investors confidence in nigerian economy surge

CMYK

MAY 20, , , , , 20132013201320132013

Continues on page 19

Continues on page 18

Investors confidence inNigerian economy surgeInvestors’ interest and confidence

in the Nigerian economy issurging, Minister of State for

Finance, Dr. Yerima Lawan Ngama hasdisclosed. Citing 14 million hits anddownload of data from the website ofthe Nigerian Federal Office ofStatistics, FOS, as a pointer, theminister observed too, that thepercentage of non-filers in Nigeria ofcompanies income tax regimedeclined from 54 per cent to 46 percent last year.

Ngama spoke at the Transcorp Hilton,

Abuja, at the Africa Tax Forum: TaxCoordination in Africa, jointlyorganized by the Federal InlandRevenue Service, the African TaxInstitute (ATI), and the InternationalTax and Investment Center (ITIC), anonprofit research and educationfoundation that has been providingtechnical assistance on tax andinvestment reforms since 1993.

The Forum brought togethersenior-level tax policy andadministration officials with academicand industry experts to expand the

Mashi saluted the ITC and the ATI asthe workshop is a demonstration ofconfidence in the Nigerian tax systemand the economy.

Said the FIRS Chairman: “We viewyour participation in this conference asa demonstration of confidence, not justin FIRS and our partners ITIC and ATI,but in the entire Nigerian tax system.We have noted the diverse set ofparticipants and…believe yourparticipation will greatly enrich this

Bank ofAgriculturetakes mobilebanking tofarmers

EMMA UJAH

For Nigerian farmers, a newrevolution is in the offing asthe Bank of Agriculture (BOA)

and Cellulant of Kenya sign a deal toprovide mobile banking services toNigerian farmers in a fresh push forfinancial inclusion among the ruralpopulace.

About 39 million adult Nigeriansrepresenting about 46% of the nation’sadult population have no bankaccounts.

The Managing Director of the bank,Dr. Mohammed Santuraki, said whilesigning the agreement on behalf ofhis organization, in Abuja, last week,that with over 105 million activemobile telephone lines in Nigeria, the

current thinking on VAT and tariff/excise taxation, including how to bestcoordinate indirect taxes betweenmember states in common markets,natural resource taxation and selectedcorporate taxation issues.

Following the reforms of the 1980sand the 1990s, Ngama noted thatNigeria and other countries on thecontinent had reformed their economiesand there is a global consensus thatAfrica is the hottest investmentdestination globally. “Growth in Africaand opportunities abound. Funds areflowing in. We have a revampedNigerian Stock Exchange, NSE,investors come and go.

”Last year alone the number ofdownloads from the website of theBureau of Public Entreprises is over 14million. That means people are lookingfor information on the Nigerianeconomy. Economic growth has beenphenomenal.

”As at 2011, Nigeria is one of thefastest growing economy on the Africancontinent and fifth fastest growingeconomy in the world. And althoughmore people are registering to comeand do business—meaning morerevenue for government, the rate oftaxes collected to Gross DomesticProduct is still low.

Ngama noted that it is in the interestof businesses to pay tax as governmentwill deploy revenue to provideinfrastructure to grow business. ActingExecutive Chairman, Federal InlandRevenue Service, Alhaji Kabir M.

Movement in Nigeria’s External reserves. Source: CBN

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 17/05/2013

104.20 +0.42

95.48 +0.32

143.7 -2.9

2,301.00 +7.00+7.00

16.86 0.03

DOLLAR 154.74 155.24 155.74POUNDS 235.5607 236.3219 237.083EURO 199.5991 200.244 1200.889FRANC 159.9215 160.4382 160.9549YEN 1.512 1.5169 1.5218CFA 0.2844 0.2944 0.3044WAUA 229.8763 230.6191 231.3619RENMINBI 24.9342 5.0153 25.0963RIYA 41.2574 41.3907 41.524KRONA 26.7735 26.86 26.9465SDR 230.7019 231.4473 232.1928

Cover Story

CMYK

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 20, 2013

,,

Youth restiveness andunemployment in Nigeria:The way out Part 2

Minister forAgriculture, Dr.A k i n w u m i

Adesina noted that Nigeria’sunemployment rate isspiralling upwards, growingat 11 per cent yearly,According to him “Youthunemployment rate is over50 per cent. “Ourunemployment rate isspiralling, driven by the waveof four Million young peopleentering the workforce everyyear with only a smallfraction able to find formalemployment.

The rising tide of

unemployment and the fear ofa bleak future among theyouth in African countrieshave made them vulnerableto the manipulations ofagents’ provocateurs”. Theseinclude aggrievedpoliticians, religiousdemagogues, and greedymultinationals that employthese youths to achieve theirselfish ambitions. It is clearlyevident that the absence ofjob opportunities indeveloping countries isresponsible for youthrestiveness with disastrousconsequences.

This leaves in its trails; lowproductivity, intra-ethnichostilities, unemployment,poverty, prostitution andenvironmental degradation.

Exuberance: Very often, theyouth are described as full ofyouthful exuberance. This rawenergy has of late beenchannelled intounwholesome and sociallyunacceptable venture thatthreaten the very fabrics of the

community. Also the issue ofavailability and accessibilityof drugs in street cornerswhich predispose the youth toabnormal behaviours whenthey come under theirinfluence adds to youthrestiveness.

It is also believed that somedisgruntled leaders, eldersand politicians in our societyresort to recruiting youth forsettling scores or using themagainst perceived enemies.With this trend, the activitiesof these youth havedegenerated to outrightcriminality. Once these youthget mobilized for thesenefarious activities theybecome uncontrollable andthe society suffers.

PovertyPoverty connotes inequality

and social injustice and thistraumatizes the poor. Morethan 70 percent of people inNigeria are in abject poverty,living below the poverty line,and one- third survive on lessthan US $1 dollar a day . Thisfigure includes an army ofyouth in urban centres inNigeria who struggle to ekeout a living by hawkingchewing sticks, bottled water,handkerchiefs, belts, etc. Thesales-per-day and the profitmargin on such goods are sosmall that they can hardly liveabove the poverty line.Disillusioned, frustrated, anddejected, they seek anopportunity to express theiranger against the state.Scholars have overtimeagreed that there is a linkamong poverty, loss oflivelihood, inequality, andyouth restiveness asevidenced by the numerousviolent protests against thewielders of power in Nigeria.

Inadequate EducationalOpportunities and Resources

Quality education has adirect bearing on nationalprestige, greatness, andcohesion. The knowledge andskill that young peopleacquire help determine theirdegree of patriotism andcontribution to nationalintegration and progress.Between 2000 and 2004,about 30 percent of Nigerianyouth between 10 and 24 werenot enrolled in secondaryschool (Population ReferenceBureau, 2006). Perhaps theprohibitive cost of acquiringeducation is responsible.

The after effect of thissituation is that thousands ofyoung people roam thestreets in cities in Nigeria.

Theknowledgeand skill thatyoung peopleacquire helpdeterminetheir degreeof patriotismandcontributionto nationalintegrationand progress

Investors confidence inNigerian economy

Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gobe State (l) discussing with Governor Ibrahim Geidamof Yobe State (r) and the Minister of State Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama watched before theopening of the National Economic Council Meeting chaired by the Vice President at the StateHouse, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida

,

,Continued from page 17

conference and we lookforward to a high level ofdeliberations and input fromall of you.

“Tax Coordination hasbecome more imperative inrecent times with increasedfocus on domestic resourcemobilization in Africacountries and special focus onhow taxation can be used tofacilitate rather than hindercross border movement ofgoods, services and evenpeople. The issue of internaland external coordination istherefore a very topical one forAfrican countries and wemust begin to prioritize ourregional and continental taxcoordination.

”This should be done in away that will ensure that theinvestment and businessclimate in our countries arenot distorted by discriminatoryand uncoordinated taxregimes or practices. This isparticularly necessary, if weare to ultimately achieve ouraim of building a singleAfrican market. This is themajor focus of this Forum andwe hope that we will gaininsights into how similarinitiatives have beenimplemented in other climesand how these initiativesenhanced the ability of taxand revenue agencies toachieve collaboration andcoordination within andoutside their borders as we interested in learning frompractical experiences in otherjurisdictions outside Africaand how this can be tailoredto our local conditions andreplicated in Africa at largeand particularly in Nigeria.

President of theInternational Investment TaxCentre, ITIC – which co-organised the event with ATIand the FIRS, said that partof the ends of the ITIC effortsis to stoke policy dialogue,promote research agenda and

foster training in partnershipwith international schools.About 165 participants from22 African countries areattending the workshop.Economy grows by 6.56% –NBS

The Nigerian economygrew by 6.56 per cent in thefirst quarter of 2013 as against6.34 per cent in thecorresponding quarter of2012. Dr Yemi Kale, theStatistician-General of theFederation, said in a

statement in Abuja that theConsumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 9.1 per cent in Aprilas against 8.6 per centrecorded in March 2013.

“This is the fourthconsecutive month of singledigit year-on-year rates beingrecorded, and the first timethis has occurred since themovement to the new CPIbase period,” Kale said.

The statement said thatrelative to March, the rise inthe headline index could beprimarily attributed to higherprice levels of food productsdue to the effect of declininginventories. “At this time inthe planting season, what aresold are foods which wereharvested late last year andthe limited supplies of thesewith a relatively stabledemand, pushes priceshigher. As a result ofsubstantially higher pricelevels last year, theimplications are that the year-on-year changes for this yearare likely to be lower,” it said.The statement said theNational Bureau of statisticsobserved generally slowerrises in monthly prices since2013.

“This may be connected tomore prudent fiscal measurestogether with aggressivestance of monetary policy.” Itsaid that the largestcontributors to the increase inthe food index in April werebread and cereals, potatoes,yams and other tubers andvegetables. The statementsaid that the average annualrate of rise of the food indexfor the 12-month periodending April 2013 was 10.8per cent when compared withthe same period in 2012.

As at 2011,Nigeria is thefastest growingeconomy on theAfricancontinent andfifth fastestgrowingeconomy in theworld. Andalthough morepeople areregistering tocome and dobusiness

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 20, 2013 — 19

Cover

Continued from page 17

,,

The structure ofNigeria

S arginho ’s view: Themost shortchangedregion in the old

federal arrangement is theMid-West Region, which nowhas only two states (Delta andEdo). Second mostshortchanged is the WesternRegion, which now has sixstates (Lagos, Ogun, Oyo,Osun, Ondo and Ekiti). Theold Eastern Region now hasnine states (Anambra, Abia,Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, AkwaIbom, Bayelsa, Cross Riverand Rivers). The old NorthernRegion has gained the mostfrom arbitrary states creationby the military, grossingnineteen states and the FCTof Abuja. When we bring inthe number of localgovernments created, theinjustice becomes even moreglaring (compare the 44 localgovernments in Kano Statewith the nine recognised inLagos State which has morepopulation than Kano State).The best way to remedy thiscrass injustice is to return totrue federalism and have allterritories be in full control oftheir resources, paying anagreed percentage of theirrevenues to the centre for useby the Federal Government onagreed federal functions.

Sitanda ’s view: The Northis useless...has been uselessand still look by allramifications to continue to beuseless. The writer only gaveanother perspective to whatwe all know.

Kudos to him anyway...

Ucheke ’s view: Nigeria wasstructured by its military tobenefit core north; structured

Reactions from readersToday we bring you reactions from readers who made

comments on some of the write ups in this column. Reactionsare welcomed from readers.

to fail. New states shouldhave been createdproportional to the number ofprovinces that existed in theregions before states creationstarted. Nigeria for now is avery big fraud benefitingmostly the core north. But tilltoday, since the military quitthe scene, the south has madeitself a thing to bemanipulated and governed atwill by the north. North todayuses the excess number ofstates which military leadersfrom north scattered all overthe north with the ensuingexcess large number ofrepresentatives in Abuja todictate the direction ofNigeria’s political process. Nopolitical reforms can be madeunless it favours core north.North rakes in more ofNigeria’s oil revenues thanthe south through thoserigged state creationexercises.

BlackieUmukoro ’s View :The truth and nothing but thetruth. We have all beenkidnapped and the ransometo secure our release is thecontinuous plundering of ourcommonwealth by thekidnappers. We shall secureour freedom, if not now butvery soon when the oil driesup

How real are Chineseinvestment in Nigeria

Godswill ’s View: How realare Nigerian Governmentinvestments in NIGERIA;these baboon brainedNigerian leaders are onlyinterested in looting thetreasury; revolving budgets;hypertensions, kidney andheart ailments on the rise;education in shambles,

Government functionaries,their wives,mothers wasting

the nation's resources inforeign hospitals like there isno tomorrow; Alamieyeseighaescaped with ; N921 billion athis disposal; while our childrenare living in abject poverties.It’s about time for NigerianPolice, the Nigerian Army,Navy, and Air Force toARREST and get RID of thesepoliticians that are putting usin “ECONOMIC , andS O C I A LRIDICULOUSNESSES” onceand for all. Eradicate them allnow. China is only

engaging business withNigeria, NOT to turn Nigeriainto Paradise.

Closure of Bureau dechange at airport

Komentato ’s view:International travelers alsoattract robbers; therefore let usban international travelersfrom our Airports. Fools thatwill never reason...

King john ’s View: Theairport boss has made a gooddecision in order to avert notonly armed robbery, but toprevent suicide bombers fromgaining entrance into theairport,

CBN what hashappened totravelers’ cheque?

Okuru Bennett's view:Maybe they think ThomasCook is a Fast Food Dealeryou see at the Airports andaround the DevelopedWORLD. We don’t knowwhat he does!!!!!

Macromillar's View: Everysector in Nigeriangovernment is simplyseeking for their benefitperiod. With travelerscheque, many people whohad lost millions of nairawould have not, one thingabout Nigeria is that everysector’s head would like tointroduce his new policyinstead of to retain the oldpolicy and his new policy towork together, that’s whatkills Nigeria. If GoodluckJonathan steps down aspresident today, the entireproject he has at hand willbe abandoned just like that,instead of completing them.That’s Nigeria for you.S E L F I S HPOLICY],,,DOOMED ANDIDLE FORSAKEN NATION.

Dark cloud overbudget 2013

zerotolerance view:Wahala de o. Soon the poorwill start eating the rich.

Taris Puanoni : Universityof Calabar: Very soon the

significant role of ourlawmakers in the misfortunesof our Country will becomeclear.

Mosunmoluwa Adesanya :Okirika Grammar SchoolOkirika/Molusi College

Oh my God! Where isNigeria heading to? Why areour leaders sailing towardsdisaster? Arise Nigerians!Take note of yourrepresentatives in the StateHouse of Assembly, House ofRepresentatives and Senate. Itis time to make them thinkabout our future. They havedisappointed us and thenation.

