BusinessDay 25 May 2017

Nigeria on verge of a rail rebirth 

BY OUR REPORTER 

Engines could soon begin to roll 

again along Nigeria’s decrepit rail 

network after last week’s decision 

of the Federal Executive Council 

to open negotiations with the global infrastructure 

giant, General Electric, (GE). 

On the back of recommendations by 

the ministry of transportation which had 

sought, received and evaluated bids for 

the concession of the nation’s narrow 

gauge rail corridor, the cabinet considered 

the proposal along with an outline 

business case, (OBC) and gave its nod but 

analysts say it is now that the real work 

will begin. 

GE’s foray into operating and managing 

rail networks in Nigeria, its first 

anywhere in the world, this perhaps a 

measure of its commitment to Africa’s 

largest economy, could be a big win as it 

comes with very minimal investment by 

the government. 

Nigeria is already committed to about 

$11bn in loans from China for the development 

of standard gauge rail corridors 

between Lagos and Kano and Lagos – Calabar, 

with the latter apparently designed 

Continues on page 33 

L-R: Yinka Adekoya, managing director, Wapic Insurance plc; Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, chairman, and Mary 

Agha, company secretary, at the 2017 annual general meeting of Wapic Insurance plc in Lagos, yesterday. 

MARKETS AND COMMODITIES MONITOR FMDQ Close (Rate & Prices) 

COMMODITIES EXCHANGE RATE FMDQ Close (Rate & Prices) 

Oil US $54.09 

NSE Close BDC TRAVELEX Foreign Exchange FX 

Treasury bills 

FGN Bonds) 

$-N380.00 380.00 Market 

Spot $/N 3M 6M 5Y 10Y 

GOLD $ 1,252.90 193.13 

£-N490.00 490.00 I&E (Indicative 381.81 

0.01 0.68 0.06 0.01 

COCOA $ 1,919.00 28,286.43 

€-N420.00 420.00 CBN (SMIS) 320.00 

19.50 21.77 16.19 16.27 

20Y 

0.00 

16.04 

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I **THURSDAY 25 MAY 2017 I VOL. 14, NO 359 I N300 @ g 

Nigeria risks jobless growth 

with reliance on oil-led recovery 

FG failing in supporting growth with key reforms 

Agric GDP declining 

LOLADE AKINMURELE 

Nigeria’s strong reliance 

on crude oil as 

a means of exiting its 

worst economic crisis 

in 25 years and a quarterly 

decline in agricultural output 

are heightening fears of a weak 

rebound, devoid of the required 

growth to create jobs and ensure 

inclusiveness. 

The worry is that the march 

Eleme petrochemicals only oil asset privatised in 30yrs 

Job creating capital-led growth absent 

away from recession is almost 

entirely dependent on improvement 

in oil output and price, 

rather than policy or reformled 

economic growth, and as a 

result, its sustainability is being 

questioned. 

The economy shrank 0.5 percent 

in the first three months 

of 2017, the National Bureau of 

Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday, 


Inside 

OPS sees 

executive 

orders 

attracting new 

manufacturing 

investments 

P. 4 

Shareholders 

laud Dangote 

Cement’s 

record 

N144.8bn cash 

dividend 

P. 4 

Oando’s 

debt service 

capacity 

crashes 

despite 

refinancing 

P. 13 

L-R: Aliko Dangote, chairman, Dangote Cement plc; Onne van der Weijde, chief executive officer, Dangote Cement plc, and Olakunle Alake, director, 

Dangote Cement plc, at the 8th annual general meeting of Dangote Cement plc, held in Lagos. 

Austin Okere 

writes on 

The Fintech 

challenge 

and the 

new face 

of banking 

(Part 2) 

P. 11

2 

Thursday 25 May 2017

Thursday 25 May 2017 

3

4 BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 


NEWS 

Shareholders laud Dangote Cement’s 

record N144.8bn cash dividend 

..Highest cumulative cash dividend paid by any quoted company 

Dangote Cement on 

Wednesday held its 

annual general meeting 

with shareholders 

approving the company’s 

record N144.8 billion cash 

dividend. 

The dividend which translated 

to N8.50 kobo per share, as against 

N8 per share, that was paid in the 

corresponding period of 2015 

is the highest cumulative cash 

dividend paid by any quoted 

company in the country. 

Speaking at the company’s 

annual general meeting (AGM), 

held in Lagos, President of Amiable 

Shareholders Association 

of Nigeria, Festus Akano said the 

shareholders were pleased with 

Aliko Dangote and his team. He 

said for the company to still pay 

Nigeria risks jobless growth with reliance on...3 

Continued from page 1 

representing the fifth consecutive 

quarter of contraction, but government 

officials and a number of 

analysts look to positive growth of 

around 1 percent in Q2, on the back 

of improving oil fortunes. 

However, only growth of at least 

five percent will suffice for Nigeria, 

home to some 180 million people, 

wherein 14 percent of the working 

age population are unemployed and 

the misery index is above 50 percent. 

“Given that our population 

growth is close to three percent, five 

percent GDP growth is the absolute 

minimum for Nigeria to start to alleviate 

poverty and move forward,” 

said Andrew Nevin, chief economist 

at advisory firm, PriceWaterhouse- 

Coopers (PWC) Nigeria. 

“This is only possible with an 

investment-led recovery,” Nevin 

said by email. 

In recent times, Kalu Idika 

Kalu, two-time Nigerian finance 

minister, has won quite a reputation 

sharing similar views and discrediting 

the government’s growth 

target of 2.5 percent for the full-year 

as unambitious for an economy the 

size of Nigeria’s. 

African peers Ivory Coast, Ethiopia 

and Kenya will probably grow 

an average of 7 percent this year, 

according to the International 

Monetary Fund; the kind of growth 

Nigeria (tipped to expand 0.8 percent) 

should be gunning for. 

Whereas the GDP numbers for 

the first quarter show an economy 

emerging from recession, analysts 

identified a troublesome setback in 

the decline of the agriculture sector 

which slowed to 3.39 percent, compared 

to the 4.03 percent recorded 

in the previous quarter. 

Agriculture, which contributes the 

most to GDP and one of the sectors 

that create the most jobs, has now 

contracted in two consecutive quarters, 

although a year-on-year comparison, 

which adjusts for seasonal 

changes, points at marginal growth. 

The decline in agric output, 

“coupled with the rise in naira 

illiquidity in the market, could 

undermine recovery and growth 

targets,” according to advisory firm, 

Financial Derivatives Company. 

“The pace of growth in Q1’17 

remains sluggish, in spite of the improvement 

recorded in some business 

proxies used to describe output 

performance,” FDC observed; adding 

that “for the economy to feel the full 

impact of investment, private sector 

investment has to be amplified.” 

Getting the required investment 

to achieve robust and inclusive 

growth, will require clarity in exchange 

rate, sustained focus on 

fighting corruption and efforts to 

improve the ease of doing business, 

according to Nevin. 

PWC estimates that Nigeria 

requires between N25 and N30 trillion 

of annual investment to reach 

a GDP growth rate of 5-10 percent. 

Government is providing 

around N2 trillion of this, Nevin 

observes. “So GDP growth will only 

happen when we get significant 

flows of private sector investment, 

from both domestic and international 

sources.” 

Analysts suggest that government 

explore the option of privatising 

some state assets, speeding up 

the process of passing the critical 

petroleum industry bill which has 

been stuck in parliament for almost 

seven years and utilise Public Private 

Partnerships (PPP) to solve the 

country’s infrastructural deficits. 

There has also been some footdragging 

on a draft gas policy 

which provides the institutional, 

legal, regulatory and commercial 

a robust dividend despite the 

recession in the economy, which 

also affected their operations, 

shows the doggedness and the 

fighting entrepreneurial spirit of 

the management. 

“We are very happy and 

pleased with this result. The year 

2016 was very tough with the 

recession and fluctuation in the 

foreign exchange market, which 

reforms necessary to attract investment 

to the sector and move 

Nigeria from a crude oil exportbased 

economy to an attractive, 

gas-based industrial economy. 

Nigeria’s economy contracted 

last year, for the first time in 25 

years, after it took a beating from 

a slump in oil prices and militant 

attacks on pipelines, which caused 

production to fall to an almost 

three-decade low. 

Foreign-currency shortages 

fuelled by falling oil exports caused 

inflation to accelerate every month 

for more than a year, until January. 

But the index has since slowed, 

while optimism for an economic rebound 

has grown. Inflation printed 

17.2 percent in April, after slowing 

for the third consecutive month. 

The World Bank predicts an expansion 

of 1.2 percent in GDP, while 

Moody’s sees a 2.5 percent growth, 

buoyed by higher oil prices and the 

the chairman also said affected 

their operations, but despite all 

these challenges, the company 

was still able to pay us a very good 

dividend, better than last year, 

and even gave us hope of better 

returns on our investments in the 

years to come. This is very commendable 

and it is only a company 

like Dangote Cement that 


relative calm in the Niger-Delta, 

which could see production increase 

to the two million barrels daily mark. 

Douglas Rowlings, vice president, 

corporate finance at Moody’s, 

however says the estimate “is reflective 

of low base effects” from last 

year and not much of “real growth.” 

OPEC peers from Saudi-Arabia 

to Kuwait plan sale of government 

assets in mobilising private capital, 

with both countries showing more 

urgency than Nigeria, despite the former 

producing more oil per person. 

Saudi, planning to sell five 

percent of state oil company Saudi 

Aramco, pumps some nine million 

barrels daily, compared to Nigeria’s 

two million, which it has struggled 

to achieve since militants sabotaged 

oil pipelines. 

A further breakdown of the Q1 

GDP figure shows that the oil sector 

recorded a negative growth of 

11.64% (from –17.70% in Q4-2016 

OPS sees 

executive orders 

attracting new 

manufacturing 

investments 

ODINAKA ANUDU 

The Organised Private Sector 

(OPS) says the new 

executive orders from the 

Presidency have the capacity 

to attract new manufacturing 

investments and raise capacity 


and -4.81% in Q1-2016). 

Over the three months period, 

output from the oil sector was affected 

by relatively lower domestic 

crude oil production, as the effect 

of militants’ attacks on crude oil 

and gas facilities in 2016 lingered. 

The NBS estimated crude oil 

production during the threemonth 

period to be 1.83 million 

barrels per day (mbpd) which 

improved from the 1.76 mbpd reported 

in Q4-2016, but was much 

lower than the 2.05 mbpd achieved 

in Q1-2016. Compared to Q4 2016, 

the oil sector grew by 14.86%. 

The non-oil sector exited the 

negative growth region, growing by 

0.72 percent y/y in Q1-2017 (compared 

to -0.33% y/y in Q4-2016 and 

-0.18% y/y in the corresponding 

quarter of 2016) supported by activities 

in agriculture, manufacturing, 

information and communication, 

transportation, and other services.


5

6 

Thursday 25 May 2017


7

8 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 


NEWS 

Africa’s biggest research alliance seen improving relevance, volume of output 

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU 

Signs of momentum 

are beginning to show 

in the undertaking of a 

coalition of universities 

in sub-Saharan Africa, 

which have come together with 

a commitment to find solution to 

the poor scientific research and 

development support for the local 

industry, leaving the continent 

largely dependent on imports. 

Sixteen African universities 

from eight countries coalesced 

to form the African Universities 

Research Alliance (ARUA) in 

2015, the biggest sub-Saharan 

Africa research bloc. The focus is 

on building indigenous research 

excellence to enable the continent 

to take control of its future and 

assert itself as a powerful global 

NNPC invites 

Chinese investors 

for R&D venture 

HARRISON EDEH, ABUJA 

Amidst volatility in crude oil 

prices in the international 

market and the need to 

seek a fortune in non-core oil 

sector to stay afloat, the Nigerian 

National Petroleum Corporation 

(NNPC)has established contacts 

with some Chinese investors to 

partner in its Research and Development, 

R&D, venture. 

Babatunde Adeniran, chief 

operating officer, NNPC Ventures 

who declared this recently at 

the 10th edition of the Annual 

Sub-Saharan Africa Oil and Gas 

Conference in Houston, Texas, 

affirmed that response from the 

Chinese prospects had been 

favourable. 

Adeniran said in addition 

to the Chinese who were being 

invited to partner with NNPC 

in Research and Development, 

NNPC had also flung its dragnet 

wide open to let in American 

investors too. 

Adeniran in a statement said 

that there had been low investment 

in Industry R & D in 

Sub-Sahara Africa, necessitating 

NNPC’s commitment to key in to 

maximize available opportunity 

in the subsector. 

He also outlined other noncore 

oil and gas sectors that are 

of interest to NNPC to include: 

healthcare, shipping as well as 

telecommunications. 

Adeniran, who made a presentation 

alongside other West 

African Industry Stakeholders 

at the conference said NNPC 

had 52 clinics across Nigeria, a 

healthcare investment which he 

observed, fewer establishments 

could boast of. 

Adeniran was quoted in the 

presentation stating that,“NNPC 

Medical is already talking to top 

class medical centres across the 

world for partnership. Billions of 

dollars went into medical tourism 

in Nigeria yearly. NNPC is 

poised to take advantage of the 

gaps in the healthcare delivery 

in Nigeria,” 

From 2014 to 2016, the global 

oil and gas industry has witnessed 

a precipitous dip in crude 

oil prices, bringing in its wake, 

more than 25 per cent drop in 

global spend on exploration and 

production. The slum has been 

attributed mostly to excess in 

supply of the black gold. 

…Universities of Lagos, Ibadan, OAU part of group 

force. Among these universities 

are Nigeria’s Universities of Lagos, 

Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo (in 

Ile-Ife). Others are the Universities 

of Ghana and Nairobi, six 

South African Universities (Cape 

Town, KwaZulu-Natal, and Pretoria 

among others), University of 

Rwanda, Université Cheikh Anta 

Diop in Senegal, Makerere University 

in Uganda and the University 

of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. 

According Researchtrend. 

com, an academic website, one 

of the most positive signs for Africa 

has been the recent increase in 

scientific research being conducted 

by local African scientists. 

From 1996 to 2012, the number 

of research papers published in 

scientific journals with at least 

one African author, more than 

quadrupled (from about 12,500 

to over 52,000). During the same 

time, the share of the world’s 

articles with African authors almost 

doubled from 1.2 percent to 

around 2.3 percent. 

What this means is that African 

researchers are getting set to 

feed local industries with relevant 

research to boost competitiveness 

and improve the volume of their 

contribution to the global research 

effort, which currently stands at 

about 1 percent, according to a 

World Bank report. 

This would also increase the 

research in Science, Technology, 

Engineering and Mathematics 

(STEM). STEM research makes 

up 29 percent of Sub Saharan 

Africa’s output, leaving a gap in 

many countries’ ability to enhance 

sectors like energy, transport, light 

manufacturing and the extractive 

industries. Yet progress in 

these sectors could transform 

Africa’s economies and help raise 

employment levels and alleviate 

poverty. 

“The aim of this initiative is to 

enable African universities take 

their proper place in resolving 

African challenges and in the 

scheme of things in Africa, in 

terms of development, science, 

technology and all the economic 

output that should come from it. 

If universities came together, 

to share strengths, the multiplier 

effects would be enormous. This 

is because South African universities 

have a set of strengths, West 

African universities have different 

strengths, just as do East African 

universities” said, Wellington 

Oyibo, professor of medical parasitology 

and director, Research 

and Innovation Centre at the 

University of Lagos. 

“When these strengths are 

shared and leveraged upon, development 

could easily be escalated 

across the sub-regions. And 

let it be on record that Rahmon 

Ade Bello, the vice-chancellor of 

the University of Lagos has been at 

the foremost front, driving this initiative 

to its fruition. He has been 

in all the meetings” Oyibo added. 

People with firsthand experience 

and knowledge of the 

education system in Africa say 

the set of problems for much of 

Sub Saharan Africa is low quality 

of basic education in science and 

mathematics, a higher education 

system skewed toward disciplines 

like the humanities and 

social sciences, and low levels of 

international funding that focus 

heavily on health and agricultural 

research. 

“Africa currently contributes 

less than 1 percent to global 

research output, even if that is 

growing now. Clearly that is too 

little. If Africa wants to develop 

faster, it needs to engage in 

more research. The best way to 

do this is through collaboration 

and inter-linkages” said Ernest 

Aryeetey, secretary-general of 

ARUA and former vice-chancellor 

of the University of Ghana, 

in an interview with University 

World News, a higher education 

web publisher.


9 

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Ease Of Doing Business 

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Most Improved In Rural And Urban 

Infrastructure Development 

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Most Improved In Agricultural Development 

Governor Of The Year 

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C002D5556 

COMMENT 

CHRISTOPHER AKOR 

Chris Akor, a First Class 

graduate of Political Science, holds an 

MSc in African Studies from the University 

of Oxford and is BusinessDay’s 

Op-Ed Editor 

christopher.akor@businessdayonline.com 

The House of Representatives 

on May 9 passed the 

bill seeking to compel the 

Nigerian Liquefied Natural 

Gas Limited (NLNG) 

to pay 3 percent of its annual budget 

into the coffers of the Niger Delta 

Development Commission (NDDC). 

The bill, sponsored by Minority 

Leader, Leo Ogor, sought to unilaterally 

and illegally amend Section 7 of 

the principal act by inserting a dubious 

section 7b which provides that 

“Notwithstanding section 7 or any 

other provision of this Act, the Nigeria 

Liquefied Natural Gas Limited shall 

pay 3% of its total annual budget to 

the Niger Delta Development Commission 

Fund as required by section 

14 subsection 1 and 2b of the NDDC 

Act establishment Act, 2000”. The 

House will now transmit the bill to 

the Senate for concurrence. 

To be sure, this is expressly against 

the contract willingly entered into by 

Nigeria and the other stakeholders of 

the NLNG covered by Bilateral Investment 

Treaties (“BITs”) with France, 

MILLICENT ELE 

Environmental and Public Health Law 

Consultant, Lecturer, Faculty of Law, 

University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus. 

In 1972, the United Nations 

General Assembly designated 

5th June as the World Environment 

Day - a day set aside to 

raise global awareness about environmental 

issues and to take positive 

action to protect the natural 

environment and the planet Earth. 

It was celebrated for the first time 

in 1974 under the slogan “Only One 

Earth” and the global celebration 

started rotating from country to 

country in 1988. In 2016, it was 

hosted in Africa by Angola under 

the theme “Fight against the illegal 

Trade in Wildlife.” 

This drew attention to Africa’s 

magnificent wildlife now under 

serious threat due to overexploitation, 

poaching and habitat destruction. 

Millions of people, organizations, 

schools, corporate bodies 

and governments have taken part 

over the years in the celebration 

of World Environment Day – thus 

helping to create awareness and 

drive change in national and international 

environmental policy. 

Canada is the host nation for the 

World Environment Day 2017 with 

the theme “Connecting People 

to Nature.” This calls on us to get 

outdoors and find fun and exciting 

ways to experience and enjoy 

nature, to think about how we are 

part of nature and how intimately 

we depend on it, to appreciate its 

beauty and importance and to take 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline. 

NLNG: National Assembly think again! 

The Netherlands and the United 

Kingdom. It basically involves incentives, 

concessions, guarantees 

and assurances by the Nigerian 

government and reaffirmed in Letters 

of Assurance to lenders for the 

Nigeria LNG Trains 4 and 5 expansion 

to retain agreed fiscal and security 

regimes of the investment and 

not to levy any tax inapplicable to 

companies nationwide. Nigeria also 

agreed not to amend the NLNG Act 

without the express agreement of 

the other stakeholders. Since then, 

the agreement has been adhered to 

by all Nigerian governments. 

To be sure, the NLNG, which was 

incorporated after over 35 years of 

unsuccessful efforts by successive 

Nigerian governments to attract foreign 

investors in the LNG sector, has 

been an outstanding success. “From 

the initial investment of US$6.0 billion 

at its incorporation on May 17, 

1989, the NLNG now has an asset 

base of over $11 billion, generated 

over $90 billion in revenues and 

has contributed over US$15 billion 

to the Nigerian government in dividends 

over the last 12 years,” according 

to a source. The company has 

also paid over US$5.5 billion in taxes 

comprising Companies Income Tax, 

Tertiary Education Tax, WHT, VAT 

and other payments to government 

including PAYE, state and local government 

taxes, as well as regulators’ 

levies and fees totalling over N51 

billion. Despite its international 

shareholder base, the NLNG is a 

wholly Nigerian company with 100 

percent Nigerian management, 95 

percent Nigerian workforce and is 

Perhaps the National 

Assembly needs to be 

reminded that any 

amendment to the act will 

inadvertently mean a 

potential loss of foreign 

investment of US$25 billion 

in respect of Train 7 and 8 

of the NLNG (US$15 billion 

by the upstream, and US$10 

billion for construction). 

This is not to talk about the 

18,000 construction jobs 

that will be lost 

in the process 

the fourth-largest supplier of LNG in 

the world. 

My thinking is that we should be 

proud as a country that at least one 

of our enterprises is working and really 

flourishing as a business. But no, 

we are not! We are more concerned 

about our immediate pecuniary interests 

than about business sustainability, 

investments and good image. 

As I argued on this page sometime 

in February, “Regrettably, it is always 

the case in Nigeria that once investors 

come in and their investments 

begin to flourish, Nigerian regulatory 

agencies or even governments begin 

to heckle these businesses seeking to 

extort money or subject them to hitherto 

unknown, un-agreed, hurriedlyenacted 

and ultimately unjust laws and 

regulations in the name of protecting 

national interests. This is giving us 

a bad name, making the country 

unpredictable and thus, unattractive 

for investments. Yet the song on 

the lips of every government – and 

they are known to travel to the ends 

of the earth soliciting for it – is that 

of seeking for foreign investments. 

How tragic!” 

The dispute over the payment of 

the 3 percent annual budget to the 

NDDC has been a long-standing 

one. The NDDC and the National Assembly 

are aware that the BIT setting 

up the NLNG expressly forbids the 

Nigerian government from levying 

the company any tax inapplicable to 

companies nationwide. If they desperately 

want a review, they should 

call all the shareholders together to 

seek a review. But no, they want to 

do it the Nigerian way. 

Just so we know the history, the 

NDDC went to court in 2005 to 

challenge the legality of the exemption. 

From 2005 to 2011 the NDDC 

traversed the courts right to the top 

(Supreme Court) and in all instances, 

the courts affirmed the right of the 

NLNG not to pay the levy. But like 

in all cases Nigerian, politicians and 

special interests are trying to get 

through legislative fiat what they 

failed to get through the courts. More 

like going through the window when 

the door is closed to you. 

But their actions are only endangering 

the continued survival of 

the NLNG and future investments 

in Nigeria. Perhaps the National 

Assembly needs to be reminded 

that any amendment to the act will 

inadvertently mean a potential loss of 

open spaces in their neighbourhoods. 

Parks and open spaces are essential 

because they boost regular 

physical activities which in turn 

improves human health and fitness 

by reducing the risk of heart 

disease, hypertension, obesity and 

diabetes etc.; they improve psychological, 

emotional and mental 

health through reduction in stress, 

and symptoms of depression and 

anxiety; park trees produce oxygen, 

offer refuge to species, and help to 

counter climate change, pollution, 

deforestation, species extinction 

and erosion of biodiversity; they 

act as natural air conditioners 

that help to keep cities cooler 

and stimulate recreation. Parks 

are also important quality of life 

index that increases the value of 

neighbouring residential properties. 

With all the above advantages, 

one wonders why any government 

that has the interest of its 

citizens at heart will routinely redesignate 

parks and open spaces 

for other uses. The amazing thing 

is that the attack on parks in 

Enugu metropolis is ubiquitous 

- affecting all neighbourhoods, 

low, middle and upscale neighbourhoods. 

For instance, in the 

case of the Zoo Estate, it is bad 

enough that the phased out zoo 

was replaced with an estate instead 

of a park but to worsen the 

foreign investment of US$25 billion in 

respect of Train 7 and 8 of the NLNG 

(US$15 billion by the upstream, and 

US$10 billion for construction). 

This is not to talk about the 18,000 

construction jobs that will be lost in 

the process. 

The bigger picture that should 

be uppermost in the minds of the 

legislature, beyond mere pecuniary 

interests, is the larger role the NLNG 

plays in ensuring environmental 

health and sustainable development 

in the region. The NLNG purchases 

gas which would have otherwise 

been flared and has almost singlehandedly 

led to the reduction of gas 

flaring from about 65 percent in 1999 

to about 20 percent currently. With 

the required investment, NLNG is 

capable of reducing that figure even 

further with the completion of the 

Train 7 Project. Halting investments 

and harming the continued existence 

of the NLNG, like the legislature 

is planning to do, will exacerbate 

the problem of gas flaring with the 

attendant negative impact on the 

environment in the region. 

At a time other oil and gas producing 

countries are crafting investmentfriendly 

policies and competing to 

attract badly-needed investments 

in LNG, Nigeria is in the process of 

uncoupling one of the most successful 

investments it has ever made and 

received just to satisfy some selfish 

pecuniary desires of some individuals 

and groups. 

Connecting people to nature through parks and open spaces 

millicent.ele@unn.edu.ng (in Celebration of the World Environment Day 2017) 

positive action to protect the environment. 

In the spirit of this year’s 

theme, Canada’s Minister of Environment 

and Climate Change, 

Catherine McKenna encourages 

all Canadians to explore the 

country’s beautiful natural areas, 

including the national parks and 

open spaces, nature reserves and 

wildlife areas, marine sanctuaries 

and migratory bird refuges, etc. 

With a population of about 36 

million people, 81% of which live 

in the cities, successive Canadian 

governments have always placed 

premium on parks and open 

spaces because of their environmental 

and health benefits. In the 

light of this, Canada has made this 

year’s World Environment Day a 

major part of its 150th birthday 

celebrations and has offered its 

citizens free access to Canada’s 46 

national parks, all through 2017. 

This is expected to yield positive 

result because research has 

shown that the passion to connect 

with nature is lit and sustained 

once people make the initial 

minimal move to so connect. 

Nigeria is to join the global 

celebration of World Environment 

Day on the 5th of June 2017. 

But the question is – how many 

Nigerians will take the time out 

to connect with nature; to visit 

parks and open spaces to observe 

and experience other living things 

in their natural habitat; to hike or 

just to sit and relax in the park listening 

to the birds sing, taking in fresh 

air from the trees and fragrance from 

flowers. A more pertinent and perhaps 

disturbing question however, 

is whether Nigerians, especially city 

dwellers, who want to visit a park 

have a park to visit. Taking Enugu 

where I live and work as a point 

of reference, the trend for the past 

couple of decades is to re-designate 

parks and open spaces for other 

uses. For instance, the present location 

for Shoprite was formally Polo 

Park; Ekulu East Estate (commonly 

called Zoo Estate) was formally 

Enugu Zoo while Liberty Estate 

was formally an open wooded area 

used by the Enugu Rangers Football 

Club for their practice but which 

could have been converted into a 

beautiful park. Also neighbourhood 

open spaces where kids play have 

vastly been subdivided and built 

up throughout the coal city. In fact, 

it will not be wrong to say that there 

is an open war on nature in Enugu 

metropolis because the rate at which 

the government indiscriminately 

clear wooded areas and subdivide 

them for buildings and estates in 

Enugu is alarming. This is very sad 

because of the huge environmental 

implications on the ecosystem and 

human health. Indeed, a look at 

Okpara Square at pre-down every 

day with lots of people jogging and 

exercising will show you how much 

need people have for at least mini 

Send reactions to: 

comment@businessdayonline.com 

situation, all the four areas designated 

for public parks and open 

spaces in the original plan for that 

estate have now been subdivided 

for private residential purposes. 

What is incomprehensible is that 

the rich residents are generally not 

bothered or at least not sufficiently 

interested to raise their voice in 

protest. Luckily a lone exception 

has been found in one resident 

whose property was particularly 

affected by this act and who has 

taken the state to court. His case 

is simply that by re-designating 

the parks for private residential 

purposes, the government has 

drastically changed the characteristic 

of that neighbourhood 

with the result that the property he 

bought overlooking one park and 

adjacent to another is no longer 

the property he now has. It will be 

interesting to see the outcome of 

this case and the attitude of the 

court to the impunity with which 

the government is short-changing 

the residents out of their parks and 

open spaces. 

The above notwithstanding, 

Nigerians are encouraged to step 

out and join the global community 

in celebrating the World Environment 

Day and to make individual 

or corporate effort to improve the 

environment. 


comment@businessdayonline.com


COMMENT 

AUSTIN OKERE 

Austin Okere is the Founder of CWG 

Plc & Entrepreneur in Residence at 

CBS, New York. Austin also serves 

on the World Economic Forum Global 

Agenda Council on Innovation and 

Intrapreneurship and on the Advisory 

Board of the Global Business School 

Network (GBSN). 

Money is going digital 

Around the world, central 

banks from England to 

China have publicly floated 

the notion of issuing their 

own national digital currencies. 

Conceptually, they like the 

idea of harnessing the upside of the 

digital revolution; mobile payments in 

particular, while preserving the existing 

legal and regulatory set up. Practically, 

they expect significant cost savings, 

a reduction of operational and fraud 

risks in the current payments systems, 

and a strengthened ability to execute 

monetary policy. 

From a consumer’s perspective, 

the prospect of total digital money is 

still mind-boggling. It is more likely 

that societies would not go completely 

digital overnight. Instead, central banks 

could start issuing digital currency 

units alongside notes and coins as base 

money, and adjust the mix over time, 

according to uptake. 

Once critical usage levels are 

reached and network effects kick in, 

universal adoption could happen very 

quickly. 

What will be the scale of change? 

How will this happen and at what 

scale? 

The changes coming will be as large 

as the original invention of the internet, 

comment is free 

Send 800word comments to comment@businessdayonline. 

The FintechChallenge and the New Face of Banking (Part 2) 

and this may not be overstated. Who 

would have imagined a decade ago 

that e-commerce, championed by 

Amazon and Alibaba will be displacing 

high street retailers, or that ride hailing 

will be dominated by UBER, a technology 

platform. According to Anthony 

Jenkins, former CEO of Barclays, bank 

branch traffic has halved in the last five 

years, and bank profitability could collapse 

by 60% in the same period. A 2015 

Goldman Sachs report estimated $4.7tn 

of financial services revenue was at risk 

of displacement from Fintech groups. 

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies 

The key to this revolution lies in 

cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. But 

it is their underlying technology that 

is proving to be of practical benefit to 

organizations, the famous blockchain. 

This technology, which goes beyond 

financial application, is expected to 

disrupting global supply chains by 

boosting transaction speed across 

borders and improving transparency. 

Essentially, the blockchain is a shared 

virtual public ledger where encrypted 

transactions are confirmed by outside 

parties. In the bitcoin world, these 

outside parties are called miners (computers 

that solve complex mathematical 

problems to confirm transactions and 

earn fees). Confirmed transactions are 

placed in a “block” and added to the 

chain, hence the name blockchain. It is 

this technology that the Fintechs are leveraging 

to disrupt the traditional banks 

Regulators are now helping Fintechs 

Fintechs are getting a lot of support 

from Regulators, believing that 

Fintech firms are small enough for any 

problems to be manageable, and on 

the other hand, might produce useful 

innovation. For instance, the Swiss 

Federal Council has recently published 

a public consultation documentation 

on amendments regarding the Banking 

Act and Banking Ordinance in the 

Fintech area. The intention is to lower 

market entry barriers for Fintech com- 

Banking is definitely going to wear 

a new face in much the same way 

that retail did with the advent of e- 

commerce. The biggest take away, 

is that it is not about upstarts versus 

incumbents, but rather a question 

of how banks absorb the Fintech 

innovations blossoming around 

them to improve the value chain 

and enhance customer experience 

panies. France’s Central Bank has also 

announced opening up a new innovation 

lab, aiming to collaborate with blockchain 

start-ups. 

In December 2015, Nasdaq executed 

its first trade on a blockchain, through its 

Linq ledger. The exchange said the blockchain 

promises to expedite trade clearing 

and settlement – all the steps needed to 

transfer the asset from seller to buyer including 

recording the transaction — from 

three days to as little as 10 minutes. That’s 

because the trades remove many manual 

processes and bypass third parties. 

As such, “settlement risk exposure 

can be reduced by over 99%, dramatically 

lowering capital costs and systemic 

risk,” according to Nasdaq. Other stock 

exchanges tinkering with the blockchain 

include ones in Australia, Myanmar, Germany, 

Japan, Korea, London and Toronto. 

Security and compliance 

Security is still the biggest challenge 

confronting the blockchain. “The truth 

is, once you give someone access to a network, 

many times, more often than not, 

they can end up very easily getting blanket 

access to that network,” said Joe Ventura, 

CEO of AlphaPoint. “This is a huge security 

problem.”Regarding compliance, 

at least regulators could have a node on 

the blockchain itself in which companies 

define their access to data, said Sandeep 

Kumar, managing director of Synechron. 

As such, regulators wouldn’t have to wait 

days for a bank to hand over documents 

for compliance. “They can see it as it is 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

11 

ally, a service called TransferWise is 

streamlining international money transfers, 

disrupting that sector by offering a 

90 percent discount on traditional bank 

transfer fees. 

According to the founder, Taavet 

Hinrikus, the idea was borne out of his 

personal frustration in money transfers. 

‘It typically took 3-4 days to receive 

transfers, albeit the exchange rate used 

by banks was exorbitant, leading to a loss 

of almost 10% of the value of money sent’. 

In this exorbitant regime, Western Union 

and HSBC typically earn $600m and 

$800m per annum respectively in profits 

from transfers. These huge contributions 

to their bottom-line will be dearly 

miss when displaced by TransferWise 

and their co-travellers. In Taavet’s view 

Fintechs will command about 40% of 

the global Financial Services market in 

the next 10 years. 

Banks and Fintechs’ collaboration 

for mutual benefit 

Fintech companies in emerging 

markets have shown that with the right 

technology, it is possible to leapfrog to 

new forms of banking. Truth be told, 

Banks are best placed to continue to 

influence the future of Financial Services 

because of their huge branch network, 

solid reputations, and risk controls, as 

well as years of customer cultivation 

and loyalty. And they seem to have come 

to appreciate their own strengths. For 

instance JPMorgan’s $9.5 billion budget 

on technology, with $3 billion spent just 

on innovation according to their 2016 

annual report is quite a significant pile. 

Banks however, have to radically change 

the ‘we win when you lose’ mind-set. 

