FG can't meet infrastructure needs with N4.99trn spending — SEC DG

CMYK

JULY 1, , , , , 20132013201320132013

From left: Chairman of the Investment and Securities Tribunal, (IST), Ngozi Chianakwalam, Director General of the SEC andChairman of the CMC, Arunma Oteh, COO Financial Markets Dealers Quotation, Jack Delaney and the Executive Commissioner,Finance and Administration, SEC, Zakawanu Garba, at the 2nd Quarter Capital Market Committee (CMC) Meeting which tookplace at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Zonal Office at Victoria Island, Lagos.

THE Federal government cannotfinance the infrastructureneeded to boost the economy by

spending N4.99 trillion withoutleveraging the capital market, DirectorGeneral, Securities and ExchangeCommission (SEC), Ms Arunma Otehhas said.

The commission is also planning tocome out with a financial inclusionstrategy for the capital market inlinewith the Financial System Strategy2020, just as it is working atdeveloping an Islamic finance masterplan for the Nigerian capital market.

Speaking after the Capital Market

FG can't meet infrastructure needswith N4.99trn spending — SEC DG

Continues on page 18

… Financial inclusion for capital market soon… To develop Islamic products

By PETER EGWUATU

Committee (CMC) second quartermeeting in Lagos, weekend, Otehsaid, “ The government shouldleverage the instrument of the capitalmarket to finance the hugeinfrastructure needed to boost theeconomy.

Quoting a recent economics paperfrom Goldman Sachs which calculatesthat,in a sample of 12 Africancountries, total infrastructure demandover the next four decades will amount

to $1trilion, of which Nigeria alonewill need $360billion, Ms Oteh statedthat the nation’s current budget ofN4.9trillion could only achieve about20 per cent if it is totally committed tofixing the nation’s infrastructuralchallenges alone.

“The concerns among the capitalmarket community are that we shouldleverage on the instruments providedby the capital market to fix some ofthe important infrastructure in the

country. We are going to have asecuritisation roundtable with the allthe ministers responsible forinfrastructure provision” she added.

On the planned Islamic financeplan, Oteh stated that the commissionis working at developing an IslamicFinance Master Plan for the NigerianCapital Market.

According to the SEC boss, “Theplan is that the CMC would work onthis initiative and present them at aplanned Capital Market Committeeretreat scheduled to hold towards theend of the year. It is at that plannedretreat that the SEC will endorse this

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 28/06/2013

102.73 -0.09

97.14 +0.09

120.2 -1.4

2,210.00 +19.00

16.45 -0.02

DOLLAR 154.75 155.25 155.75POUNDS 235.9938 236.7563 237.5188EURO 202.4285 203.0825 203.7366FRANC 164.0865 164.6167 165.1469YEN 1.5638 1.5688 1.5739CFA 0.2884 0.2984 0.3084WAUA 231.9598 232.7092 233.4587RENMINBI 25.2117 25.2936 25.3755RIYA 41.2645 41.3978 41.5311KRONA 27.131 27.2187 27.3064SDR 232.744 233.496 234.248

Cover Story

CMYK

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 1, 2013

Continued from page 17


,

,

AS the Roman Historian, Plutarch (AD 46-120?) had noted“The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.”

Given their corrupt and greedy lifestyles Nigeria’s leaders donot seem to care about integrity or moral values. They are goodat predicting the future without creating it. As Peter Drucker hasobserved “If you want to predict the future, create it.”

In Nigeria, the growing problem of unemployment in thecountry has contributed largely to the worsening problem ofpoverty among the populace. Unemployment according to Olaitan(1996) leads to frustration and disillusionment which may resultin crime or drug abuse in a futile attempt to escape from andforget the pains and humiliation of poverty and lack. The problemof unemployment, he further stated, has worsened as millions ofschool leavers and graduates of tertiary institutions have notsecured gainful employment over the years. Unemployment hasposed a serious problem not only to the welfare of individualsbut also to that of their families. Many able bodied and highlyqualified persons who could not secure gainful employment haveremained economically dependent on their parents. This isbecause they lack the necessary occupational skills to be selfemployed and to effectively function in today’s world of work.These occupational skills can be provided by technical andvocational education. According to Abdulahi (1994) technicaleducation is that aspect of education that involves the acquisitionof techniques and application of the knowledge of the science forthe improvement of man’s surrounding.

Technical and vocational education prepares one for the worldof work with which the individual become reliant and

can make contributions to the development of the society. Asemployers look for new talents every year from new graduates, itis important to not only have a solid education but graduates thathave features that stand out from the rest of the graduatingstudents. With the economy being more globalized than ever, itis important to have a background and a skill set that allowsgraduates to become immersed in the global economy right fromgraduation (Cote, 2007). It is important for these students orgraduates to have skills in innovation in technology educationand entrepreneurship to be ready to fit into the global marketplace on which today’s economy depends on. EntrepreneurialSkills Needed by Technical and Vocational Education.

Leadership is not a major cause of Nigeria’s under-developedstatus. Nigeria can become an economic power-house

(and realize its visions) only if proper attention is given toeducation and technological development and promotes andrewards creativity, and channel its material and human resourcesto productive use. The leaders must recognize the relevance oftechnical and vocational education in national development andadopt and adapt what works in developed nations. The resourcesbeing wasted in the on-going false re-branding campaign shouldhave been used to re-brand the nation’s education sector. Noamount of rhetoric (or fanciful slogan) would solve Nigeria’s socio-political and economic problems. The leaders could salvageNigeria’s image by re-branding their mentality and doing theright thing: tackle corruption, reform the electoral system and fixthe dilapidated institutions. Thus, without a fundamental shift invalues, beliefs and thinking, and without technological capability,Nigeria will continue to dream of becoming a ‘Great Nation’.

It cannot be overemphasized that technical education is theengine for economic growth. No nation can fight a war withoutan army. In the same token Nigeria cannot develop without well-equipped technical and vocational institutions. In fact, it is themissing link in Nigeria’s development policies. Because of poortraining and ineffective institutions Nigeria suffers from lowproductivity. But the progress of any society lies in the productivityof its citizens. Higher productivity gives a nation advantage ofeconomies of scale and lowers the costs of production and pricesof goods and services.

Nigeria should begin now to take very seriously investment ineducation and skill training as no nation can compete effectivelyin the emerging global market place with poorly educated andunskilled workers. The leading factors of production in theemerging global economy are said to be technology, knowledge,creativity and innovation.

Vocation and technical education– a key to improving Nigeria’s

development. Part 2

FG can't meet infrastructure needs withN4.99trn spending — SEC DGwith the view that they wouldbegin operations starting inJanuary 2014.”

She further said that theIslamic instrument wouldprovide opportunity forNigeria to finance some of theinfrastructure needed torevolutionise the economy,adding that “ we must beready to build a world classcapital market despite thechallenges.

The SEC boss disclosedthat the Board of thecommission has approved areorganization structure forthe entity aimed atrepositioning it for enhancedproductivity.

In her words, “ The boardhas approved changes in

the organizational structure ofthe Commission. The changesare intended to strengthenthe SEC and position it tobetter discharge its mandates.They will better align the SECto pursue its vision ofbecoming “one of the leadingcapital market regulators inthe world”, and the Missionof developing and regulating“a capital market that isdynamic, fair, transparent andefficient enough to contributeto the nation’s economicdevelopment”.

Continuing, she said,“under the new changes, wehave new departments, suchas Office of the ChiefEconomist, MarketDevelopment, Strategy,Ethics, Procurement andFixed Income. New Divisionswere also created. They are:Litigation, Investor

Protection, Investor Outreach,Call Centre, Non-interestFinancial Products, ProgramManagement Office, Statistics& Information Resource,Planning & Budget andOperations Infrastructure &Technology. All these aremeant to boost the market.”

Oteh, also said that the

CMC has been mandated tohelp develop a blue print forthe capital market, stressingthat it will be capital marketmaster plan for ten years.

According to her, the planwill be assessed quarterly.The CMC will also come outwith literacy plan strategywhere the ordinary peoplecan be able to read andunderstand the rules of themarket. In her review of theperformance of the capitalmarket, she said, Nigeriaremains amongst the top 10performing markets in theworld.

According to her, theperformance was driven by

signals notably with what BenBernanke said that we arecoming to the end of thequantitative easing.

“But we also have someissues that could put fiscalpressures on us, which is ofcourse multiple predictionthat there won’t be a declinebond or if they are concernedabout capacity to maintain thesame level of production,” shesaid. She said Bernankehighlighted the increasedparticipation of domesticinvestors the Nigerian stockmarket; signaling thatconfidence is coming back toour market.

Furthermore, Oteh statedthat as the nation’s

capital market focuses onattaining the $1trillioncapitalization target by 2016,it still has a long way to go asthe value of the marketcurrently stands at$107billion.

The SEC boss, also calledon the unquoted corporateentities to get their shareslisted with a view to realizingthe target. Oteh, whodisclosed this while briefingjournalists at the end of theCMC meeting said, thecommission is working roundthe clock to woo multinationalconglomerates, the powercompanies as well as thet e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o ncompanies to list their sharesand boost the liquidity in themarket.

According to her, “We willbe very happy if everybody isworking towards the $1trillion

From left: Divisional Head, Marketing and Corporate Communication, Keystone Bank Plc.Mr. Muhammed Ciroma; Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Phillip Ikeazor and the ExecutiveDirector, Mr. Ademola Adewale, during an interactive session with Business Editors in Lagos.

Thechanges areintended tostrengthenSEC and

position it tobetter

discharge itsmandates

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 1, 2013 — 19

Business & Economy

,

,

concerning the nature ofrationality. Leaders, in makingpolicy and legislation put themthrough the crucible of the effectsuch policy will have on the wellbeing of members of society,justice and equity for those tobe affected. It is when suchpolicies pass the test that theyare unveiled to the public.

In the practice of democracyin Nigeria, it is uncertain ifpolicy formulation and theprocess of legislation areconducted in the manner thattakes cognisance of impact ofsuch public policy. Everyeconomic agent attempts toprovide for himself and hisfuture needs. The fear of thefuture has driven many in theface of stiff competition for dailyneeds into their early grave.Market failure occurs when thesupply of a good or service isinsufficient to meet demand.This results in an inefficientdistribution of resources amongmarket participants.

Under free market conditions,prices are determined almostexclusively by the forces ofsupply and demand. Any shiftin one of these results in a pricechange that signals acorresponding shift in the other.Economic and socialpolicymakers try to consider themarket failures that will resultfrom specific legislation, and, inmost cases, they ultimatelyattempt to minimise marketfailure by finding a balancebetween protecting social orpolitical interests andmaintaining efficient markets.

In Nigeria’s politicaleconomy, there is no socialsecurity for any entity -theunemployed, retirees, students

and the elderly. All have todepend on their familymembers in the event ofunexpected. It is the desire tomake provisions for the futureand cater for members of thefamily - immediate andextended - that many Nigeriancivil servants and workers todaysteal and bend the rules forfinancial gains. If every memberof the Nigerian society isassured that no matter thecircumstances, the state willtake care of them through socialsecurity; many will not steal ortake bribe. This was not the casein the 1960s, 70s and part of80s.

Many civil servants workedconscientiously in governmentwithout joining the rat race forwealth acquisition. At that time,it was fame and integrity thatwas the passion. Family nameswere highly priced andjealously guarded. It was ataboo then to have a member ofthe family go to jail. Suchfamilies were ostracised by theircommunity. Sudden wealth wasrare. Every member of thesociety was held accountableand there was care for oneanother. Family members raisedalarm when a member bringsin unexplained income. Suchmen who defied social order tomake wealth were neverhonoured or respected. Today,these people are everywhereand they run the lives of the restof society because the nationnow worships money.

Nigerians must return to theirroots and begin to ask questionabout the family background ofthose with sudden wealth.

In Yoruba land, no matter yourwealth, they still ask, who isyour father? Where are youcoming from? It is noteverybody that can be a Yorubaleader. The social securityprovided by the developedsocieties is meant to encouragethe individual members of thesociety that the state is ready toprovide the basic minimum for

engine of growth. It is rootedin free enterprise and freedomof choice. It is about availabilityof alternatives. It is not in theplace of government todominate key sectors of theeconomy. It is not aboutpatronage of party faithful. It isnot about powerful civil servantsdetermining who getspatronage. It is not about privatesector operators hawkingaround government offices forcontract jobs. It is not aboutprivate sector reaping economic

virtually everything into thecountry. Nigeria’s kind ofcapitalism is crude, raw andprimitive. It is a zero sum gameof winner-takes-all. This is whythe few who find themselves inpositions of power and politicsdo it by all means. Politics inNigeria is about resourceallocation. It is not aboutinvesting in people; it is aboutpersonal interest andaggrandizement. Until thewelfare of all Nigerians takesthe prime place in the day-to -day administration of thecountry, politicians and civilservants will continue to pillageand cart away the fortunes ofNigeria.

The way to stop them is bymaking the future of everyNigerian secure. When a civilservant knows that when heretires, his family members willnot be asking him questions ofhow much he stole from publictreasury, he will not take bribe.

If he knows that he will dragthe name of his family in themud if caught and publicized,he will stay off taking bribe. Ifpoliticians know that familymembers and society willdenounce and deny themrespect and a place of honourin their locality, they will behave.When a worker knows that if heloses his job, he will not be outin the cold, he would put in hisbest. This was the Nigerian wayof curbing excesses andcorruption.

The National Assembly mustbe a place for honourable menand women of integrity. Nigeriamust return to its social valuenot adopting Western valueswholesale.

them. What is Nigeriangovernment waiting for to lookinward and come up with aNigerian social security systemthat takes care of the minimumneeds of the members of theNigerian society? What form ofeconomy is Nigeria evenrunning? Is it capitalism,certainly not? Capitalism isabout government providing anenabling environment for theprivate sector to become the

rent and flashing the moneyaround little girls and infrivolities. It is not aboutostentatious living with displayof the latest state of the art carsaround and building the tallestedifice in Abuja.

Capitalism is aboutinvestment. What are theinvestments Nigerianentrepreneurs are making?Apart from very few, Nigeria isa consuming nation. We import

WHEN the founding fathers of Western civilization adoptedthe capitalist philosophy, they realised that a free market

economy is not efficient in resources allocation. They put in placesocial and economic measures to provide for those who may be leftout of market provisions. Economics, generally, is of philosophicalinterest in three main regards. It raises moral questions concerningwelfare, justice and freedom. It raises foundational questions

We can stop corruption

The National Assembly mustbe a place for honourable

men and women of integrity,Nigeria must return to itssocial values not adoptingWestern values wholesale

THE FEDERALGovernment has said

that adequate utilisation ofavailable manpower willginger the realisation of vision20:2020.

The Minister of Labour andproductivity, Chief EmekaWogu, stated the governmentposition at the nationalvalidation workshop of a newdraft national labour migrationpolicy in Abuja.