Wazobianija's View: Thatmeans Nigeria will be goingback to its root... Green WhiteGreen.... Agriculture.

AREWAillusion : Theforecast is bright, Nigeria shallsubstitute oil export with BokoHaram, then the infidels musteither convert, or perish inhunger (no apologies toAWO).

N e l l y ' s : E c o n o m i cArmageddon for Nigeria. Poornation! Crime rate will soarhigher. Poverty levels willplunge lower! Life expectancywill plummet, the privatesector will shrink andespecially banks will fold upfrom irrecoverable loans. Thesouth of Nigeria will stopclamouring for disintegrationof the Nigerian polity. Life willbecome more miserable. Hethat fails to plan has plannedto fail. The inevitability ofyears of wanton economicwaste and social malaise.

Itsene ’s view: If youreconomy is based on USA’sdemand for raw materials,then you have yourself toblame. By 2015 , Nigeriashould be ready to absorbsome international economicblows. It’s all part of the

We have allbeenkidnappedand theransome tosecure ourrelease is thecontinuousplundering ofourcommonwealthby thekidnappers

Bank of Agriculture takes mobile banking to farmers

project, named “cocoon”,would transform the lives ofthe farmers when operational.

His words, “mobile Moneyservices are the next frontierof financial services inNigeria. This is because of itseffectiveness in enhancingfinancial access, whichdespite our relativelydeveloped banking system,has been a national challengegiven the large size of ourpopulation over a very largeland mass.

“From about 2006 to 2009,Kenya, Cellulant’s home-baseand also Africa’s mostdeveloped mobile financialservices market, grew itsfinancial inclusion from about26% to 40% mainly driven byMobile Money services. Thatis a growth of about 54%.

“In Nigeria about 39 millionNigerians representing about46% of the nation’s adultpopulation are financiallyexcluded. That means, onlyabout 25 million Nigerians,about 30% have bank accounts.However, Nigeria has about

105 million active mobiletelephone lines at August2012.

“Therein lies the scale ofopportunities for mobilemoney services in financialinclusion in Nigeria, becausemobile phone lines can serveas a virtual banking /paymentcard, a point of sale terminal,an ATM, and even an internalbanking terminal”.

Dr. Santuraki stated that thenew mobile money servicebeing introduced by the bankwas part of the on-goingtransformation of the bank

with a view to making it moreefficient in service deliveryand to achieve the objectivesof its establishment.

“The new channels thatMobile Money Services offershall be used to support andenhance BOA’s core mandatesof agricultural and ruralenterprises credit delivery andrural savings mobilization.

“In addition, MMS wouldbroaden BOA’s service/channel offerings to includemoney transfer, bill payments,mobile banking, micro-insurance payments, mobile

wallets, and AgencyBanking”, he said.

The MD explained furtherthat his team was transformingBank of Agriculture throughthree strategies:modernization, optimizinginternal efficiencies as afinancial institution andreviewing its operating modelwhile enhancing employeecapacity.

According to him, “we arerepositioning BOA to be moresocioeconomically impactfulin a more financiallysustainable manner.


CMYK

BRIEF

Business & Economy

The Debt ManagementOffice (DMO) hassaid that Nigeria’s

Medium Term DebtManagement Strategy wouldhelp reduce rate of growth ofpublic debts to ensuresustainability. The DirectorGeneral, Dr AbrahamNwankwo, made this knownwhile briefing newsmen onthe importance of the strategyin Abuja.

The Federal ExecutiveCouncil, at its meeting in

DMO unveils new strategy toreduce growth of public debt

Abuja, approved the strategydocument to help address thestructure of the country debts.

“For the first time, thecountry has a medium-termdebt strategy which will runfrom 2012 to 2015. Thisstrategy will be reviewedannually and rolled over. Themain object of the medium -term debt strategy is todevelop a plan that will meetthe financing needs ofgovernment at minimumcost,” he said.

Nwankwo said that thestrategy would also help tomaintain risk at a prudentlevel and support thedevelopment of the market.

According to him, theessence is to ensure that thecountry meets its financialneeds, does it at minimumcost and acceptable risk level.He said that it would alsohelp to reduce the amountspent on debt servicing byachieving an optimal mix ofrelatively more expensive

domestic debt and lessexpensive external debt.Nwankwo said that thedifference between thedomestic and the externalaverage cost of borrowingwas about eight percent perannum. He listed somebenefits of the strategy toinclude making directbudgetary provisions for therepayment of part of thematuring FederalGovernment bondobligations.

“It offers a new approach todebt management, instead ofrefinancing them by creatinga sinking fund. Achieve anoptimal mix betweendomestic and externalborrowing and arrive at amore balanced public debtportfolio, preferably in theratio of 60:40 for domestic andexternal debt. Reduce theissuance of short termdomestic debt instruments infavour of long-terminstruments to hedge againstrefinancing and other marketrisks.

Attain appropriate mix interms of currencycomposition, interest ratestructure and concessionalversus commercialborrowing,” he maintained.

Nwankwo said that thestrategy would help stabiliseand deepen the domestic debtmarkets to attract more foreigninvestment inflows. He saidthat the strategy would helpto assume more prominentrole for the development ofcommercially viableinfrastructure projects foreconomic growth anddevelopment.

The recent impositionof 35 percent duty onimportation of Crude

Palm Oil, CPO, into thecountry by the federalgovernment is beginning totake a toll on associated foodindustries, as they havestarted to experience acuteshortages in supply of theproduct, industrystakeholders have said.

They lamented that Nigeriaproduces a meagre 750,000MT to 800,000 MT of CPOevery year as against 1.9-2.1million MT per annumlocal requirement, whichleaves industries in the foodsector with no choice than torely heavily on imports fromother countries.

The sectors affected,according to them, arebiscuits, vegetable oil market,margarines, cereals, crisps,sweets and baked products,washing powder andcosmetics and other Fast

‘Imposition of 35% import duty on CPO detrimental to industries’‘Imposition of 35% import duty on CPO detrimental to industries’‘Imposition of 35% import duty on CPO detrimental to industries’‘Imposition of 35% import duty on CPO detrimental to industries’‘Imposition of 35% import duty on CPO detrimental to industries’Moving Consumer Goods,FMCG. According toTajudeen Olafadi, industryanalyst with Index Mundi, aresearch firm, “Government’sdecision to impose duty onpalm oil is detrimental to theeconomy as it will createripple effect on multipleindustries and impact selfreliance on food productionand agricultural value chain,thereby squeezing theoverburdened Nigerian, withhigher food retail prices.”

“A critical look at thenoodles industry, for instanceshows that, on an average, itconsumes approximately72,000 MT of refinedbleached and deodorizedpalm oil (RBDPO) which itdoes not have access to fromthe local palm oil companiesin the country,” he added.

He lamented that theleading companies in thepalm oil industry cannot fulfillthe basic requirements for thenoodles industry itself as

there is an estimated shortageof palm oil amounting to500,000 MT per. annum.

“To complicate matters, theoil palm producing companiesin the country do little ornothing to ensure that theymeet the growing demands ofthe manufacturing sector,which relies heavily on CPO’sfor their goods,” said EmekaOhanyere, an industryanalyst. For instanceOkomu Oil Palm Plc producesin the range of 30,000 MT perannum which is just 13percent of their installedproduction capacity.

It would be recalled that thecompany’s previous financialyear results saw it declare ahigh dividend of N6 billion in2011 and N8.4billion in 2012along with a bonus split ofone new share for every oneshare previously held,coupled with plans to doubleproduction capacity to60tonnes per hour withoutcompletely re-investing

profits for fresh pieces of landto produce more fresh financebackup, FFB, a developmentthat sent mixed signals to theNigerian public on theseriousness to overcome theshortage experienced in thevegetable oil market.

A look at the ownershipstructure of the oil producingcompanies show that foreignstakeholders control majorityof their stake; in the case ofOkomu, 59.27 percent sharesin the company is owned bySocfinaf S.A., a Luxembourgbased company and 40.73percent by Nigerianindividuals and institutionalshareholders.

Another leading oil palmproducing company, PrescoPlc, also issued out dividendsworth N1billion each in 2011and 2012. Sa siat nv, aBelgium registered companyis a major shareholder with60 percent holding, while 40percent is shared amongstothers.

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

CSCS hascreated accessto funds forinfrastructuredevelopment— official

M a n a g i n gDirector ,C e n t r a l

Securities ClearingSystem (CSCS), MrKyari Abba-Bukar, hassaid that the capitalmarket has createdaccess to funds fori n f r a s t r u c t u r edevelopment throughthe sale of bonds andequities. Abba-Bukarsaid this at a monthlyseminar organised bythe Nigerian-SouthAfrican Chamber ofCommerce in Lagos.Speaking on the topic“The Role of CSCS inthe NigerianEconomy”, he said thatthe CSCS has improvedthe economy throughmobilisation of fundsfrom the surplus to thedeficit sectors.

“CSCS as a centralsecurity depository hasbeen involved in theregulation of theactivities of theNigerian capital market.The capital market is asignificant aspect of theeconomy which rolecannot be underrated. Ithas created variousopportunities fordiversified investments,promotion of Small andMedium Enterprises(SMEs) and jobcreation.” he said.

Abba-Buka said that itwas expedient for moreNigerians to invest inthe stock market inorder to achieveeconomic developmentof the nation. ”For usto achieve the desiredeconomic growth as anation, at least 20percent of Nigeria’spopulation shouldinvest in the capitalmarket. CSCS hashelped restoreinvestors’ confidence byminimising their risksand numerouscomplaints of failedtrades and low marketliquidity,” he said. Hesaid that CSCS wasinvolved in the issuanceof InternationalSecurities IdentificationNumber (ISIN), whichhelped to eradicatefraudulent practices inthe capital market.

From Account Director, Mediacraft Associates Ltd., Mr. Muyiwa Akande , Managing Direc-tor, Mr. John Ehignese and Group Head Media Services & Editor, Bizwatchnigeria.com, Mr.Elcee Edwards at the launching of an online business Portal, bizwatchnigeria.com held theCompany's Corporate office, Ogudu-Ojota, Lagos.

CMYK


Business & Economy

Excess crude accountdrops to $5.27bn...As FG, States, LGs share N721.505bnin April

By NOEL ONOJA

The Minister of State forFinance, Mr. YerimaNgama, has said that the

country’s Excess Crude Account(ECA) has dropped to $5.27billion.

He made this known after themonthly Federal Accounts AllocationCommittee(FAAC) meeting in Abuja.

Following the outcome of the FAACmeeting, the National EconomicCouncil (NEC) approved total sum of$2 billion for distribution to the threetiers of government out of which, only$1 billion was distributed.

In all, the total sum ofN721.505billion was shared by theFederal, States and the LocalGovernments for the month of April.However, a breakdown of that figureshows that the Federal governmentgot N108.235 billion representing 15percent, while the states got N360.750billion representing 50 percent. Thelocal government councils clinchedN252.52675 billion, representing 35percent of the total sum.

Earlier last week, the World Bankhad warned Nigeria on the need toshore-up its ECA to guard againstexternal shocks. The figure releasedby the Committee showed that thedistributable Statutory Revenue for theMonth was N531.332billion, whilethere was an augmentation ofN92.436 billion. Also distributed wasN7.617billion Nigeria NationalPetroleum Corporation(NNPC) monthly refund to FAAC.

In addition, the sum of N35.549billion was proposed for distributionunder the Subsidy Reinvestment andEmployment Programme (SURE-P).

Ngama said the shortfall in non-oilrevenue was due to shortfall in riceduties as according to the minister,importers have reduced theimportation of rice. “Importers of ricehave already reduced theirimportation because of increase induties for rice. And this is becausegovernment has invested a lot inbuilding dams and developingirrigation channels. Government hasa policy of stopping the importationof rice by 2015, so what we arealready doing is to fast track that.”

He explained that the delay ingetting transfers to States by theCentral Bank of Nigeria has beenresolved by FAAC.

He said that the apex bank wouldnot need to get authentication fromthe Committee before carrying out thetransfer to states. “One of the issueswe discussed is the issue of the delayin getting authentication, We agreedthat for all FAAC related payment,CBN does not need to getauthentication from the FederalMinistry of Finance because they arerepresented in FAAC and whateverwe approve they already know. Theydo not need to write to us before they

ITF, DTCA signMoU on humancapacity building

The Industrial Training Fund,ITF, has signed aMemorandum of

Understanding, MOU, with theDirectorate of Technical Cooperationin Africa, DTCA in the areas of humancapacity building of its staff spanningfive years.

The signing of the agreement, whichtook place in Abuja recently, is saidto be an effort to better enhance theactivities of DTCA, and thus providea basis where most of the objectivesof ITF can be achieved.

The Director General of ITF, Prof,Longmas Wapmuk, at the signing ofthe agreement, said the collaborationof DTCA and ITF is a welcomed ideaas it will be in the interest of bothorganisations.

Wapmuk said DTCA has found outthat its activities will be betterenhanced if it collaborates andcooperate with the Industrial TrainingFund “so if we corporate with themwe are going to achieve one thing.”

“One, we are doing our job to ensurethat we achieve governmentobjectives in Nigeria. Secondly,through out collaboration, our ownstaff will benefit from the experiencesthat will come through as a result ofthe cooperation and then,additionally, we are also exportingtechnical man power to other parts ofAfrica. By so doing, Nigeria willdefinitely benefit; we will use our ownman power to train other Africacountries and some of the programmesthat they will also run our staff canalso learn and benefit from anddefinitely we stand to benefit.

By FAVOUR NNABUGWU& ALICE FESTUS

take action.” Speaking to newsmenafter the briefing, Chairman,Commissioners of Finance Forum, Mr.Timothy Odah, revealed thatalthough $2billion was approved byNEC, only $1billion has beendistributed. According him, statesshould be prudent in the managementof their resources.

“This is a piece of advice going tothe various states to try very hardbecause this monolithic economywe’ve been practicing. It appears tobe creating much more problems thanthe benefits to us. States should tryas much as possible to apply it to awell meaning investment for we don’tknow what will happen in thesubsequent session.


CMYK

Banking & Finance

,

,

BY BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

It is an almost trivialassertion to state thatpolitical imperatives and

economic necessities oftencontradict each other. Centralbanks reside at theintersection of politics andeconomics and are thereforepotential arenas of conflictbetween the preferences ofpoliticians and what isconsidered prudentmacroeconomic policy byappointed technocrats. Inanticipation of such conflict,politicians may try to fillleading positions at thecentral bank with likemindedagents and removeindividuals with ideologicallyincommensurate views. This isthe opinion of LaurenzEnnser-Jedenastik in a paper"Party Politics and the Survivalof Central Bank Governors".

