WEDNESDAY. JUNE 29, 2011
Brieny
Anxiety at inter-bank market as banks shun dollar sales
Lagarde emerges new IMF chief C'RENCH Finance
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MIfl~ler.
~bI ChristinI! lagarde. on Tueday 1O."a!i MIed the Managing Direc:.or of the InmnatlOOlll />[ooetNy Fund. maJfllalmng Europe's grasp on the lop JOb 051 the gIobaIlendft, Rn4t'1"S reported. lagttlde u:dl begin he, frve· year term on July
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amid an
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1\ NXIElY is mounting at l i the inta-bank malbt as 0ep0siI r-1oney Banks have refused 10 sell donars to & lIeau DeChange~. following a statement issued by the Cen~ Bank of Nigeria The CBN. last UJl.'E'k. look measures 10 put an end to
• Operators urge CBN to increase forex sales to BOCs specula.tive trading in the tnaI~. The move. according to a dmJIar posted on the ape!! bank'swcbsite on Friday, seeks 10 timit the amount of dollars available: to de!!lm and BOC CJpeI<ItOf$. ~I/y. our cone:spondent gatherro from sources in the banking sector
thai banks had been reluctant 10 seD dollars 10 BDCs as they waited to see the impact of the
measura. It was abo gathered that the inta.oonk market had witneMed a IuD in octivilie!i 5ince the pronouncement by the apex bank. The \etta titled. ~Re:
Foreign Exchange Ca5h Sales 10 Buteau)!. De Chcange by Banks to all Dealers and BOC operators.Wsigned by the CBN
Dbedor. Trade and Exchange
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SOU The Managing Director and Chtef Executive Ollicer. Blue Wall Bureau De ' Change Nigeria Umited. Mr. Lucky Aiyedatlv.:a. said In an interview With our correspondent thatlnoeasmg the amount would stabilise the market. He said. ~fOI' every policy tMtthe regulator innoduces. it is fOI the good of the market. especially ifilc.an be monitored witnout abuse. H,,",'INer. the maximum amount the CBN wants authorised dealers to purchase which is 1250.000.
~boitrd. 3he\'coosidenng
reIev<1nl U1fomu1lion on the
candidacies. ~ 10 seIed L.z.g.We by tcJnSi!mUS -
lagarde. u.ro 15 55. ....iI woman to lelld the L'1F. succeedlllg ~1r Oomimque ~hn. who resigned in May to defend himself &gains! (Nilges of se:waI assault t1gilll\S! iI hotel rT\lIid in New York. L,.,garde"$ \IICIOfy 0Vft />lexicOs CenIRll Bank Cioo.Yn'IOI", Mr.Aguslin Carstm!. IO."i!5 assured afla the United Scates made
be the fir.;(
is toosmaJl. "If you are reducing the supply Qf forex to the SOC market lind thaw demands that have a./ways been there
d5 5Upport dear Md ~ marl!et eronoolies o,ina, &uiI and Rusw did the same
Non-interes t
banking HE Executive ZlIkal and
Director. T Sa&qal Foundlllion. A1hi'lji Abdullahl ~ noTl-lI\leresf banking
was uncalled for Shuaibu. who 5pOke lit a
• L-R: Legal Adlliser. First. Bonk of Nigeria Pic. Mr. njoni Borode. Secretory. Nigerian Bar AssodoIion Corporate Forum. Mrs. Oghenerume Rorimi. and Chairman, COrp(Xure Counsel fu'um. Mr. Morhew E9bodon. during the Annual General Meeting of the cQfPOrale counsel forum , in l.a9os ... 011 Tuesday. Photo' Segun Bakore
C'River gets NIbn agric loan from CBN
three-dilY international lakal
v.'Ofkshop held in Lagos, said that the lIPPI'OVai in pnrKlpie granted JAIZ Bank to commence banking services in bne with the Central Bank
of Nigeria's guidelines and Islamic banking operation! "'35 a ....'e!come d~lopment He said it was Ytoddng to hear Ihe 'heme bell19 made In 5OIT1e quarlers Ihal the AlP granted 1m! bilnk","aS illegal "If the conventional banklOg servic:n have failed to address our economic maladies. it is logical therefore to avail ourseJves of .&elution ",offered by Islamic banking services in order to avert such etOl'IOIllic maladieS and prevent corruption in the sector. - Shuaibu said Thedelicsaid if Nigeria ....,," to M launched into the league 01 the lop 20 economies 01 the world by 2020 by exceeding the IlIrget of the M~lennium rkve\opment Goals. indIViduals must be agents of J)05itive change. He said it was the duty of UI~t operators 10 improve Ihe lIVeS of the k!u-privileged through an empowerment scheme and the job oeation ",-hlCn the II'lshtulKm of laka! W