Represented by thePermanent Secretary in theministry, Dr. Clement Illoh,Wogu noted that labour

migration had contributed notjust to national growth anddevelopment but also to peace,security, general well beingand harmony of the country.

This he said underscored theneed for the support of allstakeholders to the new draftlabour migration policy,expected to be forwarded to theFederal Executive Council,FEC, for approval andadoption.

Wogu noted that labourmigration was far from beinga new phenomenon, as womenand men had been leavingtheir homeland in search ofbetter lives elsewhere forcenturies, stressing that thedifference now was that labour

migration was a far morewidespread phenomenon inthis era of globalisation thanbefore, due to improvement ininternational communicationand transportation systems.

According to him,

Labour migration policy will spur Vision 2020 — FGBy EMMANUEL

ELEBEKE

committee on BusinessDevelopment is working onthe listing agenda for largecompanies in Nigeria. We arevery much align with the G8(Group of eight developednations) in reducing illicitfinancial flow from thedeveloping nations throughtransfer pricing or mispricing

.The idea is that they willbring more liquidity to themarket.”

The SEC boss also urgedboth the federal and stategovernments as well ascorporate entities to pay moreattention to the opportunitiesprovided by the capital marketin infrastructural financing.

mark.We will meet the target if the

power companies, thet e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n scompanies and themultinationals list their shareson the Nigerian StockExchange. Already, the sub-


FG can't meet infrastructure needs with N4.99trn spending — SEC DG

“Deploying organised labourmigration is key instrument fornational growth because thecontribution of organisedlabour migration is not just tonational growth anddevelopment but for peace,

security, general well beingand harmony. It is mostappropriate for us in view ofour abundant human resourcesto support the new draft labourmigration policy and deploy itwhen adopted as aninstrument of national growthand developmentunderpinned by our nationalvision 20:2020.


CMYK

Business & Economy

BRIEFSaccess to the domesticmarkets of industrialisedcountries and true regionalintegration are vital forAfrican businesses to strive.Tax evasion and illicitfinancial flows from Africahave to be efficiently reducedby policies in both sendingand receiving countries.

The exchange between theentrepreneurs and the younggeneration was anotherimportant aspect of theconference in Ghana. In thecontext of a Town HallMeeting, students of theUniversity of Ghana andvocational trainees discussedwith the entrepreneurs on jobcreation in Africa. Theyexchanged views with theparticipants of theentrepreneurs’ dialogue on

CREATING opportunitiesfor Africa’s young

population is paramount forthe positive development ofthe continent. This was theconclusion arrived at byparticipants that attended theAfrica-Europe Entrepreneurs’Dialogue. The event washosted in Ghana by DEG -Deutsche Investitions- undEntwicklungsgesellschaftmbH, at the initiative of theFormer President of Germany,H.E. Professor Dr HorstKöhler, Betty Maina and Prof.Fulbert Gero Amoussouga.

The conclusions of thethree days dialogue are toserve as input into the Post-2015 Agenda on newuniversal goals. In forumagreed that private sectorinvolvement is critical to leapfrog Africa development.Speaking at the forum Mr.Bruno Wenn, Chairman ofDEG’s Management Boardsaid “Without lastinglysuccessful businesses, thereare no jobs. We have to makesure that more and morepeople in developingcountries find qualified workthat enables them to make aliving for themselves andtheir families”.

Governments not onlyhave to create an enablingenvironment for doingbusiness at the national butalso the international level.This includes, among others,resilient global financialmarkets that serve the realeconomy, an open and fairtrading system, climaticstability, as well as curbedillicit financial flows. A fair

'Entrepreneurial spirit is key to promoting development in Africa'their expectations regardingAfrica’s youth and theeconomy.

Horst Köhler emphasisedthat a new Post-2015 Agendashould pay special attentionto the African continent, inview of the fact that Africa’spopulation is growing at twicethe rate of Latin America orAsia.

He added that by just 2025,one in four of the world’syoung people would comefrom Sub-Saharan Africa.“Young people needopportunities, they need jobs– and they are giving voiceto those needs”. He called fora greater commitment in thearea of vocational training inAfrica on part of thecompanies. “Education is thekey to almost everything: to

personal development andself-determination, but also toeconomic development andprogress in society ”.According to Köhler, thiswould also be in the interestof the companies, which needhighly skilled workers.

Horst Köhler, Betty Mainaand Prof. Amoussouga areMembers of the High-LevelPanel of Eminent Persons onthe Post-2015 DevelopmentAgenda that submitted theirrecommendation to UNSecretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the end of May. Thisreport feeds into thediscussion about newdevelopment goals. The newagenda is to define a seriesof universally relevant goals.The private sector plays a keyrole.

By OMOH GABRIEL

Africa, to help address manyof the issues faced by thesesmallholders such as povertyand lack of education, foodsecurity and basic socialamenities. OLAM Group wasawarded “The leadershipaward for sustainabledevelopment in Africa” at the2012 World Bank meetings.The award recognizes theOlam Livelihood Charter – theflagship Corporate SocialResponsibility program ofOLAM that will benefit up to500,000 farmers in Africa by2015.

The OAIP program as part ofvalue chain will create 600,000tons/annum of additionalprocessing capacity, 1 millionton of palm oil supply chainwith matching infrastructure,regional food supply chain aswell as 8500 direct and indirectemployment opportunities -25% for women - in upstream,sourcing, direct employmentand distribution.

borrowing entity. OLAMGroup, a leading globalintegrated supply chainmanager with a directpresence in 65 countries, hasbuilt a leadership position inmany of its businesses –including cocoa, coffee,cashew, sesame, rice, cottonand wood products. In Africa,OLAM Group is present in 26countries and conductsbusiness in 28 cou ntries. TheGroup’s Africa businessincludes an integrated supplychain of 16 products,employing 6800 employees,1700 of which are women.

OLAM Group works with 3.4million small-scale farmers inAfrica and has 110 initiatives,covering 1.4 million farmers in

African food and agriculturalmarkets are extremelyfragmented along regional,national and even local linesdue to the predominance ofsmall scale farming in theregion. Harnessing theopportunities in the sector andsuccessfully competing in theglobal market thereforedemands efficiency in thedeployment of labor andlogistics infrastructure to linksuppliers and buyers in theregion. The OLAM Group’sscale and existing distributionstrength will positively impactthe linkages.

OLAM Aviv InvestmentHoldings, Mauritius, a fullyowned subsidiary of OLAMGroup, will be the program’s

THE Board of Directors ofthe African Development

Bank (AfDB) has approved a$80 million senior loan in localcurrencies for OLAM AfricaInvestment Program (OAIP) todeepen the integration ofOLAM Group’s agriculturalvalue chain by investments inprocessing of wheat and palmoil in Africa. The programincludes five sub-projects inCameroon, Ghana,Mozambique and Senegal. Ultimately, this program willenhance the regional foodsupply chain and act as acatalyst to support job creationand improve sustainability ofagribusiness sector, therebyenhancing food security inAfrica.

AfDB okays $ 80m loan to boostagribusiness in Africa

Operators wantFG to createconduciveenvironment forgas development

MARGINAL FieldOperators have

urged the Federal Governmentto create conducive environment for gasdevelopment in Nigeria. Theoperators made the call inLagos at a forum jointlyorganised by the UK Trade andInvestment and NigeriaMarginal Field OperatorsGroup.

The forum, the first of its kindin Nigeria, had the theme,“Telling our Stories”. Mr DadaThomas, the ManagingDirector, Frontier Oil Ltd.,said Nigeria had huge gas potential yet to be harnessed.Thomas said that governmentshould “hands off ” the nation’s gas sector for it tobe developed. ``Nigeria, nodoubt, is a marginal gasproducer. Government must,therefore, create enablingenvironment and hands off gaspricing.

Foreign directinvestment toNigeria, SA fellin 2012 — UN

AFRICA was one of onlytwo regions in the world

to experience an increase inforeign direct investment in2012 but inflows to regionalgiants Nigeria and South Africadeclined, a United Nationsreport said. While global FDIfell by 18 percent last year,Africa bucked the trend withinflows increasing 5 percent to$50 billion, as countries likeMozambique, Tanzania andUganda reaped the benefits ofnew discoveries of oil and gas,according to the 2013 WorldInvestment Report publishedby the United NationsConference on Trade andDevelopment.

South America was the onlyother region to see a year-on-year rise in FDI inflows, whichgrew 12 percent, though flowsto the Latin America andCaribbean region as a wholedeclined. Although West Africahad the biggest share ofinvestment, flows to the regiondeclined by 5 percent to $16.8billion largely due todecreased investment in thecontinent’s top oil producerNigeria. Its FDI inflows fellfrom $8.9 billion in 2011 to $7billion last year due to politicalinsecurity and a weak globaleconomy, UNCTAD said.

From left: Director General, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Minesand Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr. John Isemede; Commercial Staff of the Embassy of Egypt inNigeria, Mrs. Eman Mabrouk; Minister Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Egypt, Usama Mito; Busi-ness Development Consultant of NASYDCO, Ashraf Eldah and Managing Director of FutureCompany, Egypt, Hany Mostafa during a business visit by some Egyptian Companies to NAC-CIMA Secretariat today.

CMYK


Business & Economy

BRIEFS

oil marketers, a refinery officialsaid earlier.

Essar has said it wants toraise $1.2 billion for asubstantial overhaul of theplant. But the EnergyRegulatory Commission (ERC)had said the refinery could beconverted into a different use,such as storage, if upgradingwas too costly. The refinery’smanaging director said in Aprilthat after its upgrading andexpansion, it would have acrude handling capacity of four million tonnes of crude peryear (79,000 bpd) by 2018 from1.6 million tonnes now.

of Kenya, Uganda and nearbyRwanda, who met in theUgandan capital, had said oneof the joint projects agreed wasto upgrade an oil productspipeline from Mombasa andextend it to Uganda andRwanda. The upgrade wouldallow products to flow bothways. Kenya’s refinery, run byIndia’s Essar Energy which co-owns it with the government,typically refines 4,500 tonnesof crude per day (about 32,000barrels per day), but this hasfallen to 2,500 or less due to adrop in buying it products by

major energy exporter.Uganda, keen to develop its oilreserves and which till now hasrelied on the Kenyan facility,is planning its own refinery.“The closing down of thisfacility is not an option,” theminister told workers, who hadprotested earlier in June. Ihave requested the refinerymanagement to quickly feed uswith the various options ofupgrade and their costs,” hesaid, adding it was critical forthe plant to remaincompetitive.

A day earlier, the presidents

KENYA plans to upgradeeast Africa’s sole

refinery located at the port ofMombasa, Energy andPetroleum Minister DavisChirchir told workers at theageing facility after the threatof closing it prompted protests.

The decision to keep theplant working was made asprospects for an oil and gasboom in the region intensifywith a string of discoveries inKenya and other nearby states,

These discoveries could soontransform an area that has longdepended on imports into a

Kenya to fix refinery after protests over closure plan

CONSUMER spending inthe US rebounded in

May and new applications forunemployment benefits fell,suggesting the economyremained on a moderate growthpath. The CommerceDepartment said that consumerspending increased 0.3 percentlast month after a revised 0.3percent drop in April.Consumer spending in Aprilwas previously reported to havedeclined 0.2 percent.

Last month’s spendingincrease was in line witheconomists’ expectations. Whenadjusted for inflation, consumerspending rose 0.2 percent lastmonth after dipping 0.1 percentin April. In a separate report,the Labor Department saidinitial claims for unemploymentbenefits fell 9,000 to a seasonallyadjusted 346,000. The four-week moving average for newclaims, which irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 2,750 to345,750. U.S. stock index futuresslightly added to earlier gainsafter the data. U.S. Treasuriesprices extended price gains andyields fell to session lows, whilethe dollar pared gains againstthe yen.

Recent data, includinghousing, regional factoryactivity, business spendingplans and consumerconfidence, have pointed to aneconomy that is regaining somespeed after stumbling early inthe second quarter. That isbroadly supportive of the viewthe Federal Reserve expressedlast week that the downsiderisks to the economy’s outlookhave waned. Fed ChairmanBen Bernanke said the U.S.central bank could start scalingback on the pace of its monthlybond purchases this year.

Consumer spending accountsfor 70 percent of U.S. economicactivity. Though the pace ofspending has slowed from the2.6 percent annual rate notchedin the first three months of the

Consumer spending rebounds,jobless claims fall in US

year, consumers will likelycontinue to drive growth in thesecond quarter. The firminggrowth theme held as otherdetails of the CommerceDepartment report showedincome grew 0.5 percent lastmonth, the largest gain sinceFebruary, after nudging up 0.1percent in April. That reflects a

steady pace of job gains.Households also saved a bit

more last month, lifting thesaving rate to a five-month highof 3.2 percent. There was alsoa bit of inflation in the economylast month, pointing to somepick-up in demand. A priceindex for consumer spendinginched up 0.1 percent in May

after declining two straightmonths. A core reading thatstrips out food and energy costsalso rose 0.1 percent after beingflat in April. Over the past 12months, inflation rose 1percent, still below the Fed’s 2percent target. The index hadincreased only 0.7 percent in theperiod through April. Coreprices were up 1.1 percent froma year ago after rising by thesame margin in April. Fallinghealthcare costs are dampeninginflation pressures. Bernankehas said the weak healthcarecosts were likely to transitory.

16 ships todischarge fuel,othercommodities atLagos ports

Sixteen ships are waitingto discharge

petroleum products and othergoods at the Lagos ports, theNigerian Ports Authority (NPA)has said. The “ShippingPosition”, a daily publication ofthe NPA, disclosed this onWednesday. According to thedocument, 12 of the ships willdischarge petrol at the variousoil terminals within the Lagosports.

One of the ships willdischarge diesel, one willdischarge ethanol, while two will discharge bulk malt andbulk salt. NPA said that 88ships, carrying differentcargoes, would sail into theports from June 27 to July 22.It said that 22 of the expectedships were coming with petroleum products, whileseven ships would be ladenwith new and used vehicles.Ships will arrive withcontainers, bulk salt, generalcargo, bulk wheat, bulkfertiliser, bulk malt.

A tax expert, Mr Agbeluyi Olushola, saidthat there was no law prohibiting revenue

authorities from videotaping while enforcingtax law. Olushola, who is the Chairman, IkejaDistrict Society of the Chartered Institute ofTaxation of Nigeria (CITN), said this in aninterview with the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) in Lagos.

He said that a revenue agency could adoptany approach to collect tax. Olushola wasreacting to an allegation that the Lagos StateInternal Revenue Service officers videotapedtax defaulters’ premises while enforcing tax law.

CITN says no law prohibits videotaping duringenforcement of tax laws

According to him, the issue of tax is about lawand practice. “The law gives steps and procedurethat a revenue agency is supposed to follow beforeyou distrain a company. Of course, there musthave been established liability. The liability musthave been communicated to the taxpayer; thetaxpayer has been given the opportunity to object.