Who will be the nextGovernor of Central Bank ofNigeria? That is a questiondominating discussions inseveral quarters both locallyand internationally. It becameprominent subsequent to theannouncement in March bythe current and 10thGovernor,Mallam Lamido Sanusi that hewould not be seeking asecond time. Since then, therehave been predictions andspeculations on who wouldsucceed him. This is naturaland human. But a significantbenefit of the announcementof Sanusi, more than one yearto the end of his tenure, is thatit gives the government andthe country the opportunity todiscuss and consider theissues and criteria thatshould guide this choicewhich would greatly influencethe direction of the economyand nation for another fiveyears.

Issues to be considered

As indicated above by Dr.Ennser-Jedenastik of

University of Vienna, It isalways a strong tendency forwhoever is in power to choosea likeminded agent,somebody of the same politicaland economic ideology, whois ready to do the bidding ofthe government of the day.The consequence however isthat once there is change inpower, the CBN Governorwould also be changed, andthe economy would bevulnerable to policysummersaults.

Hence economic operatorswho spoke to Vanguardinsisted that the federalgovernment should lookbeyond politics, and considerthe challenges of the job inchoosing Sanusi’s successor.

Who should be the next CBN Governor?

A significant benefit of theannouncement of Sanusi, morethan one year to the end of histenure, is that it gives thegovernment and the country theopportunity to discuss andconsider the issues and criteriathat should guide this choice,which would greatly influencethe direction of the economy andnation for another five years.

“We should not bring in apolitician” said Sir SunnyNwosu, NationalCoordinator, andIndependent Shareholders ofNigeria (ISAN). “It is aprofessional job that must befor technocrats who canmanage information andevery other thing. Because ifa CBN Governor speaks,everybody will listen andrespect him but a CBNGovernor that speaks everyday, will make a mockery ofthe office and would notcommand any respect”, headded. Maturity, he averredshould be stronglyconsidered. “Maturity isvery very important”, he said.

Sharing the same view, Mr.Boniface Okezie, President ofthe Progressive ShareholdersAssociation, governmentshould choose a technocrat,somebody with trackperformance, somebody whois not autocratic, not political,who does not have hiddeninterest in the industry.

Sounding spiritual, ChiefTimothy Adeshiyan,President NigeriaShareholders SolidarityAssociation, NSSA, said thatthe CBN Act is a sacred Actand should be guided like theArk of God. “The carrier mustbe holy, not a boss but as aservant though a lord. Thenext CBN governor must besomebody that sees theposition as a position ofhonour and a sacred one thatmust not be subjected topolitics. We should notchoose somebody who willdrag the CBN into partisanpolitics,” he said.

Mr. Victor Ogiemwonyin,Managing Director/ChiefExecutiver, PartnershipInvestment Company Limitedstressed the need to considersincerity, strength ofcharacter. “It will beimportant to have a strongCBN Governor who will beready to stand strong whenthings are not going well. He

must have sincerity ofpurpose and must showstrong economicunderstanding. The nextCBN Governor must build onwhat has been done so far bythe last two administrations,”he said.

Field of Candidates

Definitely, there arefinancial and economic

experts that meet thesecriteria, inside and outsidethe apex bank. A summaryof the nine indigenous CBNgovernor show that five ofthem were from inside theCBN. Prior to theirappointment they had eitherserved in various capacities inthe bank, or at board level.

Prominent among them isChief Joseph Sanusi, the7thGovernor. The other fourwere outsiders. They wereeither top bankers like PaulOgwuma, the 6thGovernor ortop economist like ProfessorCharles Soludo. Thus anotherissue that should beconsidered is whether thenext governor should be anoutsider or an insider.

Should the governmentdecide to choose an outsider;there is an array of bank chiefexecutives and top economistto choose from. Theseinclude, Mr, Bisi Onasanya,MD/CEO of First Bank, Mr.

Segun Agbaje, MD/CEO ofGuaranty Trust Bank, Mr AlexOtti, MD/CEO of DiamondBank Plc and Mr. AigbojeAig-Imoukhoude, MD/CEOof Acess Bank. Among them,the mprominent and widelyspeculated would beappointed is the Access BankCEO.

Should the governmentdecide to choose an insiderfrom the board of the apexbank; the field of likelycandidates is not as wide.This include eruditeProfessor of Economics,Professor Samuel Olofin, herepresents the academia onthe board, and was appointedin 2005. Next is Mr. TundeLemo, former chief executive

officer of Wema Bank. He wasappointed in 2004. Anotherlikely candidate is Dr (Mrs.)Sarah Alade, the secondfemale deputy governor of theCBN. She was appointed in2007 to man the crucialposition of Deputy Governor,Economic Policy. Though notamong the speculatedsuccessor, two things mayhowever make her to beconsidered. One, in additionto being an economist bytraining, with MastersDegree in Commerce andDoctorate Degree inManagement Science(Operations Research), she is

the only board member, wholike Joseph Sanusi, rosethrough the ranks of the apexbank. But she is not just acareer central banker; she hasheld major and sensitiveresponsibilities in the bank.She was appointed Director,Banking OperationsDepartment in May 2004 andhas served on the teams onmajor economic policystudies, and has beeninvolved in the preparation ofCentral Bank of Nigeria’sMonetary and Credit PolicyProposals over the years. Shewas actively involved in thedrafting of the Medium TermEconomic Programme (MTP)for Nigeria and the IMF staffMonitored Programme/Standby Arrangement.

As Deputy Governor,Economic Policy, Dr. Mrs.Alade superintends over theEconomic Policy Directorate,comprising the Research,Monetary Policy, Trade andExchange, StatisticsDepartments and FinancialMarkets Department. AsChair of the Monetary PolicyImplementation Committee(MPIC), she interfaces withoperational departments andcoordinates technical inputsfor the Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC). Inaddition to these, she was amember of the Technicalcommittee of the Vision 2010and currently a member of theTechnical Committee of Vision2020 and member of theNational EconomicManagement Team (EMT).

Second is the historicalfactor. Should thegovernment decides to look inher direction, she wouldbecome the first femaleGovernor of the CBN, andNigeria would join the club ofSouth Africa, Argentina,Botswana, Russia and otheremerging countries, who havedared to entrust a woman withthe most sensitive job in theeconomy.

•Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede •Sarah Alade •Segun Agbaje •Tunde Lemo

CMYK


Banking & Finance

Standard Chartered Nigeriasaid it had launched aproduct, Bank, which will offer

total banking convenience to SMEcustomers to better manage theiraccounts and process payroll onlinein the comfort of their offices.

The product, according to the bank,is designed for business entities(SMEs and other Corporates) and afully integrated internet bankingservice for all business transactionneeds of customers.

In a statement by Diran Olojo, Head,Corporate Affairs of the bank, theproduct will enable real-time internetaccess to account balances andstatements anywhere in the world, andthe rigour of banking the usual way.

He said that the product is an onlinetool that enables efficient cash flowmanagement and frees up timehitherto spent by SME customers sothey can invest it in seeking newgrowth opportunities and buildingmore successful businesses.

“Straight2Bank is user friendly andallows customers perform bankingtransactions such as local andinternational payments, tradeinitiation, mobile authorization ofpayments etc with ease.

“Customers can also view statementson real-time basis and make directdebits via online across banks.Security of transactions is alsoguaranteed as Stratight2Bankincorporates the highest level ofencryption and two factorauthentications to ensure control overfinancial data,” he said.

Commenting on the new serviceoffering, Bola Adesola, ManagingDirector and Chief Executive Officerof Standard Chartered Bank NigeriaLtd said, “At Standard Chartered, ourfocus is to provide banking withconvenience for our customers.Today’s consumers are tech-savvyand mobile.

“They want banking that not onlymeets their financial needs but alsoanticipates them. We believe thattechnology has to be useful, intuitiveand most importantly seamless; wecontinue to transform our business andinvest for long-term growth, with afocus on digital technologies that webelieve will shape the future ofbanking.

“The Straight2Bank platformrevolves around the customer. Withenhanced security features,Straight2Bank offers both flexibilityand peace-of-mind for our esteemedcustomers. Digitization has becomethe benchmark for success globally andwe want to lead the way in thisregard,” he said.

Foreign investors take $2.7bnout of Nigeria in three months

By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

Foreign investors took $2.74billion out of Nigeria in thefirst three months of 2013.

This was indicated by the CentralBank of Nigeria (CBN) in itseconomic report for the first quarterof 2013. According to the reportforeign exchange outflow from theeconomy in the first was $6.54 billion.This outflow was dominated byforeign exchange outflows for‘invincibles’. Invincible representsmoney took out of the economy byforeign investors as dividendpayment or liquidation of portfolioinvestment (bonds, equities, treasurybills).

A top foreign exchange and foreigntrade expert who spoke to Vanguardon condition of anonymity said thatthis development indicate seriouscapital flight out of the country.

This notwithstanding the economyrecorded more foreign exchangeinflow than outflow in the firstquarter.

The report said, “Provisional dataon aggregate foreign exchange flowsthrough the economy indicated thattotal inflow amounted to US$34.47billion, representing an increase of13.5 and 20.9 per cent above the levelsin the preceding quarter and thecorresponding quarter of 2012,respectively. Oil sector receipts,which accounted for 29.1 per cent ofthe total, stood at US$10. 01 billion,compared with the respective levelsof US$10.09 billion and US$11.63billion in the preceding quarter andcorresponding quarter of 2012.

“Non-oil public sector inflows,which accounted for 1.4 per cent ofthe total foreign exchange flowsdeclined significantly by 54.1 per centbelow the preceding quarters level,while autonomous inflow, whichaccounted for 69.5 per cent, increasedby 32.8 per cent above the precedingquarters.

“At $6.54 billion, aggregate foreignexchange outflow from the economyFell by 19.9 and 35.2 per cent belowthe levels in the preceding quarterand corresponding quarter of 2012,respectively. The fall in outflow,relative to the preceding quarter, wasaccounted for largely, by the 49.3and 72.9 per cent decline in otherofficial payments and autonomoussources (imports and invisibles),respectively.

“The invisible sector accounted forthe bulk (42.4 per cent) of total foreignexchange disbursed in the first quarterof 2013, followed by industrial sector(18. 9 per cent). Other beneficiarysectors, in a descending orderincluded: mineral and oil sector (15.0per cent), manufactured products(10.5 per cent), food products (8.9 percent) , transport sector (3.9 per cent)and agricultural products (0.4 percent).

“Foreign Exchange FlowsProvisional data on foreign exchangeflows through the CBN showed thatinflow during the first quarter of 2013amounted to US$10.50 billion,representing a decline of 6.0 and 13.3

per cent below the levels in thepreceding quarter and thecorresponding period of 2012,respectively. “

StandardChartered offersSMEs self-helpe-banking product

By CHINEDU IBEABUCHI


CMYK

Corporate Finance

Fidson Healthcare Plc hasreleased its audited

annual financial report for2012. The company, accordingto Nigerian Stock Exchange,recorded 51 percent increasein turnover over the 12 monthsperiod.

Profit before tax (PBT) ofN540 million in 2012 asagainst N214 million in 2011showed a 152 percentincrease. Profit after tax (PAT)also recorded an increase fromN55 million (adjusted) in2011 (18 months) to N206million in 2012; showing anincrease of 274 percent.

According to the FinanceDirector, Fidson HealthcarePlc, Mr OlatundeOlanipekun, the improvement

BRIEFFirstBankFirstBankFirstBankFirstBankFirstBankjoins advisoryjoins advisoryjoins advisoryjoins advisoryjoins advisoryboard of PCIboard of PCIboard of PCIboard of PCIboard of PCISecuritySecuritySecuritySecuritySecurityStandardsStandardsStandardsStandardsStandardsCouncilCouncilCouncilCouncilCouncil

First Bank ofNigeria Limited

has been elected intothe Board of Advisors ofthe PCI SecurityStandards Council(PCI SSC), an open,global forum for thedevelopment ofpayment card securitystandards.

Mrs. Lara Nwokedi,Head, InformationSecurity, First Bank ofNigeria Limited willrepresent the PCIcommunity on the2013-2015 PCI SSCBoard of Advisors byproviding strategic andtechnical guidance tothe PCI SecurityStandards Council thatreflects the varied andunique industryperspective of thoseacross the paymentchain.

Nwokedi, a paymentcard industryprofessional, ISO27001lead auditor andimplementer has manyyears’ experience ininformation securityand has led severalinitiatives in the bank.

F i r s t B a n k ’ sspokesperson, Mrs.Folake Ani-Mumuney,said the electionreinforces the bank’sstrong risk governancerating which is evidentin its position as thefirst financial institutionin Nigeria to attain theISO/IEC 27001: 2005Information SecurityManagement Systems(ISMS) certificationfrom the BritishStandards Institution(BSI). “Thisunderscores our strictadherence to thesecurity and protectionof the information ofover seven millioncustomers in over 700locations in Nigeria.This protection is alsoreplicated across thebank’s over 2000ATMs, hundreds ofPOS terminals andinternet bankingtransactions,” she said.

The Board of Advisorsis a cross-industrygroup elected by theCouncil’s more than690 participatingo r g a n i s a t i o n s .

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week inaugurated the newly constitutedAdministrative Proceedings Committee (APC) at its corporate head office in Abuja. Pixshows cross Section of members the committee taking the oath of office at the inauguration.

MRS records 66.7% dropin profit, proposes N23dividend

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

Despite 66.7 percentdecline in its profit

after tax for the year ended31st December, 2013, theboard of directors, MRS OilNigeria plc said they areprepared to pay N23.34 kobodividend to shareholders fortheir investment in thecompany.

The proposed dividendamounts approximatelyN59.28 million grossdividends and would be paidon 15th August if approved bymembers of the company.

According to the notice filedwith the Nigerian StockExchange, NSE, onlyinvestors whose namesappeared on the register ofcompany as at 19th July, 2013will benefit from thedividend.

A breakdown of financialstatement prepared in linewith the InternationalFinancial ReportingStandard, IFRS, showed thatprofit after tax slumped toN205.121 million fromN615.624 million, indicating66.7 percent decrease.

Similarly, the profit beforetax nose-dived fromN1.413billion in 2011 to N378.755million in the review period,representing 73.2 percentdecrease. Gross profit atN5.71 billion was 16.3percent decrease from N6.822billion in the previous year.

However, the revenue grewby 11.5 percent to N79.72billion from N71.49 billion in2011, while selling anddistribution expensesimproved by N28.8 percentfrom N996.307 million in 2011to N709.67 million.

The cost of sales moved up

by 14.5 percent to N74.015billion as against N64.67billion in the precedingperiod of 2011.