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Shuaibu also added thaI the PUrpc;::l!e of the "'Ofkshop was 10 equip participants WIth the needed skills to reposllion the man&gemen! of lakat ~We should be able to reposition ourvarious&ctivllies and methodologies 01 Zak.at collec tion lind dlslnbution to reOect a meaningful paradigm shift In lak<lt management in the coming year. - he said
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Meanu.·hile, operalOrS have said IMt there is the need for the apex bank to inc:rea5e the amount of fOlelC cash saIe5 to
debt crisis in Europe and growing leaIS that Greece \\.lIIdefaulL AstatemenlbyL\[F 5aid, "The
Shuaibu, on Sunday said that 1M criticism surrounding the
It added Ihal a BOC was only allowed to purcha~ from one authorised dealer per w~ek. noting thai any dealer \l'lllt contravened the policy would be duly
Departmenl. Mr. Balari Musa. said that authorised dealeB 'M!re only afIoIA.'eci " ma:o;imum of $250.000 to BDCs per
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Mudiaga Affe, Calabar
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HE Cross River State Govemmenr has secured a Ntbn loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria for the developmen t of agriculture in the state. The state CommissIOner lor Agricultul1'. Chiel Sandy <>nor. ",ho disctosed this to neu.-smen in Calabar on Tuesday. said that the loon had been chanlM!lled into the de\leloprnent 01 oil palm. cocoa. ri~ rullivlllion. pouttry and fishery. Onor said that as an agl'll rian sl<lte. it was the Intention of the Governor UyeJ lmob adminislralion to make the stale the food b1lSket of the nallon He added that all1'ady the stale supplied food produced to 50flle of the neighbouring states. The commissione, said. -Agricu lture is and will inevilably remain the foundation upon which ou, economy thrives. Agriculture comes naturaUy to the broad generality of Cus Rive'r peoples by dint 01 the huge nalural endov.'ITleflt of arable land tnal God has bestw.oed upon us. !'he cultivable land in Cross River State is 1.8 million hectares. oul of which 0 .744 million hectares is unde r cultivation. The soUs are rich and can $Uppo,t a wide variety o f crops "The slAte is also very SUitable and has comparative
advantage: fOf lree aop cultivation p<lrtlCUlally oil p<l!m. cocoa. rubber. pineapple. casheo.v a nd citrus. Furthennore. the 51ate has undoubtedly huge polential for lisheries and hvestock production.~ he said. 1lle oommissiooer said
that the policy of government had been private-sector driwn and the intervention in the fISheries development hbd resulted in the esl<lblishment o f over 12 privale fish hatcheries and wpply of over 600.000
fingerlings to rlSh farmm;. He also said thai over 300
functional private rlSh larms had been establisked. Onor added that With the Cross River Agricultura l and Rural EmpOl,lI'erment Scheme. the state brought new farm 0WTI1!T5 and the mechanisahon o f the state's lIgIiculture
are SlIU lhere. definitely there is going to M a supply gap at the BDC market and that may create a situ!lllon whereby price of lorex may go up. But the only thing ttwl I think that the CBN ough t to do right now b 10 inocase supply to ~ators He added. "11 one of the reasons for the policy 15 10 achieve Siable priCIng. what the CBI'l should do is 10 also incl1'Me the amount It offer.; to BDCs from il5 pl1Itform at the Wholesale Dutch Auction System -By doing that. the supply gap ,\liD have been laken care of. I think the CBN needs to look Into that That is the only vmy 10 meel lis policy of price .5I3bility -
African countries urged to integrate economies Akln~ lu
Ol1da. Lome
A FRICAN countrie5 and r\Jnstitutions have been urged to genuinely work tOWllrdS integration lor the growth of Ike continent's economy The Chairman. Ecobllnk Transna.tional Incorporated.
