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Business News
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Heritage Bank launches new scheme for SMEs UDO ONYEKA
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eritage Bank has announced the launch of a new SME Finance Package called the Paris Klub SME, PKS, Scheme. The new scheme is designed, according to the Bank, to support lending without core collaterals. While speaking on the rising tide of the challenging economy and the plight of an estimated 17 million Nigerian SMEs out of which only about 10 per cent have access to finance, Managing Director of Heritage Bank, Mr. Ifie Sekibo said there is no better time to support the SMEs than now when the survival of the economy depends largely on retail businesses. He noted that to improve the dwindling fortune of the economy, a robust SME business environment has to be developed.
“This is why we introduced the Paris Klub SME, PKS, scheme to support lending without core collateral. We take pride in our hybrid solutions where borrowing customers gain access to more value added services including consulting, business tools and technology. “What we have done is to bring up an innovative idea of how to finance SMEs without collateral. Once we identify the SMEs, we offer advisory services to them, we help them to structure their businesses and also with their cash flows”, he said. Sekibo noted further that Heritage Bank is currently developing a sponsored interest scheme for the educational sector where educational institutions can borrow at low rate subsidised by the scheme manager. “We are also discussing partnership programs with Venture Capital Firms to introduce debt-equity financing op-
tion”, he added. According to the MD one major reason why banks were not funding SMEs was because of the risk involved. “A high perceived risk of lending to the largely unstructured SME Sector is a major issue. More efforts and resources are generally required to effectively monitor loans to SMEs which may result in eating into the bottom-line. In addition, Banks also have different risk appetite.” The Heritage boss urged banks to move beyond challenges of risk, by de-risking SME businesses and making them more bankable. He said Heritage Bank is supporting more retail businesses today by looking beyond risk. “Our strategy at Heritage Bank is to de-risk the SMEs and make them more bankable The process of de-risking SMEs is what makes one bank different from the other”, Sekibo said.
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
IMF, EU conference focuses on debt bias
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he Joint Conference of the Fiscal Affairs Department, FAD, of the International Monetary Funds, IMF, and the European Commission’s Directorate General for Taxation and Customs Union, TAXUD, will focus on “Corporate Debt Bias: the Economic Insights and Policy Options” Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF, Vitor Gaspar said, “Debt bias” is a central tax policy issue in many countries, which needs serious analysis and action. ‘’We both believe that bringing together key experts in the field to exchange views and experiences can make a real contribution to much-needed progress in the area’’, he said. MF and the public finance community, he said, have long recognized that tax distor-
World stocks rise on Greek deal
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L-R: Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, John Ugbe; overall winner poster 2014 DStv Eutelsat Star Awards Emmanuel Iyama, and Public Relations Manager, DStv Caroline Oghuma, during the prize presentation in Lagos, yesterday.
Lubricants stakeholders vow to end products’ adulteration DARE AKOGUN
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ubricants producers, marketers and their allied stakeholders have vowed to deal with the scourge of adulterated engine oil by some unscrupulous elements in the society with a view curbing the negative impact of the unwholesome practice on the economy. This was the consensual position of the stakeholders at a forum with the theme “Combating Engine Oil Adulteration in Nigeria” organised by the Consumer Rights Awareness Advancement and Advocacy Initiatives (CRAAI) in conjunction with the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) in Lagos. In his welcome address, the Chairman Mr. Moses Igbrude,
noted that CRAAI’s desire in organizing the event was to provide a voice and platform for the consumers to express their views, interact and engage the producers, manufacturers of goods and services as well as relate with various governmental regulatory authorities in Nigeria. “One of the aims of today’s interactive forum is to help the ordinary consumers by providing answers on how to indentify genuine lubricant from adulterated one, what makes a base oil different from a lubricant, how does an adulterated oil affect our machines, what are the cost implications on the consumers, producers and the Nigeria economy and what are the way forward” Igbrude said He bemoaned the negative im-
pacts of engine oil adulteration in the automotive industry and the threat to the consumers as well as the Nigeria economy and so stressed that the involvement of all stakeholders in a continuous enlightenment, education and awareness creation is the sure way of addressing issues of substandard, fake and adulteration in the Nigeria economy. While giving her presentation the Director-General of Consumer Protection Council Mrs. Dupe Atoki express fear about the crippling effect on all strata of the society of the frighteningly escalating menace of engine oil adulteration noting the infinitely wide spectrum of its use that cuts across the domestic use for generators sets, cars, ships and boats in the marine sector, trains and even aeroplanes.
tions encourage businesses and households to finance their activities by debt rather than equity. This, he added creates inefficiencies and deadweight loss, adding that for many years, this attracted little attention. While noting that it was not clear how large the deadweight costs were, he said it has changed in the last few years. ‘In the field of the conference, the great global crisis justified an increased concern that tax incentives to excess leverage that can intensify crises and make them more likely’’, he stated. ‘’We have worked closely with TAXUD on a range of topics over the years. Today marks another step in our close cooperation, which I am sure will continue and intensify in the coming years’’, he added.
hares rose and the safe-haven Swiss franc fell against the euro yesterday after Greece reached a conditional deal with its international partners to avert an immediate financial crisis. Yields on low-rated euro zone government bonds fell as the agreement, reached after Greece’s leftist government made big concessions, eased concerns that the country would have to leave the euro zone. Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Friday to extend debtladen Greece’s bailout deal for four months, provided it drew up a list of reforms by Monday next week. A Greek government spokesman said the list would be sent to Brussels by the end of Mon-
day and that they were being discussed with partners to ensure there were no last-minute hitches. Spanish and Italian stocks were among the biggest gainers. Greek markets were closed for a holiday. US shares were set to open lower ESc1, according to stock index futures. The S&P 500 .SPX and Dow Jones Industrial Average both closed at record highs on Friday after the Greek deal. “It’s kicking the can down the road, but it’s better than nothing and for the time being it will be seen as positive, assuming they can deliver these reform promises today,” said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Stockbrokers.
UNICEF, Airtel to provide health, education access to children ISAIAH ERHIAWARIEN
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NICEF and Bharti Airtel, telecommunications services provider have entered a partnership agreement to expand their collaboration across 17 countries in Africa. The partnership is aimed at improving Africa’s population access to health and education-related information whilst pushing forward various innovative projects supported by UNICEF. The agreement allows UNICEF to tap into Airtel’s mobile services to make health, education and youth-focused content available to Airtel customers
across the 17 African countries. Through improved connectivity, more Africans will have free access to mobile applications and services developed by UNICEF, such as eduTrac, mTrac and U-report. Speaking on the partnership, Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Africa, Christian de Faria, said,“Airtel is committed to providing innovative solutions that overcome access and quality challenges around the delivery of services. Our partnership with UNICEF provides an opportunity to deploy mHealth innovations that can support healthcare systems and provide helpful education-related information.”