Following the releasedfinancials, huge movementwas recorded in the stock asit rose maximally by 10percent within the day.Analysts said that themovement suggests huge

institutional trading.MRS recorded a year high

share price at N29.00 onFebruary 12, 2013 with YTDprice appreciation of 22.05percent, following theimpressive rally experiencedin preceding year. Investorshad sold-down consistentlybetween February 12 andMay 15 2013, depleting the

YTD performance to 24.24percent, while the stockremained at an all-time-low ofN18.00.

Analysts at Proshare, said,“Technical indicators (MACD)however points out that thereis an improved bargaintendency towards the stock,with a growing appetite as thestock has stepped out of thebearish zone to close neutralin short term, indicatinginvestors are willing to payhigher to acquire the stock inthe near term.”

Currently about 253.99million shares are held byabout 23,551 Nigerianshareholders and one foreignshareholder (MRS AfricaHoldings Limited, Bermuda)in MRS Oil Nigeria Plc, acompany with the mainbusiness of marketing and/ormanufacture of petroleumrelated products in Nigeria.With about 138 activecompany owned operatingoutlets and more than 255third party owned operatingoutlets, MRS Oil Nigeria Plcis a major player in Nigeria’spetroleum products marketingindustry.

MRS is also a leadingproducer of quality lubricatingoils and greases. TheCompany is principallyengaged in the business ofmarketing and distribution ofrefined petroleum products,blending of lubricants andmanufacturing of greases.

Fidson Healthcare turnoverup by 51%

recorded were a result ofconcerted efforts to raiseperformance andproductivity.

“The company is leaving nostone unturned in ensuringthat it performs optimally anddo excellently well on all ourdeliverables, both in terms ofproduction and sales ofproducts across the country.We have an obligation todeliver sustainable andprofitable growth to ourstakeholders and we don’tintend to compromise on thatobligation, despite the harshrealities of businessoperations in Nigeria”, hesaid.

Olanipekun further said,

“Although a lot is happeningin the country today and theflow of business operationsis being hampered by thedifficult economicenvironment, the companyhas devised strategies toweather the storm and makeits growth sustainable.

Based on this result, thecompany is proposing a12kobo dividend pay-out toits investors, whichrepresents an increase of 20percent over the previousyear. This is however subjectto approval by itsshareholders at the forthcoming Annual GeneralMeeting on a date yet to beofficially communicated.

CMYK


26 —Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 20, 2013

CMYK

Coporate Finance

BRIEF

The Association ofInvestment and

Portfolio Management,IAPM, said it has enteredinto partnership with theNigerian Stock Exchange,NSE, to boost thetechnical know-how ofprofessionals in theinvestment sector of theeconomy.

Speaking during a visitto the management of theNSE, Mrs. OluwatoyinSanni, Vice President,IAPM, said that theAssociation would workclosely with the NSE tobuild the capacity ofmembers throughinstilling discipline andensuring global bestpractices.

She said that theAssociation was formedthirty two years ago by

Investors gain N284.53bnon NSE

Stories ByCHINEDU IBEABUCHI

The value ofequities listedon the Nigerian

Stock Exchange, NSE,appreciated by N284.53billion last weekoccasioned by impressivefirst quarter financialreports released by variouscompanies.

Specifically, the marketcapitalisation, whichmeasures the total value ofequities, gained 2.47 percent to close at N11.798trillion from N11.513trillion it opened at.

Another marketindicator, the All-ShareIndex, rose by 2.49 per centor 897.53 points to close at36,907.81 points from36,010.28 points.

The appreciation in themarket capitalisation wasas a result of the gainsrecorded in the shareprices of sixty-threecompanies during theweek.

This was led byCourteville BusinessSolutions Plc with 57.38 percent or N0.35 appreciationto close at N0.96 per sharefrom N0.61 per share. Thiswas followed by Eterna Plcwhich rose by 45.56 percent or N1.23 to close atN3.93 per share, while UT C Nigeria Plc gained41.54 per cent or N0.27 toclose at N0.92 pershare.However, 20equities depreciated in

prices lower than 27 in thepreceding week, while 112equities remained constantlower than118 in thepreceding week.

Okomu Oil Palm Plcrecorded the highest priceloss, depreciating by N52.56or 49.35 per cent to close at

N53.94 per share fromN106.50 per share. This wasfollowed by Africa PrudentialRegistrars Plc that lost 11.58per cent or N0.22 to close atN1.68 per share. WhileNorthern Nigeria Flour MillsPlc lost 10.00 per cent or N2.38to close at N21.42 per share.

Meanwhile, a turnover of2.292 billion shares valued atN24.025 billion in 29,048deals was traded last week byinvestors in contrast to a totalof 1.686 billion shares valuedat N21.389 billion thatexchanged handspenultimate week in 28,392d e a l s .

The Financial Servicessector (measured by volume)led the activity chart with aturnover of 1.756 billionshares valued at N14.800billion traded in 16,292deals. Financial Servicessector represented 76.62 percent and 61.61 per cent of thetotal traded volume and valuer e s p e c t i v e l y .

The Banking sub-sector ofthe Financial Services sectorboosted by activity in theshares of First CityMonument Bank Plc and UB A Plc was the most activesub-sector on the week’sactivity chart with a sub-sector turnover of 1.276billion shares valued atN12.072 billion exchangedhands by investors in 11,622deals. Also, the Banking sub-sector accounted for 55.67 percent and 50.25 per cent of thetotal sub-sector tradedvolume and valuerespectively.

Traded during the weekwere 63 units of NewGoldExchange Traded Funds(ETFs) valued at N136, 137executed in 3 deals comparedwith a total of 58 units valuedat N130, 231 transacted lastweek in 3 deals.

IAPM engages NSE on capacitybuilding

Corporate Pension FundManagers, banks, insuranceand related organisations withthe aim of promotingprofessionalism in the practiceand administration of pensionfund in Nigeria.

“However, when wediscovered that one of the keyareas of the Association iscapacity building, we foundout that a lot of the trainingprogrammes that we wererunning were not just forpension fund managersalone, but for the entireinvestment industry. Themembers that were joining aswell cut across variousinvestment sector of theeconomy.

“So it became very clear thatthe Association had to reflectthese diverse membership andscope of activities. The bottomline is that we change our

name to reflect thebroadening of the foundingmission. So, we decided toexpand the scope.

“Over the years, we havebeen privileged to trainpeople from investmentbanking, stock broking andsecurities firms, people fromtrusteeship companies,investment advisers andportfolio mangers, etc. Thus,we are committed to workingwith the NSE to buildcapacity.

Speaking on marketrecovery, she said, “We are ina recovering mode now,which is fantastic. I will notsay we are there yet, but Igive kudos to themanagement of the stockexchange and of course, theinvestors who have found thereason to regain theirconfidence in the market afterthe melt down,” she said.

Ernst & Young, aprofessional services

firm, said it is set to engagefinancial services industrychief executives tobrainstorm and come upwith cutting edge solutionson how to tackle sundryissues affecting the nation’sfinancial landscape.

The one-day annual event,with the theme ‘Freshperspective on growingfinancial services in Africa’,will take place in Lagos onMay 16, 2013.

Commenting on the event,Dayo Babatunde, FinancialServices sector leader (WestAfrica), Ernst & Young, saidthe event is on the backdropof the significant changesoccurring in the globalfinancial services sector withnew market opportunities,increasing competition fromother industries as well aschanges in regulations.

“The forum is aimed atexploring both impact of thecurrent market andregulatory changes and thefuture opportunitiesavailable to the financialservices industry in the WestAfrica region. Africa still hasrelatively low levels ofpenetration of financialservices. Customer growthopportunities for financialservices organizations areplentiful amidst majorchallenges”, Babatundesaid.

According to him, athought-provoking dialoguerelating to distilling the mainchallenges facing financialservices institutions in WestAfrica would be addressedheadlong at the augustgathering that is expected toattract financial experts, C-suites of financial servicesindustry (banking andinsurance) as well as policymakers.

Notable speakers willinclude the Dr. KingsleyMuoghalu, DeputyGovernor of Central Bank ofNigeria, FinancialSurveillance System and Mr.George Onekhena, DeputyCommissioner (Finance &Administration), NationalInsurance Commission(NAICOM), among otherleading speakers, drawnfrom Ernst & Young globaloffices.

Ernst & Youngengagesfinancial expertsto examineindustrychallenges


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Insurance

BRIEF

By FAVOUR NNABUGWU

Egyptian officials havegiven firm assurances

that necessary precautionshave been taken to ensure thesafety of the 700 delegatesbefore, during and after the40th African Insuranceorganisation nationalassembly/conference. TheChairman of the LocalOrganising Committee, LOCand also the chairman ofInsurance Federation ofEgypt, Mr. Abdel Raouf Kotbspeaks on the safety and wellbeing of Nigerians, and otherdelegates in this interview.

How prepared is Egypt for

the huge number of delegatesto the AIO conference

We are working hard,professionally and doing ourbest to make this conferencethe most successful of AIOconferences. We have a greatnumber of sponsors and theregistration is going great,most of the delegates paiddeposits in the hotels that wechose for the accommodationalthough we got informedbefore that most Africandelegates could not paydeposits. We have got anamazing support from theEgyptian Government, thePrime Minister and Ministryof Foreign Affairs in additionto the Egyptian InsuranceMarket which supports thisevent represented by theInsurance Federation ofEgypt.

The LOC members are veryqualified representatives fromthe Egyptian InsuranceMarket that have excellentknowledge and experience inorganizing the very importantinsurance conferences andevents in Egypt and aroundthe world. We have a verystrong marketing plan whichis an important element of ourstrategic plan for thisconference. We have chosenone of the most famous andimportant hotels in Egypt awell-known brand “Marriott “,this hotel is one of the mostsecured hotels in Egypt.Marriott was chosen recentlyby US Secretary of State JohnKerry in his recent visit toCairo a month ago.

How safe is Cairo with the

mirage of unrest in thatcountry

The unrest is already thereand we can’t deny it, but weall know and have experiencewith media and very well howmuch they exaggerate thingsand spot on an accident. Our

We'll make Egypt safe for AIOdelegates — LOC500

foreigners,200 Nigeriandelegatesstorm Egyptfor AIO confabBY FAVOUR NNABUGWU

Over 700 insurancepractitioners and

observers across 54 countriesaround the world areexpected to participate at the 40th Conference and AnnualGeneral Assembly of theAfrican InsuranceOrganisation (AIO) holdingin Cairo, Egypt this month

The theme of the conferenceis “The Role of the AfricanInsurance Industry to Supportthe Economic Development ofAfrican Countries” coming upfrom the May 26 to 29 in Cairowill witness an increasednumber in participation ofAIO conference.

Of the 700 delegates for thisyear's AIO, 200 are from theNigerian insurance industry.

The AIO image maker, Mr.Moki Charles Linonge,confirmed that the hostcountry and the AIOorganising committee arealready prepared for thenumber of participants thatwill attend this year’s AIO.

According to him, “I canconfirm that the LocalOrganising Committee andthe AIO Secretariat aremaking giant strides aimed atmaking the conference averitable success. Going bythe reports we have from theLOC in Zimbabwe, headed bythe Vice President of the AIO,Mr. Solomon Tembo,preparations are going onsmoothly with no majorhitches this far”.

He added that, “Theaffluence is quite high andthis is already exertingpressure on existingaccommodation facilities. Thenumber of delegates keptincreasing year-in year-out

The event will also featureseries of meetings such asAssociation of AfricanInsurance SupervisoryAuthorities (AAISA),Association of AfricanInsurance Brokers (AIBA),African Life InsurersMeeting and networking onbusiness ideas.

AIO is a non-governmentalorganisation recognised bymany African governments,including Cameroon whichhas signed a headquartersagreement with it and whereit has set up its permanentsecretariat. The organisationwas established in 1972.

normal life is going on and weare not facing terroristoperations, it is just a politicalconflict. Anyway, the Mediahere in Egypt are like theMedia in any other country,they amplify things andevents. How many times didwe learn about very bad andcritical situations in thesurrounding countriesthrough the media and oncewe visit them we foundnothing and for me Isupported many countriesbefore in the same situationto keep the hosting of sameor such as these conferencesand I think our estimation wascorrect. The most importantpoint here that should becleared to everyone is, this isour country’s image and thedelegates of this conferenceare our guests in Egypt andwe are very keen about theirsafety and we will make surethat their stay in Egypt is safeand interesting to them.

We as well as the LOCmembers are part of this hugecity, we are living in it,working and doing all our life

activities and I think there isno important guarantee morethan this!

And of course we can valuethe situation better than whojudged the situation throughtelevision screens ornewspaper articles. But toensure that all our delegatesfeel safe we promise that if atany time before the conferencewe feel that the politicalsituation in Cairo will affectthem negatively we willtransfer the conference toanother Marriott branch in

Egypt and maybe we willdiscuss this matter soon inthe LOC meeting and try todo this not because we arefeeling unsafe but to make thedelegates feel safe if this istheir wish! We don’t have anyproblem and I think this willnot affect our conferencebudget.

Marriott Cairo is located inZamalek and it’s one of thewealthiest and historicalplaces. It is a modern placein Cairo and with all thecritical situations in TahrirSquare and other places even

at the revolution period itwasn’t affected. It’s one of themost famous areas in Cairothat attracts foreigners andmany embassies are locatedthere. Also we will besupported by the Ministry ofInternal Affairs “Police” andthe Zamalek policedepartment is very near thehotel. As I told you before, thisconference is supported by thePrime Minister and theMinistry of Foreign Affairs

Do you have yourgovernment support?

The Egyptian governmentis fully supporting the AIOConference; a team from theMinistry of foreign Affairs willbe with us during theConference. The team of theorganizing committee has along experience in organizingconferences and they work onthe logistics professionally.Everything is going great! Wehave a contract with one of thebiggest transportationcompanies in Egypt to coverthe conference starting withthe first delegate’s arrivalending with the lastdelegate’s departure, 24hours service!

In addition to the supportand sponsorship of Egypt Airwhich provided a discount toall the conference delegatesfrom all around the world andthe company representativeand both will be in theconference to provide specialservice to all the conferencedelegates that already choseEgypt Air.

,

,Abdel Raouf Kotb

The LOC members are veryqualified representatives fromthe Egyptian Insurance Marketthat have excellent knowledgeand experience in organizingthe very important insuranceconferences and events inEgypt and around the world

CMYK


Homes & Housing Finance

BRIEFS

The Financial ConductAuthority (FCA), UK’s

main financial watchdog, is to‘collect and process’ personalfinancial information ofmillions of people , includinghow much they earn andwhether they have fallenbehind on any payments, aspart of its attempts to police themortgage market.

