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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2012
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MONEY
CBN to consolidate gains of reforms TI Central &nk of NigeTi. (CUN) will consolidate the ga1I\5 01
ils hankin£ reforms,
Its Deputy Governor (financial ServICeS SUrveIllance) Dr Kin~ley Moghalu has QJd few weeks ,go it Issued a rom~Ience rram('wor~ to determine the ~fit and prop~~ persons that can hold ~gem£nt positions in banb and other 1nanciill i~btu· liOJl5. Spuling during the 28 th AnnuaJ GeOer<11 Meetlll$IAGM}of the Finandlll InstituU01 Training Centre (FITq in lIKU, MoghaJu said the oJX!l1ltions 01 h tl mdustry still needed to be iml,r:wed upon, in spite of I.he .lIt li,-vemenls recorded since Ihe (('forms slarted in 2009 HeAld; Iht banhare safe, hav109 gone thw:.Jgl> ItTesIi. But thai d~ not mn" rifcrts would not ~ made 10 5U~WJl the gains of the refoTlnS.MoghalllaiiC tN'A> wu. g1'lldual K:k-u r in prhall' Jfctorcridlt. foI· owing the d l'd.!flon of banks 10
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issuance of new credit facilities to customers. Moghalu said the apex bank had embarked on an aggressive monetary tightening and related attiOn5 8~iired towards maintaining macroeconomk stability via lower (single digit) inllatiorwy rale. as welT as redudng eJlichange rate volatility H~ noted that the banking watchdog, as a slop-gap measure, ha5 channeled intervention fund.!i to major sectors of the emoomy IUdl as itgriculture. avilbon and manu· facturing. According to him.. thto introduction of the new 10 digit Nigerlilt\ Uniform Bank Account Number (NUSAN) for ail ilCCOunt holden. th~ issuance of new cuh with-
_gemen! COl'}"'(?tI lion (AM CON) hid suc(eedld 'in reducing the Non-PerConnhg L...C ans (NPL) nItio across the b~~ irlg sector to fOlter" grow1h H~ MId tilt' m~.nu-e had helped
set of iWJeSSment criteria for the emploxment of top D'litnagement. staff of bank!, discount nouses and other rinandal iru;titutions would help in galvanising the In· dustry.
Stories by Aklnola Alfbad.
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Moghalu s.aid these initiatives woul(J not only redefine banking in Nigeria, but would also strengthen cor~rate governance practice In the mdustry when Cully Implemented. He said training and retraining was key to the growlh of the industry, adding that FITC has recorded some remarkllble achievements In this regard Moghalu, who is also lhe chairman, ATC Soard, said the centre had designed and delivered 108 cour/1e5 in 2011, depicting an in· creits. of 1 t.J4 per cent over p;J courses delivered in the preceding year "Out of this, 71 were orgarused u system wide courses as against lhe previous 65. Also, 31 courses were organised as customi5ed inplanls fOr stakeholder organisalion.!i .. against the 32 in·plant courses delivered in the previous ear In all, FITC has recorded .291 participants In Its Inimng programmes In lOll. This is an increase of 26,93 per celt over the ~g:d~cipants posted in 2010,"
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He said lht' sixth edition of lhe COClhnuOUS Educ-tion Programme 1Of' Bank Directol'5 was organised in conjunction with CBN, noting that 36 participant!! al\ended the prognlmme.
leAN advocates vibrant economy 1HE Institute 01 O\artered Accountants 01 Nigm.ll (ICAN) ha5 oillM for the strengtheninR 01 all relevant institutiON 10 lIChieYe eooonomk growth. II also adVOOIteQ greater" rmancial transpuency in all 5edors to attract more foreign investon. The body said these dunng Its just<OOcluded Seventh Eastern Zonal Accountants CutJerence in '{enagoa, BarelY Slate. It SOlid full adopbon ollntemationai F'mancial Reporbng StMtdartb (IFRS) was a step in the ri~t~~ for the country to grow economically ' g during the event, its President. Mr Doyin Owolabi said the tnsIitute fiad pr03uced about 36.soo chartered accountants and 14.soo acmunting teduuoans who were delivering value to their diVerse dien~Ie and employers in vanou, seeton of tm- national and international economil.'S. He also said the institute was not oblivioU.5 of the challenges of the local environment. hence, Its resolve to ~tualise a programme: - the Students ~al Pro;ect (SSP) - to catl"!' for the needJi of states pert:eived to have a dearth of charter-ed KCOuntants requir-ed to drive the economy. He said Bayelsa was the first to embnce the pro;ect. adding that the initiallve: has produced over JO chartered accountants. While i:Sedaring the: event open.. Bay~ State Governor, Henry SeriiLke Dickson, said charter-ed .-rountants should move closer to governments al all levels and ofkl" advke to them on financiaJ policy fonnwtion.
