Financial Vanguard

MARCH 3, 2014

Forex: CBN intervention fuels boom in interbank market zBanks make brisk profit short-selling Naira

By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

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he Intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria in the foreign exchange market through special foreign exchange sales to banks has created a boom in the interbank foreign exchange market.

Vanguard investigations revealed that banks are making huge profits short-selling the naira in the interbank market.

Meanwhile, the interbank foreign exchange rate has refused to return to pre-suspension of Sanusi level, thus generating pessimism over the effectiveness of the CBN intervention.

Since February 20, when the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was suspended, the apex bank had been conducting special foreign exchange sales with the aim of taming the interbank foreign exchange rate which shot upwards to N169 per dollar on February 20.

But the impact of the intervention has been momentary due to increased anxiety among foreign investors and dealers. On a daily basis, the interbank exchange rate rose until it got to about N167 per dollar and fell as soon as the apex bank intervened.

Investigation further revealed that some foreign exchange dealers, especially in the big banks, have been taking advantage of this situation, buying from the apex bank at the official exchange rate and selling in the interbank market. “It is called short-selling," an insider, who preferred to be anonymous told Vanguard. The dealers deliberately offer to sell dollars when the market rate is high, in anticipation of cheaper dollars that the apex bank would pump into the market that day.

Meanwhile, because settlement in the interbank market is T+2, the dealers have enough time to use the cheap CBN dollars to settle the sales made at the high exchange rate.

“They are praying that the crises should continue, so that they can meet their target for the year in the first quarter. In some instances, the dealers deliberately bid up the interbank rate

so as to prompt the apex bank to intervene, “a currency analyst, who does not want to be named, told

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KPMG ALUMNI: From left, Mr Seyi Bickersteth, Senior National Partner, KPMG; Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, guest speaker and Mr Yomi Sanni, Partner and Chief Operating Officer, KPMG at the KPMG Alumni Cocktail held in Lagos on Thursday. Photo Lamidi Bamidele C M Y K

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Cover Story

The Basic Guide to Starting your Business Part 7 FORMS OF ENTREPRENEUR: here are different forms of entrepreneurship, and they will be treated one after the other.

Sole proprietorship: This is a situation whereby the function of an entrepreneur is performed by one person, who owns the business but has people who are led by him or her, working to achieve the desired success. It is important to note that running a business for the sake of just making profit for yourself is not entrepreneurship; you must be an employer of labour. If you look around the country today, we have lots of entrepreneurs who fall under this category, e.g. Eleganza Group of Companies - dealers in household and kitchen appliances, Zenon Oil, House of Tara (a leading make-up brand in Nigeria), Dangote. All

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Forex: CBN intervention fuels boom in interbank market Continued from page 17 Vanguard.

increase in Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) on public sector deposits.

Intervention not effective

External Reserves continue to fall

eanwhile, the interbank foreign exchange rate has defied the intervention of the apex bank, closing at N165.32 per dollar.

According to data from the Financial Market Dealers Quote (FMDQ), this is N1.37 higher than the N163.75 per dollar interbank rate on February 19.

“The general belief is that the intervention is not effective in returning the interbank rate to the pre-suspension level,” said a banker, adding that this belief is fuelling increased speculation against the naira.

Apparently aware of this development, Acting CBN Governor, Dr. Sarah Alade on Monday held a conference call with dealers and foreign investors. A senior foreign exchange analyst who participated in the conference but does not want his name mentioned, told Vanguard that Alade told participants, which included global financial firms like J.P Morgan, that the CBN will defend the naira with the external reserves. She said that the apex bank does not plan or intend to devalue the naira. It was gathered that most of the participants expressed apprehension that the CBN might eventually devalue the naira, given the continued decline in the nation’s external reserves.

Some of them wanted to know if the CBN would maintain or reverse the recent C M Y K

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ut with the nation’s external reserves declining persistently, market participants and analysts believe that the apex bank is fighting a lost battle trying to defend the naira.

“If the CBN continues this way, it will soon run out of reserves,” a bank chief executive told his staff.

Last week, external reserves fell by another $790 million to $40.26 billion. Cumulatively, the external reserves have declined by $3.35 billion. If this trend continues, the general belief is that the reserves might fall below $35 billion by the time a new CBN Governor takes office, and the

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A depreciation before the 2015 elections could be considered politically unpalatable, given that it would be unpopular with the electorate, both by raising import prices and as a sign of weakness in the administration’s economic management

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apex bank might be compelled to stop defending the naira with the reserves.

This view is aptly expressed by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Medium-term prospects which are unfavourable. However, whereas short-term currency stability seems likely to return, we have more serious doubts about the naira’s medium-term prospects,” it said.

In a commentary titled, Nigeria economy: The naira is safe, for now, the EIU said, “Whereas short-term currency stability seems likely to return, we have more serious doubts about the naira’s medium-term prospects. The CBN does allow periodic adjustments to avoid any rapid running-down of foreign reserves, a move that seems increasingly likely later in 2014 or 2015. The last such adjustment took place in 2011 when the marker was shifted slightly from N150 per dollar to N155 per dollar. Larger revaluations were carried out at the height of the global financial crisis in 2008-09, when the naira target was moved from N120 per dollar to N150 per dollar. Although the 2011 devaluation helped Nigeria’s reserves recover over the next year, it fell from US$48bn in the first quarter of 2013 to US$43 billion in January 2014. “ The timing of a readjustment is less certain. Although we are convinced that a naira adjustment will take place during the next 18 months, predicting the timing of it is trickier. There are two main scenarios: The new CBN

Continues on page 19

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PARTNERSHIP: From left, Mr Nicolah Farah, General Manager, Dajcom Limited; Mr Mitsuno Nakashima, Group Deputy General Manager, Sharp Corporation, Japan; Mr Akin Opeodu, Vice- Chairman, Mutual Benefits Assurance; Mr David Safa, MD, Dajcom Limited and Mr Fumio Yamaguchi, MD, Sharp Middle East FZE, Dubai during the partnership announcement press briefing between Sharp and Dajcom held in Lagos on Thursday.

Running a business for the sake of just making profit for yourself is not enterpreneurship; you must be an employer of labour

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these are examples of entrepreneurs that are sole proprietors but what distinguishes them from the ordinary businessman, are that they are employers of labour (they have employees working for them). They identified needs in the society and made an effort to fill them.

Partnership: This is a situation in which the business is founded and run by more than one person, who are also employers of labour. This type of entrepreneurship is found mostly in law firms, accounting firms, estate surveyors, but not limited to these practices e.g. we have DHL, May & Baker, Aluko & Oyebode, amongst others. Other types of entrepreneurship include private companies, public companies, limited liabilities, corporations or statutory corporations.

At this juncture, I would like

to state that there is a marked difference between a businessman and an entrepreneur. While a businessman is one who is involved in business just to make profit for himself and meet his needs, an entrepreneur is one who is an employer of labour and a wealth creator, and is also involved in business.

Interestingly, the steps I will be treating in this book and everything I have said so far, applies to both the businessman and the entrepreneur, and that is because most times, some businesses evolve from just business to entrepreneurship.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR Successful entrepreneurs/ businessmen all around the world possess certain characters, traits or qualities, which have become the yardstick or benchmark for measuring their success. If you want to thrive then you must acquire these traits.?

Do what you enjoy.

Personal satisfaction is a very important ingredient that contributes to the growth of your business. When you do what you enjoy doing, this will be reflected in the success of your business or subsequent lack of success. In fact, if you don’t enjoy what you are doing, chances are that you won’t succeed. ?

Have an eye for opportunity: Many entrepreneurs are very quick to detect opportunities/ needs and do not hesitate to key into such openings and satisfying them. They are very smart, sharp and witty, opportunities do not need to present themselves twice to the eagle-eyed entrepreneur, just once and they seize it, making the most of it.?

Right mental attitude: Successful entrepreneurs have the right mental attitude and are warm, this endears him to many. They are very receptive and they nurture the relationships that are connected to their dreams.

There’s an old saying that; “your attitude determines your altitude”.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 — 19

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HEN President Umaru Yar'Adua (may his gentle soul rest in peace), nom inated Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the CBN governor- designate to the Senate, the Editor of Vanguard Media Limited, Mideno Bayagbon, asked me to put together a profile on the CBN governor-designate for publication. I did a quick search on him on the internet. I was interested in Sanusi's economic philosophy and thought that could guide his actions and utterances. An economist is either a monetarist, or a fiscalist. While a monetarist believes in the use of interest rates and other monetary variables to target economic fundamentals, the fiscalist tends towards the use of taxes and tariffs to achieve the same purpose; all for the common good.

As much as I tried to place Sanusi on these platforms, I did not in my search, find any single paper written by him before becoming CBN governor that was not socio-political or activist-based proclaiming the right of women under Sharia law or a response to a socio-political debate between Financial Reporting Standard the north and south.

(IFRS) format. When probed, The article I put together for he simply said that the deadthe Editor was such that in his line given will expire by Deopinion, could not be pub- cember 2013 and by January lished at the time so that it will 2014, he will reel out names not appear as if Vanguard was of agencies of government that against the appointment of have failed to comply. The gloSanusi as CBN governor. The bal business community is emeditor was right because at bracing the International FiVanguard, editing is knowing nancial Reporting Standard as what not to publish. a result of the need for full disI am stating this in the light closures following lessons of the series of events that led learnt from the global finanto Sanusi's suspension. Nige- cial meltdown of 2008. The rians are either completely ig- CBN as the regulator of banks, him a willing tool will be the norant of trends or are simply has since compelled banks to first to abandon him. Is Eldisinterested in the affairs of comply, but its own accounts Rufai making altruistic visit to the country that they reduce are not rendered in the same the suspended governor or for everything under the sun to format. Nigerians have not the benefit he has derived from sentiments and ethnic colour- bothered to ask why the CBN associating with him? Who is doing the architectural drawation. does not want full disclosure. ings of the proposed CBN conThe ongoing debate on SaNigerians have also not nusi's suspension has por- asked whether the Financial ference centre? Nigerians may trayed the CBN as a sovereign Reporting Council was creat- want to know who won the within a state. The real issues ed by an act of the National contract. The land proposed are being brushed aside and Assembly and if so, does it for the structure that originalsentiments and opposition for have the powers to do what it ly belonged to NITEL and was sold by BPE for peanuts was the sake of it, have taken the has done? bought by the CBN for a whopcentre stage. Worse are the Sanusi has been the CBN ping N17 billion. Why and for civil society groups and the Governor for almost five years, APC whose utterances and po- is he just discovering that the what reason was the cost essitions are just one sided. NNPC account is fraught with calated from N1.7 billion to They are not looking at the law anomalies? Under President N17 billion?

The issues involved in Sanufrom an objective perspective. Yar Adua, was he not aware si's suspension have not the The Executive Secretary of the that NNPC has been a pain in interest of the common NigeFinancial Reporting Council, the neck of government? Why Mr Jim Obazee met with jour- now? Was Sanusi blowing the rian at heart as many are nalists in Akodo, Lagos State so-called whistle knowing jumping on the rooftops and in December on a two-day re- what he has done and that as sounding populist in order to treat. At the retreat, he stated his tenure draws to a close, be branded "patriotic". The real patriots as I have found that the CBN has not complied questions will be asked? out are those who apply preswith the directive of the counI quite sympathize with Sa- sure where it matters most cil that its accounts should be nusi because when the chips rendered in the International are down, those who find in and sometimes on some issues that might be in private for the

Sanusi should answer his query; MDAs must make full disclosure I quite sympathize with Sanusi because when the chips are down, those who find in him a willing tool will be the first to abandon him

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general good. To any objective analyst, the facts of the matter are clear and are all now in the public domain.

Mid last year, about June 7 or so, the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) wrote to the President. This was a damning attack on the integrity of the CBN where very strong financial words like "fraud" and "misrepresentation of facts" were used freely and also recommended that strong action be taken against the CBN Governor and all the Deputy Governors. The Council's 2012 financial report on the CBN to my mind, is an attack on the entire institution (CBN). What some Nigerians are not looking at is that the June 2013 letter was issued by FRC in response to CBN's earlier response to its audit query. This means that there has been correspondence between the CBN and the Council.

Does it mean that the exchanges were taking place without the CBN Governor

knowing? Was the CBN letter to Mr. President about three months after it was queried drawing attention to revenue shortfalls and NNPC's failure to credit the Federation Account with all the monies that it was supposed to, an afterthought aimed at diverting government's attention from the rot in the CBN? No Nigerian, including my good self, is holding brief for NNPC, I do know that Muhtar Mansur when he was minister under Yar Adua said NNPC was a big problem to government. The rot in NNPC has been on for a long while so if there is a shortfall, then there is a problem if the CBN that is banker to government is just realising this as a drain on public funds and a serious issue that should be looked into.

Nigerians who own businesses or run companies know for certain that the Financial Reporting Council has been giving them sleepless nights because they are forced to comply with its cumbersome reporting process. The private sector companies have no choice but to comply. Why should government officials be exempt from complying with the same rule? Is Nigeria running two economies, one for the private sector and the other for government? Certainly not!

What Nigerians should be demanding is that all Ministries, Department and Agencies of government - federal, state and local - must publish their accounts with full disclosures. NNPC's account used to be published when Gaius Obaseki was Managing Director. Why did NNPC stop making public its accounts? The CBN must provide satisfactory answers to FRC's queries and all other MDAs must be subjected to scrutiny. Period!

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Cover Continued from page 17 governor, who will formally take office from June at the expiration of Mr Sanusi’s term, allows a one-off depreciation. He or she (but expected to be Godwin Emefiele, who was nominated by Mr Jonathan within hours of Mr Sanusi’s suspension) is likely to be concerned by the erosion of reserves and could blame the need for a readjustment on events before his time in office. There would not be a need for a very large depreciation,

Forex: CBN intervention fuels boom in interbank market perhaps to N165 or N170 per dollar, but such a move would head-off market speculation and give the new governor time to settle in. “A depreciation before the 2015 elections could be considered politically unpalatable, given that it would be unpopular with the electorate, both by raising import prices and as a sign of weakness in the administration’s economic management. The new

CBN governor nominated by the president (subject to Senate ratification), may decide that it would be prudent to delay a devaluation until after the conclusion of elections due next February. Such devaluation might need to be larger in magnitude, given that reserves would have fallen further in the meantime. A fractious election period and our expectation of outbreaks of unrest would also

further undermine market confidence in the currency.

“On balance, we believe that the first scenario is slightly more likely, but would not be surprised to see the second come to fruition. Under either situation, Nigeria’s position as a key frontier market is set to wane over the next 18 months. Although bullish pronouncements—such as Nigeria’s recent inclusion

in the “MINT” (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) list of future economic giants by a prominent economist, Jim O’Neill—has some merit, recent events highlight the need for extreme caution when analysing the prospects of a country as complex and turbulent as Nigeria. A country with enormous economic potential also brings with it enormous risks.”

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20 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Business & Economy Etisalat’s ‘Gold Series’ experience centre berths

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tisalat Nigeria has taken customer experience to a different level with the launch of the first ‘Gold Series’ experience centre situate at Victoria Island. The new experience centre will provide an environment that encourages customers to explore and immerse themselves in the essence of the Etisalat brand, says Matthew Willsher, Ag Managing Director of the company. At the media briefing held at the experience centre in Victoria Island, Director, Brands & Communication, Etisalat Nigeria, Willsher said that the centres were designed to enable customers explore and experience the products and services offered by the brand in a highly interactive and exciting environment that stimulates the senses and educates the customer on what’s possible with the brand’s technology.

His words, “The new gold series centres encapsulates the essence of our brand and brings it to life for our customers.

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Ericsson rolls out solution to curb high cost of services

BY EMMANUEL ELEBEKE, from Barcelona

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orld leading networking company, Ericsson, has rolled out the latest solution for Managed Services at the ongoing Mobile World Congress to drive down cost of services in all sectors of economy.

Highlighting the benefits of the solution, Ericsson´s Vice President and Head of Managed Services, Jean-Claude Geha, noted that the introduction of the solution was driven by the fact that the main driver of services in every establishment globally is high cost of services, which is why the solution is coming in to enable operators address the challenge by outsourcing their key services.