“The objection must have been tabled anddiscussed leading to what is called final liability.The final liability must have been communicatedto the taxpayer and within certain period, ifcertain things are not done, then you take certainsteps toward distrain, so distrain is law.

Europe strikesdeal to push costof bank failureon investors

The European Unionhas agreed to force

investors and wealthy savers toshare the costs of future bankfailures, moving closer todrawing a line under years oftaxpayer-funded bailouts thathave prompted public outrage.After seven hours of late-nighttalks, finance ministers fromthe bloc’s 27 countries emergedwith a blueprint to close orsalvage banks in trouble. Theplan stipulates thatshareholders, bondholders anddepositors with more than100,000 euros ($132,000)should share the burden ofsaving a bank. The deal is aboost for EU leaders, who meetIn Brussels, and can show thatthey are finally getting to gripswith the financial crisis thatbegan in mid-2007 with thenear collapse of Germany’sIKB.

“For the first time, we agreedon a significant bail-in toshield taxpayers,” said DutchFinance Minister JeroenDijsselbloem, referring to theprocess in which shareholdersand bondholders must bear thecosts of restructuring first.

From left: Mr Ehi Brahimoh, MD, New Media and Marketing; Ngozi Nkwoji, Senior BrandManager, Maltina; Mr Edem Vindah, Corporate Media and Brand PR Manager, NigerianBreweries PLC and Mr Abayomi Abidakun, Asst Brand Manager, Maltina at the Maltinadance All season 7 The Evolution press briefing held in Lagos. Photo by Lamidi Bamidele.


CMYK

Banking & Finance

goods and services, makefunds transfer to people inother banks, and vice versa. Itis a seamless and fullintegration into the bankingand e-payment platforms in thecountry.

“It also buttresses the pointthat the way to go in modernbanking is not brick andmortal. E-banking enhancesinclusion of many people. Itallows those that have beenexcluded from bankingactivities to participate in andbenefit from bankingactivities. With thisdevelopment, we havebecome part of the nucleus tomake that work. This meansin a short period we are partof the nucleus of financialinclusion, which is beingadvocated by the CentralBank of Nigeria. That is

LOW interest rate regimeand long term funds are

critical to development of thereal sector and realisation ofthe vision 2020.

Honourary Adviser to thePresident on Electric Power,Engineer Joseph Makojustated this at the post annualgeneral meeting talk of theInternational Chamber ofCommerce Nigeria (ICCN).

“He said, “The truth of thematter is, despite the entirenoise making about gettingthe real sector to driveeconomic development; thefundamental requirement isdevelopment funding. Lowinterest rate and long termfunds must be available. No

matter the claim of what isbeing done or achieved inthis regard, they are just notthere. Efforts being madethrough institutions like Bankof Industry are insignificantespecially when compared towhat other competingdeveloping economies aredoing”.

He noted that presently, themanufacturing sector ’scontribution to the nation’sgross domestic products(GDP) is low. “The sector’scontribution to exports iszero, as most of our imports

are manufactured goods.However, no nation achieveddevelopment withoutsignificant increase in thecontribution of themanufacturing sector to GDP.”

He said that themanufacturing sector hashigh growth potential due tothe natural endowment of thecountry, but the developmentof the sector had beenundermine in the past byinconsistent governmentpolicies. He said the situationhas however improved inrecent times due to stable

macroeconomic stability andreforms in various sectors ofthe economy. He cited theexample of the cementindustry, which now producesall the cement consumed inthe country, as an example ofhow to use government policyto enhance development ofthe real sector. Makoju saidthat what is required is forgovernment to play the roleof an enabler, by putting inplace measures that will aidmanufacturing across thecountry.

Meanwhile, ICCN hasmade a case for governmentto actively engage the privatesector for the development ofthe economy. Speaking at the14th annual general meetingof the Chamber in Lagos lastweek, Chairman of theChamber, Mr. BabatundeSavage said, “The activeengagement of the privatesector is necessary for thesuccess of sustainabledevelopment and povertyalleviation. The role of ICC tofoster more foreign directinvestment through globalpresence and drive improvingglobal recovery strategies isquite germane. To that end,ICC Nigeria would focus moreon sustaining investors’confidence in the systemthrough the introduction ofICC products and services ina bid to establish internationalbest practices, which wouldultimately help build peaceand prosperity."

infrastructure and electronicpayment platform of thebank.”

He said, “Most banks takequite a long time to integrateinto the NIPS platform, butwithin a very short period ofour existence, within two tothree months, we haveintegrated into their system.Our entire payment platformshave been fully integrated.And we are functional, up andrunning. So for us it is a realground breaking and recordsetting achievement, and itreflects confidence from an e-payment switch like NIBSS.

“Also it expands our businessenvironment. We are nowconnected to other e-paymentswitches, banks, bankingplatforms. People can now useour internet banking platformto make instant payment for

HERITAGE BankLimited has been

integrated into the InstantPay Platform of the NigeriaInterbank Settlement System(NIBSS).

With this development,new and existing customersof the bank can makepayment and transfer fundsthrough Point of Saleterminal, ATMs across thecountry, and from any of thebank’s branches andelectronic payment platforms.

NIBSS communicated thisdevelopment to banksandelectronic payment firmssaying, “Please be informedthat Heritage bank has beenmigrated to the NigeriaInstant Payment (NIP)production environment.Kindly accept all upstreamtransactions from them”

Commenting on thisdevelopment, ManagingDirector/Chief Executive,Heritage Bank, Mr. IfieSekibo said the integrationreflects confidence in therobust information technology

people being able to use ourplatform to make payment,instantly and from anywhere.It is a record breaking thingof joy for us.”

Formed from the defunctSociete Generale Bank(SGNN), Heritage Bankcommenced operations inMarch, promising to be atechnology driven andcustomer centric bank. Thebank took off with an accountverification exercise aimed atverifying the customers of theformer SGBN, with thepromise of paying them theirdeposits in the former bank.One month after its inception,Heritage Bank introduced freeCOT charge for all its accountholders, therebydemonstrating its readiness tooffer efficient banking servicesat least cost to customers.

'Low interest rate critical to achievingvision 2020 in real sector'

Stories by BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

Heritage Bank integrates intoNIBSS Instant Pay platform

From left: Adekunle Salau, Advisory Leader for West Africa, Ernst & Young; OlapejuOluwajana, Head, Compliance Subsidiary Monitoring & Corporate Governance Compliance,First Bank Plc; Dayo Babatunde, Financial Services Leader for West Africa, Ernst & Young;Mr. Pattison Boleigha, Chief Compliance Officer, Access Bank Plc; Mrs. Bunmi Akinde, SeniorPartner, Advisory, Ernst & Young and Mr. Abass Adeniji, Tax Leader for West Africa, Ernst &Young, at the FATCA Breakfast Forum organised by Ernst & Young in Lagos.

BRIEFSukuk testsindustry’sappetite forcomplexity

INTERBANK lendingprogrammes that

securitise sukuk are testingthe Islamic finance industry’sability to digest complexfinancial products. Somefirms are starting to combinesukuk, using portfolios oflong-term issues to backshort-term certificates. Thislets them create liquidityprogrammes that address amajor weakness of theIslamic finance industry: apersistent shortage of moneymarket instruments neededby Islamic banks to managetheir short-term funds.

Such is the approach usedby Liquidity ManagementCentre (LMC), a Bahrain-based wholesale Islamicbank. “The programme isvery simple: we have an SPV(special purpose vehicle)where we book all the sukuk.The SPV is fully backed bysukuk of different tenors andrates,” said Ahmed Abbas,LMC’s chief executive. Therising number of sukukissuers globally is making iteasier to manage theprogramme, and LMC plansto double its size in a year’stime from about $120 millionnow, Abbas added.

“As we speak, we arereviewing our offeringcircular. We will have moreoptions in terms of tenors,rates and liquidity.” Headded, “As we see moreissuers come to the market,the programme can grow. Thishelps in geographicaldistribution, the number ofissuers - it helps on manylevels.” A similar format is tobe used by the Malaysia-based International IslamicLiquidity Management Corp(IILM), which plans to launcha Luxembourg-domiciledprogramme of its own. All ofthe assets will be eithersovereign, sovereign-linkedor supranational assets,” saidEric Gretch, senior director atStandard and Poor’s, whichrates the programme.

For example, Nigeria is onlyjust starting to develop Islamicfinance; its cocoa-producingOsun State plans to issue thefirst sukuk in the country, a 10billion naira ($62 million),seven-year issue, by the endof July. But the Nigeriancentral bank issuedguidelines in December forasset-backed securities thatwould use IILM certificates ascollateral - essentially creatingthree layers of sukuk.


Banking & Finance

they are asked to pay.”On the benefits the portal

offers to job seekers, she said,“When we did our job fair, itwas well received with manyemployers attending. Butmany of them did not come.So this portal offers to theaverage Nigerian studentsthe opportunity for their CVsto be seen not only byemployers in Nigeria butemployers globally. The wayit works is that on the portal,each country has its own site.For instance, we have a sitefor Nigeria, so somebody inHong Kong, Malaysia canactually go there and look atthe CVs on the site. And ifthey feel that this person isactually qualified and theywant to speak to the person,they can actually contact himor her.”

qualified financeprofessionals that they need,”she said.

Explaining how the portalworks, she said, “We areoffering free listings foremployers and also free CVuploads for all our students.

It is a career portal,employers go there and putup the vacancies that theyhave. Sometimes theemployers go into the systemand look for CVs that theythink match the vacancies thatthey have.

And all these, we are doingit for free in Nigeria, and thisshows that Nigeria isimportant to us in Africa. Alsowe recognised that thesethings are not easilyaffordable by all, and we needto face realities becausesometimes when students gothrough recruitment agents

ASSOCIATION ofCertified Chartered

Accountants has launched afree job portal designed toconnect employers with itsmembers and students.

Speaking at a media briefingin Lagos, Country Manager,ACCA, Nigeria, Mrs.Ademola said that the jobportal was developed andintroduced globally by ACCAto provide job opportunitiesfor its members.

“Basically this was set up asthe official website of ACCA,and it is already being usedin United Kingdom and Asia.Nigeria is the first country inAfrica to be on the portal. Thereason for that is we areinterested in providing jobopportunities for our studentsand members.

Also we are interested inproviding employers with the

ACCA launches free job portal formembers, employers

Stories byBABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

BRIEFSUS mortgagerates soar to2-year high

US mortgage ratessurged last week to

their highest level in almosttwo years and threatening toslow the housing industry’ssteady recovery.

Mortgage buyer FreddieMac said that the averagerate on the 30-year fixed loanjumped to 4.46 percent, thehighest level since June2011. That’s up from 3.93percent from the previousweek. It was the largestweekly increase in the 30-year rate since April 1987,Freddie Mac said. Theaverage rate on the 15-yearmortgage jumped to 3.50percent from 3.04 percent.That’s the highest sinceAugust 2011. A year ago, therate on the 15-year mortgagewas at 2.94 percent.

The increases follow risingyields on the 10-yearTreasury bond in the wake ofFederal Reserve ChairmanBen Bernanke’s commentsthat the Fed could starttrimming its stimuluspolicies later this year if theeconomy continues toimprove. Mortgage ratestrack the 10-year Treasuryrate, which is at a two-yearhigh.

The monthly mortgagepayment jumps to $1,008 amonth at a rate of 4.46percent. That’s an increaseof $127 a month, which over30 years adds $45,720 to thecost of the loan. The figuresdon’t include taxes andinsurance.

BANK DirectorsAssociation of Nigeria

(BDAN), the umbrella body ofnon-executive directors ofbanks, has charge nonexecutive directors in the fourrecently licensed banks toprotect the interest of allstakeholders.

BDAN President, OlorógunDr. Sunny Kuku gave thischarge at the luncheonorganised by the Associationfor new members fromHeritage Bank Limited, JaizInternational Bank, RandMerchant Bank and FSDHMerchant Bank.

Advising the non-executivedirectors of the banks, Kukusaid, “First, they shouldensure they are trained ingovernance especially forfinancial institutions; it is notexactly the same like wherewe are coming from.

“Then, they should alsorealise that there is a lot ofresponsibility is put on them.And one of the most importantthings is that they must haveknowledge, they must knoweverything that is going onbecause ignorance is not anexcuse. They should go andread the governance code ofthe CBN. They cannot claimignorance. Then they mustnot interfere with operations,just as management must notinterfere with oversight.

From left: Sir Steve Omojafor, Chairman, Zenith Bank PLC; Olorogun Sunny Kuku, Presi-dent, Bank Directors Association of Nigeria and Mr Ifie Sekibo, MD, Heritage Bank during theBusiness Launch to welcome the Directors of the newly licensed banks to Bank Directors Asso-ciation of Nigeria held in Lagos on Friday. Photo by Lamidi Bamidele.

Protect interest of all stakeholders,BDAN charges new members

“They must also realise thatthe stakeholder is not just theshareholders whom theyrepresent but also thedepositors and creditors, aswell as the regulators. So theymust not only look after theinterest of the shareholdersbut also after the interest ofdepositors and creditors. If

they do that, then they wouldbe successful”.

On his part, Guest Speakerand Chairman of ZenithBank, Sir Steve Omojaforadvised the new members toalways consider the legacythey want to leave behind.He said, “So, how do youwant to be remembered? By

all standards, you haveworked hard since you leftschool, some prefer to sayuniversity, and you haveworked your way fromapprenticeship to the top ofyour career. An adage saysthat “a good name is betterthan gold.” Do you share inthis old, may be, worn-outsentiment? So whatlegacy will you leave behind,besides your wealth? (Whichothers might help yousquander when you are gone,anyway!) What will societyremember you for, besidesbeing one of the big boys whohad so much money anddidn’t know what to do withit? “Will you be rememberedas the highly principled, yetsuccessful professional) whonever compromised onintegrity? One, whocontributed a little extra touplift crumbling standards,One, who helped send anindigent youth to school?Helped dig a borehole for thecommunity? Contributed tobuilding a school, a church ora mosque? What will your ownchildren remember you for,besides being that rich,successful parent, who couldafford the best of everythingfor them - holidays in DisneyLand, Dubai, Paris or may beFlorida? What values are youleaving behind for yourchildren to inherit? I mean)values that will see themthrough the challenges of life,long after you’re gone?”

GE moves to newoffice to supportgrowth

GENERAL Electric (GE),has discloed its

relocation to a new office spaceto accommodate the rapidgrowth of its operations inNigeria. The new office spacelocated in Victoria Island,Lagos, will provide capacityfor the expansion of thecompany’s capabilities.

Speaking during thecommissioning of the newoffice space, President andCEO, GE Nigeria, Dr.Lazarus Angbazo, said thatthe company’s aggressivegrowth plans for Nigeria, hasnecessitated moving itsoperations to a larger facility.