MI Kokl.po Lav.'5OI1. made the call in lome. Togo.. on Tuesday, during the inauguration of the Ewbank Pan AfrlclII'l Centre i\ccord ing to him. the realisation of the project should rekindle the PanAfrican ideal pursued by some of the continent's past
leaders. Lawson said Ihat citizens of tke various countries on the continent musl unite and 1.I.UIk together in ordeT to unleash the great potential in them. He said the cilizeru; must fir.;tseethemselvesllsAhicans because Wit is in being united as Afncans IMt we develop
Helios Towers to acquire Multilinks for $10m Oayo Oketola
S
OUTH African telecoms operator. Telkom. has signed an agreement involving the sale of troubled Ni9i!ri a n subsidillry. Multilinks. to a subsidiary of HeJios Towers Nigeria
Umited. Heli05 Too,o.·er.; hoo taken Telkom to courl for pulling out of a contrad agret'ITlent. thereby. prohibiting theSouth Arnelln telecoms company from selling ~' ulti'inks to Visafone Communications Telkom said in the statement o n Tuesday tha t it had reached an agreement \Vith an affiliate of Helies Towen on the lulul1' o f Mu!tilinks
MUnder the terms of the he005 of agreement . ..... hich lire subJed to the relevant approvals. the affiliate of HTN will acquire fuU o ...,menhip and con tlOl of w Multitinks. it said The sudden turn of event In the multillnk saga follows a Lagos High Court ruling in favour of Helim Towers. a telecoms infraslrUcrure provkIel Following the agreement, the statement levealed thai the Hellos TOI.'Rr.; wtKidiary would acquire fuJI O\.vnership and cont rol of Multilinks. "The entire is$ued share capital of Multilinks wi ll be sold for a consideration of $ IOm. which may increase depending on
the 1Ichlevement of cerlaln conditions Telkom will conhnue operational funding to Multilinks to enable completion of the transaction. - Telkom said. "Tclkom wiU participate in a portlono' any upside above a certll;n threshold in the case of a dl5p05al of Multilinks by an aflitiate of Helios Tov.'eTS Nigeria on 01 before Ihree years o f deal completion The participation portion is dependent on the lapse of certain time penods. ~ the company added. The Chairman. Telkom , Mr. LA.l:arus lim. was quoted as deKl'ibing the agreement 1I5 1I Mwin_win tran5ad.ion that will Yield benefits to both sets of shareholders. -
51l1'nglh and that our deeds should proclaun that 'M! Sland tal! and proud as Afncans. ready to overcome our dl\1lsions. to t1lke our rightful place in the world. W He praised the founding fllthers of the Ecobank Group fo, their vision. per5a"l!Tance. dedication and sacrifices made to build the institution, whiCh now operates in 32 Afncan countnes with a network 01760 branches and 10.000 African staff Lav.'SOT1 sclld. MWe wno ale privileged to have climbed on the backs 01 these heroes and now stand on t therr shoulder.; to look fill in lo the future have a great responsibility 10 one billion of our fellow Nricaru '"They could not have Lmaglned lnat their d~aJTl$ and efforts could have led to this day The Togolese PresidenL Faule Gnassingbe. .....ho inaugurated the centre. said that lhe project was an example of an Afritlln success story and encourage Efl to go further to impact on the continent's grov.1h W