Consider that credit card customers who 

default on payments have their interest 

rates hiked to the extent of repaying 

£2.50 for every £1 borrowed as revealed 

in a report by the Financial Services 

Authority in the U.K. This hardly fosters 

an endearing partnership. 


comment@businessdayonline.com 

AKEEM OGUNLADE 

Ogunlade is of the Centre for the Promotion 

of Enterprise and Business Best 

Practice, Abuja. 

A 

major challenge confronting 

today’s tobacco 

market is illicit trade. 

The Financial Action 

Task Force (FATF), a global intergovernmental 

body, defines illicit 

trade in tobacco as “the production, 

import, export, purchase, 

sale or possession of tobacco 

goods, which fail to comply with 

legislation”. 

In Nigeria, there are aspects 

of the National Tobacco Control 

Act (NTCA), 2015 – the document 

that provides a legal framework 

for the production, importation, 

distribution, sale and consumption 

of tobacco in the country 

– which address this problem. 

For example, Article 35 of Part 

XI of the law allows for the procurement 

of search warrants for 

inspection of dwelling places 

suspected of harbouring illegal or 

substandard tobacco or tobacco 

products. 

Regrettably, failure to fully 

implement tobacco control regulation 

has engendered growth in 

illicit trade of tobacco products. 

Tobacco regulation: Perspectives on illicit trade in tobacco 

The World Health Organisation 

(WHO) estimates that all 

over the world, 10 percent of 

cigarettes consumed are illegitimately 

produced or sold. In 

Nigeria, the volume of illicit cigarettes 

smuggled into the country 

constitutes 20 percent of the total 

product consumed and has been 

on the rise lately. Apart from 

posing health risks to consumers, 

illicit tobacco trade deprives 

government of its much-needed 

revenue through taxes and import 

duties. Illicit tobacco merchants 

are economic saboteurs 

who engage in various nefarious 

activities and evade revenue and 

excise duties payments that are 

due to government. Cigarette 

smuggling has been known to 

be a major source of revenue for 

organised crime. Not only does 

it promote criminality, it also 

misleads consumers into buying 

products that are of dubious 

quality. 

It has become more imperative 

now to enforce the provisions 

of the Tobacco Control Act 

as Nigeria continues to grapple 

with the impact of illicit trade 

in tobacco products. Besides, 

old tricks are still being employed 

to entice people who are under 

the legal age to smoke tobacco. 

One of such tricks, as confirmed 

by the Standards Organisation 

of Nigeria (SON), is flooding the 

market with flavoured cigarettes 

to allure young people because of 

their sweet-smelling aroma. Flavoured 

cigarettes with chocolate, 

cherry, apple and orange flavours 

are completely outlawed under 

recently enacted regulations. But 

they are as widespread as the 

cigarette brands that are legally 

allowed to be sold in Nigeria. Flavoured 

cigarettes are typical examples 

of illicit cigarettes known as 

‘cheap whites’, brands sold illegally 

by producers who have no legal 

distribution network and do not 

pay any taxes. 

The menace of illicit trade in 

tobacco is also aggravated by 

high taxes and stifling legislation, 

which often constrict legitimate 

tobacco business thereby pricing 

out poor and average-income 

consumers of tobacco products. 

As a result, they resort to buying 

from illicit tobacco dealers. Studies 

have shown that smokers are 

more likely to search for cheaper 

happening.” 

The future of Fintechs 

The future of Fintech is bright. Accenture 

recently released a report which 

found that investment in Fintech around 

the world has increased dramatically 

from $930 million in 2008 to more than 

$12 billion by early 2015. Many of the entrepreneurs 

in the industry however, fail 

to grasp what may eventually lead to the 

downfall of countless Fintech firms, particularly 

those that lend money. There 

is a belief among technology-based 

lenders that the goal should always be 

to say “yes.” If someone needs money, 

it’s less about whether that person or 

business is a good credit risk than it is 

about the customer experience and the 

length of time it will take the borrower to 

access the funds. The Fintechs however, 

counter that they employ Artificial Intelligence, 

Big Data and Machine Learning 

to glean the credit habits of customers 

from their mobile usage, and so have 

mitigated against this risk. 

The homepage of LendingClub 

(NYSE: LC) advertises personal loans of 

up to $40,000. You can “apply online in 

minutes” and “get funded in as little as 

a few days,” the company says. Another 

prominent Fintech lender Funding 

Circle claims that small businesses can 

get loans from between $25,000 and 

$500,000 in as little as 10 days. 

These are innovative services that 

seek to fill important niches in the credit 

markets. They enable people who have 

historically been shunned by banks to 

get loans in order to expand their businesses 

or to pay off credit card debt at 

less usurious rates. 

The lucrative transfer market 

The lucrative global transfers markets 

are major target by Fintechs. International 

money transfers, which have 

long been a thorny issue for entrepreneurs, 

are getting easier as well. For 

smaller transactions, services like PayPal 

automatically convert currencies, so it’s 

easy for a customer to purchase goods 

from anywhere in the world. Additionalternatives 

when there is a hike 

in retail price of cigarette. The 

cheaper alternatives are mainly 

provided by the suppliers of the 

illicit or smuggled products who 

have avoided paying statutory 

duties. It amounts to a huge loss 

to governments, coupled with the 

harm that consumers are exposed 

to through consumption of unregulated 

products. 

Recently, the World Customs 

Organisation, whose members 

manage 98 percent of global 

trade, made an interesting finding 

on the linkage between tax 

burden and illicit trade of excisable 

products. According to the 

finding, “Experience across both 

advanced and developing economies 

demonstrates that the key 

economic drivers influencing the 

illicit tobacco trade are excessive 

tax levels, usually resulting in a 

sharp decline in cigarette affordability, 

compounded by weak or 

no enforcement of existing laws 

and organised crime’s willingness 

to supply given the opportunity to 

gain large profits from tax avoidance.” 

On the long run, black market 

continues to flourish on account 

of high price occasioned by harsh 

regulation. 

In recent years, Standards Organisation 

of Nigeria (SON) has 

made significant progress in its 

efforts at combating illicit trade 

in tobacco by sensitising the general 

public on the proliferation of 

brands of cigarette not approved 

for sale in the Nigerian market. 

Such efforts by the regulatory 

bodies in the country should be 

scaled up in order to discourage 

patronage of dubious brands and 

rid the Nigerian market of illicit 

and contraband tobacco. 

Another way by which illicit 

trade in tobacco can be curtailed 

is by localizing the production of 

tobacco. Localising production 

helps to monitor and enforce 

standards effectively. This also 

makes the local producers to be 

more responsible and accountable 

for the manner in which their 

products are dispensed. 

The task of containing the 

menace of illicit trade in tobacco 

is a collective one. No doubt, this 

can be achieved through full implementation 

of the NTCA. 


comment@businessdayonline.com


BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

 

PUBLISHER/CEO 

Frank Aigbogun 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

Prof. Onwuchekwa Jemie 

EDITOR 

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NEWS EDITOR 

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Oghenevwoke Ighure 

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John Okpaire 

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North) 

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan 

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) 

Ignatius Chukwu 

Secrecy around Buhari’s health 

The president 

and Com- 

mander-in- 

C h i e f o f t h e 

armed forces 

is not a private or ordinary 

citizen. The day he 

decides to contest for the 

office and gets elected, 

he ceases to be a private 

citizen. He b e comes a 

public citizen, owned by 

the people who elected 

him into office. He no 

longer has a private life. 

Everything he does is in 

public glare. He becomes 

completely responsible 

to the people and cannot 

hide hides nothing from 

them. It is no wonder 

then that the president is 

fully maintained by the 

resources of the people. 

They clothe him, house 

him, feed him, provide 

for his medical needs and 

equally look after his family. 

He is protected by the 

secret service, travels in 

presidential aircrafts and 

has the airport shut and 

the roads closed to other 

users anytime he is about 

to travel. He is not allowed 

to do any other business 

but to devote his full time 

to serving the people. It is 

therefore illogical that the 

president elects to enjoy 

all the privileges and perquisites 

of office but elects 

to become a private citizen 

when it comes to information 

about his health. 

Truth be told, the presidency 

has been mismanaging 

information about the 

president’s health. He is 

human like everyone and 

no one can blame him for 

being ill. But everything is 

wrong when his handlers 

treat him as a superman; 

when they think it is unpresidential 

to fall ill; when 

they lie blatantly, give halftruths 

or stay silent about 

the health of the president. 

It does not engender trust 

and respect. We recall that 

the last time the president 

spent 51 days in the UK for 

treatment, his handlers 

refus ed to acknowledge 

that he was even sick and 

receiving treatment. It took 

a s i n c e r e c o n f i r mation 

from the president himself, 

when he returned, to 

confirm that he had been 

so sick he even had a blood 

transfusion. Meanwhile, 

the president’s handlers 

were busy reassuring ever 

yone that he was only 

resting in London and undergoing 

medical tests. 

Of course, where information 

becomes unavailable, 

rumour mongers 

takeover. Since the 

president returned to the 

UK on May 7, there has 

b e en no word as to the 

condition of the president. 

Consequently, Nigerians 

have been inundated with 

rumours about the president’s 

condition. Instead of 

taking charge of the situation 

and giving prompt and 

accurate information, the 

president’s handlers have 

been reduced to discrediting 

rumours daily about 

the president’s health. 

Ni g e r i a n s d e s e r v e t o 

know the health status of 

their president. The president 

embodies the collective 

hope and will of 

country and anything that 

affects him has implications 

for the country. His 

h a n d l e r s a r e m a ki n g a 

huge joke of the country 

by keeping information 

on his health a complete 

secret. Civilised, free and 

democratic countries do 

not operate that way. 

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www.businessdayonline.com

Thursday 25 May 2017 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 13 

COMPANIES 

& MARKETS 

COMPANY NEWS ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT 

Oando’s debt service capacity 

crashes despite refinancing 

BALA AUGIE 

Oando Nigeria Plc 

is encumbered 

with a debt burden 

that is above 

the industry average, 

leading to a drop in 

the ability of the oil giant to 

service debt even though the 

company has substantially 

reduced the debt component 

of its balance sheet. 

Oando’s interest coverage 

ratio of 0.96 times in the first 

quarter of the year is below 

the industry average, which is 

1.50 times. 

Interest coverage ratio calculates 

a company’s ability to 

service interest on its debt, 

obtained from dividing a company’s 

earnings before interest 

and taxes (EBIT) by the 

company’s interest expenses 

during the period. 

Low interest coverage ratio 

means Oando’s N8.39 million 

net finance cost couldn’t cover 

the whole of operating profit 

of N7.62 billion, resulting in 

a loss before tax of N647.04 

million. 

However, the combination 

of income tax credit on the 

acquisition of new assets and 

profit from the sale of significant 

investment resulted in a 

profit after tax of N1.71 billion 

as of March 2017. 

Interest on borrowings 

dipped by 24.24 percent to 

N8.40 billion in the period 

under review; total debt in the 

balance sheet stood dropped 

2.59% from N343 billion recorded 

the previous year, leav- 

Nestle shareholders approve N7.93bn 

dividend, seek interim in 2017 

Shareholders of Nestle Nigeria 

Plc. on Tuesday endorsed 

a total dividend of 

N7.93 billion, declared by the 

company, for the financial year 

ended Dec. 31, 2016. 

The shareholders gave the 

approval at the company’s 48th 

Annual General Meeting (AGM) 

held in Lagos. The dividend 

translated to N10 per share, 

compared with N21.79 billion, 

representing both interim and 

final dividend, paid in the corresponding 

period of 2015. 

Mr Sunny Nwosu, National 

Coordinator Emeritus, Independent 

Shareholders Association 

of Nigeria (ISAN), lauded the 

company for the dividend declared, 

in the face of challenging 

environment. 

Nwosu appreciated the 

ing total debt to equity ratio 

(D/E) at 167.84 percent in 

the period review. D/E was 

178.63 percent the previous 

year. This means there is a 

reduction debt in the capital 

structure of the firm. 

Oando got $815 million 

of commitments from banks 

to finance the acquisition of 

the ConocoPhillips Nigeria 

oil and gas business for $1.50 

board, management and staff 

of the company for performance 

posted in the period under 

review. 

He said that the company’s 

products quality must be sustained 

to maintain its leadership 

position in the industry. 

Nwosu urged the company 

to extend its water business production 

line to South-East to tap 

into enormous opportunities in 

the area. 

He also urged Nestle to issue 

bonus scrip, noting that it had 

been a long-time a bonus was 

declared. 

Mr Williams Adebayo, another 

shareholder, said that the 

company should map out strategies, 

aimed at reducing loans 

and borrowings. 

Adebayo stated that the com- 

billion in mid-2014. 

A sharp drop in the price 

of oil of oil, currency volatility 

and attacks on oil facilities in 

the Niger Delta region had 

hit Oando’s cash flows as 

revenues were lost. 

The company has arranged 

an N108billion debt restructure 

with 11 Nigerian Banks 

to refinance its debt at lower 

interest rates. There was a 

N156 billion deleveraging of 

the balance sheet through 

Oando Energy Service (OES). 

Oando concluded the 

sale of its interests in OMLs 

125 and 134 to Operators for 

cash proceeds of $5.5m and 

assumption of $88.5m in cash 

call liabilities due to the joint 

ventures. It concluded the 

sale of Alausa Power Plant 

for a transaction price of N4.6 

Wandel Int’l Nigeria unveils 

new Tricycle with in-built 

entertainment system 

billion. 

The company’s production 

decreased to 3.4 MMboe (average 

38,125, boe/day) in Q1 

2017 compared to 4.5 MMboe 

(average 49,365 boe/day) in 

Q1 2016. 

Oando share price 

dropped 9.24 percent to close 

at N9 as of Tuesday, valuing 

the company at N108.31 

billion. 

L-R Segun Ajibola, president/ chairman of council; Seye Awojobi, registrar/chief executive, both of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria 

(CIBN) and Kafilat Araoye, consultant on the implementation of the competency framework, during the press conference on the competency 

framework -the Nigerian Banking Industry in Lagos. 

Pic by Pius Okeosisi 

pany should consider rights 

issue for fresh funds, to reduce 

borrowings. 

Mr Nona Awo, said the company 

must liaise with the registrars 

and its investors’ relation 

on ways to address the rising 

unclaimed dividends. 

Awo said that there was the 

need for collaboration between 

the registrars and investor relations 

officer, to drive down the 

figure. 

He also urged the company 

to work with a major Nigerian 

university on research and development 

to improve local 

source of raw materials and 

reduce cost. 

The shareholder activist implored 

the company to ensure 

return of interim dividend payment, 

which was stopped in 

2016. 

He said that the company 

must declare an interim dividend 

in the current financial 

year to compensate the shareholders. 

Mr David Ifezulike, the 

company’s Chairman, told the 

shareholders that 2016 was a 

challenging year due to scarcity 

of foreign exchange, devaluation 

of the naira and unfriendly economic 

policies, among others. 

Ifezulike said that scarcity of 

foreign exchange and devaluation 

of the nation’s currency led 

to increase in the company’s 

foreign loans portfolio. 

He said the Central Bank of 

Nigeria’s (CBN) current foreign 

exchange policies had enabled 

the company to pay back most 

of its foreign loans. 

34 firms bid 

for NNPC 

digitisation 

project 

P15 

The Nigerian National Petroleum 

Corporation (NNPC) 

on Tuesday received 34 

bids by different companies for 

the digitisation of legacy documents 

in the corporate headquarters. 

A statement in Abuja by Mr 

Ndu Ughamadu, NNPC Group 

General Manager, Group Public 

Affairs Division, said the bidding 

was conducted in the presence 

of representatives of the bidding 

companies and Civil Society Organizations 

(CSOs). 

The Group General Manager, 

Information and Technology 

Division, Mr Danladi Inuwa, represented 

by General Manager Applications, 

Mr Kunle Osobu, said 

the exercise was geared towards 

having electronic copies of all 

NNPC documents in line with 

global best practices. 

”I am happy that there is 

much show of interest in this 

process. 

”The process is going to be 

transparent from the beginning 

to the end and we want the best 

yield in terms of value addition 

and best services and this was 

why the bid tender was extended 

to 12 weeks,” Inuwa said. 

The General Manager, Supply 

Chain Management, Mrs Sophia 

Mbakwe, said NNPC, through the 

exercise, sought to engage the services 

of reputable organisations 

that would digitise the legacy 

documents of the corporation. 

Mbakwe assured that the process 

would be transparent. 

The public opening of bid is 

part of the corporation’s avowed 

commitment to transparency to 

re-position as a focused, accountable, 

competitive and a transparent 

organisation conducting its 

business with integrity.

14 

BUSINESS DAY 

COMPANIES & MARKETS 

C002D5556 


‘We want to reach out to those at the 

bottom of economic pyramid’ 

Onyeka Adibeli is co-founder and Head of Implementation at Oradian, a Fintech company that offers software-as-a-service (Saas) to microfinance 

institutions. In this interview with Frank Uzuegbunam, he discusses cloud banking software for microfinance institution amongst other issues. Excerpts: 

Oradian works 

with 30 microfinance 

institutions 

in Africa, 

out of which 22 

are in Nigeria. How did this 

focus on MFIs come about? 

We want to reach out to those 

at the bottom of the economic 

pyramid. Unlike the commercial 

banks that target corporate entities, 

Oradian focuses on bringing 

the unbanked into the formal 

banking system which is why 

microfinance institutions are the 

focus of our activities. 

I can recall while I was working 

with a big microfinance 

institution that the first set of 

disbursements to a client was 

done using cash. However, when 

the institution needed to guard 

against fraud and fraud related 

issues, they had to issue cheques. 

When the clients would get to 

the bank, most them would pull 

off their shoes outside before 

entering the branch, and when 

inside would sit in one corner. 

When we started Oradian, our 

target was to reach out to these 

clients so that they too have access 

to financial services. So it 

is more of a passion that aligns 

with our business. 

Oradian provides cloud 

banking software for microfinance 

institutions: how 

did you decide on providing 

such a specific solution for 

microfinance institutions? 

Technology is out of the reach 

of most microfinance institutions. 

This is because of the 

high cost of setting up software, 

the cost of power, the cost of 

human resources, and the cost 

of systems maintenance. Some 

microfinance institutions in a bid 

to adopt technology sign 5-year 

contracts and pay up front for 

software that will run for 5 years 

with about 20 percent of the cost 

going towards maintenance. This 

impacts cash flow tremendously. 

When we started, we made up 

our mind to cut out unnecessary 

burdens and provide Software 

as-a-Service so that institutions 

pay for what they use– and only 

for what they use. If I have a 

thousand clients, I should pay for 

a thousand clients. The barrier 

between MFIs and effective tools 

becomes much lower when they 

pay for only what they use. With 

traditional systems, if you have a 

Onyeka Adibeli 

thousand clients you still have 

to pay the massive cost of the 

system. Because Oradian allows 

customers to pay based on what 

they are using, our customers 

can focus on their core business 

and growth. 

We recommend laptops, because 

the keyboard makes it 

easier for the staff to just key in 

the data and print reports, but 

also because of the life span of 

the battery; a new laptop battery 

should last for about 4 hours so 

while you are on a laptop you 

are not dependent on electricity, 

which is intermittent. Electricity 

will only be necessary when 

printing out reports or other 

activities which might take an 

average of one and a half hours 

to complete a day’s transaction 

in the system. All these are what 

we have factored in to provide 

services, because we are looking 

to provide services which will 

reduce the customer’s cost of 

operation so that they can free up 

funds to do their business. 

What are the biggest challenges 

faced by your customers? 

I think the major challenge 

that we have is reporting. Usually 

if the reports are done manually 

they receive it in the head 

office on the 7thor 10thday of the 

month. Sometimes, the report for 

the previous month is finalised 

around 20thor 21stof the month. 

At that point, the information in 

the reports is outdated and decisions 

cannot be made based on 

it. With Oradian, you have access 

to your data in real-time, allowing 

you to make informed decisions 

and instantly react to your key indicators 

and what your business 

needs now, instead of waiting a 

full month to respond. The only 

challenge I would say for now is 

the fluctuation of the monetary 

policies. 

Why should financial institutions 

adopt Instafin instead 

of other finance software? 

Instafin, Oradian’s flagship 

software, was designed for financial 

institutions serving the 

bottom of the pyramid, the unbanked, 

at minimum cost. And 

most importantly, we immediately 

see the impact of our work 

because our customers quickly 

take control of their portfolios 

and grow their business year 

on year. Their growth is directly 

proportionate to the impact we 

deliver. We know how to design 

impactful processes and technology 

because we are experienced 

practitioners who know the sector 

and its challenges well. Experience 

and a passion to provide 

the services that work specifically 

for MFIs is what actually differentiates 

us from other providers of 

finance software. 

Most software come with 

license fees. Do Oradian’s 

customers need a license to 

access Instafin? 

Unlike most software providers, 

we offer an annual subscription. 

Rather than requiring 

the customer to pay a 5-year 

contract upfront like traditional 

software providers, we believe 

in the subscription economy. 

Customers spread their capital 

over years with a subscription 

rather than buying the software 

licence upfront and instantly 

taking full ownership of their IT. 

Subscriptions make it possible 

for them to have enough funds 

to run their business, while becoming 

massively more efficient. 

The subscription includes the full 

service from infrastructure, database 

management, local support 

and licence to use the software. 

Customers are essentially outsourcing 

their IT challenges to 

Oradian and giving themselves 

the ability to concentrate on 

the core business competence 

and growth. Part of the reasons 

why we adopted the one year 

subscription is so that at the end 

of the year if a customer is not 

satisfied with our services they 

can let us know or can just quietly 

walk away, rather than being tied 

down with a contract of 5years. 

That said, our customers don’t 

leave us because we deliver true 

value to their business. 

Could you tell us about 

your presence in Nigeria? 

How deeply involved are you 

with your users in Nigeria in 

terms of support and aftersales 

services? 

Oradian’s system is designed 

specifically to deal with issues 

that microfinance institutions 

experience. Our biggest customer 

in Nigeria is DEC and we like to 

do routine visits to keep learning 

about their business and evolving 

requirements. DEC operates 

across 109 locations in the 

northern part of Nigeria across 

19 states. We don’t receive many 

support calls because our system 

has been properly built. We built 

Instafin in collaboration with 

MFIs so we could overcome the 

challenges and technical issues 

before our customers ever have 

to face them. Our customers test 

our system to ensure it works 

for them before we roll out. The 

system is built properly and is 

properly tested. From time to 

time we do a routine visit to check 

how the systems are working but 

calls about issues and complaints 

are rare. However, when they occur, 

we deal with the issues within 

24hours. 

Your company is focused 

on enhancing financial inclusion 

and your end goal is to 

reach 100 million unbanked 

people around the world. 

Has the increased investment 

in Fintech helped financial 

inclusion? 

Fintech is the way forward and 

that is why there’s a rush now. 

With the investments coming in, 

they will speed up the process 

and at the same time streamline 

it. So, yes it will go a long way. 

Oradian recently won two 

awards at the just concluded 

Cashless Africa Expo; Best Microfinance 

Enabler Platform 

(Instafin) and Microfinance Empowerment 

Recognition Award 

(Oradian). What do these awards 

mean to you? 

I will say it’s a recognition of 

the services we’ve been able to 

deliver. It’s more like a pat on the 

back and this for us is a challenge 

because we have to do more. So 

we have taken up that challenge 

to do more, so that by next year 

we will win more awards. The 

fact that we won an award is not 

enough for us to go back and 

relax. We will always be at the 

forefront. 

The World Bank has set 

the target for Universal Financial 

Access by 2020. How do 

you see Oradian contributing 

towards the achievement of 

this goal? 

We see this complementary to 

our own goal - we said we want 

to reach 100million unbanked 

around the world. All our efforts, 

all our resources, everything that 

we do in Oradian is targeted towards 

that. So if we, as Oradian, 

can actually bring in 100 million 

people into the financial system, 

that means we will have actually 

done a reasonable job and have 

become the part of the goal set by 

the World Bank.



Wandel Int’l Nigeria unveils new Tricycle 

with in-built entertainment system 

SEYI JOHN SALAU 

Wandel International 

Nigeria Limited, a 

subsidiary of the 

Simba group and sole distributor 

of TVS brand in Nigeria, 

recently unveiled a new 

brand of tricycle, TVS King 

Deluxe, Nigeria’s first tricycle 

with a break through Built-in 

MP3 player and FM radio. 

Sunil Gondhali, Head of 

Business, Wandel international, 

told journalists recently 

in Lagos that TVS strategy 

has always been to be 2- steps 

ahead of competition when it 

comes to innovation. 

Speaking further on the 

unveiling, Gondhali said, 

“Indeed in 2010 when TVS 

just introduced its first tricycle, 

we took the bold decision 

to launch a 4-stroke 

engine that gives better performance 

and environmental 

friendly in a 100 percent 

2-stroke engine environment”. 

According to him, TVS 

became the market leader 

in less than four years with 

focus on service activities 

and training of mechanics 

across Nigeria. 

“In today’s challenging 

environment, TVS decided 

to literally change the game 

with the TVS KING DELUXE, 

that combines the best performances, 

a unique style 

and in-built music system,” 

Gondhali said. 

Vinay Grover, Founder, 

Wandel International, in his 

opening remark said TVS King 

Deluxe responded to market 

demand to sustain market 

leadership in the sales and 

supply of ‘Keke’ in Nigeria. 

Grover said, “Our Mission 

Statement is to develop 

and deliver locally relevant, 

contemporary innovative 

solution in partnership with 

global organizations to become 

the first choice of Nigerians. 

I am proud to say 

that the TVS KING DELUXE 

is the manifestation of our 

ambitions”. 

According to him, the 

newly unveiled TVS KING 

DELUXE will set a new standard 

in the tricycle industry to 

sustain its market leadership 

position. 

“End –users have always 

dreamt to have built-in stereo 

in tricycle, today we are at the 

edge when it comes to robustness 

and performance of the 

tricycle, so we needed to go 

the extra mile and provide 

these highly demanded extra 

features,” Grover said. 

Other features of the TVS 

KING DELUXE tricycle includes 

mounted chassis bumper, 

wider and taller seats 

with lumber support, a new 

stylish car-like dashboard, 

and integrated wheel arcs. 

Access Bank, Fifth Chukker excite next 

generation leaders with polo tournament 

KELECHI EWUZIE 

Access Bank Plc, Fifth 

Chukker Polo and 

Country Resort in 

collaboration with UNICEF 

hosted thousands of children 

from selected schools as part 

of events to commemorate 

the 2017 Access Bank UNI- 

CEF Charity Shield Polo Tournament 

in Kaduna. 

The pupils and their teachers 

spent the whole day at the 

foremost Fifth Chukker Polo 

& Country Club in Kaduna, 

engaging in various sporting 

activities including drawing 

and paintings. 

Abubakar Kaita, Access 

Bank’s Zonal Head, CBD 

Zone, Kaduna while speaking 

about the programme said 

the Bank would continue to 

support UNICEF in its campaign 

to protect the interest 

of the Nigerian child. 

“The 2017 edition of the 

Charity Shield Polo Tourna- 

Olam International, the 

leading agribusiness 

group operating from 

seed-to-shelf in 70 countries 

recently launched the best in 

class and latest micro extrusion 

technology fish feed, Aqualis 

in the South-South and South- 

East markets in Nigeria. 

At the launch, Mr. Ashish 

Pande, Business Head, Olam 

International said that, “The 

micro extrusion technology 

also ensures the delivery of 

the right feed size thus minimizing 

wastage of the feed 

and maximizing profits for 

the farmers. 

The launch events were attended 

by, Farmers, Fish farm 

business owners, distributors 

and representatives from the 

government, particularly Mrs. 

ment is more than an affirmation 

of our commitment 

to socio-economic wellbeing 

of children and acknowledgement 

of the impact this 

initiative has had on the lives 

of the orphaned and vulnerable 

children in Kaduna 

State and its environ,” Kaita 

pointed out. 

The Children’s Day event 

which remains the biggest 

highlight yet at the tournament, 

enabled the children 

in Kaduna State and its environs, 

to rekindle their childhood 

and display the potentials 

within them. 

The biggest charity Polo 

tournament in Africa which 

is in its tenth year of Access 

Bank exclusive sponsorship, 

has so far raised more than 

N100 million for UNICEF for 

the alleviation of the plights of 

the underprivileged children 

especially those orphaned by 

HIV/AIDS. The initiative has 

no doubt created the space 

Aqualis Fish Feed debuts in Nigeria 

Onimim Jacks, the Honourable 

Commissioner for Agriculture, 

Rivers State. 

Mrs. Jacks expressed admiration 

for the quality of Aqualis 

and commended the scale of 

investment that Olam International 

has made in Nigeria 

especially in the adoption of 

the most modern and first-rate 

technology for the production 

of high quality feed. 

Aqualis is the first offering 

from the animal feed investment 

from Olam International, 

has a high nutritional content 

and the right balance of protein 

that ensures better growth and 

high fish yield. In reaffirming 

mission of supplying food 

and industrial raw materials 

to customers worldwide, the 

company have launched a fish 

for a lot of them to enjoy their 

rights to education. 

Idris Baba, HIV and AIDS 

Specialist at UNICEF, commended 

Access Bank and 

Fifth Chukker for providing 

the platform during the charity 

polo tournament for the 

Nigerian children to mark the 

2017 Children’s Day in a most 

special way. 

“There is an important 

need for both private and 

public sectors to do a lot 

more in support of the Nigerian 

child, particularly the 

orphans and vulnerable children 

to enable them look forward 

to a better tomorrow,” 

he added. 

There were songs, dance 

and drama performances 

by the pupils from Adamu 

Atta Primary School, Kaduna 

International Schools, 

Al-Amanah Academy, Rage 

Gem Academy and French 

International School, among 

others. 

feed that will be truly revolutionary 

to the development of 

fish farming in Nigeria. 

The latest technology used 

in the manufacture of Aqualis 

is an innovation that delivers a 

fully floating feed best suited 

for the feeding behaviour of the 

African catfish. 

Olam International was 

established in 1989 initially 

to trade cashew from Nigeria 

to India. The company has 

evolved today to global leadership 

in many agribusiness 

sectors such as edible nuts, 

cocoa, spices and vegetable 

ingredients, coffee and cotton. 

The entrance of fish feed 

production is with the aim to 

directly contribute positively to 

the growth of the fish farming 

business in Nigeria. 

Business Event 

L-R: William Lane, marketing manager, Red Bull; Leslie Ogmomienor, chairman, Blaugrana Group, and 

Kayode Adeleke senior executive vice president, Russel Smith, during the NEYMAR JR’s Five event 

in Lagos. 

L-R: Nic Rudnick, CEO, Liquid Telecoms; Uche Ofodile, regional head, Africa Express Wi-Fi, Facebook; 

Artur Mendes, CCO, Angola Cables; Funke Opeke, CEO, MainOne; Chris Wood, CEO, WIOCC and 

Chris George, strategic initiatives, Google, after the MainOne-hosted Africa session themed “Achieving 

A Connected Continent: Leading The Data Explosion Across Africa” at the 2017 International Telecoms 

Week, in Chicago recently. 

L-R: Oluwakayode Adigun, divisional head, service management & technology, First City Monument 

Bank (FCMB); Emeka Okoli, customer of the Bank; Adam Nuru, Managing Director of FCMB; Babatunde 

Kuku; Franklin Uwalaka, both are customers of the Bank, and Adelaja Adeleye, regional director, Southwest 

of FCMB, during the Business Cocktail organised by the Bank for customers in Ibadan, Oyo state. 

L-R Ali Muhluoglu, area sales manager, Dizayn Group; Adeniran Adekoya, MD/CEO Adeem Adex Ltd; 

Can Atikoglu, director , export market, Dizayn Group and Fatih Guler, product manager, Dizayn Group, 

at a Technical Training Session for Artisans organised by Dizayn Group/Adeem Adex Ltd in Lagos.



C002D5556 

NVESTO 

Thursday 05 January 2017 

C002D5556 

I NVESTOR 

In association with 

Helping you to build wealth & make wise decisions 


NSE All Share Index 

NSE Premium Index The NSE-Main Board 

Market capitalisation 

NSE ASeM Index NSE 30 Index NSE Banking Index NSE Insurance Index NSE Consumer Goods Index NSE Oil/Gas Index 


Year Open 26,874.62 N9.247 trillion 1,695.51 1,203.79 1,189.69 1,195.20 274.32 126.29 712.65 312.68 

Week open (12 – 05–17) 28,192.46 N9.746 trillion 1,716.73 1,304.04 1,195.56 1,290.33 327.83 127.41 719.26 322.28 

NSE Premium Index The NSE-Main Board 

NSE All Share Index 

Week close (19 – 05–17) 28,113.38 N9.719 

Market capitalisation 

NSE ASeM Index NSE 30 Index NSE Banking Index NSE Insurance Index NSE Consumer Goods Index NSE Oil/Gas Index 

trillion 1,769.07 1,307.06 1,195.56 1,289.89 336.28 127.89 708.59 311.76 

Year Open 26,874.62 N9.247 trillion 1,695.51 1,203.79 1,189.69 1,195.20 274.32 126.29 712.65 312.68 

Percentage change (WoW) -0.28 

3.05 

0.23 0.00% -0.03% 2.58% 0.38% -1.48% -3.26% 

Week open (23 – 12–16 26,486.02 N9.189 trillion 1,691.94 1,177.12 1,218.38 

Percentage change (YTD) 4.61 4.34 

8.58 0.49% 

1,174.07 

7.92% 

266.91 122.95 687.28 317.35 

22.59% 1.27% -0.57% -0.29% 

Week close (30 – 12–16) 26,874.62 N9.247 trillion 1,695.51 1,203.79 1,189.69 1,195.20 274.32 126.29 712.65 312.68 

Percentage change (WoW) 1.47% 

0.21% 

2.27% -2.35% 1.80% 2.78% 3.34% 3.69% -1.47% 

Oando, Stanbic, Air Service, May 

Percentage change (YTD) -6.17% 6.98% -10.02% -1.57% -7.18% 2.17% -11.44% -4.49% -12.31% 

& Stock Baker, investors UBA stocks price-in outperform outlook for 

unimpressive full year financials 

…as 

Stories by IHEANYI NWACHUKWU 

investors record over 50% gain 

Stories 

Investors at the Nigerian 

by 

Stock 

IHEANYI 

Exchange 

NWACHUKWU 

(NSE) 

have started reducing 

their equities wagers 

Stock amid their investors expectations who of 

unimpressive took audited positions full year in 

2016 financials of companies. 

the shares of Oando 

Evidenced in this week’s 

negative start Plc, to Stanbic trading in IBTC 2017, 

analysts Holdings said Nigeria’s Plc, Airline weak 

macroeconomic Services & Logistics environment 

Plc, May& 

which Baker Nigeria affected Plc, companies’ 

and United 

performance Bank Africa clearly Plc have signals seen 

their value full year of these results equities will be 

unimpressive. 

rise in excess of 50 percent 

this For year. first nine months through 

September Nigerian 2016, stocks the have cumulative risen 

net income of 30 firms that make 

to record highs as speculative 

up the Nigerian Stock Exchange 

(NSE) 

buyers 

30 

position 

index or 87.50 

ahead 

percent 

of 

of imminent the total market return capitalisation 

of foreign 

fell portfolio by 16.09 investors percent N529.29 (FPIs) 

billion that fled from the N631.24 market billion about the 

preceding two years year. ago over concerns 

around Seven firms foreign out of exchange 

the NSE-30 

also policy. posted a cumulative loss of 

N121.71 In the billion past in the one nine month, months 

to foreign September portfolio 30, 2016 investors as the 

economic 

have been 

downturn 

testing the 

continued 

Nigerian 

to 

blight every sector of the economy. 

equities waters using the 

Uncertainty built around 

foreign platform exchange of the new (FX) availability, 

investors’ 

tightened window created monetary by the policies, Central in 

addition Bank of Nigeria to some (CBN). tough fiscal 

policies Market weakened data suggest investors’ their 

confidence interest in towards value investment 

stocks is 

gaining Nigerian traction. equities. 

