staff bus each to the five government-run Covid-19 hospitals in Lagos.

The Group will also provide drivers and fuel for these buses.

This arrangement, the Stallion CEO said, will help ensure safer and comfortable transportation of our healthcare workers who are in the frontline in this fight against the virus.

Sunil Vaswani, chairman, Stallion Group, also stated, “These are exceptionally difficult times and urgent emergency resources have to be deployed to cope with the

needs of affected states and support their health care systems. At Stallion Group, our top priority is the health and safety of our employees, customers and our community. ‘’There is nothing greater than the safety of the people of this country and its our responsibility to support the government and the community in this time of need.

We are deeply grateful to every health care worker and person who has risked their life to fight this pandemic and will continue to support them’’.

The group also commended the proactive efforts of the government and all the corporates who had come forward in this trying times of need of the nation and standing in solidarity with the healthcare personnel, the police, the immigration personnel, the customs, the aviation authorities, factories working to produce essential items in this time of need, and all people acting responsibly to contain the pandemic.

Price of crude oil collapses to $23.03 Olusola Bello

… as Nigeria’s situation looks sorry

he price of crude oil has sunk to levels not seen since 2002, as demand for crude collapses amid the coronavirus pandemic. Brent crude fell to $23.03 a barrel Monday, which is the lowest level since November 2002.

This will have great impact on the Nigerian economy this year. The country has on account of the impact of coronavirus review its budget benchmark downward from $57 to $30 just to accommodate and streamline it budgetary proposal in line with the dwindling global economic fortunes.

The crash in crude oil prices means volume is especially important for oil-dependent Nigeria, as there will be no OPEC output limits to adhere to after March, the country can pump at will.

The drop in oil prices is hitting the country hard, making a big dent in government revenues and threatening the viability of upstream projects.

Experts are however of the

view that even if every country decides to produce at will it may not be able to produce beyond 2.3 million barrels per day given the fact that the country has been too lackadaisical about exploration activities. To achieve this may take a few years. They also say even at this volume of production Nigeria will have to sell its commodity at a highly discounted rate to be able to create market for it, and the revenue from it may not make so much impact on the economy.

According to Petroleum Economist, the country is bracing up to take a big hit from the collapse in oil prices resulting from the end of the OPEC+ agreement and the Covid-19 pandemic. Nigeria is particularly vulnerable as it has yet to fully recover from the previous crash in 2014.

It also means that all those deepwater projects and other projects onshore proposed by both international oil and independent companies slated for sanctions would have to be on hold, and this is not too good

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for the country.

The unit cost of producing a barrel of crude in deepwater is about $30, and that of onshore is about $17 per a barrel.

The crash in crude oil prices means volume is especially important for oil-dependent Nigeria, and as there will be no OPEC output limits to adhere to after March, the country can pump at will.

Diran Fawibe, chairman/ chief executive of IESL/Doris Joint Venture, says presently Nigeria can hardly produce up to 2.6 million barrels per day, which it did just for a few times in the past. He however states that if the country is able to improve national production through exploration it may be able to produce above 2 million barrels per day.

He says producing above 2 million barrels would have to depend on market availability.

To get markets for the commodity would also depend on if it can give a discount to the tune of about $3 per barrel at the international market.

Seye Fadunsi, former executive director of Pillar Oil, notes that the country currently does not have the capacity to ramp up beyond 2 million barrels per day because it does not have the capability.

Even if the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is passed today and investors comes into the industry for them to start drilling, development of fields and production, it will take about two to three years to start seeing result, he states.

Abiodun Adesanya, managing director of Degeconek, says without the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, Nigeria had never been able to sustain it 2.2 million quota allocation given it by OPEC, though it has always tried to move closer to it.

He attributes this situation to constant infractions on the pipeline infrastructure by militants in the Niger Delta, saying the strategy for Nigeria should be to appeal to both Russia and Saudi Arabia because it will not pay even if it was able to ramp up a few volumes because of market availability.

Covid-19: Lagos to commence clinical trial of Choloroquine CALEB OJEWALE

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linical trial for usage of Chloroquine in the treatment of Coronavirus is to start in Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous city that has become epicentre of the disease in the country, as drug manufacturers are ordered to commence immediate production of the drug.