He said over the years, Ericsson had focused not only on finding solutions to reduce high cost of services but on deploying high

SAMSUNG UNPACKED: From left, Business Development Director, Hand Held Products, Mr. Daesung Ra; Director of Hand Held Products, Mr. Emmanouil Revmatas and Managing Director, Mr. Brovo Kim, all of Samsung Electronics West Africa, at the Samsung Galaxy S5 Global Unpacked Event at the just-ended Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, last week. technologies, assembling the right competence and making access to operators for more efficient and cost effective services. Geha, who disclosed that Ericsson had already entered into partnership with

MTN for deployment of the solution said, all the service segments within the total package are flexible in terms of scope and setup, and can be adapted to fit client´s needs.

He explained that Ericsson

can also offer an extensive experience services to operators by advising and supporting them to secure network quality, revenue enhancement and improved cost efficiency. ´´

Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 — 21

Business & Economy

FG begins inspection of local automotive assembly plants nationwide Stories by FAVOUR NNABUGWU

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he Federal Government has begun inspection of local automotive assembly plants across the country as evidence of the implementation of the Nigeria Automotive Industry Development Plan.

Speaking during the inspection of the Peugeot Automotive Nigeria (PAN) car assembly plant in Kaduna on Friday, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said more local and international investors were taking advantage of the huge opportunities provided by the new automotive plan to invest in Nigeria.

The minister said: ” I am greatly encouraged by the facilities I’ve seen here at PAN’s car assembly plant in Kaduna, which I am told is the biggest in West Africa. It shows that we are not just starting from the scratch when we say that we want to encourage automobile companies to establish and assemble their cars here in Nigeria, in line with the new automotive policy.

“One of the reasons PAN’s massive and world class facility, which used to employ about 4,000 Nigerians, went under was the absence of a comprehensive and holistic auto policy that takes care of the entire automotive value chain. This is what the new auto policy wants to address.”

He added: ”Also, I have been greatly encouraged by the

announcements that have been made by reputable and global Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMS) that they are coming to establish their automotive assembly plants in Nigeria. Nissan has said that it is coming to Nigeria, and that its first car will be produced in the country by April. They have already sent their technical team and are working with their local partners in Nigeria. ”Hyundai is also coming to assemble its vehicles in Nigeria and has already sent its SDKs into the country; Innoson has already signed an agreement with two Chinese Companies to expand

its existing automobile assembly plants. These show that we have made remarkable progress just within a period of four months since the policy was approved and announced.”

The Minister reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to the full implementation of the auto policy, and stressed that Government would continue to provide an enabling environment and level playing field for all stakeholders in the auto industry.

He said: “So far, we have been pleasantly surprised by the positive response from local and international investors who are

already taking advantage or have signified their interest in leveraging the huge opportunities provided by the new automotive policy. As a matter of fact, it took many years for some automobile manufacturing countries to attract the level of attention and interest which Nigeria is getting today. For example, when South Africa came up with their auto policy, they had to go to each of the OEMs to convince them to come and invest in South Africa.

REWARD: From left, Mr. Rajesh Kumar, General Manager, Bayswater Industries Ltd; Chief Reggi Uduhiri, Executive Director, Alhaji Abu Zamao,winner of Toyota Fortuner, Munir Khan, Regional Manager, North and Mr. Lawal Idris, Executive Director, Bayswater Industries Ltd at the Mr. Chef Distributors Reward/5th ceremony held in Lagos.

Abuja-Kaduna rail line for completion by December — FG T he Federal Government has assured Nigerians of its commitment to ensure that the Abuja-Kaduna railway is completed by December 2014.

The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar who gave the assurance shortly after the inspection of the rail modernisation project from Idu to Jere project sites in Kaduna State on Friday, said the Abuja-Kaduna railway will certainly be completed by the end of this year.

Umar said that the project is on course and explained that all necessary support required by the contractors handling the project, have been provided by the Federal

Government in order to ensure that the December 2014 deadline is met.

He expressed satisfaction over the work done so far, insisting it is part of the Federal Government’s transformation agenda in the Transport sector to re-position the rail sub sector by developing standard gauge as modern rail system in the country.

According to him: “AbujaKaduna railway is very strategic to Nigeria as a country and to the Government in particular noting that “we are achieving a very huge milestone in the development of inter-modal transport system in Nigeria”.

He said further that the

corridor has reached about 72 per cent completion level and work is going on assiduously adding that the major structural works are almost completed.

‘You can see that the work is going on assiduously, the bridges are almost completed so also culverts and overpass bridges among others.

The minister who was in a train ride from Idu to Gwagwa Karimu was accompanied by his Permanent Secretary, Engr.

Nebolisa Emodi, the Director of Rail and Mass Transit in the ministry, Engr Gafar Bature, the Managing Director of NRC, Engr.

Oluwaseyi Sijuade and some top officials in the ministry.

He argued that this particular project and other

projects in the other sectors of the economy spread across the country are the testimonies of the fact that Mr President has transformed the country.

On the challenges facing the projects, the minister said that efforts are being made to ensure that the two major constraints which include water interference at km 19 and certain estates built along the rail lines at Kubwa are addressed by the relevant authorities in the FCT.

CAC institutes Corporate Citizens Award for entrepreneurs, companies

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n order to encourage dynamism in business, the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, has instituted Corporate Citizens Award to reward individuals and businesses that have conducted their businesses according to best practice.

CAC Chairman, Mr. Funso Lawal in Abuja last Thursday explained that the award is aimed at promoting the culture of good governance in the Nigerian business environment.

“The guiding principle for the corporate citizens’ award is the need to create a conducive environment for business growth, to create greater efficiency, openness and transparency in doing business. The commitment is to change our focus in doing business in Nigeria and stimulate the growth of the domestic economy."

Otunba Lawal who stated this while constituting the panel of judges for the commission’s annual corporate citizens award, however added that the intervention would be in form of provision of advisory services rather than monetary.

He insisted that the idea was born out of the desire to ensure that the companies plying their trade in Nigeria are viable enough to support the economy.

He also disclosed that the award will be wholly sponsored by corporate bodies and individuals insisting that “CAC will not spend a kobo on the award.”

To be eligible for the award, the nominee must have complied with the requirements of the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and all industry regulations to date.

In addition, the chairman said the nominees must also have performed creditably well in its Corporate Social Responsibility and productively in the sector he operates.

Other criteria include: quality of financial management, management of stakeholders relations, workplace environment, industrial leadership, innovation and environmental performance.

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22 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Banking & Finance

CBN, IFC host sustainable banking forum

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Diamond Bank trains MSMEs on cash budgeting

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s part of its efforts at increasing the capacity of Micro, Small and Mediumscale Enterprises (MSME) in running profitable businesses, Diamond Bank PLC, a leading player in the Nigerian Retail Banking space, has through its Diamond BusinessXpress seminar provided training in cash budgeting for entrepreneurs.

The seminar, which held in Owerri, Imo State, marks the 40th edition of the Bank’s BusinessXpressSeminar,amonthly capacity building workshop aimed atbuildingmanagerialcapacityand institutionalized processes within the sector. The topics discussed at thesessionincluded:FailingtoPlan, Finding and retaining Customers, Strategic Planning, What is Business Really About? andZeroOne. In his welcome address, Mr. Stanley Akwara, Regional Manager,OwerriRegion,Diamond Bank PLC who was represented by Mr. Charles Oguibe, Business Manager, Waast Avenue branch of the Bank said, “We are gathered here for a capacity building seminar for MSMEs. C M Y K

BRIEFING: From left, Hanspeter Ackerman, Executive Director, Investment, Uche Orji, MD/ CEO and Stella Ojekwe-Onyejeli, Executive Director, Risk Management ; at the press briefing on Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority Progress Update held in Abuja.

THE AFRICAN START-UP: A new approach to funding SMEs development

By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

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he story of Olumide Olusanya, as revealed on ‘The African Start-Up’, will make you want to become an entrepreneur, despite the daunting and frustrating challenges. But, Olumide was also confronted by the challenges. A medical doctor, who founded the first online Nigerian grocery store, Gloo.ng also encountered and suffered vast and varied challenges which impedes, hinders and sometimes nullify the fulfilment of the dream of many entrepreneurs.

In Africa, the challenges range from lack of infrastructure, funding and access to market, as well as low capacity. In addition to these is the unstable political climate and war like situations in many African countries, which makes it difficult to even live not to talk of starting a business.

Olumide did not allow these difficulties to frustrate his vision, he rather overcame them. The same goes for Bankole Cardoso, founder of Eazy Taxi, Fomba Trawally a Liberian businessman who started his career as a street vendor and just recently opened Liberia’s first paper and toiletry product manufacturing company.

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FC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Central Bank of Nigeria will this week host the second International Sustainable Banking Forum in Lagos, Nigeria. The Forum will serve as a platform to share international and local experience and best practice on sustainable banking, and to build partnerships to support sustainable banking in emerging markets.

The Forum will bring together policymakers from governments, multilateral development banks, financial institutions, civil society organizations, and technical institutions, to share insights and ideas on sustainable banking.

Solomon Adegbie-Quaynor, IFC Country Manager for Nigeria, said, “The Forum will bring together representatives from the Nigerian financial sector with colleagues from all over the world.

African countries must devise ways of producing more successful entreprenuers.

One of the ways of doing this is to inspire aspiring and existing entreprenuers

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African countries need more of these individuals who can defy the frustrating difficulties of turning ideas into goods and services via the vehicle of entrepreneurship. They are needed to address the problem of youth unemployment across the country. They are needed to boost productivity to enhance national growth and development. Small and Medium Enterprises are critical to the development of every economy. They are the ones that produce most of the goods and services that are either consumed by individuals or serve as raw materials by big companies.

We can’t do without them.

Thus African countries must devise ways to produce more successful entrepreneurs.

One of the ways of doing this is to inspire aspiring and existing entrepreneurs with the story of Olumide and Fomba. That is what First Bank of Nigeria, in Partnership with Cable News Network (CNN) International hopes to achieve with, The African Start-Ups, a 30minute documentary which follows entrepreneurs across African countries to see how they are working to make their dreams become reality.

In addition to Olumide, Cadoso and Fomba, the programme has featured startups like Isaac Oboh who started Media 256 a raising film and production company in Kampala, Uganda as well as a new digital store where Nigerians can access local music called MyMusic.com.ng founded by Tola Ogunsola, Damola Taiwo and Dolapo Taiwo.

The programme, which is funded exclusively by First Bank, explores how ideas are generated, formulation of business plans, and access to capital and product development amongst other things. The African Start-Up offers viewers the opportunities to see entrepreurship in a more detail view with each show dedicated to an entrepreneur

taking viewers through daily challenges, where the rules are not defined, the setbacks are frustrating and the opportunities are for those with vision and creativity.

Each segment is aimed to inspire the viewers as they witness these determined individuals defying the odds.

Beyond the inspirational impact on viewers, The African Start-Up, represents a new vista in the quest to boost SME development in Nigeria and in Africa. SME operators need many things, but they also need inspiration, the encouragement that comes from knowing that the challenges they face are surmountable, and have been surmounted by somebody. This is rarely acknowledged in many funding support for SMEs. FirstBank has not only acknowledged this critical need it has also make it an important ingredient of its model of helping SMEs across Nigeria.

“African Start-Up” is a firm commitment of our drive to sustain the development of SME’s in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. “We are proud to sponsor ‘African Start-Up’ on CNN International”, said Folake Ani-Mumuney, FirstBank’s spokesperson and Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, “SMEs play a critical role as the engine of growth in the economy, providing employment to thousands of people and contributing significantly to GDP. This segment is a critical platform for repositioning the national economy for sustained growth, and one which aligns with FirstBank’s position as the No.1 SME Bank in Nigeria.

“Having supported SME’s in Nigeria for over a century with first class products and services, CNN’s African StartUp aligns with our commitment to drive and sustain the growth of SME’s in Nigeria”, she said.

“We’re delighted that FirstBank has chosen to connect with CNN’s global audience of key business decision makers and opinion leaders around the world via ‘African Start-Up”, commended Celine DeCarlo, Account Director CNN International Ad Sales.

FirstBank’s funding of the programme is part of deliberate strategy developed to support the growth of SMEs. The strategy is driven by a focus on helping SMEs develop capacity needed to achieve theirgoals. Thisisreflected in the maiden edition of its SME Conference titled “SMEConnect” one of its SME’s value propositions to focus on empowering small and medium enterprises and SME entrepreneurs.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 — 23

Banking & Finance

OPENING: From left, Chief Funmilola Okunowo; Mr Ladi Balogun, Managing Director, FCMB; Mrs Olajumoke Bakare, Managing Partner, First Almond Attorneys, and Mr Gbenga Onabanjo, at the official opening of First Almond Attorneys in Lagos. Photo by Shola Oyelese.

Bank payment obligation introduced to enhance international trade — ICCN

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

I

nternational Chamber of Commerce Nigeria, ICCN has entered into partnership with the financial messaging provider, Swift to introduce Bank Payment Obligation, BPO to drive international trade in Nigeria.

BPO is an alternative means of settlement in international trade that provides the benefit of a letter of credit in an automated environment, without the drawbacks of manual processing associated with traditional trade finance.

Speaking at the unveiling of the platform in Lagos, the Chairman of ICC Banking Commission, Chief Raymond Ihyemebe said that the new platform does not replace letters of credit but gives new opportunities, as a new platform for making payments.

He said the launch is part of efforts to educate banks on the advantages and the risks involved with the new instrument before it becomes effective.

He said that ICC Banking Commission is partnering with Swift, an international payment organization known worldwide, which handles most of the international payments banks make on behalf of their customers.

He said that, “ICC Banking Commission is also working

with ICC International in Paris which has become expert in this field to come and partner with us and try to explain to the banks what BPO is all about. And I can assure you that here in Nigeria we feel that we should understand it better and fully before it is implemented. We don’t want the risks of such payments draining our reserve.”

He further explained that, “There are many other

instruments in the past which were working side by side with letters of credit. This also does not replace letters of credit. It will work side by side with letters of credit. In terms of cost, it is cheaper to the importer, the exporter and the banks. So anything that will reduce cost to a business is welcome.”

He however noted that the risks also have to be assessed and if the risks are okay, the banks can carry it onboard.

Ihyembe said although the new platform has positive implications for the economy and the business community care must be taken in handling the risks as it is capable of gravely affecting the national reserves if risks are not properly assessed.

According to him, “The implication for the economy is that it will be more efficient, it will be cost effective but at the same it poses its own risks by commitment being entered into by banks to other banks abroad which will crystalise and become a kind of burden on our reserves. So that’s why the issue of risks assessment, the issue of knowing one’s customers better and understanding what is involved is very critical because we do not want payment under this platform to begin to drain our reserves.

“We have emphasized to our bankers they must think of themselves first as Nigerians because they don’t have their own balance sheet per se but the balance sheet from which they operate is Nigeria’s balance sheet.

And therefore we have to act as corporate Nigeria, the interest of Nigeria first, not just for small bank profits for individual banks but for the profit of the country.

“What we are doing is sensitizing the banks, getting them to understand the advantages and disadvantages, getting them to understand the risks involved. It is not yet implemented but we are at the stage of trying to understand it better before it becomes operative.”

African nations should make agriculture more productive —Emuwa

G

roup Managing Director of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Emeka Emuwa has called on Nigeria and other African Nations to make agriculture more productive in their fight to end the scourge of poverty in the continent.

He gave made this call at the International Conference organized by the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA) sponsored by Union Bank of Nigeria PLC. In his welcome address to the conference which was themed “propelling Economic Development through Functional Agricultural Value Chain financing models:

lessons learnt and emerging opportunities, in Lagos, Emuwa advised the African Nations to redouble their efforts to make agriculture more productive.

While wishing the participants drawn from African member nations, he averred that the best way to improve the financial flow to the agricultural sector and rural Communities is through a deep and enhanced understanding of the components of the Value Chain.

In his words, “If you can get agriculture to become more productive, you will be better positioned to tackle the scourge of poverty in the

continent. It is unfortunate that there has been a decline in the sector due to the emergence of other economic sectors in Africa” Citing the example of Nigeria, Emuwa told the conference that the emergence of oil and gas sector that stunted the agricultural sector.