With After capping a minimum last year of 60 in 

red percent with in 6.17 year-to-date percent negative (ytd) 

returns return, in these post-recession listed stocks dip, 

stock investors at the local bourse 

have outperformed the 

were unable to make big gains in 

early Nigerian trading bourse of this week. which has 

ytd Interestingly, return just while in excess Nigerian of 

stock 4percent. market disappoints, other 

stock Specifically, markets across a look the at globe the 

are outperforming on economy 

year-to-date performance of 

some stocks at the Nigerian 

Stock Exchange (NSE) shows 

that Oando Plc share price 

which opened this week at 

N9.29 has risen by 93.6percent 

this year. 

Also, investors who raised 

wagers on the shares of 

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc 

at the beginning of this year 

have optimism achieved as crude 73.3percent oil price 

increase advances. in the value of their 

stocks “The which equity stood market at N26 logged at 

the a softer beginning start to of 2017. this week. Overall 

market At 62.8percent sentiment was year-to-date impacted 

change, by corporate the earnings share price outlook”, of 

Airline said research Services analysts & Logistics at Lagosbased 

also Dunn outperformed; Loren Merrifield even said 

Plc 

in their Tuesday equity note. 

“Investors are wary of 

as the share price of United 

Bank for Africa Plc increased 

by 60.4percent to N7.29; while 

May& Baker stock which was 

N1.47 as at our review period 

impressed investors with 

63.8percent return. 

The value of listed equities 

which stood at N8.716trillion 

when the CBN launched the 

Investors’ & Exporters’ FX 

window development has in increased Nigeria’s macro to 

N9.706trillion, economy and are an not indication 

buying into 

of stocks. about We N990billion think the corporate 

increase 

in results the value will be of unimpressive listed stocks as 

within there were one foreign month. exchange issues 

that Other blighted companies firms,” said investors Ayodele 

show Akinwunmi, positive Head, sentiment 

Research and 

on Strategy their at stocks FSDH Merchant are: Access Bank. 

Saheed Bashir, head of research 

at Meristem Securities Limited 

Bank Plc, Chemical and 

Allied Products Plc, Caverton 

Offshore Support Group Plc, 

C&I Leasing Plc, Continental 

Reinsurance Plc, Cutix Plc, 

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, 

Eterna Plc, and FBN Holdings 

Plc. 

Other are: Fidelity Bank 

Plc, Fidson Healthcare Plc, 

GTBank Plc, International 

Breweries in his recent comment Plc, Linkage said they 

Assurance do not expect Plc, Mobil a spectacular Oil Plc, 

MPF performance Microfinance equity Bank market Plc, in 

Okomu first half Oil (H1) Palm of 2017. Plc, Portland 

Paints He noted Plc, Presco that the Plc, risks PZ to 

Cussons their expectations Plc, Transcorp remain smart Plc, 

Lafarge execution Africa of 2016/2017 Plc, and Zenith budget, 

Bank foreign Plc. exchange challenge and 

recovery in government fiscal 

stability in 2017. 

BUSINESS DAY 

NSE Lotus II 

1,841.59 

1,820.93 

NSE Lotus II 

1,805.26 

1,841.59 

-0.86% 

1,837.70 

-1.97% 

1,841.59 

0.21% 

-7.87% 

NSE Ind. Goods Index 

2,176.44 

1,696.76 

NSE Ind. Goods Index 

1,695.73 

2,176.44 

-0.06% 

1,597.67 

6.29% 

1,595.33 

-0.15% 

-26.37% 

NSE Pension Index 

810.04 

17 

955.99 

NSE Pension Index 

965.25 

810.04ww 

0.97% 

799.43 

19.16% 

810.04 

1.33% 

-0.63% 

Berger Paints pays 

N145m dividend 

Vetiva S&P ETF admitted 

on FMDQ platform 

Despite the tough operating 

environment, Berger 

While Paints Nigeria the financial Plc paid markets its 

shareholders wrapped-up N145million activities 

dividend for the last financial year, FMDQ year ended OTC 

December 31, Securities 2016. Exchange 

admitted The shareholders the pioneer of Berger listing Paints of 

Nigeria an Exchange Plc gave Traded their approval Fund (ETF) for - 

the 10,000,000 Board to units pay this of the dividend Vetiva S&P as 

recommended Nigerian Sovereign at the Bond company’s Exchange 

annual Traded general Fund (VS&P meeting ETF) held on its in platform. Lagos 

last week. With the due approval of the 

FMDQ At the Board meeting, Listings, the shareholders 

Markets and 

received Technology and adopted Committee, report the of VS&P the 

directors; ETF became the company’s the second audited Fund to 

financial be listed statements on the for OTC the year Exchange, ended 

December following the 31, Greenwich 2016 and report Plus Money of the 

auditors Market and Fund. the audit committee. 

Besides, The VS&P the frontline ETF, will, manufacturer as part of 

of the paints benefits and for allied securities coatings listed has on 

embarked FMDQ’s platform, on some be initiatives availed global to 

reinforce visibility through its competitive the OTC Exchange’s 

edge and 

ensure corporate significant website growth and the in the FMDQ- topline 

Bloomberg and bottom- E-Bond line. Trading System. 

The While listing addressing of the VS&P the ETF elated will 

shareholders serve to drive at the increased company’s confidence Annual 

General in the possibility Meeting (AGM) of the in nation’s Lagos, 

Oladimeji investment Alo, climate, chairman, and the Berger Fund 

Paints will undoubtedly Nigeria Plc enjoy who the reviewed prestige 

the provided company’s by FMDQ’s 2016 performance 

listings and 

indicators quotations explained service. that FMDQ sales revenue said it 

and remains profit before unyielding tax which in its amounted mandate 

to to N2.60 revolutionise billion and N271.8 and promote million 

respectively the development were moderated of the Nigerian by the 

major financial contraction markets. of the economy and 

high The operational OTC Exchange cost. is strategically 

positioned 

According 

to boost 

to him, 

the development 

inability of 

many 

and competitiveness 

institutional consumers 

of the 

such 

markets 

as 

government 

under its purview. 

agencies and 

In 

corporate 

the fixed 

customers 

income market, 

to meeting 

specifically, 

with obligations 

FMDQ 

affected 

provides 

their 

a most 

demand 

reliable 

for 

platform 

paints and 

for 

allied 

the registration, 

products while 

listing, 

low purchasing 

trading and 

power 

valuation 

and high 

of debt 

cost of 

securities. 

basic household 

Looking ahead into 2017, FMDQ 

needs moderated effective demand at 

said it will remain committed 

individual level. 

to impeccable delivery of its 

He listed strategic initiatives 

mandate, leveraging on, as it must 

such as depot outsourcing scheme, 

to ensure success, the concerted 

greater marketing support, digital 

and collaborative efforts of its 

presence, factory modernization and 

stakeholders, to support economic 

implementation of an Enterprise 

development pertinent to the 

Resource Planning System as some 

resuscitation, where applicable, 

of 

and 

the 

growth 

factors 

of the 

that 

Nigerian 

enhanced 

financial 

the 

company’s 

markets. 

performance last year.


The complaints management 

process for investors 

The Nigerian Stock 

Exchange (“The 

Exchange”) as a 

self-regulatory 

organization has 

as one of its primary objectives 

to regulate the activities of its 

members, maintain a fair and 

orderly market to facilitate 

capital formation and the 

protection of investors. The 

mission of The Exchange 

is to provide investors and 

businesses a reliable, efficient 

and an adaptable exchange 

hub in Africa, to save and to 

access capital. In addition, 

The Exchange maintains 

zero tolerance for infractions 

through adherence to best 

practices in its regulatory 

program. 

The Exchange strives to 

achieve these objectives 

through the creation of robust 

Rules and Regulations to 

govern its Dealing Members 

and policies to ensure a fair 

and orderly market. 

Who is an Investor? 

An investor is a key 

Complaint Management Process 

result in disputes and in some 

instances loss of investment. 

Dispute Resolution 

T h e a b o v e 

notwithstanding, it is 

inevitable that disputes may 

arise in the course of investing 

in the capital market. The 

Exchange seeks to highlight 

the rights and responsibilities 

of an investor and the options 

available to seek redress 

where there has been a breach 

of an investor’s rights. 

Investors have a 

responsibility to take 

ownership of their 

investment portfolios and 

to notify regulators, such as 

The Exchange immediately 

they notice any suspicious 

activity or unusual event in 

their portfolios or have been 

unfairly treated. Any delay by 

investors in bringing issues 

to the attention of regulators 

could potentially lead to 

significant challenges in the 

resolution of complaints 

and in some instances could 

prevent full redress for the loss 

Upon receipt of an investor complaint, the complaint is referred 

to the stockbroking firm for resolution. 

The stockbroking firm or the investor is required to provide 

The Exchange with a report on resolution or non- resolution of 

the complaint. 

Where the complaint is unresolved, it is subjected to 

The Exchange’s dispute resolution process. 

A party dissatisfied with the decision of The Exchange may 

refer the matter to the SEC. 

stakeholder in the 

development of any 

economy and by extension 

the capital market of any 

nation. An investor (person 

or organization) allocates 

capital with the expectation 

of a future financial return. 

Investor participation is 

therefore a key factor in 

deepening the capital 

market and an essential 

catalyst for growth and 

development. 

An informed and 

enlightened investor is pivotal 

to the development of the 

capital market because an 

investor who understands 

what he is investing in and 

the risks thereto is more likely 

to make rational investment 

decisions. However, investors 

who invest in securities 

without knowledge of the 

rudiments of the capital 

market more often than not 

run into challenges which 

suffered. 

The Securities and 

Exchange Commission 

(SEC) is the Apex Regulator of 

the Nigerian capital market 

and provides the framework 

on complaints management 

for the Nigerian capital 

market (Rules Relating to the 

Complaints Management 

Framework of the Nigerian 

Capital Market 2015). The 

framework defines the 

process for complaints 

management in the event 

of a dispute between an 

investor and a capital market 

operator or disputes between 

capital market operators. 

Complaints filed at The 

Exchange should state the 

following: 

•the name of the investor, 

the full address, GSM number, 

electronic mail address, 

signature of the investor and 

date. 

•the shares in issue; 

•the Stock broking firm; 

and 

•supporting documents 

evidencing ownership of the 

shares or interest in the shares 

and identity document of the 

investor. 

In general, the complaints 

resolution cycle is thirtyseven 

(37) working days from 

when an investor complaint 

is received by a capital market 

operator. A significant number 

of complaints are successfully 

resolved within this period. 

However, complaints relating 

to transactions that date back 

several years, complaints that 

include criminal elements and 

appeals against directives/ 

decisions on a complaint 

which cannot be resolved 

within the timeframe may, 

subject to the approval of 

the SEC be extended beyond 

the period for resolution 

of complaint outside the 

stipulated period in the 

framework. 

The Exchange periodically 

provides the investing public 

Timelines 

10 working days 




with information about the 

capital market, products 

offered by The Exchange, 

the rules and regulations 

governing dealing member 

firms, the compliance status 

of firms and such other 

information that can assist 

an investor in making an 

informed decision. This 

information can be found on 

the Exchange’s website in the 

link provided herein www. 

nse.com.ng 

In conclusion, Investors 

are enjoined to keep abreast 

of developments in the capital 

market, continuously assess 

their investments and make 

changes or adjustments 

to their portfolio’s where 

necessary. 

The Exchange will 

continue to work towards the 

protection of investors and 

towards maintaining a fair 

and orderly capital market to 

save and to access capital. 

Investor’s Square 

•Have you been shabbily treated by your registrar, stockbroke r or 

other capital market operators? 

Let us know and investor will help you investigate and report back. 

E-mail: investor@businessdayonline.com 

Africa investor index 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

17 

I NVESTOR 


Company Ticker Sector Country Price Price MKT P/E Shares 

US$ Chan. on Cap in issue 

the week SMn Mn. 

SAB Miller SAB SJ Beverages South Africa 59.04 0.7% 95,098.19 34.8 1,610.64 

Anglo American AGL SJ Mining South Africa 13.41 1.0% 17,139.04 -8.5 1,278.50 

Sasol SOL SJ Oil & gas South Africa 30.37 0.1% 19,782.84 9.7 651.39 

MTN Group MTN SJ Telecommunications South Africa 9.02 4.6% 16,217.37 16.2 1,797.23 

Standard Bank SBK SJ Banking & finance South Africa 11.09 2.6% 17,708.61 10.7 1,596.58 

Anglo Platinum AMS SJ Mining South Africa 23.30 0.1% 6,250.56 130.8 268.30 

ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI LTD ANG SJ Mining South Africa 11.43 2.6% 4,666.61 -100.9 408.22 

Tullow Oil plc TLW GN Oil & gas Ghana 4.25 -0.4% 3,869.12 381.7 911.38 

Maroc Telecom IAM MC Telecommunications Morocco 14.33 0.8% 12,596.95 21.3 879.10 

DANGOTE CEMENT PLC DANG NL Building Materials Nigeria 0.53 3.4% 8,968.60 13.2 17,040.51 

Orascom Construction OCIC EY Construction Egypt 12.04 0.1% 2,491.01 74.0 206.92 

Attijariwafa Bank ATW MC Banking & finance Morocco 42.99 1.8% 8,749.30 16.1 203.53 

Nigerian Breweries NB NL Breweries Nigeria 0.98 17.0% 7,385.83 28.4 7,562.56 

Banque Marocaine du Commerce BCE MC Banking & finance Morocco 20.47 0.1% 3,673.73 15.7 179.46 

Telecom Egypt ETEL EY Telecommunications Egypt 0.56 0.6% 947.83 7.3 1,707.07 

VODAFONE EGYPT VODE EY Telecommunications Egypt 3.43 0.1% 823.72 6.1 240.00 

Banque CENTRALE POPULAIRE BCP MC Banks Morocco 27.80 -3.9% 4,006.41 18.7 182.30 

Lafarge LAC MC Building materials Morocco 223.95 -1.1% 5,247.40 23.8 23.43 

Douja Prom Addoha ADH MC Real Estate Morocco 4.93 -1.0% 1,589.66 13.8 322.56 

Sonatel Sn SNTS BC Telecommunications Brvm 38.94 9.3% 3,894.34 12.6 100.00 

Guaranty Trust Bank GUARANTY NL Banking & finance Nigeria 0.10 12.3% 2,816.35 7.0 29,431.18 

Zenith Bank ZENITH NL Banking & finance Nigeria 0.06 12.0% 1,815.67 4.9 31,396.49 

CGI CGI MC Real Estate Morocco 43.28 0.1% 796.70 14.4 18.41 

Guinness Nigeria PLC GUINNES NL Beverages Nigeria 0.22 9.4% 350.20 -27.4 1,591.13 

Commercial International Bank CIB EY Banks Egypt 4.26 2.0% 4,913.28 14.5 1,153.87 

First Bank FIRSTBAN NL Banks Nigeria 0.01 10.7% 459.13 2.5 35,895.00 

Abu Kir Fertilizers ABUK EY Chemicals Egypt 10.10 1.3% 849.99 9.9 84.13 

East African Breweries EABL KN Breweries Kenya 2.26 -2.0% 1,784.30 24.1 790.77 

Safaricom Ltd SAFCOM KN Telecommunications Kenya 0.20 2.3% 7,994.22 16.9 40,065.43 

Mauritius Comm. Bank MCB MP Banking & finance Mauritius 6.37 -1.1% 1,517.84 7.5 238.19 

Mobinil EMOB EY Telecommunications Egypt 5.48 -1.1% 548.09 - 100.00 

T M G HOLDING TMGH EY Real Estate Egypt 0.47 4.0% 978.98 21.6 2,063.56 

Poulina Group Holding PGH TU Holding Companies-Divers Tunisia 3.25 -2.2% 585.48 14.1 180.00 

Ecobank Transnational Inc ETIT BC Banks Brvm 0.03 -5.7% 475.85 2.0 15,952.70 

STANBIC IBTC BANK PLC IBTCCB NL Banks Nigeria 0.08 6.0% 829.34 7.8 10,000.00 

State Bank Mauritius SBM MP Banking & finance Mauritius 0.03 -1.1% 973.93 11.2 31,000.00 

Barclays Bank Kenya BCBL KN Banking & finance Kenya 0.08 -0.9% 430.86 6.0 5,432.00 

Banque De Tunisie BT TU Banking & finance Tunisia 3.30 -5.5% 494.73 13.5 150.00 

Equity Bank Limited EQBNK KN Banking & finance Kenya 0.32 -5.3% 1,217.75 7.5 3,773.67 

Kenya Comm. Bank Ltd KNCB KN Banking & finance Kenya 0.34 5.8% 1,043.29 5.5 3,025.21 

Africa investor Ai40 Weekly Commentary – 22 May 2017 

The Ai40 Investor’s Index 

continued on an upward 

trajectory, albeit at a 

more subdued rate last week. 

Friday’s close marked the fourth 

consecutive week of gains 

buoyed by banking equities, 

which have stood out to be the 

top performing stocks tracked 

by the Index over the last month. 

The Index gained 0.29 points, 

an increase of 0.31% from last 

week’s value of 93.22, to close 

Friday at a value of 93.51. 

In the US, political risk factors 

made for a rollercoaster ride for 

financial markets. The S&P 500 

rose to a new all-time record last 

Monday only for markets to be 

rattled on Wednesday and suffer 

this year’s worst drop. By Friday’s 

close, markets had surged back 

and recovered gains to be within 

1% of the record set a few days 

earlier. According to Market 

Watch, “markets reacted to a 

report that Trump in February 

asked then-Federal Bureau of 

Investigation Director James 

Comey to stop an investigation 

into Russian interference into 

the U.S. presidential election, 

causing some investors to 

question whether Trump 

will finish his term.” The US 

dollar took a beating as it 

fell 0.8% against a basket of 

major currencies, while gold 

– considered a safe haven asset – 

notched its best performance in 

five weeks. According to Reuters, 

oil enjoyed another week of gains 

as “expectations increased that 

big crude exporters will extend 

output cuts to curb an inventory 

glut.” A barrel of Brent crude was 

trading at $53.71 on Friday. 

At Friday’s close, the Dow 

Jones Industrial Average was up 

0.69%, or 141.82 points, to close 

the week at a value of 20,804.84. 

The Nasdaq Composite Index 

gained 0.47%, or 28.57 points, 

to end the week at a value of 

6,083.70, while the S&P 500 rose 

by 0.68%, or 16.01 points, to close 

Friday on a value of 2,381.73. 

According to Investopedia, 

global markets recorded mixed 

performances as “Japan’s Nikkei 

225 was down 1.46%; Germany’s 

DAX 30 lost 1.03%%; and, Britain’s 

FTSE 100 was up 0.4%.” 

Gainers 

Marking a fourth week of 

dominating the Gainers list, 

banking stocks tracked by the 

Index continue to be a favourite 

for investors; these equities 

took three of the five spots on 

last week’s top performers list. 

However, shares for Abu Qir 

Fertilizers – with a weekly gain 

of 7.6% – exhibited the biggest 

upward movements. Stocks for 

Kenya Commercial Bank were 

up 7.1%; the bank launched an 

e-payment system last week, 

titled Pay In Your Currency (PYC), 

which caters to international 

visitors. According to Telecom 

paper, “Customers can pay in 

their own local currency, while 

merchants continue to receive 

settlement and reporting in 

Kenyan shilling.” Still in Kenya, 

Equity Bank gained 6.8%. 

JSE-listed mining giant Anglo 

American recorded a 5.4% gain 

despite an 11% fall in diamond 

sales for its diamond mining 

arm, De Beers Group. In Nigeria, 

shares for Guaranty Trust Bank 

were trading 5% higher at Friday’s 

close. 

Losers 

The Losers list last week was 

a North and West African affair. 

TMG Holding (a real estate firm) 

and Orange – both listed in Cairo 

– were down 10.3% and 5.9% 

respectively. Still in North Africa, 

Moroccan-listed Lafarge lost 

4.8% over the week. Shares for 

Nigerian Breweries were trading 

3.4% lower while Accra-listed 

Tullow Oil lost 2.4%. 

For more on the Ai40 Index, 

please visit the Africa investor 

website at www.africainvestor. 

com.


C002D5556 


I 

NVESTOR 


C&I Leasing to redeem $12.4m 

loan stock from Abraaj 

…plans to explore cheaper sources of funds 

IHEANYI NWACHUKWU 

C&I Leasing 

Plc plans 

to redeem 

$12.4million 

loan stock 

from Abraaj noting that it 

will continue to explore 

cheaper sources of funds in 

line with its plans to raise 

additional funds (about 

$100 million) to expand its 

operations. 

Alex Mbakogu, group 

Chief Finance Officer 

(CFO), C&I Leasing Plc 

disclosed this at the 

company’s investors’ 

forum held in Lagos. 

He noted that C&I 

Leasing Plc will also 

improve on implemented 

cost optimization 

initiatives; and focus 

on developing human 

capital with a view to 

strengthening service 

delivery. 

In the financial year 

ended December 31, 2016, 

the group reported gross 

earnings of N17.02billon up 

from N14.58billion in 2015. 

Also, profit before taxation 

(PBT) rose to N1.04billion 

from N465.64million in 

2015. 

Mbakogu noted that 

the Group experienced 

continuous growth in pretax 

profit margin between 

2013 and 2016. The group 

moved from a pre-tax profit 

margin of 2.48percent to a 

pre-tax profit margin of 

6.09percent. 

Andrew Otike-Odibi, 

Group Managing Director, 

C&I Leasing Plc said the 

company got approval 

from shareholders for 

conversion of the loan to 

equity, adding that the 

decision was because 

of the volatility in forex 

market. 

The company is planning 

to do a combination 

of redemption and 

conversion to make the 

balance sheet healthier. 

According to the GMD, 

the company currently 

manages over 4,437 

professionals that are 

Caverton sees revenue boost on MRO completion 

Caverton Offshore Support 

Group (COSG) Plc has 

assured its shareholders 

that the company’s commercial 

Maintenance Repair & 

Overhaul (MRO) will greatly 

boost its revenue base and 

improve its financial position. 

Speaking at the annual 

general meeting (AGM) of the 

company held last week in 

Lagos, the shareholders said 

apart from conserving foreign 

exchange (FX) internally, 

revenue from other airline that 

would use the facility will help 

impact positively on Caverton 

Offshore Support Group topline 

figure. 

Aderemi Makanjuola, 

chairman, Caverton Offshore 

Support Group Plc assured 

the shareholders that the 

MRO would be completed 

and fully operational in 2018. 

According to him, when the 

facility becomes operational 

it will diversify company’s 

revenue base across multiple 

platforms for betterment of all 

stakeholders. 

He said the current 

downturn in the oil and gas 

added pressure to the group’s 

financial performance and its 

operational cash flows, which 

led to reduction of 17 percent 

in its revenue to N19.3 billion, 

from an23.2 billion. 

He added that profit fell 11 

per cent to stand at N7.7 billion 

as against N8.6 billion but total 

assets rose by 4.7 percent from 

N39.5 billion in 2015 to N41.3 

billion in 2016. 

Makanjuola disclosed 

that deal with the current 

environment the company’s 

units have been right sizing, 

monitoring the flow and 

reviewing their operations. 

“We are leveraging on our 

companies to stream line 

processes, reduce costs and 

spread across several 

industries, including, oil & 

gas, telecommunications, 

banking, manufacturing, 

agriculture and fast moving 

consumer goods (FMCG). 

C&I Leasing Plc was 

incorporated in 1990 as a 

limited liability company 

and was subsequently 

licensed by the Central 

Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 

as a finance company, to 

provide amongst other 

services, operating and 

finance leases. 

“Our training and 

manpower development is 

structured under our SDS 

training centre. Leasafric 

is a subsidiary of C&I 

share resources. These efforts 

will enable us to resilient as we 

continue to navigate through 

rough waters,” the chairman 

said. 

He added that the company 

continues to harness and 

collaborate the distinctive 

strengths of its businesses to 

capture opportunities arising 

from the local, regional, 

and global demand for oil 

sustainable. 

“With increasing financial 

discipline and sharp focus on 

optimizing returns, we will 

seize opportunities as well 

as innovate solutions and 

services to build a long-term 

and competitive position and 

capture sustainable returns for 

our stakeholders,” he said. 

Bode Makanjuola, Chief 

Executive Officer, Caverton 

Offshore Support Group Plc 

said while seizing opportunities 

to build and grow the business, 

Leasing Plc in Ghana. It 

currently has a fleet size 

of 800 vehicles with a wide 

network of clients that 

cut across the oil & gas 

industry, power sector, 

telecommunication, FMCG 

and mining industries. 

It is the largest leasing 

company in Ghana and 

provides professional lease 

options for individuals and 

corporate bodies,” he said 

Otike-Odibi disclosed 

that the group recorded a 

leap in profit but the huge 

capital requirement made 

the company to retain 

some funds and planning 

to give the shareholders an 

interim dividend this year. 

the company aims to anchor 

its position as the trusted and 

preferred logistics solution 

partner in the industry. 


company will continue to 

pursue prospective contracts 

and leverage on existing 

contracts for increased 

business. 

“We have new contracts to 

commence in the current year 

and will continue to keep up 

our core competencies and 

building up new strengths to 

keep up our solid track record of 

satisfying our customers within 

budget and to the highest safety 

standards,” the CEO said. 

He stated that the downturn 

is a good learning curve for 

both management and staff 

of COSG and they have put 

them in positions to develop 

their potential as part of 

the company’s progression 

planning. 

Key takeaways from 

breakfast meeting of ACTN 

The quarterly breakfast 

meeting of the 

Association of Corporate 

Treasurers of Nigeria 

(ACTN) was held in Africa & Asia 

Room of the Eko Hotels & Suites, 

Lagos on Thursday 4th May, 2017. 

The theme of the Breakfast 

meeting was “Nigeria’s Road to 

Economic Recovery: 59 Steps in 60 

Days” with panel discussions on 

the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign 

Exchange Fixing (NAFEX). 

The Keynote speech with the 

title “Getting Out of Recession” 

was delivered by Ayo Teriba, 

Chief Economist and CEO, 

Economic Associates. Other panel 

Discussants were experienced 

practitioners drawn from the 

banking industry. In his keynote 

speech, Teriba, conceded 

to the irrefutable fact that the 

current state of the economy 

is challenging and turbulent 

in terms of economic growth, 

inflation, foreign exchange rate. 

Hence, the focus of his address 

was on ways of deriving value 

from the current economic state, 

which he discussed on two main 

heads of ‘economic circles’ and 

‘policies’. 

It was strongly opined that the 

recession, although presumed 

and anticipated to be structural, is 

purely cyclical as evidenced in the 

way it appears to be temporary but 

has begun the process of reversing 

itself. The recent success of the 

OPEC price rally and dialogue 

in the South-South region of the 

country which resulted in the 

current increase in oil price are 

indisputable evidences that the 

recession is cyclical. 

Asides the many deliberations 

on the impact of the recession, 

suggestions on a possible way out 

(ranging from diversification of the 

economy to intensive investment 

in agriculture) have been made. 

While the suggestions remain 

laudable ones, we cannot fail to 

recognise the fact that there is a 

global commodity glut and hence 

commodity prices cannot lead 

to recovery - at least in the short 

term. Needless to say, agriculture 

is being held back by the huge gap 

between production and supply 

due to transportation cost, which 

Ishmael Nwokocha, 

President, ACTN 

leaves us with a slim chance of 

reaping the immediate benefits 

of diversification. 

However, it is not all gloom 

and doom for Nigeria as there are 

sure avenues, like infrastructural 

development in rail and energy, 

that can ensure sustainable 

growth and development in the 

country. In essence, diversification 

can only thrive in the presence 

of infrastructural development 

in such areas that amplify the 

nation’s area of strength and 

prepare the ground for future 

diversification. Also, contrary 

to popular opinion, oil exports 

can lead to a greater boost of the 

Nigerian economy compared to 

other non-oil revenue. 

Economic policy was the 

other focal discussion point at 

the breakfast meeting. These 

policies were considered in the 

light of their impact on easing the 

burden placed on the economy by 

the recession. 

Financial policy was discussed 

in view of the foreign exchange 

rate. The CBN responded to 

the hike in foreign exchange by 

restricting domestic and external 

demand of FX. However, the 

appropriate reaction should have 

been a quantitative easing not a 

tightening. 

Accordingly, the following 

were put forward as a way of 

curbing forex scarcity; bridging the 

infrastructural gaps, promoting 

economic stability and deriving 

value from the current economic 

situation, promoting exports, 

opening the vents of forex through 

non-oil channels and investments 

by soliciting remittances from 

diaspora via government bonds 

and FDI. Countries like India 

and Saudi Arabia are laudable 

examples of countries that are 

opening up their economy by 

relaxing policies and making 

public announcements that 

would attract FDI even though 

they still maintain a restricted 

list of sectors not opened up to 

FDI. The undeniable benefits 

of opening up the economy are 

evidenced in India, which is 

currently the most open economy 

for FDI in the world. 

Panel Session 

Another major highlight 

of the seminar was the panel 

session where astute practitioners 

in the financial market sector 

deliberated on issues bordering 

on the Nigerian Autonomous 

Foreign Exchange Fixing 

(NAFEX). They also buttressed the 

need for the Federal Government 

to stimulate liquidity by opening 

up the economy. As a call to 

action, it was advised that the 

government should put in place 

a department that would focus on 

encouraging FDI through various 

channels and policy appeals. 

In addition, it was also 

recommended that the CBN 

should be more transparent with 

their policies and replace the 

current reactionary approach 

to managing forex with a more 

sustainable one that thinks 

ahead in order to boost supply. 

Further, it was recommended 

that the CBN needs to ensure 

firm banking supervision in 

order to aid impactful policy 

implementation and end the 

instability commercial banks 

bring due to their excess liquidity. 

Market participants 

were also not left out as they 

were encouraged to actively 

participate in the market 

and cease in their deliberate 

speculations and inaction as 

no nation can shrink its way to 

economic recovery. It lies with 

the corporate bodies to bring 

the economy back on track. 

FMDQ is also helping with 

transparency by providing price 

quotes to boost the confidence 

of market players.


C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 15 

L-R: Desmond Elliot, member, Lagos State House of` Assembly/liberty project ambassador; Felix King, founder, Felix King Foundation, and Mercy Aigbe, 

actress & liberty project ambassador, during the media announcement for First Africa Widows’ Summit in Edo State and unveiling of Liberty Project 

Ambassadors in commemoration of 2017 International widows day celebration with the theme, abolish widows maltreatment in Africa, held in Lagos. 

Ayade reads riot act to environmental defaulters 

MIKE ABANG, Calabar 

Cross River Governor, Ben Ayade, 

has warned residents of the state, 

to ensure that the state’s cleanliness 

and greenery is sustained or 

be ready to face prosecution. 

The governor has also renamed the 

state’s non armed bearing outfit, the ‘Green 

Police’ to ‘Green Sheriff’. 

“Cross River is the cleanest state in Nigeria 

and unarguably the tourism destination 

of the country. It is imperative that the 

cleanliness is sustained. In doing this, there 

is zero tolerance for an untidy environment 

as we lay emphasis on cleanliness, knowing 

full well that cleanliness is next to Godliness,” 

Ayade said. 

He intimated that the new outfit ‘Green 

Sheriff’ must serve as an environmental 

Generator fume: Female deceased were Auchi Poly students- Police 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin 

Edo police command say 

two females that died of 

generator fume in Benin 

last Sunday were students 

of the Federal Auchi Polytechnic, 

Edo State. 

Nkombe Moses, spokesperson 

of the command told newsmen 

in Benin on Monday that two 

persons have been arrested in 

connection with the incident. 

It would be recalled that three 

persons: two females and one male 

died of generator fume at Agharase 

Adu Street, off Sapele road in Ikpoba- 

Okha local government area 

of Edo State last Sunday. 

The police spokesman said that 

the two suspects arrested were 

those who invited the two female 

students to the house. 

It was gathered that the generator 

which emitted the poisonous 

fume was kept in the house 

kitchen. The incident was said 

to have happened at about 3am. 

It was further learnt that the two 

… renames Green Police 

neighborhood watch by ensuring that every 

resident of the state and Calabar in particular 

keeps his or her environment very clean.” 

He added that those who own property in 

Calabar must keep their environment tidy. 

According to the governor, “If you are 

seen littering or dropping sweet wrapper, 

you will be picked up by Green Sheriff. So 

ensure that there is no littering as the greenery 

of Calabar must be sustained.” 

The governor, who further disclosed that 

Calabar has been divided into 39 segments 

with contractors attached to sustain the 

environmental policy, said that “we must 

maintain that dignity, image, class and 

elegance that Calabar is indeed the cleanest 

city.” 

He explained that ‘the Green Sheriff’s 

females who were allegedly found 

naked in the room of the deceased, 

(male) were his visitors. 

One of the deceased females 

was said to have been found lying 

dead at the lobby while the other 

was on the bed with her shoes 

on. It was also learnt that brothers 

to the deceased male raised 

the alarm. The bodies of the deceased 

had since been taken to the 

morgue by policemen from Etete 

Police Division. 