IFC, ADB expand local currency finance
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THE Intmu.tianaI Flnancr Coroonltion (IfC) and Aftican DeveIop~ Bank (ADO) are ~g to (acilitate kx:a.I c:urrency lendmg and band ~ in Africa. Both institutions have agreed to iolI.abor.Ite and benefit from each othe!'.!i local cumney bond lSSues.. Thu will eJ\hano! their local cu.rrency funding capacity to support the!.r cliftlts' development "The IFe soud 1.0 a sl>Jtemenl the duo have also Signed an it~t on tnn.sactions and for each It is the first wilh another multilatera1 rll\llJlOal institution. A ~master agreemmt" is agreed be~ two parties and il sets: out standard tenns that apply 10 all the lfansitction:s entered into between them so that IMch lime that a tr.msaction is entered into, the temu of the master a~t do not need 10 be re-negotiated and apply automatically," it said. lFCVIU' President and Treasurer, Jlngdong l-lua, said expanding longterm ~ mitiatlVe!i is a cornerstone onFC's stralegy to strengthen capital markets in developing countries, ~t-Ielping 10 establish and strengthen such markets allow! U! to work wllh regula tOni and local institutions to ensure that capital market ~atiOTl5 are effectIVe and entrepreneur.; are able to grow and create ' ," he 5iIld. AfOB V'Ja' PreSIdent for Finance Charles Silld: "Promotmg the deveiopment of Ioca1 capital markets in Afnca is paramount to successfuJ and sustainable economic development. This a~t supports our AIriom Financ:ial Markets Initiati~, which &m! 10 further the de:velopment of domestic African capital markets, enlarge the investor base, and reduce Ahican countries' dependence on romgn c:urrency de:nominated debt." ~ swap
Farmers to secure $300m loan THE CenIRI Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has allocated S300 mUlion (N45 billion) to farmers under the Nlgena lncenbve-based Risk Sharing System for A2ricultual L.endmg (NIRSAL) pro;e:rt The rtmO is expected to assist beneficiaries share lending nsks wllh banks. which will encourage lenders to inaft5e funchng fOf agricultural
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Attording 10 the apex bank. the NIRSAL ob)ectIve 15 to uc-• .,... agncu.--
ture ~ value chain, build long-term capacity And instiluiOnaltse
lending. IIIi51M the potential lenders to mclude tradlbonlll banks, nucrofinana. institubOfl5, trade finance providers, Il5set managers,. and pnvate eqUity funds. Credit to the sector could also rome as • loan poruolio, a loan. a bond or in some cases, a 5p!dfic commitment letter It said that NIRSALCredltRi.!ikGuarantee ran~es from 30 per (J!fl.1 to 15 per cent and could be loan principal, or loan pnncipal and interest pay. ments. The funds are tafseted at farmer group', lar~e: corporate farmers, processing compames, IIgricultwal service provldel'5, loglSuC companies, wholesale dislribulol'5 among olhers. It can al.!io be targeted al ""'oole agribusiness value chain covered acroM all crops and livestock activities. NlRSAl is a public/ friVOlte initiative designed by _the apa bank and the Federal MUl.l5tJy 0 Agnculture Ul last )'Nt to i:lisbur.;e such grants to finanda.I institutiOnS lor easy access by farmers natiortwlde. incertb..-es for agncultural
Nigeria, others need $93b infrastructural financing, says World Bank EWorld BM <huSilld.!iu\).. Africm\ countries Including
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"Igertil 'leeri 593 blUion