He said that Union Bank has been supporting agriculture over the years ;stressing that in the current financial year, Union Bank will be engaging directly with farmers in order to have a deep understand the entire segments of the business, so as to inject more funds than have been invested in the past.

CBN introduces uniform account opening forms

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced uniform account opening form and minimum information requirements for the three tiered Know Your Customer (KYC) for banks and other financial institutions.

The introduction of the forms was announced via a circular to all banks and financial institutions titled, “Uniform Account Opening Forms and Minimum Information Requirements for the three tiered Know Your Customer (KYC) for customers of banks and other financial institutions in Nigeria”. The circular, signed by the Kevin Amugo, Director of Financial Policy and Regulation, said, “Towards the efforts to ensure that depositors in banks and other financial intuitions provide necessary background information for effective Know Your Customer (KYC) due diligence, the CBN in collaboration with relevant stakeholders has developed uniform account opening forms.

IFC names Diamond Bank best issuing partner bank

I

nternational Finance Corporation (IFC) has named Diamond Bank PLC Best Issuing Partner Bank in the sub-Saharan African .

The award was presented to the Bank’s officials at the inaugural Global Trade Partners Awards dinner held at the conclusion of the IFC 6th Global Trade Partners Meeting. The meeting took place last week in Lisbon, Portugal and it attracted over 350 delegates from 56 countries.

Portuguese Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas delivered the opening keynote address, kicking off two days of insightful discussions on building crossborder banking networks, developing innovative solutions for agribusiness and commodity finance, and enhancing global value chains by financing small and medium enterprises.

C M Y K

24 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Corporate Finance Stories by PETER EGWUATU

A

frica Prudential Registrars Plc has proposed a dividend of 35 kobo per share to its shareholders. Coming within the first year of the company ’s listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the dividend, when ratified by shareholders of the company, will be paid out on activities for the 2013 financial year.

The company disclosed this in a statement, stating “ New investors in particular are benefiting from Africa Prudential Registrars’ investor-centric management policy, which has ensured steady returns on investment for its shareholders. The proposed dividend payment attests to the company ’s determination to add value to shareholders, and ensure increment in shareholder wealth.”

MTN affirms commitment to economy, rewards film industry

M

TN has reaffirmed its commitment to growing the economy of Nigeria, just as it discovered and rewarded Artists in Africa As part of its loyalty to enriching the lives of its subscribers through discovering, empowering and developing talents across Africa MTN, has rewarded the winners of the just concluded MTN Afrinolly Short Film Competition held recently.

The season 2 of the competition which started on September 1, 2013, with over 400 entries from African film makers from 16 countries, has produced ten upand-coming filmmakers in Africa. After three months of competitive procedure, which deployed top of the range technological platforms involving online master classes and voting processes,aninternationalpanelof judgesheadedbyFemiOdugbemi, an award-winning filmmaker, writer and photographer, announced Florian Schott as the best in Short Film category while Victor Okoye emerged winner in theDocumentarycategory.

C M Y K

S

hareholders in the country have backed the suspension of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mallam Lamido Sanusi by the Federal Government.

They said it was long overdue, as their investment in the banking industry worth billions of naira had been destroyed under his reform programme.

President, Nigerian Shareholders Solidarity Association of Nigeria (NSSA), Chief Timothy Adesiyan, said "The issue of Sanusi had been dragging for some time now. The suspension is unexpected at this moment. It is uncalled for at the moment, since he has almost finished his tenure.

President Goodluck Jonathan should have removed him long before when it was obvious. But since he did not do that , then the President should have been patient enough and allow him to conclude his tenure and handover properly to a successor.

With the situation, as it is now, the action might affect the market, though temporary. However, since there is ongoing investigation against some of his action, it should be reminded that the shareholders are not happy with him, when he forcefully nationalized three banks belonging to us .The question is, are the three banks doing well since they were taken over

by Asset Management

AWARDS: From left, Managing Director, REDMoney (publishers of IFN), Mr. Andrew Morgan; GM/Head, Listings Sales and Retention, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mrs. Taba Peterside; Dele Olajundoye (Kole Awodein & Co); Hon Commissioner for Finance, Osun State, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro; Chief Executive Officer, Lotus Capital, Mrs. Hajara Adeola and Director, Lotus Capital, Mrs. Lateefah Okunnu at the Islamic Finance News Awards.

Sanusi destroyed our investment in banks — Shareholders Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON? The answer is no.

Then, what is the essence of nationalizing them. We the shareholders of these banks were shortchanged and we would like the issue to be revisited and investigated because we like justice to prevail. When two elephants are fighting it is the grass that suffers. So for the acting CBN Governor, I wish her well. She has been part of the system so there should be continuity.”

In his remark, National Co - ordinator, Proactive

,

Africa Prudential Registrars to pay 35k dividend

It is a welcome development and even overdue for Governor Sanusi to leave the system

,

Shareholders Association of Nigeria, PROSAN, Mr. Taiwo Oderinde said “ It is a

New Union Dicon Salt mgt assures on improved performance T

he newly constituted management of Union Dicon Salt (UDS) has assured their shareholders of improving the performance of the company in the coming years.

As part of its restructuring process, the company appointed Bex Nwawudu and Chuka Mordi as CoManaging Directors of the company, while former Acting Managing Director , Col. Henry Mgbemena, reverts to his former role of Executive Director -– Production.

Speaking, Nwawudu said

“ We are committed to ensuring that Union Dicon Salt Plc achieves and surpasses its objectives of industrial operational turn-around, increased repositioned production, and excellent increased delivery capacity” Continuing, he said “A key element of our investment philosophy is that we are dedicated to developing Nigeria transform UDS into a world class Agribusiness and food processing company through access to funds, projects and partnerships and indeed the whole of Africa, by actively supporting, through funding and capital development, projects that yield accelerated, yet

sustainable and consistent growth. We strongly believe that Union Dicon Salt incorporates all of these elements Nigeria and indeed West Africa is crying out for increased local food production and sector value-added.”

In the last quarter of 2013, CBO Capital Partners became a significant minority shareholder in Union Dicon Salt, by acquiring 44 million units at the par value, 15 per cent of UDS Plc, whilst also being awarded a board management contract and option to purchase an additional 240 million units in order to have a controlling stake in the company at a placement price of N14 each.

welcome development and even overdue for Governor Sanusi to leave the system.

The shareholders have been crying and calling on the government to sack him but in their own wisdom he was still retained. Sanusi is not loyal to the government, hence should not be there. This is a lesson to his successor. So, the successor I believe is a professional to the core and not a politician because that position is very critical to the economy and whatever he does has a way of affecting the entire economy. Sanusi has done more harm than good for the economy. It is easy to destroy than to repair. He does not merit the position. I don’t forsee any negative effect for his suspension because the institution is still there with adequate workforce, after all the financial markets is not at its best, still struggling.”

In his remark, Mr. Adebayo Adeleke, General Secretary, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) said “ Sanusi’s suspension was long over-due. Sanusi’s tenure as CBN governor should be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).The suspension had proven shareholders right on Sanusi’s high level of financial recklessness. He should be asked to account for his stewardship.”

Capital Market Company Oil and Gas and Products Petroleum Prod ucts Capital Oil Plc 1st fTier Securities AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN Cocoa Processors Plc Okomu Oil Palm Plc Presco Plc Livestock/Animal Specialities Livestock Feeds Plc CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. Levents Nigeria Plc Chellarams Plc John Holt Plc SCOA Nigeria Plc Transnational Corporation UACN Plc

Opening Price (N) 0.50

Daily Stock Market Report Closing Price (N) 0.50

Opening Price N

Quantity Traded 2,000

Year High 0.50

Year Low 0.50

E.P.S.

P.E. Ratio

Sim Capital Alliance Plc Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc UBA Capital Plc HEALTHCARE Medical Supplies Morison Industries Plc Healthcare Providers Union Diagnostics & Clinicals Services

0.09

0.50 40.50 44.10

0.50 41,00 46.00

3,000 825,230 409,048

0.50 24.58 8.30

0.50 14.53 6.40

0.10 7.33 2.75

50.00 2.77 4.37

3.95

3.92

552,267

0.66

0.48

0.11

15.00

1.67 3.95 1.27 5.32 3.99 61.25

1.67 3.95 1.27 5.32 4.00 65.22

3,041 4,500 1,500 5 7,622,078 1,013,214

2.54 7.60 8.82 8.28 1.82 42.50

1.45 6.43 5.89 5.52 0.50 28.70

0.16 0.31 0.00 0.35 0.24 6.89

5.18 20.74 0.00 15.77 3.64 4.14

Pharmaceuticals Ekocorp Plc Evans Medical Plc Fidson Healthcare Plc Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig May & Baker Nigeria Plc Neimeth International Pharm Nigeria-German Chemicals Plc Pharma-Deko Plc ICT Computer Based Systems Courteville Investment Plc Computers and Peripherals Omatek Ventures Plc

103.50 20.50 2.84

1.91 0.50

2.23

785

10.54

9.52

0.00

0.00

0.50

387,550

0.50

0.50

0.00

0.00

3.72 2.70 2.56 69.00 2.19 1.84 7.36 1.52

3.72 2.68 3.05 69.00 2.17 1.85 7.36 1.52

168 61,320 1,986,664 28,979 259,191 361,598 2,150 1,589

5.31 1.45 3.20 23.11 5.61 1.96 12.91 200

5.31 0.70 0.83 2.58 3.61 0.95 0.95 4.28

0.19 0.44 2.62 0.20 0.09 0.00 0.00

0.81

0.74

702,066

0.52

0.50

0.10

10.00

0.50

32,500

0.50

0.50

0.00

12.50

16.83 2.07

5,098 360

9.31 3.59

3.25 3.25

0.00 0.01

1.43 0.00

0.50

0.50

7,360,191

50,000

0.50

0.50

4,000

1.47

0.50

0.00

0.00

18.00 9.50 46.55 9.70 237.00 0.50 1.48 105.00 5.77 2.00 10.00

18.20 9.87 46.55 9.24 240.00 0.50 1.48 105.10 5.49 1.90 11.00

366,799 40,933 41,865 569,110 653,438 20,000 62,385 155,465 50,020 100,000 123,564

30.00 12.57 43.98 15.49 132.51 0.75 3.51 48.05 5.28 3.36 13.40

12.00 8.10 15.16 4.16 95.00 0.50 1.02 36.58 5.11 0.51 10.93

2.14 1.09 2.28 1.47 7.56 0.00 0.00 4.10 0.44 0.23 0.00

7.86 4.97 8.88 2.31 13.17 0.00 0.00 42.86 14.19 2.89 0.00

1.63 2.70

4,316 2,717,101

6.91 3.60

7.85

40

8.69

6.66

6.66

1,000

9.20

6.80

7.75

10.50

500

12.39

10.70

0.13

85.77

0.50

3,000

0.50

0.50

0.01

0.00

0.87

43,412

1.38

1.38

0.00

0.00

2.00 0.50

104,000 100

2.50 2.58

1.62 2.58

0.11 0.00

13.15 0.00

1.44

1.44

2,000

1.51

1.33

0.03

28.80

3.98 19.38 12.68 4.30 1.05 2.92 0.63

3.98 19.38 12.68 4.30 1.05 2.78 0.66

6,888 49,455 10 29,198 200 84,311 2,749,340

3.98 15.58 15.03 4.30 1.86 2.92 0.63

3.98 12.71 13.97 3.60 1.05 2.92 0.63

0.00 3.90 0.90 1.22 0.30 0.07 0.00

0.00 3.26 0.00 3.52 6.18 41.71 0.00

75.00 8.46

75.00 8.46

19,085 42,564

62.26 8.28

32.96 3.01

19.99

19.99

8,915

20.15

11.59

1.69

7.33

100.00 50.00

100.00 50.00

250 -

100.00 -

97.00 -

11.75 -

8.51 -

0.50

0.50

50,000

0.50

0.50

0.00

0.00

14.51 180.36 29.40 145.61 0.77

14.51 197,90 29.40 152.00 0.77

2,000 627,256 75,172 57,220,312 10,000

4.63 255.00 7.10 100.00 1.01

2.23 186.00 5.23 72.50 0.93

0.00 9.95 0.41 5.08 0.00

0.00 19.98 16.29 22.22 0.00

Beverages-Non-Alcoholic 7-UP Bottling Company Plc

82.64

82.64

6,750

51.49

,39.00

2.69

13.92

Food Products Dangote Flour Mills Plc Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc Flour Mills Nigeria Plc Honeywell Flour Mill Plc National Salt Co. Nig Plc UTC Nigeria Plc

Tools and Machinery Nigerian Ropes Plc

9.50 11.41 78.38 3.80 13.20 0.56

9.50 11.30 78.00 3.50 13.20 0.56

52,156 627,726 552,277 1,043,490 157,446 2,084

19.90 16.20 95.00 6.60 6.70 0.88

4.31 4.02 57.00 2.31 3.80 0.50

0.00 0.91 4.09 0.39 1.01 1.13

16.91 14.38 16.89 16.92 5.75 8.83

NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals BOC Gases Plc Metals Aluminium Extrusion Ind Plc

Food Products-- Diversified Cadbury Nigeria Plc Nestle Nigeria Plc

86.25 1,071.31

86.25 1,100.00

36,778 486,236

37.27 840.10

8.33 400.00

Non-Metalic Mineral Mining Multiverse Plc

0.50

Paper/Forest Products Thomas Wyatt Nig. Plc

0.83

Electronic and Electrical Products Cutix Plc Nigerian Wire & Cable Plc

2.10 0.50

Beverages-Brewers/Distillers Champion Breweries Plc Guinness Nigeria Plc International Breweries Plc Nigerian Brew Plc Premier Breweries Plc

1.35 25.43

27.61 32.84

32.27 4.11 1.66

32.27 4.28 1.52

60 92,640 101,500

36.19 5.54 2.88

33.96 2.91 2.88

13.89 0.61 0.00

2.44 7.07 0.00

Personal/Household Products PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc Unilever Nigeria Plc

38.00 45.00

38.00 48.00

146,746 277,345

41.02 47.39

21.02 27.60

0.82 1.44

4.39 32.91

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking Access Bank Plc Diamond Bank Nigeria Plc Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Fidelity Bank Plc First City Monument Bank Plc Guaranty Trust Bank Plc Skye Bank Plc Sterling Bank Plc UBA Plc Union Bank Nig. Plc Unity Bank Plc Wema Bank Plc Zenith Bank Plc

7.76 6.60 14.89 2.18 4.75 24.30 3.85 2.20 7.70 9.20 0.50 1.10 20.60

7.70 6.62 14.76 2.27 4.75 25.40 3.70 2.27 7.84 9.20 0.50 1.15 20.50

21,639,823 45,737,768 606,413 5,677,836 865,336 33,406,416 2,208,644 1,486,352 22,945,820 255,167 121,575 4,838,211 76,266,897

12.39 7.51 14.04 3.47 5.70 26.09 6.50 3.05 7.69 10.60 1.22 1.75 21.49

4.70 1.92 9.90 1.13 2.90 13.02 2.65 0.80 1.64 2.34 0.50 0.52 11.96

1.42 0.90 2.81 0.43 0.00 2.10 0.71 0.54 0.67 0.00 0.00 1.34 2.09

8.73 8.34 5.00 7.93 0.00 12.39 9.15 5.43 11.19 0.00 0.00 0.43 10.24

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Sector African Alliance Insurance AIICO Insurance Plc Continental Reinsurance Plc Cornerstone Insurance Company Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc Equity Assurance Plc Goldlink Insurance Plc Great (Nig) Insurance Plc Guinea Insurance Plc International Energy Insurance Plc Investment and Allied Assurance LASACO Assurance Plc Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc Linkage Assurance Plc Mansard Insurance Plc Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc NEM Insurance Co. (Nig) Ltd Niger Insurance Co. Plc OASIS Insurance Plc. Prestige Assurance Co. Plc Regency Alliance Insurance Sovereign Trust Insurance Staco Insurance Plc Standard Alliance Insurance UNIC Insurance Plc Unity Kapital Plc Universal Insurance Plc Wapic Insurance Plc Microfinance Banks Fortis Micro-Finance Bank Plc NPF Micro-Finance Bank Plc Mortgage Carrier, Broker and Sector Abbey Building SOC Aso Savings and Loans Plc Resort Savings & Loans Plc Union Homes Savings Plc Other Financial Institutions Africa Prudential Plc Crusader (Nigeria) Plc Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc FBN Holdings Plc Nigeria Energy Sector Fund Royal Exchange Assurance