CityFile visit to residence where 

the incident happened, yesterday, 

showed that the residents have 

deserted the house. A source who 

preferred anonymity said the 

police have arrested a man with 

a laptop. 

“There is nobody left in the 

compound as you can see except 

a dog but funny enough, since the 

incident, the dog which used to 

be very aggressive has been quiet. 

Everybody has left the compound. 

The police came to the house and 

arrested one person with a laptop”, 

the source said. 

responsibilities will include general sanitation 

check, nursing and planting of trees, 

ensuring that refuse bins are evacuated as 

and when due, report erring wastes evacuation 

contractors as well as arrest persons who 

litter the environment.” 

Other roles the governor enumerated 

were to stop deforestation, afforestation 

supervision while ensuring that irrigation 

contractors water all trees. Ayade enjoined 

the marshals to liaise with the state security 

adviser and the commissioners for climate 

change and Environment to ensure that culprits 

are arrested and prosecuted according 

to the stipulated laws. Highpoints of the event 

was the presentation of operational vehicles 

to the marshals. 

Attacks: Emir warns farmers, 

herdsmen violating law 

Hassan Ahmed, the Emir of Nasarawa 

in Nasarawa State, has 

warned farmers and herdsmen 

in the area against taking 

laws into their hands in the interest of 

peace. 

He gave the warning during a peace 

and security meeting in Nasarawa, Nasarawa 

local government area of the state. 

The traditional ruler said he called for 

the meeting to find a lasting solution to 

the conflicts between Agatu farmers and 

herdsmen in the area. 

He warned both parties against reprisal 

attacks and urged them to always 

report their grievances to the appropriate 

authority for necessary action instead of 

taking laws into their hands. 

He said “it is our role to preach peace 

and to advise our subjects and Nigerians 

on the need to live in peace and tolerate 

one another, irrespective of ethnic, religious 

and political affiliations. 

“No nation can develop in an atmosphere 

of rancour and confusion. The 

security challenges facing some parts of 

the country had affected our lives and 

socio-economic development negatively. 

“It is in view of this that I urge farmers 

and herdsmen not to take laws into their 

hands, be their brother’s keeper and live 

in peace with one another. 

“Without peaceful co-existence between 

farmers and herdsmen, agricultural 

production and socio-economic 

development will be affected negatively. 

“People should be law abiding, respect 

constituted authorities and not to engage 

in acts capable of tarnishing their image 

and the image of the country.” 

The Emir also urged the people to be 

security-conscious and to report any suspicious 

movement of persons or groups 

to the appropriate authorities for necessary 

action. 

Ahmed pledged his commitment toward 

peace-building programmes with 

direct bearing on the lives of the people. 

Ayuba Usman, the chairman, Interim 

Management Committee of the local 

government area, assured the council’s 

commitment to educate the people on 

the need to live in peace with one another. 

FCTA to complete all abandoned projects 

Minister of Federal Capital 

Territory (FCT), Muhammad 

Bello, on says 

the FCT administration will 

complete all abandoned projects 

in the territory. 

Bello made the assertion in 

Abuja at the first anniversary of 

the All Progressives Congress 

(APC) led administration in the 

Abuja Municipal Area Council 

(AMAC). 

According to him, for us in the 

FCT administration, the story has 

been that of excellence, particularly 

in terms of completion of all 

uncompleted projects. 

“If you move around the city 

of Abuja today, what you see is 

free flow of traffic as a result of 

our efforts to complete hitherto 

abandoned road projects. 

“It is important to note that 

for any project that is started and 

not completed that translates to 

not only a waste of resources but 

it also means that the citizens 

will not get the full benefit. We 

have also made the issue of staff 

welfare a priority by ensuring 

prompt payment of salaries and 

allowances. 

“We are not unaware of the 

challenges which the area councils 

are facing in paying salaries 

of their workers, we always intervene 

to salvage the area councils.’’ 

Bello said. 

The minister said the administration 

was working tirelessly 

to improve its Internally Generated 

Revenue (IGR) in the territory. 

Chairman of the council, 

Abdullahi Candido, urged the 

National Assembly and the FCT 

to make laws and policies that 

would promote IGR in the council. 

Candido said as government 

establishment under law, the 

council believed in the rule of 

law and would continue to defend 

it as it related to revenue 

generation as stipulated by the 

constitution. 

CITYFile 

He said that this was necessary 

to enable the council to 

continue its right of collection of 

revenue within its jurisdiction. 

The chairman pledged the 

council’s commitment to develop 

the area and improve the 

welfare of its workers. 

“What we have done within 

this one year is to lay a solid 

foundation that will uphold 

the new AMAC we are trying 

to build. 

“We are convinced that solid 

structure has been properly laid 

and in no distant time, the vision 

shall be clear,” he said. 

He solicited the support and 

cooperation of residents, adding 

that his administration was 

committed to delivering to them 

the council of their dream. 

The rehabilitation of Jiwa 

Road to Gwagwa Palace and the 

construction of drainage and 

grading of Zaudna-Kba-Kagini 

road were among the projects 

inaugurated by AMAC chairman.


C002D5556 


GARDEN CITY 

BUSINESS DIGEST 

NIMASA DG heads Uniport’s Centre 

for Logistics & Transport Studies 

-We will attract funds for research 

-Says transportation is enabler for economic growth 

IGNATIUS CHUKWU 

The five-year old 

Centre for Logistics 

and Transport 

Studies in the University 

of Port Harcourt 

(UNIPORT) has made 

the Director-General (DG) 

of the Nigerian Maritime Administration 

and safety Agency 

(NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, 

as the second chairman 

of its governing board. 

By this position, Peterside 

is expected to shape the policy 

that would drive the Centre in 

the coming years and to help 

source funds and connect it 

to top organizations in the 

country and beyond. 

Peterside, a doctorate degree 

holder in management 

in the Uniport, former commissioner 

of works in Rivers 

State, former House of 

Reps member representing 

Opobo/Nkoro, and hot contestant 

against Nyesom Wike 

for the seat of governor of the 

oil-rich state, said he sees the 

appointment as a call to duty. 

“We will not fail”. 

Apart from helping to 

shape policy and source for 

funds, the DG pledged; “We 

will help to connect the Centre 

to the industry and larger 

Port Harcourt by Boat 

With 

IGNATIUS CHUKWU 

JAMB exams for 2017 has 

come and gone with its 

usual scandals. This year 

added a whiff; the sale of 

fake forms, allegation of sale of 

questions for N10,000 each by 

insiders, etc; something everyone 

knew except JAMB officials. 

As long as teachers do not teach 

nor cover their syllabus/do revision, 

as long as certificates and 

scores remain the only evidence 

L-R: Vice Chancellor (Admin), University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Regina Ogale; the Vice Chancellor, 

Ndowa Lale; Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside 

and Acting Director, UNIPORT’s Centre for Logistics and Transport Studies, Gladys Emenike, during the 

inauguration of the Governing Board of the Centre with Dr Peterside as the chairman 

society in terms of knowledge. 

Since government 

agencies send staff members 

to FUTO (in Owerri, Imo 

State) for training, try attract 

same to Uniport on Logistics 

and Transport studies.” 

Peterside gave hints on 

how to attract funds; “Fund 

the Centre well, equip it well, 

then see funds come to you. 

This centre can be made a 

point of reference in Africa. 

Be sure we will give it our all 

because we don’t get into 

of intelligence in Nigeria, as long 

as there are cut-off points to cut 

peoples hopes away in a country 

where certificate is everything, 

most candidates would continue 

to break the walls to get 

that score. 

Many months ago, this column 

looked at the prospect of 

exam silos. The idea is to create a 

system that could be fool-proof, 

and help results gain integrity 

again. JAMB and the universities 

seem to have tried all they knew 

including resort to Post JAMB 

and Computer Based Test (CBT) 

exams but these have failed too. 

Silos began in Spain and 

Greece in the mid 19th century 

and spread to other places. 

Farmers dug disguised deep pits 

to store grains. The spot would 

be protected from intruders. 

Later, tall cylindrical towers 

were built for the same purpose, 

and silos gained fame. When 

anything we cannot do. We 

pledge to make impact.” 

The DG stated that his 

team was there this day because 

of the vision for transportation 

in Nigeria. “This 

task given to us is a responsibility. 

A university turns 

out skilled members of the 

society. This centre is to address 

the knowledge gap in 

transport/logistics, the main 

enabler for economic growth 

by moving excess goods from 

industrialized areas to others; 

More on exam silos 

missiles technology emerged, 

the idea of silos gained new 

prominence as a reinforced 

protective underground chamber 

where missiles were stored 

and could be fired from, like the 

Osirak nuclear base in Iran, 12 

feet deep. Nigeria adopted the 

silos system for strategic grains 

reserves in the 1980s and maybe 

till now. 

The idea is that silos are reinforced 

chambers and are secret. 

Exam silos would therefore 

build upon the CBT concept by 

creating such isolated and protective 

chambers in designated 

geo-political zones. Hundreds of 

thousands of questions would be 

sourced from examiners around 

the world within the syllabuses. 

Students would register biometrically 

for electronic identification. 

The doors of the silos 

would only admit the candidate 

into designated kiosks in the 

and raw materials from continents 

such as Africa to others. 

Transport and logistics add 

value to goods and services.” 

Earlier, the vice chancellor, 

Ndowa Lale, who said he was 

elated to meet men of such 

stature who were only seen 

on television and billboards 

as Peterside, noted that the 

Centre represents the most 

critical sector of the economy, 

transport. He gave kudos 

to another professor, O.C. 

Akpogene, who started it in 

2012, but said the event was 

an opportunity by the federal 

appointees there to know that 

the Uniport needs help. “Tell 

the FG to give us special attention. 

We intend to push this 

Centre to very high level, to as 

far as a maritime university”. 

The Acting Director, Gladys 

Emenike, in her opening 

remarks, said the Centre was 

established in 2012, and is 

now one of the foremost in 

Nigeria. “It has ability to combine 

logistics requirements 

and transport demands (two 

critical specialisations that 

pivot any thriving economy). 

It offers that desire to improve 

on the general absence of 

proper planning and efficient 

management of logistics and 

transport activities in both 

public and private sectors 

of the economy. It offers up 

to doctorate levels and has 

exemptions in the Chartered 

Institute of Logistics and 

Transportation (CILT) with 

recognition from the UK.” 

Another professor and 

Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, 

Ginika Aniele, showered 

encomiums on Peterside’s 

perceived ability and 

mark of excellence, adding; 

“We trust you can do this. We 

need funds, equipment, etc.” 

silos and each computer would 

open only to a candidate. Then, 

the questions would stream 

in for attention, one after the 

other. At the appropriate time, 

the computer shuts down; result 

emerges. What you get is what 

you see. 

The UST in PH came close to 

this during the BB Fakae years, 

such that their CBT centre of 

1000 computers was handling 

exams for NDDC, Shell, Etisalat, 

JAMB, etc. (We do not know 

how the place is now, because 

many newsmen are no longer 

welcome there). 

For crowd management, 

the silos would handle exams 

in diets of three months. When 

you are ready, you go and write; 

JAMB, WAEC, etc. It would be a 

continuous exercise. It can start 

on a pilot scheme, but when it 

gains currency, it would replace 

the way external exams are written 

in Nigeria. Some top schools 

would adopt it too. It will supply 

iron-cast credibility. Students 

would return to studying because 

no one can cheat in an 

exam silo. Soon, candidates from 

many other countries would 

flock to it like our children now 

flock to write Cambridge exams. 

Parents would ask their wards to 

go test strength in exam silos to 

be sure. 

This proposition can be expanded 

and developed for testrun. 

Nigeria cannot continue 

to be a laughing stock in the 

international community as we 

shamelessly stumble from one 

exam scandal to another, making 

a mockery of our certificates. 

For now, our graduands have to 

write other exams abroad to be 

taken seriously, a bold statement 

that our exams system has failed. 

Can exam silos come to the 

rescue? 

Rivers State House 

of Assembly to 

create Green Book 

* To protect the environment 

* Attract investors 

A 

set of rules in one collection 

for everybody 

in Rivers State is underway, 

courtesy, the 

Rivers State House of Assembly 

through its committee 

on environment headed by 

Christian Ahiakwo. Now, the 

House is set to mount a summit 

known as the Port Harcourt 

Environmental Summit 

(PHES) 2017 to hold between 

June 13 and 14, 2017, at the 

Assembly Auditorium. 

The committee told the 

press that the PHES 2017 is being 

organized in collaboration 

with the Ministry of Environment 

and the Waste Management 

Agency. 

Answering questions, 

Ahiakwo said the House 

would come up with a ‘Green 

Book”, a set of rules on what 

to do and what not to do as 

far as the environment is 

concerned. “We must come 

up with dos and donts which 

people call Green Book. Laws 

for our environment are not 

adequate. An example is noise 

pollution where we only have 

noise from music players as 

an offence. Now, we are faced 

with other forms of noise pollution 

such as industrial noise, 

churches, parks, etc. We must 

deal with these.” 

He further stated; “There 

is this soot in Port Harcourt 

these days and we must come 

up with appropriate legislation 

on this. This is an oil/ 

gas state with much fallout. 

Modular Refinery is the solution 

to soot menace. This will 

eliminate the black smoke 

that drops back as soot. Those 

who also burn the illegal refineries 

help to cause soot. 

We have to confront them 

to change their ways. One of 

the agencies has admitted 

so much and has promised 

to change their method. Setting 

fire on illegal refineries 

is worse. If Govt was sincere 

about modular refineries, this 

would go a long way in solving 

the soot problem. 

Now, the FG has issued 

56 modular refinery licenses 

with any one going to any 

Niger Delta person. Is this 

how to douse the tension in 

the region. We are sure of this. 

The licenses were issued nine 

days in the life of the present 

FG administration. No, it was 

done by Goodluck Jonathan. 

We wonder if there is any plan 

to use the skills of the boys in 

illegal refining and integrate 

them into the new system 

by upgrading their skills into 

modern methods.

BUSINESS DAY 

21 


BDLegalBusiness 

C002D5556 

Research Intelligence Practice Management Industry Report Partnerships 

INSIDE 

Sefton Fross admits 

two new 

partners 

Kachikwu looks to 

the Bar for strategic 

partnership 

The Niger-Delta 

Negotiations: 

A paradigm shift? 

Pg 22 Pg 22 

Pg 23 

Law firms participate in 

biggest ‘Legal Walk’ in London 

Pg 23 

A 

record 700 teams took part in the biggest Legal 

Walk ever last night, before descending on Carey 

Street and the Law Society HQ in Chancery Lane 

for a party afterwards. 

Flanked by Society president Robert Bourns, lord 

chief justice Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd told walkers 

enjoying a well-deserved drink in the Reading Room 

that they had helped to raise £800,000 towards free 

legal advice services - beating last year’s £740,000. 

Yesterday’s efforts ‘shows what lawyers can do for 

those who do not have access to justice,’ the lord chief 

justice said. 

Bourns said: ‘The London Legal Walk is a great 

way for us to come together to support charities that 

provide legal advice day in, day out, helping a hugely 

diverse range of people, many of them vulnerable and 

facing frightening legal situations. And remember 

those least able to afford legal advice can often be in 

most urgent need of it. Solicitors and the wider legal 

profession are committed to helping them.’ 

Vicky Ling, chief executive of the London Legal 

Support Trust (LSST), said the event is set to raise 

more than £800,000. ‘We are delighted that the legal 

profession has again risen to the challenge and have 

turned out in even greater numbers than before. 

‘Free legal advice services change people’s lives, providing 

them with expert help to reduce debt, poverty 

and homelessness, and combat discrimination and 

injustice. LLST work with the charities we fund to ensure 

every pound raised goes as far as it possibly can.’ 

Culled from the ‘Law Society Gazette’ 

Arthur Obi Okafor, SAN gets commendation for EBF Unity cup support 

Legal practitioners and leaders of the Eastern Bar Forum ( 

EBF) have commended what they described as the invaluable 

contributions of the Chief Arthu Obi Okafor/ EBF Unity 

Cup, to the health and unity of among lawyers in the Forum. 

Speaking at the end of the Second round of the tournament 

which is sponsored by Chief Arthurn Obi Okafor, SAN, Chairman 

of the Sports Committee of the ( EBF) who is also the coordinator of 

the Chief Arthur Obi Okafor EBF Unity football tournament, Steve 

Ononye said, “The tournament has achieved the desired peace and 

unity in the EBF. All these time that we have been playing these 

matches, from what we have gathered, unity, peace love is now 

in the EBF and if this continues that way it is going, EBF will be 

stronger, it has achieved the main purpose which is to unite lawyers 

within the EBF family. 

On the call to make the tournament a national event for the 

NBA, Ononye said: “I think that it is a good idea because if it goes 

on national level, more branches will join and more States will also 

see the health benefits of this tournament because we as lawyers, 

cannot be going to court only, we cannot only keep ourselves busy 

with our work as lawyers, we also need to play football, relax and 

also entertain ourselves which is very important. I also think that it will 

enhance commitment at the national level 

On the next round of the tournament, Ononye said, “ Well, now that 

we have seen the last match in the second round, we will enter another 

round which is the 3rd round where we will also only have 10 teams that 

will play for that 3rd round, thereafter we will go into quarter finals, semi 

finals and finals. 

He said: “43 teams started the tournament, 42 played in the 1st round 

then 22 teams played in the 2nd half and we have 11 teams remaining 

after this 11 teams playing and we will get another five teams then we will 

have what is called best looser that will make it up … players so that we 

will have the next round which commences on the 13th of May. We have 

Yenagua will play Okigwe, then Umuahia will play Uyo, Onitsha will play 

Awka and so on. That is how the 3rd round is fixed. 

The Second Vice-President of the NBA, Monday Onyekachi Ubani said, 

“I tell you that almost every new match presents new exciting moments 

that you cannot but sit down and watch. I thoroughly enjoyed myself 

today, especially the match between Okrika and Port Harcourt branch. 

The match was so exciting and you saw professionalism with the Port 

Harcourt team, they played according to instructions and I am so excited, 

it is getting better and better and let me tell you the truth, this football 

match is good for us because it fosters unity, it fosters love within the 

circle of the EBF, this provides us opportunity to exercise and interact 

because it is now obvious that no matter who you are, no matter your 

professional calling, you must not live a sedatory lifestyle. You must do 

one form of exercise or the other in order to remain fit and alive, it has 

actually solved a lot of our problems and I am so happy that a lot of us 

are are here. I must commend the sponsor of this great tournament in 

the person of Arthur Obi Okafor, SAN, he has done so well and the 

organisers of the tournament have been doing so great in this tournament. 

Any where you go, whether in the Calabar, PortHarcourt or Enugu 

it very interesting and I am so happy being part of it. 

On his views about making the tournament a national programme of 

the NBA, Ubani said, “ It will be fine to take this wonderful tournament 

to the national level, it will keep lawyers fit and proper to practice their 

trade. A lot of us have been dropping dead and if you look at the current 

quality of lawyers, they eat, they drink and they have time for exercise 

and so if they embrace football, a game that interest lawyers, I tell you 

that it will go a long way to improve our health condition especially 

Continues on page 23

22 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Thursday 25 May 2017 

INDUSTRYFILE 

Sefton Fross admits two 

new partners 

Nigerian leading law firm, Sefton 

Fross, has announced the admission 

of Messrs. Olufemi Oguntokun 

and Adeola Owoade into 

Partnership, with effect from 1st 

May 2017. The admission of the two Partners 

is a further attestation of the Firm’s commitment 

to provide excellent and efficient 

legal services to its clients and to retain its 

position as a market leader in the provision 

of outstanding and bespoke legal services to 

its local and international clients. The admission 

of the two new Partners comes as part 

of the strategic restructuring of Sefton Fross 

to firmly re-position itself as a foremost law 

firm in different practice areas within the 

global legal circle. 

According to the Managing Partner, Olayemi 

Anyanechi, “The admission of Femi and 

Adeola is a confirmatory statement that at 

Sefton Fross, we intend to build a lasting 

institution that will survive its founder. Femi 

and Adeola are renowned experts in their 

fields of practice and their admission to the 

Partnership of Sefton Fross will contribute 

significantly to the growth of the Firm and 

in delivering first class legal services to our 

clients. I congratulate the duo and welcome 

them on board.” 

Olufemi Oguntokun has fifteen years’ 

extensive and varied experience advising 

business concerns on the corporate, commercial 

and regulatory aspects of business 

undertakings and the documentation of 

complex business and investment transactions. 

He also has rich experience advising 

industry groups and regulatory bodies on 

the institution and review of regulatory 

frameworks for both new and existing industries 

in Nigeria. While the larger part of 

his professional practice experience has been 

devoted to acting as an outside counsel, he 

has also served as Company Secretary and 

Legal Counsel to CR Services Plc., overseeing 

that company’s conversion to public status, 

stock exchange quotation and licensing by 

the Central Bank of Nigeria. 

As Legal Adviser to the Credit Bureau Association 

of Nigeria, he worked closely with the 

Central Bank of Nigeria and the International 

Finance Corporation to develop the first set 

of regulations for the industry in 2008 and 

its subsequent replacements. Clients have 

consistently commended his perceptive analytical 

skills and his firm grasp of underlying 

and tangential issues embedded in complex 

transactions. 

Femi leads the Firm’s Corporate and Commercial 

Practice. 

INDUSTRY FILE 

Adeola Owoade, is an astute commercial 

litigator with excellent skills in litigation 

practice and all forms of ADR, including 

arbitration, mediation, and conciliation. He 

has represented numerous corporate clients, 

multi-national corporations and financial 

institutions in commercial disputes before 

the Courts in Nigeria, local and international 

arbitrations. He is widely respected for his 

painstaking legal analysis of technical issues 

and as a consummate master of details. 

Adeola holds a first degree in law from 

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria 

graduating with First Class (Hons.) and was 

the best graduating student in the Faculty of 

Law of his set and the overall best graduating 

student in the University. He also holds 

a Master of Corporate Law degree from the 

University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, 

graduating also with First Class (Hons). He is 

one of the first Herbert Smith Freehills’ African 

Scholars of the University of Cambridge. He 

is also an accomplished legal author with 

several scholarly publications to his credit. 

Adeola leads the Firm’s Dispute Resolution 

Practice. 

Sefton Fross is a corporate commercial law 

firm with expertise across its different practice 

areas spanning multiple sectors and industries. 

The Firm’s expertise is confirmed by 

accolades and recognitions at different times 

in domestic and international legal directories. 

This includes, recognition as a Leading 

Corporate and Financial Law Firm, Leading 

Energy and Infrastructure Firm, Leading Law 

Firm in Banking, Finance and Capital Markets, 

Leading Law Firm in Commercial, Corporate 

and M&A, Leading Law Firm in Dispute 

Resolution, Nigerian Oil and Gas Team of the 

Year, Nigerian Best Private Equity Firm, Best 

Cross-Border Transaction Team of the Year 

and Energy Team of the Year. 


Kachikwu looks to the Bar 

for strategic partnership 

Honourable Petroleum Resources 

Minister, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, 

has pledged collaboration 

with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) 

to resolve the lingering Niger Delta crises 

which had crippled offshore activities 

in the oil-rich region. 

Speaking during a courtesy call by a 

delegation of the Nigerian Bar Association 

(NBA) led by its National President, 

Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud OON, 

SAN, the former General Counsel of 

ExxonMobil, Africa, said that his Ministry 

had continued to engage the Ministry 

of Niger Delta in finding lasting solutions 

to the seemingly intractable crises 

which had crippled petroleum resources 

activities in the embattled Niger Delta. 

On the North-Eastern axis of the 

country which had been wrecked by the 

insurgency of Book Haram, the Honourable 

Minister expressed the readiness of 

his Ministry to collaborate with the NBA 

in rehabilitating the infrastructures - including 

building of schools, roads and 

houses, as would be deemed fit by the 

collaborative efforts. 

He told his visitors that the oil sector 

was undergoing massive infrastructural 

repairs, especially on the refineries, and 

this huge sums of money had been sunk 

into the projects. 

He explained that gas policies and 

petroleum policies were being overhauled 

to meet current challenges in 

the industry. He pointed out that a new 

refinery was being built in Katsina with 

preponderance Chinese investment. 

On Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), the 

Minister told NBA that the present National 

Assembly had shown purpose and 

determination to see the bill through. 

“The PIB has already passed the third 

reading,” he said. “However, we will appreciate 

the collaborative efforts of NBA 

to get the bill into a law.” 

The Honourable Minister, who is a 

lawyer, expressed profound delight to 

see the enviable activities of the Nigerian 

Bar Association. “Of course, I’m a 

lawyer. I’m very proud of the Nigerian 

Bar Association,” he said. “Of all the associations 

I belong to, none makes me 

proud as the NBA.” 

He, however, explained that the law 

practice, today, is not what it used to be 

30 years ago. “Law firms have reinvented 

themselves,” he said. “Some are aligning 

themselves with world best practices 

which is what we are calling for. Notwithstanding, 

there is still respect for order 

and seniority in the Bar.” 

The Minister called on Learned Silks 

and other senior members of the Bar 

to take another look at the poor remuneration 

of young lawyers, arguing that 

this would rub off on the image of the 

profession. “Elevate junior lawyers to 

elevate the practice,” he said. 

Furthermore, the Minister observed 

that activism had slowed down in the 

Bar, and he would wish for more dynamic 

legal opinion on national issues. 

The Minister accepted a special invitation 

to the national conference of NBA 

scheduled for August, 2017, in Lagos, 

following an invitation which the President, 

Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, 

SAN had extended to him during his 

speech. 

Earlier, the NBA President had told 

the Minister that about 106,000 lawyers 

were called to the Nigerian Bar out of 

which 40,000 were registered NBA members 

scattered around 125 branches 

across the country. He told the Minister 

about NBA’s Task Force on Niger Delta 

and the North East Task Force and the 

initiatives already taken to bring law and 

order to these crises-ridden regions. 

And, of course, he had told the Minister 

about NBA’s National conference, which 

he described as “one of our flagship 

events,” hoping that the next one slated 

for Lagos would be a defining moment 

for NBA and a showpiece which would 

afford the Ministry of Petroleum, especially 

NNPC an opportunity to showcase 

their services to the world. 

The NBA delegation include, the General 

Secretary, Akinlolu Olujimi, SAN Dr 

Garba Tetengi, SAN, Prof. Muhammad 

Tabiu, SAN, Emeka Obegolu, former 

General Secretary, Oni Menakayag, 

Dorcas Ugwu, NBA Assistant Financial 

Secretary, Ifueko Alufohai NBA Executive 

Director, and the Directors of Bar 

Services and Programs among others.



C002D5556 

The Niger-Delta Negotiations: A paradigm shift? 

During a survey of the effects of diamond 

mining in an aboriginal Canadian community, 

a survey participant described the 

benefits accrued to local communities as 

beads and trinkets when compared with 

the fortune made by the miner. This sentiment is often 

expressed as the social damage inherent in the process 

of exploration/extraction of mineral deposits. It is often 

the case that sometimes, environmental degradation 

resulting from exploration/extraction activities have 

enormous impact such as will deprive inhabitants of 

such communities the right to decent living. The reaction 

by the responsible authorities/agencies is what makes 

the difference and sets developed countries apart from 

developing countries. This was the case of the tragic 

Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and 

the Statoil Statfjord oil spill in Norway. The response to 

the Norwegian spill has been regarded as an acceptable 

standard in the management of oil spillage by her swift 

and spontaneous response to the spill with her thorough 

investigation, sanction of the offending parties and 

clean-up of its waters in conformity with international 

best practices. 

The Nigerian case is not different. What is peculiar 

about it (Nigeria) is the frequency of the spillage and 

more importantly, the response time to clean up. 

Oil spillage is the release of petroleum substance or 

product into the waters which makes it become poisonous, 

inedible and threatens the rich coastal habitat. 

During a spill, oil floats on land and water surface and 

forms an oil slick that is about 0.1mm thick continuing 

to spread; the stick becomes 0.01mm thick. No reasonable 

commercial activity can take place under this 

circumstance. 

This paper therefore seeks to review the various 

structures put in place to ameliorate the impact of the 

spillage and the consequence of the (non)response. 

On-line images of the Niger Delta meets one with 

disheartening images of oil-slicked fauna, decimated 

Arthur Obi Okafor, SAN gets... 


when we take all the necessary precaution, make 

sure that the medical team are always around, and 

make sure that it is not done as if it too competitive 

or do or die affair which must be won by all means. 

it is not a match that you must win by all means but 

to exercise your body to really make sure that we 

have and share the health benefits that come from 

active participation in the tournament. So, I am 

totally in support of the idea of making football 

one of those games that the NBA introduces at 

the national level because I know that there is golf 

tournament which has been on there for a long 

time. Football can also be added to the games that 

we should be playing at the NBA at the national 

level.” Ubani said. 

Governor of EBF, E. E. Ekong said : I am very 

glad because keeping fit is a very important aspect 

of our health, and we have developed this tournament 

through our brother, Chief Arthur Obi Okafor 

( SAN) to encourage us to be physically fit so that 

we can perform our professional duties with sound 

health mentally and physically. Thank God it has 

been very successful. 

On taking the tournent to national NBA, Ekong 

said: “ Well I will gladly support such a move because 

it means that the fitness and well being of will spread 

across all branches of the NBA across Nigeria. That 

is good for all of us” Ekong stated . 

The Deputy Governor of the Eastern Bar Forum, 

Chief Arthur Elvis Chukwu said: “ In fact, this is a 

very wonderful game. You will not believe that these 

people are not professional footballers. It is very entertaining 

and you can see that everybody is happy, it 

is achieving its purpose of uniting us further and further 

in EBF so I feel very happy being here today. 

PERSPECTIVE 

mangroves, drinking water with clear sheens of oil and 

a general hopeless situation. These images appear to 

corroborate the narrative that has consistently come 

from these regions on the extent of the devastation suffered. 

Whilst one may argue that some of these agitations 

are laden with emotions, scientific data detailed in the 

United Nations Environmental Programme’s (UNEP) 

report on Ogoniland shows pollution levels are below 

accepted international standards. A juxtaposition of the 

health risk with the social damage further demonstrates 

that the source of livelihood (which stands at about 70%) 

is lost to degradation that is often talked about. 

The Niger Delta area has had a chequered history 

of non-performing government institutions. It will be 

recalled that attempts by the Nigerian Government 

to frontally tackle this problem birthed, in 1961, the 

Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB) with the 

mandate to develop the region. Activities of this Board 

was funded with a 15% revenue contribution from the 

Federal Government. The NDDB enjoyed initial relative 

success by executing about 358 contracts. However, this 

was not to live long as it was plagued with inefficiency, 

mismanagement, political interference and its operations, 

hampered by militancy. 

In 1972, the Niger-delta River Basin Development 

Authority (RBDA) was established to replace the defunct 

Niger Delta Development Board, and was bedevilled 

with administrative and political schemings. The Oil 

Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission 

(OMPADEC) was established by the military government 

of General Ibrahim Babangida pursuant to under 

Decree No 23 of 1992 (with emphasis on Section 2 

thereof). Section 4a(2) of the Allocation of Revenue 

(Federation Account) (Amendment Act No 106 of 1992) 

provided that, 3% of the federation account monies derived 

from mineral revenue be paid to the Commission 

and shall be used for the rehabilitation and development 

of the oil mineral-producing areas on the basis of the 

ratio of the oil produced in the particular areas, and not 

“ It will be a wonderful thing if it can be replicated 

at the national level, because this is the thing that 

will gum us together, people will begin to appreciate 

each other individually. And then we will be able 

discover better talents. Who said that the NBA cannot 

reap from there, who said that Nigeria cannot reap 

from there and also have players from there to the 

national team. So, think that it is a very good thing” 

Arthur Chukwu said. 

Mba Ukweni, SAN said: But you can see the unity 

of , you can see the excitement you can see the joy 

being expressed by lawyers all over it has provided 

a period and a time for us to come , to recreate and 

remove our minds from the tedious and stressful 

rigours of legal practice, to come and recreate and 

have a happy moment, meet friends , enjoy ourselves 

so it is a good thing that my brother Chief Arthur 

Obi Okafor SAN has started, we will all support him 

to see how he will continue, it is a very interesting 

endeavour so he needs to be encouraged 

On taking it to the national body of lawyers, the 

NBA, Ukwni said: “ I am fully in support of that”. 

Former chairman NBA Lagos branch, Alex Muoka 

said: “ I am very pleased, I watched today’s match, 

the two matches it was very interesting. One, I am 

very impressed with the level of expertise, displayed 

by two of the four teams who then won the various 

matches. These are lawyers, I have thought several 

things, one we have lawyers who have taken physical 

fitness and sports very seriously, and they practice 

regularly and also because they have been able to 

build cohesive teams, it is highly commendable. If 

we can build cohesive teams like this in sports, then 

we are sure of building it in our practice and social 

engagements. On the whole, I will comment the 

organisers of this tournament . 

GLOBALREPORT 

BUSINESS DAY 

with Tolulope Aderemi 

on the basis of dichotomy of on-shore or off-shore oil 

production. Like its predecessors, OMPADEC also failed 

on what was claimed to be financial sabotage which took 

three different forms to wit: 

Shortage of funds to the Commission, 

Manipulations of the Commission funds; 

Withholding of its monthly allocations. 

Sequel to the failure of OMPADEC and sometimes in 

2000, former President Olusegun Obasanjo submitted 

to the National Assembly a Bill for an Act to provide for 

the repeal of the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development 

Commission Decree 23 of 1992. The result of this 

birthed the Niger Delta Development Commission 

(NDDC) in 2000. I will not fail to mention the more recent 

proposal of ‘Host Community Funds’ of the Petroleum 

Industry Bill (PIB). These are some of the various bilateral 

contractual agreements which hitherto were ordinarily 

designed to achieve relative peace in the region. Some 

of these contractual agreements may include the Global 

Memorandum of Understanding (GMOU) etc. Again, it 

is in doubt how much this has achieved. 

The ultimate consequence of the inability of various 

government structures to achieve relative peace in the 

Niger-Delta region the continuous vandalisation of 

pipelines and Nigeria’s inability to meet its OPEC quota. 

Kudos must however be given to President Buhari and 

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s foresight and wisdom as 

relative peace (through physical human intervention) 

has now returned to the Delta region. Albert Einstein 

once posited that it is ‘insanity doing the same thing 

and expecting a different result’. Having engaged all 

the above, it is now time to consider other more resultoriented 

options. 