He added that the move tosuch a world-class officefacility was in line with GE’sefforts to invest in their localpresence.


CMYK

Corporate Finance

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

DESPITE the fall in theshare prices of listed

companies in the last twoweeks, shares of many of theconsumer goods companiesremain slightly over-pricedand will likely experience morecorrections, said theManaging Director, FinancialDerivatives Company, Mr.Bismark Rewane.

Rewane said that unlike theconsumer goods sector,banking stocks are under-valued and have the potentialto withstand the presentdownturn in the market.

Making the postulation inhis bi-monthly review of theeconomy for June, 2013, ‘Bi-Monthly Economic andBusiness Update, he said, “Atcurrent level, the marketremains slightly overpricedwith a trailing price toearnings (P/E) of 13.9x andmany of the consumer goodsstocks still trading at a P/E ofgreater than 30x. We expectthe correction to continue inthis sector, although we do notexpect an Armageddon asmost stocks in the sector aredefensive and are likely toweather the storm.”

He, however, stated that themarket looks cheap on thebanking sector perspective,saying, “All listed banksexcept Stanbic IBTC HoldcoPlc, Union Bank Plc and WemaBank Plc, are trading in singledigit P/Es, with the mostattractive being UBA andAccess Bank with a P/E of 4.9xand 5.8x respectively.

“Given that stocks in thebanking sector are held byportfolio investors with a long-term outlook and the strongearning power of the sector, weexpect banking stocks toremain resilient even inturbulent times. Data alsoshows that there has beenmore buying than selling oftier one banks shares in the lastthree months, giving the sectora stamp of approval byinvestors.”

He added, “The major riskto the market, as we stated inour LBS publication in May,remains the price of crude oiland the exchange ratedirection. Despite our bullishstance on the long-term growthof the index, we believe astructural depreciation of thenaira could result in a majorsell-off in the market. For now,we consider this unlikely, butthe risk still exists.”

He further noted that thereversal witnessed so far hasbeen sharper than the growthwhere the All Share Indexreached 40,000 basis points inMay.

His word, “The NigerianStock Exchange’s (NSE) AllShares Index (ASI) isexperiencing a torrid June.

could settle for an amountbetween $300 million and $550million, Yinusa said, noting thatit will issue a minimum maturityof seven years in order for thebond to qualify as Tier II capitalon its books.

In an investors’ presentationprepared for the bond, it said theproposed 10-year bond will becallable after five years and willbe listed on the Irish StockExchange.

It would be recalled that lastmonth, Fidelity Bank, issued a$300 million 5-year Eurobondpaying a seven per cent yield.

Also, FBN Holdings Plc, theparent company of First BankNigeria, announced a few weeksago that it plans to raise$500million by selling aEurobond this year. The ChiefExecutive Officer, FBN Holding,Mr. Bello Maccido, said that themoney was needed to financeinvestments in loans andinfrastructure.

He said, “The bank intends toexpand its investment bankingand commercial business as wellas insurance.”

ended in no deal, accordingto the Chief Finance Officer,Abdulrahman Yinusa.

He stated that due to theprevailing circumstance, theplanned bonds issuancewould take place in July,while pricing and tenorwould be dependent onmarket conditions.

Sources close to the dealsaid that Diamond Bankhad wanted to issue the bondat a yield of six to eightpercent penultimate week,mirroring the seven percentyield that rival lender,Fidelity Bank, fetched on its$300 million Eurobondissue in May.

According to Yinusa, “Theissue as well as the pricingwill happen some time inJuly. We have only done theroad show,” adding that thebank had met GoldmanSachs and Fidelity fundmanagers, among otherinvestors during the roadshow.

Depending on the pricingand tenor, Diamond Bank

DIAMOND Bank’s questof raising fresh funds

amounting to $550million frominternational market may havehit the rocks as foreigninvestors have shown nointerest in buying into it.

The debt was part of $750million needed for itsoperations, of which $200million had already beenraised last year

According to the bank, freshfund would enable it toincrease lending to the oil andgas, power and infrastructuresectors.

Already, France’s BNPParibas and Afrexim Bankhave been contacted as leadmanagers to the bonds.

However, the bank’s two-week investor road show toBritain, Switzerland and theUnited States last week, whichwas meant to update fundmanagers on the bank andgauge appetite for the issue

After a strong performance inMay and an impressive startto the month of June, crossingthe 40,000 points along theway, the market reversal wassharper than the rise.

“The ASI suffered its firstconsecutive five-day fall, itslongest losing streak in a year,with a compounded loss of 7.5percent (2,987.94 points) inthe five-day period between

the 12th June and 18th ofJune. The loss was due toinvestors taking profit onstocks that had depreciatedin the recent bull-run.

The month-to-date returnsof -2.04 percent is the lowestmonthly return figure sinceJune 2012. Given thecurrency depreciation overthe period, the loss in dollarterms amounted to 3.2

percent. The disruption that hasgripped the bond market for overa month has now descended onthe equity market as well.

Bond yields have been risingas prices decline as a result ofreduced demand for FGN bondsby foreign portfolio investors. Thesituation has not been helped bythe depreciation of the naira,which has exposed portfolioinvestors to forex losses.”

‘Consumer goods companies'sharesover priced, to fall further’

Foreign investors shun DiamondBank’s $550m bonds

BY NKIRUKA NNOROMwith Agency Report

BRIEFS

From left: Chairman, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), Mr. EmekaMadubuike and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Access Bank Plc, Mr.. AigbojeAig-Imoukhuede at the Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria, ASHON capital marketnight in Lagos recently.

Heirs Holdingsinvests in newNASD tradingplatform

TONY Elumelu ’s HeirsHoldings, the pan-African

investment companyannounced that it has taken astrategic stake in the new NASDtrading platform which willcommence operations on July1 this year.

Following the group’s recentinvestment in Africa CommodityExchange Limited (AFEX),which Heirs Holdings co-founded with the US-basedBerggruen Holdings, thisannouncement representsanother significant move todevelop equity and commoditytrading in Africa.

The NASD is an alternativetrading platform created by theNational Association ofSecurities Dealers to bring moreliquidity to Nigeria ’s capitalmarkets. It has been licensedby the Securities ExchangeCommission (SEC) to trade abroad range of instrumentsover-the-counter includingunlisted equities and bonds inNigeria. NASD will join theNigerian Stock Exchange(NSE), as well as the recentlycreated Alternative SecuritiesMarket (ASEM) designed forunlisted stocks and fast-growing SMEs to bring morechoice and transparency tothousands of companieslooking to trade their shares onan open, regulated market.

PartnershipInvestment bossdonates toorphanages

FOR the fourth yearrunning, two orphanages in

Benin City , OronsayeOrphanage & Maternity andEdo Orphanage & MaternityHome have received chequesof half a million naira (FiveHundred Thousand Naira)each to pay the school fees oforphans in the two homes.

The donations were made byMr. Victor Ogiemwonyi, theManaging Director & CEO ofPartnership Investment Plcwho, as part of the PartnershipScholarship Scheme, set up thecharity project in 2010 to helppay the school fees of childrenin the two Orphanages.

Presenting the cheques to thetwo homes in Benin , Mr.Ogiemwonyi, through amessage delivered by thecoordinator of the Scheme, Mr.Ogie Eboigbe, said, thePartnership ScholarshipScheme was in fulfilment of hispledge to, by the grace of God,continue to pay the school feesof the children in the Homeswho show promise of benefitingfrom formal education.

CMYK


Corporate Finance

JAPAUL Oil &Maritime Services Plc

has recorded a turnoverof N12.3 billion for thefinancial year endedDecember 31, 2012,representing a growth of20.9 per cent from N10.2billion recorded in thecorresponding period of2012. The firm alsorecorded a growth of 5.8percent in its gross profitfor the year under review,from N4.722 billion in2011, to N4.999 billion.Meanwhile, Japaul’sProfit After Tax (PAT)dropped by 171.7percent from N980.438million in 2011 toN283.732 million in 2012.

Speaking toshareholders at the 8th

Annual General Meeting(AGM) in Lagos lastweek, Chairman of

Japual Oil turnover up by 20 %… Explains drop in profit

Nigeria controls largest construction market in Africa— Lafarge WAPCO boss

By PETEREGWUATU

Japaul Oil & MaritimeServices Plc, MajorGeneral J. Omosebi saidthat the local contentpolicy of the FederalGovernment supportedthe company’s business ,and commended thegovernment for itsinitiative.

According to him,during the year underreview, there were no newinvestments by oil majorin the industry simplybecause they werewaiting for the passage ofPetroleum Industry Bill(PIB) by the nationalassembly. He noted thatstiff competition withforeign vessels ownerspersisted during the yearunder review, but thelocal content policyhelped to reduce theconsequence.

On operating result ofthe company for the year2012, the Chairman

explained that theincrease in the company’sturnover was a pointer tothe fact that it had morebusiness opportunitiesduring the year 2012 than2011, which wasexpected to result intohigher profit. Accordingto him, “ However, theprofit for the year 2012though good s expectedbut due to somecircumstances and incompliance with the

newly introduced policiesin preparing statutoryfinancial returns, the netprofits was much lower.

Meanwhile, theManaging Director/CEO,Japaul Oil & MaritimeServices, Mr. JegedePaul in an interview withnewsmen on way forwardfor the company , he said“Well ,we are expectingimproved performance interms of high return oninvestment.

By FAVOURNNABUGWU& RUTH ODINA

From left:Assistant General Manager, Consultan-cy and Training, Osun State Investment Coy Ltd,MrsHarriet Amale; Managing Director/CEO, MrBola Oyebamiji; Regional Sales Manager, NestleNigeria Ltd, Mr Dayo Adekoya; and Senior Man-ager, Bulk Purchase, OSCIL, Mr Ganiyu Owolawi,during the presentation of Outstanding Perform-ance star prize of Tata Pickup by Nestle to OSICL,in Oshogbo, Osun... on Thursday.

WITH an estimatedmarket potential of

cement consumption ofrunning over 50 million

metric tons per annum,the structure behind thegrowth in the sector couldbe traced to the cementmarket where Nigeria’scement producers andinvestors alike arespearheading expansionand growth of the countrycement sector

Managing Director ofLafarge Cement Wapco,Mr. Joe Hudson, whodisclosed this in Abuja,stated that its financialaccounts for three monthsended 31 March 2013show as follows : ProfitAfter Tax (PAT) grew 49per cent year on year ,y/yto N6.1 billion withmodest sales of N23.3billion; Its profit before tax

(PBT) grew 21 per cent y/y due to a number offactors such as a grossmargin expansion of181bps to 42.8 per cent,flattish opex and a 35 percent decline in net interestincome. A lower tax rateof 15.7 per cent comparedwith 31.8 per cent in firstquarter 2012 resulted inprofit after tax growingfaster than profit beforetax, the sales grew 29 percent quarter on quarterq/q, while profit before taxand profit after taxadvanced by 46 per centand 56 per cent q/qrespectively. Looking atthe outlook for the year2013, Hudson, said

“Outlook for the rest of theyear remains positive aswe continue to leverageon improvements and costefficiency initiativesdeployed during theyear”. According to him,‘‘We are leading therequired differentiation inthe Nigerian cementmarket and will continueto deliver value to ourcustomers andstakeholders through ourinnovative products andservices”.

Continuing, he said,“Our ReadyMix businesshas become a preferredsolution in the concretesector in Nigeria. We areexpanding with 3 newplants across the nation.Lafarge Powermax hasalso been launched; aninnovative 42.5AL highquality performancecement that is used forlarge construction projectslike bridges, high risestructures, slabs andbeams, spun pipes,garden paths anddriveways etc. “Lafarge isa multinational companyheadquartered in Paris.Lafarge is the worldleader in cement andbuilding materials. Whatdifferentiates us in themarket is that we believestrongly in economic andsocial progress, and weare already present insixty-four countriesaround the world.

“From Lafarge, werealize that this countryneeds cement andbuilding materials to grow,and although we are notthe biggest in the marketin terms of size, we aredemonstrating leadershipthrough the values that webring to the market andour stakeholders.

CENTRAL Securitiesand Clearing System

Plc (CSCS) said it grewits profit after tax for theyear 2012 by 158 percentriding on the back ofprudent financialmanagement of resourcesand successfulimplementation of acorporate transformationagenda.

Speaking at the 19thannual general meetingin Lagos, the Chairman,Mr. Oscar Onyema, saidthat the profit after taxsoared from N1 billion toN2.58 billion in 2012,while, profit before taxwitnessed a growth of 77percent from N1.73billion to N3.06 billion in2012.

The company alsoposted total revenue ofN5.17 billion in 2012, up

CSCS achieves 158% profit growthBy NKIRUKANNOROM

by19 percent from theN4.19 billion in 2011.

Following theperformance, N750million, amounting to15kobo per sharedividend was declared atthe meeting, up fromN500million paid in theprevious year.

Onyema noted thatapart from the growth inprofitability, total assetsrose from N13.64 billionin 2011 to N15.43 billionin 2012, adding that theincrease in dividenddeclared was inconsideration of thecompany’s commitmentto shareholders and thecost implications of itsfuture strategy.

He disclosed that infurtherance of its growthobjectives, CSCSbenchmarked its processand risks frameworkagainst the Committee onPayment and SettlementSystems.

26 —Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 1, 2013

CMYK

Micro-Finance


CMYK

THE number of customers patronising Microfinance

Banks (MfBs) in thecountry is about six mil-lion on the average, Na-tional Association of Mi-crofinance Banks(NAMB) has said.

President of the associ-ation, Mr. Jethro Akun,who said this at theassociation’s third AnnualGeneral Meeting, notedthat about five millionactive clients are onrecord.

Akun said, “I am proudto say that MfBs nation-wide has total client list ofsix million, out of which

NGSL calls for patronageof local products

NIGERIA Gas and Steel Limited (NGSL),manufacturers of steel welded pipes and

tubes for structures and buildings, has calledonindustry stakeholders to partner with the companyto promote local content.

In a statement to Vnguard, the Managing Director,NGSL, Mr. Hasib Moukarim, said that it hascontacted the Federation of Construction Industryby sending letters of introduction and presentingthem at different forum to recommend to governmentofficials and private sectors the benefits of local steelpipes.

Some invited associations in the constructionindustry include; Nigeria Institute of Architects,Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, NigerianInstitution of Civil Engineers, Nigerian Institute ofQuality Surveyors, Nigeria Institution of StructuralEngineers and Nigeria Institute of Building.

“The steel pipes as a genuine replacement of steelbeams are imported into the country and are heavierand costlier. This informed our decision to enjointhe association to consider the thick steel pipes forsteel structures and buildings in executing newprojects and infrastructures in the country,” he said.

Commodity Index

five million are servicingone form of loan or anoth-er.

“We have also contrib-uted our quota to the na-tion by providing an ave-nue for job creation;22,000 people havegained employment fromthe work of MfBs nation-wide.”