0.50 0.86 1.09 0.50 0.50 2.00 0.50 0.50 0.60 0.50 0.67 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.30 0.50 0.82 0.50 0.57 0.56 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.96

0.50 0.87 1.14 0.50 0.50 2.06 0.50 0.50 0.60 0.50 0.67 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.30 0.50 0.81 0.50 0.55 0.56 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.95

6.60 0.73

6.60 0.79

1.49 0.50 0.50 0.50

1.49 0.50 0.50 0.50

3.99 0.50 0.99 13.33 552.20 0.60

4.04 0.50 0.99 13.24 552.20 0.60

500 1,245,645 650,000 46,250 7,000 9,054,578 1,010 93,000 71,700 37,000 173,565s 1,670,890 500 100 151,500 15,970 14,600 2,804,591 104,500 360,000 241,010 100 1,500 200 50,130 12,320 14,100 80,100 516,300

0.50 1.11 1.03 0.54 0.50 2.44 0.50 0.68 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.60 0.50 2.59 0.54 0.81 0.61 0.50 1.01 0.50 0.56 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.08

0.50 0.50 0.58 0.50 0.50 1.08 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.06 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

4,100 380,199

6.00 1.18

0.00 0.92

0.04 0.92

150.00 10.56

3,000 185,447 400,000 168,750

1.57 0.50 0.50 0.50

1.37 0.50 0.50 0.50

0.19 0.02 0.00 0.00

47.6 7 25.00 0.00 0.00

122,176,985 22,000 100 40,494,338 600,000

0.75 0.50 2.02 20.00 100 0.78

0.00 0.50 2.02 8.57 552.20 0.50

0.00 0.50 0.14 0.02 0.50 0.28 0.01 0.00 0.03 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.16 0.00 0.37 0.02 0.03 0.06 0.04 0.09 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.07

0.19 0.00 0.00 2.03 12.68 0.13

0.00 22.20 6.79 27.30 10.00 7.43 50.00 0.00 16.67 50.00 0.00 25.00 0.00 0.00 16.67 16.19 0.00 2.19 26.00 16.67 15.50 12.50 5.65 0.00 0.00 0.00 25.00 0.00 15.43

9.16 0.00 0.00 9.85 43.55 6.00

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Se Abbey Building Society Plc INDUSTRIAL GOODS Packaging/Containers Abplast Products Plc Beta Glass Co. Plc Greif Nigeria Plc Nampak Nigeria Plc Poly Products (Nig) Plc Studio Press (Nig) Plc W.A. Glass Ind. Plc

1.63 2.74 7.85

5.94 1.47 8.26

0.5 0.25 0.00

0.78

39.60 9.16 0.00

7.37

OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services Japaul Oil & Maritime Service

0.52

0.51

2,561,675

0.97

0.87

0.19

6.06

Intergrated Oil and Gas Services Oando Plc

19.18

19.40

1,691,935

78.97

27.99

1.73

4.17

20.50 0.50 51.70 88.40 124.85 54.44 173.00

20.50 0.50 51.70 88.40 124.85 54.44 173.00

82,191 2,000 27,300 27,255 3,830 1,980 3,218

37.10 0.70 5.59

0.50 0.50 3.89

4.93 0.00 0.61

7.40 0.00 6.99

163.50 2,100 240.00

141.00 63.86 195.50

6.11 2.98 14.63

11.11 19.23 17.07

Hospitality Tantalisers Plc

0.50

0.50

10,000

200

SERVICES Afromedia Plc Automobile/Auto Part Retailers RT Briscoe Plc

0.50

0.50

100

0.72

1.29

1.30

731,395

3.65

1.30

0.21

8.19

4.62

4.40 2.50

430,500 2.68

3.67 251,592

2.65 0.25

0.60 11.12

4.91

0.53

534,927

1.64

4.55 0.66

1,000 48,000

400 2.07

Petroleum and Petroleum Products African Petroleum Plc Beco Petroleum Plc Conoil Forte Oil Nig Plc Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc MRS Oil Nigeria Plc Total Nigeria Plc

Courier/Freight/Delivery Red Star Express Plc Trans-National Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC Hotels/Lodging Capital Hotel Ikeja Hotel Plc

0.51 4.55 0.69

0.01 0.51

0.90 3.00 1.33

0.00

0.04 0.34 0.92

12.75

11.25 34.09 2.12

Media/Entertainment Daar Communications Plc

0.50

0.50

10,000

0.50

0.48

0.00

0.00

Printing & Publishing.

Academy Press Plc Learn Africa Plc Studio Press Nig. Plc University Press

2.20 1.90 2.40 4.10

1.99 1.90 2.40 4.10

310,296 40,734 30 622

3.68

3.17 0.30 0.00 3.60

0.25

12.19

0.54

27.69

0.94

0.00

0.00

Road Transportation Associated Bus Company Plc

0.00 6.82

0.94

26,700

0.80

Speciality Interlinked Technologies Plc

4.90

4.90

1,995

5.15

4.90

0.50

0.00

0.00

Transport-Related Services Airline Services and Logistics Plc Nigerian Aviation Handling Company

2.71 5.56

2.98 5.63

95,010 569,236

2.78 11.75

1.57 6.50

0.60 12.53

4.22 8.75

Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 — 25

Household Durables Nigerian Enamelware Plc Vitafoam Nig. Plc Vono Products Plc

Packaging/Containers Avon Crowncaps & Container Nigerian Bags Manufacturing Company

9.05 14.13 0.00 0.00

0.50

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Non-Building/Heavy Construction Julius Berger Nig Plc Roads Nigeria Plc

Real Estate Investment Trusts Skye Shelter Funds Union Homes Real Estate Investment CONSUMER GOODS Automobile/Auto Parts DN Tyres & Rubber Plc

88.50 0.00 3.07

16.83 1.97

20

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials Ashaka Cement Plc Berger Paints Plc CAP Plc Cement Co. of Northern Nig. Plc Dangote Cement Plc First Aluminium Nigeria Plc DN Meyer Plc Lafarge WAPCO Plc Portland Paints & Products Nig Plc Paints & Coatings Manufacturers Premier Paints Plc

P.E Ratio 9.71 18.03 6.71

4 2,720,390.38

Real Estate Development UACN Property Development

E.P.S

571,099 20,040,771

31,443 414,172

ICT Telecommunications Starcomms Plc

Year Low

10.56 0.87 0.21

5.30 1.57

10.11 2.26

Year High

103.50 10.64 0.03

5.30 1.50

4.11 4.73

Quantity Traded

103.50 15.69 1.41

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Construction/Structure ARBICO Plc Constain (WA) Plc

IT Services NCR (Nig) Plc Tripple Gee and Company Plc Processing Systems Chams Plc

Closing Price N

103.50 19.80 2.77

as at Friday, February 28, 2014

C M Y K

26 —Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Corporate Finance Stocks, commodities burn bears in frozen February rallies

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n the shortest month of the year, a good short was hard to find. Global stocks, bonds and commodities rose together in February for the first time in seven months, reversing January’s losses in equities and raw materials and burning short sellers who bet on more declines following the Federal Reserve’s decision to begin reducing stimulus efforts.

Commodities climbed the most since July as a drought in Brazil triggered rallies in coffee and sugar. Equity investors focused on the weather, too, chalking up economic data that trailed forecasts to a barrage of U.S. snowstorms, and finding encouragement in improving earnings and takeovers.

Leaders of the world’s major economies pledged to maintain accommodative policies and pay more heed to their repercussions, easing concern that turmoil in emerging markets will spread as attention shifted to violence in Ukraine.

“It’s an unusual confluence of events,” Alan Gayle, a senior strategist at RidgeWorth Capital Management, said in a Feb. 27 phone interview from Atlanta. “Earnings generally exceeded estimates, which is favorable for stocks.

Geopolitical risks were higher than expected and inflation pressures were lower than expected and that helped drive yield lower. The market is hoping that a lot of the economic weakness is weather-related.”

Shares rise on U.S. economic data, euro hits year high Stocks on Wall Street zoomed to a record high on Friday, shrugging off a revised downward estimate to U.S. growth, while the euro hit its highest level this year after inflation in Europe stabilised, cooling expectations of looser monetary policy.

The benchmark Standard & Poor ’s 500 stock index surged to an intraday record after a round of mostly positive economic data. A discouraging read on U.S. gross domestic product, however, cast some doubt on whether higher equity valuations are justified.

C M Y K

‘Why Cadbury opted for share capital reduction’ Stories by NKIRUKA NNOROM

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adbury Nigeria plc has explained that undertaking share capital reduction was the best option available to it to address the issue of excess capital in its coffers.

Addressing the stockbroking community and the management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, at the Facts behind Capital Reduction of the company on the NSE, Yinka Adeboye, Financial & Strategy Director, Cadbury Nig. Plc, said that the company decided to settle for capital reduction after carefully weighing other available options and their implication for its shareholders.

She listed other options to include either reinvesting the money for expansionary purposes, undertaking a share buy-back or giving it out as dividend.

Considering re-investing the capital, Adeboye said the company did not foresee any future capital requirements that would not be met from internally generated resources to the extent that it is faced with an opportunity requiring significant additional capital.

“Company ’s projections

indicated that it would generate sufficient capital to meet its expansionary and operational requirements.

Rather than invest excess capital on behalf of shareholders at what may be sub-optimal returns, the Board of Directors decided to recommend the return of excess capital to shareholders,” she said “Dividend was another option, but we considered the tax obligation. If we are to pay

interim dividend, it will be subjected to with-holding tax and we thought that our shareholders may not like that,” she stated, adding that the Board would continue to assess uses for distributable profits, which might include reinvestment for growth and dividends to shareholders.

Speaking further, she explained that in event a company decides to adopt share buy-back approach, it may result in shareholding of individual shareholders changing depending on

whether not they participated in the buy-back.

Adeboye, however, noted that the capital reduction did not impact the ownership percentages of shareholders neither did it affect the capital value of a shareholder ’s investment in the company.

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director, Emil Moskofian, assured that undertaking capital reduction instead of reinvesting the fund does not suggest lack of appetite by the company to commit more fund into the

LITERACY PROGRAMME: From left, Ralph Omoregie, Group Head, Customer Experience and Analytics, Heritage Bank; Zuriel Oduwole, Brand Ambassador of Heritage Bank; Mary Akpobome, Executive Director and Niyi Adeseun, Executive Director, Manilla, at Heritage Bank’s Financial Literacy Programme in Lagos.

Fidelity Bank assures shareholders of steady dividend payment T

he new Managing Director/CEO of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, has promised to maintain the culture of steady dividend payment the bank has been known for over the years.

He made the promise at the valedictory/welcome dinner organised by the bank for him and the outgoing CEO, Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi, in Lagos.

Affirming that Fidelity Bank is known for delivering unequalled value to its shareholders, Okonkwo stated that the bank has paid dividends in the last eight years without fail, saying that the bank under his management does not intend to discontinue the culture.

He said, “When

shareholders invest in a company, they do so because they expect a return, and this can only come from the strength of the company ’s revenue; the kind of revenue that pays your bills as well as return in profit.

In actual sense, our vision is to make sure that they not only get dividend, but that they are paid higher than what they have been getting in the past.”

Applauding his predecessor, the CEO said that stepping into his shoes was not a mean task, but promised to consolidate on his achievements, saying, “I have told them that I will take the bank to a kind of level that when they look back five years from now, they will realise that they have not laboured in vain. To that I will be committed and deliver.”

“If I was going into a troubled bank, any little thing I do, people will say that magician has come, but now that the bank is strong, it will not be easy, but I am excited that he has laid a solid foundation for me,” he added.

He thanked the Board for choosing him from many other options they had, promising to ride on the strong and experienced team of management and staff to deliver expected result.

“I am not just making empty promises. I know this because I have strong and dedicated team behind me. We will draw on our youthful strength, team spirit and tenacity to give you a bank that shareholders will be proud of,” he further assured.

Speaking, Ihejiahi expressed optimism that the bank would record even

greater strides under the leadership of the new CEO, while attributing his success while in office to support to support from the Board of Directors.

He noted that his career benefited from benevolence of people he met during his career, who gave him the chance to succeed.

In his remarks, the Chairman, Christopher Eze, said, “In our view, no honour done Reginald will be undesirable. He led the banking the most critical time in banking landscape, not just in Nigeria, but globally. He was always there to implement the Board decision. He led the bank through major capital restructuring to ensure that the bank grew stronger and stronger.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 — 27

Commodity index

Micro-Finance

Africa to produce largest workforce globally by 2040 —Foundation …as EY partners foundation to boost entrepreneurship in Africa Stories by PROVIDENCE OBUH

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social enterprise foundation, set up to support Africa’s emerging entrepreneurs has said that Africa will have the largest workforce globally by 2040, just as Ernst & Young (EY) entered into a three-year sponsorship agreement with Mara Foundation.

In a statement, Ashish J Thakkar, Founder of Mara Group and Mara Foundation, said: “By 2040, Africa will be home to 1 in 5 of the world’s young people, and will have the largest workforce globally, at 1.1bn people. If Africa truly wants to compete internationally, we must seize the opportunity now to develop a workforce that is competent, confident and creative. Mara Foundation has been set up for this very reason, and I’m delighted that EY are on board to support us in our endeavours. Their insights and expertise will be invaluable to the entrepreneurs we work with.”

The statement explained that the agreement will see EY providing a wide range of services to the foundation, including industry specialists to act as mentors, monitoring and evaluation systems to improve efficiency and general structuring, governance and operational advice.

According to the statement, “The breadth and depth of EY’s support will

further boost the chances of entrepreneurs turning their business ideas into reality. The announcement is borne out of a shared belief that SMEs will act as a fundamental channel for increasing employment and building economic growth in Africa.

“It comes just one week after the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) announced a shake-up of aid programmes in Africa shifting away from traditional priorities such as fighting disease and hunger and doubling funding in investments that boost growth and create jobs. Last month, Japan also announced a greater focus on Africa, as did the US who revealed plans to host a US-Africa summit in August to further strengthen ties with one of the world’s most

,

Entrepreneurs are important to a nation's economic health and by uplifting them, we are giving back to the communities in which we live and serve

dynamic and fastestgrowing regions.”

Also, Mr. Ajen Sita, CEO for EY, Africa, said: “EY is passionate about supporting entrepreneurship and partnering with Mara Foundation in this regard is a perfect fit for us. It allows us to continue living our purpose of ‘building a better working world’ through nurturing and d e v e l o p i n g entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs are important to a nation's economic health and by uplifting them we are giving back to the communities in which we live and serve.”

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Honeywell takes entrepreneurship learning to Ekiti schools

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oneywell Flour Mills Plc has partnered the Ekiti State Government on entrepreneurship development at the primary school level to combat the geometric increase in the level of unemployment in the country.

Speaking during the Honeywellsponsored second Trade Fair for Public Primary Schools in the state, Senior Brand Manager, Mr. Lanre Da-Silva, said that his company decided to partner the government in sponsoring the programme because the objective of the fair was in tandem with the philosophy of the company which believes in introducing the children to entrepreneurship development to make them self-sufficient when they grow up.

Da-Silva said his company was glad to partner with Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to boost early education in the state, saying, “there is no human being

without potential or natural endowment.

You don’t have to be professors before you become great in life. With minimal education and good skills, you can rise to any level”, he said.

He, however charged the parents to be conscious of the natural potentials in their children, saying such natural knack must be nurtured to maturity for them to have sustainable and prosperous future.

Deputy Governor of the state, Prof.

Modupe Adelabu, said the essence of the programme is to enhance the pupils’ entrepreneurial and technical skills that could make them employers of labour in future, rather than job seekers, commending the company for investing in such project,.

Adelabu said, “As we all know, entrepreneurial education is meant to equip the pupils with relevant skills to enable them stand on their own without necessarily running after non-existing white collar jobs after leaving schools.