23 

Online court pilot in July - better get used to it, says judge 

One of the judges overseeing the online court 

pilot has told sceptical lawyers they will have 

to get used to the new reality of litigants acting 

alone. It was confirmed last week that the pilot 

of the online court will begin at the end of July. 

Justice Birss reported to the Civil Procedure Rule 

Committee last month that the process of laying the 

groundwork had been ‘difficult’ but that draft rules 

had been developed, along with the necessary IT. 

Birss told the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers 

conference that the system is intended to be 

operated by a litigant without a lawyer. 

‘Clearly a severely injured person can’t be expected 

to do it on their own but the online court, if 

it works, will allow people to bring a claim without 

the need for a lawyer,’ he said. ‘The idea is the system 

will ask the right questions and the litigants 

will get the right responses. It can be done and will 

happen and everyone needs to get used to the way 

it is going to go.’ 

Global legal market growth 

The global legal services market experienced 

a slow-down in growth during 

2016, resulting in a compound annual 

growth rate of 2.2% between 2012 and 2016, to 

reach a value of $584.4bn (£450bn), according 

to data from a business research company. 

MarketLine’s latest report states that North 

America continued to be the largest region 

in terms of value, accounting for 52.9% of the 

global market. Despite being home to some 

of the largest economies in the world, Asia- 

Pacific achieved only 14.3%, less than Europe’s 

share of 26.8%. The US accounted for 94% of 

the North American market. 

Christopher Leyman-Nicholls, analyst for 

MarketLine, says: ’Although the market is 

forecast to grow in the near future, the rate of 

consolidation in the US suggests the legal services 

market is struggling to generate growth 

opportunities, explaining why the US market 

stood still in 2016. Given the dominance of 

this market, its decelerating growth harms the 

The Impact Benefit Agreement 

An Impact and Benefit Agreement (IBA) is a formal 

contract outlining the impacts of a project, the commitment 

and responsibilities of both parties, and how the 

associated Aboriginal community will share in benefits 

of exploration through employment and economic 

development. This, it may be argued, is a replica of the 

Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMOUs) 

signed by the International Oil Companies and the 

communities. 

Although not legally required, IBAs have evolved 

in part to reduce uncertainty and potential delays in 

developing projects. Companies are seeking to solidify 

support for the projects, while Aboriginal groups seek 

community support, recognition, respect, and various 

economic and social advantages such as employment, 

investment, and funding among other things. IBAs can 

help both parties achieve these goals. Though contractual, 

IBAs may contain certain regulatory element(s) 

covering a holistic range of provisions by creating detailed 

internal structures which helps the indigenous 

communities overcome marginalization and increasing 

indigenous control of resources (to the extent permitted 

by the law) to ensure that the benefits flow to the communities 

affected by degradation. 

IBAs are enforceable contractual documents through 

which communities can seek redress in court. This 

is evident in its robust and tested dispute resolution 

mechanisms. In addition to the above, IBAs limits governmental 

involvement and are managed by transparent 

internal bodies with checks and balances. Finally, 

IBAs can operate on an extremely large scale unlike the 

proposed ‘Host Community Funds’ and GMOUs as seen 

in their use in Australia. They are also flexible enough 

to be implemented with small communities without 

sacrificing bargaining power and this is key due to tribal 

tensions that could see individual communities seek to 

make agreements alone. 

Tolu Aderemi is a Partner with Perchstone & 

Graeys while Tolu Ogidi is currently on internship 

from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. 

In the pilot, cases allowed to enter will initially 

be limited to specified claims under £10,000, with 

users able to run only one case at a time. Cases that 

fall out of the pilot at certain points will go into the 

mainstream under civil procedure rules. 

The system is likely to be partly modelled on the 

existing Money Claim Online government scheme, 

but there are further discussions needed on fees 

and restrictions on the claim form. Currently the 

online claim system limits users to statements of 

1,080 characters. 

The online court will be voluntary on both sides 

and help will be available for both parties either 

through the website or a call centre. 

Birss accused some lawyers in court of failing to 

treat litigants with respect, saying this was a ‘really 

important thing that is not said enough. 

‘An awful lot of litigants are not stupid and they 

know they are being given the run-around and it’s 

not a nice position to be in,’ he added. 

sector’s global value, encouraging large-scale 

mergers around the world.’ 

An absence of growth in 2016 has encouraged 

the trend of mergers and acquisitions, the 

report states, citing the example of Sutherland 

and Eversheds, which has created a business 

of 2,300 legal professionals across 29 countries. 

Although growth is expected to return to the 

global market from 2017 onwards, the speed of 

recovery will be relatively slow compared with 

growth achieved before 2016. Consequently, 

the market should expect to undergo further 

mergers in the coming years. 

Leyman-Nicholls said: ’MarketLine expects 

the US to be the main driver behind future 

growth, despite failing to grow in 2016. The US 

occupies nearly half of the global market, denying 

any other single country an influencing 

role. Were the current trend for mergers and 

acquisitions in the US to stop or slow down 

without the return of sustainable growth, the 

global market would likely decline in value.’


INTERVIEW 

C002D5556 Thursday 25 May 2017 

ALAT leverages technology to prepare 

Nigerians for future banking 

Dele Adeyinka is the Chief Digital Officer of ALAT, Nigeria’s first fully digital banking platform and a subsidiary 

of Wema Bank. In this interview with Anthony Osae-Brown, Editor BusinessDay and Jumoke Akiyode, Adeyinka 

talks about the need for digital disruption in the banking sector, as well as the unique offerings of Alat. Excerpts 

What is ALAT? 

ALAT is the digital arm of 

Wema Bank and our primary 

focus will be on some segment 

after thorough analysis, 

we decided to focus on the 

youth, young professionals and the young 

entrepreneurs. We want to be able to serve 

them from wherever they are. Wema Bank 

has been in banking for 72 years, so with 

the benefit of hindsight having been in 

the industry for so long and of course with 

the foresight of positioning ourselves and 

with the view of making this legacy called 

Wema bank, outlive us, we decided to 

strategically position ourselves as the 

first fully digital bank in Africa not just in 

Nigeria. Two years ago, almost every bank 

in the industry claims to do retail banking, 

except a few that do corporate banking 

without branches. 

But there is no way we will play effectively 

in the retail space if we don’t leverage 

technology and there are a thousand 

and one examples that we can give to 

corroborate that. Telecommunications 

operators today are in the retail space. 

The last operator to get into this race has 

about 35 million customers just because 

they leverage technology. So, you can 

imagine the numbers of the first three 

operators. Similar to that is banking. We 

serve the consumers and for us to say we 

want to do retail the way retail should be 

done, we need to leverage heavily on technology 

and that is why as a bank, we are 

positioning ourselves to be a bank of the 

future, so we are using technology to drive 

our business and serve our customers. 

Digital bank is different from a digital 

product, prior to now we had, and we still 

have a whole lot of digital offerings for our 

customers. It complements our physical 

structures, so we have branches in strategic 

locations all over the country and then 

we have digital products to support serving 

these customers, so they can initiate 

some transactions on the digital end and 

complement it with the physical structures. 

But with the digital bank the way 

we structured it, these customers will not 

need to walk into any of our branches. As a 

matter of fact, from the point at which you 

are opening an ALAT account, customers 

would not be attached to any branch because 

transactions are purely digital. We 

are reaching out to customers from where 

we want to serve them, that is; social 

Was the problem of low broadband 

penetration in the country considered 

before establishing a fully digital bank? 

We know that there is low internet 

penetration and data is an issue but at 

the same time, if you’re going to look at 

the challenges alone, you might not do 

anything. I can tell you that there are a 

thousand and one challenges in Nigeria 

today, such as power, but would you say 

that because we don’t have adequate 

power supply, you will not do your business? 

We will still want to survive despite 

all those challenges. Nigerians are very 

resilient and creative so we will find a 

way around those challenges. That is the 

same spirit in banking, apart from banking; 

every industry is being disrupted 

right now. You will allude to the fact that 

transportation is being disrupted, gone 

are those days when you have to look for 

a taxi. Now, all you have to do is go to the 

app on your phone, enter your destinamedia, 

(Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), 

different websites and platforms. So we 

are going to advertise heavily on the digital 

sphere. We onboard them, and all they 

need to do is go to any of the mobile application 

stores (Apple store for iPhone users 

and Google play store for Android users) 

and download the app. After installing 

the ALAT app, with just a few clicks, an 

account can be opened in less than five 

minutes. An ALAT account is an account 

that can be verified across all the channels 

so customers can be empowered with 

this account right from wherever they are 

able to download the app to start doing 

transactions immediately. 

What is required for customers to 

open an ALAT account? 

All that is required from a customer is 

to have a valid Bank Verification Number 

(BVN) which is the universal identifier. 

Once you have your BVN, give us your 

phone number, email address and with 

that, you have a valid account. 

How would customers be able to 

fund their ALAT account? 

There are several options available 

on the app today and we will keep adding 

more options. This app was built 

by Nigerians, so it is proudly a Nigerian 

product for the world. To fund the account, 

we have given three options. For a 

customer that is already on boarded, you 

can fund it through a card issued by any 

bank in this country and you will be able 

to credit your account by adding the card. 

For example, if you are an existing Wema 

Bank customer, you can transfer funds 

from your Wema bank account to your 

ALAT account easily, you can also fund 

from another bank card by choosing the 

option, putting in the card details including 

the card expiry date and CVV then put 

in your chosen amount and your ALAT 

pin and your account will be credited. 

You can also add a foreign card, issued by 

any bank in the world. You can do funds 

transfer from an existing internet banking 

option into your ALAT account, which is 

not yet available but will be given very 

soon. In extreme cases, which we don’t 

want to encourage, if you have physical 

cash, you can walk into any of our physical 

branches and deposit into your ALAT 

account. Those are the various options 

available to fund your account. 

How are you going to make sure 

that people do not have challenges with 

downloading and using the app, especially 

with regard to regular updates 

and security? 

This is not the first app we are building. 

If you go on the app store and search 

for Wema mobile, you will see our digital 

products which we are still offering to 

our retail customers to give them access 

Digital bank is different from a digital 

product, prior to now we had, and we 

still have a whole lot of digital offerings 

for our customers 

to their bank accounts, so this experiment 

is second in the row. We have done 

Wema mobile and our customers are still 

using it. However, this particular model is 

technically different from a regular digital 

product. It is a bank in itself and we have 

partnered with the best in class third 

parties to bring this to fore. As we were 

building the app, we engaged some third 

parties in the country who are specialists 

Dele Adeyinka 

in the security area, to continually test our 

logic, stress testing, regression analysis on 

the app itself and a whole lot of penetration 

security test on the app to ensure that 

is world class. All the methodologies used 

are not just ordinary. 

Are you collaborating with telecommunications 

service operators? 

It is public knowledge that we are 

partnering with Etisalat to do a whole lot. 

We will continue to partner with as many 

telcos as they give us the opportunity to 

because it has to do with reaching out to 

the youth and young entrepreneurs, so we 

are open to more and more partnerships. 

We have had that in the past, relating with 

the bank, and on Alat, we would also have 

many more partners to allow us scale up 

at the level at which we want to scale and 

reach those numbers that we really desire 

to reach out to. 

tion, select mode of payment and a taxi 

will be waiting for you outside. We are 

here in Lagos; people are studying from 

here and are getting authentic university 

and professional certificates from institutions 

abroad. The education system is 

being disrupted. E-commerce has taken 

over and whether we like it or not, banking 

will be disrupted, so what we have done 

in Wema bank is that we are disrupting 

ourselves in business and then we are 

disrupting the industry because we are 

challenging a whole lot of statuesque as it 

were in the industry today and gratefully, 

the regulators are giving us all their support 

with this new area because we are not 

flouting their rules. BVN is mandatory in 

this country and we have made that mandatory 

on the app as well. We do KYC in 24 

hours, after submitting your documents 

to us, we verify who you are, and then 

your account status changes from being 

inactive to being active, so we are adhering 

to regulations, the only thing we have 

done is to digitize everything rather than 

having customers coming to the banking 

hall, filling long forms and queuing up. We 

are selling simplicity, convenience and 

reliability to our customers. 

What are ALAT’s future plans? 

Our plan is to have at least 3 million 

customers on board by the year 2020. 

That is the corporate plan, but from ALAT, 

I know we would surpass that number. 

What is the relationship between 

the Wema physical bank and the ALAT 

digital bank? 

Wema bank is the parent bank for 

ALAT. All the accounts we are opening 

is still for the parent bank because we 

don’t have a license to run on our own, 

that is why you would always see ‘ALAT 

by Wema’. We are riding on the license of 

Wema bank to do whatever we are doing. 

The difference is that we are digitizing all 

the offerings. Our customers who still 

want to walk into our physical branches 

will still be able to, but from a fact, we 

know that majority of the youths who 

would naturally not want to walk into a 

branch. As conducive as we are making 

our branches look, the young professionals 

don’t want to sit in the bank and start 

filling forms, they would rather go on their 

mobile phone and do whatever they need 

to do when they are on the move. Those 

are the people we are targeting. 

Would you also say that ALAT is targeting 

the unbanked population in a way? If 

so, what kinds of sensitization and education 

have you given the public on this? 

For this first phase, because we know 

that you need a BVN to come on board, it 

means you have to have had an account 

somewhere, but the process of having 

BVN would be easier because we are 

partnering with National Central Switch 

to demystify that process. So it would not 

be compulsory for you to walk into a bank 

to register for your BVN. With what we are 

doing, you can simply get to the nearest 

supermarket, put in your thumb print, 

capture your face and it’s as easy as that. 

So we are bringing the unbanked into the 

system by simplifying the process. Once 

we simplify the process and we are not 

restricting people to go into the physical 

bank, people will do it, and we would see 

multi millions coming into the financial 

sector. 

Apart from it being easy and convenient 

to carry out financial transactions 

on the go through ALAT, what are the 

other incentives to open the account? 

On ALAT, your card will be issued free 

of charge and delivered to you for free. We 

are taking banking to the public and empowering 

them to do those transactions 

on the app. When you need to activate 

the card, you don’t need to go to an automated 

teller machine of the card issuer; 

you can change your pin and activate the 

card on the app. We are the first to offer 

that in this industry. 

With an ALAT account, you don’t need 

to call the bank when you are travelling 

out the country to ensure that your card 

works in the country you are going to, 

you can choose whichever geography 

you want your card to work on the ALAT 

app by clicking the country you want 

enabled and the country you want to 

disable, because we have heard instances 

of people sitting here in Lagos, and their 

card is being used in some foreign country 

and they are being defrauded. With 

card control, we have taken that out, so 

people’s transactions are more secure. 

You can also choose which channel you 

want the card to work, either POS, ATM, 

web portals or all and save. If your card is 

stolen you can go to www.alat.ng to disable 

the card immediately. Excitingly, we 

offer 10 percent interest on money in your 

account, which is the highest interest rate 

in the industry today. A normal savings 

account gives about 3-4 percent interest. 

Most people don’t even know how much 

they earn on their savings accounts today, 

so we are waking everybody up to say they 

should earn a lot more on the money they 

work so hard to make.

26 

BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Thursday 25 May 2017 

Retail & Consumer Business 

LG electronics emerges world 

leader in OLED Television 

CHINWE AGBEZE 

LG Electronics has 

emerged as the 

world leader in 

OLED Television 

technologies being 

at the forefront of OLED development 

and production. 

With the rollout of the 

2017 line-up across the Middle 

East and Africa, consumers 

can continue to expect 

the best from LG electronics 

with its 2017 premium and 

award-winning OLED Television 

offering. 

The company has been 

expanding the OLED TV lineup 

with a number of technological 

innovations. The LG 

OLED TVs are considered by 

industry experts to offer the 

most advanced display technology 

and this has helped to 

solidify consumer awareness 

on LG’s OLED TV brand, 

securing substantial market 

share in the global TV market. 

LG launched its first 

OLED TV in 2013, and has 

been committed ever since 

to bring OLED TV to more 

consumers’ houses. With 

the creation of the OLED TV 

category in the market and 

increased awareness from 

consumers, LG is confident 

it will continue to lead the 

OLED TV market. 

“Consumers have now 

started to perceive OLED 

television as the next generation 

of television, transcending 

its competition, 

including LCD, because of 

its superior pictures, design 

and form factors. This has 

resulted in continued high 

demand for OLEDs since its 

introduction,” said Kevin Cha, 

president of LG Electronics, 

Middle East and Africa. 

Continuing, Cha said, 

‘‘when purchasing OLED 

televisions, consumers prioritize 

stylish design and 

high performance and while 

keeping this trend in mind, 

LG OLED televisions are at 

the forefront of innovation. 

‘‘Revolutionary design 

and unrivalled picture quality 

are exemplified through 

LG’s on-going commitment 

within the OLED technology.” 

As each pixel on the display 

can be individually 

switched on and off, OLED 

offers an enhanced picture 

quality without image degradation, 

such as light bleed 

typically found in conventional 

backlit systems. This 

results in the highest quality 

image rendering with 

the purest black and lifelike 

colours. 

Consumers can now take 

advantage of a much wider 

selection of LG’s OLED TV 

line-up as LG is rolling out 

a host of OLED TVs with a 

range of screen sizes and 

features. 

This year, LG has expanded 

its HDR compatibility in 

the new TV line up by launching 

support of additional 

HDR formats. Being the only 

company to support different 

types of HDR formats, 

the company will position 

its 2017 4K HDR-enabled 

OLED TV line-up as offering 

an optimal, life-like 4K HDR 

picture thanks to the selflighting 

pixel technology of 

OLED, enhanced by multiple 

HDR capabilities. 

As the first TV in the world 

to offer Dolby Atmos, 2017 

LG OLED TVs can deliver 

content with both cuttingedge 

imaging and state-ofthe-art 

sound technologies 

simultaneously, creating an 

entertainment powerhouse. 

All 2017 LG OLED and 

SUPER UHD TVs feature Active 

HDR to render brighter 

scenes and greater shadow 

details when displaying HDR 

content. Active HDR allows 

LG TVs to process the picture 

scene by scene, inserting 

dynamic data where needed. 

In addition, 2017 LG 

televisions support the full 

palette of HDR formats, including 

Dolby Vision TM, 

HDR10 and HLG, Hybrid 

Log Gamma. This versatility 

is compounded by the new 

HDR Effect feature, which 

processes standard definition 

content to improve brightness 

in specific areas, enhance 

contrast ratios, rendering 

more precise images. 

‘‘LG will continue to bring 

about new technological innovations 

to provide regional 

TV consumers with the best 

possible viewing experience. 

To learn more about the perfect 

colour LG OLED televisions 

bring, view LG OLED 

TV: COLORFUL SENSATION 

IN BLACK,’’ Cha adds. 

Global retail update 

Nestlé invests in Vietnam 

The Swiss food major has announced 

that it has opened 

a new factory in Hung Yen, 

creating 200 jobs. Developing 

products closer to its target 

market will ‘save on carbon 

emissions’. The plant will 

produce the ready-to-drink 

Milo beverage in cartons. 

Lidl expands eastwards 

Only days after Premier 

Xi Jinping announced his 

party’s US$ 900 billion ‘Belt 

and Road’ policy, Lidl has 

opened an online shop in 

the People’s Republic. The 

unstoppable German giant 

also continues to register 

trademarks in Australia, despite 

insisting it has no plans 

to set up here. 

Facelift for Kaufland 

Europe’s top retailer, 

Schwarz Group, has abandoned 

plans for an e-food 

concept for Lidl in Germany 

and wants to step up efforts 

to modernise its hypermarket 

chain Kaufland, which 

will also continue its grocery 

delivery trial. 

Coop Danmark thinks smart 

The Danish retailer is to introduce 

its combined mobile 

scanning and payment app, 

Bip & Betal, to all its Fakta 

discount stores in 2018. The 

service will be a boost for 

the company’s convenience 

image according to LZ Retailytics. 

Securing growth 

Leading Russian retailer X5 

Retail Group expands its 

logistics infrastructure in the 

Ural region with the opening 

of a distribution centre 

in Perm. Over in Portugal, 

Sonae has completed the 

integration of supermarket 

chain Brio and posted a 6% 

turnover increase in Q1 to 

EUR 1.3 billion. 

Amazon Go eyes Britain 

The US online giant is preparing 

to bring its checkoutfree 

concept to Europe and 

has been granted trademarks 

in the UK. LZ Retailytics predicts 

that London would 

be the most suitable location, 

with perhaps a German 

city such as Berlin following 

closely behind. 

Alipay lands in Malaysia 

Alibaba’s Ant Financial has 

entered a partnership with 

7-Eleven Malaysia by officially 

launching the Alipay 

cashless payment service in 

over 2,100 stores in the country. 

The payment service 

facilitated by a local payment 

platform targets tourists from 

the Chinese mainland. 

Fresh look for Walmart 

The US big-box retailer will 

invest millions to remodel 

400-640 stores at 12 Michigan 

locations. There will be 

a lounge-like area for instore 

pickup, more organics 

offerings, wider aisles and 

changed sightlines as well 

as three markets with online 

grocery ordering. 

Analysts: Chinwe Agbeze, Stephen Onyekwelu 

Peak spreads goodness to neighbourhoods 

By our reporter 

Price and product availability 

are known to 

rank high in the consumer 

consideration ladder. 

This concept is perfectly 

brought to live as Peak Milk 

team drives further into 

neighbourhoods, understanding 

more of the consumers 

and connecting its 

key brands to them. 

Few weeks ago, Peak Filled 

was launched into the Nigeria 

market and has since 

gained steady ascension 

into the daily needs of Nigerian 

households, considering 

its affordability and 

accessibility. Peak Filled is 

L-R: ‎Edwin Punnose, sales director of Laziz Vegetable Oil, and Adeniran Adebiyi, regional manager, Laziz 

Vegetable Oil, during Shoprite monthly meet-ups for manufacturers to promote Nigerian made products at 

Ikeja City Mall in Lagos. 

a N40 Peak brand formulated 

to nourish families 

with essential vitamins and 

minerals; assuring them of 

a “Filled” Day. 

Peak Milk is currently 

combing the nooks and 

crannies of Lagos and currently 

activating Oke Arin 

Market, Trade Fair, Mushin 

and Agege spreading the 

richness and nourishment 

of Peak Filled across Lagos 

neighbourhoods, with 

a sure plan to extend the 

goodness even beyond Lagos. 

Peak is also engaging 

local artistes like Saheed 

Osupa amongst others to 

connect more with consumers. 

This initiative is highly imperative 

especially at a time 

when the economic index 

continues spinning southward 

and Nigerian consumers 

continuously yearn for 

quality at affordable price. 

As expected, the initiative 

was welcomed with enthusiasm 

and positive energy, 

which is a boost for Peak 

Milk to do more. 

Modupe Dayo, a retail outlet 

owner in Agege applauds 

this initiative of Peak Milk 

especially in this time of 

economic downturn when 

people had cut-down the 

consumption of non-essential 

goods.Uchenna 

Maduka, also a retail trader 

in Trade Fair thinks this 

initiative is a boost for trade 

and hopes it will trigger 

consumers again into buying. 

Osifo Agani, a brand critic, 

sees this as a “trade stimulus 

that will go a long way in 

helping the brand equity”. 

He said “it is necessary for 

brands to continuously seek 

avenues to connect more 

with the end consumers”. 

So when you see Peak 

Filled Milk in your neighbourhood, 

remembers its 

goodness, remember its 

nourishment, and most 

importantly, remember that 

Peak Can Do More.


BUSINESS DAY 

27 

BUSINESS 

TRAVEL 

Aviation sector still faced with poor 

quality aviation fuel – Experts 

In addition to several 

challenges 

facing the aviation 

sector ranging 

from poor infrastructures, 

price of aviation 

fuel leading to incessant 

flight cancellations, 

glut of personnel, the 

sector still struggles with 

poor quality of aviation 

fuel, also called Jet-A1. 

This development has 

been said to contribute 

in the frequent damage 

of aircraft parts, thereby 

causing operators spend 

more on repair and maintenance 

of aircraft more 

often than required. 

John Ojikutu, aviation 

security expert charged 

the Nigeria Civil Aviation 

Authority (NCAA) 

to draw up standards for 

Jet-A1 quality assurance, 

starting with the transportation 

vehicles type 

or profile; supply and 

trucking systems; storage 

and dispensing systems. 

He stated that at the 

moment, vehicles supplying 

aviation fuel, otherwise 

known as Jet-A1 

are not sufficiently distinct 

from those supplying 

other petroleum 

products. Ojikutu disclosed 

that the consequence 

of all these development 

could result 

in fuel contamination as 

some of the Accident Investigation 

Bureau (AIB) 

Reports of some aircraft 

accidents have shown. 

In a bid to address this 

problem, Nogie Meggison, 

President, Airline 

Operators of Nigeria, 

(AON) has called on the 

Federal Government to 

repair the Warri refinery 

to ensure steady supply 

of aviation fuel. 

John Ojikutu, also told 

BusinessDay that the 

aviation fuel price is also 

linked to neglect in repairing 

the pipelines and 

failure to revive the Warri 

refinery’s Jet A1 pipeline 

–hydrant system for supplying 

aviation fuel. 

BusinessDay checks 

also show that up till 

1992, jet-A1 supply to 

MMA was through pipelines 

from Ejigbo or 

NNPC depot. The supply 

from the MMA depot 

to the hydrants on the 

apron where fuel is dispensed 

to aircraft, were 

done also through the 

pipelines. 

However, the International 

Air Transport 

Association (IATA), the 

Joint Inspection Group 

(JIG), and Airlines for 

America (A4A) have 

signed a Memorandum 

of Understanding (MoU) 

to strengthen and promote 

safety and quality 

assurance in global aviation 

fueling activities. 

This is aimed at maintaining 

the quality of 

aviation fuel, known as 

Jet A1 that is distributed 

globally. 

“Maintaining the 

quality of the aviation 

fuel supply and the supporting 

infrastructure 

and operations is vital 

to the safe and efficient 

functioning of the air 

transport industry. 

“This MoU, covering 

all airport fuel storage 

and handling, puts forward 

an industry-level 

program for application 

of standards and a single 

global reference for airline 

inspections. This is 

a great step forward in 

further promoting global 

safety and efficiency,” 

said Hemant Mistry, IA- 

TA’s Director for Global 

Airport Infrastructure 

and Fuel. 

Through the program 

IATA, JIG and A4A would 

seek to encourage the 

gradual standardization 

of aviation fuel processes 

by facilitating compliance 

with current industry 

standards and 

best practices, and by 

establishing high quality 

common inspection 

processes to ensure that 

the aviation fuel is delivered 

clean, dry and 

on-specification. This is 

expected to facilitate a 

reduction in the number 

of required inspections 

at a given location, while 

increasing the scope 

of coverage across the 

globe and the reduction 

of cost. 

IATA said a key goal 

for the aviation industry 

is alignment of standards 

and best practices across 

different regions. The 

three organizations have 

agreed to work together 

to eliminate regional 

variations in this regard. 

Allen Onyema, chairman 

and CEO of Air 

Peace said if Nigeria is 

producing aviation fuel 

locally it will reduce the 

cost of acquisition of the 

product. 

“If we are producing 

aviation fuel in Nigeria 

it will help to conserve 

our foreign earnings. 

It will help us to buy 

this fuel in naira and 

not in dollars and then 

change to naira, everything 

will be fully computed 

and it is going to 

be cheaper. 

“It is going to also 

make us reduce the fares 

we are charging and the 

availability will even be 

more, so issues of scarcity 

will stop. The down 

time you are going to wait 

for the product to come 

from Europe, America 

or from where ever to 

Nigeria is a lot but if it is 

produced in Nigeria, you 

cut off all those chains 

and it will impact on our 

turn around,” Onyema 

said. 

AIS lament shortage of personnel 

The world Vice 

president of the 

International 

Federation of 

Aeronautical Information 

Management (IF- 

AIMA), Kabiru Yahaya 

Gusau has called for the 

engagement of more personnel 

into the Aeronautical 

Information 

Management in order to 

boost its operations. 

Speaking at the occasion 

marking the World 

Aeronautical Information 

Services (AIS) Day 

in Lagos, Gusau said 

the organization lacked 

personnel as a result of 

aging workforce in the 

system. 

He said the shortage 

of personnel has created 

a lot of vacuum that 

needed to be addressed 

in order to enable them 

meet the changes in the 

system as it has transformed 

from Aeronautical 

Information Services 

(AIS) to Aeronautical 

Information Management 

(AIM) 

Gusau also called for 

the licensing of personnel 

of AIS adding that licensing 

them will enable 

take responsibility of 

any action which would 

be traced to them while 

discharging their duties. 

According to Gusau, 

AIS automation will laid 

to rest the issue of sending 

Notice To Airmen 

(NOTAM) by paper but 

it will be done by electronic 

stressing, that the 

total radar coverage of 

Nigeria has greatly impacted 

on the Airspace 

but expressed the hope 

that with automation on 

board, the issues associated 

with radio communications 

will be a thing 

of the past. 

He appealed to the 

Federal Government to 

ensure the implementation 

of the AIS automation 

as it has been approved 

in the budget to 

ensure safer skies. 

Etihad 

Airways 

wins at 

Middle East 

Call Centre 

awards 

Etihad Airways, the 

national carrier of 

the UAE, has tasted 

success at the INSIGHTS 

Middle East Call Centre 

Awards. The annual 

competition is now in 

its 12th year and sets the 

regional benchmark for 

remote customer interaction 

success. 

The airline collected 

two prestigious awards at 

the ceremony held at The 

Crowne Plaza Hotel in 

Dubai on 16th May 2017. 

They were awarded with 

Best Large Call Centre for 

their three UAE Contact 

Centres and Call Centre 

Manager of the Year 

awarded to Ahmed Murshed, 

the Al Ain Contact 

Centre Manager. 

Ruth Birkin, Head of 

Global Contact Centres 

for Etihad Airways, said: 

“I am delighted that the 

team has again been recognised 

for their service 

quality and their commitment 

to constantly 

developing the services 

we offer further. As well 

as providing tailored solutions 

to guests, we’re 

always looking for ways 

how we can improve 

business efficiencies 

while continuing to provide 

high-quality services 

to our passengers and 

trade partners around 

the world.” 

The airline operates 

four contact centres including 

two in Al Ain 

and one in Abu Dhabi, 

plus a further facility in 

Manchester in the UK. 

The Al Ain Keshi Pearl 

and Abu Dhabi contact 

centres operate 24 hours 

a day, seven days a week 

and employ multi-lingual 

staff from all over the 

world. 

The other unit at Al 

Ain is called the Black 

Pearl centre and opened 

in 2011. In line with the 

company philosophy of 

Emiratisation, it is wholly 

managed and operated 

by Emirati ladies. The 

female only environment 

of the Black Pearl makes 

it possible for ladies to 

work and develop their 

careers, whilst maintaining 

a sustainable 

work and home balance, 

which is supportive of 

their family and cultural 

consideration.



Harvard 

Business 

Review 

Global Business Perspectives 

CONNECTING THE WORLD ONE BUSINESS AT A TIME 

The least-bad answer for Syria is partition 

Syria never was a country 

whose 14 provinces and 

eight main communities 

were voluntarily bonded 

together by secularism 

and tolerance. It’s no surprise that 

its civil war, now in its sixth year, 

quickly devolved into sectarian and 

ethnic violence. 

On May 4, at cease-fire talks in 

Astana, Kazakhstan, Russia proposed 

four “de-escalation zones,” to 

be guaranteed by Iran, Turkey and 

itself. Partition is indeed necessary, 

but having it enforced by three nations 

that greatly abet the strife will 

not produce peace. An impartial 

plan must be formulated and implemented. 

Since 1971, under President 

Hafez al-Assad and, since 2000, under 

his son, President Bashar Assad, 

Syria has been ruled by Alawites, 

who make up 13% of the population. 

Through oppressive rule, 

they and their Shiite partners have 

engendered among Sunnis, who 

represent 74% of the population, a 

desire to extract retribution. Christians, 

Druze, Jews and Yazidis found 

a degree of security by bending to 

the Alawite leadership’s wishes, but 

thereby came to be seen as complicit. 

After the civil war broke out 

in March 2011, Assad’s security services 

increased their imprisonment, 

torture and execution of dissidents. 

His air force has launched barrel 

bombs, hose bombs and chemical 

attacks against civilians in rebelheld 

areas. 

Assad’s international partners 

have become entwined in this ethno-sectarianism. 

Russia deploys its 

aerial firepower to reinforce the Alawites, 

most notoriously by bombing 

hospitals in Sunni areas. Iran’s 

Islamic Revolutionary Guards and 

such proxies as Iraqi Shiite militias 

and the Lebanese group Hezbollah 

purge captured towns of Sunni Arabs 

and Kurds. 

The regime’s foes are also defined 

by religious and ethnic factions. 

The self-proclaimed Islamic 

State in Iraq and Syria and various 

al-Qaida affiliates are backed by 

Sunni financiers and by fighters 

from the Persian Gulf states and 

President Bashar al-Assad 

the Caucasus. The Free Syrian Army 

counts on financing and weapons 

from Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The 

Syrian Kurds, reliant on resources 

provided by the United States and 

the European Union, have the ultimate 

goal of carving out a country 

of their own. 

Russia’s goals in entering the 

Syrian arena include quashing the 

Sunni militancy, in order to sever 

its links to Chechnya and threats to 

Russian society. President Vladimir 

Putin also wants to maintain Syria 

as a Russian client state and expand 

Russia’s Middle East and Mediterranean 

presence through Syrian 

bases. 

Shiite Iran’s goals are similar 

to those of Russia: to end Sunni 

militancy in Syria and to sever terrorist 

links to Iraq and Iran, while 

maintaining Syria as an Alawitecontrolled 

religious surrogate for 

influence westward across the Middle 

East and Mediterranean, and 

stymieing Saudi Arabia’s growing 

influence. 

Turkey’s direct involvement focuses 

on suppressing the Kurds, 

who are regarded by Ankara as 

worse than Islamist terrorists due 

to their nationalist aspirations, and 

curbing their control over strategic 

Syrian territory. 

Saudi Arabia’s investment in the 

civil war is largely aimed at boosting 

Riyadh’s influence in the Middle 

East as the head of Sunni nations 

while smothering Shiite political 

aspirations across the Middle East 

and ending Iran’s re-emergence as 

a regional power. 

Israel has taken action in Syria to 

thwart military attacks from Assad’s 

regime, to fend off Sunni terrorism 

from ISIS and al-Qaida cronies and 

to prevent Iran from rearming its 

proxy Hezbollah. 