Monday morning, Moji Adeyeye, director-general, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), said in a statement directing manufacturers to commence production of Cholorquine, the old antimalarial known for a range of side effects in some users, was being repurposed for the clinical trial treatment of Coronavirus.

According to Adeyeye, other researchers in France and US have used the drug for clinical trial treatment of COVID-19 and they reported effectiveness of the drug.

“Lagos State will be starting a clinical trial on chloroquine to evaluate the effectiveness,” she said.

Drug manufacturers in Nigeria are to start producing the drug for emergency stock and usage in possible clinical

trial treatment of Coronavirus across Nigeria, as the disease gradually spreads beyond earlier expectations, triggering the total lockdown of states such as Lagos, Ogun, Abuja, for 14 days.

Chloroquine works by increasing endosomal pH from the acidic environment required for virus/cell fusion, resulting in the inhibition of infection of SARS-CoV. It also interferes with the glycosylation of cellular receptor, angiotens in-converting enzyme 2. This may inhibit the virus-receptor binding and terminating the infection. The antiviral and antiinflammatory effects of chloroquine contribute to the efficacy in treating COVID-19 patients, she said, explaining how the drug worked in combating the disease.

NAFDAC, however, emphasised the need for the public to “desist from its use without the guidance of a medical doctor or clinician for cases of clinical trial treatment of COVID-19”. It stressed that the drug had side effects such as gastrointestinal upset, blurred vision, headache and pruritis (itching). Prolonged use can also cause retinopathy or vision impairment.

Panic withdrawal creates long queues around banks ... as lenders deny customers of dollars Hope Moses-Ashike

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anic withdrawal was seen around Nigerian banks on Monday morning following restriction of movement announced by President Muhammadu Buhari Sunday

night.

Investigation showed that long queues grew around the banks across Lagos State.

A customer who tried withdrawing cash dollars from his domiciliary account could not do so, as GTBank said there were no dollars. www.businessday.ng

Building materials market in Orile, Lagos, shut down to customers to observe the shutdown order by the Federal GovPic by Pius Okeosisi ernment to curb the spread of Covid19.

Nigerian elites, it’s time to stop and listen - Adebola Williams

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ollowing the recent crisis that has hit the world, crashing economies, and reordering lives, it is time for leaders across sectors, for Nigeria’s 1% to stand fully with the people and serve our collective interest.

This was said last week in Lagos by Adebola Williams, CEO, Red Media, in a media interaction.

“This season has demystified many habits, wants, and desires. It has shown us the true essence of life and the opportunities we have always taken for granted. While the world will never be the same again, this moment presents us an opportunity to create the world we would like to see after today.

“All projections indicate that Nigeria is about to take a hit with the Coronavirus spreading exponentially and we are not prepared to contain it. If there was

ever a time Nigeria needed its leaders, its wealthy, its skilled, it is now,” Williams said.

According to Williams, as a business leader, a HNI, a mentor, and a great Nigerian, here is a humble appeal that you to step up to make the difference at this critical moment when our nation needs you most.

He appealed to other privileged Nigerians, saying, “Today, an opportunity to stand up to be counted among the few good men ready to make a difference or even to build massive national goodwill is right at your doorsteps, please don’t turn away or leave it for the government alone to figure out — they can’t.

“In times past, some government officials would have called luncheons and dinners, raised donation of billions of naira with mostly no impact. This is different, it is direct intervention

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to the people, it’s legacy.

“I have taken the liberty to list out big ticket steps or medium ones that you can take as an individual or an organisation to make a huge difference.”

COVID-19 pandemic: What can top leaders, CEOs, and high net-worth Nigerians do at this time, he asked, and outlined some actions that include: Build emergency centres with at least 100 beds; Buy and donate 25 to 50 ventilators; Purchase testing kits and reagents; Provide financing for medical manufacturers at 0% or very low interest rates; Recruit and pay doctors, and Sponsor PSAs on all media platforms.