C M Y K

28 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Interview

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ne year ago, Heritage Bank commenced operations as an offshoot of the defunct Societe Generale Bank, inheriting its liabilities. In this interview, Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Bank, Mr Ifie Sekibo, spoke on the impact the bank has made on the industry, how it has coped with the challenges of intense competition, and the tight monetary policy of the CBN. Excerpts What has been the impact of Heritage Bank on the Nigerian banking industry within its first year of operations?

The greatest impact of Heritage Bank on the Nigerian banking landscape, modestly I will say, is our contribution to the consciousness of channels for distribution of financial services beyond the brick and mortar.

It made other banks to see the importance and the need to continually improve on their distribution. Every one of us, all the banks, suddenly had to rethink their strategies. Because the question was simple, what was Heritage Bank coming to do, if they are not going to have 300 branches that everybody was running for, 1000, highest number of branches, how can they survive? And it dawned on everybody that the only way Heritage Bank could survive is to drive channels basically on the e-banking platform.

And off course they had bigger pockets, so they quickly jumped on it.

But, honestly, that has being our modest contribution. And it is interesting. The second impact, I will take, is the restoration of confidence in the financial sector, that people see a bank go down after about ten years and still have their money come back to them. This gives them hope that Savannah Bank will also come back.

That hopes it (Heritage Bank) gives to people, that confidence it engenders in people is very important for financial service delivery and continuous sustainable banking services. I think that those two, I will say is our contribution.

The industry is fiercely competitive.

How has the bank coped with the competition?

I have had to say this over and over again, I have not focussed on competition, rather we have focused on the little things we can be able to do, and let competition bother on what we are doing. Like we came out boldly and say we would be looking at SMEs, we want to grow SMEs of our own, we want to empower that sector, and off course the whole market reacted to it. We said we want to deal with channels; the whole market reacted to it. So the truth is, we have remained focused on the things we can do well and let competition bother about what we are doing. Again we say we are going to look at different point of presence, that we are going to roll out Automated Banking Centers (ABCs), again the market jumped at it and started looking at how to roll out ABCs, and now some banks are

planning to roll out their ABCs, because it is the best way, the cheapest and easiest way to get financial services to the unbanked. So you have to find a way to remain in your position of strength. And again, we can’t compete on brick and mortal.

Somebody has about 700 to 1000 branches, and I have ten, and we are in the same market, you can’t compete with him in terms of bricks and mortar.

If I focus on him I will not do business.

So I focus on my little strength, and that is what we have done over the last one year. Have we gotten to where want to be? Far from it, but we can clearly see the direction which we are headed. As part of our anniversary, we shall be launching our agency banking on the 4th of March. And it is also part of the little things we are doing, to show that it is possible, agency banking is possible. We need to diversify our own distribution channels; we need to diversify our own revenue base. We run into the market and we said we are not going to charge COT, for some banks, that is 25 per cent of their revenue base, and we say zero and we are just coming in new. Everybody had thought, “You can’t survive it”, but it

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By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

We should not shy away from it; we want to make that move because of the strategic fit, because we have been through restructuring and reorganisation of this, and the government and current management of Enterprise Bank in restructuring and putting that organisation together. We don’t want a misfit or a mismatch in that space

,

is not true, we will survive it, our revenues are growing every day. It might not be as astronomically as you want it to be, but it is growing gradually because for us it is not 100 meters dash, it is building a sustainable business, building and enduring legacy. Building an organisation that will outlive us, and so we cannot deal with it as a rush.

My board luckily are professionals, that know their sense of staying consistently on your strategy to build, and making sure that the back end of your strategy is well taken care off as you build. And I give it to the central bank, they were of immense support to us, they gave us all the

We need a policy f channels public se real sector — Herita encouragement and all it takes in their capacity, closed supervision, very very close supervision. And it is understandable. Some people say, “Why are they always on us? I said, it is important that they keep a close eye on us because of where we are coming out from. For the systemic stability, it is important that we don’t do anything untoward, but have our eyes set on a longer vision, five years, ten years from now. We believe, we believe, five years from now, we should be among the first five financially solid banks in the country. And if that is the case, you have to put in place the building blocks now. It will outlive me as a person, but I need to put that foundation in place. And the processes, the structures, and all it takes to have a sustainable banking process have been put in place, it is a business, and we have to treat it as one.

So the bank is not in a hurry?

We are one year, just one year old; some of our elder brothers are over a 100 years. There is no way I can say I am in a hurry chasing somebody who is over a 100 years. This is a business that thrives on trust. There is a fiducial relationship here, it thrives on trust, and it thrives on personal life style and sentiments. Nobody wakes up one morning and start trusting everybody, the best we can do is show we are worthy of trust. The best we can do it to get people who are not in the financial services space, to be included in the financial services space. And so for us, one of the beauty of the new way of sustainable banking is financial inclusion, and we seem to feature just at the nick of it, so nobody is old in that space, we are all new but what we have as an edge above others is our newness, we can take it on as a viable, new project, without causing the gorillas in the system to overwhelm the new What is your experience with SMEs? Our experience with SMEs is that they are a group of people that are well driven in terms of ideas, in terms of how to turn their ideas into product services, wealth creating opportunities. But there are certain ingredients that are lacking. One, because of the way we are traditionally structured, that one man must own everything, and so rather than work in partnerships and in teams, people like to go it alone. That makes them very un-bankable, that makes them high risks, and it makes them easily default when they are looking for

funds, in fact they are unable to access capital to fund their projects. What we then did to overcome that challenge is to create what we call a SME Clinic. What does that do for them? It makes them know that there is a lot of value in partnership, there is a lot of value in knowing what your business requires to survive and what you require to survive. Your business and you cannot be one and the same person. And so there must be separation. Then off course, we brought in some persons, some organisations that need to train and give them comfort so that they can be more organised and they understood some those challenges, which hitherto had been something they see as only for the big organisations. Then they began to access capital. And I tell you they pay, they pay, they even pay more than the big ones. But in that space, because they are so many, it is easy to have one or two that still want to remain with the old ways. And they don’t represent the totality of the SMEs. They don’t. I consider those ones as been the minorities. And when we have one or two of such cases, we just either explain to that person why we go through the route or you will lose a life time opportunity of being great. initiatives.

And what have you done in terms of e-

Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 — 29

Interview

ramework that ector deposits to

age Bank CEO

what was happening was also not sustainable.

Where we take public sector funds and go and buy treasury bills, and borrow the same money to the government who gave the money to us.

That business model is also not sustainable for the country. Should it be a CRR of 75 per cent, 100 per cent of 25 percent, it is neither here nor there. For me, that is my personal opinion, can we diversify our revenue base as a country. The real sector has to work and if we were deploying the public sector fund to the real sector, then it is a veritable option to keep, allowing the public sector funds stay with the banks but if we are just moving it into treasury bills, then not. Should

government and current management of Enterprise Bank in restructuring and putting that organisation together.

We don’t want a misfit or a mismatch in that space. And so, we are not shy to say we are fit for it. Now that judgement, as to whether we are fit for it, why we think we are, is left for those selling to say Heritage Bank is fit or not. We have made our case, they will announce publicly those of us that are .., but we are not hiding that we did bid, and we have always said we will bid, and we bided. If we achieve our strategic acquisition drive, then we would have shorten our five year projections almost in one year, achieved that in one year but if we don’t achieve the strategic acquisition, then we would follow through with our five year projection, of which we think this year we hope to achieve 30 branches. So that is just a given. I mean you have to plan on all the cylinders you have, and we have. The beauty of who we are is that we have been through this kind of things before. It took us nearly three years to achieve Heritage Bank from SGBN. So if it takes us another one year to achieve another bigger and stronger Heritage Bank, with an Enterprise bank in the tow, we would be glad but if not, we still will grow.

Because right now we are also planning the EGM that we are hoping to get immediately after our one year anniversary, which will approve that we raise more capital to be able to continue our strategic intent.

And how soon are you going to be listed on the stock exchange?

At least we should be running for three years before we get on that platform. So we believe that within three years, we should have good financials and all that, and met all the regulations to be on the stock exchange.

Apart from capitalisation, how important is it to your strategic intent that you list on the stock exchange?

*Mr Ifie Sekibo

Modestly, we did invest a lot in I.T, and like I said, that is one of the strategy we brought to the platform, that what you are thinking about, it is not just a thought thing.

It must be the way of life. So for us, our epayment platform is the way of life. It is the only way we have been able to stay in the industry and in the market in the face of all the competition. That we are participating in every activity that every bank could undertake have been because of the robustness of our e-payment platform. It is very robust and we intend to improve on it.

Heritage Bank came into the industry at a time of monetary tightening. How has this impacted the bank and what has been the response?

I will say it the way it is. The impact has been very severe on us as a bank. We have had to struggle most times to deal with it.

Given what we inherited from our predecessor organisation, they were very heavy in public sector. So the residue of what we took was largely public sector. But we also know that it was not sustainable to go in that direction. So we went out seriously to do the SMEs. You see when you are on

,

payment platform?

I have not focused on competition, rather we have focused on the little things we can be able to do, and let competition bother about what we are doing

we have policies that enable us move that money into the real sector? Maybe that would have been a better way to look at it. But don’t forget that there are a lot of pros and cons for each of what I am saying, and I would not claim to be an expert in it. I will only suggest that we need to weigh all the options.

What is your outlook for the bank in the next 12 months?

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space of SME; you are not worried too much about CRR. But that does not mean we did not feel the impact, all of us felt the impact. It is a major drain to our liquidity. That is on one side.

As a national economic goal of curbing inflation, of defending the naira, of dealing with exchange rate issues, C M Y K

I am sure it is public knowledge that we are one of those in contention to acquire Enterprise Bank. And it is important that in the next 12 months, our dual approach on where we are going to. One, we have an organic growth plan, that in the next one year, we do hope that we achieve 30 branches, organically. We are growing on our capital and what we have. The inorganic option is where we have organic fit, which we believe we do have. We should not shy away from it. We want to make that move because of the strategic fit, because we have been through restructuring and reorganisation of this, and the

When we were coming in, we made some promises to the shareholders that we have to have an exit strategy for some of them that are not willing to invest very long, saying we would be at the capital market to enable them have an exit strategy. It also gives us a clear pricing for our net worth, for what we are worth, believable one. We can give any valuation to our self but the market would be able to better assess if we are in the market alongside our peers. Those are things the capital market offers us. It is better that we hold our self to those higher ideals which the capital market is also going to hold us to. We would become much more transparent in reporting our numbers, and they would be in the public domain for anybody to see.

Those things that investors are willing to see, they would be able to see, as against being a private company. If my shareholders choose not to do certain things, but as a public company we are compelled by law, though as a bank, we are bound by certain rules and regulations to be transparent and meet all the reporting standards that are required.

30 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Homes & Housing Finance

4,500 workers benefit from FG’s housing loan

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ver 4,500 civil servants in the employ of the federal government have so far benefited from the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Scheme between 1950 and May 2013.

This was revealed by the Head of Media Unit of the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board, Mr Akinwale Adegbola, in Abuja.

According to Adegbola, the highlight of the board’s performance was between 2010 and 2013 when the federal government injected N10 billion into the scheme.

He described the scheme as government’s social responsibility to its workers, adding that the loan applications currently amounting to N6.7 billion are given at 3 percent interest rate. He called for additional funds allocation so more can benefit.

Shelter Afrique, Zamfara sign MoU on affordable housing

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amfara State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the pan-African finance institution, Shelter Afrique, on the development of affordable housing in the state.

The deal was sealed when a delegation led by Governor Abdul’Aziz Yari and senior members of the state government, accompanied by the Nigerian High Commissioner to Kenya, Mr. Akin Oyateru, visited the office of Shelter Afrique in Nairobi. The delegation was received by the Managing Director of SHAF, Mr. Alassane Ba and all members of the senior management council of the organisation.

Discussions between the two parties centred on the dynamics of a Public-PrivatePartnership (PPP), culminating in the signing of MoU between the two parties to develop affordable housing in the state.

C M Y K

Stories by YINKA KOLAWOLE, with agency report

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overeign Wealth Fund is to invest $10 million (about N1.56 billion) in the Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company (NMRC) to improve its market position.

Mr. Uche Orji, Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, managers of the Fund, said the current investment in NMRC has been planned as a core equity investment by the SWF. The Federal Government provided additional funding of $550 million to SWF two weeks ago, bringing the current portfolio of the Fund to $1.55 billion.

NMRC offers help to property owners to refinance their mortgage.

The private-sector driven company has been setup with main objective of solving the issue of longterm funding constraints which have stalled the growth of the primary mortgage market. With government support, NMRC is expected to boost the real estate sector in Nigeria, which has seen continued growth over the last few years.

In November 2013, the federal government secured a $300 million soft loan from the World Bank for the take-off of the NMRC, in a bid to tackle the nation’s housing deficit estimated to be 17 million units. At the launch of

Sovereign Wealth Fund to invest N1.56bn in NMRC NMRC last month in Abuja, Finance Minister & Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, said the company will help provide long-term financing to mortgage lenders which will help them to be able to give more housing loans. She said needs to provide more than two million homes a year to reduce the housing shortage, noting that NMRC will help extend maturities for Nigerian homebuyers to as much as 20 years, encouraging the building of 75,000 new homes a year and creating at least 300,000 jobs initially.

SWF was set up via the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority Act of

2011 for the purpose of managing the surplus income produced from Nigeria’s excess oil reserves and investing invest the savings gained on the difference between the budgeted and actual market prices for oil to earn returns that would benefit future generations of Nigerians. It commenced operations in October 2012 with an initial allocation of $1 billion as seed capital.

The Fund is composed of three distinct funds or windows, each with specific investment and development objectives, namely: The Stabilisation Fund is meant to

safeguard against budgetary deficits, a last resort from which government may withdraw annually to meet shortfalls in the budget brought about by falls in oil prices or other budgetary constraints; The Future Generation Fund is a savings fund that will seek investment in long-term investments and assets to provide savings for future generations of Nigerians and; The Nigeria Infrastructure fund is to secure investments in the infrastructure development of the country in areas such as agriculture and other government directed projects.

*Access to mortgage facilitates ownership of bungalows like this

Lagos saves N6bn yearly to fund mortgage scheme

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he Lagos State government saves N6 billion annually to fund its newly launched Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme, known as Lagos HOMS, aimed at facilitating easy access to affordable housing by residents of the state.

Governor Babatunde Fashola disclosed this while unveiling the scheme in Lagos recently.

He said in order to deliver some of the housing projects to kick-start the programme, the state government has been saving N200 million monthly from the internally generated revenue and later increased the saving to N500 million monthly, with a possibility of further increasing the saving.

“I am happy that we took

the decision to confront this problem and I hope that the solution we offer today will be the long term solution. Part of the pride I have about this project is that we have not had to borrow money to fund any of these housing units. Our progress so far is the result of rigorous planning and financial discipline, savings and commitment. These projects have been fully funded from the taxes that our people have paid as monthly internally generated revenue (IGR).

“About 3 years ago, when we took the view that the Lagos State Ministry of Housing on its own cannot deliver all the houses that Lagosians require without the active support and participation of private sector developers, this Scheme was born in my mind. The next hurdle was how to deliver it. We started saving N200 million

monthly, whether the internally generated revenue increased or decreased; and today, we are now saving N500 million monthly, and it is possible to increase this as more people pay their taxes.

“The role of the Ministry of Housing will increasingly be that of a regulatory one, facilitating private sector housing development and enforcing housing regulations, leading research into systems building and cost saving initiatives that increase the affordability of homes and the speed of construction. Our ultimate plan is to be the guaranteed purchasers to developers who will acquire their own land, build to our specification and to our agreed prices. This way, many more houses can come on stream because of private sector participation, and Government

will use the IGR from tax payers’ money to buy from the developers and sell to the citizens on a 10 year mortgage payment.

“When I signed the Landlord and Tenant Bill into law, I explained that it was the beginning of a housing plan for Lagos. Many commentators who either did not listen to me or did not understand me reasoned that I should have provided houses first. The truth is that there are empty houses. People simply cannot afford them.

While the Tenancy Law represents our moral intervention to protect citizens who earn monthly income from landlords who demand multiple year advance payments, the Lagos HOMS represents our leadership intervention to increase the stock of affordable housing on convenient payment terms.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 — 31

C M Y K

32 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Insurance

Pension biometrics to determine commencement of transfer window — PenOp Stories by ROSEMARY ONUOHA

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he Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, PenOp, have said that they are doing everything they can to ensure that the anticipated transfer window in the pension industry commences.