The United States and its E.U. 

partners have been more distant 

players, supplying funds and armaments 

to anti-Assad rebels while occasionally 

bombing Syrian government 

and Islamist terrorist bases. 

Washington and its European partners 

see only limited gains: a transient 

victory over Sunni terrorism 

within a single country, hope of preventing 

the spread of instability to 

neighboring nations and therefore 

reducing refugee flows to the West. 

Syria already has been de-facto 

partitioned by the opposing forces 

of the civil war. No political leadership 

represents the many domestic 

factions, and none could control the 

territory militarily or run a national 

administration. Moreover, no currently 

envisaged governing coalition 

would be acceptable to the 

major international players. Consequently, 

the solution for Syria must 

be multilateral negotiations leading 

to its partition into geographically 

discreet, self-governing regions 

based on communal affiliations. 

The Sunni Arab majority should 

hold the central and northern provinces 

or governorates of Homs, 

Hama, Idlib, Aleppo, Raqqa and 

Deir ez Zor. Kurds could control the 

northeastern province of Hasakah. 

The Alawites and Shiites could 

retain the Mediterranean coastal 

provinces of Latakia and Tartus. 

Christians, Druze and the few remaining 

Jews will have their best 

chance at regain safety and security 

by sharing the southwestern and 

southern governorates of Rif Dimashq, 

which surrounds Damascus, 

and Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda 

along the borders with Lebanon, Israel 

and Jordan. Yazidis could gain a 

small enclave in Hasakah, along the 

Syria-Iraq border. Each community 

could then rebuild its society and 

economy. 

Semiautonomous or fully autonomous 

subdivisions undeniably 

bring the potential for future problems, 

and it’s possible that Assad 

and his regime may go unpunished 

for their war crimes. Leadership 

change in Syria could be part of the 

deal, however. 

The Sunni heartland may not 

2017 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate 

completely eliminate radical Islam 

from its midst, but the United States 

and the European Union could 

work with Middle Eastern countries 

to move swiftly at the first signs of 

resurgence and to prevent Syria 

from again being overrun by terror 

groups. 

The Kurds may seek to expand 

their Syrian autonomous region by 

supporting secessionist rebels in 

eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and 

northwestern Iran. They might not, 

however, if convinced that to do so 

would lead to dire retaliation. 

Druze, Christians and Jews 

would still face discrimination, but 

they could reach security, economic 

and cultural agreements with Israel 

and the West to reduce the need 

for interaction with their former oppressors. 

The major powers will not stop 

trying to influence the ethnosectarian 

regions, any more than 

regional powers will. Russia and 

Iran may retain naval and air bases 

among the Alawites, but their land 

and air access can be blocked by 

the Sunni and Kurdish regions. 

Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Emirates 

could shape the societies of Sunni 

Syria, and Turkey and the Kurds are 

unlikely to end their cross-border 

altercations. 

Such challenges would be continuation 

of ones currently in place, 

but they would be on a lesser scale 

because no foreign nation will 

have sway over the entirety of the 

Syrian landscape. Moreover Iran, 

Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey 

could be warned that using their 

Syrian spheres of influence to stir 

up trouble in the region generally 

or to harm Israel specifically would 

be firmly met by economic, political 

and military responses from the 

United States and the European 

Union. 

Partition may not the ideal outcome 

for Syria’s crisis, but it is necessary 

and it can be made to work. 

(Carol E.B. Choksy is a lecturer on 

strategic intelligence at Indiana University 

and the C.E.O. of Irad Strategic 

Consulting. Jamsheed K. Choksy 

is a professor of Central Eurasian 

studies and of Iranian studies at Indiana 

University.)


NEWS 

Executive Orders: Reforms imminent in MDAs 

…as Osinbajo assures improved remuneration 

ELIZABETH ARCHIBONG 

The federal government 

on Wednesday said it 

is working on reforms 

that will clearly state 

the functions of the different 

Ministries, Department and 

Agencies (MDAs) to avoid 

duplication and enhance effectiveness 

in its ease of doing 

business efforts. 

This came following a call 

by Public and Civil Servants 

from Ministries Departments 

and Agencies (MDAs) that will 

drive the government’s Executive 

Orders on the ease of doing 

business signed by Acting 

President Yemi Osinbajo last 

week, to improve the business 

environment in the country. 

Questions and remarks at 

the interactive forum between 

the Acting President and about 

2000 civil servants harped on 

JOSHUA BASSEY 

Governor Akinwunmi 

Ambode says the greatness 

of Lagos lies in its 

ability as the melting pot for 

all cultures which gives people 

from states a feel of home 

away from home. 

Speaking at the Lagos History 

Lecture held at Eko Hotels 

and Suits with the theme: 

“Lagos: Yesterday, Today and 

Tomorrow,” on Wednesday, 

Ambode said since inception, 

Lagos has effectively transited 

from an administrative entity 

the need to put to rest the issue 

of duplication of duties and 

confusion in the handling by 

different agencies. 

Responding to the questions 

the minister of Trade 

and Investment, Okechukwu 

Enelamah used his ministry 

as an example stating that 

the Bank of Industry and the 

Nigerian Investment Promotion 

Commission seem to be 

doing the same thing. “The 

issue of duplication is a long 

standing issue and I know that 

the Head of Service, the acting 

Secretary to the Government of 

the Federation and indeed our 

leaders are working on how to 

streamline government. 

“I am aware that the Head 

of Service for instance is working 

on reforms. I am also aware 

that there is work going on on 

how to streamline the agencies. 

‘Lagos greatness lies in ability to accommodate all cultures’ 

to become the melting point 

of cultures and the sociopolitical 

and economic jurisdiction 

of global significance, 

rated today, as the fifth largest 

economy in Africa. 

He described the lecture as 

an opportunity to have introspection 

into the past, engage 

in an objective appraisal of the 

present and, a realistic prognosis 

of the future of another 

fifty years.He said such necessitated 

the assemblage of 

knowledgeable royal fathers, 

elder statesmen, jurists of distinction 

and Lagos indigenes 

of repute to trace the history of 

“Incidentally most of the 

examples that were used were 

from my ministry, so I am very 

tempted to point out that the 

Nigerian Investment Promotion 

Commission, if it does its 

work well should be promoting 

investment while for instance 

BOI should be lending to industry” 

he said. 

The newly signed executive 

orders calls for transparency in 

Ministries, Departments and 

Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal 

Government of Nigeria. It 

also orders Default Approvals 

by government agencies, and 

a one Government Directive. 

The document contains under 

the three major headings subheads 

that states a new Visa 

regime calls for the review of 

entry Experience of Visitors 

and Travellers as well as Ports 

Operations that under the order 

will now run for 24 hours. 

the State and proffer insights 

as to the areas to concentrate 

on for the future. 

According to him, “it is 

important for us at this epochal 

gathering to refresh our 

memory about the beginning; 

the journey of how the AWORI 

played an important role in 

the evolution of what we call 

Lagos today: 

“The same applies to the 

evolution of the Eko Royalty 

with the coming of the Bini 

from present day Edo State 

and even the momentous 

role played by the TAPPA in 

the making of our dear State. 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 29

30 BUSINESSDAY C002D5556 

NEWS 

AFBTE urges FG to reduce company 

income tax for manufacturers 


IHEANYI NWACHUKWU 

The Association of Food, 

Beverage and Tobacco 

Employers (AFBTE) 

wants the Federal Government 

to reduce Company 

Income Tax (CIT) for manufacturers 

as a way of attracting 

further investments, aimed 

at pulling the economy out of 

recession. 

AFBTE said that the impact 

of recession in the manufacturing 

sector during the year 2016 

was aggravated by recurring 

challenges of multiple taxation, 

inadequate power supply, high 

cost of gas, double-digit interest 

rate, unabated smuggling 

among others. 

The manufacturing sector 

was one of those badly hit by 

the economic recession in the 

country in 2016, AFBTE said, 

adding that the high cost of 

sourcing dollar then made it 

difficult for the firms to bring in 

their raw materials “and those 

that were able to pay did not 

even get the dollar supplied to 

them until after three to four 

months”. 

AFBTE believes that the 

industrial sector should be 

strengthened by removing 

all obstacles restraining the 

growth and competitiveness 

of the sector such as the indiscriminate 

changes in the 

Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) 

which changed as many as four 

times between 2014 and July 

2016, with its distorting effects 

on the economy; the exclusion 

Holyfield donates $3m health 

equipment to LASG 

JOSHUA BASSEY 

Legendary boxer and fourtime 

heavyweight champion, 

Evander Holyfield, 

Wednesday, in Ikeja, announced 

a donation of health equipment 

of $3 million to the Lagos State 

government, saying it was a way 

of giving back to the society. 

Holyfield is in Lagos ahead 

his scheduled encounter with 

former governor and chieftain 

leader of the All Progressives 

Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed 

Tinubu at an exhibition boxing 

match, this Saturday, as part of 

activities marking the 50th anniversary 

of Lagos. The state was 

created May 27, 1967. 

“This is about giving back to 

the society,” Holyfield said, even 

as he recalled how he started boxing 

at the young age of eight and 

became champion at nine. The 

former world champion said he 

felt like quitting after some initial 

defeats but was encouraged by 

his mother to stick on. 

“I became the person I am because 

I listened, I followed direction 

and I did not quit even when 

I lost. In giving back to the society, 

I am here to say I got a Real Deal 

Promotion. We are looking for 

young fighters who want to listen 

and follow instruction”. 

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode 

who received the former 

world number one at the State 

House, Ikeja, lauded his accomplishments 

both as cruiserweight 

and heavyweight champion, 

describing him as a great role 

model. 

The governor, who said the 

visit of the boxing legend to Lagos 

of 41 items, some of which are 

essential raw materials, from 

the official forex market as 

well as failure to synchronize 

monetary and fiscal policies 

actions. 

“This will enable the sector 

to be optimally productive and 

play its expected role of employment 

generation, capital 

mobilization, wealth creation 

and technology acquisition”, 

AFBTE said. 

Paul Gbededo, president, 

Association of Food, Beverage 

and Tobacco Employers noted 

this in Lagos at the 38th annual 

general meeting (AGM) 

of the association. Gbededo’s 

tenure as president of AFBTE 

was completed at the annual 

general meeting. 

“Government should also 

adjust Value Added Tax (VAT), 

Personal Income Tax downwards 

as the country has gone 

into recession with growth 

of the productive sector being 

significantly negative and 

consumption has whittled 

down as a result of inflation,” 

AFBTE said. 

AFBTE recommended 

member companies to be innovative, 

bold, and creative in 

marketing their products and 

services said, “Manufacturers 

must embrace technological 

advances to improve efficiency 

and productivity. Import substitution 

through backward 

integration and local raw material 

aggregation may hold 

the key to the future of AFBTE 

companies.” 

was historic, noted that there was 

no better way to showcase sports 

as catalyst for growth than the 

collaboration of such an icon as 

Holyfield. 

“This is exciting and historic 

moment for us coming at a time 

Lagos is celebrating the 50 years 

of its establishment and we want 

to say a big thank you to Holyfield 

for collaborating with us to put 

this as part of events marking the 

Golden Jubilee anniversary of 

Lagos State. 

“We believe strongly that 

in all sectors that we have tried 

to celebrate Lagos, this is one 

momentous topic that we really 

mean to celebrate. As a government, 

we have always wanted 

to use sports as a way of driving 

our economy and there is no 

way we can showcase sports as 

the catalyst for economic growth 

than bringing somebody who is a 

champion; a revered person and 

for him to use his God given talent 

and resources to promote sports 

in our state,” Ambode said. 

Acknowledging the vision of 

the Evander Holyfield Foundation 

to nurture young stars and 

future boxers, as well as the issues 

relating to promotion of health 

and wellbeing of the people, 

Ambode pledged to partner with 

the foundation to ensure that the 

set objectives are achieved, especially 

with regards to the people 

of the State. 

The governor described 

Holyfield as the living greatest 

boxer of all times, a sport icon and 

a champion, adding that the visit 

to Nigeria would also be used to 

trace the roots of the boxer back 

to Lagos. 

Refusal to take final investment decision 

will deny Nigeria 875,000 bpd 

OLUSOLA BELLO 

The fate of eight 

oil fields capable 

of contributing 

875,000 barrels of 

crude oil per day is 

hanging in the balance. This 

is because final investment 

decision expected to have been 

taken that would be added to 

the country’s daily capacity 

between 2018 and 2020, is yet 

to be taken. 

There are no indications 

that the FIDs would be taken 

anytime soon because of the 

series of crisis that have bedeviled 

the petroleum industry 

sector in recent time. Principal 

among these is the non passage 

of the Petroleum Industry 

Bill (PIB) by the national assembly 

and the crisis in the 

Niger Delta , lack of uncertainty 

of the fiscal policies, and non 

conducive environment 

Final investment decision 

has only be taken on three out 

of the 10 planned oil liquid 

projects slated to come up for 

production between 2017 and 

2020 BusinessDay investigation 

has revealed. The implications 

of this is that investors in 

these projects would continue 

to shift dates for the FID while 

the time for the execution of 

the projects are being postpone 

indefinitely. 

This means the country’s 

attempt to hit a projected four 

million barrels daily productions 

in the by 2020 would 

remain a mirage. 

Two out of the three projects 

are condensate which is 

not in the same grade with 

crude oil. These are Sonam 

Field Development operated 

by Chevron and which is expected 

to produce 30,000 barrels 

daily and Gbaran-Ubie 

Phase 2 operated by Shell 

which is also expected to have 

a daily production of 20,000 

barrels per day are all expected 

to come on stream by this year. 

The third is the 200,000 

barrels per day 200,000 barrels 

per day Egina project slated 

to come on stream by 2018. 

Already 200,000 barrels per 

day capacity Floating Production 

Storage Offloading (FPSO) 

vessel for Total’s $16 billion 

Egina deepwater field is being 

completed in South Korea. 

The FPSO is being built by 

Samsung Heavy Industries of 

Korea at a cost of $3.3 billion, 

while the entire Egina field development 

project,including 

the FPSO will cost $16 billion. 

The other fields calling 

for attention which were estimated 

to start by 2020 but 

which no final investment 

decision has been reached yet 

are: Shell’s Bonga Southwest 

and Aparo, offshore deepwater, 

Bonga North with estimated 

daily crude oil production 

of 100,000 barrels per day, 

Zabazaba-Etan,120,000 bpd, 

Bosi,140,000bpd. 

Others are Satellite field 

developments phase2, 

80,000bpd, Uge field 110,000 

both belonging to ExxonMobil 

and Nsiko field,100bpd operated 

by Chevron. 

According to Eddy Wikina, 

Former external Relation Manager 

Shell Nigeria Exploration 

and Production SNEPCO, he 

said, FID indicates that the 

investors are ready to put down 

their money to fund the projects. 

He however said that as 

long the Nigerian environment 

is not conducive for business 

it not likely that the FID on 

those projects would not be 

carries out. 

Wapic Insurance gets shareholders approval to raise N10bn 

Wapic Insurance 

Plc has secured 

the approval of its 

shareholders to raise additional 

capital to the tune 

of N10 billion to boost the 

company’s operations, as 

it moves towards becoming 

a diversified financial 

services institution, while 

also being proactive against 

policy changes in the industry. 

The company aims to 

evolve into a truly diversified 

financial services 

institution that provides 

protection against all forms 

of insurable risks to all customers 

segments. By this 

the company’s objective is 

to emerge as one of the top 

twenty financial services 

institutions in Nigeria by 

2019. 

Speaking at the Company’s 

58th Annual General 

Meeting in Lagos, Aigboje 

Aig-Imoukuede, chairman 

of the board said the capital 

raise was to be ahead 

of developments, and in 

line with the company’s 

growth strategy to broaden 

its scope of operations. 

On the company’s financials, 

Wapic Insurance 

Plc in the financial year 

ended December 31, 2016 

recorded a gross earnings 

of N12.39 billion as against 

N10.42 billion in 2015, 

showing an 18.9 percent 

increase. 

Profit before tax however 

dropped 28.4 percent 

to N1.19 billion as against 

N1.67 billion the previous 

year, while profit after tax 

closed at N586 million. 

The company during 

the review period paid out 

N2.85 billion on claims, as 

against N1.59 billion the 

previous year, indicating a 

78.4 percent increase, and 

this shareholders said was 

a sign of integrity, calling 

on management to sustain 

this practice. 

“Prompt payment of 

claims is the only way insurance 

company can show 

its strength and trusted 

worthiness, says Sunny 

Nwosu, Boniface Okezie 

among other shareholders. 

Total asset in the year 

under review closed at 

N25.90 billion from N23.69 

billion in 2015, with a 9 

percent increment, while 

shareholders fund also appreciated 

by 10.7 percent to 

close at N16.57 billion. 

Udom Emmanuel, Akwa 

Ibom State Governor, (m) 

his deputy, Moses Ekpo 

(l) and Daniel Aqatang, 

special adviser on religious 

matters, praying and 

anoininting the place during 

the groundbreaking of The 

Construction of the Coconut 

Oil Refinery at Ikot Akpan 

Okop Mkpat Enin LGA a part 

of activities marking the Gov 

Udom 2nd Anniversary in 

office, yesterday. 

CBN competency 

framework to address 

industry knowledge 

gap – CIBN 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE & JOHN SALAU 

The recent appointment of 

the Chartered Institute of 

Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) 

for the planned implementation 

of the Competency Framework 

for the banking industry in Nigeria, 

by the Central Bank of Nigeria 

(CBN) is to among other things 

address the knowledge gap in the 

banking industry towards capacity 

building in Nigeria’s financial 

sector. 

Segun Ajibola, President/ 

Chairman of Council, CIBN in 

his opening address at the press 

conference in Lagos, said the 

introduction of the competency 

framework is a conscious step 

to redirect the banking industry 

towards entrenching competency 

in the industry. 

According to him, the competency 

framework will help develop 

programmes to ensure that the 

staff of the banks in Nigeria qualifies 

for the job roles they occupy. 

Speaking further on the objectives 

of the framework, Ajibola 

said, “This framework will define 

the minimum knowledge, skills 

and competencies needed for operators 

and regulators to perform 

optimally on their various jobs.” 

“The framework will establish 

standard competency requirements 

for each job role to serve as 

a guide to Nigerian banks for their 

talent recruitment and development 

programme,” he said. 

The competency framework is 

to serve as a coordinated industry 

recognised training accreditation 

system that guarantee competency 

standard for practitioners 

within the financial industry. 

However, the CIBN has mandated 

all banks in Nigeria to get 

their academies accredited, and 

provide details of their Educational 

Training Service Providers 

(ETSPs) and profiles of their 

staff for a smooth take-off of the 

scheme based on the terms of 

reference given to the institute by 

the CBN. 

Seye Awojobi, Registrar/ 

Chief Executive, CIBN in his 

remark said the institute has 

accredited 9 Bank Entry Level 

Training Academies and 3 

ETSPs as a sign of willingness 

to comply with competency 

framework by the banks.


Expert advocates PPP initiative for 

agri sector development in Edo 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, BENIN 

As stakeholders converged 

for a oneday 

Public-Private 

Partnership(PPP) 

workshop in Edo state, expert 

has advised Edo State 

government to develop its 

agricultural sector through 

the PPP initiative. 

Osaro Eghobamien, the 

managing partner of Perchstone 

and Graeys, made the 

call in his welcome address 

during the workshop with 

the theme, “Accelerating 

Infrastructure Delivery in 

Edo State via Effective Public 

Private Partnership”. 

Eghobamien who noted 

that the major challenge 

400 illegal immigrants arrested in Edo 


Edo State Command 

of the Nigeria Immigration 

Service (NIS) 

on Wednesday said it has 

arrested no fewer than 400 

suspected illegal immigrants 

in Edo State. 

David Adi, the State 

Comptroller who confirmed 

the arrest said the suspects 

were arrested in Oredo, 

Ikpoba-Okha, Esan West 

and Uhunmwode local government 

areas. 

Three officers of the 

agency were however said 

to have sustained injuries 

when they were attacked 

during the operation. 

Adi said the suspects 

forced their way into the 

country from neighboring 

nations like Niger Republic, 

Mali and Chad. 

He said the suspects 

were arrested during a mopup 

exercise which begun at 

about 4am yesterday across 

the 18 local government 

areas of the state. 

He disclosed that the 

exercise became neces- 

sary following intelligence 

reports that many irregular 

immigrants had relocated 

to the state, without any 

means of livelihood. 

The state comptroller 

explained that citizens of 

ECOWAS member-countries 

had the privilege of 

free movement but such 

persons should possess the 

right documents and travel 

through approved routes. 

He noted that those 

found without proper travel 

documents would be 

deported to their home 

countries after undergoing 

a screening process to 

ascertain their nationalities. 

“Those of them who are 

Nigerians will be released 

to go home. Then, we will 

take those of them who are 

foreigners without proper 

documents back to their 

countries. 

“There are specific laws 

that specify how they (immigrants) 

should come in. Our 

law says that they should 

come in with proper travel 

documents and through 

approved entry points. 

NEWS 

L-R: Avni Kigili, chief executive officer, Hayat Kimya Nigeria Ltd; Yahya Kigili, chairman, Hayat Kimya Nigeria Ltd; Ibikunle Amosun, 

governor, Ogun State; Bimbola Ashiru, commissioner of commerce and industry, Ogun State, and Demola Sogunle, chief executive, 

Stanbic IBTC Bank, at the inauguration of Hayat Kimya factory in Ogbara, Ogun State. 

“But the security reports 

available to us indicated 

that many of them are in 

Edo State and they came in 

through illegal routes. If we 

do not ease them out, they 

will constitute serious security 

threats to this country. 

All of us know the security 

situation in this country.” 

he said. 

Adi said some of the suspects 

claim to be from Sokoto, 

Katsina, Jigawa or Kebbi 

adding that the agency has 

professional ways to always 

fish them out. 

One of the suspects, who 

identified himself as Awal 

Saidu, said that he was arrested 

along with 30 others, 

after entering Nigeria 

through Niger on Sunday. 

Saidu explained that he 

had left Yame, his hometown, 

in search of employment. 

“I came in three days 

ago, through Katsina, in 

search of a job. There is no 

job in my country. We were 

about 30 who came into the 

country. But I was arrested 

at Ugbiyokho, where I work 

as a cleaner. 

NDDC projects in Edo valued at N86.34bn 


The management of the 

Niger Delta Development 

Commission 

(NDDC) said it has awarded 

projects valued N86.34 billion 

since its inception in 

Edo State. 

Victor Ndoma-Egba, 

the managing director of 

the commission made the 

disclosure during a visit 

to Edo State governor in 

Benin-City. 

Egba said the sum was 

for 708 projects, out of 

which 173 were completed 

and commissioned, 131 

completed but not commissioned, 

130 yet to commence 

and 233 ongoing. He 

added that the commission 

had resolved to collaborate 

with member states to execute 

projects and that the 

management was working 

on image redemption. 

He disclosed that a Niger 

Delta Development Bank 

in the sector was access to 

finance by farmers opined 

that the best way out of the 

problem was for government 

to partner private sector 

for the establishment of 

farm mechanization centers. 

“Commercial agriculture is 

five percent Labour and 95 

percent science. What affect 

agriculture is access to 

financing like what the Bank 

of Industry is doing currently 

in Nigeria”, he said. 

He said the establishment 

of farm mechanization centres 

in Edo state under the 

public private partnership 

would enable farmers have 

access to farm implement, 

inputs and tractors at affordable 

prices. 

would be established and 

that the budget formation 

process for the commission 

would be strengthened, 

with governors of the 

member states forming an 

integral part of such processes 

as part of plans to 

diversify the commission’s 

sustenance. 

In his remark, the state 

Governor Godwin Obaseki 

urged the commission’s 

board to help in the management 

of resources for the Niger 

Delta states, adding that 

individual member states 

accounts should be operated 

to facilitate appropriation of 

funds for project execution. 

Obaseki however agreed 

to join forces with the commission 

to repair the Benin- 

Abraka road in the state. 

He added that the road 

was of high priority and 

great economic benefit to 

the state. 

“The road links Benin 

with Oben, a location which 

is the gas hub of the country. 

Rehabilitation of the road 

will also open up 25, 000 

hectares of land for agricultural 

production”, he said. 

The governor explained 

that the prior notice given 

to NDDC contractors in the 

state to stop work was not to 

embarrass the commission, 

but to understand what the 

contractors were doing. 

He assured that the state 

formed an integral of the 

Niger Delta region and the 

state would work with the 

commission to foster development 

of the region. 

He however revealed 

that his administration was 

unhappy with some of the 

projects executed in the 

state just as he urged the 

commission to manage one 

major account made up 

of management fees paid 

by member states, while 

separate accounts should be 

dedicated to member states 

for project execution. 

Nigeria seeks better trade 

engagement with US 

…as Liser, CCA president visits Ghana, Nigeria on West Africa tour 

Yemi Osinbajo, acting 

president, Federal 

Republic of Nigeria, 

has said that Nigeria 

will continue to seek 

potential and greater areas 

of trade relationship with the 

Corporate Council on Africa 

(CCA) as Nigeria looks to improve 

trade engagement with 

the United States of America. 

The Acting President stated 

this when Florizelle Liser, 

president and CEO of CCA 

paid him a courtesy visit at 

the State House, Abuja on her 

first official trip to West Africa 

as part of the ongoing effort to 

promote trade, investment and 

business engagement between 

the United States and Africa. 

CCA, a Washington D.C. 

based organization, is the leading 

U.S. business association 

focused solely on connecting 

business interests between the 

United States and Africa. 

Osinbajo, who used the 

opportunity that the visit provided, 

congratulated Liser on 

her new role and also emphasized 

the importance of driving 

trade and investment between 

both countries. He also spoke 

on a number of issues that 

could improve trade and investment 

between Nigeria and 

Privatisation in power sector has failed - Senate 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, ABUJA 

Privatisation of the power 

sector in Nigeria has failed, 

the Senate declared on 

Wednesday. 

To this end, the upper legislative 

chamber called for review 

of the privatisation of the power 

sector in the country on the 

grounds that Distribution Companies 

(DISCOS) are bankrupt 

and cannot procure meters for 

customers. 

These were the submissions 

of senators at a debate on a motion 

sponsored by Dino Melaye 

(APC, Kogi West) which 

opened up how the frustrations 

in the power sector have further 

sabotaged efforts at reviving the 

economy. Contributing to the debate, 

Chairman Senate Committee 

on Privatisation, Ben Bruce 

(PDP, Bayelsa State) faulted the 

the United States of America. 

The acting President specifically 

mentioned the diversification 

of the Nigerian 

exports to the United States 

adding that the country will 

take greater advantage of the 

opportunities that the African 

Growth and Opportunity Act 

(AGOA) provides to the US 

market access beyond oil. He 

also spoke on the importance 

of Nigeria being positioned in 

global supply chains; reforms 

around the ease of doing business, 

and the progress being 

made in the Niger Delta region. 

Geoffery Onyeama minister 

of Foreign Affairs spoke 

about his plan to drive economic 

diplomacy and leverage 

Nigeria’s 114 foreign offices to 

drive Foreign Direct Investments 

(FDI) into Nigeria. “At 

the last [United National General 

Assembly] UNGA, we were 

in touch with CCA and we 

were very impressed with the 

enthusiasm of U.S. businesses 

to engage with Nigeria,” said 

Onyeama. 

Okechukwu Enelamah, 

minister of Industry, Trade 

and Investment, commended 

Liser and CCA for their work 

supporting Nigeria’s efforts to 

create an enabling business 

manner in which privatisation of 

the power sector was carried out. 

He asked the Senate to prevail 

on government to revisit the privatisation 

process. 

“Those who invested in the 

business thought it was like a 

company where they will make 

a lot of money. I believe they 

only had enough money to pay 

the Federal Government and 

make the initial investment, they 

did not have the capacity to run 

a power sector company in a 

modern economy. 

“They also allude that the 

Federal Government will subsidise 

it. Now, they brought a bill 

of N1 trillion they are not saying 

the Federal Government again. 

They say we owe them a trillion 

naira. This is a serious problem. 

The way the privatisation process 

took place, the difficulties 

we have. There is no solution 

environment in Nigeria and 

promote U.S.-Nigeria business 

partnerships. “Many years 

ago, when we were starting 

the Africa Capital Alliance,” 

said Minister Enelamah, “CCA 

played an important role when 

there was a strain in the relationship 

between U.S. and 

Nigeria, thus ensuring lots of 

businesses were kept alive.” 

Nigeria recently approved the 

establishment of the Nigeria 

Office for Trade Negotiation. 

One of the functions of the 

office is to drive proactive negotiation 

in the areas of trade 

and investment. The Ministry 

will be the focal ministry in 

trade negotiations while the 

other ministry-members of the 

presidential economic team 

will support. 

On his own part, Emmanuel 

Ibe Kachikwu, minister 

of State for Petroleum, discussed 

plans for modular 

refineries with the CCA President. 


modular refineries model being 

introduced will be tailormade 

to the Niger Delta adding 

that the ministry would 

support investors looking to 

navigate the complex business 

environment. 

in sight. They don’t have the 

money to buy the meters. They 

are technically bankrupt. Unless 

we visit the entire privitastion 

process, unless we understand 

and dissect what went wrong, we 

will still get estimated billing. We 

have a catastrophe in our hands, 

there will be no light in Nigeria 

under the current structure is 

revisited,” he said. 

On his own part, Vice 

Chairman, Senate Committee 

on Power, Mustapha Burkar, 

(APC, Katsina State) called 

for state of emergency in the 

power sector because all the 

measures that had been adopted 

were not working. 

He observed that distribution 

companies are the weakest point 

in the value chain, adding that the 

model adopted for the privatisation 

has failed.

32 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 

NEWS 

Delta Government spends 

N1bn monthly on pension 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, ASABA 

Delta State Government 

said it spent N1 billion 

monthly for the 

payment of pension 

entitlements to pensioners in 

the state. 

The state governor, Ifeanyi 

Okowa made the disclosure at 

Ogwashi-Uku during a town 

hall meeting with the people of 

Aniocha South local government 

area of the state. 

Okowa added that more than 

N300 million was spent monthly 

to settle pensioners in the old 

pension scheme and also more 

than the amount to pay pensions 

of retired civil servings who were 

on the contributory pension 

scheme. 

The governor who.noted that 

the contributory pension scheme 

remains the best disclosed that 

on assumption of office as governor 

of the state in 2015, he was 

told that the state was indebted 

to pensioners to the tune of over 

N30 billion. 

“When we came on board two 

years ago, we were told, government 

was owing pensioners over 

N30 billion, we have been paying 

and have injected a lot of money, 

so, at the end of every month, for 

the old pension scheme and the 

contributory pension scheme, we 

pay about N1 billion on pensions 

alone”, he said. 

While reeling out the achievements 

of his administration in the 

past two years, he promised not 

to abandon any projects in the 

local government. 

“We will not abandon the 

Ubulu-Uku road project, neither 

will we abandon any project. As 

we are constructing roads here, 

that is how we are constructing 

roads in all the local government 

areas of Delta State. I pray that 

our resources will improve for us 

to do more,” he stated. 

He also expressed his administration 

commitment to 

empowering the youths to be 

entrepreneurs through skill acquisition 

programme. 

He noted that most of the 

beneficiaries of the empowerment 

programmes have become 

employers of labour and contributing 

to the socio-economic 

development of the state. 

The governor however assured 

of his administration commitment 

to ensuring prudent 

management of resources to the 

benefits of Deltans. 

Earlier, the Chairman of Aniocha 

North local government 

area, Chuks Oseme thanked the 

Governor for the giant strides 

his administration has recorded 

within the last two years assuring 

him of continual support by 

Deltans 

Oseme also commended the 

governor for the infrastructure 

and empowerment programmes 

carried out by his administration 

across the state in the last 

two years. 

Ogun N23bn Atan-Igbesa-Agbara road 

construction to attract more investors 

...as Turkish firm inaugurates $100m diaper factory in Agbara 

RAZAQ AYINLA, ABEOKUTA 

Having considered short 

and long term economic 

benefits which 

infrastructure such as roads and 

rail would have on investment 

and production of goods and 

services, Ogun state government 

is investing N23 billion in 

construction of Atan-Igbesa- 

Agbara industrial roads. 

The construction of dualcarriage 

Atan-Igbesa-Agbara 

roads and overhead bridges 

that link the arguably largest 

industrial hub in West African 

sub-region - Agbara industrial 

hub - is part of efforts to 

attract more investors into the 

Gateway state with a view to 

providing conducive economic 

atmosphere for businesses to 

thrive since haulage of workers 

as well as raw materials and 

finished goods in and outside 

the corridor will be much easier 

and more seamless. 

Speaking at the inauguration 

of over $100 million diaper 

factory established by Turkish 

Conglomerate - Hayat Kimyat 

Holdings at OPIC Industrial 

Estate in Agbara, Ogun state on 

Wednesday, Governor Ibikunle 

Amosun declared that roads 

construction had begun along 

Atan-Igbesa-Agbara corridor 

to ease human and vehicular 

movement inbound and 

outbound Ogun state, Lagos 

state as well as Benin Republic 

through either Idi-Iroko border 

or Badagry -Seme border. 

Governor Amosun acknowledged 

that it had not been 

ease to move human beings, 

and haulage raw materials and 

finished goods in that axis for 

so long due to abysmally poor 

status of the industrial roads, 

saying that the bad situation 

of roads had prompted government 

to release N5 billion 

mobilization fee to contractors 

for them to start the work immediately. 

While requesting all investors 

operating in the state to 

contribute 40% as an infrastructure 

development fund in order 

for government to rehabilitate 

and construct new roads across 

the state, especially at the industrial 

areas, he explained that 

government decided to invest 

so much in the construction of 

dual carriage road and overhead 

bridges, adopting concrete road 

technology, considering loads 

that will conveyed by trucks and 

trailers which will be plying the 

roads on regular basis. 

He said, “I need to give an 

apology that I came late to 

this glorious event because of 

bad state of the roads, I must 

give you good news that we 

have begun construction on 

the road, we have mobilised 

contractors to site. For your 

information, that road will 

cost a whooping N23 billion 

because we are using concrete 

to construct the roads, 

and we have given the contractors 

N5 billion to start the 

work immediately.” 

Reps decry N400bn debt owed 

by FG on road projects in states 

...pass bill to regulate execution of federal projects 

KEHINDE AKINTOLA, ABUJA 

The House of Representatives 

on Wednesday expressed 

concern over the 

standard of various road projects 

executed by State Governments 

on behalf Federal Government. 