However, the FCA couldspark a row over privacy afteracknowledging that itsproposals may have dataprotection and human rightsimplications. The regulator ispromising that people’spersonal data will be “fairly andlawfully processed,” and saidthe plans mean it will be ableto share information with thepolice about suspectedmortgage fraud. However, itwill also be sharing the datawith the Bank of England andits Prudential RegulationAuthority. If the FCA’sproposals are approved, it willbegin harvesting vast amountsof data relating to both new

The federal governmentwill take every necessary

step that will enhance the easeof registration of property inthe country.

President GoodluckJonathan stated this when hereceived the 2012 annualreport of the PresidentialTechnical Committee on LandReform (PTCLR) in Abuja. Helamented the World Bank’s low

FG to improve ease of propertyregistration —Jonathan

By YINKA KOLAWOLE ranking of Nigeria on the easeof property registration.Nigeria was ranked 180 out183 countries on the difficultyof registering land/property in2011, and in 2013 ranked 182out of 185 countries that weresurveyed.

According to a statement byMr. Fidel Agu, Head, Media/Publicity, PTCLR, Jonathansaid government is set toestablish a National LandDepository that will ensure

that all lands in the countryare properly documented. Hedeclared that land reform is amajor part of thetransformation agenda of hisadministration, and called onstate and local governmentsto support the land reformprocess. According to him,Nigerians are looking forwardto a successful landtransformation programmethat will uplift them sociallyand economically.

Chairman of the Presidentialcommittee, Prof. PeterAdeniyi, who that land is thebasis for any meaningfulnational development,lamented lamented that moststates of the federation had notissued up to 10,000Certificates of Occupancysince 1978 when the Land UseAct was promulgated. “Anynation that provides access toland and guarantees title hasprovided sustainable platformfor growth and development,”he said.

The statement added thatAdeniyi told the presidentthat the committee hassubmitted a new regulationthat will guide the SystematicLand Titling and Registration(SLTR) as well as theimplementation of the LandUse Act. He urged him toinvite state governors to ahigh level stakeholder’sforum for deliberations thatwill ensure that there is amutual understanding on thepurpose of land reform,noting that their cooperationand support is important forthe success of the land reformprocess.

He also advocated theestablishment of a NationalLand Reform Commission toensure an effective, efficientand sustainable platform forthe prosecution of the nationalland reform agenda for thesocio-economic andenvironmental transformationof Nigeria and also appealedfor the re-presentation of theNational Land ReformCommission Bill to theNational Assembly forconsideration and enactment.

FCFCFCFCFCA tA tA tA tA to collect moro collect moro collect moro collect moro collect mortgage borrtgage borrtgage borrtgage borrtgage borrowerowerowerowerowers’ pers’ pers’ pers’ pers’ personal datsonal datsonal datsonal datsonal dataaaaaand existing mortgages. Fornew home loans this willinclude: details of eachborrower’s income, such asbonuses and overtime pay;information on householdspending and othercommitments such asmaintenance and childsupport; total outstandingcredit commitments such asloans and credit cards;whether the borrowers haveany financial black marksagainst them, such as loanarrears or county courtjudgments; the number ofdependent children they haveand; the age at which they areplanning to retire

The “performance data”gathered on existingmortgages would be lessdetailed but include theproperty’s postcode and anestimate of what it is worth,plus information on thecurrent outstanding balanceand any arrears. It has beenclear for some time that thosewho apply for a mortgage can

expect lots more personalquestions as a result of theFCA’s ongoing shakeup of thehome loans market, designedto prevent a return to riskylending. As part of its long-running “mortgage marketreview”, originallyannounced in 2009, new rulescovering the sector will takeeffect in April 2014. However,the FCA’s desire to collectmuch more detailedinformation about individualborrowers will have come asa surprise to many.

The FCA said the plansreflected its objectives toprotect consumers by:helping it identify risks andprevent harm; enabling it tomake “quicker and bolder”decisions to keep the marketrunning efficiently;promoting effectivecompetition.

However, the regulatoracknowledged that theproposals will mean it willhave responsibilities underdata protection and human

rights acts: “Any personal datawe collect will be fairly andlawfully processed incompliance with the first dataprotection principle ... Weconsider that in collecting thedata we will be actingcompatibly with the right toprivacy. The collection of thedata is necessary to achieve theaims set out in this consultationpaper, and any interferencewith the right is proportionateto those aims.”

The information will be usedby the FCA’s “policy, risk andresearch division”, in its role asthe regulator’s “radar,” toidentify and analyse trends inthe market “and provide a moreintelligent view of the issueswe, consumers and industryface”. The plan is that banks,building societies, credit unionsand other mortgage firms wouldneed to begin collecting thenew data from the start of 2015.The changes will mean extracosts for the 250 companies thatsubmit mortgage product salesdata.

FMBNFMBNFMBNFMBNFMBNpensionerspensionerspensionerspensionerspensionersurururururged tged tged tged tged to sero sero sero sero serve asve asve asve asve asestate brokersestate brokersestate brokersestate brokersestate brokersRetired workers of

Federal MortgageBank of Nigeria (FMBN)have been advised not to sitback after retirement but tobecome players in the realestate sector as brokers, loanrecovery agents andmortgage administrators,among others.

President, Real EstateDevelopers Association ofNigeria (REDAN), OlabodeAfolayan, gave the advicewhile delivering a lecture atthe 2ndDelegatesConference of thepensioners in Ibadan, theOyo State capital. He saidthey are positioned toservice the housing needsof the citizens in view oftheir rich experience.

“You are ready army ofresource persons forhousing finance sub-sector.This is apt if you all updateyour knowledge in tandemwith modern dynamics inthe housing deliverysystem. You are ready toolsof enlightenment on theactivities of the institution tothe teaming populace whoare oblivious of the role ofFMBN. Many do not knowhow to access NationalHousing Fund (NHF)loan,” he said.

US morUS morUS morUS morUS mortgagetgagetgagetgagetgagerates hit 6 weekrates hit 6 weekrates hit 6 weekrates hit 6 weekrates hit 6 weekhighhighhighhighhighMortgage rates in US

rose, pushingborrowing costs for a 30-year loan to the highestlevel in six weeks.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgageclimbed to 3.51 percent inthe week ended Thursday,up from 3.42 percent andthe highest since earlyApril, McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac said ina statement. The average15-year rate increased to2.69 percent from 2.61percent. Home-loan costshave increased afterhovering close to recordlows early this month. Lowrates are fueling a frenzy ofdemand in some markets asbuyers compete for a tightsupply of properties. Whilevalues remain well belowtheir peak, 133 of the 150metropolitan areas trackedby the National Associationof Realtors had priceincreases in the first quarterfrom a year earlier.

Affordable housing development in South Africa

CMYK


,

,

Micro-Finance

Stories byPROVIDENCE OBUH

“Nigerian economicstatistics reveal a puzzlingcontrast between rapideconomic growth and quiteminimal welfareimprovements for much of thepopulation. Annual growthrates that averaged overseven percent in official dataduring the last decade placeNigeria among the fastestgrowing economies in theworld”. World Bank Report.

The World Bank, most ofthe civilized world and

some Nigerians might,indeed, be puzzled by the factthat one of the fastest growingeconomies in the world, in thelast ten years, has failedwoefully to make a dent on thewelfare of most of the people.Honest Nigerian economistsare not. Perhaps the place tostart this piece is at theconclusion. Nigeria’s, socalled, fast growth is mostlyphony – especially its reportsto the world about itsagricultural output growth.This is important because thereport pointed out that thegrowth in the last ten years isconcentrated in trade andagriculture. If there is oneMinistry, at Federal and statelevels, which had beenperpetually mired inunending fraud, it is theMinistries of Agriculture –nationwide. Because most ofthe activities involving theMinistry take place in ruralareas, widely spread and

WORLD BANK REPORT: Matters arisingunconnected, it has been easyfor every Federal Minister andCommissioner of Agricultureto manipulate two pieces ofdata – the actual, as opposedto the reported, input dataand the productivity reports.For instance there is probablyno state in the entire country,where the farmers hadreceived the volume of inputs– equipment, seeds,fertilizers, herbicides etc – asMinisters, Commissioners,President and Governorsannounced. There is also nostate in the nation where thereal outputs are whatgovernments report. Havingannounced bigger budgetallocations to agriculture inany year, the Ministries ofAgriculture are bound toreport higher outputs of crops– or there would be hell to pay.So, they go ahead and falsifythe figures.

The current FederalMinister of Agriculture, DrAdewunmi, had beenannouncing “great strides”made under his watch. Higherproductivity, more jobs hadbeen created and the nation,according to him, is close tofeeding exclusively oncassava bread and exportingrice. The problem with thatrosy picture is that whenchallenged openly tosubstantiate the claim therehas been no response from theMinister. However, we havehad reports from the CentralBank and the National Bureau

of Statistics, NBS, pointing toworsening food import billsand no cassava bread can befound anywhere except AsoRock – and perhaps not eventhere. I cannot vouch for thePresidency because I havenever been invited to lunchdespite a huge N1 billion“free lunch” budget. TheFederal Ministry ofAgriculture is not an exceptionwhen it comes to feedingNigerians, not with food, butwith empty and self-serving

rhetoric. One Commissioner,whose state was mostly underwater last year, incredibly stilltold his people on a state radioprogramme that “thegovernment has been able toprovide abundant food for thepeople”. He has failed toanswer calls to prove it.

So, the first answer to theWorld Bank’s puzzle is: don’tbelieve Nigeriangovernment’s data onagriculture productivitygrowth. In fact, I had theopportunity in the late 1980s,as rice farmer and miller inSokoto/Zamfara States, to

watch Ministries of Agricultureofficials at work. It was a sadand sobering experience.Fertilisers never reachedfarmers on time; never weresupplied at the stipulatedprices and at harvest time theofficials came and compiledfigures which were at totalvariance with what those of usdown at the farm knew werethe actual figures. One of thetheatres for this absurd dramawas the Bakolori dam area,near Talata Mafara, which was

established by the governmentof Alhaji Shehu Shagari.When seeds and fertilizersfinally arrive at almost thewrong time and inflatedprices, the farmers still havethe drivers of tractors andharrowers to please – withmoney naturally. Despite thatthey came when it suitedthem. Yet the “gods” toworship are not yet complete.

“Water is life”, wrote Thales,640-546 BC, and nobodyknows this better than thefarmer. At damn sitesnationwide, the real “gods” toworship are the engineers in

charge of releasing waterfrom the dams. Too little or toomuch is fatal to crops. Theengineers know this and thatshared knowledge is theirpower. Failure to grease theirpalms with loads of cash canmean too much water or toolittle water. Either wayfarmers are doomed. Lastyear had been exceptionallyproblematic nationwidebecause suddenly natureseized control from theengineers and inundatedlarge tracts of farmland.Annual crops, those plantedonce a year, were particularlyaffected in many areas ofNigeria. Yet, our Ministries ofAgriculture were stillreporting “bumper harvests”.If so, why are the marketersof imported rice, noodlesmanufacturers and bakeriesalso reporting over 50%growth in demand? Even afool knows that unlikegovernments, Flour Mills,Honeywell, Dangote etccannot exaggerate their sales– otherwise they will paydearly to the FIRS for theirlies. So, again, we have ananswer to the World Bankpuzzle – our agriculturaloutput last year had beenexaggerated by officialsagain.

Let us now return to theobservation by the World Bankabout seven per cent growthover a decade – because it hasa meaning. Or, rather, itshould have.

The engineers know this andthat shared knowledge is theirpower. Failure to grease theirpalms with loads of cash canmean too much water or toolittle water.

South -West NAMB: 15 MfBs to merge

There are indicationsthat about 15 micro-finance banks under

the aegis of NationalAssociation MicrofinanceBank (NAMB) South-westzone, will merge to meet upwith recapitalisation deadlineof December 31, 2013.

The zonal Chairman, MrOlufemi Babajide, confirmedthis in a telephone conversionwith Vanguard, stating thatthe Lagos NAMB has thehighest number of merger,with two each from Osun andEkiti states, respectively.

According to Babajide,“Fifteen banks areundergoing the process ofmerging at the associationlevel. I believe other

microfinance banks are alsoarranging for merger outsidethe association, but I do nothave the figure. In April, itwas 13 of the banks that opted

to merge and now they haveincreased to 15 banks,” hesaid.

This has shown their levelof maturity, because the

association wants to ensurethat none of its members wentunder.

It will be recalled that theCentral Bank of Nigeria

(CBN) recapitalisationframework stipulates that theunit, state and nationalmicrofinance bank must havea minimum capital of N20million, N100 million and N2billion, respectively or gounder.

MSMEs lament one problem too manyNo matter how small an

entrepreneurs is, thereis the need for power, moneymeant to enlarge the industryare being taken back by poorpower supply, resulting inconstant purchase of dieseland fuel to generate powerlaments MSMES,ememebers.

According to them prices ofproducts are excessively highdue to high cost of production,interest rates of MicrofinanceBanks are high with hiddencharges which they will neverdisclose until you start

operating an account withthem, and conditions for loanare excessive.

Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises (MSMEs)laments, saying that thechallenges they face aredisturbing and killingbusinesses, reducingproduction as well.

In one voice, theAssociation of MicroEnterprises of Nigeria(AMEN) told news men inLagos that business activitieshave dropped due to failurein electricity supply.

“Micro producers can not bebuying diesel or fuel for theirbusinesses to produce at a loss,how much profit are wemaking,” they cried.

President of the association,Prince Saviour Iche urged thegovernment, especially LagosState to intervene, stating thatmicro entrepreneurs are theengine of any nation that mustgrow in terms ofmanufacturing.

For iche, “MfBs are nothelping issues If you go tothem for loan, they will ask forcollaterals, many will ask for

landed property, many willsay you must have at least 50per cent of the amount youwant to collect in the accountand you will run the accountfor six months, some aftermeeting their conditions, theywill still collect 40 per centinterest rate, it is better not tocollect money from thembecause there is no how youcan meet up and pay thatmoney. MfBs in other countrycollect interest at single digitand that makes their productscheaper.”