Accordingly, the Association said it is putting modalities in place to first have a biometric database system in place.

The transfer window is a system that would allow pension contributors to

move their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) from one Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) to another without hitches. And according to PenOp, this will not be possible without a biometric database of all pension contributors.

Chairman of PenOp, Mr. Misbahu Yola said that activities are already in place to ensure that the industry gets its biometrics right, before it starts its transfer window.

It will be recalled that the transfer window ought to have commenced late last year but was not realistic

because pension operators as well as the National Pension Commission (PenCom) are currently working hard to ensure that the biometrics issue is sorted out.

According to Yola, the important issue in transfer window has to do with identity which the biometrics will need to address.

Though, he said the commencement of the transfer window is imperative, the issue of biometrics must first and foremost be resolved to avoid double registration, among other identity challenges.

The biometrics, he said, will come with finger print which would serve as an identity for an individual, especially in a situation where there are synonymous names. With this, he noted that

there wouldn’t be any complaint by RSA holders that their data or account is tampered with, in the process of moving it from one PFA to another.

If the issue of biometrics is resolved, he noted that the transfer window will commence in the industry.

Meanwhile, Yola disclosed that PenOp is currently working with PenCom to introduce pension scheme into the informal sector, noting that the current pension scheme does not favour the informal sector.

He noted that the bill before the National Assembly to amend the scheme will take care of this challenge, such that those in the informal sector can be incorporated into the contributory pension scheme.

Experts task insurers on credibility ...As Onaolapo emerges insurance man of the year

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nsurance experts have advised underwriting firms in the country to improve on their products and service delivery to build credibility.

This is coming on the heels of the emergence of Managing Director of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Mr. Wale Onaolapo as Inspenonline Insurance Man of the year.

Onaolapo was declared winner at the 2013 Nigerian Insurance and Pension (Inspenonline) Award in Lagos last week.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Yemi Soladoye, Managing Director of RiskGuard Africa Limited said, Nigerians have high level of confidence in insurance mechanism, but low trust in insurance practitioners.

This, he said was because most underwriters are more concerned about the profit they want to make, thus, are less concerned about the welfare of their customers.

He noted that operators in insurance companies are too conservative and lacks self recognition, thus, having opposing mentality, which has done more harm to insurance industry than good.

He appealed to underwriting firms to create problem-solving products that could meet the needs and wants of the people. He equally called on them to use other alternative channels to sell insurance, such that, insurance covers could be widely distributed across the nation.

Soladoye advised underwriters to promptly pay claims as and when due, calling on underwriters to work harmoniously, as well as fully adhering to provisions in insurance guideline, to grow the industry.

Speaking on the capital base for microinsurance operators, he stated that the statutory N350 million is too much to operate a micro insurance outfit, pleading on the regulator to categorise micro insurance into National, State, Local and Unit-based licences.

This, he said, would give room for more players, which could only be better for insurance penetration.

Speaking earlier, Mr. Adebayo Adeleke, executive secretary, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (Isan) stressed that, despite the fact that insurance sector has the highest number of listed companies on the floor on Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the price of these stocks are below par.

Adeleke who represented Sir Sunny Nwosu, president, Isan, attributed this to low credibility, urging insurers to continue to create better services to meet people expectation.

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Vanguard, MONDAY, MACRH 3, 2014 — 33

Tax Matters

Tax Treaty

The type of tax treaty within the purview of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and domiciled in the Tax Policy and Legislation Department is the Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (ADTA).

What is Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (ADTA) Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (ADTA) is a written tax agreement between sovereign states called “contracting states” primarily on the allocation of taxing rights between both contracting states on the income of residents of either of the contracting states derivable from either states. The agreement also does the following: ·Guide against the occurrence of a double taxation scenario in which a particular income is taxed twice in the hand of a taxpayer by either his home country (country of residence) or country of source of income. ·Modifies domestic tax laws by reducing the domestic tax rate. ·Grants concessions to beneficiaries. ·Guides against the occurrence of a double non-taxation scenario in which a particular income escapes taxation from both the source state (where the revenue is generated) and resident state (state of residence of the enterprise) in the hand of a taxpayer. ·Exchange of all relevant tax information beneficial to either or both contracting states for the furtherance of the operation of the agreement. ·Assistance in the collection of taxes by either contracting states. ·Establishment of the Mutual Assistance Procedure (MAP) for the resolution of disputes emanating from the implementation of the agreement or the taxation of income of residents of both contracting states.

The Purpose of Double Tax Treaties Double tax treaties are viewed as beneficial by most states because they

allow business to transact with a degree of certainty both on the part of the individuals, partnerships or corporate entities and the government of that state in which that business entity operates. The perceived benefits of double tax treaties have been identified as follows:

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treaty is a formal, written agreement between sovereign states or between states and international organisations. Many countries have agreed with other countries in treaties to mitigate the effects of double taxation. Tax treaties tend to reduce taxes of one treaty country for residents of the other treaty country thereby reducing double taxation. The goals and provisions vary from one treaty to another.

Contracting states to the DTA establish economic cooperation by opening the gate for companies from their country to come to the other contracting Sstate because of its confidence in the tax system of that country

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Clarification of Taxing Rights of Each State Tax treaties create the elucidation of taxation rights between the two contracting tates involved in the agreement for purposes of clarity, avoidance of litigation and international conflict. In the case of a tax treaty, it states specifically which contracting states have the taxing right and when both of them have the right.

Avoidance of International Juridical Double Taxation International juridical double taxation arises where the same profits are taxed in the two contracting states in the hand of the same person (corporate or individual).

The DTA clearly addresses and resolves such harsh conditions.

Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with AntiAvoidance Provision The acronym DTA in Nigeria is fully called the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion With Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital Gains. The Agreement therefore plays a dual purpose of preventing double taxation and also preventing fiscal evasion. Exchange of information provision (see Article 26 below) is intended to assist countries to obtain information in order to ensure their taxing rights are preserved, although the effectiveness of such provisions for tax

avoidance as opposed to tax fraud may be limited at present.

Encourages Economic Cooperation Between States Contracting states to the DTA establish economic cooperation by opening the gate for companies from their country to come to the other contracting Sstate because of its confidence in the tax system of that country.

Double tax treaties generally are of tremendous importance to businesses with an international dimension.

Without them trade would be stifled and economies would likewise be affected.

It is because of this that treaties often assume huge importance when developing tax strategies. However, the introduction of anti-treaty shopping articles (pioneered by the US) in double tax treaties and the exchange of information between member states is forcing substance into structures where perhaps a decade ago this would not have been an issue. Because of the importance of treaties it is not only necessary to understand how they operate but also how they are interpreted.

Date of Entry into Force of the DTA This is the date the agreement is deemed to be a law forming part of the body of the legal system of both contracting states. In essence, the agreement becomes an enforceable law in both states because it has fulfilled necessary domestication procedures.

This is provided for in Article 28 (1) of the various DTAs that, “Each of the Contracting States shall notify to the other the completion of the procedures required by its law for the bringing into force of this Agreement. The Agreement shall enter into force thirty days after the date of receipt of the latter of these notifications”.

Effective Date or Date of Application of the Agreement Both of these clauses are often used interchangeably. However, it is the date citizens of both Contracting States start benefiting from the agreement as provided for in Article 28 (2) (a) (i)(ii) of the various DTAs. Technically, the effective date of the agreement is the first day of the fiscal year following the date of entry into force of the agreement.

List of Countries having DTAs with Nigeria: Countries Canada Pakistan Belgium France Romania Netherlands United Kingdom China South Africa Italy

DTA Type Date/Place of Signing Date of Entry into Force Effective Date Comprehensive 4th August, 1992 in Abuja 16th November, 1999 1st January, 2000 Comprehensive 10th October, 1989 in Lagos 7th March, 1990 1st January 1991 th st 1 January, 1990 1st January, 1991 Comprehensive 20 November, 1989 in Brussels 2nd May 1991 1st January, 1992 Comprehensive 27th February, 1990 in Paris st th Comprehensive 21 July, 1992 in Abuja 18 April, 1993 1st January, 1994 9th December, 1992 1st January, 1993 Comprehensive 11th December, 1991 in Lagos th st Comprehensive 9 June, 1987 in London 1 January,1988 1st January, 1989 21st March, 2009 1st January, 2010 Comprehensive 15th April, 2005 in Abuja th th Comprehensive 29 April, 2000 in Cape Town 5 July, 2008 1st January, 2009 Air & Shipping Agreement Only 22nd February, 1976 in Lagos1977 1st January, 1978

Nigeria’s consumer market worth $100bn — Aganga

By FRANKLIN ALLI

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he Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, has said the consumer market in the country is now peaking at over $100 billion and growing fast as the purchasing power of the citizens continued to rise.

He made this remark during the launch of the NigeriaFrance Trade and Investment Council in Abuja. The Council was launched to facilitate investment flows between the two countries ; it is expected to double from the current N1.049 trillion to N2.098 trillion over the next four years (2014- 2017).

“Trade between Nigeria and France grew from N550 billion in 2008 to well over N1trillion in 2012, one of the fastest growth rates we have seen with our trading partners.

“For decades, France has believed in the potential of Nigeria; but more importantly, France has backed up its belief with real actions. This is because when the French believe, they invest. This is why the Nigeria-France Business relationship is central to our economic agenda; and this is why we have organised this forum here today,” said Aganga.

Indomie enters market with 450g pack

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ufil Prima Foods Plc, makers of Indomie instant noodles may have broken the world record by introducing 450g pack of its noodle.

The 450gram is of the chicken variety, a landmark achievement in global noodle circles. The new variant is tied to the brand’s efforts in catering for the growing needs of the family and easing the hassle associated with purchasing multiple packs for meals on the home front.

“As far as the global culinary landscape is concerned, Indomie has recorded a major breakthrough with the launch of our new Family Pack,” said Mr. Deepak Singhal, CEO, Dufil Prima Foods.

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34 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

BUDGET 2014: A HOSTAGE TO A PECULIAR MESS “History never repeats itself; man does.” Barbara Tuchmann, Historian, expert on 13 th and 14 th Centuries Europe.

BRISTOL HOTEL REVIVAL:

LAGOS CBD gets a boost – 2 History never repeats itself; man does.”

Barbara Tuchmann, Historian, expert on 13 and 14 Centuries Europe

When was the last time you heard the President, the Federal Minister of Finance, the Senate President or the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives talking about the 2014 budget? Probably, a long time ago. The President, during his media chat, hardly touched on it – possibly because he was not specifically asked several questions about it. Yet, by the time you read th this column, two months would have elapsed put of twelve, 17% of the time gone, and yet we have no budget to guide government expenditure at all levels.

There is more than sufficient blame to pass around. But, everything can be summarized as the failure of a mostly old and tired leadership at the top. Not old in terms of age; mind you. But, old in the sense that most of them have been around governance since 1999 and generally things had gone from bad to worse.

Even the presence of a former World Bank Managing Director as Finance Minister, which had raised hopes of excellent and prudent financial management, close to global standards, had resulted in despair. Visitors from abroad, reading our newspapers or watching our independent television stations – AIT, CHANNELS, etc — might be forgiven for wondering if the Federal government of Nigeria employs anybody with a basic knowledge of economics and finance. Otherwise, how does one explain

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So we can once again enjoy going to Koriko Bar in the early afternoon; go home; take a nap and return for the evening bash. Dele this is wonderful news.”

That was how one old patron of the Bristol Hotel in the late fifties to middle 1960s received the news of the revival of Bristol Hotel. Every old socialite had several tales to tell about their exploits at the Bristol Hotel – when it was the place to go. Mine was not different from most.

On August 4, 1964, with the American government sponsored ASPAU scholarship in my pocket, I was showered with cash from wellwishers. It was a time when kids were celebrated for having brains than brawns. The Alitalia aircraft chartered to take fifty Nigerian kids, ten from Igbobi College alone, to America, was already waiting at Ikeja airport according to one of our neighbours working for the Nigerian Airways.

Departure time was 10 p.m. But, with more money in my pockets than brains in my head, I headed for Koriko Bar with friends, many now dead and proceeded to lavish close to thirty pounds (about N1.5 million today) in one afternoon. I almost missed the flight but for the vigilance of a loving mother who sent out a search party to hunt down her wayward son. We arrived at the US Embassy just in time for the bus to take off. Still nothing regretted. I left the bar man with sufficient cash for my friends to continue drinking free of charge for three days!!!

Bristol Hotel had always been a place for the young at heart, the selfconfident, the daring and those who wanted to enjoy life to the fullest. That is the spirit the developer wants to revive, and with it, restore hope that things will actually get better – starting with the nation’s most important Central Business District….

the fact that two months into the year, with the budget still crawling its way through committees of the National Assembly, populated by distracted individuals, neither the President nor the Finance Minister is raising an alarm.

In the end, a budget will be hastily patched together in April –, which will be signed all the same.

Invariably, what the President, the Finance Minister and the National Assembly fail to realize is that a budget is basically a social contract and a promise to the people about their economy and ultimately their fate during the year the budget is to be implemented. The Executive Branch, since 1999, had always taken the cynical attitude that, “Promises, like piecrusts, are made to be broken.” Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745, (VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 203).

President Jonathan has already set a record with respect to the number th of promises he had made and failed to fulfill. When the 2014 budget is finally passed, it will be fourth budget this

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President had sent forward; it will also most likely join all the previous budgets which were reduced to mere paperwork.

One cardinal reason for atrocious execution of budgets had been the perpetual inability to estimate the revenue for the period under review.

Anybody with wide experience in budget preparation understands that it is impossible to be totally accurate about the revenue estimates. But, generally, any deviation in excess of five percent can only be excused by circumstances beyond control and unforeseen.

Otherwise, if it a negative variance, those in charge had demonstrated incompetence. No single budget passed under Jonathan had failed to deviate by more than five per cent. Something is definitely wrong. One does not need to agree with the beleaguered Governor of Central Bank to know that when your

economic managers fail repeatedly to deliver on promises represented by the budget, it is time to try another team and skipper.

Allied to that is the fact that the Federal Ministry of Finance simply does not know how much revenue Nigeria should be generating; how much should actually be paid into the Federation Account and how much is actually remitted to that account.

All the charges against the NNPC, the CBN, Customs, etc with respect to revenue diverted or embezzled, only point to a financial system in which anything goes – a financial joke cast in hell. That a globally respected person is now Minister while all these messy deals are going on should constitute our greatest concern. “If gold rusts, what then will iron do?” asked Geoffrey Chaucer, 1342—1400 (VANGUARD BOOK OG QUOTATIONS p 78). Okonjo-Iweala is, on paper, the best candidate we can find for this job. But, paper qualifications only suggest intelligence. A Nigerian Minister, especially in the Ministry of Finance, must also possess wisdom.

Unfortunately, while all sorts of institutions have been established to teach economic, finance, banking, insurance, entrepreneurship and leadership, none teaches wisdom – which is the quality which enables us “To know that which before us lies in daily life..” John Milton, 16081674.

Her lack of sufficient wisdom is what explains why she appears to be totally at a loss when being hammered by members of the National Assembly, about another embezzlement of public funds at NNPC or elsewhere or badly prepared budget estimates by some agencies or ministries or the uses and abuses of Duty Waiver. Dr NgoziOkonjo Iweala had gone to dinner with several “devils” armed with a teaspoon; instead of a shovel. When the 2014 budget might have failed as the previous three did, she will have another F on her score-sheet as Minister. The fault will not be totally her own. But, it is her fault that she does not know she is in the wrong place, at the wrong time….

NEXT WEEK: THE INHERITORS –L AWSON GROUP OF COMPANIES. Visit: www.delesobowale.com or www.facebook.com/ Visit: biolasobowale

Business & Economy

Building quality: SON coming with cement laboratories

By FAVOUR NNABUGWU

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orried by the incessant buildings collapse in Nigeria, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON is making arrangements to open cement testing laboratories across the country in order to confirm the quality of cement before the commodity is allowed into the market Director-General of SON, Dr. Joseph Ikem Odumodu made this known in Abuja last week Wednesday while briefing newsmen at the management retreat organised by the organization with the theme-”SMEs and the C M Y K

industrialization of Nigeria: The role of standardization” in Abuja.