He called on govern-ment and other develop-ment partners to joinhands to further promotethe sub-sector.

“NAMB is soliciting formore funds aimed at pro-viding stability, refinanc-ing and venture partner-ship to MfBs and institu-tions with potentials.

“We continue to enquireon the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing sys-

tem for Agricultural Lend-ing (NIRSAL), which is aCBN innovative mecha-nism targeted at de-risk-ing lending to the agricul-tural sector,” he said.

For poor rendering ofpremium by the associa-tion, he urged members topay their dues and rendertheir returns to CBN andNDIC to enable themfunction efficiently.

Meanwhile, he revealedthat members have in-vested more than N222billion into Nigeria’seconomy.

He explained that thestatistics on the contribu-tions are based on theCentral Bank of Nigeria’sreport on the activities of900 registered MfBs inthe country as at Decem-ber 31, 2012.

“We recorded a total ofN125 billion as depositand N97 billion was giv-en out as loan, which allaccrued to N222 billion,”he said.

THE Nigeria DepositInsurance Corpora-

tion (NDIC) has said thatthere is a huge untappedpotential for financial serv-ices at the micro level ofthe country’s economy.

Managing Director ofthe Corporation, AlhajiUmaru Ibrahim, said thisat a workshop organisedfor operators in the Micro-finance banking sector inLagos.

Umaru, represented byDirector Special InsuredInstitutions Department,NDIC, Mr. Bashir Umar,said, “With an estimatedpopulation of over 160million people in Niger-ia, 70 per cent of whomare involved in the infor-mal sector and 76.8 percent of the rural residentsunbanked (according toresearch by EFInA, 2010),it goes without sayingthat there exists a hugeuntapped potential for fi-nancial services at themicro level of the Nigeri-an economy.”

Speaking on challeng-es, he explained that theregulatory authorities arenot unaware of the numer-ous challenges facing thesub-sector.

Such challenges in-clude but not limited tounder-capitalisation, illi-quidity, high cost of funds,high operating cost, poorinfrastructure, and false

life style of proprietors/managers of microfinancebanks. “Accordingly,measures are being put inplace by regulatory au-thorities to provide reliefto microfinance banks.”

His words, “For in-stance, the MicrofinanceDevelopment Fund (nowMSME DevelopmentFund) to provide whole-

sale funding for on-lend-ing is being finalised bythe Central Bank of Ni-geria. Also, theCorporation is putting inplace a framework forfinancial assistance toMfBs with intention topromptly intervene andassist the MfBs toovercome temporaryliquidity problems.

NAMB clientelebase hits 6m

Financial services at micro leveluntapped — NDIC

Stories byPROVIDENCE OBUH





Homes & Housing Finance

•Affordable housing development

‘Low insurance penetration hampershousing development’

Stories by YINKAKOLAWOLE

LOW level ofi n s u r a n c e

awareness andpenetration in Nigeriahas been identified asone of the factorshampering thedevelopment of thenation’s housing sector.

Managing Director,Union AssuranceCompany Limited, Mr.Godwin Odah, noted ina statement that noeconomy can thrivewithout a vibrantinsurance sector whichcan breedentrepreneurship thatwill in turn, lift thehousing sector. Heasserted that insuranceprovides a platform formobilising funds, whichis critical to housingdevelopment. “We need

long term funds in thehousing sector, which iswhat life insuranceprovides,” he said.

The Union Assuranceboss noted that there iscurrently acute shortageof long-term funds which

entrepreneurs need togrow the economy,because Nigerians areyet to appreciate lifeinsurance as a naturalway of saving for theirlong-term needs. “Lifeinsurance comes in the

category of 5, 10 and 15 -year plans and so on. Ifa sizable number ofNigerians, with thecountry ’s huge

population, invests just asmall proportion of theirincome in insurance, theeconomy will expandbecause the money willbe made available toinvestors who can thengrow their businesses onlong-term basis,” heexplained.

According to Odah,funds at the disposal ofbanks are short-term innature and most times,have a tenor of 90 days.“With this condition,banks can only lendshort-term at highinterest rates that arelargely a disincentive tothe entrepreneur in thereal estate business. Butthe situation will be betterif banks had insurancelife funds.”

Odah said it’s notpossible to achieve

sustainable expansion inthe housing sectorwithout mortgageswhich, according to him,will be easier if theinsurance componentwas available to make thedream of housing for alla reality. “The insurancecomponent takes care ofthe initial depositrequired by the mortgagefirms. But becauseinsurance companies arebackward in terms ofpatronage of lifeproducts, these long-term funds are notavailable fordevelopment. Pensionfunds, which are anothercomponent of insurance,have generated within ashort period, about N3trillion. Talks are ongoingto develop a frameworkfor investment of themoney for infrastructuredevelopment and inother sectors. This is ademonstration of whatlife insurance funds cando for nationaldevelopment,” heconcluded.

CROWN Estate, owned by Queen Elizabeth, saidit made record profit in the year to March as a

result of the strong performance of its central Londonproperties. Crown Estate’s 5.2 percent rise in profits to252.6 million pounds gives the queen a 38 millionpounds 2014/15 payout, pegged at 15 percent of thetotal by a 2012 law designed to link her income to theUK’s economic health. The rest of the profits go toBritain’s Treasury or finance ministry.

Owner of wind farms and most of Britain’s sea bedalong with its Regent Street properties, the companyhas outperformed the wider economy due to strongoverseas interest in London property and the UK’sgrowing reliance on green energy. “We are proud thatanother record Crown Estate performance will againmake a strong contribution to the nation’s finances,”said Chairman Stuart Hampson. The company’sproperty portfolio is now worth 8.1 billion pounds. It isnot allowed to borrow in capital markets and has formedjoint ventures with overseas funds to finance itsredevelopment plans.

London property boom:Queen makes record profit

Ogun lawmakers approve N2bnFMBN housing facilityOGUN State House of

Assembly hasapproved a bill grantingthe request by the stategovernment to obtain aN2 billion real estatedevelopment loan facilityto provide affordablehousing for residents.

The bill also authorisedthe Accountant General ofthe Federal Governmentof Nigeria to issue anIrrevocable StandingPayment Order (ISPO) forthe amount in favour ofFMBN. The stategovernment requestedfor the loan to be usedfor the development ofaffordable housingprojects in the threesenatorial districts of thestate.

Chairman, HouseCommittee on Financeand Appropriation, Mr.Olusola Bankole,observed that there was anurgent need to upgradevarious housing estatesspread across the state,which the loan will caterfor. “With thisdevelopment, the stategovernment can now goahead to obtain the N2bnReal Estate Developmentloan facility from theFederal Mortgage Bankof Nigeria to provide lowcost housing and theissuance of IrrevocableStanding Payment Orderby the Accountant-

General of the Federationin favour of the FederalMortgage Bank ofNigeria,” he said. In hisreaction, Commissionerfor Housing, Mr. DanielAdejobi, said it isnecessary for the stategovernment to join handswith the federalgovernment in reducinghousing deficits in thecountry. He said thefacility would beaccessed throughGateway Saving andLoans, and would bestrictly used for the

development of housingestate for workers and thegeneral public across thestate. Adejobi said allworkers and citizens whoare contributors to theNational Housing Fund(NHF) automaticallyqualify to benefit from theproposed housingprojects. “We alreadyhave drawings accordingto the specifications ofthe Federal MortgageBank of which the stateHousing Corporation isserving as thedeveloper,” he added.


Insurance

“But the point must be madethat the company is not onliquidation at this moment.The court has only approvedadministrators for thecompanies for a period of sixmonths, as agreed with NICin Ghana, whilst theshareholders are resolvingtheir issues,” he said.

B&FT learnt the company’sfinancial situation has put thefirm’s policyholders in a fix.

It was gathered that thecommercial court on therecommendation of the NIChas appointed President of theGhana Insurance BrokersAssociation, Mr. AsanteMarfo-Ahenkorah, and theManaging Director of ClaimLimited, Daniel Afriyie, asadministrators of the life andgeneral insurance business ofthe troubled company in linewith procedures to liquidatethe assets of IGI afterDecember this year.

The administrators have beengiven a six-month duration tocomplete their work, and thecost that will be incurredthrough the administrators’

THE National InsuranceCommission, NIC,

Ghana, has secured a courtorder to take over theIndustrial and GeneralInsurance (IGI) subsidiary intheir country.

A report by B&FT, said themove has paved the way forthe eventual liquidation andclosure of the company ’soperations in the country.

Information availableindicates that the move by theindustry regulator to closedown IGI’s operations followscash flow insolvency issuesand operational difficultiesfaced by the company, whichhas made it difficult to settleand pay claims as they falldue.

A source from the companysaid IGI has long indicated itsresolve to divest from Ghanaand allows NIC Ghana to takeover the company.

He said the decision todivest is as a result ofirreconcilable differencesbetween the company and themajority shareholders and itslocal Ghanaian directors.

activities will be borne by theNIC and later reimbursed byIGI as instructed by the court.

B&FT enquiries haverevealed that all the generalinsurance policies held by thecompany ’s clients haveexpired, except life insurancepolicyholders who will beaffected by the liquidationprocess. However, plans arebeing fashioned by the NIC,to transfer them to otherinsurance firms that are robustenough and interested toaccept the life insurancebusiness of IGI to enableclients to continue beingserved.

IGI, a Nigerian-controlledinsurance firm with particularfocus on special risks such asoil and energy, engineering,aviation, and industrial riskmanagement entered theGhanaian market in 2008 whenit acquired the operations ofNetwork Assurance as part ofits Pan-African expansiondrive.

The company on entering themarket bought several sharesof the publicly-traded SIC

Insurance Company.However, IGI’s underwritingprofit has been awful andrecorded several losses,drawing concern about thecompany’s entry strategy andfocus. Adding to thecompany’s woes has beeninfighting among thedirectors, which stalledrecapitalisation plans.

The NIC, whose mandateunder the Insurance Act 2006(Act 724) is to ensure effectiveadministration, supervision,regulation, monitoring andcontrol of the business ofinsurance to protect theinsurance industry andpolicyholders, said itsenforcement action against IGIhas been necessitated by thecompany ’s violations ofvarious provisions in theInsurance Act.

The Administratorsappointed by the insuranceregulator are required toproffer recommendation to theNIC and lead court actionagainst IGI Ghana Limited ina bid to protect the interestsof policyholders, customersand the public; and preserveand prevent IGI fromtransferring, disposing of ordealing with any of itsproperties.

CHAIRMAN of NigerianInsurers Association,

NIA, Mr. Remi Olowude, hassaid that the volume ofbusiness underwritten by theinsurance industry in 2012was estimated at N240 billion.

Olowude gave the figure atthe Association’s 2012 AnnualGeneral Meeting in Lagoslast week.

Olowude, who wasrepresented by Mr. GodwinWiggle, the NIA ViceChairman said the figurerepresents 10.24 per centincrease against N217.7billion recorded by theindustry in 2011.

He, however, said that theindustry had continued tograpple with inadequateinfrastructure and unstableweather which exposedinsured assets to naturaldisasters such as floods.

He said “The currentperformance of the industryhas not been sufficient for itto reach the critical massnecessary to make the desiredimpact on the economy. Theindustry’s contribution to thenation’s Gross DomesticProduct, GDP, remains at lessthan one per cent in 2012.”

Olowude said that theAssociation was reviving theNigerian Oil and EnergyInsurance Pool to improve theindustry ’s oil and energyunderwriting capacity.

He noted that theAssociation organised 14training programmes for itsmembers in 2012 which

included collaboration withthe GIZ of Germany to buildcapacity on microinsurance.

The Chairman said that theAssociation had completedand started deploying the firstphase of the NigerianInsurance Industry Database(NIID) Motor InsuranceModule. Olowude said that

delay in claims payment hadreduced as its memberscontinued to live up to theirobligation of prompt claimspayment to policy holders.

Director-General of the NIA,Mr. Olorundare Thomas, saidthat the Association wasworking with the NationalInsurance Commission on themoney laundering andterrorist financingprogramme.

He said that the NIA hadadvised its members to takeadditional steps to preservethe integrity of the industry.

IGI Ghana faces liquidation

STORIES BYROSEMARY ONUOHA

InsurerInsurerInsurerInsurerInsurers unders unders unders unders underwritwritwritwritwrite N2e N2e N2e N2e N240bn40bn40bn40bn40bnbusiness in 20business in 20business in 20business in 20business in 201111122222

BRIEFS

From left: Mr. Fola Daniel, Commissioner for Insurance; congratulating the new President ofthe Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, CIIN, Mr. F.K. Lawal while Lawals wife looks on.

Natural disastersto cost $23 billionby 2050

THE annual cost of naturalcatastrophes in Australia

will soar from $6.3 billion to$23 billion by 2050 because ofpopulation growth andincreasingly extreme weather,a new report claims.

A new focus on preventionand mitigation is needed,according to the AustralianBusiness Roundtable forDisaster Resilience and SaferCommunities. The roundtable– comprising the CEOs of theAustralian Red Cross, IAG,Investa Property Group,Munich Re, Optus andWestpac Group – was formedlast December to championresilience investment.

It says governments spend$50 million each year on pre-disaster resilience, comparedwith $560 million on post-disaster relief.

Investing $250 million ayear on resilience would cutrelief spending by more thanhalf and generate savings ofmore than $12 billion by 2050.The group says building moreresilient homes in cyclone-prone areas of Queenslandwould reduce the properties’risk by 66 per cent and save$3 for every $1 spent.

Macroeconomictrends, slowgrowth ratethreateninsuranceindustry

AS insurers adjust to a newenvironment of lower

asset returns and stricterregulation, macroeconomictrends and a slow growth ratetop the industry’s risk agenda,according to a new reportreleased today by Ernst &YoungBusiness Pulse:Exploring the dualperspectives of the top risksand opportunities in 2013 andbeyond.

The report states “Ourresearch is based on a surveyof executives at over 65insurance companies acrossthe globe, who shared theirinsights and perspectives onthe factors driving the industryover the next five years. Thestudy identified the top 10most important risks facingthe industry, along with theopportunities insurers cancapitalize on.

“In their search for growthand revenue, insurers need tooptimize capital and assetliability strategies, remain costcompetitive, while not losingsight of their customers’ needs.


THE great masses of thepeople ..will more easily

fall victim to a great lie thanto a small one”, Adolf Hitler,1889-1945, GermanChancellor. (VANGUARDBOOK OF QUOTATIONS p130).

“Privatisation of electricitydistribution in the country willcome into effect next January,Power and Steel Minister,Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu saidyesterday. DAILY TIMES,November 10, 1995.