Appointments & Promotions [email protected] 08033348923

THE General Council ofWorld Trade

Organisation, WTO, hasapproved the appointment ofAmbassador RobertoCarvalho de Azevêdo fromBrazil, as the next Director-General of the WTO. He willassume office on 1 September2013.The appointment wasannounced at the councilgeneral meeting lastweek.Already the outgoingDirector-General PascalLamy, has pledged to workclosely with AmbassadorAzevêdo in ensuring asmooth transition.Accordingto WTO general councilchairman Shahid Bashir,Azevêdo was the preferredchoice throughout the threerounds of the recruitmentprocess, although he did facestrong competition fromHerminio Blanco, Mexico’sformer trademinister.According to him,“In keeping with theProcedures for theAppointment of Directors-General adopted inDecember 2002, the processfor the appointment of thenext Director-General startedin October 2012 whendelegations were providedwith information on thenomination phase of theprocess. Following the closeof the one-month nominationperiod on 31 December, the

WTO names Azevêdo Director-Generalnine candidates nominated bytheir Governments wereinvited to meet with Membersat a formal General Councilmeeting held on 29-31January this year. “At thatmeeting, each candidate madea brief presentation, includingtheir vision for the WTO,followed by a question-and-answer period. In line withthe procedures, theCandidates also had a three-month period, i.e. until

31 March, to makethemselves known toMembers and to engage indiscussions on the pertinentissues facing theOrganizat ion.” Azevêdo,who has been Brazil’sambassador to the WTO since2008, is the first directorgeneral from South Americasince the organisationreplaced the GeneralAgreement on Tariffs and

Trade (GATT) in 1995. Acareer diplomat, he hasworked in Washington DC,Montevideo and Geneva andwas a member of thenegotiating team in the Brazil/US cotton dispute, as well asBrazil’s chief negotiator at theDoha round.CongratulatingAzevêdo on his appointment,UK business secretary VinceCable said, “It’s vital wemaintain momentum aroundongoing trade negotiations."

Igbinidu nowIgbinidu nowIgbinidu nowIgbinidu nowIgbinidu nowmember ofmember ofmember ofmember ofmember ofGlobal AdvisoryGlobal AdvisoryGlobal AdvisoryGlobal AdvisoryGlobal AdvisoryCouncil of WBCCouncil of WBCCouncil of WBCCouncil of WBCCouncil of WBC

MANAGING Directorof TPT International,

a topflight Public Relationsfirm in Nigeria, CharlesIgbinidu, has beenappointed into the GlobalAdvisory Council of the 2013World Brand Congress,WBC.

WBC is usually the singlelargest rendezvous of bestbrains behind some of theworld’s most successful andsought after brands.

One of the Key features ofWBC will be Global BrandExcellence Awards.

As an advisory member,Igbinidu will be responsiblefor helping to define thescope and guide thestrategic content and willalso recommendprofessionals who may addvalue to WBC.

The 22nd edition ofthe Congress will takeplace from 21st - 23rdOctober, 2013 at Taj LandsEnd, Mumbai, India.

The theme for World BrandCongress 2013 is“SUSTAINABLE BRANDS”.

In his letter to CharlesIgbinidu, the GlobalChairman of the Congress,Dave Porter

Said, “I wish to invite youto be a part of the GlobalAdvisory Council. As anesteemed member of theAdvisory Council, you willnetwork with Professionalsin your community/ country.The World Brand Congressattempts to reach out toProfessionals across theGlobe and therefore everymember of the AdvisoryCouncil would helppropagate the message. The World Brand Congressis a not-for-profit makingactivity aimed forprofessional growth anddevelopment. I am sure youwould be happy to be a partof World Brand Congress2013”

The new Director-General/Chief Executive of Small

and Medium EnterprisesDevelopment Agency ofNigeria, SMEDAN, AlhajiBature Masari, has assumed

Masari assumes office as DG of SMEDAN

office, at the Agency at itscorporate headquarters inAbuja

Masari, 51, who hails fromMasari in Kafur LocalGovernment of Katsina State,is an alumnus of BayeroUniversity, Kano, BUK, andAhmadu Bello University,ABU, Zaria. He attendedKafur Primary School andGovernment Secondary SchoolMalumfashi before BUK in1983, where he graduated in1986 with Bachelor of ArtsDegree (MassCommunications). He went toABU where he bagged aMasters Degree inInternational Affairs andDiplomacy (MIAD) in 2010.

He was once a Reporter withthe Defunct DemocratNewspapers, Kaduna from

1987-1990. From 1990 to1999, he worked with theNigeria Customs Service,and later joined ThisdayNewspaper as a PoliticalCorrespondent from 1999-2003.

Masari was SpecialAssistant to former Speaker,House of RepresentativeAlhaji Bello Aminu Masari,from June 2003-November2004.

In 2004 he was appointedas Sole administrator of KafurLocal government for a year,before he was elected theexecutive Chairman of thelocal Government for twoconsecutive terms from 2005to June 2011.

On completion of his termhe was appointed SpecialAdviser to the Katsina StateGovernor on EmploymentPromotion and VocationalTraining and later moved toPoverty Alleviation until hispresent appointment.

Masari has attendedseveral internationalconferences and seminars athome and abroad. He is amember of notableprofessional bodies such asNigeria institute ofManagement (NIM)Nigerian Union of Journalist(NUJ).

Chartered Institute ofP e r s o n n e l

Management of Nigeria,CIPM, has inducted 492 newassociate members, calling onthem to exhibit the highestlevel of professionalism in thedischarge of the duties.

At the 14thinductionceremony in Lagos, 128persons were admitted intothe membership of theinstitute at the level ofassociate through thePractitioners’ route, while364 others became associatemembers through theProfessional examinationroute.

President/Chairman ofcouncil, CIPM, Mr. VictorFamuyibo, in his welcomeaddress, charged theinductees to demonstrate bestpractice in the developmentand effective deployment ofthe human capital entrustedto their care towards theachievement of the corporategoals of their organisations,and thus commanding therespect desired of them asprofessionals in their field.

According to him “OurCharter status confers on us

CIPM inducts 492, hammers on professionalismthe responsibility to regulatethe practice of human resourcemanagement in Nigeria; alsowe are mandated to promoteexcellence in the acquisitionand application of knowledgeand skills in this specialist fieldto contribute more effectivelytowards accelerated nationaldevelopment. Thisresponsibility of emplacingbest practice in HRmanagement falls on us as aninstitute at the corporate level;it also falls on you as anindividual member in yourlittle corner of the nationaleconomy, be it the private orthe public sector.”

Famuyibo counseled the newmembers to be goodambassadors of the institute bycomplying with its code,saying “the key elements ofour code of conduct include:Integrity, Diligence,Competence, being Law-abiding, Fair dealing,Development of self andDefense of the code. Associetal values deteriorate,maintaining high ethicalstandards in business andgovernance becomeincreasingly difficult.

In spite of the difficulty, Iurge you to strive to make adifference by exercising the

will to comply with the code.”The special guest at the

occasion, Mrs. AyodeleJaiyesimi, Head, HumanCapital Management andDevelopment, First Bank ofNigeria Ltd, presented apaper on the theme:“Managing Organisation’sTalent Pipeline in an EmergingMarket”.

By YINKA KOLAWOLE

NEWLY appointed Executive Secretary, PetroleumTechnology Development Fund, PTDF, Dr. Oluwole

Oluleye, has assumed office, even as he called on managementand staff of the Fund to be more proactive and diligent inproviding service to the people.

In a meeting with members of staff of the fund, Oluleye saidhe would maintain an open door policy with little protocols.

His as Chief Executive of PTDF is seen as a positivedevelopment, in view of his vast knowledge of the Oil andGas Industry having served as pioneer Executive Secretary ofthe Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency PPPRAbetween 2003 and 2009, and member/secretary, PresidentialProjects Assessment Committee.

Oluleye notable achievements include the development of atransparent petroleum pricing mechanism that responds to thedynamics of market fundamentals.

A fellow of the International Labour Organisation, ILO,Oluleye steps in as the 6thExecutive Secretary of PTDF andwill be bringing his wealth of experience in the industry andthe academia to confront the numerous challenges of PTDFcapacity building initiatives.

Dr. Oluwole Oluleye is from Ekiti State, South West Nigeria.

Oluleye takes over at PTDF


Agric

BRIEF

Obasanjo shares 40% cassaObasanjo shares 40% cassaObasanjo shares 40% cassaObasanjo shares 40% cassaObasanjo shares 40% cassavvvvvaaaaabread with African leadersbread with African leadersbread with African leadersbread with African leadersbread with African leadersBY JIMOH BABATUNDEwith agency report

Former Nigeria’sPresident ,Olusegun

Obasanjo, took the 40 percentcassava flour inclusion inbread to Tanzania recently ashe urged the TanzaniaPresident to promote the useof cassava in confectioneriesin his country to transformagriculture.

He noted that the use ofcassava flour in bread wouldstimulate the demand for theroot crop, create jobs and,more importantly, makefarmers proud.

Obasanjo who is theGoodwill Ambassador for theInternational Institute ofTropical Agriculture (IITA)was in Tanzania for theinauguration of the IITAScience Building in Dar esSalaam.

Former Nigeria’s PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo and thePresident of the UnitedRepublic of Tanzania, HisExcellency, Dr Mrisho JakayaKikwete, eat bread baked with40 percent cassava flour toshow their endorsement.

Former President BenjaminMkapa of the United Republicof Tanzania also ate the breadfor the first time. The leaderssupported the innovation,noting that it would bringseveral benefits to thecontinent.

President Kikwete aftereating the cassava breadcommended IITA for thetechnology, saying that thebread had an “excellent”taste.

“There is no differencebetween this bread and thenormal bread we are used to,”he added.

The 40 percent cassavabread was first developed byIITA in Nigeria, as part ofefforts to boost the utilizationof cassava and create marketfor farmers.

The Director General forIITA, Dr Nteranya Sangingasaid today that the breadinnovation is part of thecassava value chain, stressingthat it complements breedingefforts.

In Nigeria, IITAAmbassador Obasanjo, in2002 initiated a policy on 10

percent inclusion in breadunder a program tagged “thePresidential Initiative onCassava.” The program whichwas implemented by IITA andnational partners, drove thedemand for cassava,increased productivity byabout 10million tons in 6years, and made Nigeria thetop world producer of cassava.

The IITA Ambassador urgedAfrican governments seekinggenuine agriculturaltransformation to adopt theuse of cassava inconfectioneries, and institutepolicies that would make thecontinent food secure and cutimport bills on food.

To facilitate the adoption ofthe technology acrosscountries in Africa, IITAdeployed a team of expert totrain local bakers on theinclusion of cassava flour inbread in Tanzania.

Dr Victor Manyong, IITADirector for Eastern Africanoted that the adoption of thetechnology would improve thelivelihoods of farmers, bakersand have a positive impact onthe economy of Tanzania.

Consumed by more than 600million people in thedeveloping world, cassavahas transformed from a foodsecurity crop to a cash cropwith industrial uses in sectorssuch as brewery,pharmaceutical andconfectionery industries. Thecrop is one of Africa’s majorstaples, with the continentcultivating about 50 percent ofglobal production.

African leaders share 40 percent cassava bread. The Goodwill Ambassador for theInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), former Nigeria’s President OlusegunObasanjo (left); former President of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa (next to Obasanjo from left);Tanzania’s President, Dr Mrisho Jakaya Kikwete (dressed in red tie and holding cassavabread); and IITA Director for Eastern Africa, Dr Victor Manyong (far right); having a taste ofthe 40 percent cassava bread during the inauguration of IITA Science Building in Dar esSalaam

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

Executive Directors ofAgricultural Research

Institutes and Provosts ofColleges of Agriculture in thecountry have been calledupon to embrace a morecomprehensive researchmanagement approach inorder to achieve the necessaryorganisational change forenhanced client-orientationin the sector.

West Africa AgriculturalProductivity Programme,WAAPP, National ProjectCoordinator, Prof. DamianOkey Chikwendu made thecall at a five day trainingworkshop on IntegratedAgricultural Research forDevelopment (IAR4D) inIbadan recently.

Prof. Damian OkeyChikwendu called onExecutive Directors, provostsand all other participantsalike to urgently develop theirIAR4D implementationstrategies to enable them meetup with global paradigm shift

Agricultural researchers tasked oncomprehensive management approach

in Agricultural Research fordevelopment.

Prof. Chikwendu describedthe Integrated AgriculturalResearch for Development asparticipatory and capable ofpromoting natural researchmanagement and marketrelationship and thus inconformity with the globalparadigm shift in AgriculturalResearch for Development.

He thus charged them aswell as other key stakeholdersat the workshop to take a moreholistic approach to enablethem address the interactionsbetween natural resourcesmanagement, Productionsystems, agricultural marketsand policies. Such approachhe said should also enablethem conduct research fordevelopment that squarelyaddresses the complexity andheterogeneity of farmingsystems.

It should as well ensureinstitutional changes that canforge new partnership as wellas involve all stakeholders in

addressing the problem offood production, agro-industrial raw materials andthe maintenance of theresource base of agriculture forthe future generation, headded.

Prof. Chikwendu disclosedthat the purpose of theworkshop was to commence aprocess of skill enhancementand institutionalizing IAR4D-innovation system fromprinciples to practice, usinginnovation platforms (IPs) invalue chains.

The Agricultural ResearchInstitutes and colleges ofAgriculture, he concludedhave “Adopted Villages” andthey are expect to utilize thetraining received, in thesecommunities. The Nationalproject Coordinator’s addresswas read on his behalf by theWAAPP Operation Officer, Mr.James Apochi. ing theNational AgriculturalTransformation Agenda (ATA)of the Federal Government.

Sokoto farmersaccess N1bnAgric loan

BY ABDALLAH EL-KUREBE

Large scale farmersin the 23 localgovernment areas

of the state have accessedN1 billion agriculturalloans from Fidelity BankPlc at an occasion flagged-off by Governor AliyuMagatakarda Wamakkorecently.

To be disbursed underthe Federal government’sCommercial AgricultureCredit Scheme, CACSintroduced in 2009, theloan was obtained for thefarmers under a tripartitearrangement with Federaland state Governmentsand Fidelity Bank Plc.

E x p l a i n i n ggovernment’s objective forthe loan, Wamakko statedthat the gesture was aimedat further encouragingmore people in the state toproduce more food forlocal consumption andexport.

“Members of 138farmers’ cooperativegroups had about twomonths ago benefited fromanother loans package ofN1.15 billion inpartnership with the Bankof Agriculture,” heexplained adding,“Another set of farmers hadin October, 2010 benefitedfrom a N1 billion loanspackage with the sameFidelity bank.”

The governor reiteratedhis administration’sdetermination to restorethe lost glory of theagricultural sector,pledging to continue toprovide adequatesubsidised farming inputsto the farmers.

‘’Such gestures are alsoaimed at further reducingpoverty andunemployment and bolsterthe socio-economicdevelopment of the state,”he said.

In his remark,Commissioner forAgriculture, Alhaji ArzikaTureta urged thebeneficiaries to use themoney for the purpose itis meant.

The General Manager(North Bank), Alhaji IdrisYakubu, representing theManaging Director ofFidelity Bank, Mr.Reginald Ihejiahiexpressed happiness withthe partnership.