Other medium support actions he noted include: Support in scaling NCDC call centres; Sponsor local community PSAs; Sponsor soaps and sanitizers distribution; Create long term raw food and essential banks in preparation for scarcity, and @Businessdayng

provide food kits and essentials for the less privileged.

For these actions, you can either start your personal initiative or support existing ones that need to scale. A few captains of industry including two exemplary Nigerian bank CEOs and an industrialist have already established an initiative along these lines, it will therefore be a welcome idea to key into it.

Finally, please identify 5 other HNIs like yourself to join the cause. Speak to them, encourage them, and persuade them — all hands must be on deck, he said.

“My friends and I continue to galvanise at different levels and this humble message was first shared to my mentors and HNI network most of whom have responded positively.

Nigeria, Africa, and the world need us all to win this fight,” he said.

Thebigread

BUSINESS DAY Tuesday 31 March 2020 www.businessday.ng

The global hunt for a coronavirus drug With a vaccine up to 18 months away, drug companies are testing existing virus treatments Hannah Kuchler, Kana Inagaki and Sarah Neville

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t was Friday March 13 when doctors at Northwell Health, the largest healthcare provider in New York City, decided to take the search for a coronavirus drug into their own hands. Many of their Covid-19 patients were not getting better — and some were getting worse.

Two of the hospitals’ scientists each called their contacts at US biotech companies Gilead Sciences and Regeneron to offer to test their potential treatments: an antiviral called remdesivir and an anti-inflammatory called Kevzara, developed for Ebola and rheumatoid arthritis respectively. Clinicians, researchers and regulators rushed to set up the clinical trials, which usually take months, and just four days later two patients took their first doses of the experimental drugs.

“The patients were very, very sick,” says Kevin Tracey, president of the Feinstein Institutes, the research arm of Northwell Health.

“Everybody just rolled up their sleeves and said we’re facing a crisis and the patients need this.

After 30 years of doing research, it was one of the proudest days of my life to know patients were getting treated with these drugs that may help them.”

The hospital hopes the drugs will stop the replication of the virus and reduce the inflammation in the lungs of the patients.

As the pandemic spreads — recorded cases have more than doubled over the past week to over 460,000 on Wednesday, with more than 20,000 deaths — no one can afford to wait the 18 months it might take to find a vaccine. Northwell is one of many hospitals across the globe running clinical trials on drugs that were developed for other diseases, from Ebola to malaria to arthritis, but that early studies suggest could offer some hope to Covid-19 patients.

Doctors are desperate for evidence of what works. In the next month, they will learn more as some important trials in China are due to publish preliminary results.

Yet the desire from politicians and investors for a miracle cure has led to a maelstrom of misinformation about drugs to treat the virus. Just as Northwell was dosing its first patients, President Donald Trump said the US Food and Drug Administration had approved the antimalarials chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for use against Covid-19. This turned out to be not true, with fatal consequences for some. The FDA was actually just collecting evidence on whether they work.

Christos Kyratsous, vice-pres-

ident of research in infectious diseases at Regeneron, says anecdotal evidence from China provides a reason to be “optimistic” that Kevzara, developed with Sanofi, will help Covid-19 patients suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome.

“The challenge now is finding the best and quickest way to see if it is effective in the clinic,” he adds. “That’s very, very important, because if you can get meaningful data, and if the data is positive, we can expand access to something like this, which is going to be life saving.”

Scientists are investigating three main types of drugs. The first are antivirals to stop the virus from replicating. Treatment guidelines compiled by the Chinese government during the outbreak include HIV drug combination Kaletra, which US biotech AbbVie recently waived its patents on so it can be made available as a generic; antimalarials such as chloroquine, which generic drugmakers are gearing up to manufacture at scale; and favipiravir, an anti-flu drug from Japan’s Fujifilm.

The second category is antiinflammatories that treat the lungs after the immune system is overwhelmed. Regeneron and Sanofi have partnered on Kevzara, while Roche has started a trial on Actemra, approved for use on rheumatoid arthritis in 100 countries.