Hitler, one of history’s mosthorrible leaders and arguablythe worst in the last century,discovered one secret which allbad rulers share. They rungovernments which lie to thepeople all the time. In fact,lying is the centre piece ofgovernment policy for suchrulers. Fortunately, noNigerian leader had come closeto Hitler, perhaps becausenone of our leaders had apropaganda chief as inventiveas Joseph Goebbels, 1897-1945. But, even though lackingin the genius for releasing

POWERFUL LIES: Familiar stories on blackoutswhoppers, our leaders havetried to deceive us virtually allthe time.

Perhaps, on no single matterhad Nigerians been told morelies, than on power generation,distribution and supply. And,they have all been great lies.The statement credited toAbacha’s Minister of Powerand Steel was dug up from athick file which had beenmaintained on the power sectorin Nigeria since 1994. Readingfurther, the Daily Times reportrevealed that the reasons whythe Federal governmentwanted to privatise the powersector at the time were the sameadvanced by the Obasanjoadministration in 2001, theYar’Adua government in 2009and now the authorities underJonathan in 2011 till date.There is no need to list all ofthem. Only one importantreason overrides all the rest –inability of government toguarantee supply of gas tothose power plants designed touse gas.

Bearing in mind that

confession, past and presentgovernments have continuedto deceive Nigerians that theywere/are capable of providingregular and increasing supplyof power over time. They havefailed miserably and they willcontinue to fail as long as thosegas pipelines remain asvulnerable as they are now. Asthe reader can see; for almosttwenty years, Nigeria hadmade very little progress onpower – including the threeyears Jonathan had been ingovernment. That is the truth.Apart from using differentwords, the underlying attitudehad remained the same as thefollowing examples willillustrate.

When Dr Ezekwesili, formerMinister of Educationchallenged the government toexplain what it did with $43billion in external reserves, itmet in 2007, one responsecame from Dr Reuben Abati,Senior Special Adviser to thePresident and a Ph. D holder.Writing under the titleHYPOCRISY OF

YESTERDAYS MEN, Abati,among other things, asked theformer Minister to disclose howseveral billion was spent whenshe was Minister.Furthermore, he went on toclaim that the Jonathanadministration, which began in2010, met power distribution atunder 2,000MW, and hadincreased it to 4520MW as atthe time our erudite scholar wassending copies of that articleto the media. It was intellectualdishonesty at its worst. Even,the worst undergraduate in anyof our universities can see thatAbati’s response failed toaddress the simple question:how was $43 billion spent?Furthermore, the President’sspokesman left the impressionthat 4520MW was beingdistributed steadily everydaywhen in fact that shameful featwas achieved for only a fewdays, and since then it hadbeen the familiar story of lessthan 4000MW distributedevery day – a target reachedbefore Yar’Adua departed thisworld.

“ ,

,Abacha’s was a military anddraconian regime, which hadmore powers to deal withsaboteurs than any other sincethen, it is noteworthy that eventhat government admitted itsimpotence in this regard. Yet,without an iron-cast guaranteewith respect to the regular anduninterrupted supply of gas,privatization will not solve ourproblem in the future.

Instead of making this

For almosttwenty years,Nigeria had

made very littleprogress on

power –including thethree years

Jonathan hadbeen in

government


Appointment & [email protected] 08033348923

DIRECTO- GENERAL ofthe Standards

Organisation of Nigeria,SON, Dr. Joseph Odumoduhas been elected President ofthe African Organisation forStandardisation, ARSO.

In an election held inCameroun, the new Presidentwill steer the continent’sumbrella body in charge ofstandardisation and qualityassurance for the next twoyears.

ARSO, 34 member countrieswith one vote each, had only19 nations present at theweeklong event and General

Assembly, where the newpresident was elected.

Odumodu contested theposition with the Director-General of Malawi Bureau ofStandards, MBS, Mr. DavlinChokazinga, after thewithdrawal of theircounterpart from Sudan.

In his acceptance speech,Odumodu said he wouldwork with all the membernations of the organisation totackle the problem of lowindustrial capacity fordiversified manufacturedgoods.

He pledged to steer thecontinent towards efficientlymanaged standardisation andquality regime to boostAfrica’s contribution to globaltrade from the current threeper cent and 10 per cent of itsintra-African trade.

Odumodu called on otherAfrican countries to joinhands with Nigeria in thebattle against dumping whichhe said had been afflictingthe economies in the region,negatively

According to him, “Africancountries have enemies whodump products on them atprices that make it difficult forAfrican Countries to compete;enemies who dump radio-active products on us withoutour knowledge because we donot have sophisticatedinfrastructure to test”.

Odumodu noted sinceAfrican countries might nothave the capacity to fight thisonslaught as individuals, itwould be advisable to fight itas a body.

He said henceforth, ARSOwould be using the auspicesof the various regionaleconomic blocs to marshal itsplans and agendas, as itrespond to internationalconspiracies.

Also speaking, thechairperson of InternationalStandards Organisation, ISO,committee for Developingcountries, Mrs. Evah Oduor,lamented the low level of intraAfrica trade which she saidcurrently stood at 10 percentcompared to Europe with 40percent.

Odumodu heads African Organisationfor Standardisation

and leadership training programmes, seminars,workshops on industrial relations, health, safetyand environment, locally and internationally,among which are ‘Organisational Behavior andConflict, U.S.A., Conflict Resolution andCollective Bargaining at Dubai, United ArabEmirate.

Other courses attended are leadershipDevelopment programme at Slough, London,U.K., Leadership Conclave for UnionExecutives and Labour leaders at Schaumberg,Chicago, South land, ILLinois U.S.A.

Aberare is alumni of University of Benin andAmbrose Alli, University, Ekpoma respectivelywhere he read for the Diploma Certificate andBsc (Honours) degree in Public Administration.

He is a highly experienced trade unionistwith wealth of experience spanning over threedecades with demonsratable leadershipqualities that has brought succour and comfortto oil and gas workers.

NIGERIA Union of Petroleum and NaturalGas Workers, NUPENG, has confirmed

Isaac O. Aberare, as its General Secretary.The confirmation was done at the last Central

Working Committee, CWC, meeting in Lagos.Until his confirmation, he was the Acting General

Secretary of the Union. Born on January 21, 1954, Aberare attended

Ibru College, Agbara-Otor in Delta State, andworked at Trans Kalife and the defunct NewNigeria Bank Limited, NNB.

He joined NUPENG in 1982 and rose throughthe ranks, holding the position of Senior AssistantGeneral Secretary and Administrative Head ofboth Warri and Port Harcourt Zonal Councils ofthe union, before his promotion and transfer tothe union headquarters in Lagos as DeputyGeneral Secretary (Operations).

He was promoted the Acting General Secretaryin June 2012.

Aberare attended many trade union education • Aberare

NUPENG confirms Aberare General Secretary

MINISTER of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu,has said the emergence of Bobboi Bala Kaigama as

President of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, will further uniteand build the Nigerian workforce through social dialogue; averitable tool in national development.

Similarly, National Union of Textile, Garment and TailoringWorkers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, congratulated Kaigama, saying“politicians are encouraged to learn from your commendable freeand fair election.”

Wogu in a statement through Prince Samuel Olowookere,Assistant Director (Press) in the Ministry, extended the Ministry’sand Parastatals felicitation to the new officers of TUC while assuringthem of his readiness to continue to partner with TUC in line withinternational best practices in the labour sector.

He urged the Kaigama led administration to toe the line ofestablished paradigm shift in government/labour relationshipwhich emphasized a move from confrontational government/labourrelationship to a dialogue based approach in resolving all labourrelated impasses.

Wogu added that the administration of President GoodluckJonathan was a pro-workers regime as demonstrated by itsworkers’ friendly disposition and policies, soliciting the continuoussupport of labour for the transformation agenda, aimed at jobcreation and national infrastructural development.

On its part, NUTGTWN in a congratulatory letter to Kaigama byits General Secretary, Issa Aremu, said “On behalf of the NationalExecutive Council (NEC) of the union and the generality of ourmembers, we wish to formally congratulate you on your deservedelection as the 7th President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC)at your recently concluded National Delegates’ Conference heldat the International Conference Centre, Abuja on Friday 21st June,2013.

Peter Esele, immediate past President-General and Bobboi Kaigama,newly elected President of TUC, after the election in Abuja.

Minister, textile unioncongratulate new TUC president

Chelsea bags2012 gin of theyear Award

AFRICAN Brand Review,has named Chelsea

London dry gin from the stableof International DistillersLimited, IDL, as the best ginfor the year 2012.

Other brands like PowerHorse, Golden PennySpaghetti, ArmorAll amongothers, won awards in theirrespective categories.

Mr. Ayodele Joseph,Executive Secretary of theaward committee, said theawards were instituted tocelebrate outstanding brandswith the view of helping themto grow. He said it was noteasy for brands to outlive theirowners or the generation inwhich they were introducedand so, it was imperative forall to appreciate brands thathad been able to achieve suchfeat.

In addition, he said that itwas the organisers’ dreamthat African brands would beable to compete with itscounterparts abroad.

The parameter for theawards was based on thequality of the products,distribution network,customer satisfaction amongother things.

Qlichy.comannouncesAkindele brandambassador

FAST growing onlinebusiness networking

platform, Qlichy.com, hasannounced star actress, FunkeAkindele as brandambassador.

She was presented to asection of the media at aceremony held inside thepremises of the QuadrantCompany in Ikeja, Lagos.

Her presentation came onthe heels of a successfulofficial launch in April and atown storm campaign in Mayby the brand.

Qlichy.com is a multi sitebusiness portal, news serviceand e-commerce platformwhich is linked to theInterswitch platform forpayment purposes.

The platform has beenenjoying growing patronageand traffic since its launch inApril. Qlichy.com offersaccess to platforms likeBIZPOINT, TALKPOINT,SALESPOINT, PLAYPOINTand THOUGHTPOINT forbusinesses and consumers tomeet and interact.

BRIEFS

•Odumodu


Agric

BRIEFSThe Minister ofAgriculture, Dr.Akinwumi Adesina ina chat with theGovernor of Ogunstate, Senator IbikunleAmosun at the openingceremony of the 40thmeeting of theNational Council onAgriculture held inAbeokuta, last week.

The Managing Director ofthe bank, Dr. MohammedSanturaki in a chat with theCommissioner for Agriculturein Edo state, Abdul Oroh atthe meeting in Abeokuta.

IFAD trains 9 onfish productionin Jigawa

THE International Fundsfor Agricultural

Development (IFAD) hassponsored nine people toSabuwa Fish Farm in KatsinaState to study how to producefish feeds in Jigawa.

The State Coordinator of theorganisation, Alhaji UmarAbubakar, disclosed this inDutse stated that theofficials, who had finished theprogramme, were nowstationed in Garki LocalGovernment Area of Jigawa,teaching other farmers whoare interested in fish farming.

The coordinator said that thefish feeds were made frommaize, ground nut cake, andsoya beans starch and palmoil.

Abubakar said that a farmerneeded a minimum of N5, 000to produce the feeds thatwould sustain the fish in hisfarm for about three months.

‘’This is far cheaper to thetime when our farmers usedto go to Kano or Kaduna to buyfeed for about N40, 000 butnow they need only N5, 000to produce the feed,’’ he said.

The coordinator said thegesture by IFAD was part ofefforts to encourage fishfarming and improveagricultural production in thestate.

THE 40th meeting of theNational Council on

Agriculture and RuralDevelopment held in Abeokuta,Ogun state last week wasanother opportunity for Dr.Akinwumi Adesina, theMinister of Agriculture, to reelout the efforts of the presentadministration at making thecountry sufficient in foodproduction.

Coming on the heels of theaward given to Nigeria forachieving the MillenniumDevelopment Goal (MDG) 1 onhunger, three years ahead ofschedule, Akinwumi Adesinasaid the country could notafford to be a net importer offood anymore.

“Nigeria can no longercontinue to be a sleeping giant.We have to wake up and turnNigeria into a globalpowerhouse in agriculture,” hesaid. Adesina said thegovernment is implementing atime-bound aggressive plan tounlock Nigeria’s potential tobecome an agriculturalpowerhouse.

“Yearly, Nigeria imports over11 billion U.S. dollars worth ofwheat, rice, sugar and fish.However, Nigeria is importingwhat it can produce inabundance; this importdependency is hurtingNigerian farmers, displacinglocal production and creatingunemployment.

He explained that the visionof government is to makeNigeria an agricultural andindustrialised economy, usinga government-enabled privatesector-driven approach,” hesaid. Speaking on the efforts ofthe government to useagriculture as a tool foreconomic development,Adesina disclosed that theAgricultural TransformationAgenda (ATA) introduced bythe administration has beenable to end age long corruptionin fertilizer distribution in thecountry through the GrowthEnhancement Support Scheme(GES).

Nigerian Farmers’ net incomehas increased by 174 Billion

Rice farmerscommend KebbiGovt on fertiliserdistribution

THE Rice FarmersAssociation of

Nigeria (RIFAN) inKebbi; have commended thestate governmenton the method it adoptedfor the distribution of fertiliserto farmers.

The Chairman of thea s s o c i a t i o n , A l h a j iMuhammed Idris, who gavethe commendation inBirnin Kebbi, saidthat the measures takenwould stop fraud anddiversion of the commodity.

He said the distribution ofthe commodity at pollingunits would enable genuinefarmers to benefit.

The chairman saidthe association would ensurethat only registeredfarmers share the 60 bags offertilisers allocated toeach polling unit across thestate. Idris called onthe rice farmers to report anycase of diversion or improperconduct during thedistribution of the commodity.

Our policies are to make Nigeriafood sufficient — Adesina...N591bn flows into economy so far

By JIMOH BABATUNDE,with agency reports

Naira due to the ATA’s activitiesin five value chains, Cassava,Rice (Dry Season and RainySeason), Sorghum, Maize andCotton. He said billion of Nairahas been saved for thegovernment through the policy,adding that the ATA is focusedmore on value addition with thepriority areas as cotton, onion,tomato, sorghum, maize,soybean, oil palm, cocoa, rice,cassava, livestock and fisheries.

Adesina disclosed theFederal Government hadgenerated N591 billion from thecultivation of value-chains inrice, cassava, sorghum, maizeand cotton within two years.

CASSAVAOn Cassava, Adesina

disclosed that the country is thelargest producer of cassava inthe world and that the focusmust be to make the country thenumber one processor as wellas number one exporter .

Export opportunities exist fordried Cassava chips ,as theWorld’s Leading Cassava

producer, Nigeria is Wellpositioned to benefit from theexport market .

He said China’s demand issourced mainly from SoutheastAsia: Thailand (54%), Vietnam(38%) and Indonesia (4%) ,while Nigeria supplies lessthan 5% of volumes.

“Nigeria has potential tobecome major global playerwithin two years as dried chipspreferred to South East Asia’sdue to higher quality level.