Aviation

BRIEF

By DANIEL ETEGHE

Stakeholders in theaviation industry last

week flayed the FederalGovernment over the manyfailed concessionagreements entered into bythe Federal AirportsAuthority of Nigeria,FAAN, and its numerousconcessionaires.

It will be recalled thatFAAN had entered intoseveral concessionagreement that have failedin the last 15 years whileothers were facing oneform of litigation or theother in various courtsacross the countryespecially that of FAANand Bi-Courtney AviationLimited.

Managing Director ofBelujane Consult, Mr.Chris Aligbe who criticisedthe government said thatall was not well as at thetime most of theconcession agreementswere entered into addingthat neither thegovernment, FAAN nor itsconcessionaires hadsufficient and significantknowledge of whatconcession was by the timethey entered into suchagreement.

According to Aligbe, thenecessary frameworks thatshould be in place beforesuch concessioning werenot there, ‘’ so theconcession that were done,there was no framework inplace whether regulatoryframework, whether legalframework and so on, all ofthem sat on a void, so theywere not sitting on afoundation whichframework would haveprovided and that is why Isaid that neither of them,the Chief OlusengunObasanjo administrationand FAAN, none of themhad any significantknowledge about whatconcession was before theywent into it.’’

He however affirmed thatif the government wants togo the way ofconcessioning of theairports out to the privatesector, it should put aproper framework in placewhich is subject to theapproval of the nationalassembly.

Stories by LAWANI MIKAIRU

Caverton Helicopters hastold the House of

Representative Committee onAviation, and its counterparton Justice that they had nomanagement contract withRivers State government tooperate its aircraft andconsequently could not havebeen under pressure todisown it over the aircraft.

Caverton had reacted to theHouse Committees request tosupply information concerningthe Bombadier aircraft, GlobalExpress 5000/RegistrationN565RS , allegedly belongingto the Rivers Stategovernment. by telling thecommittees that they were inno position to supply anyinformation. They admittedthat they had initial contactswith the Rivers Stategovernment with a view tohelping it import an aircraft,but when the deal fellthrough, the company seizedfurther contact andcommunication with the stategovernment as far back asAugust 2012 when the aircraftManagement Company,ACASS of Canada told themthat they ‘’were no longerresponsible for themanagement of the saidaircraft.’’

Communication betweenCaverton and Virginie Puisaisof Eurocontrol clearly showsthat Caverton had dissociateditself from the Rivers Stategovernment as far back as 5th

Febuary, 2013, two monthsbefore controversy over theaircraft started in AkureAirport in 27th, April, whenthe plane was delayed intaking off to Port-Harcourtwith the state governor, RotimiAmeachi., on board. The pilotfailed to file the flight manifeston time, and when it waseventually done, the planetook off to Port-Harcourt.

So, Caverton maintainsthere is no way it can be underpressure in April to disownthe Rivers State government.According to Caverton ‘’There is a mail from JideNigwo, a member of staff ofCaverton Helicopters toVirginie Puisais of Eurocontroldisclaiming liability for aircraftregistration N656RS chargesand redirecting enquires onthe billing to Captain TosinOdulaja, the Rivers Stategovernment contact’’

Caverton also tendered amail to the House Committeesshowing that it no longer hadbusiness control over theaircraft. ‘’ Copy of mail of 5th

No management contract with Riversto operate aircraft — Caverton

February , 2013, from CaptTosin Odulaja to Virginie

Puisais of Eurocontrolrequesting that invoice fornavigation charges on theRVSG aircraft N656RS beforwarded to him ‘’ waspresented.

In a reply to request forinformation about the aircraft,Caverton told the Committeeson Aviation and Justice that‘’ In response to yourenquiry. Please note that todate our organization has hadno formal contact with RiversState government with respectto the operations of theaforesaid aircraft. We never

received a mandate written orotherwise, neither did weenter into any managementcontract of any sort with theRivers State government.’’

‘’In the light of this, we areunable to provide anyinformation on the aircraft, itsdocumentation, compliancewith aviation laws andregulations,notices ofviolation or non-complianceto regulations of Federalaviation authorities ‘’

In its final submission,Caverton said ‘’We have nothad any dealingsWHATSOEVER with the saidaircraft neither have we given

any approvals, tacit orotherwise to any third partiesto seek or obtain Clearanceson behalf of the owners of theaircraft’’, It is also allegedthat ‘’ Caverton discoveredthat its name and letterheadhad been used by Rivers andits agents to apply forclearance permit sinceJanuary 2013. Cavertoninsists those letters wereforged. The last of such letterwas signed on March 26, 2013and was signed by oneAdeniyi Makanjuola, whosigned as operations officer.Whereas the title of Mr.Adeniyi Makanjuola isExecutive Vice Chairman. ‘’

The National Associationof Aircraft Pilots and

Engineers, NAAPE, hascondemned the call by theInternational Monetary Fund,IMF, for the winding up ofthe Assets ManagementCorporation of Nigeria,AMCON. According toNAAPE the only discerniblereason for this call by the IMFis to the effect that theexistence of AMCON isencouraging theaccumulation of bad debts.

A statement signed by ThePresident of NAAPE, MrBalami Isaac David, and hisGeneral Secretary, MrOcheme Aba said that theallegation that AMCONencourages the accumulationof bad debt ‘’ is at best flimsy,and completely unacceptable.For one, AMCON is a specialpurpose intervention

NAAPE condemns call for AMCONwind Up

instrument which has beenvery diligent and mostdiscerning in its assignment,so much so that its activitieshave been flawless up to date,unlike what we are used to inthis part of the world.Secondly, AMCON as weknow it is not a debtforgiveness instrument, but ameans of debt re-working.Therefore it would appear thatthe IMF is crying wolf whenthere is none.’’

They also praised AMCONfor stabilising the aviationsector through itsinterventions. According tothem ‘’ AMCON spread itsmagic wand across twelve(12) airlines (Arik, Aero, IRS,Bellview, Chanchangi, Afrijet,Albarka, Caverton,Continental, Air Nigeria, andSavannah) with over onehundred and thirty two billionNaira financial involvement.

Some of these transactions arestill in the process ofbecoming manifest.’’

‘’These interventions notonly saved the airlines fromgoing under, but saved overseven thousand (7,000) jobs.Without the intervention, theentire aviation sector inNigeria would have collapsedtotally like the textile sectorsuffered in time past. Merelycontemplating such turns thestomach, not to talk of thehuge chain effect that wouldattend such catastrophe.’’

They therefore believe thatAMCON has done acommendable job. ‘’ And theyshould be allowed to completetheir assignment at their owndue pace, and in their owndue time. Even as we awaitthe fuller manifestation ofAMCON’s rich harvest, we,the workers salute them’’.

Aviationstakeholders flayFG over failedconcessionagreements

From left Mr Paul Uduk, MD, Vision and Talent; Mr Lere Baale, Director, Business School,Netherlands; Mr Agbejimi Oluwaseun, Assistant Manager, CSCS PLC and Mr. Maria FrankEgonieware, Principal Manager, First Registrars Nig Ltd during a Leadership ExcellenceWorkshop 2013 for senior managers in Corporate organisations held in Lagos. Photo by Lam-idi Bamidele


ICT

BRIEFS

N igerian cable TVviewers can now

follow DSTV online asMultiChoice Nigeriaannounced that its DStvMobile range of productsare now available foronline purchase throughonline retailer, Konga.com.By this development,mobile range of innovativedevices can be orderedconveniently throughKonga.com and deliveredwithin one to three days inLagos and three to five daysoutside Lagos in all citiesat no additional cost. Theproducts like, Walka 7,Walka 3.5, Wi-Fi Drifta,Drifta USB among others,can be accessed online.Other services includingsport, music, generalentertainment, news andchildren’s programmingamong others likePremium, Compact Plus,Compact and Familysubscribers can access theDStv Mobile service as avalue-added feature at noextra monthly subscriptionfee.

Speaking at the event,MultiChoice Nigeria’sGM, Mr Mayo Okunola,said that the gesture wasto ensure that subscriberscan enjoy a full dose ofservices.

L-R; Sales Manager, Borderless Networks Architectures Cisco, UAE, Mr.Osama Rasoul; Business Development Manager, Borderless Networks, Africa, Mr. Nabil Badr; Sales Manager,Cisco, Nigeria, Mr. Valentine Nwabueze and Head of Architectures and Enterprise, EmergingMarkets Cisco, Mr. Den Sullivan at Cisco’s New Unified Access Products launch at the CivicCentre, Lagos last week

COMPUTER PENETRATION:Create your tomorrow now,Intel charges UNILAG students

By PRINCE OSUAGWU

Intel Corporation lastweek charged theUniversity of Lagos,

UNILAG students to learnhow to create their tomorrow,today by adopting the usageof computer technology inevery aspect of their academicand social activities.

The chip technologymanufacturer, challenged thestudents as it took its youth

market based campaign,‘Create Your Tomorrow’project to the institution at theweekend.

The campaign seeks to helpthe target market especiallythe new generation of tech-savvy students currently in,and entering institutions oflearning to unlock their innatepotentials through the use oftechnology.

The Create Your TomorrowCampaign also seeks to pushinformation technology as a

tool that can be used as anasset, rather than as anobstacle to achieving itsintended purpose.

Intel believes that when theusage of PC Technology isdeepened among students, itwould result into tremendousenhancement of quality oflife and living in the society.The company’s CountryManager, Mr OlubunmiEkundare, said his companydesigned the campaign toreinforce commitment as

sponsors of tomorrow.He also contended that the

initiative would mark Intel outas having exposed thepotentials of technology inNigeria and in Africa as awhole

For him,” today’s studentspossess unprecedented levelsof skill with informationtechnology; they think aboutand use technology verydifferently from students ofthe past era. They loveteamwork, experientialactivities and the use oftechnology.” He said.

Ekundare added that “for usat Intel, championing thecause of technology inNigeria, Africa and the worldis at the heart of our businessand this has informed ourengagements from inceptiontill date. Intel, more thanbeing interested inpropagating the gospel oftechnology, is interested inthe quality it brings to life ifproperly employed. Thecampaign will therefore focuson the use of the severalunknown benefits thattechnology provides.”

Activities to mark the CreateYour Future campaignincluded one-day forum onthe campus of the Universityof Lagos as well asentertaining interactivesessions with Nigerian pop-star, Banky W.

Intel also sponsored three-day internationally certifiedTechnology andEntrepreneurship Trainingand participants awardedinternational certificationupon successful completion.

The campaign also offereddiscounts on PC purchasesfrom Intel-powered PCretailers, free HP printers withevery HP PC purchase,shopping vouchers,educational andempowerment initiatives, aswell as raffle draws.

Cisco’s access solutions to connect wired,wireless networks

By PRINCE OSUAGWU

Cisco last week said ithas discovered thatas organizations in

Nigeria face the ever-growing challenge ofmanaging the growth ofmobile devices and businessapplications across multiplenetworks, majority of thebusinesses are finding itdifficult to address issues thatare enabling innovation andagility.

It also discovered that withthe increasing need toconnect more people, data,processes and things to thenetwork, the role of wirelessand wired networks is

growing and networkoperations and featurerequirements are becomingmore complex.

According to the company’sdata forecast tagged VisualNetworking Index GlobalMobile Data Traffic Forecastfor 2012 to 2017, in MiddleEast and Africa, Cisco notedthat mobile data traffic willgrow 17-fold from 2012 to2017, representing acompound annual growth rateof 77%.

Perhaps, that could be whyit recently introduced newsolutions under the CiscoUnified Access umbrella thatsimplify network design byconverging wired and wirelessnetworks .

The products includeCatalyst 3850 Unified AccessSwitch, with built-in wirelessLAN (WLAN) controllerfunctionality. Another isCisco 5760 Unified AccessWLAN Controller appliancefeaturing IOS-based softwareand 60Gbps performance

Cisco said these newenhancements to CiscoUnified Access will allow ITorganizations in Nigeria torapidly manage changingnetwork demands andgreater services innovations.

According to Cisco’s Headof Architectures & Enterprise,Emerging Markets, Mr DenSullivan, “Our customers inNigeria are looking for asimple, highly secure

network with reduced TotalCost of Ownership (TCO)that allows them to addressthe demands that new accessrequirements such as BYODand new innovative line ofbusiness applications bring.Cisco Unified Access allowscustomers to achieve thesegoals by moving away fromindividual vertical stacks oftechnology and disparatecomponents and creating asingle architecture for anintelligent network.”

Cisco Unified Access isCisco’s strategy to unifywired, wireless and virtualprivate networks (VPNs),into a single, highly securenetwork infrastructure basedon one policy source and onemanagement solution for theentire campus network.

DSTVconnectsKonga.comonline

By ANOZIE EGOLE

The Small and MediumE n t e r p r i s e s

Development Agency(SMEDAN) is to partnerwith the Corporate AffairsCommission (CAC) toregister Small and MediumEnterprises (SMEs) atsubsidized rates.

Mr Olusola Dawodu, aSenior Enterprise Officer,SMEDAN, SouthwestZone, disclosed this in aninterview with the NewsAgency of Nigeria (NAN)on Thursday in Lagos.

“SMEDAN is working onplans along with the CACto assist small businessowners to register theirbusinesses at faster and subsidised rates. The ideais borne out of the fact thatmost business owners shyaway from the rigorousprocess of registering their

SMEDAN, CACto partner onregistration ofSMEs


Advertising, Media& Marketing

BRIEFS

Stories byPRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

As argument on theproposed Non-Tobacco Smoking Bill

before the Lagos State Houseof Assembly continues togather steam, BritishAmerican Tobacco of Nigeria,BATN, and other stakeholdershave said that it will lend itssupport to any balancedregulation that seeks toreduce the impact of smokingon public health.

They, however, warned thatany proposed regulation mustnot force the legal andregulated businesses out ofoperation as this would leavethe market at the mercy ofsmugglers and illicit traders.

The Non-Tobacco SmokingBill seeks among other thingsto prohibit smoking indesignated places in LagosState, including bars, nightclubs, restaurants, hotels,libraries, archives, museum,galleries and cinemas.

Other places are concerthall, theatres, public toilets,educational institutions,factories, hospitals, andpublic transportationvehicles.

The Lagos House has sinceopened public hearing on theBill. The hearing hadrepresentatives of advocacygroups such as theManufacturers Association ofNigeria, MAN, LagosChamber of Commerce andIndustry, LCCI, Trade UnionCongress, TUC, Lagos StateEnvironmental ProtectionAgency, Disease ControlDirectorate of the Ministry ofHeath, Nigeria TobaccoControl Alliance, BritishAmerican Tobacco Companyof Nigeria, BATNrepresentative, CoalitionAgainst Tobacco, Tobaccodistributors and therepresentative of Restaurants,Hotel, Bar and Cafe ownersin attendance.