To fully address the problem associate with the problem, he said SON had been working with block makers and other stakeholders in the country.

Odumodu, though maintained that there is no sub-standard cement in the Nigerian markets safe misapplication misapplication of the product by block makers and other users. The director general said the organization would soon compile the list of block makers that are using the right quality cement and publish them in the media to further encourage them.

While explaining that there are different

grades of cement, he added that “all cement companies are producing 32.5 and 42.5 per square meters of cement for concretes in the country”.

He said Nigerian cement industry is one of the best with new technology that conforms to the highest international standards, adding that the industry is constantly working with SON to ensure up-to-date testing, certification of products and quality norms.

“Cement mixing is not totally responsible for buildings collapse, our findings show that this often comes from concrete mixing.

A bag of cement is meant to produce 30 blocks, but some people often use it to mould 50 blocks.

“Buildings collapse is not about the quality of cement, but the corruption and misapplication in mixing it for different purposes by the users. As of today in Nigeria, any block of 9 inches being sold for N200 is of low standard”, he explained.

According to Odumodu, 32.5 grades of cement are supposed to be used for block making and plastering purposes and 42.5 concrete and heavy constructions.He said in a bid to address the problem, SON is planning to set up cement testing laboratory for block makers and other users in the country, adding that the organization had been working with the stakeholders.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 — 35

E-Commerce Japan says any bitcoin regulation should be international

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DINNER: From left, Acting Director-General of National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof. Lucy Ogbadu with Chairman Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Prof. Robert Boroffice, and an unnamed official during a dinner in Abuja by OFAB at Transcorp Hilton Hotel. Photo by Emmanuel Elebeke.

E-commerce operators optimistic on virtual currency, despite Bitcoin failure Stories by NWOKPOKU

JONAH

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ast week, one of the world’s most widespread e-payment options, Bitcoin exchange suffered a terrible blow. The bitcoin exchange, based in Tokyo, Japan, Mt. Gox went dark. Its website went down and the Chief Executive of the company, Mark Karpeles said the business was at a turning point. Many users lost money ranging from $300, 000 to $400, 000. A document circulating on the internet and purporting to be a crisis plan for the exchange had said that more than 744, 000 bitcoins were missing due to malleability related theft.

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer payment system and digital currency introduced as open source software in 2009 by pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto. It is a cryptocurrency, so-called

because it uses cryptography to control the creation and transfer of money. Some countries have accepted the digital exchange platform while some others like China and Japan, even though its use within their countries remains widespread; have declined acknowledging it as legal tender.

However, despite this development, operators believe that what happened to Mt. Gox did not portend any extreme danger for bitcoin or for other virtual currencies in general. They argue that what is needed is better technical efficiency to manage the currency. Some others believe that what is needed is better regulation to reduce fraudulent tendencies. Fraud, they argue is the greatest challenge confronting virtual currency.

The Managing Director of Nigeria’s online marketplace, Kaymu.com.ng, Massimiliano

Spalazzi told Vanguard that despite what has happened, bitcoin, including any other form of virtual currency, has huge potential for ecommerce.

According to him, Bitcoin or any other virtual currencies appears to be a very niche payment option. It affords a lower cost and is accessible which satisfies the need of the market.

He said, “For small businesses, it opens up their business to a truly worldwide customer base. It has the potential of becoming one of the default payment methods if the kinks in the system are ironed out. These kinks include volatility, tax implications and illegal online transaction issues as there is no personal verification of the users.”

He explained that, “Virtual currency is already accepted by many e-commerce sites and has passed the first

round of approval required to become a Web standard. Some of the ecommerce giants have launched their own virtual currencies too.” He added that virtual currencies will evolve over time to become one of the default payment systems.

On whether virtual currency can address the payment challenges in ecommerce, Spalazzi explained that, “From an e-commerce perspective, the main advantage of virtual currency is that processing transactions is fast and cheap. The cost of receiving payments is a fraction of a credit card transaction fee, making it feasible to receive very small payments,” adding that, “Virtual currency is completely open, it doesn’t require the cooperation of anyone."

Kaymu advocates niche marketing for SMEs in Nigeria

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igeria’s online m a r k e t p l a c e , Kaymu.com.ng has advocated for niche marketing for Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs in Nigeria as an effective strategy for profit optimization.

A niche market defines the product features aimed at satisfying specific target audience. It is the act of segmenting the market for a specific product and

marketing intently to a small subset of the market.

Kaymu said that SMEs in Nigeria could resort to niche marketing in order to provide a product or service that focuses on specific client group’s needs.

Kaymu said, “Niche marketing provides an attractive opportunity for SMEs to compete against the scale economies that mass marketing competitors are

able to achieve. As opposed to mass marketing, niche marketing encourages business owners to stake out unique market spots especially online.”

It explained that, “Niche markets consist of groups of customers who have a similar demographic, buying behavior and lifestyle characteristics and that understanding target customer segments is a

crucial factor in determining whether an operation has the resources, interest and business elements necessary to meet the needs of the prospective consumers.

“It is no doubt that the internet is here to stay and has brought with it amazing opportunities like niche-marketing a product to a wider audience."

ny regulation of the bitcoin crypto-currency should involve international cooperation to avoid loopholes, Japanese vice finance minister, Jiro Aichi said on Thursday.

Commenting on the closure this week of Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once the world’s biggest exchange for the bitcoin virtual currency, Aichi said the ministry would respond to the problems “if necessary”, after finding out exactly what happened.

“It’s not just the Ministry of Finance; many other agencies are related,” Aichi told a news conference. “As for its legal position, a currency (under Japan’s jurisdiction) would be coins or notes issued by the Bank of Japan. At the very least, we can say bitcoin is not a currency.”

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, appearing on Thursday before a Senate committee, said the Fed has no jurisdiction over bitcoin but that Congress should consider ways to regulate such virtual currencies.

Samsung unveils Galaxy S5 to fight iPhone

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amsung Electronics unveiled a Galaxy S5 smartphone with a fingerprint reader and bigger screen than the current model as Asia’s biggest technology company tries to keep highend consumers from Apple Inc.’s iPhones.

The water-resistant phone will go on sale April 11 with features including a longerlasting battery than the S4, according to Min Cho, marketing director at Samsung’s mobile unit. The device, shown at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, uses Google Inc.’s Android software and has a download booster for fourth-generation networks and Wi-Fi. Demand for high-end Galaxy devices was curbed by the release of new iPhones in September, squeezing sales in the most profitable segment of the market and contributing to Samsung’s slowest earnings growth since 2011.

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36 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Aviation

*DANA AIR SUPPORTS EDUCATION: Picture shows pupils of Lilyvale Schools, Akute, Lagos and Greensrich Schools, Ikorodu, Lagos being received by Chief Pilot, Dana Air, Capt. Segun Omole during the school's excursion to Dana Air at Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos

Will a professional make better aviation minister?

By LAWANI MIKAIRU

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he agitation by aviation unions that the next Minister of Aviation should be an aviation professional has gained momentum in recent weeks.

The aviation unions comprises Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE ), National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), National Association of Air Traffic Controllers (NATCA), National Air Traffic Association of Nigeria (NACAN), Nigeria Professional Pilots , Aviation Roundtable and the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON). They said last week that their position that an industry technocrat be appointed the next aviation minister has not changed But unfortunately, recent revelations show that some of those agitating for professionals as minister have ulterior motives for the call as they are actually campaigning for their friends to be made minister. It has been alleged that some of them have written an open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan lobbying for themselves. Last week, President of Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, Captain Nogie Meggison convened aviation stakeholders meeting to harmonise their position that aviation professional should be appointed the next aviation minister.

This attempt by some industry players to use the agitation for their selfish end, prompted AON President Captain Meggison to issue a statement condemning what he called “ attempt by some to thwart the unions proposal for the appointment of a technocrat as the next aviation minister”.

According to Captain Nogie Meggison,” it is constrained to restate this position on account of feelers emanating from some circles that some persons are capitalizing on the open letter sent to President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint a technocrat as minister to lobby for themselves .” He C M Y K

said it has come to the notice of stakeholders that some persons were using some experts to make case for themselves as against the collective position.

Meggison said the resolved that a technocrat should be appointed as aviation minister, does not mean that some industry players or head of aviation agencies that have misled previous aviation ministers, should use the call by the unions to lobby for the position of aviation minister for themselves.

Meggison said “one of the major reasons why industry players need a technocrat as the next aviation minister is to rescue the industry from its current state, where certain self centre elements without pedigree and track record want to continue to hijack the industry . A clear situation is where the industry finds itself today where such people are now in Abuja lobbying to be the next minister of aviation. The appointment of a technocrat will be able see through their selfish motives to enable him or her decipher the grain from the chaff “ This worry by AON President is shared by the President of Aviation Roundtable, Captain Dele Ore who also warned against the use of the open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan as an avenue by some self-seeking experts to advance their selfish desire to lobby for the position of aviation minister.

Captain Ore said “Now that aviation has a supervising minister he should be allowed to clear the mess left behind at the Ministry of Aviation by Princess Stella Oduah.

The so called aviation professionals clamouring to be appointed to replace her are being sponsored to cover the tracks of our dear Princess Stella. Documents being brandished as the industry clamour were fraudulently being used for this ulterior motive because at no time have we got to a stage where names are being suggested.”

“The same so called professionals that are now agitating to be considered to replace Princess Stella are those that misadvised her and are being sponsored for the “BIG COVER-UP” that needs urgent probes, reorganization of the ministry and some agencies under the Ministry of Aviation.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 — 37

People in Business

Manufacturing, key to economic growth —CHIKE OBIDIGBO

BY EBELE ORAKPO r Chike Obidigbo is the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Hardis and Dromedas Ltd., a manufacturing company with factories in Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu states. Hardis manufactures a very wide range of domestic/household products, plastics, cosmetics and health products in addition to waste recycling and research. In this chat with Financial Vanguard recently, Obidigbo spoke on the economy, relationship between the manufacturing and banking sectors, saying he specifically went into manufacturing to create opportunities for sustainable employment through utilisation of local raw materials. Excerpts:

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*Dr Chike Obidigbo...give 100 per cent attention to power generation/distribution

The real problem in Nigeria’s manufacturing sector: ccording to Dr. Obidigbo, manufacturing in Nigeria, especially in the South-East, is a herculean task. “One of the biggest mistakes we are making is that although the Federal Government is desirous of *Some products from Hardis and Dromedas creating employment for the youths, they are not addressing the issue properly irrespective of what your because the engine room of metre reads, you will still manufacturing is power pay the N107,000 fixed (electricity) and it is the charge every month – manufacturing sector that will whether or not you had create the needed light for the month! It is opportunity for employment. very ridiculous and most Manufacturing holds the key unfair," he noted, adding all over the world and in that government should Nigeria, we depend so much look into it. on imported finished goods, He expressed sadness raw materials and capital,” he that Nigerian industries said. are dying "not because we Explaining how capital is don’t have competent being imported, Obidigbo hands, not because we said: “Because the interest don’t have good rates abroad are usually very manufacturing practice, not low compared to what we because we don’t have the have here, these foreigners materials to produce and produce goods in Nigeria compete, but because the with money borrowed from Power, key to job creation: infrastructure is not just their home countries. They He said government should export the borrowed fund by concentrate on providing there." way of raw materials or adequate power, otherwise Creating sustainable jobs: the Vision 20-20 20 will be a finished products into he former lecturer mirage. “Before we built our Nigeria, sell them and make believes that power is the new factory in Anambra State, mega profits whereas the key to the economic we asked PHCN what the wholly indigenous industries development of Nigeria. "I power situation was and they are finding things very don’t know why the told us that before we begin difficult because in the government is being operations, we will be having absence of electricity, you are lackadaisical about power up to 70 per cent power supply as that is the key to the going nowhere. The fact is supply. We were very glad economic development of that some of these mega because that meant we would Nigeria. Sustainable jobs industries we use as yard supplement only 30 per cent should come from definite from the generator. stick to measure economic sources like the But since we built that indices and performance manufacturing sector, which is factory till date, I don’t think don’t use power from the the prime sector of the there was any month we had national grid, they provide up to two per cent power economy, agriculture, tourism their own power and they can supply. So a factory that was and to some extent, mineral afford to do it because their to take 460 workers at resources. volume of operation is so high inception has less than 200 So if the government really that when you distribute the workers because the power is wants to tackle unemployment, energy cost, it trickles down not there, yet, they charge us they will give 100 per cent to kobos; whereas the local N107,000 every month as attention to power generation fixed charge for owning a manufacturers do not have and distribution. As an transformer which we bought that capacity to import energy industrialist and former and installed with our money. so we depend on either the chairman of other PHCN came, inspected and national grid or diesel manufacturers, I need energy then brought their metre. So generators.” more than anything else. Once

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Our industries are dying not because we don’t have competent hands... good manufacturing practice, or the materials to produce and compete, but because the infrastructure is not just there

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we have power, we can double our production capacity and that means doubling the labour force and once we start mopping up the excess labour floating around, we will start reducing crime and more investors will come in because investment is crimeshy. Wherever there is crime, people are afraid of investing but if we are able to reduce crime by creating jobs, for the people, you will know who is a core criminal and who is a marginal criminal. Those marginal criminals need to be saved.

Some of the crises are coming because the low income people are not catered for.

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hen we talk of job creation, we talk about jobs that are sustainable, where the employee is contributing to the economy not just sitting down and doing nothing and getting paid. I believe that jobs should be created but they should be created meaningfully and in such a way that those that are given the jobs will have satisfaction at the end of the day and would have contributed something to the economy so that when they receive their salary, they know they worked for it and will be happy.

"So the industrial sector holds the key to unemployment and fortunately for us in the South-East, we have so many indigenous manufacturing activities, very creative, capable and competent people who can move our economy forward if only they are given power. If I am in position, I will not relent until we achieve sustainable, quality power that runs for 24/7 so that all the small businesses will grow within a very short period. The best way to reduce crime is to create meaningful, sustainable jobs by providing power."

Industry/banks relationship: Obidigbo described

President Goodluck Jonathan as a very patient man “because if I were in his position, I would not have allowed Sanusi to stay this long because in spite of everything else, he has performed so poorly in the management of banking relationship with industry.

Sanusi evolved so many antieconomic growth policies. His policies depressed our economy so badly that we would not have been where we are today if we had the right policies that guide industrialization.

"Nigeria has one of the highest interest rates in the world. It is unimaginable!

Sometimes it could go as high as 35 per cent. That is criminal; no industry can survive on that and without other people’s money (OPM), you cannot industrialise; it is impossible.

And you cannot grow an industry on an interest rate of 30 – 35 per cent. Are you a smuggler or into drug business? No, you are a manufacturer and at the end of the day, you face products that are manufactured under an environment where the infrastructure is functioning, where interest rate is as low as 2.5 – 3 per cent. Sometimes you go to money lenders and they tell you it is 5 per cent per month which is 60 per cent per annum.

"The banks are not even anxious to lend because there are so many restrictions to lending that any bank you approach will tell you they have stopped lending. So I think the president left him alone for too long and it was not good to leave somebody until he has done maximum damage to the economy before action is taken. Sanusi never had the interest of industries at heart and whenever he is making reference to industry, he is making reference to the giant multinationals; they don’t represent industrial activities in Nigeria.

"The real industrialists are the indigenous ones. They are the ones that need help, they are the ones that need money from the banks to grow their businesses; they are the ones that need patronage from government; they need protection from government against the massive smuggling taking place in Nigeria.

When these things are happening, our industries are killed and it does not create any incentive for new people to invest in manufacturing so those of us that are there are just there because we want to help as many as we can and not because of money and you find that so many people that have closed down went into trading and hospitality industry and they made their money.

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38 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Agriculture

Why we are investing in agriculture — Mimiko

By Wale Akinola The Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, said the establishment of Ore Agric Village is aimed at harnessing the vast natural resources in the state to create wealth, fight poverty and boost food production.

The Ore Agric village was one of the three integrated Agric villages established in the state in 2010, for crop farming, animal husbandry, mushroom farming and oil palm revolution.