Adesina added that theGovernment has Secured 3.2million MT Of contract ordersfor Nigerian dried cassava chipsfrom Chinese importers, addingthat based on existing contracts,Nigeria can earn between $802Million and $1.37 Billion fromdried chips exports to Chinaand Europe

“We must lift cassava fromsubsistence level to a majorcommercial and industrial cropcapable of attracting big timeinvestors and create about 1.2million jobs to the CassavaSub-Sector in Nigeria by 2015.”

He listed some of theachievements in the cassavasector to include, 21,059 farmers

benefiting from distribution of315,898 bundles of improvedplanting materials;standardization of recipe forcassava bread by three trainerorganizations, namely: Parkand Shop, FIIRO, and IITA, andSweet Sensation and training of385 master bakers in six geo-political zones in the productionof Cassava bread.

HORTICULTUREOn horticulture, the Minister

of Agriculture disclosed thatNigeria is not a majorhorticultural produce exportingcountry, yet it is noted as one ofthe leading producers of tropicalfruits and vegetables in theworld. He regretted that lessthan 5% is processed in thecountry while 40 -51% accountfor wastage of the total outputas about 55% is consumed freshby Nigerians.

“The overall objectives are toboost production and increaseproductivity – tomato from 8-50 tonnes/ha with nationaloutput from 1.86mt – 3.35mtannually, and bridge the deficitgap of 500,000 tons fresh fruitsfor domestic consumption.


BRIEFS

Aviation

the Aviation RevenueAutomation Programme, theacting DG said there was a highlevel of compliance adding thata meeting has been heldbetween the NCAA and

THE acting DirectorGeneral of the

Nigerian Civil AviationAuthority, NCAA, Dr JoyceNkemakolam, says, theAuthority will no longer toleratethe flouting of aviation laws bysome airline owners andoperators. And that thegrounding of aircraft andsuspension of operating licenceof airlines can be avoided ifaviation rules are obeyed.

Speaking to reporters in hisoffice at the Aviation House inIkeja, Dr Nkemakolam said thatgrounding of airline can beavoided if operators adheredstrictly to the regulatoryrequirements and rulesguiding the airline operationswithout violations.

“If there is no violation orflouting of these regulations ofcourse, there will be nosanction. We want to eradicatethe culture of impunity whichsome operators have penchantof taking liberty of. This has gotto stop” He said the agency wasplanning to invite all operatorsand re sensitize them to adhereto regulations guiding theiroperations adding that oncethey follow all the regulatoryrequirements that groundingcan be avoided.

On private jets owners, DrNkemakolam explained thatthere were limitations andrestrictions to the use of privatejets for leisure adding thatanybody flying with friendsshould be captured in theirinsurance policy. “If you havea Third party insurance policyyou can fly with them. However,if you don’t, you are workingoutside the realm of yourlicense. You must make surethat those you intend to carryare covered”

On compliance by airlines to

International Air TransportAssociation IATA on the processto collect the cargo taxes underthe automation regime addingthat the agency was tighteningup loose ends.

On airline recertification, hesaid NCAA will soon embark onrecertification of all AOCsissued pre 2009 adding thatthose that were issued post2009 don need to recertification.

FEDERAL Airport Authority of Nigeria,FAAN, has said that the judgment of

Honorable Justice Buba of the Federal HighCourt Lagos on June19, 2013 in respect of AICland concession involving FAAN has not beenset aside by any other court and so, AIC limitedcannot claim to be in possession of thecontroversial land.

.Yakubu Dati, Coordinating Spokesman,Aviation Parastatals ,revealed in a statement that‘’ The attention of the Federal Airports Authorityof Nigeria has been drawn to a press release byAIC Limited, claiming that it remained in fullpossession of the project site for its controversialhotel project at the Murtala Muhammed Airport,Ikeja, dispite the judgment given in three

consolidated suits, related to the concession, infavour of FAAN by Honorable Justice Buba ofthe Federal High Court Lagos on June19, 2013.’’

Dati further said ‘’We hereby advise membersof the public, especially aviation stakeholders,to disregard such untenable claims by AIC Ltddesigned to pull wool over their eyes, and assurethem that the ruling by Hon. Justice Buba onthat land concession still stands.’’

‘’We wish to assure the public that as a law abidingand responsible corporate citizen, the FederalAirports Authority of Nigeria will not engage in anyact that would amount to disrespect to the judiciary,in the same way that we shall not allow any unrulyconcessionaire to trample on the collective right ofall Nigerians, which FAAN represents on this issue.’’

JIGAWA State Governor,Dr. Sule Lamido has

commended the Minister ofAviation, Princess StellaOduah for her developmentalstrides in the aviationindustry and praised hercommitment and vision inturning around the fortunesof the industry, noting thatthe Agro-Perishable CargoExport initiative by theminister would augur well forthe nation.

A statement by Yakubu Dati,General Manager, CorporateCommunication, FederalAirport Authority of Nigeria,FAAN said the governormade the commendationwhen a team of FederalAirports Authority of Nigeriaofficials led by the Director ofCargo Development, DrRowland Ofulue paid him acourtesy visit at Dutserecently.

The governor said that theuncommon commitment andvision of Princess Oduah wasresponsible for the successrecorded in the sector, addingthat the agro-commoditiesexport initiative would yieldeconomic benefits to the ruralareas.

We want to eradicate cultureof impunity in aviation — NCAA

Buba’s judgement on AIC land concessionstands — FAAN

LamidocommendsAviation Minister

By LAWANI MIKAIRU

By LAWANI MIKAIRU

From left: Maurice Phohleli, Etihad Airways’ General Manager, Nigeria and West Africaand Omokehinde Ojomuyide, MasterCard Vice President and Area Business Head, West Afri-ca during the partnership signing event between the two companies in Lagos.

African Glassannouncesexpansion

AFRICAN Glass Ltd hasannounced the planned

expansion of its glassoperations in Nigeria. Itintends to set up a state of theart float glass plant. Theplant will have a capacity of500 tonnes per day. Thecompany and its Europeanconsultant have completed amarket study in the last sixmonths. The company willlocate this new plant in OgunState. The state of the arttechnology will be providedby a Europeansupplier; negotiations are atthe final stage.

The spokesperson for thecompany Barrister UcheIwuamadi stated that the $80million investment would bethe first step in theirdiversification into the floatglass production arena tosupply the Nigerian and WestAfrican markets. AfricanGlass currently suppliesglass for constructiondomestically and toneighbouring ECOWAScountries.

REGIONAL Manager,West Africa, Emirates

Airlines, Mr. Manoj Gopi Nairweekend said EmiratesAirlines was bent on ensuringthat Nigerian passengers haveseamless travel experienceacross the world.

Speaking during aninteractive session withnewsmen in Lagos, Mr. Nair

Nigerians should have seamless travelexperience, says Emirates boss

BY DANIEL ETEGHEpointed out that Nigeria is animportant market in the WestAfrica sub-region adding thatthe airline has the neededconnectivity for its Nigerianpublics.

He said ”The key focus areafor us is about what ourcustomers wants, ease oftransactions. That is making iteasy for them to be with us, givethem a value for their moneywith a good product andservices, you know making sure

that our customer basedconnects well to the network thatwe have got as well as makingsure that our vast network isconnected to Nigeria with theaim of giving Nigerianpassengers a seamless travelexperience”

‘’From my side what wehave started looking at is, theease of doing transactions inNigeria, we are looking atvarious options through whichwe can make internationalconnection throughinterconnectivity whileworking with a Nigerianpartner like Arik Air to makethings easier particularly fromthe Lagos Airport and we seeNigeria as a hub and thoseare the areas that we arelooking at and making keycollaboration with viablestakeholders in the industry”he added.

According to him, Nigeria isa viable market in West Africanoting that Emirates Airlineswas making sure that Nigerianpassengers were beenconnected to the vast networkof the airline in the East, Westand even in the South-East Asiawith a great value for theirmoney.



ICT

what my price is like comparedto competition, I will tell youthat my price is reasonablyvery competitive as regardswhat I am offering. What I amoffering is superior in themarket.

Product development andmarket research

What Samsung looked at isthe market gap. BeforeSamsung launches a product;there is so much research thatgoes into it. If you go to ourretail shops you will observethat we have unique sellingpoint for the products. Thisproduct was in response tofilling a gap. The productinitiative started about twoyears.

Motivating factorThe motivating factor is

innovation and that is why

A l lyou need to dois to clickWindows 7platform andw o r kseamlessly as you want.Windows 8 is a very goodplatform to work on. It isdesigned for easier interaction.

The system as laptopYou cannot carry it around

because of its weight. If youremove the stand you canmount it on a wall. The rangeof the keyboard and mouse tothe PC is about three meters. Itcan go as far as the eyes can goworking with the system.

Challenges and Nigerianmarket

In any product launchingthere is always a challenge andthe only challenge we see is theability of Samsung tocommunicate effectively forpeople to know much aboutthe good product. What I knowis that there is no individualwho has talked about theproduct and desirous aboutbuying a desktop and see thisproduct without admiring it andbuying it. We will move as muchas possible to position theproduct in the Nigerian market.We have platforms likebillboards, jingles and pressadverts to really engageconsumers.

Target marketWe are focusing in Nigeria.

Interestingly we have otheroffices that cover other WestAfrican countries.

Sizes and price rangesIn Samsung, we really don’t

believe in talking about prices.This is because we bring thevalue to the table. If you ask me

Samsung invests so much inresearch and development. Wecome out with products thatmeet the need. We don’t justchurn out products, but we lookat what meets consumers' need.On examining what makes lifeeasier, we come up with theproduct. And that is why theproducts are hit whenever theycome out because they areproduced to meet needs.

Nigerian and African marketInterestingly, the Nigerian

market is not yet matured butit is fast developing. Thereason is that here we are notretail oriented. This PC is aretail product. It is a productthat will be in stores wherepeople will walk in and feel itand take it home. If you wantto buy a product in somemarkets, the man selling it maynot even open it for you to seewhat you are buying and thefeatures. That kind ofmarketing does not help.

Desktop marketJust as Samsung is, we bring

the best of our innovation intoany market we operate.Desktop market is fast eroding.Be that said, people still needto have that desktop feel.Instead of having a clutter ofwires and cables in the officeor home, you now have onemain box on the desk. Thismakes everywhere tidy andgives the office class on its own.

PC sizesIt is for corporate

environment and much morefor families. There is asyncronisation between allSamsung products. All in Oneis such that when you have aSmart phone, you can have theSamsung all share functionthat makes it to work. In ahome, for example, if the familyhas All in One PC in the homeand the father has the smallertablet and the mother has asmart phone and the childrenhave phones. All of them canall link up and access theirinformation from the All in Oneat home. So wherever anyindividual is so far the systemsare linked with home Sync,anybody can see theinformation.

Hard disc size and speedThe speed is high. The

graphic is awesome, even thegraphic engineers andcompanies will like the product.It has 1000 gigabyte disc whichis big and enough for anyapplication.

Does the PC has wiredkeyboard and wired mouse.The keyboard and the mouseconnect wirelessly with theunit. A user does not need thecabling challenges that peoplealways face with desktop. Apartfrom that, it comes with highspec. The processor is a thirdgeneration processor.

MTN Nigeria, last weekended the 2013 edition

of its annual staff volunteerismprogramme, 21 Days of Y’elloCare, which focused oneducation. The annualprogramme, initiated by theMTN Group in 2007,encourages MTN staff in all its21 operating countries inAfrica, Asia and the MiddleEast to volunteer theirresources, time and skills toassist others and thecommunities where they liveand work.

Chief Executive Officer,MTN Nigeria, Mr. BrettGoshen, noted that MTNNigeria through theprogramme has contributed itsquota towards improvingeducational standards,providing an enablingenvironment for learning andinstilling the pivotal role ofeducation in the developmentof the nation.

interest ingfeatures likeall touchfunction, a user canuse his ten fingers. Ifyou have been usingsome taps you noticed thatyou can use only one finger,if your finger holds, the usermay not be able to use anotherfinger to punch. But with thenew PC all the ten fingers canwork differently on the screen,it is a unique product.Building on the premiumaspects of the Samsung Series9 Notebook, the new All-In-One (AIO) PC inheritsSamsung’s advancedengineering craftsmanshipwith highly finessed andstylish design. Beyond highperformance, the newSamsung AIO PC Series 7 hasbeen crafted to deliver anentirely new AIO PCexperience.

Other players with similarsystem

We must create awareness ofthe product. With competitionof similar product in themarket, Samsung has strongadvantage. The unique thingabout Samsung All in Onedesktop includes the ten touchfinger function, voicerecognition. What we havedone is to incorporate morefeatures into the Samsung unitthat will make it user friendly.You will be interested to knowthat kids will enjoy itawesomely. The uniquefeatures we added will give usan edge in the market and ourpositioning is to engage themedia and there are otherplans in the pipe line as itconcerns creating awareness.

Windows seriesIt comes in Windows 8. It is

Windows 8 that really supportsthe touch function. Theinteresting thing aboutWindows 8 is that if you arecomfortable with Windows 7platform, it has both platforms.

BRIEFS Much research goes into samsung's products— Oyelayo, Head, IT Samsung W/Africa

INTEL corporatec o m m u n i c a t i o n s

Manager Mr Osagie Ogunborhad revealed that one of themajor problems why women aredisconnected with ICT anddigital literacy is mainly notabout interest but about tightschedule due to so manyactivities occupying theNigerian woman.

He however commendedsome of the women who havebraced the odds to play in theInformation andCommunications Technologyfields, saying that it was a greatsacrifice.

Ogunbor in an exclusive chatwith Vanguard said that “womenwho are bracing the technologyat the moment do so out ofsacrifice. Our advise is that morewomen key in on the potentialsof ICT so as to make theirbusinesses and even their homechores very easy.

For him, this realization is whatmade his company, Intel corp tocome up with digital training forwomen, which he said is at themoment yielding a lot ofinterests and benefits.

Intel laudssacrifice ofWomen in ICT

By PRINCE OSUAGWU

MTN donatesdigital libraries toround off 21 daysof Y’ello Care

By ADEBADE ADEJIMI

The office appliances market is becomingfascinating especially as research players comeup with innovations that delight consumers.Samsung, a player in digital media andconvergence technologies, recently introducedAll-in-One desk top PC Series. Mrs. FolashadeOyelayo, Head, IT Solutions for Samsung WestAfrican market told PRINCEWILLEKWUJURU that the PC is a hybrid of a desktop, with the CPU, the monitor in one box unit.Excerpts.

About the PC

The PC is a hybrid of what you call the desktop. It is has the CPU, the monitor as

one box unit. With the PC,the user doesn’trequire a CPU and monitor separately. Theunique thing about the Samsung All-in-One PCis that it comes in different sizes and it has some

,

,

In Samsung,we really don’t

believe intalking aboutprices. This isbecause we

bring the valueto the table.