Reacting to the proposedbill, the Head of RegulatoryAffairs, Mr. Sola Dosunmu,BATN, expressed thecompany’s support for thepassage of a balanced andevidence based Bill for theindustry. He further statedthat it is in the interest ofstakeholders to ensure thepassage of a balanced,workable and evidence basedBill, adding that it wouldhelp to reduce the impact oftobacco on public health inthe country.

Dosunmu said that BATNhad always supportedappropriate regulation for thetobacco industry in Nigeriaand has cooperated andcollaborated with governmentagencies towards ensuringthat existing regulations areenforced.

He recalled that in countrieswhere harsh legislation have

NON-SMOKING BILL:BATN, other stakeholders stateposition

been considered, statistics onsmoking prevalence andconsumption, as well asacademic and governmentcommissioned studiesevaluating the impacts ofsmoke free legislation haveshown that complete smokingban had no impact onsmoking prevalence andconsumption, but in somecases, smoking consumptionamong adults has increased.

He, however, advocated forthe ban on sale of cigarettes

to any person under the ageof 18, and higher than theage of 15.

Speaking at the publichearing, the AssistantSecretary General of TradeUnion Congress (TUC), MrAnthony Ibafor, argued thatTUC’s position is against theBill as it would on the longrun lead to unemployment ifthere is total ban on cigarettesmoking.

Presenting theirmemoranda, representative

of Nigerian TobaccoControl Alliance,consisting of 40 CivilSociety Organisations,Nurudeen Ogbara, notedthat the National TobaccoControl Bill, which waspassed by the last NationalAssembly is presentlyawaiting presidentialassent. He also faulted thebill as too limited in scopeto aid the course of publichealth.

From Left: Kemi Adewole-Ojo, Asst General Manager, Front Operations, Lady KehindeKamson Managing Director /CEO, Olatunji Kamson, Executive Director, and Oluyemi Yusuf,Head, Marketing all of Sweet Sensation at the official launching of the new Jamaican JerkChicken, JJC, and other products to the media at the restaurants Head office in Lagosrecently.

...unveils one yr scorecardOYSAA plans PPP programme

The Oyo State Signageand Advertising Agency,

OYSAA, in a bid to improve theoutdoor space of the State,says it’s going to adopt thePublic Private Partnership,PPP, initiative to improvingsocio- economic activities inthe State, as it releases oneyear scorecard.

The areas of improvementbeing considered by theAgency is on solar poweredstreet light poles, constructionof ultra modern bus shelters,

installation of Advert basedstreet directional signs andHouse numbering exercise.

The Director General of theAgency, Mr. Yinka Adepoju,in a statement among otherthings to be improved oninclude Branding of newlyacquired government buses,branding of public places likeParks and gardens,Markets,garages and Roundabouts,Deployment of LEDElectronic Video displayboards is strategic locations of

the state capital to whichconcessional approvalshave already been grantedto about 10 practitioners.

Adepoju who was givingreport on his one year inoffice said the regulatoryagency has successfullycleaned up major routes inIbadan through Oyo stateand Ogbomoso byremoving sub-standard,dilapidated and badlypositioned billboards.

APCON lifts ban on Guinness alcohol beverage Ads

The AdvertisingPractitioners Council of

Nigeria, APCON through itsAdvertising Standards Panel,ASP committee, has lifted theban it placed on all alcoholicbeverage advertisements byGuinness Nigeria Plc.

A statement signed by Ms.Nkechi May Nzeribe statedthat APCON has, through theASP lifted the ban placed on

Guinness Nigeria because“Guinness complied bywithdrawing alladvertisements that had beenscheduled to run andapologized over the broadcastof Guinness Foreign ExtraStout adverts on DigitalSatelite Television (DSTV)outside the prescribedperiods allowed by theAPCON Code of Advertising

and Promotion guidelines”.Contrary to the claim by

APCON in a widelycirculated report, GuinnessNigeria had withdrawn theadvertisement in questionbefore the meeting of theAPCON Council whichendorsed therecommendation of theASP to impose sanction onthe company.

Bajaj completesfree technicalcheck-up for 3wheelersnationwide

By WILLIAM JIMOH

Bajaj Auto Limited hascompleted its free

technical check-up FOR 3wheel riders (known as KekeMaruwa) in Lagos as part ofthe company’s effort toidentify with the ridersbeyond the point of sale.

The programme whichcommenced in Abuja wasmoved to other part of thecountry which included thesix geo-political zones whereover 10,000 3 wheelercustomers had benefited fromthe free service whichclimaxed in Lagos with recordof over 800 riders taking partin the scheme.

Speaking during the eventin Lagos, Mr. SuryakantRamaniy, Bajaj SeniorManager Export ServiceInternational Business, saidamong others the servicescarried out on the tricyclesinclude; air filter cleaning,engine oil checking, sliderblock greasing, and breatherpipe checking.

His word, “We organized thiscamp because we understandthat we cannot go to theindividual customers, so wecall a good number of riderstogether and teach them, givethem some advice on themeasures they are to takewhen they having problemwith their tricycles.”

BOBO targetskids with promo

PEACE ONYEUKWU

In order for its brand tocommend, compensate its

loyal customers and resonateamong its target audience,Bobo Food and BeveragesLimited has stepped up withits annual Super Kids andSchools Support Promo.

The promo which wasinitiated three years ago isnow about pupils writingessay competition with thebest of pupils and schools atthe state and regional smilinghome with cash andhandsome gift prizes.

In all, 612 schools in ninestates would participate inthe program. According to theMarketing Manager, Mr. EricBirhiray, the essay whichwould be take homeassignment at the first stageof selecting the candidatesfor the state contest would beon the topic, ‘Why doNigerian kids drink Bobo thanother fruit milk drinks’.


Email:[email protected], [email protected] page:www.lesleba.com/blog2Website: www.lesleba.comTel:0805 220 1997

Business & Economy

Omoh Gabriel - Group Business EditorBabajide Komolafe - Finance EditorClara Nwachukwu - Energy EditorPeter Egwuatu - Head, Capital MarketYinka Kolawole - Snr Bus. CorrespondentFavour Nnabugwu - Insurance CorrespondentGodwin Oritse - Maritime CorrespondentGodfrey Bivbere - Maritime CorrespondentMichael Eboh - Capital Market ReporterOscarline Onwuemenyi - Energy ReporterFranklin Alli - Industry/Agric. ReporterAmaka Abayomi - Money market ReporterEbele Orakpo - Energy ReporterIfeyinwa Obi - Maritime Reporter

CONTRIBUTORSPrincewill Ekwujuru - Media/MarketingNaomi Uzor - IndustryProvidence Obuh - Micro FinanceLAYOUT - Graphics Department

NAN: Some financialexperts have

expressed divergent views onthe Federal Government’sstance that the country wasstill solvent enough to takemore loans to develop theeconomy. Nigeria’s total debtstock now stands at N8.7trillion out of which N6.85trillion is the domestic debtstock. The total debt stockrepresented 21.5 per cent ofthe Gross Domestic Product(GDP) Dr Yerima Ngama, theMinister of State for Finance, told newsmen onWednesday after the FederalExecutive Council (FEC)meeting in Abuja that thenation was under-borrowing.

Also, Dr AbrahamNwankwo, Director- General

Experts express divergent views on FG’s stanceto borrow more

of the Debt ManagementOffice (DMO), said that thecountry was still solventenough to borrow up to 40per cent of its GDP. Mr EddieOsarenkhoe, a formerPresident, Finance HousesAssociation of Nigeria(FHAN), said that theFederal Government wasright, adding that the nationhad huge infrastructuredeficit. Osarenkhoe agreedthat government shouldborrow more to executeprojects that could impact onthe economy.

“The country cannotcontinue to keep money inthe external reserves, whilewe have numerous capitalprojects to be developed, “ hesaid. Osarenkhoe advised

that government shouldborrow to carry out projectsthat would repay the loansover time.

He said that the annualbudgets were not sufficientenough to provide all theneeded infrastructure. Hesaid that many developednations did not use their ownresources to develop theinfrastructure, but borrowedfrom outside.

Mr Wole Olowu, theGeneral Manager, True BondMicrofinance Bank Ltd.,also said that there was nothingwrong in borrowing if thegovernment intended to usethe fund to improve people’sstandard of living. Olowu saidthat the advanced countriesalso borrowed to finance

,

,

Lately, the Federal Government’s enthusiasmfor further national debt

accumulation has becomemore strident, especially af-ter the IMF’s suggestion thatNigeria is currently under-borrowed, and therefore rec-ommended increasing theborrowing threshold of 20% ofgross domestic product toabout 56% of GDP. On the heels of the IMF’srecommendation, Dr. Abra-ham Nwankwo, the DebtManagement Office(DMO)’s DG called for a re-structuring of the nationaldebt, because the interestpayable on domestic debt(which constitutes 88% of to-tal debt) was too high, as itshould not normally exceed60%! Consequently, the DMOdecided to establish a sink-ing fund for retiring localdebts as they mature, and alsoseek to borrow more from for-eign sources at cheaperrates. Government hastherefore put the first leg ofthis strategy in place, as it hasprovided for N100bn sinkingfund annually to pay domes-tic debts in 2013 budget. Curiously, at this rate, it willrequire about 60 years to re-pay the domestic debt ofN6tn! Similarly, in conster-nation, CBN Governor, Lami-do Sanusi, paradoxically alsodecried the reality that we areborrowing more money todayat high interest rate for risk-free sovereign loans, whileleaving the debt burden forour children and grand chil-dren to pay! The oppressive burden ofdomestic debt has also fos-tered the alternative strategyto borrow externally, atcheaper rate of interest. In

AS VULTURES APPLAUD IMMINENT DEBT TRAAS VULTURES APPLAUD IMMINENT DEBT TRAAS VULTURES APPLAUD IMMINENT DEBT TRAAS VULTURES APPLAUD IMMINENT DEBT TRAAS VULTURES APPLAUD IMMINENT DEBT TRAreality, so long as loans re-mediate our critical infra-structure deficits and alsobuild our institutions andhuman capacities, over theyears, the positive returnsfrom such borrowings willultimately sustain the liqui-dation of these debts pain-lessly! Nonetheless, the DMO bossis unperturbed by the poorsocial impact of our debts, asNwankwo noted that , “the

time of high borrowing fromthe domestic (market) hasserved its purpose, which in-cluded developing a marketstructure and culture for longterm savings and invest-ments. “ Evidently, the establishmentof the DMO in 2006 was notprimarily to fund critical in-frastructure but to develop along-term bond market,which has now spiralled do-mestic debts above N6tn, withoppressive service charges! Incidentally, we had criti-cized the narrow and un-healthy functional object of

DMO’s borrowing as reflect-ed in its prospectus, in an ar-ticle in December 2009, titled“Budget 2010: Mugu SmilesBack into Debt Trap”. The Minister of State for Fi-nance, Dr. Yerima Ngama,has also confirmed that hisMinistry’s strategy for ad-dressing the debt imbalanceand the high cost of servicingdomestic debts included fouroptions; i.e., long term bor-rowing to pay short-term

debts; long-term borrowingthat could be used to paylong-term; accessing of con-cessionary windows as well asborrowing outside to pay do-mestic debts”. Obviously, the underlyingdeduction from the preceding,is that in spite of governmentassurances, our capacity toservice and repay our debthas become a critical issue, asthe above options do not re-late to the objective of impact-ful enhancement of infrastruc-ture or social welfare. Indeed, in November 2012,former Presidential Candi-

date of the National ActionCouncil, Dr. Olopade Ago-ro, was equally worried atour cost of borrowings, andobserved in a release that “itwas high time we wake upas a nation to the reality ofthe fact that we cannot go onborrowing at 15% rate of in-terest, while deposits barelyattract 3%, and expect tomake headway economical-ly and productively)”. The President of LagosChambers of Commerce andIndustry (LCCI), GoodieIbru, in similar vein, alsoobserved that “The high yieldfederal government bondsand treasury bills contribut-ed to the high level of debtservice of almost N600bn inthe 2013 budget”, while not-ing that “this amount isequivalent of about 36.5% ofour capital budget”! The LCCI boss is equallyworried that the debt figuresinappropriately excluded bil-lions of naira owed to localcontractors by MDAs and theadditional N4,000bn bondsissued by AMCON!! Con-sequently, the LCCI recom-mends that all these debtsshould also be captured sothat the true position of pub-lic debt and its sustainabili-ty would be better appreci-ated. On his side, Osita Oke-chukwu, the Secretary of theConference Nigerian Politi-cal Parties observed that it iscurious that Dr. NgoziOkonjo-Iweala, who mid-wifed the controversial$12.4bn pay out to the Paris/London Clubs in 2006, whenthe debt GDP ratio was lessthan 30% is incidentally nowthe driver of the propositionfor increasing debt accumu-lation, with her Ministry’s

demand for a fresh $9bn loan,which would push total exter-nal debt alone above $15bn! Okechukwu, also corroboratesconcerns expressed in thiscolumn in an earlier article inAugust 2012, titled “Why areWe Still Borrowing?”, when hedecries “How come a country,which normally earns over$20bn from oil and gas, N5tnfrom domestic tax revenue andalmost a trillion naira from cus-toms duty, with an excesscrude account of almost $10bnand Central Bank’s own re-serves of over $40bn still re-main embattled with 70% ofNigerians living below thepoverty line”, the CNPC Sec-retary, consequently, there-fore concluded that Nigerianshave no good reason to bor-row, and in fact, should stopborrowing! Osita Okechukwu may havesaid it all; it’s good to borrow,if such loans are directed tosocially productive ventures;but it certainly does not makesense to borrow to repay ex-isting debts! Indeed, it willbe a great comedy plot, if notfor the impact of deepeningpoverty nationwide, that, inspite of the existence of overN10bn in our excess crudeaccount and over $40bn ofCBN’s self-styled idle “own”funds, the National Assemblyobviously has no qualms thatthe DMO will additionallyborrow over N1tn domestical-ly in 2013 at outrageous ratesof interest and similarly addabout $10bn external loansalso secured, at rates of inter-est which exceed the ratespaid on our idle/low-yield ex-cess crude dollar account andCBN’s dollar holdings.

various projects in theircountries. “The nation canachieve good developmentwith borrowing if only the

government can applyfinancial discipline in usingthe money for,” he said.

Nonetheless, the DMO bossis unperturbed by the poorsocial impact of our debts, as

Nwankwo noted that , “the timeof high borrowing from thedomestic (market) has served itspurpose, which includeddeveloping a market structureand culture for long termsavings and investments. “

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