According to the legislative 

brief presented by Rimamnde 

Shawulu (PDP-Taraba), at the 

last count, the “state governments 

are owed over N400 billion by 

the Federal Government. Unfortunately, 

some of these projects 

executed by State Governments 

were below specified standard.” 

The lawmakers including 

Leo Ogor, minority leader; Abdulrazak 

Namdas, chairman, 

House Committee on Media 

and Public Affairs, Aminu Shehu 

Shagari and Nkiruka Onyeojeocha, 

chairman, House Committee 

on Aviation expressed the 

concerns during the debate on 

the bill for an Act to regulate the 

execution of Federal Government 

projects by State Governments, 

provide for procedure 

to undertake such projects, 

financing, supervision/monitoring, 

refund/reimbursement 

of money spent thereto and for 

other related matters,” co-sponsored 

by Rimamnde Shawulu 

and Solomon Maren. 

In his lead debate, Shawulu 

noted that Federal Government’s 

plan to fast-track provision of in- 

ISAAC ANYAOGU 

Nigeria imports N500m 

worth of leather 

products yearly even 

though it produces one of the 

best qualities of leather in the 

world, an aberration the first 

ever Lagos Leather Fair seeks 

to tackle. 

A private initiative by Femi- 

Handbags, it is borne out of the 

need to draw attention to the 

untapped possibilities within 

the leather industry, the fair 

will provide an opportunity 

to discuss challenges and op- 

frastructure across the country by 

engaging the State Governments 

has been defeated. 

“Over the years, the Federal 

Government has been engaged 

in the provision of infrastructure 

across the country. Some of these 

infrastructure required constant 

maintenance, upgrading and 

sometime rec, but due to the 

enormous nature of the projects 

and the dwindling revenue available 

to government, the federal 

government has not been able 

to pay proper attention o some 

of these infrastructure, hence 

leaving them dilapidated and 

sometimes uncompleted in critical 

areas of the state. 

“Many states had to intervene 

due to the importance of the 

projects to their respective states. 

For instance, some state governments 

in recent past had engaged 

in the execution of many federal 

roads across the country. 

“At the count, the state governments 

are owed over N400 

billion by the Federal Government. 

Unfortunately, some of 

these projects executed by the 

state governments were below 

specified standard, hence the 

need to regulate the sector by 

providing a guideline for the 

execution and reimbursement 

of same with a view to providing 

quality, standard and durable 

infrastructure,” the Taraba lawmaker 

urged. 

Naira at the interbank 

spot market 

on Wednesday reserved 

gains to close at 

N305.90k per dollar, a day 

after the Central Bank of 

Nigeria (CBN) retained 

the Monetary Policy Rate 

(MPC) at 14 percent. 

Naira had quoted at the 

arte of N305.45k to the dollar 

since last week but lost 

marginally by N0.50k yesterday 

according to the data 

from FMDQ. 

However, the local currency 

gained N0.50k to close 

at N381.81k at the investors 

and exporters window on 

Wednesday. It traded at 

N382.31k on Tuesday. 

At the black market, naira 

maintained gain, closing at 

the rate of between N378/$ 

and N380 per dollar, market 

investigation revealed. 

According to analysts 

at the Ecobank Nigeria the 

MPC’s decision to leave the 

MPR unchanged ensures an 

“holding status” on assets 

prices – domestic investors 

are likely to remain confident 

in naira denominated 

assets over the short- to 

medium-term: the yields on 

the 364-day Treasury bills 


Inter-bank exchange 

rate reverses gains 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE 

Leather fair seeks to correct N500m yearly import 

portunities in the sector is 

scheduled to hold from June 

2- 4, at the Federal Palace Hotel, 

in Lagos. 

Nigeria has one of Africa’s 

largest live stock populations 

but it is yet to fully harness 

the potential in the sector. The 

country’s leather is mainly 

used in the production of shoes 

and bags, resulting in thriving 

local production and exportation 

to regional West African 

countries. 

“The country’s huge livestock 

populations coupled 

with other available resources 

needed in the leather and 

leather goods production process, 

sets the floor for aggressive 

development of that sector 

- Nigeria could easily become 

globally recognized as a major 

player in this industry,” says a 

release by the organisers. 

Presently, major tanneries 

in Nigeria continue to produce 

for export while the smaller 

tanneries are geared towards 

local demand. 

Sokoto red goat skin is one 

of the world’s best and attracts 

huge demand by global 

fashion houses; developed 

would likely be sustained 

around 21 – 22 percent, and 

the bond yields stabilising 

around 16.5 – 17.0 percent 

in short to medium term. 

The analysts said the 

recent change in CBN’s 

foreign exchange policy 

management might have 

had a significant impact 

on the moderation of consumer 

prices month-onmonth; 

however the impact 

is somehow less significant 

on the consumer prices 

year-on-year, when compared 

with about 69.77 percent 

increase in foreign 

exchange inflows via CBN 

in April 2017. 

Over all, the short end 

of the curve will remain attractive 

as concerns over the 

outlook for naira and inflation 

continue to be influenced 

by CBN’s monetary 

policy in the short term. 

Monetary policy appears 

set to remain relatively 

unchanged in the 

months ahead. Assuming 

no significant change to 

key indicators, we think 

the MPR will be held at 

14 percent in subsequent 

MPC meetings, although 

further indirect tightening 

may occur if liquidity rises 

above target. 

Akinwunmi Ambode, governor, Lagos State, (r), with Evander Holyfield, former Heavyweight Boxing Champion, during the courtesy visit 

by the former heavyweight boxing champion at the Lagos House, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday. 

countries such as Italy are 

among the major consumers 

of Nigerian leather 

This is why the Nigerian 

Export Promotion Council 

(NEPC) identified leather and 

finished leather goods alongside 

ten other products as 

having great financial value 

capable of replacing oil in the 

Nigerian economy. 

Themed “Changing the 

Narrative” Lagos Leather Fair 

aims to connect the dots and 

change the narrative in an industry 

with so much untapped 

potential.


Shareholders laud Dangote Cement’s record... 


can achieve this laudable feat.” 

Aliko Dangote, chairman of 

the company, presenting the 

report to the shareholders, said 

the company’s strategy in every 

country of operation, is to be 

the leader on costs, quality and 

service. He said the company 

builds large, modern, highly efficient 

plants that combine the 

latest equipment from Europe, 

China and beyond, to enable it 

make higher-quality cement at 

lower cost, thereby giving it strong 

competitive advantages. 

“Looking back at the 2016 financial 

year, I am pleased to report 

that our cement sales volumes 

increased by 25.0 per cent to nearly 

23.6Mt. Of this, almost 14.8Mt was 

sold in the Nigerian market. Revenues 

increased by 25.1 per cent 

to N615.1B, of which 68.3 per cent 

was generated in Nigeria (excluding 

eliminations) and 31.7 per cent 

from Pan-African operations. Our 

earnings before interest, depreciation 

and amortisation (EBITDA) 

decreased only slightly, to N257.2 

billion, with Pan-African operations 

contributing N26.5 billion, 

excluding central costs. Earnings 

per share increased by 4.5 per cent 

to N11.34. 

As I have already stated, the 

Board proposes a dividend of N8.5 

per 50 kobo share, subject to your 

approval, to be paid on 26th May 

2017 to shareholders” 

Another shareholder, Akin 

Akinwumi, from the Progressive 

Shareholders Association, urged 

the management to give a bonus 

and a better dividend in 2017. He 

said, the company should do all 

in its power to give bonus issue. 

“We thank the management for 

giving us this dividend but we are 

appealing so strongly that bonus 

Nigeria on verge of a rail... 


to pass through major towns in 

the South East geopolitical zone. 

However, GE’s interest in Nigeria 

also comes with the local manufacture 

of crucial wagons needed 

to carry people and goods; and 

as the railway economy grows, 

the company will assemble locomotives 

in Nigeria too. 

Officials at both the Nigeria 

Railway Corporation and the 

Presidency, say while the resolution 

of the cabinet represented a 

critical step forward, there is still 

much work to be done to build a 

viable rail sector in Nigeria. 

According to them, the negotiations 

ahead will have to 

resolve tough issues of how the 

funding of the rehabilitation of 

the 3,500km of the rail corridor, 

now in a miserable state, will 

be handled along with questions 

around staffing, training, 

remediation of the serious environmental 

compliance lapses 

that NRC assets have suffered for 

many decades. 

Officials disclosed to BusinessDay 

that the Federal Government, 

in its Request for 

Proposals (RP) to which GE 

responed, stated that a vital 

element of the concession is for 

the successful concessionaire to 

generate some minimum activity 

on the rail tracks in the course 

issue should also be considered. 

For some of us, we prefer a bonus 

to this dividend and we know it 

can be done.” 

He expressed optimism on the 

pan African plants, especially now 

that the plants are contributing 

significantly to the turnover of the 

company. “It is a statement of fact 

that we are lucky to be shareholders 

of this great company. If you 

see what our subsidiaries across 

Africa is contributing to the turnover, 

then you will understand what 

I am talking about. I am very happy 

and our members are upbeat 

for the future, knowing fully well 

that it will only get better.” 

Group Chief Executive Officer 

of the company, Onne van der 

Weijde, revealed that the expansion 

strategy of the company 

yielded fruits last year when Nigeria 

was in recession as the Plants 

Acting President 

Yemi Osinbajo (m); 

Babatunde Fashola 

minister of power, 

works and housing 

(l), and Okechukwu 

Enelamah, minister 

of industry trade & 

investment, during 

a sensitisation 

meeting with Civil 

Servants on Executive 

Order - Ease 

of Doing Business 

held at the International 

Conference 

Center in Abuja. 

of 2017. 

If nothing else, this will serve 

both commercial and political 

purposes in terms of sending 

as a signal to potential users, of 

the return of rail service. As the 

current administration begins 

to prepare for elections in 2019, 

it will also be a visible achievement 

the Buhari administration 

can show to Nigerians. 

A key signal of the prospects 

of success of this concession 

will be the level of collaboration 

between the Federal Government 

and the GE Consortium, 

to finance the rehabilitation 

of fixed asset belonging to the 

Nigerian Rail. “Given the FGN’s 

funding challenges, financial 

markets eagerly wait to see how 

the FGN will meet its expected 

capital funding obligations during 

the life of the concession,” 

one economist told BusinessDay 

Analysts believe that unless 

the FGN capital funding obligations 

are fully catered to, the GE 

Consortium will have a tough 

time raising the financing it requires 

to fund the acquisition of 

wagons, coaches, locomotives, 

equipment, workshops and 

working capital for passenger 

and freight operations, which 

will surely run into many billions 

of US dollars over the life of the 

concession. 

across Africa contributed significantly 

to the company’s turnover. 

“We can see how that strategy 

has helped us in a time that our 

main market of Nigeria is facing 

a recession, high inflation, lower 

consumer spending and a shortage 

of foreign currency to fund 

essential imports. But outside of 

Nigeria we have had operations 

that have now been running for 

more than a year and they are 

experiencing good growth and 

improving profitability, so we have 

managed to offset some of those 

topline pressures in Nigeria with 

revenue streams from countries 

in very different parts of the continent. 

Furthermore, those Pan- 

African operations are helping to 

generate foreign currency for the 

Group, so this shows how a longterm 

decision to diversify can 

help with a short-term pressure 

like an illiquid currency market 

in Nigeria.” 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

33 

NEWS 

OPS sees executive orders attracting new... 


utilisation in the industry, given 

that the pillars take patronage 

of locally made products and 

efficiency of the business environment 

seriously. 

Manufacturers who spoke 

with BusinessDay last night, said 

the three executive orders would 

raise manufacturing output in 

next to no time and likewise boost 

business confidence and enable 

local players compete effectively. 

“We are happy about these 

orders because we know they 

will support manufacturers, particularly 

in terms of promoting 

made-in-Nigeria products,” said 

Frank Udemba Jacobs, president, 

Manufacturers Association 

of Nigeria (MAN), in a telephone 

interview. 

In comparison with Nigeria, 

South Africa, where GE’s operating 

partner, Transnet, is the 

country’s rail, ports and pipelines 

operator, has in excess of 

22,0000km of track, 4,000 locomotives 

and 15,000 wagons - all 

supported by a modern communications 

and control network, 

training schools, marshalling 

yards, depots and other assets 

needed to run a rail operation 

on that scale. 

Transnet is currently in the 

process of regenerating and 

upgrading its locomotive fleet. 

It also has an engineering joint 

venture with GE that is assembling 

over 250 GE locomotives 

for Transnet. This joint venture 

has already achieved close to 

50% local content and is aiming 

to achieve 70%; while also serving 

as a platform for massively 

expanding the South African 

supplier, training and vocational 

skills acquisition ecosystem. 

Nigeria’s 3,500km of narrow 

gauge track was built almost 

entirely between 1916 and 1961 

and today, is operating less than 

30 functional locomotives and 

200 wagons which manage to 

carry less than 100,000mt of 

commercial cargo annually. 

Nigeria has relatively illequipped 

maintenance workshops, 

while it has no communication 

network worth the 

name, along the two primary 

rail corridors that run from Lagos 

to Nguru through Kano on 

the Western Line and PortHarcourt 

to Kaduna Junction along 

the Eastern Line and Kaduna, 

with a spur line from Kafanchan 

through Jos, Gombe, Bauchi 

and Maiduguri. These two corridors 

and spur are so run down 

today, that no train can safely 

operate at a speed in excess of 

40km/hour on most parts of 

the line. 

Federal government officials 

say Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of 

transportation, who hails from 

the oil rich delta and has been 

governor of Rivers State, is in a 

hurry to build a legacy because 

history will not forgive him. 

According to one official, the 

minister has his work cut out 

for him. A reliable rail service 

requires a high degree of vocational 

skills, high engineering 

and service standards and cultural 

assimilation that today is 

100% non-existent. No amount 

of locos bought ,or track built can 

take the place of eroded railway 

culture of engineering excellence 

and reliable commercial 

service. 

The reality that the GE consortium 

must deal with after it 

has concluded its negotiations 

with the Federal Government is 

to find and train the right kind of 

Nigerians. If the issues outlined 

above are successfully tackled, 

the success of this concession is 

only a matter of time. 

Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s acting 

president, recently endorsed 

three executive orders to boost 

the business environment and 

rejig the economy. 

The three main pillars of 

the executive orders include: 

promotion of transparency and 

efficiency in the business environment, 

support for local 

contents in public procurement 

by the Federal Government, and 

efficient operation and implementation 

of the federal budget. 

The executive mandates that 

at least 40 percent of the procurement 

spending of all ministries, 

departments and agencies 

(MDAs) of the Federal Government 

be expended on locally 

manufactured goods or services. 

The manufacturing sector 

has been on the downward 

trend recently, owing to foreign 

exchange crunch and infrastructure 

shortages. However, the 

Central Bank of Nigeria’s new FX 

rules have made dollars available 

for importation of inputs, 

leading to a rise in manufacturing 

contribution to GDP to 9.31 

percent, as against 8.37 percent 

in the last quarter of 2016. 

At the end of 2015, estimated 

cumulative manufacturing investments 

from 2013 to 2015 stood at 

N3.18 trillion. However, the value 

of total manufacturing investments 

in 2015 was N489.45 billion 

as against N691.81 billion estimated 

in 2014, indicating N202.36 

billion decline over the period. 

“The directive has the potential 

to enable Nigeria achieve 

medicines’ security as well as 

boost national self-sufficiency 

in pharmaceuticals and related 

health commodities,” said Okey 

Akpa, chairman of the Pharmaceutical 

Manufacturers Group 

of MAN in an e-mailed message. 

Akpa outlined other positive 

outcomes of the directive to include 

stimulation of massive employment 

in the pharma sector, 

improvement of the economy 

and facilitation of export of Nigerian 

medicines to neighbouring 

countries. 

He said the order represents 

the most expeditious and effective 

approach to guarantee 

Nigerians’ sustainable access 

to high quality and affordable 

medicines, urging the government 

to ensure its successful 

implementation, particularly 

in the areas of intelligence, research, 

policy monitoring and 

evaluation. 

Nike Akande, president of 

Lagos Chamber of Commerce 

and Industry (LCCI) said the 

executive orders would impact 

the ease of doing business, fasttrack 

budgetary administration 

and promote made-in Nigeria 

products. 

“On our part, we will track the 

compliance with these orders by 

relevant MDAs, follow up compliance 

and report outcomes/ 

feedback from private sector 

players on an on-going basis. We 

call on the state governments to 

replicate these reforms, as applicable 

in their respective states. 

This is required to complement 

the efforts of the Federal Government 

on Ease of Doing Business 

in Nigeria,” Akande said.



C002D5556 

Read Ambitiously 

Trump meets with 

Pope Francis after 

policy clashes 

CAROL E. LEE & FRANCIS X. ROCCA 

President Donald Trump and 

Pope Francis met Wednesday 

for a fence-mending 

encounter that balanced talk of 

stark disagreements on issues such 

as migration with accord on other 

topics, including abortion. 

Seated across from each other at 

a simple wooden desk in the pope’s 

private study, Mr. Trump and the 

pontiff spoke for 30 minutes, aided 

by an interpreter. Before leaving 

the Vatican, the president told the 

pope, “Thank you, thank you. I 

won’t forget what you said.” 

It wasn’t immediately clear 

whether Mr. Trump was referring to 

his entire discussion with the pope, 

or to one point of the conversation 

in particular, but there was no mistaking 

the president’s enthusiasm. 

During his talks later with Italian 

Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, he 

told reporters that his meeting with 

the pope was “fantastic.” 

“He is something,” the president 

said of the pontiff, who during 

last year’s presidential campaign 

criticized Mr. Trump’s views on immigration 

and said the candidate’s 

plan to build a wall along the U.S. 

border with Mexico made him “not 

Christian.” 

After Wednesday’s meeting 

with the pope, the president tweeted 

effusively: “Honor of a lifetime 

to meet His Holiness Pope Francis. 

I leave the Vatican more determined 

than ever to pursue PEACE 

in our world.” 

In a short communiqué following 

the visit, the Vatican described 

points on which Mr. Trump and 

the pope agree, including abortion 

and religious liberty, as well as 

their notable differences, including 

health care and immigration. 

One longstanding point of contention 

the Vatican communiqué 

didn’t mention was the environment. 

After their private conversation, 

however, the pope gave the 

president a copy of his encyclical 

on the environment, in which he 

argues that capitalism has contributed 

to the degradation of the environment 

at the particular expense 

of the poor. The president thanked 

the pope, saying he would read it. 

The visit caps a whirlwind tour 

by Mr. Trump through countries 

that are home to the holiest sites 

for three of the world’s leading religions: 

Islam, Judaism and Christianity. 

The president’s trip to Saudi 

Arabia, Israel and Vatican City is 

intended to try to unify religious 

leaders around an effort to combat 

extremism. 

OPEC boss embraces 

shift to top diplomat 

BENOIT FAUCON 

During a turbulent 

year for oil prices, 

the Organization of 

the Petroleum Exporting 

Countries’ 

top official, Mohammad Barkindo, 

has embraced a role as 

the global energy industry’s chief 

diplomat. 

Since taking over as secretarygeneral 

almost a year ago, the 

wisecracking 58-year-old Nigerian 

with a closet full of Nehru jackets 

has reached beyond OPEC in 

a way few of the cloistered cartel’s 

officials have in the past. 

Mr. Barkindo was a main architect 

of the agreement last year 

bringing together the fractious 

13-nation cartel and almost a 

dozen other heavyweight producers 

for the first coordinated 

crude-oil supply cuts in eight 

years. He served as an important 

channel between OPEC-member 

archrivals Saudi Arabia and 

Iran, shuttling between the two 

countries when they didn’t have 

diplomatic relations last year and 

brokering an oil-policy detente 

that cleared the way for a deal. 

He traveled to Houston to 

meet U.S. shale producers this 

year and hosted meetings with oil 

traders in London and New York. 

He has made a point of inviting 

big non-OPEC producers such 

as Azerbaijan to Vienna for talks. 

Winners and losers in 

a post-fiduciary world 

DAISY MAXEY 

The Labor Department’s 

decision to let the fiduciary 

rule take effect in 2½ weeks 

will be a bane or a boon to 

a host of players from robo advisers 

and providers of index funds to 

brokerages and annuity providers. 

Registered investment advisers 

and providers of index and 

exchange-traded funds are among 

the parties that stand to benefit 

from the rule. But the rule, which 

requires that stewards of retirement 

savings act in clients’ best 

interest, may pinch some fullservice 

wealth-management firms, 

alternative asset managers and 

annuity providers. 

Investors, depending on whom 

is asked, could benefit or suffer under 

the rule. Advocates say the rule 

will protect them from receiving 

conflicted advice that can weigh on 

returns and not be the best or most 

cost-effective solution. Opponents 

say small investors may be cut off 

from some forms of advice as firms 

look to comply with the rule. 

“The jury is somewhat out on 

how much, if at all, investors will 

benefit,” says William Birdthistle, a 

law professor at the Chicago-Kent 

College of Law at the Illinois Institute 

of Technology who specializes 

in investment companies. “The 

Obama administration quantified 

the costs of conflicted advice by 

broker/dealers under the suitability 

standard at $17 billion per year, 

but I don’t think it’s likely that this 

change will immediately direct all 

that money back into investors’ 

hands.” 

Still, the fiduciary rule “has wideranging 

effects across the financial 

sector—from product manufacturers 

and wealth-management firms 

to individual financial advisers and 

investors—and investors would be 

wise to keep it on their radar,” says 

MIchael Wong, a senior analyst with 

Morningstar Inc. 

His latest mission is to keep 

OPEC’s fragile coalition alive at 

this week’s meeting in Vienna of 

OPEC members and nonmembers 

that have joined cuts, such as 

Russia, Mexico and Kazakhstan. 

The group is expected to renew 

its pledges to withhold almost 2% 

of global oil supply and continue 

with efforts to drain a vast oversupply 

that has weighed down 

IKEA CEO Peter Agnefjäll quits less 

than four years into the job 

SAABIRA CHAUDHURI 

IKEA Chief Executive Peter 

Agnefjäll has resigned in a 

surprise move less than four 

years after formally stepping 

into the role. 

The Swedish furniture maker 

on Wednesday said it is naming 

Jesper Brodin, currently head of its 

product range and supply chain, 

as its new CEO starting Sept. 1. 

Under the 46-year-old Mr. 

Agnefjäll, who became CEO in 

September 2013, the company 

has responded to the growth of 

online shopping and center-city 

living by opening click-and-collect 

locations and other smaller, 

urban-focused formats. It also 

has spent more money on sustainability 

initiatives, established 

a shopping-center business and 

increased the diversity of its 

workforce. 

Mr. Agnefjäll, who started at 

IKEA in 1995 as a trainee, didn’t 

disclose what his next venture 

would be. He said he plans to 

take a few months off to spend 

time with his wife and two teenage 

sons, according to a spokeswoman. 

crude prices. But if it fails, analysts 

have said oil prices would 

plummet. 

Helima Croft, chief commodities 

strategist at RBC 

Capital Markets and longtime 

observer of OPEC, said Mr. 

Barkindo is the modern oil 

industry’s version of Klemens 

Metternich, the 19th century 

Austrian Empire diplomat who 

helped reorder Europe’s political 

system during the rise and 

fall of Napoleon. 

“He is a diplomat rather than 

an expert, and that helps to get 

everyone in the room to get on,” 

said Bhushan Bahree, a senior 

director on oil at U.S. consultancy 

IHS and a longtime OPEC 

watcher. 

Since taking over as OPEC 

secretary-general last August, 

Mr. Barkindo has transformed a 

role once seen as little more than 

the cartel’s top bureaucrat with 

no real role in decision making 

into an important ambassadorship—serving 

as an emissary 

both inside and outside the fractious 

group. 

Mr. Barkindo plays down any 

efforts to elevate the role and 

says he is simply following his 

own experience through five oilcycle 

downturns to get the cartel 

through “challenging times.” 

“There are not going to be any 

major changes in strategic direction,” 

said the spokeswoman, 

who added that Mr. Agnefjäll was 

leaving of his own accord. “No 

doubt it was Peter’s sole decision,” 

she said. 

IKEA said Mr. Agnefjäll had 

begun taking on CEO duties 

as early as 2012, making it five 

years that he had held aspects of 

the role. 

“I believe it is a natural time for 

me to take a change of path,” Mr. 

Agnefjäll said. “These years have 

meant a lot to me, both personally 

and professionally.” 

IKEA has reported stronger 

profit and sales in recent years 

but is still a long way from its target 

of €50 billion ($56 billion) in 

sales by 2020. IKEA in December 

said its sales for the year ended 

Aug. 31 climbed to €35.07 billion 

from €32.66 billion a year earlier, 

driven by rises in Germany 

and the U.S., IKEA’s two largest 

markets. 

The world’s largest furniture 

retailer has struggled to find appropriate 

labor and new products 

that meet its standards in India, a 

large untapped market in which 

it plans to open its first store early 

next year. 

The 48-year-old Mr. Brodin 

will have to deal with the challenges 

presented by India and 

find a way to accelerate IKEA’s 

revenue growth while continuing 

to adapt to changing buying behavior 

and making IKEA’s supply 

chain more efficient.


C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

35 

Read Ambitiously 

Fed minutes show officials 

ready to raise rates again soon 

Moody’s serves warning to China 

MARK MAGNIER 

China’s first downgrade 

by Moody’s Investors 

Service since 1989 was 

a direct warning to Beijing 

that its growth model isn’t 

working and an illustration of 

the disconnect between the view 

inside and outside China of its 

economic management. 

While China acknowledges 

it has built up significant debt 

and excess production capacity, 

it has projected confidence in 

its ability to contain those risks. 

Moody’s move Wednesday was 

a reminder that some outside 

analysts see great danger in 

Beijing’s buildup of debt for the 

sake of growth. 

China quickly struck back: 

Beijing’s top planning agency 

said China’s debt risk is controllable, 

adding that with structural 

reform under way and higher recent 

profit margins, companies 

In downgraded China, echoes 

of Japan’s boom and bust 

ANDREW PEAPLE & PETER LANDERS 

Some economists have 

long warned that China 

faces the same fate as 

Japan, with a debt-fueled 

boom followed by years of stagnation 

as the country works its 

way through the hangover. 

After Moody’s decision to 

downgrade China on Wednesday, 

the two countries at least 

now have sovereign credit ratings, 

at A1, to match. 

But as China now grapples 

with some of the same problems 

Japan faced a quarter of 

a century ago—from bubbleprone 

property markets to fragile 

banks—its downgrade to the 

same credit rating is a reminder 

will be in a stronger position to 

repay what they owe. The Finance 

Ministry called the methodology 

behind the downgrade 

“inappropriate” and said that 

Moody’s overestimates China’s 

economic difficulties. 

The repercussions of the 

downgrade are likely to be muted 

given that an overwhelming 

portion of China’s debt is held 

domestically. China continues to 

have a high savings rate, largely 

closed capital account and close 

links among ministries, banks 

and companies. That makes it 

less vulnerable to the outside 

world’s assessment of its credit 

risks and limits the impact of 

Wednesday’s downgrade on 

global capital markets. 

The downgrade news triggered 

an early selloff in Chinese 

stocks on Wednesday, with 

shares in Shanghai falling more 

than 1% before recovering and 

largely shrugging off the move. 

that it is still unclear whether it 

can escape the sort of prolonged 

economic malaise that has afflicted 

its neighbor. 

It is a symbolic moment for 

the longtime Asian rivals, whose 

economic fortunes have often 

diverged markedly since World 

War II. Japan’s postwar industrial 

resurgence culminated in the 

1990s, when it nearly became the 

world’s largest economy. Back 

then, China was still recovering 

from years of economic mismanagement 

under Mao Zedong. But 

after joining the World Trade 

Organization in 2001, China has 

surged past Japan this century 

to become the world’s secondlargest 

economy, rivaling the 

U.S. for top spot. 

NICK TIMIRAOS 

Federal Reserve officials 

expected at their policy 

meeting earlier this 

month that it would 

“soon be appropriate” 

to raise short-term interest rates 

once again, according to minutes 

of the gathering released 

Wednesday, a signal the U.S. central 

bank could lift its benchmark 

rate at its next gathering in June. 

The Fed also moved toward 

a consensus on a plan to shrink 

its $4.5 trillion in holdings of 

Treasury and mortgage securities 

later in the year by gradually 

allowing increasing amounts of 

those securities to mature with- 

BNP Paribas to pay $350 million to settle New York Forex allegations 

NICOLE HONG 

BNP Paribas SA BNPQY 

-3.45% agreed on Wednesday 

to pay a $350 million 

penalty to resolve allegations 

by New York’s banking regulator 

that foreign-exchange traders at 

the French bank engaged in collusion 

to manipulate currency rates. 

The New York Department of 

Financial Services said deficient 

oversight at BNP Paribas “allowed 

nearly unfettered misconduct” 

among traders and salespeople 

in the bank’s foreign-exchange 

business, in violation of New York 

banking laws. 

The investigation focused on 

out reinvesting them. 

Officials were inclined to stick 

to their plan even though the 

economy appeared to stumble in 

the first quarter. That slowdown 

was seen as transitory, the minutes 

said. Moreover, some officials 

expressed concern about 

recent softness in inflation, but 

not enough to force them to 

scrap plans to raise rates twice 

more this year. 

The next meeting is June 

13-14, which will be followed 

by a press conference from Fed 

Chairwoman Janet Yellen. 

“Most participants judged 

that if economic information 

came in about in line with their 

expectations, it would soon be 

misconduct that began a decade 

ago, involving at least a dozen 

BNP Paribas employees around 

the world. 

The Department of Financial 

Services found that from 2007 

until 2013, currency traders at BNP 

Paribas in New York and other 

big trading hubs participated in 

chat rooms where they colluded 

to widen spreads, manipulate the 

price at which daily benchmark 

rates were set and hide markups 

from customers—with the ultimate 

goal of artificially increasing profits. 

In particular, according to regulators, 

one trader at the bank’s 

New York branch labeled the chat 

group “cartel” and worked with 

appropriate for the committee 

to take another step in removing 

policy accommodation,” the 

minutes said. 

Before Wednesday’s release 

of the account of May’s meeting, 

traders in futures markets placed 

an 83% probability on a Fed rate 

increase by June, according to 

CME Group. The minutes are 

likely to solidify those expectations. 

Fed officials left their benchmark 

short-term interest rates 

unchanged within a range between 

0.75% and 1% at the 

meeting May 2-3. Several Fed 

officials in recent weeks have 

said they believe the economy 

will still be strong enough to 

warrant two more rate increases 

this year. 

“Although incoming data 

showed that aggregate spending 

in the first quarter had been 

weaker than participants expected, 

they viewed the slowing 

as likely to be transitory,” the 

minutes said. Officials expected 

ongoing job gains, rising household 

income and wealth and 

buoyant consumer sentiment to 

bolster spending in the months 

ahead. “Participants generally 

indicated their assessments of 

the medium term economic 

outlook had changed little since 

the March meeting.” 

colleagues at other large banks to 

conduct fake trades during light 

trading hours that caused currency 

prices to spike upward or 

downward. The trader manipulated 

prices and spreads in several 

currencies, including the South 

African rand and Turkish lira. 

The investigation also found 

that BNP Paribas traders improperly 

exchanged confidential customer 

information with employees 

at other banks, which led to traders 

adjusting prices to unfairly profit at 

these customers’ expense. 

Under the terms of the consent 

order, the bank admitted to the 

regulator’s allegations. 

“BNP Paribas deeply regrets the 

past misconduct which led to this 

settlement,” the bank’s spokespeople 

said in a statement, adding that 

the bank has since implemented 

new measures to strengthen its 

compliance. 

The bank has already fired 

several employees as part of the 

fallout. 

Wednesday’s settlement is part 

of a long-running probe by regulators 

around the world into possible 

manipulation of foreign-exchange 

rates. The investigation has led to 

the suspension or firing of traders 

at around a dozen banks in the 

largest currency dealing hubs.


FT 

TIMES 

C002D5556 

BUSINESS DAY 

A1 

Low rates and increasing competition 

hit Nationwide profits 

Page A3 

Chinese Cinema - Why China unleashed the 

zombies 

Page A4 


- 

FINANCIAL 

World Business Newspaper 

May to brief Nato 

heads on atrocity 

ahead of G7 summit 

GEORGE PARKER, JIM PICKARD 

& HENRY MANCE 

Prime Minister Theresa 

May will today brief Nato 

leaders on the Manchester 

terrorist attack, at the 

start of a diplomatic tour 

that marks the resumption of election 

campaigning in the UK. 

Labour has also indicated it 

will restart campaigning at a local 

level today and fire up its national 

effort the following day, with the 

ruling Conservatives following suit. 

Ukip will also launch its manifesto 

today. 

Mrs May’s attendance at the 

Nato summit in Brussels will be 

followed by a trip to the Group of 

Seven summit in Sicily, at which 

she will lead the debate on tackling 

international terrorism. 

Both events will enable her to 

keep security at the centre of the 

national debate and present herself 

as a sober leader with years of 

experience in tackling extremism 

as home secretary. 

Amber Rudd, home secretary, 

denied the government was trying 

to gain political advantage from 

the tragedy by fuelling a sense of 

national emergency with the deployment 

of troops on the streets. 

She said there was no question 

of opportunism since the advice 

to raise Britain’s threat level to 

“critical” on Tuesday - meaning 

an attack is thought to be imminent 

- was taken on the advice of 

the independent Joint Terrorism 

The leader of France’s largest 

trade union has warned Emmanuel 

Macron not to rush 

labour market reforms as the 

country’s new president kick-starts 

negotiations over a bill seen as crucial 

to revamping the eurozone’s secondbiggest 

economy. 

The warning is a reminder of the 

labour relations minefield awaiting 

the pro-business president just two 

weeks after he defeated far-right candidate 

Marine Le Pen in the race for 

the Elysée. 

The bill, which Mr Macron has 

vowed to pass through governmental 

Analysis Centre. 

While the issue of security is 

considered to play to Mrs May’s 

strengths, some Labour figures 

are keen to return to the campaign 

as soon as possible. They believe 

their party was gaining momentum 

before the atrocity, especially after 

Mrs May’s U-turn on the Conservatives’ 

social care policies. 

However, Labour has less than 

two weeks to eradicate the Conservatives’ 

double-digit lead in 

the polls. Until late Monday the 

party had been relishing the sight 

of Mrs May straining to defend the 

disintegration of her flagship social 

care policy in the manifesto. “We 

had her on the ropes,” said one 

senior figure. 