The Ore Caring Heart Agricultural

Village is a 2000-hectare facility. It has 300 fish ponds and mushroom demonstration farms; 600,000 oil palms from Indonesia and 200,000 from NIFOR in Benin at the pre-nursery shed.

The participants quickly planted 47 hectares of maize, over 1million palm seedlings and over 1000 hectares of cassava. Altogether, the poultry section has about 30 large pens made up of three cubicles each, with over 700 layers and breeders.

The farm has a large dam for water supply. And there would be no dull moment: Dr Mimiko ensured that super

chalets built to taste were constructed for the accommodation of participants with provision of a bore hole, DSTV, two sets of plasma TVs, two generators, table tennis and other games facilities for recreation.

Indeed, determined to ensure the success of the agricultural revolution targeted at taking over a million youths off the streets and turning them into employers of labour, Mimiko told the participants: “We have made this Agric village comfortable for you so that you can concentrate on your job. All the crop f a r m i n g activities here will be tractor –driven; your weed control will be

chemically done. Each of you will be empowered with facilities for crop farming, fish farming, poultry farming, mushroom farming and I’m sure five months down the line, you will be the envy of your colleagues because your income will be much more than what you will earn if you get government job.”

Dr Mimiko disclosed that arrangements were at an advanced stage to develop alternative means of power supply to the Caring Heart Agricultural Village at Ore. In 2013 alone, 5,500 farms were distributed to interested participants under the Employment through Ownership in Agric Ventures scheme while 350 ad- hoc farm workers were provided with employment.

Also, 2,750 and 4000 hectares were acquired in Epe and Auga- Akoko in Akoko North East Local Government Area of the state respectively, while the administration also flagged off the Mobile Farm Service Centre at Ipele, Owo local government area with 20 graduates employed to manage the centres.

The Auga Agric Village extends

Lagos to introduce insurance scheme, uniform for butchers

By OLASUNKANMI AKONI

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agos State Government said it has concluded plans to float an insurance scheme as well as introduce mandatory uniform for butchers in the state. The scheme which is expected to cover all the accredited abattoirs and meat markets is part of the ongoing comprehensive reform of meat processing and distribution in the state.

The measure, the state government stressed was also part of effort to modernize and sanitise the Lagos Abattoir to be at par with what is obtainable in other countries, like Kenya and Botswana that operate highly hygiene and modern abattoirs spanning decades.

Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, who disclosed this at a meeting with stakeholders operating at the Agege Abattoir, said government was repositioning the abattoir to the next level as all forms of unwholesome meat supply to the consumers would be curtailed.

He declared that in line with the sanitization of the abattoir, all butchers who would operate at the various slaughter slabs within the abattoir would put on white uniform, while the slaughter slabs would be restricted to only accredited butchers.

According to Lawal, “There is no way 21 million Lagosians will be allowed to consume unwholesome meat again. We are trying to benchmark our food chain with what is obtainable in Kenya and Botswana.

“Kenya Meat Commission was set up in 1958 while that of Botswana was set up 10 years after that of Kenya. Our own abattoir was set up just in 1992 and it only work for two years. It is a challenge and we will face it and we are ready to sanitise the system. ”We want to ensure that the productivity of our butchers and meat merchants is highly enhanced.

Some States are moving fast and we have to move faster than them. Our train has left the station and we are not going back to unwholesome consumption of meat in Lagos State.”

The commissioner also disclosed that five other slaughter slabs outside the abattoir had been lined up for rehabilitation to meet up with modern standard, adding that in the next few months, there would be a C M Y K

Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 — 39

Advertising, Media & Marketing

Laws of Service Excellence – Part Two

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*A couple at the Valentine celebration dinner organised by Sweet Sensation Confectionary, tagged, ‘Red Hot Valentine’ in partnership with Coca-cola in Lagos.

TVC News floats payTV platform ...breaks foreign media dominance on Africa coverage Stories by PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

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VC News, a 24-hour pan Africa News Channel, which began operation a year ago said its set to launch a PayTV network that would offer its audience access to 26 news channel free of charge.

The new payTV network named Continental Satellite (CONSAT) will compete against DStv, StarTimes,MyTv and DaarSat, which are currently operating in the Nigerian market.

Speaking at the media session to announce the company’s one year anniversary, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Nigel Parsons, said TVC News is moved by the successes it recorded in

just one year of operation and the company is even more committed to invest in the Africa market in order to change foreign perception about Africa and Nigeria.”

Since the first public broadcast on February 28, 2013, TVC News has reached great milestones in news coverage across Africa and the globe. Reaching over three million (3,000,000) households in Africa & Europe, TVC News has already been recognised as a unique service, filling a gap that meant Africa was previously the only continent without its own self-produced news & current affairs channel.

The 24-hour pan-African news channel set out to challenge stereotypes and correct factual inaccuracies

about Africa and its peoples; has also remained objective with its news about the continent, reporting the news as it is, as fearless as it is informative, through African Eyes Within 365 days of its operation, TVC News proved to be the voice of Africa on the global scene. With excellent news reportage, reliable and accurate information about Africa, the panAfrican news channel has succeeded in breaking the dominance previously enjoyed by foreign news channels reporting African stories.

TVC News also received international awards from the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) in Washington DC with a report on the “Failure to eradicate polio in Nigeria” and was ‘highly commended’ at the 2013 annual awards of the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) for a report entitled ‘The Accused’ in the Investigative Documentary category.

Nokia, Maggi celebrat e Social Media celebrate Week

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okia, in partnership with Maggi from the stable of Nestle Nigeria Plc has hosted customers to Social Media week with the launch of new entrant: Nokia Lumia 1520 and Lumia 1320. The event was special night of food and photography tagged Eat, Shoot, Repeat.

The launch was held to the 2014 social media week customers feasting on classic intercontinental dishes provided by Maggi.

Head, Nokia Care, West and Central Africa, Kola

Osinowo explained that the event was organised for customers to have fun, savour exquisite food and share their experience through photography with friends.

Explaining the features of the devices, Osinowo stated that the Lumia 1520, Nokia’s top of the range Windows Phone is packed with a 6 inch 1080p Full HD screen, 20MP PureView camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and most importantly, the Story teller application which allows people tell stories of

places they’ve visited using pictures.

The application brings stories to live seamlessly and merges two Lumia signature experiences: PureView Imaging and Here maps, which allow users to relive their photos in a new, dynamic and interactive way.

Speaking on both devices, Mr Olumide Balogun, Senior Manager, Product Marketing, Nokia West and Central Africa, noted that the introduction of the Lumia 1520 and Lumia 1320 will revolutionize the Smart phone market and boost Nokia’s competitive edge in the “phablet” category.

ast week, we commenced the series on the Laws of Service Excellence. We considered five principles – or laws – that undergird the operations of those organisations that excel in service. Such organisations know that: · The customer is the boss · The frontline is the company · Service is driven and supported by organisational culture · External service mirrors internal service · Customer experience matters more than company communications.

This week, we shall consider a few more laws. And just in case you wish to look at these principles in depth, you may want to get a copy of my book 20 Universal Laws of Service. Aside from other things it contains, the book offers you 120 actionable ideas you can use to make your service sparkle. Now to the laws.

Excellent service comes at a price Discerning customers are usually willing to pay higher to receive superior service. We are talking about those customers who know and appreciate superior service. They perceive value in the service you render.

They know that cheap service may not be up to much.

So they are willing to pay a little bit more for great service. The point is that if your service is great, you can charge a little more for it.

All customers are not equal Customers have different needs and wants. They have different cultural, social and economic backgrounds. They have different interests and motivations. But more importantly, customers don’t bring equal value to the business, both in terms of the size of their business and the profit that accrues from it. They all deserve respect and courtesy, but they don’t have to enjoy the same level of service.

Little things matter There is a need to pay attention to minor details, little courtesies, nuances of meaning, use of words, body language, corporate signage – anything and everything that represents the organisation. We may think that customers don’t notice, but they do. Customers take note of the little things we do or refuse to do to help them.

Most dissatisfied customers won’t complain Most dissatisfied customers won’t complain to the company. To them, complaining is not worthwhile as it’s like a waste of time. Unfortunately, they tend to generalize this notion even when they are dealing with organisations that are excellent in resolving customer complaints. Organisations should quickly resolve the complaints of the few customers who bother to complain. To get real feedback from your customers, you may need to actively solicit complaints.

The customer is not always right You have heard people say that “the customer is always right.” Yet we know that customers are human beings, with all their imperfections. So we don’t have to accept that the customer is always right, but we need not rub it in whenever we feel they are not right. Whatever happens, the customer is still the customer. She still pays the bills. And we still depend on her. Sometimes, what the customer needs is education. It is our responsibility to educate her in a very respectful manner.

The customer is self-centred Customers, like everyone else, have their own desires, needs, wants, pressures, goals – whatever you call them. Those desires, needs, wants, pressures and goals are the only things that matter to them. As Dale Carnegie said, “People aren’t interested in you. They’re interested in themselves.” If you remember this, you’ll begin to view your business from the customer ’s perspective.

C M Y K

40 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Email:lesleba@lesleba.com, lesleba@gmail.com Blog page:www.lesleba.com/blog2 Website: www.lesleba.com Tel:0805 220 1997

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histleblowers cer tainly have a role to play to promote accountability in public administration; however, when a nation’s Central Bank Governor turns whistleblower on an issue of substantial revenue misappropriation, then, alarm bells must ring, as the credibility of the administration, which the same Central Bank Governor serves would be called to question.

Consequently, in view of the adverse and far-reaching impact of the public statements of any Central Bank Governor, it may be considered as sabotage, or at best, reckless, if a false allegation of failure to remit a humongous sum of $49.8bn to the public treasury was made without due diligence or circumspection from such a strategic agency of government. Besides, even if Sanusi’s revelation was true, it will still be a clear demonstration of an absence of ministerial coordination between the NNPC, CBN and the Finance Ministry!

Undoubtedly, the integrity of the Nigerian government and the credibility of the CBN Governor must have been badly tarnished by Sanusi’s speedy somersault within two days, from an alleged revenue shortfall of $49bn to $12bn, and then up again to $20bn, in February 2014! One may be forgiven for asking if so much money could have been stolen while the CBN Governor slumbered or helplessly watched the perpetration of this fraud from January 2012 to July 2013!

edition of March 23, 2009, i.e. three months before Sanusi’s appointment in June 2009!

Lamido Sanusi: Villain or patriot?

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n serious-minded econo mies elsewhere, the incumbent governor will be compelled by the publication of such obvious inconsistency to voluntarily resign and slip away with his tail between his legs! Thus, Sanusi’s obvious

February 2014!

We recall that in the September 2013 letter to President Jonathan, the CBN Governor had reported that the unlawful withholding of federation’s funds by NNPC had subsisted for many years, but he failed to explain why he chose to only bring up this matter for attention almost four months after the receipt of the damning report of the FRC! Some elder citizens will see this drama and recall the logjam of ‘YOU TAKA ME, I DABO YOU’ in the politics of the old middle belt; the slogan is loosely translated as “before you discredit me, I will damage you”!

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ome of the more weighty

Security Printing and Minting Company in 2011, whereas inexplicably, the total turnover for NSPMC for that year was N29.370bn; the CBN was also reported to have failed to comply with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act! It is surprising, however, that rather than state his own defence to the FRC’s damning report, Sanusi chose instead to challenge his suspension as CBN Governor; according to him, “in order to assert the autonomy of CBN from presidential interference.”

Indeed, if Sanusi’s statistics with regard to oil remittances are grossly

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statistical faux pas and regular denouncements of the quality of governance in Nigeria may be pardoned as patriotic outbursts, if, he, himself, enshrined accountability in the management of the CBN. Not surprisingly, therefore, the populist view is that Sanusi stands on a higher moral ground than the government in which he serves; consequently, his suspension from office is seen as an attempt to muzzle and also punish him for alleged patriotic whistle-blowing on the misdirection of government revenue!

Conversely, however, apparently concerned with media report of CBN’s direct interventions in various sectors of the economy with billions of naira, the Presidency had in fact, invited the office of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to carry out preliminary investigations into some of the perceived indiscretions of the CBN Governor! The FRC apparently submitted its findings to the Presidency by April 2013; i.e. five months before Lamido raised the false alarm of unremitted $49.8bn in his letter of September 25, 2013. Sanusi has since confirmed receiving a copy of the report of financial recklessness in CBN as far back as June 2013; however, he admitted late last week, in an interview with a national newspaper, that he did not respond to the allegations because he was not formally asked to do so, until he received his letter of suspension from office in

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Besides, even if Sanusi’s revelation was true, it will still be a clear demonstration of an absence of ministerial coordination between the NNPC, CBN and the Finance Ministry

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allegations in the FRC’s report include an expenditure of N160bn ($1bn) direct intervention funds in several sectors, without legislative appropriation (i.e., CBN’s expenditure on projects were outside its mandate). The sum of N1.257bn was also spent on lunch for Police and private guards, while the sum of N38.233bn was allegedly also paid, for currency printing, to the Nigerian

unreliable, we may, belatedly question the validity of the statistical and accounting data adopted in 2009 for the classification of failed and performing loans and ultimately, also suspect the validity of the probably, unjustified takeover of some viable commercial banks, in confirmation of the newspaper scoop “Plot to Takeover Five Top Banks in Nigeria” in Vanguard’s

egrettably, the above notwithstanding, Lamido’s strategic and preemptive propaganda and the covert mischief in his September 2013 letter to Jonathan, will still make it difficult to convince some Nigerians that Sanusi is the real villain in this drama!

However, one wonders if such public opinion would have been different, if Sanusi had been suspended or recommended to the Senate for removal before he wrote his controversial September 2013 letter to President Jonathan. It is clear, however, that with the existing political polarization of the legislature, the opposition would have gladly adopted any perceived enemy of Jonathan as a bosom friend!

Consequently, Mr. President must have been well advised on the adverse local and international impact of bringing the damning content of the FRC’s report on his government’s Central Bank governor into the public domain!

In this event, it is commendable that Mr. President strategically avoided heating up the polity and scaring away investors by bidding his time and easing out the ebullient Governor a few months before his retirement, so as to also allow unfettered investigation into the FRC’s report. Even President Jonathan’s most ardent critics would agree that it would be impossible for proper investigation to be carried out on the FRC’s report, while Sanusi, as the accused, remained in control of the apex bank!

SAVE THE NAIRA, SAVE NIGERIANS!!

Business & Economy Kaduna set to disburse N1bn loan to farmers

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Omoh Gabriel Babajide Komolafe Clara Nwachukwu Peter Egwuatu Yinka Kolawole Favour Nnabugwu Godwin Oritse Godfrey Bivbere Michael Eboh Oscarline Onwuemenyi Franklin Alli Ebele Orakpo Ifeyinwa Obi Rosemary Ohuoha

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Group Business Editor Finance Editor Energy Editor Head, Capital Market Snr Bus. Correspondent Insurance Correspondent Maritime Correspondent Maritime Correspondent Capital Market Reporter Energy Reporter Industry/Agric. Reporter Energy Reporter Maritime Reporter Insurance Reporter

CONTRIBUTORS Princewill Ekwujuru Naomi Uzor Providence Obuh LAYOUT

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Media/Marketing Industry Micro Finance Graphics Department

BY NAOMI UZOR

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aduna State government has concluded plans to disburse one billion naira loan to its farmers.

Disclosing this at the just concluded Kaduna International Trade Fair, Governor Mukhtar Yero, said this year, his administration has concluded plans to disburse one billion naira loan to its farmers, as part of a counterpart programme with the Bank Of Agriculture (BOA).

According to him, the state

government will guarantee this loan at low interest rates, which will be distributed to farmers for the purpose of introducing modern commercial farming methods.

“Furthermore, provision has been made in the 2014 budget of the state, for the procurement of additional tractors and other mechanised farm implements, and these are for the use of farmers in the state. Our aim is to empower our existing farmers and to also make farming attractive to the younger generations. I believe that

agriculture holds the key to cutting down on the unacceptable rate of youth unemployment and social unrest that we are presently facing as a people” he stated.

He said his administration’s ultimate objective is to boost production in the agriculture sector, while also creating the enabling environment for establishment of more agro-allied industries.

“We believe that achieving food sufficiency and modern industrialised agriculture sector, holds the key to our sustainable growth and economic development.