The third group are antibodybased treatments, derived either

from recovered Covid-19 patients or developed in labs, to be given to the seriously ill or as a temporary prophylactic for healthcare workers. Eli Lilly has paired up with Canadian start-up AbCellera to work on antibodies developed from one of the first US Covid-19 patients, while Japan’s Takeda is developing a new drug derived from the blood plasma of others who have survived the virus.

Analysts are eagerly awaiting data from early trials into remdesivir, an antiviral drug that the California-based biotech group developed for Ebola. It has also been shown to work against other coronaviruses in animal studies.

Umer Raffat, a biotech analyst at US bank advisory firm Evercore, says evidence could be published in the next couple of weeks.

“It has by far the best prospects,” Mr Raffat says. His optimism stems from the drug’s ability to disable the machinery that helps the virus replicate, which is similar to that found in Ebola.

But he believes the early data may not be “spectacular”, if too many of the patients took it too late in the progression of their disease.

Andre Kalil, an investigator in a large remdesivir trial, which plans to recruit 400 patients and is sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health, says they are making patients take the drug within 72 hours of diagnosis. Dr Kalil ran a clinical trial during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. He believes they moved too slowly to set up a

‘‘

Doctors are desperate for evidence of what works. In the next month, they will learn more as some important trials in China are due to publish preliminary results

trial then.

“This is a fight against time. We need to move as fast as possible,” he says. “We have no idea what works or does not at this point.

There are zero therapies specifically against coronavirus.”

Timing was also important in an early study published last week of the HIV drug combination which was dismissed as disappointing, although survival rates were better when patients had taken the antiviral drug earlier in the disease.

The antimalarial chloroquine does have two clear advantages over remdesivir: it is a generic, so is likely to be far cheaper; and it is a pill, when remdesivir is delivered by an intravenous infusion, so would probably need to be given in hospital. But studies in France and China, hailed by Mr Trump, are small and did not follow the recommended protocols of a randomised control trial, designed to prevent bias. A study in China released on Tuesday found the drug had no impact.

Early results from clinical trials in China fuelled enthusiasm for a second antiviral — favipiravir — after reports of faster recovery times for patients that took the drug. Junji Okada, president of Fujifilm Toyama Chemical, the unit that produces the branded version Avigan, says the company is responding to a flood of inquiries from across the world.

“Our sense of mission became bigger and bigger as it became clear that Avigan may be effective,” Mr Okada says. “We have made the preparations so that we can increase production if needed.”

Kimiyasu Shiraki, an emeritus professor at the University of Toyama who was involved in Avigan’s early development, says studies show that the drug does not generate an Avigan-resistant virus that could make it less effective in the long term: “This suggests Avigan could treat the first to the last patient with the same efficacy during the epidemic.”

Antibody-based treatments could be important for helping the

hardest hit and those key workers that need to stay healthy. New York — now the centre of the crisis in the US, with almost 200 deaths — is set to start testing plasma from recovered patients in a trial with the seriously ill. But most drugmakers are looking at refining the process to create a concentrated and purified product, or creating artificial antibodies, often developed in mice. Their products will have to go through clinical trials, likely to take many months.

AbCellera was working on a test project on influenza with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency when Covid-19 emerged — so it rapidly switched to preparing their antibody-finding platform for the new virus.

They took blood samples from one patient and generated almost 6m immune cells for antibodies, using an AI-based platform that can screen down to the individual cell and allows them to find more antibody-secreting cells. Researchers have narrowed it down to the 500 most potent against Covid-19 and partnered with Eli Lilly for the first human trials of the drug by July.

“Every day between now and the first human testing is mapped out and precious,” says Daniel Skovronsky, chief medical officer of Eli Lilly.

Takeda began looking at plasma-derived therapies after they proved effective in reducing mortality during the outbreaks of both severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in 2002-03 and Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) in 2009. But the treatment will not be widely available — the plasma will need to be donated by recovered patients. It is not yet known how many patients could be treated with the plasma from a single recovered patient.

Another obstacle is that all the drugs being tested have potentially serious side effects: remdesivir may cause liver damage, Avigan can cause birth defects, and Regeneron and Sanofi’s Kevzara works by suppressing the immune system — but it could potentially go too far.

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