Some Labour politicians believe 

Mrs May is making the most 

of her opportunity to fill the role 

of national statesman. “She is the 

prime minister, sure, but to exclude 

the other party leaders as she has 

done isn’t right,” said one insider. 

“When Jo Cox [former MP] was 

murdered all the political leaders 

stood together to remember her.” 

Yesterday Labour allowed some 

“low-key and sensitively handled” 

local campaigning, such as delivering 

leaflets. 

The UK Independence party 

will release its manifesto today, a 

day later than planned. Justifying 

the decision to resume campaigning, 

Paul Nuttall, Ukip leader, said 

Britons “cannot be cowed or allow 

our way of life to be undermined 

by those who wish to do us harm”. 

Macron warned by union 

leader not to rush reform 

ANNE-SYLVAINE 

decree in September, would give companies 

more freedom to discuss working 

hours and wages with employees 

rather than having to comply with 

rigid sector-wide rules. It will be the 

first real test of the president’s ability 

and resolve to reform France and its 

complex labour market. 

Laurent Berger, head of the Confédération 

Française Démocratique du 

Travail, told the FT he broadly agreed 

with giving companies more flexibility 

to adapt to economic cycles and would 

“not be obstructive”. But he urged the 

president to extend the timeframe for 

discussions by several months to allow 

proper union consultation if Macron 

Continues on page A2 

Theresa May 

Pentagon lost track of $1bn of arms 

and kit in Iraq, says Amnesty 

ERIKA SOLOMON 

The US army failed to 

keep track in Iraq of 

more than $1bn worth 

of weapons and military 

equipment, which could have 

ended up with Isis militants and 

Iranian-backed militias , the 

rights group Amnesty International 

says. 

Amnesty says it obtained 

a 2016 US government audit 

through a Freedom of Information 

request and found the 

Department of Defense did not 

keep accurate records on the 

distribution and location of supplies 

sent to Iraq in recent years. 

“This audit provides a worrying 

insight into the US army’s flawed 

- and potentially dangerous 

system for controlling millions 

of dollars’ worth of arms transfers 

to a hugely volatile region,” 

said Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty’s 

researcher on international arms 

controls. 

Faulty accounting is especially 

worrisome in countries 

such as Iraq, where corruption 

is rampant. This makes it easier 

for equipment to end up in 

the hands of jihadi groups and 

Iranian-backed Shia paramilitary 

forces that are hostile to the 

US and accused of human rights 

violations. Amnesty also says 

it has regularly documented 

lax controls and monitoring 

of equipment within the Iraqi 

chain of command. 

This is not the first time, Amnesty 

said, that such lax monitoring 

methods had been exposed. 

It said a 2015 audit revealed 

similar problems and the US Department 

of Defense committed 

in 2007 to keep stricter controls 

on weapons after a similar report 

then. 

“After all this time and all 

these warnings, the same problems 

keep re-occurring. This 

should be an urgent wake-up call 

for the US, and all countries supplying 

arms to Iraq, to urgently 

shore up checks and controls,” 

said Mr Wilcken. 

The arms come from the Iraq 

Train and Equip Fund, which in 

2015 gave $1.6bn of equipment 

to help Iraqi forces fight Isis. Amnesty 

said supplies included tens 

of thousands of assault rifles, 

hundreds of mortar rounds and 

armoured Humvees - a vehicle 

regularly used by Isis as suicide 

car bombs. 

Amnesty said it was calling 

on Washington to comply with 

the “Leahy Law”, prohibiting US 

military aid to go to groups alleged 

to have committed “gross 

human rights violations” and to 

agree to the global Arms Trade 

Treaty, which enforces rules on 

oversight of arms transfers that 

could fuel atrocities. 

The Pentagon said: “We have 

a very good system of accounting 

for equipment and tracking it all 

the way but it’s never going to be 

perfect and there are localised 

inefficiencies.” 

But the latest defence department 

report, according to 

Amnesty, showed incomplete 

record-keeping at arms depots 

in Kuwait and Iraq. It said this 

left those tracking equipment 

unable to determine its location.


A2 BUSINESS DAY 

C002D5556 

FT 

Macron warned by union... 

NATIONAL NEWS 

Beijing raps Moody’s for credit downgrade 

GABRIEL WILDAU & SHANGHAI TOM 

China’s finance ministry 

chastised Moody’s yesterday 

after the US rating 

agency downgraded 

Beijing’s sovereign 

credit rating, highlighting investor 

concerns over rising debt and the 

slow pace of economic reform intended 

to transform the country’s 

Continued from page A3 

wanted to avoid fierce opposition. 

“We need to move fast, in the sense 

that we need to reach an accord. But 

rushing it would be bad,” Mr Berger 

said. “Adopting the bill fast in September 

- well, watch out, it’s going to 

be perceived as an attempt to force it 

through. As [ex-prime minister] Michel 

Rocard used to say, the path is as important 

as the outcome.” 

The warning from the moderate 

Mr Berger underlines the challenge 

of passing meaningful labour market 

reforms in a fractured France. Last 

year, François Hollande, Mr Macron’s 

unpopular Socialist predecessor, faced 

union and parliamentary opposition 

over a less ambitious bill. 

While only 11 per cent of French 

workers are members, unions play 

an important role nationally. They set 

wages and other working conditions 

in a number of industrial sectors and 

along with Medef, the employers’ trade 

body, oversee the country’s unemployment 

insurance and professional training 

schemes. They can also quickly 

mobilise workers for large demonstrations 

and influence public opinion. 

Mr Macron says the bill will make 

the economy more competitive and 

help curb unemployment of 9.6 per 

cent. He also needs to restore the country’s 

economic and political standing 

in the EU by proving it can implement 

reforms. 

His chances may be greater than 

those of his predecessor partly because 

of Mr Berger. In March, for the first time 

since its creation in 1919, the CFDT 

supplanted the more hardline CGT as 

France’s biggest union by winning the 

largest share of worker representatives 

in the private sector. This has placed 

its leader at the centre of the government’s 

attention. 

Mr Berger, the son of a shipyard 

worker and childminder from Saint- 

Nazaire, western France, agrees his 

union’s momentum provides a historic 

chance to overhaul sometimes 

conflict- ridden labour relations and 

move closer to the more collaborative 

German model. In contrast to the CGT, 

he says his union wants to adapt to, 

rather than resist, big labour market 

changes such as automation. 

growth model. 

“Moody’s has overestimated the 

difficulties faced by China’s economy 

and underestimated the government’s 

ability to deepen reforms,” 

the ministry said in response to the 

downgrade, which rattled China’s 

markets and currency. 

Moody’s downgraded China 

one notch from Aa3 to A1, its fifthhighest 

rating. On the credit scale 

Xiao Jie 

used by rival agencies Fitch Ratings 

and Standard and Poor’s, the move 

is equivalent to a downgrade from 

double A minus to A plus. S&P 

still rates China at double A minus 

although with a negative outlook, 

while Fitch already has China at A 

plus. 

“The downgrade reflects Moody’s 

expectation that China’s financial 

strength will erode somewhat over 


the coming years, with economywide 

debt continuing to rise as 

potential growth slows,” said Marie 

Diron, the agency’s associate managing 

director for sovereign risk. 

The news initially unnerved 

Chinese investors. The yield on 

benchmark Chinese five-year government 

bonds spiked from 3.8 per 

cent to 3.95 per cent in the minutes 

following the announcement but 

Deutsche asked to hand over Trump documents 

KARA SCANNELL & BEN MCLANNAHAN 

Democratic lawmakers 

have asked Deutsche 

Bank to turn over documents 

and records 

relating to its business dealings 

with Donald Trump, along with 

internal reviews into whether 

the US president had any ties to 

powerful Russians. 

The letter signed by Maxine 

Waters, the ranking Democrat on 

the House financial services committee, 

and four other members 

is the latest attempt to explore 

the German bank’s relationship 

with the US president during his 

time as a real estate magnate. The 

inquiry comes against a backdrop 

of multiple investigations 

into potential links between the 

Trump campaign and Russia. 

“Congress remains in the dark 

on whether loans Deutsche Bank 

made to President Trump were 

guaranteed by the Russian government, 

or were in any way connected 

to Russia,” the letter said. 

In addition to seeking information 

about loans Deutsche 

extended to Trump and his family 

members, the committee has 

requested detailed information 

about the bank’s internal review 

into an alleged “mirror trading” 

scheme that laundered $10bn out 

of Russia. In January Deutsche 

agreed to pay $630m to settle UK 

and New York regulatory allegations. 

A justice department criminal 

investigation is continuing. 

“Deutsche Bank’s pattern of 

involvement in money laundering 

schemes with primarily 

Russian participation, its unconventional 

relationship with the 

president, and its repeated violations 

of US banking laws, all raise 

serious questions about whether 

the bank’s reported reviews of 

the trading scheme and Trump’s 

financial ties to Russia were completely 

thorough,” according to 

the letter. 

Deutsche has lent hundreds of 

millions of dollars to Mr Trump 

when other commercial banks 

declined. The bank stepped in to 

replace an initial loan from private 

equity investor Tom Barrack 

to fund the Trump Organization’s 

$200m redevelopment of the Old 

Post Office building in Washington 

into a luxury hotel. It has also 

extended credit to Trump’s hotel 

in Chicago and Trump National 

Doral, the golf resort in Miami, 

according to Trump’s financial 

disclosure records. 

Trump’s relationship with 

Deutsche poses other potential 

conflicts of interest as the bank 

faces multiple investigations. 

Deutsche has a long list of 

legal and regulatory entanglements 

in the US. In its latest 

foreign-issuer filing in April, the 

bank summarised individual proceedings 

over 10 pages, including 

a probe by certain regulators 

and law enforcement authorities 

into its compliance with the 

US Foreign Corrupt Practices 

Act with respect to hiring, and 

its engagement of “finders” and 

consultants. The bank is also 

assisting with inquiries from 

US authorities into its trading of 

precious metals and, separately, 

sovereign, supranational and 

agency bonds. 

The bank estimated that its 

future losses from civil litigation 

and regulatory enforcement 

matters could run to €2.3bn. 

Deutsche declined to comment 

on yesterday’s letter. The committee 

asked for a response by June 2. 

returned to the previous level by 

midday, according to the National 

Interbank Funding Center. 

Domestic investors generally 

ignore foreign ratings of Chinese 

bonds, and foreign penetration 

of China’s bond market remains 

tiny, with foreigners owning about 

Rmb424bn ($61.5bn) of Chinese 

government bonds at the end of 

April, equal to 4 per cent of the out- 

Focus turns 

to radical’s 

Libya links 

SAM JONES & ANDREW BOUNDS 

Investigators turned their 

attention yesterday to the 

communities in Manchester 

where Salman Abedi, the 

22-year-old suicide bomber, grew 

up - and their links to international 

Islamist networks. 

Moss Side, the south Manchester 

ward that was home to Abedi, 

was once notorious for its gang 

problems. In recent years, as the 

gangs found an uneasy peace, 

the area has spawned a cluster 

of jihadis. 

At least 16 young men have left 

the area to fight for Isis, among 

them some of the group’s most 

prolific propagandists and networkers. 

The area is home to a longstanding 

community of Libyan 

refugees, among them members 

of the Libyan Islamic Fighting 

Group that once opposed the rule 

of Muammer Gaddafi. 

Before they returned to Libya, 

Abedi’s family was at the heart 

of the refugee community. That 

community touches networks 

of radicals that reach back to 

Libya but also Afghanistan, and 

is known in turn to have links to 

al-Qaeda. 

Parsing the myriad relationships 

and associations in this 

milieu is of critical important 

because authorities in the UK are 

clear that Abedi did not act alone. 

“When you are looking at radicals 

in the UK, you can broadly see 

there have been three generations 

of them,” said Raffaello Pantucci, 

director for international security 

studies at the think-tank Rusi and 

an expert on homegrown jihadis. 

“The first - the Londonistan 

types - were those who had come 

here from abroad. They founded 

some of the original extremist 

networks here but their focus was 

outside the UK.” 

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@ FINANCIAL TIMES LIMITED 2015 

Low rates and 

increasing competition 

hit Nationwide profits 

EMMA DUNKLEY 

Nationwide reported 

a dip in annual 

profit due to intensifying 

competition 

in the mortgage 

market, persistent record-low interest 

rates and mounting costs. 

The UK’s largest building 

society posted a pre-tax profit of 

£1.1bn for the year to April, down 

from £1.3bn the previous year. 

Low interest rates, which 

were slashed to 0.25 per cent last 

summer, have weighed on lenders’ 

profit margins by squeezing 

the gap between what they can 

charge on loans and what they 

pay for deposits. Nationwide’s 

net interest income fell to £3bn 

from £3.1bn. 

The building society said it 

had opted to protect rates for savers 

while passing on the base rate 

decrease to mortgage borrowers. 

Joe Garner, chief executive, said: 

“As a member-owned organisation, 

we don’t seek to maximise 

our profits but to manage them in 

our members’ interests. We make 

conscious choices about how 

we distribute our profitability 

between strategic investment, 

capital generation and member 

financial benefit.” 

FINANCIAL TIMES 


But increasing competition 

in the mortgage market has hit 

profit margins, as more lenders 

- including high street banks 

and digital start-ups such as 

Atom Bank - push into the sector. 

Nationwide said: “We expect 

the prolonged low interest rate 

environment and competition in 

the mortgage market to continue 

in the period ahead.” 

The lender posted a 36 per 

cent drop in buy-to-let mortgages 

after it tightened its lending 

criteria last year to ensure 

borrowers were able to meet future 

repayments. This move was 

compounded by a fall in demand 

after the government imposed 

punitive tax changes on the sector 

last March. 

Nationwide said it expected 

the economy to slow following 

last June’s Brexit vote, which 

would lead to a “cooling effect” 

in terms of lower house sales and 

price growth, noting that “the first 

signs of this are already showing 

through the market data”. 

“However, the continued 

shortage of homes in the UK 

will support house prices, which 

we expect to rise by 2 per cent 

in 2017, with some scope for a 

further softening in 2018 to 2019,” 

the building society added. 

Nokia boosted as patent battle with 

Apple ends in fresh licensing accord 

JEEVAN VASAGAR 

For decades, the two were 

rivals: Singapore Airlines 

and Cathay Pacific cornered 

the market in longhaul 

business travel, connecting 

Asia to the rest of the world. Now 

both face headwinds from a similar 

direction. 

Cathay Pacific announced 600 

job cuts at its headquarters this 

week after months of turbulence 

that saw the Hong Kong carrier’s 

first annual loss for eight years 

and the departure of its chief executive. 

Shares in Singapore’s flag 

carrier dropped more than 7 per 

cent last week after disappointing 

earnings. 

The rise of Chinese carriers has 

buffeted both of Asia’s marquee 

airlines at a time when they were 

already under pressure from Gulf 

airlines and low-cost alternatives. 

Declining financing costs for 

new jets have encouraged airlines 

to add capacity. Analysts say weak 

C002D5556 

passenger yields - a measure of 

the fare paid per kilometre travelled 

- are likely to persist as Chinese 

rivals expand aggressively. 

Low fuel prices will intensify 

competition, encouraging rivals 

to cut fares in a highly competitive 

Asian market. 

“Overall, the airline industry is 

suffering from oversupply,” said 

Corrine Png, who runs the independent 

equity research house 

Crucial Perspective. “Traffic is 

growing, but capacity is growing 

in excess of it. Airlines such 

as Singapore Airlines have had 

to discount [fares] to fill up the 

planes.” 

Passenger yield at Singapore 

Airlines was down to 10.1 Singapore 

cents per passenger-kilometre 

in the quarter ending in March, 

down nearly 5 per cent year on 

year. Analysts say this metric, 

indicating aggressive price discounting, 

has spooked the market, 

prompting Friday’s selldown. 

The broader narrative behind 

both airlines’ troubles is the shift 

BUSINESS DAY 


Rise of China carriers buffets Singapore and Cathay 

A3 

away from reliance on Singapore 

and Hong Kong as connectors for 

outbound Asian travel. 

Both airlines played an important 

role in their cities’ transformation 

from gritty, commercial 

centres into unlikely tourist destinations. 

But now, rather than 

stop over in Singapore on their 

way to Sydney, mainland Chinese 

tourists fly directly to Australia on 

their domestic carriers. “The hub 

and spoke model is no longer as 

dominant as it was,” said DBS 

analyst Paul Yong. 

“Consumers prefer - or demand 

- to travel point-to-point. 

One of the big growth drivers has 

been the Chinese traveller and 

the fact that their own carriers 

have been able to grow quickly 

has posed challenges to Singapore 

Airlines and Cathay Pacific.” 

Both airlines built their brand 

by focusing on the needs of first 

and business-class travellers, 

and held back from launching 

premium economy services after 

other airlines had done so. 

NIC FILDES 

Nokia and Apple surprised 

analysts by 

settling a patent 

dispute, after the 

iPhone maker agreed to make 

an upfront cash payment to 

the Finnish company and sign 

a new licensing pact. 

The battle had been expected 

to run for years, with analysts 

predicting no agreement 

would be signed until at least 

the end of 2018. The companies 

sued each other in December 

after a longstanding patent deal 

signed in 2011 lapsed. 

But the companies resolved 

their differences yesterday, 

with the Finnish group also 

securing an agreement to sell 

its digital health products in 

Apple’s online and retail stores. 

“This is a meaningful agreement 

between Nokia and Apple,” 

said Maria Varsellona, 

chief legal officer at Nokia. 

Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief 

operating officer, said: “We are 

pleased with this resolution 

of our dispute and we look 

forward to expanding our busi- 

ness relationship with Nokia.” 

Nokia shares rose as much as 

7 per cent, hitting their highest 

in a year. 

The Finnish company has an 

array of patents built up during 

three decades as a leader in the 

mobile phone industry, including 

rights to technology that 

preserves battery life, strengthens 

mobile signals within the 

phone and voice recognition. 

The value of those patents has 

risen with the increasing complexity 

of smartphones. That, 

in turn, has triggered disputes 

between manufacturers, including 

Apple and Samsung, 

over what a fair and reasonable 

price is to use the technology. 

The companies did not disclose 

financial details of the 

deal but Gareth Jenkins, an 

analyst with UBS, said it could 

be worth €450m-€550m to the 

Finnish company depending 

on the royalty rate signed with 

Apple. 

The 2011 royalty deal with 

Apple proved critical for Nokia 

as it took a cut of every iPhone 

sold at a time when its own 

phone business was in freefall. 

Joe Garner, chief executive 

Shareholders find Severn Trent’s dividend is not to be sniffed at 

MATTHEW VINCENT 

In January, it told investors 

it would exceed forecasts 

for its full-year “customer 

outcome delivery incentive” 

- the financial reward, or penalty, 

handed out by the regulator depending 

on performance against 

targets. 

Then, a few months later, it 

gave new meaning to the phrase 

“customer outcome delivery” 

when, according to the Sun newspaper, 

one of its teams spent 

eight hours digging out a giant 

“fatberg” - of solidified fat and 

sewage - that had blocked the 

lavatories of central Cheltenham. 

When the Sun deems your stockin-trade 

“foul material”, you really 

must have earned your incentive. 

In Severn Trent’s last financial 

year, that incentive was £48m - up 

from £23m previously - thanks to 

“the hard work of our teams” in 

beating sewer flooding targets by 

21 per cent, service interruption 

targets by 17 per cent, and leakage 

targets by 2 per cent. Under 

the current regulatory system, 

these incentives are realised 

through higher customer bills, as 

it is the customers who nominate 

the improvements they are willing 

to pay more for. 

However, by finding another 

£100m of cost savings through 

better technology and procurement 

- to take total savings to 

£770m in the five years to 2020 

- those bills were still kept relatively 

low. 

At an average of £341 a year, 

Severn Trent’s 4.2m households 

in the Midlands and Wales pay 

the lowest water charges in Britain. 

Diverting some of those savings 

also enabled an 8 per cent 

increase in full year pre-tax profit to 

£544m. And diverting more of those 

profits enabled the dividend to be 

increased by at least 4 per cent more 

than the retail prices index. 

Investors who deemed Severn 

Trent shares much like index-linked 

gilts now seem to regard them as 

fatberg-busting high-yielders. Their 

price rose 1.8 per cent yesterday. 

Not so much quasi bonds as khazi 

convertibles. 

Unlike Thames Water’s controversial 

dividend policy, Severn 

Trent’s is not yet causing a stink. 

If anything, it is proving an attraction: 

analysts suggest this regulated 

income could revive interest in a 

takeover.

C002D5556 

A4 BUSINESS DAY 


ANALYSIS 


FT 

Chinese Cinema - Why China unleashed the zombies 

CHARLES CLOVER & SHERRY FEI JU 

Tight censorship has kept 

foreign horror films out 

of China’s cinemas. But 

a box office downturn 

has prompted a relaxation 

of the rules - and questions 

about why the domestic film industry 

is sputtering. 

For years, China’s government 

has been waging a covert war 

against the undead. Thanks to 

obscure Communist party censorship 

guidelines that prohibit 

“promoting cults or superstition”, 

foreign films featuring zombies, 

vampires, werewolves, mummies 

and ghosts have almost uniformly 

been banned by the censors. 

Last year Sony Pictures’ Ghostbusters 

was denied a release in the 

mainland, while Train to Busan, 

an acclaimed South Korean film 

about a zombie apocalypse, was 

not shown in Chinese theatres - 

but shot to popularity as a download. 

But this year, the dead have had 

their revenge, at least in cinemas. 

First came the February release of 

post-apocalyptic thriller Resident 

Evil: The Final Chapter, which 

made Rmb1bn ($145m) in 13 days. 

Although Chinese censors cut 

seven minutes from the film, the 

wholesale machine-gunning of 

lurching zombies remained largely 

undisturbed. 

The following month Fox International’s 

Logan, in which decapitated 

heads and other body parts 

fly liberally off the adamantine 

claws of the eponymous mutant, 

was also released in China to 

the surprise of many in the film 

industry. 

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead 

Men Tell No Tales, featuring a 

ghost ship captained by a skeletal 

Javier Bardem, is set to be released 

simultaneously in the US and 

China tomorrow. Its showing at 

Disney’s Shanghai resort on May 

11 was the first time a Hollywood 

film premiered in mainland China. 

“Historically, hardly any zombie 

or ghost movies have been 

allowed in, and ultraviolence like 

Logan has been a no-go area,” says 

Richard Huang, an analyst at Nomura 

in Hong Kong. But since the 

start of this year “they have been 

taking a more relaxed approach 

when it comes to censorship” of 

foreign films, he adds. 

The reason is clear to many in 

the industry: after years of vertiginous 

growth, China’s box office is 

in danger of slipping this year for 

the first time since the 1990s. Censorship 

rules have discreetly been 

widened to boost movie revenues 

and prevent this from happening. 

‘A crazy burst of capital’ 

Almost four decades of economic 

reforms in China have been 

accompanied by a persistent question 

- would the market change 

China, or would the Chinese political 

system tame the market? The 

zombie films are striking a blow 

for market forces. 

Lei Ming, chief executive of ABD Entertainment 

The relaxation of the limits on 

foreign films in China points to the 

subtle power of the profit motive to 

open up China’s notoriously closed 

entertainment sector to more foreign 

movies and to a wider range 

of subject matter. But it has also 

spawned introspection about the 

failure to produce hits by the domestic 

film industry, which once 

produced such greats as Farewell 

My Concubine and Raise the Red 

Lantern. 

“It is quite obvious for this year, 

the government wants the movie 

market to do better, they want to 

see faster box office growth, even 

though they haven’t publicly said 

this,” says Huang. 

China’s booming film demand 

was once expected to overtake the 

US as early as this year. But after 

expanding at double-digit rates 

every year since 1999, growth in 

domestic cinema revenues skidded 

almost to a halt last year, hit 

by a slowing economy and a dearth 

of hit movies. China’s annual boxoffice 

sales in 2016 rose just 3 per 

cent year on year compared with 

49 per cent in 2015. 

Then came another shock: a 7 

per cent drop in China’s first-quarter 

film revenues, to Rmb13.6bn 

($2bn), raising the prospect of a 

potential full-year fall in the country’s 

box office takings. 

Film industry specialists mainly 

blame a surge of investment into 

the entertainment industry, as 

companies from across the country 

have tried to chase the booming 

box office. “There has been a crazy 

burst of non-film related capital 

into the film industry, combined 

with an under-developed content 

creating system. That has created a 

massive bubble,” says Hou Zhihui, 

a Chinese film producer. 

The boom in the movie sector 

has been accentuated by weak 

growth in China’s traditional industries. 

Over the past two years many 

rust-belt industries, anxious to 

boost sagging share prices, simply 

added the word “entertainment” to 

their names or bought a film studio 

to change their profile with investors, 

often with success. 

Last year Anhui Xinke New 

Materials, a copper processing 

company, tried to buy the Hollywood 

production studio that 

made Oscar-winning film The Hurt 

Locker but the deal fell apart due to 

constraints on Chinese capital outflows. 

Zhejiang Jinke Peroxides, a 

chemical group that bought a gaming 

company and renamed itself 

Zhejiang Jinke Entertainment, saw 

its share price shoot up 70 per cent 

last August after the name change. 

Money has also been injected 

into the sector by internet companies 

targeting market share in 

online ticket sales, which have 

subsidised seat prices by Rmb4bn 

to 5bn a year, according to the 

Beijing consultancy iResearch. 

Theatre construction has surged 

and the number of movie screens 

in China increased by 9,552 last 

year - a figure that is more than 

twice the total number of screens 

in the UK. 

While domestic film production, 

funded by a horde of Chinese 

investors, nearly doubled from 

2012 to 2016 last year according to 

EntGroup, the quality is debatable. 

“A great number of investors barely 

know anything about the movie 

industry,” says Mr Hou. 

A series of big budget domestic 

films took a drubbing in China last 

year. The second world war epic 

For a Few Bullets did not recoup its 

Rmb100m production budget, and 

the acclaimed Xuanzang, about 

a Tang dynasty monk, was also a 

big budget failure, making only 

Rmb33m of a Rmb100m budget. 

Meanwhile, the Chinese film 

with the biggest-ever budget, The 

Great Wall, starring Matt Damon, 

made its $150m production cost 

back but was panned by critics and 

failed to generate much interest 

abroad. 

“We think it did not reach our 

expectations either in terms of 

content or the box office,” says 

Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian 

Wanda, the real estate and entertainment 

group that is the largest 

cinema owner in China, of the film 

Wanda co-produced. Since 2012 

Wanda has invested heavily in 

entertainment: last year it bought 

Hollywood studio Legendary 

Wang says the tidal wave of 

money, for which Wanda is partly 

responsible, has hurt the industry 

rather than making it better. 

“During the bubble, the industry 

ignored the content, thinking that 

no matter what, people will go to 

watch the movies,” he says. “In 

the end people realised that the 

content is lacking and viewers have 

stayed away. Now a lot of capital 

withdrew again and things have 

become more normal.” 

Demanding blockbusters 

With domestic film studios in 

disarray, Lei Ming, chief executive 

of ABD Entertainment, a digital 

entertainment company in Beijing, 

says that if China’s box office is 

saved this year, it will be by foreign 

films. “The market still has a strong 

demand for Hollywood blockbusters, 

while domestic movies 

are very weak this year,” he adds. 

Some analysts expect the annual 

quota of 34 foreign films 

allowed into China to be quietly 

widened this year. Based on the 

screening schedule, it appears 

that the tradition of “Domestic 

Film Protection Month” in July 

to August, where only domestic 

films are screened, will not take 

place this year. 

Huang of Nomura points to 

other subtle changes in box office 

accounting designed to add 

a few percentage points to film 

revenues: transaction fees collected 

by online ticket platforms 

previously were not counted, but 

now they are, he says.

BUSINESS DAY 

Fact Check 

Is Nigeria’s UBE succeeding? 

Forty-hours from 

now, Nigeria will 

stand still to celebrate 

childhood, 

which inspired the 

launch of the Universal Basic 

Education (UBE) programme, 

three decades ago as part of 

efforts to achieve Education 

for All (EFA) and the education-related 

Millennium 

Development Goals (MDGs). 

So much has changed in 

the world making the programme 

to flounder putting 

over 43 million children at 

risk. To put this in perspective, 

two factors driving the 

knowledge economy and 

digital age are internet usage 

and broadband penetration. 

These factors equally inform 

education policies in forwardlooking 

economies. Nigeria 

has changed in many ways in 

this respect but its UBE programme 

is not keeping pace. 

For instance, in 2000 the 

number of internet users in 

Nigeria was 200, 000 with a 

population of 143 million 

people, according the International 

Telecommunication 

Union (ITU). In 2006, these 

figures jumped to five million 

internet users with a population 

of 149 million, in 2009 

the number of internet users 

increased to 24 million with a 

population of 159 million. In 

2011 there were 45 million internet 

users and a population 

Nigeria’s future generation is essentially growing into 

the future without being prepared for the digital age. In 

20 years, when today’s Nigeria’s children will be adults, 

the world will be totally different from the world we 

know today but sadly, they are not being given the 

tools to compete in that future 

Nigerian child of school going 

age, reduce drastically the 

incidence of drop-out from 

the formal school system, 

through improved relevance, 

quality and efficiency and to 

ensuring the acquisition of 

appropriate levels of literacy, 

numeracy, manipulative, 

communicative and life skills 

as well as the ethical, moral 

and civic values needed for 

laying a solid foundation for 

life-long learning. 

These objectives have 

been strained for reasons 

NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I THURSDAY 25 MAY 2017 C002D5556 

of 160 million. This more than 

doubled in 2015 with 93 million 

internet users and over 

180 million people. The UBE’s 

key objectives could not capture 

these rapid changes in 

technology and its application 

to education. 

The key objectives of the 

UBE as stated on Universal 

Basic Education Commission’s 

(UBEC’s) website are 

to ensure unfettered access to 

nine years of formal basic education, 

provide free, Universal 

Basic Education for every 

bordering on demographics, 

infrastructure and human 

resources. In demographic 

terms, Nigeria’s population 

has risen by 43 million in the 

last ten years; figures from the 

National Bureau of Statistics 

show. The figures captured 

in a report, “Demographic 

Statistics Report 2015” available 

on the website of the 

NBS, show that the country’s 

population which stood at 

about 140 million in 2006, 

had swelled to 183 million 

by 2015. 

The data mean Africa’s 

largest economy and most 

populous country has 43 million 

children between ages 

zero and ten to cater for. In another 

ten years, these children 

are going to be the country’s 

labour force in an age that will 

be dominated by technology 

in a knowledge driven economy 

and the UBE is supposed 

to take care at least 80 percent 

of these children through the 

public education system. 

Education data report also 

published by the NBS in Feb- 

ruary 2016 shows that the 

country had 62,406 public 

primary schools in 2014 with 

a total enrolment of 23 million 

children. These schools have 

574,579 teachers resulting in 

an average teacher to student 

ratio of one to 40 comparable 

to what is obtainable in 

most parts of Africa but twice 

higher than what is obtained 

in Europe and America and 

even most parts of Asia. 

The high student teacher 

ratio basically means that 

most students in these classes 

are not getting enough attention 

from teachers since the 

classes are overcrowded. This 

poor attention is compounded 

by the fact that only 11 

percent of teachers in public 

primary schools actually have 

an educational degree while 

56 percent have the minimum 

National Certificate of Education 

(NCE). The remaining 33 

percent of teachers have other 

undefined qualifications. 

This shows that besides the 

fact that majority of Nigeria’s 

future generation are studying 

in overcrowded classrooms, 

many of the teachers 

impacting knowledge into 

them do not have the qualifications 

that will guarantee 

that they can get the best 

education on offer. 

Years of under investment 

in the public education infrastructure 

also means that 

many of the schools in which 

Nigeria’s future Nigeria get 

their knowledge are in a very 

poor state. Visit the nearest 

public school near you and 

it is likely to have leaking 

roofs, no chairs and most 

significantly no library and 

even where there are libraries, 

there are no books or the 

books are very old editions 

that were written before the 

digital age came upon us. So 

while Europe and America is 

talking about broadband access 

in every classroom, we 

are yet to achieve a library in 

every school. The country is 

already falling on the wrong 

side of the digital divide. 

Nigeria’s future generation 

is essentially growing 

into the future without being 

prepared for the digital age. 

In 20 years, when today’s 

Nigeria’s children will be 

adults, the world will be totally 

different from the world 

we know today but sadly, 

they are not being given 

the tools to compete in that 

future. This has significant 

implication for Nigeria’s future 

as a country. Knowledge 

powered by technology is 

going to rule the world in 20 

years but children brought 

up in overcrowded classrooms 

by poorly qualified 

teachers will be ill equipped 

to compete in such a world. 

Figures from the United 

Nations Children Education 

Fund (UNICEF) show that 40 

per cent of Nigerian children 

aged 6-11 do not attend any 

primary school, with the 

Northern region recording 

the lowest school attendance 

rate, particularly for girls. 

“Despite a significant increase 

in net enrollment 

rates in recent years, it is estimated 

that about 4.7 million 

children of primary school 

age are still not in school” 

according to UNICEF on its 

website. This means these 

children who are out of 

school are not being given 

a chance to compete in the 

future. 

“Even when children enrol 

in schools, many do not 

complete the primary cycle. 

According to current data, 30 

percent of pupils drop out of 

primary school and only 54 

percent transit to Junior Secondary 

Schools. Reasons for 

this low completion rate include 

child labour, economic 

hardship and early marriage 

for girls” says UNICEF. 

TopfiveFacts 

43 million 

Trivial 

Number of children born in Nigeria in the last 

ten years, figures from the NBS captured in a 

report, “Demographic Statistics Report 2015” 

available on the website of the NBS show an 

increase from 140 million in 2006 to 183 million 

by 2015. 

62,406 

Number of public primary schools in 2014 with a 

total enrolment of 23 million children. 

40% 

Nigerian children ages six-11 who do not attend 

any primary school, with the Northern region 

recording the lowest school attendance rate, 

particularly for girls according to the United 

Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF). 

30%, 50% 

Percentage of pupils who drop out of primary 

school and those who transit to Junior 

Secondary Schools respectively. 

574,579 

Number of teachers in public primary schools 

resulting in an average teacher to student 

ratio of one to 40. 

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Ghana Office: Business Day Ghana Ltd; ABC Junction, near Guinness Ghana Limited, Achimota – Accra, Ghana. 

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Editor: Anthony Osae-Brown. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.

BusinessDay 25 May 2017

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