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nually fot infT.l!ilrua-tuJ-e development over the ne:~t decade. Abo, ~ ~k wid 4(\ p !r cent o f the itmount wou ld 1)1 n«ded for power, while 2 (1 p er cent 15 fo r IrarupaMBtion atll1~. World Itrnk ~rt at a Project Finandng ~ u nmit m LagOl, Head, Legal ana. ':;' .verna.nce lJe.partment. Infrll.!it"'\l ~ture Concession Regulator} Comm issi on (ICRO. Mr JDI' CJl,Ltni, said there is &tilllll1 itnnual l"'llIStructur-e investment Rap n f S31 billion. He Jilld U rroj(~s wurth $12.6 billion were Implemented unde:r the Publi c Pr h ' <ltf Partnership (PPP) platlorm, the re by increas· ing investmen~ 10 nnY prorects by 12 per cent. Oluamsald N~II and South Afnca accounted fOr II per cent of rt'gional in vestn en ts . with 95 per
cent mVl.'Sted in Te:lecom. He noted that the Fede:ral Government spenl through budgetary allocation about"N2 tTiUlon on agriculture and watl"!' resources, heiilth.. traMportation, education, power gen· eration and distribution between 1999 and 2007. I'll' said · "Contrary to e:xpecta.Dans, these e:xpenditure5 often ~ termined by politic-al and other considerations, ha.!i neither been matched by commensurate in· crease in the s tock of capital goods. nor in the: services they provide. There is, therefor-e, a gradual rec· ognition that budgetary alIocabon
~nal nO;x~~t~ ~~f:5:~~~
p~S~' conSiderations, .!iuch as cos t efAciency, ~uitr' allocation efficiency and Eisca prudence , have increaSlllJJy rulayed a role In
~~e~h~~~'ll ~ee~~~~:t:f
modem and effidenl infrastructure:." He .!iald the World Sank has it~~ to provide rmance of sm rrii1lion u seed mC?"t'Y to 5eI. up II finandal Intermediary loan (AL) .!iCheme for purposes of 1000g-term funding for Infrastructure development in Nigena Under thiS fund , into which a number of Development Finance Institutions (DFl.!J) have agreed to contribute eligible parhdpating financial Intermediaries (Fls) part!cull"ly the commercial banks With AFC Ill! the lead, will on-lend 10 qualifying prlvllte sector partru.'r! In. private public partnciship (PPP) pro;ect at the Fb rub. According 10 him, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has already taken a number of measures to proVide access to funding at cona!5Sloal mtes to galvanb:e Ihe private sector Interest In power and IIgriculture
Skye Bank's half year profit hits N8.2b SKYE Sank PIc has rdeitSed its finaodal performa~ figures for the half ~ ended June 30. 2012. showUlg improvements (JVft the figures of the
21111 C'OITl!Sponding penod_ GfOIS5 earninpstOOd al N59.7 billion in 2011. mdicallng a growth oi22 per cent .oove the N48.9 billion posted in lOll . ProfitDefo~ tax fn!;l' from N7.321 billion to N9.089 bilhon, while profit itfte!' bill: grew by 39 per cent 10 N8.181 billion, from N5.SS1 bilfion in 2011 . Eamings per share were 61 kobo compared With 44 kobo m the C'OfT-e$ponding penod of201L The bank!iilld 111 a .!itall!ment that It has been growll1&, dOlimg al NJ.05 last Friday as against N2.93 kobo befo~ the rel~ of the resulT as tn,,~ ton reacted positively to it. Commenllng on the results, aNllysts at F5N Capital Umited SOlid ' -We find these results rt'usurinl5 and believe that they underpin our view that the banking sectorrecovery IS well Ullderwa.y. To our mirid. Skye Bank'. N 13.9 billion profit after we forecast (or nine months as well as its 15 per cent retum on equity (ROE) Iarg1!t for the full year appear Wllhll1 reach." The n:osuIl3 also showed tha i interesl Income .toad at N.l1.8 billton . up 26 per cent from N38 billion tha t it made in 20lt . The company aho managed to cut back 115 operating e:x~ , which ,fell to N23 billion. an improvement of nine per cent Tram the' N255 billion it spent in th~ seCond quaner I'"t year. Loans and .dvanc\':5 came in at N613 billion, an increase of 18.3 per cent. from the N518 biUion in credit it extended to manufactunng. agriculture and real t'5tate as at quarter two in 2011 Sunilarly, Its total assets dunng the period under revitow increased slightly to N996.1 billion from N939 billlim rerordel;l In 2011