Mrs. Folashade Oyelayo


BRIEFS

Advertising, Media& Marketing

From left: Mr. John Woma, Media Consult; Mr. Suraj Rupani, Promoter, Panaserv NigeriaLimited; Mr. Hiro Hiyama, Panasonic Corporation, Japan and Mr. Mochizuki Kota, PanasonicMarketing, Middle east Dubai at the launch of Econavi Built in Automatic Voltage switcherAirconditioners held in Lagos recently.

THE Director General ofthe Oyo State Signage

and Advertising Agency,OYSAA, Mr. Yinka Adepoju,says that for foreign directinvestment (FDI) inflow, stategovernments should make theirenvironment aestheticallyappealing.

Speaking at a seminarorganised by the AdvertisingPractitioners Council ofNigeria, APCON, in Kano onthe topic: “Use of Out-of-HomePlatforms in Public/ CorporateCommunications: Challengesof Effectiveness andEnvironmental Protection,”Adepoju said the environmentspeaks volume about what astate is. He noted that poor stateof the environment affectsquality of life and remains ayardstick for the civility of thesociety, “hence we must combatdisorder and chaos ofunplanned and haphazardlyerected outdoor advertisingstructures.”

He went on to say that acritical look at the use of out-of- home platforms in public andcorporate communications insome major cities are nothing

ENTERTAINMENT may be themain aim of staging a musical

reality show, but there are other benefitsattached to the venture.

The benefits include helping youths toredirect and discover themselves theirtalents, jobs creation and developing othersources of revenue for private businessowners that include artistes’ managers,producers, fashion designers, musicdirectors, graphic designers etc. It willsurprise the fanatical audience of the MTNProject Fame West Africa to discover thatover one billion Naira has been spent onthe empowerment venture just to give thesub-region’s youths the opportunity tobecome super-stars and the reality showhas well surpassed expectation barely half-a-decade in Nigeria.

In that wise, like the popular Chineseproverb, ‘Teach me how to fish, don’t justgive me fish’, the venture has given notless than 20 youths a life-time support, byequipping and nurturing them with thebasics for attaining musical stardom.

Apart from having a share of the largesum of money running into billions in thepast five years, the rookies of yesterday,have grown to earn global acclaim as wellas risen in value to rake in as much as amillion Naira per in concerts. And theycertainly feature in many concerts andtours these days. Prominent among themare Iyanya, Chidimma, Kesse and Praiz.

to write home about outdooradvertising structure of varioustypes,shapes and sizes, whichhe said are haphazardlyerected and many of them arein deplorable conditions.

Further, the Director Generalsaid that some of thestructures were constructedwith substandard materials;some dilapidated and faded,while some were not properly

positioned and some withbadly torn posters, as someare completely broken down.

Continuing, he said:“Chaotic situations like thesewill cast aspersion on thisvery important medium ofcommunication, itspractitioners, the users,(Advertisers), governmentand the public, and must becollectively combated.”

He, pointed out that anotherserious challenge waspractitioners’ inability toadapt or adopt necessary anduseful changes as it were.

“What we see on some of themajor roads in our cities areconventional boards. Weshould by now have adornedour streets like otherdeveloped parts of the worldwith cutting edge technology-driven media solutionscommensurate withinternational standards andbest practices via theintroduction of LED electronicdisplay technology, notminding our limitations,which arise from epilepticpower supply.”

Oyo ad agency tasks govt onenvironment aesthetics

How MTN's project frame helps youths rediscover themselves

Panasonic unveilsAVS built-in Air -conditioners

Panasonic has unveiled itsnew range of room air

conditioners, which comes withautomatic voltage switchersystem (AVS) to protectimportant component such asthe compressor from severevoltage fluctuation.

According to themanufacturers, the innovationis introduced to tackle theAfrica’s key challenge ofvoltage fluctuation, airpurification and energy saving.New nanoe-G will enable todeactivate 99 per cent ofbacteria and virus attached tofilter while intelligent EcoNavisensor will save up 35 per centenergy without sacrificing thecomfort level.

...OAAN too

The Outdoor AdvertisingAssociation of Nigeria,

OAAN, said it will be holdingits Annual General Meeting,AGM, in Ijebu ode, OgunState come July 2013.

A statement signed by theSecretary of the Association,Mr. Emmanuel Ajufo, said theAGM is scheduled to hold from4th through 7th July, 2013.

According to Ajufo, part of theagenda to be discussed at themeeting will include receiptand consideration of the reportsas presented by the GeneralSecretary and treasurer of theassociation on the auditedfinancial statements of theassociation.

Stories by PRINCEWILLEKWUJURU

ADVAN holdsAGM in Lagos

The Advertiser Associationof Nigeria (ADVAN)

has concluded plans to hold its15th Annual General Meeting(AGM)in Lagos, which willcoincide with the association’sinitiative for professionals tolearn, network and socialise,tagged “Marketers’ Evening’.

According to the ExecutiveSecretary of ADVAN, EdiriOse-Ediale, the exclusive‘Marketers’ Evening’ is aplatform for industryprofessionals to learn, networkand socialise

She said the objective of the‘Marketers Evening’ is toadvance marketing decision-making by disseminatingunique insights to ADVANmembers, as well as bringmembers together with industrythought leaders to develop newideas, and facilitate industry-wide networking.

These young people have built a careerwhich has seen them employ managers,legal advisers, choreographers, back-upsingers and body guards who they pay,monthly. Their present status hardlycorrelate the financial reward back then inthe academy. For them, the intangibleclasses of rare musical training andorientation were more important thanmoney or cars. Of course, they were right.

Aside the artistes, there are several otherswho benefit greatly from the venture. Everyyear, the MTN Project Fame is transmittedto at least 20 million people in West Africa.In real terms that is equal to the entirepopulation of Ghana. But, aside that, theaudience know that a lot of planning,spanning hours or days, had gone intowhat they see as a finished production intheir homes. For each show, several firmscome together to brain-storm beforeadopting the right strategies and blue-printthat can lead to a hitch- free production.

Some of such firms are eventmanagement companies. This private setof people specialise in locating a fittingvenue, decoration, crowd control,refreshment and technical details thatinvolve creating the right atmosphere foroccasions. For Project Fame, the firmsreceive close to 200 million Naira in hostingevents, yearly, in support of the reality show.They employ close to a hundred personnelwho render different services in return forfat professional fees.

Adrenaline Band is a delightful troupethat comprises talented singers, who serveas back-up for contestants duringperformances in the academy. Eachseason, they provide matchless musicalaccompaniments and vocal support fordifferent youths, with diverse vocal range.They earn so much doing this. At least 50choreographers participate in the realityshow yearly. For the enlightened mind,certain songs need to be blended with craftor physical artistry that warrantcontracting professional choreographers,who either dance or perform acrobatics tomatch the contestants various renditionsand peculiar musical offerings. This groupis paid handsomely to perform.

There are also costumiers, who attendto contestants and judges, who form thefocal point of the show. In creating theright face that matches the camera,costumiers put in a lot of creativity rightdown to choosing fitting clothing for eachperformance. For their services, theseindividuals earn a tidy sum each year.

The contestants are dressed to suit theirphysique as well as match the songs theyare rendering. Interestingly, this is oneof the many areas where the show standsout. One outfit costs, at least 50 thousandNaira. There are others that cost a 100thousand Naira or more. Each year,popular clothing lines are contracted toclothe the contestants. The contract isworth millions of Naira.


,

,

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

Business & Economy

NIGERIANS were recentlyagitated by the British

government’s proposeddemand for a £3000 bond asprerequisite for the issuance ofa six-month visa for visitors fromNigeria, and five otherCommonwealth countries to theUnited Kingdom. The BritishHigh Commissioner, on hisside, noted that the financialbond was a way of tacklingabuse of the UK immigrationsystem. In an attempt toassuage the concernsexpressed, the UK missionadvised that, the bond wouldonly affect a small number of thehighest risk Nigerian visaapplicants, and those who donot violate the original terms ofentry would receive a refund onreturn to Nigeria.

However, critics observe thatthe conservative party in the UKhopes to reap political, securityand financial benefits from the‘visa bond’ policy, wheneffected. In recent years, theresults of elections in severalEuropean countries have beencritically influenced by aswelling demand by electoratesfor tougher immigrationpolicies, as indigenousEuropean populations becomeseriously concerned about whatthey consider as the threat ofliberal immigration policies totheir culture and social welfare.

It is also expected that therequirement for a visa bondwould enhance security byselectively reducing entry topotential fundamentalists andterrorist materials.

Thirdly, critics also, see a‘parasitic’ financial benefit inthe proposed policy. Forexample, the British HighCommission confirmed thatover 180,000 Nigerians apply tovisit the UK annually; in reality,with current visa fees of aboutN20,000, this would translate to

£3,000 UK VISA BOND:Is government huffing and puffing?over N3.6bn annually; i.e. asizeable revenue source thatmay, in fact, be adequate to runthe UK mission in Nigeria.

Indeed, if each visa applicantpays the new bond price of£3000, the British treasury willforcibly collect over £540m fromNigerians. Furthermore, ifonly 10 per cent of applicantspay the £3000 bond, this wouldstill mean an interest-free loanof about £54m from economicallybeleaguered Nigerians, just forthe joy of visiting aCommonwealth nation, whicharguably became sumptuouslyendowed from the sweat of thepeople and wealth of its formercolonies. Curiously, francophone countries, fromwhom the British derivedminimal capital, and indeed,other politically more volatileArab states have beenexempted from the visa levy. Incidentally, there is noindication that the bond refundswould earn any interest for thesix months ‘loan’ to the UKgovernment by Visaapplicants. It is also not yetclear what currency theEmbassy will demand assettlement for the £3000 visabond! Currently, severalforeign missions are very clearabout the quality of nairadenominations that areacceptable for settling theirreceipted fees.

Expectedly, both the Nigerianand Indian governments havecautioned the UK about theimplications of retaliatorymeasures; Ambassador GbengaAshiru stressed that Nigeria

might also impose the £3000visa bond on British visitors. However, the Nigerian threatmay not bring much comfort tolong-suffering Nigerians, whohave witnessed dramaticgovernment somersaults onsuch issues in the past. forexample, since the AviationMinistry threatened fire andbrimstone over the oppressiveairfares charged by British

Airways between Nigeria andBritain, regrettably, nothingmore has happened, and theinitial yell of protest has becomeless than a whimper;meanwhile, Nigerians continueto pay what some describe asselective extortionist rates toBritish Airways. The threat isthat if the Uk succeeds in its bid,other countries may alsodemand visa bonds fromNigerians. Instructively,however, even if Nigeria alsomakes good its threat to

reciprocate the £3000 bond, visaapplications from Britishcitizens, the revenue inflow willstill be a far cry from thepayment by over 180,000Nigerian applicants for UK visa.

Readers will recall thatNigerians have not

always been unpopular visitorsto the UK; for example, before1985, I embarked on at least twovisits to the UK without a visaissued in Lagos; the visas wereultimately issued without anyfuss or harrowing demands atthe point of entry at Heathrowairport, Curiously, on oneoccasion, the immigrationofficers were alarmed that Iwished to spend only a weekin the UK, and thereforeencouraged me to spend longertime and enjoy their beautifulcountry. Surprisingly, in spiteof my reluctance to extend myvisit, I was still given a six-month visa.

Curiously, even when Nigeriawas a pariah nation as a resultof military rule, Nigerianvisitors were still gladlywelcomed because the bigspending appetite of our peoplewas sweet music on British Highstreets. (Incredibly, our foreignreserves were below $5bn then,but the naira exchanged almostat par with the British PoundSterling, and wage levels andjob opportunities in Nigeriawere relatively better thanelsewhere!). Not surprisingly,the commercial bond offriendship gradually began towane as the naira exchangerate literally crashed on the

adoption of the IMF-sponsoredStructural AdjustmentProgramme, and severalindustries closed shop as rawmaterial costs escalated;evidently, the popularity of theNigerian tourist has over timebecome negatively adjusted inconsonance with our ‘sick’naira.

The collapse of the Nigerianeconomy and abiding double-digit inflation rates over manyyears have led to reduction injob opportunities and ultimatelyalso opened the floodgates forNigerian job seekers, some ofwhom embark on suicidaljourneys across deserts andoceans to the UK andelsewhere. Paradoxically, weare encouraged to celebrate thecash inflow that comes aspersonal remittance from theemployment of Nigerians in thediaspora; whether or not thiscash inflow compensates for theattendant antisocial impact ofbrain and manpower drain onthe economy is anotherquestion entirely.

Painfully, also, according to areport credited to GovernorOlusegun Mimiko, Nigeriansstill spend over N80bn ($500m)annually, to train our youngones in UK educationalinstitutions. Worse still, thebeneficiaries of this sacrifice willremain reluctant to come backto Nigeria after the completionof their studies, because of thescarcity of jobs as well as theforeign exchange valuation ofthe existing wage structure.

SAVE THE NAIRA, SAVENIGERIANS.

N12.5bn rights issue: Shareholders back Sterling Bankrights and mobilizing othershareholders to support therecapitalization programme ofthe bank.

The expressions of interestsand supports from minority andretail shareholders reechoed theunanimous endorsement of thebank’s capital raisingprogramme by shareholders atthe recent general meeting.

Non-core shareholders, withless than five per cent equitystake, including a large numberof minority retail shareholdersof more than 88,000,collectively hold about 65 percent equity stake in SterlingBank; underlining the highlydiversified shareholders’ baseof the bank. Most retailshareholders are spread ingroups and otherrepresentations.

ONGOING rights issue bySterling Bank Plc has been

backed by individual retail

shareholders and shareholders’groups, as they have indicatedinterests in picking up their

A broad section ofshareholders’ groups,representations and individualsinterviewed in relation to therights issue said they wouldpick up their rights andmobilize others to takeadvantage of what theydescribed as “a window ofopportunity”. Severalshareholders indicated theywould demand for additionalshares, raising prospects ofoversubscription. The supportsfrom non-core shareholdersstrengthen the prospects for therights issue, which had earlierreceived firm commitments frommajor Nigerian and foreignshareholders including theState Bank of India, Dr. MikeAdenuga, Alhaji (Dr.) SuleimanAdegunwa’s Ess-ayInvestments Limited and other

directors.Sterling Bank is raising N12.5

billion through a rights issue ofabout 5.889 billion ordinaryshares of 50 kobo each at N2.12per share. Sterling Bank hadtraded at a high of N3.05 at thestock market. The shares havebeen pre-allotted on the basisof three new ordinary shares of50 kobo each for every eightordinary shares of 50 kobo eachheld as at May 20, 2013. Theapplication list, which openedon June 24, 2013, will run untillJuly 31, 2014.

According to the President,Association for theAdvancement of Rights ofNigerian Shareholders(AARNS), Dr. Faruk Umar therights issue came at the righttime and at the right price.

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

O U R T E A M

If each visaapplicant paysthe new bondprice of £3000,

the Britishtreasury will

forcibly collectover £540m

fromNigerians

Documents

FG can't meet infrastructure needs with N4.99trn spending — SEC DG